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.
2,953 Comments
Tomi Engdahl says:
Arduino Powered Knife-Wielding Tentacle will Leave You in Stitches
http://hackaday.com/2015/11/30/arduino-powered-knife-wielding-tentacle-will-leave-you-in-stitches/
Writing articles for Hackaday, we see funny projects, and we see dangerous projects. It’s rare to find a project which combines the two. This one somehow manages to pull it off.
[Outaspaceman] connected a tentacle and a small Swiss army knife. Yes, a knife.
The tentacle in question is designed to be a finger puppet.
We’re not alone apparently, as this video has gone viral with over 1 million views. It’s almost like a violent revenge of the most useless machine.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Detecting seismic waves with a piezo element
http://hackaday.com/2011/12/11/detecting-seismic-waves-with-a-piezo-element/
While we normally see piezo elements being used to output audio, [Veedo] thought that they could be used in a more useful manner. He bought way too many piezo film tabs and decided to use them to build a makeshift seismic sensor.
The piezo tabs came with weights attached at one end, though while testing them, he found that they more or less only detected vibrations with frequencies in the KHz range. Since earthquakes tend to produce vibrations in the 30-80 Hz range, he had to tweak his setup to detect the proper frequencies. To do this, he attached a weight made of a screw and washers, checking the output signals on his oscilloscope until the dominant sensed frequencies were in the range of 40 Hz.
The sensor was attached to a breadboard, then wired through a charge amp to create a small AC signal, which floats on 2.5Vdc.
The seismic data is then pushed up to his Pachube account for storage, though he can view the feeds locally via the a web server programmed into the Arduino.
Arduino Seismic Activity Monitor – Ethernet Shield
http://www.instructables.com/id/Arduino-Seismic-Activity-Monitor-Ethernet-Shield/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Project “NAGBox”
An easy to use way to request phone calls from friends and loved ones
https://hackaday.io/project/8574-project-nagbox
As a geek, my inclination is for a technological solution. So, I’m building a little, cellular-connected device that I’m calling the “NAGBox” which provides a simple interface (Buttons!) to request a call from a specific loved one via SMS!
Tomi Engdahl says:
Light Duty Timekeeping: Arduino Berlin Clock
http://hackaday.com/2015/12/01/light-duty-timekeeping-arduino-berlin-clock/
Just when we thought we’d seen all the ways there are to tell time, along comes [mr_fid]’s Berlin clock build. It’s based on an actual clock commissioned by the Senate of Berlin in the mid-1970s and erected on the famous Kurfürstendamm avenue in 1975.
Berlin Clock, Arduino Nano, DS1307 Real Time Clock. 74HC595N 8 Bit Shift Register.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Berlin-Clock-Arduino-Nano-DS1307-Real-Time-Clock-7/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Laser Galvo: Arduino Controlled
Using an Arduino and a pair of servos to create a laser show on a sheet of luminous vinyl.
https://hackaday.io/project/8524-laser-galvo-arduino-controlled
UV Laser Projector Shines With Glow-in-the-Dark Vinyl
http://hackaday.com/2015/12/01/uv-laser-projector-shines-with-glow-in-the-dark-vinyl/
Tomi Engdahl says:
An Introduction to Series Elastic Actuators For a Robot
hackaday.com/2015/12/03/an-introduction-to-series-elastic-actuators-for-a-robot/
Perhaps one of the most interesting YouTube channels to follow right now is [James Bruton’s] channel for XRobots.co.uk — he’s a prop maker, a toy maker — and as his site implies, a robotics guru
designing his own prototype Series Elastic Actuators using an Arduino, potentiometers, some elastics, and a geared DC motor
A potentiometer on the joint measures the angle of the arm, and a second linear actuator measures the position of the motor mount along the arm. Under no load, the two potentiometer values can be compared by the Arduino for positioning. Introduce external feedback, and the Arduino will notice a mismatch between the two potentiometer values, allowing the robot to stop pushing (or keep pushing depending on how he programs it).
XRobots – Ultron Part 4, A REAL ROBOT – Series Elastic Actuators
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-deICvHVo5A
Tomi Engdahl says:
Corkscrew LASER “Hologram”
http://hackaday.com/2015/12/08/corkscrew-laser-hologram/
If you watch much science fiction, you know that in the future, there’re plenty of 3D holographic displays. From Princess Leah’s distress call to the Star Trek holodeck, there’s no shortage of computers that can make realistic images. It might not be up to holodeck standards, but [freedscript] created a 3D display for an Arduino using a chopstick, a motor, some paper, and a LASER. Of course, it isn’t actually a hologram, but neither is half the stuff you see on TV (Star Trek’s holographic characters were disturbingly solid for standing waves). The display is a type of volumetric display.
