My twins and I both like LEGO, and LEDs. I figured I’d make some simple LED street lights that we could use to build a LEGO scenery.

I used a 2×4 LEGO plate with holes, and two 5mm LEDs with a wide light beam. The LEDs fit perfectly in the LEGO brick. A 100 Ω resistor allows the LEDs to be powered by 5V.

2×4 LEGO brick with two 5mm LEDs and resistors
2×4 LEGO brick with two 5mm LEDs, front

For the actual pole I used a LEGO satellite dish, mounted to a railway rail using a LEGO hinge. The thin wire is wrapped around the rail.

LEGO railway rail with LED street light

It was quick and easy to make, I didn’t have to destroy, or buy, any LEGO bricks. Now I just need to make some more, and find the time to make a LEGO city scene with the kids 😃

LEGO street light

Below is a video of the street light being controlled by a Wemos microcontroller, together with some traffic lights.

And here are the electronics parts I used for the street light:

  • 2 × LED 5mm clear, White (wide), 3.4V, 20mA, 14.000mcd, 40°
  • 2 × Resistor, carbon film, 0.25W, 100 Ω, 5%
  • 1 × Straight pin header, M/F crimp pins, 1x2, 2.54mm
  • 0.5 m Wire, stranded, 2-cores, 0.13mm2 (26 AWG), Red/Black

Last commit 2024-04-05, with message: Tag cleanup.