Candles have lit our world for millennia, but with the proliferation of easily accessible USB ports, perhaps we might reconsider our lighting options. The ATtiny Candle kits by Sonocotta doesn’t use fire or generate smoke, but instead plug into a USB port as a compact ATiny development board.
These boards come in three distinct flavors: one with an ATitiny13 and 4 RGB LEDs; a second with an ATtiny85 and 6 RGB LEDs; and a third with an ’85, an OLED screen, and an RTC clock module. Onboard buttons are available for user interface, and the ATtiny85 versions can be programmed over USB. They’re even compatible with programs written for the Digistump Digispark board. The ATtiny13 version will require a programmer, as it’s using a slightly less capable microcontroller.
Each of these devices could work nicely plugged into a portable USB power supply, or even semi-permanently attached to a USB-capable outlet. The OLED version could be especially useful as a clock, but given their USB stick-like form factor, the possibilities of what could be made with them are endless! More info on the devices, along with example code, is available on GitHub. And yes, there is an actual candle example for you to try out!
