WS2812B 10 strips for my 8th grade Technology students, hopefully kid-proof. I put a big 1000uF cap on each. The strain-relief zip-tie on the resistor and soldering area also encircles the cap. Dipped in a clear rubber coating and drew a little up the sheath. Gonna follow up with a thick layer of liquid tape on the connection end.
Any suggestions on starting points for FastLED in the classroom? They have light (Sparkfun Inventors Kit) arduino experience.
man I wish I had this in school! even throughout high school there was no coding classes…I started out programming my ti-83 to do my math homework haha
You sir, are an awesome teacher. Thank you for educating our children.
That’s GREAT!
I have taught (and will teach again) a little class with LED strips, and I’d LOVE to see close-up photos of how you prepped the strips… And what’s the coating you put on??
Thanks for sharing!
I wish I’d had you as a teacher when I was a kid! The obvious thing would be to teach about colours themselves - white being RGB etc. (show them the LEDs close up when white to see the 3 primary colours). Maybe you could teach about simple oscillation with a light going up and down using the simple oscillation formula. Did I say that I wish i had you as a teacher when I was a kid?!
Psst… @Willie_Abrams … did you see this?
Monday I’ll get some close ups of the back side. My 1/8th watt resistors are flimsy, so they’re shrink-wrapped, twice, second time with a wood coffee stir stick to prevent flexing. The first coating is Rust-Oleum “leak stop” if memory serves, rubber based, clear and full of smelly volatiles. I pulled it up the sheath like drinking from a straw to the first LED, and coated all bare wires, joints and the cap leads. Second coating is black liquid tape, which is thicker and more flex-resistant. Wire is bread-board friendly 24 gauge solid copper. May use scrap CAT5 solid 24 in the future, since it’s very cheap.
I’m trying to think of a way to attach female headers to the DO end of the strip robustly, so the kids could work together and link their strips, or make a simple matrix. Has anyone punch holes in the foils for a more solid, through hole mechanical connection?
Mark Ortiz, I like the idea! Could cover period, frequency, and more from the programs the kids are working on. Could make visual waves with a light painting technique too! Thanks!
@Matt_Kennedy Make sure you take advantage of Sparkfun’s 20% discount for teachers! They apply it automatically so you can just order as normal - makes a big difference to the price.
And @Matt_Kennedy what about the kind of connectors you get with Chinese LED strings/strips? They are cheap in bulk (I paid about 15c/pair)
I’ve taken good advantage of Sparkfuns generosity. They sold us 20 inventors kits at a great rate, and some other goodies! When time is not an issue, It’s hard to beat china for the prices, and we need every dime we can save.
I went with bare-ends for bread boarding ease, the connectors would be good if I standardized all the arduino’s against them, but bare 24 Ga. saves me a lot of time.
As a current college student I am jealous
