There are very many cool Arduino projects and project sites in Internet (make Google search to see). Here are some interesting links to check out:
Arduino Projects at indestructables
Top 40 Arduino Projects of the Web
Arduino Rising: 10 Amazing Projects People Are Doing With The Tiny Microcontroller
Electronics For The Everyman: 25 Kick Ass Arduino-Powered Projects
10 Simple-But-Fun Projects to Make With Arduino
Internet of Thing with Arduino
11 Arduino projects that require major hacking skills—or a bit of insanity
I will be posting more links to more interesting projects as comments to this post, like I did in my Cool uses for the Raspberry Pi posting. Some of the most interesting that spend some more time at can get their entire own postings this blog in Arduino section.
3,019 Comments
Tomi Engdahl says:
Real-time Driving of RGB LED Cube using Unity3D
http://hackaday.com/2016/05/22/real-time-driving-of-rgb-led-cube-using-unity3d/
RGB LED cubes are great, but building the cube is only half the battle – they also need to be driven. The larger the cube, the bigger the canvas you have to exercise your performance art, and the more intense the data visualization headache. This project solves the problem by using Unity to drive an RGB LED cube in real-time.
In the video, you can see [TylerTimoJ]’s demo of an 8x8x8 cube being driven in real-time using the Unity engine. A variety of methods are demonstrated from turning individual LEDs on and off, coloring swaths of the cube as though with a paintbrush, and even having the cube display source image data in
Tomi Engdahl says:
Arduino Motion Detection With A Bit Of Wire
http://hackaday.com/2016/05/23/arduino-motion-detection-with-a-bit-of-wire/
It is likely that many of us will at some time have experimented with motion detectors. Our Arduinos, Raspberry Pis, Beaglebones or whatever will have been hooked up to ultrasonic or PIR boards which will have been queried for their view of what is in front of them.
[Connornishijima] has stumbled on a different way to detect motion with an Arduino, he’s polling an ADC pin with a simple length of twisted pair hooked up to it and earth, and reliably generating readings indicating when he (or his cat) is in its vicinity. He’s calling the effect “Capacitive turbulence”, and he’s open to suggestions as to its mechanism.
I discovered a method to passively detect motion with nothing but an Arduino and two wires!
https://www.reddit.com/r/arduino/comments/4ju56v/i_discovered_a_method_to_passively_detect_motion/
Tomi Engdahl says:
A Modern But Classic Enigma Machine
http://hackaday.com/2016/05/24/a-modern-but-classic-enigma-machine/
Hacking has always brought more good to the world than not hacking. The successful efforts of the Allies during World War II in deciphering the Enigma machine output still reminds us of that. Today, the machine is a classic example of cryptography and bare-metal computing.
We have covered quite a few DIY Enigma machines in the past, yet 14 years old [Andy] really impressed us with his high school science fair project, a scratch built, retro-modern Enigma machine.
With its wooden enclosure, keyboard, interchangeable rotors, and plugboard, his build resembles an original Worldwar II enigma machine down to the letter.
On the inside, you’ll find an Arduino Mega along with 1,800 other parts and 500 wires
Enigma Machine – Andy Eggebraaten
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwNrRYNTQTU
Tomi Engdahl says:
Building a Flamethrower Guitar to Really Rock Out With
http://hackaday.com/2016/05/25/building-a-flamethrower-guitar-to-really-rock-out-with/
Everyone’s favorite safety-tie-wearing-eccentric-inventor, [Colin Furze], is back at it again, this time making a flamethrower guitar — sponsored by Intel!?
He’s hacked apart a couple of propane blow-torches, milled and lathed his own fittings and manifolds, and even TIG welded together a pressure vessel for the fuel — kids, do not try this at home!
the plan for the Arduino? To blast off the fire at certain parts during the song, add timing, or even just set up some cool patterns.
Making a Flamethrower Guitar
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2seXZcx-0W8
I asked you what you wanted to see me put on a guitar in my support of Intel’s Americas Greatest Makers and you all said FLAMETHROWER……so here’s me putting it together.
Video of this and the bass in action out on tuesday.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Create an ambient light haven with an Arduino kit and wild imagination
http://www.edn.com/design/led/4419338/Create-an-ambient-light-haven-with-an-Arduino-kit-and-wild-imagination-
Ambient lighting systems provide accent and subtlety to homes, and are also a favorite of designers of luxury products wishing to highlight their wares. Apple stores, for example, use white light with stunning results. Ferrari, Aston Martin and Jaguar have all introduced LED-based ambient lighting to the interiors of their high-end cars. The availability of inexpensive microcontrollers and improvements in LED technology has brought the cost of ambient lighting systems down. Now, anyone with an interest in electronics can easily build a system with their own Arduino board, instead of buying a system off-the-shelf. Here’s how.
The adaptability of the controller means that you can keep the lighting subtle and gentle for when you are relaxing at home or increase the brightness of the LEDs for a party. The system works by taking the audio input and assigning brightness to volume. This data is then sent to the Arduino over USB. The Arduino receives this data and can control either a single-color LED or with an RGB LED strip, assign colors to pitch accordingly using pulse-width modulating on each channel (Red, Green, Blue).
Tomi Engdahl says:
DIY Air Quality Meter And Emissions Tester
http://hackaday.com/2016/05/27/diy-air-quality-meter-and-emissions-tester/
Handheld measuring devices make great DIY projects. One can learn a lot about a sensor or sensor technology by just strapping it onto a spare development board together with an LCD for displaying the sensor output. [Richard’s] DIY air quality meter and emissions tester is such a project, except with the custom laser-cut enclosure and the large graphic LCD, his meter appears already quite professional.
