A look at some of today’s wearable microcontrollers

---

This list is sew awesome!

---

Created by Leah Buechley of MIT, and introduced commercially with SparkFun back in 2007, the LilyPad was the first board to feature sew-through contacts for stitching soft circuits. Since then, a number of “ready-to-wear” electronics platforms have emerged, each of which have helped usher in a new generation of textiles that look to redefine wearable technology. In fact, a recent Gartner report revealed that the emergence smart garments will potentially disrupt the market. So much so that embedded clothing shipments are projected to rise from a mere 0.1 million units in 2014 to 26 million units in 2016.

As first noted by MAKE: Magazine’s Boris Kourtoukov, “there’s a plethora of options” when it comes to these microcontrollers. What’s more, they all possess one common trait: they’re powered by Atmel. These so-called body boards are now giving Makers the ability to easily (and affordably) produce their own projects in ways that otherwise would have been unimaginable.

So, without further ado, here’s a look at some of today’s most prominent boards ready for adornment.

The Favorites

LilyPad Arduino

LilyPad is a wearable e-textile technology developed by Leah Buechley and cooperatively brought to life with SparkFun. Each LilyPad was creatively designed to have large connecting pads to allow them to be sewn into clothing. LilyPad can sense information about the environment using inputs like light and temperature sensors and can act on the environment with outputs like LED lights, vibrator motors, and speakers. And yes, they’re even washable.

MCU: ATmega328

FLORA

FLORA is Adafruit’s fully-featured wearable electronics platform. The round, sewable microcontroller weighs in at 4.4 grams and measures only 1.75 inches in diameter. 100% Arduino-compatible, the platform is one of the most beginner-friendly ways to create some amazing wearables. The FLORA family includes an assortment of sensors and RGB LEDs that let you add lighting to your projects, not to mention also boasts built-in USB support, eliminating the need for pesky special cables and extra parts.

MCU: ATmega32U4

GEMMA

Those who are seeking the awesomeness of FLORA but in a tinier package are sure to love another one Adafruit’s wearable platforms: the GEMMA. The board, which packs all of its features in a 1″ diameter package, is programmable with an Arduino IDE over USB. An upcoming Arduino IDE-supported version will feature an on/off switch and microUSB connector.

MCU: ATtiny85

TinyLily Mini

A brainchild of TinyCircuits, the TinyLily Mini is an Arduino-compatible module in an ultra-compact package. Geared towards Makers looking to devise e-textile and wearable applications, the board is very similar to the Arduino LilyPad, with the same processing power and software compatibility – but at 1/12th of the size. The TinyLily Mini also is equipped with sew tabs for eight I/O (four digital, four analog/digital) and four power sew tabs (two for power, two for ground).

MCU: ATmega328

SquareWear

SquareWear is an open-source, wearable board. The Arduino-compatible MCU measures 1.7″x1.7″ in size, and is equipped with a built-in rechargeable Lithium coin battery. It is designed to be sewable, which allows Makers to stich conductive threads through its large pin pads, solder a wire directly onto the pads, or solder snaps onto the pads for quick attachment or detachment from textiles and fabrics. Additionally, the MCU packs an on-board miniUSB port that can be used for programming, charging batteries and serial communication, as well as a color LED, a pushbutton, a buzzer, a light and temperature sensor, and three MOSFETs to drive the high-current load. See, it’s hip to be square!

MCU: ATmega328

Xadow

Seeed Studio’s Xadow is a high-performance, low-power board that is perfectly suited for wearable projects. The microcontroller can be powered either via USB or a Lithium battery. Also, there is charge circuit on this module that you can charge for the Lithium battery through the USB port. Xadow has a diverse selection of compatible modules, including a barometer, UV sensor, LED, OLED and even a full GPS antenna.

MCU: ATmega32U4

Trinket

Trinket goes to show that big things really can come in small packages. In fact, the tiny MCU is one of the lowest-cost Arduino IDE programmable boards on the market today. Adafruit designed a USB bootloader so Makers could easily plug it into any computer and reprogram it over a USB port just like an Arduino. It comes in two different versions: 3V and 5V. Both work the same, but have different operating logic voltages.

