Planet Arduino

Ok, this one is a bit bizarre, but in perfect keeping with the subject matter: a talking toilet ripped from the pages of the Captain Underpants children’s books. Hackaday.io user [hamblin.joe]’s county fair has a toilet decorating contest and at the suggestion of their neighbour’s son, [hamblin.joe] hatched a plan to automate the toilet using an Arduino in the fashion of the hero’s foes.

Two Arduinos make up this toilet’s brains, an Adafruit Wave Shield imbues it with sound capabilities, and a sonic wave sensor will trigger the toilet’s performance routine when someone approaches. A windshield wiper motor actuates the toilet bowl lid via a piece of flat iron bar connected to a punched angle bracket. Installing the motor’s mount was a little tricky, since it had to be precisely cut so it wouldn’t shift while in the toilet bowl. A similar setup opens the toilet tank’s lid, but to get it working properly was slightly more involved. Once that was taken care of there was enough room left over for a pair of 12V batteries and a speaker. Oh, and a pair of spooky eyes and some vicious looking teeth.

If you have a limited number of bathrooms at home or at work, some signage would be useful to know when it’s free and how dangerous it is to enter.

The greatest show and tell on earth is coming to Rome next October and it’s now time to organize and register to the events!

This is the agenda of MakerFaire Rome:

• Thursday 3rd October- Opening Conference “How to Remake the World” with special guests like Joey Hudy, Dale Dougherty,  Leah Buechley, David Gauntlett and many more! Get your free ticket >>
• Friday 4th October – Educational Day – Entrance for registered schools only – If you are a teacher and want to visit MakerFaire with your class book your reservations here (only in italian)
• Saturday 5th and Sunday 6th October – MakerFaire Rome days with over 200 projects from all over the world will be on show, including workshops, live demonstrations, and conference panels. Buy your ticket now >> (if you register by the 20th of September there’s a promotional code)

Check out the video below to see why you shouldn’t miss this event: