Simple Design

The design is reminiscent to a wand, so it's meant to be held in hand. It's fun to wave this thing around. The Feather and battery are housed in the handle and secured with machine screws. The handle is split in two halves that snap fit together. The LED strip is tapped to a  stick thats designed to be clamped to the handled. An on/off switch is fitted inside the handle and easy to access. 

Prepping Images

The images must be in 24-bit BITMAP format. JPG and GIF formats are not supported! The maximum dimensions for images are 72px wide by 32px tall. Use an image preview / editing application or online converter to save the image out as a .BMP (bitmap).

Bitmap Images

I used Adobe Photoshop to import, scale and tweak artwork. Scaling images down can get mangled, so it's necessary to touch up or even redraw images. Using Sharper Bicubic interpolation works well on 8bit style graphics.

3D Model & Components

All of the parts were designed in Autdoesk Fusion 360 and available to download and modify. The source contains 3d models of components such as the DotStar LED strip, 2200mAh battery, slide switch, and Adafruit Feather. You can use these models for reference in your future enclosure designs!

Long Stick

The stick is actually 248mm long, making it almost too big to fit on standard-size bed of a 3D printer. So, the model was rotated at 45 degrees, set diagonally across the bed. This orientation allows the stick to be 3d printed on a bed ~215mm x 215mm, like the Ultimaker 3. 

Minimum bed-size: 185mm x 185mm 

Slide Switch Wires

In order to power the circuit on and off, the slide switch will need to be connected to the Adafruit Feather. We'll need to two pieces of wire. These wires can about the length of the board.

Prep Wires

Using wire stripper, remove a bit of insulation from the tips of each wire. These 30AWG silicone covered wires are stranded, so it's a good idea to tin them with a bit of solder. This will make it easier to connect them to the switch and it prevents the strands from fraying. 

Solder Wires to Switch

We only need two out of the three terminals on the slide switch. Using wire cutters, snip one of the pins – either the far left or right but not the middle! You can also trim them short, about half their length is good. Add a bit of solder to the two short terminals and solder the wires to them. A helping third hand is great for keeping the switch steady while soldering wires.

Connect Switch to Feather

With the switch now connected to the wires, you can solder them to the EN (enable) and GND (ground) pins on the Adafruit Feather. I normally tin the through-holes with a bit of solder before adding wires. A PCB vise like the Panavisr Jr is great for holding the board up while soldering.

Test Switch & Battery

You can test the switch by plugging in the battery to the JST port on Adafruit Feather. The on-board NeoPixel LED should power on when the switch side is actuated. If everything works, proceed to the next page!

Count Pixels

In this project we're using 32 DotStar LEDs but you can optionally use more or less – It's up to you! However, the stick was designed for 32 LEDs. Either way, it's good idea to count multiple times and cut once.

Plan The Cut

It's a good idea to think about how you're going to cut the strip. The DotStar LEDs are very close to each other and it's easy to accidentally cut the pads too short. I suggest using a flush diagonal cutters to make flush cuts. The ends of LED strips may have wires and hotglued ends already on them, so it may be necessary to remove them. Another option is to have a "sacrificial pixel" like mentioned in Beck's Guide.

Signal Direction

It's important to be aware of the signal direction. The arrows on the strip depict the flow and direction of the data. The wires coming from the Adafruit Feather going to the DotSar strip this way [Feather]→[LED Strip]

Two Strips

If you'd like to make the wand have LEDs on both sides, you can cut another strip with the same pixel count. This is optional, so you can choose how many pixels you want. We won't be needing the protective sheathing, so you can remove them from the strips.

Tin Pads

The pads on the DotStar strips are fairly small, so it's best to use a fine tipped soldering iron. Add a tiny bit of solder to the pads, this will make it easier to attach wires to them.

Wires for Strip

Now it's time to make some wires! Each strip needs four wires to connect to the Adafruit Feather. If you'd like to use two strips, you'll need to make two sets of wires. These will need to be long, about 150mm in length (or the length of the handle). Use pieces of heat shrink tubing to keep the wires bundled together.

