The Maker Shed Arduino Giveaway
Maker Shed has given us one of their Projects Pack for Arduino V2.0 to give away here on MAKE. The kit includes an Arduino Uno, a MakerShield, breadboards and jumper wire kit, protoboard, a USB cable, motors, and oodles of sensors and basic electronic components, all housed in a component storage box. (See the listing in the Shed for a full contents list.) The kit retails for $100. This is a perfect way to get fully into the Arduino microcontroller hobby.
To be eligible, all you have to do is tell us in the comments below about either the coolest microcontroller project you’ve ever built or one that you dream of building. Maybe you’ll snag this kit and be on your way to making that project happen.
The eligible commenting period will last until Wednesday (4/20) at 11:59pm PDT. The winner will be announced on Thursday morning (don’t forget to check back here to see if you’ve won!).
Update: The winner of the Maker Shed Projects Pack for Arduino is Kelly Cooke. Congrats, Kelly! Please email us with your mailing address and we’ll get your Projects Pack sent out to you.
More:
The Make: Arduino landing page
I’ve never built anything with an Arduino, but I really would like to. I have a little boy and I’m a single mom. I think it would be awesome for us to build something together and let his creativity be our guide. :) He loves music and things that light up, soooooo, this might be the perfect gift for us. :)
I’ve never worked on an arduino project, but I build guitars and I’ve seen plans on arduino effects pedals. It would be a fun project to build one.
How do you choose a single project when this kit gives you SO many possibilities ?!?!?!
I have not built anything with arduino yet, but I would like to incorporate one into an RFI kit for the front door of my house. That way I can give out RFI keys to the people I want access and be able to control when then can get in.
After reading this month’s WIRED all about arduino maker projects, I’m super psyched to build my first project. I’m thinking specifically about ways to leverage online behavior (e.g., tweets) to mechanical action (e.g., lights/sounds). Pick me!
I have to be honest and say I’ve never built anything before but I’m very curious to start.
I really want to build a Laser Tag sensor/emitter/score keeper.
I built a little robot before. My next project is to build a gigapan mount for taking really large panoramas
Robots! Welcome, Robot Overlords!!!!
me and my friend are working on building a kinect controlled plane with a camera shield and Xbee PRO shield for better communications. we started all the planning but we didn’t get the aurdoino yet.
me and my friend are working on building a kinect controlled plane with a camera shield and Xbee PRO shield for better communications. we started all the planning but we didn’t get the aurdoino yet.
i WANT TO BUILD A REVERSE GEOCACHE!!!
‘reverse geocache’ as in…
what, you hide and a little geocache comes and finds you?
A reverse geocache is a locked box with an Arduino and a GPS that opens when you bring it to the correct location (i.e., you wander around with it and triangulate the opening spot based on what it is telling you on its LCD window).
I haven’t done anything with a microcontroller, but I think I would like to build something for the Cub Scout troop. They already have a device to measure the pine wood car derby, but they don’t have anything for the rocket derby. Currently they have dad’s stand around with stop watches to time from start to finish, if they don’t finish, they measure how far they went (they are rubber band powered and hang from a string). I think I can change the line to a wire and the hanger to a carbon pad and measure the distance by sending a signal down the wire and measure the time it takes to get a reflection back. Timing should be easy in that I just have to have a switch at the other end to stop the timer or I can still use my reflector and that way they can have the stopping point varied. I think the hard part would be figuring the freq to use for the pulse what to expect back. It will take some testing, but I have some scouts that would love it.
BEST THING BUILT: Automatic fading night light. An IR motion sensor and three white LEDs hooked up on an Arduino NG. I built it when my son was born so we could see to do baby maintenance at night without turning the room light on. It fades up fairly quickly when it sees movement and fades down over about 3 minutes when there’s no movement – leaving everyone to sleep in a nice dark room. That was almost 4 years ago and it’s still going strong! Wouldn’t be without it.
DREAM BUILD: Arduino video motion-control rig. I’ve actually been working on it (on and off) for a few years but I really want to push it forward to being a solid piece of useable kit.
Last little robotic thingy I made was in school, a little robot that would follow a white line, record it’s speed and distance traveled. I think I want to somehow use this to record how long it’ll take my hedgehog, Prickles, to get to the moon on his little wheel.
i’ll build a car alarm and a keyless car key with yubikey using 2G network and GPS to remote access the car
I want to build something to entertain my kitties.
