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 Although Valentines Day is a long way ahead of us, it never hurts to start preparing early. The next project embodies that spirit - a motion-controlled LED-illuminated heart decoration that's sure to show you care. Based around a small Arduino-compatible board it uses a simple passive infra-red motion detector that triggers the Arduino to turn on the LEDs for a period of time. With a little more work it would be possible to create a variety of visual effects to impress.

To get started on your own version, visit the project page. 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 more creative designs with LEDs, consider the Freetronics RGBLED: full colour module. It includes a bright RGB LED on the top of the board and a WS2801 constant-current, addressable, multi-channel LED driver on the back. This smart module can be daisy-chained, so you can connect a number of these together in a string and drive each of the module colours individually from your microcontroller. For more information and to order, visit the product page.

Once again Rui Santos brings us another simple yet useful Arduino tutorial. In his latest instalment he demonstrates how to control an Arduino using text commands over serial via Bluetooth. A lot of people consider this to be difficult, however with the freely-available "Blueterm" Android app you can send and receive text - which an Arduino can easily receive and act upon. For the demonstration Rui controls a DC motor with an L293D motor controller IC which is useful in itself, for example:

Visit Rui's website for more information and the tutorial. And we're on twitter and Google+, so follow us for news and product updates as well.

When prototyping more advanced Arduino-based projects, you'll need a protoshield to mount the external circuitry. In doing so, consider our range of ProtoShields. From the tiny LeoStick to the Mega range, we offer a complete range for you to work with.

 Arduino enthusiast Andy has a camera with an older-style cable shutter release, and created a unique method of wireless remote control for the camera. By using a servo to pull and push the shutter release cable, and then controlling the servo via an Arduino-compatible circuit the mechanics of the remote were solved. And for wireless remote - a cheap RF remote control was hacked to control the Arduino. It's simple and it works - well done Andy

Click here for more information, notes and the Arduino sketch. And for more, we're on twitter and Google+, so follow us for news and product updates as well.

 Raspberry Pi enthusiast Mark Wolfe was looking for a simple method of locally measuring both temperature and humidity, and found the answer with his RPi and our HUMID: module. As the module contains all the required circuitry, Mark simply had to connect power and data lines to the board and load the appropriate software. After building the library it was successful and we look forward to Mark's exploration with the module. 

For more information and complete instructions, visit Mark's website. And we're on twitter and Google+, so follow us for news and product updates as well.

If you're looking for a sensor to measure temperature and humidity - check out our HUMID: humidity and temperature sensor module. Designed around the DHT22 sensor, it only requires one digital pin and power - and is easy to use with out Quick Start guide. With a temperature range of -4°C to +125°C with +/-0.5°C accuracy, and humidity at 0-100% with 2-5% accuracy you're ready to measure. For more information and to order, click here. 

 If you can get your hands on an indoor blimp inflated with helium, then the next step is to add a propulsion system and remote control, and an example of this has been documented by Instructables member "masynmachien". By creating large fins that are controlled by micro servos, and putting one on each side of blimp - it can "swim" through the air at a sedate pace. Plus with the servos being controlled by a bare Arduino-compatible circuit it was easy to add remote-control via infra-red. At first it sounded a little far-fetched, but it works - for example:

That's incredible - and you can do it to by following the instructions from here. And for more, we're on twitter and Google+, so follow us for news and product updates as well.

If you're making your own blimp or other Arduino-based project and don't want to banish an entire board - instead get yourself an ATmega328 preloaded with the Arduino 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. For more information to order, click here. 

 Once again software programmer and technology enthusiast Nick Fryer has shared another useful project with us - a remote-control for a PC in order to control reading software. The system uses a Freetronics Eleven at the user's end with two large buttons for "forward" and "backwards". When the buttons are pressed a character is sent via 433 MHz wireless to a receiver with an Arduino Leonardo - which can simply emulate a USB keyboard and thus control the software for the reader. It's a great solution and makes life easier for the user.

For more information, the Arduino sketches and points of interest, visit Nick's website. And for more, we're on twitter and Google+, so follow us for news and product updates as well.

If you're making your own Arduino-based project that needs USB emulation - check out our LeoStick. It's the Arduino Leonardo-compatible board that's cheaper and smaller than the original:

 Racing simulator enthusiast Andrew Huxtable has worked on many projects to enhance the experience with his simulators, and one of these is his gear-shift indicator project. Andrew has used a large single digit 7-segment LED module and mounted a Freetronics EtherTen and a darlington-transistor array circuit to drive the LEDs. There's also a shift light at the top of the display to let you know when to change gear. It works very well and adds to the experience, for example:

For more information, the code and other interesting projects visit Andrew's website. And for more, we're on twitter and Google+, so follow us for news and product updates as well.

If 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:

 As an entertaining device for a child and an interesting Arduino-based project, Roman Mueller built a toy cash register that's powered by an Arduino-compatible board. It has a working numeric keypad, LCD module for displaying random numbers, a non-functioning but noisy replica of a bar-code scanner and more. The project is finished in a customised enclosure and certainly looks like fun for a young one - for example:

Certainly something different, but shows you can have fun with Arduino. Visit the project page for more information. And for more, we're on twitter and Google+, so follow us for news and product updates as well.

If you're making your own Arduino-based project - check out our LeoStick. It's the Arduino Leonardo-compatible board that's cheaper and smaller than the original:

 There is a theory that potential burglars can be tricked into thinking a home is occupied when in fact it isn't by using a fake television. This is a device that creates enough random illumination in a room to make it appear that someone's in there watching television. There are even commercial devices to do this, however if you need one - instead make your own with an Arduino. By following the instructions by Arduino forum member "modeller" you'll be fooling the thieves in no time - or at least making some interesting room lighting effects - for example: 

Once it reflects around the room, the illusion of a televsion being on in a dark room could possible be emulated. So for more information, visit the project post. And for more - we're on twitter and Google+, so follow us for news and product updates as well.

 Although the market contains a plethora of programmable and connected watches, it's still fun to make your own. An interesting example of this is by Instructables user "kenyer" who used a small Arduino-compatible board, a Nokia LCD module and miscellaneous hardware to fashion his own watch. With only two buttons, it still has many features including time in digital and analogue display, stopwatch, backlight control and more. All the designs and code are supplied so you can replicate it yourself, for example:

Once again kudos to Kenyer for an interesting project. And for more, we're on twitter and Google+, so follow us for news and product updates as well.

If you're making your own miniature Arduino-based project - check out our LeoStick. It's the Arduino Leonardo-compatible board that's cheaper and smaller than the original: