Halloween 2015 - Jumping Clown

Holy jumping Halloween clown - a bit of air pressure - sprinkler valve - 20 feet of wire - 9 volt battery - switch - sliding pvc pipe - metal strapping - and string to keep clown from flying too high!

bonus creepy - post Halloween basement storage - cram them in a storage box!

      

Cherry/Maple Tool Cabinet

HDMI 5 Port Switcher - Hack

I'm looking to use these $12 HDMI Switchers to switch cam-recorders during a live stream event - they have IR but my attempts to capture IR sound as done in this Hackaday "Metalab Bypasses IR Remote with Audio Circuit" wasn't very successful.

So I unscrewed the case and attached wires to the led's and the switch.

 

I use the analog pins on an Arduino Nano to read the status of the pin's and a digital pin with a transistor to mimic the button press. 

It's a little fidgety on first setup as it can require plugging/unplugging HDMI sources and sometimes turning the cam-recorders on/off. I've also found that it needs it's own power source (they claim it can be powered by the HDMI sources but that doesn't work).

Portta PET0501SP HDMI 5x1 5-Port Switch/Switcher with IR Remote, AC Adapter and 3D Support
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00GUDTRVE

C&E HDMI 5x1 5 Port Switch/Switcher with IR Remote Support 3D with Power Adapter
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009EADCXO

Canon VIXIA HF R50/R600 Cam-Recorder Mechanical Zoom

These Canon VIXIA HF R50 cam-recorders have wifi that allows control of the zoom - but it just doesn't work that well. The R600 doesn't have wifi. In the future I want to control all seven of these cams at the same time.

Out with the 3d printer. Just a few bracket styles.


The zoom control is a slider on the top of the camera.













Arm to attach to zoom slider - with a little work from a file.













And we have a winner - but it needs a rubber band to hold the arm tight against the zoom slider.

    




Short video of the zoom in action.

Using a cheap Arduino Nano to control the servo - for the most part I've found the following angle positions to work:
  byte angleIn = 20;
  byte angleCenter = 33;  
  byte angleOut =45;

I kick the servo for 100 microseconds 5 degree's more/less to start a zoom than go back to the above angles. For example:
  if ((lastPayload > payload2 || payload < angleCenter ) && payload>10)
    payload -= 5;
  else if (lastPayload < payload2 || payload2>angleCenter) payload += 5;

  myservo.write(payload);

  delay(100);
  myservo.write(payload2);   

  lastPayload = payload2;

Home Automation Talk

Here's a link to my home automation talk I did at the Sensors and Startups Meetup Group in Atlanta on Oct 23rd, 2014 - "Frugal Hacking a Networked Home Monitor" aka "TOP SECRET PROJECT COBBLED SENSORS NETWORKED"

One day I'll put together some follow up details on each of the parts