Internet Radio Player Wins Propeller Design Contest

April 5, 2010 by Mike Szczys 33 Comments

It’s got a NIC, a remote, a character display, and can record and play back streaming audio. Thumper is [Harrison Pham’s] contest-winning Internet radio player.His finished board is roughly the same size as the 16×2 character display and piggy-backs the device for a small form-factor. It can be controlled via an infrared remote control, or through a remote web interface. Source files are available from the link at the top, but the really juicy details are included in the shockingly comprehensive PDF writeup.

The photo above is a bit misleading. The board has a micro SD slot on the back even though a USB card reader is shown. This project would need USB host control for Propeller chips in order to use that reader. Don’t forget to check out some of the other submissions to the the contest once you’ve had your fill of this one.

[Thanks Drone]

Remote Control Pellet Gun – With Scope

December 10, 2009 by Mike Szczys 40 Comments

Project Thunderbird is an automated predator and pest control system. It consists of a pellet gun mounted in a motorized base. The icing on the cake is a 60x zoom camera that has cross-hairs superimposed on the picture. This reminds us of the Internet hunting for the handicap we heard about years ago.

In the video after the break you can see how the motorized base works, watch the trigger-pull motor, and observe a demonstration of some target practice. The creator, [Gadgetapodimus], mentions the possible sale of plans and kits as soon as he completes the system. Perhaps it would be better if this was not easy for people to build.

Continue reading “Remote Control Pellet Gun – With Scope” →

Control Your Tree From Anywhere

December 1, 2009 by Jakob Griffith 22 Comments

We honestly never thought we would see an internet controlled Christmas tree before, sure maybe a remote controlled claw or online soccer robots, but a tree? Regardless, team [Schwippy] did just that. 5 separate sets of lights are connected to 5 individual x10 modules. The x10s are listening over the household’s AC lines for commands from a server in the other room, with its own x10. At about 12$ a module, the project can get expensive quick, totalling over 200$ for [Schwippy’s] setup. Just to control a tree, but anything to spread the holiday cheer, right?
[Thanks Yon]

Remote Controlled Claw Of Doom

October 27, 2009 by Jakob Griffith 13 Comments

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-9_dMJKh9E&feature=player_embedded%5D

Robotic claws are awesome, period. [Jeremy’s] Remotely controlled robotic claw, thats just a whole new level of cool – even if the intention is to just pick up blocks. The setup is simple enough, a Parallax Propeller controls the whole system by first polling a web server for changes in variables that the user has invoked. Those changes are then passed to relays that control the claw. To keep from fumbling in the dark, he’s even included a webcam. We hate to see that he’s used such expensive equipment to just control a toy, but maybe one day he’ll move to bigger and better things.

Happy Birthday Internet: 5 History Videos

September 2, 2009 by Mike Szczys 18 Comments

Leonard-Kleinrock-and-IMP1

National Geographic has pegged September 2, 2009 as the 40th anniversary of the Internet. They do not cite their source and our source doesn’t make the same claim. But, August 30, 1969 is the date the first Interface Message Processor was delivered to the Arpanet. The IMP is what allowed different computer networks to talk to each other and so it follows that September 2 is probably an acceptable date to celebrate.

To commemorate this glorious day we’re sharing some of our favorite History of the Internet videos. Start with the National Geographic video and then take in the geeky, the new, the old, and the simple. Continue reading “Happy Birthday Internet: 5 History Videos” →

TGIMBOEJ Robot Edition

December 2, 2008 by chriskiick 11 Comments

robotjunk

Since we last reported about The Great Internet Migratory Box of Electronic Junk, several of these boxes have begun circulating in different areas of the world. Team Hack-a-Day launched three themselves. Robots.net decided that there was a need for a specialized box just for those who hack robots, and have launched their own.

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