Shifter

This project, like so many others, came from a minor annoyance. The shifter that came with my otherwise lovely car, a Prius C, does not glow. But it looks like it should, and that bothered me. After concluding it would be too difficult to modify the original shifter, I opted to make my own from scratch.

The shape is the classic sphere on a stick design. Easy to draw up and comfortable to use. There are three parts in the assembly that are held together with a few small screws, and I hand-tapped the shaft to match the threads of the car. Installation consisted of unscrewing the standard shifter, screwing mine on in its place, and then plugging it in.

The lighting was done with a small Neopixel board and Feather microcontroller from Adafruit. Every ten seconds the red, green, or blue LEDs are randomly selected to increase or decrease in brightness by 25%. This results in a slow but constant shifting of color and intensity.

The tiny holes in the sphere are there to increase the visual effect. They are nearly impossible to see in unless you are looking for them, so it appears that an otherwise solid and unremarkable shifter suddenly begins emitting light when the car turns on.

These holes also provide a filtering effect on the LEDs. If you look carefully at the pictures below, you can see the individual Red, Green, and Blue spots that make up the tricolor LEDs projected onto nearby surfaces. In the car, it creates a gentle and relaxing starry sky-like projection on the ceiling