Check out this Stage Combat Choreography Shirt project that uses a Lilypad Arduino to control it. When learning stage combat audio cues are normally, Instructables user grossmr1 decided to create a method of directly indicating the area of interest directly by using LEDs. A glove is used to interface to the microcontroller which has contacts sewed into the finger tips. 

“Stage combat is the art of theatrical violence. Rather than resembling fencing, stage combat is choreographed like dance for aesthetic and theatrical effect as well as for safety. I chose to make a shirt for smallsword choreography, since the placement of the “targets” is convenient for sewing onto a shirt.  Targets are the areas which the actor aims to attack or defend.  For most of stage combat, the targets are outside of the body for safety reasons.”

ChuckCrunch from letsmakerobots found some parts on Ebay and came up with this idea to make a robot named China Syndrome that navigates around via ultrasound. He has described some steps for you so that you can try making your own. The video shows how it moves and navigates itself to find its way.

“It was a dull night on the internet , so i was searching Ebay for cheap parts and found lots of mini servos for around $4 + or – .50c ,some  HC-SR04 sonar modules for around the same price , i also found some DC to DC converters for about $4. but they have not arrived yet (massive over kill for this bot ) so i am going with 3 AAs .well 4.5v from a power supply for developing the program ”.

Meet Boxie, an interesting robot that is designed to self-learn about humans and the residents of a certain place. Check out what Alexander Reben from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)  has said about this really cool Robot that he has developed.

 Via: MIT Media Lab

“A robot roamed through the MIT Media Lab for a week, to learn about the humans there. It had a goal of capturing stories about its inhabitants. Inspired by projects such as the tween bot and the afghan explorer, the robot attempted to leverage humans to complete its goals”.

This idea is an excellent way to control the temperature of your home appliances to make things like a wine refrigerator fermenter. Mikey Sklar from screwdecaf has developed a project named YACT 2 which controls the temperature of most home appliances by using a precise temperature probe and relay to apply power to the appliance when needed. You can watch the video below to see the system in action. Mikey has also provided all the information you need to make your own if you prefer.

“This temperature controller is available fully assembled with all accessories or as a complete kit that requires soldering. It is ideal for the following:

• converting a chest freezer into a refrigerator
• converting a dorm fridge into a cheese and wine refrigerator
• converting a hot plate into a temperature controlled cooker
• converting a camping cooler into fermenter
• converting a crock pot into a sous vide”.

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Kevin Martin and Hyundo Reiner from Cornell University made this Automatic Grapefruit Segmenter for their ECE 4760 Designing with Microcontrollers Final Projects. Watch the video below to see it in operation, the system first rotates the half grapefruit looking for the thick material that divides the segments. This is done by reading the feedback from a flex sensor. Once the entire half grapefruit segment locations have been mapped the cutting begins. The rotating platform presents the segment edges to a chopping blade which cuts the segment edges all the way around the fruit. The heart of the electronics is a Atmel ATMega644 Microcontroller, it interfaces to all the motors and sensors that make the system tick. We can see lots of LEGO and scavenged parts used in the rapid prototype which is a great way to keep parts out of the garbage. I can just imagine what the junk box looks like in the Cornell ECE 4760 lab!

Looking for more interesting Cornell projects? Bruce Land has created a new Youtube channel that has a ton of the videos from ECE 4760.

Want a mouse that doesn’t look like the normal soap bar shape? Have a look at these Cool looking Computer Mice. David Allen from Zedomax has a great round up of these innovative mice.

“Where would we be without the mouse? Well everything would be slower and as for cut and paste, well forget it! Yet we seem to take the mouse for granted, just imagine life without it and now you will be appreciating the computer mouse as a key component of computing today. In this Top Five, we are going to be looking at some of the more interesting ideas when it comes to the humble computer mouse”.

We have seen lots of Wall-E designs built by fans of the movie before. Most Wall-E designs have some DIY electronics like the custom Wall-E track build we saw earlier this year. This Wall-E Engagement Ring Box may look similar to some of the DIY projects we have seen in the past with one big exception, it was built for the sole purpose of presenting an engagement ring! Michal from The Model Maker was commissioned to build the engagement ring holder for a man who obviously loved the Wall-E movie. The details are great, the initial CAD information was gathered from the Wall-E Builders Club and much of the design was laser cut from styrene sheets. The finished model looks good but after it has been painted it looks fantastic. I am sure this model will live beside the jewelry box of the lucky lady for many years to come.