Glowing Space Invader Shoe Lace Accessory

Here is a great way to add bling to you shoes !! to impress your friends and family at a late evening summer party.

3D print the files attached in the steps below, and add RGB LEDs and coin cell batteries to make the Space Invader Shoe Lace accessory glow..

Now if you don't have LEDs and batteries handy, but have access to a 3D printer at home or your local library, print the Space Invader Simple STL file. Both the files should take about 5-6 mins to print, and a suggestion here would be to use glow in the dark filament.

Download the 3D printing software that you printer supports, in my case i am using the Printrbot Simple Metal which use Repetier-Host as a software to

• Slice the STL files attached, which basically means cutting the part into various layers
• And send commands to the 3D printer while printing

Download the Simple Space Invader STL file attached and load it in your printer software twice as shown the pictures above and slice the file,

• Slicing the STL file should take about 2-3 Seconds
• And the print time should be about 4- 6mins depending on your printer settings

Here I used Glow in the dark PLA filament by MG Chemicals..

Lace up the space invader by passing the lace through the ears as shown in the picture above.

Feel free to experiment, from giving a couple of these to some friends I have learnt that there are multiple ways lace'ing up space invader, from using two on the same shoe, to using it to lock you laces before playing a game of ping-pong ..

Download the Base and LED Space invader STL file from above and 3D pint them using a dark filament , In my case used Black PLA.

• Slicing the STL file should take about 3-4 Seconds as shown in the second picture above
• And the print time should be about 8- 10 mins depending on your printer settings

Once done print the Transparent filament base STL file using a transparent PLA which will act as a light diffuser.

• Slicing the STL file should take about 2-3 Seconds as shown in the second picture above
• And the print time should be about 2- 3 mins depending on your printer settings

Now glue the 3D printed parts as shown in the pictures above. I choose to use hot glue , but feel free use super glue.

While super glue'ing the battery base to the transparent part ensure that the notch on the transparent part is pointing inwards , this will prevent the battery from slipping out while your walking.

Test the LEDs , connect the long end of the LED to the +ve end of the battery(you should see a + sign on one side of the battery) and the shorter end to the -ve end of the battery. And then drop the battery and LED into the 3D printed part as shown in the picture above.

In addition use electrical tape to secure the LED to the battery.

For the battery you will need a CR2302 coin cell(https://www.sparkfun.com/products/338), which you can find at most convenient stores.

And for the LEDs i am using cycling RGB LEDs (https://www.sparkfun.com/products/11449).