Introduction: US-Baymax Nightlight

By ytec3d.com/
About: Engineer from the Netherlands. Projects in 3D printing, electronics, prop making, sewing and whatever interests me. (If you have a pressing question go to my site and ask it there. I am way more likely to an…

My sister had a baby, my UP! finally works again after being broken for 6 months and I (and them) like animation movies. Putting 1 and 1 and 1 and 1 together, lets make something as a present. A 3D printed Baymax (from Big Hero 6) USB nightlight seems like something fun.

In this instructable I will show you how to print and make a nightlight shaped like Baymax, that is powered by a USB cable. Everyone has several USB chargers nowadays, so this should make powering the nightlight easy.

Step 1: Materials

Things you will need:

  • White clear filament (preferably ABS), 50g
  • Black filament (ABS or PLA), 20g
  • Yellow Leds, 4x
  • 47ohm resistor, 1x
  • 200-500ohm potentiometer, 1x
  • Stiff electrical wire
  • Spare USB cable
  • Super glue
  • Sandpaper
  • Acetone
  • Black paint
  • Toothpick

Tools you will need:

  • 3D printer
  • Soldering iron
  • Hot glue gun

Step 2: 3D Printing

For the files of Baymax, follow this link.

http://ytec3d.com/baymax-nightlight/

There are 2 colours in this model. The base can be any colour, but I prefer black. The body of Body of Baymax is simpler, it needs to be a translucent white. PLA doesn't really come in any translucent colours, but white ABS usually does. To print everything, you will need a 3D printer that is comfortable with support material. Baymax is too complicated to make as a supportless model.

3D print the parts, one of every model and remove the support material and any burrs.

Step 3: Leds

Solder the 4 leds into a star. Cut the legs of the leds so you have about 8mm left, then solder the two leds, positive to positive and negative to negative. Cut the legs of the two remaining leds a bit longer (around 10mm) and solder these at a slight angle to the previous leds. Again, positive to positive, and negative to negative. You may bend some of the leds to make the lighting better.

Solder stiff wires, around 15cm long to the leds. Use red to solder the positive side (the round side of the ring on the led) and use black to solder to the negative side of the led (the flat side in the ring).

Insert the bottom of baymax into the base, It the legs have trouble fitting, sand either the holes or the legs. Insert the wires into the legs and place the top on to figure out where the leds will need to be. Bend the wires in the base to set the height, then using hot glue, glue the wires to the legs and the legs to the base.

Now comes the trickiest part, glueing the top of Baymax to the bottom. This is extra difficult because there are no positioning notches on the inside. This is because they would show in the lighting. I used a piece of tape to somewhat position the body halves, then first glued the centre, and then one by one the arms. An additional layer of super glue was added to the outside to merge the two halves. This glue will be removed later by the sanding.

Step 4: Electronics

There will be little electronics in the bottom, but the leds will require a resistor. I also added a potentiometer so I could manage the brightness in a later stage.

For the potentiometer, drill a small hole in the side or the bottom, depending on the type of potmeter you are using. Then glue the potentiometer to the base in such a way that it can be adjusted when the base is closed. Use a resistor and heat shrink to bridge the gap from the positive led wire to the centre pin of the potmeter.

Now cut the mini USB (small connector) side of the USB cable of. Then, with a knife, carefully remove 5cm of the insulation. The green and white wires can be sealed using tape or heat shrink, to make sure they cannot touch anything. The Red (+) and Black (-) wires are the wires that are needed. Solder the black wire to the black Led wire, and solder the red wire to either the left or right pin of the potmeter. Use a USB adapter to test the baymax light. If it lights up, congratulations. Now glue everything in place and use the cover to close the base.

Step 5: Finishing the Surface

Now it is time for some finishing touches.

First use a fine sandpaper to smooth the surface of Baymax. If you printed Baymax in ABS, use a paper towel to rub the body with acetone. This will partially melt the surface, smoothing it. Then, using a toothpick, very carefully paint the eyes black. If you get paint anywhere else, use the paper towel with acetone to clean it again.

Now the Baymax is completely done. Place it where a bit of light is needed, and let the inflatable caretaker robot do it's job and take care of the lighting.