Schlagwort: arduino

  • Robust wheelchair model with treads!

    Robust wheelchair model with treads!

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    Robust wheelchair model with treads!

    Arduino TeamSeptember 14th, 2018

    Most people accept that a wheelchair is, in fact, a chair with wheels. This, however, didn’t stop recent Galileo Galilei Technical Institute graduate Davide Segalerba from turning this concept on its head and producing a “wheelchair” scale model driven instead by a pair of treads. 

    This concept was inspired by Segalerba’s experience using a wheelchair himself while recovering from multiple surgeries, observing that our environment isn’t always conducive to wheeled transportation.

    An Arduino board controls the device, and user input is via a joystick, or from a smartphone app over Bluetooth. You can read more about the projector on Wired Italia or translated to English here.

    Website: LINK

  • Control your camera with this Arduino intervalometer

    Control your camera with this Arduino intervalometer

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    Control your camera with this Arduino intervalometer

    Arduino TeamSeptember 14th, 2018

    When you need a high-quality image, it’s hard to beat the resolution and lens options of a DSLR. But what if you want to take a photo over and over at set intervals to produce a time-lapse sequence? You could purchase an intervalometer, or make one using an Arduino Nano.

    The device shown in the video below uses a 2.5mm audio plug for the input to a Canon T2i camera. An opto-isolator is activated by the Nano, connecting the ground (base) and tip (shutter) pins. Intervals are set via a 4-position DIP switch, allowing photo intervals of 5, 10, 30, and 60 seconds—or any combination thereof.

    While the functionality shown is quite basic, the setup could be adapted for other timing patterns, or even for use with a sensor. Build instructions are available here, and you can find code and the 3D-printed base on GitHub.

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6WMAieY9Pc?feature=oembed&w=500&h=281]

    Website: LINK

  • Build an Arduino Mega fingerprint door lock

    Build an Arduino Mega fingerprint door lock

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    Build an Arduino Mega fingerprint door lock

    Arduino TeamSeptember 13th, 2018

    If you don’t want to carry keycard or memorize a passcode, this build from Electronoobs might be just the thing. 

    The system uses a fingerprint reader to check to see if you have access, and if approved, the device’s Arduino Mega unlocks the theoretical door using a micro servo motor. Three push buttons and a 16×2 LCD screen complete the user interface, and allow more authorized fingers to be added with the main person/finger’s permission.

    While you might question the security gained by a hobby servo, the video notes that this could trigger any sort of security device, perhaps via a relay or electromagnetic coil lock. Besides security, the build gives a good introduction to Arduino fingerprint scanning, as well as the use of an SD card for data logging functions.

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Xq6hQUJ4Fk?feature=oembed&w=500&h=281]

    Website: LINK

  • The Airdrum plays music with Arduino and six sensor PCBs

    The Airdrum plays music with Arduino and six sensor PCBs

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    The Airdrum plays music with Arduino and six sensor PCBs

    Arduino TeamSeptember 13th, 2018

    Playing music well can be difficult for anyone, especially those with certain disabilities. To make this form of self-expression easier for everyone,  Alessandro Verdiesen and Luuk van Kuijk built the Airdrum—an IR sensor-based instrument that is played simply by the wave of a hand.

    The Airdrum uses six individual sensor boards to detect when a hand is present. This input is then processed via an Arduino Uno and passed along to a Raspberry Pi to produce individual tones.

    People with multiple severe disabilities often encounter the difficulties of playing a music instrument due to their mental and physical deficits.

    Health care institutions which facilitate housing, learning opportunities and day care for these people often encounter the difficulties of communicating with their clients. These institutions experienced that making music together is a great way of communicating and therefore many institutions offer music therapy. According to music therapists, the main goal is having fun. It is proven that people learn more when having fun. When playing an instrument, clients can share emotions and practice their motor skills.

    We have designed a musical instrument which is easy and fun to play, not just for people with severe disabilities, but for everyone: the Airdrum. The Airdrum is a small device containing panels with motion sensors and colored lights. When somebody moves their hand or head above the panels, they light up and they play sound.

