Schlagwort: toys

  • Hacking an Etch-A-Sketch with a Raspberry Pi and camera: Etch-A-Snap!

    Hacking an Etch-A-Sketch with a Raspberry Pi and camera: Etch-A-Snap!

    Reading Time: 2 minutes

    Kids of the 1980s, rejoice: the age of the digital Etch-A-Sketch is now!

    What is an Etch-A-Sketch

    Introduced in 1960, the Etch-A-Sketch was invented by Frenchman André Cassagnes and manufactured by the Ohio Art Company.

    The back of the Etch-A-Sketch screen is covered in very fine aluminium powder. Turning one of the two directional knobs runs a stylus across the back of the screen, displacing the powder and creating a dark grey line visible in the front side.

    can it run DOOM?

    yes

    The Etch-A-Sketch was my favourite childhood toy. So you can imagine how excited I was to see the Etch-A-Snap project when I logged into Reddit this morning!

    Digital Etch-A-Sketch

    Yesterday, Martin Fitzpatrick shared on Reddit how he designed and built Etch-A-Snap, a Raspberry Pi Zero– and Camera Module–connected Etch-A-Sketch that (slowly) etches photographs using one continuous line.

    Etch-A-Snap is (probably) the world’s first Etch-A-Sketch Camera. Powered by a Raspberry Pi Zero (or Zero W), it snaps photos just like any other camera, but outputs them by drawing to an Pocket Etch-A-Sketch screen. Quite slowly.

    Unless someone can show us another Etch-A-Sketch camera like this, we’re happy to agree that this is a first!

    Raspberry Pi–powered Etch-A-Sketch

    Powered by four AA batteries and three 18650 LiPo cells, Etch-A-Snap houses the $5 Raspberry Pi Zero and two 5V stepper motors within a 3D-printed case mounted on the back of a pocket-sized Etch-A-Sketch.

    Photos taken using the Raspberry Pi Camera Module are converted into 1-bit, 100px × 60px, black-and-white images using Pillow and OpenCV. Next, these smaller images are turned into plotter commands using networkx. Finally, the Raspberry Pi engages the two 5V stepper motors to move the Etch-A-Sketch control knobs, producing a sketch within 15 minutes to an hour, depending on the level of detail in the image.

    Build your own Etch-A-Snap

    On his website, Martin goes into some serious detail about Etch-A-Snap, perfect for anyone interested in building their own, or in figuring out how it all works. You’ll find an overview with videos, along with breakdowns of the build, processing, drawing, and plotter.

    Website: LINK

  • Augment RC vehicle control with an IMU-based transmitter

    Augment RC vehicle control with an IMU-based transmitter

    Reading Time: 2 minutes

    Augment RC vehicle control with an IMU-based transmitter

    Arduino Team — October 2nd, 2018

    When piloting a vehicle remotely, it’s only natural to tilt your controller one way or the other to “help” guide it in the right direction. While usually this has no effect whatsoever, YouTuber Electronoobs decided to take this concept and run with it, creating a remote control transmitter that responds to an onboard MPU-6050 inertial measurement unit.

    The transmitter’s Arduino Nano takes movement data, and sends the corresponding signals to a custom receiver board on the RC car via a pair of HC-12 wireless modules. A second Arduino mounted in the car then commands the vehicle’s DC motors with the help of an H-bridge. 

    This is a radio controller that has 2 analog channels and the data is out from a MPU-6050 gyro module. So, we could control a toy car for example just by rotating the controller. I usually use the nRF24 module, but in this project I also want to show you how to use the HC-12 module. You will learn how to get the IMU data, how to use the HC-12 radio connection and how to control 2 DC motors using PWM signals and an H-bridge.

    It’s quite a versatile build, and it can even be set up to output PWM signals if you need to interface with more advanced electronics.

