In the end, I went with the CC3200 SimpleLink Wi-Fi LaunchPad which includes a fully integrated radio, baseband, and MAC which can support an 802.11 b/g/n Station or Access Point, and a bunch of nice features which made development much easier.
We considered several LED-based alphanumeric displays for the scrolling billboard and eventually settled on Omilex’s 2”x2” LED Matrix sections.
TI’s CC3200 LaunchPad supplies both power and data to both of The Hat’s digitally-controlled LED displays.
[Paul's] project is a great example of how you can take a simple project and turn it into something more interesting. He built himself a jack-o-lantern with an Internet controlled RGB LED embedded inside.
Just in time for Halloween, I modified my previous Raspberry Pi Internet LED Control project to control an RGB LED, and stuck it inside a fake pumpkin. Now I have an internet controlled RGB pumpkin!
The code is basically the same as the old Raspberry Pi Internet LED Control, but instead of using four links to turn four LEDs on or off, it uses a form to control the levels of the three legs of the RGB LED.
The countdown is on! There’s only a few days left until Halloween, and if you’re still looking for something to spice up the experience for the kids heading to your door, [MagicWolfi] has just what you need. He’s put together two motion-sensing projects that are sure to startle any trick-or-treater.
The first project is a chain of LED-lit pumpkins that are activated by a motion sensor.
[MagicWolfi] is pairing the LED pumpkins with his second project which uses another motion sensor to play scary sound effects.
If you’re new to hacking, Halloween is a great excuse to get started, and [Chuck] has put together an inexpensive animated Halloween decoration that you can show off on your front door.
When tea lights just won’t do, why not move up to a 5 channel LED candle simulator?
Halloween is fast approaching. Peter’s local hackerspace, The Rabbit Hole had a meeting to carve pumpkins and talk Halloween hacks. After seeing how poorly a tea light illuminated a medium size pumpkin, this hack was born. We’ve seen LED jack-o’-lantern hacks before, but this one was worth a second look.
Have some servos and an Arduino lying around? It isn’t too late to get your freaky on! Last night, tech enthusiasts of Las Vegas gathered at Pololu Robotics to show off their hacks for a Halloween flavored edition of their bi-monthly robot club.
[Stephpalm] had carved a pumpkin for the first time in two decades. Unfortunately, the neighborhood squirrels were all too pleased with her work and devoured it. Her original goal for the jack-o’-lantern was to have its lights controlled over the internet. These hungry critters inspired another project instead – The Jack-’o’-Lantern Squirrel Early Warning System. There have been hacks that have dealt with pesky squirrels before, such as a trap and an automatic water turret, but they didn’t have the ability to post to social media like this system does.
Halloween may have come and gone, but [Luis] sent us this build that you’ll want to check out. An avid Walking Dead fan, he put in some serious effort to an otherwise simple bloody t-shirt and created this see-through “stomach shot” gunshot wound.
The project uses a Raspi running the Pi Camera script to feed video from a webcam on the back of his costume to a 7″ screen on the front.
If you’re looking to build the next creepy Halloween decoration or simply thinking about trying out OpenCV for the first time, this next project will have you covered. [Glen] made a pair of giant googly eyes that follow you around the room using some servos and some very powerful software.
Meet Marty. He’s a pumpkin that has been fitted out with a moving eyes, tongue and an expression of malevolent glee. You would probably assume that this is all driven by servos, right? Nope: Marty is driven by an old-fashioned crank mechanism, designed and built by [Ben Brandt].
Looking to create fear and dread with your Halloween costume? [Becky Stern] over at Adafruit has you covered, with her tutorial on building a mystical hood with LED eyes, perfect for your next Jawa, Black Mage, or Orko costume.
This creepy-looking creation is based around a Gemma controller driving two NeoPixel Jewels, small circular RGB LED boards. The Gemma drives the boards to slowly fade on and off for the required creepy eye effect, but it would be easy to create other lighting patterns.
Halloween is just around the corner, and the spooky themed tips are just starting to roll in. If you’re looking to one-up the basic store-bought decorations, and maybe teach your kid the basics of an Arduino while you’re at it — why not build a Peek-A-Boo Ghost!
Using an Arduino, two servo motors and an ultrasonic distance sensor it’s pretty easy to make this cute little ghost that covers its eyes when no one is around.
For BoilerMake 2015, my team made a selfie tweeting pumpkin. Basically, it’s a jack o lantern with a Raspberry Pi, camera module, and capacitive touch sensor inside. When you tap the pumpkin, it tweets a photo with a witty caption and potentially a Halloween-themed sticker.
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22 Comments
Tomi Engdahl says:
Straightjacket with a heartbeat
http://edn.com/electronics-blogs/hackwire/4435497/Straightjacket-with-a-heartbeat-
Tomi Engdahl says:
Making the Smart Hat: Part 1
http://www.edn.com/design/led/4436046/Making-the-Smart-Hat–Part-1
http://www.edn.com/design/led/4436046/Making-the-Smart-Hat–Part-1?_mc=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_productsandtools_20141020&cid=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_productsandtools_20141020&elq=93387ac4c64d4defbc5f4ee9fc1514f1&elqCampaignId=19766
In the end, I went with the CC3200 SimpleLink Wi-Fi LaunchPad which includes a fully integrated radio, baseband, and MAC which can support an 802.11 b/g/n Station or Access Point, and a bunch of nice features which made development much easier.
We considered several LED-based alphanumeric displays for the scrolling billboard and eventually settled on Omilex’s 2”x2” LED Matrix sections.
TI’s CC3200 LaunchPad supplies both power and data to both of The Hat’s digitally-controlled LED displays.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Hacklet 20 – Halloween Hacks
http://hackaday.com/2014/10/24/hacklet-20-halloween-hacks/
Tomi Engdahl says:
DIY Practical Joke Project Idea
http://www.eetimes.com/author.asp?section_id=216&doc_id=1324389&
Tomi Engdahl says:
Simple LED Project to Spice Up Your Halloween Party
http://hackaday.com/2014/10/26/simple-led-project-to-spice-up-your-halloween-party/
[Paul's] project is a great example of how you can take a simple project and turn it into something more interesting. He built himself a jack-o-lantern with an Internet controlled RGB LED embedded inside.
RGB Internet Pumpkin
http://www.paulschow.com/2014/10/rgb-internet-pumpkin.html
Just in time for Halloween, I modified my previous Raspberry Pi Internet LED Control project to control an RGB LED, and stuck it inside a fake pumpkin. Now I have an internet controlled RGB pumpkin!
The code is basically the same as the old Raspberry Pi Internet LED Control, but instead of using four links to turn four LEDs on or off, it uses a form to control the levels of the three legs of the RGB LED.
Tomi Engdahl says:
A Pair of Projects to Scare the Trick-or-Treaters
http://hackaday.com/2014/10/29/a-pair-of-projects-to-scare-the-trick-or-treaters/
The countdown is on! There’s only a few days left until Halloween, and if you’re still looking for something to spice up the experience for the kids heading to your door, [MagicWolfi] has just what you need. He’s put together two motion-sensing projects that are sure to startle any trick-or-treater.
The first project is a chain of LED-lit pumpkins that are activated by a motion sensor.
[MagicWolfi] is pairing the LED pumpkins with his second project which uses another motion sensor to play scary sound effects.
Pumpkin-O-Chain
A chain of LED lit pumpkins interactively activated by a motion sensor.
http://hackaday.io/project/3242-pumpkin-o-chain
Tomi Engdahl says:
Halloween Doorknocker Decoration Hack
http://hackaday.com/2013/10/08/halloween-doorknocker-decoration-hack/
If you’re new to hacking, Halloween is a great excuse to get started, and [Chuck] has put together an inexpensive animated Halloween decoration that you can show off on your front door.
Animate a cheap Walmart Halloween decoration with Arduino
http://gajo.us/?p=36
Tomi Engdahl says:
LEDs turn the heat up on flameless pumpkin lights
http://hackaday.com/2013/10/01/leds-turn-the-heat-up-on-flameless-pumpkin-lights/
When tea lights just won’t do, why not move up to a 5 channel LED candle simulator?
Halloween is fast approaching. Peter’s local hackerspace, The Rabbit Hole had a meeting to carve pumpkins and talk Halloween hacks. After seeing how poorly a tea light illuminated a medium size pumpkin, this hack was born. We’ve seen LED jack-o’-lantern hacks before, but this one was worth a second look.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Halloween DIY: 6 Projects You Can Build Now
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1319830&
Tomi Engdahl says:
Flaming Jack-o’-lanterns Light up the Night
http://hackaday.com/2014/10/30/flaming-jack-o-lanterns-light-up-the-night/
[misterdob] wanted to spice up his Halloween decor, so he built these flaming concrete jack -o’-lanterns to decorate his walkway.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Halloween Hack Night at Pololu
http://hackaday.com/2014/10/31/halloween-hack-night-at-pololu/
dollCloseup
Have some servos and an Arduino lying around? It isn’t too late to get your freaky on! Last night, tech enthusiasts of Las Vegas gathered at Pololu Robotics to show off their hacks for a Halloween flavored edition of their bi-monthly robot club.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The R2D2-‘O-Lantern Reddit Doesn’t Want You To See
http://hackaday.com/2014/10/31/the-r2d2-o-lantern-reddit-doesnt-want-you-to-see/
R2-D2 Pumpkin Projector
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3wwL0QnrII
Tomi Engdahl says:
Scare off Squirrels and Tweet about It with the Jack-O’-Lantern Warning System
http://hackaday.com/2014/10/31/scare-off-squirrels-and-tweet-about-it-with-the-jack-o-lantern-warning-system/
[Stephpalm] had carved a pumpkin for the first time in two decades. Unfortunately, the neighborhood squirrels were all too pleased with her work and devoured it. Her original goal for the jack-o’-lantern was to have its lights controlled over the internet. These hungry critters inspired another project instead – The Jack-’o’-Lantern Squirrel Early Warning System. There have been hacks that have dealt with pesky squirrels before, such as a trap and an automatic water turret, but they didn’t have the ability to post to social media like this system does.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Hacklet 21 – Halloween Hacks Part 2
http://hackaday.com/2014/10/31/hacklet-21-halloween-hacks-part-2/
Tomi Engdahl says:
“Stomach Shot” Halloween Costume
http://hackaday.com/2014/11/11/stomach-shot-halloween-costume/
Halloween may have come and gone, but [Luis] sent us this build that you’ll want to check out. An avid Walking Dead fan, he put in some serious effort to an otherwise simple bloody t-shirt and created this see-through “stomach shot” gunshot wound.
