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As personal transporters such as the Segway increase in popularity, it's only natural for enthusiasts to make their own versions or improve on the original. One example of this is by Markus Limseth who has used similar design theory and technology to make his own self-balancing unicycle with Arduino.

The physiclal structure is quite simple, and with a 600W motor and a 10 Ah battery the unicycle can have a range of around ten kilometres. The electronics are comprised from off-the-shelf parts and with a weekend or two you can be motoring along on your own version, as show in the following video:

It would also be a good idea to wear a helmet. Otherwise for the details, visit Markus' Instructable page. And for more, we're on facebook, twitter and Google+, so follow us for news and product updates as well.

If you're interested in making your own self-balancing or autonomuos device such as the unicycle above, you'll need an inertial measurement unit (IMU) and here at Freetronics we have our new 9-DOF IMU module:

With an onboard accelerometer, gyroscope and magentometer your project will have a wide variety of data to work with, and doing so is very easy. We have libraries for both Arduino and Raspberry Pi to get you started. We even included an onboard voltage regulator and logic level shifters, so you can connect it directly to either 3.3V or 5V microcontrollers right out of the box. Just plug and play!

Our 9-DOF Inertial Measurement Unit module is now in stock and ready to ship, so for more information and to order - visit the 9-DOF Inertial Measurement Unit product page. And to keep up with news, products and more from Freetronics, please follow us on your choice of facebook, Google+, and twitter.

With only a few pieces of hardware and some cleven coding you can accomplish all sorts of things, and one example of this has been demonstrated by Faewiz who has created a neat radar system based around an Arduino.

The hardware is quite simple - an inexpsensive ultrasonic distance senors is rotated using a servo, and the distance measurements returned to a PC via USB and fed into a custom processing sketch. This interprets the data and generates a radar screen which shows any objects that have been detected during each sweep of the sensor. You can see it in action through the following video:

If you're interested in doing this yourself, the sketch, code and notes can be found on the project website. And for more, we're on facebook, Google+, and twitter - so follow us for news and product updates as well. 

And now for something completely different comes a home-made spot welder by Albert van Dalen. His reason for making a spot welder is to weld tabs to rechargeable battery cells in order to construct larger packs - commercial welding machines are expensive thus Albert's welder was born.

It's quite a feat for home-made engineering, and can either be used in series or opposed configuration. An Arduino is used to act as a timer for the welding duration, and the electronics are quite minial compared to the hardware required. The only caveat is that some heavy mains voltage and current is required as well as working with higher voltages, so not a project for the absolute beginner. However if you're tempted, a quick demonstration is shown in the following video:

Kudos to Albert for such a detailed project, of which you can learn about from his website.  And for more, we're on facebook, Google+, and twitter - so follow us for news and product updates as well.

If you're looking for an Arduino Uno-compatible board to embed into various projects, choose what tens of thousands of others have done and use our Freetronics Eleven - the Arduino-Uno compatible with low-profile USB socket, onboard prototyping space and easy to view LEDs: 

Using an exercise bike can become somewhat boring, and doesn't replicate the fun of riding outdoors. However they do have a purpose, and using them can be made a lot more interesting with an Internet-connected PC and an Arduino Leonardo or compatible board.

Hackster member jadkins has used this combination along with a reed switch and magnet to detect revolutions of the bike wheel, which are fed to the Arduino which in turn sends a USB keyboard command to the PC running Google Maps in stree view mode. With this combination, the street view display can be advanced as the rider uses the bike - giving the illusion of riding outside or somwhere in a different area. A quick demonstration is shown in the following video:

Apart from making exercise more enjoyable, it's a great way to virtually travel around areas you've never been to or need to remember for the future. For instructions on how to do this yourself, visit the Hackster website. And for more, we're on facebook, Google+, and twitter - so follow us for news and product updates as well.

After returning from a rural holiday, Instructables member enelson8 missed the starry skies that were uncluttered by light and air pollution - and turned to the world of Arduino and 3D printing to recreate the stars in his own room.

By fitting Arduino-controlled LEDs to foam roof tiles, which are held together and to the ceiliing with the aid of 3D-printed brackets, the user can create visual flickering and blinking effects with the LEDs. Doing so can also help with sleep and relaxation, realising another benefit from the project.

Getting started is simple, as there is detailed instructions and links to the files required to print the brackets and an Arduino housing from the project Instructable page. And for more, we're on facebook, Google+, and twitter - so follow us for news and product updates as well.

If you're interested in experimenting with Arduino and LEDs, get a pack of RGB LEDs. They're lots more fun than single-colour units - we're offering large and bright 8mm diameter RGB LEDs:

They're in the common-anode format and look great when lit up. Ideal for colour-mixing and creating displays of all sorts. For more information and to order, visit the product page. 

