Arduino-Controlled Lock from nootropicdesign on Vimeo.

This kit uses a CD-ROM drive and an Arduino board to build a clever robotic lock. This dude used a bolt to create the project and it’s voice activated.

I’d be a little worried that anyone could come up to the device and say “Unlock,” but what do I know about robotics. Also, that bolt looks flimsy. Maybe he could make a new system that shoots spikes through the floor?

Like a ’70s cop team – one is the goodie two shoes and the other one is the drunk – the DuinoTagger and Talcapult allow you to shoot things and make smoke appear. The gun uses an Arduino board to control a tiny catapult that blows out a little puff of smoke.

The instructions are pretty detailed but you can see how it works here if you’re so inclined.

This pumpkin does a bit more then just fire silly string. It’s controlled by an Arduino device coupled with an IR motion sensor, which allows it to shoot the aforementioned silly string. It also controls a sound box, and will twitter when it fires so you can count how many victims.

It’s not a complicated build, but requires some specialized hardware so you better get to it if you want to be set up in time for the weekend.

[via Instructables]

Jeezum crow! This guy has made a fully functional (kind of) Proton Pack from Ghostbusters including a trap, ecto goggles, and some coveralls. He added a few lights controlled by an Arduino board.

The best part? He added lasers to the blasters. Now he just needs to remember not to cross the beams and that your halloween party can be a promotional expense so you should invite clients instead of friends.

The instructions are, obviously, at Instructables.

Playing guitar with your hands is so 4 years ago. So this team of DIYers and soccer football players  crafted the first ever, wall mounted, full sized, football hero. The control pads are large piezo sensors controlled with the Arduino electronics platform. But let the video do the talking.

A behind the scene video is also available below:

via [Hack N Mod]

Okay, just humor me and watch the video, please. It’s not like I get paid to describe things with… those… um, you know, the things that make stuff readable. With individual letters, etc. And periods, commas — the things in between those.

This here’s an interactive, outdoor electronic snowball fight comprised of two life size animated characters made from decorative Christmas lights. Two human players control each animated character, making them either duck or throw snowballs (also made from Christmas lights) at the other. You can’t duck and throw at the same time though.

If nobody’s around to play, the two characters will continue to lob snowballs at each other automatically. Say hello to the new coolest house in the neighborhood, all thanks to Arduino.

[via MAKE]

Droplet from Andrew Rapp on Vimeo.

Need to know the weather? Need to check Woot? Want to read the news? Well, all you need is an Arduino board, an LCD read-out, four buttons, a breadboard, some experience in electronics, and a computer. Then you can build yourself a Droplet.

The device uses a buzzer, and LED, and a few circuits to add notifications to the Droplet system. The system then connects to your computer to pull down data from Google, Twitter, and other sources. Is it a little too complex for its own good? Definitely, but what else are you doing this weekend. It’s overkill but isn’t everything?

I could really use this. I find that the asxphyixiation induced by heavy workouts can – and does – improve sexual response. Therefore as I browse GrannyLovers.org – the world’s only open-souce granny resource – I can use this Web Cycle to boost my throughput and improve my good time.

The cycle was created by Matt Gray and Tom Scott and uses a janky exercise bike and an Arduino board. The input from the cycle connects to a laptop running Ubuntu and wondershaper.

Obviously this isn’t quite a real product but I suspect Nintendo will have something like this in the next few years. They’ll call it the Wii Cycle and it will tell you that you ride too slow and that you are fat.

Not a lot to say about this little hack but it’s basically a Game Boy Advance attached to an Arduino device running a touchscreen. The stylus sends data back to the Arduino which connects to the GBA via a patch cable.

via Make

Brewing your own beer by hand is soooo 1992. You can now automate most of the process using an Arduino controller and some source code over at Halfluck.com.

As for materials, you’ll need an Arduino board, an LCD and serial board, two temperature sensors, four push buttons, four solid state relays, one 2400-watt heater element, two perastaltic pumps, and one spit motor.

The system, once assembled, can apparently whip up a pretty consistent batch of beer and can be remotely controlled and monitored. As for the copious scrubbing and disinfecting involved with homebrewing equipment, you’re on your own for that.

Halfluck Automated Brewing System (HABS) [Halfluck.com via Make]

EurekaFest is a yearly event held at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology that showcases the prototype inventions of high school students from around the country. The inventions consist of various gadgets and devices aimed at helping solve real-world problems.

One of the more impressive ideas I saw during the two days I spent covering the event was a prototype “sensing” cane for blind people. The cane features sensors that can detect objects up to eight feet away, at which point the cane’s handle begins buzzing once per second and increases in intensity as objects get closer.

