Noob Project 2: Bicycle Lighting (advice?)

[gaijinpunch]

Hi

I purchased the LED Belt Kit, and made short work of it with my ninja-like soldering skills. Actually, I suck, but I have some experience with that.

For my next project, I would like to put a light strip or two on my bicycle. I'm foreseeing a few caveats though that perhaps you guys here can shed light on.

1: Theft
This is actually not the biggest threat. I live in Japan, and vandalism and petty theft are somewhat rare. I've had 3 monkey lights on my bike for a couple of years now, and nobody has ever tried to touch them (knock on wood). However, I am thinking I will need some type of bond that would be very hard to "just rip off". I realize slicing the casing and pulling out the LED is always an option for a thief, but is clearly much more work and hopefully not worth it for him. But, if there are ways to make that difficult as well, I'm all ears!

2: Water
The LPD8806 are waterproof from what I understand. I assume this is b/c of the casing. What about the battery pack and whatnot? Preferably I would not need a crystal ball nor pay much attention to the weather forecast. There is plenty of rain here, and while I keep my bike covered at home, I ride in the rain.

3: Board
I thought the Atmega32u4 breakout board was fine. It's nice and small, has USB... easy soldering. Any reason I should go w/ the Arduino Uno R3 over it? I know most people are recommending those for noobs. I am a C/C++ programmer, but have little time to mess around with actual code writing. I would like something with a library of presets if possible, that I can just compile and program. Maybe one day I would write something.

Another thing I'm unclear on is the batteries. The Belt Kit is only a 1 meter strip... for my bicycle project, I might be able to wind it around to 2 meters. Is 4 AA's going to cut it?

Anything else you can think off, lemme hear it!

Thanks

[adafruit_support_bill]

The strip sheaths are waterproof, but open at the ends. You will probably want to get some silicon end-caps to seal the ends. Mounting might require a bit of experimentation. Double-sided tape might work, but you would probably want to use some cable-ties to secure the ends. (Look for UV-stabilized cable ties. Regular ones will get brittle after some months out in the sun)

For the rest of the electronics, you might consider putting them in one of the smaller Otter Boxes. I'd stick with the 32U4. Partly for its small size, but also because you will want to solder the connections.

Another option is a Leonardo without headers. This board is also 32U4-based, but is supported in the latest Arduino IDE. It has no headers, so you can solder your connections directly. The size is the same as a regular Arduino.

4xAAs should run 2 meters of lights. But you can expect about half the run-time. If that is a problem, you can always go to C cells.

[gaijinpunch]

Thanks, that is some good stuff to chew on.

I'll probably focus on helmet before bicycle, mainly due to the water issues. Then, I have a batter issue, but that's probably a lot easier to deal with.

[philba]

Thanks, that is some good stuff to chew on.

I'll probably focus on helmet before bicycle, mainly due to the water issues. Then, I have a batter issue, but that's probably a lot easier to deal with.

Sounds like a fun project. Avoid the temptation to make room for the battery in the foam of your helmet - that will affect it's integrity.

[adafruit_support_bill]

Avoid the temptation to make room for the battery in the foam of your helmet - that will affect it's integrity.

Not to mention the integrity of your cranium should you land on it.

[gaijinpunch]

Well, on that topic, what would be a good suggestion. I'm looking around for parts now. I can always use an adhesive and glue the battery pack to the helmet somewhere. It would look goofy, of course, but we're talking about an LED helmet here.

I'm not so educated when it comes to voltage. Can I actually use 2 AA's instead of 4, for half the life span? The PCB is also another gotcha, but that's probably easier to hide somewhere.

[adafruit_support_bill]

2 cells is not going to be enough. 3 alkaline cells (4.5v) might do it, but probably not for long as the voltage drops over time. We have waterproof 2xAA holders in the store. One of these on each side will keep the helmet balanced.

[gaijinpunch]

Awesome, thanks. That will work, I believe.
I am curious though. How do I wire two battery packs to a single PCB?

[adafruit_support_bill]

Connect the red wire of one pack to the black wire of the other pack. This put the cells "in series" and is equivalent to a single 4xAA pack. The remaining black lead is the negative lead and the red is the positive.

[gaijinpunch]

Thanks. I should probably read some more tutorials.
Guess the last thing is "protecting" the PCB from the elements, but I assume there's a lot of ways to skin that cat.

[adafruit_support_bill]

Guess the last thing is "protecting" the PCB from the elements

The 32U4 is small enough to fit into some larger diameter shrink-wrap. Then you can seal the ends with some silicone.