“Do you know the German music band Deichkind? Well, I am a big fan of them and have been to several concerts. As part of their stage shows this band wears tetrahedral hats, full of LEDs. Already at the first concert more than 10 years ago I knew I need such a hat!
Unfortunately I didn’t have the necessary knowledge to make such one. But about half a year ago, I discovered Arduinos, and so it began…
The hat is made of black, opaque and as well transparent plexiglass. I searched for useful pictures of the helmets in the web and tried to make it as as close to the original as possible.
Unfortunately I made less pictures while building the hat. So this instruction contains more drawings :)
For the power supply I used a 10.000mAh powerbank. The LEDs are WS2812b to get all imaginable colors. It is controlled by Arduino Nano with HC06 module and android app. Various programs can be played via the app. Everything is possible here. I will provide my arduino code as well as the android apk within the next weeks. But it is still uncommented and partly chaotic, because parts of it were simply copied from the web. As soon as it has a reasonable state, I will upload it here for your free disposal.
Supplies:
Hardware:
The links goes to the sites/products I used, don’t be surprised: most of the sites are german :) You don’t need to take exactly the products from the linked sites. This is only a help to show the necessary product.
Black, opaque plexiglass (3x equilateral triangles, 42cm edge length, 2mm thickness)
Transparent plexiglass (2x equilateral triangles, 42cm edge length,0.5-1mm thickness) or a strong transparent foil
WS2812B LED stripe IP30 (not waterproof), 30LEDs per meter, in total 156 LEDs
Arduino Nano
HC06 Bluetooth module
Powerbank, dual USB output recommended (the smaller in dimensions, the better)
Capacitor 500-1000mF
Resistor 330 Ohm
USB-wire USB-A to mini-USB (powering the Arduino Nano)
USB-wire USB-A to whatever (will be cut, powering the LEDs)
Connection wires
Strong glue for plastics
Foam to make it more comfortable to wear.
You’ll also need some basic tools, tape, glue for plastic, cutter knife, scissors and a soldering iron.
The plexiglass parts are milled. If you do not have access to a milling machine, consider using the service of plexiglass shops. They will mill the material in the shape you want and will deliver it to your home door. However, in my experience these services are much more expensive than if you buy a rectangle and cut it yourself. You can use my drawing for ordering the plates in finished shape.
Alternatively, you can try to drill the holes with a simple hand drilling machine.”