Hi Everyone,

Just wanted to give an update on what we’re working on for the Circuit Playground kit. There’s a lot to look forward to.

• Done! Bug fixes. Some users have been having trouble getting sensor readings in certain circumstances. I’m working on a significant update that should improve the robustness of staying synced with the Circuit Playground’s sensors. A lot of the problem revolves around the time it takes to service Neopixel calls on the Circuit Playground, which causes delays in sensor polling response. 

• Neopixel Matrix Tiling. I’m working on a write up that explains how to hook up multiple Neopixel Matrices to give you a bigger matrix. It’ll also explain how to turn your Neopixel Matrix into an Arduino Shield for use on most Arduinos and the PiSoC.

• Neopixel scrolling text. You can now “Print String” to the Neopixel Matrix, and have text scroll across one or multiple matrices.

• We are now selling the Circuit Playground Inventor’s Kit on Amazon. This will soon allow customers in other countries to purchase the kit, and hopefully persuade some would be purchasers who don’t want to buy directly from the Embedit site. The individual Neopixel Matrix will also be on sale soon.  

•  Curriculum/Experiment guide. This one is a little further out, but we plan to have a set of projects that will walk you through some beginner lessons to more complicated ones involving a lot of real world interactivity. It’ll also aim to explain some real world uses and science behind some of the sensors.

• Finally, there will be some add-ons available for the Circuit Playground. First up will be a Servo Kit. You’ll be able to rotate Servo motors and of course plug them in using alligator clips. We’ll also have a few projects that show how to use them.

We are still considering how to tackle offline support, but I hope to have news on that soon. Anything else you want to see?

Thanks!

Robert