Arduino user SicLeung is part of Do Interactive, an interactive design team based in Hong Kong. He sent us a video about his experimental installation at Hong Kong Poly University – School of Design and exploring unusual ways of activating light:
North Korean drones! Yes, your local hobby shop has the same aerial reconnaissance abilities as North Korea. Props to Pyongyang for getting v-tail mixing down.
There’s nothing quite as satisfying as the look of a well laid out resistor array, and the folks at Boldport have taken this to a new level. It’s an art piece, yes, but these would make fabulous drink coasters.
Here’s something even more artistic. [cpurola] found a bunch of cerdip EPROMs and bent the pins in a weird chainmaille-esque way. The end result is an EPROM bracelet, just in time for mother’s day. It’s a better use for these chips than tearing them apart and plundering them for the few cents worth of gold in each.
[John] still uses his original Xbox for xmbc, but he’d like to use the controllers with his computer. He never uses the third and fourth controller ports, so he stuck those in his computer. It’s as simple as soldering the controller port module to a connector and plugging it into an internal USB port. Ubuntu worked great, but Windows required XBCD.
[Kerry] has modified an FT232 USB/UART thingy as an Arduino programmer before. The CP2102 USB/UART is almost as popular on eBay, a little less expensive, and equally suited for ‘duino programming. It requires desoldering a resistor and soldering a jumper on a leadless package, but with a fine solder tip, it’s not too bad.
There are sure a lot of varieties of Arduinos out there but there may even be more of a variety when it comes to Arduino Cases. Let’s take the most popular Arduino form factor, the Uno. Below are a handful of unique cases for the Uno-sized boards.
by [Megaduty], Arduino Protection Box 
We’ll call this one robust. Although it is 3D printed, its intent is to be extremely protective of the inhabitant. Some extra thought went into this case, no tools are needed! After the Arduino snaps into place, so does the cover. There is an access door to get the input/output wires to the free world. [Megaduty] suggests that this contains $0.10 of plastic. Not a bad deal.
by [Jason], Lexan Beauty
By looking at these photos you may think you’d need a laser cutter to make this stylish case. Not so! [Jason] sketched out the design on lexan, cut it out with a jig saw and then heated the material to bend it around a wooden form. It’s worth noting that the top of this case has openings so that a shield can fit onto the Arduino while it is still in the case.
by [Gurt], Bezel for LCD Screen Shield 
If your Arduino project is using a SainSmart LCD keypad shield for the user interface then this case will surely put a smile on your face. The holes line up with the buttons on the SainSmart shield. In addition to the case, the buttons are also available for download and printing. Screw holes are provided to allow secure attachment between the shield and case. All you need is a 3D printer to get going with this project. It comes in any color as long as it’s pink!
by [jwags55], LCD Electrical Box Topper
This one is similar to above, it is 3D printed and designed for an LCD/Button Shield, but this time for another shield configuration. As you can see it has integrated flexible tabs that allow access to the shield buttons. What you can’t see from this photo is that it is mounted to a standard 4×4″ electrical box available from any hardware store. A standard electrical box is deep enough for the shield and an Arduino. Extra-deep boxes are available in case you need more room.
by [Daniel], CNC Routed Wood 
What came first, the Arduino Case or the CNC Router? A pretty cool DIY CNC Router was responsible for making this case. An Arduino running GRBL controls the CNC Machine, which moves a spindle that, in turn, cuts pieces out of wood, and those pieces of wood are assembled to form a case that holds the Arduino that runs GRBL…… your mind was just blown.
by [Jason], Folding Arduino Lab
Are the above cases not good enough for ya? Maybe they don’t have enough features, or are only good for finished projects. If you are interested in taking your perpetual Arduino project on the road then pay attention. This case not only holds an Arduino and breadboard, it has two drawers for your components. If the breadboard and one of the drawers are removed, the closed case will even fit an installed shield. Download the STL files here.
by [ninjaprawn], Lego Case
This list wouldn’t be complete without at least one (or two) extremely inexpensive case options. Here we have a Lego-based enclosure. What it lacks in style is made up by its zero-cost and minimal effort required. It does what it was made to do.
by [Allan], Cardboard Insulator 
I’m not sure we can call this a ‘case’ per se, it’s just a piece of cardboard tied on to an Arduino through the mount holes. [Allan] had to do this to prevent the contacts on the underside of the board from shorting by way of typical workbench clutter.
If there’s a sweet case out there that we’ve missed, let the other readers know in the comments. Or, maybe you’ve made your own specialized case, document it somewhere on the ‘web and let us know.
[Jim] loves gyros – not those newfangled MEMS devices, but old-fashioned mechanical gyroscopes. His obsession has pushed him to build this gyro stabilized two wheeler. We love watching hacks come together from simple basic materials and hand tools, with liberal amounts of hot glue to hold everything in place. That seems to be [Jim's] philosophy as well.
This is actually the fifth incarnation of [Jim's] design. Along the way he’s learned a few important secrets about mechanical gyro design, such as balancing the motor and gyro assembly to be just a bit top-heavy. [Jim's] gyro is a stack of CDs directly mounted to the shaft of a brushed speed400 R/C airplane motor. The motor spins the CDs up at breakneck speed – literally. [Jim] mentions that they’ve exploded during some of his early experiments.
The gyroscope is free to move in the fore-aft direction. Side to side balance tilting is on the wheels themselves. The wheels are model airplane wheels, which have a curved tread. No cheating by using flat LEGO wheels in [Jim's] lab! A potentiometer measures the tilt angle of the gyro. The voltage from the pot is fed into an Arduino Uno which closes the loop by moving a servo mounted counterweight.
The vehicle is controlled with a regular R/C plane radio. A servo steers the front wheel while another DC motor drives the rear wheel. Not only is [Jim's] creation able to balance on its own, it can even make a U-Turn within a hallway.
Instructables user deba168 is an electrical engineer based in India. He posted a tutorial to solve a common problem in his country:
In India most of the people are living in rural area where national grid transmission line is not reached till now.The existing electric grids are not capable of supplying the electricity need to those poor people. So renewable energy sources (photo voltaic panels and wind-generators) are the best option I think. I know better about the pain of village life as I am also from that area. So I designed this DIY solar charge controller to help others as well as for my home.You can’t believe, my home made solar lighting system helps a lot during the recent Cyclone Phailin.
He then made a charge controller running on the Arduino Uno and with an important task: to protect the rechargeable battery of photovoltaic systems. It regulates the voltage and current coming from the solar panels and it’s placed between a solar panel and its battery . It is used to maintain the proper charging voltage on the batteries so as the input voltage from the solar panel rises, the charge controller regulates it, preventing any over charging. It works on the principle of PWM which improves efficiency of the solar PV systems.
You can follow all the steps on his page but first take a look at the video:
“Possibly the smallest ATtiny85 based ‘duino derivative”. Indeed! When Olimex announced the Olimexino 85s as the smallest Arduino ever, [Tim] took that as a challenge. His very small Arduino based USB devboard is quite a bit smaller than the Olimexino!
The Nanite 85 was carefully designed to be both small and functional. Not only is it 20% smaller than the Olimexino, but also sports a reset button! One of the coolest aspects of this design is that it has the same pinout and size as a DIP ATtiny85. This means that you can use the Nanite 85 for developing your code with the USB bootloader, and then you can directly replace it with a standard (pre-programmed) ATtiny85. The major downside to using this device over the aforementioned devices, is that it does not include a voltage regulator for powering the device via USB (or battery), the device is simply hooked directly to the 5V rail from the USB connector.
We can’t help but be impressed with this well-thought-out design. It is also easy to assemble since it uses larger surface mount components. If smaller components were used, even more features (such as a regulator) could be included. Do you have an even smaller USB Arduino? The race is on for the smallest Arduino ever!
Is your hipster wrist having a hard time waiting for the debut of the iWatch? There’s a new open hardware/software project out that could help calm your nerves. The WatchDuino is exactly what it sounds like, an Arduino-based wrist watch.
The component list is short and inexpensive. The meat and potatoes consist of an ATMega328, crystal, Nokia LCD screen and LiPo battery. The USB-rechargeable battery lasts about a week before needing to be such. Besides presenting the Time and Date in both analog or digital formats (as you would expect) there is an alarm and timer. Additionally, there are 2 games, Pong and Snake. Any lack of features is made up for the fact that the software is open and can be modified and added to by the community. We’re sure the development of this watch will be quick and significant.
Confirming the coolness of this project is the fact that it won 1st place in the 2014 BIICODE Programming Competition. If the WatchDuino is right up your alley, the documentation can be found here. Go make one!
Thanks [Javier]
Following the new Yún image, we are happy to announce two new features of the Arduino Yún.
Having more disk space allows you to make more complex projects, like activating webcams and saving pictures taken with it. In addition, by using an external SD card you avoid using the internal flash memory, thus extending the life of your Yún.
To upgrade your Yún to gain these features, follow the steps of the tutorial and report back to the Arduino Yún forum if you have any issues or questions.
Be sure your Yún has access to the internet, then type the following commands:
opkg update
opkg install node
And voilà! You’ve got Node.js on your Yún.
Try it out with the following command:
node -e “console.log(‘Hello Yún’)”
If you are a Node.js fan, you probably want to use your favourite modules. Unfortunately, not every Node.js module is “pure javascript”, so some modules won’t work on the Yún. We are solving this by preparing packages for the most common native Node.js modules: we have already prepared node-serialport (opkg install node-serialport) and noble is on the way. If you miss your favourite one and want it added to the list, please consider joining us in developing the Yún.
