By Alex Glow - www.hackster.io
Heavy editing by Jan Zumwalt
Certain DIY projects crop up again and again. If you’re a novice, you can use these projects as a starting point, or to compare different platforms.
On the flip side, if you're an experienced programmer, think hard before choosing something basic. You might want to ask yourself:
- Is it really the most interesting thing you can build?
- Can you put a new spin on it?
- Can I show how to use a new device or product?
- Does it stand out with something radically new?
Combine a breathalyzer and smoke detector, and add GPS tracking. Add a nontraditional feature such as beeping loudly and call you when something changes. Build a heartbeat monitor that alerts you when you’re in love. Add speech recognition. How about a neck tie that blinks with your heart rate?
PetsLaunch the food across the room or make your dog catch them in the air. Use facial recognition to tell if it is a dog or cat food that needs dispensing – or won’t feed the neighbors cat or racoon. Can your cat learn to roll electronic dice until it wins? What does the goldfish or dog do when I leave home. Make a toy for your pet cat or tarantula! Make some little jumpy 'bots’ and let Spidey chase them.
HealthWhen I need help, it's serious business. Don't just call the police. Light the Bat signal. Summon magical powers so you can fight danger like the Second Coming of She-Ra. Anybody want a foot order rating machine? How does the speed of walking change your heart rate - does the weather or eating make a difference.
Weather
Earth weather is so predictable... Show imagination such as log dirt moisture to precipitation, sky brightness vs precipitation. How accurate can you predict weather two or three days ahead? Can spectrum analysis of a plant leaf predict the month of the year or how much it has rained? Get creative and log time, temperature, and sun brightness against other variables.
HomeMake a baby or wildlife monitor. Tweets, news, locations, whatever. Tell me when Santa is coming. Tell us how hot, wet, or smelly the compost is. Can dirt in the gutters be detected? Can you make a mp3 player using a sd-card? Don’t just detect mail, tell us how much it weighs and if someone is coming up the drive way. How long does the mailman wait at your box compared to the neighbors.
Smart coffee machine or Beer tap: Who doesn't love a fresh drink at the optimal temperature? Ah, but must we deny ourselves that variety which is the essence of life? Try random flavors or beverages. Maybe an automatic latte maker.
SecuritySure, I can lock up my bike or sound an alarm. But why not try harder to deter crime? Make it announce bible scriptures or quote your State's Law citations and the jail sentences for crimes. How about a button that dupes the thief into pressing it (“unlock”, “run”, start”, etc) then takes a fingerprint or picture and announces the images have been sent to the authorities.
Far OutGet weird, crazy or diabolical. Can a phase shift comparator be used to detect distances with low power radio waves or an infrared led? Can a infrared sensor guess how many people are in a room? Design a crude sensor for radar, sunspots, or solar and lunar position.
Take InitiativeInstead of off the shelf parts, re-use something common such as an old hard drive, printer, radio, etc. Is there a new sensor that has not been used before? Can you predict you latitude or date based on when a light sensor is triggered by the sunrise?
Cool PackagingPut your project in a pretty or unusual enclosure, or re-use familiar technology in an unaddressed context. Even simple circuits have millions of uses, just waiting to be imagined. What can you make that fits inside a black laundry marker, pop bottle or beer can, Altoids tin, etc? Miniaturize it; can it fit with a button battery in a TicTac package?
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