    The device, as shown in the demo video, appears to still be a work-in-progress, but has all the functionality needed to play a simple tune with RGB LED feedback.

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvPtlGFwY3M?feature=oembed&w=500&h=281]

    Website: LINK

  • Hack your coffee machine with voice control

    Hack your coffee machine with voice control

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    Hack your coffee machine with voice control

    Arduino TeamSeptember 12th, 2018

    Are you still pushing buttons and adjusting knobs with your fingers to brew your favorite coffee? If so, then this voice-controlled solution could be the next project on your list.

    To accomplish this hack, a rather high-end coffee maker was disassembled and modified, adding an Arduino Nano to press buttons, along with a small motor and driver board to adjust its dial. Voice control is provided via Snips software running on a Raspberry Pi, which passes the pertinent commands along for coffee making.

    When the devices around you no longer require a lengthy operation manual, but rather, require only a voice command, this unlocks an environment where technology disappears into the background, so that you can regain the freedom to spend quality time with the people you care about. That is in fact our mission at Snips, to make technology disappear.

    Case-in-point: this voice-activated coffee machine. You can ask it to make you a double espresso or a flat white, to pour you some hot water or even to turn itself off.

    It’s purely a demo project, but at our Snips office in Paris, we’ve grown used to the convenience, and so we wanted to make it as easy as possible for anyone interested to replicate it at home.

    Code and modification instructions are available on the Snips team’s blog post, while the brewing results can be seen in the demo video below. 

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gN1bvl24ZM?feature=oembed&w=500&h=281]

    Website: LINK

  • Show tidal shifts with this Arduino-powered moon clock

    Show tidal shifts with this Arduino-powered moon clock

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    Show tidal shifts with this Arduino-powered moon clock

    Arduino TeamSeptember 12th, 2018

    If you want to know the tide in your area, you could look it up in the paper, on the Internet, or using an app, but this moon-shaped tide clock provides a unique way to see what’s going on at a glance.

    The 3D-printed device uses an Arduino Nano for processing, along with an RTC module to keep accurate time—thus accurate tide predictions. A tiny OLED display provides three info screens, selected via a rocket shaped button taking off of the moon’s surface. 

    As the clock is meant for education, the moon design will provide a nice reminder of what actually shifts the tides. Arduino code as well as 3D-print files are available on the project’s write-up.

    Website: LINK

  • Sip and puff Morse code entry with Arduino

    Sip and puff Morse code entry with Arduino

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    Sip and puff Morse code entry with Arduino

    Arduino TeamSeptember 10th, 2018

    Those that need a text entry method other than a traditional keyboard and mouse often use a method where a character is selected, then input using a sip or puff of air from the user’s mouth. Naturally this is less than ideal, and one alternative interface shown here is to instead use sip/puff air currents to indicate the dots and dashes of Morse code.

    The system—which can be seen in action in the video below—uses a modified film container, along with a pair of infrared emitters and detectors to sense air movement. The device was prototyped on an Arduino Mega, and its creators hope to eventually use a Leonardo for direct computer input. 

    A tube connected to a custom made bipolar pressure switch drives an Arduino which translates puffing and sucking into Morse code and then into text.

    Puffs make repeating short pulses (dots) and sucks repeating longer pulses (dashes) just like ham radio amateurs do with a dual-lever paddle.

    Code for this open source project can be found on GitHub.

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zo1gskJ759Q?feature=oembed&w=500&h=281]

    Website: LINK

  • A beautifully-designed LEGO pneumatic compressor

    A beautifully-designed LEGO pneumatic compressor

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    A beautifully-designed LEGO pneumatic compressor

    Arduino TeamSeptember 10th, 2018

    LEGO sets have long been able to work with simple pneumatic controls, but what about a full air compressor built out of these components? Would this be possible?

    As demonstrated in the video below, this can in fact be accomplished, and in brilliant style no less. The design uses four motors, eight pneumatic pumps, and 10 air tanks to produce a pressure of 35PSI and beyond.

    Controls consist of an Arduino board, along with a pair of resistors to set two separate tank pressures. User feedback is provided by two external displays, and the setup even features a lighting system to allow “workers” to perform maintenance access 24 hours a day!