The idea is deceptively simple. A paper corkscrew spins and a laser spot perpendicular to the axis of rotation can create a point that appears to be anywhere in a slice of the volume enclosed by the outer perimeter of the corkscrew.
3D Laser Pixel Corkscrew – Hologram Screen Arduino DIY Tech Art
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I82BbrUtopU
Tomi Engdahl says:
Impressive NFC Controlled Infinity Mirror Table Cuts No Corners
http://hackaday.com/2015/12/09/impressive-nfc-controlled-infinity-mirror-table-cuts-no-corners/
If you’re looking to add a bit of the future to your living room, you might want to look at this tutorial to build a very professional infinity mirror table.
It’s an IKEA RAMVIK coffee table, modified to include RGB LEDs and a one-way mirror for that ever-so-awesome infinity effect. And technically, you only have to cut one hole in the table.
The device he’s using to control the LEDs via NFC is called a KeyDuino, an NFC enabled Arduino that is currently on Kickstarter and doing quite well.
NFC infinity table
This is a tutorial: how to build your NFC infinity table with a Arduino NFC
https://hackaday.io/project/8651-nfc-infinity-table
Tomi Engdahl says:
Decoupling Lego Trains Automatically
http://hackaday.com/2015/12/13/decoupling-lego-trains-automatically/
Lego train sets were introduced almost 50 years ago, and since then, one thing has been constant: the trains connected with magnets. While this is a supremely simple means of connecting locomotives to rolling stock, there is one big disadvantage. Building decouplers – devices that will separate one car from another – is difficult.
Now, with a clever combination of racks, gears, and wedges, trains can disassemble themselves. They can even do it with an Arduino.
Arduino for Lego Trains #9: Automatic Decoupler
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUPxj0smong
Seperate your wagons from your locomotive using this awesome Arduino-powered decoupler!
Using a single motor and some infra-red sensors, this clever construction of gears, axles and plates can block one side of the track, preventing individual rolling stock from moving forward. From there, just power your train forward to uncouple your wagons!
This tutorial incorporates the decoupler into a siding, allowing you to uncouple wagons, switch points, then retrieve other wagons before continuing on your journey. All the code you need for your Arduino is provided, including a full explanation of how the decoupler is build and configured.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Ball Balancing Arduino-Style
http://hackaday.com/2015/12/14/ball-balancing-arduino-style/
If you have a good sense of balance, you can ride a unicycle or get on TV doing tricks with ladders. We don’t know if [Hanna Yatco] has a good sense of balance or not, but we do know her Arduino does. Her build uses the ubiquitous HC-SR04 SONAR sensor and a servo.
This is a great use for a servo since a standard servo motor without modifications only moves through part of a circle, and that’s all that’s needed for this project. A PID algorithm measures the distance to the ball and raises or lowers a beam to try to get the ball to the center.
Ball on Beam Balancing using Arduino
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pj93-uGIUo
Tomi Engdahl says:
Balancing of a Ball on Beam using Arduino as a PID controller
http://mechatronicstutorials.blogspot.fi/2014/07/balancing-of-ball-on-beam-using-arduino.html
I used Arduino Uno as a PID controller to balance a small ping-pong ball on a 4-bar mechanism. And used Matlab to plot the position of the ball vs time.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Standing waves of sound
https://hackaday.io/project/8790-standing-waves-of-sound
An ultrasonic interferometer is assembled from optical drive components, 3d-printed parts and an ultrasonic range-finder.
The Fabry-Perot interferometer finds application as a super high resolution optical spectrometer. Its ultrasonic cousin is rarely seen but provides access to the same wave-physics – the formation of standing waves between two slightly transparent mirrors. Here I describe a project to make a Fabry-Perot using sound waves. I’ll go into the details of the low-cost build and analyse the data, by analogy to the optical case.
HC-SR04 ultrasound range finder
Stepper motor + leadscrew
Teensy 3.1 or Arduino UNO
EasyDriver board
Tomi Engdahl says:
Toilet Automatically Flushes for Your Bathroom Trained Kitty
http://hackaday.com/2015/12/16/toilet-automatically-flushes-for-your-bathroom-trained-kitty/
So you’ve successfully taught your cats to use your toilet, just like little furry humans. Congratulations! But you can’t quite teach the cat to pull the flush lever? You might want to automate it for them instead!
There are commercial solutions available, but they cost several hundred dollars.
[Dan] ended up designing a 3D printed bracket that sits under the toilet reservoir lid to hold a fairly beefy stepper motor. The stepper motor pulls the flapper valve up, allowing the toilet to flush. It’s controlled by an Arduino and set to flush once or twice a day to keep the kitty excrement at bay.