The cooles microcontroller project I’ve ever built is my Mouse trap Alert. I have had an ongoing issue with mice in my crawlspace. Trapping them got a little easier when I found a battery powered electricution type trap, but it was still a pain to constantly check into the crawlspace all year long. I developer a combination of wireless radios with microcontrollers and LCD displays to send a signal from the trap when it traps a mouse (or runs out of battery) to a receiver that sits on my desktop. Then I only check the trap when there is an actual catch or low battery.
Coolest micro-controller project so far? Hmm, Either my remote controlled power-wheel a WIP or one of my many small robots.
I have been wanting to build some type hamradio morse decoder or digital mode converter for psk rtty or other digi modes — been wanting to work this up for some time!!!
I want to use microcontrollers and a variety of sensors to monitor the houseplants in my home and my office.
Monitor and automate my aquaponic setup.
The coolest microcontroller project I want to build is an RF remote control for Lego trains that has a hand held controller run from an Arduino, LCD, buttons and an XBee which communicates with a Xbee and arduino in the trains to control them but also communicates with track side accessories like signals and switching points so that they work together to simulate a real train operation. So far I have some basic plans and circuit diagrams for it all but an lacking anything to prototype it with.
I haven’t built anything yet, I am just getting into Arduino. I want to build a Moog style synthesizer. That would be the dream, actually, I want to build an army of different synths that can play together. I also want to start teaching my children about electronics so they can build cool things.
I always leave the garage door open so I recently built a garage door sensor with an arduino and ethernet shield. It uses a reed switch to determine if the garage door is open and it sends my wife and I a text message if it is open after 8PM. I also hooked it into the garage door opener so I can reply via text message to actually close the garage door. I can also query the current status (open or closed) via text message. It’s been working great and saved my butt a few times.
Google Reader connected lamp that will change colors from green to red depending on the number of unread items and has a LCD screen that shows the most recent headline
The coolest thing I have ever made was the humble “metrognome” but on a breadboard. It was two weeks ago and my first project. I wanted to play around with the source code and see what I could learn.
It raised question about clock speeds (the arduino seemed to run about 50 times faster than the atmega on the metrognome for example).
I had to learn a bit about crystals and how they even work (though I didn’t have to use them).
In playing with the confused speeds I got to understand the what the seven segment displays work (I didn’t realise it was to do with strobing or whatever the term is.
I learnt to read the product description and datasheets/comments on the product page, because I was convinced there was a way to use what turned out to be an unwired led.
I learnt breadboards run out of space really quickly (and recently found out about Fritzing, which is just rude sounding).
Basically it was a cool project because it was my first hardware programming experience, and I learnt an insane amount in a short time.
I’ve got a data logger with a GPS and several sensors. Battery operated and runs for hours.
Complete my submersible ROV
I’ve used Arduinos to connect pedals to software instruments alread. I’m looking for new ways to integrate microcontrollers into musical instruments, including putting them inside kalimbas and other homemade instruments along with photosensors and acellerometers to control audio parameters.
The coolest microcontroller project I’ve built was an NES controller interface. It was really neat to learn about the builtin shift register in the NES controller, and how to read 2 controllers at the same time. I plan on porting it to AVR from the Arduino, and have it read as a USB gamepad HID. I would feel amazing if I could somehow get it to work with the zapper, too! :)
I am working on a single-arm barn door tracker for astrophotography, driving the tangent arm with a stepper motor and adjusting the drive rate to compensate for tangent error. The whole idea is to track the stars across the sky for long exposures.
However, in the middle of building that, my company had an RC car race… One of the prizes was for best obstacle. What I love about the arduino platform is that I was able to use it to make a moving-ramp trap based on the work I had done to drive the stepper motor in an afternoon – won the prize! I think the best part was when I watched one driver waiting on the ramp for it to move into position got rear-ended and dropped off the end of the ramp by the next driver, who in turn was able to get past the obstacle first.
I would like to develop a unit that is handheld and can read UPC codes so I can keep track of my purchases in the grocery store.
If I had an Arduino I would build a photogate that I could use for macro photography. But my real dream would be to build a quadcopter.
