Open source microfluidics platform uses Arduino CNC control
Arduino Team — February 5th, 2019
Microfluidics deals with the manipulation of tiny amounts of liquid, and as such, specialized equipment must be used for any sort of measurable experimentation. While you could purchase an expensive commercial solution, the Poseidon system—developed by students at the California Institute of Technology—presents an excellent open source option which can be built for a fraction of the cost.
Fluid distribution is managed by a computer GUI or via a terminal window. Steppers handle each of the system’s three “axes,” and push fluid out of syringes under control of an ArduinoUno and CNC shield. A microscope is also available for a full experimental setup.
The Poseidon syringe pump and microscope system is an open source alternative to commercial systems. It costs less than $400 and can be assembled in an hour. It uses 3D-printed parts and common components that can be easily purchased either from Amazon or other retailers. The microscope and pumps can be used together in microfluidics experiments, or independently for other applications. The pumps and microscope can be run from a Windows, Mac, Linux, or Raspberry Pi computer with an easy to use GUI.
The Poseidon system was designed to be customizable. It uses the Raspberry Pi and Arduino electronics boards, which are supported by a strong ecosystem of open source hardware and software, facilitating the implementation of new functionalities.
The pump driver uses an Arduino with a CNC shield to run up to three pumps. Each pump has a stepper motor that drives lead screw which in turn moves a sled that is mounted on linear bearings. The displacement of the sled moves the syringe forward or backward allowing the user to dispel or intake liquid.
The controller station uses a Raspberry Pi with a touchscreen to connect to the Arduino and microscope via USB. Because the microscope and Arduino use USB connections, they can alternatively be connected to a computer instead of a Raspberry Pi.
Do you like grilled cheese? Would you rather not make it yourself? If so, then the Cheeseborg by Taylor Tabb, Mitchell Riek, and Evan Hill could be the perfect device for you!
This assembly line-like robot first stacks bread-cheese-bread using a vacuum gripper, and passes the unheated sandwich onto the grill via a pusher mechanism. Butter spray is first added to the bottom of the grill, then the top of the sandwich when present in order to coat both sides. Upon heating, the finished sandwich is pushed into a “food slot” for consumption.
Electronics are controlled using an Arduino Mega, while Google assistant running on a Raspberry Pi allows for voice activation. So the next time you’re hungry, all you have to do is ask, “Hey Google, make me a grilled cheese please!”
Our goal was to make an easy snack even easier. The design combines 7 individual subsystems enabling the assembly, cooking, and serving of a perfect, repeatable, tasty grilled cheese.
A big learning was how challenging it is to manipulate bread and cheese repeatedly. After several iterations, we converged on a vacuum lift mechanism, inspired by industrial robotic manipulation of small electronics. Due to the porosity of bread and the gloss of cheese, it was very challenging to find a mechanism working for both, but vacuum certainly seemed to do the trick!
For the actuation of of the electromechanical subsystems, we use stepper motors and servos combined with linkages, lead screws, linear bearings, a winch, and other mechanical components. For buttering (not pictures) we have a delightful spray butter can attached to an acrylic stand beside the grill.
Beyond the mechanisms, which are controlled by an Arduino Mega, the system is enabled with Google Assistant SDK running on an Raspberry Pi 3B, so the whole thing can be activated just by saying “Hey Google, make me a grilled cheese please!” From there, the machine stacks the bread, cheese, bread, then slides over the platform toward the grill as the buttering station sprays the bottom of the grill. Once the sandwich is placed on the grill, the butter sprays again (to coat the top of the sandwich). Then the grill closes, and cooks for the precise amount of the time for the perfect gooey grilled cheese! Then the grill opens and the sandwich is kicked to the serving slot for a hungry friend to enjoy.
Augment your tongue’s senses with the Cthulhu Shield
Arduino Team — January 31st, 2019
Whether one of your senses is weak or non-existent, or you would simply like a way to augment your perception and control options, the Cthulhu Shield can be applied in either situation.
The device takes the form of an Arduino Uno or Mega shield, with a strange flexible electrode setup that is placed directly on the user’s tongue.
When these electrodes are fired, they activate nerve fibers on the tongue, producing a feeling like that of carbonated bubbles popping. This can then be used to convey information to the user, whether this is visual, sound, or even Internet updates or other non-traditional stimuli. Importantly, it can also be utilized as an interface for tongue computer control.
The Cthulhu Shield lets anyone experiment and make devices that can expand your sensory experience!
We’ve made android apps and example programs that will let you use the Cthulhu Shield and your smartphone to ‘see’ and ‘hear’ with your tongue without needing to write a single line of code!
For those of you interested in making your own projects, we’ve written an easy to use Arduino library and provided example code to get you started on projects including tongue-heat-vision, tongue-based GPS directions, and soon, tongue-ultrasonic hearing. But don’t limit yourselves to the examples we’ve provided, the only limit to what you can make is your imagination!
Finally, we designed the Cthulhu to be used as a tongue based computer interface (because if you already have something in your mouth, why not use it to control your computer)? Write your own code to hotkey video game actions, send text messages, or control a wheelchair or mobility device with your tongue.
Three voltmeters combined into one clock any engineer would love
Arduino Team — January 30th, 2019
Apparently not satisfied with available timekeeping devices, ElegantAlchemist crafted a unique clock using an Arduino Nano, an RTC module, and three formerly 1000VAC analog meters.
The first order of business for the build was converting the meters into something that could traverse its range with only 5V, accomplished by replacing the stock resistor, diode, and capacitor with a 2.2kohm resistor.
Now controllable via Arduino, new faceplate labels were designed in CorelDraw for a very professional look. Everything was encased in an aluminum stomp box enclosure—actually several as multiple clocks were constructed—and RGB LEDs were also added behind each display.
Waking up before 9am can be a challenge for Nikodem Bartnik, but he also hates to waste time sleeping when he could instead make something.
In order to help him with this “joyous” task, he assembled a line-following robot that scoots his phone out of the room in the morning, forcing him to get out of bed and chase it down.
The device utilizes a pair of gearmotors in a standard tank-like configuration for movement, and sensors to follow a black line on the floor. A sound sensor allows its Arduino Uno controller to pick up on alarm sounds coming from his phone, which is mounted on the robot with a 3D-printed holder. When activated, it follows the path out of his room, waiting for Bartnik’s bleary eyed—but awake—arrival.
When we last saw this omni robot by Jeremy S. Cook, it was lurching around under Arduino Nano and Bluetooth command. After much work, he finally has it to a state where it rolls nicely on a flat surface—even carrying a little strandbeest at just after 8:30 in the demo video.
The biggest revision for the robot was new “grippier” wheels, but electronics were also enhanced, including a LiPo battery (with a voltage divider monitoring circuit), potentiometer for speed control, and LED eyes.
Changes were facilitated by a screw terminal board attached to the Nano, which minimized solder work, while keeping the robot’s wiring secure. More details and code are available here, while the upgrade/troubleshooting process can be seen in the video below.
Martin Mihálek took the leap into standing desks, and purchased a SKARSTA table from IKEA. Although being able to adjust things by hand is useful, who wants to do that nowadays? Instead of manually cranking it every time, he—with help from iLLiac4—decided to augment it with a motor in order to lower and raise things as needed.
Initial experiments used a FIXA electric screwdriver (also from IKEA) to power the SKARSTA, but he eventually settled on a DC gearmotor, attached to the desk via a 3D-printed assembly.
Two versions are described in the project’s GitHub write-up; one employs an H-bridge board for control, the other uses relays. Both are controlled by an Arduino Nano. A keypad allows for calibration and three stored heights, while current position and feedback are shown on a TM1637 4-digit 7-segment display.
Save the date: Arduino Day 2019 is Saturday, March 16th!
Arduino Team — January 29th, 2019
For the sixth year, we are inviting the open source community to join us for Arduino Day 2019 on Saturday, March 16th!
