Trimbitas Sorin has created a simple POV (Persistence of vision) kit using AVR microcontroller. If you want to build your own there is code and a schematic available on his site.

“This is my first serious(the first one was a one LED blinker) AVR project
I searched the Internet for a cool looking and easy to build project with ATTiny2313 and I end up on this page,it was a really nice project to start with so I made a list and I went to the local electronics shop to buy them, all the components + board cost me about 4$.”

There is a good article about selecting the right microcontroller serial bus in this months Electronic Products magazine. Many people are like me, they use what they know. This article has a good explanation of the differences so that we can make a better informed decision for the next product.

“At the heart of most of today’s advanced electronic products is a microcontroller that communicates with one or more peripheral devices. At one time, microcontroller periphery was memory mapped and connected to the data and address bus.

Chip-select signals were decoded from address lines to give each component its unique location in the limited address range. The access time was short, but the overhead inflated the package size and overall cost. The obvious alternative is a serial interface, and there are some options in this area.

Key differences in available serial interfaces include data rate and operating voltage. One also needs to consider:

• How the peripheral device gets selected—by a hardware chip-select line (SPI, or Microwire) or by a software protocol (1-Wire, LIN, Sensorpath, CAN, USB, FireWire, I2C, or SMBus).

• How the peripheral device stays synchronized with the microcontroller—via a hardware clock line (I2C, SMBus, SPI, or Microwire) or via self-clocking using information embedded in the data stream (1-Wire, LIN, Sensorpath, CAN, USB, or FireWire).

• Transmission by a single unterminated line (1-Wire, LIN, Sensorpath, I²C/SMBus, or SPI/Microwire) or a two-line terminated differential connection (CAN, USB, or FireWire).

The application may add further requirements such as the maximum distance between microcontroller and peripheral device, the structure of the cabling, and immunity to noise or reversal of wires. This article focuses box level interconnect methods.

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The best inventions are ones that eliminate repetition, this automatic book scanner does just that. Believe it or not it was constructed using LEGO.

” After the invention of hyperpaper, I began to scan my books. Soon I found out that what I expected was true — It was awesomely BOREING!

If this drudgery were to be automated!

Scanning a book involves picking up the book from the scanner carefully so that you won’t change the current pages, and turning pages precisely. These activities are as easy as breakfast for human beings. However, our sophisticated biomachienery owe a lot to the Evolution. Without its support, the activities are far too difficult for robots.

How it works

* The Glider is wound up, The Shuttle is at the right position.
* The Shuttle moves to the left.
* The Glider winds down until it touches the book.
* The Shuttles moves to the right. The Glider, touching the book, filps the page.
* The Glider winds up.
* The Balance is lift up. The computer detects the event and sends message to the scanner.
* The machiene pauses for 35 seconds, while the scannaer is working.
* The Balance lifts down.
* Repeat.”

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Looking for something to do with the pile of old floppy disks you have? Why not make a bag out of them…

“This is a bag I made from floppy disks. I found scads of floppy disks in a dumpster and wanted to make plate mail armor out of it (that is my next floppy project) I found out that a bag would be a great proof of concept project.

Required Bits
* Drill, hand, regular or trephine
* 1/8″ drill bit
* Pliers, I used bulldog pliers
* Floppy disks (CRUCIAL)
* Links, bits of chain from your local bead store
* Nails and a plank o’ wood
* A pen
* Elementary math skills Eg: the ability to count
* NOT PICTURED – The hardware for adding a strap”

Some people are much more artistic than I am. Here is a large example of can art that I would have no chance of pulling off. Very impressive work!

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What’s that burning feeling? Oh yeah, it’s my anniversary… The Remember Ring is an interesting concept that might be just the thing us forgetful guys need. Still a concept but I think it would sell. I guess you could also just build this feature into a watch and be done with it though.

“One of the worst things, if not the worst, a husband can do is forget his own anniversary. You will never forget to get flowers or some jewelry with your Remember Ring.

It looks like a standard ring, nothing special. But inside, there’s a heating element that will start to heat up when it’s about 24 hours to the special day. The temperature starts at 120 F and keeps getting warmer every hour from there.

The heat isn’t constant, though, it only last for ten seconds. That’s enough to cause discomfort, which is better than getting ignored for a week or two, but not enough to be really painful.

There’s no need for batteries, either. The micro thermopile converts the heat from your hand into electricity which will keep your battery charged and the microchip clock running constantly.”

Via: Coolest Gadgets and Digital Drops

The Micro Mosquito Helicopter looks like it can be lots of fun. Either the guy in the video is very skilled in flying helicopters or this unit is simple to fly. I have seen people trying to get the hang of flying RC helicopters and not having an easy time…

“The future of R/C fits in the palm of your hand! The Micro Mosquito is the world’s smallest, lightest and most stable indoor R/C helicopter. Fully assembled only inches long and whisper silent, its packed with high-tech ingenuity. Based on award-winning BladeRunner coaxial rotor design, the Micro Mosquito flies in all directions with 3 channel digital control going up, down, forward, reverse, turning left and right and it even hovers. Its open structure design combined with glowing green eyes lets you see the inner workings while you watch in awe at its total control flight performance. A great gadget toy for the home or office.

Fitting, as is obvious from this photo (unless they chose a man with mammoth hands), in the palm, and using the ingenious BladeRunner double-propeller system which relies on a coaxial rotor to make piloting the ‘chopper as easy as stroking a tame chipmunk. A three-channel digital remote controls up & down motion, forward & reverse, turning left & right and even allows the Mosquito to hover.”

Via: TechEBlog and SlashGear

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