Disco Geiger counter

During the Cold War, in order to distract us from the thought of total nuclear destruction, the US government distributed Geiger counters, apparently for civil authorities to check that it was safe to come out of the bomb shelters in the event of a nuclear attack. Of course, we now know (and they knew then) that any military nuclear attack would devastate the world. Civil defence Geiger counters were a piece of security theatre, to kid the public that there would ever be a ‘normal’ life again.

Still, they make excellent starting points for whimsical electronics projects, as this Disco Containment Unit shows. Hamilton has kept controls to a minimum, with power, motor control, lights on/off, and a light mode switch. A motor turns the disco ball, lit with four NeoPixels, and there’s an Arduino Nano clone powering the whole thing