This guide will help you create a compact sized umbrella stand that will warn you of incoming rain. This project explores how to combine WipperSnapper firmware with Adafruit IO Actions and the IO+ Weather Power-Up to change the colors of a NeoPixel strip based on forecasted (and current) weather conditions.

What is WipperSnapper?

WipperSnapper is a firmware designed to turn any WiFi-capable board into an Internet-of-Things device without programming a single line of code. WipperSnapper connects to Adafruit IO, a web platform designed (by Adafruit!) to display, respond, and interact with your project's data.

Simply load the WipperSnapper firmware onto your board, add credentials, and plug it into power. Your board will automatically register itself with your Adafruit IO account.

From there, you can add components to your board such as buttons, switches, potentiometers, sensors, and more! Components are dynamically added to hardware, so you can immediately start interacting, logging, and streaming the data your projects produce without writing code.

Parts

First thing you will need to do is wire everything up so you can connect to Adafruit IO, install the WipperSnapper firmware, and test everything out. This project is as easy as hooking up 3 wires to the Sparkle Motion. This wiring uses the Sparkle Motion Stick and pin 21.

To get started, you can snip off the JST connector from the NeoPixel strip and connect up to the Sparkle Motion as shown below. Later a longer wire will be soldered to allow installation of the NeoPixels inside of a 3D print.

• Connect the black NeoPixel Ground wire to the Sparkle Motion GND screw terminal
• Connect the green NeoPixel Signal wire to the Sparkle Motion 21 screw terminal
• Connect the red NeoPixel power wire to the Sparkle Motion 5V screw terminal.

Assuming you have already gone through the WipperSnapper Setup page and connected your board to WipperSnapper, navigate to the WipperSnapper board list.

On this page, select the WipperSnapper board you just connected.

• If you do not see your board listed - go back to the WipperSnapper Setup Page and make sure it registers with Adafruit.io

On the device page, quickly check that your device is online and is running the latest version of the WipperSnapper firmware.

The device tile on the left indicates the version number of the firmware running on the connected board.

• If the firmware version is green with a checkmark - continue with this guide.
• If the firmware version is red with an "X" - update to the latest WipperSnapper firmware on your board before continuing.

Adding Components

When you are on the new Barometer device page, start by adding the barometric pressure sensor. Click on either the New Component Button, or the big + icon in the middle of the page.

In the pop-up, search for NeoPixel and click on the NeoPixel option to get to the set-up screen.

On the next page, you will want to choose D21 from the NeoPixel Pin dropdown. Then change the Number of Pixels to 30 (that is how many are on this NeoPixel strip). You can leave the rest of the information set to the default.

Your Devices page should now look like this:

The next step will set up the Adafruit IO Actions to get this all to work.

Before you can use the Weather Power-Up, you need to first add a location to the Power-Up. On the top navigation bar, click the 'Power-Ups' link. Then click on the 'Get Started' button under Weather

Next, click the blue + Add Location button.

Enter in the latitude and longitude of your location separated by a comma, then name that location. You can use a website like this one to help you find your location's latitude and longitude.

Then click the Create button to save your new location. Once you have a location saved, you can move on to the next step.

In the top navigation click on the Actions link, then on the next page click the 'New Action' button.

In the pop-up, name your action Umbrella Project (or whatever you want to call it), and describe what your action will do. In this case 'If it's raining, turn NeoPixels blue'

Here is how you will want to set up your action. Set it up to trigger the action every 5 minutes. Then if there is rain coming in the next hour, turn the NeoPixels a light blue color, and if it is actively raining, turn the NeoPixels a dark blue color. If there is no rain incoming, turn off the NeoPixels.

Once you have your new Adafruit IO Action set up like above, click the Save and Run button.

If you have access to a 3D printer, you can download the files below and print the custom umbrella holder. I would print with a translucent filament (I used a clear PETG filament). You will then want to solder longer wires to the NeoPixel strip wires so you can install the strip in the walls of the print.

I used a chopstick to get the wire through the little hole at the bottom and to slide the NeoPixel strip into place, then just pressure fit the top on. That's it! Not the fanciest design, but it works quite well.

Plug your Sparkle Motion back in, and the next time it rains, your umbrella stand should light up blue!