It’s the most heart-themed day of the year: Valentine’s day. Whether you planned ahead, or you find yourself unprepared to bestow an appropriate gift on that special someone, it’s never to late to give a gift — or to treat yourself to one!
Here’s a look at some of the unique gear found on Tindie that will help you tell that special someone you love them. Pro-tip: If you did forget to secure a great gift, order now, give your loved one a picture of the kit and apologize for delayed shipping. You can relive the holiday once your package does arrive!
Heart-Shaped Led Chaser Kit
Everything is better with blinking LEDs! This heart features an array of 10 little lights that chase each other around a heart-shaped PCB. There are lots of uses for this little ornament, whether as a piece of jewelry or attached to a bouquet of roses. It uses a 555 timer and a decade counter to make the blinky lights go round and round.
Heart Gears
This “steampunk and sciency” heart-gear assembly is set up to turn its different lobes, deforming the heart until it finally returns to form when turned enough. This gift would make a great last-minute option, as it can also be 3D-printed based on files found here.
Solar Blinking Heart Does It With No Battery
LED chasers are nice, but if you’d like to forgo the battery, this heart pendant takes care of things via solar power. It can even function via indoor lighting due to its ultra low power design!
Heart-Rate Break Breakout
What says hearts/Valentine’s Day more than a pulse oximeter and heart-rate breakout board? This device lets you obtain this data and pass it to a microcontroller via I2C, letting you devise your own heart-based gift using only a few wires!
I Heart Tech T-Shirt
This “I HEART TECH” shirt shows off your passion for tech in a red t-shirt emblazoned with a golden heart-shaped circuit board. Foil glasses are, of course, optional.
Double Heart Blinky LED Kit
Let’s be honest, Valentine’s day (and every day) for hackers is all about blinking lights. This blinky solder kit is by far the most involved on this list, and features 85 LEDs arranged in a hearts/arrow pattern, all powered by an STC12C5A60S2 microcontroller. This gives it the ability to produce 15 animations, and even has a buzzer for playing your sweetheart’s favorite tunes!
Don’t have that special someone in your life right now? You could always buy one of these items in anticipation so you’ll be ready when the time comes, or simply get one for yourself, a family member, or a pet. While Fido might not act like he appreciates wearing a blinking badge around his neck, we’re sure he doesn’t mean it. If this type of thing does look interesting, but you didn’t see quite what you’re looking for, we have even more stuff available with a search for the term “heart”.