3-D Printing, DIY
Automatic kitty toilet flusher
http://meowsergirl.com/2015/03/motoring-automatic-kitty-toilet-flusher/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Netflix has created ‘smart’ socks that sense when you fall asleep and pause the show you’re watching
http://uk.businessinsider.com/netflix-socks-turn-off-the-show-when-you-fall-asleep-2015-12?r=US&IR=T
Falling asleep during a Netflix binge can be annoying.
Depending on how far down the rabbit hole you are, when you wake up, you might have no idea where you fell asleep in the episode. You might not even remember which episode you were in altogether.
Fortunately Netflix has a cheeky solution to your problems: “Netflix socks.” Netflix has built socks that read your body to understand when you fall asleep, and then automatically pause your Netflix show.
Netflix not only built the prototype of these socks, but it also actually put some totally do-able DIY plans online so you can make your own.
Netflix based the sleep-detection system in the socks off of “actigraphy,” which uses an accelerometer to tell when you’ve stopped moving for a while (presumably when you’ve fallen asleep).
Go ahead.
Watch yourself to sleep.
Netflix socks pause your show automatically, so you never miss a moment.
http://makeit.netflix.com/netflix-socks
Tomi Engdahl says:
ATtiny Does 170×240 VGA With 8 Colors
http://hackaday.com/2015/12/17/attiny-does-170×240-vga-with-8-colors/
The Arduino is a popular microcontroller platform for getting stuff done quickly: it’s widely available, there’s a wealth of online resources, and it’s a ready-to-use prototyping platform. On the opposite end of the spectrum, if you want to enjoy programming every bit of the microcontroller’s flash ROM, you can start with an arbitrarily tight resource constraint and see how far you can push it. [lucas]’s demo that can output VGA and stereo audio on an eight-pin DIP microcontroller is a little bit more amazing than just blinking an LED.
[lucas] is using an ATtiny85, the larger of the ATtiny series of microcontrollers. After connecting the required clock signal to the microcontroller to get the 25.175 Mhz signal required by VGA, he was left with only four pins to handle the four-colors and stereo audio.
We’ve also seen these chips do over-the-air NTSC, bluetooth, and even Ethernet.
Quark85 – ATiny does 170×240 VGA with 8 Colors!!
http://www.avrfreaks.net/forum/quark85-atiny-does-170×240-vga-8-colors
Tomi Engdahl says:
A Tiny Servo Motor Controller
http://hackaday.com/2015/12/18/a-tiny-servo-motor-controller/
If you’re building a moving thing with a microcontroller, you’ll probably want to throw a servo controller in the mix. Driving a servo or two with a microcontroller takes away valuable cycles that just babysit the servo, making sure all the PWM signals are in sync. The thing is, most servo controllers are a massive overkill, and you don’t need that much to control a few servos over a UART. The proof of this is an attiny13 servo controller over on hackaday.io.
[arief] developed his tiny servo controller around one of the tiniest microcontrollers – the ATtiny13.
The construction of this servo controller board is simple enough – just a single sided board, microcontroller, and a few headers, caps, and resistors. Commands are sent to the ATtiny through a half duplex UART
Micro ATTiny13 Servo Controller
smallest, low cost 4-5 channel servo controller
https://hackaday.io/project/8747-micro-attiny13-servo-controller
Tomi Engdahl says:
Reading Smart Cards from a PLC (with a Little Arduino Help)
http://hackaday.com/2015/12/18/reading-smart-cards-from-a-plc-with-a-little-arduino-help/
[plc4u] wanted to connect a smart card reader to an Allen Bradley PLC, so he turned to an Arduino to act as a go-between.
The Arduino talks to a USB card reader using a USB host shield. Then it communicates with the PLC using an RS232 link and the DF1 protocol that most Allen Bradley PLCs understand.
USB Smart Card Reader and Allen-Bradley PLC with bridged by Arduino UNO plus USB host Shield
http://program-plc.blogspot.fi/2015/12/usb-smart-card-reader-and-allen-bradley.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
Key Pass
Keychain USB multiple password manager/generator/injector
https://hackaday.io/project/8199-key-pass
This project provides a way of store up to 16 passwords, that can be sent to your PC like keystrokes. It was inspired by USB Key Generator by Code & Life, and therefore is also based on AVR and V-USB.
One pushbutton is used to select the desired password, numbered (0-9,A-F) visible on a 7 segment display while another sends (types) the passord as keystrokes. The button operation can optinally be performed by Num Lock and Scroll Lock.
The Board was designed to fit inside a 1×1 inch circuit board and has a hole for being held by a ring on a keychain.
Normal Operation:
Insert KeyPass in a USB port in your computer. If this is the first time you use KeyPass on this USB port your computer might take some time identifying it and installing a HID driver.
Using the SELECT button, or NUM LOCK key, select the desired password slot. There is 16 slots available from 0-9 and then from A to F.
