Sparkle is a programmable button for etextiles,
paper craft, and polymer-clay.
Connect it to LEDs, sensors, tiny motors, muscle wire, and more.
Program it from a web browser by holding it in front of a
computer screen or phone.
BASIC
FEATURED
Sparkle has two modes: basic, and featured.
The basic mode is for the etextile beginner to create a tiny, quick, and
low-cost project.
In this mode, Sparkle connects to
plain LEDs and runs on a small CR1216 battery for 12 hours.
However, it can't sense the environment, power motors or play music.
Connect with conductive
thread,
conductive
paint, or regular wire.
3 volts only.
Make sure the different lengths of thread are not touching.
Alternate
the LED directions: the two closest to Sparkle have their + side up, and the
two outer ones have their + side down.
This reduces the number of connections you need to make, and
turns on each LED at different times.
The LED boards have 100 ohm resistors built in, but you can use other
LEDs, up to 20, in any color combination.
surface mount use with conductive paint and
paper based projects
LED board the default flat and easy to sew
LED sequin elegant look, a bit brittle need sewing
expertise
5mm LED more visible from a distance commonly available
The featured mode is for the etextile enthusiast who wants to
add sensors, motors, and other devices to make more interactive projects.
The components are
all smart: sensors, lights, motors, etc. have a tiny
microcontroller that allows them to communicate with Sparkle, so you can
interact with the different sensors and actuators without writing
special code to deal with each one.
This system uses the same pair of wires to connect all the pieces,
which reduces the chances of short circuits - very important for
a 3-dimensional medium like clothing.
As a result, these sensors work only with lightboards, not with regular
LEDs, and you can use only compatible components (most likely from our store).
Furthermore, this mode uses up more energy, so you'd need a large CR2032
battery or 2 AA batteries in series.
3 volts only.
You can use one sensor AND one touch switch in your projects, but not
two sensors at the same time.
There is a growing collection of sensors:
The custom sensor senses resistance, so you can connect (e.g.)
resistive fabric to the two holes to make a pressure sensor, or stretch
sensor.
Its built in resistance is 100 kilo-ohms.
The accelerometer normally measures movement, but if
you connect these two holes,
it will detect 1 of 6 orientations. Tutorial coming soon.
With this switch, Sparkle can react to your touch. You can also connect the
hole on the side to a patch of conductive cloth to create a larger touch pad.
Because sensors need to communicate with Sparkle, we have to use lightboards
instead of plain LEDs or sequins. Each one
has an ID (1-5), marked by the number of strokes or dots it has.
Connect up to 20 in any color combination.
To use sensors and lightboards, first reset Sparkle.
connect the plus and minus holes to a 3V battery
briefly connect the reset pad to the reset hole
wait 1 second
repeat steps 1-3 until Sparkle's center LED no longer flashes
the tiny red LED should be lit though
You can do this even after the project is sewn down, just use a pair of
tweezers.
Using Sparkle with sensors and lightboards.
The first way to make Sparkle do something different is to
attach a touch switch, and choose a (SPECIAL) action from the right side of the
programming interface.
The second way to use sensors is to have Sparkle turn on lights in response to
sensor input.
The interface has two parts:
the slider on the left controls its sensitivity,
and the buttons on the right tell it how to respond.
Detect a wide range, like
completely dark to very bright.
Detect a small range, like
changes in room temperature.
Set a high threshold, so Sparkle
responds only when it gets really loud.
Turn on only one light at a time.
Turn on multiple lights, like a sound meter.
Turn off the lights as the sensor gets louder.
Light up to match the current sensor value.
Light up briefly only when there is change in sensor value.
You could also write something like this complete program:
(always
(if (> sensor 5)
(twinkle 2)
(center 5)))
This basically tells Sparkle to
do the twinkle action when the sensor
level rises above 5,
but glow its center light slowly (over 5 seconds).
It doesn't matter if it's a sound sensor,
light sensor, or accelerometer; the lights will flash when the level of
sound, light, or motion rises above a certain threshold (the minimum is
1 and the maximum is 10).
It doesn't enter programming mode
The touch strip measures the capacitance in your finger. It might help to
use a needle or paperclip for better contact.
It's not getting new programs from the screen
Hold Sparkle closer to the screen.
Make the screen brighter or change the contrast.
Dim the lights; a brightly lit environment overpowers the sensor.
If your web
browser is playing a video or doing some other activity, it throws off the
timing.
Close all other browser windows and see if this solves the problem.
I can't tell if it's dead or alive
The tiny red light never goes all the way off: it stays on
when Sparkle is running, flashes rapidly when waiting for a program, and
flashes once per second while sleeping.
If you cannot see this light at all,
try a fresh battery and double-check your connections.
Still nothing? Reset Sparkle.
connect the plus and minus holes to a 3V battery
briefly connect the reset pad to the reset hole
wait 1 second
repeat steps 1-3 until Sparkle's center flashes again
Still not working? Please
write us or call us at +1
303 462 0059, and we'll do our best to help.
