IZation Labs

The following device has been unofficially dubbed the “Blasphemous Bible Box” by my roommate. It was built for my art class, in which we were instructed to create our own ‘box’ project. The limitations were few. The size and style of box did not matter. The concepts were to be approved by the professor, and it did not need to be comprehensible, ie, it could be extremely personal and secretive.

My project was built from a lightly modified inexpensive cigar box. From the outside it looks like a modern though simplistic black box, with a kind of hammered metal sheen.

The inside is lined with genuine leather, complete with a New Testament Bible. The Bible is stuck open to the book of Revelations. Specifically, the primary verses concerning the Mark of the Beast.

Hidden beneath the paper and leather is a bird’s nest of electrical wiring and components. Inside is an Arduino, six AA batteries wired in series, a five volt regulator, a servo motor, and an RFID reader.

This is an art project, you ask? Yep. Read on, there’s a video of it in action after the break.

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While researching a motor driver that I’m using out in the shop I stumbled across this extremely interesting video showcasing what is basically a magnetic bearing. He uses three of the same 24V 12A motor controllers that I am using, but he is using his to generate a magnetic field that keeps a payload a certain distance from the metallic structure at all times. No physical connection == frictionless bearing, assuming one ignores the air.

-Lace

Today’s post is about a microcontroller called the Arduino Diecimila.

You may not be familiar with the term microcontroller. A microcontroller is basically a small, often times specialized computer. Some microcontrollers such as the Basic Stamp and Arduino are easily programmable and are great for prototyping and do it yourself projects, meaning that geeks and make-your-own X product kind of people jump all over them. I know, that doesn’t do it justice, but it will suffice for now.

The arduino is a neat little device. Unlike the Basic Stamp 2 or some other common microcontrollers, the Arduino can be purchased very cheaply ($35), and is usually already completely assembled. To get started with your own electronics projects, all you have to do is plug it into your usb port. Then you just download the free programming environment from the arduino website and you are ready to go.

Oh, and did I mention that it’s all open source?

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