MCU: ATtiny85

Pro Trinket

A bigger sibling of the aforementioned board, this 5V unit combines everything you love about Trinket along with the familiarity of the common core found in Arduinos. It’s like an Arduino Pro Mini with more pins along with built-in USB. The Pro Trinket, which still only measures 1.5″ x 0.7″ x 0.2” in size, features 18 GPIO, two extra analog inputs, 28K of flash, as well as 2K of RAM. Like its older brother, the MCU has onboard USB bootloading support and Optiboot support, so Makers can either program their Pro Trinket over USB or with a FTDI cable just like the Pro Mini. (Recently, paying homage to our friends at Hackaday, the Adafruit crew even unveiled a Hackaday.io branded board — black solder mask, Jolly Wrencher and all. And, it’s stunning.)

Atmel MCU: ATmega328

Ones to Watch

BITalino

BITalino is a low-cost, easy-to-use toolkit designed for anyone looking to build self-tracking applications based on information from their body. The platform enables Makers to quickly bring projects entailing body signals and quantified self wearable devices to life, as well as learn how to create actual medical devices — which otherwise can cost upwards of $10,000. BITalino is described by its creators as an out-of-the-box solution that offers an array of Arduino-compatible software and hardware blocks equipped with sensors for electrocardiography (ECG), electromyography (EMG), electrodermal Activity (EDA), accelerometry (ACC), and ambient light (LUX).

MCU: ATmega328

Printoo

Launched by Ynvisible, Printoo is a printed electronics prototyping platform that is capable of bringing everyday objects to life. Comprised of various hardware modules that can all be connected to each other, it is currently the only platform that appears to have a robust flexible form-factor. This enables Makers to quickly and seamlessly create first product concepts for smart wearable devices. Moreover, the board is fully-compatible and programmable with the Arduino IDE.

MCU: ATmega328

SuperDuino

Introduced by Maker Mohsin Farooq, SuperDuino is a coin cell operated, Arduino-compatible board with a built-in 1.7-inch color display and a three-axis accelerometer. As you can imagine, this makes the MCU a suitable match for a wide-range of DIY games, gadgets and most of all, wearable devices.

MCU: ATmega328

Arduino Day 2015 set for March 28, 2015

---

Mark your calendars! One of the biggest Maker ‘holidays’ is just around the corner. 

---

As Makers, there’s one special occasion that we just can’t help but love: Arduino Day! It is a 24-hour celebration – both official and independent – where hobbyists, tinkerers and even some experienced engineers from all over the world come together to share their DIY experiences. This year, the second annual ‘holiday’ is slated for March 28, 2015.

2014 saw more than 240 user groups, Makerspaces, hackerspaces, fablabs, schools, studios and educators throughout Europe, North and South America, Asia, Africa and Australia involved in planning activities, workshops, and events for a wide range of audiences and skill sets. Those needing a refresher can tune-in to Massimo Banzi’s official announcement from last year here.

“You can attend an event or organize one for your community. It doesn’t matter whether you are an expert or a newbie, an engineer, a designer, a crafter or a Maker: Arduino Day is open to anyone who wants to celebrate Arduino and all the things that have been done (or can be done) with it,” the team writes. “The events will offer different types of activities, tailored to local audiences all over the world.”

As far as official events are concerned, the company has organized five of them in Torino, Malmo, Bangalore, Boston and Budapest. Meanwhile, local events are put together by the community, just supported and curated by the Arduino crew. If you’re interested in creating a get-together at your Makerspace, you can do so by submitting an application.

Like we’ve previously discussed on Bits & Pieces, Atmel is at the very heart of nearly ever Arduino board on the market today, thereby helping tinkerers bring their wildest creations to life.

Indeed, as our resident Wizard of Make Bob Martin noted, our 8- and 32-bit MCUs have been the chips of choice for Arduino since the boards first hit the streets way back in 2005 — as you can see in the first prototype below. More specifically, he attributes the success of Arduino to its easy-to-use, free cross-platform toolchain and simple do-it-yourself packages with Atmel MCUs.

“These factors helped initially steer the Arduino team to choose our AVR microcontrollers – and today, both our AVR and Atmel | SMART ARM-based MCUs,” Martin explained.

In addition to young Makers and educators, it’s no surprise that the open-source electronics platform has even become increasingly popular among experienced designers, architects and engineers as well.

