Gearfuse

The Smapler is quite the instrument. First off, you’ll have to build it using your trusty Arduino since it’s a shield that works in tandem with the microcontroller. It’ll allow you to build some unique and interesting instruments as well. This new snap-on panel really gives it more of an instrument-like feel though, don’t you think? It features 4 knobs, two switches and a mount for your Arduino board and Smapler shield. It even has a rustic, steampunkish paint job to top it off. Better hurry over to BlushingBoy.org though, ’cause they’re giving away 10 of these away to buyers of the Smapler.

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For all of the people who aren’t afraid to get their hands dirty, this is the perfect home security option. An end table that breaks down in to a blunt weapon and wooden shield that’s perfect for fending off home invaders or orcs. James McAdam created the Safe Bedside Table in an effort to aid the thousands of people who can’t get to sleep at night without some form of self-defense at hand.

It looks like it’ll pack quite the walloping and it’s a nice piece of furniture to boot. Just hope that intruder isn’t wielding a firearm.

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I’ve been waiting for this day for a long time. The Basement Scientist, a fine DIYer and hardware hacker, has finally received his MIDI shield boards from Batch PCB. What does this mean? It means that soon, he’ll do a run of MIDI shield PCBs that will be available for purchase. In turn, that means you can easily run MIDI through your Arduino, making it fun and easy to create your own instruments.

I received my two MIDI Shield circuit boards from Batch PCB over the weekend. I’m happy to report that they came out 100% error free. However, I think I’m going to make one or two minor tweaks before getting a bunch produced.

MIDI requires the use of the Arduino serial port pins, which are also used by the on-board USB programmer. With my current design the MIDI Shield has to be unplugged before the Arduino can be programmed, which is a pain in the ass. Instead, I’m going to add a jumper to the MIDI Shield. Remove the jumper, program the Arduino, then put the jumper back on. Much better than pulling the whole shield off every time you need to upload code.

I’m incredibly excited to get my hands on one of these shields. I was contemplating on building my own but TMS has done a fine job and I wholeheartedly support it.

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Check out Guilherme Martin’s first attempt at making a robot. He uses an Arduino and motor shield with one servo for steering and a standard DC motor for movement. It’s dubbed “baratinha” meaning “little cockroach” in Portuguese. Using two micro-switches as if they were antennae, baratinha is able to detect obstacles in its way.  It’s just like a real cockroach except it won’t eat your food or leave a foul odor in its wake.  I wonder if it’d survive an atomic blast?

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If you’ve got soldering skills and you dabble in the Arduino programming language, this add-on will allow Internet access to your Arduino via Ethernet. This will allow you to check your email, your Tumblr and lots of other stuff the government won’t allow me to tell you. DailyDIY provides step-by-step instructions for this simple build for the novice solderer.

Remember, it only takes one trip to Radio Shack…

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