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 Fans of the "Super Mario Bros" Nintendo game franchise will love the following project. By constructing a larger-than-life piranha from styrofoam, pipe, cloth and other crafty object, Instructables user 'Anirbas91' has completed a worthwhile decoration on its' own. However with the addition of a movement sensor, and a variety of LEDs the piranha can blink randomly (or however you like) once someone moves past.

So to make your own, 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 projects that could use different light effects, consider one or more of the Freetronics RGBLED: 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.

 Programmer Rajkumar C Madhuram has demonstrated how easy it is to make your own music-playing device with an Arduino. His project can play five different Christmas-themed tunes and also control LEDs so they blink in relation to the music. This project would be easily embedded inside a variety of objects or decorations to add another level to the usual Christmas decorations. You can hear an example of the tunes in the following video:

For the circuit schematic, notes and Arduino sketch visit Rajkumar's website. And for more, we're on twitter and Google+, so follow us for news and product updates as well.

If you're looking to embed one or more full-sized Arduino-compatibles in your project but would like to save some money, consider the Freetronics KitTen. This has all the features of an Arduino Duemilanove-compatible without the USB interface and is in kit form, saving you money while staying true to the Arduino form. For more information and to order, check out the KitTen page.

 As part of a subject at university, Instructables user "jromanofski" was required to make something with an Arduino (what a great idea) and their response to the request was the creatoin of a "Noise Machine Jacket". Although simple in principle, the jacket is an interesting exercise in wearable electronics and may help you be the life of an end-of-year party. After hiding two speakers, an Arduino and control buttons behind the cuff buttons, the results were quite successful, for example: 

With a litte change in the code all sorts of tunes or effects could be created, 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 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:

 After being harassed by their cat in the early sleeping hours, Instructables user 'briannaw' built a device whose purpose is to detect movement and make an annoying noise once detected. It is a simple, easy-to-build example using a motion detector, Arduino board and a buzzer fitted to a nicely-crafted enclosure, for example:

The success of this project will be predicated by the tenacity of a cat, so your "mileage may vary". Nevertheless, click here for the instructions and design notes. And for more, we're on twitter and Google+, so follow us for news and product updates as well.

If you're interested in working with piezos for various noises we have a neat little SOUND: sound and buzzer module:

It can be used as a noise-maker driven by your microcontroller for audible feedback of events, and it can also be used as a knock-detector input to sense events and react to them. Includes a built-in 1M resistor to allow the piezo element to detect shocks. For more information and to order, please visit the product page here. 

 After getting interested in the world of Arduino, Andrew Tuline turned his hand to controlling a length of RGB LEDs for a Christmas decoration. Not content with simply blinking the LEDs or displaying a pattern, he used an MSGEQ7 spectrum analyser IC which accepts analogue audio and outputs the levels of each frequency band, perfect for an interactive light show - for example:

Each LED is controlled by a WS2801 IC, which individual control of the LEDs. Not bad at all! So click here 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 looking to make your own projects that could use different light effects, consider one or more of the Freetronics RGBLED: 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.

 Matthew Venn and members of the Bristol (UK) Hackerspace have published details of a fun project that uses an Arduino board and the contents of old floppy disk drives. The combination of the two results with spiral-drawing devices that can create an interesting variety of circular artworks. The Arduino controls the stepper motor previously used to rotate the disk, and a market pen is mounted on the read-write head. With some extra work you could control that to allow for more detailed drawings. Nevertheless, the project is explained and demonstrated in the following video:

So next time you see an old PC on the side of the road, grab the floppy drive then visit here. And for more, we're on twitter and Google+, so follow us for news and product updates as well.

When experimenting with various items and an Arduino, it can be difficult and time consuming to mess about connecting wires of various sizes to the board. As you can see the coffee machine hacker has chosen our Freetronics Terminal Shield for Arduino - which neatly solved the problem:

 Australian hacker and Arduino enthusiast Steve Dalton has created a simple and useful interface for the Pandora Radio service which is streamed using a Raspberry Pi. He has used a Freetronics Eleven Arduino Uno-compatible board, and by replacing the bootloader with a human-interface the Eleven can be used with the piano bard application as a simple like/don't like/next track controller. Although the hardware is at the minimal stage, with some buttons and an enclosure it would make a great product. 

To replicate this yourself, visit Steve's project page here. And for more, we're on twitter and Google+, so follow us for news and product updates as well.

If you're going to reproduce the project above, check out our Freetronics Eleven - the Arduino-Uno compatible with low-profile USB socket, onboard prototyping space and easy to view LEDs:

 Dutch enthusiast and Instructables, member "the_anykey" aka Richard has designed and build a fascinating game as a present for the upcoming season. It is a basic quiz-style game, however the display is not an LCD module - instead, a large custom-made split flap display. Controlled by a stepper motor it is fast and quite entertaining - in the same way as watching the old flight display boards at the airport.  Nevertheless it's a great project - and described in detail during the following video:

As well as the original game, another video about making the split-flap display is provided and all the design files. 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 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:

 Defying gravity is always a rewarding challenge, from the Wright Brothers' first flight through to Sputnik and beyond. And with an Arduino you can create a more down-to-Earth example of this by creating a magnetic levitation device as described by Arduino forum member "ea123". They have build a simple demonstration using a permanent magnetic which is suspended below an electric coil. A hall sensor is used to detect the distance from the magnet, and using this data the Arduino can control the current through the coil to keep the magnet at a set distance. Check out the following video to see it in action:

That's a pretty cool weekend project, and not too much hardware to worry about. For the details including sketch and schematic, login to the Arduino forum. And for more, we're on twitter and Google+, so follow us for news and product updates as well.

 Chris Moos has published a new Arduino library - avr-os, that enables an Arduino to multitask. in Chris' words

The library uses pre-emptive multitasking to switch tasks and each task has its own stack that is restored when a task is resumed. An AVR timer is used to provide ticks and this interrupt is used to switch tasks. 

This looks promising and adds a new dimension to the possible uses of an Arduino board. Chris provides demonstration sketches and the complete code download so you can try it out for yourself.

For more information, click here to 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 an experienced Arduino user and interested in more advanced Arduino projects and usage - get yourself a copy of "Practical Arduino" by Jonathan Oxer and Hugh Blemings: