Arc Reactor MK VI (wearable under t-shirt)

Description

I made this Arc Reactor to wear for Halloween. The housing is in two parts, and is printed in PLA without supports. A custom single-layer PCB with 24 SMD LEDs (design files included), goes inside this, along with a diffuser for the light (I used packaging foam). The board is designed to run off a 5V supply (eg. USB power bank). The tabs on the back for the straps will accept elastic up to 18mm (3/4") wide. The effect is best when wearing a t-shirt that is made of thin synthetic material, but it is still visible through a cotton t-shirt. ** The USB power bank pictured was just for testing and is way bigger than required- a good quality single-cell USB power bank (eg. Energizer UE2507) will provide hours of illumination! ** Instructions: The 3D printed parts will print without support (see pics). I messed up the orientation of the models in Fusion 360, I'm still learning... The PCB can be milled on a desktop CNC (0.3mm track/gap), and the components soldered by hand (patience and flux...lots of flux). If you or your local makerspace do not have access to a desktop CNC, there are many PCB prototyping services that will manufacture this board at reasonable cost. The resistors and LEDs are 0603 size and are readily available from reputable electronics distributors, in addition to places like eBay. I recommend soldering power cables directly to the board, however if you would like to place header pins, the holes have 0.1" spacing. The PCB is glued in place using hot-melt glue. I used three layers of packaging foam sheet to diffuse the light, which worked quite well for me, but you can use whatever you want. Usually I would keep packaging foam away from electronics due to the ESD hazard, but in this case I wasn't bothered; my LEDs only had to make it through the night (FYI the board survived and still works fine). With the PCB and diffuser material inside, the Arc Reactor housing needs to be glued shut. I used super glue (cyanoacrylate). There is no keyway between the front and back pieces, so be careful to align it correctly! I used 12mm (1/2") elastic for the straps- two loops which go over my shoulders and back round under my arms. I rubbed silicone caulking into some of the elastic to make it non-slip, which worked brilliantly. I found that if the straps were under tension from below, there was no need for an extra strap across my back. The straps from some cheap braces solved that issue, providing the downward tension. I decided to put a barrel connector on the Arc Reactor so needed to make a USB to barrel connector adapter cable. If you only intend on powering it from USB, you could save time by putting a USB cable straight onto the Arc Reactor.

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