herzlampe_engl – CQ CQ DL4KER

This lamp was my first larger project in which I combined a lithophane with addressable LED lighting.

The idea was to create a warm and lively combination of light, movement, and image effects.

The heart pulses using WS2812 LEDs, while the central lithophane remains constantly and evenly illuminated.

The front view shows the central lithophane, which is intentionally illuminated evenly at all times so the image remains clearly visible.

The pulsing heart surrounding it creates the actual effect and brings the lamp to life.

From the side, you can clearly see the depth of the housing as well as the setup for the indirect lighting.

Especially with lithophanes, the distance between the LEDs and the image plays a major role in achieving even illumination.

The following components were used, among others:

Component	Description
Wemos D1 Mini	Controller
WS2812 LEDs	Addressable LEDs for the pulsing effect
PLA	Housing & construction

The exact number of LEDs depends on the type of WS2812 LEDs used, which is why it is defined as a variable in the program.

It was important to me that the electronics remained as clean as possible while still being accessible.

Since this was my first larger lithophane project, several adjustments and small changes were made directly during testing and assembly.

And as so often happens:

“Just making a quick change” usually takes much longer in reality 😄

The entire construction was designed in Fusion 360.

Particularly interesting aspects included:

Especially with illuminated projects, you quickly realize:
Not everything that looks good on the screen will work perfectly right away once printed 😄

Even though today many things would probably be designed differently or more cleanly, this project still holds a special place for me.

It marked my introduction to combining:

And from that, many more projects eventually evolved.

I published the print files for this project on Printables.

There you can find: