LED Lighting

Status

Planning

Implementation Details

Modular

At the moment, I am investigating several methods of construction. Any construction method will likely include a 12V power supply and some combination of red/green/blue LEDs as we see fit. It will be modular such that if a portion goes bad, it can be removed and replaced with a working module. Options for modularity include magnetic power rails as used in the multitouch table, adjacent vampire taps, and parallel separated vampire taps. At the moment, we're looking at vampire taps as having power rails along the wall might look bad. We would prefer magnetic attachments if an aesthetically pleasing version could be found.

Update(12/15/07): After some research, it appears that vampire taps (insulation piercing connectors or IPC) are somewhat hard to find and are not as cheap as we need them. Magnetics are the way to go for this project. An option instead of magnetic rails is magnetic cable to run them from.

Update(12/26/07): Brim and I were poking around last night when we (brim) had an idea. Poke thumbtacks through the insulated speaker cable where you want to mount to it and magnetically attach to those. I will be going to the store to look at some thumbtacks and ordering magnets, LEDs, resistors, and breadboard tonight. Hopefully, I can have this up and running before the semester starts back up.

Update(12/31/07): The LEDs and resistors have arrived. Let the soldering begin! (after I go to radioshack and get some breadboard)

Non-modular

Strages came up with the LED Mesh idea. Unfortunately, a dead LED means alot of work to replace it. Depending on the implementation, it could also mean a surge of power causing higher LED mortality rates. To compensate for dead LEDs, a resistor would be needed on EVERY LED which could get expensive.