Arduino Hacks

3039 Articles

Water Droplet Sculpture Using LEDs And Arduino

March 11, 2011 by 19 Comments

This water sculpture can stop drops of water in mid-air. This is accomplished by flashing LEDs to illuminate the droplets at just the right time. But it’s not limited to blinky lights alone. The top of the frame has eight nozzles, each fed by its own pump. An Arduino controls the pumps and the lights making it possible to create different motion effects by adjusting how events line up. For instance, the image above shows just two of the water nozzles on, but in the video after the break it appears one is dripping downward while the other is dripping upward.

Alas, there’s few build details for this but the source code is available for downloading. If we were going to build one of these ourselves we’d probably try to regulate the drips using some solenoids built from scratch. How would you do it? Leave your ideas in the comments.

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Interactive Punching Bag

March 10, 2011 by 6 Comments

If you need a sparring partner, and do not want to be dependent on finding a willing partner at any random time, then maybe this Interactive Punching Bag will be some interest to you. [Lior], having studied Karate for a while now, originally envisioned a robotic arm that would punch at you using the Texas Instruments Chronos or the Microsoft Kinect as input, though after some initial messing around he decided to scrap that plan and thought “how hard is it to place some LEDs inside a punching bag and sense some force using an Arduino?”

After about a day and a half, using parts from around the shop and a trip to radio shack, he was able to complete his goal, and left some room to expand in the future. The bag currently features 3 resistive sensors, 3 LED’s, and is using a laptop for feedback, though an LCD is on its way. The expansion room allows for 3 more sensors and LED’s for twice the action and more complex games.

Speaking of games, the punching bag currently has 3 different exercise programs, as many punches as you can in 30 seconds mode, a programmable sequence mode, and random which occasionally punches back. Join us after the break for a quick video, and check out the page for details and a pile of pictures.

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Arduino Thermo-cam

March 9, 2011 by 31 Comments

[Maxbot] wanted a inferared themo-cam that he could use to scan an area and display the results on his computer, the result is this Cheap-Thermocam. This little device is a inexpensive thermal sensor mounted on a pair of servo’s for XY scanning, custom java software and an Arudino to mate the two.

The sanner does a limited but still useful resolution of 42×32 pixels. To help out with smoothness of the colors, every other line of the finished product is interpolated against its neighbors. It takes the device about two minutes to measure each of the 1344 points, but what it lacks in speed it more than makes up for in cost, boasting around 100$ build cost, and ease of construction.

While exact details of what parts you need and how to hook everything up is lacking at this moment, there is a page in the works that will let you know all the good details “soon”, though if you are inspired to replicate one of these nifty devices it seems the most difficult part would be tapping into the sensor’s electronics and the custom software.

Cheap, hacky, and even comes with its own roll of duct tape. We have a short video for you after the break.

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Beginner Concepts In Electronics And Arduino

March 8, 2011 by 25 Comments

arduino_tutorial_series

[Jeremy] is all about the Arduino, but also into helping people get started working with electronics. He has put together a series of videos on his web site which discuss the basics of using an Arduino. Having just published his tenth tutorial, he dropped us a line to let us know. His videos cover a wide range of topics and include source code, schematics, and a full parts list to help you follow along with him.

While the core of his lessons focus specifically on how to use the Arduino to perform particular tasks, he does introduce the viewer to many different concepts along the way. He covers PWM, button debouncing, interrupts, SPI communications, analog inputs, and more – all of which are must-know topics that extend beyond the realm of experimenting with Arduinos.

The videos run anywhere from 6 to 20 minutes in length, so you will want to set a block of time aside if you plan on checking them out.

If Arduino-specific videos aren’t your thing, he also has a series of general tech-related videos on his site as well which may be of interest. Otherwise, stick around to see the latest in his series of tutorials.

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Controlling Fire With Your Mind (and Your Thumb)

March 8, 2011 by 6 Comments

 

[TechB] is using his mind to control fire. Well, what he’s really doing is using a Mindflex to control a lighter.

Many will remember the Mindflex from this shockingly awesome hack. But [TechB’s] approach follows in the footsteps of this Arduino interface for the device. He’s using the Arduino Brain Library to read data from the head-mounted EEG and sending commands to his own fire control system. Said system is composed of a cigarette lighter and a servo motor. The motor connects to the gas regulator on the lighter, opening it up when you concentrate and closing it when your mind wanders. The result is a higher flame to show more organized brain function. The only problem with the prototype is the burns you’ll get on your thumb from depressing the lighter’s valve while trying to get your thoughts in order.

Check out the video after the break to see this in action. [TechB] is looking a bit like the Borg at the beginning of the clip, making us wonder what other Mindflex hacks he’s already performed.

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Lilypad Bicycle Computer Reads Back Distance In Beeps

March 7, 2011 by 6 Comments

[Mark Fickett] finished his own interesting take on a bicycle computer. These wristwatch-sized devices normally mount to the handlebars and give feedback for current speed, trip distance, and many have options like cadence and heart rate. [Mark’s] has fewer features but it’s clean, simple, and does more than you’d think.

He used some denim to house the electronics which you can see mounted inside the frame of the bike. He’s chosen to use Lilypad components which are Arduino bits meant to be sewn into textiles. We’ve seen a Morse Code keyer using these components and this project is along the same lines. It reads wheel revolutions from a magnetic sensor mounted on the front fork. It has no LCD readout, but when you want to know how far you’ve traveled just press one button and the computer reads it back to in Morse Code played on a tiny piezo buzzer. This package hides one more nice option. Once you arrive home the trip data can be dumped onto a computer for easy graphing. Check out the video after the break to see these features in action.

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Follow-up: Radio-controlled LED Light Show

March 5, 2011 by 10 Comments

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[Alan] shared an update with us regarding a project he has been working on for some time, radio-controlled LED light strips destined for use by the Travelling Light Circus. If you are not familiar with the project or need a quick refresher, you can read our post about it here.

He recently met up with the guys from TLC to finish things up and was happily surprised that they did not want to mount his lights on the performers, as was originally planned. He would have had to make a few modifications if that was the case, but instead, they planned on attaching them to bicycle wheels. The light strips were mounted inside translucent plastic tubes that fan out from the center of the wheels, where the battery and radio equipment is located. The wheels were mounted on aluminum poles, allowing the performers to create a visually stunning show, just by spinning the pole.

Check out the pair of videos we have embedded below, the project came together quite nicely.

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