This sound-reactive LED wall is groovy

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Now you can install an Ex Machina-inspired, music-responsive light fixture in your home.

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If you’ve ever watched the sci-fi flick Ex Machina, then chances are you’re familiar with Nathan’s (played by Oscar Isaac) infamous dance scene. The character flips a switch to transform his home’s concrete-walled lounge into a disco floor, complete with music-synced flashing lights.

For those of us not lucky enough to be billionaires and install high-tech walls inside our homes, engineer Dan Chen has revealed that it only takes some laser-cut cardboard, LEDs and a little ingenuity to devise an affordable replica of the groovy, sound-reactive light fixture of your own.

The movie-inspired project consists of two parts: sound sensing software and the actual hardware installation. To make the embedded LED strip react to the tunes, he employed a sound detection sensor along with an Arduino Uno (ATmega328) programmed to sink or provide current to the LEDs.

Additionally, Chen kicked it up a notch by putting together a more advanced version. For this, he mapped the sound in Max MSP and applied a low-pass and high-pass filter to generate different colors. This signal is sent to the Arduino (or any ATmega-based board, for that matter), which reads the number and then maps the value to the number.

All that was left was creating the geometric wall. Chen was able to reproduce this by using a still from the film to trace and cut the pattern out of cardboard. He proceeded to paint it white and bend it over a cylinder surface for some curvature. The project was then mounted to the wall with a piece of light-diffusing paper sandwiched in between.

Whenever Chen is ready to get down, he just has to sound the music and the lights will move to the beat in red, purple and blue.

Intrigued? Check out the entire project — including its code and wall pattern — on its page here. In the meantime, see it in action below!

 

3D printing an Arduino-controlled stepper motor

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As a way to help teach others how stepper motors work, this Maker designed one of his own. 

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Normal DC motors are fairly easy to use. Connect the propper voltage across the positive and negative leads, and one of these motors should spin. Stepper motors, however, are somewhat more complicated, both in how they are controlled and how they are constructed.

Maker “Proto G” decided to not just learn how to control one of these mechanisms, but actually built one from scratch. To achieve this, he 3D printed a stator (body of the motor) as well as a rotor that he could attach six permanent magnets to. These magnets were then sequnetially pulled by eight electromagnets on the outside, each made out of a nail wrapped with 25 feet of wire. You can see his hand drill wrapping process at around the 1:30 market in the video below.

Control is handled by an Arduino Uno (ATmega328), along with some other electronic components, nicely enclosed in a project box. The motor is turned by energizing the electromagnets in a counterclockwise direction to spin the rotor clockwise, and clockwise to spin in the opposite direction. It is capable of 15-degree full steps, as well as 7.5-degree half steps, accomplished by energizing two pairs of coils at the same time.

As linked toward the end of that video, Proto G has made a version 1.1 version of his motor with a NeoPixel LED ring to show which coils are activated. The results are visually quite interesting, though the video also notes that he’s working on a second version!

Interested? You can check out the entire project on its Instructables page here.

Maker dad builds a MIDI-enabled highchair

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This IKEA highchair hack is tray-mazing!

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We’ve seen Maker parents mod their children’s odds and ends in the past, but this highchair may have taken it to a whole new level. That’s because Phil Tucker has hacked his baby’s $20 IKEA dining accessory into pro-gamer training rig and then some.

To make the aptly named Highscore Chair a reality, Tucker scavenged a pair of joysticks and buttons for true arcade aesthetics, as well as an Arduino Uno (ATmega328) to trigger samples loaded onto an Akai MPC1000 synthesizer via the MIDI interface. There’s also a battery supplying some power. These electronics will be, if not already, housed inside an enclosure underneath the tray for enhanced safety.

“I’ve added MIDI out, which amounts to 10 MIDI triggers, eight for each joystick and one for each button. The Highscore Chair now triggers samples loaded onto an Akai MPC1000, but with MIDI out it could be used as any sort of control surface now,” Tucker explains.

Gaming aside, what’s really cool about this project is that it can become modular with various trays for different activities. (This particular IKEA piece enables you purchase extra interchangeable tabletops.) Think Graco meets LEGO.

Sound like something you’d love for you or your child? Head over to the Maker’s project page here.

Control your home theater with any IR remote

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This Maker’s sketch emulates a USB keyboard to control Plex when it receives button presses from a remote.

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Once you have a home theater PC (HTPC) set up in your living room, how to elegantly control it is a huge priority. A wireless keyboard is an obvious solution, but the limited range and general “largeness” of many of them can make this less than ideal. Of course you could always buy a tiny keyboard meant for this type of use, but if you’ve got an Arduino Micro (ATmega32U4) and an infrared receiver, you can simply use your existing remote!

