Arduino NeoPixel UFO

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I've just moved to Canada, and they take Halloween very seriously here! I decided to make a giant (2 meter diameter) UFO using cardboard, tinfoil, an Arduino Micro and 72 NeoPixels.

The design was made in Blender. Once I was happy with it I printed templates for each section, and got busy cutting the shapes out of cardboard by hand with a box cutter (the cardboard was liberated from the local cardboard recycling bin).

YouTube Videos

Progress Photos

  • Laying out the templates
  • A template made of multiple pages
  • Lots of cardboard
  • The bottom section (upside down)
  • The bottom section
  • The dome framework
  • The dome finished
  • The main section framework
  • The NeoPixel loom
  • A NeoPixel recessed in a plastic cup
  • Adding NeoPixels
  • The finished cardboard creation
  • Human for scale
  • Tinfoil!

Downloads

ArduinoNeopixelUFOBlender.zip
The 3D Blender Design File.

ArduinoNeopixelUFOSketch.zip
The code I made for the light sequence.

ArduinoNeoPixelAnimLibrary.zip
The library I made for the light sequence.

master.zip
The Adafruit NeoPixel Library.

See the Adafruit NeoPixel Uberguide

Last Update: 3rd August, 2021
Reason: Fixed broken link to ArduinoNeoPixelAnimLibrary.zip.