I love doing wearable electronics and the price of entry for making wearable tech is supper low. Anyone can make something cool with the Adafruit GEMMA for about $20. However, my work with STEM Paths presents the challenge of trying to create an interesting project with a shoestring budget.
So, with that in mind, I give you my plan for the ~$2 wearable electronics kit. Well… this dose not include the price of conductive thread, and it dose require some pre soldering for the sensor… but $2 for a kit that will light up 6 LEDs when the lights go out.
So here is how I plan to do it:
I found this lovely battery holder on Mouser that has the perfect holes for stitching to fabric.- Then I found these $0.08 LEDs in Red, Green, and Yellow.
- That is enough to make a light up wearable, but I really want this kit to do something other than just turn on when a battery is added.
Thanks to Evil Mad Scientist, I added a phototransistor, NPN transistor, and a 1K resistor that will create an ambient light sensor. So now the LEDs will only light up when it is dark or during the night time.
Click the URL for a full list of parts that can be ordered from Mouser.com
http://www.mouser.com/ProjectManager/ProjectDetail.aspx?AccessID=8a33709065