June 15, 2012

Get more break time with the Arduino-powered "Lunchtime Clock"

 Randy from instructables has been fooling about with some analogue clocks and his Arduino, with the final result being a clock that "gives" you more time for lunch. In his own words:

Thanks to great in advances in clock technology, I present to you a clock that speeds up 20% every day at 11:00 and slows down 20% every day at 11:48, giving you an extra twelve minutes of lunch to enjoy. Twelve minutes may not seem like a lot but, to put it into perspective, this is a full additional hour of lunchtime gained every week.


This has been accomplished with a simple Arduino-style board, real-time clock IC and some basic components - with the following results:


Even if you aren't interested in creating a wacky clock, his instructions on how to work with an inexpensive clock mechanism are useful and could help when making other analogue clock projects. 

When building your own, consider using a board from our range of Arduino-compatible hardware, and let the new Freetronics real-time clock module take care of the timing:


 With a temperature-controlled oscillator you can be sure of accurate time-keeping for years to come. However to get started with this clock project, check out Randy's instructions


June 15, 2012

The "Hexome" - the Arduino-powered hexagonal-based monome

Once again Mike Cook from the UK has astounded us with one of the most beautiful and well-engineered projects around - his "Hexome", a hexagonal-based monome. First, what is a monome? From his site:

A Monome is an undedicated controller consisting of an Cartesian array of illuminated switches. As it is undedicated, its function is wholly defined by the program driving it. Normally a Monome is configured as an 8 by 8, 16 by 8 or 16 by 16 array. Using standard software it presents a uniform program interface that has allowed many people to write programs that use it. Its main use is in music applications and has been programmed in a wide range of languages including Max, Chuck, PD and Ableton Live.
It is well known that a tool, especially a music tool, often dictates what you can do with it, some things are easy yet others remain virtually impossible. By changing that tool you often open up new and interesting possibilities, it is with this in mind that I developed the Hexome.

You can see it in action below:

 

For those looking to experiment with Arduino and various colour display types, an interesting start could be made with our RGB LED display modules, which can be daisy-chained together to allow control of multiple modules from the one Arduino-compatible board and external power:


However to get started, Mike has detailed the intricacies of design and construction for this great project - including the theory, schematics and code on his website

June 15, 2012

DIY "Simon Says" Game

 The people from "crazy ideas" on the Arduino forum found a "Simon" game sketch and modified it to add sound to make a usable rendition of the original game. Mounted in a wooden cabinet and using illuminated, arcade-style buttons gives the game a better look and no doubt will last a lot longer. You can see it in action here:


As you can see from the video, the builder used a standard Arduino-style board and some external circuitry. Those looking to reproduce their own "Simon" game could make use of our Freetronics Eleven - the Arduino-Uno compatible with an onboard prototyping area:


For the sketch an other discussion, visit the Arduino forum page here

June 15, 2012

Arduino-controlled CD Duplicator

Paul Rea needed to duplicate some optical media, and as an engineer decided to make his own duplicator instead of paying top dollar for a commercial unit. Using some Lego, an Arduino, servos and other circuitry Paul has produced a prototype that manages the task with aplomb:


Once again projects like these show how you can solve various problems using Arduino-related hardware and some ingenuity. 

Here at Freetronics we have a range of Arduino-compatible boards and accessories, such as our range of protoshields, display solutions and modules. For example, our highly accurate real-time clock module:


Check out our website and see for yourself today. However, don't forget to follow Paul's design history and documentation, visit his website

June 15, 2012

Personal Space Invasion Alarm System

As part of his design studies, Zac Ong created a form of wearable art which contains various sensors to detect level of intrustion with regards to the wearer's personal space. From a mild glow, to bright LEDs... and finally a rotating laser beam - for example:


An interesting synergy of Arduino, electronics and avant-garde fashion. Nothing would shake up a peak-hour train ride more than wearing one of these. If working on these systems, please take care not to look directly at laser beams or give others the opportunity to do so.

Wearable electronics in general are a growing trend, and any Arduino-based project would start well by using our Freetronics LeoStick - one of the smallest Arduino-compatible boards on the market today:


For more information on this and Zac's other projects, visit his website

June 15, 2012

SlotCarDuino - Slot Car Racing Lap Timer

One hobby that has maintain popularity through the years is slot car racing, and it also lends itself nicely to modification with the Arduino system. With some simple external circuitry accurate timing systems can be developed, and this was the purpose of the SlotCarDuino:


The cars are detected by a break in an infra-red beam that is vertically below the display gantry. The sketch uses the finite state machine library which doesn't require the use of hardware interrupts. Apart from its usefulness as a timing system, we're very impressed with the level of work taken to integrate the circuitry and especially in camouflaging the Arduino board:


However, to get started with your own timing systems, consider using one of our Freetronics Eleven boards, the Arduino-compatible with prototyping space right on the board:


For more details and instructions on how to build your own timing system, visit the project page

June 15, 2012

SMS Text Message Scroller

 follower has just published the details of a great interactive text message scroller that uses two of our LED Dot Matrix Displays and an Android phone. When an text message is sent to the phone, it is displayed on the DMDs as a scrolling message, for example:


It's great to see our customers make interesting and useful projects with out products, and kudos to follower for making the details available for everyone. To get started with your own display, check out the range of DMDs available here. They are available in several colours and are incredibly bright when run from their own power supply.


However to get started with your own SMS text scroller, visit follower's page

June 14, 2012

Build your own Arduino-based Laser Clock

Building different types of clocks is always an interesting task for Arduino enthusiasts, and this one certainly is a combination of imagination and Arduino - the laser clock. It used two servos - each with a laser pointer, controlled by an Arduino with a real-time clock to display the hours and minutes with laser beams on a wall:


Although the clock is quite imaginative, recreating it is very simple. The author hasn't documented the Arduino sketch, however the same type of project is explained at the end of this tutorial. To get started with your own, using one of our Freetronics Eleven boards:


... in conjunction with our real-time clock module:


... will give you the base for a very accurate clock mechanism. For more information and design instructions, visit here. (Opens via Google Translate)

June 14, 2012

Arduino-based Interactive Punching Bag

When stress levels get too much, you may be interested in making your own interactive punching bag. Lior Elazary wanted a sparring partner but instead built an Arduino-based circuit into his punching bag that illuminates various LEDs at various hit points instead. For example:


The use of an automated sparring partner is a simple yet useful application of the Arduino hardware, and allows for modification with regards to random or fixed punching patterns. You could also integrate timing and results measurements and even have a PC remotely recording and displaying the data. That's the beauty of Arduino, with some imagination almost anything is possible. 

To get started with this project, you will do well with our Arduino-compatible hardware such as the Freetronics Eleven - the 100% Arduino Uno compatible with its own prototyping space right on the board:


For more information and design instructions, visit Lior's webpage here

June 14, 2012

Mechapolypse: A Mind-controlled Shape-Shifting Dress

And now for something completely different... a Masters student at the London College of Fashion has come up with a mind-controlled dress that illuminates and changes form in accordance to the concentration level of the wearer. You can see this dress in motion in the following video:


The creator doesn't give too much away, however there's an Arduino-style board in there somewhere with an EEG (electroencephalographic) chip with sensors in the cap - so it can measure the wearer's concentration and assign various behaviors to the dress. Amazing.

To get started with such an embedded project, you could use a Freetronics LeoStick - one of the smallest Arduino-compatible boards on the market today:


For more information about this glamorous vision of the future, visit here