Items Tag › RIT Make Club Idea Stream

I posted to hackaday.com

LEDs invade coffee table crevice

http://hackaday.com/2010/03/08/leds-invade-coffee-table-crevice/

That’s a lot of LEDs, and a little bit of glass cleaner. [Tobias] spiced up his IKEA coffee table by adding 6144 LEDs. This is a larger realization of SparkFun’s LED coffee table which used 64 8×8 modules. [Tobias] sourced three display boards from Sure Electronics for a total of 96 8×8 modules. These boards are addressed through a serial interface; four serial lines for each board but a shared data bus for each of the row select pins and the data/latch/clock pins. This method uses 19 of the 20 pins on the Arduino that drives the display. After the break you can see a demonstration. If this is more than you need there’s always the 112-LED and 81-LED table projects that can produce a full color range.
- Tags:
- home hacks
- led
- ikea
- led hacks
- coffee table
- 8x8
- sure electronics
March 8 2010, 3:44pm | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

LED and fan controller

http://hackaday.com/2010/03/03/led-and-fan-controller/

Needing a front fan to keep his hard drive cool, [CalcProgrammer1] found he was unhappy with a single LED color for the fan. He swapped them out for a set of four RGB LEDs and whipped up his own controller board for the unit. It is based around an ATmega168 and patches into the COM2 header on the motherboard, providing a serial interface. [CalcProgrammer1] wrote a GUI to control fan speed, and individual LED color settings. You can take a look at and enthralling, edge-of-your-seat demonstration of how slider controls work after the break. Wouldn’t it be great if the HDD LED clock could be adapted to use a fan so that the front panel had a colorful analog dial on it?
- Tags:
- led
- rgb
- serial
- fan
- led hacks
- classic hacks
- com2
March 3 2010, 11:00am | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

112-LED coffee table

http://hackaday.com/2010/02/28/112-led-coffee-table/

[Joe] tipped us off about his 112 LED coffee table. This 12-ups the LED matrix from Friday and 31-ups the Shiftbrite table. Driving this grid is an ATmega328 in i2c slave mode. It listens for display data from a second ATmega328 and uses that to set the array of TLC5940 driven LEDs appropriately. Separating the processing microcontroller from the display microcontroller allows for fast and smooth display changes that can be seen after the break. [Joe's] table exhibits exquisite cable management, clean code, and an amazing amount of flexibility. Maybe [Caleb Kraft] will finally pony up the dough and make this project for his own home.

[Joe] waited until he saw some other LED tables to send us a link to his hack. This is obviously an awesome project, one that we want to see just as much as our readers do. So please, don’t wait for someone else to stumble upon your project, send us a tip once you’re done sharing the details.
- Tags:
- matrix
- led hacks
- atmega328
- coffee table
- tlc5940
February 28 2010, 4:27pm | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

10×10 LED matrix

http://hackaday.com/2010/02/26/10x10-led-matrix/

[KopfKopfKopfAffe] just finished a 3-year labor of love resulting in this 10 by 10 LED Matrix. This trumps the Shiftbrite table from earlier today by bringing an actual 100 LEDs to the display. These LEDs cost much less than the Shiftbrites, but since they don’t have their own on-board controller this project requires much more back end work. A total of 25 ATmega8 microcontrollers drive this display, in turn controlled via an RS-232 connection to a computer.

