Showing posts with label Make own Gadget. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Make own Gadget. Show all posts

Make own Android PS3 / Xbox360 Controller Mount

I go though how to Make own Android PS3 / Xbox360 Controller Mount. It's light, cheap, and does what it is designed to do really well. Basically, BEST. ANDROID. ACCESSORY. EVER.
This can also be adapted to fit other controllers and other Android devices.
Step 1
Materials
  • Nexus 7 Tablet - $200 
  • PS3 / Xbox controller - $50
  •  For the Mount
  •  1/8" dia x 48" Mild Steel Rod -$3 (OR 1/8" dia x 48" Copper Rod)
  •  48" of 1/8" MDPC Expandable Tubing - Comes in packs of 20' rolls for $7
ps3Parts.JPG

This is the stuff that people use to manage cables inside of computers. But you want to have a flexible tube that won't scratch your device.
  •  1/8" Heat Shrink Tubing - $2
For some grippy stuff and to clean up the ends.
 Tools:
  1. A big vice
  2.  bending tools
  3.  measuring tape
 Step 2
Bending for the Controller
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 The idea is to work from the middle out. Pick the shape that will work best with the controller and the device.
 As far as I can thing of there are two ways to attach the controller. By making a clamping U shape to across the back, facing up and across the front, facing toward the device. I'm doing the latter.
  1.  Bend in half with the end having a small radius. 0.5 to 1"
  2.   Create a V shape, this will act as a lock for the controller later. (This can be tricky)
  3.   Bend around the end of the controller and back to the front.
  4.   Create the opposite V at the end of that. (This V is slighter than the first one)
  5.   Position the end to be out of the way of the middle buttons on the controller and at the correct angle for the device.
 Step 3
Bending for the Device
 Starting from the two ends sticking out parallel from the controller part;
  1.  Bend outwards to make a BIG V
  2.  Measure the correct angle and distance to put the corners of the device inline with that V.
  3.   Bend up at those points to make the back.
  4.   Bend forward across the device.
  5.   Bend down to complete the mount
 At this point you should have a lot of extra metal rod. Just cut that off at the proper location and call it good.
 Step 4
Soft goods
 This is just a wire frame. You don't want to scratch your stuff. So take the MDPC tube and cover the entire length with it.
 Then add the heat shrink.
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 Good locations include:
  • -The bottom of the controller
  • -The bottom of the device
  • -The top of the device
 Then use a little bit of heat shrink to close off the metal ends showing.
 And your done! You might want to do a little manual bending to get it just right though. 
 In order to actually play games using the PS3 controller though, you will either have to play games that already are built for wired gamepads and then use a OTG usb cable
 OR
 Download the Sixaxis app from the app store and emulate the touch controls. This method really opens up gaming options!
 Go Play!
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How to Make Water Filter

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Water Filter

Material needed:

  • Water tank with outlet
  • Clean sand
  • Activated catalytic carbon
  • Coconut fiber (from coconut husk)

Method:

  • Place fiber on the bottom of tank.
  • Place carbon on top of fiber.
  • Add another layer of fiber on top of carbon
  • Place sand on top.
  • These layers can be repeated 2 or 3 times.


The material can be replaced after the filter has become dirty.

How This Water Filter Works
The coconut fiber possesses the best fungus inhibiting effect of natural fiber known. The fiber laid at the bottom of the water tank helps holding the activated carbon to stay in the tank and also help filter out some larger solid pieces of impurities in the water.
The better activated carbon is made from coconut shells and are not chemical activated like wood charcoal or coal; therefore it is suitable for filtering drinking water. Activated carbon is full of pores.  This network of connected pores inside the carbon creates a large surface area, about 1000 square meter per gram of carbon. Activated carbon filters out  impurities from the water by transferring the impurities from the water to the surface of the carbon. Activated carbon acts as a catalyst in chemical reaction in removing chloramine. The transferring impurities involves 2 methods:

  • Physical absorption, and
  • Chemical absorption (chemi-sorption)


The physical absorption is the gravitational force and magnetic force that pull the impurities to the pores of the activated carbon granules.

The oxidation-reduction (redox) and chemical absorption occur on the surface of the activation carbon while the physical absorption occurs in the pores of the activated carbon. The redox and chemical absorption actually change the chemicals into new chemicals. For example, the chlorine is change into chloride and the chloramine is degraded by the reaction of oxidation chemistries on the surface activated carbon
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How to turn your cellphone into a credit/debit card


Easy to do mod for an extra credit/debit card with RFID chip (i.e. Paypass).