The project uses a Raspi running the Pi Camera script to feed video from a webcam on the back of his costume to a 7″ screen on the front.
Stomach shot – Halloween costume 2014
http://www.instructables.com/id/Stomach-shot-Halloween-costume-2014/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Googly Eyes Follow You Around the Room
http://hackaday.com/2015/06/04/googly-eyes-follow-you-around-the-room/
If you’re looking to build the next creepy Halloween decoration or simply thinking about trying out OpenCV for the first time, this next project will have you covered. [Glen] made a pair of giant googly eyes that follow you around the room using some servos and some very powerful software.
Tracking People with the Googly Eyes and OpenCV
http://bikerglen.com/blog/tracking-people-with-the-googly-eyes-and-opencv/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Hand Cranking the Malevolent Mechanical Pumpkin
http://hackaday.com/2015/10/06/robot-cheats-at-rock-paper-scissors/
Meet Marty. He’s a pumpkin that has been fitted out with a moving eyes, tongue and an expression of malevolent glee. You would probably assume that this is all driven by servos, right? Nope: Marty is driven by an old-fashioned crank mechanism, designed and built by [Ben Brandt].
http://www.instructables.com/id/Making-a-Moving-Mechanical-Pumpkin/
Tomi Engdahl says:
70 LED matrix in a Jack-o-lantern
http://hackaday.com/2010/10/26/70-led-matrix-in-a-jack-o-lantern/
What takes eight hours to solder and uses more shrink tubing that you thought imaginable? An LED matrix installed in a real pumpkin.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Halloween Hood Has Hideous LED Gaze
http://hackaday.com/2015/10/08/halloween-hood-has-hideous-led-gaze/
Looking to create fear and dread with your Halloween costume? [Becky Stern] over at Adafruit has you covered, with her tutorial on building a mystical hood with LED eyes, perfect for your next Jawa, Black Mage, or Orko costume.
This creepy-looking creation is based around a Gemma controller driving two NeoPixel Jewels, small circular RGB LED boards. The Gemma drives the boards to slowly fade on and off for the required creepy eye effect, but it would be easy to create other lighting patterns.
https://learn.adafruit.com/mystical-led-halloween-hood?view=all
Tomi Engdahl says:
BOO! Teach Arduino Basics With this Fun Ghost
http://hackaday.com/2015/10/09/boo-teach-arduino-basics-with-this-fun-ghost/
Halloween is just around the corner, and the spooky themed tips are just starting to roll in. If you’re looking to one-up the basic store-bought decorations, and maybe teach your kid the basics of an Arduino while you’re at it — why not build a Peek-A-Boo Ghost!
Using an Arduino, two servo motors and an ultrasonic distance sensor it’s pretty easy to make this cute little ghost that covers its eyes when no one is around.
Build a Peek-a-BOO Ghost This Halloween
Add Excitement to Your Scary Season Festivities
http://www.jameco.com/Jameco/workshop/JamecoBuilds/peek-a-boo-ghost.html?trk_msg=SP2KLF5BU4SKDCPHVKJG09EVUG&trk_contact=7PHJ2U537I0E3PTAH1MQ0UVBVK&utm_source=Listrak&utm_medium=Email&utm_term=Ghost&utm_campaign=Newsletter+October+2015
Tomi Engdahl says:
Trick or Tweet
Let a pumpkin take your selfie this Halloween. BoilerMake 2015 project.
https://hackaday.io/project/8102-trick-or-tweet
For BoilerMake 2015, my team made a selfie tweeting pumpkin. Basically, it’s a jack o lantern with a Raspberry Pi, camera module, and capacitive touch sensor inside. When you tap the pumpkin, it tweets a photo with a witty caption and potentially a Halloween-themed sticker.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Happy Halloween 2015
Playing with cheap OLED from China
https://hackaday.io/project/8101-happy-halloween-2015