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Acrylic Rainbow Pixels

What is this?

The Acrylic Rainbow Pixels project stem from an art project at the Hacker Camp BornHack 2023, in Denmark, where we laser cut 150 x 150 mm acrylic plates applied with dichroic film, to create the crab character from the arcade game Space Invaders (1978).

Given that this project is just a bunch of pixels, we have the flexibility to repurpose them for creating new pixel art at future events, with the main cost being the initial creation of the pixels. The pixels are easily transportable and require minimal storage and transportation space, although they weight a quite a bit relative to their size.

Day Space Invader at BornHack 2023 with 150x150mm pixels Day Space Invader at BornHack 2023 by Bart and Hafnium. Photo by @Guru_san@mastodon.social

Laser Files

You can find laser cut files in AutoCad DXF and LightBurn (.lbrn2) format listed below.

The images below shows 150x150mm and 50x50 pixels in LightBurn for a 400x600mm (and 900x1300mm) laser cutter.

150x150mm pixels in LightBurn for a 400x600mm laser cutter

50x50mm pixels in LightBurn for a 9000x13000mm laser cutter

Bill of Materials

  • 3mm acrylic plates
  • Self-adhesive Dichroic film
    • Sometimes called rainbow film. You can read up on Thin Film Filters for more info on how these works.
    • Material type should be PET. Beware that some sellers does not make it clear whether the material is PET or PVC. PET is find, but laser cutting PVC is dangerous for you and your laser cutter
  • Transfer concentrate
    • Alternative: Glass cleaner
  • Fishing wire in 0.4 - 0.6 mm

Where to find it

  • Acrylic plates
  • Self-adhesive Dichroic film
  • Transfer concentrate: Velken.shop (Germany)
    • Glass cleaner: Any supermarket or hardware store
  • Fishing wire: Fishing store or hardware store

Tools Required

  • Laser cutter capable of cutting 3 mm acrylic
  • Spray bottle
  • Microfiber cloth
  • Mounting/assembly squeegee

Where to find it:

In case your laser cutter is not adjusted correctly and/or you cut with to little power, you will have issues getting the holes out. You will need a small pointed chisel, a belt hole puncher or similar, to increase the world's entropy.

Assembly Instructions

  1. Apply dichroic film to acrylic plates

  2. Laser cut acrylic into pixels

  3. Create initial layout with your pixels on a desk or floor.

    • Ex. a Space Invader

  4. Tie pixels horizontally together with fishing wire

  5. Tie the top vertical line to a pole

  6. Hang pole on something

Future improvements ideas

  • Use small double carabiner instead of fishing wire to tie pixels together. Assembly this way takes quite a while
  • Experiment with use of CD cases, and somehow make them attachable
  • More detailed assembly instructions

Similar projects

  • Day Space Invader at BornHack 2023, by Bart and Hafnium + unnamed volunteers
  • Pixel art workshop at Mindfuture Aps during Vestegnens Kulturuge 2023, by Bart and Hafnium
  • TBE lights at MCH2022, by Hafnium, Oliver Taubenheim, Richard Graham and lots of volunteers.
  • Crystals lights at MCH2022, by Polyfloyd

Notice

Unless noted otherwise; Sellers refereed to, are not sponsoring any of their products here. It is simply what we have personal experience with and know the quality is somewhat useable.

License

Acrylic Rainbow Pixels (c) by Hafnium

Acrylic Rainbow Pixels is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

You should have received a copy of the license along with this work. If not, see https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.