If you're curious about the world of Arduino - or know someone who would enjoy learning about this amazing development system, then a new evening course run by the Adelaide College of Arts will fit the bill nicely.

Held over five weekly three hours sessions, participants will start from the beginning such as software installation - and over the course gain an understanding of using code to work with sensors and actuators and much more.

Considering the span of knowledge to gain over the five weeks, the course presents great value and also makes use of our quality Experimenter's Kit for Arduino. For more information and to book your place, visit the Adelaide College of Arts' website.

And for more, we're on facebook, Google+, and twitter - so follow us for news and product updates as well. 

Arduino enthusiast Kerry Wong has documented his experimenting with the PWM (pulse-width modulation) and signal generation with an Arduino Due. This is particularly interesting due to the much faster Atmel ATSAM3X8E micrcontroller used on the Due, and also Kerry's demonstration of speed improvements that can be found with more effiicent code.

One example of this is the difference in maximum frequency output made possible by using direct port manipualtion instead of the usual Arduino functions, and by experimenting with prescalars and also altering PWM function code it's possible to have one-bit PWM to obtain an 84 MHz waveform.

Certainly something for the more advanced user, but also an insight into the efficiencies that can be found with good coding. Visit Kerry's interesting website to for examples and their explanations. And for more, we're on facebook, Google+, and twitter - so follow us for news and product updates as well. 

Looking for an Arduino Due-compatible board but with more connectivity possibilities and options than the original? Then check out our new EtherDue board:

It's the Arduino Due-compatible board with the Freetronics additions including Ethernet network connectivity, MAC address chip, microSD storage, optional PoE, upgraded power supply and more - while retaining the simplicity and ease of the Arduino IDE (with 100% compatibility). And you still have a full USB interface for uploading sketches and direct programming. For more information on this powerful board, check out the EtherDue product page. 

If your household sometimes forgets to feed pet fish, an option to solve the problem is to make an automated device to drop food into the tank over regular intervals. This is quite easy to do with an Arduino, and has been demonstrated by Instructables member Constructed.

A small shampoo bottle is used to hold a quantity of food, and with a hole drilled into the neck will allow food to drop out once the bottle is rotated a little. This can be accomplished with an Arduino-controlled servo - which you can of course write a sketch to control this for the desired periods of time. It's an inexpensive project that could save you from unexpected fish loss, and demonstrated in the following video:

This would also make a fun project to share with younger children, so visit the feeder's Instructable page to get started. And for more, we're on facebook, Google+, and twitter - so follow us for news and product updates as well. 

If you're a child or fan of the video game systems that were popular in the 1970s and early 1980s then you may have a found a way to play the emulated games on a contemporary computer. However the controls via the keyboard or mouse may not meet the needs of the true purist. This can now be solved if you can locate some orginal game controllers and follow the Instructable by member MatthewH.

By using an Arduino Leonardo or compatible board such as the Freetronics LeoStick you can emulate a USB keyboard or mouse quite easily - and then it's a matter of some simple hacking to connect the classic controller to the Arduino. Finally with a quick sketch you can monitor the inputs connected to the classic controller and convert them to USB keyboard or mouse commands and thus play the classic emulated game on a moder PC with the classic controller.

So if you have some classic Atari or other joysticks to hack up, head over to Instructable to get started. And for more, we're on facebook, Google+, and twitter - so follow us for news and product updates as well.

If you enjoy building Arduino-related projects and also enjoy the animated television show "The SImpsons" then the next project by Instructables member tamberg will be of great interest. They have a created a device that can determine whent the show is to be broadcast, and then turn on the TV and select the correct channel.

The process is comprised of an interesting sequence of events. A cloud script is used to poll the RSS feed of a TV guide, which then sends a push notification to an Ethernet-enabled Arduino or compatible boards, at which point the Arduino controls infra-red LEDs to control the television. Finally, the hardware is mounted inside a stuffed Homer and the IR LEDs fitted inside his eyes.

It's a fun project and also a neat demonstration of the Yaler online infrastructore for communicating with embedded devices. To get started, all the details can be found on the project's Instructable page. And for more, we're on facebook, Google+, and twitter - so follow us for news and product updates as well.

When putting together your next Internet-enabled Arduino or AVR project - save time, space and money with the Freetronics EtherTen. Apart from being fully Arduino Uno-compatible, it has onboard Ethernet, microSD socket, full USB interface (so you don't need a costly FTDI cable just to upload a sketch!) and supports optional Power-over-Ethernet.