Hello! Welcome to the party.
Don't have your FUnicorn yet? Get yours here or on Tindie!
Basic Instructions - How to Put it Together and Use it
(Beginner - no prior experience needed)
(Beginner - no prior experience needed)
View instuctions online, scroll to "Instructions":
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Download our printable datasheet:
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Base Kit Setup:
Full Kit Setup:
And even more!:
- Put it together
- Plug it in
- Touch the unicorn
Full Kit Setup:
- Assemble the FUnicorn and plug in the button
- Connect the FUnicorn to a USB power source
- Either touching the unicorn or pushing the button will trigger the message
- For battery operation: push the button and hold it until the flashing sequence is done. The horn will blink twice, indicating it's now in low power. Touching the unicorn will no longer work, it'll be button only. To restore touch operation, power cycle or press the blue button on the back of the board.
- For distance sensor operation: Check out our full instructions on Hackaday, you'll need to use the Arduino IDE to install the FUnicorn library, load the Social Distance code, and connect the following wires from the sensor to the FUnicorn: GND to GND, ECHO to pin13, TRIG to pin12, VCC to 3.3V. *Photo below for reference
And even more!:
- For voice activation: we've done this using a Raspberry Pi and the Google AIY Voice Kit and have detailed notes on Hackaday. Note that the AIY kits don't seem to be well-supported anymore, so it may take a bit of extra work on your part to get all the pieces working together.
How to Set Up the FUnicorn in the Arduino IDE, for Re-Programming
(Beginner to Intermediate - this can be your first programming project!)
That's also taken care of on Hackaday and in the datasheet, see links above. If it's your first time programming, there are a lot of great tutorials that will get you up and running on adafruit and arduino.cc. The FUnicorn is arduino-compatible, meaning it's a spin-off that you can work with in the Arduino environment. Some pins may have their own special FUnicorn function, but the basic function is all there!
(Beginner to Intermediate - this can be your first programming project!)
That's also taken care of on Hackaday and in the datasheet, see links above. If it's your first time programming, there are a lot of great tutorials that will get you up and running on adafruit and arduino.cc. The FUnicorn is arduino-compatible, meaning it's a spin-off that you can work with in the Arduino environment. Some pins may have their own special FUnicorn function, but the basic function is all there!
Hacking and Adding Parts to the FUnicorn
(Intermediate - some electronics knowledge needed)
Here are some documents that show how the FUnicorn is wired, and what parts are on the board. They're also in the "Files" section on Hackaday.
(Intermediate - some electronics knowledge needed)
Here are some documents that show how the FUnicorn is wired, and what parts are on the board. They're also in the "Files" section on Hackaday.
FUnicorn Schematic:
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FUnicorn Assembly Diagram:
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FUnicorn Bill of Materials:
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You can add practically anything to the FUnicorn, using the Arduino shield pattern on the back. Check out our blog post about soldering the headers.
Note that the digital i/o signal interface is 3.3V! This is lower than the UNO which has a 5V signal interface.
The FUnicorn is kind of a cross between these two boards:
Things particular to the FUnicorn that are different from an Arduino Mini or Uno:
Got Questions? Contact Us!
The FUnicorn is kind of a cross between these two boards:
- Arduino Pro Mini, 3.3V, 8MHz (except the FUnicorn has onboard USB)
- Adafruit Metro Mini 328 (except the FUnicorn processor voltage is 3.3V)
Things particular to the FUnicorn that are different from an Arduino Mini or Uno:
- The normal 5V pin is still 5V, but it's supplied by the USB connector. So no USB means no 5V.
- The IOREF pin is at 3.3V.
- AREF, and the SDA and SCL pins in the lower right corner, near D13, are NOT CONNECTED. You can solder jumper wires from other parts of the board to these pins if your shield needs them to operate. See the schematic, downloadable above.
- Several I/O are hardwired to things in the unicorn - its body parts, the LEDs, etc. We've tried to note anything hardwired as (in parens) next to the pin, but also take a look at the schematic before assuming a pin is free and wiring something to it.
Pins that are totally free are:- A2
- A3
- A4/SDA
- A5/SCL
- D5
- D6
- D7
- D12
- D13
- The ISP port is 5V tolerant. And you can use it with either a programmer than powers the board, or one that polls the board on that pin (like the old Atmel mkII or ICE). You're welcome!
Got Questions? Contact Us!