Based upon the initial concept workings i know that we need to start with 4 strips of LEDs on the underside of the board, 2 long ones for left and right and 2 short ones for front and back, everything else gets designed around this.

The initial offerings are going to be based around an Arduino Pro Mini (ATmega328, 16MHz, 1K EEPROM @ 5V) controlling strips of individually addressable WS2812B LEDs. This is simply because i have several Pro Minis and several meters of LED strip left over from making my desk and bookshelf lights. If things do not work out as planned then i will look into replacement components (eg. 3.3V based controllers), but, as always, these things require money.

• The Pro Mini will be programmed using the Arduino IDE (not because i like it, just cos it's easier for the moment).
• The WS2818B LED strips will be controlled using the FastLED software library.
• For testing i will be using VVVV (on a PC) to receive and visualise any data produced (VVVV ..nodal-based live programming!!!). Eventually this will be superceded by a mobile app.

The LED strips that i will be using have 30 LEDs per meter. On the drop-down board that i usually ride i can fit 18 LEDs for the long strips, and 2 (or 3) for the ends.

After looking at some of the options for accurately tracking the rotation of an object, it became clear that ..i couldn't afford it. Custom made bearings with sensors inside, optical tracking printed onto the wheel, fast microcontrollers to keep up with the speed of rotation.., or i could just stick some magnets on the wheels and make do. So, 1 Hall Effect sensor, 8 magnets, and i get to keep the Pro Mini.

For working out the orientation of the board it was clear that a motion sensor was required. I already had an ADXL355 chip but it might not do the trick, so i ordered an MPU6050 chip on a GY-521 breakout board (this is of the type used in the average mobile device).

In the future i would like to add wireles communication and a mobile app to control the board. I will most likely add a seperate ESP8266 board, or upgrade (if i can find one) to a 5V microcontroller with embedded WIFI/Bluetooth.

For mounting the parts on the board they need to be cased, underneath the board, attached firmly, waterproof and be mounted centrally.

That's quite a tall order.

For firm attachment to the board the best option seems to be via the screws that hold the trucks. Board setups already use rubber spacers to affect the ride, so it seems reasonably to sandwhich the housing attach points between 2 half-size spacers. This would then mean either a long case reaching from end to end, or a small case, but shifted towards the back of the board.