I designed and implemented a 16-channel holiday music and light show using a Raspberry Pi. I used the open-source software Lightshow Pi to control a 16-channel solid-state relay via the Raspberry Pi’s GPIO pins in time with music. I connected female plugs, which I obtained by cutting short extension cords, through the channels of the relay so that power would flow only when the channel was closed. Finally, I created an enclosure for this system and plugged holiday lights into the extension cords.
This project let me practice soldering and learn more about AC power. I soldered wires to extend the individual wires of the female plugs. I used terminal blocks so that the neutral and ground wires of each female plug would be connected to the neutral and ground wires of the male plug. The hot wires were connected in a similar way, except they first passed through the relay.
