So I inherited a load of LEDs and some basic driver electronics from a friend. They’d been assembled Christmas-light fashion for a Burning Man project, sequenced by Atmega32 microcontrollers. Reverse-engineering their circuitry was straightforward, and an opportunity to learn about Darlington arrays — the ULN2803A chip lets you control a high-current set of lights from a low-current microcontroller.
I like the diffuse look of paper lanterns over the point-light intensity of bare LEDs so I’m playing with different shapes and materials. Most of the work now will be sculptural, and I’ll be going for a ‘luminous origami’ feel.
