Spinning Disco Light

thingiverse

So this is an experimental spinning light. I made this as a prototype to see if it would work and what it would look like. It will keep spinning while it has power, this is done with 4 electromagnets making a sort of rudimentary brush-less motor. Lighting is done with high power 5mm LEDs and power is passed through the rings with brass axles and sprung contacts. It runs fairly quietly and there's only some noise from the pick-ups. This is a prototype and it takes a long time to build due the the wiring and electronics. IF you do intend to build this you'll need some basic electronic skills. Although the circuit is fairly simple I did this on strip board and it's quite messy. In the future I may redesign this to be easier to assembly by designing PCBs for the rings and coil drivers. The outer ring spins much slower than the inner ring because of the size and addition weight of the internal coils. Some inspiration for this was taken from this design: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:931900. Some of the comments from this design helped especially regarding the issues he had. Video of it running is here: https://youtu.be/Gc5nJUbr_BQ