NESblinky - Nintendo Controller Bike Flasher

I saw the "Light Up Your Ride" contest, and I pondered about what could be re-purposed to increase the visibility of my bike, all while hopefully blinding a motorist or two into a fit of retro rage. I happened upon an old broken Nintendo controller, which made me think of all the superfluous NES controller mods I had seen before. This sparked a very dim light in my head. I had yet to see an NES controller bike flasher, and what could be more tacky then modding it with ultrabright LEDs. I felt nausea at the thought, and had to run to the bathroom. After I cleaned up and recomposed myself, I returned to where the NES controller lay motionless and without light, and decided that this would be my entry into the "Blind Everyone Else on the Road with Awesomeness" contest.

To maximize the nausea inducing effectiveness of blinking lights emanating from the icon of a wasted childhood, it's designed to be easy to attach to so much more then your bike. Using velcro straps, you can attach it to just about anything, like your belt, bike seat, seat post, rack, handlebars, arms, ankles, shoes, curly hair, poodles, dogs legs, cats tails, dog collars, wool sweaters, tree branches, steering wheels, other peoples bikes, gerbils, wooden spoons, towel racks, broom handles, shag carpets, monkey bars, bike spokes, lamp posts, rattle snakes, extension cords, christmas trees, babies bottles, shopping carts, iphones, deer antlers, shot guns... I think that may be it, but if you have any more attachment ideas, please post them in the comments.

This also works as an effective theft deterrent. Just the sight of this is guaranteed to break down potential thieves into a fit of laughter (or explosive vomiting), bringing them to the realization that they have chosen the wrong path in life. Of course they will quickly forget once they can see again and notice the nicer bike next to yours.

All seriousness aside though, this is a really bright bike flasher which grabs a lot more attention then the generic rear flashers, and it's more interesting then sticking some LED's in a black project box.

See more cool projects at:
www.danielbauen.com
www.Engineerable.com

Step 1 Materials

You may or may not need the following items:
- NES Controller
- 12 Ultra bright LED's. I used 6 red, and 6 yellow. These were purchased off ebay a few years ago, and are really blindingly bright.
- Glue (Super glue slightly dissolves the NES controller plastic, but it's not bad, and actually seems to form a better bond)
- 2 AAA battery holder from Radio Shack
- Double sided velcro straps
- Pants (If you've read this far and still aren't wearing any, please for Instructables sake go put some on, because a little part of me dies inside when pants-less people read my instructables).

Tools:
- Small phillips screwdriver
- drill with drill bit to make a hole just big enough for the LED's to slide into.

Comments

[agis68]

 I make one for my motorbike jacket...like wearable version

[zieak]

Ugh. You can see the coagulated sweat in the 4 way controller cutout.

[engineerable]

Ya, pretty gross, eh? Not only that, but 20+ years of coagulated sweat. I was disgusted when I opened the controller. Even worse that it's not my own being a yard sale find.

[komecake]

  *makes barfing sound*

[Microtek]

If anyone needs a controller, check out www.microtek.mybisi.com Great use man, I'm thinking Halloween safety.... Very slick.

[mikeyberman]

Thanks tonnes for the guide. I'm quite proud of mine - I found a really retro switch, so mine looks just that bit cooler... but I guess the blackness of your makes it more authentic. Oh, and I made a belt too. Just cos I'm cool like that.

[nubie]

Awesome, I love the hack. If you make the holes even smaller it will take quite a bit of force to install the LEDs then no glue needed :). Can you use a 555 timer and high power transistor (from a second-hand store r/c car) to blink it?

[engineerable]

Ya, that would work with the right size drill bit, which I didn't have. I really need to buy one of those nice indexed drill bit sets. The problem with a 555 is that it has a minimum operating voltage of 4.5V, so I would have to use more batteries, which wouldn't fit. Ideally I want to use 2AA and just cut a hole in the back for them to stick out and be easy to replace.

[Doctor What]

Cool! Very bright and protective! And nice butt shots! Yay!

[engineerable]

Those are some sweet butt shots if I can say so myself! Also I linked to your LED belt on the last step because I want to make something similar to which this can be added on as the power pack.

[Alcreion]

This could work as a belt clip on or belt buckle too!