Scenes from our Lantern-Wiring Party

After one emergency trip to Fry's, half a dozen Lady Gaga videos, and several pounds of chips, tomatoes, caramel corn, cookies, cherries, and olive bread, our first build party ended in victory - though there were definitely some moments of uncertainty along the way.

We were a little under-staffed with our small crew of April, Ben, Misha, and Paul. Our first job was to drill new holes in the the top of each lantern to accommodate the ethernet faceplate. Somehow, we managed to eyeball the perfect drill bit at Ace Hardware for the jack to barely pass through (1.25"). On the underside of the lantern top, we had to screw in the LEDs and wire them to a keystone jack. The major snag came when the wires kept popping out of the jacks, or shorting against each other. We got several more types of jacks from Fry's, and tried tinning the ends of the wires, but nothing held the wires securely. Finally, perseverance won out, and we found that wrapping a zip tie around the jack gave it a much better hold.

Here are videos of our first times lighting up the lanterns with a Lightuino. We only scrounged up four ethernet cables, so we could only light four at a time.

Special mention must be given to Misha, who contributed a bunch more code today, including a handy routine to set the hue of each lantern. Here's a color wheel effect that demonstrates it.

Thanks to everyone, and hope to see you at the next build party!

July 23 Work Party: Lantern Wiring

Our first work party is coming this Saturday, starting at 2pm. The goal for the day is to repair and rewire the lanterns so that they're ready to hang up in the garden. If you have any of the following items, please bring them with you:

1. Extra ethernet cables (especially long ones we can put in the final assembly)

2. Power drill (and other small tools you have handy)

3. Tarp (to catch sawdust)

Last year, we used molex connectors to attach our LEDs to long-run cables, but we found that these tend to break, especially because they get pulled around outside the lanterns. This year, we're switching over to ethernet jacks built into the lantern surface, and we're going to control the whole project with a Lightuino. This is a micro-controller based on the Arduino and specialized for large numbers of LEDs. We owe a lot of thanks to the designer, Andrew Stone, who rushed to complete an ethernet converter that would interface with our project. We're also going to be adding an ultraviolet LED to each lantern. We plan to use these to light up UV-reactive plants in the garden underneath.

Last year's lantern setup!

Above is one of the setups we've used to showcase the lanterns that will illuminate the four gates to the garden. We built these over several weeks leading up to Burning Man 2010. The pattern for each face was designed in Adobe Illustrator, and then laser-cut into 1/4 inch craft plywood at Techshop in San Mateo, CA. We covered the wood with painter's tape before putting it in the laser cutter to avoid charring the surface. To assemble each lantern, we screwed the faces into a 3/4 inch square post at each of the vertical edges. By themselves, our RGB LEDs wouldn't light the lanterns evenly, but we discovered a simple trick to diffuse the light: We covered each LED with a small plastic salsa cup from a nearby restaurant.

Announcing the Garden of Missed Connections

A new stage of life brings purity - the future is at its most uncertain, a dark tapestry of opportunities mixing excitement with fear. We commemorate beginnings to prepare for change and understand the trajectory of our lives. Some of the most important beginnings, however, are hard to predict and may only be visible in hindsight: meeting a future friend, lover, partner or guru. We invite you to commemorate first meetings, and possibly happen upon second ones, in the Garden of Missed Connections.

Did you meet someone on the playa, only to lose touch with them? Did you share a special moment with people whose names you never even asked for? Throughout the week, burners will be able to come to the garden and write a message to those they've lost touch with on playa in our Book of Missed Connections. Then, as the sun rises after the man burns, we will gather in the garden at dawn on Sunday to see that person can found again. Come back to see if you can reconnect, and if not let go of the future they represent as we burn the missed connections assembled through the week.

Rather than a temple or edifice, a garden is open to the environment, allowing a sea of strangers to pass through. The garden is demarcated by four tori gates and will be illuminated at night by wooden lanterns containing color-changing LEDs. These include an ultra-violet component, so that the white torii and wooden plants underneath the lanterns may glow at night. A microphone and other sensors will allow each lantern to change in response to music and other stimuli. The Book of Missed Connections will be presented on a pedestal in the center of the garden, ready to be filled in by visitors.