littleBits : creativity that works

littleBits are color-coded “bits” that snap together magnetically to make it easy for children and adults to build simple circuits and inventive projects in seconds ; from flickering lanterns to piggy banks to light-sensitive cars. Founded by MIT graduate and TED Senior Fellow Ayah Bdeir, littleBits wants to make learning about electronics more fun and accessible to spark the world’s next generation of inventors. The growing community of Bitsters ranges from designers, artists and museums to parents, schools and after-school programs.

littleBits is an opensource library of electronic modules that snap together with tiny magnets for prototyping, learning, and fun. littleBits consists of tiny circuit-boards with specific functions engineered to snap together with magnets. No soldering, no wiring, no programming, just snap together for prototyping, learning and fun. Each bit has a specific function (light, sound, sensors, buttons, thresholds, pulse, motors, etc), and modules snap to make larger circuits. Just as lego allows you to create complex structures with very little engineering knowledge, littleBits are small, simple, intuitive, blocks that make creating with sophisticated electronics a matter of snapping small magnets together.

When you order a kit online, the shimmering purple box that arrives will look more like a box of chocolates than circuitry. That’s part of the fun: dissolving the aura of inaccessibility that surrounds engineering. Inside, neon-colored Bits range from USB power sources to solar panels to sound sensors. The sets are designed to get people making right away. Anything. A light-up Halloween costume, say, or a remote control car, or a blender. In place of step-by-step guides or goals, the company has an online community of LittleBits owners who upload videos of their creations and troubleshoot what they’re working on. The bits themselves can be bought in sets, but you can also buy individual bits to suit your interests, and suggest new bits for the company’s ever-growing offerings. Since it’s an open-source project, you could also just download the circuit diagrams from GitHub and make the bits yourself. [1]

[1] Ref. http://www.fastcodesign.com/1671454/littlebits-a-starter-kit-for-aspiring-engineers-and-makers#1