After selecting the desired slot press the SEND button (or press SCROLL LOCK). The password stored on that slot shall be typed in automatically.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Encryption for Arduino with Spritz
http://hackaday.com/2015/12/12/encryption-for-arduino-with-spritz/
Arduino Spritz cipher library
Arduino library. RC4-like stream cipher (Spritz), Secure random bytes generator, Flexible Hash & MAC.
https://hackaday.io/project/8244-arduino-spritz-cipher-library
Tomi Engdahl says:
These crazy sonar gloves let the wearer feel distant objects, even in murky water
http://www.digitaltrends.com/cool-tech/sonar-gloves-let-wearers-feel-out-of-reach-objects-under-water/
Inspired by the way dolphins navigate the ocean (aka echolocation), a group of Ph.D. candidates from Japan’s Tsukuba University recently developed an innovative sonar glove that allows the wearer to feel what’s underwater without actually grabbing something. Dubbed the IrukaTact, the makers of the glove hope the technology allows for the accurate location of victims during emergency situations involving flooding. Moreover, the developers also provide an online blueprint for anyone looking to 3D-print their own sonar glove — obviously, the electronics would still have to be provided.
Designed and tested by Aisen Carolina Chacin and Takeshi Ozu, the IrukaTact glove (iruka means “dolphin” in Japanese) uses a variety of pulsating water jets to create haptic feedback to any wearer. After the glove’s sonar detects objects under water, it sends a signal back to the glove which then begins applying pressure to necessary fingers via these water jets. If the glove gets closer to an object, the pressure intensifies, alerting the wearer of its proximity.
Under the hood, Chacin and Ozu outfitted their sonar glove with a MaxBotix MB7066 sonar sensor, three miniature motors, and an Arduino Pro Mini microcontroller board.
IrukaTact
[CollabProjectBase] by CollabProjectBase 4
https://www.tinkercad.com/things/kBM7ebBBaUN
Tomi Engdahl says:
Simone Does Strange Things With Motors and Servos
http://hackaday.com/2015/12/29/simone-does-strange-things-with-motors-and-servos/
Tomi Engdahl says:
3D Printed Arduino RC Car
https://hackaday.io/project/9002-3d-printed-arduino-rc-car
The objective of this project was to build a 3D printed RC car completely from scratch.
I wanted to show local kids that the individual has the ability to conceive something then bring it into existence all at home.
Code:
The code as well as the circuit is broken into multiple layers.
Mechanical Layer
Arduino Uno R3 and Motor Shield
Responsible for controlling the motors
Communications Layer
Arduino Uno R3 and Bluetooth
Responsible for accepting coms from RC Car remote and setting pins that communicate with the mechanical layer
Controller Layer
Windows Phone
Windows Phone app that communicates via bluetooth with the Arduino communication layer.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Better 3D Graphics On The Arduino
http://hackaday.com/2016/01/02/better-3d-graphics-on-the-arduino/
There are cheap LCDs available from China, and when plugged into an Arduino, these displays serve as useful interfaces or even shinier baubles for your latest project. [Michael] picked up a few of these displays in the hope of putting a few animated .GIFs on them. This is an impossible task with an ATMega microcontroller – the Arduino does not have the RAM or the processing power to play full-screen animations. It is possible to display 3D vector graphics, with an updated graphics library [Michael] wrote.
The display in question uses the ILI9341 LCD driver, found in the Adafruit library, and an optimized 3D graphics driver. Both of these drivers have noticeable flicker when the animation updates, caused by the delay between erasing a previous frame and when a new frame is drawn.
In a demo application, [Michael]’s LCD and Arduino can display the Stanford bunny, a low-poly 3D face, and geometric object
Better 3D graphics on the Arduino: avoiding flickering and tearing
http://crawlingrobotfortress.blogspot.fi/2015/12/better-3d-graphics-engine-on-arduino.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
SPI: Let Go and Use the Force
http://hackaday.com/2016/01/02/spi-let-go-and-use-the-force/
Take a leap the next time you use SPI and don’t poll for the busy flag. “What, are you crazy? That’s the whole point of the busy flag! It’s a quick check to make sure you don’t kill a byte waiting to be shifted out!” Sure, we thought the same thing, but the other side of the coin is that it takes time to check the busy flag, and that’s time he could be transmitting data. [bigjosh2] calculates that his technique saves 20% of those wasted cycles in this particular case.
Still need a crash course in what SPI actually does? [Bil Herd] has you covered with this SPI communication demo.
