The Electronics Hobbyist

I’ve upgraded my work area…

Earlier this year I had decided to revamp my workbench, and even though I didn’t quite make the exact changes I wanted, I now have a larger work area, more storage and some new equipment. You can check out my blog for more of my messy workbench pictures.

A Cool Addition to Your Christmas Wishlist

I’m talking about the Hackvision, a tiny (the size of a control pad) 8-bit video game console based on the Atmega 328. It is an open source project that allows you to write your own games using the Arduino TVout library.

From http://nootropicdesign.com/hackvision:

Hackvision is a simple, retro gaming platform based on Arduino technology that you can assemble and connect to your TV. You can write you own games and make your own controllers!

XBee Data Capture into Flash Application

Adobe platform evangelist Kevin Hoyt presents a Arduino accelerometer project that communicates to an Adobe Flash application using XBee wireless.

http://tv.adobe.com/watch/adc-presents/physical-computing-with-arduino-xbee-wireless/

The Arduino Mindmap, Updated

Check out the Arduino mind map I made using the open-source tool FreeMind. It is a big picture overview of the Arduino hardware and software.

Human Pac-Man Re-enactment

French-Swiss artist Guillaume Reymond (NOTsoNoisy) from Western Switzerland has re-enacted the classic Pac-Man in a cinema in Baden with the help of 111 participants from the Swiss game scene. Human beings are turned into pixels that move from seat to seat. The result of this extraordinary performance: the biggest “human” computer game of all time as an animated short film. PAC-MAN is the 5th video performance of the artist’s GAME OVER Project.

http://www.notsonoisy.com/pac-man/index.html

Arduino: The Documentary trailer with English Subtitles

Here’s a version of the Arduino Documentary trailer with English subtitles:

if (s1state) { … }

s1state = digitalRead(S1); if (s1state) { ... }

Virtual Bread Board won’t let me write

if (s1state) { ... }

It will force me to write

if (s1state == 1) { ... }

Is it by design?

Illuminatrix: A Burning Man 2010 Art Project

Stationed just outside of the More Carrot theme camp at the Burning Man 2010 is a one metre square LED matrix. The Illuminatrix, as it is called, displays animations that were submitted by visitors to its website (http://cwd.co.uk/illuminatrix/).

The system is contructed of 16 custom built PCBs, each containing a PIC16F1827 microcontroller which receives data via I2C from a master board and controls 3 MAX6964 LED Drivers via I2C - one each for red, green and blue components. Each board then runs two ribbon cables of 8 RGB LEDs.