I have been working on this project on and off for the last year and it is finally complete! I found an accurate model of Spaceship Earth that I could 3D print. I modified the model to hollow it out and cut 1.8mm holes to replicate the Points of Light display. I then glued in 1922 addressable LEDs that are controlled by an ESP32 board running WLED.
I also recreated the 40th Anniversary and EPCOT Anthem shows using dozens of presets and timing them out in a playlist to closely match the Points of Light show.
Here are side by side videos of the shows.
Stats
- 1924 LEDs (1922 in the sphere, 2 in the sign)
- Size: 10”h x 11”w x 11.5”d
- Pixel Diameter: 1.8mm
- ~65 hours to build
- 34+ hours just to install the lights (drill out hole, insert light diffuser, glue LED in place x 1922 LEDs)
- 140 hours to 3D Printing
- 8 printed pieces
- 15 LED strings
- 175’ of wire
- 4.5 amps / 22.5 watts
- ~$400 in materials
- Built in temp sensor cuts power of it gets too hot inside.
- Custom build of the WLED software
Timeline
- March 13th 2025, project started. Confirmed WLED software & hardware could run this many LEDs
- March 27th started work on the model by hollowing out and cutting holes in an existing 3D model of Spaceship Earth
- August 2025, used ChatGPT to determine the number of holes. Learned a new shape, Pentakis Dodecahedron
- September 2025, model completed and printed as well as 2000 light diffusers to go in the holes
- October 2025, started programming the controller and mapping out the LEDs. Came across a limitation on mapping so many lights.
- November 2025, blazoncek made me a custom build of the software to fix the mapping issue.
- December 2025, did all the electrical work soldering together all the LED strips and started installing the LEDs.
- February 2026, finished installing the LEDs and began the Test and Adjust phase.
- March 2026, hardware phase is complete, sealed the sphere shut.
Original model: itim77
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4073521
WLED Fixes & Custom Build: blazoncek
https://github.com/blazoncek/WLED/tree/dev
I also recreated the 40th Anniversary and EPCOT Anthem shows using dozens of presets and timing them out in a playlist to closely match the Points of Light show.
Here are side by side videos of the shows.
Stats
- 1924 LEDs (1922 in the sphere, 2 in the sign)
- Size: 10”h x 11”w x 11.5”d
- Pixel Diameter: 1.8mm
- ~65 hours to build
- 34+ hours just to install the lights (drill out hole, insert light diffuser, glue LED in place x 1922 LEDs)
- 140 hours to 3D Printing
- 8 printed pieces
- 15 LED strings
- 175’ of wire
- 4.5 amps / 22.5 watts
- ~$400 in materials
- Built in temp sensor cuts power of it gets too hot inside.
- Custom build of the WLED software
Timeline
- March 13th 2025, project started. Confirmed WLED software & hardware could run this many LEDs
- March 27th started work on the model by hollowing out and cutting holes in an existing 3D model of Spaceship Earth
- August 2025, used ChatGPT to determine the number of holes. Learned a new shape, Pentakis Dodecahedron
- September 2025, model completed and printed as well as 2000 light diffusers to go in the holes
- October 2025, started programming the controller and mapping out the LEDs. Came across a limitation on mapping so many lights.
- November 2025, blazoncek made me a custom build of the software to fix the mapping issue.
- December 2025, did all the electrical work soldering together all the LED strips and started installing the LEDs.
- February 2026, finished installing the LEDs and began the Test and Adjust phase.
- March 2026, hardware phase is complete, sealed the sphere shut.
Original model: itim77
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4073521
WLED Fixes & Custom Build: blazoncek
https://github.com/blazoncek/WLED/tree/dev