For this project, I wanted to create something I genuinely needed. The first thing I bought when I came to the US was a humidifier. The dryness here was such a drastic environmental change for me. As winter approaches, I found myself wanting to know the exact humidity and temperature of my space, and I also wished for a small companion-like presence in my room, something like a plant.
Powerpuff Girls with LED Light-Up Oversized Eye Glasses 👀✨
Costume Description & Intention
Hi! we are powerpuff girls!
Following your comments, we decided to go with the Powerpuff Girls group costume. we were considering other ideas, but doing something with my friends seemed way more fun.
We’re each going to be a different character –
Batu is Blossom (pink), Yennie is Bubbles (blue), and I’m Buttercup (green)
We’re making oversized eyes like in the cartoon to really capture that cartoonish look.
The most important part is using LEDs to represent the Powerpuff Girls’ superpower – laser beam eyes
The glowing eye effect will make us really stand out at the evening parade. It’s way more exciting to do this with friends, and having all three of us light up in different colors is going to look so cool and fun
Arduino
NeoPixel LED strip to create the lighting effects. The LEDs will be programmed to glow in each character’s signature color:
Blossom (Batu): Pink + flame pattern 🔥
Bubbles (Yennie): Blue + heart pattern 💙
Buttercup (me): Green + lightning pattern ⚡
I’m adding a button to toggle between different modes:
Basic mode: Steady glow
Blink mode: Blinking like eye blinks
Power-up mode: Sparkly effect when using superpowers!
We’re still discussing this part, so we might add more cool ideas if we come up with them.
Reference
Materials & Parts
NeoPixel LED Strip WS2812B (~50-60 LEDs) – Adafruit
9V Battery + Battery Holder
Push Button Switch
220Ω Resistor (for LED data line)
10kΩ Resistor (for button)
Jumper Wires
Large foam board or cardboard (for glasses frame) – or buy oversized cosplay eye glasses and modify them
Hot glue gun
Velcro straps (to wear the glasses)
To-Do List
Final discussion with friends on lighting patterns
Attach LED strip along inner edge of glasses
Solder connections between Arduino, LED, button, and battery
This is a team project with Batu, Yennie, and me. We got inspired by The Powerpuff Girls and their superpowers — especially the laser beams from their eyes. Based on our classmates’ feedback, each of us chose one Powerpuff character, and we’ll develop our own colors and concepts accordingly. Our idea is to create sunglasses that project LED beams from the eyes, representing each character’s unique power and symbol.
Idea 2) Witch’s magic spell nails 💅 + 🪄
This idea is about Witch’s Nail — a Halloween concept inspired by witches’ hand. Since I came to New York, I’ve never had my nails done, so I want to make some nail stuff for Halloween. Like a witch, I will wear black gloves with LED nails, and when I touch something or do a certain hand pose, the color of the LED changes.
Idea3) 🧥+🕸️+💡
I designed a cape with a spiderweb pattern made of LED lights to express the Halloween mood.I designed a Halloween cape that reacts to movement. Using Arduino and LED strips, the spiderweb pattern lights up and spreads out as the wearer moves, creating the illusion of a living, growing web in the dark.
I have always been a night owl, which is why I’ve liked bats since I was young. They made me feel that I wasn’t alone during the late hours. That’s why I chose to create a Honduran White Bat. Originally, my idea was a cat paw, but even during the prototyping phase, I realized I liked bats more, and they fit the theme of night better. I also thought it would be fun to highlight the bat’s yellow nose and ears—contrasting with its white fur—using LEDs.
Since Halloween isn’t widely celebrated in Korea, I wanted to experiment with something related to it. I sketched a cute bat design, but sadly most people couldn’t immediately recognize it as a bat. Some said it looked more like a fish. To play with that ambiguity, I added eyes on one side to suggest a bat, and a button detail on the other side to resemble a fish.
Quick three ideas
1. Boiling Egg Lamp 🍳💡
Inspiration At night when I feel hungry, I often boil eggs as a quick snack. But I usually forget the time. I don’t like staring at the pot for six minutes, and if I lie down or check my phone, I easily forgot it. That’s why I thought about turning the egg yolk itself into a timer light.
