Items Tag › RIT Make Club Idea Stream

I posted to hackaday.com

Cardboard Androids

http://hackaday.com/2010/03/08/cardboard-androids/

Who needs expensive acrylic based, microcontrolled robots with only a few sensors available when cardboard and an Android cellphone will work much better for much less in cost! The team over at Cellbots have done just that. While they did cheat a little by using a laser cut cardboard for exact measurements and including an Arduino to control the servos, they certainly attained their goal of “cheap” (assuming the already had the cellphone). We’re just wondering why it took them 4 weeks for a little CAD and code.

Regardless, one idea that immediately comes to mind is thousands hundreds a few little cardboard swarm bots ravaging homes everywhere, just don’t step on them.

[Thanks Mashable]
- Tags:
- android
- arduino
- robot
- servo
- cardboard
- arduino hacks
- android hacks
March 8 2010, 5:50pm | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

Don’t worry occifer, there is no blood in my alcohol!

http://hackaday.com/2010/03/07/dont-worry-occifer-there-is-no-blood-in-my-alchohol/

[Daniel] wrote up a quick tutorial on interfacing with the MQ-3, or better known Breathalyzer from SparkFun with Arduino. While we would have used perhaps an op-amp/comparator based system and kept it in a much smaller package, the idea was so quick and simple and enjoyable we hoped an article might keep some hackers from drinking and driving.

[Thanks CletustheYokel for pointing out our silly category mistake.]
- Tags:
- sparkfun
- alcohol
- arduino hacks
- simple
- breathalyzer
- drink
- mq-3
- quick
March 7 2010, 5:37pm | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

Shiftbrite coffee table

http://hackaday.com/2010/02/25/shiftbrite-coffee-table/

Here’s a project we’ve been wanting to do for a while. Over at macetech.com they’ve posted an LED coffee table that uses a 9×9 RGB LED grid. For the LEDs, they used the shiftbrite modules we’ve seen before. The table is capable of displaying pre written patterns as well as accepting patterns from a computer via bluetooth. They’ve set it up to connect to a twitter feed and display to a live cam on their site. Though we would love to reproduce this, we need a little more justification than “ooooh, shiny” for the funds involved. Anyone want to donate 100 shiftbrights?
- Tags:
- home hacks
- led
- shiftbrite
- arduino hacks
- led hacks
February 25 2010, 8:57am | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

Ultimate flame bait: liquid cooled Arduino

http://hackaday.com/2010/02/16/ultimate-flame-bait-liquid-cooled-arduino/

We do so many things around here just because “we can”. Though this guy cites this as his reason, we somehow can’t help but wonder if he’s doing it just to troll the Arduino hating crowd. He has decided to overclock his Arduino by replacing the crystal and dropping it in some non conductive liquid coolant. Can you guess what sketch he’s running? That’s right, he’s blinking an LED.

Normally we would point out that we have no preference when it comes to Arduino. We simply post what is submitted. Though we are often accused of being Arduino lovers, it is simply just another tool to us. We sometimes delete obnoxious comments that get off topic, threatening, or vulgar because that’s just good house keeping. That being said, we know what to expect here. Go ahead, bash the Arduino. Get it out of your systems. Just keep it non offensive or it will be moderated.

[thanks jfreak09]
- Tags:
- arduino
- arduino hacks
- overclock
February 16 2010, 2:59pm | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

Arduino helps you ski Copper

http://hackaday.com/2010/02/11/arduino-helps-you-ski-copper/

[Dwight's] been working on a long-term project to add a status board for the ski runs at Copper Mountain ski resort. The board will feature an 8×8 LED module for each run that displays a green O for open trails, a green G for groomed trails, and a red X for closed trails. He’s also got a status board with LEDs embedded in a trail map.

The system relies on SPI for each LED module. An Arduino Mega uses a Xbee module to pull down XML data wirelessly and display it on this board. Since the trail report is already available online it’s just a matter of parsing the data in a useful way.

He’s not quite done with the whole thing yet, but keep an eye out for it if you are planning to ski Copper Mountain.

[via Tom's Guide]
- Tags:
- led
- arduino hacks
- arduino mega
- led hacks
- sign
- 8x8
- copper mountain
- trail report
February 11 2010, 8:57am | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

The day after Arduino

http://hackaday.com/2010/02/10/the-day-after-arduino/

There will come a day in every budding hacker’s life that they realize that plopping an entire arduino in their project and leaving it there is a bit of a waste. [Domiflichi] realized this, and has shared his next steps with us. He takes us through the process of removing the ATMega chip and breadboarding it for final use.

