Craving a toasted marshmallow but frustrated by lack of a proper campfire coupled with an annoying inability to rotate the marshmallow evenly? Henry has cooked up an Instructable for a lovely, single-serving Arduino automatic marshmallow roaster using a beeswax candle and a stepper motor from an old printer. Yum!
Not to be too critical, because I'm sure it was fun, but was the arduino needed? I can imagine doing this much simpler with only a few parts I have just laying around. POT, DC motor, switch, battery holder... Can't imagine needing much more. Maybe a simplified version of this would be fun to start young kids with?
The reason I used an arduino was because I didn't have a standard gearmotor and I needed a motor driver to control the stepper. I could have done it with just a motor and a switch, but with the motors I had it would spin way too fast. I also wanted to be able to add other things (buzzers/leds) to show when it was done.
Void your warranty, violate a user agreement, fry a circuit, blow a fuse, poke an eye out. Make: The risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things... Welcome to Make: Online!
Weekend Project: Pinhole Panoramic Camera
A sturdy, panoramic design pinhole camera that uses 120 film. Thanks go to Ross Orr for the original article in MAKE Volume 09. To download The Pinhole Panoramic Camera video video click here and subscribe in iTunes. Check out...
More...
Sign up for the Make: Newsletter
Our Make: Newsletter covers news from maker Media, has original columns, Shed deals, and more! You can also read the archives of past issues.
Not to be too critical, because I'm sure it was fun, but was the arduino needed? I can imagine doing this much simpler with only a few parts I have just laying around. POT, DC motor, switch, battery holder... Can't imagine needing much more. Maybe a simplified version of this would be fun to start young kids with?
Reply to this comment
The reason I used an arduino was because I didn't have a standard gearmotor and I needed a motor driver to control the stepper. I could have done it with just a motor and a switch, but with the motors I had it would spin way too fast. I also wanted to be able to add other things (buzzers/leds) to show when it was done.
Reply to this comment