tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-85762417141875522842024-03-13T20:58:19.154-07:00Project BuggyKenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00526709522608721937noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8576241714187552284.post-81179886877455323582008-08-08T09:41:00.000-07:002008-08-08T11:06:38.442-07:00Project update<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_hd3IB-CKoaw/SJyK9YtOjuI/AAAAAAAAAPo/C6YR5fKUCEg/s1600-h/featured.gif"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5232209654306475746" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_hd3IB-CKoaw/SJyK9YtOjuI/AAAAAAAAAPo/C6YR5fKUCEg/s200/featured.gif" border="0" /></a>Project Buggy has recieved some good feedback on the Instructables page. It was almost instantly give "Featured" status. Over 2500 people have checked it out!<br /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5232188988290747458" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_hd3IB-CKoaw/SJx4KdzHzEI/AAAAAAAAAPY/KTkR3PXEROE/s320/Instructables.gif" border="0" /><br />Today it was put in an article "Top 10 new uses for LEDs" at Instructables: <a href="http://www.instructables.com/community/Top_LED_Instructables/">http://www.instructables.com/community/Top_LED_Instructables/</a><br />It was billed as:<br /><br /><div><ul><br /><li><a style="TEXT-DECORATION: none" href="http://www.instructables.com/id/Buggy-A-Crafty-Programmable-LED-Creature/" target="_blank"><em>LED Creatures</em></a><em> - These LED creatures can be programmed to recognize each other and can be a great project for kids and beginner LEDers.</em><br /></li></ul><br /><p><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_hd3IB-CKoaw/SJx4ZD6u9EI/AAAAAAAAAPg/27krd5Z0Jhs/s1600-h/Instructables_Robot.gif"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5232189239041389634" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_hd3IB-CKoaw/SJx4ZD6u9EI/AAAAAAAAAPg/27krd5Z0Jhs/s320/Instructables_Robot.gif" border="0" /></a>I've yet to hear of anyone actually building one from my plans. That will be a major milestone!</p></div>Kenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00526709522608721937noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8576241714187552284.post-64014388876364305112008-07-19T01:06:00.001-07:002008-11-18T17:03:00.311-08:00Project Buggy goes live!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_hd3IB-CKoaw/SIGgu6eCOMI/AAAAAAAAALg/KWbWR6Z9iKc/s1600-h/Rachel_buggy.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_hd3IB-CKoaw/SIGgu6eCOMI/AAAAAAAAALg/KWbWR6Z9iKc/s200/Rachel_buggy.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5224633770556143810" border="0" /></a>One of my goals after doing the electronic bugs for the reunion was to publish the instructions on how to do it. It was as fun and challenging as doing the bug in the first place!<br /><br />Here is the result:<br /><A HREF="http://www.instructables.com/id/Buggy-A-Crafty-Programmable-LED-Creature/"><br />http://www.instructables.com/id/Buggy-A-Crafty-Programmable-LED-Creature/</A><br /><br />Give it a look and let me know what you think. Let me know if you catch any glaring spellin or grammer errors.<br /><br />There is a contest to get it published in a book. so vote for me at the instructables page. There is a "vote" button near the top of the page.Kenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00526709522608721937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8576241714187552284.post-72838589618420982452008-07-16T08:36:00.000-07:002008-11-18T17:03:00.694-08:00Early BuggysHere is a circuit board from an early prototype. This was the first try at an "etched" board, and it came out pretty well.<br /><br /><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5223636380474451122" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_hd3IB-CKoaw/SH4VnK38pLI/AAAAAAAAAKA/W3__x67UM4U/s400/4381.JPG" border="0" /></p><p> </p><p>Here is the same board after my 10 year old got finished with it. Kind of a green lady bug!<br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5223636763708965314" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_hd3IB-CKoaw/SH4V9eiLQcI/AAAAAAAAAKQ/pujkp0N9apc/s400/4388.JPG" border="0" /></p><br />Here is an even earlier design after my six year old finished with it. I built it on a strip board, and it used an <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Attiny</span>13 8 pin chip, which stuck up in between the wings (just out of sight in the picture). It had a flaw in that it drained the battery in only a couple of days. The newer designs last much longer.<br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_hd3IB-CKoaw/SH4VyD6XA-I/AAAAAAAAAKI/wOdBk3utjUw/s1600-h/4384.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5223636567584080866" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_hd3IB-CKoaw/SH4VyD6XA-I/AAAAAAAAAKI/wOdBk3utjUw/s400/4384.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><div><br /><br /></div>Kenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00526709522608721937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8576241714187552284.post-39291181115464886902008-07-07T15:31:00.000-07:002008-11-18T17:03:01.115-08:00Origins of Project Buggy<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_hd3IB-CKoaw/SHKmm6dyCmI/AAAAAAAAAEo/fK04U1xqZXo/s1600-h/Throwie.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5220418105535236706" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" height="169" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_hd3IB-CKoaw/SHKmm6dyCmI/AAAAAAAAAEo/fK04U1xqZXo/s200/Throwie.jpg" width="108" border="0" /></a>There is quite a bit of Buggy that is original, as in idea wise, but there were a number of projects that inspired me to do this.<br /><br />I believe the first was an article in <a href="http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2006/02/how_to_make_led_throwies.html">Make Magazine </a>about “LED Throwies”. It involves using a single LED, a coin cell battery, and a magnet to make something glowing that you can stick to something metal. I did up a couple for my girls without the magnets, and they seemed fascinated by it. They are beautiful in their simplicity.<br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_hd3IB-CKoaw/SHKleiAuytI/AAAAAAAAAEY/IPFyFR6K0Rw/s1600-h/ProgrammableLED.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5220416862020356818" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" height="143" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_hd3IB-CKoaw/SHKleiAuytI/AAAAAAAAAEY/IPFyFR6K0Rw/s200/ProgrammableLED.jpg" width="107" border="0" /></a>What really got me thinking was <a href="http://www.instructables.com/id/Programmable-LED/">Alex Weber </a>who added a small programmable microcontroller chip and a photocell so that it interacted with light. I was already working with an <a href="http://www.arduino.cc/">Arduino </a>type microcontroller (same chip family), so it sounded like something I could do. The shaped copper wire has a wonderful techno-sculpture quality, but doesn’t seem too practical for kids to play with.<br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_hd3IB-CKoaw/SHKlrUzpbhI/AAAAAAAAAEg/kaFx-n2--xk/s1600-h/blinkybug.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5220417081814117906" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" height="122" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_hd3IB-CKoaw/SHKlrUzpbhI/AAAAAAAAAEg/kaFx-n2--xk/s200/blinkybug.jpg" width="172" border="0" /></a>The final piece of the puzzle came when I saw <a href="http://www.blinkybug.com/">Blinky Bugs.</a> Using a simple wire loop as a switch, the bug’s antenna act as a touch sensor. An insect with LED eyes! I was interested in the sensor part, but the loop system sounded a bit delicate to work reliably with kids playing with it.<br /><br />So, I started out with the goal of creating a platform for a “craft-type” bug project for my children that would interact with them in as many ways as possible. My hope was to come up with something original enough that other people might want to build it and improve upon it!Kenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00526709522608721937noreply@blogger.com0