For many of you, this is an obvious chain of events. However, there are also many who just haven’t ventured forward and taken this one step that will forever change how their projects are seen by the hacking world. For the anti-arduino crowd, realize that this is an opportunity not to bash a useful tool but to help nurture and lead people to the next step.
- Tags:
- arduino
- breadboard
- arduino hacks
February 10 2010, 9:31am | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

CueCat, meet Arduino

http://hackaday.com/2010/02/10/cuecat-meet-arduino/

Have you ever felt like you needed a portable barcode scanner around the house? No? Well, [Mkanoap] did, so he made one. He has hooked his CueCat up to his Arduino to capture barcode data and store it on an SD card. He is using it as an inventory tool for his personal library. Where before he had to carry a laptop around to do his scanning, or lug the books to his desk, he now just scans wherever he pleases.

You may notice some silly sounds dubbed over the video. Take note, these are the actual sounds it plays. The camera didn’t pick them up well enough, so he dubbed them in. You wouldn’t want to miss out on the entire experience would you?
- Tags:
- home hacks
- arduino
- arduino hacks
- scan
- cuecat
February 10 2010, 8:29am | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

Putting on a show in the rain

http://hackaday.com/2010/02/07/putting-on-a-show-in-the-rain/

Let’s face it, walking around in the rain sucks. [Matth3w] is trying to add a little whimsy to an unpleasant experience by adding an LED matrix to his umbrella. The array contains 80 LEDs that are individually addressable. This is a mutiplexed array that relies on a MIC2981 source driver for the eight rows (or rings in this case), with the ten columns handled by the Arduino. The effect is quite nice as you can see in the video after the break. Now that he’s proven this works, you might want to etch your own PCB in order to get rid of the Arduino board and prototyping shield, making it easier to waterproof the control circuitry. This would make a nice addition to your illuminated umbrella stock.
- Tags:
- led
- multiplex
- lifehacks
- arduino hacks
- led hacks
- umbrella
- arudino
- MIC2981
February 7 2010, 1:00pm | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

Update: Adafruit Eagle library, now with Arduino

http://hackaday.com/2010/02/06/update-adafruit-eagle-library-now-with-arduino/

Adafruit Industries has just added an Arduino shield footprint to their EagleCAD library. If you don’t know, the Arduino headers use non-standard pin spacing. Learn to deal with it, there’s too many Arduino shields in production to have any hope for a change in the future. This footprint should make it a lot easier to design your own boards. If you use this package make sure you’re getting the library from their github, they’ve been adding parts regularly. Setting up version control will make sure you always have the latest libraries.

[Thanks pt]
- Tags:
- adafruit
- tool-hacks
- shield
- library
- arduino hacks
- EagleCad
February 6 2010, 12:10pm | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

Arduino to Nintendo DS interface

http://hackaday.com/2010/02/05/arduino-to-nintendo-ds-interface/

[Hounjini] was poking around at the Game Boy Advanced bus of his Nintendo DS lite and figured out how to use it to connect an Arduino to the DS. For testing he’s soldered an IDC plug to the cartridge cover pin interface but this only requires four connections. The Arduino can both send and receive data from the DS lite as shown in the example videos after the break. The data access is made possible by making the Arduino look like a controller that the DS is happy to talk to.

[Thanks Christian]
- Tags:
- arduino
- nintendo
- ds
- arduino hacks
- nintendo hacks
- ds lite
- gba
February 5 2010, 10:33am | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

Game controllers using USB host shield

http://hackaday.com/2010/02/01/game-controllers-using-usb-host-shield/

Circuits@Home has put together some libraries that make it easy to use gaming controllers with an Arduino. They interface through the USB host shield. This means that PS3 controllers connect via USB through a cable or a dongle. With the Wii remote things get a little more interesting. A Bluetooth dongle is used to make the connection wirelessly. What we have here is a cheap and easy way to add Bluetooth connectivity to your projects either through the USB Host shield, or by building your own hardware with the schematics and code that are available from Circuits@Home. There are several pages that walk you through the protocols using as well as a demonstration video you can see after the break.
- Tags:
- peripherals hacks
- arduino
- wii
- bluetooth
- ps3
- playstation 3
- arduino hacks
- usb host shield
February 1 2010, 1:41pm | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

