Author: Zai Thakoor

Happy Halloween!

“Ratatouille” is a beloved animated film that many people grew up with, and dressing up as Linguini can be a nostalgic and heartwarming choice for movie fans. I witnessed that in the parade as people jumped in to take pictures!

It also fell into place when Jin came along to be my +1 for this costume duo. The ecstatic smiles and just gleams we received at the parade was not less of a compliment.

My intention with the LEDs was to create a lightbox to highlight ‘Remy’ character. As its Halloween, I also wanted to switch it up and make ‘remy pull the wrong nerve’ (evil)

How I made it

• Materials: Parchment paper, velcro, acrylic band + sheet (lazercut mouse) , wire
• Focussing on creating the most optimal lightbox, that could cast the perfect shadow, I began working on creating a study paper hat that would carry the weight of the batteries, past materials

Code

https://www.tinkercad.com/things/b67cPg5DA9G-copy-of-rgbw-strand-test/editel?tenant=circuits

#include <Adafruit_NeoPixel.h>

#define LED_PIN 1 // Define the Gemma’s data pin to which the LED strip is connected.

#define BUTTON_PIN 2 // Define the pin where the button is connected.

#define NUM_LEDS 30 // Change this to the number of LEDs in your strip.

Adafruit_NeoPixel strip = Adafruit_NeoPixel(NUM_LEDS, LED_PIN, NEO_GRB + NEO_KHZ800);

bool buttonPressed = false;

bool isRed = true; // Start with red color

void setup() {

strip.begin();

strip.show(); // Initialize all pixels to ‘off’

pinMode(BUTTON_PIN, INPUT_PULLUP); // Enable the internal pull-up resistor for the button pin

}

void loop() {

if (digitalRead(BUTTON_PIN) == LOW) {

// Button is pressed

if (!buttonPressed) {

// If the button was just pressed, toggle between red and yellow

buttonPressed = true;

isRed = !isRed;

if (isRed) {

setRed();

} else {

setYellow();

}

}

} else {

buttonPressed = false; // Reset the buttonPressed flag

}

}

void setRed() {

for (int i = 0; i < strip.numPixels(); i++) {

strip.setPixelColor(i, strip.Color(255, 0, 0)); // Red

}

strip.show();

}

void setYellow() {

for (int i = 0; i < strip.numPixels(); i++) {

strip.setPixelColor(i, strip.Color(200, 100, 50)); // Yellow

}

strip.show();

}

Things I would like to do differently

• Solder better and effectively us the heat-shrinking tube
• Find a better way to cast a shadow. Maybe?

I wish I could convince 14 y/o Zai to get her hands dirty with Arduinos that time. But I can sure tell 25 y/o Zai that she did it. And she’s doing it well.

https://youtube.com/shorts/Ax2FtOjV23c

My Custom Tinkercad

Halloween Costume IDEAS

1. Amitabh Bachchan – Saara Zamana – One of the most iconic Bollywood singles from the early 80s by this legendary Actor in Indian Cinema.

While he’s worn lines of individual bulbs, I was thinking of recreating it with LED Strips and with a speaker output playing the song on queue. Weird? Too much? I know 🙂

2. Linguini Caught with Remy – Rataouille ref

A lit-up chef’s hat with Remy’s silhouette through the hat. With a speaker with playing the score once the light turns on

If my sketch doesn’t do justice (we have the same hair)

The “Ampers’hand” is a night light for small groups of people to stay together in a crowd. As public gatherings and events have had a comeback, getting lost in crowds has also had a larger comeback. Initially thought out as an additional assistive hand for mums with more than two children; I soon realized, music festival go-ers, friend groups, tourists etc could get an extra hand.

I wanted to add a third dimension to an ‘alphabet’ or a sign or a universal symbol for this project. The ‘&’ happened to spark my thought further adding to the ‘pun’

Does it light up?

Yes, I would like to light it up with a touch sensor so that it blinks every time someone touches the Ampers’hand.

Materials used

Cotton or Linen

Hard padding – Foamboard or Cardboard

Pillow Stuffing

This is a scaled-down prototype, that I later realized couldn’t be turned inside out 🙁