USB Keyboard Light

[DJBruce]

A friend of mine told me that it was possible to create a keyboard light that is powered by your computer easily. With a few instructions from him I made one and it works very well.

 

Materials:

• USB Cable
  
• LED
  
• 100[math]\Omega[/math] Resistor
  
• Crimp Connectors

 

Tools:

• Wire Cutters
  
• Pliers

 

Take the USB cable and cut it just below the end that does not plug into the computer. Using the wire cutters strip the outer plastic coating of the cable. Once the outer coating is removed you should see four different wires. The red should be the positive, the black should be the negative, the others are for data transfer and a ground. Strip the coating of the red and black wires, you will want the positive wire to be slightly shorter than the negative wire. Once the wires are stripped connect the positive wire to the 100[math]\Omega[/math] resistor using the crimp connectors. Then connect the positive wire to the longer end of the LED using a crimp connector. Repeat the process with the negative wire. This done you have a working keyboard light if you want you can add a clip to attach to your computer.

Edited August 4, 2009 by DJBruce