Hiking Fleece Automatic Flashlight

These instructions will be focused on the coding aspect of the project. If you would like to make your own Pullover, I used the sewing pattern from Green Peppers for $8

• Adafruit circuit playground
• Completed Pullover 
• Thread
• Needle 
• Batteries

Go to https://makecode.adafruit.com/ and make a new project

Create a variable and name it “intensity” (this working together with the blue brightness block will make it possible to adjust the intensity of the flashlight late

Create a starting light level (you can experiment with the light levels in your  environment, I set it to greater than or equal to  100)

Set colors of pixels (I chose white for the main colors )

Make bright and dark functions

Create adjusting buttons

Add other features (this one makes a rainbow animation when both buttons A and B are pressed at the same time)

Using the cord that came with your adafruit device, plug in the circuit to the computer. You will then use the pink download in the bottom right of the screen and follow the instructions that pop up.

To avoid copyright infringement, I can’t show Step-by-Step how I made the fleece, but here are some work-in-progress photos. You can customize the project by using your own fabrics, buttons, and elastics. You can also use different colors when you code the flashlight if you wish.

The electronic component was tricky because there is no block in adafruit that measures the current brightness of the LEDS themselves, so I had to program another variable that will change based on the brightness of the environment. That’s why you have to use the “brightness” block and make another variable (In this case called “Intensity”. One tells the circuit what the light in the environment is and the other gives it a number that you then can set manually.

If you sew your own pullover, make sure to double and triple-check your plan before sewing to avoid unpicking as much as possible. I found myself sewing the wrong sides together, doing steps out of order, or just not sewing straight. This can mostly be avoided by pinning your work together beforehand.

Sew Circuit Playground on the side upper chest of the jacket. I used the pocket to hold the battery.

Credit to Patagonia for giving me the idea of a fleece and being expensive to motivate me to make it myself! The sewing materials cost only $36, but you can probably make it even cheaper if you shop for second-hand or discounted fabric :)