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 Instructables user Adum24 has devised a simple and effective laser-tripwire system based around an Arduino board. By using a laser diode and a photoresistor you can replace the physical 'trip wire' with a laser beam, and use this as a base for various security functions, counters, or anything that requires detecting motion in one direction. It is easy to assemble, fits in a small tin - and as shown in the video below it works well:

To get started with your own version, click here. And we're on twitter and Google+, so follow us for news and product updates as well. 

If  this sort of project intrigues you and you're new to Arduino, the first step is a solid board for your projects - our Freetronics Eleven - the Arduino-Uno compatible with low-profile USB socket, onboard prototyping space and easy to view LEDs:

 Technologist and Freetronics customer Peter has documented a very simple and popular method of safely controlling AC mains outlets using an Arduino board. Instead of making his own AC-switching circuits using relays and other hardware, he has simply hacked the remote transmitter from a remote-controlled power socket set as shown below. By using a 74HC595 shift register module that controls switching transistors connnected to the button circuitry in the remote - the Arduino can now command the remote power sockets. Easy and safe - perfect!

Kudos to Peter for making something so simple and useful. For more information, visit his blog here. And we're on twitter and Google+, so follow us for news and product updates as well. 

To make inserting a 74HC595 shift register into your prototypes easy and fast, use our EXPAND: shift register module:

It makes adding more outputs to your microcontroller simple - with a labelled breakout board and blue power LED, you can't go wrong. And if you're not sure how they work, our Quickstart guide will have you up and running in no time. For more information and to order, click here. 

 For those just starting out with their Arduino and Freetronics boards, the following tutorial will be of interest. Rob Faludi takes the reader through different methods of controlling inexpensive DC motors with regards to speed and direction. Once mastered you will have a new way of driving inexpensive motors and also those found in cheap toys and remote-control cars. As well as simple transistor control, Rob takes you through using H-bridge ICs which allow software controlled direction and speed control. Loads of fun!

So to get started with your own motorised fun, click here. And we're on twitter and Google+, so follow us for news and product updates as well. 

When making your own motor controllers, you'll need a protoshield to mount the external circuitry. In doing so, consider our range of ProtoShields. From the tiny LeoStick to the Mega range, we offer a complete range for you to work with.

 The InfoNinja is a desktop information display device that works in conjunction with a PC to display all sorts of information, from unread email counts, weather, tweets, etc., and can also act on them by flashing LEDs and so on. And also time tea breaks. This would be a great replacement for a second monitor that some people use just for email and news feeds. Apart from the hardware design, information on how to interface the unit is included as well as the http commands to control the LEDs and other features. You can get a feel for it in the following video:

For complete instructions, design files, Arduino sketch and more - visit the project page. And we're on twitter and Google+, so follow us for news and product updates as well. 

Building your own InfoNinja or Arduino-Ethernet project? Use the outstanding Freetronics EtherTen. Apart from being fully Arduino Uno-compatible, it has onboard Ethernet, microSD socket, full USB interface (so you don't need a costly FTDI cable just to upload a sketch!) and supports optional Power-over-Ethernet:

 Gabriel Miller has published a simple way of monitoring rotary-disc electricity power meters in order to measure and analyse his household power usage. The method is simple - a laser beam is pointed at the rotary meter disc, which has a small hole near the perimeter. Once every revolution the laser light will shine through this hole and to a photoresistor. Thus the Arduino can then track the number of kWh used and so forth. Please note that working around the mains supply can be dangerous, and your electricity distributor may not be keen on people doing this. However it's a good read and an interesting Arduino-based project. 

So for complete instructions and notes, visit Gabriel's project page. And we're on twitter and Google+, so follow us for news and product updates as well. 

If you're looking for guidance and information on other interesting Arduino projects - get yourself a copy of "Practical Arduino" by Jonathan Oxer and Hugh Blemings:

Create your own Arduino-based designs, gain an in-depth knowledge of the architecture of Arduino, and learn the easy-to-use Arduino language all in the context of practical projects that you can build yourself at home. Get hands-on experience using a variety of projects and recipes for everything from home automation to test equipment. For more information and to order, click here. 

