3D printing, along with other user target technological innovations such as Arduino Boards and NeoPixel LED’s have made it so that today it is possible – and it can be a lot of fun – to customize a real skateboard instead of Tony Hawk’s virtual ones as skateboarding fans used to do in the last decade. There are many ways to go about this, but this latest project published on the Adafruit learning platform is sure to get noticed.
The Trinket NeoPixel LED Longboard takes a standard longboard and combines it with a lot of maker-favourites’ tools to create an impressive moving lights effect. It all begins with the NeoPixel LED strips programmed through an Arduino board but 3D printing is what makes this possible by providing the tools to build the custom shaped trinket box that will hold all the electronics.
3D printer equisites are minimal: all you need is a 100x100x100 minimum build volume to print out the trinket box and its parts that you can download freely from Thingiverse or Autodesk’s 123D Design platform. The project’s designers suggest using PLA and spell out all the printing parameters for each part, while also suggesting the use of flat pliers to remove supports from the trinket-box.
This may not be a project for everyone, even though it requires only a basic familiarity with Arduini programming, 3D printing and some electrical work. In my opinion it would be a great topic for a Fab Lab or 3D print shop workshop and the end result is impressive, check it out in the video below.
