Jitterbug Lamp

Arduino Electronics Laser Cutter

Client B.Arch, Employer RISD

February 2012

A shape shifting and color changing lamp.

This shapeshifting lamp, known as a jitterbug, converts from an icosahedron to an icosidodecahedron with the push of a button.Run by the microcontroller Arduino, this lamp was my first foray into electronics and was completed in February 2012 at RISD.

The red button fully opens or closes the lamp, depending on current state. The white and black buttons control fine-tuned opening and closing, respectively. The silver knob controls the color of the LED inside.

Movement is controlled by a servo. The equilateral triangle faces are pinned in pairs at their centers and connected with flexible hinges at their corners. When one pair of triangles rotates in opposite directions, the entire form expands or contracts.