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BEAM Head (version A)

I have been captivated by Mark Tilden's BEAM Robotics cult-like following and decided to join the many people that have built a BEAM-bot. My first BEAM project was a 1D Squirmer Head. For those of you...

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BEAM Phototrope

My second effort in BEAM Robotics has been the creation of a PhototropePhotophile. Phototropes are small BEAM-bots that respond to light and are mobile. This phototrope is attracted to light, so it is...

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Automated Nightstand

This was an attempt to declutter our bedroom. I had grown weary of the clutter next to the bed and decided to make a nightstand that matched the ALF Group bedroom set we purchased from Italy. In this...

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Sump Pump Monitor

We have have an extremely active sump system. At times during strong rainfall, our pump may actually stay on as it pumps the water out as fast as it comes into our sump pit. I found myself forever...

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Floor Lamp

My father-in-law could use a new floor lamp for Christmas, so with some persuasion from my wife, I decided to make one for him. Earlier in the year he had given to me (as a birthday gift) some rough...

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Pinewood Derby Car

My son attends AWANAat our church. Each year the kids have a pinewood derby race where they compete for both the fastest race times and the best design. My son and I teamed up (as is encouraged by the...

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PIC Micro Programmer

The idea of programming small micro-controllers has been an interest of mine for a long time. Microchip makes a number of small micro-controllers, and after some studying on the topic, my target chip...

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BEAM Head (Version B)

I have completed (with the help of my friend Matt) the mechanical platform for my BEAM Head (Version B). It was milled by Matt on a Hurco CNC Milling Machine. I showed up with my two gear motors and...

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Pummer

Here's some information on the pummer I built over Christmas break. I decided to take a few components and breadboard a flashing circuit. After looking on the Internet and trying some different things,...

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Arduino LM35 Sensor

My son Paul and I recently finished a project using the ArduinoDiecimilamicrocontroller in conjunction with the Processing open source programming environment to monitor temperature.The project...

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Entertainment Cabinet

After getting a LCD TV, we realized our over-sized entertainment cabinet needed to be replaced with a smaller and more contemporary cabinet. We drew the cabinet on Sketchup first, then created the...

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Vacuum Fluorescent Display

Years ago, I saved a car radio from a Chrysler that had a digital display. I estimate 20 years later, I've finally taken time to tear it apart and scrounge parts from it. Inside I found a Vacuum...

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Vacuum Fluorescent Display (continued)

I've continued to work with the display I referred to in my last entry. It may seem like a small step, but I carefully calculated what resistor I would need to properly power the VFD filament from a 12...

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VFD Circuit Diagram

I did some tests and discovered that the plates (segments in each display) will need to be driven by the full 12 volts while the grids can be supplied by the Arduino's typical 5 volt digital output....

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Arduino VFD Hardware Interface Complete

The VFD is now connected to the protoshield and a test program shows all of the number segments operational. Here's some pictures of the finished shield mounted to an Arduino.Next is writing the driver...

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Tricorder Sound Circuit

Star Trek fans have likely heard the whirling whistle of the Tricorder. After talking with my son Paul about the challenge of designing a circuit to reproduce the sound, I came up with this...

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Re-purposed Cool Blue Light

Hi, this is Paul. Mark is my dad. Here's a project we made. It works great.What we did was take apart something and found a circuit board with an LCD. We took off the LCD and found its back light. It...

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Decoding IR Remote Control

Another Christmas vacation meant spending time at my in-law's dining room table working on a project. This year, I decided to try to figure out the IR communication protocol being used by this retired...

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Arduino and IR Receiver

In my last post, I used my USB oscilloscope to decode a discarded remote control's IR output. My next goal was to see if I could get my Arduino to read the data coming from the remote I had decoded.The...

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Arduino Stepper Motor Control

I've had a number of stepper motors sitting in my shop for years. If we really want to do anything fun with our Arduino, we are eventually going to have to run a stepper motor. So, here we go!A little...

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Transmitting IR Data

Some time ago, I wanted to see if I could control my Westinghouse TV using an Arduino micro-controller platform.When I started, I didn't know what communication protocol was being used by my TV, so I...

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Recent LCD Discovery

I recently visited an electronics surplus store while working in Minneapolis. This place was packed with electronic components. Bin after bin of switches, connectors, components and everything else you...

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Gentleman's Survival Kit

As always - I got carried away - and ended up making a Gentleman's Survival Kit.  Here's what I ended up using to make it...ContentsVintage Briefcase - purchased it on Etsy for $37 including...

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Scratch Built Vintage Looking Marquee

After seeing a presentation that had a picture of a marquee in the shape of an arrow, I thought it would be fun to make my own marquee someday.  But, I tucked the idea away and didn't immediately...

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Cold-War Radiation Detector Gone Audio

A geek friend of mine told me about an idea he had to convert a cold-war era radiation detector into a audio amplifier.  After hearing his plans - I took the idea a step further.First thing I needed to...

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