Hybrid analog/binary clock, the MK2

http://hackaday.com/2010/01/30/hybrid-analogbinary-clock-the-mk2/

[Kieran] let us know about his hybrid analog/binary clock. The circuitry behind the clock is nothing too new. An Arduino combined with a Chronodot to produce an accurate clock. What we really enjoyed however was the creative implementation of an old British Telecom Linesman’s Multimeter as the case. The analog meter acts as the seconds hand, while a another display made of LEDs diffused with stripboard is the binary clock. The end product is nothing short of ingenuitive.
- Tags:
- arduino
- clock
- analog
- digital
- binary
- arduino hacks
- multimeter
- chronodot
- telcom linesman
January 30 2010, 6:00pm | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

Foul-mouthed game will get you in trouble

http://hackaday.com/2010/01/25/foul-mouthed-game-will-get-you-in-trouble/

[Fridgehead] modified his Simon Says game to include a dirty word for each lighted button. This is a real good way to teach kids to swear and to get child protective services to pay you a visit all at the same time. The hardware has been modified to use an Arduino in tandem with an ISD audio chip. These chips can record and playback sound. Although [Fridgehead] could have made it say anything he, choose four words you won’t say in front of your mother. We should warn you not to play the video after the break if you’re at work or it’ll be your boss that comes after you, not your disappointed mom.

As we said before, these videos are Not Safe For Work due to foul language.

Simon Swears in action

Simon Swears: the guts
- Tags:
- Toy Hacks
- Language
- arduino hacks
- nsfw
- simon
- simon says
- swears
January 25 2010, 2:00pm | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

Android G1 serial to Arduino

http://hackaday.com/2010/01/25/android-g1-serial-to-arduino/

With the ability to get root access to some of these new powerful pieces of hardware we call cell phones, we’re a bit surprised we haven’t seen more interfacing with external hardware. Here’s an example of some rudimentary connections between an Android G1 and an Arduino. To do this, you must have your G1 rooted, have the Android SDK installed, and then a custom python program running. There is also a simple level shifter from 3.3v to 5v necessary for the connection to the Arduino. You can get all the details from the instructable. They’ve documented the process quite well adn we’re excited to see what kinds of stuff people come up with.
- Tags:
- android
- G1
- arduino
- arduino hacks
- android hacks
January 25 2010, 12:00pm | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

Ideas based on photo frame clock

http://hackaday.com/2010/01/23/ideas-based-on-photo-frame-clock/

[Mahto] bought a digital picture frame but the image quality turned out to be terrible. He decided to turn it into a clock in a unique way. He loaded up 720 images, one for each minute in a twelve hour period. He then used an Arduino to simulate a button once a minute, cycling to the next image.

This is a simple solution and it works. Visions of hardcore hacks danced through our head when we first looked at this. We’re wondering if there is a way to inject image data into the frame’s memory? How about rewriting the SD card location where the image file that’s currently being displayed is stored, then having the frame reload the picture? Those are projects for a snowy weekend, but we’re sure that [Mahto] finished this hack long before we would have because he kept it simple.

Sooner or later we’re going to need a category for all of these clock hacks.

[Thanks Drone]
- Tags:
- home hacks
- arduino
- sd
- clock
- arduino hacks
- bare bones
- digital frame
January 23 2010, 8:45am | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

Arduino programmer for Arduino

http://hackaday.com/2010/01/22/arduino-programmer-for-arduino/

Wow, that title is flamebait… but give us a chance to explain. [George] wrote some code for the Arduino that allows it to program another Arduino. You may be thinking to yourself “this has already been done”. In a way it has, with the AVR ISP programming shield. But once the code has been uploaded to the Arduino, you don’t need a computer to program the next chip. This concept turns an Arduino into an in-the-field programmer. Right now his code only programs the ATmega328 and it’s a little buggy, but the concept is solid. A fully functioning independent programmer is easy to image; [George] has laid the ground work, the AVR ISP programming firmware has proven this can work with several different chips, and if your AVR has an ATmega328 there should be plenty of room to store the code you plan to flash to the target microprocessors. It’s up to you to put all the pieces together.
- Tags:
- arduino
- AVR
- isp
- programmer
- arduino hacks
- atmega328
January 22 2010, 7:49am | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

Frustromantic Box, a reverse Geocache

http://hackaday.com/2010/01/21/frustromantic-box-a-reverse-geocache/

One of the best feelings in the world is when one of our posts inspires a fellow hacker to plan, create, and execute his or her own project.

[Russ] let us know about his Frustromantic Box which he gained inspiration from the original Reverse Geochache we posted about. For those out of the loop, the box is locked and will only open in a certain location. The current distance to the location is displayed on the screen when a button is pressed, and usually there is a limited number of button presses (3 presses for those that know geometry, 50 for everyone else). As soon as the box is at location, it will open.

