Hacked Wall Clock (after Lord Vetinari)

This clock ticks erratically but still keeps accurate time. Its mechanism has been replaced by a programmable chip that emits 64 randomly spaced ticks every 64 seconds.

Lo Fi Blinky Card

Snow day project with 4 year old Rachel: a greetings card with flashing illuminated LEDs.

Jack-O'-Launchpad

Perhaps not the most imaginative used of a Tiva Launchpad, but the default application makes for a serviceable Jack-O'-Lantern. Powered by a USB adapter from CUI, a freebie via @digikey on twitter. Nice!

30 Second Light Sabre Autopsy

What we have here. A battery holder, 2 tactile switches, 4 LEDs, and a chip with a blob on that makes a crappy noise. I don't even want to know how the plastic shaft got broken but no ambulances were called. Nothing to salvage or Halloweenify. Let's move on.

Jumbo Bristlebot

With a bit more power this might make an autonomous floor scrubber. Maybe. OK, a lot more power. :)

Old MacDonald Hacked A Farm

My kids have a plastic farm toy. It neighs, it baas, and frankly, it grates. But since I tricked it out with a microcontroller brain, at least it can play Simon.

Bug Shaped Solar Robot

Powered by a solar panel, this miniature robot shuffles towards the light.

Flickery LED Bar Candle

Perhaps the world has no need for another blinky LED candle effect. But with Halloween coming up, I was still in the mood for repurposing logic chips.

Hacky Random Number Generator / Cat Toy

For my entry to the Dangerous Prototypes 7400 Contest, I decided to make a true random number generator. In particular, I wanted a latching RNG — not merely a continuous stream of numbers, but a continuous stream which I could sample at intervals. The circuit would be made up of a minimal number of digital logic parts. And deliberately inducing noise into the digital circuit would involve breaking all the usual design rules, which is fun.

Hacked Whammy Pedal

I bought a toy foot pedal for $10. I didn't know how to communicate with it, but for some reason that didn't bother me until I had it in my hands and was wondering what to do with it.

Quacking Oven Timer

The kitchen stove had no timer. Hannah had grown out of the waterfowl-themed slippers that she had been given. What came next? A schlock quack duck cook clock hack.