September 6th: Arduino Project in a Day - Helmet Mod

Yesterday the boys & I took some old toys & such to Goodwill. We went into the store hoping to find something metal (and cheap) that we could cut with the plasma cutter :)

We didn't find anything to cut, but I did find some cool stuff, including a keyboard stand (my 7 year old just started keyboard classes) and some powered computer speakers that we will strip for parts to use in Lou's Hockey Scoreboard.

My 10 year old found a cool costume Starfighter helmet for $2 and brought it home. He was wearing it around the house when I noticed that it looked as if it had LEDs across the top of the helmet. I joked that we could put real LEDs in...next thing I know we've got the helmet on the drill press :)

Pics & Video...

Side view - need to clean off that sticker mess..

LEDs in place of the red paint...

Bent the LED cathodes to act as part of common ground...

Used some black wire to tie all the cathodes together...

We were constructing AND watching "The Invincible Iron Man" animated movie on Blu-Ray...
this is a power-on test of all the LEDs

I used my favorite patch cable - Cat5 - to tie the anodes to the Modified "Pico" Arduino which is tucked in the back of the helmet 

Better shot of the Pico Arduino

USB charging kit that uses 4 rechargeable AAs and a retractable mini-usb cable for power.
It even has an on/off switch :)

Blue tape - one of my favorite construction materials...

I used adhesive velcro to hold the Pico in place.