Gadget Freak has a cool Freezer Failure Alarm project that is based on the PIC Microcontroller. Most projects have no important purpose but this one sure does. It could save you hundreds of dollars if you have a freezer full of meat! Looks like a nice simple yet effective design. See this document for full build details.

"The gadget is built around a small controller, an alarm and a temperature sensor. While temperature monitors are common, Grill’s device remembers temperature variance and displays the length of time the freezer rises above the set temp. The gadget is relatively small and costs less than a couple of steaks bought on sale and stored in the freezer."

Via: Electronics Lab, Embedded Projects

I know, we have featured a few of these Guitar Hero robots here in the last while… But they are so interesting, this Slashbot Guitar Hero Robot by Texas A&M Electrical Engineering uses similar principals as Auto Guitar Hero did. The main difference is that Slashbot actually presses the keys as it plays. Video after the jump.

"Slashbot is especially cool because it literally plays the guitar controller using mechanical actuators.  The robot implements a National Instrument PXI box to digitize the composite video signal.  Then, using NI LabVIEW, the luminance of specific pixels are monitored to detect "notes" on the screen.  This information is then passed to the robotic actuators through a reconfigurable I/O FPGA in the NI PXI box.

Currently, Slashbot is able to average very close to 100% accuracy in Expert mode.  It is also possible for a human player to challenge the robot in multi-player mode.  So far, the robot has always been more accurate!

This system was created by four Texas A&M University undergrads: David Buckner, Mitchell Jefferis, Vinny LaPenna, and Michael Voth.  The project was developed over the past three months for their Electrical Engineering Senior Design class."

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David Randolph from Systm cracks open a Guitar Hero and hooked up a show controller that would allow him to program in all the key presses for a particular song. It isn’t as high tech as the last Guitar Hero hack we saw but it should allow a flawless performance after quite a bit of work.

This Stinger Spud Gun shoots 10 inch PVC missiles! There are no details on the build but by looking at it I would guess that the red button that is used to ignite the gun is a BBQ igniter. The rest of the gun appears to be the standard spud gun that has been dressed up with the black holder and scope. Have a look at the video, looks like it works very well!

Youtube user KDG86 has made quite a few interesting projects. This Wireless GPS Project is nice and simple but have lots of cool possibilities. He is using a GPS module that outputs RS-232, this signal is connected to a wireless transmitter. A receiver is then used to get the data into a computer. Since it is RS-232 all you need is a terminal program to have a look. He then takes some of the raw data and with one copy and paste his exact location is zoomed into by Google Earth.

Instead of a computer I would feed it into a microcontroller and have it warn me when I am coming close to one of the red light cameras that seem to be everywhere where I live.

There have been lots of Guitar Hero hacks since it came out but I think this is the most elegant I have ever seen! Auto Guitar Hero (AGH1000) simply connects to the composite video of the game and "looks" at where the colored pucks are and presses the associated button. The idea was thought up when a father couldn’t compete with his son at the game. If you want to ace the game why not build your own, full schematics and code are provided.

"The AGH1000 is connected between the Wii’s video output and the TV or monitor’s video input. The Wii’s video output format is NTSC Composite Video. This means that all the information to properly drive a video monitor is present on a single wire - typically the yellow RCA connector. We used this composite video signal to generate signals that electrically press the correct notes and strum button at the correct time. The system consists of four sections - the Analog Processing Board, the Digital Processing Board, the Driver Board, and the Opto-Isolator Board."

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Here is a nice simple project that lets you generate some free hot water with the help of the sun. See more about this and other energy saving ideas at Green Power Science.