Here’s where I landed:

The attached drawing gives a sense of what it will look like. Here are the design questions I have:

  • Where’s the power bus? This is the big wire from the battery for power for strands and Arduino. I’m thinking of it as a 14 awg wire that runs from the left edge of the coat’s opening around the back to the right edge, roughly at hip level. Sound good?
  • Where’s the battery (just one pack)? it should be within <4″ from the bus. It’s 10.5″  x 3.6″  x  1.3″, 4.4lbs.Where is the Arduino? it must connect to the power bus and the first strand, but both connections can be up to say 2′.
  • For the first strand, where does it start? that is, what’s the run for the signal cable to the Arduino?
  • For each strand, where is it’s starting point? This is for the run to the power bus. Good to be short where possible. One regulator goes between the power bus and each strand’s start.
  • For strands 0..6, where do they end? for the inter-strand connection. There can be a cable run in between strands, up to say 2′.

Must converge soon.