The Frustromantic Box uses an Arduino, classic HD44780 display, a servo, and the pièce de résistance EM406 GPS. All built in time to frustrate his wife for Christmas.
- Tags:
- misc hacks
- arduino
- servo
- arduino hacks
- hd44780
- geocache
- location box
- reverse
- tinygps
January 21 2010, 4:52pm | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

Buzzle: a morse code puzzle box

http://hackaday.com/2010/01/21/buzzle-a-morse-code-puzzle-box/

[lucasfragomeni] built the Buzzle after being inspired by the reverse geocache puzzle. The Buzzle was built as a gift to a friend. It’s a tricky gift too. His friend can’t open it until he decodes the words being displayed in morse code via an LED. A word is chosen at random, so you would have to decode it each time you want to open the box. That’s a pretty neat security feature. Sure it’s not the most secure, but it would keep casual peepers out. Unfortunately, the box was empty when his friend received it.
- Tags:
- home hacks
- security hacks
- arduino
- morse
- arduino hacks
- puzzle
January 21 2010, 9:00am | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

Live high altitude balloon launch

http://hackaday.com/2010/01/21/live-high-altitude-balloon-launch/

[Terry] is planning to launch his high altitude balloon within the next few days. As we’ve seen before he has gone for a general setup – GPS tracking, environment sensors including temperature and humidity and pressure, and 2 on board cameras – all with an expected height of about 100,000 feet. What makes this project unique is the transmission of live telemetry data to a Google Maps or Google Earth interface.

The planned launch date is Sunday the 24th about 00:00 UTC so long as the Civil Aviation Safety Approval for the launch is passed.

As a final note [Terry] wanted to let inspiring balloon launchers to check out the UK High Altitude Society – who have been an invaluable source of information.
- Tags:
- misc hacks
- arduino
- camera
- wireless hacks
- arduino hacks
- gps hacks
- pressure
- space
- humidity
- tempurature
- civil aviation safety approval
- high altitude balloon
- uk high altitude society
January 21 2010, 7:10am | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

Wii Nunchuk train controls

http://hackaday.com/2010/01/18/wii-nunchuk-train-controls/

While we’ve been told all of our lives Wiis and trains just don’t mix, they never said anything about Wii Nunchuks. One terribly abused joke later, [Ken] tipped us off about his Wii Nunchuk controlled train set.

By utilizing Digital Command Control (think pulse-width modulation) with an Arduino, he is able to have full control over the trains direction and speed. The other part of the equation is a Wii Nunchuk and adapter. The setup should be pretty self explanatory, but there is an Instructable for those that need more help.
- Tags:
- arduino
- wii
- train
- arduino hacks
- control
- nunchuk
- set
January 18 2010, 12:08pm | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

Multichannel music generation for Arduino

http://hackaday.com/2010/01/18/multichannel-music-generation-for-arduino/

[Drew] wrote a library for playing multichannel music on an Arduino. The project connects multiple piezo buzzers to the popular prototyping platform and handles the dirty work involved in modulating multiple buzzers at the same time. The video above starts with an explanation for the first three minutes but if you’re impatient you can jump directly to the music demonstration. The results are magnificent. We’re going to check out the code and see what we can make happen just as soon as we can round-up multiple piezos.
- Tags:
- digital audio hacks
- 8 bit
- sound
- arduino hacks
- modulation
- multichannel
January 18 2010, 7:56am | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

Developing physical controllers for the uninitiated

http://hackaday.com/2010/01/16/developing-physical-controllers-for-the-uninitiated/

[Dave] hosted a one day seminar at the Illinois Institute of Technology which focused on rapid electronics prototyping for those with little prior experience blinking those LEDs. As the defacto standard for novice prototypers it’s no surprise that he gave an Arduino to each team to use as the controller-computer interface. He started the day by getting the Firmata package up and running. Firmata is a set of libraries that make communications between software and a microcontrollers simple. In this case, each team developed a Flash game that used data from the Arduino as a control.

Several rudimentary games resulted from the day. We’ve embedded video of two of them after the break for your enjoyment. Lion Vs. Pig uses potentiometers, a distance sensor, and an arcade button to play a game of cat-and-mouse (well, Lion-and-Pig really). The other is Kick the Cat, a game that uses a flex sensor and force sensor combination as input. This is something of a virtual mini-basketball game that uses a springy material to launch a virtual feline at a target.