    For a quick start, the compressor has a Turbo function which is enabled under 35 psi this makes the motors run on 12V instead of the rated 9V. This way the air tanks are filled a bit faster but without overloading the motors.

    The compressor has two sections which can be used separately with their own setpoint or as one big compressor. This selection is done by switching the outlet valves at the back of the compressor and by setting a jumper on the circuit board.

    The Arduino control also tracks the running time of each section in hours and is shown when a switch on the circuit board is pressed.

    The pressure is measured by a non official LEGO pneumatic sensor by Mindsensors.com.

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFrECDkbugg?feature=oembed&w=500&h=281]

    Website: LINK

  • Two-way lamp reborn with LEDs and Arduino

    Two-way lamp reborn with LEDs and Arduino

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    Two-way lamp reborn with LEDs and Arduino

    Arduino TeamSeptember 7th, 2018

    After finding a broken lamp at a scrapyard, which as meant to throw light both up and down, “tuenhidiy” decided to fix it. However, instead of using the normal two-bulb configuration, he replaced these lights with 64 individual RGB LEDs. The results are beautiful, as seen in the videos below.

    Interestingly, this maker didn’t use NeoPixel-style programmable RGB lighting, but rather opted to control each RGB component directly using an Arduino, along with a shift register and transistor assembly. LED soldering was accomplished with the help of a flat wooden jig. The attached LEDs were then rolled up to fit the cylindrical fixture.

    Lighting can be controlled in three modes—color wheel, morph, and HSB to RGB—with a potentiometer, selectable via a 3-way switch.

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTP0-jJkLNQ?feature=oembed&w=500&h=281]

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbcXEYWFZyo?feature=oembed&w=500&h=281]

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19xdfSauOIk?feature=oembed&w=500&h=281]

    Website: LINK

  • Build your own Arduino-powered portable function generator

    Build your own Arduino-powered portable function generator

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    Build your own Arduino-powered portable function generator

    Arduino TeamSeptember 4th, 2018

    If you need a certain electrical signal for testing, there are a variety of function generators available at a wide range of prices and capabilities. If, however, you’d like to build your own, this project by maker “Faransky” looks like a great place to start.

    An Arduino Nano forms the core of this device, which interfaces with an AD9833 waveform generator module to produce the proper wave output. User interface is via a single encoder, which steps through different menu options using a built-in pushbutton, and a two-line LCD display provides feedback.

    Everything is housed inside a nice compact enclosure, along with a lithium-ion battery to make it portable. Its capabilities are shown off in the video below, and build instructions and code are available here. 

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xt2-HlCfXGs?feature=oembed&w=500&h=281]

    Website: LINK

  • Shy robotic sculpture imitates nature

    Shy robotic sculpture imitates nature

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    Shy robotic sculpture imitates nature

    Arduino TeamAugust 28th, 2018

    In nature, animals often are sensitive to the outside environment, retreating into a hole, shell, or other protective structure upon sensing sudden movements. If you were to envision this kind of behavior in robot form, you might come up with something like “The Shy Machine” from Daric Gill Studios.

    When it detects motion via a PIR sensor, the shell-like robot takes a reading of the ambient sound level using an internal microphone. If things are sufficiently quiet, it opens up using a stepper motor and lead screw, revealing a rainbow of colors provided by an array of RGB LEDs inside.

    Its construction and a demo video are shown below, and you can see more about how this Arduino-powered robot was built and the results on Gill’s website.

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsOVbV1oEfg?feature=oembed&w=500&h=281]

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6BIDxh3jnA?feature=oembed&w=500&h=281]

    Website: LINK

  • Wheatley from Portal 2 comes to life with Arduino

    Wheatley from Portal 2 comes to life with Arduino

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    Wheatley from Portal 2 comes to life with Arduino

    Arduino TeamAugust 27th, 2018

    If you’re a fan of Portal games, you’d probably like nothing more than to have your own Wheatley Personality Core to accompany you on real-life adventures. While that would be a passing thought for most, Luke Albertson has created his own amazing replica of the Portal 2 character. 

