Intoduction to electronics: The Hexa Lamp


Do you want to get started with electronics but have no idea where to start? Check out this Hexa Lamp!

Makit presents... the Hexa Lamp! an introduction to electronics for everyone…

I wanted to design something that used electronics and was easy to assemble for everyone. I thought that a lamp is always welcomed on our desk. So, I put myself to work and designed this one. In addition to using it as a lamp, it has interchangeable discs so it can be used as a bat signal to project some symbols, letters or logos on the wall or roof.

With this desk lamp, anyone can buy some electronics and put them together, no especial skills are required and no soldering is needed!!

It works with any standard USB port and can be placed in vertical or horizontal position to project on the wall or roof.

Thanks to banggood for sponsoring the design!

Note about printing settings:

Body wall is very thin (0.8mm) because I wanted to let led light out as much as possible. I printed this part with 0.4mm nozzle (so it prints 2 shells) and 0% infill.

List of materials

Assembly instructions

With this desk lamp, anyone can buy some electronics and put them together, no especial skills are required and no soldering is needed. Just follow these simple instructions!!

Step 1 (Picture 1)

Use a double male to male dupont cable to connect power plug. Cable colors don’t matter but remember which one is the positive (+) and which is the ground (-).

Note: In my picture black is positive and white is ground.

Step 2 (Picture 2)

Use two triple male to female dupont cables to connect the potentiometer and the led module. Again, cable colors don’t matter but you need to remember which one is positive (VCC), ground (G) and signal (S).

 

Step 3 (Picture 3)

Follow the connections diagram to connect each cable with each one. It’s important to keep mini-breadboard exactly the same as diagram. Both VCC connections go with positive (+) of the plug. Same for ground connections with the negative (-). And finally, signal pin of the potentiometer and the led module go together.

Step 4 (Picture 4)

Now, using the USB to barrel plug cable and a computer or a power bank, test the connections to ensure they work properly. The led should increase or decrease its brightness by rotating the potentiometer.

 

Step 5 (Picture 5)

Now attach the potentiometer to the base with mini self-tapping screws. There are holes for 4 screws, but you can use just two. You can also use a drop of hot glue instead, but remember that the potentiometer has to rotate freely. There are 8 screw holes because the potentiometer can be placed horizontally or vertically. I recommend to mount it following same orientation as pictures to avoid shadows when the light is on.

Step 6 (Picture 6)

Insert mini-breadboard into place using the holes of the base. Depending on the settings of your print, it can be a tight fit. You can always use a drop of hot glue instead.

 

Step 7 (Picture 7)

Now insert the power plug in its hole.

Step 8 (Picture 8)

Use the printed clip and two M3x8mm screws to fix the barrel plug and organize the cables. Depending on the length of your cables (10 or 20cm) you may want to use the clip to keep cables out of the way, so they don’t create shadows on the body.

See step 9 picture 9, right with 10cm cables and left with 20cm.

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Step 9 (Picture 9)

Finally, fix the led module with two M3x8mm screws and insert the body and the disk. The body has some built-in supports that need to be removed before inserting the disk. Body can be oriented (by rotating it) according to the disk that is being used.

Step 10

Connect and enjoy!!

There is also some optional knob that you can print in case you don’t like the original.

Remember that you can use it vertically to project on the roof, or horizontally to project on the wall and you can combine any colors to make it your own.

Initially there are a couple of different disks, but let me know if you have some ideas for a new one and I’ll see what I can do!!

If you print it, please upload some pictures, it’s awesome to see how they turned out!!

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