We think that in honor of the DuinoStamp’s small size and big power, the post about it should also be small and powerful. About the size of 34-pin DIP, the DuinoStamp is a breakout board that fits in DIP sockets and is Arduino compatible. It features an ATmega 168-20PU chip, a 16MHz resonator, decoupling capacitors and more. It doesn’t come with the necessary 5V power supply or any kind of interface cable, but what do you expect for under $10?
Year: 2008
Wii Fit Balance Board Controls Robot
More Wii Fit Balance Board hacks keep rolling in from Europe. We’re not sure we agree with [Juan Gonzales]’s assertion that the Wii Fit Balance board is the best way to control robots, but we can’t deny how fun it looks. [Gonzales] managed to control a robot of his own design with the balance board, making it turn when he leans to the sides and moving forward and back when he leans in those directions.
The robot, which he calls SkyBot, is fairly impressive in its own right, built from a PIC microcontroller and featuring various infrared sensors and 6 contact sensors. The robot’s OS can be controlled from Windows, OS X, or Linux, but for this project, they used Debian. The balance board interfaces with a laptop connected to SkyBot; custom software (tar.gz file) to make this work was written in python, and is available on [Gonzales]’s robot wiki, as well as instructions on how to build a SkyBot. It is in Spanish, however, so fire up Google Translate and get to work.
[via Balance Board Blog]
PC Interfaced SNES Sound Processor
[Silverpill] sent in this interesting Super Nintendo mod. [Raph] interfaced a SNES audio processing unit to his parallel port using a logic gate and a few resistors. The project looks like it probably died off, but the goal was to use a APU to play authentic audio from emulated games. Schematics and code to get the thing working are all available on the site.
Mega Underwater DIY Video Housing
This fantastically huge housing was put together by [Ed Sauer]. He put it together using TIG welded 6061 aluminum for the body and machined the port mount out of 7075 aluminum. The lens port is a commercial unit from a housing manufacturer along with a few manual controls. He wrote up the build in this pdf.
The Great Internet Migratory Box Of Electronics Junk
UPDATE: EMSL has four more boxes ready to go. If you are in the silicon valley area, pick one up.
The Great Internet Migratory Box of Electronics Junk is essentially a virtual swap meet. A mysterious USPS flatrate box arrives on your door step filled to the brim with random electronics. You remove some pieces that you find interesting or useful. Write about them. Add some items from your own collection, and then ship it off to a recipient you deem worthy. [John Park] was kind enough to send us the box code named Rangoon and here’s what we found inside:
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OiNK Uploaders’ Bail Extended
The six people arrested by British authorities for uploading files to the OiNK torrent network, all out on bail, have had the period of their bail extended. Charged with conspiracy to defraud the music industry, the woman and five men as well as OiNK operator [Alan Ellis] have been ordered to report to the police on July 1st, where their bail will be formally extended for another 27 days. According to TorrentFreak, sources close to the case believe that the police are still building their criminal case, which accounts for the bail extensions. They could have civil charges levied against them, but current British Law cannot prosecute individuals for illegal filesharing unless it is done for profit.
MSI Wind Under FCC Review
Those of us who have been eagerly waiting to get their mitts on an MSI Wind can see some light at the end of the tunnel, as it is currently under review for domestic sale by the FCC. The Wind is MSI’s answer to Asus’s game-changing ultraportable, the Eee PC, and has slightly better specs. It features an Intel Atom 1.6GHz CPU, 1GB of RAM. It also has built in bluetooth and webcam. Check out a few shots of the Wind’s internal parts at jkkmobile or grab them all from the FCC’s site.