Over the last few years you may have noticed a few of my Arduino tutorials, and during this time many people have mentioned that I should write a book. And now thanks to the team from No Starch Press this recommendation has morphed into my first book – “Arduino Workshop“:
Now into the fourth print run, “Arduino Workshop” is one of the few books on the market that can take the reader from zero knowledge to understanding the Arduino development platform, and working with a huge array of add-ons and technologies. You don’t need to buy any other preliminary book – this starts from the absolute beginning. And a huge “thank you” to all those who have purchased and supported the book so far – and it’s now available in Traditional Chinese, Korean, German and Polish.
“Arduino Workshop” offers a professionally edited and curated path for the beginner to learn with and have fun. It’s a hands-on introduction to Arduino with 65 projects – from simple LED use right through to RFID, Internet connection, wireless data, working with cellular communications, and much more. Plus the reader also learns about electronics, good coding and other interesting topics.
Each project is explained in detail, explaining how the hardware and Arduino code works together. Plus we teach you how to read and understand circuit schematics and use this clear method of describing circuits which prepares the read for further electronics learning.
The reader doesn’t need any expensive tools or workspaces, and all the parts used are available from almost any electronics retailer. Furthermore all of the projects can be finished without soldering, so it’s safe for readers of all ages.
The editing team at No Starch Press, our technical editor Marc Alexander and myself have worked hard to make the book perfect for those without any electronics or Arduino experience at all, and it makes a great gift for someone to get them started. After working through the 65 projects the reader will have gained enough knowledge and confidence to create many things – and to continue researching on their own.
Or if you’ve been enjoying the results of my thousands of hours of work here at tronixstuff, you can show your appreciation by ordering a copy for yourself or as a gift. If you’re still not sure, review the table of contents, index and download a sample chapter from the Arduino Workshop website.
Arduino Workshop is available from No Starch Press in printed or DRM-free eBook (PDF, Mobi, and ePub) formats. And the eBooks are also included with the printed orders from No Starch Press so you can get started immediately.
Autographed copies are available from Tronixlabs.
Furthermore for readers outside of the United States wishing to save on postage, Arduino Workshop is available from many stores in various countries, for example:
And you can also find Arduino Workshop for sale from all the popular booksellers around the globe such as Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and so on.
The post Arduino Workshop – A Hands-On Introduction with 65 Projects appeared first on tronixstuff.
Over the last few years you may have noticed a few of my Arduino tutorials, and during this time many people have mentioned that I should write a book. And now thanks to the team from No Starch Press this recommendation has morphed into my first book – “Arduino Workshop“:
Now into the fourth print run, “Arduino Workshop” is one of the few books on the market that can take the reader from zero knowledge to understanding the Arduino development platform, and working with a huge array of add-ons and technologies. You don’t need to buy any other preliminary book – this starts from the absolute beginning. And a huge “thank you” to all those who have purchased and supported the book so far – and it’s now available in Traditional Chinese, Korean, German and Polish.
“Arduino Workshop” offers a professionally edited and curated path for the beginner to learn with and have fun. It’s a hands-on introduction to Arduino with 65 projects – from simple LED use right through to RFID, Internet connection, wireless data, working with cellular communications, and much more. Plus the reader also learns about electronics, good coding and other interesting topics.
Each project is explained in detail, explaining how the hardware and Arduino code works together. Plus we teach you how to read and understand circuit schematics and use this clear method of describing circuits which prepares the read for further electronics learning.
The reader doesn’t need any expensive tools or workspaces, and all the parts used are available from almost any electronics retailer. Furthermore all of the projects can be finished without soldering, so it’s safe for readers of all ages.
The editing team at No Starch Press, our technical editor Marc Alexander and myself have worked hard to make the book perfect for those without any electronics or Arduino experience at all, and it makes a great gift for someone to get them started. After working through the 65 projects the reader will have gained enough knowledge and confidence to create many things – and to continue researching on their own.
Or if you’ve been enjoying the results of my thousands of hours of work here at tronixstuff, you can show your appreciation by ordering a copy for yourself or as a gift. If you’re still not sure, review the table of contents, index and download a sample chapter from the Arduino Workshop website.
Arduino Workshop is available from No Starch Press in printed or DRM-free eBook (PDF, Mobi, and ePub) formats. And the eBooks are also included with the printed orders from No Starch Press so you can get started immediately.
Autographed copies are available from Tronixlabs.
Furthermore for readers outside of the United States wishing to save on postage, Arduino Workshop is available from many stores in various countries, for example:
And you can also find Arduino Workshop for sale from all the popular booksellers around the globe such as Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and so on.
