Just a ‘littleBit’ of saving can go a long way!
As part of a future lab course at Parsons The New School for Design, a group of Makers have created an Internet-connected container — which they have ‘coined’ Smart Bank — that uses an Arduino and cloudBit module to remotely keep tabs on the total amount of money deposited.
How it works is pretty simple. When a quarter is inserted into the bank, a flex sensor will bend, sending an input signal into the Arduino (ATmega32U4). On the output side of the Arduino, the Number module (ATmega168) instantly increments, the speaker begins to emit a “big bong” tune, and the cloudBit is activated. Through an IFTTT.com recipe, a line is added to a spreadsheet in Google Drive, wile a few formulas within the sheet tally how many line items have been added and multiply that number by 0.25 to derive at a total.
Much cooler than that old-school piggy bank, don’t you think? Want to make one of your own? Get started by heading to littleBits’ official project page here, and seeing it in action below.
Atmel | Bits & Pieces 