Help identifying components needed for wearable lighting project

Components & Accessories LEDs
1

Hi there,

I’m new to micro-controller programming, and wanted advice on which components to get for a project I had in mind. I’d like to build a light up wearable accessory using an Arduino-compatible board and El wire (which will probably be better than LED strips). The four sets of El wire will be connected to four different buttons/ switches. A given LED strip should turn on only for as long as I have the corresponding button pressed, and otherwise remain off.

Could you please help advise on which components I would need to make this work?

-I think I’ll need https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/el … okup-guide - but I’m not sure if this is sufficient or if I’ll need another board to get input from the switches

-I’m not sure what kind of (portable) power source I can use to drive four sets of El Wire and the board

-High level/ general set up advice would be appreciated. I’m new to electrical engineering, but am fairly comfortable with programming and can muddle my way through

2

Hello lesego!

I’d like to build a light up wearable accessory using an Arduino-compatible board and El wire (which will probably be better than LED strips).

There’s pluses and minuses to both LEDs and EL.

  • - EL wire doesn't take much current to operate, but is [u]considerably[/u] dimmer than LED. EL wire also requires a high voltage AC power supply to work. (An inverter can make high voltage AC from a low voltage DC source though) If you're going to be in a very dark area, EL wire will be visible, but you're not going to be able to see it in daylight and it's going to appear dim in room light.
  • - LEDs come in various brightness's and can be dimmed if needed. LEDs also don't need much voltage to run and you can buy them in strip. You can even get LEDs that are programmable to change color. One downside of LEDs is if you have a lot of them, you can potentially need a lot of current to make them operate.

    • The four sets of El wire will be connected to four different buttons/ switches. A given LED strip should turn on only for as long as I have the corresponding button pressed, and otherwise remain off.

    Couple of questions for you:

  • - How long are your strips going to be? (individually)
  • - Are you lighting up more than one strip at a time?
  • - How bright do they need to be and where are they going to be used? (Inside/outside, daytime/nighttime, bright or dark environment?)
  • - Are these portable and need battery power or can you plug into an outlet somewhere?
  • - If portable, how long does the power supply need to last?

    • The answers to those questions will determine what kind of parts are needed and what to use.