The first iteration of this project went from initial idea to working prototype in about 4 hours, a new record for myself and a testament to the power of open software/hardware. I had been teaching at the FSU STEM Camp all week with my usual geek attire (8-bit tie, PCB tie, LED Lab coat) and the kids asked me what ‘outrageously cool’ thing I was gonna wear on the last day. The problem was I had nothing left in my closet and feared I would let them down. So when I went home exhausted that night (it’s tough teaching over 100 8th graders to solder!) and sat down at the work bench trying to decide what I could do in a night. Inspired by Adafruit’s Amplie-Tie, this is what I came up with.
This will be a short post as this is only revision 1 and I plan to vet this out to a more thought out project at some point. Here’s a video of what I had at the end of the night: (skip to bottom of page for newest video)
The tie is made out of 80 WS2811 based RGB LED pixels and is driven by a DigiSpark microcontroller. I pulled in this library written in assembly to drive the display and modified this tetris engine heavily to suit my needs. With limited RAM I had to strip out unneeded features and optimize the code that runs the game similar to Tetris to make it work, I also converted it to support color values as it was originally monochrome only. The code is a definite WIP but posted on here on Github as I play with it in the future. Game moves are random and I plan to attempt some puzzle solving algorithms soon. I had all parts on hand and total project cost comes in around $50.
It’s powered by 2 18650 Li-Ion battery cells in a battery box I used for my Wedding Suit and had lying around. They are installed in a 3D printed battery box with switch.
Battery box and the original suit it was designed for.
Structurally it’s just two pieces of card stock with fun bits sandwiched between and taped to a cheap clip-on. I plan to revisit the design and embed the strips directly into a fabric tie for long term use. Remember, I only did this in a single night. The kids loved it and the mission was accomplished.
Future Features
Next I’d like to add a basic AI to play the game, and/or a bluetooth connection for a human to play the game using a smart phone.
Update 1
I’ve restructured the tie so that the LEDs are now embedded into the tie instead of pasted on the front. It looks much cleaner now, thought the LEDs are dimmer, diffused by the fabric. I’ve also rewritten a new program that simulates a firework display, in time for Independence Day parties.
Update 2
I’ve built a second tie run by an Arduino Pro mini with all electronics and battery built into the tie itself. No more extruding wires. The battery is an older aftermarket Samsung Galaxy S1 cell phone battery, and I designed and printed a battery holder with my Makerbot. The LED driver library has been switched to Adafruit’s Neopixel library, and a AI player has been written by Mofidul Jamal.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License.
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85 Comments.
Hello, I am very interested on purchasing both the fireworks tie and the tetris tie. How could I do this?
How much would you charge someone for that tie? I would love one of those! Name a price!
I just wanted to say thank you SOOO much for your guide. My fiancee is doing a bunch of DIY crocheting for our wedding, since it’s video game themed and she’s all crafty like that. Your site (starting with the tie, then viking stuff from your other projects) has given me the motivation and insight to do stuff myself. I’m making the tetris tie now, and because of you we’re incorporating EL wire into the groomsmen’s ties, the bridesmaids bouquets, and I’m going to have my jacket light up “I Do” in EL wire when the time comes. Thank you for helping me resurrect the inner geek I thought had died sometime in college.
Um, wow. THIS is why I bother to document any of my projects. Thanks for sharing and I can’t wait to see your wedding pictures. Don’t forget to come back and post a link!
Come on Bill, name a price that’s worth your time! I’d pay a over $200 for that tie!
Hey, obviously you get this question as the number 1, but would it be possible for me to purchase one from you? also can the update the walkthrough and the items used so i can purchase, as you have had a few updates and things have changed. also, a battery life estimate on the update 2 would be awesome, it looks so good.
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What LED strips are you using and where did you get them? I’ve been able to figure out almost everything else needed to try this out but having a hard time figuring out the LED’s you used.
I’m using WS2811 strips (60 pcs / meter) and I got them from Aliexpress.
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Hi Bill this is a student in tenth grade hoping to learn how to make the Tetris tie but I’m having trouble trying to figure out what exactly what I need to make it please email me I would really like to know. My email is daniel06357@aol.com
Hi,
Any chance that we could order 50 of these ties with delivery to Sydney, Australia?
If so, could you please provide a quote, shipping costs and a turn around time for having these made and dispatched if these are ordered in early December ?
Thank you
Miss Lolli
Hi I haven’t seen if you sell them or not if so I would like to buy one if not how do you make it?
Hey Bill i am trying to build one of these ties for my senior project and so i was wondering if you could email me a list of all the parts you used.
Thank You
Jehkiah
Jehkiah,
I’m working on a proper tutorial to make it easy for those who want to build their own.
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I really like the second version of the Tetris Playing tie. Could I get any info on how I could get one and how much its’ cost?