[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x24ESDCkmN0]
Ok, there aren’t any usefull applications we can think of for this one, but we want one really badly. This is a combination of a miniPOV, some UV LEDs, a CNC rig, and some glow in the dark paper. The Ghost matrix works similar to a dot matrix printer where it flashes the UV light to activate the paper. The final effect is very nice. Great job on this one.
[via Laughing Squid]
Another Cornell final project, Weather Canvas aims to make watching the weather a little more pleasant. Data is captured via a thermometer, humidity sensor, anemometer, and a Hotwheels radar gun turned precipitation sensor. Once it’s captured, it’s transmitted to the LED matrix inside which displays pretty patterns to convey the weather conditions. They have set images, like icons, that mean different things.
There have been several attempts at bringing Dungeons & Dragons up to date with modern technology. Most attempts have been in the form of computer games that somehow fail to capture the essential experience. This attempt, however seems to add some techie flair to while keeping the game the same. [Itay] has built some digital dice. Simply choose how many sides you want your dice to have, then give it a shake. OK, a random number generator isn’t that groundbreaking, but he did have to do some pretty intense soldering. The LED matrix is pretty cool, but we like looking at the back. You can see it in the video after the break.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqboDjQX0UE]
[Kyri] has made a simple circuit to do color detection using an RGB LED. Simply set the LED to the color you want to detect then wave the object over it. Another LED will light up if the object is the same color as the LED. The detection is done by a photo resistor. The theory is that an object will reflect more of the light that matches its surface color. She shows that this kind of detection could be useful for sorting in robotics.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q38NxsKetgo]
Here’s a cool tip, sent in by [Martin]. He has put together this very compact package for an animated 8×8 RGB LED array with a tiny footprint. It is controlled by an ATMega16 powered by 2 small lithium cells. While it may not be quite as small as the space invader button, it seems to have a bit more animation horsepower.
[Wolf] built this LED Enterprise model. It’s a ‘sparebot‘ assembled from leftover LEDs and resistors. Unlike most sparebot sculptural oddities, this one actually works. If you place it near a magnet, a reed switch closes to turn on the LEDs. A mechanical switch would have just caused more stress on the model. The part count is very low, but took some forethought. Two resistors are used to raise the resistance of the red LEDs to match the white LED. A quite clever and simple model.
We would be thrilled to get something like this in the mail. What you are looking at is the inside of probably the coolest invitation ever to be mailed. This LED array was enclosed in a mirrored box so all you could see were the lit LEDs. This was then inserted into a hole all the way through a catalog. You’ll have to see the pictures on their site to get the full effect. Only 40 of these were sent out, so we probably won’t get a chance to play with one ourselves. They mentioned that the first prototype was soldered by hand, just to make sure everything worked.
[via Moritz Waldemeyer]