For his build, [Richard] used a Sharp GP2Y1010AU0F dust sensor. This $11 device has a little hole, through which airborne dust particles can pass.
DIY Air Quality Meter & Emissions Tester
http://www.rmcybernetics.com/projects/DIY_Devices/diy-emissions-tester.htm
This little project shows how a simple hand held meter can be made for testing for air pollutants such as smoke and dust. It is based on the Sharp GP2Y1010AU0F sensor which measures light reflected from airborne particulates passing through the sensor. It is very similar in operation to the popular GP2Y0A21YK0F from Sharp which is used for measuring distance using reflected infrared light.
This project came about as we were looking for a simple way of measuring car exhaust emissions.
Inside the box is the GP2Y1010AU0F sensor, a small fan, and our PDI-1 which is a simple Arduino based controller with an integrated LCD screen. The code provided should work on any compatible Arduino device such as a Nano, or Arduino Pro Mini. The advantage of the PDI-1 is simply that it already has a display, speaker, buttons, and a rotary encoder built in.
For a good reading the sensor needs a continuous flow of air through it. To achieve this a small 40mm fan was mounted inside the box which blew air out of the underside
Tomi Engdahl says:
Coolest, but Least Secure, Security Device
http://hackaday.com/2016/05/28/coolest-but-least-secure-security-device/
[Matikas] apparently forgets to lock the screen on his computer when he gets up to grab a coffee. And he apparently works with a bunch of sharks: “If you don’t [lock it], one of your colleagues will send email to the whole company that you invite them to get some beer (on your bill, of course).” Not saying we haven’t done similar, mind you. Anyway, forgetting to lock your screen in an office environment is serious business.
So [Matikas] built a great system that remotely types the keystrokes to lock his screen, or unlock it with his password. An off-the-shelf 433 MHz keyfob is connected to an Arduino micro that simulates a keyboard attached to his computer. It’s a simple system, but it’s a great effect.
But as a security device, it’s horrendous. Some el-cheapo keyfobs available on eBay don’t use rolling codes — anyone with a similar keyfob receiver will be able to listen in to the transmission, set some DIP switches, and replay it trivially. Even if it does use a rolling code, if anyone in your office plays around with RTL-SDRs, you may still be essentially broadcasting your password to everyone.
PC imobilizer
Life is too short to lock/unlock your PC manually. This is the solution
https://hackaday.io/project/11834-pc-imobilizer
The hardware part is super easy, it’s not even worth to draw a circuit diagram. The whole thing is controller by Arduino Micro, it uses 433MHz RF receiver, same frequency key fob and a little buzzer for audio feedback. Advice if you want to make something similar: buy good radio freq receiver, I’ve previously tried cheap one which costs under 1$ with RC resonator and it was total crap, so I’ve bought a good one with super heterodyne (RX-MID-3V) which is great.
RC receiver data pin is connected to external interrupt pin and I use rc-switch library (https://github.com/sui7to) to read keyfob values.
You can print those in serial monitor and then configure define directives.
Or even go even further to implement key fob binding by storing values in eeprom, I went the easier way. When program detects known key fob data value it locks/unlocks pc by simulating keyboard key presses (using Arduino built in keyboard lib). This is important to use Arduino Micro or Leonardo or any other that has USB support.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Very Precise & Super Simple soldering iron
https://hackaday.io/project/11954-very-precise-super-simple-soldering-iron
I started designing an intricate digital controller and in the processes I came up with an idea to make a basic analog controller.
Very Precise & Super Simple soldering iron controller
As the professional soldering stations were too expensive I thought that I should design my own to address the problems and requirements that I expected from this project and in the process to learn about heating elements, thermocouples, precision amplifiers, PID and control.
Components
1 × T12-D16 Soldering Iron Tip http://www.banggood.com/T12-D16-Solder-Iron-Tip-for-Hakko-FX-951-FX-952-Soldering-Station-p-944499.html?p=SP1212129205201302VK
1 × MAX31856 Precision Thermocouple to Digital Converter with Linearization https://www.maximintegrated.com/en/products/analog/sensors-and-sensor-interface/MAX31856.html
1 × OLED Display White 128×64 http://www.banggood.com/7Pin-0_96-Inch-IICSPI-Serial-128×64-White-OLED-Display-Module-p-969266.html?p=SP1212129205201302VK
1 × Arduino ATmega328 compatible board http://www.banggood.com/ATmega328P-Nano-V3-Controller-Board-Compatible-Arduino-p-940937.html?p=SP1212129205201302VK
The T12-D16 model of tip that I selected has the tip, heating element and thermocouple all integrated in the body as such it makes a compact part and resolves many of the problems from the beginning.
The next thing that comes is the precision, more exactly the thermocouple amplifier that reads the extremely small voltage produced by the thermocouple and amplifies it. I chose the MAX31856 as is the most precise (19-Bit, 0.0078125°C) I found and has an integrated ADC, cold junction compensation, input protection, 50/60Hz noise rejection (very important since the wires that connect to the tip assembly pic up a lot of EMI) and such removes a lot of overhead from our part.
Tomi Engdahl says:
8-bit Component-less volume control for Arduino!
https://hackaday.io/project/11957-8-bit-component-less-volume-control-for-arduino
Using PWM at an ultrasonic frequency, I’ve given Arduino 8-bit volume control for Tone() generation.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Arduino hose display
https://hackaday.io/project/12004-arduino-hose-display
Arduino controlled display based on transparent hose and peristaltic pumps
We are using a transparent hose, 2 peristaltic pumps and an Arduino Uno with motor shield to build a simple display.
The pumps pressing a pattern of water and red paraffin oil in the hose.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Mechaduino
https://hackaday.io/project/11224-mechaduino
Mechaduino is an affordable, open-source, industrial servo motor. Position, torque, velocity, and custom modes. Arduino compatible.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Hackaday Prize Entry: Ears On The Back Of Your Head
http://hackaday.com/2016/05/31/hackaday-prize-entry-ears-on-the-back-of-your-head/
they deafen themselves with earphones, leaving them senseless in a hostile environment.
To fix this problem, he came up with a simple hack, the metrophone. An ultrasonic sensor is hung from a backpack. The user’s noise making device of choice is plugged into one end, and the transducer into the other. When the metropolitan is approached from the rear by a stalking tiger or taxi cab, the metrophone will reduce the volume and allow the user to hear and respond to their impending doom.
Metrophones
More Aware with Less Distraction when Crucial
https://hackaday.io/project/11547-metrophones
Tomi Engdahl says:
Paraffin Oil and Water Dot Matrix Display
http://hackaday.com/2016/06/02/paraffin-oil-and-water-dot-matrix-display/
In preparation for Makerfaire, [hwhardsoft] needed to throw together some demos. So they dug deep and produced this unique display.
The display uses two synchronized peristaltic pumps to push water and red paraffin through a tube that switches back over itself in a predictable fashion.
Arduino hose display
https://hackaday.io/project/12004-arduino-hose-display
Arduino controlled display based on transparent hose and peristaltic pumps
Tomi Engdahl says:
Morse Code: Paris in the Mint Box
http://hackaday.com/2016/06/03/morse-code-paris-in-the-mint-box/
[Rob Bailey] likes to build things and he likes ham radio. We are guessing he likes mints too since he’s been known to jam things into Altoids tins. He had been thinking about building a code practice oscillator in a Altoids Smalls tin, but wasn’t sure he could squeeze an Arduino Pro Mini in there too. Then he found the TinyLily Mini. The rest is history, as they say, and 1CPO was born.
The TinyLily Mini is a circular-shaped Arduino (see right) about the size of a US dime.
1CPO
My [1]st [C]ode [P]ractice [O]scillator.
Like 3CPO, only mintier.
https://hackaday.io/project/11212-1cpo
Tomi Engdahl says:
Control the Real World with an Arduino-Enabled Minecraft Mod
http://hackaday.com/2016/06/04/control-the-real-world-with-an-arduino-enabled-minecraft-mod/
Minecraft modding has become almost as popular as the block-based game itself, with tons of editors and tools available to create new kinds of blocks, mobs, and weapons. And now, with this mod framework that can talk to an Arduino, modders can build blocks that break out of the Minecraft world to control the real world.
While turning on a light from Minecraft is not exactly new, the way that MCreator for Arduino goes about it is pretty neat. MCreator is a no-code framework for building Minecraft mods, which allows modders to build new game capabilities with a drag and drop interface. The MCreator Arduino toolkit allows modders to build custom Minecraft blocks that can respond to in-game events and communicate with an Arduino over USB.
Release of MCreator for Arduino
https://www.pylo.co/blog/release-mcreator-arduino
We have released MCreator for Arduino – a toolkit that will enable MCreator users to connect their Minecraft client with their Arduino circuits. The main purpose of this project is to expand the educational uses of MCreator and to spark the interest for hardware projects in more people.
In the release article on MCreator’s website, Klemen highlighted the educational importance of this project for workshops and summer camps as a lot of them use MCreator as a part of their program.
As it has a lot of potential and as it can be connected with your computer, we have decided to develop a toolkit to make connection between your mods and MCreator possible.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Hackaday Prize Entry: 8-Bit Arduino Audio for Squares
http://hackaday.com/2016/06/12/8-bit-arduino-audio-for-squares/
A stock Arduino isn’t really known for its hi-fi audio generating abilities. For “serious” audio like sample playback, people usually add a shield with hardware to do the heavy lifting. Short of that, many projects limit themselves to constant-volume square waves, which is musically uninspiring, but it’s easy.
[Connor]’s volume-control scheme for the Arduino bridges the gap. He starts off with the tone library that makes those boring square waves, and adds dynamic volume control. The difference is easy to hear: in nature almost no sounds start and end instantaneously. Hit a gong and it rings, all the while getting quieter. That’s what [Connor]’s code lets you do with your Arduino and very little extra work on your part.
Arduino Volume Library
Arduino tone() just got 8-bit volume control!
https://github.com/connornishijima/arduino-volume
Tomi Engdahl says:
City Christmas tree lighting
Simple TLC5940 controllers playing back data exported from VixenLights3 on a 15 meter mega-tree
https://hackaday.io/project/12242-city-christmas-tree-lighting
A project I have been involved with to create nice light patterns for Christmas trees and general lighting in a couple of cities in Romania.
We are using Arduino Micros which output to a couple of TLC5940-s, which, in-turn are driving some serious high current TRIAC-s. These are 12-15 meter high trees with a cobweb of wires and lights drawing a combined power of 20-30 amps.
