Adafruit Gemma

If you're looking to create some e-textile madness, then look no further than the Adafruit Gemma! This little microprocessor is an Arduino board which can be sewed into your clothing, your pencil case, hat or wherever you want! STEM @ Churchlands has a few Gemmas for students to play with as well as some conductive thread and sew-on lights.

Getting Started:

The most difficult part of getting started with the Adafruit Gemma is installing the correct software. The good news is that once you have set it up, you won't have to do it again.

1) Make sure you have installed the Arduino IDE Software. Click here for more info.

2) Make sure you have installed the AdaFruit Gemma (trinket) drivers. Click here for more info.

3) In the Arduino IDE, you need to add support for the Gemma Board. To do this, do the following:

a) In File --> Preferences - There is a box titled "Additional Boards Manager URLs". Paste this:

http://chamois.github.io/webfiles/package_adafruit_index.json

b) Tools --> Board --> Board Manager and find the "Adafruit AVR addon" and click "Install":

c) In Tools --> Select Board: "Adafruit Gemma (ATtiny85 @ 8MHz)"

d) In Tools --> Select Programmer: "USBtinyISP"

4) Ok! Plug in your board and test by uploading the in-built example code "Blink". Remember you must upload the program in the first 5-10 seconds of the board being switched on (just press the reset button on the board just before you click "download"

If you get no errors uploading, and your board's in-built light flashes on and off forever, you're good to go!