We Assume Control: SPI and a Digital Potentiometer
https://hackaday.com/2015/02/24/we-assume-control-spi-and-a-digital-potentiometer/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Arduino Radar
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rh6UxpzHlJI
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Smallest MIDI Synthesizer?
http://hackaday.com/2016/01/08/the-smallest-midi-synthesizer/
Dang. [Mixtela] has just managed a seriously cool hack: running an entire MIDI synthesizer on an ATTiny85 to create what he claims is the worlds smallest MIDI synthesizer. That’s it on the left, next to a standard MIDI cable plug. microMidi3-guts-thumbThe whole thing is so small it fits inside a MIDI plug and can run off the power supplied by the MIDI output, driving a small pizeo buzzer.
World’s Smallest MIDI Synthesizer
http://mitxela.com/projects/smallest_midi_synth
Tomi Engdahl says:
Add Seinfeld Bass Riffs to Any Doorway
http://hackaday.com/2016/01/08/add-seinfeld-bass-riffs-to-any-doorway/
You know, like everyone wants to have their own theme music? This is the same idea, but the Seinfeld equivalent.
A few simple parts later (Arduino, MP3 shield, magnetic door reed switch) and a tiny bit of code to randomize which bass riff plays, and it’s a done deal. Like we said, it’s not rocket science, but it’s a humorous addition to what looks like a well-stocked game room.
Tomi Engdahl says:
µtty
A small display for reading your robot’s serial data debug output.
https://hackaday.io/project/7111-tty
Debugging your code can be tricky, and that Serial.print() comes in very handy. Unfortunately, you can’t always connect your robot to your PC, because the cable is heavy and limited in length. A bluetooth or wifi module may help, but setting it all up is a pain. And adding a display to your robot makes the code that you were supposed to debug even more complex, not to mention the resources it takes.
To solve that, I made this simple serial terminal. It’s just a Nokia display and an Arduino Pro Mini, all soldered together to form a compact little device. You connect it to your robot’s serial, and can immediately see what is happening in its brains.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Arduino Wave Generator Tank
Personalized Water Wave Generator Tank You Bilge Scum
https://hackaday.io/project/9104-arduino-wave-generator-tank
we rigged an Arduino Micro, (2) servos and potentiometer with if and for codes to generate various wave frequencies upon the sovereign seas (in a small acrylic case cast from a picture frame)
Tomi Engdahl says:
USB Keyer
Yet another USB Keyboard emulator.
https://hackaday.io/project/6699-usb-keyer
again all written in assembly and with a code size of 1.4K . i then hacked up a vero-board with the at90usb162 and built it into a small case for testing. currently it enters my username and ‘TAB’ to make it a tad easier to login
I have the code based on the atmega32u4 and have just got some 32u2’s ( a bit cheaper) to continue working with USB DEVICE type.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Video Gives you the Basics of DIY Rotary Encoders
http://hackaday.com/2016/01/08/video-gives-you-the-basics-of-diy-rotary-encoders/
Is it really possible to build a rotary encoder out of a flattened tin can and a couple of photodetectors? Sure it’s possible, but what kind of resolution are you going to get from such a contraption? Is there any way that you’d be able to put them to work in a DIY project like a CNC router? If you pay attention to the basics then the answer is yes, and [HomoFaciens] wants to prove that to you with this detailed video on homebrew encoder design.
The video about encoder discs
http://www.homofaciens.de/technics-base-circuits-encoder-disc_en_navion.htm
Circuit of the digital wiper motor servo.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Arduino-controlled Robot
http://www.theseus.fi/handle/10024/97523
http://www.theseus.fi/bitstream/handle/10024/97523/thesis_matti_jokitulppo.pdf?sequence=1
Tomi Engdahl says:
Father and Son Fix a Scale
http://hackaday.com/2016/01/16/weighing-scale-gets-a-refurb/
It’s awesome when you can tag-team with your dad to fix stuff around the house. [Ilias Giechaskiel], with help from his dad, did a complete refurbishing of a broken bathroom weighing scale, but not before trying to fix it first.
Instead of reverse engineering the LCD display, they decided to retain just the sensor and the switches, and replace everything else. The ATtiny85 seemed to have enough IO pins to do the job. But the strain-gauge based load cell, connected in a bridge configuration, did not have a signal span large enough to be measured using the 10 bit ADC on the ATtiny. Instead, they decided to use the HX711 (PDF) – a 24 bit ADC with selectable gain, specifically meant for use in weighing scales. Using a library written for the HX711 allowed interfacing it to the Arduino easy. The display was built using a 4 digit 7 segment display driven by the MAX7219. A slightly modified LEDcontrol library made it easy to hook up the display to the ATtiny. The circuit was assembled on a prototyping board so that it could be plugged in to another Arduino for programming.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Arduino Load Cell / Scale
http://www.instructables.com/id/Arduino-Load-Cell-Scale/
Make your weighing scale hack using arduino and hx711
http://www.instructables.com/id/Make-your-weighing-scale-hack-using-arduino/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Sending sensor data to a web server
http://arduinotronics.blogspot.fi/2015/12/sending-sensor-data-to-web-server.html
Build your own IOT service! Collect sensor data and send it to a web/database server.
