Planet Arduino

We all know that one neighbor who always goes the extra mile when decorating for the holidays, and after taking inspiration from these large displays of light and sound, Marcelo Arredondo, Andres Sabas, and Andrea ZGuz of the Electronic Cats crew decided to build a smaller version for their Christmas tree using the Arduino Opta micro PLC.

The team chose to create their music-synchronized light show with the Opta because of its reliability and bank of four built-in relays that could be utilized to switch specific light strings on or off. Lining up and triggering certain lighting effects for the music was all handled through the open-source Vixen Lights software. In here, the Opta was configured as a quad-channel controller that receives its commands over a GPIO connection sent by an Arduino UNO mediator. The PLC is programmed visually to read a programmable input pin for each relay and then leverage a comparator to toggle the relay when the signal is high.

Back in the Vixen Light software, the team imported their favorite Christmas song and began the process of charting it. First, they generated markers over the audio waveform to signify the beats and overall tempo. Next, various effects were added to the timeline which trigger the lighting channels in a particular sequence. Lastly, the UNO was flashed with a sketch that allowed it to read the incoming Serial data from Vixen over USB and then toggle its digital outputs for the Opta to register.

More information about this project can be found in its write-up here on Hackster.io.

The post Syncing tunes to Christmas tree lights with the Arduino Opta appeared first on Arduino Blog.

Have you ever exited a dark movie theater in the middle of the afternoon and found yourself blinded by the sudden transition to bright sunlight? Etienne Leroy faces the same problem after watching a movie on his home projector and turning on the lights. Because those lights are intense and instantly come on at full brightness, the transition can be very harsh. To increase comfort, he designed a ring-shaped lamp that lightens progressively.

ECLIPSE is a ring-shaped lamp that shines its light upon the wall onto which it is mounted. When activated, it gradually increased the brightness of the light in order to avoid a jarring transition after movie time. There are no longer any worries about hurt eyes and the lamp looks gorgeous, so it adds to the home’s decor instead of detracting from it. Best of all, ECLIPSE is easy and affordable to build if you want your own.

The lamp’s frame is printable in small sections that should fit on most consumer 3D printers. Illumination comes from a strip of “warm white” LEDs, though it would be easy to substitute another color or even RGB LEDs. An Arduino Nano controls those LEDs, increasing brightness slowly over a set period of time. It uses an infrared receiver module, so users can take advantage of the remotes they already own and have handy to turn the ECLIPSE lamp on. It will work with any infrared remote and the user only needs to decode the specific code sent by their remote when they press the desired button.

The post ECLIPSE is a beautiful ring lamp that lightens progressively appeared first on Arduino Blog.

As you work on a project, lighting needs change dynamically. This can mean manual adjustment after manual adjustment, making do with generalized lighting, or having a helper hold a flashlight. Harry Gao, however, has a different solution in the form of a novel robotic task lamp.

Gao’s 3D-printed device uses a USB camera to take images of the work area, and a Python image processing routine running on a PC to detect hand positions. This sends instructions to an Arduino Nano, which commands a pair of small stepper motors to extend and rotate the light fixture via corresponding driver boards.

The solution means that he’ll always have proper illumination, as long as he stays within the light-bot’s range!

Non-profits can do great work, and in order to help others visualize the needs they serve and what they are doing, Jason Wolin came up with an amazing map for his organization.

The massive map stretches down 14 feet of a brick wall, with the continents cut out of MDF, and a pair of accompanying LCD TVs that show data about different areas.

Three computers are used for control, two of which are used to play videos on each screen. The third handles overhead map lighting controlled via the DMX protocol to illuminate the map in various configurations. Each of the PCs are coordinated using a trio of Arduino Nanos, allowing video and lighting effects to be displayed in perfect sync.

Having a light on your bike at night is important for safety, but what if those headlights could talk to others sharing the road with you? Well now it can, using the [Bike] Swarm by Alex Berke, Thomas Sanchez, and Kent Larson from the MIT Media Lab.

Their device—or collection of devices—controls a bicycle’s lighting via an Arduino and LED driver, and features an nRF24L01 wireless module to communicate with others in the vicinity. When another rider is encountered, the bikes sync their lights up automatically. 

The team has already designed and fabricated prototypes, then strapped them onto local city bike share program bikes for testing. 

It’s an interesting effect when two bikes pass, but as shown in the video below, things get much more fascinating when a handful of bikes can coordinate both their direction and light pattern.

As bikes navigate city streets after dark, they are often equipped with lights. The lights make the bikes visible to cars or other bikers, and the hazards of traffic less dangerous.

Imagine that as solitary bikes come together, their lights begin to pulsate at the same cadence. The bikers may not know each other, or may only be passing each other briefly, but for the moments they are together, their lights synchronize. The effect is a visually united presence, as groups of bikes illuminate themselves with a gently pulsing, collective light source.

"It's not only a musical project, but a union between different arts and sciences, where the sound meets design, electronics, and computer science"

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The post LEDs and MIDIs: Check Out the STEAM-Inspired Music of Holograph appeared first on Make: DIY Projects and Ideas for Makers.

Use a servo to flick a light switch mechanically — without ever touching 110V power — with this Wi-Fi “Turner Onner”

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The post Make a Wi-Fi Enabled Light Switch Turner Onner appeared first on Make: DIY Projects and Ideas for Makers.

Honeycomb patterns inspired the design behind this light fixture. The modular design means the shape can be reconfigured.

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The post Illuminate Your Walls with Beehive-Inspired Modular Lighting appeared first on Make: DIY Projects and Ideas for Makers.

A custom keyboard could be right at your fingertips, so why are you still using that basic keyboard that came with your computer?

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The post 8 Crazy Keyboards That Will Trick Out Your Typing appeared first on Make: DIY Projects and Ideas for Makers.

Watch Darbin Orvar create a modern-looking light fixture that uses high powered LEDs for a dimmable effect.

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The post Darbin Orvar: Construct a Beautiful, Dimmable LED Light Fixture appeared first on Make: DIY Projects, How-Tos, Electronics, Crafts and Ideas for Makers.