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 The Arduino platform and digital music works very well, and a xylophone project by Instructables user 'audreyobscura' is a great example of this. By using an Arduino Mega board for the extra analogue inputs, a dozen piezo sensors and some laser-cut parts she has created a xylophone that can appear as a music instrument in various software packages such as "Garage Band" in MacOS. The Arduino measures the signal from the piezo sensors which are actuated when a beam is played, and sends the signal back to the PC via USB. By using a  serial>MIDI software the xylophone then becomes a full MIDI-interfaced instrument. In the following video you can see the whole process in action:

For the instructions and design files, click here. And for more, we're on twitter and Google+, so follow us for news and product updates as well.

 Once more Emmanuel Turner has ported another game to work with an Arduino and our LCD Keypad Shield. In this instalment he brings us the classic game "Camel". It's a simple game of strategy, you make choices about your progress and taking care of your camel in the hope of crossing the desert. It was a classic game in BASIC from years ago and still some fun today. As always the game works well - the game play is really well done, and with some imagination is a great interlude, for example:

 Using the Arduino platform, a lot of servos and an incredible variety of objects, Gabriella Levine has made a robotic water snake. Although this sounds rather far-fetched, it really works. The servos are controlled using her custom library to replicate the motion of a real snake, causing a degree of propulsion and steering. To protect against moisture the servos have been modified, and a variety of greases and sealants are used to keep it dry inside the tube. The snake is a work of art and really works well, for example:

With some time and the right parts you can recreate this yourself, 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 this type of project interests you and you're new to the Arduino world, check out our new Experimenter's Kit for Arduino:

The package includes a wide variety of parts, sensors and modules including: a servo motor, lights, buttons, switches, sound, sensors, breadboard, wires and more. Furthermore a Freetronics Eleven Arduino-compatible board is included to make this an extensive hobby experimenter, inventor and starter kit. However we don't leave you alone to figure it all out, included is a great project and instruction booklet, plus access to a supporting web page and software examples. In other words - this is everything you need to get started for a fun range of electronics and Arduino related projects! 

So to get started or for more information and to order, check out the product page.

 Although there's a plethora of convenient ways to listen to .mp3 music files, making your own player is educational, satisfying and fun. Enthusiast Jose Daniel Herrera has done just that with his version, based around an Arduino, memory card reader, the popular VS100x-series mp3 decoder IC with a small amplifer and so on. After assembling the project into a small cabinet the results are quite professional. The outstanding part is the user interface, which takes good advantage of a rotary encoder and some clever coding to create a very easy menu system, such as shown in the following video:

For the series of articles describing the construction, start here. And for more, we're on twitter and Google+, so follow us for news and product updates as well.

 After having a need to execute Arduino functions that run periodically, Balázs Kelemen created the "arduino-softtimer" library to help do just that. In his words:

SoftTimer class is a Timer Manager that constantly scans the registered task if it is time to run it. If so (launch start time is passed) the callback is launched. No matter how long the callback is running, the next run will be scheduled according to the previous start time. The period of starting is defined at the Task. The period of the task may be changed if necessary.

This creates interesting new options with regards to coding style, for example creating state machines or object-oriented programming. Timing is measured in milliseconds so you can a fait amount of accuracy, and setting it up in your sketch is made simple with the well documented instructions. Like most other libraries it's a work in progress, however could be useful even now depending on your application.

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

 As most seasoned Arduino users will know, there are two hardware interrupts available on digital pins two and three. However with the correct coding you can also have pin-change interrupts on other pins as well. They can detect a (i.e. be triggered) on a rising or falling state of the pin involved.To make this possible Lex Talionis has written his arduino-pinchangeint library specifically for the task. At the time of writing it works with boards that use the ATmega168 and '328 microcontrollers such as the Ardino Duemilanove, Uno, Freetronics Eleven, KitTen, EtherTen and more. 

For a complete explanation, code and library download 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 often work with barebones or non-board Arduino microcontroller projects - you'll appreciate our new Arduino pinout microcontroller labels:

 A lissajous curve is one that is described by a parametric equation, and a popular example is the logo for the ABC. However instead of creating them with an Arduino and mathematics, YouTube user 'mkvenkit' has used simple physics to do so. By mounting a mirror each on the end of the shafts of two small DC motors, and reflecting a laser pointer beam on the mirrors - the beam can be reflected at high speed to create some interesting displays, for example:

Not bad at all! Click here to visit a tutorial that explains how to drive the motors. And for more, we're on twitter and Google+, so follow us for news and product updates as well.

If this type of project is of interest, you will enjoy the book  "Practical Arduino" by Jonathan Oxer and Hugh Blemings:

 In certain projects you may want to reset the entire Arduino board - for example if an action doesn't occur after a period of time, as a type of watchdog timer, or for some really GOTO-esque coding. Enthusiast Gabriella Levine has documented two methods of doing just this - the first is by using the RESET pin and a digital output pin. Once the RESET pin is driven low by software using digitalWrite on the output pin, the board resets. The second way is purely in the sketch without any extra hardware or circuitry at all. 

Perhaps this may not be useful immediately, but an interesting piece of knowledge to file away for later. Click here to find out more. And for more, we're on twitter and Google+, so follow us for news and product updates as well.

If this type of project interests you and you're new to the Arduino world, check out our new Experimenter's Kit for Arduino:

The package includes a wide variety of parts, sensors and modules including: a servo motor, lights, buttons, switches, sound, sensors, breadboard, wires and more. Furthermore a Freetronics Eleven Arduino-compatible board is included to make this an extensive hobby experimenter, inventor and starter kit. However we don't leave you alone to figure it all out, included is a great project and instruction booklet, plus access to a supporting web page and software examples. In other words - this is everything you need to get started for a fun range of electronics and Arduino related projects! 

So to get started or for more information and to order, check out the product page.

 Arduino enthusiast Alberto Bietti has created a simple and noisy project based on an Arduino board - his ultrasonic theremin. This is a type of musical instrument that can be played without any physical contact, thus the ultrasonic sensor which measures the distance between itself and an object. Using the Arduino sketch the distances returned can be made proportional to sound values and thus the musical "instrument" is born... for example:

The use of the bare speaker with the Arduino leaves the audio quality a little poorer than expected, however the project is fun and would be a good form of entertainment or inspiration for younger builders. Click here to get started on your own version. 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 Arduino and sounds for various reasons 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. 

One of our distributors in New Zealand has created a small, inexpensive robot platform to be used with students in their technology curriculum (and no doubt for fun as well). Called the "BrainBot" it consists of a Freetronics LeoStick as the brain, which is mounted on a MindKits "brainboard" which controls the two motors and allows for various forms of sensor and other expansion possibilities. It's a fun project and should find uses in various lessons and homes as well. 

For more information about the BrainBot and how to order one click here. And for more, we're on twitter and Google+, so follow us for news and product updates as well.

So what is a LeoStick? It's the Arduino Leonardo-compatible board that's cheaper and smaller than the original: