Cat and Scratching Post - Long Distance Touch Lamps
Introduction: Cat and Scratching Post - Long Distance Touch Lamps
Set to move across the country in a month, I wanted a way to let a loved one know that I was thinking of them. It needed to be portable and befitting a desk. In the end, we decided on constructing two lamps.
It also seemed natural, as cat lovers, that we build two cat-themed lamps. They would be touch-controlled, so that when one person turns on their lamp, the other lamp lights up as well.
We built two touch buttons into our lamps. The first button turns on the lamp and controls the hue and saturation of the color by pressing and holding. The second button sends the color to the other lamp. When both buttons are pressed and held, the lamp’s brightness is adjusted.
The best part about the cat: it has joints so that each piece on the cat can be rotated! It can stand up, sit down, lie down, and move its tail or head.
Step 1: Inspiration
Long distance lamps have been touched on in this site before, but we made several modifications to the concept. And ours are very cute :)
1. We wanted to use the lamps as mood lighting without always turning on the other person’s lamp.
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On most long distance lamps, the color of the lamp is random, and we wanted to be able to adjust the color.
3. Other long distance lamps are not standalone, but are instead controlled with a phone or controller. We wanted our lamps to be able to be fully functional just by touching the lamp.
4. Many lamps, such as the Filimin, use a very simple acrylic and electrical paint body. We wanted to give our lamps a more finished and upscale look with stained wood with unique designs!
Since we didn't want to use electrical paint (too expensive with limited results) to create a conductive capacitive touch area, we came up with an ingenious method of embedding metal inside the wooden body of each lamp. What are pieces of metal that everyone has? Pennies and dimes! The touch buttons on the cat are the cat's eyes, while the scratching post's buttons are embedded underneath the wood.
Step 2: Materials
We were able to use scrap wood and existing materials and the total cost came out to about $20, which is significantly cheaper than the friendship lamps on the market ($180 dollars for two)!
Electronics
* 2 ESP8266 Modules: the modules from HiLetGo are my go-to ESP8266 board as the ESP8266 normally runs on 3.3V, but this board is modified to run on 5V and can be programmed with micro USB.
* TTP223B touch sensors: it’s important that these are the “B” version of touch sensors, which are blue and have a metal backing that a wire can be soldered to. The red TTP223 sensors have a plastic touch sensor that can’t be soldered!
* WS2812b Strip: 3.2ft 60 LEDs, but you can opt for more or less dense strips
* Jumper wires: female to female
* 2 screw terminal strips
* 22 AWG wire (3 strand): scrap wire is fine for this
* 2 1000uf capacitors
* 2 5V 2A power supplies
* 2 Pennies and 2 Dimes
Woodworking materials
* Stain
* Shellac
* Wood putty/plastic
* Wood glue
* White spray paint
For the Cat
* 12 washers
* 2 bolts, 2 inches long
* 2 cap nuts
* 2 nails
* Sheet of wood: we used white pine wood leftover from a separate project, approx 50 in x 10 x ½ inch thick
For the Scratching Post
* Long block of wood: we purchased an 80 x 3 x ½ inch block of cheap common board at Home Depot for around $5. Higher quality wood will stain more easily, but are more expensive.
Step 3: Tools
* Wire cutter
* Wire stripper
* Soldering iron
* Hammer
* Screwdriver
* Drill and drill bits of various sizes
* Clamps
* Coping saw
* Miter saw
* Table saw
* Random orbital sander with 120 and 220 grit sandpaper
Step 4: Scratching Post - Cut Individual Scratching Post Pieces and Diffuser
Using a ruler, mark the spots where the cuts need to be made, then use the miter saw or table saw to cut the length of wood into five 15 inch pieces.
Then, using a table saw, cut a piece of acrylic which is 3 inches wide and 15 inches tall. This will fit in the opening of the lamp, and both diffuse light coming from the LED strip, as well as hide the messy electronics. 492