ESP2866 Light Orb With Wireless Charging

The aim of this project is to make a simple Wi-Fi controlled lamp with wireless charging.

The intend is to make somethingawesome with few components. It could for example be used as a gift or wireless night light (or both if you like).

This project uses mostly standard components, all available on ebay:

1x Wemos D1 mini

1x Wemos D1 mini battery shield

1x 3.7V Li-ion Battery

10x SMD WS2812b LED's (I used a strip with 60 pr. meter)

1x Wireless charger module for phones (the one with micro-usb)

1x Plastic sphere (I got a big 18 cm one, but all the way down to 10 cm would work)

Extra: Normal electronics tools (soldering iron ect) and other bids and bobs :)

As a light defuser and shell for the Light Orb, I used one of those do it yourself Christmas bulbs. These are made of plastic, but they are not the most durable so handle with some care or they might crack (like mine....... But it still looks nice, so if it happens just push on!).

I started by making a hole in the sphere. This will be the base and stop it from rolling. The hole needs to be at least the size of the wireless charging module, as it needs to lay flat against the bottom for it to make contact with the charger. For the bottom I used superglue and an old DVD box. A Dremel tool would be the optimal way to make it, but I did not have one, so i used a hack saw and box cutter. (DON'T GLUE THE TWO HALFS TOGETHER!!)

After the glue had set, I sanded the whole sphere with 240 grid sandpaper, inside and out. This is to defuse the light of the LED's. I first tried with 60 grid sandpaper, but I did not like the finish.

The electronics in this project is super simple! I used a piece of veroboard to connect all the components. The WS2812b LED's only needs 1 data signal, which just hooks up to one of the Wemos PWM pins via a 200-ohm resistor. My strip already had the resistor on the strip.

The 5V pin of the battery shield hooks up the 5V pin on the Wemos, with a switch in-between. This way the battery can still charge while the lights are off. The 5V of the Wemos then goes to the LED's. All GND's goes together.

To add the wireless charging module simply plug it into the micro-usb. It is that simple! (This battery shield + wireless module combo works for any Wemos project, wink wink). If you don't want this just leave it out and charge it with a cable. The battery just connects to the terminal. Remember to check the polarity first!

To control the Wemos wirelessly, I use the app blynk, which makes it super simple to make apps for controlling electronics wirelessly. The app I made uses under 2000 energy so all should be able to remake it. Feel free to tweak it to your liking. Just follow the setup and you are golden!

To program the Wemos I use the Arduino IDE with the Faltled and blynk library. I simply modified the Wi-Fi example code. I use virtual pins to get inputs for the Wemos. There a 100% a better way of doing this, but it works. I use a switch case to choose between different animations.

With all the different parts covered it is time to put i all together. I just stuffed it all into the sphere, wrapped the LED's around some cardboard and put on the top half! I could properly make something neater, but it works so i am happy! Hope you like it and good luck making your own. Feel free to ask any questions, I will be happy to answer them.