Over-the-top Hackerspace Donation Box Brings Out The Brony In You

“You’ll never believe how this happened, doc.” [Source: CRASH Space]
If you’re going to pass the hat for donations to your hackerspace, you might as well add to the value proposition and give potential donors a little something for their generosity. And what better way to cash in than to channel the inner Brony in your donors with a My Little Pony themed dollar-bill vortex box?

Sick of the boring cheezy-poof jug her hackerspace was using as a donation jar, not-a-Brony [Michelle] was inspired by the CRASH Space mascot Sparkles, pictured left, to build a new box that will maximize donations by providing donors with a multimedia extravaganza. The Plexiglas box, resplendent with laser-cut acrylic hearts and spangled with My Little Pony stickers, is fitted with a sensor so that donations trigger an MP3 of the MLP theme song. A scrolling LED marquee flashes a gracious message of thanks, and to complete the experience, a pair of fans creates a tornado of the fat stacks of cash in the bin.

Putting a little [Twilight Sparkle] into your donation box makes good financial sense, as does providing incentive to deposit bills rather than coins. This project reminds us of our recent post about a custom claw machine which could be leveraged as a value-added donation box – just add a coin slot. And rainbows.

[Thanks for the tip, SamyKamkar]

19 thoughts on “Over-the-top Hackerspace Donation Box Brings Out The Brony In You

      1. I noticed both your comments mentioned the word ‘bomb’. For a quarter hour, i thought both comments might be bombs. Then i noticed my comment has the word ‘bomb’ in it several times. I’m am now hiding under the desk! Duck and cover!

        1. I noticed your comment contains the word ‘duck’ and ‘cover’, rather than fully read what you’ve written to understand the context, I have decided to overreact and complain that this is animal cruelty (oh, and that you must be a terrieriest but I’m not sure why, I assume it’s a trend on social media).

          1. I noticed several nested comments containing the word bomb and my alarm clock went off. I had a mild panic attack. #IStandWithAhhhmedsKickedIn

            I haven’t seen HaD on @midnight yet.. Maybe if we keep it going??

    1. “For an additional donation, you too can enjoy your philanthropy in silence”
      Yeah I’d totally add that option.
      I used to work on a lot of game centerscwhen I was younger. Game attract noise annoyed me. I usually turned them all off, or setting to the longest intervals.

  1. The pony stuff don’t bother me.
    The loud sound may, but, hey, you have to cover the fan noise.

    But it’s a cruel idea to use RELAYS to command this mp3 board !
    Come on, you have an arduino running.
    And, pretty please, if you are going to command your relays without transistors, at least, put a free wheel diode TT_TT
    Set up a software serial (let say, D2 and D3), connect it to RX / TX of the mp3 board, and just send ‘T1’.
    Tada ! Melody is playing, you saved 8 relay, and extend future possibilities to volume change, playing even more song or using now free pins to command other devices !
    In 10 second flat. Beautiful isn’t it ?

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