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Archive: Electronics
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February 25, 2008
HOW TO - Make plants talk! They'll Twitter you when they need to be watered (and more)...
BREAKING NEWS FROM MAKE: The gang from Botanicalls (Kate Hartman, Kati London, Rebecca Bray, and Rob Faludi) used one of Adafruit's new Ethernet shields for Arduino to make some plants talk - and now you can too! That's right, having your houseplants Twitter you when they need water and more!
"Botanicalls Twitter answers the question: What's up with your plant? It offers a connection to your leafy pal via online Twitter status updates that reach you anywhere in the world. When your plant needs water, it will post to let you know, and send its thanks when you show it love" - Link.
More:
- Adafruit ethernet shield for Arduino - Link.
- Learn more about Botanicalls - Link.
- Follow pothos the plant on Twitter! - Link.
- Learn how to do projects like this and more with "Making things talk" - Link.
Posted by Phillip Torrone |
Feb 25, 2008 12:10 AM
Arduino, DIY Projects, Electronics |
Permalink
| Comments (12)
Homemade capacitor (Leyden jar)
Here's a 2 liter plastic soda bottle leyden jar, can be shocking, even dangerous, don't do this unless you know what you're doing (here's what they're all about, Wikipedia)...
The Leyden jar is an early device for storing electric charge invented in 1745 by Pieter van Musschenbroek (1700-1748). It was the first capacitor. Leyden jars were used to conduct many early experiments in electricity.Homemade capacitor (Leyden jar) - Link.A typical design consists of a top electrode electrically connected by some means (usually a chain) to a metal foil coating part of the inner surface of a glass jar. A conducting foil is wrapped around the outside of the jar, matching the internal coated area. The jar is charged by an electrostatic generator connected to the inner electrode while the outer plate is grounded. The inner and outer surfaces of the jar store equal but opposite charges.
Related:
- Historical scientific instrument gallery - Link.
- Leyden jar - Link.
- Homemade Lightning: Creative Experiments in Electricity - Link.
- Electrostatic kits - Link.
Posted by Phillip Torrone |
Feb 25, 2008 12:00 AM
DIY Projects, Electronics, Instructables, Science |
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| Comments (1)
February 24, 2008
Solar dragonfly
James Watt has made one of the most beautiful little electronic insect-bots that I have ever seen. The dragonfly has several solar cells, and some simple electronics, that allow the wings to flap via a pager motor. His sculptures are incredibly well thought out and put together, amazing! - Link
Related:
- HOW TO - Build BEAM Vibrobots - Link
- Solarbotics - Link.
- A Beginner's Guide to BEAM - Link.
- BEAM robot - flashing eyes - Link.
- Pummer! Part robotic plant life, part techno-sculpture, these desktop toys are easy and fun to make. MAKE 08 - page 84. Subscribers--read this article now in your digital edition.
Posted by Marc de Vinck |
Feb 24, 2008 02:00 AM
Arts, DIY Projects, Electronics |
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| Comments (1)
February 23, 2008
DIY Laser range finder
It is amazing what you can accomplish with a web cam, cheap laser pointer and a bit of C++ coding. The complete build, along with all the source code, is available on the site. - Link
There are many off the shelf range finding components available including ultrasonic, infrared, and even laser rangefinders. All of these devices work well, but in the field of aerial robotics, weight is a primary concern. It is desirable to get as much functionality out of each component that is added to an airframe. This page describes how a mini laser pointer can be configured along with a single camera to provide mono-machine vision with range information.
Posted by Marc de Vinck |
Feb 23, 2008 02:00 AM
DIY Projects, Electronics |
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| Comments (3)
February 22, 2008
556 Synthelmet thingy!
What does a synthmaker do once all those new and clever enclosure ideas are played and passe´? Move from enclosing to exposing - on the head, for starters.
Conglomeration of 556 oscillator divider, 4040 counter 741 filter and speaker mounted on a strainer mounted on a human. Counter drives LEDs for feedback to LDRs.Hmm, do you think that metal strainer is the ground plane? -[via]Link
Related:
Atari Punk Console - weekend electronics project -Link
Posted by Collin Cunningham |
Feb 22, 2008 02:20 PM
Electronics, Wearables |
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| Comments (2)
Wii chipshots!
Bunnie writes -
I love looking inside chips, and Flylogic takes some of the sweetest chip shots. bushing sent me some Wii chips to play with a few weeks ago, and Chris at Flylogic expertly decap’d and imaged them for me. I thought they were pretty neat, so here’s a couple of them to share with you...Wii chipshots! - Link.
Posted by Phillip Torrone |
Feb 22, 2008 08:01 AM
Electronics |
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| Comments (0)
PIC based laser spirograph
From the MAKE Flickr pool
AP Digital Light generated these dramatic patterns with a homebuilt Laser spirograph device using motor controlled mirrors and a PIC microcontroller. Visit the 'Laser Gallery' photoset for many more prime examples. -Link
And check out this vid for more about the design and see the 'graph in action.
Related:
Learn How To Do Laser Graffiti - Weekend Projects Podcast -Link
Posted by Collin Cunningham |
Feb 22, 2008 06:25 AM
Electronics |
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| Comments (0)
Heartbeat midi controller
From the MAKE Flickr pool
Looks like Recotana finished work on the heartbeat controlled MIDI device, very cool! Interesting choice in sound patch for the demo video - emphasizes that man/machine contrast. Now we just need one more clip documenting a heart-pounding treadmill recording session.
-Link
Related:
Very Small MIDI controller - Link
Posted by Collin Cunningham |
Feb 22, 2008 05:19 AM
Electronics |
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| Comments (2)
DIY - Video camera in a rocket
If you happen to be into large-scale model rocketry and want to take some videos of it soaring into outer space, this might be a perfect project for you to build this weekend. The website has a fairly detailed build instructions and links to several videos. - Link
Related:
CVS camera video from a rocket- Link
Posted by Marc de Vinck |
Feb 22, 2008 02:00 AM
Electronics |
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| Comments (0)
More whiteboard drawbots
It's a monumental week for whiteboard drawbots, here - LadyAda has a version she's been working on for awhile now available for gawking and if you're super ambitious you can make one with her new Arduino motor shields - Link (photos).
I fully expect there to be dozens of these out in the next few months.
Related:
Whiteboard hektor clone - Link.
Posted by Phillip Torrone |
Feb 22, 2008 01:30 AM
Arduino, DIY Projects, Electronics, Robotics |
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| Comments (1)
Make the Itty Bitty Radio Telescope
This looks like a really interesting, and fairly easy, project to build. The problem was, I wasn't really sure what you could actually detect once you finished it. Luckily, the web site has a link to a PDF that has experiments you can perform with your new radio telescope.
This system is NOT a radio astronomy system to be used for serious sky surveys, but it is a tremendous starter unit to give you the excitement of detecting the Sun, your own body radiation or just 300 deg. K tree branches.
DIY radio telescope - Link
What to do next? - PDF Link
Posted by Marc de Vinck |
Feb 22, 2008 01:00 AM
DIY Projects, Electronics |
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| Comments (2)
Arduino powered weather station
TimW writes -
It seems like MAKE is fond of arduino projects, so here is my contribution. Here is 4 cheap $1 displays mounted in a picture frame and hooked to and arduino. Using just 6 pins, I am able to individually control 552 leds. I wrote a bit of code to write a series of messages to the displays. This code listens for serial data to update the displays. Any text can be shown, but I am currently using a perl script to send the weather forecast from google to it.Arduino powered weather station - Link.
Posted by Phillip Torrone |
Feb 22, 2008 12:00 AM
Arduino, DIY Projects, Electronics |
Permalink
| Comments (1)
February 21, 2008
RFID and unique physical form
A grad student at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Lisa Smith, has designed these rapid prototyped unique RFID dongles. She calls her process the "cuteness generator." The Touch blog writes:
One of the key aspects of the project for me is the translation of the unique identity of RFID into a unique physical form. Each object in the project has a visual appearance and shape that is generated uniquely for each user. This reflects the unique identity contained in the RFID chip. This is an interesting approach to the visual and physical affordances of RFID technology.
Lisa writes:
The forms are generated with a small piece of front end software, with partial control from the user (for example, there is a cuteness<->grossness slider, and they can specify the number of eyes, but the form is also linked to their age and other friends/family in the system, etc). It pulls from sticker/graffiti culture, urban toy culture, and also heraldry (allows for the visual expression of human relationships and room for a visual subculture to emerge in the system).
I'm currently in a rapid prototyping class, and I gotta say that I'm totally jealous of this project - [via] Link.
Posted by Becky Stern |
Feb 21, 2008 09:00 PM
Arts, Crafts, Electronics |
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| Comments (0)
New LilyPad Arduino programmer from Sparkfun
Sparkfun writes:
This is a USB to UART board that allows easy reprogramming of the LilyPad main board without the need for soldering. This board is based on the FT232RL IC from FTDI.
Features:
- Implements full v2.0 USB protocol
- Needs no external crystal
- Internal EEPROM for device ID and Product Description strings
- Royalty-Free Driver support for Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X
This is great for programming the LilyPad, as it requires no soldering or alterations to the Arduino Mini programmer (and has a flatter form factor), and it slots right onto the board! - Link.
Related:
LilyPad Arduino - Link.
Posted by Becky Stern |
Feb 21, 2008 07:00 PM
Arduino, Electronics, Open source hardware |
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| Comments (1)
Ping pong ball LED diffuser
With so many new, specialized and intricate devices at a maker's disposal, it's always awesome to discover new uses for materials that have been here all along -
Turns out that a Ping Pong ball makes a reasonable LED diffuser. Just drill a hole and insert the LED. Easy micro Locnar! With an RBG LED this could make a nice system indicator. Maybe build a strip of these indicators to make several status indicators. Each server gets a mini orb to show it's online status, maybe each email account. How about a ball of balls, each with an RGB LED...Woah, easy there - one glowin' ball concept at a time! Hmm . . . but how bout violet LEDs to make an interactive bunch of grapes - or maybe eyes that light up when . . . -Link
Related:
Ping pong lights -Link
Posted by Collin Cunningham |
Feb 21, 2008 02:15 PM
DIY Projects, Electronics |
Permalink
| Comments (4)
HOW TO - Make a Knight Rider bar
Josh writes -
’m making a Knight Rider (KITT) Light Bar to celebrate the premier of the new Knight Rider Made-For-TV Movie. I’m using an Arduino Diecimila board and 18 LEDs.HOW TO - Make a Knight Rider bar - Link.Materials (so far): FedEx box (temporary; looking for a suitable plastic container) with black construction paper for the housing. Arduino, 18 LEDs (wired to 9 output pins on the arduino - two LEDs in parallel per pin), 9 75 ohm resistors (note, 75 is not the right value, but they were the closest I had). The faceplate is made of cardboard, tissue paper (light diffusion) and some cheap car-window-sun-shade-material I found at Target.
Posted by Phillip Torrone |
Feb 21, 2008 09:00 AM
Arduino, DIY Projects, Electronics |
Permalink
| Comments (6)
StrobeTronic noise synth
From the MAKE Flickr pool
Another very original enclosure design, this one goes knob-less. Flickr member Rarebeasts writes-
This unit makes a huge range of strange noises. You start by setting the controls on the top of the unit, this sets up a sweep on the LEDS, by moving the LEDs around the light sensors a basic noise loop is set up. Combinations of frequency, volume and the two LEDs make for interesting sounds.Somewhat reminiscent of salt & pepper shakers, and cylindrical is very 'in' this season! -Link
StrobeTronic details, pics, and video -Link
Related:
Bleep Labs photos! -Link
In the Maker Store:
Loud Objects Noise Toy Kit -Link
Posted by Collin Cunningham |
Feb 21, 2008 05:15 AM
Electronics, Music |
Permalink
| Comments (0)
A beginner's guide to PIC micros
In order to balance the forces of PIC and AVR - an anonymous reader shows us this thorough tutorial on getting started with Microchip's PIC. -Link
And if you're confused as to which platform to start working with, you can get a quick rundown of the differences over @ Ladyada.net -Link
Related:
A beginners guide to the AVR Micro-controllers -Link
From the Maker Store:
Make Controller Kit -Link
Posted by Collin Cunningham |
Feb 21, 2008 04:15 AM
Electronics |
Permalink
| Comments (2)
A beginners guide to the AVR Micro-controllers
Donald sent in his guide to programming an AVR microcontroller. It takes you step-by-step from purchasing the right hardware all the way through uploading the programs. He includes all his schematics and lots of photos. It's a good place to start learning about the AVR microcontroller.
My goal was to lower the barrier of entry for getting started with the AVR by starting at square one (i.e. you don't even own a programmer) and getting someone familiar with using the tools as quickly as possible.
A beginners guide to the ATMEL AVR Micro-controllers - Link
Related:
PIC microcontrollers - a beginner's guide - Link
Posted by Marc de Vinck |
Feb 21, 2008 01:00 AM
Electronics |
Permalink
| Comments (2)
February 20, 2008
Whiteboard hektor clone
Matt Mets made a hektor-esque whiteboard drawing robot for his 19th Thing-a-day project. He drew his favorite Tetris block. Arduino and Python code included - Link.
Related:
Posted by Becky Stern |
Feb 20, 2008 09:00 PM
Arduino, Arts, Electronics, Robotics |
Permalink
| Comments (0)
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