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 Edward Comer bought a whole bunch of inexpensive light dependent resistors, and discovered that they were not exactly performing to specification. So to seperate the good and the bad, he concocted a few Arduino-controlled devices that shine an LED at various brightness levels, and log the value returned by the LDR under test. The data is sent to a PC via the serial/USB link and then recorded and can be analysed with various software.

For more about testing cheap LDRs and analysing the results, click here. And for more, we're on twitter and Google+, so follow us for news and product updates as well.

If you need a light sensor, you can maintain constant reliable results with our LIGHT: light sensor module:

Our tiny light-sensor module uses the very-reliable TEMT6000 light sensor, which gives consistent and repeatable readings even between different units - unlike cheapie light-dependent resistors, which can vary dramatically in their sensitivity. So for reliable light sensing - look no further. 

 If there's one thing that makes teaching difficult, it's a noisy group of students - and usually the definition of noisy varies between the two sides. This problem has been solved nicely by Eric Harris-Braun who has created a device that can measure sound levels, display them on an LCD - and once the sound level exceeds a pre-determined level, a strip of LEDs are illuminated to warn the student that they're too loud. The microphone and Arduino can sit at one end of the classroom, and the LED strip is controlled remotely via infra-red, which lets you place it near the students. What a great idea. Eric runs through his design in the following video:

Visit Eric's project page for more details and download links. And for more, we're on twitter and Google+, so follow us for news and product updates as well.

To test audio sampling yourself you can make an easy start with a simple electret microphone board, and our Freetronics MIC: microphone and sound module is perfect. 

There are many Internet-connected Arduino methods that can be used to scrape the weather forecast from various services, however this version by Japanese Arduino and electronics enthusiast Ken Kawamoto has to be the best so far. His system gets the weather forecast and then physically simulates the weather inside a small container. So if it's going to rain - a water pump creates rain, or ultrasonic diffuser creates mist for fog, etc. Add some RGB LEDs and you can have sunshine - it's amazing:

What a crafty use for an Arduino system, so click here for Ken's project page. And for more, we're on twitter and Google+, so follow us for news and product updates as well.

If you need to create a larger, Internet-connected Arduino project - there's only one board to use - the Freetronics EtherMega:

Quite simple the EtherMega is the fully-loaded Arduino-compatible board on the market today. Apart from being completely Arduino Mega2560-compatible, it includes full Ethernet interface, a microSD card socket, full USB interface, optional Power-over-Ethernet support and still has a circuit prototyping area with extra I2C interface pins. So if your project is breaking the limits, upgrade to the EtherMega today. 

 Looking for a new way to control their audio sampling software, Instructables user 'Internep' made a small box housing a slider, rotary encoder, and eight large bolts - using them as buttons as a type of touch sensor. This allows very quick access to the various functions and sample playback thus allowing various effects to be made, such as:

That looks like a lot of fun, and everything you need to set this up is provided here. And for more, we're on twitter and Google+, so follow us for news and product updates as well.

If 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:

 Although twitter can be used for disseminating everything between mindless gossip to useful news, it also makes an interesting conduit for remotely controlling an Arduino. How? Using a very simple sketch you can have an Internet-connected Arduino board use the twitter search engine to look for a particular hashtag (e.g. #arduino). Upon returning a result the Arduino can then take action. This is exactly what Gregory Fenton has done, however for his example when someone mentions a certain hashtag, his electronic sweets dispenser is activated - thus handing out a treat.

It's a fun application that can be altered for various purposes, so click here for more information. And for more, we're on twitter and Google+, so follow us for news and product updates as well.

When putting together your next Internet-enabled Arduino project - save time, space and money with the 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.

 In order to support controlling various Arduino-compatible devices using the simplest manner possible, Scott Lawrence has concocted a simple system that daisy-chains the serial port of each Arduino do the next. Then a master Arduino can send data down the line to each subsequent Arduino, and they can take action if they recognise the command, or pass the data on to the next. My memory is a little vague but this reminds me of the Microbee Beenet system. Nevertheless Scott's system is simple and works - and sometimes that's what we want. 

So click here for the details, code and a demonstration. And for more, we're on twitter and Google+, so follow us for news and product updates as well.

 If you enjoy computer music and especially sounds generated by older gaming consoles, this project will be of interest. Sebastian Tomczak has described how an Arduino can interface between a Sega Master system and a PC to allow MIDI software on the PC to "play" music on the Sega. That is, when a note is selected on the PC, the Sega will play the note in its' own inimitable style. 

The only catch (!) is that you need a custom ROM for the Sega. You can do your own following Sebastian's detailed instructions. Nevertheless, click here to get started. And for more, we're on twitter and Google+, so follow us for news and product updates as well.

If you're interested in computer sounds and Arduino, but don't have a Sega laying around, you can still have a lot of fun with our SOUND: sound and buzzer module:

It can be used as a noise-maker driven by your microcontroller for audible feedback of events, and it can also be used as a knock-detector input to sense events and react to them. Includes a built-in 1M resistor to allow the piezo element to detect shocks. For more information and to order, please visit the product page here. 

 Arduino forum member and local student 'sirsquidness' is working on a library that allows an Arduino board to interface with a 3D virtual environment setup for an interesting use. Not playing games, but instead virtualising computer network statistics and anomalies using a 3D virtual world. In their words:

External events (such a traffic monitored with conventional network sniffers) will be mapped into dynamic behaviour of in-world entities. In-world interactions between 'players' and entities will be mapped to external world actions (such as updating the ACL on a local firewall).

How an Arduino fits in is that it can be used as a source of input or output for the 3D world player/network administrator. Here's an input example:

Certainly something completely novel and possibly very useful. For more details start with their forum post here. And for more, we're on twitter and Google+, so follow us for news and product updates as well.

 And now for something different, Instructables user 'cube000' has published details on how to make a full 3D object scanner using Arduino, a PC running processing, LEGO, an old stepper motor, a laser and a webcam. Phew! But it really does work - the laser beam is reflected from the object being scanned back to the webcam, where the processing sketch takes over and does the imaging calculations. The processing sketch creates a file of point coordinates, which can be constructed using Meshlab which results with the 3D image, for example:

Visit the project page for more information and instructions, and for more, we're on twitter and Google+, so follow us for news and product updates as well.

If you find this type of project interesting, 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. 

 For those interested in playing retro arcade and console games on a PC - with the original controllers, consider the method published by Arduino forum member olaf in Germany. He provides the code and HID.cpp code to use an Arduino Leonardo (and thus the Freetronics LeoStick) as a USB HID with two digital joysticks. These are the simpler joysticks that have one 'fire' button and one contact each for up, down, left and right - such as:

Good times. So for the code and notes, click here. For various joystick pinouts, click here. And for more, we're on twitter and Google+, so follow us for news and product updates as well.

If recreating your own joystick-USB interface- look no further than 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 for sound and knock detection: