ISTE Standards & NGSS Science & Engineering Practies

Thursday, January 7, 2016

Alien Neopixel Book (Second Edition)
















This is the second alien book that I've made with surface mounted neopixels.  Like the previous model, this one has three RGB LEDs activated with a push button.  One thing that I did differently on this model was move the location of the battery away from the fore edge and closer to the spine.  I did this because I am continuing to have mixed results with the surface tension on embedded batteries.  I'm hoping that the battery compartment will be more secure if it's closer to the inside of the book block.

Consequently, I also changed the locations of the switch, push button, and ATtiny, allowing the added benefit of fewer cross-overs.  This was a good exercise, rather than simply repeating a circuit design I'd used before.

Soldering the neopixels is by far the most challenging part. I'm not sure that a project like this would be wise to attempt in a classroom setting. I'd thought my soldering would be more elegant this time around, but even a third hand tool didn't do the trick.