Posted September 18, 2013 by Chris

“Clappidoo sits quietly and will not bother anyone, unless somebody carelessly puts an object in front of him. Clappidoo will then wake-up and, depending on his ‘mood’ of the moment, will either be: Angry, Happy, Confused or Flirty. Clappidoo will go trough all these moods at random, and will go back to sleep if you remove the annoyance in front of him.”

Posted September 17, 2013 by Chris

“I’ve made plenty of LED Throwies in my day but I only recently discovered Karl Lunt’s low power LED firefly project. I was immediately inspired to make my own LEDfireflies. Unlike LED Throwies which will only last 4 or 5 days per battery, these LEDfireflies utilize ATTiny AVR microcontrollers and the LED as a light sensor (cool!) to get several weeks of flashing on a single battery.”

Posted September 16, 2013 by Chris

“This project started about 8 months ago in January 2010, when I saw that a surprising number of people were making ROVs at home. Though very few had footage of anything interesting, it certainly proved the concept was viable. I’ve always been fascinated and fearful of the ocean, so this seemed a great way to explore the depths without having to personally go where the sun doesn’t shine.”

Posted September 15, 2013 by Chris

“The clap sensor is a simple circuit that incorporates a PC microphone, a microcontroller, and an output.I chose the ATtiny84 microcontroller for this project because I’m familiar with the AVR architecture and I have access to the tools to use it. I bought the ATtiny84 in its SOIC-14 packaging. ”

Posted September 14, 2013 by Chris

“Want to make really nice looking front panel for your next DIY project? Then you’re in the right place! First you’re gonna need to have some basic tools and materials: InkJet or Laser printer, Utility knife or X-Acto knife, Pair of scissors, General Usage Labels, Self-Adhesive Laminating Sheet, Imagination!”

Posted September 13, 2013 by Chris

“This is a music player I made for my entry for the 2013 Ottawa Mini-Maker Faire. It’s based on the popular 555 timer chip. My main design criteria was that it had to be far more robust than my previous music player that used pencil marks for the resistors. Those pencil marks wore away from the paper moving over them and taking away the pencil lead.”

Posted September 12, 2013 by Chris

Now it’s time for this week’s Analog Electronics lesson! This time we will explore more about Rectifier diodes. Here’s a quick intro of what this PyroEDU lesson is all about:

In electronics, diodes serve a unique purpose in that they only allow current to flow through them in one direction, which makes them useful for blocking unwanted voltages and guiding current flow. In this lesson, we are going to use that unique property of diodes to rectify a simple AC signal into a flat DC signal.

Posted September 11, 2013 by Chris

“Goals: [1] Create a wireless device that sends data from a simple tilt switch. [2] Use a PC to capture, analyze, and detect shaking mosion…..Method: Place a simple tilt switch on a wireless RF board (PIC12F675). Receive the RF data onto a USB PIC (PIC18F2550). Transmit the data to a laptop using USB serial port emulation (PBP code). Analyze the data using Processing, identify and visualize shake-motion.”

Posted September 10, 2013 by Chris

“The TriWheeler has a smart autonomous mode that allows the unit to move freely without running into major obstacles. Furthermore, The TriWheeler features 3 speeds and the cruising speed could be easily adjusted using the remote control on the fly.”

Posted September 9, 2013 by Chris

“The purpose of this project is to aid the visually impaired with everyday tasks by providing more information to them about their surroundings. Typically, a person with no or poor vision will use a cane while walking to determine the general topography of the area.”