Shiny sparkly things
Most people who visit our home take away a free fake candle. It's a bit of a tradition, and these devices are now found sitting on window sills all over the world, which is great. It is maybe not so great if you are a visiting child, because candles can be a bit boring unless real fire, genuine heat and immediate danger are involved.
Glittery sparkly things that you can hang around your neck for weeks and glow in the dark are an entirely different matter! To this end, and not at all because I also like glittery sparkly things, I have used Big Clive's design to make a powered necklace based on an LED which includes a LFSR chip to "randomise" the flickering. The main online supplier I can find seems to be called "MOLESMELL", but don't let that put you off!
The LEDs landed in the country for around AUS17 cents each, and they seem quite energy efficient, running off a single CR2032 battery for around 2-3 weeks depending on their colour (i.e. forward voltage).
Early versions were large enough to fit over a person's head, but then I became worried about snagging, choking and all manner of misadventures that could lead to accidents.
Therefore after a few trials with different systems, I have been making them lately using a magnet clasp or similar (e.g. a "normal" Neodymium magnet pair), which has the dual role of completing the circuit, but also allowing the necklace to come apart quickly with not too much force so that any potential mishaps can be avoided.
And for this version I'm experimenting with putting the battery close to the LED at the base of the necklace.
I have been experimenting with different LED/"Crystal" colour combinations, but I find that if the LED colour is matched to the "crystal" colour, or if a "white" LED is used in any "crystal", then the effect is more pleasing - and a higher resistance value can be employed to lower the current and thus extend the lifetime of the battery.
No comments:
Post a Comment