May 07, 2013

Use a Wii balance board to control an "Etch-A-Sketch"

 Time for another "Etch-a-Sketch" project, this time brought to us by Instructables user "MattWStephS". With their version, the drawing is controlled by a Nintendo Wii balance board. This is accomplished with an interesting mix of hardware and software. The balance board and Nintendo hardware connect via Bluetooth to a PC running GlovePIE to capture the movement data, which is then passed to a processing sketch which in turn controls an Arduino with two stepper motors geared onto the "Etch-a-Sketch". Furthermore they've included the plans and designs for the required physical hardware, so you can neatly recreate the project. Finally, the following is a quick video of the system in operation:


Certainly an interesting example of synergy between two different technologies - click here to find out more. And for more, we're on twitter and Google+, so follow us for news and product updates as well. 

For those looking to recreate such a project - but don't have the Nintendo hardware, a good start would be our Eleven board along with the AM3X accelerometer module:


This tiny 3-axis accelerometer module can operate in either +/-1.5 g or +/-6 g ranges, giving your project the ability to tell which way is up. Ideal for robotics projects, tilt sensors, vehicle data loggers, and whatever else you can dream up. For more information and to order, click here

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