Being an engineer myself I could not resist adding remote control to this manually expandable lamp I saw at IKEA, no matter the cost. In this project I've replaced the pull string with M3 threaded rod and DC motor, added a micro-controller to drive it and after a bit of soldering, cutting, drilling... it moves by itself. The lamp can be controlled two ways. First of all, as you would expect, the light can be switched on, off and dimmed using standard wall switch. In addition to that, there is an Infra-Red remote control for more precise and programmable movement. In fact, it allows to save 3 positions and remembers the last position when switched on.

You can watch the video here: https://youtu.be/03p3kui5NIQ