Live Fire Half-life

June 23, 2010 by Mike Szczys 48 Comments

We don’t know how we missed this when it first came out, but there is a hack out there that combines a .22 caliber pistol with the video game Half-life. Simple is best and that motto is in use here. A wall was built down range to use as a projection screen. Accelerometers mounted on the drywall report vibration data from the bullet strike which is used to triangulate its location. This targeting data is then sent to the game interface.

As you can see in the video after the break this works like a charm. The [Waterloo Labs] personnel that developed this are also responsible for that iPhone controlled car. The antics we witnessed in that project carry over to this one as they illustrate using the setup to play Half-life with a couple of shovels at 2:12 into the clip. Continue reading “Live Fire Half-life” →

Wireless Accelerometer Project

June 12, 2010 by Jakob Griffith 15 Comments

[Jerome Demers] sent us his extremely detailed semester project. The two part system consists of PICs connected to XBee modules and accelerometers. By using the device a coach can monitor an athlete and correct their minute mistakes.

Did we mention [Jerome] was very detailed? He also goes into the particulars of designing the circuit, using solder paste and baking, designing and laser cutting a case, and even some fun stories. Well worth the read if you have the time.

Embedding An Accelerometer And XBee In A Guitar

May 28, 2010 by Mike Szczys 19 Comments

[JP Carrascal] hacked his guitar by adding motion control while removing the need for wires. He’s using a dual-Arduino system with an Mini Pro inside the guitar and a Duemilanova for the receiver connected to a computer. Wireless is provided by the XBee module seen above and a gutted Wii remote accelerometer is in there for motion sensing. Check out the artfully blurry demonstration of the motion effects after the break.

While he added some potentiometer-based controls there is also an automatic power-down feature. [JP] replaced the mono pickup with a stereo one and used the extra conductor as a switch to activate the additional electronics. We wonder if he also winds his own pickups or builds his own effects pedals.

Continue reading “Embedding An Accelerometer And XBee In A Guitar” →

Bonfire – Interactivity Using Pico Projectors And Cameras

April 28, 2010 by Mike Szczys 8 Comments

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3MZYRAZJNk]

This video shows a demonstration of Bonfire, an additional interface for computers. It consists of a pico projector and camera hang on the back of either side of a laptop. The projector displays information on the table top and the camera monitors the area for interaction. It can recognize your hand or objects such as a smartphone or headphones and react accordingly. An accelerometer in the laptop picks up tapping (we’d guess you have to tap pretty hard) and there is also support for gestures. This was presented at 2009 UIST and unfortunately the published article is not available for free [Thanks for the link Ciflet].

We hope to see this kind of thing, as well as skin based input, come to the market some day. Until then, you’ll have to build your own.

[via Procrastineering]

Hackaday Links: April 18, 2010

April 18, 2010 by Mike Szczys 19 Comments

Remote motion control

This project walks though a method of controlling motors with an accelerometer when the two are physically separated. Two Arduinos are used, with the user interface and the motor control connected via Ethernet. This must be useful for something; maybe it should be the next step once you get your accelerometer up and running.

CNC machine build

[Lucassiglo21] is doing a great job documenting his CNC build. The project has been ongoing for several months. He’s seeing some success with milling simple PCBs along with other millwork projects.

Condom starts a fire

Ever needed to start a fire and had nothing on you but a condom? Yeah, we haven’t either but that doesn’t diminish the fun of this whimsical ‘Condom Hack Pack‘ video. See the uses you never thought of for those rubbery package protectors.

Solderless PCB

Print your component locations on a piece of card stock and populate the board without any soldering? This is quick and convenient for a circuit that doesn’t need to last very long. It uses wire wrapping to connect the components, completing the circuit. [Thanks Frogz]

Beginner Concepts: Using An Accelerometer

April 17, 2010 by Mike Szczys 32 Comments

Accelerometers make for nice user interaction, that’s why every Apple product seems to have one included and the Nintendo Wii is still alive despite its underpowered graphics capabilities. Adding one to your project is pretty simple, just a matter of reading in analog data and interpreting it according to the datasheet. If you’re just starting out, here’s a tutorial on how to interface an accelerometer with a PIC microcontroller. They’re using an ADXL320 which can be acquired on a breakout board for about $30. The schematic and code are simple so even if you don’t intend to build the circuit (or want to use a different uC), this is easy to understand as an academic exercise.

[Thanks Skitchin]

[Photo credit: SparkFun]

Punching Accelerometers

April 15, 2010 by Jakob Griffith 16 Comments

Shortly after finishing his Makiwara punching bag, [Abieneman] wired and programmed an Arduino to an accelerometer to find out just how much acceleration (and with some math, force) is behind his punches. The project is simple and would be quick to reproduce for your own measuring and experiments: all that he used included an Arduino, accelerometer (with A/D converter), LED displays (and shift register). We were a little disappointed to learn of how much static the accelerometer produced, so measuring things such as impulse, energy, and pretty much anything not kinematic is nullified. But it makes us wonder, how much static would be in say, a Wii Remote punching bag?