In this week’s project, we 3D printed LEGO compatible bricks and stuffed em’ with two coin cell batteries and an Adafruit LED sequin. A tiny momentary push button is wired to little pieces of copper foil tape, which touch the positive and negative contacts on the coin cell batteries, effectively opening and closing the circuit. It sounds like a super easy project but is actually a little bit challenging. To fit everything inside the 2×3 brick, the wiring must be very short. This is one of those projects that require precision, with the aid of tweezers, you can manage to connect everything without any access wiring. This was a fun project to make and actually got my brother and I into the whole LEGO’sphere. Having never really played with LEGO as kids, we really didn’t “get it” (oddly enough, being the creatives we are). It wasn’t until we checked out the LEGO store in Downtown Disney Springs that got lured us into getting a kit. We’ve had suggested before to make Adafruit Feather LEGO adapters and such, but just haven’t pursue it (yet).
The idea to make DIY light bricks came after putting together our first kit (LEGO® Creator Robo Explorer 31062) which includes an “offical” LEGO light brick. Like any curious person would do, we took it apart to see how it works. Right away, we realized how simple it is and thought about 3D printing one. The major difference between ours and the official one from LEGO, is the whole brick glows. This is because the LED is pointing face down, so the brick effectively diffuses the LED. There’s still some ideas we want to try and hopefully fill a need that folks are interested in. We hope you guys like the project and try it out for yourself (if of course you’re into LEGO :-). Check out all the Circuit Playground Episodes! Our new kid’s show and subscribe! Have an amazing project to share? Join the SHOW-AND-TELL every Wednesday night at 7:30pm ET on Google+ Hangouts. Join us every Wednesday night at 8pm ET for Ask an Engineer! Learn resistor values with Mho’s Resistance or get the best electronics calculator for engineers “Circuit Playground” – Adafruit’s Apps!
Maker Business — The Art of War – Sun Tzu – An Animated Book SummaryWearables — Magical hairElectronics — Static kills… slowly.Biohacking — Three Ways to Get Your Head Around CRISPR-Cas9Get the only spam-free daily newsletter about wearables, running a "maker business", electronic tips and more! Adafruit has a "be excellent to each other" comment policy. Help us keep the community here positive and helpful. Stick to the topic, be respectful of makers of all ages and skill levels. Be kind, and don't spam - Thank you!What is LIGHT STAX? LIGHT STAX brings LED light into the world of bricks like LEGO®, DUPLO® and MEGA BLOKS®. Each brick contains a powerful LED. You can use them to build imaginative light creations and you can also use them to light up your own collection of building blocks. They work with and without wires and have multiple lighting modes. Just imagine the possibilities. LIGHT STAX and LIGHT STAX Junior LIGHT STAX consists of 2 types.
LIGHT STAX (Compatible with LEGO®) and LIGHT STAX Junior (Compatible with DUPLO®). As they have a different construction and size, they do not work with each other. LIGHT STAX Beginner Set LIGHT STAX Mobile Power Set LIGHT STAX Creative Set LIGHT STAX Solid Colors Expansion Set Visit our online store LIGHT STAX come to life when you build them onto Power STAX. There is a 2×4 USB Power STAX which has a micro USB connector and a small switch on the side. Plug in a USB cable and connect it to your smart phone adapter, laptop or power bank. We also designed a wireless 4×4 Mobile Power STAX. One of these battery bricks will light 50 STAX for more than 1 hour and can be recharged over and over again. No need for wires or batteries! Both Power STAX have 3 light options: instant on, blinking or glowing. LIGHT STAX comes in a wide range of both solid and transparent colors. LIGHT STAX was succesfully funded on Kickstarter & Indiegogo! Thanks to our backers we raised over €40,000 on both Kickstarter and Indiegogo!
It has been a great journey so far and there are great times ahead. We would also like to thank you for all the positive messages we have received so far! If you have any questions, ideas or anything you would like to share, don’t hesitate to contact us. LIGHT STAX Junior won multiple awards The original bigger size LIGHT STAX (now sometimes referred to as LIGHT STAX JUNIOR) already received numerous awards that we are proud of. It’s been a New York Toy Fair favorite and it was nominated Best of Toy Fair. Last year the awards just kept coming in. We think that the new brick scale LIGHT STAX may be an even bigger price winner! LIGHT STAX Junior – Light up your play LIGHT STAX Junior lets you build with light. These DUPLO® size LED light bricks have been on the market since 2014 and are a great success in both Germany and the United States of America. In September 2016 LIGHT STAX will introduce its latest development, the LEGO® size LIGHT STAX. How does LIGHT STAX Junior work?
The LIGHT STAX Junior are DUPLO® size LED light STAX that come in 3 sizes (2×2, 2×3 and 2×4) and 8 different colors (red, blue, yellow, orange, green, pink, white and black). They light up when connected to the USB smart base, which gets its power from either batteries or a USB connection. The STAX easily light up when stacked together. One baseplate is strong enough to light up to more than hundred STAX. The benefits of LIGHT STAX Junior LIGHT STAX Junior can be used individually or together with DUPLO®. It’s a total new way of playing with toy bricks. The USB smart base has 4 different lighting functions, lights on, blinking, glowing, or automatic shut down after 15 minutes. Light up your play! Power STAX light up over 500 LIGHT STAX No batteries (4×4 LiPo Brick or USB power) 100% compatible with major brick brands No wires necessary, extension cables for far and hidden places. info@lightstax.eu Like us on Facebook Follow us on Pinterest Follow us on Twitter Download our PRESSKIT here