Planet Arduino

Steve over at Big Mess O’ Wires wrote up a nice review of our Blinky POV kit. A few excerpts are below, you can read the whole thing at the Big Mess O’ Wires blog post.

My oldest daughter Alice has an occasional interest in electronics, and as her dad I try to encourage her without becoming too annoying. We’ve done some past projects like Snap Circuits experiments, building a Drawdio pen, and constructing an animated Halloween LED display. Recently we had a chance to build a Blinky POV from Wayne and Lane. Or more accurately I should say she had a chance to build it, since my role was limited to talking her through the steps and taking photos. It’s impressive what an 11-year-old can do with a soldering iron!

The main reason I selected Wayne and Lane’s Blinky POV instead of another similar one was the novel method used to program it. Instead of a PIC programmer, a serial connection, or some other conventional interface, it uses a pair of photo sensors to program new messages using flashes of light. Go to the Blinky Programmer web page, design some pixel or text-based messages, and click “go”. A clever bit of javascript flashes two squares on the screen, and when the Blinky POV is held near these flashing squares, it reprograms the stored messages in about 30-60 seconds. In our experience this method was very reliable, and much less hassle than dealing with virtual serial ports or other wired interfaces. And it actually made programming fun – like magic! The web page interface is surprisingly versatile, too. You can design pixel art or text messages, adjust the scrolling speed, switch between multiple stored messages, and define what should happen at the end of each message.

This is starting to sound like a Wayne and Lane commercial, so I should probably add that I have no affiliation with them other than being a satisfied customer. If there’s a young builder in your life who might enjoy a simple but fun-filled electronics project, give Blinky POV a try.

Read more: http://www.bigmessowires.com/2014/01/12/building-the-blinky-pov/

Xander at Bot Bench wrote up a nice review of our Bricktronics Breakout Boards:

These adapters would definitely be indispensable if you’re planning to do any kind of tinkering with your Arduino and whatever NXT peripherals you had in mind.

I had a lot of fun putting them together and they plugged into the breadboard very easily and sat very snugly afterwards. They’re very reasonably priced at just $4 a piece. They come with the required 82K Ohm resistor, which you will need for the pull-up.

Read more: http://botbench.com/blog/2014/01/12/bricktronics-breakout-board/

MobileWill posted a great review of our Blinky POV SMT kit!

The Blinky POV SMT is similar to the Blinky GRID but it only has one row of LEDs. By waving the Blinky in the air you can see the design/text due to the effect of persistence of vision. This happens because your retina sees the image slightly longer than it is being displayed. Read more about persistence of vision.

Last Thursday I came home and there it was, waiting for me to rip it open! Since I was leaving for a weekend trip, I decided I would assemble it that night so I could show it off. So at 10:30pm I got started.

Read more: MobileWill: Blinky POV SMT

Thomas wrote in with some kind words about the Blinky Grid SMT kit he purchased at Radio Shack:

Thank you so much for the high quality kits and excellent documentation! I recently purchased your Blinky Grid SMT kit for a teaching engagement – mostly because of the novel programming method! To say the least, everything worked out great. Building the kit was a breeze, programming and demo went well, and the kids I was working with walked away with an increased interest in electronics and programming!

Next up – Video Game Shield! Just need a free weekend! Again, keep up the great work and please, more SMT kits!!

The Blinky Grid SMT (and all the other Blinky kits) are available in the Wayne and Layne Store and also the Maker Shed store.