LEGO Project WIP #4: Pneumatic Work

  So, after some deliberation, I will be altering some of my mechanisms to pneumatic systems. Here's a little video showing off some of the alterations and additions, as well as the pneumatic already in place.

LEGO Project WIP #3: Beginning Skeleton

  Finished some starting work done on the actual body. I had to reork some of the base to best hold and balance the structure, and also allow some particular construction to happen. Looking great, but I've hit another roadblock, and I'll have to wait once more.

LEGO Project WIP #2: Base

  So I've gotten a little farther and completed the actual base. Ignoring the LEGO look to it, I'm pretty proud of how it's turned out. If I have the time and parts, I'll finish it up to look better, but this is more about proof of concept than looks. All the workings are put together, just need to start on the best part.

LEGO Project WIP #1: Teaser

  So I just wanted to show off a little photo of the work I've been doing tonight; I've finally begun to undertake on a project I've been wanting to do for some time now. Unfortunately, as my medium is LEGO, I'm finding I don't have all the necessary parts I would like, either from misplacing or changing my design as I find methods that don't work or are better. I prefer to build with just a goal in mind, and find my way there. It makes the build more interesting, challenging, and a kind of discovery. 
 In any case, here's a little teaser, a show off of what I've put together so far. I have a long way to go, but I'm happy with what I have so far, and I'm excited to see it come to fruition. I hope anyone that stumbles on this as I build will enjoy what they see as well:

Underwater Tank Lighting

  *Forenote: It's been a while since I've actually done these projects, but I've only just been able to start posting these, so while I did try and document well, I may not remember exact details on every piece I use.*

DISCLAIMER: These posts are for my own personal use of documentation of projects that I attempt or work on. They can include elements that are dangerous, such as electricity, that can hurt and possibly kill you. While I'll include a basic overview for someone to follow along, please don't attempt to do anything without a competence and knowledge to do so. Also, get permission if you aren't legally allowed to make these decisions for yourself. Basically, I do these for my own enjoyment and I enjoy sharing with the world, but I'm not responsible if you try to replicate or do your own work without the ability to.

  For a long time, I was never really a fish person. However, one day Freckles wanted to pick up a Betta, and I've been hooked since. Sometimes, I occasionally put together a project to place into a tank, or to enhance or work with the environment. In this case, I put together a water proof light strip, in order to place lights into the water itself.

  To start, I picked up these items:

• A pair of electrical pliers, meant to help with cutting and shaping wires
• Plastic tubing, with a large enough diameter to hold a string of LEDs; I believe it was 1"
• Soldering Iron with a simple high and low temperature setting
• Solder
• Electrical wire, I believe 22 gauge.
• Standard Black Electrical tape
• A replacement phone charger outlet plug, with variable voltage settings. If you plan on using it more than once, be sure it has that. If this will be a one-time use thing, you should get an adapter with the closest voltage to the loads you will be using(in this case, LEDs)
• LEDs, in this case 3 voltage; the total number depends on how long you want the light strip to be. Color is also your preference; I chose ultraviolet for its ability to make things glow.

  I cut the tube to length, making it a realistic length with which to fit into a 10 gallon tank best.

    To prepare the wire, I cut two lengths longer than the tubing, to allow for some slack and for later preparation; the length I left was to lead it out of the tank to the wall cord connection.

  Starting at one end, I cut the wire insulation enough to allow the connection of the LEDs. One is attached to the end, and the others at a set interval along the wires. They are arranged in a parallel order, in order to keep the voltage level lower. In a parallel circuit, the voltage among the loads is equal, while the current is shared, adding up each required current. Since LEDs don't have a massive current requirement, that wasn't an issue. The voltage for each LED was 3.5, so the voltage could be set to 3.5 and each would be powered equally. Oppositely, a series of loads have equal current, but the voltage is shared, adding it up. Voltage of 3.5 adds up quick with many LEDs. However, not thinking, I tried this first, and quickly realized my mistake.

  The LEDs, as mentioned before, are attached at intervals along the pair of wires. The wire insulation was peeled off at the same points, and to attach the LED, each leg is wound around the exposed wire, to give it a strong, secure connection. Make sure, when attaching the LEDs, they are all placed in the same direction. All LEDs have a direction of current travel, just like any other load, and its specific for it to work. When attaching, making sure they all follow the same path will make sure they all work, otherwise several may not light. 

Image from Wikipedia, Light Emitting Diodes

  For me, the best way to line them up is to note the directions of the anode/cathode pair. The cathode is the negative half of the diode, and the anode is the positive half. They have a distinctive set of plates within the LED; a set of triangles, as you can see in the diagram above. Match the directions on each LED before attaching them to make sure the current flows through each the same way. If it's too difficult to tell, there is a handy flat edge, as seen in the diagram, that denotes the negative side of the LED. However, not all LEDs have this, and sometimes it's not as noticeable.

  Something I did to keep a reference, once I placed the tip/first LED at the end, I made a note of which wire is attached to the cathode, and marked it at the opposite end with a small amount of electrical tape; this denotes your negative (usually black) wire. This will help when your placing each LED and you've forgotten.

  Once each LED is attached, and the length is checked for connections, they were all soldered to their points, to keep the connections solid and more conductive.

  To protect and cover the connections, electrical tape is wound around each, forming a seal.

  Once each LED is covered and sealed, and the entire length is tested, the set up is slowly and carefully slid into the tube. Have to be careful, especially if the tube is a little small and the LEDs are tight inside, that nothing breaks or comes undone. It would really be a shame and pain to have to fix or go back and reattach or replace what you sent a while doing. The first LED was pushed to the end, with a little wiggle room, and the others were nudged out equally.

  Once the set up was to my liking, and everything seems to be in working order, the ends were sealed with hot glue. Not the most professional, but it fills and seals well, and is hot enough to soften the tube a little, and blend well. In its current state, it would float on the water, which I preferred, but weights could be placed inside, or even ballast added in order to weigh it down or make it neutrally buoyant.

  There was still the matter of the leftover end, with the slack. The slack was used to connect into the adapter cord connection end. There were two holes, one for -, one for + direction into the wall outlet. The wire ends were crimped, in order to better fit into the cord holes. Now, I had to make sure each wire end was placed into the correct holes; remember that marker at the end of the wire? This helps immensely in this situation; on the adapter I bought, in order to insert the connector piece correctly, there were markings denoting the negative and positive positions. 

  So, place negative to negative, and that leaves the positive. Of course, I double-checked the connection by plugging it in, and once it was set, I made sure to seal the adapter to the wires by covering the joint of the two with hot glue. The wires really need to be solid; if not, and the seal is set, you have to pull it all out. To give it an extra seal, I wrapped the joint with some electrical tape to finish it off. If you want to make it look nice, you can wrap all the loose wires up; it makes it look nicer, but I found it a pain when something wasn't working and I had to redo it all.

  All set, and looking fantastic! Each LED was spaced and aimed out away from each other, to light a large swath. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get a clear photo of how it looked in the tank, but definitely made it light with a spectacular glow. This ended up leading me to work on a better project for later.