Now just a few weeks away, you can follow along with Arduino’s official countdown and locate an #ArduinoD15 meet-up near you! In the meantime, as you get started on your next project to celebrate the occasion, you can find out which Atmel based ‘duino is right for you here. Of course, we’ll also be celebrating Arduino Day at Atmel with extra project coverage, so be sure to stop by and check out our upcoming blog posts around the Maker favorite platform!

RasPiO Duino puts the capabilities of Arduino right on a Raspberry Pi

---

Arduino + Raspberry Pi = RasPiO Duino 

---

For those who’ve ever developed an electronics project and wished to combine a multi-tasking application with real-time and analog features, there’s now a simple add-on solution.

While the Pi is 40 times faster when it comes to clock speed, runs an actual operating system in Linux and offers a wide-range of connectivity options, the Arduino has become a Maker-favorite for precise real-time applications, analog inputs/outputs and instant boot. Not to mention, the simplicity of the Atmel based Arduino makes it a much more suitable option for pure hardware projects.

That was until the RasPiO Duino came along. Created by Alex Eames of RasPi.TV, the board aspires to make the collaboration between Raspberry Pi and Arduino easier and more efficient. The device, which recently made its Kickstarter debut, is engineered as an add-on for the Pi and is based on an ATmega328.

“I want to get you into the wonderful world of Arduino programming, using your Raspberry Pi as the programmer. There’s so much you can do with the ATmega328 microcontroller — it complements the Pi perfectly and for many applications it doesn’t even need to be connected to the Pi, once it’s programmed,” Eames writes.

RasPiO Duino currently works with a variety of Pi models, including A, A+, B, B+ and Pi2, while providing Makers with the full capabilities of an Uno, most notably its 14 digital I/O pins, 6 analog inputs, 6 hardware PWM outputs and real-time processing. Furthermore, its creator shares that the AVR powered board can be programmed from a Pi using the Arduino IDE.

The RasPiO Duino can be used one of two ways, either in co-processor mode or standalone. Once programmed, RasPiO Duino can be removed from the Pi and run on its own. Meanwhile, Makers can use it to control robots (up to 12 servos), read sensors, as well as switch things on/off. For those looking to leave it on and have the Pi interact with it, this can also be done via the serial interface. Simply connect two jumpers Tx & Rx.

“But I don’t want to just throw hardware at you and let you drown. I want to bring you a set of supporting materials to ensure you have a positive experience — even if you’ve never done these things before,” Earnes adds. “So there will be a set of structured experiments that will lead you through how to use it in a way that you will enjoy.”

Interested in experiencing the best of both DIY electronics worlds? Head over to the project’s official Kickstarter page, where Earnes is currently seeking £3,456. Pending all goes to plan, shipping to early backers is expected to begin in May 2015, with all deliveries slated for June.

This connected vending machine can send tweets

---

Makers create a vending machine capable of accepting RFID payments, while tweeting funny updates.

---

As you’ve seen in previously featured projects on Bits & Pieces, we love ourselves some connected tweeting vending machines. Added to the growing list is a recent IoT contraption from Makers Kristian Sloth Lauszus and Sigurd Jervelund Hansen. After the duo was able to get hold of an old vending machine, which featured a non-working MCU on its main board, they quickly decided to mod it into an RFID-enabled dispenser that could also tweet funny updates about it.

The system is driven by a pair of Arduino Pro Mini units (ATmega328) and and an Electric Imp. Aside from reusing some shift registers, relays and voltage regulators from its original main board, the Makers embedded a Pro Mini onto the board to handle the reading as well as illuminate its buttons, control its 7-segment LED display, interpreting the output from the coin validator and return money if the user requests it by pressing a dedicated button. Meanwhile, a second ATmega328 based ‘duino was tasked with reading the contactless cards using a MIFARE RC522 reader, which stored a tag ID in its EEPROM and checked to see if there was a remaining balance. The two microcontrollers were simply connected via UART and communicated via Serial.

“If I would have to do it again I would properly use a larger microcontroller like the ATmega1284P which is also used on the Balanduino. The reason why we did not use this chip to begin with, was because the RFID/NFC capability was added later on and we ran out of I/O pins on the first Arduino Pro Mini,” Lauszus explains.

To bring this idea to life, the team had to first reverse engineer the machine’s original coin validate to determine how it detected and counted coins. Once figured out, they built a custom driver board to drive the solenoids. On top of that, the team also made the device social-savvy.

The duo began by connecting a Raspberry Pi to the Arduino via Bluetooth, but as the SD card on the Raspberry Pi kept getting corrupt, decided to use an Electric Imp instead. For those unfamiliar with the MCU, it features a 32-bit ARM Cortex M3 core with a Wi-Fi module built into a SD card form-factor.

How it works is relatively simple. The Arduino sends out a status update every minute, while the Electric Imp shares a post if there are any updates. For example, if a beverage was dispensed, then the Imp will send a tweet to let the world know. Moreover, the gadget also tweets if any of the slots are jammed or empty, along with tagging the individual responsible for restocking the machine.

Enjoy this mod? You may love a pair of other DIY projects as well. For one, a UK-based group from the Nottingham Hackspace recently rigged its snack dispensary into a tweeting vending machine that kept its members accountable for what they eat. The team was able to get a second-hand machine off eBay and fitted it with an Arduino. Meanwhile, another Maker developed an innovative way to monitor how often his colleagues were consuming coffee with an ATmega168 based gizmo. This could then single out those caffeine fiends responsible for restocking the coffee supply at the end of the week.

Zero Tiny is a BLE board powered by an ATtiny85

---

Could this be the lowest-spec and cheapest BLE board ever?

---

Designed by Micah Pearlman, the Zero Tiny BLE is a tiny low-cost, low-powered embeddable device packed with an ATtiny85 MCU and an HM-10 Bluetooth 4.0 module.

The board was originally conceived as a way to connect sensors for the Maker’s vintage motorcycle so that his iOS device could serve as a display and data logger. Therefore, Pearlman sought a small, inexpensive solution that possessed both uC and BLE capabilities, and could be powered by a small LiPo battery.

“The HM-10 BLE was super cheap and incredibly easy to integrate. The ATtiny85 is also super cheap, requires practically zero external components when running on it’s internal oscillator and can be programmed in the Arduino IDE.”

Four of the tinyAVR’s six I/O pins were broken out on a pin header, with two used to communicate with the BTLE module. Interested? You can learn more about the board and access all of the Maker’s open-source files here. Nice find, Hackaday!

μHack is an Arduino-compatible board for Makers of all levels

---

The μHack is a penny-sized microcontroller looking to bring DIY hardware hacking to the masses.

---

Created by Silverwing Industries, the μHack is a penny-sized, Arduino-compatible microcontroller designed to bring hardware programming to everyone. The Prescott, Arizona-based startup hopes that the board’s simplicity, flexibility and ease-of-use will make it a suitable option for novice and advanced Makers alike.

Originally appearing on Hackaday and now launched on Kickstarter, the μHack is powered by an ATtiny84A. Its very small form-factor (0.7″ x 0.7” to be exact) allows for the MCU to be embedded in just about anything a Maker may want to hack.

To help facilitate the process, the team has developed a piece of cross-platform programming software for the μHack. Targeted primarily for beginners, the aptly dubbed ezHackStudio features an intuitive interface that enables users to drag-and-drop various functional blocks into the workspace.

“The ezHackStudio supports simple functions, complex functions, various hardware interfaces and all of our booster packs! Ever wanted to make a complex temperature controller or a PID controller to balance a robot on 2 wheels? Well, the ezHackStudio has blocks like the PID block and IMU interface block which makes your job a lot easier! Just make a diagram of your project’s logic and let the ezHackStudio do the tedious coding for you,” the team writes.

The μHack’s I/O ports are very flexible and most of its pins can be used for multiple purposes. With a total of 12 digital I/O pins (out of which four have PWM capability and either have analog input capability), the μHack packs a punch even despite its minuscule size. The μHack is equipped with various common communication ports, such as SPI and I2C, while Makers can also connect UART devices using a Software Serial Library — which is included by default in the company’s drag-and-drop program and available for download for those using the Arduino IDE.

“The μHack alone is already pretty awesome, but we’ve made it even more awesome by developing a wide variety of stack-able booster packs for the μHack that give it a lot more functionality. No more messy jumper wires,” the team writes.

Additionally, the team has its sights set on another board for those who looking to work on more powerful projects. Based on the versatile ATmega32U4, the μHack+ is double the size (measuring 0.7″ x 1.4”) and has twice as many I/O pins as the μHack. The MCU also boasts a built-in micro-USB port. It should be noted that the μHack+ is still in the midst of development, though a larger prototype has already been tested.

Makers can take comfort in knowing that both the μHack and μHack+ are indeed Arduino-compatible, meaning that those who’d prefer to program it old-school with the Arduino IDE can do so with ease. By default, the team emphasizes, both of the MCUs come with Arduino bootloaders programmed into them. In other words, Makers can program them with Arduino C out-of-the-box, or with Atmel’s AVR Studio.

“If you’re using the μHack, just plug in the USB programmer booster pack, hook it up to your computer (whether you run Windows, Mac OS X or Linux) and start hacking!”

Last but not least, μHack features a wide-range of booster packs that can enhance the functionality (and possibilities) of your next project. These include everything from a Bluetooth 4.0 module to an XBee adapter to a motor driver.

Interested? You can head on over to its official Kickstarter page to learn more or back the project for yourself. The board is currently seeking $16,000.

Open-source hardware is eating the world

---

Our good friend and Hackster.io founder Adam Benzion explores the latest advancements in open hardware and what it means for our future.

---

Open-source hardware has been making headlines in industry publications and tech communities for years, but only now is it finally enjoying the same mainstream adoption that the Creative Commons and open-source software have enjoyed for over two decades. With growing numbers of hardware designs publicly available to study, modify, distribute, and replicate, resistance is futile!

Move Over Patent Trolls

Much like its immediate software relative, open-source hardware uses existing hardware design licenses rather than creating new ones, to co-innovate and share it forward. In a stark shift from the usually guarded patent world of hardware, we find a new environment for the sharing of ideas. Literally hundreds or thousands of hardware designs—circuit design, component integration, machines, tools, processors and practically anything that can be physically invented—are getting published and made available for anyone to use. There are many upsides to this, although it also seems to be encouraging more red-faced patent trolls to sue unsuspecting users of open-source hardware on Kickstarter and Indiegogo, because someone, some time ago, was already awarded a patent. (It’s just my opinion, but if you filed without the intention to ever build or share your invention, you deserve to get out-innovated.)

You’re Either In Or On The Way Out

Right now it seems like everyone is joining, but you might be less enthusiastic if you’re a Fortune 100 that established itself on the grounds of proprietary technology. Remarkably, however, many of the companies I would have bet on being slow in adapting into this new world are actually fully endorsing it. From Intel, to Atmel, Freescale, and TI, these silicon tankers have proved agile and responsive, powering most of the kits we all know and love (and maybe by doing so, they will start opening up some of their core chip designs?) Maybe it shouldn’t be surprising: They’ve been publishing reference designs for their boards for decades as a way to make it easy for customers to get started. And now they’re also learning from open-source electronics royalty like Arduino, while juggernaut creative hits like SparkFun, Seeed Studio and Adafruit, show how to further adapt, share more, and be part of a community.

I’d rather build on the shoulders of giants, share everything we’ve learned, and learn a thing or two from others. At the end of the day, SparkFun is successful because of the products, value and service we deliver, not our IP portfolio.

Nathan Seidle Founder & CEO, SparkFun Electronics

And it doesn’t stop with electronics. Just take a look at Toyota’s CES 2015 announcement. The company is following the example of Tesla Motors, making all of its 5,680 patents related to fuel cell technology available, royalty-free, to anyone in hopes of driving more innovation. Sure, you can argue that all of this is done in the name of self-servitude: They save on R&D resources while broadening the market, and eventually sell more products as a result. Autodesk is also working on a similar initiative with Spark: an open platform that allows any hardware manufacturer, software developer or material scientist to automate, simplify and improve 3D printing. Regardless of the motivation, this is happening, and the beauty of it is that it taps the collective crowd for exponential brainpower and innovation.

A Freeway Without Speed Limits

By distributing hard earned engineering IP via the Creative Commons Attribution and the GNU General Public License and a widespread “Copylefting” attitude, innovators are transforming the world of hardware creation at speeds we’ve never seen before. The implications reverberate across the playing field, affecting everyone from hardware hackers to major players, and beyond.

