An RGB Backlight For The Nokia 5110 LCD

July 4, 2020 by Tom Nardi 13 Comments

Hardware hackers love the Nokia 5110 LCD. Or at least, they love the clones of it. You can pick up one of these panels for a couple bucks wherever electronic bits and bobs are sold, and integrating it into your project is a snap thanks to all the code and documentation floating around out there. But while it might be cheap and reliable, it’s not a terribly exciting component.

Which is perhaps why [Miguel Reis] thought he’d spruce it up a bit with an RGB backlight. While we’ll admit that this hack is mostly about looking cool, it’s not entirely without practical application. If your gadget experiences some kind of fault, having it flash the LCD bright red is sure to get somebody’s attention from across the room.

The board itself is very straightforward, with four MHPA1010RGBDT RGB LEDs and a couple of passives to keep them happy. The Nokia 5110 LCD module just pops right on, and beyond the extra pins added for the three LED colors, gets wired up the same as before. The backlight LEDs just need a few spare GPIO pins on your microcontroller to drive them, and away you go.

[Miguel] is currently selling his RGB version of this iconic LCD on Tindie for only a couple dollars more than the standard version, so it looks like a pretty cheap way to add a little bling to your next project. (Tindie is owned by Supplyframe, which also owns Hackaday. But they didn’t put us up to adding this link.)

Tic Tac Arduintoe Moves The Game To 4×4

May 26, 2020 by Kristina Panos 5 Comments

We know you’re out there spending a lot more time with your loved ones, and appreciate that you may be running out of ways to keep everyone entertained. [Mukesh] dropped us a tip because he has the antidote to boredom — a new twist on that old chestnut, Tic Tac Toe.

Instead of the usual 3×3 configuration, [Mukesh] made the grid 4×4 so the game would be more engaging. Game play is otherwise the same — this Tic Tac Toe still results in a lot of draws, but they take longer and you can’t see them coming a mile away. What’s even more engaging is that you get to push clicky buttons that light up, and don’t have to draw a grid before every game.

Under the hood is an Arduino Uno that controls 16 push buttons and their corresponding RGB LEDs. Whoever goes first is blue, and player two gets pink. If you win, your color floods the board for a brief victory animation. If the game is a tie, the board turns red. We really like the printed two-piece buttons that house the LEDs and actuate the push buttons while keeping the two separate. Toe your way past the break to check out the build video.

Intrigued by the 4×4 version, but need a build that takes more time? Try building your TTT in TTL.

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Come On Baby Light My Fire Button

May 22, 2020 by Sven Gregori No comments

While the Nintendo GameCube stood deep in the shadows of the PS2 in its day, its controller remains a popular target for all sorts of modifications today — many of them involving LEDs, thanks to a translucent bottom and button option. As an avid player of the Super Smash Bros. series, [goomysmash] is of course an owner of the very same controller, which motivated him to write GoomWave, a “versatile and hackable LED library”. In an impressively detailed Instructable, he shows how to modify your own controller in two different ways to make use of the library for yourself.

Initially inspired by the Shinewave mod that lights up RGB LEDs in colors associated to pre-defined moves in Smash Bros, [goomysmash] aimed to improve on it and add more versatility from the very beginning. Its latest iteration comes in a simplified ABXY-buttons-only variety using an ATtiny85, and a full-blown all-button variety using an Arduino Nano. Both of them are powered straight from the controller board, and have different modes where they either react to controller interactions, or are just custom lights. A brief showcasing of all the different modes can be seen in the video after the break, and there a few more details also in an older version’s video, also embedded below.

Mesmerizing LED-blinking aside, we just have to admire the diligence and cleanliness [goomysmash] put into the wiring and fitting everything inside the controller. But in case light mods aren’t your thing or you’re looking for other GameCube controller modifications, how about adding Bluetooth?

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A Sweet Little Insulin Reminder Light

May 19, 2020 by Kristina Panos 5 Comments

So much of what we do relies on a certain societal structure that has been absent for a few months now. When the days run together, it’s hard to remember to do the things that must happen daily. You think you did something, and maybe you’re right, but it’s quite possible you’re thinking of yesterday.

