Maker Faire comes at the perfect time each year. I’ve worked my way through all of the winter projects, and starting to think up new ideas.
The projects that are on my mind at the moment:
– home automation (start with: how to turn off a lamp in software, or how to ethernet-enable the thermostat)
– UAV/quadcopter (stability, motor sizing, waypoints)
– 3D printing/CNC (get the machines running, get limit siwtches and PID working)
– farm work (chicken coop door, bee hive weight, sensor arrays for same)
Mostly, I’ve been thinking about network-connected circuits. I’ve been scratching my head over ethernet modules (and Wifi/Xbee/Bluetooth) for a couple of years now, so I picked up a few things to scratch that itch while I was at the show:
– an Ethernet Shield for Arduino
– a Nanode (very cool Arduino with Ethernet built in)
I also picked up an Arduino Mega, with the thought that it might become a UAV brain (or perhaps a 3D printer brain). I’ve been avoiding buying one of these, too, as all those extra pins just freak me out. But, if I’m just going to slap a shield on it, I’ll be fine.
I avoided the Useless Machine at last year’s Faire, but then I regretted it. I bought one, soldered it up, and now it sits on my desk at work, bringing amusement with every switch flip.
I also picked up a LCD with RGB backlight. I figure it will be good for home automation.
So now I have a pile of parts, and some things to do with them… I’m ready for Spring!