One of the greatest things about the information age is being able to see the seemingly endless creativity of the world’s makers, programmers and artists. Even cooler is when these different passions and disciplines come together to create something truly fun and exciting. There are countless examples of those and I should probably feature more but this one hit with electric joy on many angles.
Since I am quite the fan of the openSUSE project, anything to do with Chameleons tends to stoke that childlike enthusiasm on a Christmas morning. Since this is not only a Chameleon but one that has LEDs inside controlled with an Arduino turns that enthusiasm up to 11.
This is not a terribly complex project if you have the fairly basic understanding of electronics and 3D printing, this could be accomplished in a day or so, depending on the speed of your 3D printer. Check out the full article on Instructables.com. If you own or have access to a 3D printer, none of this is particularly expensive but would give many hours of smiles sitting adjacent your couch, monitor or as a centerpiece on your dining room table.
Click on this for details about this smile:
https://www.instructables.com/The-Chameleon/
Parts List
In case you are interested and haven’t quite clicked on that link yet, this is what you will need. There are a few pricy items, like the SK6812 RGBW LEDs, but you can use other cheaper variants. The wires, power switch and push button could be from stock you already have. You might even have the fiber optic cable and craft board. My guess is, if you are strict minimalist, you may not have any of this.
- Arduino Nano V3.0
- SK6812 RGBW LEDs (not cheap but you don’t need many)
- Push Button.
- Switch to control the power
- 5V 18650 Lithium Battery Boost Step Up Module Charger.
- 18650 Rechargeable Battery NCR18650B.
- 3mm Fiber optic cable.
- 3M 6mm + 6mm Hexagonal Spacers. 3M Nuts. 3M Screws.
- Rubber stops.
- Wires.
- 3D Printed parts: Two halves of the chameleon. Fiber optic cable Coupling.
- 2D Cut parts: Interior Chameleon(2mm Acrylic Board). Base Box (3mm MDF Board). Grass (2mm Kraft Foam).
This is a great time in history to be a technology enthusiast. There are so many fun things one can do to express their creativity and passions to spread a little happiness around. We should all make it a priority to spread smiles as much as possible. Life is short, after all.
References
https://opensuse.org
https://www.instructables.com/The-Chameleon/