Published December 20, 2019 © MIT

Arduino Lightsaber

Every hardware Jedi has to build their own lightsaber. Here’s how we built our RGB Arduino saber.

IntermediateFull instructions provided2 hours4,274

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Microchip ATmega328

Linear Regulator (7805)

16 MHz Crystal

Multilayer Ceramic Capacitor, 20 pF

Resistor 10k ohm

Ceramic Disc Capacitor, 0.1 µF

Rotary potentiometer (generic)

C&K Switches PTS 645 Series Switch

Adafruit RGBW LED with integrated chip

9V Battery Clip

9V battery (generic)

Rocker Switch, Non Illuminated

Software apps and online services

Patchr

Arduino IDE

Hand tools and fabrication machines

Bantam Tools Desktop PCB Milling Machine

Soldering iron (generic)

Solder Wire, Lead Free

Story

This build was inspired by our love of all things sci fi… especially Star Wars… (Stay tuned, Tron fans. We’re coming for you soon.)

There are few things more awesome than building your own lightsaber, leveling you up from Padawan to Jedi. I felt like this build was also uniquely suited to showing off the awesomeness that comes with the Explorer Uno template and its ability to be redesigned/reshaped to fit into tight spaces like our lightsaber hilt.

We built this saber on a budget, spending less than $50 and focusing on components that are readily available. We got the blade from Ultra Sabers — go check them out. They build highly reflective tubes to help pull the light down your blade. The hilt itself is a combination of PCB fittings and electrical tape spray painted silver. For the light, we used a single neopixel LED because we wanted to keep it simple and power efficient on the battery side. (More on how we made it brighter below.)

Before we get started, there are a lot of (non sponsored/this is not an ad) shout outs that need to happen. The first being Ultra Sabers. They are the right price, and after attempting to build our own clone of their product, we can say they are definitely the best option for saber blades. Second: The MVP on this build, Bantam Tools and their Desktop PCB Milling Machine. Nothing is greater than designing and spinning up an Arduino clone in under an hour from your desk. If you haven’t heard of them and are building as much as we are, go check them out. They rock our Chewbacca socks off.

And finally, a sneak peak at 2020. We realized that the Explorer Uno is super cool but doesn’t cut it for space-sensitive projects. Keep your eyes peeled, ears to the floor and head on a swivel because the Explorer Uno Slim template is coming soon. We’ve restricted ourselves to the dimensions of a stick of gum. It’s going to be rad.

The Build:

1. The Hilt

We built the hilt with two PVC fittings and a 1.5-inch PVC pipe. I encourage you to go to your local hardware store and take a look at all the fittings — there are so many different options you can use to truly make your saber your own. We went with a basic fit, but you can definitely dress it up a bit more. The main need is that 1.5-inch diameter PVC long enough to contain your Explorer Slim, LED, controls, and 9V battery.

Once you have the fittings picked out, think about where you want to put the fade on/off button and potentiometer for changing the color, and drill holes to mount them.

2. The Hardware

We started off by prototyping the lightsaber on a breadboard with an Arduino Uno.

But given the size of the prototype, we really couldn't fit it within the hilt we wanted to use. So we hopped into Patchr and used the Explorer Uno Arduino clone template to help slim things down to fit the confines of the lightsaber. Check out the diagram below on how everything is put together:

The button is pretty simple and was built on a secondary PCB to mount it higher than the main board. This was designed to help it fit into the hole we drilled on the hilt.

The potentiometer is connected by three wires to the main board. We did this so we would have a more flexibility when installing the board into the hilt.

The LED has its own PCB that extends out at a right angle from the main board. We bought a $5 flashlight from Home Depot and stole its reflector cone to help reflect a directional beam within the saber blade. It ended up working out surprisingly well.

We installed an on/off switch in the bottom of the hilt. You can put this anywhere, but we decided to place it down there to conceal it.

