A 3D printed cube lined with WS2812B LEDs and clad in two-way mirror panels. Controlled with a Wemos D1 Mini running WLED. Thingiverse files: www.thingivers...
really appreciate your detailed write-up. Not that i need any more projects in my life .. i really want to try this. I may need to hit you up on the WLED programming :). thanks again and great work!
Thanks. The bulk of the work in this project is the soldering of the lights. The WLED install is quite simple really. If you go here: kno.wled.ge/basics/install-binary/ in chrome or edge browsers, it will let you flash the controller right from your browser. This is also a very helpful video on the setup process of WLED... ua-cam.com/video/pZimCBA2G1s/v-deo.html Once you have the cube configured for your wifi (or it can host it's own wifi network), you just load the app on your phone and you're good to go. It's a pretty intuitive interface. There's also lots of videos out there about using WLED if you want to dig deeper into its functions.
Holy shit this looks insane!!! I have 3D printed and buildt my own infinity cube with Acrylic and Mirror Foil but it looks no where near as good as yours! Could you tell me some more about the Acrylic you used? I might try give this project a second shot with a higher quality two way mirror setup... hopefully it doesnt cost as much as i have seen the last time i searched for it
Thanks. If you follow the link in the description to the model on thingiverse, you will find a link to the place I got my mirrors (in a reply to a comment there). Having tried the acrylic and mirror tint film first, I can say that the pre-tinted stuff works much better. I had spent a whole evening cutting the acrylic to size and applying the film, but when I was done, it had bubbles and bumps and a little funhouse mirror distortion going on. At that point in the game I had already spent hours soldering all those lights together, and I just wasn't going to be happy putting sub-par mirrors on it. I managed to find a plastics place that had one way mirror, and they even cut it to custom dimensions. The material itself wasn't too expensive $4.50 for each piece cut to the exact size I needed ($27 for all 6 pieces), but the shipping added another $17. ...so $44 all together. That was definitely more than I wanted to spend going into it, but I had already put in so much work on it, I wanted to be right. This pre-made stuff has a beautiful finish on it compared to the tint film. BTW: I believe I had spent at least $30 on the mirror film and acrylic pieces from Amazon the first time around, and then had to cut the pieces and apply the film. ...so in hindsight, I should have just started with the real stuff first for an extra 10-15 bucks more.
@@gnorbsl4194 I got the lights and D1 controller from Amazon. See my reply to Jeremy Davis' comment below for where I got the mirrors. There is also more info on this in the replies to the comments on thingiverse.
I'm wondering how do you power your cube. Is any USB source good or do I need 3 amp 5v power brick? 1m of those LEDs takes 40W of power so I quite frankly don't know how is it possible to power all those LEDs just through a USB cable. I'm quite inexperienced and would appreciate answer before I start all the soldering :) fantastic project and perfect final effect gj!
If you want to go by the book, I'm sure this goes well outside the recommended specs for what you should be powering through the 5V pin on the D1 mini, but mine has been running along fine so far. I am also just plugged into a usb brick. It's been on for a month and a half, and nothing seems to be getting hot. I like to live on the edge though... if the $3 mini blows out at some point, I will step back and re-tool. The power source/controller is an easy swap later. If you really want to take the safe route with it, you can just substitute the USB power with some larger 5V source and run it to both the 5V on the D1 and to the 5V circuit of the lights. Keep in mind though that the wattage/amp ratings on these LEDs are for full brightness, white (all three color leds on). I keep mine at about 75% brightness, and most of the patterns you set up are going to be colors and/or cycling lights, so it will never really see the full possible load.
@@HlGHPlNG Thank you very much for such practical answer! This is the puzzle piece I was missing. Now only waiting for LED strips to get delivered and beginning the build. Again your execution of this cube is fantastic! Cheers :)
@@goodoldtiberius Just an update... Yesterday (after running for two months) my cube started flickering and acting erratically. At first I thought the 5V pin had finally blown out. However it turns out the little USB brick I was plugged into was only rated for 1A. This is something you should be on the lookout for if you build this. A 2A brick should do the job though if you keep the WLED limiter at 1500mA. Time will tell. I'll report back if/when the 5v pin gives up the ghost.
I got it from a plastics supplier in NYC, but I think there are many plastics suppliers around the country/world that make the stuff. Here's where I got mine: www.ttplasticland.com/collections/mirror-acrylic-sheets-1/products/custom_see-thru-2-way-mirror-acrylic-sheet?variant=16497623105602 You can get the stuff from Amazon as well, but some of the suppliers will custom cut it for you. This saves some time and a lot of mess.
thanks a ton for sharing the video and files. really nice result you got
very nice ! love it!!
really appreciate your detailed write-up. Not that i need any more projects in my life .. i really want to try this. I may need to hit you up on the WLED programming :). thanks again and great work!
Thanks. The bulk of the work in this project is the soldering of the lights.
