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Color-changing taplights

All > Tech > Hacks/Mods > Gadgets > Color-changing taplights by natetrue

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Reviving an old favorite, the wireless color-shifting abstract decoration, these are autonomous color-shifting modified taplights that have a number of different modes selected by turning the taplight on and off briefly.

Check out this video:

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Download source videoAs you can see, there are six modes:

- Very slow color changing
- Flashing, with a new color each time
- Fast color changing
- Spectral throb
- Color heartbeat
- Rapid RGB rotation

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Inside the light, there are three LEDs which I tore out of a color changing light that I bought at a Wal-Mart. It had 3 LEDs of each color (red, green, and blue) so I modified three little taplights (I also grabbed the taplights from Wal-Mart, in a 4-pack).

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So it doesn't cast a shadow inside the light, the PIC is mounted on the underside of the board. I used a PIC16LF628A because it has a lower operating voltage. That way it can use the 3 volts from the two AA batteries.

You'll also notice that the circuit is very simple - since the voltage is so low, the LEDs don't need any current-limiting resistors. So all you have to do is power the PIC, run the wires from RB0, RB1, and RB2 to the red, green, and blue LEDs respectively, and ground the PIC and the LEDs.

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Switching modes is accomplished by turning the light off then back on - the PIC retains its RAM for that short amount of time and is able to remember what mode it was on last.

PIC source code is available here:

http://devices.natetrue.com/colorswirl628.zip

It is written in PIC assembly.

I'm working on making these sound-activated; subscribe to the comment RSS below to be notified when that happens!

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