Deathstar Lamp
Hardware
smart home lamp
SHOW HN2025
291points
55comments
#191of 3,837 in 2025
Top 5%of 2025 by points
How HN took it
MixedNo clear lean
5 positive, 16 neutral or asking, 1 mixed, 12 critical, out of 34 comments about the project. Thread score -0.16.
Docs: 0 for, 9 againstDesign: 3 for, 2 againstPerformance: 1 for, 1 against
The thread, comment by comment
Each row is a top-level comment and its replies, in HN's order. Select a cell to open that comment on HN.
positive neutral or mixed critical about another commenter or something else the maker
What HN said
What people liked
Fun, clever design and a good-looking lamp
From 3 comments
What a gem of a project. I am a huge fan of the PS 2014. To me it is one of the best IKEA products ever, even better than the discontiued Broder shelf system. We bought the large…
jansan on HNWhen expanded and illuminated red from within it looks like it's exploding, so you can think of it as xwings retreating to safe distance after successful bombing run :)
progbits on HNThree simple reasons: - It's spherical - The pattern of the tiles slightly resembles the pattern on the death star - When you open it, it looks like it "explodes", like every…
jansan on HN
Objections
Motor is noisy
From 1 comment
Yes, noise is a problem, which unfortunately makes the lamp quite unpopular with my girlfriend ;-) Some is indeed coming from the folding mechanism itself, but the majority of…
sephalon on HN
Lamp is too dim to serve as a main light source
From 2 comments
Maybe the coated ones do work better. For my use the lamp was simply not bright enough.
larusso on HNCool project indeed. I used to own the first model and thought about how one could motorize the lamp. I used to own the one which didn’t have the reflected coating on the inside…
larusso on HN
Video does not play in many mobile and other browsers
From 6 comments
Not for me
solosito on HNDoesn't seem to work in Brave
wbnns on HNSafari iOS not working here either
thenthenthen on HNDoesn't work in desktop Safari either.
DidYaWipe on HNDoesn't work in Firefox for Android ("file is corrupt").
kjrrp on HNAndroid Firefox says it won't play because it's corrupted.
stuaxo on HN
Requests
Add a music-synced open and close mode
From 1 comment
Can the Deathstar lamp firmware be customized to add new modes, like an automatic opening and closing cycle synced to music or other triggers?
badmonster on HN
Questions
Why the lamp looks like the Death Star
From 3 comments
Why does this lamp make people think of the death star? Me and my wife bought it ten years ago because of the cool mechanism and immediately started calling it the death star,…
kqr on HNThree simple reasons: - It's spherical - The pattern of the tiles slightly resembles the pattern on the death star - When you open it, it looks like it "explodes", like every…
jansan on HNI think it’s the angular shapes on a globe that triggers that. https://starcorridors.github.io/src/img/death-star.png
croes on HN
Does it stay fun after the novelty wears off
From 1 comment
lmao that lamp always made me wanna try something like this but i never had the patience gotta ask though, stuff like this - does it stay fun after the novelty wears off
gitroom on HN
Alternatives named
Original IKEA PS 2014 lamp
From 2 comments
Cool project indeed. I used to own the first model and thought about how one could motorize the lamp. I used to own the one which didn’t have the reflected coating on the inside…
larusso on HNWhat a gem of a project. I am a huge fan of the PS 2014. To me it is one of the best IKEA products ever, even better than the discontiued Broder shelf system. We bought the large…
jansan on HN