Days until deadline: 16→InsertImageI still don't have the correct tag in hand yet (ntag203). But today I was able to write an NDEF formatted message to the MiFare Classic tag that came witdh the NFC reader. This was all thanks to the Seeed Studio PN532...
Days until deadline: 13→InsertImageI have had a few productive nights of coding and now have a working proof of concept. After arriving home from holiday at in-laws house I was happy to see the NTAG203 samples I had ordered had arrived while I was gone....
I'm happy to report that I have finished the hardware prototype and have the first full version of the firmware done.→InsertImageThat turns out to be a lot of wires. From left to right is the PN532 NFC reader, Arduino, and breadboard. On the breadboard...
Mechanical assembly always takes longer than I think it will. I figured one evening would be all it takes to build this thing, but by the time I figured out the size of the acrylic, cut a wood base for it, tested the layout of the components, then drilled...
→InsertImageSo here's the deal. One of my prejudices against Arduino is that it's an expensive board to leave with a project. But this is kind of a one-time thing so I was happy to find the Seeed Studio protoype shield for like $7.95 at the local Radio...
First, you're going to need a deck. If you're working on a budget, go to Walmart or Academy Sporting Goods or similar and pick up something cheap for around $20. The above deck is a bustin mini maestro, which I think I got for $80-90. The primary difference...
Simultaneously designing top-down and bottom-up until your designs meet in the middle to produce a functional result. →InsertImageThat sounds like a horrible idea.→InsertImageFor this project, this was the only design strategy that made sense,...
Prior to high school graduation, Ian Hillier and I were leaders of the robotics club at school -- we even won the 2007 Skills Canada Robotics competition for a soccer playing bot! When we weren't building robots, we built some electric scooters for...
Once we had the car in our possession, it was time to strip it of unnecessary components. First on the chopping block? The engine.→InsertImageNormally removing an engine is a bit tricky, but luckily my friend has a big garage with an underground car...
When we started this project, we didn't actually know how we were going to finance it, or where we were even going to get some components -- but we set the wheel in motion and struck luck!→InsertImageWe had sent out a few sponsor emails to local companies...
Now that we have a car and a motor, we need to fill in the gaps. First off is coupling the motor to the original transmission of the car.→InsertImageIn machine shop class I replicated the spline pattern found in the pump motor -- first on the lathe.→InsertImageThen...
We did it. We took a 1993 Honda Del Sol, and a equally old electric forklift and merged them together into something we like to call the Delsolectric Car.→InsertImageIt might not be pretty. But it worked. We even managed to get it up to 100km/h on the...
In 2002 the Graffiti Research Lab put together the rather excellent L.A.S.E.R. Tag system which allows you to draw virtual graffiti with nothing more than a camera, a projector and a laser pointer. They've done really awesome things with this showing...
I really like these big dome buttons from SparkFun, but they don't come in an RGB flavour. This is really annoying as they would be ideal for the color control on our system.→InsertImageNot to worry though, a couple of minutes with some snips and a soldering...
Yes yes, I know, Arduinos are lame. But... they are incredibly handy for getting certain things done really quickly.→InsertImageFor the control system we need to emulate a USB keyboard, it just so happens the Arduino Micro is especially good at this....