Gesture‑Controlled RGB Table Lamp – Interactive, Hands‑Free Lighting

Necessary tools and machines

Hot glue gun (generic)

Apps and online services

Arduino IDE

About this project

We all have seen different kinds of mood lamps & RGB light, most of them have some buttons or a remote to interact with them, but we thought of making a Gesture Controlled RGB Desk Lights which can change its colour only using a simple swipe gesture as a trigger. This is an interactive art project made using the Arduino Uno board & IR array sensor. It's a fun and easy project which can be taught to students & kids.

Let's dive to the making portal.

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Step 1: Arrange the Material

All the material mentioned here is easily available in your local market as well as online stores.

• Arduino Uno
• IR sensor Array (8 sensors)
• WS2812b Addressable RGB LED
• 5V, 2A power adapter

Step 2: Introduction

This sensor is a simple array of multiple IR sensors (Proximity sensor). This array consists of 8 sensors which can give 8 different analog & digital outputs. In this project, we will use this sensor to identify the direction of motion of our hand & hence change the colours of LEDs in accordance with gestures. The Arduino board will take input from the sensor and change the colours of LEDs.

Attached here is an image of IR sensor array and the gestures associated with the code. The two simple gestures will be :

• Left Swipe
• Right Swipe

Check out the working of these gestures here :

Step 3: Making the Connections

There are few connections only, viz; (Refer to the connections from the circuit image)

IR Sensor Connections :

• Connect GND of IR line follower sensor to GND of Arduino.
• Connect VCC of IR line follower sensor to 5v of Arduino.
• Connect Digital Output of sensor A to Digital pin 4 of Arduino.
• Connect Digital Output of sensor B to Digital pin 5 of Arduino.
• Connect Digital Output of sensor C to Digital pin 6 of Arduino.
• Connect Digital Output of sensor D to Digital pin 7 of Arduino.
• Connect Digital Output of sensor E to Digital pin 8 of Arduino.
• Connect Digital Output of sensor F to Digital pin 9 of Arduino.
• Connect Digital Output of sensor G to Digital pin 10 of Arduino.
• Connect Digital Output of sensor H to Digital pin 11 of Arduino.

LED strip Connections :

• Connect GND of LED strip to GND Arduino.
• Connect 5V of LED strip to Vin of Arduino.
• Connect Data In of LED strip to Digital pin 3 of Arduino.

That's all folks!

Step 4: Let's Code It

The code attached here is complete.

Explanation :

The Code is simple, We are using one library named FAST LED to control the LED and giving it effects. Then 8 variables are declared using alphabets to store the data coming from sensors. The Number of LEDs in pixel strip is defined as 90(you can change this according to your setup) & data pin is defined as pin 3 of Arduino.

The void loop consists of 2 nested if loops which will check which of the sensors are turned on & hence glowing up/changing the colours of LEDs.

One Void Fadeall function is made to provide the Hue(Color) Changing effect.

Download the code from here & enjoy.

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Step 5: Some Pictures

Code

• Gesture Controlled Table light

Gesture Controlled Table lightArduino

#include <FastLED.h> //LED library initialization
int a,b,c,d,e,f,g,h,j=0; //Variables to store Sensor data

#define NUM_LEDS 90 // How many leds in your strip?
#define DATA_PIN 3 // Data pin of LED will be connected here on arduino

// Define the array of leds
CRGB leds[NUM_LEDS];

void setup() { 
  pinMode(4,INPUT); //Digital Input Pin for IR sensor
  pinMode(5,INPUT); //Digital Input Pin for IR sensor
  pinMode(6,INPUT); //Digital Input Pin for IR sensor
  pinMode(7,INPUT); //Digital Input Pin for IR sensor
  pinMode(8,INPUT); //Digital Input Pin for IR sensor
  pinMode(9,INPUT); //Digital Input Pin for IR sensor
  pinMode(10,INPUT);//Digital Input Pin for IR sensor
  pinMode(11,INPUT);//Digital Input Pin for IR sensor
  
  LEDS.addLeds<WS2812,DATA_PIN,RGB>(leds,NUM_LEDS); //LED initialization
  LEDS.setBrightness(84); // Brightness of LED (0-255 range)
}

void fadeall() { for(int i = 0; i < NUM_LEDS; i++) { leds[i].nscale8(250); } } //Function for Fading Effect

void loop() { 
  a=digitalRead(4); //Read input from sensor A
  b=digitalRead(5); //Read input from sensor B
  c=digitalRead(6); //Read input from sensor C
  d=digitalRead(7); //Read input from sensor D
  e=digitalRead(8); //Read input from sensor E
  f=digitalRead(9); //Read input from sensor F
  g=digitalRead(10);//Read input from sensor G
  h=digitalRead(11);//Read input from sensor H
  
  static uint8_t hue = 0; // Variable 8 bit
 
  // First slide the led in one direction
  if(a==1)
  {
    if(b==1)
    {
  for(int i = 4; i < 55; i++) {
    // Set the i'th led to red 
    leds[i] = CHSV(hue++, 255, 255);
    // Show the leds
    FastLED.show(); 
    // now that we've shown the leds, reset the i'th led to black
    // leds[i] = CRGB::Black;
    fadeall();
    // Wait a little bit before we loop around and do it again
    delay(10);
                              }
    }
  }

  if(g==1)
{
  if(f==1)
  {
  // Now go in the other direction.  
  for(int i = (56)-1; i >= 4; i--) {
    // Set the i'th led to red 
    leds[i] = CHSV(hue++, 255, 255);
    // Show the leds
    FastLED.show();
    // now that we've shown the leds, reset the i'th led to black
    // leds[i] = CRGB::Black;
    fadeall();
    // Wait a little bit before we loop around and do it again
    delay(10);
                                   }
  }
}
          }

Schematics