[smash_hand] had a clear goal: a big, featureless, white plastic disk with RGB LEDs concealed around its edge. So what is it? A big ornament that could glow any color or trippy mixture of colors one desires. It’s an object whose sole purpose is to be a frame for soft, glowing light patterns to admire. The disk can be controlled with a simple smartphone app that communicates over Bluetooth, allowing anyone (or in theory anything) to play with the display.

The disk is made from 1/4″ clear plastic, which [smash_hand] describes as plexiglass, but might be acrylic or polycarbonate. [smash_hands] describes some trial and error in the process of cutting the circle; it was saw-cut with some 3-in-1 oil as cutting fluid first, then the final shape cut with a bandsaw.

The saw left the edge very rough, so it was polished with glass polishing compound. This restores the optical properties required for the edge-lighting technique. The back of the disc was sanded then painted white, and the RGB LEDs spaced evenly around the edge, pointing inwards.

The physical build is almost always the difficult part in a project like this — achieving good diffusion of LEDs is a topic we talk about often. [smash_hands] did an impressive job and there are never any “hot spots” where an LED sticks out to your eye. With this taken care of, the electronics came together with much less effort. An Arduino with an HC-05 Bluetooth adapter took care of driving the LEDs and wireless communications, respectively. A wooden frame later, and the whole thing is ready to go.

[smash_hands] provides details like a wiring diagram as well as the smartphone app for anyone who is interested. There’s the Arduino program as well, but interestingly it’s only available in assembly or as a raw .hex file. A video of the disk in action is embedded below.

Making LED lighting interactive comes in many different shapes and forms, and as the disk above shows, shifting color patterns can be pleasantly relaxing.

There’s no limit to the amount of work some people will put into avoiding work. For instance, why bother to get up from your YouTube-induced vegetative state to adjust the volume when you can design and build a remote to do it for you?

Loath to interrupt his PC streaming binge sessions, [miroslavus] decided to take matters into his own hands. When a commercially available wireless keyboard proved simultaneously overkill for the job and comically non-ergonomic, he decided to build a custom streaming remote. His recent microswitch encoder is prominently featured and provides scrolling control for volume and menu functions, and dedicated buttons are provided for play controls. The device reconfigures at the click of a switch to support Netflix, which like YouTube is controlled by sending keystrokes to the PC through a matching receiver. It’s a really thoughtful design, and we’re sure the effort [miroslavus] put into this will be well worth the dozens of calories it’ll save in the coming years.

A 3D-printed DIY remote is neat, but don’t forget that printing can also save a dog-chewed remote and win the Repairs You Can Print contest.

Proving that duct tape really can do anything, [StudentBuilds] uses it to make a workable controller out of a glove. To be fair, there are a few more bits too, including paper coated with pencil graphite and tin foil, which forms a variable resistor you can read with an Arduino analog input. You can see the entire thing in the video below.

The source code is simple at this point — eventually, he plans to control a robotic hand with the controller, but that’s later. However, there’s no promised link to the code in the description, so you’ll have to freeze frame and type. However, it is pretty simple — just read the analog pin values to determine the specific values for each finger.

There was a slight issue with the build. At first, all the sensors read the maximum (1023). That necessitated changing the fixed resistor to a much higher value. Also, be sure to read the notes on the screen as the original schematic has a small error corrected with a note. One end of the voltage divider needs to go to 5 V. The schematic shows both ends going to ground.

Is this going to be wildly accurate? No. It isn’t even going to be repeatable if you build multiples and the calibration will probably even change with age. Still, it is cool that you can take a few pieces of scrap material and do something with it. Also, the homemade sensor approach might spur your imagination to make other pencil-based sensors.

If you want something a bit more mechanical, try Lego. If you can’t think of anything you want to control with such a glove, maybe try your hand at music.

Of all the ways to open up a lock, there are some tried and true methods. Keys, combinations, RFIDs, picks, and explosives have all had their time and place, but now someone else wants to try something new. [Erik] has come up with a lock that opens when it is shown a pattern of colors.

The lock in question uses a set of color coded cards as the “keys”. When the cards are inserted in the lock, a TCS230 color sensor interprets the pattern on the cards and sends the information over to an Arduino Uno. From there, the Arduino can command the physical lock to open if the pattern is a match, although [Erik] is still waiting on the locking mechanism to arrive while he continues to prototype the device.

This is a fairly unique idea with a number of upsides. First, the code can’t be “stolen” from inside a wallet like RFID cards can. (Although if you can take a picture of the card all bets are off.) If you lose your key, you can simply print another one, and the device is able to handle multiple different keys and log the usage of each one. Additionally, no specialized equipment is needed to create the cards, unlike technologies that rely on magnetic strips. Of course, there’s always this classic way of opening doors if you’d rather go old school with your home locks.

Hey everyone, it’s me again.

So today I’ve been working on a project: recreating Steve Grand’s artificial neural networks from the old “Creatures” games on Arduino. Why, you ask?

read more

Hey everyone, it’s me again.

So today I’ve been working on a project: recreating Steve Grand’s artificial neural networks from the old “Creatures” games on Arduino. Why, you ask?

read more

There’s perhaps no other game more classic than Pong, and likely none that require fewer control inputs, making it perfect for “porting” to a Sony Watchman. While an amazing piece of tech when introduced in the early ’80s, the current lack of analog TV signals means they only receive static.

As seen here, hacker “sideburn” decided to do something about it, and removed the tuner and decoder chip, making space for an Arduino Nano in the device’s housing. To complete the build, he hooked up the Arduino outputs to TV inputs, along with the tuner as a paddle controller and built-in switch as a start/pause button, and was able to seal the unit up again.

The result is a retro gaming system that looks completely stock, playing Pong as if it was there the whole time. Be sure to check out the video to see it in action!

In order to separate their office and shop areas, NYC CNC installed a rubber strip assembly that had to be pushed out of the way every time someone wanted to walk through. Although functional, it was also quite annoying, so they installed a system that uses a pneumatic cylinder to automatically move the rubber strips out of the way.

The device uses an Arduino Nano for control and VL53L0X  time-of-flight sensors for presence detection. In addition, it features a clever gear and belt assembly to mirror one side of the door with the other.

You can find more details of the build in the video below and check out the project’s components, Fusion 360 design files, and Arduino code here.

What do you get when you combine Connect Four with beer pong? Connect Pour, of course! After inspiration from a much larger basketball version, this hacker decided to make a device that allows you to throw ping pong balls into Solo cup targets. When one is hit, a vertical board stacks a light to represent a stacked checker above the cup in question.

An Arduino Uno powers the device, and lighting is provided by an RGB LED strip. Scores are tracked using an IR break beam sensor, and a button or RF remote can alternate player turns if you don’t hit anything.

I wrote the code of the game myself  and works basically as follows:

— the Arduino checks infrared beam break sensors under the plastic cups and a “pass button”

— if the state of the sensors/button changes from no beams being broken or buttons being pushed to a beam being broke or  a button being pushed

— the Arduino updates the game state updates the LEDs including the bar in the front (which indicates which player’s turn it is)

— repeat

The game looks like a lot of fun, though you may need some extra cups, as those on the machine no longer have bottoms! You can find more details on the build here.

An industrious maker reverse engineers and builds his own high-end soldering station.

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