This is my LEGO Minifig Head Mk. 2

The original head was starting to get beat up pretty good, so I built a new one. As they are made out of solid Styrofoam, they get pretty warm, so I have a fan system to keep me cool. In the previous version, the fans were activated by a switch in my left LEGO hand and run by a battery pack in my pants pocket. While this worked, it was a chore to get in and out of, and I would usually require assistance getting the wires run and connected.

When I started building Mk. 2, I decided to try to eliminate that issue. I have taken an Arduino Uno and an Arduino Mega 2560 and connected them via two Nordic NRF24L01+ boards. The Uno has 3 switches and is run by a 9V battery. I am currently only using one, the other two are for future plans. When the pin connected to the fan switch goes high, it sends a code (the number 11 in this case) wirelessly to the receiving unit on the Mega. When the Mega receives that code, it closes a relay and starts the fans.

I used Maniacbug’s RF24 Library available on Github – https://github.com/maniacbug/RF24. I found the examples included with the library kind of hard to understand (I’m not a programmer), but I found this example – www.bajdi.com/rf24-library-revisited – and I got my project up and running.

The sketches I used (note, I had a lot of serial.print statements for debugging and I’ve commented most of those out):

For the sending unit:

#include <SPI.h>
#include “nRF24L01.h”
#include “RF24.h”
int msg[1];
RF24 radio(9,10); //define the CE and CSN Pins
const uint64_t pipe = 0xE8E8F0F0E1LL; //Send and receiving units addresses must match
int SW1 = 5;

void setup(void){
Serial.begin(9600);
radio.begin(); // set up the radio
radio.openWritingPipe(pipe);} // Open the radio for sending

void loop(void){
if (digitalRead(SW1) == HIGH){
msg[0] = 11; // Code that is sent to the receiving unit
radio.write(msg, 1); // send code if Pin defined above is HIGH
//  Serial.println(“Switch high”);}}

And for the receiving unit:

#include <SPI.h>
#include “nRF24L01.h”
#include “RF24.h”
int msg[1];
RF24 radio(48,53); //define the CE and CSN Pins
const uint64_t pipe = 0xE8E8F0F0E1LL; //Send and receiving units addresses must match
int relay = 7;

void setup(void){
Serial.begin(9600);
radio.begin();
radio.openReadingPipe(1,pipe);
radio.startListening(); // Open radio in receive mode and start listening
pinMode(relay, OUTPUT);} // Set relay pin to OUTPUT

void loop(void){
if (radio.available()){
// Serial.println(“Radio Available”);
bool done = false;
while (!done){
done = radio.read(msg, 1); // poll Radio
// Serial.println(msg[0]);
if (msg[0] == 11){ // if Radio receives ’11′ from sending unit, set relay pin high
delay(10);
digitalWrite(relay, HIGH);
// Serial.println(“Pin 22 High”);
}
else {
digitalWrite(relay, LOW);
// Serial.println(“Pin 22 Low”);
}
delay(10);}}
else{Serial.println(“No radio available”);}}

Here’s a short video of the system working:

The next plan is to wire a couple of other gadgets to the Mega and I have a relay board I will be using to control them.

Ben finished the sandblasting cabinet, and he, Dan, and Claudio spent last night experimenting with it.

Kara Ferguson and Jenny Oldenburg will be explaining Artist Trading Cards and their various uses. Participants will learn what works and best practices when creating ATCs. Participants will create their own ATCs to keep or exchange with other participants.

When: January 20th 1pm
Where: MidsouthMakers
What: Artist Trading Card Workshop
Cost: $10 per person Sign up Here
Class size: Limit of 6 people

Provided Materials:

• 1- pack of 20 Strathmore 300 Series Smooth Bristol ATC paper
• 1- assorted pack of 12 Strathmore ATC papers
• access to paintbrushes (nothing fancy–you may opt to bring your own for applying glue or using paints)
• access to various crafting supplies including decorative paper (and newsprint ads), acrylic paints, pastels, fabric, color pencils, and more.
• soft sleeves to hold your finished ATCs

If this first workshop goes well we will set more dates in the future.

After the great response we had for the last stained glass class, Rachel has decided to do two more classes in December. We’ll be creating a ~5×7 stained glass project. Participants are encouraged to bring their own Glass cutter ($5 – ebay, amazon, Hobby Lobby, etc) everything else will be provided.

We will be doing one 4 Person class as a make up to those who missed the last class on December 8th. The December 16th class will be on projects that can be done this way and it really can open the path to creativity in working with glass Sign ups are first come, first serve. If we exceed the sign ups we’ll plan another day to do this event again.

Please sign up for the classes via the following links (You do not need to have a WordPress account to sign up)

The cost for the class is $20 per person. There is a button to pay for the class on the events page in the links below.

December 8th – 1pm-5pm – http://www.midsouthmakers.org/events/stained-glass-class-dec-8th-1-pm/
December 16th – 1pm-5pm – http://www.midsouthmakers.org/events/stained-glass-class-dec-16th-1-pm/

We had a great time today at our first stained glass class. Here are some of the panels that were completed today.

Rain’s Panel

From left to right: Jerri, Kara and Mary

We hope to have another class if there is interest for those that missed out this weekend. Rachel will come back and host another couple of classes covering the “Copper Foil” method of stained glass crafting hopefully before the end of the year.