1. Startups. With little to no hardware engineering experience, startups can now hack their way into building hardware prototypes, fully capable of connecting to the “internet of things”, skipping months and thousands of dollars traditionally associated with such creations.
2. Community. Open-source hardware is creating new communities that share recipes of creation. For me this became a personal obsession. Myself and Ben Larralde, co-founders of Hackster, are helping people everywhere co-create and learn open-source hardware. We see a massive wave of hardware innovation resulting from this movement, with firmware, schematics and inventive combination of electronics being developed, shared, redesigned and shared again from every corner of the planet in speeds we never seen before.
3. Kids. If you are a parent like me, you are starting to see how this movement is accelerating your child’s abilities to design complex creations. My daughter who is only 4 years old can assemble strangely beautiful hardware creations using littleBits and thinking through “what if” scenarios. What happens when she’s 10 and can actually build complex blocks using LittleBits version 8.0? Does she even buy hardware at Best Buy or just build it herself because it’s more fun and possible better? When everything is open, big changes are inevitable.

Hardware innovation is driven by demand chain not supply chain, and open hardware provides the creative engine.

Eric Pan, Founder and CEO of Seeed Studio

Why Is This Happening Now?

We’ve lived through many decades since the computer revolution, the invention of the microprocessor, and the mainstream Internet. Maybe it’s not a surprise that all of the technology required to create software and hardware has finally come together, simplified and affordable to almost anyone on earth. Today, all you need is free cloud computing account from Microsoft’s Azure, an Intel Edison or Spark’s new Photon, basic programming skills and an access to a 3D printer. Voila, you are well on your way to creating a basic, functioning, piece of hardware. Unfathomable even 5 years ago. When I built my first hardware company in 2010, much of the above was generally unavailable.

Disrupted Again

Built on the heels of open-source software and the new sharing economy, open hardware is a disruptive evolution. It will create massive changes to how hardware innovation is co-created and monetized in rapid new cycles. It will shift the tight hold of old power that was jealously guarded by the few, to the new power which is open, participatory, and peer-driven, forceful as it surges.

But the real change in open-source hardware will come when you see a consumer product released as fully open-source — not something for programmers, hackers and hobbyists. The day that Samsung release a phone or a GE a washing machine that ships open will be the signal that the value in hardware openness is here to stay.

This post was originally published on LinkedIn by Adam Benzion along with the help of Nathan Seidle, Tom Igoe, Sean Geoghegan and Eric Pan. You can also learn all about Hackster.io and explore a wide-range of the latest Maker projects here.

This Pac-Man eats time instead of pac-dots

---

It’s time for some nostalgia with this Pac-Man alarm clock. 

---

First released in 1980, Pac-Man was an arcade game developed by Namco that became a pop culture icon. In the game, the player controlled Pac-Man through a maze, eating pellets along the way. When all the pac-dots were eaten, Pac-Man advanced to the next stage. Well, one Maker has taken his love for the classic to a new level with a themed clock that will surely spark up some nostalgia.

And, while it may not be the most practical timekeeping device, it will surely look great on the shelf of any bedroom, man cave or game room. Created by “Making Things,” the alarm clock features Pac-Man who periodically opens and closes his mouth at random intervals, while a pair of ghosts remain stationary along its side.

Based on a Teensy 2.0 (ATmega32U4), the clock itself is packed with a simple RTC module, a servo and a serial LED board for its display. The gears and servo are mounted to a 3D-printed bracket. Meanwhile, the frame is outlined with blue EL wire, giving that classic Pac-Man look a nice little touch.

The alarm clock itself was comprised mostly of 1/8” plywood, with the Pac-Man and the pair of ghosts all cut on a scroll saw. Though, the Maker does note that he would’ve 3D printed them if his printer was large enough.

“I like the Teensy boards because they can emulate other devices and are compatible with the Arduino IDE,” the Maker writes. “I used this [LED board] because it reduces the number of wires required to drive the display, plus it’s all I had on hand. There are no other parts other than a couple of pull up resistors on the RTC and a couple of filter caps.”

Time for some retro geekiness? Head over to the project’s official page here.

Learn how to #InventAnything with littleBits

---

Ready to become a BITSTAR? littleBits has launched a self-guided, open curriculum for Makers.

---

As you’re probably well aware, littleBits is all about inspiring more people around the world to become Makers and not just consumers of technology. The company seeks to place the power of electronics into the hands of everyone with their easy-to-use, modular components that enable those just starting out to connect their projects to the Internet, program IFTTT recipes, and even create their own analog synthesizers. Taking their initiative of supporting DIYers’ journeys one step further, the New York-based startup has just launched a series of free online courses to help anyone around the world discover how to #InventAnything using littleBits.

