Make your New Year’s Eve celebration memorable and exciting by creating a mini version of a ball drop. All you need are five ping pong balls, each backlit by a 10mm LED. The balls are lit one at a time by an Arduino, which illuminates each one for 15 seconds while the final minute of [...]
21 Dec
How can you tell if you’ve been mortally wounded by your opponents light beam while playing boisterous game of flashlight tag? A flashlight tag damage sensor which is worn by each participant is the solution given by [Kenyer]. This gives a high-tech equipment used with laser tag while keeping a low-tech price tag. The equipment relies on [...]
17 Dec
In the past, we have seen a single color LED detection. Now, a DIY Color Detection using an RGB LED was built by [fjordcarver] that can detect the actual color of the object placed in front of the home made sensor. To build the sensor we need the following materials: a breadboard (not required, but [...]
16 Dec
This cool project turns a boring Ikea lamp into a theremin-like synth. Pretty cool. I really like the updated instructions — but real instructions would be nice too. I guess this is more a show piece than a how-to. Nonetheless, it can still inspire someone so I’m posting it anyways. One thing I’d add is [...]
24 Nov
“Ring light is basically a light that is placed around the objective. In close-up and macro photography it covers the subject with even light that seems to come from all around the lense. This removes all the shadows from the surface of the object. A great thing if you are shooting a photo for a [...]
16 Nov
Inspired by sundials, Taufeeq created a “Circle of Light” bulbdial clock. that uses shadows instead of hands to show the time. In theory, if you could use LEDs that have a perfect diffusion pattern, you could end up with a clock that has a white face and three hands: one cyan, one magenta and one [...]
28 Jan
This simple project shows you how to drive a RGB LED with a PIC. Interesting, colorful, and expandable. With a little work, you can replicate the Ford Focus’ best feature with this: its configurable interior lighting. How to drive a RGB LED with a PIC [link][via]
26 Jan
Yet another project that turns the ubiquitous Altoids Tin box into something useful. In this case, a solar powered cell phone charger. Great idea, and it’s made from old, recycled parts: the solar cell comes from those solar-powered landscaping LED lights that illuminate tree shrubs in front of suburban bungalows at night. Here’s a thought: [...]
17 Jan
A very interesting project from KipKay (you might have heard of him through Metacafe): recycle a broken or obsolete camcorder and make a night vision camera out of its viewfinder. You’ll also need a few other components for this build but all the parts are reasonably inexpensive, considering the result. Best of all, you can [...]
07 Jan
How to mod your G5 PowerMac Case to display a the time. No alteration to the case is needed – the LEDs are arranged to match the G5 tower’s mesh grill pattern - which makes this hack even better! Build a Clock into your PowerMac tower [link] [via]
31 Dec