In June 2019, we ran a public workshop as part of the Fabric District Arts Festival, introducing the 10 attendees to wearable tech, by helping them build LED fascinators which react to movement.
If you want to replicate the workshop, here’s the bill of materials, for 10 attendees:
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| 1 × 5m roll WS2812 LEDs | £15 |
| 10 × Arduino Nano | £35 |
| 10 × MPU-6050 Gyroscope and Accelerometer | £20 |
| 10 × 9V battery | £12 |
| 10 × 9V battery snap-on connector | £5 |
| Bunch of DuPont connectors | £10 |
| 22 AWG wire | £5 |
| Jewellery glue | £10 |
| Double-sided foam tape | £5 |
| Transparent acrylic for laser cutting | £30 |
| Ribbons and trimmings | £15 |
A few useful comments:
- If you get V3 Nanos they’ll have micro-USB ports, which are much easier to find cables for than the mini-USB V1 and V2.
- Start laser-cutting the fascinator parts well before the start of the workshop. You won’t have time to cut them while people wait.
- We pre-loaded the code onto the Nanos, so people didn’t have to bring their laptops or install any software or drivers.