I always have been a night owl, and I find myself motivated to dive into the deep end of the book at night. Lighting the whole room for reading was never an ideal choice. Using a desk lamp was not an option for me. I always found lamps so permanent and rigid that I was always looking for something better. Finally, after coming across side illuminating LEDs, I thought this might be a perfect project hence Lumos a handy illuminating bookmark.
There are many concepts on the internet to illuminate a book for reading, but I wanted something thin and easy to carry with the book. So I decided to make it into a bookmark. So this blog post discusses the same concept with a few initial ideas and trials that I plan to do.
Let us define the key features of the Lumos the illuminating bookmark:
- I will be utilizing the side illuminating surface mount LEDs for this project. As the name suggests, it illuminates from the side instead of the traditional top illuminating LEDs
- Amber light output. I prefer amber light at night as it emits soothing light for the eyes
- It will be battery power. Ideally, it will work on a single coin-cell battery at the top. But depending upon the number of LEDs needed and their power consumption, we might opt to get a small rechargeable Li-Po battery
- Touch controlled. It will have a touch-controlled light on/off with a mechanism to vary the light intensity
- LEDs will be on the edge of the bookmark. They will be placed on a thin PCB to focus light on a specific region by bending the PCB using a thumb
- Depending on initial trials, this project might also need a diffuser to spread the light evenly across the page, reducing the number of LEDs used
- And the most important one, the name! It should have an amusing name hence Lumos Illuminating Bookmark (everyone loves a Harry Potter reference)
The concept of Lumos
As seen in the image, the PCB will act as a bookmark. It will be 20-25 cm long and 4 cm wide. The battery and the control circuit will primarily be at the top of the PCB hanging over the top of the book keeping the bookmark flush to the page.
I already have the side illuminating LEDs with me and will do some initial tests to answer a few key questions.
- How many LEDs will be needed to illuminate an entire page?
- Will LEDs require a diffuser?
- What will be the minimum and maximum operating current for one LED?
- Calculating the battery life of the Lumos.
That’s it for now see you soon with some answers. Check a few of my older projects here.
