The Christmas Box is a holiday-themed LED box created by my roommate and I to celebrate the holiday season.

The first feature of the box is its interlocking edges. This allows it to be dismantled and put together easily while still maintaining structural integrity. The box also contains a slot in the shape of a Christmas tree. The Christmas tree was designed separately and included holes for the LEDs. Lastly, a 9V battery is connected on the outside to power the Arduino. All components of the box were designed using Solidworks, cut out using a laser cutter, and painted to give it a holiday feel.

The second feature (and arguably the most exciting) is the LEDs. An Arduino Mega controls all 27 LEDs individually and each LED was soldered to a resistor and jumper wire. Five patterns are currently programmed:

  • Each light is individually lit up
  • Each row is individually lit up
  • Alternating rows are lit up
  • All LEDs on the star blink
  • The outer 5 LEDs on the star rotate in a circle

The patterns are custom programmed and are on loop whenever the box is powered.

The end result of our work is an awesome LED Christmas-themed box! In the future, improvements such as using an on/off switch, insulating each of the wires, and using multiplexers could be incorporated into our design. But for now, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!