How to turn your cellphone into a credit/debit card


Using this method, you will be able to locate and extract the RFID chip in your spare
Paypass-capable card and place it in your cellphone. This will allow you to present your cellphone at Paypass terminals (movie theaters, McDonalds, etc..) and pay using the RFID chip.
Step 1: Get your materials


Get your materials


Items needed:
- Spare credit/debit card with embedded RFID chip (if go to your bank and request a new card they will typically send you a new card w/ the same number and info).
- Scissors
- Cellphone
- Magic marker/ Sharpie
Step 2: Find the Chip


Find the ChipFind the Chip

I am using an old, deactivated debit card. I found the RFID chip in a previous card by cutting into it randomly. 
I DO NOT recommend this method if you don't know where the chip is, as you could obviously damage the chip and make it unusable.
I do not know if all cards are setup with the RFID in the same location, but if they are, my guidelines will give you a good idea where to start.

If not, I was able to see the impression of the chip on the back of the card when I looked at it from an angle in a well lit room (it appeared as a small square impression only a few millimeters across).

Make sure to mark out a guideline to cut along that goes from the bottom of the magnetic strip to the top of the imprinted card numbers. This will yield a decent size chunk of the card with the RFID in the center.
Step 3: Cut out the chip


Cut out the chip
 Cut out the chip  Cut out the chip


Be very careful when cutting out the chip.

Less is more!

The initial size may be fine for many people and is small enough to be placed in many cellphones or anything else you can think of. But if you're like me and have an env2 or similarly compact phone you need it a little bit smaller.

Going any further than the initial cutout comes with the risk of damaging the chip.
Consider yourself warned.

When cutting close to the chip you may break the seal around it and the sides may begin to separate.
You DO NOT want this to happen as you want the plastic for insulation around the chip.
Step 4: Place the chip in your phone

Place the chip in your phone   Place the chip in your phone

This last step is pretty self-explanatory.
However, there are two possible ways to go about it.

1. I've found that the easiest way of placing the chip inside the phone is by placing it inside the battery cover.
In the case of my env2 and other compact cellphones, there is very little wiggle room available to place anything extra in the battery compartment. For my phone, I would trim the card more than shown in order to create a lower profile inside the battery compartment.
For others the chip in the size I show here may be more than adequate.

2. This second option is for those are not utilizing their microSD card slots (if available).The plastic around the RFID can usually be trimmed enough so that it is able to fit into a microSD card slot.
I only offer this option as an alternative for those willing and able to do so. Just make sure you can remove the chip from the slot and that there is no way to cause a short while the chip is in the slot.
Step 5: Success

Success

Congratulations!

You now have a fully operational RFID-embedded cellphone.

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Record Video in 3D Form using Two Webcams


Onuprova 3D Camera is a free software that can help you easily use two web cameras in order to be able to take photos and record videos in stereo 3D, the application can output the resulting footage in anaglyph 3D format using multiple options. The five different anaglyph color schemes supported by the software are: red-cyan, red-green, red-blue, magenta-cyan and green-magenta. And if you don’t have two webcams (preferably the same model) you can also take two photos with a little offset in between with your mobile phone, digital camera or webcam and then import the two images in the software and get anaglyph 3D output. Onuprova 3D Camera is simple and easy to use and you should be able to quickly get the hang of using it, it could take you some more time in order to learn to place the two web cameras with the right distance in between or properly converged in order to give you the best results in 3D, especially if you are new to stereoscopic 3D shooting. Just have in mind that the closer the object you are shooting in 3D the less should be the distance between the two web cameras and the more distant it is the larger the distance should be. As a base you can start with the rule of 1/30, meaning that the distance between the lenses of the cameras should be 1/30 of the distance from the cameras to the object you are shooting in 3D, and this should work quite well as a base to start experimenting with.





Here you can download the latest version 2.3 of Onuprova 3D Camera…
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7 Great iPhone Apps for Toddlers

 If you are a parent, you know that finding an app that will hold a toddler’s attention is a little different than finding an app that will engage a preschooler. While the benefits of allowing toddlers to use technology such as an iPhone are hotly contested, the fact remains that sometimes you just need a distraction in a long grocery line or a packed doctor’s office lobby.
Here’s a list of the best iPhone apps for a toddler.
 
