Make a (Vibrating) Glass Sculpture!

This is a lamp that I created using Arduino along with vibrating flat-coin motors and RGB LEDs! I made this using a walnut base and mild steel frame, however this can be made using a pre-existing lamp form or other found materials pretty simply. This was made to have another sensory element to a lighting element, hence the use of vibration motors, however these don't have to be used if not wanted.

• 10"x5" block of wood (a board can be cut and laminated)
• Steel, 1/4" hot rolled
• Steel, 3/8" hot rolled
• Steel, flat bar stock
• Arduino Uno (*)
• 9v power supply (*)
• A few vibration motors
• Two+ RGB LEDs
• Found glass

*- you can use two of these if including vibration

Again, the frame can be something that you already have that has space for the glass to fit into, or you can make something of your own design! Personally, I went with making my own steel frame. I started off by making rolling the flat stock into a circle with a diameter of about 16.5". I had that welded at the seam where they meet using TIG welding so that it's not super visible and clean looking. I found that center point on the other side so that I could line up some of the 3/8" steel rod and welded that rod there. I created a cool shape so you do the same! On top, inside the circle, I made a small frame that matches the shape of the glass that I used and connected it to the frame using a bit of 1/4" steel rod.

The base for the lamp can also be found or made in wood. I went for a more round shape to complement the frame. I made the base more heavy bottomed to give the structure some stability and balance out the weight of the steel and glass on top. I drilled a 3/8" hole into the center of the final wood shape to account for the size of the leg of the steel frame that'll be going into it.

This step is optional. I like the idea of not being able to see all of the wiring that's gonna happen inside of the glass so I chose to make it less visible by sand-blasting the exterior and interior of the glass and following that with some glass frost spray to have a smooth finish. Tactility is key. Also I didn't want the wires to distract from the overall attraction of the light and vibration but if you don't mind seeing the wires inside when it's all finished, you can skip this.

This is where the real work starts. I followed this tutorial which has the basic code in it for the Arduino, however to make multiple motors working at the same time while only using one NPN transistor I decided to just solder the motors in line to both the 2k resistors and some wires that I can plug into a breadboard. I also decided to change the code a little which can be found here. The original code within the motor tutorial has the motor on for one second and off for 50 seconds. Mine goes on for a second and off for five seconds to make it a still exciting without having to wait forever for the vibration to turn back on. You can use one 9v power supply for two motors.

This is the basic RGB LED setup for Arduino, I just did the same thing of soldering the LEDs to a group of longer wires. The wires are split at the top to make room for the two lights they have to accommodate, but they come together as one wire at the bottom. The specific code that I used for the LEDs can also be found here. This can be powered with a 9v power supply.

Now you just gotta put the pieces together! I used epoxy to settle the steel structure into the wood base and I'll do the same to set the glass onto the steel frame. Wait 24 hours for these to set. Place the motors onto the inside of the glass along with the LEDs. Once everything is set in place, your all good to go! Power it up!