Updates To My DIY Electronic Geocaching Bracelet

After taking the geocaching bracelet that I made on a little field test last weekend, I realized there were a few silly errors in the code I wrote for this gadget. One of the smaller and yet significant errors was a missing comma between the latitude and longitude coordinates of the cache we were looking

Updating my Programmable Jam Jar Light for a Camping Trip

A few months ago I created a Jam Jar light with a programmable weatherproof RGB NeoPixel strip from Adafruit. It’s a simple, fun, interactive gadget for short camping trips that helps me see at night. Using a bit of code that I placed on a Flora micro controller, and an accelerometer and a compass, the

Making a Geocaching Navigation Device

After applying a few minor adjustments to the Adafruit NeoGeo watch Arduino code and a few months of procrastination, I’ve made a device that indicates roughly how far I am from any number of destinations that I set. All of the code I used is here on GitHub. The idea to create this little contraption

Programming a Jam Jar Light

I’m working on a smiple LED mood light that changes colour based on its orientation to the local magnetic field and uses an accelerometer to switch the power on/off. The little contraption consists of a programmable NeoPixel strip, wired to a Flora micro controller, wired to a compass & accelerometer sensor, all powered by a

Programming 80’s Bike Lights

I’m working on lights for my bicycle bag that will change colour based on my acceleration and the direction I’m moving in. The extra lights might help drivers see me at night, although the primary goal here is have fun while building and programming stuff for my bicycle, and to celebrate the 80’s in a

Sewing r = cos(2θ/3) into my Backpack with Electroluminescent Wire

I recently finished sewing the polar curve r = cos(2θ/3) into my backpack with electroluminescent (EL) wire. It was neat seeing how math, sewing, and electronics could come together in an inexpensive project, so I thought I’d write a short blog post about its development. Inspiration Back in November I was sewing EL wire into

I’m Building an Arduino Robot

After having taught a few undergraduate mathematics courses that apply calculus and differential equations to circuits, all the while not knowing what a resistor or a capacitor could even look like, teaching myself how to solder them into a circuit board was cathartic. Thanks to a previous episode of my favorite CBC podcast, Spark, I’ve been inspired