Raspberry Pi lights up a synchronized neighborhood holiday light show
Originally published on tomshardware.com by Ash Hill on 13 December 2024
When it comes to ambitious Christmas light displays, Break It Yourself has truly outdone themselves. Using a Raspberry Pi 4 as the central controller, they created a synchronized holiday light show that spans their entire neighborhood, incorporating 16 houses into a dazzling spectacle of coordinated lights and animations. This project takes the concept of a festive home display and expands it to a block-wide experience, immersing drivers in a synchronized visual journey.
The centerpiece of the project is a series of custom-built LED candy canes, which line the edges of every participating yard. These candy canes are connected wirelessly and powered by extension cords, making setup relatively simple for neighbors, who only needed to provide permission to participate. Break It Yourself handled all of the labor and covered the cost of powering the displays, ensuring the project was accessible to everyone involved.
The Break It Yourself home serves as the anchor for the light show, featuring an impressive array of additional decorations. A standout feature is a high-powered projector that casts custom animations across roller shades mounted on the house. These shades are programmed to raise and lower automatically during the nightly light show, adding a dynamic and interactive element to the display.
At the heart of the synchronization effort is Falcon Player (FPP), an open-source software tool that is ideal for coordinating LED light shows with a Raspberry Pi as the main controller. Although the source code for the project isn’t publicly available, Break It Yourself provides a detailed explanation of how the various components are connected and communicate, offering insight into the technical side of the display.
This project is a testament to the power and flexibility of the Raspberry Pi, as well as the spirit of collaboration and creativity. By extending their vision beyond their own home and involving their neighbors, Break It Yourself has created a shared holiday experience that celebrates community and innovation. For a closer look at this inspiring Raspberry Pi-powered light show, check out the full video on the Break It Yourself YouTube channel.
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