LilyTiny Plush Monsters Are Alive!
Students learn how to set up pre-programmed microcontroller units like the Arduino LilyPad and use them to enhance a product’s functionality and personality. They do this by making plush toys in monster shapes (template provided) with microcontrollers and LEDs sewn into the felt fabric with conductive thread to make circuits. At activity end, each student will have created his or her own plush toy, complete with LEDs that illuminate in a specified sequence: random twinkle, blink, heartbeat and/or breathing.
Light-up plush toys made using a LilyPad microcontroller.Copyright 2014 SparkFun Education CC BY SA-4.0 https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/lilytiny-plush-monster?_ga=1.66649262.1473012636.1478227346
Engineers often use control units like microcontrollers to govern individual system components. These units contain embedded applications, which are relatively simple programs pre-loaded onto the control unit. In this way, they are different from microprocessor units, which are made to accept frequent user inputs.
Microcontrollers are used in many products, including automobiles, medical devices and home appliances. They typically enable limited control over a system, but consume less power and space than other control devices.
The LilyPad microcontroller used in this activity is specifically designed to be sewn into fabrics like clothing and toys by using conductive thread rather than conventional metallic wires. In this activity, LilyPad’s pre-programmed sequences are exploited to generate lighting patterns for LEDs incorporated into the plush toys students make.
After this activity, students should be able to:
- Assemble a system based on the LilyPad microcontroller.
- Describe what microcontrollers do.
- Explain why control units are important in engineering applications.
- Identify microcontroller applications.