The 10mm LEDs I ordered from Evil Mad Science came in and I went out today to get a CR2032 3V battery to start testing.
I got 100 super white and 100 blue LEDs.
This is the CR2032 battery, I got 6 of them for $2 from the Dollar Store. It would be interesting to get a really small solar cell to keep a battery like this continuously charged.
You can power more LEDs off of one battery, but I think the battery would just drain faster.
These are the blue LEDs, the whites are a bit brighter, but still have the frosted lens. So, let’s start thinking about what we can do… I want to make some signs, use these to light up that fence entrance for Lebel and the wall where there is no light.
not sure if you’ve ever heard of throwies? they came out some time ago in the hacker community i was in.
http://graffitiresearchlab.com/?page_id=6
you just toss them and the magnets on them hold them in place. : )
Yes! I loved that project since I first saw it, though it’s always bothered me that the LEDs, magnets, and particularly the batteries, might eventually just become garbage on the street. I liked this documentation, apparently the first throwie they ever threw:
http://graffitiresearchlab.com/?page_id=14#video
It’s so simple, but it was really amazing when I attached the first LED to the battery… have you made throwies before, Darren?
i haven’t made them but i remember we talked about them at a 2600 meeting. they got a lot of attention at one of 2600’s HOPE meetings a few years ago. (Hackers On Planet Earth). i know what you mean about the batteries though. i wonder how hard it would be to make them with a solar cell.
going through the archives, I thought it might be worth talking about the potential of integrating LEDs to this snow lamp idea…
http://www.brokencitylab.org/blog/led-lights-snow/
I wonder about those new xmas lights cdn tire is selling too that are solar. I wonder if they’re LED lights. My friends were always better at building things than me. Like Mike Beauchamp.
You can see some of the things he made recently with LEDs here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/10349884@N00/2624145158/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/10349884@N00/2517461329/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/10349884@N00/2518280424/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/10349884@N00/2518281538/
i’m not sure if he used LED’s for the lightbar though
Hey Darren, the “Light Bar” used 128 LED’s driven by two MAX7221 chips, controlled by a barebones Arduino.
http://mikebeauchamp.com/building/light-bar/
thanks Mike. you should sells those like you sell the theremin’s !
i keep thinking how so many things you’ve done in the past would be great ideas for broken city lab to put their twist on them.
Thanks Darren,
I had hinted to Julie Sando about the idea of me instructing a course at Lebel for an introduction to electronics for art, including microcontrollers using the Arduino (and Lilypad for wearable-art) and general electronics for lighting, automation, sound synthesis, etc, etc…
Unfortunately, I think the idea never exactly picked up. Maybe there is a better way for me to propose this? This is something I would be willing to return to Windsor for.
As soon as I read this entry I immediately thought of throwies. The GRL recomends keeping track of each throwie and as long as you don’t go overboard with placement you’re fine. Just mind the border, remember the issue a couple years ago with Cartoon Network’s “Viral” campaign in Boston?
Hi Mike, Maybe send a email over to leesa at her university email (bringas@uwindsor.ca) and she can tell you who to contact since she’s taking her MFA there now.
I met with the bloggers in town tonight and we were wondering how you like it down there still and if you’re ever coming home? : )
hi Darren and Mike,
Thanks for the links and pics of the Light Bar… Good to know about those MAX7221 chips, when I saw the photos on flickr Darren put up, I had wondered how you were assigning the lights individually.
Phil, yes, making throwies is certainly one option, though I think we’ll stay away from them. I don’t like the idea of the LEDs, batteries and magnets potentially becoming trash if you do lose track of them, and while the bridge would be the ideal spot to try them out, it would also cause the most trouble, likely something even bigger than the Boston campaign.