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Adafruit Weekly Editorial Round-Up: August 25th – August 31st, Device Simulator Express for Circuit Playground Express and More!

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ADAFRUIT WEEKLY EDITORIAL ROUND-UP

We’ve got so much happening here at Adafruit that it’s not always easy to keep up! Don’t fret, we’ve got you covered. Each week we’ll be posting a handy round-up of what we’ve been up to, ranging from learn guides to blog articles, videos, and more.

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Meet Device Simulator Express, #PythonSim a @MSFTGarage project, built by Garage interns that makes it easier to program the @adafruit Circuit Playground Express in #Python, with or without a physical device

OK! Big news! Meet Device Simulator Express, a Microsoft Garage project, built by Garage interns that makes it easier to program the Adafruit Circuit Playground Express in Python / CircuitPython, with or without a physical device!

This summer 16 groups of Garage interns tackled interesting engineering challenges ranging from making apps more accessible to VR solutions for cybersecurity. One of them was sponsored by the Python Tools for AI team and electronics paragon Adafruit to and set out to make programming embedded solutions for IoT devices simpler and more available to a broader audience.

Check out the full post here!

More BLOG:

Keeping with tradition, we covered quite a bit this past week. Here’s a kinda short nearing medium length list of highlights:

Becca brought us Emoji ENHANCE with Progressive Face Super-Resolution
Did ya hear about The @GrowBeyondEarth maker contest — plant projects in space! @FairchildGarden @NASA #SPACEgarden Teddy posted about?
Ben (and Eric ?) want you to Organize to Optimize!
Mike Barela shared this vid of Bob Moog on ‘To Tell The Truth’
Mike Barela also shared this Harry Potter Dueling Wands project that is full of Adafruit ?
Kelly helped us celebrate Women’s Equality Day!
Last week of #BackToSchool – may your endeavors be fruitful, folks
Biohacking this week – Mikey Sklar covers Ear Based Heart Rate Monitoring

Learn

Anatomical 3D Printed Beating Heart with MakeCode

This 3D printed heart beats rhythmically, powered by a servo motor and a Circuit Playground Express board connected to a potentiometer, which allows the user to increase or decrease the heart rate.

See the full guide here!

More LEARN:

Browse all that’s new in the Adafruit Learning System here!

2019 #BackToSchool Guide: Projects for Students

Going #BackToSchool isn’t all about shopping, it’s also about lesson planning, making plans, plans to make, and all that good stuff. What are you and your students going to get up to this year? We’ve added a ton of new guides this year to our Learn System – browse below for a few of our favorite classroom projects.

CIRCUIT PLAYGROUND PROJECTS

Circuit Playground Lesson #0 – The first step on your electronics journey

Gone are the days where you need thousands of dollars of equipment and lots physics/math background. Nowadays, if you want to learn to work with electronics, you can jump right in for $20 or less, and any sort of computer. And we’re talking about learning a lot of electronics – from the basics of analog to the complexities of firmware. With a good pack of parts, you can build a base of knowledge that will take you from your first blinking LED to someone who can start prototyping and inventing custom products.

Learn More

Sound Activated Shark Mask – Shark mask that starts chomping in response to your voice!

A little cardboard goes a long way. This DIY cardboard shark mask turns the wearer into a fearsome creature from the deep. Using the small microphone on the Circuit Playground Express board, this mask is able to detect loud sounds and start chomping its mouth in response.

Easy project for people who are new to coding and electronics, or anyone who loves cardboard construction.

Learn More

Interactive Map with Circuit Playground Express – Create a map that plays audio clips when different areas of the map are touched

This project shows how to make a talking map, allowing the history contained within a map to be tangible and interactive.

Using conductive paint, a Circuit Playground Express can be connected to different points on a map and provided with short audio clips to play when those areas on the map are touched.

Learn More

MAKECODE GUIDES

MakeCode Course for Circuit Playground Express – Make and learn with this course on MakeCode and Circuit Playground Express

This is a project based course on Making with the Circuit Playground Express and Microsoft MakeCode. This course introduces the Making process and has guided maker projects which combine creative activities with coding.

