An Automatic Scrabble Tile Dispenser
Taj Singh has built an electronics Scrabble tile dispenser based on a PIC 16F628 microcontroller and a stepper motor.
PIC
Open-Source Wearable PIC Board
SquareWare by Ray’s Hobby offers the same general format as a Lilypad or Flora but uses a PIC microcontroller: An open-source microcontroller board designed specially for wearable electronics projects. It’s small (1.6″x1.6″) and square! Has 8 general i/o pins and 4 power sink pins suitable for driving high-current load. Comes with built-in USB connector and […]
Smart Umbrella Stand
Being wet weather season, this ambient weather forecasting umbrella stand hack from Simone Marra illustrates just how easy it is to integrate a networked controller with your project. Utilizing a Grove Nest board, a WiFi networking module, a motion sensor, and some RGB LEDs, Marra has built a handy way of remembering to bring an umbrella on your way out the door.
Skittles Sorting Machine
Do you like your rainbow of flavor to be sorted by discrete wavelength? If so, then you’ll appreciate Brian Egenriether’s Skittles Sorting Machine 2. Using an IR LED and phototransistor to determine the appropriate color, a BASIC Stamp 2 controls three servo motors to actuate a turnstile and chute selector to deliver the identified confection to a predetermined collection bowl.
The Create USB Interface and GROVE Sensor Platform
Here’s another interesting physical computing platform; the PIC-based Create USB Interface. The original design was made by Dan Overholt as a bridge between computer and world for musical and artistic applications. Seeed Studio has an updated design called the CUI32Stem, which has been tweaked to work well with the thirty-something sensors and actuators in their […]
DIY Hardware-Based Freelance Time Tracker
Our friend Raphael Abrams from NYC Resistor needs to track the hours he works as a freelancer but none of the solutions out there work very well for him. He therefore decided to make his own hardware-based detonator-style time tracker which he calls “Puncher.” The source code and schematics are available to download if you’d […]
‘Analog’ LED Clock
Here’s a neat LED analouge clock that simulates the hands of a traditional clock using rows of LEDs.