 Environmental technology consultant Anthony Jones participated in a rapid prototyping event with a group of strangers, whose goal was to create a system to monitor and publish weather variables. In his words:

Our goal was to demonstrate a low cost platform for high quality sensing applications by putting together a complete experiment that measured temperature, humidity and light levels of a series of test chambers with different roofing colours and levels of insulation and then to publish that data up to the internet so that it could be queried and visualised via a webservices interface. 

And as expected, the project was a complete success, and documented in the following video:

It is success stories like these that demonstrate how quickly and successful projects based around open-source hardware can be - and that Arduino is not just for hobbyists and tinkerers. For more information, visit Steve's webpage here. And we're on twitter and Google+, so follow us for news and product updates as well. 

When building your own systems that require environmental sensors - check out range of modules. We have temperature, humidity, light, knock and sound sensors as well as an accelerometer and a real-time clock for accurate timekeeping - and much more! For more information and to order, visit the module page today. 

 Technologist Ellen Sundh has documented some simple yet interesting interfacing between an Arduino measuring flexible force sensors, a computer runnning Processing and Unity. In doing so she has created a bridge between the physical and the virtual - by means of making a squeezable cube containing the force sensor. The Arduino then measures the sensor and sends the data back to the PC for processing and Unity - which visually represents the cube in real-time. For example:

For more information and links to the required tutorials, visit Ellen's page. And we're on twitter and Google+, so follow us for news and product updates as well. 

Thinking of embedding an Arduino-compatible board in your next project? Consider using the Freetronics LeoStick:

 Apart from being one of the smallest Arduino-compatibles on the market with USB, it also has an onboard RGB LED and piezo which can be used a knock sensor and various tune and sound effects. Plus you can add extra circuitry with the matching protostick! For more information and to order, click here.

 If you believe bigger and more features is better - you will love this robot project. The mjolnir robot is a very large tank chassis that has many functions. It is controlled using text commands via TCP/IP - and the robot carries a wifi router connected to an Ethernet-enabled Arduino board for communication. There is also an IP-webcam to relay images back to the user, which can also be controlled remotely. Mars rover eat your heart out. Furthermore,  the creators have made a detailed short documentary about the robot as shown below:

You can find everything you need to know about the mjolnir robot on the project page. And we're on twitter and Google+, so follow us for news and product updates as well. 

Looking for an Ethernet-enabled Arduino board? Look no further - we have the outstanding Freetronics EtherTen. Apart from being fully Arduino Uno-compatible, it has onboard Ethernet, microSD socket, full USB interface (so you don't need a costly FTDI cable just to upload a sketch!) and supports optional Power-over-Ethernet:

 Over at the Arduino Basics blog, Scott has been experimenting with our accelerometer module and documented how to use it in a very simple and approachable form. In his tutorial the module is used as a sensor for a type of burglar alarm - and although simple, a good start to using an accelerometer with an Arduino. This particular version is simpler than most as it uses simple analogue inputs with the Arduino board instead of more complex interfaces such as the I2C bus. Here is a quick rundown and demonstation video of his alarm in action:

To follow Scott's tutorial click here. And we're on twitter and Google+, so follow us for news and product updates as well. 

You too can measure various movements and changes in g-force with our AM3X: accelerometer module. This tiny 3-axis accelerometer module can operate in either +/-1.5g or +/-6g ranges, giving your project the ability to tell which way is up. Ideal for robotics projects, tilt sensors, vehicle dataloggers, and whatever else you can dream up. It even has a "zero g!" output to detect when the device is in free-fall, so you could connect that to an "interrupt" pin on an Arduino to have your project react immediately if it's dropped! For more information and to order, visit the product page. 

 Following from our previous article about the home-made three phase electric motor, we have now a new three-part (or phase?) tutorial on how to drive three-phase brushless spindle motors that are found in old CD/DVD drives. The authors have described more than one method of doing so, and also explain how to use a SN754410NE motor driver IC as well. Finally after several demonstrations the tutorials culminate with the design of a stroboscope - a rotary form of animation shown below:

So for the full run-down on brushless motor control, click here. And we're on twitter and Google+, so follow us for news and product updates as well.

When making your own motor controllers, you'll need a protoshield to mount the external circuitry. In doing so, consider our range of ProtoShields. From the tiny LeoStick to the Mega range, we offer a complete range for you to work with.