Stupidly Huge POV Display

November 22, 2008 by Eliot 28 Comments

pov_gear

[Mario Mauerer] and friends were commissioned to build this 2m persistence of vision display (translated) for a party (in a hight-voltage lab no less). Dubbed “Display from Hell”, it uses 100 blue SMD LEDs to generate the POV images. They’re connected to an ATMega64 via shift registers. Their target speed is 600rpm for a flicker free image, which means the propeller tips are moving at 140mph. The board can be updated wirelessly via IRDA and plans for adding SD storage are in place. You have to see and HEAR this thing in the video embedded below. Continue reading “Stupidly Huge POV Display” →

Johnny Lee’s Favorite Wiimote Projects

November 21, 2008 by Eliot 4 Comments

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txtl51YDMYw&fmt=18]

There is no doubt that [Johnny Lee] is the authority on Wiimote based projects. So, when he compiles a list of his favorite Wiimote projects, we definitely pay attention. He’s organized the list as a progression of the unusual. By the time you get to ‘Chicken Head Tracking‘ at the bottom, you’ll be adequately prepared. You’re bound to get some inspiration from the list even it’s building a pigeon guided missile.

Augmented Reality In Flash

November 19, 2008 by Eliot 35 Comments

Digital Pictures Interactive has put together a great augmented reality demo. Unlike many others, it’s entirely Flash based, so there’s no install necessary. Print out the custom symbol and try it out for yourself in your browser. Augmented reality refers to any mashup that combines computer generated content with a live video stream. We see great potential for this technology and the large number of consumer webcams would certainly help consumer adoption. Video demo embedded below. Continue reading “Augmented Reality In Flash” →

Alarm Clock Automated Blinds

November 18, 2008 by Eliot 22 Comments

[Anupam Pathak] knows how jarring it can be to wake up to a traditional alarm clock. He decided to hack an alarm clock so that it would open the shades in his room to allow in natural light. He found the pin that went high when the alarm was triggered and used that to signal an ATtiny45. The microcontroller activates a servo connected directly to the blinds. He has switches on the side of the clock to manually control the blinds and to cut power to the audible alarm. Video embedded after the break. Continue reading “Alarm Clock Automated Blinds” →

Auduino Software Synth

November 17, 2008 by Eliot 14 Comments

audiuno

Tinker.it has published plans for building a software synthesizer using an Arduino. The Auduino uses granular synthesis to create a truly unique sound. The grain is constructed from two triangle waves. Each one has adjustable frequency, decay rate, and the repetition rate can be changed too. The Arduino just needs five potentiometers attached to the analog inputs and an audio jack on the digital out. You don’t have to use pots; you can use anything that varies the analog input between 0 and 5 volts. A video of the device is embedded after the jump. Continue reading “Auduino Software Synth” →

Microcontroller Fireworks Launcher

November 15, 2008 by Kimberly Lau 9 Comments

[vimeo 2245777]

After being inspired by our previous posts on a microcontroller-powered missile launcher and the wireless fireworks controller, [Adam] at Additronics.com decided to build his own microcontroller launcher. He combined elements from each of the prior projects, and included some of the advice from the Hack a Day comments. His multi-rocket/fireworks launcher is configured with an Arduino Diecimila, and requires a whole boatload of batteries. [Adam] claims there’ll be another video at New Year’s of the microcontroller in action, which we’re definitely looking forward to watching.

Working With High Quality YouTube Videos

November 13, 2008 by Kimberly Lau 22 Comments

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZTJbsUcdeU&fmt=18]

[Kottke] posted advice for watching and sharing high quality YouTube videos. While it’s not HD quality, it’s much, much better than the normal, fuzzy quality you get on most videos. This hack has been available for some time, but it hasn’t been documented very well until now. When you’re logged in, you can just set the default to “Always play higher-quality video when it’s available”. When you’re linking to a video, add &fmt=18 to the YouTube URL. This also works when you’re embedding the link in WordPress. If you’re not in WordPress, then tack &ap=%2526fmt%3D18 onto each URL in the embeddable code. It’s pretty simple, and makes wasting your day at work much more enjoyable.