This week on Maker Update, a 3D printed Starman helmet, a beating heart, an Adabot solder helper, a disco band camp jacket, emulating Magic Cap, and an early look at BrainCraft.

++Show Notes *Adafruit Edition*++

-=Project of the Week=-

SpaceX Helmet by Ruiz Brothers
https://learn.adafruit.com/spacex-helmet

-=News=-

CircuitPython 5.0.0 Alpha 1 Released!
https://blog.adafruit.com/2019/08/30/circuitpython-5-0-0-alpha-1-released-adafruit-circuitpython/

Infineon launches OPTIGA™ Trust M … and a new from Adafruit! STEMMA QT / Qwiic
https://blog.adafruit.com/2019/08/20/infineon-launches-optiga-trust-m-and-a-new-from-adafruit-stemma-qt-qwiic-infineon-infineon-adafruit-stemma/
https://www.adafruit.com/product/4351

-=Adafruit Projects=-

Anatomical 3D Printed Beating Heart with MakeCode by Dano Wall
https://learn.adafruit.com/anatomical-3d-printed-beating-heart-with-makecode

Cranky Adabot Solder Dispenser by Ruiz Brothers
https://learn.adafruit.com/cranky-adabot-solder-dispenser

Disco Band Camp Jacket by Amelia T
https://learn.adafruit.com/Disco-Band-Camp-Jacket

-=Tools/Tips=-

Explore Magic Cap, a smartphone OS from a decade before the iPhone
https://learn.adafruit.com/magic-cap-the-smartphone-os-from-the-90s

CircuitPython snakes its way to Micro Center!
https://blog.adafruit.com/2019/08/24/circuitpython-snakes-its-way-to-micro-center-microcenter-adafruitcircuitpython-circuitpython/

Getting Started with Braille Output for CircuitPython REPL by Isaac Wellish
https://learn.adafruit.com/getting-started-braille-output-circuitpython-repl

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!
https://blog.adafruit.com/2019/08/29/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-physica/

First Look at the BrainCraft HAT for Raspberry Pi and single board Linux computers
https://blog.adafruit.com/2019/08/24/first-look-at-the-braincraft-hat-for-raspberry-pi-and-single-board-linux-computers-adafruit-raspberry_pi-tensorflow-machinelearning-tinyml-raspberrypi/

BrainCraft HAT video overview
https://youtu.be/N9qMeJ-CB1Y

-=Product Spotlight=-

Adafruit 4×4 NeoTrellis Feather M4 Kit Pack
https://www.adafruit.com/product/4352

NeoTrellis Feather Case Assembly by Phillip Burgess
https://learn.adafruit.com/neotrellis-feather-case-assembly

Transcript

This week on Maker Update, a 3D printed Starman helmet, a beating heart, an Adabot solder helper, a disco band camp jacket, emulating Magic Cap, and an early look at BrainCraft.

Hey everyone, I’m Donald Bell, and welcome back to another Adafruit edition of Maker Update. I hope you’re all doing well. Let’s get started with my pick for the project of the month.

It’s no surprise that the Ruiz Brothers are back with another inspiring build. This time, it’s a 3D printed replica of the SpaceX Starman helmet design. 

Because it’s a large print, they’ve broken it up into different sections that fasten together. They’ve also created a unique perforated visor so that you can see through it and also have some good ventilation. 

To make a truly costume-worthy design, they added NeoPixel LEDs on the inside that change color and animate depending on the position of the visor. This way, when you flip it up you get this red sparkly animation, and when you flip it down over your face you get a kind of galaxy blue and purple look.

The LED animations were all made simply using the Microsoft MakeCode editor, and then loaded on to an Adafruit Circuit Playground Express board. 

The trickiest part of this build, from my perspective, is wiring up little custom USB extension cables for recharging or reprogramming. But if you’re comfortable with the code as-is, or removing the battery to recharge it, you could probably get away with skipping this step.

It’s time for some news. There’s an Alpha release of the Circuit Python 5.0 software available for testing. Some of the major improvements include enhancements to displayio, including grayscale and e-paper displays, extensive additions and changes to Bluetooth Low Energy support, and PWM audio support. 

Infineon is launching a new OPTIGA Trust M chip for hardware crypto authentication. Adafruit already has a breakout board for it coming soon in the shop. This chip can store your private keys securely, as well as generate true random numbers, which could be useful for all kinds of security projects. 

Now back to a few quick projects. Dano Wall has a new one up on how to make this pulsating 3D printed heart. Another great project for Halloween. 

The heart is actually an anatomically accurate 3D print broken up into four sections. A continuous rotation servo mounted in the middle creates a motion that pushes the pieces apart, while the compression from the red pantyhose on the outside pulls everything back together. It’s a neat effect.

I also thought this 3D printed cranky Adabot solder dispenser from the Ruiz brothers was a super cute project. It’s an entirely 3D printed design that snaps together, with no extra nuts or bolts you need to buy. I don’t need one, but it makes me happy just looking at it.

And check out this NeoPixel-fied band leader jacket from Amaelia T. The project uses a bunch of cut strips of high-density neopixel LEDs, controlled by a Gemma M0 and powered by a USB battery pack. 

There’s also a great bit in here in the Code section about creating custom XY maps for projects like this where the matrix is a unique shape. 

Now for a few tips and tools. The Magic Cap OS developed by General Magic was a smartphone OS that was way ahead of its time in 1990. Now you can play with it yourself, using this guide by Matthew Goodrich that walks you through installing some vintage Mac emulators. If you grew up on Mac in the 80s and 90s, this is a feast of nerdy nostalgia. 

The Micro Center chain of computer and electronics stores now stocks a selection of Circuit Python compatible boards from Adafruit. So if you shop Micro Center, now you’ve got more more place you can pick up a Circuit Python board.

Isaac Wellish has a guide up on getting started with Braille output for Circuit Python on the Orbit Reader 20 hardware. Using the guide, you can output text from the serial console on a computer and using Circuit Python, have it converted to Braille output on the Orbit.

Device Simulator Express is a Microsoft Garage project built by interns that makes it easier to program the Adafruit Circuit Playground Express in CircuitPython. Even if you don’t have a Circuit Playground Express board, you can use it to simulate your project.

The Adafruit team is cooking up a new Pi hat called BrainCraft. It’s designed to make it quick and easy to create and demo machine learning projects based on TensorFlow Lite. 

There’s a small screen, a 5-way joystick, button, LEDs, microphones, speaker output, headphone output, stemma connectors for add-ons, and an all-important on/off switch so that you can disable the audio when you don’t want it listening to you. Keep an eye out for that coming soon.

But for our product spotlight, let’s take a look at one of the new items in the store. This is the Adafruit 4×4 NeoTrellis Feather M4 Kit Pack. For under $50, it’s everything you need to make an interactive grid of programmable buttons. 

The kit comes with the Feather M4 Express board, the NeoTrellis driver board, silicone keypad, and this cool laser cut enclosure that fits it all into a solid little handheld module. There’s a separate guide by Phil Burgess on how to assemble the base and make the most out of it. 

If it’s out of stock, be sure to sign up to get notified when it’s back in the store.

And that does it for this week’s show. Be sure to subscribe, leave a thumbs up or leave a comment. You can get on the Maker Update email newsletter to keep up with each week’s show. Thanks for watching, and I’ll see you soon.