For my final project in aesthetics of design I decided to make a motion changing LED snowboard. I got this idea when I was on a snowboarding trip back in January and thought about how I could make my snowboard more attention grabbing. I also considered night boarding or late afternoon boarding when the sun begins to set, and how it is hard to see the ground in front. Also Keystone offers nights skiing however the lights they have are not the same as seeing everything, especially other boarders. So I started looking into LED snowboards, there are none that come from manufacturers, all that I could find were people who made their own. All the ones that people made were just static colored LED snowboards. So to make my project dynamic I decided to make it change colors with the motion of the board. Below shows where I got the inspiration to do my project.
My next step was to pick an aesthetic to apply, and given the LED’s I was limited in choices. I chose a glow in the dark aesthetic, and had to chose between a white glow or a colored glow. And given that colors were a main part of my project I chose to use colors. Below shows some pictures highlighting the aesthetic I wanted to apply.
For the dynamic piece, I wanted to utilize an accelerometer to change the input voltage to the lights, since this is how the colors are controlled. I was going to need to create a circuit in which the output voltage of the accelerometer was amplified to a different color in the lights. Below shows a simple circuit in which the LED’s (which require 12 volts) can be powered with an amplification circuit.
Then I began making sketches of how I wanted the lights to be applied. Originally I wanted them to cover the entire snowboard so that it would really glow, but later decided to just do a simple ring of lights around the circumference of the board. I also wanted to apply the lights to the bindings to give the design depth, but after the COVID-19 outbreak I could not retrieve my bindings from where they were stored.
Sources:
https://www.evo.com/outlet/snowboards/k2-zepplin-snowboard-2006
3 Comments. Leave new
Presentation Comments:
Hey Austin, I’m commenting on you presentation from last week. It was great to see how you were able to get a working project even through this crisis. Now that your snowboard is ready you can only hope ski resorts are open next season.
Also, you can add liquid rubber (Like Flex Rubber) to the spots that the LEDs bunched up so they don’t come off when they are exposed to moisture.
Great job!
Ben Robles
Hello Austin! I really like your project and as a snowboarder, it caught my attention! You did a good job explaining how you got your idea and it was easy to follow what you are trying to say and achieve. I am sorry to hear that you were not able to work on your bindings which would have been really cool but I hope you get the chance to do it once everything goes back to normal. I noticed that you did not add a image of your snowboard with the LEDs which makes me wonder, were you able to do it with the current situation or you did not have the resources to finish it at home? In addition, how are you planning to fix your circuit board to the snowboard and protect it from getting wet? Good luck on finishing up your project!
Hello Austin, I think this project is a great idea. As a statement of meaning, I think the use of accelerometers to change the color is a great idea and would actually provide useful feedback to the user. As a neutral question, could you clarify the extent to which you constructed the final artifact? Is the green snowboard your design or were you not able to obtain the hardware required? As a suggestion, I would look into addressable LEDs which allow you to control the color of each LED individually, as opposed to the whole strip being the same color.