Diffuser for sewable neopixels used with FLORA

[phoebe719]

This is essentially a product request.

I'm looking for a squishy diffuser (or maybe even rigid diffuser) for use with the sewable Neopixels, for wearables projects. Something that would just snap onto or be sewn over the neopixel would be ideal, so that the diffuser and the neopixel could be taken apart and used again for some other purpose. Man, those neopixels are bright and hard to look at with the naked eye (although I know they can be dimmed in code)!

I'm thinking something kind of like this (see photo).

These people sell LED diffusing plastic pellets that can be injection molded (hint, hint):

https://www.inventables.com/technologie ... -compounds

What does Adafruit think? Aren't you glad you have me to tell you what to do?

Anyone else looking to solve this problem?

[Franklin97355]

http://learn.adafruit.com/chameleon-scarf/ This might be of interest.

[phoebe719]

Thanks! Bingo! That's exactly what I need!

Now... how can I have this printed out without having to shell out $2K for a Makerbot printer? Is there an online place I can do this that will send back the finished product via mail? I'm near Denver, not near any Makerbot stores, and while I understand that Microsoft stores (of which there is one near me) sell the printers, it's not clear that I could get them to print a file for me. Hmmm...

[phoebe719]

Aha! Answered my own question:

http://the3dprintingstore.com

[Franklin97355]

WOW and only 10 miles away? Make sure they can do the flexible plastic. There is also Thingaverse and Shapeways.

[alissadesigns]

Wish I'd seen this earlier! I've spent days trying to hunt down nice ways to diffuse neopixels. The hardware store guys are probably tired of me lurking through the aisles poking at rounded ...

Where I landed was making something that's super similar to your upload with instamorph (http://www.instamorph.com/)
Lots of trial & error with diameter, thickness, and distance from the LED.

I ended up making a couple different sizes to vary the diffusion across the piece I was working on. The actual diffusers don't look very good on their own but they get the job done and when it's tucked away behind fabric you can't tell anyway Also - always easy to make more when you need 'em! Until I get a 3D printer, waiting on Ponoko is just too much hassle.

Photo of ugly-yet-effective instamorph diffusers: http://imgur.com/yn9CfLA

[adafruit_support_bill]

Nice work. If you need to make a lot of these, you could have a mold 3D printed, then press the instamorph into the mold.