Hasta La Gadget!

Arduino, Android and the iPhone usually get all the DIY love, but Mike Linnen, he has taken the road less traveled by — turning to Windows Phone 7, Azure and a Netduino Plus to get his home hacking on. The .NET-powered microcontroller is the heart of Linnen’s new sprinkler system which can be scheduled to turn on and off automatically or manually triggered remotely from his WP7 handset. The system also monitors weather forecasts and, if the chance of rain is above 39-percent, any sprinkler activity for the day is canceled to avoid over watering the grass and plants. It’s all pretty neat, and there’s some DOS command line action thrown in for good measure. Check out the lengthy demo video after the break, and hit up the source for more detail and the necessary code to set up your own.

Continue reading Netduino and WP7 used to remotely control sprinkler system, show off Microsoft’s DIY credentials

Netduino and WP7 used to remotely control sprinkler system, show off Microsoft’s DIY credentials originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 22 Aug 2011 13:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink WMPoweruser, WPSauce  |  Protosystems, 2  | Email this | Comments

It might look like something out of MJ’s Billie Jean, but this colorful LED array won’t be under moonwalking foot — that is, unless the party gets crunk. This colorful grid is actually a table top, brought to you by way of TI’s MSP430 microcontroller, and it knows how to get down. The table is made up of 128 frosted glass cubes, each apparently capable of emitting 16 million colors. Its creators also produced a special beat-detection software, that could very easily have your furniture outshining the bumpers and grinders at your next party. If you’re looking for a little extra something from your coffee table, you can find full build instructions at the source link below.

Continue reading LED coffee table busts a multicolored move (video)

LED coffee table busts a multicolored move (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 30 Jul 2011 03:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Always wanted an 80’s arcade cabinet for your living room, but the square footage in your studio apartment won’t cooperate with your gaming plans? Well, a master mini craftsman has created a seven-inch replica of Space Invaders that can fit on your desktop, coffee table, or bedside stand. It was cobbled together using the guts of a Game Boy Advance, some lilliputian controls, and a custom cabinet coated in shrunken decals that’s made of medium density fiberboard. Best of all, thanks to those Nintendo internals, there’s an entire arcade’s worth of games at your tiny fingertips. Between this and its diminutive Donkey Kong cousin, perhaps mini arcade cabinets are the future of gaming. Video of the little gem in action is after the break.

Continue reading Mini Space Invaders arcade cabinet big on nostalgia, small in size

Mini Space Invaders arcade cabinet big on nostalgia, small in size originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 11 Jul 2011 17:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Oh Gizmo  |  vcoleiro1 [YouTube]  | Email this | Comments

There are three things that will guarantee your DIY project some attention: slap it on a Roomba, base it on Arduino, or make it tweet. Do all three and, well, you’ve got a nerdgasm-inducing bit of Make fodder. The creation you see above is a web-controlled tweeting Roomba whipped up by Instructables member matchlighter using a 500 series vacuum bot and the Sparkfun WiFly shield for Arduino. The autonomous cleaner can be triggered from anywhere there’s an internet connection and updates Twitter to keep you abreast of its status (Ahh! Dock sweet dock). While Mr. matchlighter was kind enough provide directions for building your own, a lot of the actual coding is left up to you. (We’re lazy, let us just copy and paste dammit!) If you think you’ve got the programming chops, hit up the source link for instructions and check out the original’s Twitter feed at the more coverage link.

Update: The complete code is in step eight of the Instructable.

Web-controlled tweeting Roomba is a perfect storm of DIY magic originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 17 Jun 2011 13:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Have you ever thought to yourself, “my CNC mill is pretty cool, but I really want to make it more awesomer”? Well, first, “awesomer” totally isn’t word, and second, have we got a hack for you! A reader wrote in to the DIY hub Adafruit to show off his CNC being operated by a PS3 Sixaxis controller — mimicking features found on high-end machines that allow you to trigger jobs from a distance and manually control the mill. Best of all, it’s a pretty simple mod that uses a program called QtsixA to map the gamepad as a keyboard and mouse, allowing you to interact with a Linux box running EMC2, which is used for controlling the mill, lathe, plasma torch, or a number of other fun and dangerous tools. Check out the video after the break.

Continue reading CNC mill and Sixaxis controller make beautiful DIY music together (video)

CNC mill and Sixaxis controller make beautiful DIY music together (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 30 May 2011 21:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Adafruit  |  dammitdarrell (YouTube)  | Email this | Comments