Hacking Unicorn Horns with the Circuit Playground

[ UUID ] 459f7216-5621-4424-bf21-ae38f8862cf7

[ Session Name ] Hacking Unicorn Horns with the Circuit Playground [ Primary Space ] Youth Zone

[ Submitter's Name ] Lucy Bell [ Submitter's Affiliated Organisation ] Northern Ireland Raspberry Jam

What will happen in your session?

In this session the participants will hack the Neopixels on a Circuit Playground to create a colour changing Unicorn Horn! The Unicorn Horns have been modeled using CAD software and 3D printed so they could be fastened to baseball caps. The participants can code the sequence of the Neopixels and then wear their creation! All programming in this workshop uses MakeCode, a super simple graphical Scratch-like code editor.

What is the goal or outcome of your session?

The participants will get to learn about the Circuit Playground board and can experience using the different sensors to actuate their light and sound sequences, the coding editor has a basic block interface and also a Javascript interface for more advanced users if they wish to use it. They will also learn about wearable technology and the amazing, visually impressive projects that can be made with simple pieces of kit like Neopixels.

If your session requires additional materials or electronic equipment, please outline your needs.

This session relies on a classroom set of Raspberry Pi computers with internet access so the participants can access the online code editor. The NI Raspberry Jam will supply the Circuit Playground boards, baseball caps, and unicorn horns that we use when we run this workshop at the Jam. A projector would be useful but I have taught this workshop so many times that I do not rely on these visual aids so it is not essential.

Time needed

less than 60 mins