We love the Lemmings animations. It made us realize that this would be a great candidate to play Super Pixel Bros on. Check out the video after the break for snapshots of the hardware as well as videos of the matrix at play. You may also want to peruse the translated work log.
- Tags:
- led
- matrix
- atmega8
- led hacks
- lemmings
February 26 2010, 1:00pm | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

Cooling LEDs by heating the water saves on electricity

http://hackaday.com/2010/02/26/cooling-leds-by-heating-the-water-saves-on-electricity/

[Matthias] swapped out his twin-tube florescent aquarium lights for LEDs. By running tank water through the aluminum LED mounts he’s transferring excess heat into the water in the tank, in turn saving some of the electricity that would have been used to heat the tank. Couple this with roughly 35 Watts saved by moving away from fluorescent tubes and he’s got a great energy-saving hack. The LEDs used in the last aquarium light conversion were cooled by heat sinks and fans. We’d love to see this concept incorporated into that design.
- Tags:
- led
- lamp
- light
- led hacks
- green hacks
- aquarium
- flourescent
February 26 2010, 10:37am | 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

Controllable LEDs spice up the living room

http://hackaday.com/2010/02/21/controllable-leds-spice-up-the-living-room/

[Sprite_tm] brings us another great hack by lighting up the living room. Unsatisfied with just replacing incandescent bulbs with an LED alternative he went with strips of LEDs to illuminate the length of a wall. Starting with a seven-meter strip of the lights, he cut it down to fourteen pieces in order to make the RGB devices individually controllable. [Sprite_tm] whipped up a design for controller boards using RS-485 to communicate with each, and sourcing an ATtiny2313 for the PWM necessary to generate any color. As you can see in the video above, the finished project is brilliant. Oh, and the Lounge Music as a background is nice too.
- Tags:
- home hacks
- led
- rgb
- led hacks
- rs-485
- incandescent
February 21 2010, 10:01am | 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

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

Salty LEDs

http://hackaday.com/2010/01/29/salty-leds/

[Davross] pulled off an LED lighting build for his coral aquarium. The module consists of a wooden body holding a 3×16 grid of LEDs. They are mounted to heat sinks which themselves have cooling fans to help keep those puppies from melting. The system is controlled by an Arduino which allows for almost limitless lighting options. The photo above shows the LEDs running at 50%. He’s also taken some photos of the tank in “moonlight” mode. It’s a long and detailed forum thread but you can skip to some nice photos of the coral under the lights or details about the build.

[Thanks Passmadd]
- Tags:
- home hacks
- tank
- light
- led hacks
- aquarium
- coral
January 29 2010, 1:24pm | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

Adding a netbook keyboard light

http://hackaday.com/2010/01/28/adding-a-netbook-keyboard-light/

[Vikash] was having trouble using his netbook in the dark so he added a keyboard light. He’s got a Dell Vostro A90 which is the same hardware as the popular Dell Mini 9. We agree that the condensed keyboard layout makes it hard to type without looking; just try to find the quotation mark, brackets, and tilde keys! He added an LED to the bezel around the LCD screen in order to shed light on the situation. Now the LED can be turned on using CTRL. An ATtiny13 microcontroller monitors pins 1 and 11 of the keyboard, waiting for the CTRL keypress, then turns on the light when it receives it. This hardware solution means it doesn’t matter if you’re running a Hackintosh (like he is), Ubuntu (like we are), or that other OS.
- Tags:
- keyboard
- dell
- light
- hackintosh
- mini 9
- led hacks
- vostro a90
- classic hacks
January 28 2010, 12:37pm | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

RGB display development

http://hackaday.com/2010/01/17/rgb-display-development/

[SeBsZ] tipped us off that he’s working on a display using RGB LEDs. He’s etched some nice surface mount controller boards to carry the ATmega8 microcontroller and NXP PCA9635 drivers. This setup uses the I2C bus to address each expansion board of 5 LED modules. Theoretically this hardware would allow for 638 RGB modules but because of power and refresh rate issues he’s set his sights on reaching somewhere between 100-125, a total of about 25 expansion boards.

