This is a very simple electronic project. I built this as a night light in my sleeping room.
The reason for building this was, the existing LED night light that I bought from the Mr DIY is a bit dangerous because it needs to be connected to AC power source and my daughter always wants to play with it.
With this LED night light, I can connect it to any mobile phone’s power bank that has a USB port. And it is safe to play with. It doesn’t get hot even it ran for hours!
Bill of materials:
- A one watt LED (RM0.20)- bought it from the China website.
- A heat sink for LED (RM0.20)- bought it from the China website.
- A 39 ohm 1 watt resistor (RM0.10) – bought it from an electronic shop at Jalan Pasar, Pudu
- A LM317 voltage regulator (RM1.50) – bought it from an electronic shop at Jalan Pasar, Pudu
- A heat sink for LM317 (RM1.00) – bought it from an electronic shop at Jalan Pasar, Pudu
- A Mamee instant noodle cup – recycle
- A broken iPad USB cable – recycle
- Some card board – recycle
Total cost is less than RM4!
1. First, you will need to solder all the component together. You can refer to the circuit suggested in this website: http://www.instructables.com/id/Super-simple-high-power-LED-driver/
2. Make a few card boards that cut into the instant noodle cup shape. Make a hole at the middle of one of the card board and put the LED into the middle.
3. Pull other electronic components to the back. Put a layer of white paper at the side of LED for better effect. Pull back the electronic components and screw the heat sink and the LM317 together with the card board.
4. Use glue (any) to stick the card board to the instant noodle cup and it’s all done.
5. I run some test with the watt meter. It’s working at 0.9 to 1w which is within my expectation!
I can bring this light to any where because it is portable and safe. Including toilet! if I don’t want to have a very bright light at the mid night when visiting toilet.
So. What’s next? Maybe a solar panel with rechargeable battery to power this little thing? Stay tuned!
Thanks for reading!
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