Arduino Day is a worldwide celebration of Arduino’s birthday. It’s a 24-hour-long event—organized by both the community and our team—where those interested in Arduino get together, share their experiences, and learn more about the platform. Participation is open to anyone, either as a organizer or participant, from makers and students to professional developers and educators.
In 2018, there were 529 events spanning across the globe full of activities, workshops, talks, and project exhibitions for a wide range of audiences and skill sets. This year, we are hoping to make Arduino Day even bigger! If you want to organize an event, please fill out this online form and submit your proposal by March 3rd.
Wind your watch cheaply and quietly on your bedside table
Arduino Team — January 28th, 2019
If you wear a self-winding watch—which uses your natural motions for power—you might notice that it stops working if it’s left off your wrist for too long. To avoid these situations, watch winders are available to turn them automatically, but tend to either be very expensive, or cheap and noisy.
With a bit of hacking, however, Kristopher Marciniak was able to get the best of both worlds. He replaced the stock motor of an inexpensive winder with a stepper, and used an Arduino along with a Trinamic SilentStepStick driver for silent and well-controlled movement.
The result is a device that rotates quietly as programmed, then stops in exactly the desired position.
The See ‘n Say is an educational toy that originated in the 1960s, speaking out whatever the child pointed to on a dial. The device has evolved over the years from a mechanical sound mechanism to one that uses electronics in its design, which inspired Andrei Aldea to convert one of them into an EEV Blog catchphrase machine!
Aldea replaced most of the electronics with an Arduino Nano, plus an MP3 module to power the speaker. Internal buttons that normally trigger sounds based on the dial rotation, along with a “page” switch, are wired into the Arduino. The hacked toy can now select from a library of over 300 audio clips of host Dave Jones and other “bonus” material for hours of entertainment!
While binging some The Ben Heck Show videos I ran across and old episode titled Speak & Dave Jones in which Ben hacks a Fisher Price See N’Say toy to play a sound for each of Dave Jones’ catchphrases.
The video itself (and especially the idea) is quite fun, but he used a custom PCB for the button matrix and a Propeller(? I think it was) micro, which make the whole project a lot more tedious than it needed to be, not to mention he never posted any of the code/graphics/design files he used.
Since this seemed like an easy enough project to tackle in an afternoon, and I had all the parts (minus the toy itself) lying around, I decided to give it a go while adding some of my own features.
Announcing the Arduino Education thematic years initiative
Arduino Team — January 26th, 2019
Aside from all the product announcements at Bett, we’re excited to unveil a new annual initiative from the Arduino Education team to keep the community up-to-date on contests and exhibitions, suggest experiments, and highlight educational products and events of relevance within a selected topic.
The Arduino Education thematic years calendar is a unique way to involve our passionate educators and students, and work together to achieve something on a much larger scale.
For 2019, we have decided to take our efforts from the classroom to outer space.
2019 Is the Year of Space
Educators from all over the world have been using space as a context to build inspirational education resources. Different space agencies, through dissemination activities, have reached out to schools and universities trying to inspire students to become the next generation of scientists and engineers. Robots, satellites the size of a soda can, radio communication systems, weather monitoring devices, maps, amongst others, are examples of projects from those who want to bring the topic of space closer to the classroom. Arduino plays a major role in this, and therefore we want to contribute to the development and dissemination of future space scientists.
A Calendar of Activities
The Arduino Education thematic year calendar is not written in stone. We, in collaboration with a series of stakeholders, suggest a point of departure, but we will welcome your contributions. Please send us your event proposals via email to space.year@arduino.cc and we will share them. If you would like to make an announcement for an upcoming workshop, event, course, or if you are looking for partners to do so in your region, we will use the Arduino forum as a public way to discuss the possibilities.