There’s not a ton to show off yet. But we expect big things from the project. Partly because one of his goals is to generate a display that can be rolled up and easily moved, and partly because his large-scale light bulb displays are so impressive. Take a look at the video of his 60-bulb unit after the break.
- Tags:
- led
- rgb
- i2c
- display
- atmega8
- led hacks
- light bulb
- pca9635
January 17 2010, 4:00pm | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

Guerilla theater hits two wheels

http://hackaday.com/2010/01/17/guerilla-theater-hits-two-wheels/

[Tom] wanted to take the show on the road so he added lights to his bike using theater grade control hardware. The picture above shows three tail lights comprised of 195 LEDs. Built on perf-board, a DMX512 controller can display several patterns on each module. The lighting technician (bike pilot) controls the patterns through a series of switches on the handlebars. There’s several pages of details posted including schematics and firmware. This would bring a little extra fun the next time you ride in a Critical Mass event.
- Tags:
- led
- dmx
- bicycle
- bike
- led hacks
- dmx512
- guerilla theater
January 17 2010, 3:00pm | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

Know your resistors… tell the time

http://hackaday.com/2010/01/15/know-your-resistors-tell-the-time/

[Darren] built a clock that uses a resistor to display the time. Well, it really uses a model of a resistor. This extremely tardy entry in the Hackaday design challenge houses all of the electronics on a PCB the size of a business card. Four RGB LEDs shine up through holes in the wooden base to light bands on an acrylic tube. The colors correspond to the values used in the Resistor Color Code. In the picture above the clock is displaying 5:26 (that’s supposed to be a red band but the camera didn’t pick it up too well). The band in the center fades up over 60 seconds to signify AM, and down to show PM.

It may be late, but it’s a clever design. It looks sleek and it uses no buttons for an interface. [Darren] sourced the LEDs themselves as light sensors to display the date, and enter time setting mode.
- Tags:
- home hacks
- led
- clock
- sensor
- led hacks
- Hackaday design contest
- HackadayDesignContest
- light sensor
- resistor color code
January 15 2010, 2:08pm | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

Home made small form factor LED projector

http://hackaday.com/2010/01/15/home-made-small-form-factor-led-projector/

[Newtonn2] dropped a tip in our inbox this morning that made us quite happy. This is a step by step build of a small form factor LED based projector. While the size may not get some of you too excited at first, those of us who have built projectors before know that home made ones are usually quite large. This one is roughly the size of the small office projectors you would see in a large retailer. He’s using a 30 watt LEd for the light and we didn’t notice a lumen measurement anywhere, but it looks bright enough to be watchable. Pictures usually turn out dark, so in person, the projection probably looks more bright and crisp. Now he just needs to find a high definition LCD that size.
- Tags:
- led
- portable video hacks
- lumenlab
- lcd
- projector
- led hacks
January 15 2010, 8:02am | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

Beginner Concepts: Binary-coded decimal

http://hackaday.com/2010/01/08/beginner-concepts-binary-coded-decimal/

A rudimentary understanding of digital logic and simple integrated circuits is critical if you’re ever going to pull off some really gnarly hacks. [Daniel] put together an explanation about the use of 4511 BCD 7-segment drivers. These chips take binary data in and output decimal data to a 7-segment LED display. In short, they can read 0×1001 from input pins and light the numeral ‘9′ on the display. The best part is that you can build this example circuit in the Atanua logic simulator without ordering parts. We love zero-cost learning!
- Tags:
- misc hacks
- led hacks
- 7 segment
- 4511
- bcd
- beginner concepts
January 8 2010, 2:00pm | 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

Location tracking using IR throwies

http://hackaday.com/2009/12/30/location-tracking-using-ir-throwies/

[Joe] and his team hacked together some location tracking using IR throwies for their final project. The challenge they undertook was to find a way to track the orientation of a sculpture in the form of a rotating metal cube. The end result dips its toe into the augmented reality pool but the methods are what interest us.

They wanted this to work day or night so contrast would be a major issue if working completely with image manipulation. Having a simple way to pick out the corners of the monotone block would make this process a breeze. They ended up using magnetic throwies that have an infrared LED which can easily be picked up by a webcam no matter what the ambient light issues happen to be.

