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Lamptopus: The most adorable desk lamp in the world

Arduino TeamMarch 11th, 2023

Sometimes the only motivation you need for a project is “because I want to.” That is especially true for cute and quirky decoration that doesn’t need to prioritize functionality. The perfect example of this is Ruby Zoom’s Lamptopus, which is the most adorable desk lamp in the world.

Lamptopus is a small lamp designed to sit on a desktop and look as cute as possible. Its 3D-printed body was modeled after an octopus, with the light shining through its smiling, bulbous head (complete with top hat) and long articulated tentacles dangling down from there. Those tentacles really stand out because Lamptopus has a trick up its sleeve: it rotates. As it spins back and forth, the tentacles swing to and fro. It is just plain delightful.

If you have access to a 3D printer, this is a fun project that should be fairly easy to tackle. The light comes from two Adafruit NeoPixel rings and two servo motors provide the rotation. An Arduino Uno board controls those, with the sketch starting the rotation at set intervals. All of the 3D files and the sketch are on GitHub if you want to build your own Lamptopus, and Ruby Zoom’s video provides thorough instructions.

Boards:Uno
Categories:Arduino