Each thematic year will see the direct involvement of the community, both in proposing/running events related to the chosen topic and to select the theme for the following year. For starters, here is a brief snapshot of planned activities in the months to come:
January
Official announcement at BETT London
Balloon launching in Malmö, Sweden
February
Balloon launching in Soria, Spain with Fundación Trilema
Arduino instrumentation course for space experiments at Luleå University of Technology (LTU), Sweden
The Arduino Certification Program (ACP) is an Arduino initiative to officially certify Arduino users at different levels and evaluate their expertise in key Arduino knowledge areas. Certifications are offered at three tiers — enthusiasts, educators and professionals — which have been identified as the largest Arduino user groups through extensive feedback from the community.
The first step, the Arduino Certification: Fundamentals Exam, is a structured way to enhance and validate your Arduino skills, and receive official recognition as you progress. Anyone interested in engaging with Arduino through a process that involves study, practice, and project building is encouraged to pursue this official certificate.
Developed in consultation with leading technology curriculum, interaction design, and electronic engineering professionals, the Arduino Certification: Fundamentals Exam assesses skills based on exercises consisting of practical tasks from the Arduino Starter Kit.
The official assessment covers three main key areas: theory and introduction to Arduino, electronics, and coding.
During the exam, you will be asked to answer 36 questions of varied format and difficulty, which should take approximately 75 minutes to complete.
Questions will test your knowledge on, but will not be limited to, the following topics:
Introduction to Arduino: Physical computing and Arduino, Arduino Uno, Arduino IDE and uploading, programming basics, electronics concepts, blink!, and the breadboard.
Sensors and Actuator: Sensors, actuators, as well as digital and analog input/output.
Input and Output Types: Using serial monitor, LEDs, motors, piezo as input/output, switches, variable resistors, IR, and PIR.
The Arduino Certification: Fundamentals Exam is currently on display at Bett 2019. Stop by stand C375 to see a demo for yourself and learn more about the program!
A university research project for Arduino community members by a community member
Arduino Team — January 24th, 2019
Back in December, we received an email from a university student named Lucrezia Alfonsi regarding her dissertation research. Lucrezia’s goal is to to understand what motivates our community to use Arduino, share knowledge, and produce open source innovations. Not only would we love to help Lucrezia, we always like hearing about our users’ involvement with open hardware and software.
The survey, which can be found here, will be up until February 20th and the results will be posted later on our blog. By answering Lucrezia’s report, we hope to provide our community with rich insights into the experiences and inspirations of our users.
Hi, I’m Lucrezia Alfonsi, a Bocconi University MSc student. Right now, I’m writing my MSc thesis and I would like to ask your help completing the survey I have prepared for last research steps – it takes only 10 minutes, the data are anonymously tracked and the results will be elaborated only for academic purposes.
“I strongly believe in ‘doing well, by doing good’ and I immediately associate this with the motivation that moves Arduino Community members to improve and innovate everyday”; this is what I think, how I started my email to Arduino, and why I decided to focus my thesis on individual attitudes and motivational factors that lead open-source software and hardware communities, like Arduino Community. This is my genuine interest in the new and the right moment to challenge it.
Here, you can find the direct link to the questionnaire I built appropriately; I think this research can give something interesting back. Feel free to take a look and decide if you would like to bring your precious contribution.
The Arduino Science Kit Physics Lab, developed in collaboration with Google, is the first official Arduino kit designed for middle school curriculum.
The Arduino Education Science Kit Physics Lab provides middle schoolers (ages 11 to 14) with a hands-on experience, enabling them to explore forces, motion, and conductivity with their classmates. Students can make their own hypothesis like a real scientist, then check their assumptions, and log data thanks to Google’s Science Journal app — a digital notebook for conducting and documenting science experiments using the unique capabilities of their own devices.
The kit, based on the MKR WiFi 1010, includes a range of sensors to measure light, temperature, motion, and magnetic fields, as well as a set of props and full access to online course content for teachers and students to conduct nine exciting science projects inspired by popular fairground rides like the Gravitron and Pirate Ship.