After the break you can see these guys out in the wild testing the system. We’d like to note the diffusers used in the project. We’re used to seeing ping-pong balls as diffusers but this is the first time we’ve noticed Styrofoam balls being used.
- Tags:
- ir
- augmented reality
- infrared
- led hacks
- ping-pong Styrofoam
- throwies
December 30 2009, 10:00am | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

Ikea Dioder hack

http://hackaday.com/2009/12/29/ikea-dioder-hack/

[Joseph] wrote in to tell us about his Ikea Dioder hack. The Dioder is a lighting system with a silly name from Ikea. It is basically 4 RGB LED bars that are connected to a controller that will cycle their colors in different manners. They aren’t individually addressable, and at $50 aren’t really that great of a deal for people who could build their own. [Joseph] thought that maybe, if the features could be extended, it could be a decent lighting system. He bought it and began searching. Disappointed by the lack of hacks available, he cracked it open and began brainstorming. Ultimately, he decided to interface it with his computer. He can now control it with software, so making an ambilight clone shouldn’t be too difficult.

He does mention that he thought of making 4 independent drivers so that each light bar could be a different color. We agree that this would be the next logical step, possibly even rewiring for individual access to each LED.
- Tags:
- home hacks
- led
- ikea
- led hacks
- ambilight
December 29 2009, 10:53am | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

New Year’s party favor?

http://hackaday.com/2009/12/28/new-years-party-favor/

[Infernoz] built a POV display to help ring in the new year. There is a low component count; an ATtiny26, DIP switch, power switch, CR2032 battery and holder, pin header, 8 LEDs, and a pull-up resistor. The board is single sided without any jumpers that we can see. He’s moving the display by swinging it on a rope but the PCB is the perfect shape to attach to a fan. We love these blinky displays and if you’ve got some parts this makes a great party favor for New Year’s Eve. Check out the video after the break.
- Tags:
- POV
- pcb
- led hacks
- attiny26
- New Years Eve
December 28 2009, 1:00pm | 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

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 »
I posted to hackaday.com

Fabric display

http://hackaday.com/2009/12/14/fabric-display/

[Eli] is sharing the building details on her fabric based display. For lack of a better name she’s calling this a fabric Lite-Brite. This is because LEDs can be added anywhere to spell out a message or create a simple drawing.

The device consists of a positive bus of conductive thread sewn onto a regular piece of fabric. A second piece of fabric separates this from a ground plane made of conductive fabric. The LED leads are then bent into a spiral and can easily be wrapped around the appropriate part of the conductor.

We’re happy to see this creative design coming from a hacker that frequents a hackerspace; Pumping Station One in Chicago. This would be a wonderful application for banners or flags at hackerspace events.
- Tags:
- led
- Fabric
- hackerspace
- led hacks
- lite-brite
December 14 2009, 12:00pm | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

RGB Keylock Shield

http://hackaday.com/2009/12/13/rgb-keylock-shield/

Hackaday alum [Will O'Brien] cleaned up his messy breadboard with an RGB keylock Arduino shield. You may remember this two-part project from last year. It uses buttons backlit by an RGB LED to operate a door lock.

[Will] is still mulling over what type of kit options he will offer. We’re happy to see if the most important part, a laser-cut key bezel, will be available. This makes for a professional looking finish that made the original project difficult to replicate.
- Tags:
- led
- lock
- rgb
- shield
- key
- kit
- led hacks
- android hacks
- bezel
December 13 2009, 4:00pm | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

Bulbdial clock kit released

http://hackaday.com/2009/12/10/bulbdial-clock-kit-released/

Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories has just released a Bulbdial clock kit. This has come a long way since their first prototype, featuring three PCBs to carry the 72 charlieplexed LEDs. For accuracy they’ve included an optional header for a ChronoDot precision RTC.

