My Colour Changing Icosahedron Quilt is my Coding Playground
This quilted icosahedron is packed with 180 RGB LEDs and a pair of speakers, all controlled by a Raspberry Pi. I made it as a learning project and Python playground and as an experiment in light diffusion.
A learning project
After using Adafruit’s NeoPixel rings to create sun and moon wake-up lamps, my mind turned to the possibility of larger scale projects.
I like the idea of hiding light sources in places you wouldn’t expect, especially behind fabrics. I would love to make a stealthy light up fraction wall, or 100 square, which could hang unassuming in my classroom ready to sparkle into life as a teaching aid. This icosahedron project gave me a chance to answer some questions and clear some learning barriers before taking on more complex projects: would I be able to solder, power and program nearly 200 pixels? Is a quilt and cardboard combination a good way to partition LED groups and diffuse light sufficiently?
I had the icosahedron logo printed on a heavy Jersey fabric, and hoped the…
