- Concept
- A hat that sensors music and neopixels brightness go up and down according to the music volume. A capacitive touch sensor that turns the hat’s lights on and off.
- Parts List
- Flora RGB smart neopixel version 2 – sheet of 20
- Conductive thread
- Circuit playground express
- Conductive fabric
- Process
- I first started by making a drawing of the hat and how I wanted it to look. I was also unsure about where to place the neopixels, so this drawing has them at the top and bottom. It also has a capacity touch sensor to turn it on/off.
I also researched the flora neopixels, since they have to be placed in a specific way and a small mistake, like not following the arrows can ruin the lights.
- Circuit Diagram
- This is what the circuit would look like. The positive is connected to “VOUT”, the negative to “GND” and the lights to “A1”. The lights have arrows that have to be followed for the circuit to work.
- Code
- This code changes the brightness of the lights according to the sound of the environment. The lights have a random colour, which means they are always changing colour and the brightness is the only thing affected by the sound. The capacitive touch turns off the lights.
- Final Project Images
- Inside
- The inside of the hat has extra felt to make sure the thread isn’t visible on the outside. I use tape for the prototype because at the time my circuit wasn’t fully functional.
- Inside
- Outside
- The outside of the hat is very minimal, I thought of adding an extra layer to diffuse the lights but decided not to since I liked how the neopixels looked and because this is more like a party hat diffusing the lights isn’t necessary.
- Reflections & Next Steps
- I think my stitching wasn’t the best, therefore the lights wouldn’t turn on every time. If I do closer and stronger stitching it would work, so for the next step, I’d like to re-do the stitching and find a new way to hide the sticking from the outside of the hat.
- Resources & Related Works
- Core Electronics. (2018a). Circuit Plaground – Colour Matching with MakeCode [YouTube Video]. In YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Qt9f1mQHAk
- Core Electronics. (2018b). Sound Reactive Lights Project with Circuit Playground & MakeCode [YouTube Video]. In YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNxQ9dT0kqY
- Hackster.io. (2020, September 23). NeonDancer 9000. Hackster.io; Hackster. https://www.hackster.io/jack59/neondancer-9000-3723b6