Once the workhorse printer for many offices, the hordes of HP LaserJet 4 printers are now heading off to recycling, landfill or the side of the road. If you can get your hands on one, extract the display module control board from the top-right, as they contain a VFD and keypad which can be reused with minimal effort with Arduino control. For example:
Using the display and board is made possible with the M66004Vfd library and documentation available on the Arduino website here. And please be careful when working with the VFD display due to the higher voltages present. And for more news, product updates and information, follow us on twitter.
So if this sort of project intrigues you and you're new to Arduino, the first step is a solid board for your projects - our Freetronics Eleven - the Arduino-Uno compatible with low-profile USB socket, onboard prototyping space and easy to view LEDs:
