Project: Flutter
Team: Julia Kosier & Yiting Liu
We are going to create a set of light-up wings controlled by both a sound sensor and a color sensor. The light, emitted by RGB LEDs through side emitting fiber optics, will change colors based on input from a color sensor on an attached sleeve, while it will also blink in time with the beat of music received by the sound sensor.
We envision our project as a way for performers and artists to express themselves – particularly, our project would pair well with a dance performance. It could also be of interest to cosplayers.
The technology should be simple for the user. We envision a simple harness to support the wings along with a sleeve. The user would power the wings on via a switch and put them on with the harness. The sound sensor would work automatically – all the user needs to do is put on music. The color sensor would then be contained in the sleeve and, as the user places the sensor near objects, the color of the lights will change.
There are other existing products that flash lights to the beat of music; however, the incorporation of the color sensor as well makes ours unique. Additionally, our artistic vision is different by aiming for a fairy-like, fantasy-driven look.
We derived inspiration from a number of existing projects:
Additionally, there are existing products that are similar to our idea:
(a dress with responsive lights)
(“wings” with lights integrated intended for use in performance)
Here is our planned design:
Materials/tools we’ll need:
- 18 gauge floral wire
- Side emitting fiber optics
- Color sensor
- Circuit Playground Express
- RGB LED lights
- Plastic tube to connect the led and the optical fiber
- Cellophane
- Soft switch made in class
- Elastic (for straps)
- Sheer fabric for sleeve
Skills we’ll need to master:
- Sewing
- Connecting LEDs to fiber optics
- Construction of wings (attaching floral wire)
Timeline:
February 27th: Purchase samples of materials
March 10th: Coding should be finished
March 25th: All technology should be working
March 28th: Wing construction should be about 50% finished
April 8th: Wings should be wearable
April 15th: Technology should be integrated with wings
April 22nd: Project should be fully functional
Our fallback plan is to decrease the scope of the wings and create something more like a sleeve, like these projects:
So long as we have an aesthetically pleasing project with lighting responsive to sound and color detection, we will consider the project a success.