Jan 05

Twittering Arduino-powered laser tripwire captures trespassers — digitally (video)

Posted in: arduino, diy, security, Today's Chili, twitter
Twittering Arduino-powered laser tripwire captures trespassers -- digitally (video)
Spare a thought for the modern thief. They have to face off against phones that can broadcast their location, laptops that lock themselves down, a LoJack service for iPods, and now a laser tripwire that can twitter pictures of unwanted visitors. It’s a decidedly DIY Arduino-based project, but unlike many similarly powered offerings that we hit, this one is described as being very easy — as far as Arduino-based projects go, anyway. Check out the instructions at the read link, or just enjoy the little demo video after the break if you’re feeling lazy.

Continue reading Twittering Arduino-powered laser tripwire captures trespassers — digitally (video)

Twittering Arduino-powered laser tripwire captures trespassers — digitally (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 05 Jan 2010 03:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dec 22

Diffus pollution dress is turned on by CO2, prefers a clean environment

Posted in: arduino, Environment, green, LED, monitor, Today's Chili

We’ve seen LED-laced dresses before — though sometimes we’d rather we hadn’t — but this one here is almost refined enough for us to consider wearing. Stitched together using conductive embroidery, hundreds of LEDs are connected to a CO2 detector and react to its input with anything from a slow pulsating glow to a blinking signal of doom. No mention of Morse code messages, unfortunately, but this is run by an Arduino chip — which means programming malleability (read: near-limitless possibilities) should be built in. Just know that when you see the next Bond girl communicating with Daniel Craig via her haute tech outfit, we had the idea first. A closeup of the dress and processor awaits after the break.

Continue reading Diffus pollution dress is turned on by CO2, prefers a clean environment

Diffus pollution dress is turned on by CO2, prefers a clean environment originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 22 Dec 2009 08:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dec 18

Puck makes any surface interactive, probably even Surface (video)

Posted in: arduino, Today's Chili

Ask any home audio enthusiast and they’ll tell you: there’s nothing quite like precisely adjusting settings via a giant knob. However, they can’t all be huge or our living rooms would be covered by the things. Enter the Puck: a wireless RFID reader that also contains an accelerometer, controlled by an Arduino Mini and created by Eric Gradman along with Tyler and Brent Bushnell. RFIDs mounted to walls or other surfaces tell the PUCK what function to control, and then the accelerometer serves to increase or decrease the value as it’s turned, truly turning it into a virtual knob. If you’re done snickering, there’s a video after the break showing one Puck controlling three separate light colors individually, perfect for dialing in the perfect mood or concert lighting — if only it could dial down the amplitude of dude’s fauxhawk.

Update: We received a note indicating a grave factual inaccuracy in this post. We’ve been told that the hair depicted in the video below is, indeed, a genuine mohawk. We’ve yet to receive photo confirmation of this fact (the mood lighting in the demo is a bit too dark to tell), but in the interest of accuracy we’re providing this update just the same.

Update 2: Photo proof received; mohawk confirmed. And a quite impressive one, too.

Continue reading Puck makes any surface interactive, probably even Surface (video)

Puck makes any surface interactive, probably even Surface (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 18 Dec 2009 08:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dec 04

Twoddler Toy Lets Toddlers Tweet

Posted in: arduino, Hacks, Mods and DIY, Today's Chili, twitter

twoddler1

As if Twitter weren’t already full of utterly bland, mindless codswallop, researchers from Hasselt University in Belgium are about to add the random, idiotic bleatings of a baby to the stream of nonsense. Worse, the baby won’t even know it is broadcasting its brainless, repetitive activities to the world.

Twoddler is a modified Fisher Price activity center, the kind that toddlers have tweaked and poked for what seems like generations. The difference is that this one has its activities monitored by a computer and the activities are translated into Tweets. The example uses a baby called Yorin, and if he spends, say, a few minutes playing with a picture of his mother, this Tweet will be forced on the world: “@mommy_yorin Yorin misses mommy and looks forward playing with her this evening”. Further, if he annoyingly bangs on the bell, over and over, for far too long, the computer will translate this to say “Yorin is showing off his music skills with a new tune”.

The Twoddler uses sensors hooked up to an Arduino circuit and sends the information via the wireless ZigBee protocol to a nearby computer. This is where the signals are converted into human-readable (or at least parent-readable) “words” and sent off to the web using the Twitter API.

We imagine that these incessant, repetitive Tweets will swiftly become as annoying as the behavior which triggers them, negating the whole point of sending Yorin off to the day-care center. There is one advantage to Twoddler over having an actual toddler in the room with you. It may be a bit of a moral conundrum, but at least mom always has the option to un-follow her offspring.

Twoddler Project [Hasselt University via Mashable]


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Nov 13

Arduino-packin’ Didgeridoo features 17 effects controls, drones with the best of ’em (video)

Posted in: arduino, Music, Today's Chili
You know, we don’t see too many didgeridoos in these parts (and for good reason, seeing as how it is little more than a pipe) but wait’ll to you get a load of this aerophone-wielding maniac: Kyle Evans has grafted an Arduino Bluetooth module to his “didge” (as we say ’round the drum circle) and supplied a wireless mic to transmit audio to his laptop, where the sound is manipulated via custom-built audio processing software. The controllers for the various effects are situated on the instrument itself (including six push button switches, six pots, and five toggle switches), bringing your avante-garde dreams one step closer to reality. Tell La Monte Young we said “Hi.” Video after the break.

[Via Make]

Continue reading Arduino-packin’ Didgeridoo features 17 effects controls, drones with the best of ’em (video)

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Arduino-packin’ Didgeridoo features 17 effects controls, drones with the best of ’em (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 13 Nov 2009 04:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nov 04

‘Secret Knock’ Door Lock defends home from rhythmically-impaired perps (video)

Posted in: arduino, diy, Today's Chili

The Arduino board has been the engine of many wild and wacky projects over the years, from bakery tweeting to various musical instruments. For its next trick, our man Steve Hoefer has taken his microcontroller and, along with a piezoelectric speaker, a gear reduction motor, and some PVC pipe, programmed it to listen for a preset sequence of knocks — a secret knock, if you will — and unlock the deadbolt upon hearing the right combination. Although this might not be the security system you want to put in place for your home, this definitely looks like a fun weekend project. Check out the read link for instructions and schematics, but not before you see the video of the thing in action. It’s after the break.

[Via Hacked Gadgets]

Continue reading ‘Secret Knock’ Door Lock defends home from rhythmically-impaired perps (video)

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‘Secret Knock’ Door Lock defends home from rhythmically-impaired perps (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 04 Nov 2009 20:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oct 31

Laziness on the move: robot plays Rock Band on the iPhone

Posted in: arduino, hack, mod, robot, Today's Chili


Why confine your nerdy sloth to your living room, where large robots mime fake guitar and serve you sloppy mixed drinks? Take that zest for the sedentary life with you on the road by having one of your robot ninjas steal this iPhone Rock Band robot from its ingenious creator, Joe Bowers. The Arduino-based device uses ambient light sensors to detect the falling notes and then taps out the music with some conductive foam attached to some squeaky fake fingers. Joe did a fairly detailed write-up, and even uploaded his code, so there’s presumably nothing stopping you from actually doing something with your life and building one of these with all that free time you’ve saved up by hacking your way through all the console-based guitar games. Video is after the break.

[Via Daily Mobile]

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Laziness on the move: robot plays Rock Band on the iPhone originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 31 Oct 2009 19:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oct 27

Football Hero mod takes Arduino to the Kasabian-approved big leagues (video)

Posted in: arduino, diy, hack, hacking, mod, modding, Today's Chili

Some folks say less is more, but we’ll bet they never saw Guitar Hero being played by kicking footballs against a giant wall. This epic undertaking will give your plastic axe a major inadequacy complex with its huge wall-mounted piezo vibration sensors and absurdly large fretboard projection. An Arduino acts as the conduit between the contact sensors and a PC running the freeware Frets on Fire. The outcome from such a relatively simple setup is pretty astounding, and you can check it out in the videos past the break, including some behind the scenes footage.

Continue reading Football Hero mod takes Arduino to the Kasabian-approved big leagues (video)

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Football Hero mod takes Arduino to the Kasabian-approved big leagues (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 27 Oct 2009 06:52:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oct 20

Homemade GPS puzzle box puts a modern spin on treasure hunts

Posted in: arduino, diy, gps, hack, hacking, homebrew, mod, modding, security, Today's Chili

We’ll readily admit that most Arduino mods tend to be exercises in creativity (and eccentricity) with little real world utility, which is why this one piqued our interest. A wedding present conceived of and built by Mikal Hart, the box you see above is set to only open in one particular geographic location, and the puzzle of it is to find out where that might be. You’re allowed 50 attempts at opening the box by hitting the button next to the LCD screen, which in turn gives you a distance from, but not direction to, your destination. What tickles us about this idea, aside from its ingenuity, is the potential to use it without the helpful hints in securing your own valuables. Check out the read link for a full shopping list of ingredients and the amusing reaction to the quirky gift.

[Via Slippery Brick]

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Homemade GPS puzzle box puts a modern spin on treasure hunts originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 20 Oct 2009 19:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oct 15

Robotic ‘mood tail’ is everything you hope it to be, and more

Posted in: arduino, diy, Today's Chili

Why hang on to your emotions when you can wag them proudly with a robotic mood tail? Sure, you may never have asked that question yourself, but intrepid DIYer Wei-Chieh Tseng seemingly has, and he’s done something about it. Apparently, the tail makes use of the ever dependable Arduino and an RFID reader to detect different emotion cards that set off varying degrees of tail-wagging, or you can simply control the tail yourself using a Wii nunchuck — because, why not? Did we mention there’s a video? Check it out after the break.

Continue reading Robotic ‘mood tail’ is everything you hope it to be, and more

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Robotic ‘mood tail’ is everything you hope it to be, and more originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 15 Oct 2009 18:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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