Homemade LED T-Shirt with 324 addressable WS2812B LED's. Controlled with Arduino pro micro linked to LCD touchscreen and Bluetooth to Android phone app. Everything made in house (Circuit board, shirt code, phone app, shirt layout, LED Ribbon strings). Display pictures saved to SD card, everything else fully changeable from screen or app(Colors, speed and text). With shirt turned on you are brighter then any strobe or spot light at any party. Shirt does get warm when all LED's are turned on.

By taking the circuit board and battery off the T-shirt allows for it to be washed gently.

Step 1: Eagle Layout of Circuit Board

Double sided circuit board designed in Eagle. Circuit board mounts the Arduino, Bluetooth, LCD screen and LED control line

Step 2: Etch Circuit Board

Homemade Eagle circuit was etched onto a copper clad double sided board. Need to make sure the top and bottom traces line up for Via's and holes.

Step 3: Adding Components to Circuit Board

Solider the following components to the copper clad traces: LCD screen headers, Bluetooth module, switch, external LED headers, Arduino Pro Micro. Added extra solider to the traces for current demands and to keep from oxidizing. Measuring less then 1/2" in thickness when put together.

Step 4: Programing Components of the T-shirt

Three difference components need to be programed; LCD, Arduino Pro Micro and Android phone app.

*The LCD runs off the 4D Systems workshop, programing similar to C, Basic or Pascal. Uses micro SD card to hold pictures or store data. Touchscreen allows to quick change of what is being displayed via different screens. All added with libraries for easy coding.

*Arduino Pro Micro run in the Arduino IDE. Controls all the commands from the screen and app to control the the data lines to the shirt 11 different LED strings. Adafruit_NeoPixel library required to control the WS2812B LED data lines. Made a separate letters file to control any symbols or letters that are to be displayed on the LED's.

*Phone app run in Android Studios or Eclipse. A simple GUI used send commands to update shirt. First tab has standard colors and color schemes along with text input to display. Next are RGB values or a color wheel to pick any color for output. Additional tabs open for future designs

All three components talk via serial command so they all update each other. The app communicates with Bluetooth to the circuit board.

Step 5: Making of T-Shirt

Made shirt from scratch to fit the LED rows evenly. Made from a lightweight and non-stretchable fabric. Even with flexible LEDs adding a zipper makes it easier to take on/off.

Step 6: Shirt Traces and LED's Added to Shirt

Laid out the shirt control signal traces to the beginning of the addressable LED. Heavy duty power lines run in the middle of the LED rows. This is to more evenly power each way along the LED row. Each row of LED's can withstand over an amp and has minor voltage drop along the string.