CRT 300 Rapid & Improvisational Prototyping - #2 Hackathon
Blast from the Past!
By: Bailey Henderson
Idea:
This project aimed to explore the idea of repurposing an old material by turning it into something new and exciting. For this project, I decided to create something from old DVDs. DVDs are visually iridescent. Therefore, they are excellent reflectors of light. I loved how they looked, so I wanted to highlight that aspect by adding more lights of different colors.
This project aimed to explore the idea of repurposing an old material by turning it into something new and exciting. For this project, I decided to create something from old DVDs. DVDs are visually iridescent. Therefore, they are excellent reflectors of light. I loved how they looked, so I wanted to highlight that aspect by adding more lights of different colors.
Description:
The components of this project include an Arduino Uno, a strip of neopixels, hand-cut DVD shapes, and other materials used for suspension purposes. My creation also shares similarities with a chandelier or a light fixture. The DVDs are used to help bounce the colorful lights in other directions. The fishing wire used to suspend the DVD shapes also does a great job of transmitting light.
The components of this project include an Arduino Uno, a strip of neopixels, hand-cut DVD shapes, and other materials used for suspension purposes. My creation also shares similarities with a chandelier or a light fixture. The DVDs are used to help bounce the colorful lights in other directions. The fishing wire used to suspend the DVD shapes also does a great job of transmitting light.
Importance:
This project is important to me because it shows that anything can be repurposed into something new and creative. Not only can repurposing be fun, but it is also rewarding. Reusing things and making them into something else also helps reduce how much waste is created. Aside from the practical importance, I am also interested in things that are space themed. My project displays some of these characteristics as well.
This project is important to me because it shows that anything can be repurposed into something new and creative. Not only can repurposing be fun, but it is also rewarding. Reusing things and making them into something else also helps reduce how much waste is created. Aside from the practical importance, I am also interested in things that are space themed. My project displays some of these characteristics as well.
2. Next, I got all my materials ready and prepared. Below is a picture of my materials.
3. Then I started to cut all the DVDs into a variety of shapes. I used a stencil to trace a guideline. This included stars, triangles, squares, and crescent moons. This step was very tedious because the DVDs needed to be separated into two pieces and slowly cut to make sure they did not shatter. The picture below shows this process.
4. The next part in the process was to punch little holes in all the different shapes. These small holes would allow me to hang the shapes up with clear fishing wire. While I was doing this, I noticed that the back of my DVD shapes had some writing on them, so I decided to cover the back with a marker. I think this gave it a better aesthetic appeal. See picture below.
5. Now it was finally time to start hanging the shapes on the frame. The frame was actually a circle, meant to create wreaths. However, I found it to work great for this project.
5. After the majority of the shapes were on the frame I decided to go ahead and add the Neopixles. Additionally, I also loaded the code for them on to the Arduino Uno.
5. Lastly, it was time to add a few more things to help communicate my aesthetic. I wanted to hide some of the wiring and technology on the top, so I opted for foam core to make the round shape I needed. After securing it, I needed to add some glitter spray paint to finish it off. This really gave it the effect I was looking for. Overall, I was really happy with how it turned out!
