There are certainly many ways to generate an old-looking portrait with moving eyes, but this method from Sonic Robots is simple and seems quite effective. The basic formula is to buy a Victorian-like frame, get a picture of a loved/hated/random person (preferably tweaked to resemble an antique oil painting), then put a strip of paper with eyes printed on it behind the person’s eye sockets.

This eyeball strip is pulled by a servo via a fishing line, and importantly, a rubber band keeps tension on it from the other side. This allows it to quickly snap back into place, creating an effect where the eyes randomly move then stay in place for a while, hopefully causing someone to question his or her sanity.

Since everything is Arduino Uno-based, this could be expanded to include sensors for eye control, or even lighting effects as desired.

You can find more details on the project on SonicRobots.com and its code on GitHub.

Using gigantic hands scaled up from a prosthetic design, “XenonJohn” can now hear the sweet sounds of Scotland whenever he wants.

Seeing this invention, you might note to yourself that most instrument-playing robots don’t actually bother to have realistic—if huge, at 171% normal print size—hands attached. Then again, you probably haven’t seen a robot configured to play the bagpipes.

The robot named Ardu McDuino plays the bagpipes, or rather the chanter part that is manipulated with one’s fingers, using actual prosthetic fingers to cover the holes. It also has a less-realistic “thumb” to cover a hole on the back.

Everything is controlled using an Arduino Mega via a bank of opto-isolated MOSFETs, along with solenoids to let it grip the individual air holes for music generation. You can read more about this project on its Instructables page!

Using an Arduino Uno along with an Adafruit Wave Shield, Brent Chapman added more features to the Little Tikes Cozy Coupe including a push-to-start ignition and a sound system.

Although Chapman notes that the Coupe comes with some onboard entertainment options, he thought “his client” deserved something a bit more high-tech. This meant that he retrofitted the classic toy with several pushbuttons that allow him to select a fun song to play and replaced the key with a giant arcade button. He also 3D-printed a replacement hood for the car to cover the electronics, since the original was modified to fit them inside.

Per the second video on the project’s page, his little client seems to be hesitant at first, but eventually starts happily car-dancing along to Mickey Mouse Clubhouse’s  “Hot Dog Dance” tune that parents will probably be familiar with.

You can see the entire build, including videos and code, here or follow Chapman on Twitter to see what he’s up to next!

The Cozy Coupe gets a much needed upgrade thanks to @arduino and the wave shield from @adafruit – https://t.co/9Y4UE5Z4Vu #ArduinoMonday pic.twitter.com/U1xWwQF9Bx

— Brent Chapman (@brentmore) January 9, 2017

Professionally engineered, SmartPID is a high-tech, programmable temperature and process controller for the DIY community.

Compared to a basic on/off thermostat, SmartPID is an “open platform” that can collect temperature from multiple sensors, apply programmable control logic, and drive different loads with a precise PID algorithm.

Not only can SmartPID control any thermos-regulated process, heating or cooling, it can be used for a number of applications throughout your home, both locally and remotely. You can easily access your process and log data from the web browser on a desktop over Wi-Fi or a smartphone via a dedicated app, which is ideal in case of critical situations that involve alarms and triggers.

The brainchild of Davide Arzarello, SmartPID is a must-have for Makers, do-it-yourselfers, tech enthusiasts, as well as professional engineers seeking an affordable process controller. It’s 100% Arduino-compatible: just plug the SmartPID USB port into your computer and program the board using the Arduino IDE.

SmartPID is neither a simple controller nor a thermostat: it is an “open platform” in which the resources and I/O can be used for a variety of applications and in a variety of environments. The idea behind SmartPID is to develop an ecosystem of “vertical” applications on top of a common set of features, providing tools for people who would like to develop their own applications or hack existing ones. The two main apps included are the smart thermostat and smart brewing app, with a successful crowdfunding campaign, the company hopes to expand the controllers versatility into a number of vertical applications on top of the SmartPID platform.

With its process automation, SmartPID makes everything from homebrewing and winemaking to aquarium maintenance to oven temperature more precise, powerful, and flexible. Want to learn more? Check out Arzarello’s campaign on Indiegogo!

Sure, if you’re going to get a new ride, a model from the twenty-teens would be nice, but for hacking purposes, the simplicity of an older cars makes modification fairly simple. It also makes hot-wiring easy, and as they don’t generally have an alarm system, these vehicles are often targets for theft.

After his friend’s VW Beetle was stolen, Instructables user Ben Schroeder (aka “Pantopush”) decided that he needed to protect his 1966 Bug. So, as any Maker would do, he took matters into his own hands with a GPS-enabled Arduino Uno in a locked glove compartment.

Now, unless the unit is turned off, if it detects that the car is moving, it uses a relay to switch the horn on. Simple, effective (hopefully), and could be expanded to flash the lights or even text the owner with the location of the car.

Need a low-cost anti-theft system of your own? You can find the full writeup on Schroeder’s project page.

The next time you and your friends want to see who can chug beer (or a non-alcoholic beverage for the younger crowd) the fastest, you may want to try building your own Cider Racer 2600–an electronic racing platform and timer for competitive drinking.

Created by YouTuber “MonkeyBOX Entertainment” for an annual Christmas party, the project consists of a broken Atari 2600 retrofitted with an Arduino Mega, two 4-digit 7-segment displays, some LEDs, wires, and other miscellaneous parts. A pair of custom coasters were constructed using force-sensitive resistors, soft springs, rubber actuators, and three layers of CNC-cut materials: acrylic bottom plate, brushed aluminum center, and acrylic spacer to make it level with top of the old gaming console.

