When the spell is pronounced correctly and understood by the Pi, it tells an Arduino to ‘shoot’ the spell out of the wand via an infrared LED. If the infrared receiver attached to the opponent recognises the spell, it sets off the TENS machine to deliver an electric current to the appropriate body part. Expelliarmus, for example, sets off the TENS connected to the arm, while calling out a successful Petrificus Totalus renders the opponent near immobilised as every pad is activated. For a moment’s rest, calling out “Protego” toward your own infrared receiver offers a few moments of protection against all spells aimed in your direction. Phew.
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.
Have an amazing project to share? The Electronics Show and Tell is every Wednesday at 7pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat – we’ll post the link there.