Today’s project uses an Arduino equipped with a Ethernet shield, and a DHT-11 temperature / humidity sensor.
The Arduino reads the DHT-11, and submits the data to a php script on a hosted web server. That php page inserts the data into a mySQL database, and another php page creates a web page displaying the data
See the data live at http://green-trust.org/sandbox/templog/
Every 5 minutes the Arduino submits a new data packet.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Beautiful Arduino Fireworks Controller
https://hackaday.com/2015/08/17/beautiful-arduino-fireworks-controller/
A lot of designers have the luxury of creating things that aren’t supposed to explode. That’s usually easy. The trick is designing things that are supposed to explode and then making absolutely sure they explode at the right time (and only the right time). [JonBush] recently did a beautiful build of an Arduino-based fireworks controller. Seriously, it looks like a movie prop from a summer blockbuster where [Bruce Willis] is trying to decide what wire to cut.
Firework Control Module
http://www.instructables.com/id/Firework-Control-Module/
My module is Arduino powered for a few reasons. 1) I need to work on my programming skills. 2) I wanted it to be “smart” or “aware” of what connections were present. 3) I wanted to have control over timing adjustments that a more analog solution wouldn’t allow. 4) I wanted a more graphical user interface that would be fun for my kids. The complete solution was a two part module that allows you, children, babies, etc to safely enjoy launching fireworks from a minimum distance of 50 feet. I wouldn’t have felt comfortable sending my 3 year old up to a mortar tube with a punk, but I would let him launch them all day with this and its included safety features.
***IF YOU ELECT TO BUILD SOMETHING SIMILAR OR DETONATE FIREWORKS OR OTHER EXPLOSIVES IN GENERAL BE SURE YOU DO SO IN ACCORDANCE WITH ALL SAFETY GUIDELINES AND LOCAL AND FEDERAL LAWS. JUST BECAUSE YOU CAN BUILD SOMETHING DOES NOT MEAN YOU KNOW HOW TO USE IT SAFELY.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Link Trucker is a Tiny Networking Giant
http://hackaday.com/2016/01/22/link-trucker-is-a-tiny-networking-giant/
[Kristopher Marciniak] designed and built an inexpensive device that verifies the basics:
Is the link up? Is this cable connected?
Can it get a DHCP address?
Can it perform a DNS lookup?
Can it open a webpage?
What’s going on under the hood? A Raspberry Pi, you’d think. A BeagleBoard? Our hearts were warmed to see a throwback to a more civilized age: an ENC28J60 breakout board and an Arduino Uno. That’s right, [Kristopher] replicated a couple-hundred dollar network tester for the price of a few lattes.
LinkTrucker
https://hackaday.io/project/9229-linktrucker
Inspired by other hardware, this Arduino UNO and ENC28J60 checks your Ethernet Link, DHCP, DNS, and connects to a server for < $25!
The Arduino initializes the Ethernet Module and shows a link or not. It then tries to get a DHCP address (if none defaults to stored IP and warns you). Then it connects to Google DNS at 8.8.4.4 and looks up our friendly neighborhood time server "0.pool.ntp.org" (if it can't find it it warns you). Finally it makes a web connection to "www.google.com" (if it can't it warns). So all green lights mean that we got an IP and we can see then internet!
Tomi Engdahl says:
Lego Technic of the Past Eliminates Apple ][ with Arduino and Touchscreen
http://hackaday.com/2016/01/25/lego-technic-of-the-past-eliminates-apple-with-arduino-and-touchscreen/
[JAC_101], the Director of Legal Evil Emeritus for LVL1 Hackerspace (don’t ask me, it’s their title system), was challenged to a hacking duel. It all started years ago. The person who is now president of LVL1, visited the space for the first time and brought with her a discarded Apple II controller for Lego bricks which had previously belonged to her father. Excited to test it, the space found that, unfortunately, LVL1’s Apple II wouldn’t boot.
Then he remembered it, and built an interface for an Arduino Uno to hook to the controller and wrote a library for the interface. Realizing that sending serial commands was not in line with the original friendly intention of the device, he added a graphical display to the project; which allowed the user to control the panel with touch
Lego Technic of the Past Arduino Library
http://wiki.lvl1.org/Lego_Technic_of_the_Past_Arduino_Library
Tomi Engdahl says:
LinkTrucker
Inspired by other hardware, this Arduino UNO and ENC28J60 checks your Ethernet Link, DHCP, DNS, and connects to a server for < $25!
https://hackaday.io/project/9229-linktrucker
This project was inspired by the Fluke LinkSprinter™ Network Tester.
