Maker Faire Austin 2008
Blinkybugs and LED Art

Maker Shed MAKE Demos , Saturday 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM Make Blinkybugs and LED Art
Learn how to make these interesting insects with LEDs, batteries, and pipe cleaners. Plus: How to use LEDs in all kinds of art projects.
Maker Shed MAKE Demos , Sunday 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM Make Blinkybugs and LED Art
Learn how to make these interesting insects with LEDs, batteries, and pipe cleaners. Plus: How to use LEDs in all kinds of art projects.


Blinkybugs: Blinkybugs are electro-mechanical "insects" that respond to their environment by blinking their LED eyes. Despite their lifelike appearance, they can be easily assembled from a few simple parts.

LED Art: In these pieces, LEDs are used to cast shifting patterns of color on a translucent canvas. The LEDs drift in and out of phase, creating endlessly changing images.

Drop by our workshop in the Maker Shed, and make your own Blinkybug or one-of-a-kind LED artwork!

Web site: http://www.blinkybug.com

Video URL:

Project photo.

About the Maker(s)

Ken Murphy Ken Murphy
Ken Murphy is a programmer, musician, and artist, and tinkerer. He writes the occasional how-to article for magazines like Make and Popular Science, and recently released a book called Blinkybugs, which teaches kids how to make little, blinking insects.
http://www.murphlab.com/