Building a Forest

This tree is intended to evoke both a conifer tree and a futuristic space vehicle.

Each of three “stages” is pivoted and spins independently with wind power. The trunk and the branch/fin leading edges are lit with concealed LED strips, and a flowing pattern of colors will remind us that all the trees on Earth are actually hurtling through our galaxy at almost half a million miles per hour. 

The core of the tree is constructed of Baltic birch plywood, and this is surrounded by MDF panels clad in walnut burl veneer. The branch/fins are made of hand-planed solid walnut. The LED strips are mounted in deep recesses beneath acrylic diffuser panels. The pivot for each stage is made with ball- and roller-bearings that were press fit onto short sections of 1” diameter steel pipe. A 4-channel slip ring mounted inside the pipe allows power and digital signals for the LEDs to be connected between each rotating stage. The static base contains a power supply and a custom printed circuit board with a 32-bit microcontroller that drives the LEDs.

A passive infrared motion sensor allows the light patterns to be changed based on the presence of visitors to the Forest.