Planet Arduino

This little box not only plays tunes, but it lets you control several aspects of playback without touching a thing. [Thomas Clauser] calls it the LighTouch and we like it because it uses inaudible sound to control audible sound.

We think the pair of cylinders sticking up through the top of this project enclosure will be recognized by most readers as the business end of an ultrasonic rangefinder. This is the only control interface which [Thomas] chose to use. Although he didn’t write very extensively about the specific control scheme he implemented, the video embedded in his post shows some of the gestures that cause the Arduino inside to change its behavior. For instance, a swipe of the hand at higher level starts playback, swiping at a lower level pauses it. When adjusting the volume the box responds to how close his hand is to that sensor. With this control in place, the music side of these things is simply handled by a music shield he is using.

Filed under: Arduino Hacks, digital audio hacks

Combine an Arduino, an ultransonic distance sensor, and some common components to build a classic "hot/cold" project. Once assembled, we'll walk through the software "sketch" loaded onto our Arduino, and experiment with three variations of the "hot/cold" theme, all the while using the same circuit.

Read the full article on MAKE