Circuitree: Art-official Intelligence

This project was inspired by a video I saw on instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/C32nikCOUY4/

I neglected to take pictures as I was welding the frame together but I found the weld really helpful since the design features defined cement walls rather than the partially-filled box like the video.

I get a sort of brutalist-industrial vibe from this, so I was thinking about how I might weave in some nature elements for balance and then make it a functional piece of furniture.

I started by taking an image found online under Creative Commons and turning it into an STL file.
–imagetostl.com

This creates a very uneven model, so I moved the STL into TinkerCad, stretched it and cut out the middle section where all the lines are clean. Then I cut the design in half for each wall and 3D printed it to scale with the project. I also used a paint brush to apply petroleum jelly to the PLA to help it release from the concrete a bit better.

Time to get our LEDs ready. At first I programmed a few simple light-chasing scripts and color changes onto a Raspberrypi pico in micropython, but I soon discovered an existing program that would save a lot of time. I definitely recommend this program for getting a project off the ground quickly and adding a lot of functionality. Creating an AP to connect to and having an app interface made things very simple from a prototyping perspective.
https://kno.wled.ge/

This wiring setup is also better than running power straight from the GPIO pins since you can run more LEDs without worrying about frying your board.

I wrapped the WS2812 LEDs around a wooden dowel and slotted them through the holes I had saved in the concrete with PVC.

Decided to inlay some fake moss into the design, but that means we need an enclosure because our cats love to eat little plastic bits. So I tweaked another hinge design I found to fit the rebar and cut some acrylic to fit.