These teams already had a background in code, but the hardware was a new endeavor for them. Arduino helps to break down this cross-over barrier and we think this will result in more people to contribute to open source projects, and falling hardware prices due to a larger volume of demand.

Lion vs. Pig

Kick the Cat
- Tags:
- flash
- controller
- games
- arduino hacks
- workshop
- firmata
January 16 2010, 5:00pm | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

A day at the lake for the disabled

http://hackaday.com/2010/01/15/a-day-at-the-lake-for-the-disabled/

We do a lot of useless hacks just for the fun of it so when we see something with purpose it’s pretty exciting. This hack turns any kayak into a motorized vessel that can be controlled by a quadriplegic person using a sip & puff interface. After the break you can see some clips of navigation and an explanation of the hardware.

[Mark's] system starts by adding outriggers to a kayak to prevent the possibility of the boat rolling over in the water. Each pontoon has an electric trolling motor attached to it that is controlled by an Arduino via a motor driver.

The Arduino takes navigational commands from a sip & puff controller. A straw in the operator’s mouth allows them to sip or puff for a split second to turn left or right. Longer sips or puffs control forward and reverse incrementally, up to a top speed of about 3.7 miles per hour. [Mark] incorporated an auxiliary remote control interface so that a safety observer can take control of navigation if necessary.

His build came in around $1300, a tiny cost if this makes kayaking available to several people each summer. Great job [Mark]!

[Thanks Justin]
- Tags:
- transportation hacks
- disabled
- arduino hacks
- kayak
- pontoon
- sip & puff
January 15 2010, 9:00am | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

Arduinome with many pots

http://hackaday.com/2010/01/12/arduinome-with-many-pots/

[Aggaz] added 16 potentiometers to his Arduinome.The Arduinome is a monome clone based around the Arduino as a microprocessor. We seen some Arduinome builds in the past but [Aggaz's] work augments the physical interface.

Potentiometers used in circuit bending allow for manipulation of the sounds coming out of the circuits. In this case the pots are connected to the microcontroller instead of the sound generation circuitry which means you can do whatever you want with them depending on how creative you are with the code. So far he’s just starting to get the new set of interfaces to play nicely over the serial connection. This could end up being quite popular as it only requires the addition of a multiplexer IC, the potentiometers, and the knobs.
- Tags:
- arduino
- digital audio hacks
- adc
- potentiometer
- arduino hacks
- ic
- arduinome
- multiplexer
January 12 2010, 6:35am | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

Weather clock

http://hackaday.com/2010/01/11/weather-clock/

[Sean_Carney] build this clock that tells the weather instead of the time. The two hands display the current conditions and the temperature. Forty below zero seems amazingly cold if you’re on the Fahrenheit scale but [Sean's] from Winnipeg so he’s operating on the Celsius side of things.

Two servos move the hands to match the data scraped off of the Internet. An Arduino does the scraping with the help of an Ethernet shield. This reminds us of the Harry Potter clock that tells a persons location.

[via Flickr]
- Tags:
- home hacks
- clock
- arduino hacks
- weather
- harry potter
- weather clock
- winnipeg
January 11 2010, 5:35pm | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

Spy on your office

http://hackaday.com/2010/01/07/spy-on-your-office/

[Garagedeveloper] sent us his custom surveillance system, part 1, part 2, and part 3 after needing a way to find out why some cables at work were becoming unplugged (spoiler, the cleaners were messing up the wiring). At the base of the system is a web cam glued to a stepper motor. However, it gets much more in depth with a web front-end that allows the user to stream the feed and control the position of the stepper. We’re not particularly fond of how many different parts the project takes, while it all could be accomplished under C# with ASP.NET and parallel port library instead of including Arduino and excess code, but to each their own and the project turned out a success anyway.
- Tags:
- security hacks
- arduino
- arduino hacks
- stepper motor
- c++
- web front end
January 7 2010, 2:00pm | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

Max/MSP accelerometer beat control

http://hackaday.com/2010/01/07/maxmsp-accelerometer-beat-control/

let us know about his Max/MSP Controller. Inside the device is an ADXL 335 accelerometer and 6 push buttons wired to an Arduino. The input data is sent to Max MSP, a sequencer controlling 5 audio tracks, correlating to 5 of the buttons. The 6th button controls delay. What we really liked was how the accelerometer modified the speed of the beat in the X-axis, and the delay intensity with the Y-axis. Whats next? We think gesture recognition might be something fun to try, but [Ryan] is unsure. We’ll keep you up to date.
- Tags:
- arduino
- wii
- controller
- sound
- msp
- arduino hacks
- accelerometer
- beat
- max
- adxl 335
- synchronizer
January 7 2010, 9:08am | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

