LED dial light pipes for potentiometers and encoders

A to Synth sets out to make light-up LED dials around a potentiometer or rotary encoder.

If possible, I want to have a continuous ring clockwise from the left to where the current setting is. It may draw too much current, but for now that’s my goal. I also want the end of the ring to be as sharp as possible – and in the event of having to use a single led at the time, having as little leaking light from the current led to the ones next to it. Finally, I want the light to be as uniform as possible.

To get distinct sections along the ring, I’m trying out light pipes, one for every LED. They need to have as smooth as possible sides to reflect the light and keep it contained within the pipe, and they must be separated to prevent leakage.

See how Joakim came up with a lovely design in the blog post here.


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