“The Arduino Science Kit is perfect for developing transferable skills such as critical thinking and problem solving through an inquiry-based learning approach. The projects featured in the kit have been aligned with several National curricula including the Next Generation Science Standard (NGSS) for K-12, and the National UK Curriculum, so teachers can be assured that the Physics Lab is not only easy to set up and fun to use, but also contains all the necessary lesson plans and physical experiments for students to actively engage with their learning.” – David Cuartielles
With the Physics Lab, no prior electronics knowledge is required. Students simply upload their sketch onto an Arduino board using Arduino Create for Chromebook, connect their Android mobile device to the board, build their project, and then use the onboard sensor and plug-and-play modules to simulate the rides’ dynamics. Data is transmitted from the experiment to the student’s mobile device via Bluetooth, where they can analyse and record their results in Google’s Science Journal App or worksheets.
The Arduino Education Science Kit Physics Lab isn’t confined to the classroom. In fact, students can use the kit outdoors to turn the playground into their very own fairground by applying the concepts they’ve learned to design and test their own rides.
The Arduino Education Science Kit Physics Lab comes in a handy storage box for later use, along with the MKR WiFi 1010 and all the parts needed to assemble and carry out the experiments. It will be coming soon to the Arduino Store and available globally starting in March 2019.
The Arduino Education team is returning to the Bett Show this week, where you can expect to find our latest products and programs for empowering students and teachers alike.
This year, we’re further strengthening our STEAM-focused offerings across the spectrum with the first-ever kit for middle schoolers, the Arduino Science Kit Physics Lab, developed in partnership with Google; the introductory module of the official Arduino Certification Program; a new addition to the Arduino Creative Technologies in the Classroom lineup, CTC GO!; and a thematic annual initiative which will kick off in 2019 with ‘Arduino and Space’ for the entire global education community.
Those visiting our stand (C375) will also have a chance to learn more about the Arduino CTC 101 program and Arduino Engineering Kit, both of are being successfully deployed in classrooms throughout the world.
Arduino and Google: A New Collaboration for Scientific Exploration
The Arduino Education Science Kit Physics Lab, our first kit targeted at middle schoolers, provides children ages 11 to 14 with a hands-on experience, enabling them to explore forces, motion, and conductivity with their classmates. Students can form their own hypothesis like a real scientist, then check their assumptions, and log data thanks to Google’s Science Journal app — a digital notebook for conducting and documenting science experiments using the unique capabilities of their own devices.
The kit, based on the MKR WiFi 1010, features a range of sensors to measure light, temperature, motion, and magnetic fields; plus it comes with a set of props and full access to online course content for teachers and students to conduct nine exciting science projects inspired by popular fairground rides like the Gravitron and Pirate Ship.
Take Your Arduino Skills to the Next Level and Become Certified!
The Arduino Certification: Fundamentals Exam is a structured way to enhance and validate your Arduino skills, and receive official recognition as you progress. Anyone interested in engaging with Arduino through a process that involves study, practice, and project building is encouraged to pursue this official certificate.
Developed in consultation with leading technology curriculum, interaction design, and electronic engineering professionals, the Arduino Certification: Fundamentals certification assesses skills based on exercises consisting of practical tasks from the Arduino Starter Kit.
The official assessment covers three main key areas: theory and introduction to Arduino, electronics, and coding.
Ready, Set, GO!
CTC GO! is the newest member of Arduino’s Creative Technologies in the Classroom lineup. The program consists of a series of modules which can be combined to teach various STEAM subjects to fit with different educational paths.
The core module — which is the foundation of CTC GO! — is now available, while an assortment of expansion modules will be launched sequentially from 2019 to 2021. These include a motion module, a wireless module, and math module, all of which will contain new materials, content, and educators training / support.
CTC GO! has been designed around the recently announced Arduino Uno WiFi, our most powerful board for education. The board maintains the simplicity of the standard Uno with the incorporation of WiFi so students can learn about wireless technology and begin creating their own IoT projects.
Through the project-based learning (PBL) methodology, CTC GO! introduces students to basic concepts via a series of playful, well-documented projects and easy-to-assemble experiments.
CTC GO! also provides premium training and support for educators through online videos, webinars, and expert-answered emails.