With a great looking face and laser-cut acrylic case available, this may soon adorn our mantle. Time to write that letter to Santa…
- Tags:
- home hacks
- led
- evil mad scientist laboratories
- clock
- led hacks
- rtc
- chronodot
December 10 2009, 12:00pm | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

Crushtoberfest – can you pwn Tom Selleck?

http://hackaday.com/2009/12/03/crushtoberfest-can-you-pwn-tom-selleck/

On rare occasion, the celestial bodies that control engineering and design awesomeness move into alignment and cast their blessed star dust upon a hacker. Today, we can witness the glorious outcome of such an alignment. Although almost unheard of, it’s a good omen that such a blessed hacker also be adorned with a wickedly furry face.

[Joel] wanted to up the ante for a yearly work gathering. He set out with the concept of Crushtoberfest, a test-your-strength game where a stake is hit with a mallet and the resulting force rings a bell. But bell ringing is for normal projects, [Joel's] muse required LEDs and fire as a reward for success. In fact, Tom Selleck (god of all things mustache) becomes angry at successful contestants to the point that his eyes will flash red and flames shoot out of his ears.

The mechanical input is a clever design. The stake used as the target is a 6×6 block with some old tire tread affixed to the top of them. The stake rests on a piece of radiator hose that is sealed on one end and connected to a pressure sensor on the other. Radiator hose is resilient, so it takes quite a blow to cause much compression, which is then translated into a value by an Arduino via the pressure sensor. [Joel's] gone to the effort of building gravitational deceleration into the progress tracker of the vertical string of LEDS. Too bad he didn’t have access to an addressable LED rope to make this easier, but he did pull it off nicely. He also goes into detail about prototyping and building some fireball modules.

Go now and read his blog (oldest at the top, newest at the bottom). We can call the experience nothing short of delightful.
- Tags:
- arduino
- arduino hacks
- led hacks
- classic hacks
- pressure sensor
- Crushtoberfest
- test your strength
- Tom Selleck
December 3 2009, 1:43pm | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

World’s largest POV display

http://hackaday.com/2009/12/02/worlds-largest-pov-display/

How do you convince a power company to let you play with their multi-million-dollar wind turbine? Call yourself an artist instead of a hacker! [Michael Pendry] convinced Siemens to let him install this ‘art’ piece on the rotors of a wind turbine outside of Munich, Germany. It features 9000 LEDs, 3000 on each of the 30 meter blades, and can pump out 20,000 candelas when fully illuminated.

The problem? The blades of the power generator turn extremely slowly compared to fan-based persistence of vision displays. This makes it more of a “long-exposure” display system that is illustrated in some of their press photos. Ok, so the POV is a bit of a let-down, but the display effects achieved are still pretty impressive.

[Thanks Sam]
- Tags:
- POV
- led hacks
- green hacks
- Michael Pendry
- siemens
- Wind turbine
December 2 2009, 9:00am | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

LED PDF from TI (KUWTA)

http://hackaday.com/2009/11/21/led-pdf-from-ti-kuwta/

[Satiagraha] let us know that Texas Instruments(TI) has given out a neat “LED Reference Design Cookbook” PDF. The document contains 17 some odd little projects featuring different TI ICs and ways of using them to control LEDs in things from backlights to torches to solar lanterns to advanced PWM control! Sure the document is biased towards using TI equipment, but that shouldn’t stop you from recreating, modifying, and generally just having fun with their designs in your own productions.
- Tags:
- led
- texas instruments
- pdf
- led hacks
- design ideas
November 21 2009, 11:00am | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

DIY mood lamp looks store-bought

http://hackaday.com/2009/11/17/diy-mood-lamp-looks-store-bought/

[NeZoomie] built an RGB mood lamp as his first electronics project. He certainly hit it out of the park with this one, ending up with a design so clean it could be a commercial product. The controller is an Arduino board (further proof that this is a fantastic entry-level platform) that interfaces with 8 RGB LEDs. He’s built an enclosure out of thick polypropylene that does a great job of diffusing the light and adding a stylish look. The control system features a rotary potentiometer from SparkFun and what he calls a tilt-potentiometer of his own design after drawing inspiration from Hack a Day.

Blinky things are fun and that’s why we see a lot of mood lamps around here. Take a look at the video after the break and if you’ve got the parts, give this one a try!
- Tags:
- led
- rgb
- potentiometer
- arduino hacks
- led hacks
- mood lamp
- polypropylene
November 17 2009, 3:13pm | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

Radar detector tester

http://hackaday.com/2009/11/15/radar-detector-tester/

[Blacklight99] made this cool tool. It is a tester for those radar detectors that people keep in their cars. Though this seems like it would rarely be a tool we would need, it’s an interesting project. Some speed guns that the police use have a “stealth” mode that makes them invisible to some detectors. This tool can tell you if your detector is vulnerable to this. While this really is just a complicated flashing LED, he notes that it could be taken further to be made into a detector that is programmable and not vulnerable to any of the stealth modes.
- Tags:
- transportation hacks
- police
- arduino hacks
- led hacks
- lidar
- detector
- radar
November 15 2009, 3:00pm | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

Raid the dollar store for an illuminated umbrella

http://hackaday.com/2009/11/12/raid-the-dollar-store-for-an-illuminated-umbrella/

Here’s a quick and easy illuminated umbrella that [Mikeasaurus] built. How’s this for economical? He found an umbrella that someone left on the bus, and used an LED flashlight and clear poncho from the dollar store for the rest of the parts.

The scavenged LED circuit board is the perfect diameter to fit inside the handle of his umbrella. He removed the middle LED and drilled a hole in the board for the shaft to pass through. Although not well detailed, we gather he managed to shoehorn two CR2032 3v batteries underneath the PCB to power the device. The poncho is wrapped around the shaft to diffuse the light. This is a clever solution as the flexible plastic still allows the telescoping shaft to collapse down to its most compact size.

[Mikasaurus'] umbrella doesn’t make noise or emulate the weather but it is a clever idea. The low difficulty level and availability of parts makes this a great project to do with the young ones who don’t get included in your more intricate hacks.
- Tags:
- led
- led hacks
- flashlight
- umbrella
- dollar store
November 12 2009, 1:27pm | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

Voice controlled LED sign

http://hackaday.com/2009/11/10/voice-controlled-led-sign/

120 LEDs and NerdKit, check. Python and appropriate Google Voice module, check. Blend on high for 2 minutes, bake for an hour at 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Your soufflé is done, whoops, we mean your voice controlled LED sign is done. Leave a voicemail on Davis’ Google Voice account that starts with “message” and it will be displayed for all to read within a matter of minutes. We think: make it bigger and add a security code before you can leave a message, and you’ve got the perfect recipe for some over sized message fun.

[via Make]
- Tags:
- led
- matrix
- led hacks
- google voice
- voicemail
- message
- voice
November 10 2009, 8:00am | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

Bike brake light senses you slowing down

http://hackaday.com/2009/11/09/bike-brake-light-senses-you-slowing-down/

Group riding can be a bit dangerous if the pace is fast and riders don’t notice a slowing in the front of the pack. [WyoJustin] designed a brake light system for cyclists to try and remedy this issue. LEDs are mounted in the end caps of the handlebars on a road bike. When an accelerometer senses the bike slowing down the LEDs light up, warning those behind you that you’re slowing down.

The system is made to be portable, as a lot of serious riders have multiple bikes. To make this happen, all of the electronics are housed in the handlebar tubing for easy transfer. This includes an accelerometer with built in voltage regulator, an Arduino to control everything, and a battery. Take a look at the brake lights in action after the break.

