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.

Blinking Alien Spaceship Book Using Neopixels & an ATtiny85

Solder the neopixels before removing the adhesive from the copper tape.

In the process of prototyping, to see if I could get individually addressable neopixels (surface mounted RGB LEDs) to work in a paper circuit, I've learned a couple of tricks.
The most important one is to solder the LEDs to the copper tape before creating the rest of the circuit. Compared to my first botched attempt, in which I tried to solder neopixels to copper that was already adhered to paper, soldering the LEDs to the copper first was far less fiddly.

Although I had to use a multimeter to isolate a wonky joint (the result to too many cross-overs) I was eventually able to get three LEDs to work the way I'd intended.  Each light changes colors!

In this project, I've added a LilyPad button board in addition to a LilyPad slide switch.

Something else that I've done differently is add two layers of watercolor paper to the binder's board, with notches cut out for the LEDs, button, and switch.  Neopixels are thicker than other SMD LEDs, so the extra paper helps smooth out the surface of the book covers.  I added one layer of watercolor paper to the inside covers as well, hoping to increase the surface tension on the battery. 

Rough sketch

I painted the design and sealed it with acrylic gel medium.

Alien Paper Circuit with Neopixels & an ATtiny85

Chainable, surface mounted RGB LEDs work in paper circuits! 

After spending a couple of days prototyping, I've completed my first paper circuit using individually addressable neopixels, otherwise known as surface mounted RGB LEDs! Soldering them was trickier than I'd anticipated, however!  I'd originally planned to use three lights in this model, but a soldering mishap resulted in my using only two.  I love the way that the lights change colors at the press of a button!  (See video below).