LED Light - Up Shirt

My favorite band is Maroon 5 so before I attended a recent concert I decided to try my hand at making a light up shirt that would "attract" the band's attention! I used sew-able LED lights. Of course my shirt color was maroon!

Step 1: Items Needed

Here is a list of the items that I used to create my shirt. I purchased them from the site, www.sparkfun.com

LilyPad Arduino 328 Main Board

LilyPad LEDs White

Conductive Thread Bobbin - 30ft (Stainless Steel)

LilyPad FTDI Basic Breakout - 5V

SparkFun USB Mini-B Cable - 6 Foot

Craft Puffy Paint

Step 2: Placing LEDs

I "grouped" about 8 LEDS and used the conductive thread to stitch them. As you can see in the picture I had five sections. I sewed all of the negatives on the LEDs using one line of conductive thread.

Step 3:

You can see the running stitches from the LEDs down to the Main Board. I used ports A1, A3, 13, 9, 7, and 12

I used the Arduino software to program the 328 Main Board so that each port would turn off/then on creating a blinking pattern. Below is the code I used:

int led = A1;

int led1 = A3;

int led2 = 13;

int led3 = 9;

int led4 = 7;

int led5 = 12;

// the setup function runs once when you press reset or power the board

void setup() {

// initialize digital pin 13 as an output.

pinMode(led, OUTPUT);

pinMode(led1, OUTPUT);

pinMode(led2, OUTPUT);

pinMode(led3, OUTPUT);

pinMode(led4, OUTPUT);

pinMode(led5, OUTPUT);

}

// the loop function runs over and over again forever

void loop() {

digitalWrite(led, HIGH); // turn the LED on (HIGH is the voltage level)

digitalWrite(led1, HIGH); // turn the LED on (HIGH is the voltage level)

digitalWrite(led2, HIGH); // turn the LED on (HIGH is the voltage level)

digitalWrite(led3, HIGH); // turn the LED on (HIGH is the voltage level)

digitalWrite(led4, HIGH); // turn the LED on (HIGH is the voltage level)

digitalWrite(led5, HIGH); // turn the LED on (HIGH is the voltage level)

delay(1000);

digitalWrite(led, LOW); // turn the LED off by making the voltage LOW

digitalWrite(led1, LOW); // turn the LED off by making the voltage LOW

digitalWrite(led2, LOW); // turn the LED off by making the voltage LOW

digitalWrite(led3, LOW); // turn the LED off by making the voltage LOW

digitalWrite(led4, LOW); // turn the LED off by making the voltage LOW

digitalWrite(led5, LOW); // turn the LED off by making the voltage LOW

delay(1000);

Step 4:

After I tested out my shirt to make sure it worked correctly, I purchased Puffy Paint from a craft store and covered my conductive thread with it. It helps to keep it in place and protect it.

Step 5:

In this picture you see the FTDI board attached to the 328 Main Board. Then I attached the USB cord to the FTDI board through a slit I made in the shirt and the USB attached to the Energizer battery. I just kept the battery and cord in my jean pocket.

I am sad to say that no band member acknowledged my flashing shirt -- but it sure got me the attention of those around me!!!