Bedside table w/touch sensitive integrated light.

[Rob Whitfield]

Been coming on 6 months since I finished this - only just got around to using it (still working on the code for the light) and I thought people might be interested.

http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-8ZWavgQ7rm8/Tr28Lu_31LI/AAAAAAAABHc/ckQ7CuYVg4o/s912/IMG_9002.jpg

It's got a hinged fake solid top which opens up to reveal a mess of electronics for the light - I'll tidy that up soon ;)
16 Red/Blue LEDs embedded in the light unit which shine through the birch veneer so it looks solid when they're off.
2 Warm white ~500mW LEDs and 2 ~300mW (I think, from what I can remember) RGB LEDs in the main light unit.
2 Touch sensors also embedded in the unit, one above the main light, one on the side of the light unit.
LDR embedded in the top to automatically adjust the light level/turn on the light when it's dark.

http://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-As8zcYbnT2k/Tr2-545yz1I/AAAAAAAABMQ/xkqUv7gt8t8/s912/IMG_9543.jpg
The LEDs are all individually addressable so I can have them doing anything I like. I've had the time on them mostly but music visualisations (with the main RGB ones too) look pretty cool on it.


Enough about the electronics I suppose - this is a woodworking forum :)

http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-RR6c6nD3K74/Tr3EEWN770I/AAAAAAAABR8/lxtm1A2hJUc/s600/Finished%2B%28Custom%29.jpg

The legs for the table are 1/2 inch birch veneered plywood. glued to leave a hollow center - partly for a power cable to go up one and partly because I didn't feel like veneering anything else and I couldn't get solid birch legs.
Annoyingly the veneer's a slightly different colour on them and the filler shows up a bit more than I'd like but I don't notice too much.
The top is a birch veneered plywood box with cut off polished M10 stainless Allen Screws - not to everyone's taste but I like it.
The light unit is made of layers of laser cut birch veneer, 1mm ply, 3mm flexi-ply, 3mm flexi-ply, 1mm ply, birch veneer, jigged and glued into shape. Edges were filled and painted white. That picture is a bit old and was before I'd put oz-wax on the light unit - it looks better now.

I have lots more pictures in an album on my G+ here: http://plus.google.com/photos/114914009219195219650/albums/5673897994836676497
They're all in a random order annoyingly.

So - what do people think? I'd say it's my first proper woodworking project but I'm looking forward to making more stuff!

Rob

[Gordon Eyre]

Hey Rob, I think you did quite well with this project. The light is certainly unique. I like it!

[Rob Whitfield]

Cheers, from looking around the forum more I understand it's probably not to a lot of people's tastes - it wasn't so much a woodworking project as a project to test a number of ideas and make something on a small budget that served it's purpose.I really admire the projects that everyone does on here - solid wood furniture is just one of those things, it has a purpose, looks great and has a fantastic solid feel.My next project will probably appeal to people more, being solid wood and 'properly constructed'.I'm getting closer to the day when I have a proper workshop but I think that's still a way off yet so it's not so easy to just make whatever I feel like.On a kind of unrelated note, not knowing a lot about the range of finishes available, what's my best bet for a simple clear finish on oak? I'm not wanting UV protection or anything, just something clear, ideally matte to help stop the surface becoming ingrained with dirt/to help with cleaning.

[Jeff Wittrock]

Hey Rob,

Shining the LEDs through vernier is a really clever idea.

Looks like you had lots of wiring to do! It's too bad it costs so much to have proto pcbs made or you could lay it out on some 10 or 20mil FR4. I've done like that before and it can be bent into a pretty good arc without breaking. Just curious what uC are you using?

I think your idea of shining the LEDs through the vernier would make a really cool clock display. Something like arranging some discrete LEDs into seven segment digits.

Very cool!

-Jeff

[Rob Whitfield]

I can't remember what gave me the idea of shining LEDs through veneer but I thought it looked pretty cool too.

PCBs don't cost too much but to get the bend I needed and to fit in all the components, I think PCB would have been pushing it regarding actually fitting it all in!

Like I say, it was a bit of a test project, trying ideas. I had a few issues with it, the light twisted very slightly when glueing, the top touch sensor doesn't work when the top LEDs are dimmed as they're so close (due to the PWM frequency I think - I'm working on fixing this in code).

I have a lot more things to try with the LED and veneer idea - as they can remain hidden unless you want people to see them, you could add them to anything without any visual change. In theory you should be able to drill through (milling bit is probably best) almost all the way instead of using veneer. With a CNC milling machine that might be quite easy.

You can now buy clocks which use the same idea:
http://cdn.ubergizmo.com/photos/2008/11/wood-led-triangle-clock.jpg

EDIT: I'm using an ATmega644 uC programmed through Wiring (like Arduino but what came before it). The 644 is very overkill but it's a board I had which has a RTC on board as well and wasn't in use.

[Harry Hagan]

Disco bedroom!

[Rob Whitfield]

Disco bedroom!
Something like that :D

[Kenneth Crisler]

Awesome table Rob. I looked through your G+ album, definitely showcases the LED functionality better. So... how much with shipping to 30215? :D

[Rob Whitfield]

Awesome table Rob. I looked through your G+ album, definitely showcases the LED functionality better. So... how much with shipping to 30215? :D Thanks, I'm not in a position to make these at the moment but when I get my laser cutter playing nice (that's also on my G+) then I'm considering making a standalone desk version which will just have power in and everything else contained.
I'm not sure how well that'd work though and it'd likely require a complete re-think of the design.
If you're on G+ then that's likely where I'll be putting everything.

Rob

[Art Mulder]

Very cool. you mention 'touch sensitive' but you don't expand on that... How is the light turned on?
Is it just the light that has the power cord routed through the leg, or does some of the other gizmos in the picture also route their cords through a leg channel?

Finally, I would think that the light would work better if it had it's "back" toward the wall instead of towards the bed. Doesn't the arm of the light kind of get in the way?

...art

ps: I've never seen clocks like that! Where?

[Rob Whitfield]

Very cool. you mention 'touch sensitive' but you don't expand on that... How is the light turned on?
Inside the light unit, there is a capacitive touch sensor which detects you touching the surface above it. It can work through up to 15mm or so of various solid materials (so long as they're not metal).

Is it just the light that has the power cord routed through the leg, or does some of the other gizmos in the picture also route their cords through a leg channel?
At the moment, just the power cord is routed through the leg but as the inside of the table top is hollow and opens up, the idea is that I will put power into there (a couple of USB ports powered off a 5V brick) so I can connect devices in there to charge.


Finally, I would think that the light would work better if it had it's "back" toward the wall instead of towards the bed. Doesn't the arm of the light kind of get in the way?
The arm does not get in the way as it's right at the back of the table so it's right at the top end of my bed. If the arm was facing towards the wall then you also wouldn't see the LEDs down the back of it which I can (for example) tap in the middle of the night and they'll light up and tell me the time.


ps: I've never seen clocks like that! Where?
Umm, well that wasn't the one I was looking (rather this one: http://www.urbanjunkie.co.uk/product.php/574/0/wooden-clock) but just search for wooden 7 segment clock or similar. I'm sure all the woodworkers on here could make one far cheaper than you can buy one!
If the electronics prove an issue then you can often buy kits for that kind of thing (or I might be able to help/make the electronics part if someone asked nicely!)

Rob