Ringing in the new year with an Arduino and Calcium Carbide

carbide

It's the first we've heard of it, but a New Year's Eve tradition in The Netherlands called Carbidschieten sounds like it's just up our alley. Basically, a small chunk of calcium carbide and a little bit of water is placed in a metal milk churn. The carbide decomposes into acetylene and a flame is held up to a small hole in the milk churn. The resulting explosion sends the lid of the milk churn … [Read more...]

Buzzed Buzzer gives you a Breathalyzer test while ringing in the new year

alcohol-sensing-party-buzzer

We're not sure if there's enough time to get a parts order delivered, but no geeky New Year's party will be complete without a party buzzer that doubles as a Breathalyzer. The Buzzed Buzzer hides all of the necessary bits inside of a paper and plastic party favor. We guess it only buzzes if you're over the limit? Actually that's not the case at all. The accuracy of the sensor used in the project … [Read more...]

Disco icosahedron rings in the new year

2012

While city engineers were setting up the multicolored ball of lights in Times Square this year, [Phil] at adafruit was busy designing the X2 Time Ball, a disco icosahedron perfect for celebrating the new year. The ball is made of 20 acrylic triangles zip-tied together into an icosahedron. On each face, six RGB pixels light up via commands from an Arduino. The entire project is able to be … [Read more...]

Doomsday Keg of Radness helps ring in the New Year

doomsday-keg

Lots of people buy noise makers for New Year's eve, others opt to sing Auld Lang Syne - then there’s these guys. The crew at Stone Brewing Company throw an annual bash at their brewery in celebration of New Years, and while [Dino’s] countdown timer is great for intimate settings, they needed something bigger to wow the crowd. A busted half barrel was all the inspiration they needed to build … [Read more...]

Counting down to the New Year

cardboard-count-down

[Rod] is in a position to provide a community service on New Year's Eve. He spends the evening at a relative's house next to the beach. There are fireworks at midnight, but the crowd has no communal way to count down to the deadline. This year, he build his own count-down display so that everyone can join in during the last few seconds. This is a temporary build so each digit is housed in a … [Read more...]

New Year’s Eve ball drop in your kitchen

new-years-eve-ball-drop

[Tech B.] hacked together a Ball Drop for New Year's Eve using stuff he had lying around. The ball itself is an old Christmas ornament that he cut in half and filled with 14 LEDs and a 9V battery. He finished up that portion of the project by gluing the halves back together and adding a hole for the guide rod. The base is made of some cardboard boxes and hides an Arduino, a servo motor, an LCD … [Read more...]

New Year’s party favor?

pov-pcb

[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 … [Read more...]