Basic Lilypad Tutorial

Check out this tutorial of a simple Lilypad e-textile project. Pay attention to how she uses the thread to connect the different elements. Watch for tips and tricks about creating a sewn circuit. You’ll need these skills when you try your project in the next section.

A great way to try out e-textiles without having to program is sewing with conductive thread. LilyPad LEDs and a LilyPad Coin Cell Battery Holder will light up a project, and the possibilities can be expanded to include simple interactive elements like buttons or switches, which you can purchase or make yourself.

Now, you practice using the Lily Tiny board. Get the a Lily Tiny and a battery pack from the cabinet. Connect the battery pack to the Lily Tiny board. See how the different output petals on the Lily Twinkle board make LEDs blink. You can do this with alligator clips. See this tutorial for more information.

The Lilypad platform is a condensed version of an Arduino board that is specially designed for wearable projects. You can write code for this board to control LEDs, sensors, speakers, and more like you did in MC203.

You can read more about the Lilypad board and platform at Sparkfun.

The boards we have available in the lab are the Lilypad protoboard. This board has sensors, buttons, and LEDs already connected for you to quickly code and prototype ideas.