Ah, Arduino – is there anything you can’t do? Didgeridoo enthusiast Kyle Evans decided to take his instrument of choice into the wireless age, by coupling it with a Bluetooth-capable Arduino microprocessor and custom-built externally-mounted sound modules that allow the player to manipulate the sound and control various software instruments (that, again, have been custom created). The end result looks like it should fire rockets and sounds like nothing on Earth.
Video demo after the cut
Weddings are reasonably good fun for those attending, but being expected to provide an often-expensive gift can sometimes irk. So how about giving a present that demands a little more than simply scribbling a thank-you card; that’s just what Mikal did for the friend who introduced him to Arduino tinkering. He constructed the Reverse Geocache Puzzle, a wooden box that would only be unlocked when within 2km of a location Mikal preprogrammed into it.
Is there any better hack than making a robot fish read out Twitter messages? If there is, don’t tell Dan Ros about it: he’s spent his spare time hooking up a Big Mouth Billy Bass “novelty” fish to an mbed microcontroller. Initially the fish merely repeated .wav files from an SD card, but then they used the mbed’s HTTPClient library to pull in tweets instead.
Video demo after the cut
Hard-drive based media players aren’t anything new, but hifi equipment actually built from old drives are somewhat rarer. At Hifiduino they’re using an Arduino microprocessor to construct a DIY preamp, and they’ve salvaged a deceased hard-drive to form the base and the top.
We can’t all be Jean Michel Jarre, but thanks to the Arduino microprocessor we can flail our arms around and make music. Omer Yosher’s “Airpiano” is a long strip of motion sensors treated as, via the Arduino, midi keys and faders; moving your hands over and through the sensors control notes or samples, as well as volume.
Video demo after the cut
There’s little as pleasant in life as freshly-baked donuts. Or chocolate cake, or perhaps cup cakes or sourdough bread. That’s why more bakeries should consider investing in a BakerTweet: designed by Poke London, it’s an easy way for bakeries to send out messages – via Twitter – that more things are fresh out of the oven.
Video demo after the cut
For many people the sound of a smoke alarm is so unpleasant that they’ll take the batteries out just to avoid it; for Jer Thorp, it’s a useful notifier whenever a key news story hits the wire. Jer rigged up a smoke alarm to sound when a keyword-identified article appears, creating the incredibly annoying NewsAlarm.
Every week I seem to be writing about how someone has used an Arduino to fashion an interesting gadget, and today’s – while not as obviously useful as, say a Pong-playing wristwatch - is still impressive. Using an Arduino, a Hall effect sensor and an electromagnet, the microprocessor board can keep a floating magnet perfectly positioned.
Video demos after the cut
One of the reasons the Arduino is so successful is because of its flexibility – there’s plenty of very complex ways you can implement the microprocessor board into a project – but that doesn’t mean it can’t do simple tasks just as well. Psycholinguist Franklin Chang used his Arduino to make a fetchingly homespun wristwatch.
Video overview of the Arduino watch after the cut
I’m more used to Twitter trying to steal my time and concentration, but this latest Arduino project turns it into a protector of law and order instead. The Arduino is used to monitor a home burglar alarm and send out status messages should anything unexpected happen; that could include when the alarm was activated or shut off, error messages regarding dodgy sensors, or just when the alarm actually sounds.
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