Be Still My Beating LittleBits Heart

Show your significant other when you are thinking of them by sending a text, causing their littlebits heart to flutter. Or just express your love for electronics.

Things you need:
Littlebits: USB power, USB power cable and plug, cloudbit, leds, timeout, pulse, sequencer, envelope, mounting board

Paper/card (red) /pens/tape/glue etc. (craft supplies)

Craft knife/scissors

Phone/computer to send SMS or email

Person willing to receive a soppy present.

Step 1: ​Set Up the Cloudbit by Going to the Littlebits Website

Step 2: Make an IFTTT Recipe (If This, Then That: a Simple Pre-written Code Platform).

I used IF sms sent to your littlebits phone number from your own phone number, THEN activate output of cloudbit.

Step 3: Test Functionality of the IFTTT Recipe

Connect littlebits: power→ cloudbit→ led. The light should turn on when you send a text to the number in the IFTTT recipe.

Step 4: Assemble Littlebits on a Mounting Board.

Attach usb power→ cloudbit→ timeout→ pulse→ sequencer→ envelope→ leds. Attach the envelope bit at position 6 on the sequencer. Set the sequencer to speed mode and pendulum to turn on the led in the rhythm of a beating heart. Use a small littlebits screwdriver to change the frequency of the pulse and the length of the timeout. Increasing the pulse frequency will make the heart beat faster, and increasing the timeout will make the heart beat for longer. Change the settings on the envelope so the heart pulses rather than flashes on and off.

Step 5: Make a Heart

Cut out a heart in red card and stick the led behind it, so it glows. Add a translucent layer of tissue paper to diffuse the light. Add more leds if needed. Alternatively you could put the littlebits in a box and make a heart cutout. Give it to your favourite person to put on their desk or in their house.