Welcome to VirtualBlob – a small interactive creature brought to life on an LED matrix. The device contains an LED matrix, a light sensor, and an accelerometer. Its purpose is to display a small creature that reacts to external motion. The project aims to realistically simulate the creature's behavior both physically and in terms of interactivity.
This project is an natural consequence of Adafriend, which I also built, with some minor modifications, but not well documented. Learning from that experience, I have now tried to document the project thoroughly so that it can be reproduced without issues. If you notice any inconsistencies or have questions, feel free to contact me.
VirtualBlob is a playful, educational project. It contains:
- 8x8 LED matrix displaying the creature
- Light sensors to detect surroundings
- Accelerometer to sense movement and tilting
- Touch sensor to user communicate
- Buzzer to user communicate
The blob is a soft solid simulation with boundaries on all edges. It reacts to motion: if tilted, it will crawl toward the nearest edge. The goal is to simulate both physical and behavioral responses realistically.
The project is organized into three modules, each as a Git submodule:
Mechanical– Enclosure and structural designHardware– PCBs, sensors, and electronicsSoftware– Blob simulation, LED control, and sensor management
Clone everything at once:
git clone --recursive https://github.com/MiCyg/VirtualBlob.gitIf already cloned without --recursive, initialize submodules:
git submodule update --init --recursiveMake changes in the respective module repository. Update the submodule pointer in the main repo after changes:
git add software hardware mechanical
git commit -m "Update submodules"
git push