Toddler vs. Pre-schooler
For the sake of this list, preschoolers are defined as those wee ones starting to count and say their ABCs. Toddlers are just mastering the basic motor skills that allow them to touch specific (large) items on a screen.
Not all app developers are hip to this difference, though, which means the app store is a little less than helpful for parents of toddlers.
 
Educational vs. Engaging
While it may be tempting to load apps onto your iPhone that are geared toward learning ABCs and 123s, just know that they will probably make your toddler mad and will possibly get your phone thrown to the floor. That is an entirely different parenting post, though.
This list is for toddlers 9 months old to 2 ½ years old and consists of apps that are engaging, entertaining and fun for this age group.
Note: Most of these apps are not free, but most of the paid apps do have a free “lite” version.

 1. SoundTouch $2.99

 With over 360 sounds and images, SoundTouch is easily our daughter’s favorite app. Little ones simply touch an image to hear  the correlating sounds. Each illustration has multiple photos and sounds, so for example, you don’t hear the same pig oink over and over again.

 2. I Hear Ewe FREE

 For a simple and free alternative to SoundTouch, it doesn’t get better than I Hear Ewe with it’s 24 different animal sounds and 12 different vehicle sounds.
 
3. Peekaboo Barn

 Peekaboo Barn will entertain your toddler well into the pre-school years. Toddlers love the simplicity of tapping the barn doors to see the animals. Pre-schoolers will love learning the names of the animals in English and Spanish.

 4. Toddler JukeBox

 This app has no animation and is not a game. It is simply 12 of the most wonderful, timeless children’s songs. Your toddler taps the image to hear the song, and then dances his or her hiney off.

 5. Wheels on the Bus $0.99

 Since this is my daughter’s favorite song (“Happy and You Know It” is a close second) this app was an obvious choice. The beautiful graphics, fun music and interactivity make this one of the “go to” apps for toddlers.
 
 6. Bubbles $1.99

A ll toddlers love bubbles. This app lets you take bubbles everywhere without the mess. Simply touch the bubbles to hear and see them popping.

 7. Bubble Wrap $0.99

 This app makes me wish I was a developer and could think on such a simple level. It’s literally bubble wrap on your screen. That’s it. Nothing more. It’s delightful for toddlers and kind of fun for adults, too.

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How to create you own Java based Download Manager.

Installing the JDK SE (http://java.sun.com/javase/downloads/index.jsp)

The Java SE Development Kit (JDK) includes:

  • the Java Runtime Environment (JRE)
  • command-line development tools, such as compilers and debuggers, that are necessary or useful for developing applets and applications

1. Run the windows installer and install the JDK wherever you wish, by convention Java programmers install the JDK in a c:\JSK folder and add a subfolder for the version


e.g. C:\Java\jdk1.5.0_07


Eclipse SDK 3.2
Installing Eclipse IDE (http://www.eclipse.org/downloads/)


1. Unzip the downloaded file (eclipse-SDK-3.2-win32) to c:\eclipse


2. Create a folder called c:\eclipse_workspaces

This is where you will save your projects and keep then separate from the Eclipse IDE installation




Part 1.


Creating your project in Eclipse


1. Run Eclipse, look for the eclipse.exe in the c:\eclipse folder.




2. Select where you wish to save your project e.g. c:\eclipse_workspaces\download




3. Create a new project




4. Select a Java Project




5. Name project and select location




HttpClient Libraries


6. Install HttpClient Libraries


The requirement was to design a native Java application that could be downloaded from a website as a JAR file and run on Linux or Windows hosts and the
HttpClient would fit perfectly.

Although the java.net package provides basic functionality for accessing resources via HTTP, it doesn't provide the full flexibility or functionality needed by many applications. The Jakarta Commons
HttpClient component seeks to fill this void by providing an efficient, up-to-date, and feature-rich package implementing the client side of the most recent HTTP standards and recommendations. See the Features page for more details on standards compliance and capabilities.

The key for resume lies in dealing with the request headers. The Methods that tell us this is possible is
addRequestHeader.

public void addRequestHeader(
Header header)

Adds the specified request header, NOT overwriting any previous value. Note that header-name matching is case insensitive.


Specified by:

addRequestHeader in interface HttpMethod

Parameters:

header - the header to add to the request




8. Adding the HttpClient Common jars to our project.


Add an exclusion setting for the lib folder as this will be the location of our pre-compiled jar files..