The patterns are taken from Vixen Lights 3 by exporting the channel values on a fixed resolution and replayed on the Arduinos.
Final version:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99Zc80tTTkI
Tomi Engdahl says:
Arduino Meets da Vinci in a Gesture-controlled Surgical Robot
http://hackaday.com/2016/06/16/arduino-meets-da-vinci-in-a-gesture-controlled-surgical-robot/
Lots of us get to take home a little e-waste from work once in a while to feed our hacking habits. But some guys have all the luck and score the really good stuff, which is how these robotic surgical tools came to be gesture controlled.
The lucky and resourceful hacker in this case is one [Julien Schuermans], who managed to take home pieces of a multi-million dollar da Vinci Si surgical robot. Before anyone cries “larcency”, [Julien] appears to have come by the hardware legitimately – the wrist units of these robots are consumable parts costing about $2500 each, and are disposed of after 10 procedures.
Gesture Controlled Endoscopic Surgical Tools
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMRH_Itp0wk
Controlling a ‘Da Vinci’ endoscopic surgical robot’s EndoWrists using LeapMotion infrared camera’s, Processing, Arduino Uno with a serial interface and HITEC servos in a custom lasercut frame.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Hackaday Prize Entry: A Very Small Password Keeper
http://hackaday.com/2016/06/19/hackaday-prize-entry-a-very-small-password-keeper/
The Memtype project is based on the cheapest and most simplistic USB implementation on the planet. It’s built around an ATtiny85 and V-USB‘s software only implementation of a USB keyboard, requiring only a few resistors and diode in addition to the ‘tiny85 itself.
Memtype: Open Source Password Keeper
https://hackaday.io/project/8342-memtype-open-source-password-keeper
Memtype, an elegant solution to have your credentials stored everywhere.
Miguel
Tomi Engdahl says:
Cheating at Video Games: Arduino Edition
http://hackaday.com/2016/06/22/cheating-at-video-games-arduino-edition/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Making Arduino Great Again
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcTt66yVOQc
An Arduino-based machine to provide an appropriate response to the the Cheeto Jesus’ Twitter rants.
Tomi Engdahl says:
This Arduino Console Has 64 Bit Graphics
http://hackaday.com/2016/06/25/this-arduino-console-has-64-bit-graphics/
Numbers are wonderful things when applied to technical specifications. Take [Bobricius]’ handheld Arduino-based game console. With an 8×8 LED matrix for a display it’s not going to win any prizes, but while he’s pushing the boundaries of dubious specification claims he’s not strictly telling any lies with his tongue-in-cheek statement that the graphics are 64-bit.
Jokes aside, it’s a neatly done build using a DIP version of the Arduino MCU and all through-hole components on a custom PCB. Power comes from a CR2032 cell, and it includes three buttons and a small piezoelectric speaker. He’s implemented a whole slew of games, including clones of Pong, Breakout, and Tetris, and judging by the video below it’s surprisingly playable.
DIY LED 8×8 matrix Game console – 64bit
https://hackaday.io/project/12310-diy-led-8×8-matrix-game-console-64bit
Tomi Engdahl says:
Easy Bubble Watch Oozes Retro Charm
http://hackaday.com/2016/06/25/easy-bubble-watch-oozes-retro-charm/
[Rafael] made a sweet little retro watch that’s a fantastic introduction to hardware DIY. If you’ve programmed an Arduino before, but you’ve never had a board made, and you are up for some SMD soldering, this might be for you. It’s got some small components, so ease off the coffee before soldering, but it’s nothing that you won’t be able to do. In the end, you’ll have something awesome.
https://github.com/RafaelRiber/RetroWatch
A retro watch, based around the HP QDSP-6064 Bubble display, used in 70s HP calculators like the HP-35. The display is controlled by an Atmel ATMega328P-AU MCU with Arduino code, and the time is kept by a Maxim DS3231 Real-Time Clock module, that stays connected to the LiPo battery at all times, keeping time even when the microcontroller and display are not powered. The code is open source, licensed under the MIT License, and the harware is fully open-source.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Minecraft Trojan Horse Teaches Kids to Love Electronics and Code
http://hackaday.com/2016/06/24/minecraft-trojan-horse-teaches-kids-to-love-electronics-and-code/
Kids love Minecraft, and a clever educator can leverage that love to teach some very practical skills. The summer class offered by the Children’s Museum in Bozeman Montana would have blown my mind if such a thing existed when we were younger.
Minecraft is an immersive universe that has proven to suck in creative minds. It’s the bait that pulls the kids into the summer class but Serialcraft delivers on making the learning just as addictive. This is accomplished by providing students with physical objects that are tied to the Minecraft world in meaningful ways we just haven’t seen before (at least not all at one time). On the surface this adds physical LEDs, toggle switches, potentiometers, and joysticks to the game. But the physical controls invite understanding of the mechanisms themselves, and they’re intertwined in exciting ways, through command blocks and other in-game components that feel intuitive to the students.
The thing that makes this magic possible is a Minecraft mod written by [John Allwine], who gave us a demonstration of the integration at Maker Faire Bay Area 2016. The mod allows the user to access the inputs and output of the Arduino, in this case a Pololu A-Star 32U4, from within Minecraft. For the class this is all packaged nicely in the form of a laser cut controller. It has some LEDs, two joysticks, buttons, potentiometers, and a photosensor.
There’s a lot more to the library, which is available on GitHub.
