Archive | Lanterns
My lantern collection
2023/05/28 in Arduino, Electronics, FastLED, Lanterns, WLED
I have over 50 animated lanterns, which were made using tissue paper and various frames such as:
- Bamboo
- Grapevines
- 10 AWG wire with brazing
- Round reed
- Chicken wire
They have been on exhibition at the following venues:
- North Delta Luminary Festival
- Renfrew Stillmoon Festival
- Deer Lake Luminescent Art
- Secret Lantern Society Solstice Festival
- Maple Ridge Celebrate the Night
- Surrey Garden Light Festival
- Scouts Canada Watershed Fun Night
Click on images in the article to see an animated version. The animations are customizable via Wi-Fi.
Continue Reading →Addressable LED options for lanterns
There are several commercial and non-commercial options available to control LED displays. These range from small portable displays running on a dedicated microcontroller to large commercial ones that are controlled by custom applications running on a dedicated computer and multiple controllers. WLED is a non-comercial (open source) program and is the probably the best available for portable displays as it supports a wide variety of animations/colour palettes and can be controlled by your cell phone over WiFi. In order to make your own WLED displays, you will need a laptop/desktop and:
Continue Reading →Cost of an Addressable LED Lantern Display
2019/11/14 in Arduino, Electronics, Lanterns
These links provide a rough pricing guideline for sourcing addressable LED electronic components for an animated lantern from Amazon. Locally would cost more:
- 1M of WS2812 addressable LED’s, IP30, 30 led/M ($13)
- WeMOS D1 Mini ESP8266 board ($7)
- USB Powerbank 2200mAh ($20 varies)
- USB Power Cable ($8)
- JST-SM M&F connector & cables ($1)
- Optional wall charger ($6)
Cost of purchasing electronic components is approximately: $55 plus tax & shipping
Lantern consumables include:
- Bamboo, grapevine, round reed
- Masking tape
- Zip ties
- Hot glue gun and glue
- White/vanilla/coloured tissue paper
- Optional specialty paper (tissue or mulberry)
- Optional decorations (leaves, etc)
- White glue or Mod Podge
- Optional acrylic matte finish
- Water
- Fishing line (for larger lanterns)
- Table covering (to contain the mess)