Neon Accent Lighting
The neon accent lighting spelling out ME218B on the back of the robot (pictured above) was separate from the rest of the robot circuitry. The material is called EL (Electro-Luminescent) Wire. It consists of a center wire, and a semi transparent shield that forms a sort of capacitor along the length of the wire. There is phosphorus in between the layers, and as they charge and discharge, the wire glows. A control box specially made for this application simply alternates + / -charge the wires from a 9 volt battery. Intensity is proportional to switching frequency. To turn the lights "on," we simply connected a 9 volt battery to the controller's power leads. The green and red wire is simply formed and masked to get the desired lettering (just like neon lettering, but without the tricky glass work).