Put Your Letters on Display #WearableWednesday

Hannah Perner-Wilson recently gave a workshop at Wear It Berlin that challenges normal LED segment display. If you are a fan of wearables, this might not come as a surprise, as Hannah is famous for her work in fuzzy touchable handcrafted electronics — especially sensors. Her LED display is another success, using materials like copper tape, surface mount LEDs and a microcontroller made from scratch. Controllers were crafted using an AT Tiny on a flexible PCB board, which is a great process if you haven’t seen it.

Participants were encouraged to be creative in their designs, with some using copper tape instead of conductive thread, and others using traditional LEDs, rather than surface mount style. The LEDs were soldered onto the conductive lines using Charlieplexing, which allows a large number of LEDs to be illuminated with just a few pins. It’s a smart strategy and keeps the parts small for this wearable project. Interestingly, part of the creativity came with the shape of the circuit. The example showed a rectangular shape that you might expect in a display, but a few people experimented with round and octagonal shapes, giving their letters a different font feel.

What I like most about Hannah’s work is that she is always going to the root of electronics and creating a softer experience through her materials. It is this kind of thinking that is inventing flexible circuit boards and woven textile batteries. The future is going to be filled with these ideas because no one likes to be uncomfortable in their clothing. So, next time you look at a part, imagine a softer substitute. In the meantime, you can get started on your own segment LED project with Hannah’s tutorial. If you like more traditional segment display bling, you may want to consider our 3D Printed LED Knuckle Jewelry. Think chunky words in a small space. What will you spell?


Flora breadboard is Every Wednesday is Wearable Wednesday here at Adafruit! We’re bringing you the blinkiest, most fashionable, innovative, and useful wearables from around the web and in our own original projects featuring our wearable Arduino-compatible platform, FLORA. Be sure to post up your wearables projects in the forums or send us a link and you might be featured here on Wearable Wednesday!


Have an amazing project to share? The Electronics Show and Tell is every Wednesday at 7:30pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat and our Discord!

Join us every Wednesday night at 8pm ET for Ask an Engineer!

Join over 38,000+ makers on Adafruit’s Discord channels and be part of the community! http://adafru.it/discord

CircuitPython – The easiest way to program microcontrollers – CircuitPython.org


New Products – Adafruit Industries – Makers, hackers, artists, designers and engineers! — New Products 11/15/2024 Featuring Adafruit bq25185 USB / DC / Solar Charger with 3.3V Buck Board! (Video)

Python for Microcontrollers – Adafruit Daily — Python on Microcontrollers Newsletter: A New Arduino MicroPython Package Manager, How-Tos and Much More! #CircuitPython #Python #micropython @ThePSF @Raspberry_Pi

EYE on NPI – Adafruit Daily — EYE on NPI Maxim’s Himalaya uSLIC Step-Down Power Module #EyeOnNPI @maximintegrated @digikey

Adafruit IoT Monthly — The 2024 Recap Issue!

Maker Business – Adafruit Daily — Apple to build another chip at TSMC Arizona

Electronics – Adafruit Daily — SMT Tip – Stop moving around!

Get the only spam-free daily newsletter about wearables, running a "maker business", electronic tips and more! Subscribe at AdafruitDaily.com !


No Comments

No comments yet.

Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.