And now for something complete different is the following project by Adil Malim. His project consists can write messages across the surface of a wall that glow in the dark. However nothing is permanently written to the wall - instead the wall has glow-in-the-dark paper attached to it, and the Arduino controls a line of UV LEDs which traverse the surface, and illuminate the LEDs in patterns as it moves across to generate text. In other words, it could be classed as a huge UV-dot matrix printer. Check out the following video for a demonstration:
This is an amazing project and well deserved of our kudos, so follow along from the project Instructable page. And for more, we're on twitter and Google+, so follow us for news and product updates as well.
When working with 74HC595 shift registers and solderless breadboards (or more permanent solutions) consider using the Freetronics EXPAND: Expansion/Shift register module. It contains the 74HC595 shift register on a small board with standard 0.1" spacing holes that are perfect for soldering header pins into for breadboard use, and a small "power on" LED. By doing this you have a robust vehicle to insert and remove easily without tools or the risk of bending the IC pins. This is only one of our large range of prototyping modules - check the full range today!
