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ABOUT
A project from my artist-in-residence work at UMakers Makerspace:
I wanted to come up with a simple, engaging project on soft circuitry that should target any age group, from younger children to full-grown adults. Classic comic book superheroes would do the trick. The project would have to be simple enough for high schoolers to handle, but complex enough that people can actually learn about combining electrical circuits and fabric. Cost shouldn’t be prohibitive (so $10 and under range) so that people could make their own in their free time, and the concept should be adaptable for any other designs that the maker wished.
With those restrictions/guidelines, I came up with simple wearable patches that light up. Conductive thread connects homemade LED sequins that glow behind layers of felt, which are supported by a harder layer of leather. A coin battery breakout board is used for housing the battery, though simpler sew-on holders are available (just used breakout board since it had a nice on/off switch).
Skills
Wearable/Sewable electronics (Ohm’s Law in real life), Laser cutting, Adobe Illustrator