Dec 14, 2017 | By Benedict

Margot Krasojevic, a London-born architect who has worked with the likes of Zaha Hadid, has designed a 3D printed LED light made from recycled polymer. The unusual spiral light can stretch, reform, and charge itself in response to tremors and environmental changes.

More often than not, seismic tremors are cause for concern rather than amusement: more severe ground movements can knock over your precious glassware, or worse…

But if you’ve got a spectacular 3D printed light fixture that charges and lights itself with kinetic energy, seismic tremors can result in a beautiful glow as well as smashed crockery. Chances are you don’t have such a thing, but that could soon change.

Architect Margot Krasojevic has just designed such a light fixture, a "Seismic Electromagnetic Induction LED," for Gao Hotels in Ordos, Inner Mongolia and Beijing, but it would be no surprise if the impressive fixtures received demand from elsewhere. However these 3D printed structures aren’t modest little fixtures for hotel corridors; they are equally at home inside and outside, and make for a spectacular accompaniment to the natural environment.

The science behind the lights is as impressive as the appearance of them. Each LED light consists of a 3D printed net made from a recycled polymer that is elastic and strong enough to withstand the effects of tremors and environmental changes.

The main body of the light acts as a moveable piston, intensified by the oscillating motion of the weighted 3D printed net as it stretches and expands, and dome shape of the fixture gives the illusion of an intensification of light around the surface of its semi-transparent geometry.

At the core of the LED, which emits a bright 60 Candela white light visible for three meters in a dark room, is a main structural thread pipe that can be inserted into the ground for stability and which contains magnets and a copper coil for inducing an electrical current.

Amazingly, the LED light fixture can charge itself from seismic tremors, as the 3D printed net resonates and amplifies kinetic energy. Through a process of electromagnetic induction, nearby reverberations induce a current in the light as the magnets move through the copper coil. This charge can also be stored for other uses besides lighting the LED.

The 3D printed light is currently being adapted so the inner surface of the 3D printed net is coated with copper. Krasojevic says this will strengthen the magnetic field, causing a higher and more constant electric current and thus making the LED will shine brighter while concurrently charging the battery.

Another future addition to the design could be a piezoelectric zinc element, which could produce a current strong enough to light a 9V LED.

Krasojevic earned her PhD in 2003, and has worked in the office of Zaha Hadid. She opened her own studio in 2004, and many of her designs are aesthetically similar to the spirals of the Gao-commissioned LED light.

 

 

Posted in 3D Printing Application

 

 

Maybe you also like:


   






Leave a comment:

Your Name:

 


Subscribe us to

3ders.org Feeds 3ders.org twitter 3ders.org facebook   

About 3Ders.org

3Ders.org provides the latest news about 3D printing technology and 3D printers. We are now seven years old and have around 1.5 million unique visitors per month.

News Archive