Tiny Volumetric Lamp

Volumentric displays are, of course, not a new thing, but as creator Nick Electronics correctly states in his video below, “They are quite awesome.” Rather than simply gaze upon such light sources in admiration, he decided to make his own, using LEDs, a small DC motor, and – maybe most notably – wireless power transfer.

To accomplish this feat, NE used a mobile circular base PCB. This holds both a rectangular upright LED PCB, as well as the mobile power transfer coil and its PCB, and spins via a small DC motor in the unit’s base. The base mounts the corresponding stationary power coil and PCB, and when supplied with 5V power from a USB source it’s able to transfer sufficient power wirelessly to illuminate the 7x7 grid of spinning LEDs.

While it looks gorgeous now, there was one small problem along the way. As the power transfer PCB was attached to one side of the spinning PCB, this created a weight balance… imbalance. This was corrected (and perhaps anticipated, per the large available solder pad) by adding a blob of solder on the opposite side of the power PCB.

The results are beautiful on camera, and one might imagine even better in real life. As NE notes, however, the LEDs shine as a cool-looking volumetric lamp, but it is not controlled as a display, i.e. illuminating figures and characters. Although this sort of operation would be possible with a different electronics configuration and programming, perhaps that is a project for another day!