Ha! Welcome to LedHelmet, virtual home of one sick helmet. This colorful creation is made out of a well balanced combination of RGB tricolor LEDs, ping pong balls, electronics, knobs, buttons, helmet and thin air.

How it Works

So, here's a quick overview of how it works, and how you can interact with the device:

Manual Mode

Knob 1: Picks a color, fades from red to green to blue, back to red
Knob 2: Picks a brightness level for the color chosen
Knob 3: Allows for a color range from the color that you picked (if you pick a purple, and start at 0 here, everything is purple. As you turn this knob up, you'll see more and more blues and reds, until when the knob reaches the end, you get all colors)
Knob 4: The big one! This one is for cycle speed
Button 1: Changes from a cycle mode to the next, here's the list
1. Flashing on / off
2. Fading in/cut
3. Fade in / fade out
4. Fade to next color
5. Palette animation

Button 1 - held: While button is down, white strobe mode is on. After 4 seconds of holding i, it will store the current color in memory and allow you to pick another one, for a maximum of up to 3 colors. You could, for example, pick a blue and a yellow, or a combination of red, white and blue.
Button 2 - held: While button is down, RGB strobe mode is on. After 4 seconds, it will save the pattern into persitant memory (EEPROM)

Memory Cycling Mode

This will simply cycle through all the patterns in memory, one after the other.

Knob 3: Determines the cycling speed, or how long each pattern is displayed. At max value, it will stick to the current pattern.
Button 1: Switches to previous pattern.
Button 2: Switches to next pattern.
Button 1 - held: Factory reset, erases all memory. You'll have to hold the buttons for a while to do this, and through a serie of 10 1 second red flashes.
Button 2 - held: Deletes the current pattern. Keep button held through the 5 quick red flashes to commit.

Mode	Button 1&2	Button 1	Button 2	Button 1 (held)	Button 2 (held)	Pot 1 (Speed)	Pot 2	Pot 3	Pot 4
Manual	To next mode (Random Playback)	Next flashing type (flash/fade-in linear/sin/fadeToNext/spectrumRange)		Memorize current color	Save pattern to memory	Flashing speed	Color Spectrum (R to G to B to R)	Brightness	Color range allowance
Random Playback	To next mode (Memory Playback)	Next random pattern	Next random pattern	X	Save pattern to memory	Cycling Speed (how long it stays on current pattern)
Memory Playback	To next mode (Manual)	Previous pattern in memory	Next pattern in memory		Delete pattern	Cycling Speed (how long it stays on current pattern)

Want One!?

Following the feedback I received while wearing this fantabulous device, I am seriously considering making a small production run of these (50? - 100?). But only if the idea generates enough interest. If you would be interested in purchasing one, please drop an intelligebile chain of words in my electronic mailbox. Let me know how much you think you might pay for a finished product based on this prototype. I am also contemplating the ideas of selling kits for the DIY people, let me know if this is something you'd be interested in. Also, please note that the production run would look and feel more professional and will be extremely sturdy, allowing for activities such as psychotic dancing, running into walls at full speed, getting caught in helicopters propellers, stage diving and much more.

Other Details

Alright, so I'm putting this website together like fast food is served, so here's a bunch of things you migth be interested into if you've read this far already.

• Colors on the video are hyper saturated, they look much more pure (as opposed to pastel-ish) in real life
• Should last 4 to 6 hours on one standard alkaline 9v battery
• While wearing it, people might think you come from the future
• If manufactured, the code will be open sourced and a website will be put together to explain how to hack it and create your own patterns / framework
• Built on an Atmega168 using the Arduino bootloader
• Might integrate a microphone and sound activated modes and patterns
• Uses Texas Instrument LED TLC5940 drivers
• Was originaly designed for Burning Man 2008
• Yeah, I know, you can't see the lights while you wear it... I'm thinking adding some type of mirror on a flexible arm, the ones used as rear view mirrors on bicycle
• More videos / pictures to come
• Ask me anything. Really. Anything.