Prep Wires

Since these are stranded wire, it's a good idea to tin them. Using wire strippers, remove a bit of insulation from the tips of each wire and then add a bit of solder. You can use different colored wires to help tell the connections apart.

Connect Wires to Strip

Be sure to double check the data flow before soldering the wires to the pads! Solder each wire to the pads on the DotStar strip. Use common colors like red for voltage, blue for ground, etc. 

Wired Strips

If you're using two strips, you'll need to wire those up. I used a few pieces of heat shrink tubing to keep the wires bundled together. Both have similar wire lengths and colors to keep it consistent.

Connect Feather

Now it's time to connect the strips to the Feather! Connect the voltage power wire from the strip to one of the available 3V pins. Connect ground from the strip to one of the available ground pins. Then, clock input to SCK and data input to MO. Remember, these are not labeled on the high density strip, so you'll have to reference the circuit diagram to get the right connections. 

Connected Strips

Wiring up two strips gets a little cluttered because you'll need to share the SCK and MO pins with two wires. However, the Adafruit Feather has several power and ground pins, yay!

Final Circuit

And here's the final circuit wired up. At this point you should have the Adafruit Feather M0 Express setup and the code already uploaded to the board. You should be able to test out the strips and power the circuit on with the slide switch. If it's all good, then proceed to the assembly.

Install Feather

Place the Feather over the four standoffs on the bottom half of the handle. Line up the mounting holes. Orient the board so the microUSB port is facing the port cutout. Insert and fasten 4x M2.5 x 4mm long flat phillips machine screws.

Install Switch 

Insert the slide switch at an angle and press it in between the walls of the switch holder. 

Switch Actuator

The actuator should be accessible through the outside of the handle. 

Install Battery

The 2200mAh battery can be clipped to the bottom half of the handle. Orient the battery so the cable can reach the JST connector on the Adafruit Feather.

Add NITTO Tape

Grab the stick and add long strips of double-sided NITTO tape. This stuff is strong and will provide a good hold. Carefully place the strip of tape so it lines up nicely with the stick. Peel away the protective backing.

Stick Strip

Before sticking the DotStar strip, make sure the handle will not intersect (touch) with the flexible PCB on the strips. The wiring and strip should have a good amount of clearance. It's a good idea to do a dry fit to see where the stick gets installed to the handle. Once you've determined a good safe zone, place the strip to the stick – Firmly press the full length of the strip to properly adhere. Repeat process for the second strip.

Handle Halves

Grab the top half of the handle. These two will snap fit together. We'll need 2x M2.5 x 12mm long screws to secure the two halves together. It's a good idea to dry fit them to see how they go together.

Install Stick to Handle

Install the stick to the bottom half of the handle by inserting the end with the tabs into the holder near the end. It should slot in and not clip any of the wires or DotStar strip. Arrange the wiring so that they fit through the little cutaway.

Secure Halves

Make sure all of the wiring fits inside the handle. Carefully place the top half of the handle onto the bottom half and press them together – Be careful not to kink any of the wires. Flip the handle assembly over and insert two M2.5 x 12mm long flat phillips machine screws into the two counter bore standoffs. Fasten screws until fully tightened.

Secured Stick and Handle

Thoroughly inspect the handle and stick assembly to ensure nothing is being kinked, mangled or otherwise. The assembly should be pretty solid and sturdy when waving it around.

Final Assembly

The handle should be easy to take apart if you ever need to service the components. When the battery gets low, recharge the battery with USB power supply or hub. 

What About Video?

Most video camera will shot video at a 30FPS (frame per second) which isn't exactly great for long exposures. You can capture the effect on video, but it won't be as fully formed like in a photo. A great way to get around this is to combine a series of photos together to form a "stop motion" type of video. An intervalometer remote trigger is great for this!