YourITronics

This is not the best project i seen, but an original and interesting one. The robot doesent walk too well, but it walks. And when its build by your hand, its your pride and it doesent matter if he looks a little clumsy. Its coool. Go to authors page for source code and schematics

Homemade Walking Robot:

[Link]

Very good resource on building robots, great for beginners to start with. The total cost its under 200 $ and the building time around 2 hours. The electronics used are ”real parts” (not little homemade things that wont really work unless you spend hours of tweaking, and not a kit that you just assemble and that´s it). You can evolve from here, even with the same parts (if you can bare to take your robot apart).

Build a robot step by step instructions:

[Link] 

Nick Johnson has this very interesting project on he’s page. He talk about allaways having trouble getting up for work and how all commercial alarm clocks are too easy to turn off. My personal opinion that is true, though I don’t have a big problem on waking up. And if i feel very tired and i have a big day coming up my solution is to just place the Alarm clock far from the bed, so i have to get up and walk a few steps to turn it off, this method never fails for me. But Nicks’s project is also very fun to build and i have to say very original too, i never seen something like this. The design is powered by a PIC16 microcontroller, which manages the user interface and keeps time. It displays the current time and the arithmetic challenge via an lcd. Nick offers the design as free and open source. If you would like more info visits project page using the links bellow.

A real Alarm Clock that really wakes you up:

[Link] - [Source Code] - [Schematic] - [Board Layout]

This is a very accessible project for beginners. If you are thinking into starting with microcontrollers, this is better than a blinking LED. Basically we have a 3-digit 7 segment display showing data from a thermistor, and all this is controller by a PIC16F684. The circuit will tell the temperature between 0 and 140 farenheit. This project is actually quite easy to build; the hardest part is calibrating the thermistor… If you need more info on the project visits the authors page using the links bellow.

Parts List:

• 1 x PIC16f684 microcontroller
• 1 x 14 pin IC socket (so the PIC can be removed to reprogram)
• 1 x Thermistor (see below)
• 3 x 2N3906 PNP transistors
• 1 x .01mF capacitor (any kind)
• 10 x 100ohm 1/4watt resistors
• 1 x 3-digit 7 segment display
• 1 x 3 AAA battery holder with switch.
• 1 x PCB breadboard
• etching chemicals to make board etc.

PIC16F684 Based Digital Thermometer:

[Link] - [schematic, Eagle PCB file, artwork and source code]

Now this is a project i always wanted to build, but never had the chance, or the mood. Its kind of complicated, so beginners should approach this project. Thats probably the reason i did not build it myself because when it first came up to me this idea i was still a beginner and did not had enough experience, and even now when i can say i have some experience i still could get into trouble with this project. The authors of this projects explains the problems that he came across and how he solved them. You should expect some pixels looking distort, the project its a work in progress and even in the final form you cant get perfect results. Unfortunately the author fried its panel until the completion of the project by accidentally switching the +12V and +5V lines. So he says it will finish the work on project as soon as he gets a new LCD panel.

Laptop LCD Display to VGA Interface

[Link] - [Schematic]