Remote locking is quite common for automobiles, not so common for doors.  This James Bond-ish home security system uses a coded signal from the wristwatch to the electronic box on the door to lock and unlock the door.  Far more stylish than a few RFID locks we’ve seen in the past.

• Don’t Miss: Secret Knock Detecting Door Lock

The code is a 128-Bit encrypted signal that is generated by tapping the screen of a geek-tastic TI Chronos watch containing a micro-controller, accelerometer, and Wi-Fi.

The accelerometer picks up the sequence of taps on the screen and relays it via Wi-Fi to the electronic system attached to the door bolt. The door system decrypts the tapped signal and actuates a servo to locks/unlock the door.  Check out all the details and links to the source code.

DIY Security Projects:

• How to: DIY Laser Security Systems
• Make a RBG Button Combination Door Lock
• All of our DIY Security projects.

Should driving a car with an iPhone deserve a ticket? Nah, it should be rewarded.  It might look dangerous but this iPhone hack is just another example of what can be done with an iPhone and uncommon ingenuity. The 10 Outstanding DIY iPhone Hacks we covered a while back show more superb ways modders have exploited the iPhone.

Follow along the Waterloo Engineering team as they show us a video how-to on how to remote control a full sized automobile.  Controlling the car with an iPhone is not just a case of an iPhone app and Wi-Fi. It’s also a lot of ‘behind the wheels’ engineering as the gas, the brake and the steering are rigged up with three separate controlling motors. The motors are interfaced to a Wi-Fi enabled Compact RIO controller.

The car can be remotely steered using a laptop with LabView software as the brains.  A custom app lets you control the pedal and gas with touch sliders on the phone. The steering is taken care of by the iPhone’s accelerometer.

Three instructional videos take us through the project. The first gives an overview, the second focuses on the components and the third is all about the code for the iPhone app. All three end with glimpses of car-surfing with a driverless car. You can also check out the text description on how they did it.

Get yourself a salvaged car, some scavenged motor parts and the other hardware mentioned. Try this one out far away from the cops.

iPhone hacks never cease to amaze. Check out a few more:

• Car Hacking: iPhone Controlled Mazda
• 10 Outstanding DIY iPhone Hacks
• DIY Home Automation: iPhone Controlled TV Lift

By using an Arduino, GPS, and an accelerometer, this group put together the “Urban Defender” – A hyper-local geolocation based game which allows users to “claim” various districts of a city by throwing the ball against a wall to claim the territory.  The ball tells you whether you’re in friendly or enemy territory through it’s built in speakers and LEDs. The concept video below does a great job of demonstrating the project.

The map above is how the users can track which geo-locations are owned by different groups.  It’s just a concept for now, but it would make for a great iPhone app to use to monitor which territories are owned by each team.

The Concept:

The Execution:

The Plan: The entire project is incredibly well documented, full of flow charts, diagrams, concept photos and videos so you can learn how to recreate the build.

The Code: Full details including flow charts, initial sketches, and source code can be obtained under their coding section.

The Build: Pictured above is their first prototype with all the electronics stuffed inside the ball, comfortably protected by foam.  You can view a walk through of the entire project build if you’d like to learn more.

Final Results:

The final result reminds us a lot of Foursquare, a popular location based game.  Full project details can be found at the links above at the project build site.  Be sure to subscribe to HacknMod for free to stay in the loop on future projects.

You can actually control this robotic lawn mower by using the Wiimote’s accelerometer. Its creator says the concept could also be implemented on a range of different devices – you could actually take your grandmother for a walk by simply tilting the Wiimote, although she might not be very happy about it (brilliant concept though).

It can also be used on ‘automatic’ mode – walk the device to set a perimeter then let the GPS attached mow the lawn automatically without any effort on your part.� Good thing too since it moves so slow.

