I have updated the candle so that it looks a little bit more like a candle.
Although the assignment was to replicate the essence of a candle, not necessarily remake a candle in the literal sense, I decided to enclose my e-candle in a way that evokes the real deal. Since I’m going for the feeling of lighting and un-lighting a real flame, I figured a true-to-life look would help sell the experience.
When all you have is a hammer…
Last week I took my first DIP into ATTiny waters. Although using the ATTiny adds a tad more complexity into completing a project, it opens up many new possibilities for small enclosures.
Originally I didn’t intend to use the Tiny this week. I had procured a large candle to house the electricals, but like a muppet I drilled too fast into it and broke it in half.
I panic-raided the junk shelf to see if there was an appropriate container that I could melt the wax into or something, and found a single tealight candle. Not one to shy away from a challenge, I found myself asking: can I fit A into B?
Thus came about my second attempt with the ATTiny85
The Process
The process was simple enough, since I had everything breadboarded up. I first made sure the circuit worked on a Tiny, which it did without much trouble.
I had a blank PCB board that, with some adjustment, fit nicely into the candle’s cavity.
I got pretty tunnel-visioned during the soldering, so the only picture I have of the process is of these markings I made to help me identify the different sides and orientations of the chip…
Fortunately everything went well.
In the end the package just fits within the candle. The microphone sticks out a little but as the project currently stands that is unavoidable. Perhaps the next iteration of this project could involve a NeoPixel ring instead of the jewel, and house all the different sensors on the inside of the ring.
The Outcome
