Light Up Shoes

For my final project in my physical computing class, I decided to make light up shoes. A few years ago, I purchased some light up shoes, but they stopped working, so I wanted to make my own! I really enjoyed wearing them to a music festival near my home at night, and would get so many comments on them. Now, I can say that I have made this pair!

• pair of shoes
• 2 LED light strips
• 2 FLORA boards
• 2 battery pack with JST connectors
• hot glue
• scissors
• data USB cable

First, I had to set up my two, new FLORA boards. These were different boards than I had used in class, so I had to install the Arduino app that loads the sketches onto the FLORA board. I installed the Neopixel libraries so that the boards would work with the light strips. I followed along with the Adafruit learn guides throughout the installation.

Next, I tested the lights. I stripped the wires on the LED strips so that they would attach to the FLORA boards. Make sure to switch the boards on! There's a small switch on the side of the board that you can adjust to on or off.

After I knew the lights were working, I measured out and cut the LED strips so that they fit the shoes perfectly. I just used some white shoes; I thought they would be a good solid background against the bright colors.

Finally, I used hot glue to attach the strips to the base of the shoes. I taped the FLORA's to the back of the shoes, which was an easy access point for the lights and battery pack. Then I attached the battery pack to the FLORAs and placed it inside the shoe.

Now, turn on your shoes and get ready to receive a lot of compliments! Feel free to adjust the code to your color/pattern preferences.