I’d really like to build a microcontroller controlled sensor array to check the environment variables of my office fish tank… The coolest thing I’ve built, I guess, was a panoramic camera mount for point and shoot cameras. It was amazing seeing something I built actually work. :)
Want to build a seed germination cabinet for my father in law so he can retire and grow plants for the entire neighborhood. Have already started making my own moisture sensors, physical cabinet, light grid, and watering system. Just need thermal monitoring and some arduino magic to control it all…
I’ve not built anything yet but I always go hard which is why I’ve started on a reprap and a desktop cnc
I’ve only just gotten started with Arduino. I picked up a handful of projection displays (used in instrumentation before VFDs and LEDs became popular) and had most of it built and working using TTL ICs. Each display has 12 possible digits to project, so it’s almost like a nixie clock circuit. I’m trying to convert the project to Arduino and dip my toes in programming.
Created a light-up Bustier for a community theater show. The actress could use pressure sensitive sensors inside the tips of her glove thumbs to control which sets of LED’s lit up and how bright. Press both down really hard to set off an animated pattern of heart shaped groups of colored LED’s. Built for the song ‘Gotta Have a Gimmick’ for the review ‘And the World Goes Round’. Arduino, flexiforce sensors, Lots of LED’s, and some lingerie.
Ive been building an electronic control unit for my RC truck. The engines in RC cars have fuel adjustment needles. So you need to trim the fuel (which contains the lubricant) depending on the weather, humidity , and performance you desire. Less fuel = more power = less lube and engine life. By logging the temperature of the engine head and connecting the fuel screw to a servo I am going to try to make a PID controller to automate the tuning. So far im building it from what I have laying around. It would speed up development to use the arduino libs. This project , and source code for the datalogger portion nearly done is posted at jeselectronics dot com currently using PIC. Its titled RCecu there are a few posts on it.
For a university project, I built a Jukebox that played polyphonic “songs” through a small 8 ohm speaker (through a SPI interfaced DAC). It was powered by an Atmel ARM7 AT91SAM and responded to inputs from an alphanumeric keypad. It also drove a small display to inform the user of the track number and current play time.
I think it would be cool to use it to dev sensors to track chemical runoff from big agriculture
Hope to MAKE something that will make my Kids want to learn how to Make also. up until then just trying to learn and relearn what I used to know building Ski Lifts
Keso’s ‘Jar of Fireflies’ over on Instructables. http://www.instructables.com/id/Jar-of-Fireflies/
After seeing this, I got interested in micro-controllers. Have yet to actually do anything because of personal budget restraints…
A coworker had to retire from networking due to sensitivity to EMF, so of course I built an EMF detector, mostly from Collin’s design, but I did manage to fit it into a Trader Joe’s chocolate tin, with the bargraph in the clear plastic center window. I even used a circular perfboard. He was blown away at the retirement party that it actually worked. I was blown away how much EMF our Motorola radios emit while transmitting, good thing we don’t use them much…
It’s time to put my greenhouse to work, and not as a storage shed. My goal is to get temperature humidity, illumination and soil moisture sensors hooked up to the Arduino, then communicate this to my PC inside. Then, I’ll look into controls for automatic watering, supplemental lighting and maybe a cooler or fan.
I am using a hydraulic motorcycle scissor lift I picked up on ebay to lift my video projector out of a piece of furniture when I want to watch a movie, the only annoying part is that my Harmony remote will set everything up for “movie time” with the touch of a button, but then I still have to get up and physically step on the lifts foot peddle to lift the projector up and put it away. I want to use the ardunio (along with a shield to isolate the 120V current ) to detect when the projector turns on an off (either using the 5V switch output on the projector, or by use of a SmartStrip power strip) and raise and lower the projector (by the correct amounts) as needed. There will also be senors to stop the lift at the right hieght and when the cabinet is fully closed.
I’m currently sketching out plans to automate our clothes dryer — set time, start and stop via SMS. Plus load finish notifications. Arduino + XBee
I want to build something with my sons. Some kind of robot probably.
I would love to build a hard drive clock. I’ve seen it done before and have been thinking about it for a while now.
Can’t think of anything right now but it would involve my cat, an Android phone and an Arduino. She gets really bored sometimes.
I have a friend who’s done a GPS hack on an old prepaid cell phone so his position is always reported to a web server. I want to make a tracker to report direction and approximate distance to the GPS target.