How it works Push the yolk → the light turns on. After 6 minutes → it turns off by itself.
Even when I’m sleepy or distracted, I can still cook eggs easily. The glowing yolk makes the waiting time visible and playful, not stressful.
2. Hanging Bat Light 🦇🌓
Inspiration While making the prototype, I started to connect the bat with the red led(?) I was using. Later I found out that bat eyes are not actually red, but I liked the symbolism of it. The “red eye” feeling gave me a strong image to work with, so I used that as part of the idea.
How it works Daytime → only the bat’s eyes glow softly. Nighttime → the moon behind the bat lights up.
The lamp shows the rhythm of day and night in a simple way. I like that it can be seen differently depending on time and angle.
3. Cat Paw for Calm 🐾🫀
Inspiration I noticed that cat paw pads change color with mood. When cats are tense, the paw pads turn deeper pink. I thought this was interesting and used it as the idea for a plush lamp.
How it works When you hug the plush, the paw pads light up red, like tension. During 4–6 minutes the light slowly changes to light pink, guiding you to breathe and calm down.
The paw feels squishy and warm, so you naturally want to hold it or touch it. At the same time, the changing light makes you relax, almost like the toy is calming with you.
This project may also require an additional Force Sensitive Resistor.
<First Impressions> In the first random draw, I got a modem, but I switched to a Bluetooth speaker instead. Not exactly the one I’ve used before, but close enough. The control panel was all placed on the top, which made it feel pretty straightforward to handle. It powered on and the lights came on, but the Bluetooth connection was unstable.
Size : Its dimensions measured about 4 inches in height × 2½ inches in width × 1½ inches in depth(approximately 101 × 63 × 38 mm), and it weighed around 190 g.
Since it had the J@LB logo on the front and text printed on the bottom plate, I was able to get a rough idea of the device. I looked it up first before getting into the teardown. The product featured a transparent housing design, 5W output(Max), a 5V 500 mAh battery.
by the way, I found the J@LC label refers to JLCPCB, a major PCB manufacturer in China. They are widely known for quick and affordable production services, frequently used by DIY makers, engineers, and startups.⇢ https://jlcpcb.com
<Tools>
Heat Gun
Side Cutter
Long Nose Pliers
Cutter
Hex Bit (Torx)
<Teardown Steps>
Step 1) I began with removing the tiny screws located at the top corners of the casing. The screws were extremely small, so I used the smallest hex-shaped driver I could find to remove them. Even then, the screws were a bit smaller than the driver tip, so I had to apply some extra force to get them loose.
Step 2) This exposed the button mechanisms behind the control panel. Each external button is backed by a tactile switch soldered directly onto the PCB(board), aligned to match the labeled functions—power, mode, volume +/-, and play/pause. The setup is straightforward: pressing the button pushes directly on the switch, closing the circuit on the board.
Step 3) After removing the transparent casing, I examined both the front and the back. The front held the control panel, while the back was structured to hold the battery.
Step 4-1) On closer inspection of the board, it sits directly behind the control panel. Each external button (Power, Next/Volume + , Mode/ LED, Previous/Volume-) corresponds to a tactile switch soldered onto the PCB, clearly labeled on the board itself.
The left side of the board also shows the integrated antenna pattern for Bluetooth connectivity, (ㄹlike this shape) while the central IC marked with the JL logo (which is very blurry) is the Jieli Bluetooth audio SoC that handles wireless communication and audio decoding.
Looking closer, I also noticed small labels like R##, C##, Q##, FB##, Y#, U#, MAKE # printed next to the components.
For reference, the labels like R, C, and U, which indicate resistors, capacitors, and integrated circuits.
R + number (e.g., R15, R2) → Resistor → Controls the flow of current. The number means “the 15th resistor,” for example.
C + number (e.g., C3, C14) → Capacitor → Stores and releases electrical charge, or stabilizes signals.
U + number (e.g., U2, U5) → IC (Integrated Circuit, chip) → A chip that performs a specific function. → For example, U5 is a small audio amplifier chip.
Q + number (e.g., Q1, Q24) → Transistor → Amplifies or switches electrical signals.
FB + number (e.g., FB2, FB3) → Ferrite Bead (noise filter) → Reduces electrical noise and interference in the signal.
