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Anonymous
That point about getting the cat chipped is an interesting one. Our young cat is an SPCA special and the SPCA have mandatory chipping for all cats and dogs taken by new owners (cost us $75)! So our kitty already has an chip (in his foreleg from memory).
What sort of range does an RFID reader operate under? Would attaching one beside the cat door be sufficient to catch him approaching it I wonder?
Anonymous
@Stu
These ones work for about 20cm’s but you can build you own areal and they can work 80+cm’s.
These are 125hz readers which I believe is pretty standard. I’d be interested to see if they read your cats tag and would bet that they would.
http://www.mindkits.co.nz/_product_36248/RFID_Reader_ID-20
http://www.mindkits.co.nz/_product_36248/RFID_Tag_-_125kHz
Ben
Big Kahuna
Let’s push the RFID conversation off to somewhere more amenable 
Anonymous
Considering the parts above, how about some sort of public display of virtual plants animated by servos? They could react to touch, light, sound, temperature and pollution and be able to communicate with each other using xBee, receeding, blooming, reacting to each other, and swaying like in the wind. The general health of a patch of plants could be worked out by the Arduinos and communicated by wifi to other patches, so overall statistics of the health of the plants could be shown on the LCD screens to the public. As well as being interactive and curiously interesting, it would also be an ecological eye opener to the public by giving an indication of the amount of Carbon Monoxide air pollution present in urban environments at certain times of the day.
Anonymous
Well. I live on Franklin Road which is famous for its Xmas lights. Combine that with the fact that we now have a 3 month old son the combination seems to good to pass up. First up would be a neon kit for the pram. The wife has already banned me from lowering but using an Arduino we could hook up an iPod as an input and read the input sound. Convert that to some form of output that could control some neon lights and you would have a lighting kit for the pram that was timed to the music.
Secondly I’m sure there are lots of options for controlling various contraptions in the front porch to entertain the passersby.
Ben
Big Kahuna
@Glen Barnes
Judges’ decision is final and all that, but I do feel sorry for you Glen after you missed the HD HomeRun.
Anonymous
I thought a of building a Scoreboard out of some LED matrix s for my boys slot car set with a lap counter and time keeper by putting some Optical Detector Phototransistors on the track. could also display some animations depending on which track is wining.
Anonymous
Once I get the hang of it, I will build a marine aquarium controller which will enable me to monitor and control various stuff for the lil inhabitants:
Keep track:
Calendar function with statistics, track of changing lights, carbon, zeovit, which date are species added, etc
Measure:
Ph, alkalinity, calcium, Magnesium, Electro conductivity, Water level, Temperature, day time/night time (light sensor)
Control:
Light timers, pumps, reactors, dosing pumps, moonlight, heater, chiller, ventilators
Features:
Web connection/Web app, iPhone connection/iPhone app, connection to webcam via internet to have a look how the lil animals do, emergency text message (in case somethings is just not right)
Anonymous
Hi guys, thanks for the entries so far. I’ve been enjoying reading them and my personal project todo list has grown as a result.
Here is a link that may aid in helping sprout new ideas.
40 Arduino Projects
http://hacknmod.com/hack/top-40-arduino-projects-of-the-web/
Regards,
Tim
MindKits Chief Ninja
Anonymous
Lego (not this flash modern stuff, mind) taught me that it’s the construction, not the result, that is the fun. So I don’t have a single device I’m planning on building, I have several!
Turtles are cool, but their 50-year lifespan is more than I can commit to. So I’m gonna make a couple of robot turtles. Or maybe a robot turtle and a robot clownfish.
I’d also like to make a couple of little daleks which are light-averse but hunt a bluetooth source. Visitors with BT-enabled devices would then be stalked by these little guys. On their off-hours they could switch to RFID and patrol our designated no-dog lounge for illicit canine presence.
When I was a tiny we had these wooden marble toys, you’d drop a marble in and it would roll here and there down some rails. With an Arduino these could be a whole bunch more interactive. I really like the idea of combining future tech with oldschool wooden construction. My grandpa had to build wood in mostly straight lines; Ponoko can cut me nice spirals …
Likewise I’m really tempted to hijack and “enhance” one of my sons wooden trucks or trains with das blinkenlights unt das remotekontrollen. He’s quite into trains at the moment (2yo) so bringing one of those devices to life would be quite fun.
Finally, at the end of a long hack session, what could be better than slipping on an EOG sleep sensor device built into a pair of airline sleep goggles? (Not the ones the pilots used on NW188, mind.) This way, by detecting patterns of ocular muscle activity and blinking LEDs in set patterns (GREEN GREEN RED RED), I can kickstart my mind in REM state and remind myself to plan more hacking madness for the coming day.
Fantasy shopping list so far: flipper actuators, mini ballast pumps, waterproofing outer fabric, lasers for the daleks, lots of whirring bits for the marble kit, wheels and motors, super-sensitive sensors to pick up my eyeballs spinning in my sleep, and blinky lights galore. Plus the hardware glue to bring it all together.
Anonymous
Argh, more ideas … an origami spider with robot moving legs. NEXT.
Anonymous
Lights sounds and fireworks robot! For Guy Fawkes next year or Christmas!
On a more practical side, a home energy monitor to see how much gas/electricity we are using.
Ben
Big Kahuna
After some consultation with Tim, we have selected Scott as the winner!
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