Although the watch isn’t available in kit form, the designers have published all the PCB schematic and design files so you can have your own PCBs made up, and the Arduino sketch is available to get the watch operational. Here is an example in action:

From a quick observation this isn’t a project for the absolute beginner, however it is an excellent exercise in product manufacturing on a tiny scale – as you work through having the PCB made, part sourcing, assembly and programming. For more information visit the watch project page: http://wiki.makerbot.com/makerbot-watch.

Not only does it allow walk-around control (with a long cable) you can control speed, acceleration/deceleration rates, set maximum speeds, enjoy cruise control, roll to stop and more. This would also be great for allowing children to use the control – you can limit the maximum speed to avoid a scale tragedy.

Watch the following video for a quick demonstration of the control features: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68a0-eaYnDE

The ability to control trains in this manner offers the ability to combine many functions into the one piece of portable hardware, and also create your own versions of control. For more information review the project page here:

By following the tutorial by Instructables user ‘Uncoventionalhacker’ you can transplant the hardware from almost any donor wireless mouse to bring that old mouse back to a second useful life. If possible, use a Bluetooth mouse as this will allow use with a greater variety of PCs without needing specific dongles at the computer end.

Nevertheless the modification is quite simple and involves carefully removing the old mechanical ball-reading circuitry from the original mouse, then moving the same assembly from the new, laser mouse. Be sure to heed the instructions with regards to preparing the donor board and especially holding down the laser tracking lens – otherwise it won’t work correctly once transplanted.

With some older mice such as the Apple one shown below – there is only one button. However with Windows-based PCs there is software you can download to emulate a second button, or with some very careful drilling and modification – you could split the large button into two. So to get started, check out the project page here:

Another enthusiast has also built upon Chris’ project and mounted the entire kit into a miniature arcade cabinet:

Although the development environment is not as simple as the ones used for other microcontroller platforms, it’s a great entry point for those coming from Microsoft desktop programming environments and generally more popular with that cohort as opposed to embedded hardware engineers & hackers.

The code for other classic video games isn’t too hard to recreate, or exists already with a bit of searching – which leads to the possibility of making your own miniature video game system. The hardest part will be deciding how to charge the players! In the meanwhile, to get started visit Chris’ website, click here. 

Although it sounds odd, the Yarn Monster simply consists of two parts – the Monster itself and the remote control. The monster contains an Arduino board and a stepper motor which rotates a spindle to draw the wool in and wind it in the usual pattern. The second part is the remote control, which allows speed and direction changes for the winding. You can see it in action through the following video:

The remote control sends the data using Xbee wireless data transceiver modules, which can often have a range of over twenty metres. Apart from being a fun example of a tool for an otherwise unloved task, the Yarn Monster has a sense of personality and has been made to suit the name. Plus by following the instructions, hopefully your Arduino knowledge will in improve. Finally, you can always mount the winder in a more conventional enclosure for simplicity and sanity’s sake.  For the plans, notes, and Arduino sketch visit the Yarn Monster site here: http://unionbridge.org/design/yarn-monster

The hardware is very simple, considering the Raspberry Pi has GPIO ports that can be easily controlled. Therefore the only remaining interface is a simple relay circuit between the GPIO and the lights themselves. The only caveat is that you may be working with mains current with the traffic lights, so ensure the work is completed by a licensed electrician. And for the final product, watch the demonstration in the following video:

Even if you don’t use the monitoring software as the project author does, the tutorial is still a great look at controlling 230V devices using a Raspberry Pi. With the appropriate python script the lights could display email inbox status, twitter responses or even stock market alerts. So to get started check out the project page here:

http://www.kmggroup.ch/?p=204

The beauty of this project is that Reginald can be complete controlled using the one interface via a processing-based GUI on a PC. Furthermore the communications are encrypted which blocks anyone from logging into Reginald’s IP address and taking over. Here is an example of controlling Reginald from the PC:

Finally, although this project doesn’t fall in the arena for beginners – the creator has documented absolutely everything you need to know to make your own version. From the hardware, code for various platforms, circuit schematics and networking know-how, it’s all available at:

http://www.instructables.com/id/Reginald-a-UDP-surveillance-bot-control-via-the-/?ALLSTEPS

The whole concept seemed ludicrous; however by attaching wires to the cockroach’s abdomen it can then be controlled with small electrical currents. By then fitting them with tiny cameras or a radio transmitter, the cockroaches cam can be controlled and used to explore new areas and environments. You can see a quick demonstration of the RC cockroach here:

We’re glad to see that it works, and for the first time in a long (or even any) time a positive use for cockroaches has been found. Considering small HD-capable video camera units can be less than 25 x 25mm – the cockroach can be sent into some dark hole or disaster area, and take recordings of the area and other measurements with other sensors if necessary. They’re certainly creepy yet technological things of interest  – so click here for more information: http://web.ncsu.edu/abstract/science/wms-cockroach-steering/

The concept is very simple – the analogue audio source (e.g. from the headphone socket of an MP3 player) is connected to a laser pointer via an audio transformer.

The audio waveforms are then converted to beams of light of varying strength. These are then received by a photoresistor at the other end, which converts the varying beam of light back to the matching audio signal. From this point you can then use the audio as normal, such as listen through headphones. The music can be simply muted by breaking the laser beam. You can see this audio-to-light bridge demonstrated in the following video:

As well as the instructions, the authors have left us with an explanation on the theory of operation including how audio transformers work and everything you need to know to get started with your own version. However if you do – take care with the laser beam and make sure the sharp beam can’t be seen by the human eye. To get started visit here: http://www.treehouseprojects.ca/audiolight/.

To save time they used an existing lounge chair, and added it to a new frame containing the motors, four omni-directional wheels and the required hardware. The chair is then controlled by moving one’s hands about in front of the Kinect sensor which is mounted in front of the driver. For more information and a detailed look at the project, check out the following video: