Once a flatbed scanner or multifunction printer unit has seen better days, there's plenty of parts that can be extracted. Stepper motors, rail systems, nice buttons and more - but what about the scanner lamp? Well it is possible to use later units that have LEDs and this has been demonstrated by Instructables user Robson Couto with their simple tutorial.
With some examination of the scanner lamp, it was determined that the contents were simple common-anode RGB LEDs - and perfect for controlling with an Arduino. By using the PWM outputs it's also possible to control the brightness and create all sorts of colours, as shown in the following video:
So next time it's hard rubbish collection week, or your MFC bites the dust - think twice before junking the entire unit and check out the tutorial. And for more, we're on facebook, Google+, and twitter - so follow us for news and product updates as well.
If you're looking for an Arduino Uno-compatible board to embed into various projects, choose what tens of thousands of others have done and use our Freetronics Eleven - the Arduino-Uno compatible with low-profile USB socket, onboard prototyping space and easy to view LEDs:
