Collaborate Disseminate
Proximity sensors are common enough in automation projects that we hardly give them a second thought — pick something with specs that match the job and move on. But they …read more Continue reading Souped-Up Reflective Sensor Uses Itself for Wireless Programming
We know that pretty much everybody in the Northern hemisphere has had a hellish summer, and there’s little room for sympathy when someone busts out with, “Oh yeah? You think …read more Continue reading Fixing a Hot Shop, With Science
You’ve got to love a language like German, where not only is it possible for a word or two to stand in for a complex concept, but you don’t even …read more Continue reading Sneeze Into Your Hand, not Your Elbow With This Nose-Shaped Sanitizer Dispenser
Let’s be honest — not too many of us have a need to deposit nanometer-thick films onto substrates in a controlled manner. But if you do find yourself in such …read more Continue reading Thin Coatings Require an Impressive Collection of Equipment and Know-How
We’ve seen dozens of “Magic Mirror” builds around here, most of which display all sorts of information — calendar, weather, news. They’re great builds, but they tend to be a bit busy and don’t really inspire a calm start to the day. But if you’re good enough and smart enough, …read more
Continue reading Begin Your Day on an Uplifting Note with a Daily Affirmation Mirror
When you need to quantify the color of an object, you’ve got quite a few options. You can throw a Raspberry Pi camera and OpenCV at the problem and approach it through software, or you can buy an off-the-shelf RGB sensor and wire it up to an Arduino. Or you can go back to basics and build this reflective RGB sensor from an LED and a photocell.
The principle behind [TechMartian]’s approach is simplicity itself: shine different colored lights on an object and measure how much light it reflects. If you know the red, green, and blue components of the …read more
Continue reading Color Sensor from an RGB LED and a Photocell