Monthly Archives: December 2015

GlowV

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Introduction
You know these kinds of suits?

These are pretty cool, but they’re not that easy to build. Also, those things are either always on or synchronized to music with timings (set by a computer). What I wanted was something I could trigger with gestures or some sort of touch sensor. Plus, I didn’t have EL wire (this stuff).

What I did have was a bunch of super bright LEDs, resistors, a few transistors, a spare microcontroller, dubious soldering skills, and a lot of patience. And so without further ado:

Introducing the Glowy Vest GlowV!

This mess of felt and wires was the product of approximately 4 days total of work, much of which was spent soldering the rat’s nest of wires free hand. There’s two different colors of lights, a red set around the waist controlled by a touch sensor on the left hand, and a blue and green set on the chest controlled by a touch sensor on the right hand.
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Blink’n’Beat – Arduino Beat Sequencer

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Anyone who gets started in electronics with Arduino is probably going to learn to blink an LED. A few years down the line, I still like blinking LEDs! I’ve also discovered various ways to create sounds on chip, including the tone() function, resistor ladders, and the MOZZI synth library (which is worth checking out). Of course, blinking lights, and making sounds at the same time is even better. But what if I could program a drum beat, synchronize a light to it, and then play a tone on top of it without even using buttons? THAT would be pretty cool!

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