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GhNX7gTP4M?feature=oembed&w=500&h=281]

    You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

    Website: LINK

  • How to mod your Etch A Sketch, or Toy Story in real life

    How to mod your Etch A Sketch, or Toy Story in real life

    Reading Time: 3 minutes

    We’d like to file this under ‘things we wish we’d had when we were younger’. Who else is envious of the kids of today and all the cool things they can make with our old classic toys?

    Etch A Sketch Robot – Elephant

    Read about how this works on my blog! http://sunnybala.com/2018/09/10/python-etch-a-sketch.html

    To a wave of upvotes and comments, Sunny Balasubramanian shared their Etch A Sketch project on Reddit, including all the information and code you need to build your own. Thanks, Sunny!

    Dismantling the toys of our childhoods

    The physical set up of the automated Etch A Sketch is pretty simple: motors attached to couplers replace the original plastic nobs, and a connected Raspberry Pi 3 controls the motors as directed by the code.

    Etch a Sketch modded with a Raspberry Pi

    For stability, Sunny attached a wooden block to the plastic housing that keeps the motors in place.

    Coding new life into an Etch A Sketch

    Sunny explains:

    There’s a few different ways to go about this portion of the project. When I started out, I googled to see if anyone had done things like this before. A few projects popped up. They seemed to approach the drawing in one of two ways. I wanted to do it in a fully automated way where the only input is a picture and the output is a cleanly drawn image.

    The code Sunny ended up using first takes an image and simplifies it into a line drawing using Canny edge detection. It then turns each pixel to a node and draws a path between the nodes, connecting them one by one. So that the Etch A Sketch draws the picture, the Raspberry Pi then directs the motors to follow the connections and create uncannily precise sketches.

    Head to Sunny’s website for more information about their project, and download the full code from GitHub.

    Two down, more to go…

    With this automated Etch A Sketch, and this talking Fisher Price Chatter Telephone, the Raspberry Pi community is well on the way to recreating the entire Toy Story cast, and we are fully on board with that!

    A GIF of Toy Story characters

    So what’s next? A remote-controlled Slinky? A falling with style flying Buzz Lightyear? What would you build?

    Website: LINK

  • Automatic mazes with Raspberry Pi and recursive backtracking

    Automatic mazes with Raspberry Pi and recursive backtracking

    Reading Time: 3 minutes

    Engineerish is back with another Raspberry Pi–based project that you didn’t know you needed until now.

    PRINT MAZES WITH RASPBERRY PI

    Don’t already have a device around your home that, at the press of a button, prints something cool? Build one! Mine prints randomly generated mazes but why stop there? Thermal printer: https://www.adafruit.com/product/597 Source code: https://github.com/mattiasjahnke/rpi-maze-printer Recursive backtracking algorithm: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maze_generation_algorithm#Recursive_backtracker ———— Consider subscribing to the channel so you don’t miss out!

    Printed mazes

    Mattias Jahnke, better known as Engineerish to his online followers, was asked by his nephew to draw labyrinth mazes for the youngster to complete. While the task was fun to do by hand, Mattias soon found himself wondering what code and technology he could use to automate it. He soon hit upon the idea of using a Raspberry Pi, a thermal printer, and the recursive backtracking algorithm to produce mazes.

    What is recursive backtracking?

    Engineerish offers a simplified explanation of recursive backtracking in the video above, and you can learn even more about this algorithm here, here, and here.

    The latter of these links provides the following summary of backtracking:

    Backtracking problems are solved one step at a time. Literally!  Here’s the general algorithm:

    1) Is where I am a solution?
    2) No. OK, where can I go from here? If I can go somewhere, choose a place to go.
    3) Go there.
    5) Was that a solution? If yes, return true!
    5) If there are remaining places to go, choose one and go to #3.
    6) Out of places to go. Return false.

    Building an automated maze printer

    To fit the Raspberry Pi and printer, as well as an arcade button and a power supply, Engineerish built a custom wooden box.

    This is me – only seconds away from realizing how mankind first discovered how to make a fire. They’ve must have been trying a cut a whole in a wooden box with a Dremel for a maze-generating raspberry pi project.

    492 Likes, 17 Comments – Engineerish (@engineerish) on Instagram: “This is me – only seconds away from realizing how mankind first discovered how to make a fire….”

    The arcade button is wired to GPIO pin 16, and pressing it starts a Python script that runs the recursive backtracking algorithm and lets the thermal printer produce the finished maze.

    Endless fun for the whole fam! Randomly generated mazes with adjustable difficulty at the click of a button. Even though that “button” is currently an ssh connection to a raspberry pi, the execution of two python scripts with passed process arguments to set difficulty and nanoing source code to set the maze size. I’ll try to go full Windows Vista on the user friendlyness another day. For now – it works!

    689 Likes, 40 Comments – Engineerish (@engineerish) on Instagram: “Endless fun for the whole fam! Randomly generated mazes with adjustable difficulty at the click of…”

    Engineerish has provided the complete code for the project on his GitHub account, allowing everyone to try their hand at printing (and completing) these awesome mazes.

    Engineerish

    If you’d like to see more from Engineerish, be sure to subscribe to his YouTube account and follow him on Instagram.

    Engineerish recursive backtracking raspberry pi mazes

    And be sure to also check out his Raspberry Pi Binary Clock, which we covered here on the blog in January.

    Website: LINK

  • ThingMaker is a 3D Printer for Kids

    ThingMaker is a 3D Printer for Kids

    Reading Time: < 1 minute

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    We try out ThingMaker from Mattel, their new Autodesk partnered 3D printing toy/product for children.

    thingmaker

  • LEGO Superheroes The Shield Helicarrier rebuilt by Fans!

    LEGO Superheroes The Shield Helicarrier rebuilt by Fans!

    Reading Time: < 1 minute

    A group of friends from Taiwan’s Formosa LEGO club – Zio Chao, Dada, Kimura, Kuan-Wei, Stephanie, Tiger and Will – spent 1.5-months recreating the iconic SHIELD helicarrier from The Avengers with 15,000 bricks, along with other random parts.

    lego-shield-helicarrier

    It measures in at 140cm x 80cm, making it twice the size of the official LEGO set.

  • Nerf Nuke Can Fire 80 Projecticles Simultaneously!

    Nerf Nuke Can Fire 80 Projecticles Simultaneously!

    Reading Time: < 1 minute

    [mbYTPlayer url=“https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzck9o2lvik“ opacity=“.5″ quality=“medium“ ratio=“auto“ isinline=“false“ showcontrols=“false“ realfullscreen=“true“ printurl=“true“ autoplay=“true“ mute=“true“ loop=“true“ addraster=“true“ stopmovieonblur=“false“ gaTrack=“false“]

    More than just a toy gun, the Nerf Nuke can be loaded up with 80 darts that blast off in all directions simultaneously, and up to 30 feet. However, this direct-plunger system weapon does require a tripod that can fire the Nuke up to 40-feet away before dispersing the smaller darts. No word yet on pricing or availability, but based on current prices, expect to shell out at least $149 if it does hit shelves.

    nerfnuke NERF_nuke_02

  • How to use your Sphero BB8 – BB-8 Training Video , Tutorial Video by Sphero!

    How to use your Sphero BB8 – BB-8 Training Video , Tutorial Video by Sphero!

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    This tutorial video will show you how to get started with your Sphero BB8 App-enabled Droid and explore all the amazing things your new Droid can do.

     

    Source: LINK

  • STAR WARS BB8 App-Enabled Droid – Unboxing , Downloading the iOS/Android App

    STAR WARS BB8 App-Enabled Droid – Unboxing , Downloading the iOS/Android App

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  • The Secret Life of Star Wars Toys Captured!

    The Secret Life of Star Wars Toys Captured!

    Reading Time: < 1 minute

    Zahir Batin from Malaysia is both a Star Wars fanatic and photographer, so he decided to combine his two lives in his latest project. Simply put, he takes all kinds of action figures, and set them up in real-life scenarios, whether it be taking snap shots of Clone troopers on speeder bikes or R2-D2 scaring off a stray cat. You can’t leave out a helmet-less Darth Vader plotting his next move.

    cNMKqlX

  • Alle lieben Luke – Umfrage der LEGO GmbH enthüllt die beliebtesten Star Wars Charaktere

    Alle lieben Luke – Umfrage der LEGO GmbH enthüllt die beliebtesten Star Wars Charaktere

    Reading Time: 2 minutes

    München, Oktober 2013. Seit Jahrzenten begeistert die Star Wars Geschichte Millionen von Fans auf der ganzen Welt. Um herauszufinden, welche Figur des Sternenmärchens bei Jung und Alt am besten ankommt, hat die LEGO GmbH über 1.600 Kinder und Eltern befragt. Das Ergebnis: Luke Skywalker ist bei allen Altersgruppen der Jedi-Meister der Herzen, dicht gefolgt von seiner Zwillingsschwester Prinzessin Leia. Erst ab dem dritten Platz zeigen sich Unterschiede. Während Kinder R2-D2 und Yoda lieben, schwärmen Eltern für Han Solo und Padme Amidala.*

    Unbenannt11 Unbenannt STARWARS_INFOGRAFIK_lay8_130828_RZ.indd

     

    Dank der LEGO Star Wars Reihe können Eltern den „Sternenstoff“, den sie seit den 70er-Jahren von der Kinoleinwand kennen, heute mit ihren Kindern noch einmal erleben, neue Handlungsstränge spielend leicht erfinden und viele alte Bekannte wiedersehen. Doch egal, für wen das Herz von Jung und Alt schlägt – solange die Star Wars Saga Familien begeistert, schlummert in jedem von uns ein Jedi-Ritter.

    * Quelle: iconkids & youth, Befragung von 1.664 5- bis 12-Jährigen und deren Eltern zwischen Februar und März 2013

    LEGO, das LEGO Logo und die Minifigur sind Marken der LEGO Gruppe.
    © 2013 The LEGO Group

    © 2013 Lucasfilm Ltd. LLC & TM. All rights reserved.

     

    Official Source: LEGO Österreich Presse

    http://www.legonewsroom.de/pressemitteilungen/alle-lieben-luke-umfrage-der-lego-gmbh-enthuellt-die-beliebtesten-star-wars-charaktere/

  • Bauwettbewerb LEGO EinStein: Kreativste Kinder Deutschlands, Österreich und der Schweiz gesucht!

    Bauwettbewerb LEGO EinStein: Kreativste Kinder Deutschlands, Österreich und der Schweiz gesucht!

    Reading Time: 3 minutes

    EinStein2010_3_3

    • Aufgabe ist es, ein möglichst erfindungsreiches oder fantasievolles Modell aus LEGO Steinen zu bauen
    • Bewerbungszeitraum: 1. November 2013 bis 15. Januar 2014
    • Weitere Informationen und das Anmeldeformular unter EinStein.LEGO.de

    http://einstein2.lego.com/de-de/Default.aspx?domainredir=www.einstein.lego.de

    LEGO-EinStein_2013

    München, August 2013. Auch in diesem Jahr startet der große LEGO EinStein Bauwettbewerb, bei dem die kreativsten Kinder aus Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz gesucht werden. Dabei werden die kleinen Baumeister und Baumeisterinnen dazu aufgerufen, ohne fremde Hilfe ein persönliches Lieblingsmodell aus LEGO Steinen zu bauen. Es spielt keine Rolle, ob das eine schlaue Erfindung, eine lustige Figur, ein verrücktes Fahrzeug oder ein fantasievolles Zuhause ist – jede Idee ist willkommen! Je einfallsreicher das gebaute Modell ist, desto besser. Und jeder hat die gleichen Gewinnchancen: Es zählt die Originalität des Modells mehr als dessen Größe und natürlich wird bei der Bewertung berücksichtigt, wie alt, bzw. jung der kreative Kopf hinter dem Modell ist.

    Kinder aus Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz konnten schon in den letzten Jahren in den LEGO EinStein Wettbewerben kreativ werden. Die LEGO Jury staunte und freute sich über den Einfallsreichtum, der in Modellen wie Mäusevilla, Schmuckburg oder Bonbon-Sortiermaschine offenbar wurde und hatte die Qual der Wahl. „Wir möchten Kindern die Möglichkeit bieten, ihrer LEGO Kreativität ohne große Vorgaben freien Lauf zu lassen und an einem nationalen LEGO Bauwettbewerb teilzunehmen“, erklärt Pressesprecherin Helena Seppelfricke.

    LEGO_generisch_21

    Nachdem die Kinder ihre Erfindung gebaut haben, müssen sie das Anmeldeformular unter EinStein.LEGO.de ausfüllen und zusammen mit zwei Fotos (eines von sich sowie eines von dem Modell) an die jeweilige Adresse des Landes senden. Einsendeschluss ist der 15. Januar 2014. Die Ideen werden anhand einer zehnstufigen Bewertungsskala nach den Kriterien Kreativität und Originalität von einer LEGO Jury beurteilt. Modelle, die im Team gebaut wurden, können aus organisatorischen Gründen nicht berücksichtigt werden. Die Gewinner werden Ende Januar 2014 persönlich benachrichtigt.

    Als Hauptgewinn winkt eine Wochenendreise für die ganze Familie (zwei Erwachsene, zwei Kinder) ins LEGOLAND Discovery Centre nach Berlin, inklusive einer Stadtrundfahrt und einem Besuch des Wachsfigurenkabinetts von Madame Tussauds™. Für den zweiten bis fünften Platz gibt es je ein LEGO Produktpaket im Wert von 200 Euro zu gewinnen. Die Plätze sechs bis zehn erhalten je eine LEGO Uhr.

    Alle Informationen im Überblick

    Einreichungen für Deutschland (Bild der Erfindung und des Erfinders mit 300dpi Auflösung und mit ausgefülltem Anmeldeformular) gehen an:
    E-Mail: LEGO@fischerappelt.de – Betreff: EinStein
    Post: fischerAppelt, Stichwort: LEGO EinStein, Infanteriestraße 11a, 80797 München

    Einreichungen für Österreich (Bild der Erfindung und des Erfinders mit 300dpi Auflösung und mit ausgefülltem Anmeldeformular) gehen an:
    E-Mail: LEGO_EinStein@ibdc.at – Betreff: EinStein
    Post: ibd+c, Stichwort: LEGO EinStein, Kahlenbergerstr. 55, 1190 Wien

    Einreichungen für die Schweiz (Bild der Erfindung und des Erfinders mit 300dpi Auflösung und mit ausgefülltem Anmeldeformular) gehen an:
    E-Mail: LEGOEinstein@flowrelations.ch – Betreff: EinStein
    Post: flowRelations: Bernadette Muff, Stichwort: LEGO EinStein, Lüssiweg 8, 6300 Zug
    Einsendezeitraum: 1. November 2013 – 15. Januar 2014
    Wichtige Hinweise: Es können keine im Team gebauten Modelle berücksichtigt werden.
    Es wird darum gebeten, die Erfindung bis Ende Januar aufgebaut zu lassen.
    Weitere Informationen und Anmeldeformular: Einstein.LEGO.de

     

    HIER GEHT ES ZUM ANMELDEFORMULAR: downloadB9512B9402DF68BD9CA065F91A142EA6

     

    Official Source: LEGO Österreich Presse

    http://www.legonewsroom.de/pressemitteilungen/bauwettbewerb-lego-einstein-kreativste-kinder-deutschlands-gesucht/

    http://einstein2.lego.com/de-de/Default.aspx?domainredir=www.einstein.lego.de