Netflix socks with a Lilypad

The use of conductive stainless steel needs some more thinking through. It doesn't knot well, and needs some glue or nail polish to stay put. So see and behold, my prototype with alligator clips:

I also soldered the IR module. As I still plan to sew the whole thing together, I made hooks for the aligator clips (or wires) to grab on. It is not the nicest build, but it is functional.

I'm a bit concerned, the signal seems a bit weak for high power leds. But a test with an IR reciever and the default blink sketch gives a nice signal:

Received:
OFF ON
2196 usec, 180 usec
int IRsignal[] = {
// ON, OFF (in 10's of microseconds)
18, 0};
Received:
OFF ON
2236 usec, 120 usec
int IRsignal[] = {
// ON, OFF (in 10's of microseconds)
12, 0};
Received:
OFF ON
2236 usec, 140 usec
int IRsignal[] = {
// ON, OFF (in 10's of microseconds)
14, 0};

Last night I played around with the layout of the socks. As I use diffent components than the netflix design, I can't recycle their template. As I use less components, I should have more space. But I also planned to use conductive wire for added comfort. This could be problematic, as the power wire and the ground wire should cross each other a few time. I'm thinking of using a traditional wire for the power line at the moment, and conductive wire for the other connetions. Would that be a good idea?

Also, I tested all components the last month, and ordered replacement for the components that didn't work. I made a rigid prototype on cardboard with tape and temporary glue, to transport it, that I plan to temporary wire this evening. This would make a nice project to take along withme to Hacker hotel, a hacker event in the Netherlands this weekend. I hope to work some more on the code when attending!

The original schematic from Netflix looked pretty complicated, so I spend one evening to clean it up and reproduce it in Fritzing. I removed the charging circuit and the switch, as they are already located on the Lilypad.

The original Netflix schematic

After a good night sleep I fixed some problems (it is always a good idea to check and doublecheck before starting to build something).