littleBits Input Modules

The button Bit is a classic: big, round and springy for comfortable pressing! Push to turn your creation on, and release to turn it off. Snap a buzzer in place after your button to sound out signals in morse code! The button module will make or break the signal path between two modules. When the button is pressed, the output of the module is directly connected to the signal line input. When not pressed the output of the module is weakly pulled low through a 1meg resistor.

The littleBits envelope modifies the loudness contour of a sound. It takes a sound input and shapes it into something you'd hear from an acoustic musical instrument, like a piano or saxophone. This envelope has two controls: "attack", which is how long it takes to ramp up to maximum volume, and "decay", which is how long it takes to go down to silence again. You can use its third bitSnap[TM] to trigger the envelope from different sources, like the keyboard. [Try it putting the envelope after an oscillator being controlled by a micro sequencer.]

The littleBits light sensor measures how much light is shining on it. It has two modes: “light” and “dark”. In “light” mode, the more light shines on the sensor, the higher the signal it sends out. In “dark” mode, it's just the opposite – the signal increases the darker it gets. You can use a screwdriver to adjust the sensitivity. Use a bargraph to see how it's working!

The motion trigger is similar to the sensor on an automatic door: when someone is moving nearby, it sends an ON signal to the following Bits. It's very sensitive, so don't breathe unless you want to be detected! Try it with some LEDs to create a security light!

The pressure sensor is a touch-activated module; give its pad a little squeeze to activate it. The more pressure you apply, the more signal it sends out. Put it in front of a vibration motor to control how much it shakes!

The proximity sensor Bit senses objects in front of it. It can sense if an object is far or near. Try using it to create your own self-navigating car, or a hands-free instrument!

The pulse Bit is like an electronic heartbeat. It sends out a stream of short ON signals, and you can make the speed of the pulses faster or slower using the included screwdriver. It's great for making LEDs blink!

The remote trigger lets you use a common remote control with your modules. Make your littleBits circuit and point your remote control at the remote trigger’s sensor. Then, press any button on your remote control to activate the module. The remote trigger will work with almost any button on a remote that uses infrared light to send signals.

It functions just like a light dimmer you might find at home, or a volume fader in a recording studio. Follow it with an LED for some adjustable mood lighting.

The sound trigger listens to the noise level in your room, and sends an ON signal when it gets over a certain level. You can make that threshold louder or softer using the included screwdriver. We like to use it with an LED to light up your room when you snap your fingers. The sound trigger features an electret microphone that triggers a 5V output when the set threshold is reached. The output of the module will remain high for 3 seconds. If the input signal is high, the module functionality is enabled. If the input signal is low, the module function is disabled.

The littleBits temperature sensor responds to the temperature surrounding its probe. The higher the temperature it senses, the more signal it sends out. The temperature sensor determines temperature via the IC that is located on top of the board. It communicates via I2C with an MCU located on the bottom of the board. The MCU gets a temperature reading in Celcius, applies a hysteresis to the reading, then converts it to farenheit if necessary. The final determined temperature is converted to a number module readable analog value. Every 50mV on the output of the bitsnap represents a single degree in either Farenheit or Celcius. Since heat will conduct through the board itself, there are slots around around the temperature sensor which provide thermal relief from board conductivity. Not Waterproof: littleBits are not waterproof. Please do not put the temperature sensor in your mouth to take your temperature. Plus, they taste weird so you will wish you hadn’t.

Think of the littleBits threshold as a toll booth for signal passing through your circuit. The threshold compares the incoming voltage coming from the bit snapped before it against the voltage amount you’ve set by the threshold knob. If the incoming voltage value is greater than the selected voltage, the threshold will allow the signal to pass and activate any bits (lights, motors, etc…) following it. If not, then nothing will be activated. Use it to make any sensor module into a trigger module! The threshold is a minimum parts count design, using only a single opamp to accomplish the task of comparing the input signal to an onboard reference that is set via the potentiometer control. U1 is configured as a non-inverting comparator with approximately 100mV of hysteresis provided by R1 and R3. VR1 provides the comparator's reference. C1 is a bypass capacitor for U1 that sources current to the opamp during fast switching events.

The toggle switch Bit is sturdy on/off switch that you can use to activate your creations with a nice, solid click. Try using it after a USB power Bit as an on/off switch for your whole creation.