FLORA - Wearable electronic platform: Arduino-compatible - v3 - (AD20357)

Description:

FLORA is Adafruit's fully featured wearable electronics platform. It's a round, sewable, Arduino-compatible microcontroller designed to empower amazing wearable projects. FLORA comes with Adafruit's support, tutorials, and projects. Check out dozens of FLORA tutorials on the Adafruit Learning System, with new ones added constantly!

The FLORA is small (1.75" diameter and weighs 4.4 grams). The FLORA family also features best-of-class stainless steel sew pads, sensors, GPS modules, and chainable NeoPixel LEDs, perfect accessories to the FLORA main board.

The FLORA has onboard USB support. With onboard USB, you just plug it in to program it, and it just shows up: all you need is a Micro-B USB cable, no additional purchases! We have a modified version of the Arduino IDE so Mac & Windows users can get started quickly. With the new Arduino 1.6.4+ IDE, Flora support takes only seconds. The FLORA is USB HID compatible, so it can act as a mouse or keyboard to connect directly to computers.

FLORA has a small but easy-to-use onboard reset button to reset the system. The power supply is designed to be flexible and easy to use. It features a 2 JST polarized battery connector with Schottky diode protection for use with external battery packs from 3.5V to 16V DC input. Can be used with LiIon/LiPoly, LiFe, Alkaline, or rechargeable NiMh/NiCad batteries of any size. The FLORA does not include a LiPo charger by design, which allows for safe use with multiple battery types and reduces the risk of fire since these batteries are not meant to be charged on fabric. If you want to use LiPo batteries with FLORA, we recommend one of our micro-LiPo chargers.

FLORA features an onboard power switch connected to a 2A FET for safe and efficient on/off control of your battery pack, allowing you to power many battery packs without burning out your switch. The FLORA has an onboard 3.3V 250mA regulator with protection diode and USB fuse so that the microcontroller voltage is consistent and can power common 3.3V modules and sensors.

We spent a lot of time on the power supply, as the FLORA power system is specifically designed to make it easy to control and power many addressable NeoPixels. Flora can easily drive 50 pixels directly from the onboard power supply. Power supply, or up to 500 with the pixels powered externally by a separate 5V supply.

• FLORA is fabric-friendly: all onboard components are flush with the PCB and won't snag delicate garments (no FTDI connector used).
• FLORA is extremely beginner friendly: it's hard to damage it by wiring a battery backward thanks to its polarized connector and protection diodes. The onboard regulator ensures that even connecting a 9V battery won't cause damage or breakage.
• FLORA features 4 indicator LEDs: power good, digital signal LED for bootloader feedback and data receive/transmit. It also features an ICSP connector for easy reprogramming for advanced users. Flora v2 even features an RGB NeoPixel for even more colorful lighting.
• There are 14 sew pads for electrical and accessory connections. Data buses are interlaced with power and ground pads for easy attachment of modules and sensors without worrying about overlapping traces, which is impossible with conductive thread.
• As of July 7th In 2016, we sell Flora v3 with alligator clip compatible pads.
• FLORA works seamlessly with the Arduino IDE and is very easy to set up, compatible with IDE 1.6.4 or later.

FLORA is not the first Arduino-compatible wearable. Leah Buechley's Lilypad was developed in 2007, and while both are round, FLORA is an entirely new platform that works seamlessly with its accessories.

FLORA is made in Adafruit, New York, and was designed by Limor Fried (Ladyada), Adafruit's founder and engineer. Adafruit has a proven track record of providing over 100 high-quality Arduino/Arduino IDE libraries, hundreds of tutorials, open-source code, and contributions to the Arduino project. Ladyada was a member of MIT's wearables group and enjoys sewing.

You can get an off-white or black JST connector.

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