Write code, spin test, change code, spin test, change some more, spin test, write more code, spin some more … fingers are starting to get raw. Told the kids from school I was coding with gloves on tonight. They wouldn’t believe me …
i’d love to see that casing/enclosure in more detail. looks very professional.
Polycarbonate tube with a white friction cap at each end. I drilled through both tube and cap to push a screw through so it doesn’t go flying off. The end in my hand has the same thing, except the cap has a center hole where I put a swivel through and held in place with the screw. Right now I have a cord on that swivel with a monkey fist at the end. But I’m replacing that with actual straps shortly. And since I’m still working on the internal controller, it’s still being driven by an external controller sitting on my desk with a 20 foot wire. The internal controller is going through several design changes right now, and I just redid those strips as well. So the next batch should be better than these right now.
Also, I’m trying to make it shorter but I’ve reached the limit on the strips: you can only physically stack the ICs so close together. 144mm each for a total length of 288mm, or 11.3" (I might be able to shave another 2mm for a total gain of 4mm, but it’s almost not worth it.) With the current controller design plus battery, this thing ends up rather long. So that’s why I’m going through redesigning the controller, break it up into stackable pieces instead of one PCB with everything on it. Woah, I just had I thought! OK, breakfast, coffee, and back to EagleCAD I go!
Hrm, no. Good idea, but impossible to achieve with the current constraints … a larger tube might work though …not sure how I’d feel with making it another 1/4" wider. There’s also the issue of weight that I just recently decided to, uh, acknowledge. Makes me want to put holes all over the PCB, shave off a few ounces.
Nice job. Would you recommend EagleCAD for a beginner working on circuit board design? It’s something I want to do.
That depends. I use EagleCad because that was the first EDA that I downloaded and started using and because both SFE and Adafruit uses it. I never looked back.
However, there are some in the open source community that will tell you, if you really want to promote open source, then use gEDA instead. I never bothered.
Some folks also swear by KiCAD.
For me, EagleCAD is easy, but then I’ve also been using it for quite some time now. I paid for the hobby version so I can do boards up to 160mm x 100mm. Any larger and I’d have to sell a kidney …
I just looked at this picture again, I think you’ve managed to make something that looks strikingly like Pyroterra Visual Poi, esp with the T1 thru-hole mounted RGB LEDs. Your poor hands…
Mine are SMD LEDs, just place on the solder paste pads and reflow all in one shot.
It’s because theirs sells for $1,300, has limited colors, limited space, and are always out of stock, that I decided to make mine. 
uhhuh. good man!