Anyone know of either an off-the-shelf, kit or design for a cheap USB controlled LED? I can find some kits around the £30 mark (no case, just boards and bits) but that seems a little steep.
In the ideal world I'd be thinking of something which could be fitted into a medium size USB pen-drive holder.
Paul DS.
It is a bit overkill but the STM discovery board from RS or was it Rapid has four PC controllable LEDs on (at least with a bit of tweaking) and costs about £16. It is a bit bigger than you want at 100mm x 60mm but otherwise fits the bill. Learning curve is a bit steep unless you already have experience of embedded C programming.
Your best bet might be to subvert the functionality of a flash drive that happens to include a drive is active LED. How good are you at hacking and reworking surface mount electronics?
There are many inexpensive LED lights which plug into USB sockets - some of which arequite small. What form of control do you need?
More information wanted. What software is going to control this LED?
What is it for? Brian
Take the guts out of a keyboard and control the Caps Lock LED? Hacking a flash drive could be hassle because you'd have to thrash it to keep the LED on - and it might flicker.
Does this LED want to be higher power than a normal indicator?
Theo
There are USB visual alert signals available off the shelf although they may be too pricy.
You maybe want to look at home automation, eg
USB to serial port, with the LED connected to one of the modem output signals (DTR or RTS).
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