With the sun shining bright. It's back to the projects!

   
With the extra time I have ( since its summer ) I am working hard on my projects.

I have always wanted to add a lock to my fridge so that my roommate can't get in to it and eat all the delicious food that I worked hard to cook. However I didn't want to install a pad lock because 1) they take too long to open  and 2) they look ugly. So in my mind the only logical thing to use was an RFID reader.
It has many advantages compared to padlocks or any other locking mechanism: An RFID system is sleek since i can put it inside a nice thin box or i can even embed it inside the fridge, the cards are dirt cheap since I am prone to losing key cards, and most important reason to use an RFID reader is that it is super nerdy and futuristic!

Now I justified my self the reason to use an RFID reader its time to build it.



For this project I used a Parallax RFID board from Radio Shack as my reader and an Ardino UNO for the brains.

It is still in development stages but i have gotten the RFID reader to do a serial print of the RFID tag and turn on LEDs. Next step is adding a servo to control a nice thick steel pin that will be used to lock the door. Once done I will post my code here so that you can also replicate this cool fridge lock.

Stay tuned I'm not going to say that because for some reason every time i say that i don't make an update for about a month.

Well I have some good news and bad news. I am retiring the Self balancing skateboard project for the time being. I had to sell some of the parts for the project ( the sabertooth, the motor and a few other parts) to a friend that wanted me to build him an electric skateboard that he would use over in College Station to commute to and from his classes at A&M. I worked on it for a few week ends and got it to nicely function.

I am using the Sabertooth Speed controller in conjunction with a Spektrum DX3S R/C car controller to control the motors speed. I am going to be working on a different controlling system for the future so i can incorporate some sort of electronic traction control on the 5th wheel due to the fact that if you press the throttle too fast all it does is spin the powered wheel until it eats up the plastic on the tire.

But for now the whole contraption is powerful enough to push a relatively large person around.

Here is a video ( the guy on the skateboard is my friend from school and I'm controlling it )
I have a few more projects under way. I will update on them when i get more done on them.