(up-)Cycling LED-Rim-Flower
Bicycles and LEDs play a big role in our group, at some point these two topics had to be connected.
The first prototype of a rim with covered surface and LED-lighting took a few sessions. The result was convincing, mainly because the LED flower is well suited for projection mapping (Youtube). Now we got three LED flowers which are great toys for the upcoming festival summer.
Since it is a is relatively cheap and easy project to build, we would like to release the instructions into the world.
May LED flowers grow all over the world :)
Supplies
[in square brackets = where to use]
- 14x identical rims (concerns width, hole & valve position) / 28-inch
- cable ties
- 7x LED strips (WS2812B / 60 LEDs / meter), total length 113 LEDs each rim
- 13x JST SM 3-pin female connector [flower elements & extension cables]
- 13x JST SM 3-pin male connector [flower elements & extension cables]
- 7x 2-pin USB cable (at least 1m)
- 6x 3-pin cable (at least 1m) [extension cables]
- (white) cable 2mm diameter (lengths as needed)
- (red) cable 2mm diameter (lengths as needed)
- rim covering material (in our case: washable disposable tablecloth)
- 12x square wooden block (60x18x8mm) with center hole (6mm) [rim connection]
- 12x bolts (M4x70)
- 12x butterfly nuts (M4)
- 1x ESP32 with male pins (flashed with WLED => https://kno.wled.ge/basics/getting-started) hint: search youtube tutorial for WLED
- 3x male-female jumper cables [attatch ESP32 to rim]
- 1x multisocket (6x USB + 1x USB adapter, or just 7 USB adapters)
Tools
- Alcohol for cleaning
- Double-sided adhesive tape
- Side cutter
- Wire stripper
- Soldering iron & accessories
- Heat shrink tubing
- Hot Glue
- 6mm drill
- Duct tape
Preparing Rims
Remove spokes from rims and clean them thoroughly with alcohol.
Use rim as template, mark on the rim covering material and cut it out.
Tip: cut it out without pencil edge, otherwise the pencil edge will be visible
Attach 2 rims with small strips of double-sided adhesive tape, place rims hole on hole & valve on valve.
Fasten rims with cable tie through the holes (approx. 6-8 pieces per double rim), pinch off cable tie ends.
Attach LED Strip
Glue LED strip clockwise onto rim A over the cable ties, start at valve hole. 113-LED for 28-inch rims!
Soldering Instructions
Solder JST SM 3-pin female connector at the start of the LED strip (LED contact 1).
Tip 1: insert the cable through valve hole of LED rim A (with LED-strip)
Tip 2: pre-attached connectors on LED strip must be cut off, inserted through rim A valve hole and re-soldered, as connectors do not fit through valve hole
Solder JST SM 3-pin male connector to end of LED strip (LED contact 114)
Tip: Cable must run through the valve hole of the LED rim A
Solder the power supply bridge: Connect LED contact 2 with LED contact 113 with cable 2mm for better power supply. Ground to ground (white) / 5V to 5V (red)
Solder USB connector (min. 1 meter) to LED contact 3 or LED contact 112 to ground & 5V
Tip: Insert USB cable through valve hole of rim B (unglued)
Build strain relieves at all cables with cable ties.
Test each flower element with flashed ESP32.
Glue the rim covering material on the rim A with hot glue
Solder 6x extension cables for connections between rims (1-1.2m). JST SM 3-pin male connector, 3-pin cable, JST SM 3-pin female connector
Flower Assembly
When connecting the rims, make sure that the LED strip starts are positioned uniformly so that the LED animations start at the same positions.
Connect the rims with the square wooden block, bolts and butterfly nuts.
Tape all loose cables with duct tape to the rims.
Final Steps
Connect rims with LED extension cables.
Tape multisocket on back of flower to a relatively centered rim intersection.
Attach flashed ESP32 at start rim to JST SM 3-pin female connector with 3x male-female jumper cables (or just solder it) & fix with duct tape.
Enjoy!
Now the time has come for your first WLED animations on the whole LED-flower. If you want to animate the rims separately, use the segment option of WLED.
We wish all of you a lot of fun with our instruction. Hopefully one or the other will find some inspiration. Since we also use Instructables regularly for inspiration, it feels great to be able to give something back here as well.
Optional Projection Mapping
For projection mapping we recommend the software Heavy M (no connection, we're just customers), because it is quite user-friendly and yet incredibly versatile and powerful. There is a free version that is great to work with.
You want more YouTube-Videos?