I setup 4 status lights for determining the following:
1. Is the link up – are we connected to a switch / hub?
2. Can we get a DHCP address? If we can't let's assign a Static.
3. Can we perform a DNS lookup? Let's use Google's DNS, but lookup something else.
4. Can we connect to a web page? Does http://www.google.com respond on port 80?
All 4 items will result in a status of GREEN if we can, and RED if we can't!
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Smallest Google Street View in Miniatur Wunderland
http://hackaday.com/2016/01/17/the-smallest-google-street-view-in-miniatur-wunderland/
The world’s largest model railway exhibit — on display in Germany of course — is quite the attraction. The huge Miniatur Wunderland features towns and trains from Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and even a little America. And it’s all on Google Maps.
[Frank] accepted the challenge to build a tiny Google Streetview train, capable of traversing the entire Wunderland. It features a fish-eye camera on both the front and rear car, and is powered by an Arduino — the Wattuino Nanite 85. He upgraded the train to use tiny stepper motors to allow for precise movement along the tracks to get all the shots in perfect Streetview fashion.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Father and Son Fix a Scale
http://hackaday.com/2016/01/16/weighing-scale-gets-a-refurb/
It’s awesome when you can tag-team with your dad to fix stuff around the house. [Ilias Giechaskiel], with help from his dad, did a complete refurbishing of a broken bathroom weighing scale, but not before trying to fix it first. The voltage regulator looked bust. Powering the rest of the circuit directly didn’t seem to work, and none of the passives looked suspect. Most of the chips had their markings scratched off and the COB obviously couldn’t be replaced anyway.
Instead of reverse engineering the LCD display, they decided to retain just the sensor and the switches, and replace everything else. The ATtiny85 seemed to have enough IO pins to do the job. But the strain-gauge based load cell, connected in a bridge configuration, did not have a signal span large enough to be measured using the 10 bit ADC on the ATtiny. Instead, they decided to use the HX711 (PDF) – a 24 bit ADC with selectable gain, specifically meant for use in weighing scales. Using a library written for the HX711 allowed interfacing it to the Arduino easy.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Hacklet 91: Ultrasonic Projects
http://hackaday.com/2016/01/16/hacklet-91-ultrasonic-projects/
Ultrasound refers to any audio signal above the range of human hearing. Generally that’s accepted as 20 kHz and up. Unlike electromagnetic signals, ultrasonics are still operating in a medium – generally the air around us. Plenty of animals take advantage of ultrasonics every day. So do hackers, makers, and engineers who have built thousands of projects based upon these high frequency signals. This weeks Hacklet is all about the best ultrasonic projects on Hackaday.io!
Tomi Engdahl says:
Running Calculus on an Arduino
http://hackaday.com/2016/01/18/running-calculus-on-an-arduino/
Calculus relies on infinite processes. And the Arduino is a (single thread) computer. So the idea of zeno_03running a calculus function on an Arduino presents a seemingly impossible scenario. In this article, we’re going to explore the idea of using derivative like techniques with a microcontroller. Let us be reminded that the derivative provides an instantaneous rate of change. Getting an instantaneous rate of change when the function is known is easy. However, when you’re working with a microcontroller and varying analog data without a known function, it’s not so easy. Our goal will be to get an average rate of change of the data. And since a microcontroller is many orders of magnitude faster than the rate of change of the incoming data, we can calculate the average rate of change over very small time intervals. Our work will be based on the fact that the average rate of change and instantaneous rate of change are the same over short time intervals.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Using Arduino For Quadcopter Spectrum Analyzers
http://hackaday.com/2016/01/26/using-arduino-for-quadcopter-spectrum-analyzers/
First-person-view (FPV) flying, by adding a camera, video transmitter, and video goggles to the meat on the ground, is one of the best ways to experience remote-controlled flight. For just a few hundred dollars, it’s the closest thing you’re going to get to growing wings and flying through the trees of your local park. One of the most popular and cheapest ways to go about this is the Boscam RX5808 wireless receiver – a $9 module able to pull down video from an aircraft over 5.8GHz radio. Stock, this radio module is just okay, but with a few modifications, it can be turned into a very good receiver with a spectrum analyzer and autoscan.
The Boscam RX5808 has three DIP switches to allow for eight different channels for receiving video, and this is where most RC hobbyists stop. But the module also has a very capable SPI interface, and by adding a simple Arduino, the complete capabilities of this receiver can be unlocked.