I’ve been wanting to start working with Arduino. I’d really like to figure out an automatic system for watering and/or feeding my cat on. I’d also like to use it to figure out a way to keep said cat off of my countertops.
I’ve designed a Calorie Tracker Module that counts the number of calories I have burned over the course of a day. It constantly measures my heart rate, body temperature, movements, gait, and other physical variables to estimate the number of calories spent. It can tweet my body state and predict what exercises and activities are best for burning calories.
A garage exhaust system. Two Picaxes: one measures inputs, including indoor and outdoor temperature and presense of Carbon Monoxide. Servos are used to control fan direction. The other Picaxe is a User Interface connected to a 2 line LCD display which shows the temperatures and fan and CO status.
Coolest?! I’ve gotten an example from the Arduino site to work for showing numbers on a serially enabled LCD display to work at least twice. And surprised the person I was showing it to.
Dream project?! On the Pachube site, it describes one connected via Ethernet, and doing “something”. Does the kit contain a basic Ethernet shield? That’s what I need. People have also gotten exciting response from a tethered one, and it needs the parts described. Okay that may not be a winner one, but that’s my dream.
I have made a usb microcontroller interface which has 8 digital inputs and outputs and 1 analogue input and output. Unfortunatly it uses C++ to program it. Ive seen other kits available in America, such as Basic stamp, but alas, in England we dont have an innovation culture and these products are unavailable here.
My original project was an automated vacuum cleaner, which would work if the microcontroller used a language that I understood. I managed to download the software for basic stamp and PCB design software which includes a BS module, i used this to play around and see my project working vertually, but since the actual BS is unavailable here, never got to finish it. I have a prototype built, its just waiting to recieve a microcontroller.
My ultimate project would be to wire EVERY electrical appliance (including clocks) in my home to a microcontroller and with the use of my pda or a computer connected to the internet, be able to control everything in my home, from anywhere in the world. Ive designed a lighting system which uses different coloured LEDs, which would be part of this intergrated system. The purpose of it is to give blue light in the morning and red light at night. i got this idea after reading that when blue light contacts the retina, the brain produces seritonin and red light produces melatonin. The morning light would help me wake up, and the night light wont wake me fully when i go toilet at night. Also, with the system linked with fire/smoke detectors, the lights would come on blue at night, they could also be programmed to show safe routes out of a building.I even dont see much of a challange in making things to help with chores around the house and linking it all in together. Electric water valves could mean even my bath can be controlled. i could have a freshly run bath waiting for me when i wake up in the morning.
With additional software like dragon naturally speaking, i could have this entire system voice controlled.
“computer, I would like a cup of coffee while I watch stargate and this floor could do with a hoover. oh and i wish to have a bath ready for 2100h.”
I dont see why everyone cant have a house of the future, it doesnt have to cost millions.
don’t go the basic stamp – I got one here in australia and had to go through getting a USB-serial adapter (I use mac) and BASIC is a terrible language – and then after uploading the first program, it works, but, alas, no program afterwards has ever uploaded. and believe me, i’ve tried. i guess it’ll have to stay with a !@#$%^& blinking LED for the rest of time…
It may be terrible language but its one I know, unless theres one that uses pascal. I havent really programmed anything since my c64.
I want to build a time machine so that I may travel back to my college years and explain to my future self how much I will be interested in programable circuits because this company from Italy will spur an electromechanical revolution by creating an open source, affordable, feature packed dev kit and a community that backs it.
A while back I created a fortune teller using an old cigar box with an Arduino for the brains.
I also used a LCD screen and some LED’s.
The user gets a fortune after turning it on.
To get a new fortune you push a button on the side. My nieces love it when they come to visit.
I posted how I made it on Instructables.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Arduino-Fortune-Teller/
I’m currently working on a weather station and would use the new Arduino for it.
Arduino rocks!
Dream Arduino project: Touch screen interface to a DSP to control effects as the signal leaves the guitar. This device could be attached to the guitar behind the bridge and provide a cool visual effect while being useful to the musician.
I want to integrate an RFID reader into my dog’s door to permit my dogs (RFID attached to collar) to automatically gain entry into the house based on their ID and/or time of day. I’ve already built the web service and iPhone app to monitor my backyard. One important feature would to be to set an exception (remotely) for a rainy day and sound an alarm to let them know they’re able to enter the house. The web service and mobile app have already been developed, I just need to get my hands on an Arduino.
