Arduino has released a GSM shield. It comes complete with a SIM from BlueVia, which is offering worldwide data service at 10€ for 10MB. However, you can use your own SIM instead.
Its currently on sale in the Arduino store. At 69€, it’s not cheap, but it will be good for projects that need Internet access where wifi isn’t available.
I’ve been fascinated by the videos and images people have been capturing with high-altitude balloons. This, however, is the first instance of a remote controlled space glider I’ve seen. The glider is transported to the upper reaches of the atmosphere by a balloon. Once the balloon bursts (see photo above), the plane is piloted back by remote control.
The glider is packed with electronics, including a first person video transmitter so the pilot can see where the plane is going. Check out the video to see the whole launch. There’s also a good blog post that goes into some of the details and challenges.
Photos by David Windestål
I’ve been following the progress of the Good Night Lamp since last summer. Their Kickstarter campaign ending last week without reaching the funding goal isn’t keeping them down–they’ve opened an online shop to take pre-orders. The prices look to be the same as the backer reward levels on Kickstarter. If they can manage to bring most of the backers from the Kickstarter campaign over to make pre-orders, they should do just fine.
The Good Night Lamp team set a lofty goal on Kickstarter, but it seems to have been one that was well thought out, and honest. I respect them for that. It seems that many of the projects put up for crowd funding don’t set their funding goals high enough to realistically produce their product. It appears that team Good Night Lamp did their homework and set a funding goal accordingly. While the Kickstarter might not have reached its primary goal of funding the project, at least they have an idea of the demand at a sustainable price point. More teams seeking crowd funding should follow Good Night Lamp’s lead.
I just wrapped up work on a Pomodoro Timer Shield for the Arduino. There’s a full writeup in the Projects section.
By the way, if anyone is interested in building one of their own, I have two additional PCBs that are just collecting dust right now. If you are interested in on, let me know in the comments.
A flea market clock, a nanode and some ingenuity become an indicator of which transport option may be the best bet at the moment. This bicycle barometer analyzes data from the weather service and Transport for London to indicate if cycling or the tube will yield a better commute. I like that wind and precipitation are taken into account along with temperature on the weather side. Similarly, both the local station and the line’s status are inspected for the transit option. Excellent build!
via Hack a Day