Skyrim Miraaks Gloves With LEDS

I created Skyrim/Miraak inspired gloves that work via a flex sensor that turns light on and off when you open or close your hands. This was for a school project and I wanted to share the work.

Everything you need and need to do is in the instructables.

(https://youtu.be/Hp3Sr34k20w)

Supplies

• 1 pair of gloves
• EVA foam
• Acrylic paint (I used brown, green, gold, bronze and silver)
• 2x flex sensors (1 for each glove)
• Led-strips (I used 3 strips for each hand but you could add extra strips, you could also use standard leds)
• 2x Arduino uno
• 2x battery holders
• 9+/- cables
• 2x resistors

Others:

• Glue
• Heat gun
• Velcro
• Paint brushes
• Scissors
• Box cutter

Step 1: Cut the Foam

I started by looking at how many pieces I needed and what they looked like from an example on google of the dragon scales that are placed on Miraaks gloves. then I started drawing this with a pencil and then started cutting it out I cut out all the shapes twice so that I had enough for two gloves. After that I placed the 'scales' on the glove to see if it would fit and then i had a reminder how to glue them later on.

EVA foam is easy to cut with a box cutter, if you use this make sure you sharpen your knife often because it quickly becomes blunt. you can also use scissors, this can be difficult for a large piece of foam, but is an option if you don't have a box cutter

Tutorial on how to cut foam on Youtube (I used this one too)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E73AEz7t84E&t=545s&ab_channel=KamuiCosplay

Step 2: Heat It Up and Deform It

First of all I apologize in advance because I don't have a good picture of how I did it. But it's time to shape your foam into the shape you want. In this case, it should take the form of dragon scales. For this I just used the reference from google (you could also look at step 4 to see what they look like on me)

Foam can be formed after you have warmed it up with a heat gun, it can be a challenge for the first time but with some effort it is doable.

So: use the heat gun and then your hands to get the desired shape (I formed it in a kind of u-shape and some of the ends are a bit up.

A tutorial I used:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NChLIJDYiSQ&t=848s&ab_channel=BlackSheepProps

Step 3: Extra Step

This is a step you can do later, but I thought it was nice for myself to have a base already so I could roughly see how much space I would have for the Arduino if everything came together. very simple: stick the first two scales together and then make a band (of foam) and stick it on both sides as shown in the example.

Step 4: Paint the Scales and 'bracelet'

Quite a simple step: mix the desired colors and then paint them on each piece. (I did it according to the repeated google example and also used metallic colors for more effect. I painted the band with silver paint)

As you may see: the 'bracelet' on this picture and some of the other pictures in the process is very white in relation to the end result. I made adjustments myself by adding more silver colors

Step 5: Glue Everything (scales) Together

Another somewhat simple step: it's time to glue everything together. I used bison kit for this myself, but there are better options for EVA foam. (especially if you want to glue two pieces together, but for this time it doesn't really matter.) I then glued everything in the order I placed them in step 1.

The bonding with bison takes a while, so take all the time you need to press everything in the right place. (clamps that give an impression that you cannot get rid of, so be careful when using clamps)

A tutorial for gluing EVA foam (just in cade you need it):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbB2_pp24m8&ab_channel=KamuiCosplay

Step 6: Arduino Set-up + Attaching

Now that you've got most of the case done you can start on the Arduino (you could also do this in advance, i did this myself too.) it's a very long step so repeat text when necessary.

It's a very long step so repeat text and examples when necessary.

The photo of the Arduino I used, shows you how to place the cables and how to attach it to the glove. :

• The red cable is for the leds and tis placed on the ground
• Not very visible but I put a resistor on the ground and the A0.
• The gray and white cable are from the flex sensor that are on the 5V and A0
• The black cables are also for the leds and these are on 3, 5 and 6

as mentioned in the code also.

I made a few entry holes in the glove so that a piece of the cables is inside the gloves and can then be put back on the outside of the glove. (See, for example, the example of the LEDs that are threaded inside the glove and the example before that.)

This will also come forward in the next step, but I have secured everything with Velcro apart from the leds for that I just used the standard adhesive strip and glued the flex sensor to the end (make sure the flex sensor works well for you before you glue it!)

Once you've done this don't forget to put the code I've included into the Arduino, you could still play around with the numbers of the lights and the delays. ( again: remember that the flex sensor keeps track of all the numbers from the beginning of the sensor also called the bottom, so take into account how to adjust the flex sensor so that it does it for you the way you want it to.)

bonus: I glued the LEDs on the outside because there are a lot of cables inside the glove, this is also a lot of fiddling and being careful with putting them on. But that's why I sprayed the LED strips black myself, but this is a choice that you should consider making.

Step 7: Attaching Other

Everything should be working now, so it's time to attach everything to the glove.

As mentioned before I used both velcro and glue.

I attached the Velcro on the glove, Arduino and battery holder at the desired location (you can use extra glue to secure it stronger)

I still had a piece of the glove that I didn't want, pasted over the flex sensor with glue so that you don't see it (note that the flex sensor does not glue and therefore glues the edges.)

You could choose a certain fabric for this or something similar, possibly if the glove is too long you can remove a piece from the end to attach over it. Or let the Flexsensor exposed.

The piece made from the beginning, the dragon scales. I fixed it with glue. If I'm honest it was a huge mess with glue (so if you know something better yourself I would definitely use it.)

I glued the sides of the top to the top of the glove so that everything lays neatly in there and there were no gaps through which you could see the Arduino (remember, the battery holder can be turned on and off. So I got this to show a a little bit so I can get to it easily. you could place it more inside of the dragon scales.)

You can look at the example here or the video and photo at the start of this Instructable.

Step 8: Bonus: Personalize

During the project I ran into some problems

for example it was my first time with Arduino and EVA foam etcetera.

If you come across this, here's what I've done as extras that you can possibly use

• I shortened the band that we made and pasted at the beginning and added an extra layer (it's not the best work but this is on the bottom and inside, also because I used bison sealant you can see that the foam doesn't stick well If you use a really good glue for EVA foam, you won't be bothered by this)
• I added extra dragon scales to the sides because my 'casing' was heated too far in. This made it easy for me to attach everything to the glove (of course also painted)

I want to make an extra small comment : if you want to do this with another Arduino, you can of course do this too, I did it with a UNO, but I can understand if you think a mini Arduino works better, then it is also much easier to hide

Step 9: Bonus: Extra Casing (this Was for Fun)

You can actually skip this step completely. Unless you find it interesting and want to do it.

In short, I wanted to present my gloves beautifully and be able to transport and store them. So I quickly painted a shoe box inspired by Skyrim chest. I glued some cardboard on top for more illusion and used the same shades as the silver and browns. On the inside I used paper foil for now (although I had the plan to make a Skyrim landscape, maybe you want that too.) Its a funny extra, but not important for the project itself