Installing the httpclient commons (commons-httpclient-3.0.1.zip)

http://jakarta.apache.org/commons/httpclient/downloads.html


9. Unzip these to your project lib folder e.g.


C:\eclipse_workspaces\download\downloadmanager\lib\bin


Tip: What I do then is copy the jar file to a lib folder, this way I can refer back to the original downloaded api jar file and it's related docs.


We will be referencing our lib folder in our project. (lib meaning external precompiled libraries)


Our lib files will be found in C:\eclipse_workspaces\download\downloadmanager\lib when we add then to our project as shown in the next step.



10. Add jar files. This can be done two ways:


1. Reference the files externally to the project.

2. Reference the jar files in the project e.g in our project we have the jar files located in the \lib directory.



Add the four files above (Download them all from the Alache Jakarta Commons area previously mentioned.)




Looking at the Package Explorer we get a list of the httpclient and related jar files.





11. Creating a class file to begin our application.





Create a package as using the default package is discouraged. In larger projects using a package is useful to minimise ambiguous method, property, variable names in different projects. If you are an avid c# programmer you will know that packages are similar in nature to .NET Namespaces.




12. Copy in this code in to the ResumeTest.java file


//------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


package downloadmanager;

import org.apache.commons.httpclient.*;

import org.apache.commons.httpclient.methods.*;

import java.io.*;


public class ResumeTest {


private String url;

private String fileName;


public ResumeTest(String url, String fileName)

{

this.url = url;

this.fileName = fileName;

}


public boolean Download()

{

long localFileSize = 0;

long remoteFileSize = 0;

BufferedInputStream in = null;

RandomAccessFile out = null;

HttpMethod request = null;


try {

File file = new File(fileName);

if (file.exists()) {

localFileSize = file.length();

}


HttpClient client = new HttpClient();

request = new GetMethod(url);

if (localFileSize > 0) {

// server must support partial content for resume

request.addRequestHeader("Range", "bytes=" + localFileSize + "-");

if (client.executeMethod(request) != HttpStatus.SC_PARTIAL_CONTENT) {

return false;

}

} else if (client.executeMethod(request) != HttpStatus.SC_OK) {

// response not ok

return false;

}


Header contentLengthHeader = request.getResponseHeader("content-length");

if (contentLengthHeader == null) {

return false;

}

remoteFileSize = Long.parseLong(contentLengthHeader.getValue());


System.out.println("Local file size is " + localFileSize + " bytes.");

System.out.println("Remote file size is " + remoteFileSize + " bytes.");

System.out.println("Bytes Remaining " + (remoteFileSize - localFileSize) + " bytes.");


in = new BufferedInputStream(request.getResponseBodyAsStream());

out = new RandomAccessFile(file, "rw");

out.seek(localFileSize);


int offset = 0;

int len = 4096;
/*

*
* Len is 4 K is the max we can receive in one go.
* Webserver dictates e.g. in a .NET application running in Windows 2002 server as of 01-August-2003 would be
* dictated by the maxRequestLength setting in the machine.config file or web.config file and is the total amount of
* data that can be sent through HTTP Post to the server.
* The default is 4MB (4096)...and is generally set low so that your server will not
* be overwhelmed by possible DoS attacks.

*
* The test link below will be set at 1460 by the provider of the test link i.e. apache.mirror.positive-internet.com

*/


int bytes = 0;


byte[] block = new byte[len];

if ( (bytes = in.read(block, offset, len)) > -1) {

out.write(block, 0, bytes);

}


System.out.println("Bytes written: " + bytes);


return bytes == remoteFileSize;


} catch (Exception e) {

e.printStackTrace();

return false;

} finally {
try {

if (in != null) in.close();

if (out != null) out.close();

} catch (IOException ioe) {

}

request.releaseConnection();

}

}


public static void main(String[] args)

{

String url = "http://apache.mirror.positive-internet.com/jakarta/commons/httpclient/source/commons-httpclient-3.0.1-src.zip";

String file = "c:\\test.zip";

ResumeTest downloader = new ResumeTest(url, file);

downloader.Download();

}

}



//------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


13. Turn of build automatically (if you wish, this allows you to control when you wish to re-build your code)




Build Automatically = Off




Run you project.



If you have not recently saved your project, you may get this dialogue.




