Overclocked ATmega32 gaming

With more pixels and more objects to track you’re going to need to get that AVR running pretty fast to get the job done. But [Vladutz2000] figured why stop at 16 MHz when you can overclock an ATmega32 to 27 MHz for a faster gaming experience?

This build may not be as colorful as Super Pixel Bros, but … Read the rest

Range finder musical toy

parallax_arduino_ping_organ

Instructables user [sketchsk3tch] was looking to make a fun toy for his kids using things he had around the house and came up with the Ping Organ. The organ is played by standing in front of the Parallax Ping range sensor, and moving around any which way you please. He interfaced the range sensor with an Arduino, scavenging a … Read the rest

LaunchPad MIDI synth

launchpad_midi_synth

[NatureTM] sent in a writeup for the MIDI synthesizer he recently built using a TI LaunchPad. The construction is pretty simple overall, consisting of little more than the MSP430, a handful of resistors, and an optoiosolater. Of course, a MIDI controller is required, but he already had that on hand.

Once the MIDI data is read from the optoisolator, his … Read the rest

Flash trigger with programmable delay

Here’s a flash trigger with a programmable delay. These triggers are often used to capture quick events like a balloon popping. The technique takes place in a dark room with the shutter open. When the event is triggered the flash illuminates the scene and an image is captured. Because these require precise timing it has typically been a chore … Read the rest

NES game pad guided robotic arm

nes_robotic_arm

Instructables user [Bruno] sent in his most recent creation, a robotic arm controlled using an old NES game pad. He scavenged the majority of his parts from a pair of old HP printers, including motors pulleys, belts and more. In fact, most of the metal and plastic components that he used come from the old printer chassis as well. … Read the rest

Modern freaking: pull phone numbers from YouTube audio

[Charlie X-Ray] is having some modern fun with the phone system by pulling dialed numbers from the audio track of YouTube videos (translated). The first step was to find a video where a telephone is being dialed and the sounds of the keypresses are audible. You can’t tell those tones apart, but a computer can. That’s because each … Read the rest