Normal torches can get quite boring very quickly, so if you have a few hours and some simple parts you can convert it into a fun and interesting version with an RGB LED. This allows you to not only see where you're going in the dark, spot possums on the power line or signal for help - you can do it with a variety of colours and effects. By using an old torch enclosure, Instructables user "Jgniklu" has demonsatrated how to fit a bare Arduino-compatible circuit and a three-watt RGB LED in the enclosure - which can results with a fairly professional result:

The colours are altered using a potentiometer, a simple and durable control system. The rotation determines the colour mix for the LEDs. Doing so would be quite interesting, so review the Instructable to get started. And for more, we're on twitter and Google+, so follow us for news and product updates as well. 

If you're wanting to reproduce the project above - we've got you covered with our new ATmega328P MCUs with Arduino Uno bootloader:

This is the same Atmel AVR ATmega328P microcontroller used in the official Arduino Uno, as well as our Eleven, EtherTen, USBDroid, and other boards. Perfect for building your own Arduino-compatible project directly on a breadboard or on a custom PCB, or for replacing the MCU in an existing board. Comes with the Arduino Uno bootloader pre-installed. Better still, it even has a special label stuck on top with details of the pinout, so you don't even need to look up the datasheet when connecting it up in your project! For more information and to order, click here!

 There seems to be an almost limitless range of temperature sensors available, from analogue to digital to non-contact and more, and another example is the "thermopile", the device shown below that resembles Sputnik. Poor jokes aside, the TS118-3 model used is a handy sensor that converts the difference between the ambient temperature and the temperature of the object being measured into a voltage - which then can be measured with an Arduino via some simple op-amp circuitry. 

It's an interesting tutorial and also a great example of using op-amps with an Arduino, so click here to get started. And for more, we're on twitter and Google+, so follow us for news and product updates as well. 

If you're looking to make your own non-contact thermometer without the associated analogue circuitry, check out our Freetronics IRTEMP: module:

It's perfect for contact-less temperature measurement. This is our special version of the industrial infra-red remote thermometer units with an onboard power supply, communication support and a software library and examples supplied. Very simple to use with an Arduino as we have provided a Getting Started guide and Arduino library. For more information and to order, click here.

 Over time rechargeable batteries of various chemistries will lose their ability to hold a charge, and thus you tend to put them in a dark cupboard (or worse) and move on with life. However in some cases, you can restore them with a desulfating circuit. This process has been described by Instructables user "technovative" and includes the sketch, circuit and some sample output captures on a CRO, for example:

 There is a possibility that these methods could be dangerous, so please heed the advice of the author with respect to the battery type you can use and also seek your own advice. However it's an interesting concept and may prove useful, so click here to find out how it can be done. And for more, we're on twitter and Google+, so follow us for news and product updates as well. 

If you'd like something that's much more fun and quite safe - check out our Experimenter's Kit for Arduino:

 If you're interested in adding more analogue-to-digital ports to your Arduino board but don't want to pay extra for a Mega - or would like a true digital-to-analogue converter, check out John's latest tutorial about the NXP PCF8591. It's a convenient part that has four 8-bit ADCs, a single 8-bit DAC and can also operate as a differential ADC if so required. All the required Arduino sketches are provided and explained, having you up and running in no time. 

For more information, visit the tutorial page. And for more, we're on twitter and Google+, so follow us for news and product updates as well.

 To help illustrate how simple it is to work with his new Argot Internet-of-Things language tool, David has demonstrated the process using our new Cube4 RGB LED cube kit as an output device. It's an interesting demonstration that is well documented, and shows how to create the required code for Argot, the Arduino in the Cube4 and also the processing GUI for the Cube4. The Argot system shows a lot of promise, and through this demonstration we hope you find it of interest. 

For complete details, head over to the tutorial. And for more, we're on twitter and Google+, so follow us for news and product updates as well.

 If you have more than a passing interest in real-time ping values for your favourite websites or gaming servers then this project by reddit user "RTLShadow" is perfect. By using an Ethernet-enabled Arduino board with an LCD module, the device can make use of the ICMPPing library and simply display the values on an LCD module. If you're wondering what "ping" is - it's the amount of time it takes a packet of data to travel from your device to the server in question. The lower the ping time, generally the better the response from the server. 

Initially this type of project sounds difficult, however once you review the sketch - it's quite simple. For more discussion head over to reddit, and view the sketch here. And for more, we're on twitter and Google+, so follow us for news and product updates as well.

 You can have a lot of fun with remote-contolled toys and other devices with an Arduino, as the platform makes it quite easy to interface with the controls. One example of this is by the folks at the Brico Bidules blog who have detailed their efforts in modifying a remote control Heng Long Tiger tank. Over a series of articles their work has been documented, and currently leaves us with a laser-guided firing system for the main turret - as demonstrated in the following video:

That's a whole lot of awesome, so for more information, follow the series of articles from here (opens in Google Translate). And for more, we're on twitter and Google+, so follow us for news and product updates as well.