13. The program is designed to get 100KB of the file at a time. Each time you run the application it will increase the on disk file by 100k. You will have to run the project several times to get the complete file onto disk as we are resuming the file. The resume is is managed by the headers passes to the web server where the file is located.
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How to turn signal biking jacket

This tutorial will show you how to build a jacket with turn signals that will let people know where you're headed when you're on your bike. We'll use conductive thread and sewable electronics so your jacket will be soft and wearable and washable when you're done. Enjoy!
turn signal biking jacket


Step 1Supplies

supplies

.
Get your supplies. You need:

-- LilyPad Arduino main board
-- FTDI connector
-- mini USB cable
-- LilyPad power supply
-- 16 LilyPad LEDs (note: these aren't available from SparkFun yet, but will be soon)
-- 2 push button switches
-- a spool of 4-ply conductive thread
-- a digital multimeter with a beeping continuity tester. This is the one I have.
-- a garment or a piece of fabric to work on
-- a needle or two, a fabric marker or piece of chalk, puffy fabric paint, a bottle of fabric glue, and a ruler
(Available at your local fabric shop or Joann Stores .)
-- a pair of scissors
-- double sided tape (optional)
-- a sewing machine (optional)

disclosure: I designed the LilyPad, so I'll make some $ if you buy one. 

Step 2Design

design
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.
Plan the aesthetic and electrical layout of your piece.

Decide where each component is going to go and figure out how you will sew them together with as few thread crossings as possible. Make a sketch of your design that you can refer to as you work. The photos below show the sketches for my jacket. Stitching for power (+) is shown in red, ground (-) in black, LEDs in green, and switch inputs in purple.

Important note about the power supply

As you design, plan to keep your power supply and LilyPad main board close to each other. If they are too far apart, you are likely to have problems with your LilyPad resetting or just not working at all.

Why? Conductive thread has non-trivial resistance. (The 4-ply silver-coated thread from SparkFun that comes with the LilyPad starter kit has about 14 ohms/foot.) Depending on what modules you're using in your construction, your LilyPad can draw up to 50 milliamps (mA) of current, or .05 Amps. Ohm's law says that the voltage drop across a conductive material--the amount of voltage that you lose as electricity moves through the material--is equal to the resistance of the conductive material times the amount of current that is flowing through it.

For example, if your LilyPad is a foot away from the power supply, the total resistance of the conductive material that attaches your LilyPad to your power supply is about 28 ohms. (14 Ohms in the conductive thread that leads from the negative terminal of the power supply to the negative petal on the LilyPad and 14 Ohms in the conductive thread that ties the positive terminals together). This means we can expect a drop of 1.4 Volts (28 Ohms * .05 Amps.) This means that while 5 Volts is coming out of the power supply, the LilyPad will only be getting 3.6 Volts (5 Volts - 1.4 Volts). Once the voltage at the LilyPad drops below about 3.3 Volts, it will reset. The resistance of the traces from + on the power supply to + on the LilyPad and - on the power supply to - on the LilyPad should be at most 10 Ohms. Plan the distance accordingly.

If all of this was confusing, don't worry! Just keep the LilyPad and power supply close to each other in your design.

Transfer the sketch to your garment.

Use chalk or some other non-permanent marker to transfer your design to the garment. If you want, use a ruler to make sure everything is straight and symmetrical.

Use double sided tape to temporarily attach LIlyPad pieces to your garment. This will give you a good sense of what your final piece will look like. It will also keep everything in place and, as long as the tape sticks, make your sewing easier.

Step 3Sew your power supply and LilyPad to your jacket

sew your power supply and LilyPad to your jacket
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.
First, trim the leads off of the back of the power supply

Get out your LilyPad power supply piece and trim the metal parts that are sticking out the back of it. Small clippers like the ones shown in the photo work well, but you can also use scissors.

Stabilize your battery on the fabric.

Generally, you want to do everything you can to keep the power supply from moving around on the fabric. I recommend gluing or sewing the battery down before starting on the rest of the project. You may also want to glue or sew something underneath the power supply to help prevent it from pulling on the fabric and bouncing around as you move.

If you are working on a thin or stretch piece of fabric--first of all, reconsider this choice! It's much easier to work on a heavy piece of non-stretchy fabric. If you are determined to forge ahead with a delicate fabric, choose the location for your power supply wisely. It's the heaviest electronic module, so put it somewhere where it will not distort the fabric too badly. definitely glue or sew something underneath the power supply.

