Ladyada is so busy making exciting new products for us all, that she needs an extra pairs of eyes at her disposal to catch all the things going on that day. Occasionally she doesn't have time for the latest potty training session with her little one... Now that Adafruit IO Actions have new superpowers, she's getting new reports setup to help keep her informed!
Do you want to track as important events are occurring, like your child's potty training progress? Learn the basics of Adafruit IO Actions with this "Potty Training Report" project.
Use Adafruit IO Actions to send a scheduled report, control LEDs, count button events / progress and reset the counters each day. Use your existing data feeds or follow this arcade button journey for inspiration.
With a wireless microcontroller running WipperSnapper, Adafruit's no-code platform (an open source Arduino firmware) which can easily send data to the cloud, and a couple of buttons to generate events. You'll be firing data to the cloud and getting those daily training reports as quick as a flash.
This project is a great demo for how to use Blockly-based Actions to create full-featured apps that don't require you to write a single line of code or host any services.
Why WipperSnapper and Adafruit IO Actions?
Adafruit IO can accept data in many ways, but there is a special Devices page for easy installation and configuration of WipperSnapper based devices.
It allows any supported Wireless microcontroller to easily install the needed software, using the web browser, and then to configure any of over 100 components that may be attached, like sensors and buttons. There's even an automatic configuration option for any onboard components!
As well as accepting data, Adafruit IO can generate data too. Using Actions. IO can automatically respond and calculate, or with the IO+ paid upgrade you also gain access to Apple WeatherKit data (and other benefits).
Required Parts
In this project a Wi-Fi enabled Raspberry Pi Pico has been used (with headers for no soldering), mounted on a Terminal PiCowbell to give 40 screw terminals along with a reset button and Stemma QT connector!
For this project you'll want 4x Illuminated Push buttons, also known as Arcade Buttons (51mm Square version), and then either solder wires directly to the metal contacts on the arcade button switch units, or use four wires with spade connectors per switch unit.
If you only plan on using the free tier of Adafruit IO then you are limited to ten feeds. This guide uses 12 feeds, so you could use less Arcade Buttons, like 3 instead of 4, which would remain under the limit.
Or purchase individual Arcade buttons:
If you prefer to not solder wires directly to the metal contacts of the switch unit, use 0.25inch (~6.3mm) sized Spade connectors for the LED connection tabs, and 0.187" (~4.8mm) spade connectors for the button switch tabs, although I found the 6.3mm spades also worked fine for both as the switch tab increases width further back.
Adafruit sells some cables in packs of ten pairs, and you'll need a pair of both sizes for each arcade button.
The JST connectors on the other end are not used and will be cut off, but do offer a quick no-soldering solution. They are designed for the Arcade button STEMMA QT breakout (support coming to WipperSnapper Q4 2025).
Page last edited June 24, 2025
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