[Flameeyes] has diabetes and must use an insulin pen every morning without fail, no matter what’s happening outside his door. This was pretty much a non-issue in the before-time, but quickly became a serious problem as the routine-free weeks wore on. With no room for false positives, he needed a solution that doesn’t trigger until the deed is done.

Now when [Flameeyes] puts the pen away, he also triggers a Flic smart button mounted nearby. The Flic shares its status with a Feather M4 Express through a web app, and the Feather in turn changes the RGB LED inside of Pikachu’s base from red to yellow for the day. Pikachu sits in plain sight by the kettle, so there’s no guessing whether [Flameeyes] took his insulin.

Insulin is a critical commodity with a lot of DIY interest, which is probably starting to spike about now. Our own [Dan Maloney] wrote a great piece on the subject that brings up an insulin hack from around 80 years ago.

Weather Display Is Cloudy With A Chance Of ESP8266

May 19, 2020 by Tom Nardi 2 Comments

[Mukesh Sankhla] writes in to share this unique weather display that looks to be equal parts art and science. Rather than show the current conditions with something as pedestrian as numbers, this device communicates various weather conditions to the user with 25 WS2812B LEDs embedded into the 3D printed structure. It also doubles as a functional planter for your desk.

So how does this potted plant tell you if it’s time to get your umbrella? Using a NodeMCU ESP8266 development board, it connects to openweathermap.org and gets the current conditions for your location. Relative temperature is conveyed by changing the color of the pot itself; going from blue to red as things heat up. If there’s rain, the cloud over the plant will change color and flash to indicate thunder.

[Mukesh] has made all of the STL files for the printed components available, as well as the source code for the ESP8266. You’ll need to provide your own soil and plant though, there’s only so much you can send over the Internet. Incidentally, if the clever way he soldered these WS2812B modules together in the video catches your eye, you’ll really love his “RGB Goggles” project that we covered earlier.

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These LED Shades Will Blind You With Science

May 8, 2020 by Tom Nardi 9 Comments

Unless you’re particularly fond of looking at the back of 88 individual WS2812B LEDs, these “RGB Goggles” from [Mukesh Sankhla] won’t offer you much of a view. But from an outsider’s perspective, the smartphone-controlled glasses certainly make a statement. Just don’t try to operate any heavy machinery while wearing them.

The build starts off with a pair of shades dark enough that the lights won’t be obvious until they’re powered up. [Mukesh] then carefully aligned the LEDs into a grid pattern on a piece of clear tape so they could be soldered together with the fewest number of jumper wires possible. Even if you’re not in the market for some technicolor eyewear, this clever arrangement of WS2812B modules could come in handy if you’re looking to make impromptu LED panels.

To control the LEDs, [Mukesh] is using an Arduino Nano and an HC-06 Bluetooth module that’s linked to an application running on an Android smartphone. The software, developed with the MIT App Inventor, allows the user to easily switch between various patterns and animations on the fly. With such an easy-to-use interface, the RGB Goggles don’t look far off from a commercial product; other than the whole not being able to actually see through the thing.

We’ve actually seen a number of custom glasses projects over the years, as it seems that a cheap pair of shades make an ideal platform for head-mounted hacks. We’ve even found what may be the ideal power source for them.

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Break Time Is Calling On The Rainbow Connection

May 4, 2020 by Kristina Panos 6 Comments

Like some of us, [Mister M] is prone to staying glued to his seat too long in this new era of working from home. And you know what they say about a body at desk — it tends to stay at desk until it absolutely must rise up to find food or use the restroom.

Thanks to this nifty new break time reminder, [Mister M] has a third call to answer that demands he get up. Every hour, the NeoPixel ring in this old dial-deficient phone fills up completely and switches over to an attention-getting rainbow animation. If [Mister M] stays seated, playtime is over. All the lights start flashing red, and the phone starts beeping incessantly until he walks across the room and either pushes the momentary button or lifts the handset to reset the timer.

We love that [Mister M] incorporated all of the phone’s original inputs and outputs into this project, because it’s such a cool old dog and bone. No need to drop a dime, just whistle at the break button to check out the build video.

This grille-faced phone was probably part of an intercom system. Incidentally, you can make an intercom system with two standard-style phones of this vintage.

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