It’s always exciting when you see someone piggybacking on your own idea, and that’s exactly why I was so psyched to get a tweet from @A_Jontz (Amelia!) with a pic of her cool glowing Jellybrella. Inspired by my FLORAbrella and also the LED umbrella by Honghong Lu, Amelia decided she wanted to replicate the look of those bio-luminescent beauties of the sea—jellyfish. She’s created a detailed Instructable and her finished project is good enough for mystical movements on stage or street.
She started with a patterned opaque vinyl umbrella which helps to diffuse light and creates a suitable body for the sea creature. A Teensy-LC with JST Breakout Board acts as the lightweight brain, throwing code to LED Neopixel strips which produce glowy color. Amelia used my fave flexible silicone wire, which is perfect for the movement required of an umbrella. Final touches include yards of tulle fabric and sparkle mesh, which soften the dome of the umbrella and create graceful long tendrils. What a beauty!
I especially like the tentacles and I’m hoping that Amelia will consider adding long fiber optic strands since she is considering adding more fabric anyway. Then she just needs a team of people with Jellybrellas to do a choreographed dance. It would be like Mummers gone wild! For those of you who like bio-luminescence, get ready for next year’s Burning Man. We’ve got the Teensy-LC ready to go so you can be graceful and glowy!
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