Photonics Cuddly Toy

Target Group

Is your brother or sister scared in the dark? Or do you just want to make your old toys cool again?  

Find an old teddy bear, dinosaur or other hollow toy and light it up with optical fibers. They make use of the principle of total internal reflection to guide light to other places.

This Photonics Workshop starts with the principle of total internal reflection to guide light with waveguides or optical fibres towards other places. Since an optical fiber can be made very small, it offers the possibility of integrating it into textiles to enhance the textile with illumination, and even advance towards smart textiles.

Youngsters will enhance their cuddly toy, dinosaur or a different object with light, using one light source and a bundle of plastic optical fibres to guide the light to several places on the object for illumation purposes.

Instructables
Instructables: