Introduction: Magic Top Hat

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Hear ye, hear ye! Step into the Spotlight with the LED Top Hat!

Turn heads and light up the night with this modern twist on a classic style. Our handcrafted haute forme hat features fully integrated LED panels all around—customizable in real time through a sleek web interface. Whether you're on stage, at a festival, or just making a bold entrance, this hat is your personal light show. Style meets tech. Be seen. Be unique.

Supplies

  1. 1x top hat (https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B08H8PT6W7)
  2. 1x ESP32-C3 (https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005006406538478.html)
  3. 2x Flexible LED Panel WS2812B 8X32 (https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004868796557.html)
  4. 2x Batteries lithium-ion 18650 2600 mAh 3,7v (https://fr.aliexpress.com/item/1005008704468583.html)
  5. 1x Support de 2x batteries (https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005564978598.html)
  6. 4x 3d printed led panel support designed with autodesk fusion 360
  7. 1x USBA to USBC cable

Attachments

Step 1: Program the Esp32

Software environment

  1. Arduino IDE 1.8.19 at least
  2. Boards : https://dl.espressif.com/dl/package_esp32_index.json
  3. ESPAsyncWebServer (Mathieu Carbou) 3.3.21
  4. FastLED (Daniel Garcia) 3.9.2

Arduino IDE configuration

  1. board choice : ESP32C3DEV
  2. upload speed : 115200
  3. USB CDC on Boot : Enabled (to enable printf for debug)

This step is pretty straightforward. You just need to download all the required libraries and upload the code with the correct configuration. 😊

Attachments

Step 2: Mount the Led Panels

To mount the LED panels onto the hat:

  1. Place each panel between two support brackets and glue the brackets together to secure the panel.
  2. Make holes in the hat where the panel cables need to pass through, so you can route them inside.
  3. Assemble everything using magnets or glue, depending on your preferred method.

Step 3: Connect Everything

The electrical connections are simple too:

  1. Solder the LED connector as shown in the image.
  2. Connect the two LED panels together to form a single 8x64 matrix.
  3. Connect the ESP to the batery pack with USB cable

One LED connector should remain unused.


Step 4: Controling the Hat

To control the hat, connect to the Wi-Fi network it creates, then open a browser and go to 192.168.4.1 to access the control page, just like in the photo.

Enjoy! 😊