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Archives for : December2012

Arc Reactor Proposal

 

This is by far one of more more fun projects Ive ever done! A little background first, my girlfriend, now fiancé, has always loved projects I’ve made and really enjoys them. She has started calling me Tony Stark (which any guy will gladly accept that comparison)  after I created a simple Arc Reactor prop replica to sit on display on my desk. So I had a idea after I decided to pop the question! How great would it be if my “Arc Reactor Heart” could give her the ring? So the idea was created!

So I went off and started redesigning the reactor. I made it smaller, and more detailed. I laser cut and cnc routed all of the parts and slowly starting building the basic shell.  My idea was to use two servos controlled by and arduino. At first I was not sure how to light it up, but I had some of AdaFruit’s RGB LED Strip laying around from a pinball project. So I cut off enough to go around the reactor and used the arduino to control that as well! Also added a couple of bright white LEDs to hit the ring once it comes out. So here is the inside of the device.

photo 2 copy 2 photo 1 copy 2

The two halves screw together and hookup easily. I had to keep everything very compact so the servos would not hit each other. Also had to come up with a small bracket to hold the ring, but allowed it to easily be pulled off and put back on as you can see in the second picture. So needless to say, she said yes and loved the ring and the reactor! Hope you all enjoyed and it gave you ideas for your own projects!