Here’s a Circuit Playground Halloween project from the Adafruit Learning System library, by Phillip Burgess!
Claws-down, Halloween is my favorite holiday. Add some electronics to the mix and it’s an unstoppable force of nature.
In this simple no-soldering-required project we’ll make the Adafruit Circuit Playground Classic or Circuit Playground Express board act like a flickering candle. Pop this inside a jack-o’-lantern (or any other item that might normally use flame) to create a festive spooky atmosphere.
Sure, one can just buy a fake battery-operated candle, but they’re usually pretty dim. Also, we can take this as an opportunity to learn a bit about code…and once Halloween’s over (how sad!) the Circuit Playground board can be used again in endless other projects.
Pumpkin and carving tools, or other decorative item to illuminate (very effective with paper lanterns!)
Zip-Loc bag, if using a real pumpkin
If this is your first time using Circuit Playground, start with our “Introducing Circuit Playground” or “Circuit Playground Express” guide. There’s some software to set up on your computer and some procedures to learn. Try out a couple of the examples, make sure you know how to upload “sketches” (code) to the board.
HAPPY HALLOWEEN! Every day this month we’ll be bringing you ideas and projects for an Electronic Halloween! Expect wearables, hacks & mods, costumes and more here on the Adafruit blog! Working on a project for Halloween this year? Share it with us on Google+, in the comments below, the Adafruit forums, Facebook, Instagram or Twitter— we’d love to see what you’re up to and share it with the world (tag your posts #ElectronicHalloween). You can also send us a blog tip! Tune in to our live shows, 3D hangouts with Noe and Pedro and Ask an Engineer, featuring store discount codes, ideas for projects, costumes, decorations, and more!
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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: MicroPython v1.24.0 is here, a Halloween Wrap-up and Much 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