“I made my NeoPixel Party Bike for two reasons:
First, I’ve worked on a few simple NeoPixel projects in the past and it was like a “tease” that made me want to know more-more-more!
Second, I’m a member of BikeJC, a bicycle club in Jersey City that goes on rides at night throughout the summer. Most members light up their bikes with off-the-shelf bike lights - but I’ve been wanting to apply my hacker skills to my bike — and make it epic!
I designed this project as my own personal “school” - my goal is to learn more about NeoPixels, music visualizations, and BLE. I already learned a lot and I’m happy to share it with you! I put in the time to make the physical hardware durable so that I can continue to deepen my knowledge of code, run tests, and try new skills on the same equipment - I think of it now as my “canvas for learning and testing”!
HELPFUL LINKS
Here are some things I’ve found helpful along the way. If you have suggestions for tutorials, classes, blog posts, example code, or anything else I should check out (or add to this list) please comment below!
Adafruit NeoPixel Überguide
Adafruit - Multitasking the Microcontroller
Hackaday U - LED Programming With Arduino & FastLED
Arduino BLE Documentation
Supplies:
Lights
WS2812B Individually Addressable RGB LED Strip
MicroController
Arduino Nano 33 IOT
Control Pad
4 x 4 Matrix Array 16 Button Key Pad
Not yet implemented, but soon to be! Adafruit NeoTrellis KeyPad with Silicone Button cover
Batteries
2000 mAh Adafruit Lithium-Ion Battery (x2) (for the wheels)
10,000 mAh Battery Backup, similar to this (for the main controller)
Connectors
3-Wire Cable (You could also use these LED strip connectors for connecting to the strips)
3 Pin Wire Connectors
Heat Shrink (for all wire and led strip connections)
1 inch Black Heat Shrink (to go over plastic channels) - Home Depot
Clear XL Heat Shrink (to protect Arduino Nano in Wheels)
Audio Accessories
Panel Mount Stereo Audio Connector - Adafruit
BUGANI M83 Speaker
Audio Splitter with volume control
Audio Cables(x2) (one for phone, one to connect to Arduino)
Enclosures & Mounting Supplies
U-Shaped Mounting Channel
Black Project Enclosure Box (Mine was from Radio Shack, R.I.P.)
Industrial Strength Velcro
Velcro Cable Ties
Waterproof ID Holders (x2)
Zip Tie Anchors & Zip Ties
Tools
Soldering Iron & Solder
Heat Gun”