Here are some other cool projects that use the Wiimote:

• Fantastic Real Time Pan and Tilt Camera
• Foldable Display Tracking Using Wiimote
• Auto-aiming USB Missle Launcher

If you’ve ever tried to ride a unicycle, most people would agree it’s pretty much impossible. However, with the Enicycle, a motorized unicycle, it’s dirt simple and you can learn in less than 15 minutes. The video above walks you through how it was designed as well as the balancing and steering mechanisms. It has built in gyroscopes and accelerometers (learn how to use a wiimote as a cheap accelerometer) along with microcontrollers and a 100W motor.

Our other balance/segway projects:

• Incredible Balancing, Climbing and Jumping Robots
• Make a Mini Segway with the Arduino

“The mini gyroscopes measure the vertical angle of the bike at a rate of 100 times a second, then feed the data to the processor, which drives the motor and in turn keeps you balance. Sounds complicated? Well, all you have to know is that you just lean forward to go and steer with your feet. Easy. To see just how easy, check out the video” – Featured on Gadget Show.

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Use I2c to connect several Arduinos together to combine their power.  I2C stands for the Inter Integrated Circuits and  is one of the best Multi Master Serial Computer Bus technologies used in different systems to connect the peripherals of low speed data transmission. The technology was invented by Philips for TVs but is used in all sorts of applications including our Wiimote and Arduino tutorial.

The I2C circuits follow a standard operational procedure where only two bi-directional lines, a serial clock, and a serial data systems are used. Â  There are recently improved versions of I2Cs available on the market which can hold a higher number of nodes and can perform faster than the rest.

• Don’t miss: Top 40 Arduino Projects of the Web

You can use I2C then you will be able to connect more than one Arduino to a robot or other application and you can easily establish a network of sensors. By using these circuits you will have more controller pins at your disposal which will allow you to add more devices.  You do have other options such as an expander or Arduino Mega, but I2C because is significantly cheaper.

How To Set Up Your I2C

Here are the basic requirements for setting the I2C protocol with the Arduino:

• More than two Arduinos
• The latest version of the Arduino IDE
• Few pieces of hook up wire
• 1.5 to 2K Pull-up resistors
• You need to install the Arduino wire library (new versions have it built in)

If you are working with two Arduinos, then one must be the master and the other must act as the slave.  To ensure a successful project, you need to make sure that you are using a minimum 1K pull-up resistor on every single line which will pull it to 5 Volts.

If you are interested in learning more about the I2C and the Arduino, here are a few great resources:

• Another Arduino and the Two-Wire Interface Tutorial
  
• Experiment: I2C communication between two Arduino boards
• Arduino Playground: I2C
  

Learn to create your own DIY pan and tilt camera which is controllable (in basically real time) by using a Wii nunchuck and the Arduino.   By moving and rotating the nunchuck, two servo motors match your movements allowing you to control your camera and take pictures.  If you’re unfamiliar with the arduino, see our tutorial and the top 40 Arduino projects of the web.

How to Make your Own:

• Grab a nunchuck ($12.50 on eBay), an arduino and two servo motors.
• We’ve covered how to connect and use the wiimote as an accelerometer in a previous tutoiral
• Attach them roughly as shown in the image below (slightly different because you have two servos)
• Upload the arduino sketch.
• For full details, you can check out the tutorial write up.

Don’t miss out! See all of our Wii/wiimote projects and subscribe for future updates.

This tutorial will walk you through how you how to connect your wiimote to your PC to play games like Counter Strike, Call of Duty, and more.  We’ve covered a brief tutorial in the past about how to connect a wiimote to your PC which you can also reference during the setup process.

What You will Need:

• Wiimote (way cheaper on eBay)
• Sensor bar (optional)
• Wireless Bluetooth Adapter (We sell quality adapters at low prices in our store)
• BlueSoleil and Glovepie (free)

How to Connect your Wiimote to your PC:

1. Plug in your bluetooth adapter.  (Buy one in our store)
2. Download BlueSoleil, install and run it.
3. Hold 1 and 2 buttons on wiimote
4. Click the center button on BlueSoleil to search for devices.
5. Once the wiimote is found it will show up as “Nintendo” followed by multiple letters…
6. Click “Search Services”
7. Click “connect bluetooth human interface device

Make sure when you do this you try to keep the lights on the wiimote flashing once it is successfully connected (the lights will eventually turn off by themselves).  Your wiimote is now connected to your computer! BlueSoleil should now look like this:

If you don’t have a Wii console, you can buy a few infrared LED’s and tape them on your desk facing the area where you will be using the wiimote. Bascially,  you have to try your best to simulate a wii sensor bar or else the wiimote might not pick up the infrared LEDs.

