(via MAKEzine blog)
This is pretty nifty looking project. 
Of course, I like shiny things, so it might not as cool to others as it is to me. At this site, you can get complete instructions – video (color fades or color jumps) pictures, parts list, and circuit diagrams – for building your own mood light using 3 color LEDs.
On this page i will explain how i created my own colour changing lamp with red, green and blue leds that fades between all colours of the rainbow. It really comes out well at night when other light are dimmed. In daylight conditions the colors aren’t noticed well.
Although it’s low budget i must say the result is nice. Here are some photo’s of my lamp in action. Click on any foto to see it in a bigger size.
. . .
So if it’s low budget, what did you use? Well, mainly free stuff lying around. For the casing i used a plastic pyramid of ferrero rocher chocolates. I also used a microchip pic16f628 microprocessor i got from a free sample. Then i used some resistors and transistors i soldered out from old electronics. The LEDS were the most expensive. I used extra bright ones (red: 3000 mcd, green: 4000 mcd, blue:5000 mcd, all with a 25 degrees opening). I also purchased a battery holder for
4 AAA batteries which power this lamp for 10 hours non stop light effects.
. . .
This lamp is my first one and more of a proof of concept. It was the first time i programmed a pic microprocessor.
In the near future i am planning to make more of these lamps but with other housings. I now know things i can do better in future lamps. For example buy diffused leds instead of transparant ones and with a bigger opening angle (however i solved the latter by rubbing the leds with sandpaper, but still…).
This looks like a fun to build project for me, and color changing useless lights just have an appeal to me. Now to find time to build one, and find a place in the house where my wife will let me leave it out all the time.
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[tags]Mood lights, DIY, LEDs[/tags]