Arduino I/O Speed Breakdown

http://hackaday.com/2010/01/06/arduino-io-speed-breakdown/

[Jee Labs] has worked out how long it takes for an Arduino to perform various I/O operations. Predictably, analogRead() takes the longest, followed by analogWrite(). Arduino really falls behind when it comes to digital pin I/O: digitalWrite() takes a whopping fifty times longer than a direct bit write to a port register! This is something to take into consideration when you are looking to do some beefy I/O with an Arduino. Perhaps this I/O performance will be addressed in the future with Arduino 1.0.
- Tags:
- arduino
- AVR
- arduino hacks
- I/O
January 6 2010, 8:32am | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

Arduino security with frickin’ laser

http://hackaday.com/2010/01/03/arduino-security-with-frickin-laser/

[over9k] used his Arduino to set up a laser trip wire. The laser is mounted along side the Arduino, reflects off of a mirror, and shines on a photoresistor that interfaces via a voltage divider. The signal from the voltage divider is monitored for a change when the laser beam is broken. [over9k] set things up so that a webcam snaps a picture of the intruder and Twitters the event for easy notification. Video after the break walks through each of these steps.

This build is a bit rough around the edges but unlike other laser trip wires this keeps all the electronics in one place. The laser interface could be a bit more eloquent, and we’re wondering just how much current it is pulling off of the Arduino pins. But if you’re bored and have this stuff on hand it will be fun to play around with it.
- Tags:
- security hacks
- webcam
- security
- laser
- twitter
- laser hacks
- arduino hacks
- trip wire
January 3 2010, 10:00am | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

Arduino Headed for One Point Oh

http://hackaday.com/2010/01/02/arduino-headed-for-one-point-oh/

In a recent blog post, [Massimo] stated that there will be some stabilizing changes coming for the Arduino platform. The API, IDE, and even the website are targets for the Arduino team’s New Year’s resolutions to bring Arduino to 1.0. This platform is often seen at the core of projects we cover and many that we do not or should not cover. It has come to wide use because it has a better price point to other starter development boards, easy to use with a large user base for support, extensive hardware options with much of the coding already in libraries, and a cross-platform, open source tool-chain that can run just about anywhere. Many people that hate the Arduino, hate it because it is so easy to use. Anyone can get an LED to blink with an Arduino even though there are far more (and far less) elegant solutions. Love it or hate it, Arduino has made a significant impact and the coming changes should help keep it be around for quite some time. Let us look back, how has Arduino affected you?
- Tags:
- arduino
- arduino hacks
January 2 2010, 12:00pm | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

Twitter based Christmas ornaments update

http://hackaday.com/2009/12/31/twitter-based-christmas-ornaments-update/
When we introduced you to the Twitter Christmas tree ornaments, sadly we had very little information about the project. Luckily [Rob] made contact and clued us in on the inner workings. It even turns out we were wrong about the usage of Arduinos! We invite you to check out all the juicy inner workings after the break.

Lets jump right into the explanation,
So the controller uses a single Arduino connected to 3 74HCT595 shift registers. The ‘595 takes a clock bit and a data bit, and each leading edge (0-1 transition) of the clock bit shifts in a data bit. Then there’s an 8-bot latch, and the leading edge of another line captures the state of the shift register to the outputs. Each ‘595 stores 8 bits, can be chained, and there are three of them. This lets it control 24 lights with only 3 I/O lines. Each output is connected to a TIP31 transistor, in standard NPN configuration. The TIP31 can switch up to 3A, so they handle the 1A 6V lamps with no problem. This is pretty close to the schematic we’re using, except only 24 outputs:

