Adafruit Debuts FLORA, a Wearable Electronics Platform

If you’re a DIY electronics geek, Adafruit should be one of your favorite playgrounds. The open source hardware maker’s site offers a plethora of kits, parts, plans, and other electronic miscellany, and it recently announced FLORA, a wearable electronics platform.

FLORA is a tiny board that measures just 1.75 inches in diameter, and it’s based on Adafruit’s own Atmega32u4 Breakout Board and is compatible with Arduino. It comes with “addressable and chain-able 4,000 mcd RGB LED pixels and premium stainless steel thread”; if you’re not sure what that is, have a peek at the image below.

An example of addressable and chain-able 4,000 mcd RGB LED pixels and premium stainless steel thread

 

According to Adafruit, FLORA modules include Bluetooth, GPS, 3-axis accelerometer, compass module, flex sensor, piezo, IR LED, push button, embroidered + capacitive keypad, and OLED. The platform has built-in USB support in the form of a mini B port (though it may change to microUSB in future iterations), and it includes USB HID support, as well.

Adafruit founder Limor "Ladyada" Fried hard at work

FLORA has a reset button, 4 indicator LEDs, and 14 sewing tap pads for “attachment and electrical connections”. Adafruit will fully support FLORA and provide tutorials and projects for the platform.

Although it’s still in beta and not yet available for sale, you can sign up to receive a notification when the FLORA units are ready on Adafruit’s site.