Arduino 5.8GHz Open Source FPV receiver
https://dronegarageblog.wordpress.com/2016/01/20/arduino-5-8ghz-rx5808-module-open-source-fpv-receiver/
At the price of 9 dollars the BOSCAM rx5808 receiver module is very popular in the FPV RX (receiver) builder scene. By default it supports only 8 channels with dip switch. But by using it with SPI interface and Arduino with rx5808-pro open source setup it becomes a comfortable deluxe RX with nice autoscan and a spectrum anlyser.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Finally, a Modern Theremin
http://hackaday.com/2016/01/24/finally-a-modern-theremin/
Ever wanted to own your own Theremin but couldn’t justify dropping hundreds of dollars on one? Now you can build your own, or buy it for a quintuplet of Hamiltons. The Open.Theremin.UNO project has built up antenna-based oscillator control around the ubiquitous Arduino Uno board.
So what’s the Arduino in there for? This is a digital Theremin
As the name implies, this is Open Hardware and we’re quite happy with the documentation on their site and the BOM (found on the GitHub repo).
If you don’t want to build your own they’re selling kits on their site for 48 Euro delivered, or on Tindie for $55.
Open.Theremin.UNO – The real Theremin on Arduino
http://www.gaudi.ch/OpenTheremin/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=103&Itemid=93
Open.Theremin.UNO hardware description
https://github.com/GaudiLabs/OpenTheremin_Shield
Schematics, printed circuit board (PCB) design, bill of materials (BOM) for the Open.Theremin.UNO arduino shield. For software see separate git repository.
Open.Theremin
Build your own real theremin
http://www.gaudi.ch/OpenTheremin/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Pacman Proves Due is More than Uno
http://hackaday.com/2016/01/30/pacman-proves-due-is-more-than-uno/
If you’re wondering what the difference is between the good ol’ Arduino Uno and one of the new-school Arduinos like the Arduino Due, here’s a very graphic example: [DrNCX] has written a stunning Pacman clone for the Due that seems to play just like the arcade.
The comparison between the Uno and Due isn’t quite fair. The Due runs on an 84 MHz, 32 bit ARM Cortex-M3 processor. It’s in a different league from the Uno. Still, we view this as an example of the extended possibilities from stepping up into a significantly faster micro. For instance, the video is output to both an ILI9341 TFT screen and external 8-bit VGA at once.
Pacman Arduino Due ILI9341 and VGA
Pacman Game Arduino Due ILI9341 and VGA support
https://hackaday.io/project/9383-pacman-arduino-due-ili9341-and-vga
Tomi Engdahl says:
[CNLohr]’s Microscope Slide Linux AVR Minecraft… thing
http://hackaday.com/2013/02/18/cnlohrs-microscope-slide-linux-avr-minecraft-thing/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Motorized Strandbeest is Remote Controlled and Awesome
http://hackaday.com/2016/02/03/motorized-strandbeest-is-remote-controlled-and-awesome/
If you’ve never seen a Strandbeest before, you’re going to want to watch the video after the break. Invented by [Theo Jansen], a Strandbeest is a kinematic work of art. An eight legged structure that walks around under wind power — or if you’re clever, an Arduino and some motors.
Using an Arduino Nano, two small 3V motors , a wireless chip (NRF24L01) and a L9110 H-bridge, he was able to create this awesome little remote-controlled device:
https://www.reddit.com/r/arduino/comments/43jcgj/radiocontrolled_strandbeest/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Build Your Swarm: Control Cockroaches for Under $30!
http://hackaday.com/2016/02/01/build-your-swarm-control-cockroaches-for-under-30/
Have you ever wanted to control an army of cockroaches? We’ve all seen remote control cockroaches before — and they really are quite a fascinating specimen to work with — but did you know you can control one for about $30 worth of components, with a Arduino Micro?
It’s actually pretty simple. By stimulating a cockroaches antenna with variable frequencies (to mimic neural signals) you can convince the cockroach that they’ve hit a wall and should turn the other way. What results is a remote-controlled roach. How cool is that!
http://www.instructables.com/id/Control-a-Cockroach-With-Arduino-for-Under-30/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Pimp My Scope: Touchscreen Edition
http://hackaday.com/2016/02/04/pimp-my-scope-touchscreen-edition/
Do you have a touch-screen oscilloscope? Neither do we. But how cool would that be to pan left and right or expand either axis just like you do on your cellphone screen? [Igor] did just that
A brief overview: an Arduino Nano reads the touchscreen and sends the commands to the scope to act accordingly.
As a side effect of all this, [Igor] could also write a script that controls the scope from his computer
Adding touch screen to Siglent sds1022c oscilloscope
http://morethanuser.blogspot.fi/2016/01/adding-touch-panel-to-siglent-sds1022c.html
The goal
Remove keyboard completely, instead add touch screen to control oscilloscope.
Usability
Big, mostly for ease of use (in my case), besides I always wanted to have DSO with touchscreen.
Parts
arduino nano (atmega328p)
some cable
touch screen panel from Prestigo 7″ tablet