There were actually two separate teams working on sensing canes – one from Harvard, MA and one from Norfolk, VA. I spoke with the team from Norfolk, which you watch in the above video. Their prototype cane cost only about $140 to put together and consists of PVC piping and an Arduino-like logic board that handles all the information from the sensors. Apparently an earlier prototype was made from carbon fiber, but it turned out to be too expensive and not as easy to work with as PVC.

Other interesting concepts included the following:

Pressure-sensitive illuminated computer cable: USB cable that lights up when you squeeze it, allowing you to easily identify a particular cable among other cables plugged into your computer.

Biofilm membrane for oil remediation: A $40 apparatus that attaches to a well in a rural village and filters out oil from water affected by an oil spill. The actual oil is eaten by microorganisms present in one of the filtering sections of the piping.

Alternative energy refrigerator for northern climates: This is basically a $300 attachment that can be easily installed on just about any refrigerator. It hooks up to an outside vent and uses cold winter air to decrease the refrigerator’s energy consumption by up to 50% during the winter.

Assistive mechanics creeper for car repair: An apparatus that allows people with bad backs, bad knees, and the handicapped to easily work underneath cars. “This invention will allow a person to slide from a wheelchair onto the device, lower, and recline backwards to the position of a traditional creeper. This can be done without the person ever having to get up and adjust it. The device will be able to hold a maximum weight of 300 pounds.”

Cooperative cruise control for hybrid commuter cars: A series of sensors attached to multiple cars in the same caravan that allow one lead car to be followed automatically by up to four other cars.

I also got a chance to check out a hybrid electric car developed by a high school in New Hampshire. The vehicle was made out of a motorcycle frame and featured a gasoline generator attachment for extending the mileage. That, plus all of the other inventions can be found in the video at the top of this post. And here’s a list of all the other inventions as well.

Lemelson-MIT Program’s EurekaFest [MIT.edu]

Like this video? View more here…

It’s a pretty simple little guy, as robots go: all it does is follow any line you put it on, at a speed of up to 3ft/s. That’s pretty fast for a robot the size of a CD.

It seems that at a recent robotics conference they were having a blast with these little things. They’re called Pololu 3pis, and they cost about a hundred bucks. I think any party would be livened up by a few high-speed rollerbots, but I lack the programming skill to make these guys go. I might start taking night classes, all these little Arduino setups and coffee bots are making me jealous of the creative hackers out there.

Eventually all music will be made this way: a 24-volt power supply, an Arduino board, and three stepper motors. In fact Akon is actually a simple stepper motor attached to a Vocoder and Pro Tools. Look it up! It’s true!

One more video after the jump.

via NowhereElse

The plans are amazingly complete and it could be a fun home project although it looks like it could take a while, especially if you electrocute yourself while wiring everything up.

More information on the Arduino board is here.

The CandyFab 6000 is an updated version of the larger 4000 model and can make 3D objects out of sugar. It uses Arduino boards to control the fabricating arms and fits on a desktop.

You will eventually be able to buy a kit to make one of these yourself. We would not recommend using the objects produced by this device in industrial situations. For example, do not make a sugar caribinier. It will only end in sadness.

This Sparkfun project by Nate creates a keyless entry fob for a Mazda using a Nike+iPod kit, allowing you to leave your car keys at home. Using a serial board you can read the input and output bits of the footpod and grab signals and decode them.

He then used an Arduino Pro Mini connected to the lock and unlock wires in the car. Now all he has to do is walk up to the vehicle and it unlocks automatically.

While testing I found the range of the transmitter (the footpod) was really pretty impressive at 50+ feet. This was cool, but I didn’t want my car to be unlocking/lock while walking around my house or office. To cut down on the reception, I sabotaged the antenna. I could have hacked into the footpod, but then it wouldn’t have fit so nice in my pocket. Instead, I completely wrapped the receiver with a few layers of aluminum foil. This cut the reception down to 20-25ft. Jeesh! What do I have to do to kill the power on these things? These devices are designed and built very well!

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The idea is surprisingly simple if you know how the PS2’s analog controller is wired and have some circuit-building know-how — requirements which leave me out. But if you’re crafty, and have access to a giant steel ball and three smaller ones, you might be able to rig this up since the design is open source. It’s essentially just a giant trackball, but it’s not like you can just whip one of those up anyhow.

[via Reddit]

[via Hack a Day]

9×9 isn’t enough space to even fit most NES sprites into, but you could probably animate a passable goomba. Or you could watch Futurama on it (with room to spare!). Or, and I think this is the best option, get a game like Dodge Club running on there. It’s got an Arduino powering the display, but I’m sure you could find a way to pass a video signal from Windows into it.

[via HardOCP]