Vase Dazzler KitPerfect for that special Valentine's Day gift! (Or Mother's Day, birthdays, graduations, etc.) This kit allows you to turn a 3D printed vase into a fabulous light show. Here's a video with just one of the supported light patterns: Create awesome lighting effects with ease. Pick an open source vase to set on top and optionally fill the vase with 3D printed flowers if desired. This electronics kit provides everything you need besides the 3D printed

Perfect for that special Valentine's Day gift! (Or Mother's Day, birthdays, graduations, etc.) 

This kit allows you to turn a 3D printed vase into a fabulous light show. Here's a video with just one of the supported light patterns:

Create awesome lighting effects with ease. Pick an open source vase to set on top and optionally fill the vase with 3D printed flowers if desired. This electronics kit provides everything you need besides the 3D printed parts.

This kit includes all the electronics, you 3D print the structural parts and the vase/flowers. No soldering is required!

Kit Types

• Vase Dazzler Maker Kit: Just includes the electronics and screw, you 3D print all the plastic parts yourself. No soldering required, Nano is pre-loaded with software.
• Vase Dazzler Complete Kit: Includes everything in the Maker Kit plus all the 3D plastic parts for the dazzler itself (the case, battery drawer, and top).  The plastic used is natural color PETG, it looks like a frosty white. Does not include vase or flowers, just the housing for the vase dazzler electronics.
• Vase Dazzler Deluxe Complete Kit: Includes everything in the Complete kit plus a vase, rose, and stem (rose/stem requires assembly with a bit of super glue or hot glue, not included). It also includes a small grill that helps hold the flower in your desired position in the vase. Vase is printed in natural PETG and is a frosty white color. Rose is printed in red ABS and stem is printed in green PETG.

Here is a picture showing a fully built Deluxe Kit:

INCLUDED PARTS:

MAKER KIT:

• 12 RGB LED Ring, individually addressable with pre-soldered connectors.
• Arduino Nano, pre-flashed with control program with 10 different lighting patterns.
• Potentiometer and cap with presoldered connections, used to control brightness.
• 12mm pushbutton with presoldered connections, used to select lighting mode.
• Vorpal unregulated electrical system, provides 9v battery clip, on/off switch, and connectors.
• Screw to hold base together. (#6-32 1/2" button head)
• 2mm hex key
• No soldering necessary.

COMPLETE KIT:

• Includes everything above plus the 3D printed parts for the Vase Dazzler itself, but not for the vase or flowers.

DELUXE KIT:

• Includes everything above plus one white transluscent PETG vase, one red ABS rose, one green PETG stem, and a small grill to help the rose stand straight in the vase.

NOT INCLUDED IN THE KITS:

• Battery. You will need to supply a standard 9 volt battery. We suggest rechargeable batteries.
• Power supply. If you don't want to run on battery, you can also use a cell phone wall charger that has an available USB A jack, and plug in a USB A to mini adapter to power the project. NOTE: most cell phones use USB micro, not USB mini, but USB A to USB mini are commonly available cables because they're used for cameras and other devices.

Attributions

The vase included in the Deluxe kit is published under a Creative Commons Attribution license. Attribution: Spiral Vase by Yllonnoce, Published on November 18, 2014, See: www.thingiverse.com/thing:550604

The rose included in the Deluxe kit is published under a Creative Commons Attribution Share-alike license. Attribution: Anniversary Roses by XYZWorkshop, Published on September 18, 2013, See: www.thingiverse.com/thing:152642

The stem and grill included in the Deluxe kit are original designs by Vorpal Robotics, LLC and are published under a Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike license.

Many other freely available vases and flowers can easily be found on sites like thingiverse.com and myminifactory.com.

Light Patterns and Controls

The base incorporates an Arduino Nano and some controls that allow you to select a lighting pattern and a brightness. There are 10 lighting patterns built in, including:

• Fades between colors of various hues
• Flashes and twirling lights
• Flicker effects like a flame

Each time you press the pushbutton on the back, the Vase Dazzler cycles to the next light pattern. The potentiometer dial can be used to select brightness levels.

The Vase Dazzler runs on any kind of 9v battery or can be powered from a mini USB cord, see below for details.

Compatible 3D Printed Vases

Any vase between 40mm and 67mm (1.5 to 2.5 inches) in diameter where it touches the table top will work well with this project. Vases over 70mm will also work as long as they're not so big as to be unstable. (Of course you may be able to scale the size of the vase to make it fit better.) For very large vases, you can actually put the Vase Dazzler right inside the vase.
For best effect:

• Use a translucent plastic. White or clear translucent plastic works best because then the colored LEDs take over the task of imparting a color.
• Print with as large a layer as possible to let maximum light through.
• Print with no bottom layers if possible so the light goes right into the vase. Print with no top layers if you want to insert flowers or other decorations.
• If your slicer has a "Spiralize" or "Vase Mode" option, that will make the vase transmit more light and speed up printing time.

See the project wiki for suggested open source 3D printable vases for use with this project.

Power Supply

The kit includes a 9v battery clip. We suggest rechargeable batteries. A 280 mAh NIMH 9v battery will last about 5 hours on a low brightness setting and about 1 hour on maximum brightness (but maximum is overkill for most situations!)

The Arduino Nano's USB port is exposed in the back of the unit, so you may also power it by plugging in a cell-phone charger type 5V power supply with a USB A to mini cord. (NOTE: USB A to mini is not the same as a standard cell phone charging cord which is A to micro or A to C. However, A to mini cables are commonly available because they're used in some cameras and video equipment).

For More Information

Visit the project wiki page for the Vorpal Vase Dazzler.