UFO Desk Sensor
Project Summary
This one started as a whiteboard doodle inspired by the UFO cow-abduction of folklore — except instead of beaming up a cow, this saucer hovers over my sit/stand desk and keeps watch. Inside is a Raspberry Pi 4 with a camera module aimed down through the beam opening. A Python script uses OpenCV ArUco marker tracking to detect the desk moving, and a NeoPixel LED ring (driven with rpi_ws281x) answers: green while the desk is going up, red while it's going down.
I first printed a smaller model of the saucer on a resin 3D printer just to see if I liked the design. The full-size hull had to be printed in four separate pieces because the printer's work area was only so big, then glued together and hand-painted with acrylics. The green cockpit dome is a dollar-store Easter egg. Along the way a squadron of masking-tape mini UFOs got the Rust-Oleum glow-in-the-dark treatment.
It ended up hanging from the ceiling on a cable above the desk, glowing away — equal parts desk sensor and the best lamp in the apartment.
Features
- Raspberry Pi 4 with a downward-facing camera module hidden in the hull
- OpenCV ArUco marker tracking detects the desk moving: green light going up, red going down
- NeoPixel LED ring animations driven from Python with rpi_ws281x
- Resin-printed test miniature first, then a full-size hull in four pieces to fit the printer's build area
- Dollar-store Easter egg repurposed as the green cockpit dome
- Glow-in-the-dark mini UFOs as a side quest
- Hangs from the ceiling on a cable above the desk
Gallery
