I have completed a new project... my kids have these Harry Potter wands with reflective tips and nothing really to do with them, so I built them this "magic" lamp.
The black part of the box emits IR light that reflects off the wand tip, and the camera attached to a raspberry pi (both hidden within the black box) detects the wand tip reflections and creates a digital trace. The trace is run through a classifier algorithm that decides whether it's looking at an L-shape, a figure eight or a triangle (in increasing order of difficulty to achieve as the wand user). Any outcome triggers a 2-minute long sequence of lights using a 60-LED neopixel. To add a bit of theming to it, the figure-8 is meant to trigger a Gryffindor themed, red-dominated light show. The triangle is a Slytherin-themed, green-dominated show. The L-shape triggers a rainbow-themed show (it's meant to be more generic rather than one of the houses).
To keep up some replay value, there are multiple different light shows coded along each of those three themes. Upon a given activation, a random number generator is used to pick the specific one. That way when you "cast a spell" with the wand you'll get a light show on the theme you selected (for the most part - classifier is about ~80% accurate), but the specific show within that theme will vary.
I have never worked with raspberry pi or python coding before. It took an immense amount of time to set everything up and troubleshoot it. Having said all of that, I'm happy to share the code and other files necessary to make it work, on the understanding I can't provide tech support. Having reverse-engineered other published code for some parts of it, one thing I have learned from the process is that as wonderful as open source stuff can be, it's constantly evolving so files that work now may get broken as underlying OS and package updates get published. If you've worked with python and/or RPi before I suspect you'd have a far easier time than I did getting this to work for your kids.
Last edited by RoadGame; 03-28-2025 at 07:53 PM.
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If anybody is visiting Supertrain this weekend at the Oval, please feel free to say hi! I have a small static exhibit called "Holiday Train".
Especially surferguy, if your son did end up getting into model railroading and you're going to the show, shoot me a PM and let me know what scale you're working in.
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Several years ago, I covered Supertrain and had an absolute blast. The passion, dedication, and attention to detail on display were infectious.
What really stood out to me, though, was the response to the story. People love model trains. Whether it's an appreciation for the craftsmanship and artistry, a wave of nostalgia, or a spark of inspiration for newcomers - something about them resonates deeply
Back to the basement. And via the basement we end up over Jupiter...and beyond!
2001 is one of my favourite movies ever and when I finally found a kit of Discovery that would fit in the house I had to have it. It's been in my stash for a few years, and couldn't build it because I hadn't come up with a proper display idea, and it finally hit me over the winter - it needed a monolith, and this it had to go in orbit of Jupiter. Made the monolith out of sheet styrene, and Jupiter was a paint pour on an old canvas that was waiting to be recycled. I'd totally forgotten how messy paint pours are (I ended up sacrificing a favourite t-shirt in the process) and misjudged how long it'd take to dry. The things we endure for art, I suppose.
Another fun feature of this is because it's a reinforced canvas, this kit can be displayed either on the shelf (a big shelf because of the weird shape) or hung on a wall. Lots of fun was had with this one:
Spoiler!
A better look at Jupiter's surface. I was kinda sad to have to cover it up with the monolith and ship.
...and finally, the BC Chris shot - and look, buddy: it's Superstore pop!
(maybe some appropriate music for viewing)
__________________
"If Javex is your muse…then dive in buddy"
- Surferguy
Last edited by Puppet Guy; 04-29-2025 at 09:03 AM.
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A few months back my kids were watching Across the Spiderverse and I walked in during a scene that was so unrealistic and silly that I had to model it. Ladies and gentlemen, meet Spider-Rex!
It's a T-Rex kit made by Ban Dai, painted up like Spider-Man and with a whole lot of fake foliage added. The webs are just wire painted with a combo of silver and white. Nothing deep here, just some laughter:
Spoiler!
__________________
"If Javex is your muse…then dive in buddy"
- Surferguy
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I have 2 guitars I use regularly plus an old Harmony from the 60's I believe that my FIL gave me.
A couple of electrics as well.
Only 1 travel case.
Would be nice to display them as well.
If you display guitars, I'd be aware of three things:
- Average humidity of the room (usually not a major thing)
- Airflow of room (ie: Heat registers, AC etc.)
- Direct sunlight
Room humidity obviously affects what's in the room, but a guitar by a heat register blown regularly or direct and heavy sunlight will be in a different (and drier) climate to the rest of the guitars in the room.
If you use the guitars regularly, I assume you'd figure out the status of the guitars before they get too far gone. You won't need a cigar humidor level of situation to prevent issues, but you do want to make sure they're not sitting for weeks/months on end in a bad environment.
Case wise, buy more? Used cases seem to pop up for relatively cheap. Even cloth cases/covered in light cloth (ie: flat bedsheets) might be good enough for that preventative environment you need.
I almost bought one even though I have no specific use for it just because it seemed so cool and enables so many things.. in the hands of someone who has ideas seems like it could print money.
__________________ Uncertainty is an uncomfortable position.
But certainty is an absurd one.
It was time to do another tall ship, and wanting to a project with some Maritime flavour I settled on an old slice of PEI folklore - the Ghost Ship of the Northumberland Strait. According to legend she's a three (or four) masted ship with her sails aflame, foretelling a storm from the northeast.
The ship is a 1/350 scale model of the Cutty Sark that I modified with cloth sails, lit up with cannibalized tea lights wrapped in painted cotton for flame and smoke, and set her on a sea made from TP. At first glance I thought I'd gone overboard with the smoke, but when the fires are lit it works. Gonna be a good display piece for a dark and stormy night:
Spoiler!
Short video of the lights flickering:
Here's a song by Lennie Gallant that wasn't necessarily the inspiration for this project, but it was ever-present in it's creation:
__________________
"If Javex is your muse…then dive in buddy"
- Surferguy
Last edited by Puppet Guy; 07-17-2025 at 06:23 AM.
Reason: spelling correction
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