For those with a Wii console, simply plug in your wii into any outlet and set the sensor bar anywhere infront of your monitor. Â  (We only need the wii to power the sensor bar).  The sensor bar just uses 2 infrared LEDs which the wiimote detects.  Don’t turn your wii console on until you need the infrared lights. Then the next step is to download and install GlovePie.  Here is a Wiimote script for Counter Strike and you can find many other scripts as well.

Next steps:

1. Open the Script on GlovePie
2. Run the Script from the download above
3. Make sure that the X and Y axis are working when you tilt the wiimote.
4. Turn on your wii console
5. Start  Counter Strike
6. Go to console and Type in “Sensitivity 0.1″
7. You can change the sensitivity to whatever you feel is comfortable for yourself but make sure it is close to 0.1 or else it will be hard to control.

Counter Strike Controls:

• B =  shoot
• A =  Secondary “silencer, etc.”
• Home = Buy Menu
• Flick Up = Jump
• Minus = Reload
• 1 = Weapon Switch
• C = Crouch
• Z = Uncrouch

Tip: Make sure you are a good distance from the sensor bar or else you’ll have little room to aim the wiimote.

Check out some similar wii hacks:

• See our vast collection of Wii and Wiimote hacks
• How to: Cheap Accelerometer with the Wii Nunchuck
• Airsoft Gun Controlled via WiiMote

By interpreting data from a wiimote accelerometer, this robotic airsoft gun makes adjustments based upon wiimote movements.  Fully equipt with a webcam, it can be controlled remotely as well.  The author has plenty more info and videos on his site.

Of course, we’ve seen similar projects in the past utilizing the power of the wiimote:

• iPhone Controlled USB Missile Launcher
• Use the Wii and iPhone to Control an RC Car
• Easily Connect the Wiimote to your PC

Demonstration video:

Siftables is the latest example of a Tangible User Interface (TUI), an emerging technology that aims to use physical objects as interface for computing needs.  Siftables, however, differ from traditional models with the addition of a sensor network user interface , which gives them a groundbreaking level of coordination and interaction. The inventor, David Merrill, wowed onlookers at the technology, Entertainment, Design (TED).  People started buzzing about this topic after the presentation in February 2009.

Using Siftables
Inspired by children blocks and logos, developers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology  (MIT) Media Labs has created some new models for computing that has some big potential for serious games. Siftables is nothing but technology which combines a technical user interface with wireless sensor network in to a platform that lets users physically grasp information and sort it interactively. Small cookie sized blocks are equipped with proper display screens and you can view and use it in variety ways. All you need to do is you just need to upload your files which you want in each block. For example you can upload a images as I said in each block and then sort the digital photos or you can display letters in each block to play word games.

• More human-computer interaction: Wearable Tech: The Sixth Sense

A group can be programmed to either solve problems independently, or take their orders from the desktop computer, and controls an application running on the computer. The blocks can solve problems independently. According to Merrill, he says, the devices are likely to be used initially for games because people have addiction towards high end games specially youngsters.

Siftables interaction platform
Siftables can sense their neighbors, allowing application to utilize topological arrangement. No special sensing surface or cameras are needed. Each Siftable unit consists of a short range infrared communications, a3-axis accelerometer, Bluetooth radio, flash memory, an integrated processor, a lithium polymer battery, some hardware and the USB ports.

May we recommend:

• Top 40 Arduino Projects of the Web
• DIY Rotating Bookshelves, Staircases and Trap Doors