DIY HACK – HOWTO build an LED Hat!

video://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tW8eNRhpuEs

video://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CoVUtz01Uww

Check out this awesome LED Hat you can make for Halloween! There’s some construction notes that you can refer to build one yourself.

I think this was originally because I was planning to go to the Burning Man festival, in which being covered with lights is a practical way of keeping track of your friends. But the idea was a bit beyond my expertise for a long time, and it took about two years before I found someone who said they would help me with the electronics side and I decided it was worth the risk of buying the kit to try.

I started work six weeks before Glade 2006, i.e. about June. I also optimistically hoped to finish something basic in time, but it took until about February 2007 before I had something which was self-contained and wearable. Obviously not all of this time was spent soldering LEDs, but soldering and testing those and about 400 wires was the biggest job.

Then progress stalled for a while, since I was a bit sick of LEDs at that point, but if I wanted to take it to Glade 2007 I needed to finish it off: some decent patterns and a button to switch between them, which I managed about 4 hours before having to get up again to catch the train there. And it was a success! Despite ridiculously heavy rain leading to a big mud bath at the festival, the hat did it’s job without breaking and the most common response was, “Wow, cool hat! Where did you buy it?”

via HackedGADGETS

4 Responses to DIY HACK – HOWTO build an LED Hat!

1. solarium says:

   October 20, 2007 at 8:38 am

   Hey Slash! I just pimped your hat! =)

   …cool

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