Graduation Cap Shows Us What It’s Got!

June 30, 2017 by James Hobson 15 Comments

A high school graduation ceremony is well due the pomp and circumstance for making it through one of life’s many milestones. To commemorate the event with their own flair, redditor [PM_(cough)_FOR_KITTENS] hid a 32 x 32 GIF-playing LED matrix in their graduation cap!

The board is controlled by a Teensy hosting a SmartMatrix shield. With the shield’s assistance, the matrix enables scrolling text and GIFs to play across the LEDs, as well as an SD card slot to load up your favourites. Currently, it’s set to a 50-50 chance of playing a gif — one of sixty — or one of the twenty scrolling text lines loaded onto the SD card. [PM_(ahem)_FOR_KITTENS] co-opted his friend’s expertise to write the code — available here — while he designed the circuit and handled the assembly.

Carefully unwrapping his cap, [PM_(yep)_FOR_KITTENS] reinforced it with thinner and stronger cardboard, cutting slots into it, allowing the boards and wires to — barely — fit inside. A hole in the side of the cap is enough for a barely noticeable USB cable to run down his neck to a 2000 mAh battery which can power the cap for over five hours at 5V and 2A. Check out a demo video after the break!

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LED Mortar Board Battles Suns Brightness With 21W Of Power

May 31, 2013 by Mike Szczys 34 Comments

[Jeremy Blum] aimed to be the brightest student at his Master’s graduation ceremony this spring. He designed an LED rig for his mortar board which should battle the sun’s intensity by using up to 21 watts of power. But he didn’t stop with eye-catching intensity. while he was at it he also included some interactive features so the guy behind him has a way to keep from going blind.

One thing that really caught our eye is the 3D printed parts he generated for the project. There’s a nice mounting plate for the LED side of things, and a wrist-mounted enclosure for the Raspberry Pi board. Wait, why does he need an RPi to drive some LEDs? We already mention interactivity which is facilitated by the Pi acting as a WiFi hotspot. Connect to the access point and choose a color. If you’re in the seat behind [Jeremy] you’ll want to choose black! All of this and is explained in his video presentation.

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Getting Your Message Across At Commencement

June 8, 2010 by Mike Szczys 33 Comments

[Yomagaocho] is graduation from Northwestern University on June 18th (wow that’s late in the year… they must be on quarters). He decided to spice up his mortarboard for the commencement ceremony. A normal message wasn’t good enough, and even a solar-powered diorama wasn’t going to suit him. Instead he added 256 addressable LEDs to the top so that he can get his message across without being limited to a couple of words. See it demonstrated after the break.

He was nice enough to give us the technical details. The matrix is a 16×16 grid mounted in some laser-cut black acrylic. We immediately wondered about the display working in sunlight (a June graduation will probably be outside). He didn’t use any current limiting resistors with the LEDs, dangerous to the longevity but this should provide maximum brightness. It’s certainly a geeky concept, but having the ribbon cable that controls it trailing down into your robe might make those graduation photos a bit embarrassing a few years down the road. Continue reading “Getting Your Message Across At Commencement” →

Graduation Cap Diorama

June 6, 2009 by Caleb Kraft 29 Comments

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmTGh76nUfU]

[Roland] recently graduated from UC Berkely. For his graduation ceremony, he wanted to do something unique. He built a diorama on his graduation cap depicting a house driven from alternative energy. The whole thing is solar powered. The wind turbine is actually powered from the solar panel, and with a remote control, he can make the sun rise and set.

Graduation Gown VU Meter

November 21, 2008 by Caleb Kraft 7 Comments

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5mqnA3v1V8]

[ricosgoo] wanted a way to stand out at his graduation. We think he succeeded with his graduation gown VU meter. After putting the circuit together at the last minute, he made a mounting harness out of duct tape. The electronics hang like a sash, placing the bulk under his arm where it won’t show through his gown. He mounted a mike towards the neck line so it reacts best to his voice. It was a hit, apparently strangers would come up and make noise just to see the meter go off.

[via Hacked Gadgets]