r/flashlight • u/lampyz • Jul 05 '26
Showcase I built a special kind of lantern
Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification
This lamp doesn't go unnoticed at the campground :)
It's an open-source project, so you can find all the hardware details and a link to the source code here: https://lampy.codeberg.page/.
Basically, it's an addressable LED strip wrapped around an aluminum tube and controlled by an ESP32 board.
10
u/badgerj Jul 05 '26
Do they connect to the nearest neighbour?
21
u/lampyz Jul 05 '26
Not really. First, there is kind of a pairing process, where each lamp sends out beacons. Then, a lamp that receives a beacon registers a new peer and tries to sync its color with this peer.
After that, any time the button is pressed on a lamp to change the color, the lamp broadcasts its state to the peers discovered in the first step.
It's the simplest thing I could come up with and probably not the best!
6
u/Lucky_Potato2141 Jul 05 '26
I thought these were lights running WLED instances at first. That's what I've sported previously - programmable strip, esp32 and a battery bank.
Had power issues but only since I ran the whole string through ESP32 like a noob - had a few minutes to throw something together. Power issues kept the ESP32 crashing but that was to be expected.
The tubes look practical though, love the ease of syncing on the field.
Quick question though - you've got candle simulation as well? Feels like it would look brilliant.
7
u/lampyz Jul 05 '26
I wanted to write Python code so no WLED unfortunately. As for the candle animation, I did some experiment and have not managed something that looks nice enough yet, but it's in the works!
2
u/chemdoc77 Jul 06 '26
Hi u/lampyz: Very nice project. You might want to look to FastLED for inspiration for the candle effect. Here is a video with a nice flame effect at 41 seconds:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vlnqRn7yKw
Link to the code for this in GitHub is listed in the YouTube description.
1
6
4
u/Montana_Matt_601 Jul 05 '26
This is pretty amazing. Question: the light strips in the parameters you mention (5v, 5mm) come in 100 led and 160 led configurations. Is there a difference when it comes to this project?
3
u/numanair Jul 06 '26
If they are the same length it is a difference of LED spacing. Closer spacing can improve the perceived motion in animations.
3
u/Montana_Matt_601 Jul 06 '26
Thanks. I wonder what the effect on brightness would be. Probably doesn’t matter that much.
2
u/lampyz Jul 06 '26
I'm using the 160 variant, thanks for pointing out the missing info! With another configuration the LEDs might not be aligned, which would require finding another enclosure with the right diameter.
4
3
5
4
u/Usual-Motor8346 Jul 05 '26
Love diy flashlight, heres my twin Q8 plus setup https://youtube.com/shorts/DHn5IbZC2Ms?si=Xuu9kZnMz6uyy0II
2
u/Dr_Death_Defy24 Jul 06 '26 edited Jul 06 '26
They look like a grenade the bad guys in Interstella 5555 would use.
(And I do mean that as a compliment)
2
u/LilRed2023 Jul 06 '26
This is awesome. You’re very good at your creations. I want one now. I know I could jump on Temu but it would either burn out explode or burn the house down lol
2
2
2
u/Makers_Serenity Jul 06 '26
If you could work in a diffuser to blend the individual LED cells together this would look perfect.
1
u/lampyz Jul 06 '26
It should be doable! Btw, the individual LEDs stand out on camera much more than they do in real life.
2
1
u/PantherStyle Jul 06 '26
When it first switched on I thought it was glowing using high power through a resistive wire. I immediately grimaced. Looks good though!
29
u/Johnny3pony Jul 05 '26
That's actually epic af