    The device not only can say over 40 phrases from the game via an Adafruit soundboard, but contains a glowing blue eyeball that can pan, tilt, twist, and blink to help express what it’s thinking. It even has handles that move up and down, adding a kind of “flailing arms” effect to convey its emotions. 

    Albertson’s animatronic project is controlled by an Arduino Uno, along with a Bluetooth shield and PS3 controller for user interface. It’s shown off quite nicely in the video below, and more info and clips are available here.

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6__rQSXZcFM?feature=oembed&w=500&h=281]

    Website: LINK

  • Create a constant current and power load with Arduino

    Create a constant current and power load with Arduino

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    Create a constant current and power load with Arduino

    Arduino TeamAugust 27th, 2018

    If you need a device which draws a certain amount of current and power for testing, then GreatScott! has just the solution. 

    His project uses an Arduino Nano, along with a separate IC and a voltage divider, to measure both current and voltage input from the power source. It then employs this data to properly adjust a MOSFET, dissipating the correct amount of voltage and power as required.

    Interface is handled via a rotary encoder and a 16×2 I2C LCD display, and the electronics are housed in a solid-looking enclosure. 

    As seen in the video below, the adjustable constant load features an impressively large heat sink, needed to take care of the 30V and 20A that the setup is capable of drawing.

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwCHtwskzLA?feature=oembed&w=500&h=281]

    Website: LINK

  • Keep your ideas safe and secure with this biometric diary locker

    Keep your ideas safe and secure with this biometric diary locker

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    Keep your ideas safe and secure with this biometric diary locker

    Arduino TeamAugust 27th, 2018

    If you want to keep your personal thoughts and ideas to yourself, here’s a diary locker from TechKiwiGadgets that opens with your personal fingerprint.

    As shown in the demo video, this Arduino-based device can house a small notebook and even a smartphone, and locks with the press of a button. When you need your secured materials, you simply insert your finger into the fingerprint reader, and the small servo inside moves to allow access.

    An infrared sensor is also implemented to make sure the door is closed, and a series of programmable LEDs toward the bottom provide visible user feedback. If you’d like to build your own, code and instructions are available here, and the needed 3D print files can be found on Thingiverse.

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEk6FkyBG4A?feature=oembed&w=500&h=281]

    Website: LINK

  • Announcing the Arduino Command Line Interface (CLI)

    Announcing the Arduino Command Line Interface (CLI)

    Reading Time: 3 minutes

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vtIisvxewc?feature=oembed&w=500&h=375]

    The Arduino team has been working hard to support the needs of our professional developer community. Many of you requested a way to use our tools in Makefiles, and wanted Arduino IDE features available via a fast, clean command line interface.  How cool would it be to install project dependencies with:

    arduino-cli lib install "WiFi101” “WiFi101OTA”

    So that’s what we’ve done! To make it even cooler, most Arduino CLI commands have the option to output JSON for easy parsing by other programs:

    arduino-cli --format json lib search wifinina | jq
    {
 "libraries": [
    {
 "Name": "WiFiNINA",
 "Author": "Arduino",
 "Maintainer": "Arduino <info@arduino.cc>",
 "Sentence": "Enables network connection (local and Internet) with the Arduino MKR WiFi 1010, Arduino MKR VIDOR 4000 and Arduino UNO WiFi Rev.2.",
 "Paragraph": "With this library you can instantiate Servers, Clients and send/receive UDP packets through WiFi. The board can connect either to open or encrypted networks (WEP, WPA). The IP address can be assigned statically or through a DHCP. The library can also manage DNS.",
 "Website": "http://www.arduino.cc/en/Reference/WiFiNINA",
 "Category": "Communication",
 "Architectures": [
 "*"
    ],
 "types": [
 "Arduino"
    ],
 "releases": {
 "1.0.0": {
 "version": "1.0.0",
 "resource": {
 "URL": "http://downloads.arduino.cc/libraries/github.com/arduino-libraries/WiFiNINA-1.0.0.zip",
 "ArchiveFileName": "WiFiNINA-1.0.0.zip",
 "Checksum": "SHA-256:79f133fedf86411ca7add773a4293137dec057a3b8f1a7904db2d444ed8f4246",
 "Size": 65651,
 "CachePath": "libraries"
    }
    }
    },
 "Folder": null,
 "SrcFolder": null,
 "UtilityFolder": null,
 "Layout": 0,
 "RealName": "",
 "DotALinkage": false,
 "Precompiled": false,
 "LDflags": "",
 "IsLegacy": false,
 "Version": "",
 "License": "",
 "Properties": null
    }
    ]
    }

    The other big news is you can run Arduino CLI on both ARM and Intel (x86, x86_64) architectures. This means you can install Arduino CLI on a Raspberry Pi or on your servers, and use it to compile Sketches targeting the board of your choice (Don’t forget you can also remotely manage your Linux device with Arduino Create Device Manager!)

    Getting Started

    This first release is an alpha, and we would like your feedback to help us improve it. You can download the Arduino CLI alpha preview binaries from:

    Linux (64-bit): https://downloads.arduino.cc/arduino-cli/0.1.0-alpha.preview/arduino-cli-0.1.0-alpha.preview-linux64.tar.bz2

    Linux (32-bit): https://downloads.arduino.cc/arduino-cli/0.1.0-alpha.preview/arduino-cli-0.1.0-alpha.preview-linux32.tar.bz2

    Linux (ARM): https://downloads.arduino.cc/arduino-cli/0.1.0-alpha.preview/arduino-cli-0.1.0-alpha.preview-linuxarm.tar.bz2

    OSX: https://downloads.arduino.cc/arduino-cli/0.1.0-alpha.preview/arduino-cli-0.1.0-alpha.preview-osx.zip

    Windows: https://downloads.arduino.cc/arduino-cli/0.1.0-alpha.preview/arduino-cli-0.1.0-alpha.preview-windows.zip

    Once you’ve installed Arduino CLI, you can try it out using our getting started guide: https://github.com/arduino/arduino-cli#getting-started

    The Arduino CLI code repository is also available at: https://github.com/arduino/arduino-cli. As usual, it’s open source – but if you’re a company who wants to use it to create a customized tool, you can also contact us for a commercial license.

    Integrate Arduino Support Into Your Preferred Platform

    After we used Arduino CLI for awhile, we decided to make it the standard way our software communicates. Imagine having the Arduino IDE or Arduino Create Editor speaking directly to Arduino CLI – and you having full control of it. You will be able to compile on your machine or on our online servers, detect your board or create your own IDE on top of it!

    We want you to be able to add Arduino support to whatever development flow you prefer. Whether you use Atom, Eclipse, Emacs, Vim, VSCode, or are even building your own tools, Arduino CLI makes this possible. Let us know what you think!

    Website: LINK

  • Blow out this Arduino LED candle!

    Blow out this Arduino LED candle!

    Reading Time: 2 minutes

    Blow out this Arduino LED candle!

    Arduino TeamAugust 21st, 2018

    LED candles can provide a nice sense of ambiance, without the inherent associated risk of fire. For better or worse, however, they don’t normally respond to air currents. 

    Paul Dietz, however, shows that this kind of response is actually possible, as an LED’s forward voltage drop is affected by how well it dissipates heat due to ambient air conditions.

    This means that when you puff on an LED, the resulting voltage changes can be picked up by an Arduino Uno.

    LEDs are designed to emit light, but they also make surprisingly capable sensors. Using only an Arduino UNO, an LED and a resistor, we will build a hot LED anemometer that measures wind speed, and turns off the LED for two seconds when it detects you are blowing on it. You can use this to make breath controlled interfaces, or even an electronic candle that you can blow out!

    How Does This Work? 

    When you run current through an LED, its temperature rises. The amount of rise depends on how effectively you are cooling it. When you blow on a hot LED, the extra cooling lowers the running temperature. We can detect this because the forward voltage drop of an LED increases as it gets cooler.

    The circuit is very simple and looks much like driving an LED. The only difference is that we will add an extra wire to measure the voltage drop of the LED while it is on. To work well, you want to use a very small LED (I suggest using an 0402 surface mount LED) connected by the thinnest possible wires. This will allow the LED to heat and cool very quickly, and minimize the heat lost through the wires. The voltage changes we are looking for are just millivolts – at the very edge of what can be reliably detected via the UNOs analog pins. If the LED is resting on something that conducts heat away, it may not be able to get hot enough, so it works best if it is up in the air.