In drag race mode, two drinks are placed on the Cider Racer 2600’s pressure-sensing coasters. When ready to get things underway, both competitors press a red button on the side, prompting LEDs begin to countdown from red to green as if they were cars waiting at the starting line. Time is shown on a 7-segment display above each coaster, which stops as soon as someone puts down their empty glass. The winner’s time will then flash.

The clock can be cleared using the Atari’s old ‘game reset’ switch. But that’s not all. The Cider Racer 2600 is capable of detecting false starts and if a drink is placed back prematurely. You can read more about the project in the video’s description below, and check out its popular reddit thread here.

The next time you and your friends want to see who can chug beer (or a non-alcoholic beverage for the younger crowd) the fastest, you may want to try building your own Cider Racer 2600–an electronic racing platform and timer for competitive drinking.

Created by YouTuber “MonkeyBOX Entertainment” for an annual Christmas party, the project consists of a broken Atari 2600 retrofitted with an Arduino Mega, two 4-digit 7-segment displays, some LEDs, wires, and other miscellaneous parts. A pair of custom coasters were constructed using force-sensitive resistors, soft springs, rubber actuators, and three layers of CNC-cut materials: acrylic bottom plate, brushed aluminum center, and acrylic spacer to make it level with top of the old gaming console.

In drag race mode, two drinks are placed on the Cider Racer 2600’s pressure-sensing coasters. When ready to get things underway, both competitors press a red button on the side, prompting LEDs begin to countdown from red to green as if they were cars waiting at the starting line. Time is shown on a 7-segment display above each coaster, which stops as soon as someone puts down their empty glass. The winner’s time will then flash.

The clock can be cleared using the Atari’s old ‘game reset’ switch. But that’s not all. The Cider Racer 2600 is capable of detecting false starts and if a drink is placed back prematurely. You can read more about the project in the video’s description below, and check out its popular reddit thread here.

Inspired by a statement written on Woody Guthrie’s guitar, This Machine Kills Fascists (TMKF) is an Arduino Mega-based, guitar-playing robot that performs traditional American folk music on a portable stage. Sheet music with the song lyrics are printed and left on the benches set up in front of the stage, while audience members are encouraged to sing along to the tunes.

Developed by engineer Dustyn Roberts, artist Troy Richards, and designer Ashley Pigford, TMKF is combines the analog tradition of folk music and digital technology of robotics.

Our project is inherently positive and seeks to bring people together through music. It uses a strategy of generating empathy and goodwill with an artificial intelligence to make us ask questions of the kind of community we may or may not be making with actual humans. With TMKF we hope to create a compelling experience that starts conversations.

You can read more about TMKF here, and see an early test of the strumming robot below!

(Photos:  Dustyn Roberts / Troy Richards)

“I’m a big fan of digital music, especially Spotify. The ability to dial-up a much loved song I’ve not heard for ages or discover new music are just some of the benefits I never tire of,” writes UK-based designer Brendan Dawes. “Yet the lack of physicality to this digital medium has always left me wanting. I still own vinyl and a turntable and I love the ritual of physically flicking through what to place on the platter and then wait for the needle to drop on the spinning vinyl.”

To bridge the gap between the digital and analog worlds, Dawes decided to create what he calls the “Plastic Player.” The playful interface features a Raspberry Pi running Pi MusicBox connected to his 50-year-old B&O stereo, and an Arduino Yún with an NFC shield.

The “albums” themselves are made from a box of slide mounts with tiny NFC stickers on the back. When Dawes drops one in place, the Arduino identifies the tag, matches it to a specific record, turns on a backlight, and then communicates via WiFi with the Pi MusicBox API to play the tunes.

Removing the cartridge from the device pauses the track. But that’s not all. There are also three buttons on top, which can be used to skip, go back, or stop a song.

It’s often easy to romanticise the past, convincing ourselves that things were better back then when really I think that’s just not the case. I’ve discovered way more music since moving to Spotify then I ever did in record shops. What I do like though is the physicality of choosing an album to play and this system is an attempt to blend the good parts of both worlds. The future will continue to be digitised and I embrace that, but I think there’s a space in between the digital and the analog to create interactions that are filled with the inconvenience of what it is to be human.

You can read more about the Plastic Player on Dawes’ website, and see it in action below!

(Photos: Brendan Dawes)

After not having an FM radio to listen to NPR, electrical engineer Kevin Darrah decided to build his own from spare parts.

Like many electronics hackers, Darrah tends to buy random components off of eBay. After all, you may need them at some point, and while cheap, sometimes they take a very long time to arrive. Unlike many of us, however, he actually found a use for several of these items, turning them into an FM radio controlled by an Arduino.

His DIY device uses an ATmega328-based board to communicate with a TEA5767 FM radio module I²C., a 10-turn potentiometer to set the station, and a 15W amp to power the speakers. Although it mostly works like a normal radio, one fun trick he implemented is that the station display lighting flickers if the audio drops out.

Also, since it has a microcontroller inside, there are lots of possibilities for expansion, such as adding a Bluetooth module for remote control, or perhaps a “seek” function to help set the channel. You can check out the code for this project here, or follow Darrah on Twitter if you’d like to know what he’s up to!