SerialCraft Arduino Library
https://github.com/CMBSTEAMlab/serialcraft-arduino
This Arduino library provides an interface for interacting with the SerialCraft Minecraft mod. Follow these instructions for getting up and running.
Minecraft Controller – Dials
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZDvubHXgLI
In our Minecraft: Game Controllers summer camp, we teach kids how to make standard electrical components, wire them up to an Arduino, write basic programs and use them to affect their Minecraft world.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Cheap Arduino HMD
Building an HMD display with no special parts.
https://hackaday.io/project/12211-cheap-arduino-hmd
Trying to build a cheap HMD for everybody.
The challenge is, that It should be constructed out of common materials that can be found easily.
The project is more about how to build the optical system for this HMD
I have a few ideas and one of them is to connect it to a Multimeter over Bluetooth to get the Data right in front of my eyes.
One thing is clear, you can not just place a screen in front of your eyes, because it will not be possible for them to focus it.
Here are the first tests with a cheap optic lense
Tomi Engdahl says:
Venduino Serves Snacks, Shows Vending is Tricky Business
http://hackaday.com/2016/07/02/venduino-serves-snacks-shows-vending-is-tricky-business/
But why don’t more hackerspaces build their own vending machines from scratch? Because as [Ryan Bates] found out, building a DIY vending machine isn’t as easy as it looks.
[Ryan]’s “Venduino” has a lot of hackerspace standard components – laser-cut birch plywood case, Parallax continuous rotation servos, an LCD screen from an old Nokia phone, and of course an Arduino. The design is simple, but the devil is in the details. The machine makes no attempt to validate the coins going into it, the product augurs are not quite optimized to dispense reliably, and the whole machine can be cleaned out of product with a few quick shakes.
Venduino Arduino Vending Maching
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gdm71P1k9c&feature=youtu.be
Tomi Engdahl says:
Brasilia Espresso Machine PID Upgrade Brews Prefect Cup of Energy
http://hackaday.com/2016/07/03/brasilia-espresso-machine-pid-upgrade-brews-prefect-cup-of-energy/
Coffee, making and hacking addictions are just bound to get out of control. So did [Rhys Goodwin’s] coffee maker hack. What started as a little restoration project of a second-hand coffee machine resulted in a complete upgrade to state of the art coffee brewing technology.
To reduce the temperature swing, [Rhys] decided to add a PID control loop, and on the way, an OLED display, too. He designed a little shield for the Arduino Nano, that interfaces with the present hardware through solid state relays. Two thermocouples measure the temperature of the boiler and group head while a thermal cut-off fuse protects the machine from overheating in case of a malfunction.
Brasilia Espresso Machine Restoration and PID Upgrade
https://blog.rhysgoodwin.com/fabrication/brasilia-espresso-machine-restoration-and-pid-upgrade/#lightbox/68/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Hackaday Prize Entry: A Minimal ATtiny Voltage And Frequency Counter
http://hackaday.com/2016/07/02/hackaday-prize-entry-a-minimal-attiny-voltage-and-frequency-counter/
Sometimes when you build something it is because you have set out with a clear idea or specification in mind, but it’s not always that way. Take [kodera2t]’s project, he set out to master the ATtiny series of microcontrollers and started with simple LED flashers, but arrived eventually at something rather useful. An ATtiny10 DVM and DFM all-in-one with an i2c LCD display and a minimum of other components.
The DFM uses the ATtiny’s internal 16 bit timer, which has the convenient property of being able to be driven by an external clock.
Minimalist A-go-go
A project inside Attiny. I will not step out for larger one till I complete it.
https://hackaday.io/project/10116-minimalist-a-go-go
Tomi Engdahl says:
In Bed With an Arduino, Fighting Sleep Apnea
http://hackaday.com/2016/07/13/in-bed-with-an-arduino/
Sometimes the journey is as interesting as the destination, and that’s certainly the case with [Marc]’s pursuit of measuring his sleep apnea (PDF, talk slides. Video embedded below.). Sleep apnea involves periods of time when you don’t breathe or breathe shallowly for as long as a few minutes and affects 5-10% of middle-aged men (half that for women.) [Marc]’s efforts are still a work-in-progress but along the way he’s tried a multitude of things, all involving different technology and bugs to work out. It’s surprising how many ways there are to monitor breathing.
His attempts started out using a MobSenDat Kit, which includes an Arduino compatible board, and an accelerometer to see just what his sleeping positions were. That was followed by measuring blood O2 saturation using a cheap SPO2 sensor that didn’t work out, and one with Bluetooth that did work but gave results as a graph and not raw data.
Next came measuring breathing by detecting airflow from his nose using a Wind Sensor
But while [Marc]’s list of approaches to monitor sleep is long, he hasn’t exhausted all approaches.
http://www.freetronics.com.au/products/mobsendat#.V4dBqjXeI65
Tomi Engdahl says:
Hackaday Prize Entry: A Better Way Of Cheating
http://hackaday.com/2016/07/17/hackaday-prize-entry-a-better-way-of-cheating/
Believe it or not, some video games are still developed for the PC. With video games come cheat codes, and when they’re on the PC, that means using a keyboard. You can easily program any microcontroller to send a string of characters over a USB port with the touch of a button. Believe it or not, a lot of people haven’t put these two facts together. [danjovic] has, leading him to build a simple and cheap USB keystroke generator for quickly typing in cheat codes.
[danjovic] is basing his build around a Digispark, a cheap, USB-enabled ATtiny85 dev board.
Oh Cheat!
