Check out the latest tutorial from Erin St. Blaine: make a magical floating fireball prop for your Cosplay character. A snap of the wrist makes the LED flames flare up brightly! This is a fun beginner project, with no soldering required. The code is done in Microsoft MakeCode, with a drag-and-drop code block editor, so it’s easy to change colors or animation triggers.
From the guide:
Complete your cosplay with this Magical Item: a floating fireball that flares up at your command. Whether you’re portraying Kael’thas Sunstrider from WoW or trading flaming shots with Super Mario and Luigi, this fireball will push your outfit over the top. This is a very easy project, with no soldering required. The Circuit Playground board makes motion-sensing programmable lights a snap. Customize your colors and your animation speed with Microsoft MakeCode’s drag-and-drop code editor. You’ll be stopped for so many photos that you’ll never make it to that panel discussion at DragonCon.
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.
It’s estimated that in the next decade 77 percent of jobs will be in technology, while creativity is ranked among the top three skills the World Economic Forum predicts employers will be looking for in candidates. This presents today’s educators and parents with a unique challenge – and opportunity – to help prepare kids today for the digital future and inspire their creativity. And as Microsoft Innovative Educator Pip Cleaves reminds us, one of the most effective and fun ways to teach creativity in the classroom is with coding.
That’s why we’re excited to announce today that we’re joining Cartoon Network and Adafruit to create a set of projects and tutorials to inspire young people to code, create and construct. With fun, whimsical DIY creations such as an electronic crown, a glow-in-the-dark room sign or a paper cup lamp, students can use the Adafruit Circuit Playground Express micro-controller device, Microsoft’s MakeCode coding environment, and Cartoon Network’s most loved characters to learn the basics of coding and let their imagination go wild.
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.
We previously featured London’s Toothpaste back in January in the MusicMakers004 Q&A with their bassist, engineer and producer Daisy Edwards. As a gifted producer, multi-instrumentalist and academic, Edwards is one of the most prolific and experienced people we’ve been able to speak to about recording, gear and the customisation of recording set-ups and creative spaces.
With a new Toothpaste single just released, we were really keen to invite them back to the blog to talk us through the gorgeous “Bedtime” in our new TrackTalk series. Aptly titled, this is a hazy dream of a pop song carrying Amol Prabhu’s refrain of “drift a little deeper into paradise” through a fabulous sonic map of ‘80s pop and new wave. The rhythm section of Edwards and Sami Parisis’ is a real thing of beauty here, providing a thundering backbone for the gentle key flourishes, vocal introspections and exploratory guitar work. Building on 2017’s “TV Years” single, Toothpaste continue to offer something unique and special and it’ll be exciting to see how their deceptively poppy sound develops with whatever comes next. With such an effortless sound you’d likely have no idea of the process and complications involved in putting a piece of art like this together, so we’re doubly excited to have Edwards break down its evolution from solo demo through to mastering and release. So, dig in and get inspired. Read more!
This guide will show you how to build miniature percussion instrument which can be controlled via MIDI over USB. The example project is intended to serve as a jumping-off point for your own designs. Read about how I built mine, then experiment to make a unique instrument you can control with your computer. Learn more!
Several different methods have been developed for the 3D printing of ceramic materials, and one of those is CODE, or Ceramic On-Demand Extrusion, a recently developed extrusion-based process for the fabrication of dense, functional ceramic components. In a paper entitled “Fabricating Functionally Graded Materials by Ceramic On-Demand Extrusion with Dynamic Mixing,” a group of researchers discusses using the CODE process to create functionally graded materials, or FGM.
Functionally graded materials are defined by the researchers as “characterized by gradual variations of material compositions over volumes, which allows for a combination of materials or material properties not typically achievable in monolithic materials.” There has been a lot of interest in alumina-zirconia (Al2O3/ZrO2) components for applications such as prosthetic ball joints. In these components, the tough zirconia core provides high strength and reduces the risk of cracking, then transitions to an alumina surface, which provides long life within a human body.
“Additive manufacturing (AM) processes are especially advantageous for fabricating FGM components due to the layer-by-layer nature of the processes,” the researchers state. “Considering that the melting temperatures of ceramics are usually too high for thermal-based melt deposition and the fact that the ink jetting-based ceramic AM processes are subject to high porosity, material extrusion-based AM processes are the most favorable method for fabricating ceramic FGM components.”
In the study, the researchers developed a dynamic mixing device for the CODE system for the fabrication of FGM components. Two materials – alumina and zirconia – were extruded through separate extruders into the mixing chamber of the dynamic mixer with controlled flowrates. The mixer then blended those pastes into a homogeneous mixture, which was deposited through nozzles to create FGM components with planned material compositional distribution. The components were then post-processed and characterized to assess the functionality and accuracy of the dynamic mixing device.
Some deformation occurred in the sintered components, to the point of cracking and delamination. Deformation was also observed after the bulk drying of components, and the researchers chalk this up to the mismatch in drying shrinkage of the two pastes. The deformation during the sintering process, however, was attributed to the mismatch of sintering shrinkage and thermal expansion of the two materials.
