Turn yourself or someone you love into a magical animatronic rainbow unicorn.  

The little girl in your life will very likely refuse to ever take this hat off.  (But you can wear it yourself while she's sleeping. We won't tell anyone).  

A joystick in the pocket controls servos inside the ears, and the Circuit Playground's onboard LEDs animate the magical glowing rainbow unicorn horn.  

We've kept this project fairly simple -- it's a great first step into the world of robotics and servos.  This technique will work on any animal hat with attached ears, so if your inner animal is a panda or a fox or some other critter, go nuts.  The world is your animatronic playground.

1 x Circuit Playground Classic
The Amazing Circuit Playground Board
2 x Micro Servos
Tiny motors to drive the ears
1 x Joystick
Analog 2-axis Thumb Joystick with Button
1 x Silicone Stranded Wire
26 awg wire in 3-4 colors
1 x Perma-Proto Breadboard
Half Size Breadboard

To use standard AA batteries (safer, recommended if this will be worn by a child):

1 x AA Battery Holder
4xAA Battery Holder with Switch

or, for rechargeable power (longer life but slight fire hazard, use with knowledge of the risks):

1 x LiPoly Battery
Rechargeable 2500 mAh Battery
1 x On/Off Switch
Battery Extension Cable with On/off switch
1 x Battery Charger
Charger for LiPoly Battery

Other Materials

Tools

  • Soldering iron & accessories
  • 3d Printer (optional)
  • Heat Gun
  • Hot Glue gun or E6000 glue
  • Needle & thread

This guide was first published on Jun 16, 2017. It was last updated on Jun 16, 2017.

This page (Introduction) was last updated on Jun 12, 2017.

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