After some examination inside various toys it becomes apparent that they can easily be modified and controlled with an Arduino. Many people have harnessed cheap RC cars, boats and model trains - however after receiving a "Teddy Ruxpin" bear, Sean Hathaway cracked it open and added an Arduino to control the servo which moves both the mouth and eyes. However instead of randomly moving about, the Arduino receives serial commands from a PC to help with realism, for example:
With some work this could become anything between an interactive toy bear or a creepy Halloween decoration. For more on this story, visit Ars Technica. And for more, we're on twitter and Google+, so follow us for news and product updates as well.
Have you been reading about Arduino and the types of projects created, but not sure where to start? Then order one our Experimenter's Kit for Arduino:
The package includes a wide variety of parts, sensors and modules including: a servo motor, lights, buttons, switches, sound, sensors, breadboard, wires and more. Furthermore a Freetronics Eleven Arduino-compatible board is included to make this an extensive hobby experimenter, inventor and starter kit.
However we don't leave you alone to figure it all out, included is a great project and instruction booklet, plus access to a supporting web page and software examples. In other words - this is everything you need to get started for a fun range of electronics and Arduino related projects! So to get started or for more information and to order, check out the product page.
