MindKits News and Blog

We have lots of flying objects out there, aeroplanes, helicopter, and even cars (maybe). Lets have some fun and use our Arduino knowledge and maybe learn some mechanics aswell. ArduCopter is complete UAV solution, offering both remote control and autonomous flight, including waypoints, mission planning and telemetry displayed on a powerful ground station.
> There is a video of this running at the bottom of the blog.
http://code.google.com/p/arducopter/  Read More...

We all enjoyed playing with Lego and I'm sure some still do, but now there is a way to plug it in with Arduino compatible devices! A simple Mind-sensors Multiplexer for NXT Motors adaptation, lets you connect your Lego NXT experiences with Arduino, using a I2C interface. I'm sure this can extent your fun, as you can easily add another one, where Robots need many motors!
There is a video of this running at the bottom of the blog.
Guest Blogger: William George
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I’ve been interested in how to making Arduino projects smaller when some only use a few inputs/outputs, and I guess you want to box it up easier. This tutorial from High-Low Tech MIT Labs may help you shrinkify some future projects. There is a video about this that tells you of some pitfalls, but I think this can help us start new adventures.
Click the heading to read more.
Guest blogger: William George
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This is an easy first project to get your Freetronics LCD Shield up and running and presenting some real-world data.

In a nutshell, it's a temperature sensor with an LCD output. The model of Arduino board you use isn't too important, but my current favourite is the Freetronics TwentyEleven. The prototyping area on the TwentyEleven is really handy for soldering everything onto for the more permanent projects.

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Here's a nice simple demonstration of ingenuity and efficiency. MindKits customer Frits Schouten modified his outdoor light to use LED lighting. Pretty awesome to see the results. Lots more light at less than half the power.
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This years' project by Jamie Maloway spurred from every engineering student's basic need for caffeine combined with the outrageous price of on-campus coffee, both coupled with the perpetual need for convenience and a high level of geekiness.
The ultimate project goal was to take a ordinary, off-the-shelf automatic drip coffee maker and hook it up to the Internet with a nice little web interface that you could easily get at with a mobile phone or from a PC.
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The Camera Axe is a tool for photographers to trigger cameras or flashes based signals from various sensors. It is useful for catching phenomena that happen too quickly for human reflexes, like photographing a popping balloon or a milk droplet splash. Other uses can be to catch things photographers don't want to wait around for like birds flying to a bird feeder or surveillance of people walking down a hallway. The possibilities are endless.
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If you're like me and spent hours and hours in front of a TV as a youth with blobs and sprites racing across the screen to approximate things in real life - often note very well - then you'll remember the accompanying tunes blairing out as you race, jump or weaved across levels. They're a cross between a cricket on LSD and a guitar in a blender but they're happily burned into my brain. 
Well these fine Arduino folk have created a chip tune demo on an Arduino and all you'll need is an arduino, a speaker and some power. Check it out.
Source Link Here
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It brings me endless entertainment to see how just the little touches can breath personality and life into what would otherwise be a void of character and bring a smile to our faces as a result. This little yellow robot just brightens my day and I hope it brightens yours too. 
If you'd like to build one you can check out some code and instructions here. Read More...

Phwoar, 'Blinky' the all purpose 'must do' project for anyone beginning with Arduino just had a dose of Christmas cheer. This festive beginners project injects arduino knowledge into unsuspecting beginners while they have fun building a Blinky Christmas tree. Source Link Here 

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Possibly not the future of DJing but a very way to experience music in a new way. Play a vinal 'record' disc in one of four locations to induce the aural delight. Source Link Here
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You know this is a CLOCK, right. New age clock that looks cool at home or work.
How many timepieces can you program at your leisure, unfortunately you can't make the real world of time to go backwards, but get mesmerised from the LEDs!
Watch the video if you're not sure what clock to buy, or just because your interested!
(Guest Blogger: William George)  
Click 'Read More' for a video of it in action
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Lets use a old fridge for something! Putting together some hardware, we can get a flash Web Interface that can check the temperatures in- and outside of your fridge where your home-brew fermentation is going. The video gives you more detail about this project and that it can be used for more than just making beer!
(Guest Blogger: William George)  
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This CoolCircuits project can help a lot of people, even the handicapped/disabled. We all would like some new cool age device to do things for us, the keyboard hasn't changed for agos! This wearable glove connected to an Arduino, has many ways to work for the person, one is that it can work as a mobile keypad (having multiple points/switches on the palm) so you can type a letter. There is lots more you can do with this, follow the video link to see more about this great invention.
(Guest Blogger: William George) 
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Exerpt from LifeHacker:
"If you're looking for a good Arduino starter project and you have the tools and time to get the job done, here's a great seasonal activity that will help you build your skills and join your house's holiday light display to a global network of lights, all synchronized and controlled by Twitter."  Read More...

Getting Arduino to talk to AIR and bring together the best of the physical computing world with awesomely powerful AIR apps has brought pain to the masses - and probably kept me from making my millions in home automation until now. Here's a genius solution that lets you build apps that'll talk directly together without a proxy in between.
Check out the project page here
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Thanks Hack-a-Day for this one.
The guys over at brainwagon just finished up ANGST, the Arduino n’ Gameduinio Satellite Tracker, a build that displays 160 different satellites in Earth orbit on any SVGA monitor. Read More...

John (@Farmgeek) Hart has built an Arduino powered wireless (wifi) water tank measuring rig that takes a measurement and sends the results 300m back to his warm cosy home where it get graphed in all its splendid glory (we all love graphs right?).
It's a stunning display of a set of simple solutions to what seems like a complex and daunting project - it's also something that I've been asked about by MindKits customers frequently. So, here's the solution to dry tanks, cold walks out to measure water levels and global warming. Read More...