I have wanted some Nanoleaf lights for a long time but the price has always been too high for me. So I thought I would set about creating my own version using a 3D printer. Each lit panel works out at about £3.40 in materials to make and I’m very happy with the end result.
You can assemble them in any order to suit your wall space and other shapes can be included such as the square panels. I have offset them from the surface to allow a stylish glow out across the wall in the evenings and the panels themselves are bright enough to be seen in the daytime.
I’m using an ESP8266 to control them using the brilliant WLED firmware and its built in webserver. The smarts for the project are all housed in the small rectangular panel at the bottom. They can also be programmed to automatically mimic a Phillips hue bulb or respond to Alexa commands.
I’ll share with you how I made them - they’re really rather simple. As always there is a complete list of parts and links to amazon down below this video, and included some helpful tips and an FAQ here on my site. Enjoy.
3D models for printing: https://www.prusaprinters.org/prints/107555-geoleaf-3d-print-your-own-nanoleaf-project-alexa-h
Optional square panels to upgrade your project: https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/1067981962
WLED Code for project (use Chrome web browser for the best experience): https://install.wled.me/
STL model of triangular acrylic diffuser for reference:
or optionally
You can order a pre-soldered PCB with the Wemos, Mini360 and Logic Converter already attached and configured here: https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/1093166401
Or a kit of parts for you to solder yourself here: https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/1084096956
Nuts, bolts and screws needed:
I showed a piece of perforated board in the main project video but after further consideration have described how to use a piece of Adafruits Perma-proto board. This small change makes the wiring much simpler and greatly reduces the amount of soldering required.
The Nanoleaf project can be integrated with Amazon's Alexa voice assistant service to allow you to control the colour, brightness and toggle the panels on and off with your voice. This option also allows you to further integrate it into other services such as IFTT's routines. It is very easy to add:
On the main screen of WLED open the 'Config' screen (top right button)...
...dive down into the 'Sync Interfaces' menu....
Scroll down until you reach the 'Alexa Voice Assistant' section. Check the box to enable 'Emulate Alexa Device' and then choose an easily spoken and heard 'Alexa invocation name:' You can then scroll to the bottom and save your chnages.
Now open the Alexa app on your phone and click the '+' in the top right to begin adding a device ....
... in the pop-up at the bottom, choose 'Add Device '....
... click on 'Light' ...
... and then scroll to the bottom of the list of brands and choose 'Other' ...
... on this page just proceed by clicking 'Discover Devices' ...
... Alexa will start to search ....
... during this time keep your Geoleaf project powered on ...
... you should get a confimation when everything has been discovered and added.
Enjoy using Alexa to control your project.
Integration with Philips Hue's smart lighting system is a little more involved than the Alexa integration shown above. To integrate with Hue we will have the project poll the Hue Bridge regularly and ask it about the status of one of your existing lights. The Geoleaf project will then try to replicate the settings of this build as closely as it can. For example, my Geoleaf panels are in my office and I have t follow the brightness of my ceiling light bulb. This way it switches on and off when I enter and leaf my home office space.
Here is some documentation provided on the official Wiki for WLED: https://github.com/Aircoookie/WLED/wiki/Philips-hue-sync
and here is some documentation from Philips Hue on interacting with your Hue bridge to find bulb IDs which you need to enter int the WLED app: https://developers.meethue.com/develop/get-started-2/. Both of these resources might help you with this integration but here is a super concise run through of what is required:
Discord sever for project: https://discord.gg/sbqyCmmYjc
Yes you can, but you need to watch how much current you are drawing through the project.
The PCB is suitable for no more than 4 amps. At this point the choice of wiring guage and power supply need to be reconsidered in order to ensure the project remains safe.
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