Well I always wanted to make an open source network enabled analog to digital conveter to transmit biosignals for polysomnography sensors. (Electroengephalography (EEG) with 34 electrodes, ElectroOcculoGraphy (EOG), ElectroCardioGraphy (ECG), ElectroMyoGraphy (EMG legs and chin), Oximetry, Air Flow (propably using a piezoelectric tranducer), Respiratory Inductive Plethysmograph (RIP) for both abdominal and thoracic muscle groups and the ability to expand the device using modular components and add or even control over devices using it(ex. a Continous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) device). Data could be storred localy or via network to a computer using the European Data Format.
I want to make a programmable IR intervalometer with IR codes for multiple cameras.
I think the coolest project I want to build is an improved thermostat for my house. I always thought it was silly that you can set it to cool or heat, but not both. I want a range. If it is less than that, I want it to heat up, if it is more than that, cool it down. Ideally, being able to eventually hook it up to a wireless network so I can open/close vents would be also useful, that way I could get a more even temperature or handle the fact my living room is always a few degrees colder than the bedroom. I’d want to build it so it can be a bit more intelligent about the weather, so if it knows it is going to be cold, it can start heating up a little earlier.
I’m working on a cigar-box GPS unit that will hold way points. An LCD screen will point you in the direction of the current waypoint!
I really want to try out building a hydroponic system controlled by the arduino, or something to automatically open the garage door (or close it) based on proximity or something. Something cool like that. Work some Xbee stuff into it too. Car leaving the driveway, close the door without pressing a button. Maybe turn lights on when I arrive. something like that.
My best project so far has been my carputer that records GPS traces and displays trip information on a display on my dashboard. Read all about it here: http://www.wirelesscouch.net/~cluening/projects/arduino/carputer/
My arduino is my prototyping platform before things get moved onto (usually) smaller AVR chips. In the past, the coolest thing I’ve made is an RFID authorization system (scan a tag, and it’ll enable an output or not, depending on if your tag is in the authorized list). Right now, it’s being used as a logic analyzer to reverse-engineer a motorized tripod’s serial communications. Soon (I hope) this tripod will be controlled by the arduino!
I would love to make a Wootoff controller for my USB woot lights. I know I would need a Ethernet shield, but this kit would get me close enough to buy the Shield. I think it would be cool if they started to spin when there was a Wootoff in progress.
I am also getting things together for a c-n-c router.
As an 15-year old maker I’ve always wanted an arduino to play with, I recently got my first Breadboard from RadioShack along with the 555-timer chip. Breadboards are awesome, and that someone thought of combining the arduino microcontroller with a breadboard and fit it in such a small design as the protoshield is even more awsome. I’ve always wanted to make a homemade alarm system, with maybe 2 sensors, for my room or my candy drawer, i already have the magnetic switches ready here on my project desk, people are always stealing stuff from poor makers like me, hehe. Having an arduino, and even better the starter pack, will finally get me going on building my basic alarm system.
-Bjarni
To make my duct tape boat autonomous. http://www.instructables.com/id/Rc-Duct-Tape-Swamp-Boat/
I’ve been dreaming of making a grandfather clock that looks like a giant nixie tube. A glass tube that large is the real sticking point. I figure an arduino and EL wire would handle the rest nicely.
I’d love to build a tracked robot able to sense fallen ping pong balls, retrieve them, and launch one by one straight up on command when I clap or say a specific command, when the ball is needed. I know it can be done! Need the brains!!
Okay, here’s the project I’ve been dreaming of making. A biofeedback machine. One that incorporates a hacked Mindflex EEG device (re: Mindflex game) and a Binaural Beat Generator. I would also love to tie in pulsating LEDs that adjust in color, in accordance to your registered brainwave state.
And, I just thought of this: a modified, body-length, back massager that pulsates in sequence with the pulsating LEDs and Binaural Beat Generator.
I’m dreaming of an Arduino-controlled “brewbot” to regulate my mash temperature, pump the wort to a boil kettle for the time required, and then run it all through a wort chiller. Consistent homebrew results, every time!
Espresso machine technology keeps moving along, but nobody seems interested in advancing grinder technology. As a long time barista, I’d like to change that and build a revolutionary espresso grinder.