The Lightbox

Inspiration

The Lightbox was inspired by our group's families. Many of us have young relatives, such as cousins, and witnessed firsthand the amount of noise and alarm that they would cause on a regular basis if they weren't preoccupied with something that interested them. This commotion would often take it's toll out on our poor uncles and aunts, who struggled with the immense challenge of raising children while retaining a successful career. Our solution was the Lightbox, a device that is sure to pique the interest of any child who merely catches a glimpse of it's lights.

What it does

The Lightbox was designed with children in mind. It displays several different patterns of lights that flash on and off to capture interest and curiosity, that are controlled by a singular, simple button.

How I built it

Our group built the Lightbox by constructing an LED array, then programmed the attached Arduino to flash those lights in different patterns.

Challenges I ran into

Our group ran into several challenge, the most difficult of which was getting the main button to work with the LED light array.

Accomplishments that I'm proud of

Our group is proud of the Lightbox as a whole, but what we consider to be our most impressive achievement was constructing the LED light array, it was difficult and time consuming work but we feel that it definitely paid off.

What I learned

Each individual in our group learned different things about programming and constructing a complex project such as the Lightbox. Every single one of us had our own unique strengths that furthered our project, but every single one of us also had areas where a lot of learning was required to fully comprehend how the Lightbox functioned.

What's next for The Lightbox

The next step for The Lightbox would be to create more in depth light patterns, the ones that are currently on display are simply demonstrations, the finished product will be much more complex and polished. In addition we would love for users to make their own patterns, perhaps with a mobile app, that would allow them to feel more connected to our design and creativity process.

Built With

• arduino
• led's
• pcb