The inspiration for this project came from seeing moss art in various restaurants and buildings in both Boulder and Denver. My desired aesthetic for this project was one of the forest and nature incorporated into technology. By embedding LED strips in an almost topographical pattern underneath the moss I was able to create a glowing effect that illuminates the installation. A high priority of mine was to ensure that the LEDs were not visible when they were off and the installation was beautiful with and without the illumination.
A key component of this installation was the interactivity. My original vision was to have the user walk up to the installation and be greeted with a waterfall-like display of both light and music with the display stopping once the person walked away. Although I liked this initial idea it lacked true interaction and an iterative cycle. The idea I ended up ultimately pursuing was to have the colors of the lights change depending on how close or far the user was from the installation.
To achieve this I used an ultrasonic sensor to detect the proximity of the person viewing the installation and map the values of that sensor to the RBG values of the LEDs. This allows the colors to fade and change depending on the person's proximity. Approaching the interactive component this way was largely successful and although getting the code to work smoothly was a bit of a challenge I am very happy with how the lights turned out.
April, 2023 - May, 2023
I was the sole designer and artist for this project. Huge shoutout to the helpful folks in the Blow Things Up (BTU) Lab who helped with many steps along the way.
The process for this project was not linear and I ran into many roadblocks along the way. One of the most disappointing challenges I faced was at the beginning of getting the LEDs set up. I was not being cautious enough with my cable management and I short-circuited one of the LED strips requiring me to start over from scratch. Although this was frustrating it gave me a better understanding of the safety precautions I needed to take to ensure my project was successful and I am grateful that this occurred in the beginning stages and not later on. Some other challenges included incorrectly soldering the DIN pin on one of the LED strips and having to re-glue and re-solder. Overall this project was an exercise in patience and trusting a long process to come to fruition.
| Material | Supplier | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Plywood (3/4" x 2' x 4') | Home Depot | $34.83 |
| Select Pine (0.75" x 2.5" x 8') | Home Depot | $22.90 |
| Honey Classic Wood Stain (8 oz.) | Home Depot | $7.28 |
| Flat Chip Brush (4 in.) | Home Depot | $4.27 |
| 75 lb. Large Steel D-Ring Hangers (2-Pack) | Home Depot | $3.27 |
| 50 lbs. 9 ft. Durasteel Stainless Steel Hanging Wire | Home Depot | $4.93 |
| #16 x 1-1/2 in. Wire Nails | Home Depot | $2.56 |
| Preserved Moss 4 Color Assorted Pack (0.88 LB) | Amazon | $23.99 |
| Preserved Moss Green #2 (0.88 LB) | Amazon | $24.99 |
| Preserved Mood Moss | Amazon | $31.06 |
| WS2812B Individually Addressable RGB LED Strip | Amazon | $22.99 |
| 5V 60A 300W Power Supply | Amazon | $25.99 |
| 16.4 ft. Silicone LED Channel System | Amazon | $21.99 |
| Arduino UNO R3 Controller | Elegoo (Included in Kit purchased for class) | $12.98 |
| Ultrasonic Distance Sensor - HC-SR04 | SparkFun (Included in Kit purchased for class) | $4.50 |
| 12 guage wire (12 ft.) | McGuckin Hardware | $12.95 |
| Total price: | $261.48 |
For this initial part of the project I sketched general guidelines for where I was going to have the moss as well as where the LEDs would be marked by the X's
Because I needed to bend the LEDs to create the river effect, I added silicone channels to make it easier to manipulate the LEDs for hot gluing, also diffusing the light. I went through each section marked to have LEDs and cut the strips to length. Soldering for this project was essential because it allowed me to chain the LEDs and space them out throughout the installation while still being connected in series. After each new solder joint, I would use a multimeter to test continuity before adding hot glue to ensure no potential short circuits. I established a color heirarchy having power be red, ground be white, and green be for the PWM pin. This part of the project was by far the most time-consuming and laborious. Having to be very detailed and patient with not only the soldering but also the gluing took up the bulk of the project.
Since this installation consists of 270 LEDs which require 60 mA per LED (16.2 amps total) I purchased a 5V, 60 amp power supply to ensure that the LEDs had enough power. Setting up this power supply, I stripped down an old computer cable, adding crimpable terminals to the wires for extra security. To connect the power cable to the power supply module, you must diligently check the three wires for power, ground, and neutral. I referenced this YouTube video here when setting up these chords as well as testing the different wires with a multimeter since the color coding is sometimes inconsistent. Once the wires are connected to the module correctly, use a multimeter to ensure that 5V is being supplied.
Additionally, to avoid a voltage drop in the long distance between the LEDs/ Power Supply Module, I purchased two 6 ft. strands of 12 gauge wire to solder into the power and ground wires of the LEDs. This size of wire allowed me to add terminals and screw them into the power and ground sections of the supply module. After these steps were complete, I ran some test code to ensure that all the LEDs lit up correctly.
For this part of the project, I cut the two pieces of 0.75" x 2.5" x 8' pine using a miter saw to create the 45-degree miter joints for the frame. After the wood had been cut I used the Honey Classic Wood Stain to stain the wood. Once this was completed, I nailed the frame together using #16 x 1-1/2 in. wire nails.
Gluing the moss was the other very time-consuming part of the project. This took roughly ten or so hours to complete and required very close attention to detail and planning to achieve the desired outcome.
-Add FastLED library in Arduino IDE
-Follow given code
Presenting this project at the ATLAS Expo along with over 120 other student projects was a rewarding experience and allowed me to see how people interacted with my work. I received lots of positive feedback and praise for the installation which was a nice validation of the extensive hours I put in. It also was good to see that people understood the interaction just by reading the description card. I didn’t want to have something overly complicated that I’d need to explain so I would say I was successful in those intentions.
