Despite the inactivity on this blog, I’ve continued to make projects. In an attempt to get a little bit up-to-date, here are some videos of a Fiber-Optic LED dress, controlled by a Circuit Playground. I made this project to wear for Halloween, and it was quite a hit at the costume party. I’m working on a write up of a similar, but simpler project, a fiber-optic belt, that I hope to have posted soon.
e-Textiles / LED / Wearables
Howdy, how many and what kind of LEDs did you use? Did you power them all through the Circuit Playground or did you need a separate power supply? I’m wanting to make something similar for my daughter.
Hi there. I powered the CPX and LEDs from the same power source, but connected them in parallel because I didn’t want to run that much current through the Circuit Playground express. Often when I’m using an LED strip with a microcontroller, I’ll connect power directly to the signal out end of the LED strip or string and let the controller get power from the signal-input end of the LED string. (For the dress I used a string like this, with each LED connected to a fiber optic cable: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/100pcs-string-DC5V-WS2812B-addressable-rgb-full-color-pixel-light-5cm-wire-spacing-with-transparent-wire/32344693889.html) I used an Anker 5V phone charger as a source because I wanted to be sure to have enough current to keep the lights bright. Each WS2812 LED can pull up to 60 ma at full brightness, though it’s usually less.
How did you attach the 5050 WS2812b to the fiber optic cable? Hot glue?
I’m wondering about the comfort of the little PCBs edge on, or maybe you had them flat with the dress surface and let the fiber optics handle an initial 90 degree bend?
I 3D printed custom holders to attach the fiber optics to the little PCBs. They were small enough to not be uncomfortable to wear. The fiber optics themselves were quite stiff, so that was a bigger issue.
Would love to see the code. How long did it take to program?
Hi Andrew,
It wasn’t too bad, because I adapted much of the code from other people’s existing projects. The code is here: https://github.com/geekmomprojects/LED-Dress, but unfortunately, since it was written for the original Adafruit Circuit Playground, parts of it won’t work on more recent Circuit Playground Boards, because the built-in microphone was changed from an analog to a digital one.
Best,
Debra