What's in the box?
A review of the Creation Crate electronics subscription box. Fun projects, but aimed at kids, and poor value next to the official Arduino Starter Kit.
What I'm Doing to Prepare for the Zombie Apocalypse
Securing the perimeter
Project 6 is complete: a PIR sensor and Arduino that flash ZOMBIES! and sound a buzzer whenever something moves nearby.
Made some progress, finally!
Project 3 is complete: five 10-watt bulbs running from the bench power supply, minus the three I blew by turning the voltage up too far.
Learning from one's mistakes
Project 3, LED lighting, teaches me a lesson about watts: 50-watt bulbs are far too hungry for my 5-amp bench power supply.
One step forward, two steps back
A new bench power supply gets the battery monitor working, then I seem to break my second Arduino while setting up the PIR zombie detector.
You light up my heart
A break from zombies: lighting up a heart-shaped slate with copper tape and LED stickers from a Circuit Stickers starter kit.
I just can't do it Captain, I just don't have the power!
The battery monitor project hits a wall: my 12V battery reads just 2.37 volts, probably killed by the broken charge controller.
Prime day was eventful, for all the wrong reasons
Prime Day money went on a smartwatch instead of parts, but payday brought lamp holders, bulbs, Arduino shields and a PIR sensor for the next projects.
What I've learnt about the solar panel over the past week
A week of testing between downpours: shadows halve the output, I had the multimeter on the wrong setting, and the panel hits 1.5 amps in full sun.
It's like rayeeyaaaaaaain, on your wedding day
No sun for testing, but the multimeter is finally showing positive readings. Next decision: pedal power for project 2, or lights for project 3?