The WLED install is quite simple really. If you go here: kno.wled.ge/basics/install-binary/ in chrome or edge browsers, it will let you flash the controller right from your browser.
This is also a very helpful video on the setup process of WLED... ua-cam.com/video/pZimCBA2G1s/v-deo.html Once you have the cube configured for your wifi (or it can host it's own wifi network), you just load the app on your phone and you're good to go. It's a pretty intuitive interface. There's also lots of videos out there about using WLED if you want to dig deeper into its functions.
@@HlGHPlNG awesome, thanks again.
Thank you so much for sharing this
I think this looks cool.
Holy shit this looks insane!!! I have 3D printed and buildt my own infinity cube with Acrylic and Mirror Foil but it looks no where near as good as yours!
Could you tell me some more about the Acrylic you used? I might try give this project a second shot with a higher quality two way mirror setup... hopefully it doesnt cost as much as i have seen the last time i searched for it
Thanks. If you follow the link in the description to the model on thingiverse, you will find a link to the place I got my mirrors (in a reply to a comment there).
Having tried the acrylic and mirror tint film first, I can say that the pre-tinted stuff works much better.
I had spent a whole evening cutting the acrylic to size and applying the film, but when I was done, it had bubbles and bumps and a little funhouse mirror distortion going on. At that point in the game I had already spent hours soldering all those lights together, and I just wasn't going to be happy putting sub-par mirrors on it.
I managed to find a plastics place that had one way mirror, and they even cut it to custom dimensions. The material itself wasn't too expensive $4.50 for each piece cut to the exact size I needed ($27 for all 6 pieces), but the shipping added another $17. ...so $44 all together. That was definitely more than I wanted to spend going into it, but I had already put in so much work on it, I wanted to be right. This pre-made stuff has a beautiful finish on it compared to the tint film.
BTW: I believe I had spent at least $30 on the mirror film and acrylic pieces from Amazon the first time around, and then had to cut the pieces and apply the film. ...so in hindsight, I should have just started with the real stuff first for an extra 10-15 bucks more.
@@HlGHPlNG Hey it looks like the comment is deleted on where you got your parts
@@gnorbsl4194 I got the lights and D1 controller from Amazon. See my reply to Jeremy Davis' comment below for where I got the mirrors. There is also more info on this in the replies to the comments on thingiverse.
Holy Moly O.O nice
buenardo.
I actually have some small real glass mirrors laying around, can this be use or do I need plexiglass instead?
I'm wondering how do you power your cube. Is any USB source good or do I need 3 amp 5v power brick? 1m of those LEDs takes 40W of power so I quite frankly don't know how is it possible to power all those LEDs just through a USB cable. I'm quite inexperienced and would appreciate answer before I start all the soldering :) fantastic project and perfect final effect gj!
If you want to go by the book, I'm sure this goes well outside the recommended specs for what you should be powering through the 5V pin on the D1 mini, but mine has been running along fine so far. I am also just plugged into a usb brick. It's been on for a month and a half, and nothing seems to be getting hot. I like to live on the edge though... if the $3 mini blows out at some point, I will step back and re-tool. The power source/controller is an easy swap later.
If you really want to take the safe route with it, you can just substitute the USB power with some larger 5V source and run it to both the 5V on the D1 and to the 5V circuit of the lights. Keep in mind though that the wattage/amp ratings on these LEDs are for full brightness, white (all three color leds on). I keep mine at about 75% brightness, and most of the patterns you set up are going to be colors and/or cycling lights, so it will never really see the full possible load.
@@HlGHPlNG Thank you very much for such practical answer! This is the puzzle piece I was missing. Now only waiting for LED strips to get delivered and beginning the build. Again your execution of this cube is fantastic! Cheers :)
@@goodoldtiberius Just an update... Yesterday (after running for two months) my cube started flickering and acting erratically. At first I thought the 5V pin had finally blown out. However it turns out the little USB brick I was plugged into was only rated for 1A. This is something you should be on the lookout for if you build this. A 2A brick should do the job though if you keep the WLED limiter at 1500mA. Time will tell. I'll report back if/when the 5v pin gives up the ghost.
Do you think that it makes a difference whether you take 1mm wide acrylic or 3mm wide?
The only difference I could think of is that the 1mm stuff may not stay as flat, and any warping would result in a funhouse mirror type effect.
where do you get that mirror?
I got it from a plastics supplier in NYC, but I think there are many plastics suppliers around the country/world that make the stuff.
Here's where I got mine: www.ttplasticland.com/collections/mirror-acrylic-sheets-1/products/custom_see-thru-2-way-mirror-acrylic-sheet?variant=16497623105602
You can get the stuff from Amazon as well, but some of the suppliers will custom cut it for you. This saves some time and a lot of mess.
The download link on Thingiverse is down. Can you restore it?
The "download all" button is broken, but you can get the files individually here.... www.thingiverse.com/thing:5144041/files