YourITronics

Also entitled Arduino LCD Backpack ‘Sandwich’ by its illustrious creator, this is a simple do-it-yourself project using an Arduino microcontroller and a small LCD display. The MCU runs at 16Mhz thanks to the ceramic resonator (the light-brown one, located near the microcontroller). The LCD is an alphanumeric one with two lines of 16 characters (the color used is amber/orange, which gives it a nice, old-school feeling). The contrast of the LCD can be adjusted using a potentiometer.

The Backpack has an IR input receiver module connected (the small silver box on the left side) and a 6 pin FTDI style serial header soldered directly to the wires, which is used for software download and also for the 5V DC power supply. The project is free, for non-commercial use only. More details, pictures and source code available in the link below.

Arduino LCD Backpack: [Link] – [via]

A persistence of vision (POV) display is a device that creates an apparently still image using rotating LEDs with great speed. The human eye is not able to distinguish every image individually, so the picture formed appears as a solid image. The POV phenomenon is not a new discovery and a lot of POV display projects have been made. However, this one right here has two different attributes that differentiate it from other POV displays: it is located on a fan placed on a ceiling and it’s silent.

This project uses a fan with 5 propeller blades and every blade has 32 LEDs mounted on it (that means a total of 160). These LEDs are connected to an Atmel microcontroller on an Arduino board. The POV display also uses 74HC595 8-bit serial-in, parallel-out shift registers that convert serial-in data into parallel-out data. The microcontroller generates the sequence in which the LEDs are lit, thus creating the image.

The location of the display makes it pretty cool and the fact that it’s attached to this kind of fan makes the whole device completely silent, which is quite different from most POV displays out there that are rather noisy. Having a thing like this blinking in your living room might seem like a good idea if you want to impress a guest audience, but other than that I can’t find a reason for actually using it.

Silent Ceiling POV Display: [Link]

Bricogeek droped me an email to let me know they’re hosting a contest where participants are requiered to design a game with an Arduino board. You can use any version of the boards available but it must be playable so the user can interact with the game. You can submit your project, one per person, before the deadline shown on this page. There are some nice prizes waiting for you to win them so I suggest you start building . Good luck.

An older project (but quite interesting nevertheless), this is an RDS decoder that is able to display various information on a 2 lines with 16 characters alphanumeric LCD. The decoder is connected to an old radio receiver and was originally designed to use the Atmel AT90S2313 as its brain, coupled with TDA7330B RDS demodulator as the decoding-chip. The newer version had the AT90S2313 replaced with the ATtiny2313 microcontroller.

The device can display service name, RDS clock, TA (Traffic Announcement) flag status and scrolling 64 characters long radio text. The decoder requires a Stereo multiplex signal as input, which can be found at the input pin of a Stereo decoder integrated circuit in most radio receivers. The code is written in assembler, which provides for the fastest implementation. There is also a C version of the code, but apparently it’s too big for the 2KB flash memory of the ATtiny2313. However, an improved, smaller C version might be available sometime in the future.

Check links for .zip with PCB layout, schematics and source code (for both the ATtiny and the AT90).

RDS Decoder using Atmel Microcontroller: [Link] – [via]

Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you wanted to talk about something important or just simply wanted some peace and quiet while enjoying your drink and a damn TV wouldn’t shut up? Chances are you have. But from now on, you can use this little gadget to silence those TV sets that bother you with loud, uninteresting stuff. You can carry it in your pocket and you can surely have a laugh using it.

Humorously named TV-B-Gone, this TV Disabler can make some annoying situations quite entertaining. The TV-B-Gone can turn off most of the TV sets available, while having about the same size as a universal remote control. It is a nifty little kit made by Adafruit and it is available for purchase for $19.50. It possesses an Atmel ATTINY85V-10-PU programmed microcontroller, 4 IR LEDs used as emitters and a double AAA battery holder (you can find a complete parts list in the link).

The TV Disabler must be pointed at the TV you wish to quiet down. It has a single button that must be pressed and then it starts to transmit its signal using codes that are stored in its memory for all major TV brands. It takes about 2 minutes to send all the codes, but most TV sets will turn off. The TV Disabler also has a green LED that starts glowing once the device is transmitting.

Since the original kit from Adafruit doesn’t have a case, you can make one like the one in the picture above. This project uses a modified Miniature General Purpose ABS Box 1551 Series from Maplin Electronics Ltd. You will have to make 2 holes, one for the button, and the other for the LED. Putting it all inside the box may be tricky, but once you get it right you will have the TV-B-Gone ready and waiting. And you can say goodbye to those noisy TVs disturbing you.

don’t forget to check youritronics custom version of tv-b-gone.

New TV-B-Gone Case Style: [Link]