    As shown in the video below, he turned this concept into a novel “candle” setup, blowing his tiny 0402 SMD-format LED out over and over—like a trick birthday candle!

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TD6A_tvbKT0?feature=oembed&w=500&h=281]

    Website: LINK

  • DeepWay helps the visually impaired navigate with a tap

    DeepWay helps the visually impaired navigate with a tap

    Reading Time: 3 minutes

    DeepWay helps the visually impaired navigate with a tap

    Arduino TeamAugust 20th, 2018

    In order to help those with visual impairments navigate streets, college student Satinder Singh has come up with an innovative solution that literally pokes the user in the right direction. 

    Singh’s system, called DeepWay, uses a chest-mounted camera to take images of the road that a wearer is walking down, then feeds this information to a laptop for processing. 

    If the deep learning algorithm determines that the user needs to move left or right to stay on the path, a serial signal is sent to an Arduino Uno, which in turn commands one of two servos mounted to a pair of glasses to tap the person to indicate which way to walk. Additional environmental feedback is provided through a pair of earphones.

    This project is an aid to the blind. Till date there has been no technological advancement in the way the blind navigate. So I have used deep learning particularly convolutional neural networks so that they can navigate through the streets.

    My project is an implementation of CNNs, and we all know that they require a large amount of training data. So the first obstruction in my way was a correclty labeled dataset of images. So I went around my college and recorded a lot of videos (of all types of roads and also off-roads). Then I wrote a basic Python script to save images from the video (I saved 1 image out of every 5 frames, because the consecutive frame are almost identical). I collected almost 10,000 such images almost 3,300 for each class (i.e. left right and center).

    I made a collection of CNN architectures and trained the model. Then I evaluated the performance of all the models and chose the one with the best accuracy. I got a training accuracy of about 97%. I got roughly same accuracy for all the trained model but I realized that the model in which implemented regularization performed better on the test set.

    The next problem was how can I tell the blind people in which direction to move. So I connected my Python program to an Arduino. I connected the servo motors to Arduino and fixed the servo motors to the sides of a spectacle. Using serial communication I can tell the Arduino which servo motor to move which would then press to one side of the blind person’s head and would indicate him in which direction to move.

    A demo of DeepWay can be seen in the video below, while code for this open source project is available on GitHub.

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkmU8mN0LwE?feature=oembed&w=500&h=281]

    Website: LINK

  • Build a 4-button arcade game out of LEGO

    Build a 4-button arcade game out of LEGO

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    Build a 4-button arcade game out of LEGO

    Arduino TeamAugust 17th, 2018

    If your kids (or you) have somehow gotten tired of playing with LEGO bricks, Lenka Design Workshop has a great way for you to breathe new life into this unused pile. 

    Their game enclosure consists of a 32×32 LEGO baseplate, along with walls made of blocks to support a clear acrylic cover. This in turn holds four large arcade buttons for gameplay control. Five games are currently implemented to run on the game’s Arduino, with light and sound feedback.

    We decided to recycle the unwanted Lego bricks and created an arcade game.

    The code has been written in such a way that it doesn’t have dependencies and will compile on any Arduino board. And of course the games have been intensively tested by our kids. 🙂

    How is this game different from many others that have been published before?

    First of all, there are 5 games built into it:

    • Memory game (“Simon-Says”-like, similar to Touch Me game)
    • Reaction game (similar to Whack-a-Mole)
    • Contest/competition game (for 2-4 players)
    • Melody game (push and play free mode for toddlers and smaller ones)
    • War game (for 2-4 adults)

    Secondly, it has a great design (from our perspective) and can be easily repeated.

    And thirdly, it is earth-friendly because it allows you to recycle the plastic.

    You can see a short demo of the system in the video below, or check out the project write-up for more info. 

