ever wanted a glowing mousepad?

[aoC_PRoZaK]

http://www.metku.net/hardware/glowpad/6.jpg thiz shtuff is pretty pimp 8) http://www.metku.net/hardware/glowpad/index.html
just look it up here and do it yaself

btw. the guy who wrote this has made some other funny stuff that can be seen here: http://www.metku.net/hardware/

[Simo]

This is just too cool for words....shame I only readd english....I can speak abit of Chinese, Spanish and Italian (I'm from Sydney...the multicultural city...I need Italian to order @ my fav take away ;D )....but only read english.

[Keefe]

That mousepad is frickin' awsome! SPAMI wonder how they made it.

[aoC_PRoZaK]

check out the links guy´s, it´s as easy as stealin a babie´s sweets. i read the other articles too (i looked at the pics and tried to imagine what the text was about, and it wasn´t too bad. gonna go and buy either the material for this or buy a mouseman dual optical and mod him blue-leded ;D

[aoC_PRoZaK]

lol, if ya wanna know what i bought, look up here
http://www.netsmog.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?board=vo
ided&action=display&num=1008887836

[XDiGiTaLX]

hey i had this modem! It was blue though... ya those damn blue leds are pssing!!

[aoC_PRoZaK]

ya got the modem with a blue casing or the stock leds were blue?(would be surprised of second) where is the modem now? what are you usin now?

[XDiGiTaLX]

the casing was blue... it wasn't mine... it was the ISP's. They rent 'em for free here cuz we can't buy the modemds from the store yet...

[aoC_PRoZaK]

yeah, it´s da same here, but i modded it nevertheless, in 3 days i will be adult due my countries law and then they shall do with me whatever they want to do to me for SPAMmoddin their modem ;D

[XDiGiTaLX]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

LOLOL its not even his! LOL! :) well they might make u pay for it

[KeyserSose]

I figure you guys might want a translation for this so here you go.....

First the tools. Just a regular saw that you can get from any hardware store. This is used to cut out the basic shape of the pad.

Some files to smooth out the shape. I found the file with rounded profile worked best in this pad without straight lines and 90 degree corners.

Dremel multi to make modifications to the basic shape and to carve the channel for the wires and leds. There is also a picture of cutting wheels which were used.

I bought the plexi from a firm specialiced in plastics. They sell these surplus peaces priced by weight. I found this clear 500x500x5mm piece and payed 45 FIM for it (~$6).

We start out by measuring and marking the wanted size of the pad. I chose 250x200 mm, maybe a little oversized but there have to be some spare space around the pad to work with.

Powered up my Dremel and rounded the corners to make the shape more pleasing.

Then I started to file the edges. At this moment you can decide how big area is lit by the light. If you file more towards the center of the pad, those areas will be lit. For the smaller area, just round the edges slightly.

I decided to have all the wiring inside the pad so I wouldn't have to place any risers to the sides of the pad to lift it from the table surface.

Took my Dremel again with a different drill bit and started to carve. You have to try to make that channel deep enough. The leds I chose are 5 mm, same as the plexi and we have to get them placed inside and parallel to the plexi. You have to file some material off the leds too. 1.5-2 mm from the diameter should do it.

I bought 2 superbright leds from the local component dealer. These are 12-16 candela leds with 2.1 V and 20 mA forward current. Angle of the light beam is 8 degrees. Cost me 15 FIM piece ($2). Quite expensive but these are SUPERbright, 16 candelas is a lot.

Operating voltage is taken from the PSU of the computer with a standard molex connector. Use RED for + and BLACK for the - (ground). This gives us +5 volts to work with.

I have connected the leds in parallel and added one 82 ohm resistor. That resistor is used to sink that extra 3 volts that is not used (5 V - 2.1 V =~3 V). The resistor also adds a possibility to adjust the brightnes of the leds. Just choose a resistor with the higher resistance and the leds get dimmer.

You can also add a regular on-off switch if you want to power down the lights.

First tests.

I used some tape to place everything as they should be. Connected the pad to adjustable powersource and WOW, it worked. The light is even brighter and better that I hoped, cool :)

Just to point out. That green color on the pad is from protective film that is applied for the protection of the plexi. You should try to keep it on till the end of the project. Keeps those nasty scratches and greasy finger prints off.

I just had to try superbright blue leds. These are 4.2 candela versions. A lot brighter than normal blue leds.

I left those red leds in just for the extra fun. That really looks nice. Maybe I'm a little cheap but I didn't leave those blue leds in. The cost like 35 FIM ($5) piece here in Finland.

I removed the protective film. As you can see from the picture, only the edges are lit. Just as I wanted at the moment.

You could carve that channel more closer to the edge of the pad. I didn't want to because I use an optical mouse so I need to place some material, ie. a cloth over the pad. This cloth makes the optical mouse operation possible and it will also hide the leds. If you use a mechanical (a regular) mouse you might not want to add anything.

[Smoked1]

very interesting. I do that every day. :o

[Frank]

didn't I ICQ this to some of you guys (brahim) a while ago?