Volcom RGB Desktop Light Box Using Arduino

Greetings! I’m Russell Petersen. I’m an engineer, inventor, designer, fabricator, and dreamer. I’m a junior Electrical Engineer by trade, located and working in the San Francisco Bay Area.

I love playing with Solid State Lighting, and came up with this idea one night. Simply stated, It’s a custom built light box with a logo adhered to the front, and lit by a RGB LED module. This project is easily adaptable to whatever image or logo you desire to create.

Difficulty:          Novice (No previous DIY experience)
>>> Easy (Some fabrication and electrical experience)
Intermediate (Fabrication, electrical, and programming experience)
Hard (Much fabrication, electrical, and programming experience)

Supplies Required:
– Blink M (includes color sequencing software)
– Arduino
– Computer
– 3 AAA battery holder & batteries
– Perf board (prototyping PCB)
– Small On/Off switch (STDP slide or rocker switch)
– Wire
– 40% or 60% translucent acrylic (depending on what look you want)
– Thin, light-weight scrap wood
– Wood dowels
– Vinyl Decal (bought or home-made)
– Spray paint (White for interior, outside color of your choice)
– 5 min. Epoxy
[box color=”#985D00″ bg=”#FFF8CB” font=”verdana” fontsize=”14 ” radius=”20 ” border=”#985D12″ float=”right” head=”Major Components in Project” headbg=”#FFEB70″ headcolor=”#985D00″]
Tools:
– Soldering Iron
– Solder
– Radial Arm Saw (or table saw)
– Jigsaw
– Table Belt sander (or sanding block)
– Drill / bits
– Screwdriver[/box]

Disclaimer: ‘Volcom Stone’ logo is a registered trademark of Volcom, Inc. All rights and use of the logo for product distribution belong exclusively to Volcom or their respective owners. I did not create this device with the intent of selling, have not sold it, nor do I plan on mass producing this device for the market.

Step 1: Design & Inspiration

Light boxes have to be designed with the light source in mind. Depending on what type of LED fixture you’re using as a light source, the distance between the source and lit surface is important if you want full and even lighting. I printed out the Volcom Logo in the size I wanted in the final piece and experimented with the lighting distance until I was satisfied.

Always start a project on the drawing board. Get all your ideas on paper, then work from there. Once I had the lighting distance established, I made a rough drawing of the dimensions of the box. You can really customize the size of your light box, but you may need more light sources. I designed this light box to be small for a desk surface.

I first cut the Acrylic to the desired size and shape of the logo, and came up with rough dimensions of the wood pieces. It’s easier to mess up on cheap wood than the acrylic.

VERY IMPORTANT: Do Not uncover the acrylic until later on, otherwise you will scratch it. Any scratches on plastics you edge light or back light will show up clear as day! I

Once I knew how far back the LED needed to be mounted, I cut the wood pieces out with a radial arm saw. I was not shooting for perfection in this project as I usually do, so I was ready to sand every edge of each piece to get them all to fit together. Many of the pieces required steep angles sanded into the edges so that the outside edges all lined up flush. This is important for a clean, professional end result.

Step 2: Fitment & Gluing

After your lightbox pieces are cut, test fit them together if they are a unique shape. Sand any edges that aren’t fitting together right. I used a table belt sander for this and it got the job done quickly. I taped these pieces together due to the complexity of the shape, and then used some bricks as a form for gluing. I cut pieces of wood dowels to create a support structure. They will also later provide mounting locations for the acrylic and back plate. If you need one for your lightbox, have the dowels pre-cut and test fit. Then mix together 5 min. epoxy and glue in the wood dowels.

5 min epoxy is one of the most useful supplies. I constantly find uses for it and the set up time is perfect for projects or repairs. Make sure you get epoxy that is compatible with the materials you are working with.

Step 3: Faceplate and Back Cover

As you can see, not all of my pieces aligned perfectly, but you can use the glue to fill gaps and sand it later. After the glue is dry and your box is somewhat formed, create mounting holes for the acrylic and back plate in the wood dowels that were cut. The dowels need to be flush with the mounting surface so that the acrylic faceplate and back cover seal the box up when mounted, otherwise light from the LED module will leak out of the box and create unwanted patterns on neighboring objects and surfaces.

I was originally going to have many mounting holes, but only create as many as necessary for the weight of the cover. In my case, 3 for the acrylic and 2 for the back cover were fine. For the acrylic piece, make sure you account for the logo you will be applying on the front and that the mounting holes don’t interfere with the decal and your desired look. I recommend drilling the holes into the box and covers at the same time, so there is less change of miss-aligned holes.

The back cover will house the electronics. I created mounting locations and supports for the battery pack and the BlinkM LED module, and a hole for the On/Off Switch.

Step 4: Paint!

Read more: Volcom RGB Desktop Light Box