[Eduard] sent in his IR webcam whiteboard project. He wanted something like the Wiimote version, but without the expense of a Wiimote. He added some film negative to the camera to reduce the amount of visible light picked up by the CCD. (He notes that you might need to pull the IR filter from your camera to get a decent signal.) The pen is the usual IR LED with a power supply. To do the actual work, he wrote a custom application in Java.
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SONAR Controlled USB Missile Launcher
Check out this add on for that cheap USB missile launcher we know you bought last year. It uses ultrasonic sensors to provide sonar feedback for the aiming system. A PIC 18F455 drives a servo to aim the sensor and massage the signal from the sensor. It still depends on a PC application to put everything together. If you’d rather play with faster hardware, keep your eyes open for this years defcon bots contest.
Wiremap, A Volumetric Display
While at The Last HOPE this year, we were fortunate enough to see Wiremap, a volumetric display made from thread. Using a projector and 256 individual strands of cotton thread, [Albert Hwang] produces 3D effects. The result is a visually stunning piece of work.
Simple Tracking In 3D Space
[kylemcdonald] has posted this how to build a simple 3D tracking interface. Using 6 resisters, some wire, aluminum foil, an Arduino, and a cardboard box, he was able to do 3D capacitive sensing. Coupling that with Processing, he was able to overlay an interface using augmented reality. The video above shows a 3D tic tac toe application. While it seems less than perfect, its pretty amazing for how simple it is.
Seen anything similar to this out there? What applications would be fun with this?
XBox Controller USB Labotomy
[sprite_tm]’s back with one of his excellent Atmel projects. This time he decided to turn an original XBox controller (cause he likes ’em) into a standard USB HID device. He gutted the custom USB chip that Microsoft installed and replaced it with an Atmel ATMega88. The ATMega required a few changes to the board, but nothing too off the wall.
SenseSurface: Custom Inputs On Your Lcd Screen
[Lindsay Williams] has come up a novel way of constructing custom physical inputs for your programs. SenseSurface is a viable alternative to building a new interface for each application. Simply place the dials, buttons, and sliders on your screen wherever you want them.
A sensor board, placed behind the display, picks up the signals from the inputs. The only limitation to the number of inputs available is the size of your screen. Inputs are held on magnetically, and have a low friction backing to avoid scratching or gouging your screen.
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DeepNote Guitar Hero Bot
A team of five high school seniors have released some videos of their new Guitar Hero bot named DeepNote. This bot uses a group of custom photodiode modules with an 8 nanosecond latency placed on the screen to sense the notes. The Parallax Propeller system takes this input and controls solid state relays hooked into the guitar’s circuitry. After we looked at a few videos of the early prototype system, we could really see how it has evolved. They have custom PCBs and a really nice frame for the photodiode sensors. You can find more info on their How It Works page and view a demo video embedded below.