USB keystroke generator for quick typing cheat codes in games like GTA.
https://hackaday.io/project/9277-oh-cheat
OH CHEAT is a keystroke generator designed for quick introducing cheat codes in games like GTA series, but can also be modified for other purposes like shooting a Haduken or performing a Fatality.
The circuit is based on Digispark and provide support for up to 7 keys, but this number can be increased by using shift registers or another method.
Tomi Engdahl says:
DIY Motion Control Camera Rig Produces Money Shots On A Budget
http://hackaday.com/2016/07/18/diy-motion-control-camera-rig-produces-money-shots-on-a-budget/
Motion control photography allows for stunning imagery, although commercial robotic MoCo rigs are hardly affordable. But what is money? Scratch-built from what used to be mechatronic junk and a hacked Canon EF-S lens, [Howard’s] DIY motion control camera rig produces cinematic footage that just blows us away.
Using the Swift programming language, [Howard] wrote a host program automatically detects the numerous stepper and servo motor based axis and streams the position data to their individual Teensy LC based controllers. To the professional motion graphics artist , these shots aren’t just nice and steady footage: The real magic happens when he starts adding perfectly matched layers of CGI. Therefore, he also wrote some Python scripts that allow him to manually control his MoCo rig from a virtual rig in Blender, and also export camera trajectories directly from his 3D scenes.
On top of the 4-axis camera mount and a rotary stage, [Howard] also needed to find an electronic follow-focus mechanism to keep the now moving objects in focus. Since the Canon EF-S protocol had already been reverse engineered, he decided to tap into the SPI control bus between the camera and the lens to make use of its internal ring motor.
h’s homemade motion control
http://howiem.com/wordpress/index.php/2016/07/14/hs-homemade-motion-control/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Binary Keyboard Is The Purest Form Of Input Device
http://hackaday.com/2016/07/20/binary-keyboard-is-the-purest-form-of-input-device/
You may be a hardcore keyboard aficionado whose buckled-spring switches will be pried from your cold dead hands, but there is a new model on the street that relegates your blank-key Das Keyboard or your trusty IBM Model M to the toy chest.
The new challenger comes from Reddit user [duckythescientist], who has created a minimalist three-key binary keyboard. It features a 0 key, a 1 key, a return key, and nothing else. Characters are entered as ASCII or Unicode, and the device emulates either a QWERTY or Dvorak keyboard layout to the host computer’s USB interface.
The keys are mounted in a custom 3D printed case, and the electronics come from the creator’s own “tinydev” board based on an ATtiny85.
https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicalKeyboards/comments/4q0eb1/fully_custom_binary_keyboard/
1 and 0 are the only keys a true programmer needs
https://github.com/duckythescientist/BinaryKeyboard
Tomi Engdahl says:
Simple Clock is Great Stepper Motor Project
http://hackaday.com/2016/07/21/simple-clock-is-great-stepper-motor-project/
Today, we’re looking at a nice “hello world” clock. [electronics for everyone]’s build uses a stepper motor and a large labelled wheel that rotates relative to a fixed pointer. Roll the wheel, and the time changes. It looks tidy, it’s cyclical by design, and it’s a no-stress way to get your feet wet driving stepper motors. And it comes with a video
A Weird Arduino Powered Clock
http://www.instructables.com/id/A-Weird-Arduino-Powered-Clock/
Tomi Engdahl says:
230V/24V Digital Signal Recorder
https://hackaday.io/project/12473-230v24v-digital-signal-recorder
Simple Project to Detect and Record 230V or 24V Signals over long time to find /SPS/Relay/Sensor Failures.
This Board detects Voltage Changing between LOW and HIGH, 2Channels 3-35VDC and 2 Channels 230VAC, Jumper configurable Pins. Bluetooth Connectivity.
The Software Records Every Signal change and Time to MicroSD File.
Parts: DS3231 i2c Clock, MicroSD Slot, Atmega328P, SPP Bluetooth Adapter
Tomi Engdahl says:
Warm Up Your Small Talk with a Thermometer Scarf
http://hackaday.com/2016/01/10/warm-up-your-small-talk-with-a-thermometer-scarf/
Just how cold is it out there? This giant thermometer scarf is a fantastic entry-level wearables project. It’s sure to strike up conversations that move past the topic of weather.
The scarf is built around a FLORA, a Neopixel ring that represents the bulb, and a short length of Neopixels to show the temperature in Fahrenheit and Celsius. Temperature sensing is done with a poorly documented DHT11 that gave [caitlinsdad] the fits until he found Adafruit’s library for them.
Neopixel Giant Thermometer Scarf
http://www.instructables.com/id/Neopixel-Giant-Thermometer-Scarf/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Arduino Replaces Bad AC Thermostat, Hacker Stays Cool
http://hackaday.com/2016/08/05/arduino-replaces-bad-ac-thermostat-hacker-stays-cool/
Most of North America has been locked in a record-setting heat wave for the last two weeks, and cheap window AC units are flying out of the local big-box stores. Not all of these discount units undergo rigorous QC before sailing across the Pacific, though, and a few wonky thermostats are sure to get through. But with a little sweat-equity you can fix it with this Arduino thermostat and temperature display.
We’ll stipulate that an Arduino may be overkill for this application and that microcontrollers don’t belong in every project. But if it’s what you’ve got on hand, and you’re sick of waking up in a pool of sweat, then it’s a perfectly acceptable solution.
