Posted November 5, 2010 by Chris

This line follower seems to take the cake when it comes to precision and complexity. It uses the standard setup to detect differentials in light intesity, but then takes it one step further and examins the data with meaningful control. The project write-up has all the details, software and hardware schematics you’ll need to duplicate it.

Posted October 30, 2010 by Chris

Here’s a motor controller board that you can make at home. It features two LMD18245’s and a PCB board layout. The parts are all listed in the project write-up and software for the PIC that controls everything is available for download.

Posted October 29, 2010 by Chris

Ever curious what your cat does all day? The CatCam is your answers. A simple digital camera combined with some automation and a less then comfortable cat collar gives you all the info of where your cat goes throughout the day. Take a look at the project write-up to see how to build it.

Posted October 27, 2010 by Chris

If you’re curious about how telephones work and how to actually record and play back sound files using a microcontroller you’ll want to read this project write-up. The phone line is connected to a PIC which collects that data and can save it as a wave file for you to play back and listen to.

Posted October 26, 2010 by Chris

Ever since the segway came out commercially, all types of self balancing robots and scooters have been seen on the internet. Here’s another one! This robot uses two motors and a microcontroller to handle the balance control. Advanced feedback is used to make sure everything is stable.

Posted October 25, 2010 by Chris

Brewing your own beer requires some science and planning. This project aims to control the two main parts of steeping grains and boiling through temperature sensing. The write-up has all the details and lots of data.

Posted October 23, 2010 by Chris

The principles of a stirling engine have been around in mechanical engineering circles for a very long time. Recently stirling engines have been put to work in some renewable energy plants. Take a look at this simple DIY stirling engine project.

Posted October 20, 2010 by Chris

If you missed this project from earlier this year here is your chance to check it out. A small box with one simple purpose, to turn itself off (youtube video). The project write-up shows how to build this device yourself!

Posted October 19, 2010 by Chris

While the details are a little sparse, this controlled system is amazing to watch. Two servos control the roll and pitch of a small board to keep a ball bearing centered. Watch the video of it in action and check out the hardware links that make the project possible.

Posted October 10, 2010 by Chris

This project uses some creative thinking to build a binary clock that runs off of analog circuity. A wheel similar to an encoder wheel is used that slowly spins to give you the time in binary code. A great project for anyone willing to expand their mind beyond the base 10 number system!