X-Wing Pilot Comm Pad with LEDs

September, 2016

Want one?  Order it here.

The Comm Pad is a required feature for a complete X-Wing Pilot uniform.  There are many talented people who sell them, and they are relatively inexpensive.  I got mine from Hole in the Ground Productions and love it.  Actually, I bought 2 in case I messed up on one.

Using acrylic paint and small sponge brushes, I carefully painted the Comm Pad with the colour pattern that matched the pilot I was cosplaying.  It looked really good, but I wanted to take it up a notch, so I started toying with the idea of placing LEDs behind the plastic to make the buttons appear to glow.

The LEDs I selected were Adafruit LED Sequins – very small and flat – really ideal for this project.  To drive the LEDs, I selected an Arduino Pro Mini (5V version).  I chose 2 Red LEDs and 1 white LED to be placed behind the non-painted buttons.  To keep things skinny, I used a 2 x 3V coin cell battery holder with on/off switch that I bought for a previous wearable project.  The holder supports CR2032 coin cell batteries which should theoretically give me many hours of run time.

To attach, I used a 1/8″ drill bit and made a very shallow hole underneath the center of each button.  I then placed the LED sequin into the hole and covered the back with electrical tape.

The Arduino sketch I wrote was simple at first, but then I kept coming back to add more sequences.  Now it is quite long before it repeats.  The end result is a subtle accent which further enhances my X-Wing Pilot costume.

Source Code:  link

Want one?  Order it here.