Sew the + petal of the power supply down to your garment.

If you are new to sewing, check out this great introduction before you start for info on how to thread a needle, tie knots and make stitches. Cut a 3-4 foot length of conductive thread. Thread your needle, pulling enough of the thread through the needle that it will not fall out easily. Tie a knot at the end of the longer length of thread. Do not cut the thread too close to the knot or it will quickly unravel.

Coming from the back of the fabric to the front, poke the needle into the fabric right next to the + petal on the power supply and then, from the front of the fabric, pull it through. The knot at the end of the thread will keep the thread from pulling out of the fabric. Now make a stitch going into the hole in the hole in the + petal on the power supply. Do this several more times, looping around from the back of the fabric to the front, going through the + petal each time.

Pay special attention to this stitching. It is the most important connection that you'll sew in your project. You want to make sure you get excellent contact between the petals on the power supply and your conductive thread. Go through the hole several times (at least 5) with your stitching. Keep sewing until you can't get your needle through anymore. Do not cut your thread, just proceed to the next step.

Sew from the battery to the LilyPad.

Once you've sewn the + petal of the battery down, make small neat stitches to the + petal of your LilyPad. I used a jacket with a fleece lining and stitched only through the inner fleece lining so that no stitches were visible on the outside of the jacket.

Sew the + petal of your LilyPad down, finishing the connection.

When you reach the LilyPad, sew the + petal down to the fabric with the conductive thread. Just like you were with the battery petal, you want to be extra careful to get a robust connection here. This stitching is making the electrical connection between your power supply and LilyPad.

When you are done with this attachment, sew away from the LilyPad about an inch along your stitching, tie a knot, and cut your thread about an inch away from the knot so that your knot won't come untied.

Put fabric glue on each of your knots to keep them from unraveling.

Once the glue dries, trim the thread close to each knot.

Step 4Test your stitching

test your stitching
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.
Measure the resistance of your stitching.

Get out your multimeter and put it on the resistance measuring setting. Measure from power supply + to LilyPad + and power supply - to LilyPad -. If the resistance of either of these traces is greater than 10 ohms, reinforce your stitching with more conductive thread. If you're not sure how to measure resistance, check out this tutorial .

Put a AAA battery into the power supply and flip the power supply switch to the on position. The red light on the power supply should turn on. If it doesn't and you're sure you flipped the switch, quickly remove the battery and check for a short between your + and - stitches. (Most likely there is a piece of thread that's touching both the - and + stitching somewhere.) You can test for a short between + and - by using the beeping continuity tester on your multimeter. See this tutorial for information on how to use the continuity tester.

Also check the resistance between the + and - stitching. If the resistance is less than 10K Ohms or so, you've got a mini-short (probably a fine conductive thread hair that is touching both + and -) that you need to find and correct.

If the power supply does turn on, look at your LilyPad. It should blink quickly each time you press its switch. Once these connections are working properly, turn off the power supply and remove the battery.

Insulate your power and ground stitching

So, your jacket is now full of uninsulated conductive stitches. This is fine when a body is inside of it. A body will prevent sewn traces from contacting each other. But when the jacket is off of a person and you bend or fold it, traces will touch each other and short out. To fix this problem, cover your traces with puffy fabric paint (or another insulator like a satin stitch in regular thread). But, you don't want to cover traces until you're sure that everything works ! So, use good judgment in when to coat traces.

Step 5Sew on your turn signal LEDs

sew on your turn signal LEDs
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Sew in your left and right signals. 

Using the same techniques you used to sew the power supply to the LilyPad, attach all of the + petals of the lights for the left turn signal together and to a petal on the LilyPad (petal 9 for me) and all of the + petals for the right signal together and to another LilyPad petal (11 for me). Attach all of the - petals of the lights together and then to either the - petal on the LilyPad or another LilyPad petal (petal 10 for me). Refer back to my design sketches if any of this is confusing.

Remember to seal each of your knots with fabric glue to keep them from unraveling. Be careful to avoid shorts; don't let one sewn trace touch another. In this case, the - traces for the LEDs are all connected, but you want to make sure that the + traces for the left and right signals do not touch the - trace or each other.

Test your turn signals. 

Load a program onto your LilyPad that blinks each turn signal to make sure all of your sewing is correct.

