This project is my second wearable project. The materials have improved significantly in the past two years. My first project was a Lilypad based Tieduino.
The thread was silver instead of stainless steel, the pixels were monochromatic, and unchainable. The thread did not stand the test of time. You can see below it is quite blackened with tarnish. This inhibits the conductivity in the circuit. The silver thread also seemed to snag in the fabric more often than the stainless.
Luckily my wife had some pins for me to work out the placement of the Neo Pixels on my hat.
I spent about six hours sewing the Neo Pixels onto the hat. I pricked my fingers multiple times dodging the straight pins.
I started by sewing one continuous power lead for the Vbatt line. The ground is broken in two lines since things get a bit crowded at the bottom of the hat. The data line attached to D10 was bar far the most time consuming since it is not continuous. I had to tie off and cut in between each pixel. Against the recommendation from the Adafruit tutorial, I have 12 pixels attached to one line of stainless thread. Becky Stern explains that after 10 pixels the resistance of the thread can be quite drain on the current. I used the three strand thread since it has less resistance. I may have to replace or augment this power bus with regular copper strand later in the project. Once I add the GPS sensor this might be a necessity, but I prefer the aesthetic of the embroidered look.
The Adafruit tutorial also recommends using a multimeter to check for shorts and loose connections. The Neo Pixel test code works well when the hat is stationary on the table, but the color animation goes awry once I touch, move, or wear the hat. This is why I purchased my first multimeter at Radio Shack tonight. I think that is a bit of a milestone for me. I have transitioned from being interested in physical computing to someone who is really ready to dive deeper in the rabbit hole. I need to resolve this hardware issue before sorting out the animation coding.
Once I resolve the short and/or loose connections, I will sew on the GPS sensor. I am planning on putting it on the top of the hat for best reception. My next steps are as follows:
-resolve pixel connectivity issue, shorts and/or loose connections
-sew GPS sensor to top of hat for best reception
-create my list of cool places to visit with their GPS coordinates
-code animations
-code GPS to compare to list of cool places
-figure out how to save a value to a variable that persists after the FLORA is powered down
On the home front: The newborn is becoming much more aware and alert. The toddler is beginning to get back on a normal sleep schedule.
