Thursday, March 29, 2007
Friday, March 09, 2007
HANSACANYON - temperature sensitive faucet
The entire operation of the Hansacanyon is electronically controlled with sensor buttons. With its strict, unusually clear profile, Hansacanyon becomes even more: it becomes an object that throws an entirely new light on the interpretation of the water experience.
Water, light, energy, power, design: features that transform Hansacanyon into an avant-garde element in your bathroom. However, the technology adopted here is not merely technology for technology’s sake but rather an essential foundation and concept of the staging. The entire operational technology remains invisible and only the cool chrome of the fitting can be seen.
Posted by mozartsgokart at 9:42 AM 0 comments
Labels: bathroom, illuminate, led, light, water
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
Fireflys in a Jar
This project uses green surface-mount LED's along with an AVR ATTiny45 microcontroller to simulate the behavior of fireflies in a jar.
The flash patterns have been digitized from firefly behavioral research data found online and were modeled in Mathematica so that variations of speed and intensity could be generated. The final output was transformed by a lightness function and written into header files as 8-bit PWM data.
The software is written in avr-gcc C and source code is provided along with a pre-compiled .hex for convenience. The code has been significantly optimized for efficiency and to minimize power consumption. Crude runtime estimates predict a 600mAh 3V CR2450 battery should last between 4 to 10 months, depending on the song pattern used. RIght now the source comes with two patterns, song1 and song2, with song2 as default. Song2's estimated runtime is 2 months, song1's is 5 months.
This project involves a fair amount of surface-mount level soldering. However the circuit design is trivial and the fact that we're able to use an off-the-shelf SMD prototyping board rather than having a custom PCB made greatly saves on cost. It would be very simple to create a non-surface mount version using the PDIP version of the ATTiny45 and through-hole LED's.
The cost of the electronic components comes in at around $10-$15 (after shipping) or so and assembly time is on the order of 2 hours.
http://www.instructables.com/id/E7U5HYMSVIEWP86SAL?ALLSTEPS
Monday, March 05, 2007
Vos Pad
The ambience of The Vos Pad is controlled by the Lutron® custom-built computerised system that operates the lighting and other features. The level and colour of the lights in different areas can be changed instantly. The blinds are remote-controlled.
Blueprint for future living
This is a new way at looking at living spaces: combining intelligent design with the latest technologies to create flexible interior solutions.
Increased demand for live/work space, high property prices and our increasingly sophisticated lifestyles have lead to new ways of thinking:
Flexible living
By creating an apartment with clean lines and clever design features, it is now possible to live, work and entertain with style, but in a much smaller space than before. The same plasma screen that is used to watch DVD’s, can also be used to play games,work or give presentations. The sleeping space is hidden behind a sleek screen, and the WC is split from the main bathroom to form a guest cloakroom. Storage is discreet and adaptable.
Smart living
Integrated entertainment systems and smart features allow greater control than ever over the home environment. Lighting levels and colours, heating, sound and video are all centrally controlled and can be instantly set to pre-selected options. Even the cleaning is automated.
Vos Solutions have demonstrated that selectively integrating new technologies makes commercial sense and can substantially raise the value of a property.
Unlike other ‘homes of the future’, The Vos Pad is a practical demonstration of what can be affordably done now.
Bright living
The Vos Pad’s main lighting system incorporates LED light units provided by British company ACDC Lighting . These products have been developed in conjunction with some of the world’s top lighting designers, including Vos Solutions.
In The Vos Pad, Vos Solutions,ACDC Lighting and Lutron® and have come together to create the world's first fully dimmable and chromatically controlled RGB lighting system.
The ambience of The Vos Pad is controlled by the Lutron custom-built computerised system that operates the LED lighting and other features.
The Lutron Grafik Intergrale was the obvious choice for The Vos Pad, combining a sleek, unobtrusive and modern design with great functionality and flexibility.
With the Lutron system, the level and colour of the lights in different areas can be changed instantly, to pre-selected scenes or to an infinite number of personally customised configurations.
These can be still sets or flow into each other at a programmable rate - from the gently subliminal to fast radical change. The choice is with the controller like never before.
Background
The Vos Pad is the brainchild of the designer Marcel Jean Vos.
Marcel has a wide range of creative experience, from interiors retail through to leading edge marine and interior design projects.
Through his design consultancy, Vos Solutions™, Marcel has created the first in a series of interior environments that integrate the latest technologies and products within a design framework. The Vos Pad is a blueprint for future living, and as such could equally be applied to working, living or entertaining spaces.
Vos Solutions are building a long-term platform to develop ideas and applications in cooperation with leading manufacturers and companies.
http://www.globefox.com/vospad/
Posted by mozartsgokart at 9:19 AM 0 comments
Labels: apartment, city, flat, illuminate, led, light, Vos Pad
Friday, March 02, 2007
Cold Light
They are the winners of a limited competition run by BIG, one of the biggest building development companies in the country. The creators explain that the temporary appearance is not a random choice: “It serves to highlight the project’s continuing evolution, which resembles the disorder that prevails in a research laboratory.” “0-24 Licht” is the first prototype for the direct transportation of sunlight and marks a small revolution in architecture’s use of solar energy.
http://www.domusweb.it/domus2k6/source/contents/item.cfm?type=NWS&ID=67502&lingua=_eng
http://www.big.at/BIG/de/default.htm
Posted by mozartsgokart at 12:42 PM 0 comments
Labels: fiber optic, illuminate, solar
Thursday, March 01, 2007
GatLight - Form follows Function
The GatLight, designed by Lumencraft Inc, is the first VARIABLE BRIGHTNESS (see video) Flashlight consequently designed for maximum brightness, runtime and efficiency. Swiss designed, made in the United States. The result is an uncompromising design which is as much superior function as it is functional art.
brighter and efficient?
The GatLight’s patent pending driver circuitry increases the usable battery life up to 30% as compared to the leading competitors while maintaining constant fully adjustable output power.The brightness of an LED is often limited to the thermal efficiency of the housing that contains it. The GatLight’s unique design allows for a much larger heatsink area as compared to standard cylindrical designs. The GatLight also contains dual thermal cutoff switches to allow the light to be driven at full power without the risk of damaging the LED. Detailed thermal modelling proves the GatLight's superiority.
GatLight V3
GatLight V2
Posted by mozartsgokart at 6:33 AM 0 comments
Labels: flashlight, GatLight, led, light