Have you wanted an LED that can fade from deep red to bright purple? Flash like a police light? Turn on with the subtle fade of an incandescent bulb? Flicker like a candle? That's BlinkM.
Using an ultra-bright wide-angle RGB LED attached to a microcontroller and BlinkM Sequencer — software that fuses a color picker with a drum machine — you program BlinkM to be any color, and blink and fade in virtually any pattern. When you've programmed your BlinkM, you unplug it and pop it into your project. Apply 5 volts, and it does its thing, whether that's glowing your favorite pinkish purple, or pulsing like an old neon light. All for under $15.
Quick Start requirements: No programming experience!
Arduino I/O board (not included, and you only need one to program any number of BlinkMs)
Advanced requirements: Any microcontroller (including BASIC Stamp, MAKE Controller, etc.)
OSX, Windows, Linux
Solderless breadboard
Experience programming Arduino, or similar
Software requirements:
OSX 10.3.9, Windows 2000, Linux
Java 1.5 or later (included with Windows installation)