Researchers at the Tokyo Institute of Technology have been experimenting with mimicking what is arguably one of the most impressive combinations of flexibility and power in the animal kingdom: the neck of the giraffe. Giraffe necks can weigh up to 150 kilograms and be 2 meters long, but they’ve evolved to be bendy and strong, not just to get those tasty high-growing leaves but also because male giraffes battle each other with their necks, occasionally to the death. What better inspiration for designing large robots, right?
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.