Arduino Thermostat for Window AC Unit (On the cheap)
http://www.instructables.com/id/Arduino-Thermostat-for-Window-AC-Unit-On-the-Cheap/
First things first. You will need some parts to get this project going, so head to your favorite electronics website and purchase the following:
1. Arduino–Doesn’t need to be an Uno, but if you use a different board, some of the pins may change; I will cover that later.
2. Cheap arduino-compatible relay module–almost any type will work.
3. DS18B20 Temperature Sensor–A cheap ebay version will work just fine!
4. Rotary Encoder
5..96″ i2C 128X64 OLED display (optional)–Make sure it is i2C and not SPI serial
Tomi Engdahl says:
RPUno
Solar Powered ATMega328P Board
https://hackaday.io/project/12784-rpuno
This board is solar powered and has an ATmega328P[B]. It is for remote automation projects, which are often limited by available power, so it does not have a built-in USB or LED, but it does have a solar charge controller for 6V SLA type batteries.
Using an interactive command line Firmware to log the charge control
and load test.
http://epccs.org/hg/open/RPUno/file/b3e6e14ae668/CCtest
Tomi Engdahl says:
Automatized Hydroponic Vertical Crop
https://hackaday.io/project/13008-automatized-hydroponic-vertical-crop
Ideally, Stablishing an underground crop based on hydroponic technology and controlled through arduino to sustain a plant storage.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Wake Up With A NeoPixel Sunrise Alarm Clock
http://hackaday.com/2016/08/11/wake-up-with-a-neopixel-sunrise-alarm-clock/
Like many of us, [Lee] wakes up every morning grumpy and tired. Once he decided to try to do something about it, he settled on making a sunrise alarm clock using NeoPixels. Over the course of thirty minutes the clock illuminates 60 NeoPixels one by one in blue mode to simulate a sunrise.
Arduino Powered Sunrise Alarm Clock with Neopixels
http://www.instructables.com/id/Arduino-Powered-Sunrise-Alarm-Clock-With-Neopixels/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Stick Balances Itself With Reaction Wheels
http://hackaday.com/2016/08/11/stick-balances-itself-with-reaction-wheels/
The inverted pendulum is a pretty classic dynamics problem and reaction wheels are cool. That’s why we like [Mike Rouleau]’s self-balancing stick.
The little black box on the top is a GY-521 Gyroscope module. It sends its data to an Arduino attached to the black cord which trails off the screen. The Arduino does its mathemagic and then uses a motor controller to drive the reaction wheels at the correct speeds.
Self Balancing Stick – Dual Axis Reaction Wheel Inverted Pendulum
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woCdjbsjbPg
Tomi Engdahl says:
Fun Audio Waveform Generator Is More Than The Sum Of Its Parts
http://hackaday.com/2016/08/10/fun-audio-waveform-generator-is-more-than-the-sum-of-its-parts/
[Joekutz] wanted to re-build an audio-rate function generator project that he found over on Instructables. By itself, the project is very simple: it’s an 8-bit resistor-ladder DAC, a nice enclosure, and the rest is firmware.
[Joekutz] decided this wasn’t enough. He needed an LCD display, a speaker, and one-hertz precision. The LCD display alone is an insane hack. He reverse-engineers a calculator simply to use the display.
The meat of the project is the Arduino-based waveform generator, though.
He also makes custom detents for his potentiometers so that he can enter precise numerical values.
So even if you don’t need an R-2R DAC based waveform generator, go check this project out. There’s good ideas at every turn.
A feature-rich Arduino Waveform generator
https://hackaday.io/project/12756-a-feature-rich-arduino-waveform-generator
When it is worth doing, it is worth overdoing. Based on an idea from Instructables.com, but better, shinier and with more features.
Arduino Waveform Generator
http://www.instructables.com/id/Arduino-Waveform-Generator/
Embed with Elliot: Audio Playback with Direct Digital Synthesis
https://hackaday.com/2016/02/12/embed-with-elliot-audio-playback-with-direct-digital-synthesis/
Tomi Engdahl says:
DrinkyPoo2
Yet another drink maker, just not as fancy. But fancer then drinky poo 1.
https://hackaday.io/project/2188-drinkypoo2
Its a drink maker with 5 pumps (so 5 different fluids can be mixed) with minimum features and all the functionality you need to make some drinks. I’ve seen a bunch online and thought their price tags were just astronomical for the job they do and way to fancy.
So I set out to make a five pump drink maker for under $150.
Features of it:
- You can store a library of 20 drinks (an 18 character name for the drink and then a percent for each pump (like I want pump 1 to be 20% of the drink, and pump 5 to be 80% )
- You can create/edit/delete the drinks right on the machine
- You can calibrate the pumps on your setup with the simple calibration routine I wrote.
Tomi Engdahl says:
HardWino Takes The Effort Out of Happy Hour
http://hackaday.com/2016/08/15/hardwino-takes-the-effort-out-of-happy-hour/
A personal bartender is hard to come by these days. What has the world come to when a maker has to build their own? [Pierre Charlier] can lend you a helping hand vis-à-vis with HardWino, an open-source cocktail maker.
The auto-bar is housed on a six-slot, rotating beverage holder, controlled by an Arduino Mega and accepts drink orders via a TFT screen. Stepper motors and L298 driver boards are supported on 3D printed parts and powered by a standard 12V DC jack.
