With a bit of testing, coding, and sewing, Casey upgraded a kite with Lilypad Arduino, accelerometer and LEDs. The finished product displays its orientation to the operator and puts on a bit of a light show during dynamic maneuvers.
The project required a decent amount of planning for proper installation of the sewn circuit and working with conductive thread turned up some interesting tips –
A nice thing I learned about conductive thread is that it will melt onto itself similar to nylon based threads. Melt isn’t exactly the right word, it was kind of a mix between soldering and pushing melted plastic around. Anyway, it took away the frayed ends making the knots very clean. I would do this after sewing three loops through each hole (also called pin) on the boards. This ensured a solid connection.
Looks like a lot of fun. Sadly no video of the blinky flyer in action as of yet :( – Blinking In The Sky
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