Because we are just powering the Explorer Uno Slim and a single RGBW LED, we don’t need a crazy amount of amps, so we used a 9V to get the 5V we need to keep consistent brightness on the saber blade.

3. The Software

The software is pretty simple. The potentiometer is mapped to seven steps and cycles through predefined colors, which can be switched to whatever colors you desire on the RGB spectrum by altering the code from the link below. The button fades on with the starting color — in this case green — and fades out with the color you have selected.

Disclaimer: the software is still a work in progress and can definitely be built off of, I’d love your suggestions on how we can make it better.

I've attached the Arduino IDE file below.

Next Steps

Alright Padawan, the moment you’ve been waiting for — let’s turn it on, give it a swing, and feel the power in your hand. Welcome to the Jedi Order! With you, we are now more powerful than ever before. From one hardware Jedi to another… May the F=m*a be with you.

One last thing… What do you call five Siths piled on top of a lightsaber? A Sith-kebab. …Annnnd I’m out. Happy building!

Tag your finished PCB on social media with #PoweredByPatchr. We will choose our favorite and award you a free year of Patchr Premium!

If you enjoyed this project and want to design your own custom-shaped PCBs, visit www.Patchr.io.

Attached are the gerber files for the PCBs.

Code

ArduSaber

//Arduino Lightsaber
//MCU: ATMega328
//PCB Software: Patchr.io
//By: Eric Schneider, 2019
//License: Beerware 2019

#include <Adafruit_NeoPixel.h>

#define PIN 3 //LED attached to digital pin 3

Adafruit_NeoPixel strip = Adafruit_NeoPixel(2, PIN, NEO_RGB + NEO_KHZ800);

int button = 4; //Button attached to digital pin 4
int delayval = 500;
int pot = A0; //Potentiometer attached to analog pin 0
int potValue = 0;
int potMap = 0;

boolean oldSwitchState = LOW;
boolean newSwitchState = HIGH;

void fadeOn() { //fades on into the first color

  uint16_t i, j;

  for (j = 0; j < 255; j++) {
    for (i = 0; i < strip.numPixels(); i++) {
      strip.setPixelColor(0, j, 0, 0);

      strip.show();
      delay(10);
    }
  }
}

void fadeOff0() { //these help each color selection fade out to dark when button is pressed
  uint16_t i, j;

  for (j = 255; j > 0; j--) {
    for (i = 0; i < strip.numPixels(); i++) {
      strip.setPixelColor(i, j , 0, 0);
    }
    strip.show();
    delay(10);
    Serial.println(j);
  }
  delay(1500);
}

void fadeOff1() {

  uint16_t i, j;

  for (j = 255; j > 0; j--) {
    for (i = 0; i < strip.numPixels(); i++) {
      strip.setPixelColor(i, j , j, 0);
    }
    strip.show();
    delay(10);
    Serial.println(j);
  }
  delay(1500);
}

void fadeOff2() {

  uint16_t i, j;

  for (j = 255; j > 0; j--) {
    for (i = 0; i < strip.numPixels(); i++) {
      strip.setPixelColor(i, 0 , j, 0);
    }
    strip.show();
    delay(10);
    Serial.println(j);
  }
  delay(1500);
}

void fadeOff3() {

  uint16_t i, j;

  for (j = 255; j > 0; j--) {
    for (i = 0; i < strip.numPixels(); i++) {
      strip.setPixelColor(i, 0 , 0, j);
    }
    strip.show();
    delay(10);
    Serial.println(j);
  }
  delay(1500);
}

void fadeOff4() {

  uint16_t i, j;

  for (j = 255; j > 0; j--) {
    for (i = 0; i < strip.numPixels(); i++) {
      strip.setPixelColor(i, 0 , j, j);
    }
    strip.show();
    delay(10);
    Serial.println(j);
  }
  delay(1500);
}

void fadeOff5() {

  uint16_t i, j;