Learn More

Circuit Playground Express Spinner Game in MakeCode – Create a fun game of chance with MakeCode and Circuit Playground Express

Create a fun spinner game with Circuit Playground Express and MakeCode. Press a button on the Circuit Playground to make animated lights and sounds that help you choose between options.

Learn More

Wind Blowing Emoji Prop – Blow on this Circuit Playground Express-powered puffy cloud to light it up!

Ever wanted to cosplay as the Wind Blowing emoji but didn’t feel like you could pull it off without an interactive, light up cloud prop? Then this is the project for you! No more excuses, go out and build that costume, and add this simple prop!!

Learn More

BASIC (BUT IN A GOOD WAY)

Raspberry Pi Zero Stand – Simple Stand for Pi Zero

Display your Pi Zero on your desk with this simple yet useful stand. 3D prints in one piece and doesn’t require any supports. It features mounting holes for securing a Pi Zero. A hole in the stand allows for wires to pass through for USB power and peripherals.

Learn More

Stop Motion Animation – How to get started making your own animated stop motion films!

Stop motion animation is lots of fun to watch, and maybe even more fun to make! Using a tablet or smartphone with inexpensive or even free software, it’s very easy to make your own stop motion films.

Learn More

Adafruit Weekly Editorial Round-Up: August 4th – August 10th, AdaBox in Netherlands, Norway, and Switzerland!!

ADAFRUIT WEEKLY EDITORIAL ROUND-UP

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AdaBox Subscriptions Open to Netherlands, Norway, and Switzerland!

Big, exciting news folks – AdaBox subscriptions are now available in Netherlands, Norway, and Switzerland! Click here and sign up now to receive AdaBox013, shipping September 2019.

AdaBox is a curated quarterly subscription service centered around products from the Adafruit ecosystem and is designed for makers of all levels, with a special focus on folks just starting out.

Check out the full post here!

More BLOG:

Keeping with tradition, we covered quite a bit this past week. Here’s a kinda short nearing medium length list of highlights:

CircuitPython boards at Micro Center – now you’re in the know!
3D Hangouts is 5 Years Old! Cheers!
Miss PyOhio? No sweat, see Kattni’s keynote here!
Teddy shared some thoughts on the effects of the current trade war
For this week’s Machine Learning Monday we covered setting up an open speech recording website
This week in biohacking – Mikey Sklar covered automating recovery analysis for sleep and exercise data
And of course, we can’t forget about back to school month! See what we’ve covered so far here.

LEARN

Disco Band Camp Jacket

Put an Adafruit Gemma M0 to work as you attach 120 Adafruit NeoPixels to the lapels of a vintage band jacket.

In a nutshell, this project starts by soldering small sections of NeoPixels into two longer strips and arrange them into a matrix formation. Add a clicky button to a Gemma M0 to showcase some beautiful animations and pick a brightness setting. Connect the two strips of NeoPixels to the Gemma M0, utilizing Mark Kriegsman’s special XY mapping code to tell the Gemma the location of each pixel. Finally, protect the strips from the elements, and attach it to a costume jacket. Whether you’re headed to TTITD (that thing in the desert aka burning man) or leading a marching band, this wearable is sure to make you the star of any event.

See the full guide here!

More LEARN:

Browse all that’s new in the Adafruit Learning System here!

Upgrade Your Backpack with a ‘Solar Boost Bag’ Circuit | #BackToSchool

Wise mom once said “You go to school to learn not for a fashion show.” So why not learn a bit about solar panels and the power they generate (thankfully the sun never goes out of fashion!) to build your own backpack-able battery pack. Wherever the sun shines – whether in your school bus window during the morning commute or throughout the day as you hop-skip around campus – at the end of the day your mobile device will thank you for being fully charged!

Check out the full project here on the Adafruit Learning System.

August is Back to School Month here at Adafruit! Each week we’ll be bringing you a two #BackToSchool posts on the blog! Stay tuned for product and gift guides, tutorials from the Adafruit Learning System, and inspiration from around the web! Get started by checking out Adafruit’s educational resources, such as our kits and project packs, suggested products for young engineers, blog posts for educators and an extensive selection of books to help you learn!