The Force Is Strong with This RGB Lightsaber

If you can’t get into the premiere of Star Wars Episode VIII, with this hack from MadGyver you can make up your own alternative version…

Jeremy Cook
6 years ago

If you can’t get into the premiere of Star Wars Episode VIII, with this hack from MadGyver you can make up your own alternative version, amusing cats and destroying light fixtures to your heart’s content. This DIY saber turns on with a satisfying sound, light extending from the base as you’d expect. It then emits a humming sound when held still, whooshes when swung, and even crackles upon impact.

Physically, the device is built with a “blade” made out of a light-diffusing polycarbonate cylinder, inside of which a pair of WS2812 LED strips is attached back-to-back. This allows it to emit light without a dim side that would be expected if just one strip. Control is via an Arduino Nano board, along with an MPU-6050 inertial measurement unit to sense movement and impact. Saber sounds are pulled from a microSD card, which played via a small speaker on the base.

Completing the project, the hilt portion is made out of a piece of Russian sewage pipe, drilled for a switch, power, button, and charge port, then painted black. Be sure to check it out in the video seen here, featuring an outline of how it was made, as well as indoor “practice” at 4:45. MadGyver actually made two of these sabers, as seen in the apparent Jedi versus Sith battle at 6:30.

Jeremy Cook
Engineer, maker of random contraptions, love learning about tech. Write for various publications, including Hackster!
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