I have always loved making things. This came fairly naturally since my parents are both supreme makers in their own right. Afer all they taught themselves how to do lost-wax casting so they could make their own wedding rings! Over the last decade though, I’ve done most of my creating with 1s and 0s – lots of software and some generative art, but not many physical objects. That started to change when I got my hands on Issue #1 of Make magazine.
In the years since then I’ve aquired the makings of a halfway decent wood shop and electronics bench, but mostly I’ve just tinkered. I’ve learned a lot and had quite a bit of fun, but haven’t produced many finished projects. I was aquiring the skills, but hadn’t found that proverbial “itch” to scratch.
That changed in 2011 when my wife and I decided to celebrate our 10th anniversary by attending Burning Man. Being that it’s held in the middle of the desert, it gets really dark out there at night. Because of this it’s very important to be lit up so that you’re visible to the other people, cyclists and vehicles. So there was my muse – I wanted to make something for my wife that lit up, was easy to wear, and looked cool. How about some EL wire wings?
EL wire starter pack – Aqua 2.5 meter (8.2 ft). We bumped up the EL to 2.5 meters (the max that the EL inverter is designed for) and now it comes with one end pre-soldered so you can plug it in immediately. Of course, we still include the copper tape and heatshrink so you can work with the EL wire and mod it for your project. All at the same price as before!
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Stop breadboarding and soldering – start making immediately! Adafruit’s Circuit Playground is jam-packed with LEDs, sensors, buttons, alligator clip pads and more. Build projects with Circuit Playground in a few minutes with the drag-and-drop MakeCode programming site, learn computer science using the CS Discoveries class on code.org, jump into CircuitPython to learn Python and hardware together, TinyGO, or even use the Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for CircuitPython, MakeCode, and Arduino. It has a powerful processor, 10 NeoPixels, mini speaker, InfraRed receive and transmit, two buttons, a switch, 14 alligator clip pads, and lots of sensors: capacitive touch, IR proximity, temperature, light, motion and sound. A whole wide world of electronics and coding is waiting for you, and it fits in the palm of your hand.
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Python for Microcontrollers – Adafruit Daily — Select Python on Microcontrollers Newsletter: PyCon AU 2024 Talks, New Raspberry Pi Gear Available and More! #CircuitPython #Python #micropython @ThePSF @Raspberry_Pi
EYE on NPI – Adafruit Daily — EYE on NPI Maxim’s Himalaya uSLIC Step-Down Power Module #EyeOnNPI @maximintegrated @digikey
