Adafruit debuts Circuit Playground: a show teaching kids about electronics (video)

Posted on 02/04/2013 by Jamie Rigg

Programs have a certain magic power over littluns, sending them into a trance-like state and then having them beg for merchandise afterwards. The perpetual tinkerers over at Adafruit don't expect you to catch 'em all, though, and have debuted their own show called Circuit Playground -- an educational YouTube series teaching kids about electronics. In the first episode, we learn all about Amperes and are introduced to our hosts: a free-willed human and ADABOT, a charming puppet presenter (just don't tell them that). Following the letters of the alphabet, expect 25 more installments and, if the intro sequence is any indication, a bunch of component-based characters to keep the sprogs interested. If you need 3 minutes and 50 seconds of peace and quiet, or just want to brush up on the basics yourself, head past the break for the first episode. Next time on Circuit Playground: "B is for Battery."

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Source: Adafruit

Adafruit’s Limor Fried takes on the Engadget Questionnaire

Posted on 15/02/2013 by Christopher Trout

Every week, a new and interesting human being tackles our decidedly geeky take on the Proustian Q&A. This is the Engadget Questionnaire.

In the inaugural appearance of our questionnaire on Engadget, Adafruit founder Limor Fried opens up about her love for her Metcal MX-500 soldering station and the joys of open-source build projects. Follow us after the break for more from Limor.

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Arduino Micro shrinks your favorite DIY platform down to ridiculous proportions

Posted on 09/11/2012 by Terrence O'Brien

With the Arduino Leonardo, everyone's favorite hackable microcontroller turned a new page. Now it's time to bring that simplified design and slightly expanded feature set to the rest of the family, including the itty-bitty Arduino Micro. The tiny, embed-friendly board was designed with help from Adafruit Industries, one of the biggest players in the DIY market. At the heart of the Micro is the same 16MHz ATmega32u4 chip that powers the Leonardo, which means all the necessary USB controls are baked into the processor. Obviously, the layout here is different, so you wont be mounting the Micro to any shields, but with 20 digital I/O pins, 12 analog input channels and seven PWM channels, there's plenty of room for wiring up your own expansions. Amazingly it crams all that capability in a package just 48mm long and 18mm wide. The Arduino Micro will be available exclusively through Radio Shack and Adafruit first before becoming more widely available next month. The board is available with headers for €21 (roughly $27) and without headers for €18 (about $23). For more, check out the PR after the break.

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Arduino Micro shrinks your favorite DIY platform down to ridiculous proportions originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 08 Nov 2012 20:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Adafruit builds Raspberry Pi-powered light painting rig, takes trippy photos

Posted on 13/08/2012 by Alexis Santos

Taking long exposure photographs at night and painting within them using an iPad may be old hat, but building your own light painting rig? That could earn you some serious geek cred, and according to Adafruit, it isn't even all that hard. In a new walkthrough, the team fashioned such a contraption using a Raspberry Pi, a python script with under 60 lines of code, some open source software and a handful of electronic components. Not satisfied with the typical light wand, they decided to spice things up with a circular fixture built from PVC pipes and a hula hoop to hold the ribbon of LEDs. After being attached to a bike and paraded around at night, it created the 3D effect in the masterpiece above. If you're itching to make your own works of art, check out Adafruit's tutorial at the source link below.

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Adafruit builds Raspberry Pi-powered light painting rig, takes trippy photos originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 13 Aug 2012 03:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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OLED Lego train station emerges from Adafruit and Arduino gear, minifigs to get home on time

Posted on 26/06/2012 by Jon Fingas

Who knew Lego characters had to be somewhere in a hurry? Adafruit did, as it just whipped up a minifig-sized train schedule. The invention mates one of Adafruit's own 1-inch OLED boards with an Arduino Uno controlling the schedule behind the scenes. It looks to be a straightforward project for the DIY types, although the display is currently all show: the schedule doesn't (yet) pair up with the train tracks to automatically let your minifigs know if their trip to the pirate spaceship castle has been delayed by ghosts. You can check the source link for the full instructions. Duplo builders, alas, are kept out of the loop.

OLED Lego train station emerges from Adafruit and Arduino gear, minifigs to get home on time originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 26 Jun 2012 00:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Keep your bands straight with Adafruit’s Ohm Sweet Ohm cross-stitch kit (video)

Posted on 02/06/2012 by Steve Dent

Doesn't it just seem like yesterday when Grandma used to embroider your resistor charts for you? But now that you're grown up, Adafruit wants you to cross-stitch the Ohm Sweet Ohm color band guide yourself with their handy kit (dog not included). Spec-wise, it's loaded up with 16 skeins of floss, two size 24 tapestry needles, 15 x 18-inch 14-count aida cloth and a 6-inch "super grip lip" embroidery hoop, all for $29.95. You'll also get a full color printed pattern with instructions on making the project, then how to mount it on the wall or sew it onto Spot's favorite pillow. So if you can never remember whether yellow in the C-band is four significant figures or five, and want an Ohm-y reminder -- then check the video after the break for more info.

Continue reading Keep your bands straight with Adafruit's Ohm Sweet Ohm cross-stitch kit (video)

Keep your bands straight with Adafruit's Ohm Sweet Ohm cross-stitch kit (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 02 Jun 2012 18:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Keep your bands straight with Adafruit’s Ohm Sweet Ohm cross-stitch kit (video)

Posted on 02/06/2012 by Steve Dent

Continue reading Keep your bands straight with Adafruit's Ohm Sweet Ohm cross-stitch kit (video)

Keep your bands straight with Adafruit's Ohm Sweet Ohm cross-stitch kit (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 02 Jun 2012 18:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Adafruit modder builds Captain Jack’s Vortex Manipulator / Leela’s wrist-lo-jacko-mator for real

Posted on 30/05/2012 by Daniel Cooper

This impressive wrist / forearm cuff is the brainchild of Adafruit forum member and modder Stephanie, who has built a sensor platform into the fashion accessory. The device can monitor the exposure value, track your movements over GPS, measure your galvanic skin response, tell you the temperature, humidity and even doubles as a watch and flash-light. It was built around Sparkfun's Pro Micro development board and a boatload of sensors purchased from Adafruit. We might just build one ourselves with a radiation detector, so that we can live out our Pip-Boy fantasies down at the mall.

Gallery: Integrated Sensors Electronic Bracer