Everything is getting “smarter”, how many things are now “connected”? You can add the simple 9 volt battery to the list of connected devices. The Roost is a wifi connected battery that is the same form factor as a 9 volt battery, it connects to your wifi router in your home to allow it to send out notifications. It has the ability to let you know when the battery is low and also when the smoke detector is going off. Since this device is simply able to be inserted in your existing smoke alarms I am thinking that it must be looking for a current draw change when the smoke alarm is in alarm (making noise).

If you have something that needs to be turned on and off why not do it in a unique way. This Sound-Activated Outlet project lets us use an Arduino to monitor for sound patterns and then control an outlet accordingly. 

“The circuit for this project can be divided into two main parts: A microphone assembly and a relay driver.
The microphone assembly is composed of an electret microphone element, two resistors, and a capacitor. When the microphone picks up sound vibrations, the output voltage fluctuates in response. This signal is sent to one of the analog input pins on the Arduino.
The relay driver is composed of a power MOSFET transistor, a diode, and a relay. The power transistor is added because the relay requires more current than the digital pins on the Arduino can output. So the output signal that is sent from the digital pin activates the transistor and the transistor connects power to the relay and turns it on. The relay either connects or disconnects power from the AC outlet to the attached appliance. The diode acts as a suppression diode and protects the Arduino from voltage spikes that occur when the relay is turned off. If you don’t want to build a relay driver from scratch, you can use a commercial relay shield or a PowerSwitch Tail.”

Darbin Orvar built a cool tech electronic Christmas Tree. Best of all the above video will show you how to make your own. For more inspiration you can have a look at her blog. 

“My version of a DIY Christmas Tree made with redwood and plywood. Perfect for an apartment and easy to move around. As a bonus this tree is powered by an Arduino and LED strip lights playing Star Wars Darth Vader’s Theme.”

If your computer keyboard looks a bit plain why not kick it up a notch? NeIdan built this Airship Captain MK-I – Steampunk Keyboard that was built around an every day keyboard and by spending a bit of time and a few extra pieces you get an amazing data entry device.

“Tools used:

scissors and x-acto knives also used heavy duty cutter for cutting the plastic keys

screwdrivers

Materials:

a keyboard

glue(any kind will do, i used r21 and wood glue)

nail polish or any kind of polish will do(wood polish)

brass buttons – i used two sizes for emphasizing some keys like the ctrl and shift etc..

vintage ish looking paper(looks a bit like a scroll paper)

guitar strap pins

fabric of your choice

friction lid support – which is basicly a window hardware, but you can also use other hardware parts or make something similar your own, which is what i would have done if i would redo this.”

Peter Marchant is going to have a wonderful Christmas with this MIDI Christmas Tree. As you play notes on the MIDI keyboard the tree lights in a cool pattern.

“Using an Arduino and a SparkFun MIDI Shield to control Christmas Lights with a MIDI keyboard. The lights cycle colour (green, red, blue, orange) for each note or chord. Improvisation based on the minor blues scale on D.”

This Reverse Geocache called the Captain Herrmano’s Mystery Box packs a ton of sensors into the box and some slick programming brings it to like with a full on treasure hunt.

“The housing – that is, the box itself – came from a Nanu Nana store (which is a German chain of stores). Inside of the housing, an Arduino Mega controls and receives information from different sensors and boards – for example a CO sensor (carbon monoxide), a thermometer, an ultrasonic sensor, a GPS receiver, a number pad, a speaker, a display, a mini SD card and a servo.”

What a great job the team at Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory did. They built this Double Prosthetic Arm with Mind Control to allow Les Baugh to once again have arms and hands. He lost them in an electrical accident over 0 years ago. I can’t imagine the feeling Les has after so many years living without arms and now finally have some high tech versions to work with. They are controlled using nerve signals so Les will learn to control them with his mind. Surely this will be a challenging task but the reward is outstanding!

Via: Kotaku

”We use pattern recognition algorithms to identify individual muscles that are contracting, how well they communicate with each other, and their amplitude and frequency,” Chi explained. “We take that information and translate that into actual movements within a prosthetic.”

Then Baugh was fitted for a custom socket for his torso and shoulders that supports the prosthetic limbs and also makes the neurological connections with the reinnervated nerves. While the socket got its finishing touches, the team had him work with the limb system through a Virtual Integration Environment (VIE), a virtual-reality version of the MPL.”