HardWino, an open source cocktail maker
This project is a open source cocktail maker, based on an Arduino
https://hackaday.io/project/12937-hardwino-an-open-source-cocktail-maker
Tomi Engdahl says:
An Arduino-based Theremin
http://www.eetimes.com/author.asp?section_id=36&doc_id=1330318&
This open-source Theremin offers additional capabilities over traditional implementations, including a dual-pitch mode.
Theremin were manufactured in the US for a time by RCA, and later by Moog (of Moog Synthesizer fame). In fact, you can still purchase a Moog Theremin, either pre-built or in kit form.
I recently ran across Open.Theremin by Urs Gaudenz in Switzerland. This comes to life as an Arduino shield. Unlike many inexpensive Theremins, which often control pitch only, this device controls both pitch and volume like the original.
Build your own real theremin
http://www.gaudi.ch/OpenTheremin/
Welcome to the Open.Theremin Website.
Open.Theremin is a open hardware and open software project.
Open.Theremin.UNO – The real Theremin on Arduino
http://www.gaudi.ch/OpenTheremin/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=103&Itemid=93
Attention: open in a new window. PDFPrintE-mail
Open Theremin is an open source hardware and software project. The aim is to build a next generation, digital version of the legendary music instrument. The all new Open.Theremin.UNO is based on the popular ARDUINO development board and can be reprogrammed easily. Build your own, fully playable theremin with pitch and volume antenna.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Hackaday Prize Entry: A Charlieplexed Wristwatch
http://hackaday.com/2016/08/21/hackaday-prize-entry-a-charlieplexed-wristwatch/
If there’s one thing we like, it’s blinky stuff, and you’re not going to get anything cooler than a display made of tiny SMD LEDs. That’s the idea behind this wristwatch and Hackaday Prize entry. It’s a tiny board, loaded up with an ATmega, a few buttons, and a bunch of LEDs in a big charlieplexed array.
The big feature of this display is the array of LEDs. This is a 16×5 array of 0603 LEDs packed together as tightly as possible. That’s a tiny, high-resolution LED display, but even with the ATmega88 microcontroller powering this board, all the LEDs are individually addressable, and a proper font for displaying the time, or anything else, is already mapped out.
ScrolLED watch
Scrolling LED display on your wrist
https://hackaday.io/project/5511-scrolled-watch
Tomi Engdahl says:
Commanding Kerbals With A Physical Interface
http://hackaday.com/2016/08/23/commanding-kerbals-with-a-physical-interface/
Kerbal Space Program will have you hurling little green men into the wastes of outer space, landing expended boosters back on the launchpad, and using resources on the fourth planet from the Sun to bring a crew back home. Kerbal is the greatest space simulator ever created, teaches orbital mechanics better than the Air Force textbook, but it is missing one thing: switches and blinky LEDs.
[SgtNoodle] felt this severe oversight by the creators of Kerbal could be remedied by building his Kerbal Control Panel, which adds physical buttons, switches, and a real 6-axis joystick for roleplaying as an Apollo astronaut.
Kerbal Control Panel
http://www.sgtnoodle.com/projects/kerbal-control-panel/
I used an Arduino UNO knock-off to interface to all the switches and LEDs. There were more switches than available GPIO pins after connecting up all the LEDs, so I wired them up into a diode matrix. 5 rows and 5 columns gives me 25 possible buttons using 10 GPIO pins, which is exactly how many I needed.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Hackaday Prize Entry: A CPU For Balloons
http://hackaday.com/2016/08/22/hackaday-prize-entry-a-cpu-for-balloons/
Launching a high altitude balloon requires a wide breadth of knowledge. To do it right, you obviously need to know electronics and programming to get temperature, pressure, and GPS data. You’ll have to research which cameras will take good pictures and are easily programmable. It’s cold up there, and that means you need some insulation to keep the batteries warm. If you ever want to find your payload, you’ll also need an amateur radio license.
There’s a lot of work that goes into launching high altitude balloons, and for his Hackaday Prize entry, [Jeremy] designed a simple embedded data recorder capable of flying over 100,000 feet.
This flight data recorder for balloons is based on the ever popular ATMega328, and includes humidity, temperature, pressure, accelerometer, gyroscope, and magnetometer sensors.
https://hackaday.io/project/12100-flightcpu
Tomi Engdahl says:
Shakelet – alerts for the hard of hearing
https://hackaday.io/project/10531-shakelet-alerts-for-the-hard-of-hearing
A wireless vibrating wristband to notify hard of hearing people of telephones, doorbells and other sound alerts.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Detecting Motion With AC/Static Electricity
https://hackaday.io/project/11982-detecting-motion-with-acstatic-electricity
Using only a single wire to increase sensitivity, an Arduino’s ADC can be used to detect motion!
I’ve developed a library called Buzz to add simple motion detection to projects using just a 6-12″ wire connected to an Arduino’s ADC pin!
By monitoring the amplitude of AC electricity waveforms in the air for changes caused by the passing of statically charged objects, (people, animal, blankets, etc.) Buzz provides motion detection using only a wire! It’s extremely easy to implement, and a perfect library for all experience levels.
The Buzz library is just for experimental use only, and is not intended for providing a home/business security solution.
Due to the ATMega328p’s ADC being very high impedance, it can easily detect the AC electricity waves that leak into the air via open outlets, bad shielding, and more.
Tomi Engdahl says:
An Arduino-based Theremin
http://www.embedded.com/electronics-blogs/benson-s-blocks/4442565/An-Arduino-based-Theremin
Build your own real theremin
http://www.gaudi.ch/OpenTheremin/