WAP Controlled Home Automation

December 22, 2008 by Eliot 8 Comments

homeauto

[Josh] sent in a home automation project he did a little while ago. It has a total of eight switched outlets. The main focus of the project was WAP access for remote control from any cellphone. The control box is based on a design by [Ashley Roll] for controlling eight servos using a PIC microcontroller. A listener app written in Java monitors the control web page and sends signals to the board via serial port. He used opto-isolated 240V solid state relays for each of the outlets. All the pieces are available on the site and he might even do a custom control board design if there is enough interest.

Digital Clock Building

December 22, 2008 by Eliot 10 Comments

[punkky] has been documenting his adventures building digital clocks. They each use six 7-segment LED displays, but he’s been gradually changing how they are built. The first version used a CMOS BCD-to-7-sement latch on each display, which is tied to a PIC16F627a. For the next run, he added multiplexing, so he could drive all the segments using just thirteen pins. He’s posted a final schematic with code and details of how the clock timing actually works.

Cast Concrete RGB Lamp

December 22, 2008 by Caleb Kraft 1 Comment

lamp

[matthew venn] shows us how to create this cool RGB LED lamp. There’s nothing groundbreaking here, but some good information on casting the base out of concrete. The body of the lap is formed by two thin rods folded in half, stuck in holes in the base, with a lycra sleeve slid over them. The final effect is quite nice and can be controlled by 3 knobs recessed in the front of the base. Information on the actual circuit used is very limited, as there are so many tutorials out there for that, but he does show how he mounted it all, and plans on releasing the source code soon.

Gas Powered Blender

December 21, 2008 by Caleb Kraft 22 Comments

gas_mixer1

We aren’t sure what [stubman] needs to blend, but whatever it is, it must require some serious power. [stubman] put together this industrial looking gas powered blender. While gas powered blenders certainly aren’t a new thing, he did add a nice touch with an electric starter. While maybe not as cool looking as some we’ve previously covered, this one would look good in any shop. Why are gas powered blenders so popular? Why not gas powered pencil sharpeners or gas powered can openers? We’ve seen a gas powered vacuum!

Parallax Christmas Light Show

December 19, 2008 by Caleb Kraft 16 Comments

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btUh–1xbls]

[iboucher] wanted to do some crazy Christmas light choreography. Finding the cost of the off the shelf system to be way too much, he set out to build his own. After a visit to eBay to pick up some cheap 1 amp relays, he was ready to get started. Using a Basic Stamp2 that he had laying around, he was able to put together a fairly complete 16 port system. Great job [iboucher]

[via Hacked Gadgets]

Twittering Toaster

December 16, 2008 by Caleb Kraft 31 Comments

[nothans] felt that there were enough people curious about his toaster’s status that he built a system to update the world via twitter. Using the ioBridge module and a switch on the toaster, the world can now know when [Hans] is making toast. We recently saw someone use the same unit to feed their dog remotely.

A Welcome Train For The Holidays

December 15, 2008 by Caleb Kraft 9 Comments

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnFyI0a-55s]

[Eric] was charged with the task of setting up the train to welcome people on the porch. The train had been in the family for a long time, so he didn’t want to modify the train itself. Luckily, it has an IR port. He recorded the IR signal from the remote and used a home made pressure sensor to signal the train to start.