Y + number (e.g., Y1) → Crystal Oscillator → Provides a precise frequency (clock) for the circuit.
MAKE1, MAKE4 → Test points or manufacturing marks used by the board manufacturer for production and quality checks.
Step 4-2) back side of the board
On the back side of the board, I found the LED that produced the flashing lights when the speaker was first powered on. There was also a marking HS-YDG-A37_V1.0 20240129, which appears to indicate the manufacturer and production date, along with Chinese labels for battery +/– and antenna.
At the top edge, the board carried both a USB port and a TF (microSD) card slot. By inserting a TF card, the speaker can play MP3 files stored on the card without using Bluetooth—a feature commonly found in portable Bluetooth speakers.
Step 5) On the back side, I separated the cylindrical battery from the casing. It was connected to the board, and a blue shrink wrap covered the cell. The battery label showed the specs: BJY 14500 500mAh 3.7V 1.85Wh 202412
Underneath it was a very heavy circular magnet attached for structural stability. The board was also connected to a component labeled MX 4Ω3W.
the glue wouldn’t come off easily, so I had to use a heat gun. Many parts had to be separated with considerable force because of how firmly they were glued or fixed in place.
Step 6) The board, the battery, and the MX 4Ω3W were all connected in this way. The battery was fixed in place with metal tape and stickers to ensure a stable current connection with the board.
Finally, I examined the speaker driver. At first glance, it looks like a heavy round magnet, but in fact this part is the core of the speaker. The label MX 4Ω3W indicates that it is a 4-ohm, 3-watt driver, a specification commonly found in small portable speakers.
The driver is made up of three main parts: the permanent magnet on the back, thevoice coil (a thin copper wire wound into a cylinder), and the diaphragm (the orange disc on the front). When current flows through the copper coil, it generates a magnetic field. This field interacts with the permanent magnet at the back, pushing and pulling the coil back and forth. Because the coil is attached to the diaphragm, the diaphragm vibrates with it, moving air and producing sound. [https://electronics.howstuffworks.com/speaker.htm]
So even though it looks like just a magnet from the outside, it actually contains the complete mechanism that transforms electrical signals into audible sound.
In summary
Number
Name
material
role
1
case
transparent plastic
outer case / cover
2
control panel
plastic with rubber
external button interface
3
strap
rubber
for portability
4
back cover
plastic with metal
5
screws (x8)
metal
tiny screws for top cover
6
LED cover (?)
plastic
7
black sponge stickers
cushioned sticker..?
secure the heavy speaker driver
8
MX 4Ω 3W
magnet + coil
speaker driver
9
main board HS–YDG–A37 V1.0 (20240129);
metal (includes JL SoC, amplifier, LED, USB, TF slot)
control all connections such as Bluetooth,LED, sounds and ports.
In arranging the parts, I tried to place everything back in its original position. While organizing, I realized I had skipped two process of photos : the black sponge stickers and the white plastic piece. The sponge stickers were attached to hold the heavy magnet unit firmly in place, and the white plastic served as a cover for the light that came from the LED on the back of the board.
In conclusion… Because the speaker was light and compact, its structure was not overly complicated, which made the teardown enjoyable. As someone who often listens to music, I hadn’t known that magnets play such a crucial role in speakers, so it was exciting to discover that. Even though it isn’t a high-power driver, I could see how the components were arranged efficiently to match its low-cost design. I tried to dismantle what looked like just a heavy magnet, but only managed to chip away at the edges, leaving me wishing I could have seen more of its inside.
I’m from South Korea and run a studio with my university friends, where we create ceramics using construction materials and explore recycling design with porcelain. I also experiment with applying modern materials and techniques to craft traditions, and have exhibited some of those works.
Living in a traditional Korean house (Hanok) inspired me to research spatial design and even showcase related exhibitions. Most of my ceramic works are tableware, sometimes mixed with everyday objects, and I’ll be sharing my Instagram soon with new projects.
This is my first time learning Arduino, so I’m a bit nervous, but I’m excited to dive in. I love the idea of combining craft with digital systems, and I’m thrilled to explore that here.
P.S this photo was taken on my way to a concert—I really enjoy K-pop and live music performances too 🙂
