SB-FireFly

How often do you get a kit where the battery is included? This super small microcontroller is a ready to go ATtiny85 application board that is a smoothly routed, small form factor, through-hole soldering kit. Don't know how to solder? No worries, this is a great place to start; we have a quick soldering guide in the manual to walk you through the soldering process as long as you have the tools to do it. The kit includes everything, even the battery, to make your own blinky LED project!

We are now on version 2 of SB-FireFly and it is now Digispark (the wildly successful kickstarter project) layout compatible, so you can add Digispark shields onto it. We walk you through building it into this configuration in our newly revised manual (under the Documentation tab). If you don't have that much of a desire to hack the board feel free to just build the SB-FireFly as it was originally intended, all the instructions are still there. With version 2 we've also updated the code to include a new "Rainbow" mode, perfect for RGB LEDs (like in the Northern Lights Bundle) and it now also has the ability to remember the last mode you set if you ever power it down! If you have the previous version of the FireFly not to worry as the code is backward compatible, and located under the Documentation tab.

It has tons of potential, including wearables, - place the it on your clothes then from the other side, apply a magnet to the back of the battery area and you'll have a SB-FireFly badge! It can also be placed onto a small key ring for a blinky keychain or lanyard, or thread a small string through it for a necklace.

The SB-FireFly features an Arduino-accommodating ATtiny85 microcontroller, so with a minor adjustment (thanks to those smart MIT people) to your Arduino programming IDE, you can reprogram it to suit your whim (check out the instructions in our manual). It also is a handy development/application board to make practical use of this small microcontroller. If you wanted to use AVR studio with a avr programmer by all means you can go that route as well.

The board also has a cleverly hidden 3-pin expansion port usable for project enhancement!

Here are the modes the SB-FireFly comes pre-programmed with (toggled via the button):

Applications:

• Place in translucent jars to float down the river
• Robot eyes
• Add blinky LEDs  to a party or other large social gathering
• Introductory soldering project
• Wearable as a ring, badge, necklace, key chain or sew it onto clothes
• Put into a small lantern and use for special holidays

The Kit includes:

• 2 - Green LEDs
• 1 - Blue LED
• 1 - 10Kohm resistor
• 1 - 47ohm resistor
• 1 - Push button
• 1 - 2032 coincell battery
• 1 - Coincell battery holder
• 1 - ATtiny85
• 1 - SB-FireFly PCB
• 1 - 3x2 male ISP programming header
• 1 - 8-pin DIP carrier
• 1 - 3-pin Female Header
• 1 - 6-pin Female Header
• 1 - 0.1uF Capacitor

Specifications:

• Operating range: 2.0 - 5.5VDC
• Clock Frequency: 8MHz
• Sleep current: 0.0002mA
• Normal current draw (LEDs blinking): 8mA
• On-time with 2032 battery: at regular speed Firefly mode will last >12hrs straight before the blue LED can't be seen anymore
• Max current draw: 40mA per pin up to 200mA for entire ATtiny85
• OSHW (Open Source Hardware)

This open-source project was originally developed as a local collaboration with an Awesome Calgary micro grant winner: Illuminated Landscapes. Here's some history on how this project began:

Want to change what the SB-FireFly can do? No prob, besides an LED blinker the SB-FireFly is a fully functional ATtiny85 development/application board which has all of the ATtiny pins broken out for your hacking convenience! Not only is this an open-source hardware product but it also has sample code which is able to be modified to your liking. Use this tutorial to program it within the Arduino IDE! Check under our documentation tab where we give you sample Arduino code that features Software PWM (doesn't use hardware timers), Sleep (0.0002mA draw), Randomize and Interrupt code which can be used on other avr chips such as the common ATmega328 on Arduino/Freeduino boards. Plus we'll add more code for different projects as we make & write them. Check out the Documentation section for some recent code samples & hacks!

Hacklications:

• Pulse and fade RGB LEDs hooked up to the LED outputs + change modes with the button
• Use the GVS header + a potentiometer to do a servo tester (you'll have to supply it 5V)
• Emit 38kHz thru an Infrared (IR) LED for a tiny TV remote control
• Use an IR LED + a TSOP4038 for a Remote code recorder + retransmitter
• Use a TSOP4038 as a remote control decoder, beam break detection, or reflective object detection
• Control LED strips by adding high power transistors or FETs
• Add a piezo buzzer for sounds and/or Chiptunes
• Add a PIR sensor for automatic lighting applications
• Use IR LEDs as a WiiMote Infrared source

Here's a few tips that will help you hack the SB-FireFly:

• Not only is the top of the device great for mounting but it's also a Ground-Voltage-Signal (GVS) breakout header that is pinout compatible with things such as analog sensors and servo motors.
• If you'd like to change the LED color be aware that you may have to increase the R2 resistor value to limit more current to make the battery last longer or lower the value to get the LEDs brighter.
• Place machine socket pins in the board in order to quickly swap in and out resistor values
• If you use IR LEDs be aware that you may need to increase the R2 resistor value as we have had issues being able to program the board with a 47ohm resistor plus IR LEDs, we used a 100ohm resistor just fine.
• The Reset line (top of R1) can be used as another input/output pin, we tied it high with a 10K pullup resistor in order to diminish the possibility of a false reset, but feel free to use it as you'd like.

Please Note: Due to the outdated avr-gcc compiler bundled with Arduino 1.0 the ATtiny85 throws up an "R_AVR_13_PCREL" error when trying to use the upper half of the 8kB of code space. If you need this code space when your program goes above 4kB apply a quick fix found here. Applying the fix will give you access to the full 8kB.

Check out this video of Stringxels controlled by SB-FireFly:

Please note: LEDs may not be as pictured, varies according to stock levels.