Upcycling Workshop at Seeed x.factory [Episode 1]

Last weekend, we had an amazing upcycling hacking workshop with 20 makers, designers, and engineers from the community gathering at…

Seeed
6 years agoUpcycling

Last weekend, we had an amazing upcycling hacking workshop with 20 makers, designers, and engineers from the community gathering at x.factory (I even listed it as my favorite workshop!).

What makes it special is that all the participants needed to use recycling materials, and Seeed provided sensors and modules to make their projects. These materials were sponsored by Shenzhen Lvhuan Renewable Resources, a company that aims to recycle materials and offer upcycling solutions.

I was there as the photographer to record the workshop, so I got the chance to witness the creation of nine very cool projects while taking photos (yeah!). Turning some everyday materials into something really cool is super inspiring. I really hope this long/recording article of the projects will inspire you as well.

Episode 1: Upcycling to the Light

The 20 participants were divided into four teams. There were two sections for the one-day workshop: one with a particular topic assigned, the other for making at each team’s will. The assigned topic was to create lamps using the recycled materials.

After a morning of brainstorming, tinkering, and coworking, the teams had come up with five amazing colorful lamps. (Yes, one team even made two lamps when they didn’t have the heart to give up any of their ideas.)

🤖️ The Little Universe by Team 1

The Little Universe is a gesture-controlled floor lamp with three wooden legs and an artistic lamp head. The lamp head was built out of two circular abs shafts, PVC tube, yellow flaxen thread, some LED strips, a Seeeduino Lotus, and a Grove Gesture sensor.

The project name, “ Little Universe,” came from the starry shadow scene resembling a galaxy in the universe when it was turned on. The way the lamp interacts with you is also cool. You could switch on/off, as well as change the color and brightness of the LEDs via gesture control.

What I love about this project is that it could be a really chic decor at home, while it could be more emotionally connected to the one who is using it. This project is live on our Hackster Project Hub with full instructions!

🤖️ The Cake Lamp by Team 2

Using the pink polyethylene foamed sheet, Team 2 made it into a lovely sweet cake shape with a lightbulb hidden inside. This project has no much tech asset with it.

The Cake Lamp was really impressive when it was turned on. The lighting, the shadow, the colors — too sweet not to have a sweet dream if by your bedside.

🤖️The Disco Lamp by Team 2

To me, the Disco Lamp is more like a cute robot with two PVC tubes arms rotating when the lamp was on. There are two different light sources inside the lamp: one in the head, which could be changed to various colors by knocking on the left arm, and the other in the body, which was controlled by a touch switch.

Materials and components used in this project included PVC tube, translucent paper, LED strips, an Arduino, two servos, a Grove — Touch Sensor, and a Grove — Sound Sensor.

🤖️ The Trunk Lamp by Team 3

Using recycled corrugated cardboard, the ingenious member of Team 3 converted it into a trunk. A Grove light sensor and a servo were connected to a Seeeduino, and were set inside.

When the sun sets, the lamp is triggered on as the room gets darker, with a plant-shaped shadow swinging driven by the servo. It’s a fairytale to me!

🤖️ The Magic Cube Lamp by Team 4

What made the Magic Cube Lamp stand out is the color and its unique structure. If I didn’t get the chance to witness the whole making precess, I couldn’t imagine how to make a colorful lamp like this out of some translucent plastic film and color papers.

I really enjoyed the workshop, as I witnessed the creation of these nine innovative projects. To avoid making this blog too long, I will save the other four amazing projects for another post as a new episode. Stayed tuned!

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