“Larger differences in material composition between layers lead to larger stresses caused by the mismatch of material properties, which explains the fact that the larger step of changing composition led to larger amounts of deformation,” the researchers state. “A smoother (reduced) gradient of material composition is likely to reduce the amount of deformation and the risk of part failure. Adjusting the inherent properties of the raw materials to reduce the mismatch of shrinkage could be another effective way of mitigating the stress and deformation.”
Vickers hardness was also measured and was shown to decrease as the volume percentage of zirconia increased.
Overall, the study shows a promising method of 3D printing ceramic functionally graded materials. Although the printed components were not perfect, further steps can be taken in the future to reduce deformation and failure.
Authors of the paper include Wenbin Li, Austin J. Martin, Benjamin Kroehler, Alexander Henderson, Tieshu Huang, Jeremy Watts, Gregory E. Hilmas and Ming C. Leu.
Discuss this and other 3D printing topics at 3DPrintBoard.com or share your thoughts below.
“That girl thinks she’s the queen of the neighborhood
She’s got the hottest trike in town
That girl she holds her head up so high
I think I want to be her best friend, yeah
Rebel girl, rebel girl
Rebel girl, you are the queen of my world”
Girl CEO is an illustrated collection to inspire and motivate rebel girls, young entrepreneurs, and other trailblazing tweens and teens with success stories and practical advice from leading women entrepreneurs (including *drumroll* Limor “Ladyada” Fried!). Read more!
2600: The Hacker Quarterly – Winter 2017-2018: 2600: The Hacker Quarterly is an American quarterly journal specializing in issues surrounding hacking, telephone switching systems, internet protocols, telecommunications in general, the politics around high technology, and its impact on society.
With origins in the phreaking community and late 20th century counterculture, 2600 and its associated conference transitioned to coverage of modern hacker culture, and the magazine has become a platform for speaking out against increased digital surveillance and advocacy of personal and digital freedoms. See more!
USB C to Micro B Cable – 3 ft 1 meter: As technology changes and adapts, so does Adafruit! Rather than the regular USB A, this cable has USB C to Micro B plugs!
USB C is the latest industry-standard connector for transmitting data and power. Like Lightning and MagSafe cables, USB C has no up or down orientation. And who among us has inserted USB correctly the first time? Works great with any computer that has a USB C port, and will let you attach any of our dev boards with classic Micro B connectors (which is, like, 95% of them) Read more!
Rotating Door Lock DC Motor: Adding to our collection of somewhat specialized motors, this Rotating Door Lock Motor is a DC Gearbox motor with a little pocket that is intended for a door look mechanism. The motor only turns 90 degrees clockwise or counter-clockwise and will stall (but not strip) if you try to keep running it past the angle.
Monoprice Inventor II 3D Printer with Touchscreen and WiFi: The Monoprice Inventor II 3D Printer Touchscreen with WiFi is a perfect entry-level 3D printer with small footprint and reliable performance. It comes equipped with WiFi so you don’t need a cable tether and a lovely 3.5″ color touchscreen for settings & feedback. The chassis housing is enclosed to keep your prints safe, and if you wanted to upgrade this printer for a heated bed, you’ll be able to keep the build volume warm. This printer has an automatic sensor door that will shut off any current printing job in progress if/when the door is opened. The printer keeps noise to a minimum as well as making it super easy to set up prints right out of the box. See more!
Adaptive Design’s Morse Code for GBoard Hardware Interface Pack: At the time of its invention Morse code definitively changed the way we communicate. Historically it’s been used in nautical navigation to aviation to radio, but its easy to learn and the universal nature makes it a great data entry method for folks who use Assistive Technology!
GBoard is an alternate keyboard for Android devices that lets you type using Morse code. It then converts those dots and dashes into letters and numbers, letting someone control a tablet or phone with only two buttons. The Morse Code for GBoard Interface Starter Pack will help you build a simple input device for GBoard that doesn’t require soldering or elaborate construction techniques. See more!
NeoPixel RGB Neon-like LED Flex Strip with Silicone Tube – 1 meter: No joke, we have been looking for this exact product for over 5 years, and we’ve finally got the perfect one in stock! You love NeoPixels, and you love silicone diffusion? Peep this NeoPixel RGB Neon-like LED Flex Strip with Silicone Tubing! OK its a bit of a mouthful but check out the beautiful pics! It looks a lot like neon, but without the need for expensive transformers, glass tubing, inert gasses, or a Las Vegas casino license. They look incredible, are super easy to use, and are a great way to make your projects light up! See more!
Adafruit CRICKIT for micro:bit: Sometimes we wonder if robotics engineers ever watch movies. If they did, they’d know that making robots into slaves always ends up in a robot rebellion. Why even go down that path? Here at Adafruit, we believe in making robots our friends!
So if you find yourself wanting a companion, consider the robot. They’re fun to program, and you can get creative with decorations.
With that in mind, we designed Crickit – That’s our Creative Robotics & Interactive Construction Kit. It’s an add-on to the BBC’s micro:bit that lets you #MakeRobotFriend using MakeCode or Arduino. See more!