Most of the bike lights we see are for the front of the machine, but this backward-facing package is a clean and easy solution we can get behind (safely).
- Tags:
- arduino
- transportation hacks
- arduino hacks
- led hacks
- brake light
- cycling
- cyclist
November 9 2009, 8:49am | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

Electronic Jewelry

http://hackaday.com/2009/11/05/electronic-jewelry/

[Ellindsey000] posted this neat little pendant to his flickr stream. We like the way it looks, and the fact that it is a functional circuit. The schematic is even pretty neat. We would maybe wear this, as a belt buckle or something. When we looked at this though, we thought it looked really familiar. Yeah, it kind of looks like the arc reactor from Iron Man, but what we thought of was this cool looking walker. As you could probably already tell, it’s the same person. Great job again [Ellindsey000], and thanks for posting the schemtaic.
- Tags:
- wearable hacks
- led
- Jewelry
- led hacks
November 5 2009, 1:16pm | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

Unreasonably bright bike light apparently hunts deer

http://hackaday.com/2009/10/22/unreasonably-bright-bike-light-apparently-hunts-deer/

[Jukka] wanted a bike light that wasn’t afraid to go into the woods during the dark winter. He put together a lamp that uses eight 3 Watt LEDs to pump out 1680 lumens (english translation). The high power LEDs were mounted on a large aluminum heat sink and use lenses to optimize the beam of light. The system uses a 2 amp driver board that he assembled himself. Power is provided by sixteen AA Nickel Metal Hydride batteries that are housed along with the driver circuit in a water bottle.

This more than doubles the output of the last bike light we thought was too bright. Where will this lumen-arms-race stop?

[Thanks Sami]
- Tags:
- transportation hacks
- bike
- light
- led hacks
- lumens
- nickel metal hydride
October 22 2009, 3:00pm | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

War monument hacking

http://hackaday.com/2009/10/21/war-monument-hacking/

[Timo] tipped us off about a War Monument that has been… upgraded. The story starts when a monument was erected in Cherkassy, Ukraine to commemorate the ultimate sacrifice that was made by Russian soldiers during World War II. The huge statue and expansive plaza were capped off by an eternal flame. Unfortunately, when the Soviet Block broke up, the natural gas that had been provided by the government became a luxury so the flame was extinguished.

The eternal flame sat unlit, a sad commentary to the remembrance of the dead. But how to fix this issue? As cell phone companies came into the area, a need for cell phone towers arose. At some point a solution was reached; a cell phone tower was built in the bowl of the eternal flame and then wrapped with an LED marquee. The marquee now displays the image of a flame in perpetuity.

We’re not quite sure what to think about this. After some adjustment, the substitution of LEDs for flames will probably become accepted. The monument is now providing a useful purpose for the living, and once again shows a flame. We think that having something there showing that the memory is still alive is much better than the message an unkempt derelict sends.
- Tags:
- cellphones hacks
- led hacks
- cell tower
- eternal flame
- natural gas
- war monument
- world war II
October 21 2009, 2:09pm | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

MIT rethinking popup books

http://hackaday.com/2009/10/20/mit-rethinking-popup-books/

We know the folks at MIT are the cutting edge scientists of tomorrow right? We’re always impressed by the stuff coming out of their labs. Well, almost always. This rethinking of pop-up books does not let us down. We’ve seen some pretty complicated pop-up books. Some that made us really wonder how they pulled it off. But all of those were simply paper and card stock. At MIT, they’re wondering how we can improve the interactive experience now that the electronic components are so cheap and easily available. Even if you don’t have kids, or have no interest in pop-up books, consider this some inspiration for things like packaging and art. This looks fantastic and we know we would enjoy it. Then again, a few flashing LEDs always pique our interest.