A Maker by the name of “Ep1cman” decided to do just that since he had the parts available, as documented the setup on GitHub. In his case, the Arduino receives IR signals from a NOW TV remote and translates it into a keyboard press from a virtual USB keyboard. His sketch will take any unknown IR codes it receives and output them on a serial port. This would, of course, be extremely useful for soemone that wanted to adapt this to his or her own remote control.

One thing that the Arduino does not support by default is waking a sleeping PC. For this, he used NicoHood’s library. He also employed the IRremote library to properly receive signals. Finaly, to complete his control package, he wrote an EventGhost script that allowed him to switch between Plex and Steam.

Maker builds a scrapyard truck simulator

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Have you ever wanted to play a truck simulator with a real dashboard on your PC? Now you can. 

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As much fun as flight, truck or giant robot simulators can be when played with a keyboard and mouse, having a realistic cockpit to go with it certainly would enhance the realism. Jeroen vd Velden, who works in tech support at a home automation distributor and is also a licensed truck driver, decided to take this to the next level, using an actual truck dashboard and components with a PC simulator.

As documented on Hackaday.io, this was accomplished via an Arduino Uno (ATmega328) along with a CAN-BUS shield. CAN-BUS is an interface standard that allows one to “pull codes” when a car or truck is broken, and Velden is using this with his new cockpit.

In addition to the CAN-BUS, an Arduino Leonardo and a Pro Micro (both of which are powered by an ATmega32U4) are used to sense other inputs, like handbrakes and switches. When they receive signals, the Atmel chip translates them into virtual keyboard presses that go into the PC simulator, Euro Truck Simulator 2.

One interesting aspect is how Velden modified the handbrake to output electrical signals. You can see the process documented in the video below. The project is ongoing, and Velden will be updating the documentation as things progress. As Velden puts it, “The Scrapyard is a great place to start with Arduino!”

mBot is an Arduino-compatible educational robot for young Makers

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Now part of the Arduino AtHeart program, Makeblock is looking help children learn how to program through a user-friendly kit, software and interface. 

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Over the past couple of years, we’ve seen a number of easy-to-use robotic kits become available for young Makers in hope of inspiring them to pursue STEM-related fields. Among the more notable companies looking to spur this initiative is Shenzhen startup Makeblock with their low-cost educational robot. 

In the company’s pursuit of an O.R.P.K (or “One Robot Per Kid”) world, mBot was designed to be a comprehensive solution that would provide children with a hands-on experience around graphical programming, electronics and robotics. With simplicity in mind, the kit is comprised of only 45 or so pieces, enabling a sense of achievement for kids to quickly assemble in 10 minutes.

Given the popularity of Scratch 2.0 as a graphical programming software in the classroom setting, the Makeblock team has developed a new line of Scratch-based software — aptly named mBlock — that uses a similar coding style to configure Arduino and robots. The drag-and-drop software is entirely free and supports both Window and Mac operating systems. Beyond that, mBlock supports wireless communication, allowing Makers to use either Bluetooth or 2.4GHz wireless serial to ‘talk’ with its accompanying mBot. The program is also compatible with Arduino Uno (ATmega328) and Leonardo (ATmega32U4) boards, as well as Makeblock’s own Arduino variant, the mCore.

Powered by an ATmega328, each mBot board features intuitional color labels and four easy-to-follow RJ25 connectors. This lets Makers wire the unit in a matter of seconds, and more importantly, provides them with a hassle-free way to focus on actually devising all sorts of interactive projects — ranging from robots that can avoid walls and follow lines to play music and duke it out in a fight.

The friendly blue robot is currently being offered in a pair of models based on its communication capabilities. The Bluetooth version, which is equipped with a Bluetooth module, is suitable for individual or team use; whereas the 2.4G version, which features two 2.4G wireless modules, is intended for the classroom. Aside from that, each kit consists of a chassis, two motors, an ultrasonic sensor, a line follower, a remote controller, a buzzer, some RGD LEDs, an mCore, and a few other electronic components. mBot can be powered by either a rechargeable lithium battery or four-1.5V AA batteries.

“We designed specially two available wireless communication instead of wired USB cable, so users can enjoy wireless programming to control robots without the limit of USB cable,” the team explains. “The chassis is compatible with Lego and Makeblock parts. And you can use on-hand Raspberry Pi or standard Arduino boards to learn more about electronics or bring kid’s more ideas to life.”

Not only did it garner more than $285,00 from 2,500-plus backers on Kickstarter earlier this year, Makeblock’s mBot has now become a member of the growing Arduino AtHeart program.

This door sensor plays Seinfeld classic riff

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Each time someone enters the room, this door emits some iconic Seinfeld tunes.

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Everyone who has watched even a little TV instantly recognizes the iconic bass notes from Seinfeld. Well, YouTuber Caliixxs has paid homage to the hit sitcom using an apartment door.

The setup is rather simple: each time someone enters the room, one of the familiar riffs begins to sound. To make this possible, the Maker employed an IR motion detector, an Arduino and an Adafruit Music Maker Shield which enables the board to play audio from an SD card.

“It reads from a microSD card and randomly picks one of however many MP3s found,” Caliixxs explains.

Once the system has been activated, a user must wait seven seconds before it can be triggered again. The clip was initially uploaded to YouTube back in March, but took until now to go viral with nearly 500,000 views.

Luckily, the real apartment door in Seinfeld didn’t feature its own special chime given how often Kramer came busting in and out. Giddy up!

Maker rebuilds a pizza oven with Arduino

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Who needs delivery when you can create your own pizza oven?

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If you come across a broken pizza oven that you’d really enjoy using, but the control system is broken, what are you to do? If you’re imgur user “maschlue” — or hopefully many of the readers of this blog — the answer is to retrofit it with Arduino guts!

This build starts out with a mechanically sound pizza oven with just one “little” problem, the temperature regulation didn’t work properly. When turned on, the coils stayed on constantly, so it would seem that the pizza would either be badly undercooked or burned. Fortunately, maschlue didn’t give up, and installed two new thermocouples in the oven with an Arduino Nano (ATmega328) for control.

The oven was first gutted, stripping away much of the original wiring and even the back insulation. The new thermocouples were then installed, and the insulation was replaced. After the replacement, the new circuit — including relays, the Arduino, potentiometers for temperature control, and a Nokia 5110 display unit — were installed in its place.

Once the new electronics were implemented, a beautiful faceplace sourced from Schaeffer AG was installed. Switches and lights were recycled, and along with new knobs and the Nokia display, the end product “Doctor Thunder Cook” looks really great. The resulting pizza looks quite tasty as well!

Instantly print art onto your fingernails with your smartphone

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The Nailbot prints instant custom nail art, while inspiring girls to explore creative technology.

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If you’re tired of the same ol’ one-color manicure and rather decorate your nails with smiley face emojis, logos or even selfies, one Menlo Park-based startup has just the thing for you. The brainchild of Preemadonna, the aptly named NailBot is a nail art device that instantly prints custom designs onto your nails via your smartphone.

With aspirations of providing girls with a fun way to explore creative technology, the Nailbot uses your smartphone’s vision capabilities and processing power to print photos from either your camera roll, a preloaded image gallery or (eventually) from your social networks directly onto a nail in less than five seconds.

First, you must prep your nail with a basic white polish and then open its accompanying app on your smartphone. Select the picture of choice, place your hand inside the cradle and hit print — it’s as simple as that! The resolution of the Nailbot is the same as traditional thermal inkjet products, reaching up to 1200 dpi.

The idea was initially conceived after co-founder Pree Walia was unable to find an easy DIY solution to rock unique nail art. And so, like any true Maker, she decided to invent her own system along with fellow co-founder Casey Schulz. The original prototype, which the duo had mocked up in 2013, employed an Arduino along with a resistive touchscreen.

Through Preemadonna’s platform, Nailbot users will have the ability to express themselves in unique fashion by devising, sharing, selling and printing their own designs, photos and art. A smaller, more portable version of the Nailbot prototype will be shipped to Indiegogo backers next year. The team hopes that the next iteration of the device will feature Bluetooth connectivity, swipe-to-print capabilities and will employ a smartphone’s back-facing camera to size an image onto a fingernail. Beyond that, the gadget will be battery-powered, making it much more portable. (The current version must still be plugged into a wall outlet.)

And that’s not all. As a way to inspire young girls to pursue STEM disciplines and build things of their own, Preemadonna is offering a Maker Kit, too. This includes an Arduino-powered handheld unit that will teach users how to program a graphical touchscreen interface and how to print their own creations. It should be noted, however, that this device is not for use on nails. Instead, it can print on paper or stickers.

Ready to say goodbye to the nail salon? Head over to the Nailbot’s Indiegogo campaign, where the Preemadonna team is seeking $150,000.

 

Watch this Arduino-controlled, autonomous robot swim underwater

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This robot is fincredible!

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A team from the Control Systems and Robotics Laboratory at the Technological Educational Institute of Crete has developed a bio-inspired, fin-propelled robot that can swim underwater.

Each fin is comprised of three individually actuated fin rays, which are interconnected by an elastic membrane. An Arduino Mega (ATmega2560) at its core runs custom real-time firmware that implements two Central Pattern Generator (CPG) networks to produce the undulatory motion profile for the robot’s fins, through which propulsion is achieved.

The prototype, which is fully untethered and energetically autonomous, also integrates an IMU/AHRS for navigation purposes, a Bluetooth module for wireless communication and a camera to capture underwater video. This footage includes experiments conducted in a lab’s test tank to investigate closed loop motion control strategies, as well as clips from actual sea trials. The robot is powered by a 7.4V LiPo battery.