A brief post wherein I talk about making a hat mockup.
Why ya doin’ that?
I like making a mockup for two reasons: 1) it gives me the ability to change component placement and see potential aesthetic problems before I’ve done anything undoable and 2) it makes me think through the connections, power and data requirements, and technical details in a way that I have trouble motivating myself to do otherwise. If I didn’t make a mockup, I’d just try to work from examples and likely end up missing some very important detail (like accidentally connecting to the wrong end of a Neopixel strip and spending two hours thinking that I’d scrambled its brains).
So how do ya do it?
First I draw a sketch of the main components and work out exactly how they will connect and to what pins. It’s nice to have the actual parts right there in front of me so that I can reference them as I research (it’s way easier to read the name of a pin on a real Flora than it is zooming in and out of diagrams on my phone). And it also helps to ingrain the functions of un-labelled pins on things like the through-hole Neopixels and the temperature sensor. I got burned in my Arduino class for connecting this same temp sensor backwards, so as small as it is, I want to be damn sure about its orientation before I solder anything.
Working out the connections also motivates me to re-read the guides for each component and look for anything that might trip me up. Is the battery pack I ordered really going to be appropriate for this project? Do I need to wire all of the Neopixels together in one string or should I use a second pin to separate data to the through-holes? Are all GRD pins on the Flora created equal? These are the questions I asked and answered for myself. (yes, probably separate, yes)
After making the sketch, reading all the guides and pin-out diagrams, and doing math, I draw the same components on cardboard or paper and I wire them together using scrap wire (that i may or may not end up using in the real thing). This really helps me work out lengths of wire and positioning while not worrying about breaking the actual components as I move them around.
What did you learn?
- I’ll probably switch to a Lipoly battery -- not because of the volt/amp requirements but because it’s a little uncomfortable in the top of the hat. My spouse says that it looks fine, but I’m wondering if the slimmer Lipoly would just feel better.
- My connecting wires don't need to be very long except for the first connection from Flora to the through-hole Neopixels.
- And I'm a little nervous about trying to fit those 5 Neopixels so close together. Even after making my cardboard mockup, I don't feel like I've wrapped my head around it yet.
- I'm also thinking about adding an actual ribbon or diffusion layer over the Neopixel strip. Or painting over the soldering pads and pin labels? Can I do that?
