Ambibambi - Ambilight for Laptops

Remember when your parents told you not to watch TV, or not to play on the computer in the dark? They had grounds for it. Uniform light throughout the room, matching the brightness of the monitor, makes our eyesight the least. The greater the contrast between the surroundings and the monitor, the worse it is for the eyes. Natural daylight is of course the best, but when it is not available, ambibambi - a portable Ambilight comes to the rescue.

Step 1: First Step

I started with a schematic in Eagle which was ultra-simple: just an Arduino and a connector to solder the led strip. Then I placed them next to each other on the PCB and connected first the power supply, and next, the signal pin of the led strip to pin 13 of the Arduino. I declared the dimensions of the PCB and added a polygon connected to GND. When everything was ready, I exported my PCB to GERBER files and saved it as a.zip file.

Step 2: PCB

I went to PCBWay and clicked "Quote Now", "Quick Order PCB" and "Upload Gerber File". I chose my file and all parameters were loading themselves. Then I clicked "Save To Card", provided shipping details, and paid for the order. After two days my order was sent, and after another two days, it was already on my desk.

Step 3: 3D Design

The next step was to transfer my laptop's display to Fusion 360. I took a picture of it and put it into the software. Based on it, I created clamps that I will attach to the monitor and they will not require glue or other similar solutions, they will just stick rigidly to the display frames. Then I saved them as.stl files and threw them into Creality Slicer. After two hours, my items were printed and I was able to move on to PCB soldering.

Step 4: Soldering and Clamps

I put the goldpin connectors for Arduino (and the LED strip) into the appropriate places on the PCB. I put a little flux on the pins that I will be using and soldered them. Then I attached three LED strips to the printed parts and connected them together with a few wires. The reason I created clamps on the display bezels was that I didn't want to stick the strips to the back of my laptop permanently and be able to easily remove them when needed. At the moment of sticking the led strip to them, I realized that it could have been done much better, namely connecting the display clamp with the led strip clamp. Such a clamp would then stretch the strap and facilitate assembly.

Step 5: The Code

The last step was to upload the "adalight" code to the Arduino and set the pin to which the led strip is connected and the number of LEDs. Links to the required software are in the description of my yt video. In the Prismatic program, I configured the arrangement and number of LEDs, and after a while, my Ambibambi started to work!

Step 6: Thanks!

I believe that it is a great and very practical gadget that every laptop user who uses it in the evening should have. I will improve the clamps soon and share this design on my Tindie where you can buy it!

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