Stilt Lights

Twice a year, I volunteer to operate sound and lights for the youth troupe performances at a local circus studio. For one of last year's shows, I received a special request. The troupe had planned a stilting act where they wanted special light effects on the stilts. I was excited to take on the challenge.

A photograph of me testing the lights. The strips of lights are layed out on a workbench.

A photograph of the electronics. There is a battery, power switch, and a perfboard inside of a 3D printed case.

In addition to just lighting up, the lights also have animations. When they turn on, the lights do a “powering up” animation, and each stilt has a vibration sensor, which allows the lights to react to the stilters’ steps. I used some generic WS2812B LED strips that I had from a previous project. I controlled them with a Seeeduino Xiao from Seeed Studio.

A photograph from the performance, showing three stilters with their stilts illuminated.

A photograph of the stilts in my shop, showing all three sets illuminated.

A photograph of me working on the step detection. I have an arduino in a breadboard connected to the stilt.