DIY littleBits, an introduction

DIY littleBits, an introduction

 My primary motivation in learning about electronics is to teach Jack (and other kids while I'm at it) how the electronic world around us works.  Towards that effort I quickly ran through many demonstrations with SnapCircuits and breadboarded 555 chip projects from Forrest Mims books.  I needed permanent circuits that could interact with each other - more complicated designs to keep both of us engaged in learning circuit skills.  I scoured the internet for reliable circuits, but there is a lot of noise out there.  I first heard about littleBits from Ayah Bdeir's TED Talk.  I was so happy when she finished her talk with an invitation to visit their website and work with their designs:

"So littleBits is open-source. You can go on the website, download all the design files, make them yourself. We want to encourage a world of creators, of inventors, of contributors, because this world that we live in, this interactive world, is ours. So go ahead and start inventing."

So I did just that.  I started making littleBits in December after Greg got me a helping hands for Christmas and I learned how to solder.  When I saw that littleBits had sponsored a contest on Instructable, I thought for sure that their intention was not just to raise consumer awareness about their product and get people making things with littleBits, but to also get people in the Instructables community to start making their own.  I don't know if that last part is true, but I turned out to be the only one thinking along those lines.  DIY littleBits was immediately featured and I won a first prize package from littleBits.  It was even a finalist in the 123D Circuits contest.  I continue to get a hundreds of visits weekly to that instructable, the total will be 66K by the end of today.

Here's a brief overview of my DIY littleBits.  Visit my Instructables page for complete instructions on how to make your own, and check out other blog posts to see projects I made with these components.

1.  power

2. RGB led - light sensitive - That's my own twist on the original design.

3. long bright led

4. button - This is the easiest bit to make

5. inverter - I scavenged an old PC for these connector pins.

 

6. pulse

This pulse module looks like standard 555 stuff, but looks can be deceiving.  Most littleBits have an op amp chip in them.  I tried making them without the op amp chip, and the very dim leds resulted when I connected multiple modules.  Once I put 741 op amp chips back into the design, the led's returned to their brightness.

7. lever (roller) switch

This lever switch is what electricians sometimes call a "3 way" switch.  It's just like a staircase light with a switch at the top and bottom of the stairs.  It can be a little hairy trying to understand what is happening; I made a lot of sketches and tests before soldering. 

8. light trigger

 
This is an adjustable light and a dark trigger circuit in one, both feeding into an op amp chip with a Double Pole Double Throw (DPDT) switch.  The user decides if a positive message will be sent when there is darkness or when there is light.  I folded over the transistors and resistors that you see poking over the top; that is my transistor AND gate.

9. timeout

My timeout only has an on off state, because I can use an inverter when I want it to be an off on timeout.  I ran out of steam when making this one, and I made a big mistake by using a resistor array attached to 10 dip switches.  However, I think my design has charm, so I am keeping it the way it is.