Description
Designed by Debra Ansell of Geek Mom Projects and Bright Wearables, this is a micro:bit powered wearable LED circuit board designed for use with all Bright Bag styles. It comes with an AA battery holder (AA batteries NOT included, 3 are needed), and you can provide your own micro:bit (v1 or v2) or purchase the bundle with a v1 micro:bit.
The Bright Board is an accessory board to the micro:bit microcontroller that is designed to fit easily and perfectly into any Bright Bag style. It contains 12 RGB LEDs that can each be individually programmed to display millions of different colors.
The Bright Board requires a micro:bit microcontroller to function, but if you already have your own (V1 or V2) you can select just the Bright Board above.
Because it is powered by micro:bit, you can code it in many different development environments, including MS MakeCode code blocks (which also works on your smartphone), Python, Arduino and many others. A power pack that holds 3 AA batteries comes with the Bright Board (batteries not included) making it easily portable.
The micro:bit slots easily in and out of the built-in connector on the Bright Board. Any time you want, just pop out the micro:bit for use in other fun coding projects. When you’re done, pop it back into the Bright Board, code or download a new program to control the Bright Board LEDs. Then show off your coding skills by snapping it into a fun and fashionable Bright Bag.
Features of the Bright Board Include:
- An 80 pin edge connector allows the micro:bit to be easily connected to and removed from the Bright Board
- Special fasteners on the board hold it perfectly in place in *any* of the Bright Bag styles, allowing the LEDs to shine through decorative apertures in the front of the bag. You can use a single Bright Board with multiple Bright Bags.
- Designed specifically to work with the micro:bit. A special set of code blocks make it easy to code in the Microsoft MakeCode Editor
- If you are into hardware hacking, two different 4-pin JST connectors on the back of the Bright Board each provide access to 3.3V, GND and two micro:bit I/O pins, including the I2C bus. Add your own peripheral devices (e.g. a microphone for sound-reactive Bright Board colors) to expand the functionality of your Bright Wearables system.
About the Maker:
Debra Ansell started Bright Wearables to create colorful, hackable wearables that let you show your true colors wherever you go. They work to engage tech-curious learners with creative and novel ways to learn and apply coding skills. Debra also makes amazing projects, focused on LEDs, under the name GeekMomProjects. You can learn more about her on her blog and on Twitter.