How to Make a Simple Mermaid Tail #WearableWednesday #wearabletech #DIY #Arduino
Caitlinsdad has been busy on back-to-school outfits for his daughter, and a recent Tweet showed the beginnings of a mermaid tail. This is definitely the perfect thing for biology class. The tail borrows from his previous Instructable for Neopixel Light Up Fire and Ice Wings, which makes sense as Caitlinsdad is a master of re-use. The fashion was inspired by Adafruit’s favorite mermaid, Erin St. Blaine, who has been making serious underwater couture with LEDs for quite some time. The tech behind the white fabric is an Adafruit FLORA microcontroller and Neopixel strips. FastLED library was used, which is an alternative to the Adafruit Neopixel library. Each library has its own advantages, and in this case, there are some nice color palettes that can be used for an underwater theme. So, if you are thinking about an outfit that will win the disbelievers at your science fair, or get you attention at Halloween, consider stitching up some scales. You’ll want to read up on our learning guide Getting Started with FLORA. Not only will you learn the basics of loading a program onto this stitchable microcontroller, but you’ll also find out about sensors that can make your wearable react. Would you like to have a tail that can glimmer to music or the movement of your body? You can do that! Get ready to dive into a sea of electronics.
Every Wednesday is Wearable Wednesday here at Adafruit! We’re bringing you the blinkiest, most fashionable, innovative, and useful wearables from around the web and in our own original projects featuring our wearable Arduino-compatible platform, FLORA. Be sure to post up your wearables projects in the forums or send us a link and you might be featured here on Wearable Wednesday!
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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.
Have an amazing project to share? The Electronics Show and Tell is every Wednesday at 7:30pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat and our Discord!
Python for Microcontrollers – Adafruit Daily — Python on Microcontrollers Newsletter: CircuitPython 9.2.1, What is DMA, PyConUS 2025 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
Every Wednesday is Wearable Wednesday here at Adafruit! We’re bringing you the blinkiest, most fashionable, innovative, and useful wearables from around the web and in our own original projects featuring our wearable Arduino-compatible platform, FLORA. Be sure to post up your wearables projects in the forums or send us a link and you might be featured here on Wearable Wednesday!