I wanted to explore this LED stage light project because I've always been passionate about lighting design and electronics, and I saw an opportunity to combine both interests. Building a custom DMX-controlled wash light not only challenges my technical skills in circuit design, microcontrollers, and communication protocols, but also allows me to create a tool that I can use in real productions. This builds a bit off my previous kickbox project (seen below), which I worked on two years prior, where I constructed a DMX controller that could control moving lights in theatrical productions.
I work as a lighting designer during the summer back home in New York City, where I’m heavily involved in using professional lighting equipment. Over time, I started wondering why these lights are so expensive. This curiosity motivated me to take on the challenge of building my own LED wash light, combining my hands-on experience with a deeper technical understanding of how these systems work.
THE PROCESS
I started by planning how I would create my system. Beginning from scratch, I mapped out the spacing for my aluminum enclosure and designed how the wiring would be arranged inside. Below, you can see some of my early circuit designs, as well as the process of positioning the appropriate circuitry once the components arrived as planned.
I then began preparing for more advanced circuitry while waiting for my specialized LED tape to arrive. The video below shows me soldering header pins (connectors) to my ESP32 Feather Board (similar to a circuit board) and then connecting it to my system.
After getting some initial spacing, I drilled a hole in the side of the aluminum box for power to enter through. To do this, I had to remove some of the mounted circuitry and cut down some plastic "softjaws" to safely clamp my aluminum without damaging it. In this video below, you can see me operating a mill to cut down the plastic to a useful size.
Next, it was time to mount the tracks the LEDs would lie in to a uniform backing and then mount the LEDs inside said track. This video below shows that process:
Next, I cut a hole in the side of the aluminum box for the mounted track to slot into:
Finally, it was time to start soldering. I initially recorded this process from a POV perspective and attempted to solder the wires to the LED tape using tools in the engineering shop. Unfortunately, this kept failing, and despite trying many different methods, I couldn't get the solder to bond with the tape. Frustrated, I headed to the Maker Hub to seek advice, and fortunately, I found Jacob Karty working there. Together, we figured out why the solder wasn't bonding properly and successfully managed to make the connections.
I then tested it...and it WORKED!
There is still a lot to do. Moving forward, I hope to develop this into a multi-celled light and find a way to mount it onto servos so it can tilt up and down. While there's plenty of work ahead, I’m very proud of what I have accomplished so far!
Credits:
DMX StageLight Kickbox 2025