Here’s the sketch I used to control the shift registers:
```
long count;
unsigned long val;
void setup()
{
  Serial.begin(9600);
  pinMode(10, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(11, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(12, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(13, OUTPUT);
  digitalWrite(10, HIGH);
  digitalWrite(11, LOW);
  digitalWrite(12, LOW);
  digitalWrite(13, LOW);

  count = 0x00;
  val = 0;
}

void loop()
{
  unsigned long i;

  if (Serial.available())
  {
    char c = Serial.read();
    if (c >= '0' && c <= '9') {
      val = val * 10 + (c - '0');
      Serial.print(c);
    } else if (c == '\n')
    {
      Serial.print("setting count to ");
      Serial.println(val);
      count = val;
      val = 0;
    }
  }

  unsigned long bv;
  digitalWrite(10, LOW);
  for (i=0, bv=1; i < 24; ++i, bv <<= 1)
  {
    byte bitval = LOW;
    if (count & bv)
      bitval = HIGH;
    //Serial.print("i ");
    //Serial.print(i);
    //Serial.print(" bit ");
    //Serial.println((int)bitval);

    digitalWrite(11, bitval);
    digitalWrite(13, HIGH);
    delayMicroseconds(50);
    digitalWrite(13, LOW);

    delayMicroseconds(50);
  }
  digitalWrite(10, HIGH);

    delay(10);
    //++count;
    //count &= 0x3ff;
}
```
I bit-banged the SPI protocol, since I was having trouble using the hardware SPI, and figured it was easier than fiddling with registers. I since discovered the breadboard was a bit flaky, and lowering the bit rate would have probably worked too, but that’s for V2.0 :-) It listens for a number on the serial port, and shifts that number into the 74595’s. Lather, rinse, repeat.

The other side is an old netbook, running a Processing sketch – since I didn’t write it, and forgot to ask for permission, I can’t attach it, but the essence is a loop that screen-scrapes Twitter’s search API, and sets the bits of a long corresponding to the words that it finds. I’m now updating it to blink faster or slower based on the frequency that a word occurs, since words like Christmas seem to appear frequently this time of year, who knew?

Rob D
There you have it. For those wondering, the schematic is actually for an upcoming light control shield [Rob] is working on. You can expect to get your own around April. For those that just can’t get enough Alpha One Labs goodness, be sure to join us for their regular UStream this evening at 7pm EST.
- Tags:
- news
- home hacks
- arduino
- christmas
- tree
- twitter
- ornament
- arduino hacks
- shift register
- 74HCT595
- alpha one labs
- Rob
- tip31
December 31 2009, 11:00am | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

TF2 kill counter, binary style

http://hackaday.com/2009/12/30/tf2-kill-counter-binary-style/

After getting some fun new toys for Christmas, [IceColdFreezie] set up this kill counter for Team Fortress 2. At first glance, we weren’t that impressed. It’s an Arduino and a few LEDs. Then we saw that it was counting the kills in binary. We’re not sure if it gets much geekier than that. You can download the source code and try it out yourself. Just don’t make more than 31 kills.

[via littlebirdceo]
- Tags:
- home entertainment hacks
- led
- arduino
- binary
- arduino hacks
- led hacks
- team fortress 2
- tf2
December 30 2009, 3:00pm | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

Moolodeon electric accordion

http://hackaday.com/2009/12/28/moolodeon-electric-accordion/

[Lee] wanted an electric Melodeon to use with his band. A Melodeon is a chromatic accordion and there are people who already make electric versions but they are a little too expensive for him. Instead, he bought a toy accordion and added electronics to it.

After being thwarted by forgotten PIC skills of yore, he went with an Arduino as the controller. Two pressure sensors are used to detect the squeezing and pulling of the instrument’s bellows. His did some solid work. The video above uses 8-bit sounds like we’re used to from video games and the one after the break sources more traditional accordion sounds.
- Tags:
- digital audio hacks
- arduino hacks
- pressure sensor
- 8 bit weapon
- accordion
- melodeon
- moolodeon
December 28 2009, 2:00pm | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

MakerBotWatch

http://hackaday.com/2009/12/27/makerbotwatch/

If you didn’t get the geeky watch you wanted for Christmas you should consider building yourself a MakerBotWatch. The watch is an Arduino, using an ATmega328 microcontroller running the bootloader. The watch has two concentric circles of LEDs for minutes and hours. A vertical row of four LEDs adds in the additional resolution needed to get 60 minutes on the watch face.

The schematic and board layout are available from an SVN repository so you can make your own board. The device will go into production as a kit but currently the laser-cut bezel will not be part of it.

[via Adafruit]
- Tags:
- led
- arduino
- arduino hacks
- wristwatch
- bezel
- MakerBotWatch
December 27 2009, 5:17pm | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

(Yet another) Twitter this controlling Arduino that

http://hackaday.com/2009/12/27/yet-another-twitter-this-controlling-arduino-that/

Christmas may be over, but we still have a couple of cool holiday related hacks for you. One being [Alpay's] Twitter based interactive Christmas tree ornaments.

We tried to dig up some more information, but it thus far appears a laptop running Processing searches Twitter for specific Christmas related words (like 1337, that’s Christmas-y), sends a buffer to one of three Arduinos which in turn light up a specific ornament. You can check out a live stream here.

