Inspired by the control system for the AMP suits in the movie Avatar, [Feelpavan] built this gesture controlled robotic hand. So far there is functionality for the wrists to rotate and bend, as well as for the fingers to flex (but not individually). This is accomplished by three servo motors on the hand assembly. The instructions for the hand are gathered from your own hand, through the use of an accelerometer and an Arduino that he built himself. Check it out after the break.
Here’s a strange one. This fighting game uses a video game interface to instruct modern-age gladiators on how to bring the pain. The costumed fighters cannot see anything other than a set of lights in their helmets instructing them to move or punch. A camera films them and overlays the footage on a digital background along with simulated blood and a health bar for each. NES controllers are used to instruct them, and switches inside the costumes register the pummeling they receive and deduct health accordingly. This wouldn’t be any good without a demonstration, which we’ve embedded after the break.
Sadly, this pocket mp3 wav player doesn’t come close to the capabilities of even an iPod generation 1 yet, but you have to give [Owen] props for making it in less than 24 hours. The system consists of a Propeller MCU (cleverly wired to be swappable with “shields” similar to Arduino systems), SD card for song storage, and an LM386 for audio. While the setup is a little dull, and only plays through songs non stop with no controls whatsoever, it certainly is a good start in the right direction for a cheap and simple portable music player. Of course some planned changes are in the works, include an accelerometer (gesture based controls?), etched PCB, docking station, and a case. We’re surprised there is no form of screen planned, considering Owen appears to have a rather good handle on touch interfaces; perhaps he’s waiting for revision 3.
We’re rather surprised at how popular it has become to build your own motorcycle computer. [Mario Mauerer] tipped us off about his shiny motorcycle computer (translated) for his Yamaha XTZ 750. It uses an ATmega644 microcontroller to pull a variety of data together and display it on this white LED backlit display. He connected a flow meter to the fuel line to monitor gas consumption. Oil temperature is captured by inserting a brass tube (containing the sensor) through a hole in the oil cap and soldering it in place. Water temperature is gathered by measuring the external temperature of one of the cooling lines. [Mario] uses a rotary encode with a click function as the control interface device, and a battery backed real time clock keeps time.
A quick look at the PCBs tells the tale of good circuit design. But we do wonder about catching the reflection of the sun in that shiny bezel.
This contraption lets you decorate your cake at the push of a button. It’s a stretch to call it computer aided as this is purely a mechanical monster, but we still enjoy the apparatus and see its CNC potential (we’re still waiting for that pizza printer to hit the market too). An icing syringe has been modified with a flexible hose on the business end. As constant pressure is applied to the plunger, the nozzle oscillates while the cake rotates. What results is a spirograph drawing on the top of your dessert. But the fun doesn’t stop there. Another push of the button and you get shiny silver orb candies joining in the party.
What, no video? Aw! If you know where to find a clip, let us know and we’ll update this post.
[Thanks Mowcius]
To userp the Green Lantern oath is a sacrilege. But calm your rage as you take in this Green Lantern battery and ring project. [Jon] built the power battery portion out of LEGO, but inside you’ll find an added bonus. An Arduino uses a set of LEDs and an RFID reader to bring the object alive. A matching ring contains the RFID tag that activates the lights when held up to the lantern’s lens. You can see this used to charge the power ring (and join in by saying the oath) in the video after the break.
Want to build something like this but don’t have an RFID reader? This would be easy to pull off by adding a magnet to the ring and a hall effect sensor in the lantern. Maybe this will make you rethink your Halloween costume this year.
Continue reading “Brightest Day, Darkest Night, Charge It With Arduino’s Light”
The polyplasmic archophone is a fresh approach to high voltage “arc music“. They are using an Arduino clone to convert signals for the ignition coils. It is still unfinished, but the effect is decent. In the end it will have 2 tiers of voice coils for a total of 13. They are using different materials for the antenna so they can get different colors of sparks. You can see a video of it after the break and we must say the effect is quite nice. Change the lighting on that video and we could imagine this being the set to a [Joules Verne] movie.
