Section 3.3 Project Examples
The project schedule and requirements previously shared is a general framework that can be applied to any project and has been for many many semesters. When first formulating this course I came up with a few project ideas for students to use as inspiration but of course the Adafruit Learning System provides a wealth of resources for project development[32]. Still, here are a few examples that are shown below that can still be used as inspiration for future students. I’ve also included a few examples of projects that students have built in the past to give you an idea of what is possible with the CPX and a little creativity.
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A light sensor to turn a servo and then external leds
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Pressure plate outside that sends a text when package is stolen
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Use a computer fan you own to create a solder station filter
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The examples below are from peers that have taken the class in the past
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Little Robot with Adafruit Crickit
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Automatic trash can - Uses an ultrasonic sensor and a servo to open a trash can
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Light saber - an LED strip is used
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Automatic shades - a light sensor is used to turn a relay on which runs a dc motor to open your blinds
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Auto plant watering device - uses a waterproof pump and a humidity sensor to water a plant
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Auto dog bowl water feeder - an ultrasonic sensor is used to detect water level and open a solenoid valve to let water flow into a bowl
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Mobile for a child - a rotating platform with toys is attached to a continuous servo
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Laser Tag - Two CPXes are used to play laser tag by sending and receiving IR signals
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Mailbox - When mail is delivered light enters from the box from opening the mail box. This causes the CPX to send an IR signal to another CPX with says “You’ve got mail” with the built in speaker
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Door Opener with Dog Bark - using a 5V relay and a large motor a door open when a sound byte over a certain value is read using a microphone
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Shade Sense - Open blinds at a particular time or when sun light is bright enough using a light sensor and a servo
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Security Box - The CPX is used to rotate a “lock” using a servo by pressing buttons in a predetermined sequence
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Underglow that Bounces to Music - An LED strip is used that changes color by using the microphone to detect sound levels
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Auto-soap dispenser - A servo presses down on soap when a hand is placed under an ultrasonic sensor.
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Remote control car - A Circuit Playground Bluefruit (CPB) and Cricket are used to control a remote control car. Continuous servos are used to control the rear wheels and a front servo is used to control the front linkage. The CPB has bluetooth to allow control of the car using Bluetooth and an app on your phone.
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Fortune teller - Student bought a coin machine so you could put a quarter in and it would then tell a fortune by rotating one of 4 servos.
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Putt putt / skeeball / miniature bowling - 2 sonar sensors can be used to get speed of the ball
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Tattle tale robot - Students used a motion sensor to detect when someone walked in the room
