Okay, here is a blog post about my experience with “table spot”:
Man, let me tell you about this “table spot” thing I messed around with the other day. So I had this idea, right? I wanted to make it easier to find stuff on my cluttered workbench. I mean, I have all these tools and parts lying around, and I spend half my time just looking for the right screwdriver or that one specific bolt.
So I thought, “What if I could just highlight the spot on the table where something is?” That’s where the “table spot” idea comes in. Basically, I wanted a little spotlight that I could control to shine down on the exact spot on the table where my stuff is.
First, I grabbed this old desk lamp I had lying around. You know, one of those with the adjustable arm? I figured I could use that as the base for my spotlight. I took the lamp shade off, obviously. Then I needed a light source. I found this super bright LED flashlight in my junk drawer and thought, “Perfect!” I just needed a way to attach it to the lamp arm.
Duct tape is my best friend, seriously. I used a bunch of it to secure the flashlight to the lamp arm. It wasn’t pretty, but hey, it worked. Now I had a lamp that could shine a bright spot of light wherever I pointed it. That’s half the problem solved.
Next, I needed a way to control where the light was pointing. I had this old remote control car that I didn’t use anymore. I ripped out the motor and the control board from it. My thinking was I could attach the motor to the lamp arm and use the remote control to move the light around. Clever, right?
This is where things got a little tricky. I had to figure out how to connect the motor to the lamp arm in a way that it could move it left and right, and maybe even up and down. I spent a good few hours messing around with different brackets and gears I found in my toolbox. It was a lot of trial and error, I won’t lie.
Eventually, I managed to get it working… sort of. I could use the remote control to move the light, but it was pretty jerky and not very precise. But, you know what? It was good enough for a first try. I could point the light at different spots on my table, and it definitely made it easier to find stuff.
Key Steps I Took:
- Gathered materials: Old desk lamp, LED flashlight, duct tape, old remote control car, various brackets and gears.
- Built the spotlight: Attached the flashlight to the lamp arm using duct tape.
- Added remote control: Ripped out the motor and control board from the remote control car.
- Connected the motor: Fiddled around with brackets and gears to attach the motor to the lamp arm for movement.
- Tested and refined: Moved the light around with the remote, made adjustments for smoother movement.
I’m already thinking about how I can improve it. Maybe I can find a better motor, or maybe even use some sort of app to control it from my phone. The possibilities are endless! It’s not perfect, but I’m pretty happy with how it turned out. It just goes to show that you can make some pretty cool stuff with just a little bit of ingenuity and a whole lot of duct tape.
