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DIY Blow-Outable LED Birthday Candles Perfect for Uber-Geeky Kids
Posted by Kit Eaton at 8:24 PM on July 16, 2008
Kids nowadays are so showered with electronic goodies that I suspect a traditionally-lit birthday cake just wouldn't cut the mustard for some of them. Luckily, over at Instructables they've got a recipe for DIY electronic "candles" that actually lets you blow them out. Its flickering LEDs are accompanied by a thermistor warmed above room-temp by a nearby resistor, and accompanied by a microcontroller. When you puff hard on the thermistor, the circuit senses the temperature drop and switches off some LEDs. Brilliant, but sadly it seems you can't get extra wishes by blowing them all out at once. The demo video is undeniably funny though: a fake birthday part thrown by the builders.
All you need now to please an uber-geeky kid is to follow the instructions, box the device up somehow, and embed it in a cake. It's even a lower fire-risk than real candles... assuming your wiring doesn't go horrifically wrong. [Instructables]
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
Red T-Rex
Posted July 17, 2008 2:58 PM
Real fire beats electronics anyday even with todays kids. There's something mesmerizing about the flames that electronics can never replace.
Curves
Posted 11:05 PM 16/7/08
I dont think the Birthday Wish Fairie will count these are legit candles, so no wish can be granted. Pretty cool though, if you are like Steve Jobs or someone who has no more wishes to make.
Curves
peerpul
Posted 12:38 AM 17/7/08
Would be really cool to spread them out inside a cake... say the millennium falcon or a death star... then you could blow the engines and the guns out.
peerpul
ANoel
Posted 12:45 AM 17/7/08
... someday every kid will have one of these for their birthday or cry if they don't.
ANoel
dmenafro
Posted 1:34 AM 17/7/08
@dmenafro: Logically first birthday's should only have one candle yet I said candles, but people are crazy and could place more than one so avoid nit picking that statement please.
dmenafro
dmenafro
Posted 1:33 AM 17/7/08
If I had children I'd build one of these to help teach my child to blow out their first birthday cake candles.
Then I'd want to wear something like this so the people that have a tendency to get too close while talking will be visually aware they are way too close.
dmenafro
rjp
Posted 12:06 AM 17/7/08
We just switched to binary candles once the number on the cake got to an unwieldy amount. Most cakes can be handled with just five candles, with old-timers needing a sixth. Just be sure to mark with frosting which is the most significant bit and which is the least significant bit.
rjp
ldsdj
Posted 12:48 PM 18/7/08
Funny, I bought my daughter a plastic Hello Kitty birthday cake that had been imported from Japan back around 7 years ago, and it had candles that did this. Hooray for new technology!
ldsdj
CPFReviews.com
Posted 9:36 PM 18/7/08
Like ldsdj has said... It's been done long back. Nothing new... But thanks for posting to enlighten.
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