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Frank Milburn's Blog Gravity Assisted Blinking Coin Cell Christmas Tree
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  • Author Author: fmilburn
  • Date Created: 28 Dec 2017 3:52 AM Date Created
  • Views 2117 views
  • Likes 13 likes
  • Comments 15 comments
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Gravity Assisted Blinking Coin Cell Christmas Tree

fmilburn
fmilburn
28 Dec 2017

This is a project I did with a friend just before Christmas that I was able to get my grandson involved in.  The idea is to use a CR2032 coin cell to power LEDs as it rolls down a ramp.  The project is constructed from foam board cut out with a hobbyist knife and copper tape used to make the connections with the coin cell.  It is best understood by seeing it in action....

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My grandson thought this was the greatest and even suggested an improvement for next year:  Put 25 LEDs on the tree and then use jumpers to add a new LED everyday.  Every day a new LED would be added and the tree would count up to Christmas.

 

It doesn't get much simpler than this.  We entered it in the Hackaday single coin cell competition.  If you have additional interest in the construction and other ideas we looked at then see it here:  https://hackaday.io/project/28793-gravity-assisted-blinking-coin-cell-christmas-tree

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Top Comments

  • fmilburn
    fmilburn over 7 years ago +6
    The project was featured in the Hackaday Blog: https://hackaday.com/2018/01/10/led-tree-brings-gravity-to-christmas/#more-288538
  • dougw
    dougw over 7 years ago in reply to fmilburn +4
    The title is very descriptive - the way engineers label stuff. If it was a military project it might be RADBOL (rolling and dropping battery operated lights) If it was an Apple product it might be i-tree…
  • shabaz
    shabaz over 7 years ago +3
    This is really cool. Very elegant project!!! Every part of it looks just awesome. It could also be a product (maybe a moneybox? modified to use monetary coins instead and AA batteries mounted on the reverse…
  • dougw
    dougw over 7 years ago in reply to fmilburn

    Congratulations!

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  • fmilburn
    fmilburn over 7 years ago

    The project was featured in the Hackaday Blog: https://hackaday.com/2018/01/10/led-tree-brings-gravity-to-christmas/#more-288538 image

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  • fmilburn
    fmilburn over 7 years ago in reply to makerkaren

    Thanks Karen....  If you try something similar be prepared to spend some time getting the angles and slopes right.  Alternatively, the coin cell could be constrained by covering it with something like Plexiglas.  We almost certainly will be working on an improved version next year.

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  • makerkaren
    makerkaren over 7 years ago

    This is so cool!!! I don't think I can explain how excited this makes me. What a neat idea!

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  • the-dubster
    the-dubster over 7 years ago

    Oh wow, that's a super simple and really clever project! Love it.  Nice work. image

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