Planet Arduino

Augmented reality has yet to find a foothold in widespread applications, but MIT has just released an AR app that allows you to control IoT devices.

Read more on MAKE

The post MIT’s Reality Editor Controls IoT Devices via Augmented Reality appeared first on Make: DIY Projects, How-Tos, Electronics, Crafts and Ideas for Makers.

Smart phones are great. So great that you may find yourself distracted from working, eating, conversing with other human beings in person, or even sleeping. [Digitaljunky] has this problem (not surprising, really, considering his name) so he built an anti-procrastination box. The box is big enough to hold a smart phone and has an Arduino-based time lock.

The real trick is making the box so that the Arduino can lock and unlock it with a solenoid. [Digitaljunky] doesn’t have a 3D printer, so he used Fimo clay to mold a custom latch piece. A digital display, a FET to drive the solenoid, and a handful of common components round out the design.

The software uses C++ classes to keep everything organized. You can download the code on Github. Usage is simple (see the video below). Lock your phone away and get some work done while you wait for the Arduino to unlock the box.

We thought the use of clay instead of the customary 3D printed part makes it easier to duplicate the project. Of course, you could 3D print a piece, and if you really want to blend both worlds, you can always 3D print in clay. Of course, if you wanted a simpler solution, you could just write locking software for the phone. The box, on the other hand, could lock up anything tempting, not just a phone.

Filed under: Arduino Hacks

Blynk is a new platform that allows you to build interfaces for controlling and monitoring your projects from your iOS and Android device.

Read more on MAKE

The post Control an Arduino with Your Smartphone via Blynk appeared first on Make: DIY Projects, How-Tos, Electronics, Crafts and Ideas for Makers.

The LightBlue Bean is a low energy Bluetooth Arduino microcontroller. Using Bluetooth 4.0, it is programmed wirelessly, runs on a coin cell battery, and is perfect for smartphone controlled projects.

SAN FRANCISCO and MINNEAPOLIS April 20, 2015 Punch Through Design, a hardware and software development firm making it easier to develop Bluetooth Low Energy products, announced that the company?s popular LightBlue Bean has been used to create the winning device at the Bluetooth World Hack Challenge.

LightBlue Bean – Zero wires. Infinite uses - [Link]

TAH is a Bluetooth 4.0 device that directly connects to your smartphone. It is now easier than ever to connect your smart devices to everything around you with Tah!

TAH – Control anything from your smartphone - [Link]

TAH is a Bluetooth 4.0 device that directly connects to your smartphone. It is now easier than ever to connect your smart devices to everything around you with Tah!

TAH – Control anything from your smartphone - [Link]

Muzzley provides libraries for the most popular languages and platforms and in this project allows you to control a led strip with a mobile device (iOS and Android) using an Intel Galileo Board:

We integrated Muzzley into an Intel Galileo board so that we could control an RGB LED strip with our smartphone through the cloud. We’re also able to read from and write to the individual GPIO pins.

Check the code on Github and enjoy the video:

 

 

 

I got an idea of building a smartphone for the blind that is completely Braille-based. With absolutely no hint of how to make it, I started working on it.

Read more on MAKE

Have you seen this impressive video that shows what happens when you drop a steel ball onto a piece of Gorilla Glass 2 (used in the display of many smart phones, including the iPhone) with and without the protection of a clear polymer material called Rhino Shield? Rhino Shield was […]

Read more on MAKE