LED Fibre Optic Hotwheels Car.

Following on from my first Instructable, I decided to make a battery powered LED car. The head & tail lights are so small that using plastic fire optics was the only way to go, also the small amount of space inside the car for holding batteries.
All this cost only three UK Pounds to make (and about ten hours!), plus some stuff from one of my many junk boxes*

*That's what my wife says are in the boxes, little does she know!

Step 1 Required Tools.

1. Soldering Iron.
2. Hot Glue Gun.
3. Rotary Drill (Dremmel).
4. Scalpel Set.
5. Pliers.
6. Wire Strippers.
7. Needle Files.
8. Drill Bits.
9. Helping Hands (Crocodile Clips on a stand, with magnifying glass).

Not all shown in this Picture.

Comments

[izakaroo]

How did u do the background that the cars on??

[HardCoreHacker]

Could this work for die-cast cars?

[Kozz]

Wow. Simple execution, and the results look fantastic! I'm kind of dopey when it comes to electronics (even the easiest stuff), but where are you most likely to find the optical fiber? And is there any possibility that a heavy monofilament (clear fishing line) could work just as well? It's just transmitting light, and not actual data...

[treg]

I think that heavy monofilament wire is galss optic wire, not very handy to work with. I am actually writting an instructable where I'll explain what I know about plastic optic fiber, but for now, just remember to put it in boiling water before you bend it, to cut it with an hot cutter blade, and to sand it properly to have maximum luminosity. To attach the optic fiber to the leds, if you only need 2 or 4 leds per led, you can just make small holes in the head of the led, put the fiber in it, and the glue with cyanoacrylate. There is a seller on ebay.com (US) who sell POf by the foot, prices are good. I don't remember what is the minimal carriage fee, so maybe for two foot it would not be interesting. If you really can"t fain any, send me a message, I may resell a few for you (I have 0.75, 1 and 1.5mm outer diameter, 0.3dB/m loss, PMMA fiber - it is plastic ;) )

[Knetjester]

I got the cable from a broken UFO lamp, that came from a Pound/$ store. I don't see why fishing wire wouln't work, give it a try!

[treg]

wishing wire will not work because optic fiber have an outer coating which makes the light reflect and stay inside the fiber.

You can read this.

[Scammah]

Props on the great job. Also props on putting in a realistic background

[Doctor What]

Light up hotwheels! This is cool! My little sister loves hotwheels, so I'll have to make her one.

[bumpus]

Awesome! I am so doing this ASAP! I'll post some pictures :D Also there are a few spelling errors, but excellent instructable! Cheap and Easy!

[Knetjester]

There are some trade names, which have some weird spelling, also I am in the UK. This is where the English language was invented, so if there are differences with US English, we are right and you are wrong! Thanks for the comment. :-)

[bumpus]

That is true! One I saw was spelled "Awat" I think you meant "Away" :D