How should be the core of the Death Star been powered? Is there a seperate power supply needed?
The solution is simple, if it would be possible to use the power supply of the RGB LED bulb. The LED is running on 5 volt. Same as the Spark Core and all other compenents which should be used. Thus the power supply could be hacked and reused (in theory).
Luckily the RGB LED Bulb can be easily dismanteled. And inside indeed we have 5 volt.
That’s how the bulb electronic looks like if the cover is removed. Between the red and white cable 4,7 volt are provided.
Conversion of 220 volt to 5 volt are done in the lower mounting. It can also be easily dismanteled. Inside there is a normal power supply with discrete parts and should be able to handle the additional current. If there will be issues, it could also be replaced. But to keep it save, I won’t touch anything here on the high voltage side if it’s not ultimatly needed.
There are venting openings in the lower white plastic socket which are ideal to put the wires through. To get the wires into the actual bulb, I drilled an additional whole in the aluminium socket using the additional mounting hole in the PCB.
You’ll also notice the additional two (blue & yellow) wires. I will use them for the IR led to place it directly inside the bulb to avoid any interference .