For those wanting a bit more information on Arduino and controlling holiday lights, check out [Alpay's] GE health care version of Twitter lights, or our previous post on controlling Christmas trees, or you might even try [Michael's] $10 Walmart light controller.
- Tags:
- home hacks
- arduino
- christmas
- tree
- twitter
- ornament
- arduino hacks
December 27 2009, 10:49am | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

Peggy2 x2, with video

http://hackaday.com/2009/12/19/peggy2-x2-with-video/

Being avid fanatics of flashing lights, we always love to see the peggy2 in action. The video above shows another improvement, which is two peggy2 units working together as one. [iservice2000] chained the two together and wrote new code for the display. Using an Arduino to drive it all, he has gotten them to act as one. While video on the peggy2 isn’t new, this is the first time we’ve seen two of them chained together. The end result is going to be a scrolling sign that can be updated via the web, or that can display tweets. We did notice a bit of tearing, is that from the camera or the software?

[via littlebirdceo]
- Tags:
- arduino
- peggy
- arduino hacks
- led hacks
- tweet
- sign
December 19 2009, 12:31pm | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

Capturing that (light field) moment

http://hackaday.com/2009/12/19/capturing-that-light-field-moment/

Yes, your eyes do not lie, that is 12 cameras rigged to take a picture at the exact same moment. The idea is a single camera loses data (namely depth) when it takes a 3D image and transposes it onto a 2D medium. FuturePicture somewhat circumvents this loss by taking several pictures with different focus distances. In short, the camera array allows you to focus on multiple items within a scene. The project’s hardware and software have yet to be released (we do know it’s at least Arduino), but they plan to make it entirely open source so everyone can experiment. Of course, we’ll keep you up to date.
[via Make]
- Tags:
- arduino
- arduino hacks
- 12 camera
- camera array
- futurepicture
- light field
December 19 2009, 11:09am | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

Cheap toy yields good parts

http://hackaday.com/2009/12/19/cheap-toy-yields-good-parts/

We’ve spent some serious time building robot chassis and motor controllers. [Whamodyne] does the smart thing and scavenges what he needs form cheap sources. He picked up an RC car from the local pharmacy for just $10, tore the body off and behold, a bounty of robot-friendly parts.

We’re not talking precision parts here, but we don’t scoff at two geared motors, four wheels, a driver board, and steering. There’s no great way to attach your own stuff but that’s half the fun of hacking. [Whamodyne] used the 9v battery that came with the toy to power his boarduino and quickly patched in to produce a miracle of automated locomotion.
- Tags:
- Toy Hacks
- wireless hacks
- rc
- toy
- motor
- arduino hacks
- boarduino
- h-bridge
December 19 2009, 9:09am | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

Giving an old arm new life

http://hackaday.com/2009/12/18/giving-an-old-arm-new-life/

[Jarek] found a non-functional robotic arm sitting around and wanted to get it working again. By adding a few custom boards to an Arduino he managed to do just that.

The arm is driven by six stepper motors, each having four control wires. To handle all of these [Jarek] used TIP120 transistors to protect the controller. This still leaves the problem of 24 control wires to connect. By using a couple of 74HC4514 demultiplex chips he cut that number down to just 8 Arduino control pins. He completed the project by interfacing an original Playstation controller as the input device.

Source code for the project is available for download but we didn’t see a schematic for his setup. This shouldn’t be a problem as the low parts count should mean the datasheets for the transistors and demultiplexers are all you really need.
- Tags:
- robots hacks
- controller
- arm
- sony
- playstation
- arduino hacks
- stepper motor
- 74hc4514
- demultiplex
- tip120
December 18 2009, 2:52pm | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

Light up your limbs

http://hackaday.com/2009/12/16/light-up-your-limbs/

Here’s a Christmas tree project we can get behind. The “tree” itself is made of twisted pairs of insulated copper wire. At the end of each pair a surface mount LED has been soldered between the two conductors. All of the wire limbs converge into a 4×4 matrix. One tree uses a prototyping shield and an Arduino, the other tree is just using an ATtiny2313 microprocessor. Take a look at the twinkling tree in the video after the break.

This artful creation uses one color of LEDs. We’d love to see future improvements that incorporate multiple colors, enhance the fading effects, and perhaps add some interactivity such as pulsing to an inspiring rendition of Chestnuts Roasting on and Open Fire (which, consequently, is called “The Christmas Song“).
- Tags:
- led
- arduino
- smd
- shield
- christmas
- christmas tree
- prototype
- attiny2313
- arduino hacks
- led hacks
December 16 2009, 11:55am | More »

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