[via Gizmodo]
- Tags:
- led
- book
- Kids
- led hacks
- popup
- pop-up
October 20 2009, 11:00am | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

Shift powered pumpkins

http://hackaday.com/2009/10/19/shift-powered-pumpkins/

[Garret] and a couple of friends totally stole our idea wanted to light up their pumpkins a bit differently this year. They used some ShiftBrites and all the corresponding shift hardware (who knew there was so much shift out there) to bring their carved orange minions to life. Yes, this could be done a lot less modulated by using a regular LED and perhaps a PIC. Maybe it’s not the most technically challenging, but hey its in the spirit of Halloween – one of our favorite holidays. Speaking of which, doesn’t that fence look familiar? Check out a video after the break. Seriously, Mutton Chops?
- Tags:
- home hacks
- led
- Halloween
- shiftbrite
- led hacks
October 19 2009, 11:08am | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

Build your own wristwatch

http://hackaday.com/2009/10/19/build-your-own-wristwatch/

[rgbphil] has done a great job detailing how he built his Microdot wristwatch.This project is a lot more approachable than the pong watch we saw last month. If you’ve made a few printed circuit boards, but haven’t yet tried working with surface mount component, this is a great way to give it a try.

The parts count is pretty low, a few switches, resistors, capacitors, LEDs, a watch crystal, and a PIC 16F88 microcontroller.[rgbphil] is using a charlieplex so that a separate shift register is not needed to drive all of the LEDs. He goes into detail about the process of laying out the circuit. Some of the problems he encounters include how to manage all of the charlieplex connections in a simple way, how to program the chip once it’s on the board, and how to layout the controls for the device.

The display looks great in the video we’ve embedded after the break. We’re going to add these components to our next parts order and make this project part of the plan for getting us through the long cold winter ahead.
- Tags:
- pic
- surface mount
- led hacks
- 16f88
- Microdot
- wrist watch
October 19 2009, 10:06am | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

72 LED persistence of vision globe

http://hackaday.com/2009/10/15/72-led-persistence-of-vision-globe/

[Ben] told us about his POV globe yesterday. We took a look and saw just one photo and the code with no real explanation of his project. He certainly set to work over night and now we see all the goodies we look for in a great build log. He even threw the Hackaday logo up for our enjoyment. His build is well executed and he found some creative ways around the common problems in these projects. We take a closer look after the break.

[Ben's] design looks much like an actual globe, with a base, a frame, and a rotating ring mounted with its axis tilted (just like the earth). 72 surface mount LEDs are used for the display, a PC fan with the blades removed provides the rotation, and a reed switch in conjunction with a magnet is used to sync the rotation with the display parsing.

Surface mount components are meant to be placed and reflowed on a circuit board. They are usually considered too small for free-form circuits. [Ben] made this process work for him by lining up all 72 LEDs face down on the sticky side of some masking tape. This made it much easier for him to solder together the multiplex needed to interface them with the microcontroller. You can see he is using varnished wire that can be soldered directly without the need for stripping. [Ben's] using a slice of a clear DVD-R container cover as the rotating ring for the display. On the right side of the picture above you can see the completed LED multiplex installed in this transparent ring.

Getting power to the rotating part of a POV display is always an issue to consider. [Ben] tried feeding the connection through a brush motor but had problems with power loss. His next attempt involves using a headphone jack and connector as the pivot point. Regulated power and ground are passed through two of the connections and he’s had great success with this system. Above, you can see the connector before it is fully inserted in the jack on the protoboard.

A reed switch is glued to the transparent ring and is actuated when it passes a bar magnet on the frame. This allows the microcontroller to measure the rotation of the ring, and sync the display output.

[Ben's] done a great job here. He salvaged a lot of the parts, including the LEDs. He’s chosen an Atmel AVR ATmega8 for the microcontroller. This is an inexpensive and readily available chip that is pin compatible with the more powerful ATmega168 so there is a possibility of future upgrade if animations or other functionality are desired, requiring more programming space. We would suggest a decoupling capacitor on the power pins of the uC in order to help filter out any noise on the lines, especially considering the rotating connection used to provide the regulated power.

WE WANT ONE!
- Tags:
- led
- AVR
- POV
- Atmel
- persistence of vision
- display
- atmega8
- led hacks
- classic hacks
- globe
- headphone
- jack
October 15 2009, 2:00pm | More »

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