Space: The Next Frontier of Education
The human exploration of space has inspired endless projects within the STEAM community, many of which leveraging the Arduino platform. David Cuartielles, Arduino Co-Founder and Education CTO, took the Bett stage (Post 16 Theatre) on Wednesday morning to discuss innovative ways to engage students inside (and outside) the classroom.
This session showcased the work of master students from the Space Department at Sweden’s Lulea University and their machines that extract water from the cold air of Mars; educational robots from the German Space Agency (DLR); and CanSats made by K12 students in Aguascalientes, Mexico, among others. During the talk, David and Electronic Cats CanSat’s Andres Sabas shared how they were able to get college students to program and launch 40 small satellites using open source hardware and aerostatic balloons.
For an easy plotter design that you can build with only simple hand tools, be sure to check out this tiny project from Mr Innovative. The machine features a pair of stepper and lead screw assemblies to maneuver a pen in an X/Y plane, along with a clever string and servo setup to handle retraction.
An Arduino Nano and two L293D ICs mounted to a custom PCB are used to control the device, though a breadboard could certainly substitute for the PCB in a pinch. Drawings are translated into the proper format via Inkscape and Processing.
A carbon fiber bike filament winder controlled by Arduino
Arduino Team — January 18th, 2019
Bryan Kevan wanted to build his own bicycle, but wasn’t satisfied with purchasing a frame—or even ready-made tubing. He instead chose to create the frame from raw strands of carbon fiber.
The overall bike build is shown here, which necessitated him designing a variety of jigs, including a CNC wrapping machine.
His device uses an Arduino Uno, along with a pair of driver boards, to carefully roll strands of carbon fiber on a PVC mandrel in an overlapping pattern. Epoxy was dripped on the assembly during the process, resulting in CF rods that were lighter and much cheaper than purchased rods.
After quite a bit more work assembling everything together, Kevan now has a bike frame that is truly made to his specs!
Seating charts at weddings and other formal events are usually handled by small cards at each table, but Gabrielle Martinfortier had other plans.
For her big event, she along with help from her now-husband and friends constructed a seating arrangement on a 3’ x 4’ wood canvas, equipped with a 7” TFT display and an RFID reader. An Arduino Mega serves as the brains of the device, taking advantage of its expanded IO capabilities to control an LED assembly over each table on the chart.
Wedding guests simply had to present the card they received with the invitation, then their proper table was lit. As seen in the video below, this eliminated seating confusion, and provided a bit of extra entertainment for those involved.
I wanted to make something special for my wedding tables chart, and I thought this was a good way of making it personal, as it reflects my love (addiction) for electronic projects.
So the plan was to make a big wood panel with the plan of the room on it, including, of course, the tables and their names (they are plant names, in French). The guests received a card with an RFID sticker on it along with their invitation. On the back of the card was written (in French) something like “This card is of great importance, keep it safe and carry it on you at the wedding.” I didn’t want them to know what it was for until the wedding.
The chart has several elements a TFT display, an RFID reader, a green LED and a red LED, a push button and one strip of 3 LEDs for each table. When the RFID tags are scanned, the green LED turns on if it is recognized, and a personalized message is displayed on the screen, including the name of the table where the guest is seated. In addition, the LED strip associated with the table is turned on, shedding light on the table on the room’s plan. If the card is misread or unrecognized, the red LED is turned on with an “access denied” message on the screen. The button is for those who did not succeed in not losing or forgetting the card. It displays a message on the screen, asking them to go to the bar and say something like “I am not reliable,” in exchange of which they get a backup chart to find their seat.
I changed a few things along the way: I wanted to paint the wood panel but changed my mind because I was scared I’d make a mess and have to start over with a new panel. Since I have a circuit machine I decided to make the writings and drawings with vinyl.
I also had a 20×04 character LCD screen in the beginning, but I upgraded to a 7″ TFT screen because it’s bigger and not as limiting in terms of message length.
This robot is eggsactly what you need to cook breakfast
Arduino Team — January 17th, 2019
Normally, boiling an egg involves heating water in a saucepan, then dropping an egg inside to be properly heated. James Bruton, however, now has a bit of help in the form of his breakfast-making robot.
The device uses two servos, along with a motor/encoder/screw assembly to rotate and lower the egg into place. It then takes it out after six minutes, and tips it out into a secondary container.
As of now, temperature is manually controlled, but it’s tracked with a DS18B20 temperature sensor to initiate the egg lowering procedure. An Arduino Uno takes care of the lifting screw assembly, while an Arduino Mega handles everything else.
This Arduino-powered piano can play just about any MIDI file
Arduino Team — January 16th, 2019
After letting his Arduino languish in a drawer for some time, Brandon Switzer decided to take it out and start experimenting. While he could have started off small, Switzer chose to instead create his own player piano system, completing it at a cost of around $650.
While the details of the project aren’t explicitly spelled out, you can see a time-lapse of this amazing build in the video below. As you can imagine, it took a massive amount of breadboard space to get all the electronics laid out, and a similarly impressive number of solenoids to activate all of the keys.
Additionally, he had to do plenty of mechanical work, including the cringeworthy job of actually drilling into a what appears to be a functional piano!
In early August 2017 I was looking to partake in some kind of engineering project that would be fun and also help me learn new things. For a long time I had an Arduino Uno that had been sitting in a drawer, and for the first time I took it out to experiment with it and create something new.
For a long time I had been inspired by player pianos — it’s something about the way the keys move on their own that make them so wonderful. I wanted to create something like that — something that didn’t only work but also impressed the viewer — for a cheap cost.
One of my goals in creating this was to show that it’s possible to replicate amazing things for little money, and I think I proved this. While a player system from Yamaha or Pianodisc cost upwards of $10,000, I built my own system for a measly $650. Not only that, but once you buy your $10,000 player piano, you have to purchase extra apps and songs if you actually want to play something on it. Overall I’m very satisfied with the way the piano turned out, and I’m excited to use it in the future.
Hunt the Wumpus is a text-based survival/horror game developed in 1973. As such, it’s perhaps due for an update, and Benjamin C. Faure was able to do so using an Arduino Mega to run a graphical version on an 8×8 MAX7219 LED display.
The game consists of moving your character through the 64-LED randomly generated world, avoiding pits and bats, attempting to face the Wumpus to fire your one arrow. Navigation is aided by “wind” and “stench” lights, indicating either a pit or the foul Wumpus is nearby. The game is also enhanced with a few LED animations and a small piezo speaker.
On startup, the game will generate an 8×8 map for the player that contains bats, pits, and a Wumpus. The player must pay attention to their senses to ensure they don’t fall into a pit or run into a Wumpus. Running into a bat might not be instant death, but they can carry you over a pit or even straight to the Wumpus.
If the player wishes to win, they must pinpoint the location of the Wumpus. Then, they must take one step towards the Wumpus (so that they are facing the proper direction) and fire their only arrow. If they hit the Wumpus, they win! If they miscalculated, however, they will meet a grisly fate.
A demo can be seen below, while code for the project is available on GitHub.
Glue sticks are great for attaching electronics and other bits to projects, but as Jon Bumstead shows in his latest work, they can also make pretty cool light diffusers.
His project takes the form of a wooden box with plexiglass panels, allowing observers to see 64 vertical illuminated glue sticks inside. Hidden within the cube are 128 WS2811 LED modules, melted into the top and bottom of each stick.
Everything is built around an Arduino Nano, using only a pair of its outputs to control each LED. User interface is provided by a button and knob to adjust speed, color, and patterns.
In this project, I created a “fiber optic” LED matrix using WS2801 LED strip and glue sticks. The light displays have a different look than similar LED cubes and a few advantages. First, you can’t see the actual LEDs in the display because the glue sticks guide the light away from the LEDs. Second, the device requires much fewer LEDs to make up the volume. Because the top and bottom have different LED strips, the fiber optic cables can take on two different colors that mix in the center. There are tons of different color displays that can be achieved with the device. I also added a button and knob for controlling the speed, color, and type of light display.
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