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XALGzy7yIRY?feature=oembed&w=500&h=281]

    Website: LINK

  • Make your own soda fountain out of cardboard

    Make your own soda fountain out of cardboard

    Reading Time: 2 minutes

    Make your own soda fountain out of cardboard

    Arduino TeamAugust 16th, 2018

    If you’re ever wanted to make something awesome, but thought that you just didn’t have the right tools to do so, this soda fountain by “The Wrench” could provide the needed inspiration. 

    The project uses an Arduino Nano to control a small air pump via a relay, which turns on when a glass is the correct dispensing position. This pushes air into a sealed soda bottle, and soda is pushed out of another tube to equalize the pressure.

    It’s a certainly a neat trick. Given its frame made out of cardboard stuck together with hot glue, the raw materials are very easy to obtain and dispose of when needed. The build process is explained in the video below, while the circuit diagram and Arduino code can be found here.

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kzQJLXK8CI?feature=oembed&w=500&h=281]

    Website: LINK

  • An Arduino-controlled turntable for 3D scanning

    An Arduino-controlled turntable for 3D scanning

    Reading Time: 2 minutes

    An Arduino-controlled turntable for 3D scanning

    Arduino TeamAugust 16th, 2018

    Many DSLR cameras can be operated with a simple infrared signal, making them perfect targets for Arduino control. Travis Antoniello took advantage of this with his brilliantly simple 3D scanning rig.

    Electronics are handled by an Arduino Uno, which commands a stepper motor to rotate a scanning platform 10 degrees per photo. After rotation, it stops for a set amount of time to let scanned objects settle, and triggers the camera, a Nikon D3200, via an infrared LED. It then repeats this process over and over until a full set of photos is taken. 

    Code for the build can be found on GitHub, and the device’s 3D-printed components are available on Thingiverse. The project video seen here gives a good overview of how it works, and the scanned object on display just after 2:30 looks absolutely brilliant.

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2mI0JuVWBc?feature=oembed&w=500&h=281]

    Website: LINK

  • Turn the pages on your Kindle remotely with Arduino

    Turn the pages on your Kindle remotely with Arduino

    Reading Time: 2 minutes

    Turn the pages on your Kindle remotely with Arduino

    Arduino TeamAugust 16th, 2018

    As seen here, Alex Mikes enjoys reading his Kindle in bed at night, but prefers to use a stand rather than hold it in his hands. The one disadvantage to this is that one normally has to lift his or her hand up to change pages. Thanks to a clever bit of engineering, Mikes only has to press the button on a small RF remote, signaling an Arduino Nano-based robot to press it for him.

    The device uses a micro servo motor to actuate the fake finger, which swings into the correct position to advance pages on command. A 3D-printed frame holds everything in place, and in order to properly control his Kindle’s capacitive touchscreen, a wire is wrapped inside the stylus tip and connected to the circuit ground. 

    Not since Rick and Morty’s butter-passing robot has there been a more hyper-specific, purpose-built device than perhaps Alex Mikes’ automatic Kindle page turner. Instead of having to raise his arm to tap the edge of the screen while reading in bed, a simple click of a wireless remote makes the attached contraption do all of that hard work for him.

    More photos of the project are up on Imgur.

    Website: LINK

  • Monopoly transformed into the world of Skyrim with LEDs and Arduino

    Monopoly transformed into the world of Skyrim with LEDs and Arduino

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    Monopoly transformed into the world of Skyrim with LEDs and Arduino

    Arduino TeamAugust 14th, 2018

    While “Boardwalk” and “Park Place” may not mean anything to you outside of the game of Monopoly, there is a plethora of custom versions to suit your particular interest. If you enjoy the world of Skyrim, then you need to check out this board by Charles Ledford. 

    The build features an anodized aluminum playfield coated in epoxy, along with a wooden frame that conceals electronics including an Arduino Uno inside. This enables a set of programmable LED strips to light up a dragon and lettering in the middle, as well as properties in the correct Monopoly color. 

    Custom coins, playing cards, characters, and even farms and castles (houses and hotels) complete the project, allowing for fully Skyrim-themed gameplay!

    You can find more details in Ledford’s write-up, and see a quick demo of it below! 

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Nw06nXSIbM?feature=oembed&w=500&h=375]

    Website: LINK