What’s more, the courses are entirely free, online, and in true Maker community fashion, open to anyone who wants to participate. It is peer-powered by P2PU, and you can follow the five week curriculum starting on February 23rd — or join in later if you want to go at your own pace. This program has been created to reach both those who are brand new to littleBits, as well as those with some experience points. At the end you will graduate with exclusive bitSTAR status, joining the leaders league of their community and unlocking a 20% discount. After all, who doesn’t love a little savings?!

How it works is relatively simply. The system is comprised of various tracks, which you can think of as departments in school. These include everything from the Internet of Things and hardware to music and design, or for those looking to dip their toes in the Maker waters, there is an entry-level basics session as well. Throughout the course, you will be introduced to various components such as the Arduino (ATmega32U4), MP3 (ATmega168) and servo (ATtiny25) modules to name a few, and how to incorporate them in your next project.

As the littleBits team notes, most of the activity is designed to encourage peer-to-peer learning and takes place in their online discussion forum. If you haven’t used a forum before, don’t fret as their helpful team will guide you through the process.

Every Wednesday, Makers are invited to join a real-time hangout with other so-called bitsters. There, you can enjoy live networking, technical support, and perhaps even partake in some collaborative brainstorming. Each week, littleBits will also have special guests joining us for a fireside chat, including folks like Eric Rosenbaum of MaKey Makey, Dr. Mitch Resnick of MIT, and Ariel Waldman of NASA.

Those participating in #InventAnything will have the opportunity to go beyond all the making and teach others in your local community how to channel their inner DIY spirit and make something great. At the end of the course, you will have the chance to devise your own playful event using littleBits, whether in your backyard or at your local makerspace. To celebrate the occasion, the team will host a global make-a-thon with everyone who took the course. Think of it like a virtual Maker Faire!

If you’ve read the blog post this far, we’re sure that you’re pretty excited to get started. If so, head over to littleBits to sign up. Weekly assigments will commence Feburay 23, but in the meantime, you can go ahead and introduce yourself in their forums as well as browse the various tracks. What a great idea to enable, inspire and connect with likeminded individuals. Let’s get to making!

Puzzlebox Orbit takes flight on All-American Makers

---

It was most mind-blowing (or controlling) episode yet! 

---

Given the ubiquity of DIY culture today, it’s no surprise that the Maker Movement has hit primetime with the debut of Science Channel’s new series All-American Makers. In case you haven’t had the chance to tune-in yet, the premise of the show is to give innovators and entrepreneurs an opportunity to pitch their ideas in return for funding and help being brought to market.

The ABC Shark Tank-like show for the engineering and Maker savvy, which stars Printrbot founder Brook Drumm, roboticist Brian Roe and venture capitalist Marc Portney, airs on Wednesday nights at 10 p.m. ET. Most recently, the panelists were presented with the Puzzlebox Orbit — a mind-controlled, ATmega328 powered helicopter — by Joshua Macias and Steven Castellotti, both of whom you may have seen in our Maker Faire Bay Area booth in previous years. If you recall, the Bay Area-based company also took to Kickstarter way back in 2012, where it successfully garnered over $74,000.

While you may see neighborhood kids, or even adults for that matter, playing with remote-controlled helicopters in their yards today, the remote control that operates that toy may soon take a back seat — thanks to Puzzlebox. The startup recently created a toy ‘copter they call Orbit that is capable of being controlled through brainwaves via an electroencephalography (EEG) headset that reads electrical activity along the scalp and communicates to the device over Bluetooth. The company’s software then extracts and visualizes those brainwaves in real-time, issuing command signals to the Orbit via an infrared adapter.

“Just weeks into its freshman run on the Science Channel, the network’s new series All-American Makers has highlighted some pretty fun tech, but Wednesday’s episode might have some of the coolest yet,” Mashable’s Sandra Gonzalez writes. And, having been able to play around with Orbit, we must agree. It’s mind-blowing!

If you missed the show’s latest episode, you can check out the team’s pitch here. Meanwhile, you can also read a recent blog post from Castellotti on Bits & Pieces.