This DIY Metal Hunting Robot uses some Parallax processing to hunt down metal objects while avoiding bumping into items in the way. “To avoid any collision with other objects (such as furniture), the robot uses an ultrasonic range detector (radar) as well as 2 side infrared range detectors. The radar, placed on top of the robot, searches the area infront of the moving robot for obstacles. If one is located
This Ruler Clock looks like it would have been tons of fun to build. It uses a few stepper motors that are driven by a motor shield that is connected to an Arduino. Nice thing about these small steppers that are used in this project is that they can be found for free everywhere you look. Next time you see one of those disposable $50 printers being tossed out because
The prize this week is a pair of wire strippers, this will this will help you prep your cables to be attached to your next great creation. This contest will run for one week (December 18 – December 24, 2010). Ending time is based on central standard time. To enter, identify the item pictured above and give an example of what can be done with it. Please do not give
If you have some old camera flashes in the closet that you can’t use with your new DSLR have a look at this project that Adapts an Old Silver Flash for use on a Digital SLR over at Rien que pour les yeux. There is a 5.1 volt zener diode in the circuit to protect the TTL fire circuit of your camera. Please follow the warning on the site that
This is a bunch of electronics that have been taped together to emulate a sentry gun. It is supposed to scan looking for the range of an object and when something moves it is supposed to stop and speak a command to what just moved. It doesn’t quite work properly but I am sure we will see it working a bit better in the future. The Parallax text to speech
Sean Chen and Yunchi Luo packed some cool 3D Pong Game Play into 3 Altera DE2 Development boards. Two digital cameras have their composite outputs feeding into the game hardware. They are using the image in the game and the system is monitoring the image for the colored paddles. These represent just one of the many great ECE 5760 projects. Thanks Bruce “The game software runs on a third DE2
If you want to learn how to work with IR over long distances have a look at the article that Giorgos Lazaridis wrote. He uses 555 timers to generate the carrier frequency needed for the IR reciever which is the type you would find in a DVD player or a TV set (amongst a million other remote controlled things). Giorgos is getting a very healthy 10 meters of range from
