This project will guide you through the process of animating and illuminating your own version of Van Gogh's famous Starry Night painting.

This project uses readily available household materials, and also serves as a fun introduction to CircuitPython.

Materials

In addition, this project uses:

• Scrap cardboard (~10"x10" square)
• Double sided tape
• Scissors
• Hot glue (optional)

Getting to know CircuitPython

CircuitPython is a programming language based on Python, one of the fastest growing programming languages in the world. It is specifically designed to simplify experimenting and learning to code on low-cost microcontroller boards.

To run CircuitPython we recommend using Mu. If this is your first time using Mu, this guide is a good introduction to get you up and running.

Mu is a simple code editor that works with all Adafruit CircuitPython boards. It's written in Python and works on Windows, MacOS, Linux and Raspberry Pi. The serial console is built right in so you get immediate feedback from your board's serial output!

Once you have Mu installed you're ready to rock with CircuitPython.

Let's get started!

First things first: print out two copies of Starry Night

Cut out the Moon

From one copy of Starry Night, cut out the moon. Set the moon aside for use later.

Take your second copy of Starry Night and glue it to a piece of cardboard. It's ok if they aren't exactly the same size, as long as the paper fits on the cardboard.

Once the cardboard has been trimmed, do a second pass with a small piece of cardboard, smoothing and pressing the two pieces together.

Prepare your moon

Give it legs (optional)

But first...

To use Circuit Playground Express and CRICKIT together, you'll first need to install the special 'seesaw' version of the CPX firmware. This guide will take you through how to install CRICKIT support onto your circuit playground express.

Adafruit recommends the Mu editor to easily craft and load your code to your CircuitPython projects. You can learn more about Mu by reading this guide.

Once you have completed these steps, you're ready to move on.

Get Ready!

1. Connect the MicroUSB for coding from the Circuit Playground Express to your computer
2. Put 3 AA batteries in a battery pack and connect to the Crickit, or use a wall adapter
3. Turn on the Crickit, check that the switch next to the DC power plug is ON

Connect Motor

Now it's time to test the code and make sure the DC motor runs. 

First, connect your motor to the CRICKIT as pictured, using a small screwdriver to tighten down the screws.

Copy and paste the code below into your Mu editor.

Save this code to your CIRCUITPY drive as code.py

# SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2018 Anne Barela for Adafruit Industries
#
# SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT

import time
from adafruit_crickit import crickit

# Create one motor on seesaw motor port #1
motor = crickit.dc_motor_1
motor.throttle = 0.5  # half speed forward

# Create drive (PWM) object for the lights on Drive 1
lights = crickit.drive_1
lights.frequency = 1000 # Our default frequency is 1KHz

while True:
    lights.fraction = 0.5  # half on
    time.sleep(0.8)

    lights.fraction = 0.2  # dim
    time.sleep(0.1)

    # and repeat!

# SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2018 Anne Barela for Adafruit Industries
#
# SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT

import time
from adafruit_crickit import crickit

# Create one motor on seesaw motor port #1
motor = crickit.dc_motor_1
motor.throttle = 0.5  # half speed forward

# Create drive (PWM) object for the lights on Drive 1
lights = crickit.drive_1
lights.frequency = 1000 # Our default frequency is 1KHz

while True:
    lights.fraction = 0.5  # half on
    time.sleep(0.8)

    lights.fraction = 0.2  # dim
    time.sleep(0.1)

    # and repeat!

Troubleshooting

Problem: My motor still won't spin!

Solution: Check that you have a 5V power supply attached to the DC jack on your CRICKIT board.

 

Problem: My Circuit Playground Express isn't recognized by Mu!

Solution: Make sure your board is set up as a CIRCUITPY device. If it is showing up at "CPLAYBOOT" on your computer, you can follow the steps in this guide to get it back into CIRCUITPY mode.

 

Attach Motor

If your motor spins, it's time to mount it to the painting!

Use something pointy to make a large hole in the center of the moon. This is where the motor will go. 

Let's add some lights to the painting! 

First, you'll need to prepare your strand of LEDs.

Screw these wires firmly into the terminal blocks on the CRICKIT. 

Use the 5V and D1 terminal blocks.

Turn on power to your device, and voila! Behold your starry night.

Troubleshooting

Problem: My LEDs don't light up!

Solution: Swap the position of the wires in their terminal blocks (LEDs are polarized, so they won't work if they're backwards).

If you'd like to change the brightness of your stars, look no further than Mu. Changes are reflected as soon as you save your new code!

The LEDs are by default set to half-brightness. You can change this setting in the while True: loop.

For example, changing the value of my_drive.duty_cycle from 32768 to 16384 will dim the lights by half. What's great about programming in this way is you can see the change occur as soon as you hit save!

Alternative Versions

Rather than lighting up the stars with LEDs, it can be fun to make multiple stars spin together.

Let your imagination run wild!

More projects!

If you enjoy CircuitPython and want to continue learning you can find lots more CircuitPython projects on the Adafruit Learn System.