Spinal Lamp

At the time of writing, I live in an apartment that is over 100 years old. There are very few outlets, and I want to move my light sources often. My idea is to create a flexible lamp that can grab onto the edges of tables, desks, hanging plants, or other furniture.

For the articulation, I'm thinking something spinal. I've butchered a few animals and I'm amazed by the range of motion that vertebrae allow. They're a beautiful bone and an amazing machine.

For the grabbiness, I will try and create some "ribs" that can clamp onto objects. Like one of those hair clip thingies.

Some pieces will be just vertebrae, I think, and some will be grabby ribs.

First prototype, some carboard courtesy of the box that contained Cabaret Mechanical Theater's Automata Tinkering Kit! My thought is that the two rib pieces will sit opposed to each other, and by pinching the top nubs you can grab onto a table edge or shelf.

Kinda worked... kinda didn't. The cardboard isn't really tough enough to test this piece. What I'm imagining is that rubber bands connect all the vertebrae together, holding them in shape and keeping the lamp cord inside the central hole. Just like a spinal column!

I don't really wanna cut out a jillion of these, and the cardboard is pretty flimsy, so I think it's time to go straight to the photonic emission beam. I designed the shapes in Inkscape and stretched the nubs to be as bone-shaped as possible. I like the organic look, y'know?

The three vertebrae nubs are equally spaced. The nubs are for holding onto the rubber bands that will be stretched between the pieces to keep them tight but also articulatable. For the rib portions, I want them to close up nicely when not in use.

Pinch the top wing-nubs, and it will open like a hair clip!

I'm noticing that the rubber bands will be reaaaally stretched if the ribs are opened this wide. I'm excited to try and lazer these pieces but I'm not expecting this to be the final design.