Note, if you don't know how to program the LilyPad, work through a few of these introductory tutorials before proceeding. 

Here's my test program:

int ledPin = 13; // the LED on the LilyPad
int leftSignal = 9; // my left turn signal is attached to petal 9
int rightSignal = 11; // my right turn signal is attached to petal 11
int signalLow = 10; // the - sides of my signals are attached to petal 10

void setup()
{
pinMode(ledPin, OUTPUT); // sets the ledPin to be an output
pinMode(leftSignal, OUTPUT); // sets the leftSignal petal to be an output
pinMode(rightSignal, OUTPUT); // sets the rightSignal petal to be an output
pinMode(signalLow, OUTPUT); // sets the signalLow petal to be an output
digitalWrite(signalLow, LOW); // sets the signalLOW petal to LOW (-)
}

void loop() // run over and over again
{
delay(1000); // wait for 1 second
digitalWrite(leftSignal, LOW); // turn the left signal off
delay(1000); // wait for 1 second
digitalWrite(rightSignal, HIGH); // turn the right signal on
delay(1000); // wait for 1 second
digitalWrite(rightSignal, LOW); // turn the right signal off
delay(1000); // wait for 1 second
}

If your layout is the same as mine, you can just copy and paste this program into your Arduino window.

If your turn signals don't work, use your multimeter (and the instructions from the last step) to test for shorts or bad connections and make sure that your program matches your physical layout.

insulate your turn signal stitches 

Cover your traces with puffy fabric paint. Remember, you don't want to cover traces until you're sure that everything works ! Use good judgment in when to coat traces.

Step 6Sew in your control switches


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Place your switches

Find a spot for your switches where they'll be easy to press when you're riding your bike. I mounted mine on the underside of my wrists. I found a good spot by trying out different places. Check out the photos to see what I mean.

Once you've found a good position, push the legs of the switch through the fabric and bend them over on the inside of the fabric.

Sew in your switches.

Sew your switches into the garment. Sew 1 leg to the switch input petal on the LilyPad and another leg,one that is diagonally across from the first , to ground or another LilyPad petal. I used petal 6 for the switch input on the left side and petal 12 for switch input on the right side. I used - for the - connection on the left side, but petal 4 for the - connection on the right side. Refer back to my design drawings if any of this is confusing.

When you're done sewing, go back and reinforce the switch connections with glue. You don't want your switches to fall out of their stitching.

Step 7Sew in your indicator LEDs

sew in your indicator LEDs
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Sew a single LED onto the sleeve of each arm.

These will give you essential feedback about which turn signal is on. They'll flash to tell you what the back of your jacket is doing, so make sure they're in a visible spot. Sew the + petals of each LED to a LilyPad petal and the - petals of each LED to the - side of the switch (the - trace you sewed in the last step). I used petal 5 for the LED + on the left side and petal 3 for the LED + on the right side. Again, refer back to my design drawings if any of this is confusing.

As always, remember to glue and trim knots and be careful not to create any shorts.

Once you sew both wrist LEDs, you're done with the sewing phase of the project! Now, on to programming...

Step 8Program your jacket

program your jacket
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Decide on the behavior you want.

I wanted the left switch to turn on the left turn signal for 15 seconds or so, and the right switch to do the same thing for the right signal. Pressing a switch when the corresponding turn signal is on should turn the signal off. Pressing both switches at the same time should put the jacket into nighttime flashing mode. The wrist mounted LEDs should provide feedback about the current state of the jacket. Here's the code I wrote to get that behavior.

Program your jacket

To program your garment, copy and paste my code into an Arduino window and load it onto the LilyPad. You may have to make some small adjustments first depending on where you attached lights and switches. Play with delays to customize your blinking patterns. Follow my LilyPad introduction instructions if you need more information on how to program the LilyPad or how to make sense of my code.

Plug your battery back in and see if it works and...go biking!

Insulate the rest of your traces

Cover the rest of your traces with puffy fabric paint. Again, don't coat anything until you're sure it works.

About washing

Your creation is washable. Remove the battery and wash the garment by hand with a gentle detergent.

Note: silver coated threads will corrode over time and their resistance will gradually increase with washing and wear. To limit the effects of corrosion, insulate and protect your traces with puffy fabric paint or some other insulator. You can also revive exposed corroded traces with silver polish. Try this on a non-visible area first to see what it does to your fabric!
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