LED circuit HELP for a Guerilla/Creative Marketing Campaign

[Party]

Hello everyone!






Guys, I could really use your technical expertize:

Executive summary:

I'm working on a currently-zero-ROI project (needs to be as cheap as possible). Basically, I need to backlight a 5"x10" "clear" (it looks white not clear, but it is called clear) Coroplast (aka corrugated plastic, aka sign board). Ideally I would like the sign to be visible from 50+ feet away (during street-lit conditions) for 7+ nights while animating in different colors (e.g. if it can turn on and flicker, like an old/cold neon sign does, and then slowly/smoothly transition through 3-4 colors before turning off and then after few seconds restarting all over again with some randomness built in) for under $ 1 USD (ha! I know! What would be more reasonable?) (would buy enough parts for 100-500 of these at once). I could live with a sign that is visible in street-lit conditions from 20 feet away for 2 nights and is backlit with a white led for under $1.65 (better estimate?) if I source 1000-2000 at once. Depending what this discussion will yield, I may do some of both (more of cheaper kind and less of the fancy kind). Price = excluding batteries. This is for outdoor use.


THE BIG A$$ THROWIE!

$ It needs to last 2-7 nights $
$ It hast to be visible 20-50 feet away in street-lit environment $
$ It cant be too heavy (sign will be held by 1-4 magnets) $
$ I would prefer to have these signs animated in multiple colors, but will deal with only white $
$ It has to be cheap, really cheap (yet satisfy the minimum requirements) $




*** I would really prefer 7 nights, but if 2 nights is 2x or more cheaper I would have to deal with only 2 days (it does not have to turn off during the day, but it will save on power)
*** I can live with the sign being visible 20-30 feet away in street-lit conditions
*** I would rather only use one magnet (cost issue) but if it can stay on for 7+ nights and/or be visible at 40-50+ feet away 4 magnets could be used
*** @$4/sign=no go! @$3/sign=will bleed me to death slowly @$2/sign=will keep my fridge empty for 2 months @$1/sign=I will loose some weight dieting, but would be an overall a really happy camper!






# I know very little about electronics and circuitry (willing to learn).

# I do not have any components yet except Coroplast and a breadboard to test circuits.

# I understand the difference between different metrics used measure light that is radiated by LEDs, but as I've never played with any high-powered LEDs I do not have personal experience as to how these numbers translate into "backlighting Coroplast and being visible at X feet away"

# I think battery can be saved, if needed, by using a sensor that can tell if it is light or dark out and turn on or off the LED ( e.g. https://www.evilmadscientist.com/article.php/nightlight )

# In the aforementioned link there are comments about how to increase the simple circuits productivity at minimal cost (adding a mosfet), but I do not know how it would apply to me (batt life vs. cost)

# I think the magnets will hold at least a pair of AAA if I chose to go with 4 of them per sign (costly, but...)

# I planned to source things from eBay and sites like Mouser, but I need at least a hundred of these already made by the second Thursday of August, so I have limited time for experimentation, if any (e.g. for visibility distance) due to shipping times.







Please let me know of my options and help me design a circuit, PLEASE!

 

[MRCecil]

I'm thinking you need a consultant that will work for nothing and can work miracles in just a few weeks. I don't mean to sound flip, but to get done what you want cheap and in just three weeks AND within your other constraints, disclosed and undisclosed, is not at all reasonable to my way of thinking.

 

[HarveyH42]

**broken link removed**

These would do the bulk of what you want, but 65 cents each/for 500 quantity. Unfortunately, you will need 2 or more per sign to light it fairly even. You get randomness, since self flashing LEDs are almost never the same speed. Another bummer, would take about three weeks for shipping, not sure if they can/would speed that up for you (more money). But, it's about as cheap,simple, and quick as you can expect.

If you do microcontrollers, you could program more closely what you want, and there are several chip choices in the 50 cent range (bulk), but you'll need time, and LEDs will still bring you over the $1.00 range. Higher part counts will increase production time and cost as well, so other option probably would help much.

About a month ago, I ran across a solar garden light deal, that came to about $3 each after shipping, that did color fade. Not as bright as the ones I built myself, but slow fade, not flash. Have seen them with the above LEDs though, and at a large quantity order, you might get down to you budget ranges. Would provide you years of runtime (sun permitting). But you would need to find a source, might be able to get just the electronics cheaper. Wouldn't know where to find (China)...