Final Project Ratchets up Budget.

phew!  ordered some reflective suspenders and "ankle straps" for my final project.  This should be the end of my purchases, I will have all of the framework.  Approximately $60 out of pocket, and I was able to use a $40 in-class budget.  (I mean, I would have saved 25 just being able to scavenge the controller from an old class project, but she wants a giant show-and-tell at the end of the semester.  And I did go fancy with the leds.  Just didn't think suspenders would cost 17!  psshhhhh!  But materials to make my own crusty ones would cost about the same, and take a lotta time.)  Which goes for the arm bands.  Buy velcro, elastic, reflective tape (okay, that was optional), find a sewing machine, hope it doesn't fall apart or otherwise suck.  Knit some?  I did not see them sticking to my arm very well, and it would be closed loops to pull up.  I guess... how would one attach velcro to a knit swatch?  But the TIME.  I would rather have my time.  And with my current job, I can afford to spluge a little on something I see myself using VERY often, and is going to earn me a good grade.

I like to think that I am investing in capital, even if my electronics are a wash, I just spent $30 on what the internet promises to be high quality reflective products, and that's good news for any cyclist/walker like myself.
another $25 on a USB and battery-ready, compact micro-controller.  $8 on what appears to basically be a cell phone battery to power my ... suit?  Contraption?  Can't go wrong with that stuff!
The ribbon with 4 soft wires will be a LIFESAVER when it comes time to put everything together.

And I wanted very bright leds.  I probably should have saved money only supplying my back with a half circle of the neopixels, but I wanted a turn signal for the cars coming at me from the front to see as well.  Plus, they are so groovey, I can try to program some rad patterns if I ever went to a rave.  haha.  $15 extra for the front, who knows how much less a simple led strip would have cost, I didn't even look.   I guess it is the neopixels that make me feel like my budget is rotten: I wanted them, so I bought them.  Not very rationalized beyond "very bright, already framed in a supportive structure, already wired."  strips *could* have been sewn along the suspenders, but then the elastic aspect and crappy conductive thread... (It likes to break!)  Maybe they were the best choice for what I was willing to invest in.  But maybe I should have left it at 1.  I was never really told whether a full circle is needed for them to light up...  that was the other thing.  worried that if I only bought half, they would not work.  Plus... well... if I ever get into cosplay, I can use the circle in a bad-ass Ironman/maid suit.  haha.  Or make some kind of DIY lava lamp.  all kinds of possibilities with some quality hardware... "they were super bright," she said lamely.
Oh yeah!  I need to find my old drumming gloves... I basically decided I was going to use those, but I wonder where I stuffed them?  I do NOT want to buy anything else for this project!  Will I have the glove/reflective bands on my right or left arm?  I have been imagining my right are the whole time, but traffic will generally be on my left.  It's not the biggest deal, but I feel like any extra bit of visibility would be a good thing.

Thinking about snapping laces between suspenders and bands... to make a cool tan-line.  Laces or elastic.  I could spend up to $3 on some thin elastic if it meant upper-arm band support and a cool tan.  ^^  But I know I have some left over stuff in my "sewing bin".

Dropped the conductive fabric, added 3 of the 1/4 ring.
Speakers were so cheap that I wanted the option, & added 1 more to try for 3 tones at once.
Glove-activated bike-bell, anyone?
The coding of a melody with speakers will be very challenging.

oh, I will probably need to buy 1-3 resistors.  I need to ask cliff about borrowing a multi-meter for all of this stuff, too.

I wish I would get a reply about my thermodynamics question... getting a little antsy.