Introduction: How to Make LED Monster Eyes Out of a Shoe Box

You may have seen monsters in movies and books. However, what do you think a monster should look like? Should it have a huge size or razor sharp teeth? They happen to be the antagonists in superhero comic books and the villains in Disney movies. In this instructable, we are going to focus on the eyes of a monster using red light emitting diodes. We decided to choose monster eyes because they always have the power to captivate and strike fear into the viewer or leader. From my point of view, the monster's eyes determine true power.

Step 1: Materials

Materials:

    • 6 LED's
    • One SPST Switch
    • Construction paper
    • Ruler
    • Alligator Clips
    • Soldering Tip Cleaner
    • Soldering Iron
    • 9-volt Battery
    • 200 ohm resistor
    • Safety Goggles
    • Paint
    • Shoe box

    Step 2: Tools

    Tools:

    1. Soldering Iron

    2. Tape

    3. Soldering Tip Cleaner

    4. Ruler

    5. Pencil

    6. Paint Brush

    Step 3: Steps for the Prop

    Step 1- Wrap the construction paper around the shoe box. Make sure the construction paper is 1-2 inches more than the length of each dimension of the shoe box.

    Step 2- Draw the eyes. The length of the eyes should be about 4 inches long and 2 inches in height.

    Step 3- Then using acrylic paint ( or any type of paint) and paint the pupils red and the outer eye a variation of a pinkish or reddish shade. If you don't have pink paint then mix white and red paint and put different amounts of each color depending on how dark or light you want the shade of pink to be. Then wait for about I hour for it of dry.

    Step 4- After the paint has dried, take a drill and drill 6 holes for each LED in close proximity (about 1/8 of an inch apart).

    Step 5- Drill a hole in an area in between or below the eyes for the SPST switch.

    Step 6- Take your soldered circuit and feed the LED's through the holes and do the same for the push button. ( BE sure not to short out the LED's).

    Step 4: Steps for the Circuit

    Step 1- Cut out ten 1 inch wire and two 6 inch wires


    Step 2- Cut two wires for the SPST switch


    Step 3- Solder the switch on the negative side of the circuit and solder the resistor on the positive side.


    Step 4- solder one end of the resistor to the positive wire and the same thing for the switch.

    Step 5 - solder each wire to the negative and positive sides of each LED's. Make sure you check the LED's as you go along to make sure they are still working (Note: DO NOT checkthe LED's directly with the battery connector use a resistor and alligator clips).

    Step 6- Feed the LED's and switch through the holes

    Step 5: Reflection

    In this project, I liked how my electrical circuit was in parallel with all the LEDs lighting up at the same time. The 9-volt battery could connect really well with the wires and this had caused the LEDs to light up and increase its brightness. Personally, I would change my partner because he wasn't collaborating well with me and we argued with each other a lot over unimportant things. I would also change the electrical circuits and make it more well-developed. Next time, I would be more careful in choosing my partner and I would also be more clear in my communication skills. I have to be an effective communicator on my next projects and I would always listen to my partner's ideas.

    (Ashish)

    This project was successful for the most part however there were some issues with that arose. The first issue was that I could not include my Servo into the project because I found that I was spending too much time on the program and I had to start working on the prop. Another setback was that my LED's kept shorting out whenever I tested the out. This could have easily fixed if I had added a stronger resistor to the beginning of the circuit when soldering on the battery connector to the positive cathode of the LED.

    (Sohan)

    Step 6: Sources

    1. Beginning Arduino by Michael McRoberts (Chapter 2 page 27)

    I learned that breadboards are usually used for prototyping electrical circuits. The strips along the two ends of your board run parallel to it and connects to your power and ground of your power supply. 2. https://www.superdroidrobots.com/shop/custom.aspx/robot-electrical-power-and-wiring/53/ From this source, I learned about parallel circuits on a typical electrically wired robot. I also learned about fuses and grounds in an electrical circuit. 3. https://www.sparkfun.com/ I learned about the wiring on an Arduino circuit and about different DC motors and sensors used on any electrical circuit. 4. http://www.arduino.org/ From this source, I learned about the components of an arduino in great detail in order to inform myself of the effect of an arduino on an electrical circuit. 5. MAKE: Getting Started With Arduino by Massimo Banzi (Chapter: Arduino, page 4) From this source, I learned about the basic principles of an arduino and its purpose in an electrical circuit. I also learned about troubleshooting tips in case an arduino doesn't work. 6. The Encyclopedia of Electronics Components by O'Reilly (Chapter 3: Jumper Wires, pages 17-19) Based on this source, I learned about the effect of jumper wires on an electrical circuit. In a parallel circuit, the same amount of voltage is constant in the jumper wires. 7. -Prototyping and Model Making for Product Design From this source, I learned about 3-D prototyping models of a project and the effective ways of sketching the prototype using dimensions. 8. Electronics for Dummies by Dicken Ross(Chapter 13: Exploring Some Simple Circuits, page 281) From this source, I learned about how to assemble simple electronic circuits using arduino, LEDs, and resistors.