Brand / Manufacturer

Electronic Cats

Manufacturer Part #

EC-001

Product Description

Welcome People!

Meow Meow is a electronic board that allows you to connect different objects to a computer and interact with it, since you can convert many everyday objects into touch panels that send signals to the computer, and allows you to use it as a conventional keyboard,  you can even connect them to the internet!

Meow Meow was designed by Electronic Cats and wants to encourage experimentation, both for beginners and experts, who want to interact with the real world (physical) and with digital world. For this reason, it can be applied in visual and arts, music... engineering, etc. Even, for purposes of physical rehabilitation and related to the interaction between man and technology.

What can I do?

The possibilities are so many, that it only depends on you. Using it is as easy as loading a web page with the application of a piano that you can play with your conventional keyboard, but what if instead of using the keys on your keyboard, you could use something more fun, like bananas, or apples or even several people? Now do the same but with an online game like PacMan that you can control with arrows that you have drawn with pencil on paper!

Meow Meow includes everything you need to make it work: a Meow Meow Card and 10 alligator cables and a USB cable.

How it works? 

Meow Meow uses capacitance sensors to detect when a connection has been made, even with materials that are not as conductive, such as sheets of paper, play dough or people. Meow Meow can act like a keyboard or a mouse and includes ten input connections on the front, which can be attached via alligator-tipped cables or any other electrical conductor you can think of. It also has another ten input connections on the back, four for SPI, two for I2C, two serial ports and two for I2S, you can access all these ports through jumpers or by means of expansion cards (which we will call Backpacks) .

Imagine that you connect an apple to the Meow Meow and then connect the board to the computer. Connect an apple to one of the Meow Meow input connections and then connect the card to a USB port on your computer, your Meow Meow card will be recognized as an ordinary keyboard (or mouse). Now, when you touch the apple, the computer will detect as if it were an oppressed key. Meow Meow works with all operating systems, programs and web pages, since it emulates a normal keyboard.

Who is Meow Meow for?

It is really for everyone: artists, children, educators, engineers, designers, inventors, creators and more.

What materials work with Meow Meow?

It can work with any material that conducts a little electricity. Here we tell you some examples that the assistants of our workshops have used: Ketchup, pencil graphite, finger paint, lemons, and many more!

Other materials that works very well are: plants, coins, cutlery, everything that is wet, most of the food, aluminum foil, water and hundreds of things that we have not yet tried, but that you can try and share.

The kit contains: 

• 1 Meow Meow Electronic Board 
• 1 Micro USB Cable 
• 1 Meow Meow sticker 
• 10 Small alligator clip

Education 

The Meow Meow is an ideal resource to be used in education, since it allows children, young and not so young, to apply their knowledge to generate creative and ingenious projects. From playing video games, going through digital music with very rare objects from the real world, to programming interactions with LEDs, motors and even small robots. Users can venture into areas such as Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics (STEAM) by encouraging creativity and solving small mathematical or logical problems. In addition, it can serve to venture into areas such as electronics, programming and robotics, since it is very easy to connect motors, screens and programs that allow interaction depending on what the student decides to do. Thanks to the maker movement, today Meow Meow users can explore, learn and create in an easy and fun way.

Block programming with MakeCode

Meow Meow supports being programmed through the Microsoft MakeCode platform, which allows people of all ages and environments to program the Meow Meow to add new sensors and actuators connected to their pins. The interface allows you to experiment in real time with loops, events and complex programming behaviors. We have tested the application with children of all ages (and adults as well) to make it the smoothest introduction to electronic circuit programming.

Programming with Arduino

It is ideal for those who are programming and want to move to the next level and / or for those who have more advanced knowledge in this topic. Meow Meow is fully compatible with the Arduino software platform and all its available libraries for adding sensors and actuators to the board. It is easy to integrate using the Arduino Board Manager with a compatible preloaded bootloader.

Open Hardware

All hardware and software will be fully open, available to study and modify in accordance with the Certification OSHWA MX0003.

Repository and manual: https://github.com/ElectronicCats/MeowMeow/wiki

“Backpacks” or Expansión 

By now, we focus on the Meow Meow to get it out as quickly as possible, but we have planned a complete line of integrated accessories called backpacks. These, will give the Meow Meow even more capabilities, such as: A communication module to allow multiple Meow Meow to communicate with each other directly. A bluetooth communication module and battery so you can connect it to your computer without having a USB cable. Meow Meow is an extensible platform that allows you to create and add your own accessories with a 3D printer and hardware designed by yourself to be free hardware.

Technical aspects:

• Entrada de alimentación: 3.5V-6.0V 
• VCC: 800mA @3.3V SAMD21G18 
•  VCC:1.62-3.63V 
•  Arm Cortex-M0 + (32-bit) 
•  Flash: 256KB 
•  SRAM: 32KB 
•  ADC: 12-bit 

• Links

  External Website

Unit Deliverable

1 meow meow board, 10 alligator cables, cable usb, sticker, all in one box

Unit Price

$37.19

Availability

Not available / campaign Unsuccessful, end date: Sun, 02 Jun 2019 08:00:00 PDT

Lead Time

60 Days after campaign end date