After last year making the Die Hard Christmas tree ornament, I through I would combine my newfound love of LEDs with my below average woodworking & craft skills once again.
To make this LED Christmas Tree advent calendar, I used 24 individually addressable LEDs along with an Arduino Nano clone, a push button & a RTC module. Most of the tree itself is made from think balsawood/plywood with an MDF backing that fits snuggly & can be removed for maintenance. The LEDs are hidden under a very thin veneer & similarly the push button is hidden under the panel in the base. I wrote a more detailed summary on my blog which is here.
The usage is simple - press the button under the front panel, and the lights animate down to the current day. On the 24th, all lights will be lit. On Christmas Day, and after, a special animation will play instead.
Can't wait to see what others are doing!
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