  for (j = 255; j > 0; j--) {
    for (i = 0; i < strip.numPixels(); i++) {
      strip.setPixelColor(i, j , 0, j);
    }
    strip.show();
    delay(10);
    Serial.println(j);
  }
  delay(1500);
}


void fadeOff6() {

  uint16_t i, j;

  for (j = 255; j > 0; j--) {
    for (i = 0; i < strip.numPixels(); i++) {
      strip.setPixelColor(i, j , j, j);
    }
    strip.show();
    delay(10);
    Serial.println(j);
  }
  delay(1500);
}


void setup() {
  Serial.begin(9600);

  pinMode(button, INPUT);

  strip.begin();
  strip.show(); //pixels set to off position

  fadeOn();

}

void loop() {
  newSwitchState = digitalRead(button);
  potValue = analogRead(pot);
  potMap = map(potValue, 0, 1030, 0, 7); //maps values to 8 points to switch colors, you could remove this and scale the RGB values to whatever color you'd like

  Serial.println(potMap);



  if (potMap == 0) { //green
    strip.setPixelColor(0, 255, 0, 0);
    strip.show();
    delay(delayval);

    if (newSwitchState == HIGH) {
      fadeOff0();
      delay(delayval);
      strip.show();
      delay (10000);
    }
  }

  if (potMap == 1) { //orange
    strip.setPixelColor(0, 255, 255, 0);
    strip.show();
    delay(delayval);

    if (newSwitchState == HIGH) {
      fadeOff1();
      delay(delayval);
      strip.show();
      delay (10000);
    }

  }

  if (potMap == 2) { //red
    strip.setPixelColor(0, 0, 255, 0);
    strip.show();
    delay(delayval);

    if (newSwitchState == HIGH) {
      fadeOff2();
      delay(delayval);
      strip.show();
      delay (10000);
    }

  }

  if (potMap == 3) { //blue
    strip.setPixelColor(0, 0, 0, 255);
    strip.show();
    delay(delayval);

    if (newSwitchState == HIGH) {
      fadeOff3();
      delay(delayval);
      strip.show();
      delay (10000);
    }

  }

  if (potMap == 4) { //purple
    strip.setPixelColor(0, 0, 255, 255);
    strip.show();
    delay(delayval);

    if (newSwitchState == HIGH) {
      fadeOff4();
      delay(delayval);
      strip.show();
      delay (10000);
    }

  }

  if (potMap == 5) { //light blue
    strip.setPixelColor(0, 255, 0, 255);
    strip.show();
    delay(delayval);

    if (newSwitchState == HIGH) {
      fadeOff5();
      delay(delayval);
      strip.show();
      delay (10000);
    }

  }

  if (potMap == 6) { //white
    strip.setPixelColor(0, 255, 255, 255);
    strip.show();
    delay(delayval);

    if (newSwitchState == HIGH) {
      fadeOff6();
      delay(delayval);
      strip.show();
      delay (10000);
    }
  }

}

Credits

Patchr

4 projects • 26 followers

Patchr makes PCB design a snap. With our software, you can go from idea to a completed board in days, not weeks.

Arduino Lightsaber

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Software apps and online services

Hand tools and fabrication machines

Story

The Build:

1. The Hilt

2. The Hardware

3. The Software

Next Steps

Schematics

ArduSaber_MainPCB

ArduSaber_ButtonPCB

ArduSaber_NeopixelPCB

Code

ArduSaber

Credits

Patchr

Comments

Embed the widget on your own site

Arduino Lightsaber

Arduino Lightsaber

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Software apps and online services

Hand tools and fabrication machines

Story

The Build:

1. The Hilt

2. The Hardware

3. The Software

Next Steps

Schematics

ArduSaber_MainPCB

ArduSaber_ButtonPCB

ArduSaber_NeopixelPCB

Code

ArduSaber

Credits

Patchr

Comments

Related channels and tags