Hans is the 'old man' of the group. He tends to be nervous and is often indecisive. Hans frequently changes his mind, and is a little fidgety (he oscillates) when he's not moving around. He is very meticulous and precise in other ways; Hans does not like to compromise, preferring to be in a steady state until a dramatic change is called for. Hans speaks with the voice of a kindly old man with a Swiss-German accent, though his voice...

Mho has a laid back, passive personality. He likes to do as little work as possible, and prefers to simply let the world happen around him. Mho is kind of a hippy, and is very quiet and gentle. He is best friends with Ruby, the red LED, who shares his idealism, though he's often reluctant to go off with her on her adventures because he thinks they will probably end up in trouble. Mho has sort of a nasally, hippie voice (California accent,...

Cappy is the de facto leader of the group. He is always coming up with crazy schemes. A running joke is that his capacitance value changes depending on his mood. Cappy speaks in a West County English accent (a traditional 'pirate' accent). His catchphrase is "smooth sailing." About Electrolytic Caps: The underlying concept of electrolytic capacitors was discovered in 1886 by Charles Pollk, who received a patent in 1897 for a...

Connie is the co-leader of the group with Cappy. Connie is much more level-headed though, and somewhat of mother figure for the others, particularly Ruby and Billie. She is very thorough, remarkably smart, and has a good heart. She is very dedicated to the others and acts as a balance to the zaniness of Cappy and Ruby. Connie is able to handle Hans' indecision, Ruby's hyperactivity, Billie's soulful blueness and Cappy's...

Ruby is the ingenue of the group, and something of a Pollyanna. She is the youngest, the most talkative, and gets easily excited about everything. Ruby has a lot of energy and she's always ready to go on an adventure. Ruby's wanderlust sometimes gets her in trouble. Her best friend is Mho, the resistor, who shares her idealism without sharing her urgency or naiveté. Ruby speaks with a super excited young girl's voice who talks...

Gus is the smartest member of the group, but also the most coarse. Gus is the closest thing to an engineer in the group: he is pragmatic, realistic and somewhat world-weary, but not a total downer. He will sometimes cut people off mid-sentence because he is impatient, not because he's trying to be mean or rude. Gus will occasionally make pithy observations that shed light on some problem or other. He is sort of an older brother to Ruby. Gus...

A black box arrives in the mail.  It's a Cupcade, from Adafruit and you've been anxiously waiting for it.  You rush to your workbench, switch on your soldering iron, and take out your kit.  But there's something missing. It's not a component.  Or a tool.  Or a broken link in one of our tutorials.  There's no soundtrack. No problem, you stroll over to the record player at the far side of...

Billie doesn't just sing the blues, she lives the blues. Billie has a good heart, but she can be a total downer. She always sees glass as half-empty (even when it's full), and doesn't like to try new things. Billie has a big-sister relationship with Ruby, and admires her enthusiasm. Billie sings and speaks in a rough and breathy alto. Her catchphrase is "it's enough to make a girl feel kinda blue…", typically...