Magic Crystal Bedside Lamp

For my project, I want to make a bedside lamp that both acts as a nightlight, and a portable flashlight device for walking around in the dark. Aesthetically I would like it to look like a large crystal, and functionally I would like it to feel magical. Organizing this into a more specific set of design goals:

Lamp Aesthetics

• Shape – Harsh, jagged angles, like a large single chunk of crystal.
• Size – I would like it to be around the size of a small to medium-sized water bottle. Easy for the 99% of the population to hold comfortably with one hand.
• Color – Semitransparent purple/blue to represent the look of amethyst but I am open to exploring other colors to look like other precious gemstones.
• Texture – If I could make it feel like glass or metal either through the use of material choice, or via applying a glossy coating, like an epoxy, that would be ideal. However my initial prototypes will be 3D printed, and likely not have this texture.

I would like the crystal to have a light diffusivity and color similar to this other lamp I found.

Base Aesthetics

• Shape – small base, slight wider than the crystal, with ornate arms rising up to hold crystal.
• Size – large enough for the lamp to slot into upright, and fit required electronics.
• Color – Black, Grey, Silver, Wood, Gold, Stone, all possibilities.
• Texture – Material dependent.

Lamp Functionality

• Power on when user waves hand over the lamp.
• Power on when user pulls lamp out of base station.
• Increase in brightness when user pulls and pushes hand in air above lamp
• Increase in brightness when lamp is shaken (out of base)
• Dim in brightness 10% every 5 minutes (when out of base)
• Charge wirelessly and stay on with internal battery.

Base Functionality

• Charge the lamp wirelessly

I have designed a potential model for the lamp and base station, just to see how easily I could create an organic crystal structure inside SolidWorks, with an accompanying base station it slots into.

I 3d printed the crystal as a shell using purple filament to experiment with how wall thickness affected the lights diffusivity. These images are of a single wall, and a double wall thickness. I also played with some multicolored filament just to see how it would turn out.

I also began working on the possible circuit design and functionality testing. Here I used an Arduino, some sensors, and some simple LEDs to represent the LEDs that would eventually be inside the lamp. I was able to control the lights as intended using both hand waving, and by shaking the IMU. Eventually I would like to source custom components to attach to a custom circuit board, but my first prototype will probably involve a lot of soldering, wires, and hot glue keeping everything together.

Check out this YouTube video I made of it working!

Electronics Demo and Functionality Video

My biggest constraints are as follows

• Money – Properly prototyping this will cost at least another $100 in electronics and various raw materials. I currently have no money and no job. So further progress will have to wait until I can afford to fund its development.
• Time – This will take probably another 100 hours or more of development time. That includes CAD work to build the internal structure of the crystal that is capable of housing all of the required electronics, as well as material testing to find the best way to make the lamp diffuse light properly and look how I imagine it.
• Material selection – I own 3d printers, so it is easy for me to try and 3d print this project, but I don’t think plastic is actually the best solution here. Something like laser-cut acrylic or even some kind of durable stained glass that I am able to form into a 3d shape would be better than plastic.
• Manufacturing abilities – Even if I decide that laser-cut acrylic or glass is the ideal material, I don’t have the ability to actually fabricate anything with those manufacturing methods. Even if I go with plastic, I believe injection molding would probably be better than 3D Printing, but that is also something I don’t have access to readily.

Of all of these, I believe money is the toughest to deal with. It strongly limits my ability to experiment, prototype, and develop this idea much further beyond where I have currently gotten with it.