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Liquidware team crafts laser tripwire that tweets intruder alerts, keeps fake sharks at bay (video)
Laser tripwire security systems can be expensive propositions that don't always work as planned -- just ask Raytheon, which saw its $100 million Perimeter Intrusion Detection System for JFK International Airport undermined by one wayward jet skier. Taking that as a form of dare, Justin Huynh and teammates at Liquidware have devised a much cheaper (if also much smaller) tripwire of their own. Any interruption of a laser pointer's beam is caught by an Arduino light sensor that promptly sends the alert to an Android-running BeagleBoard xM; if a toy like Bruce the shark dares cross the line, the BeagleBoard sends a Twitter message to let the authorities, or at least Huynh, clamp down on the trespasser. The invention won't replace Raytheon's handiwork anytime soon, although Huynh notes that additional or more powerful sensors could theoretically catch real, muscle-bound sharks and not just their plastic counterparts. The supply checklist and source code are waiting on the company's project page below, so those who'd like to ward off miniature invasions can get started today.
Liquidware debuts Amber, a customizable Android development tablet
It's likely overkill for those interested only in some basic tablet modding, but the folks from Liquidware (no strangers to the DIY scene) have a new bit of kit that should please those looking to take on a more ambitious project. Dubbed simply Amber, the kit is described as "80 percent of the way to a tablet" -- you'll get a 1GHz ARM Cortex-A8 processor, a 7-inch capacitive display and a customized version of Android 2.3, but no pesky casing to get in the way of any other additions you see fit to add. That convenience comes at a bit of a cost, though. The Amber will set you back anywhere from $983 to $1,674 depending on the kit you choose. Head on past the break for a quick look at it on video.
DIY tablet kit is less than $400, more complicated than an iPad
Tired of The Man holding you down on the tablet front with his oppressive App Stores, his tyrannical carrier constraints, and other outrageous insults to your civil liberties? Well now you can break free of this stranglehold, thanks to a company called Liquidware and its open source, DIY tablet starter kit. The premise is simple: Liquidware provides a touchscreen OLED display (4.3-inch, 480 x 272, resistive touch), the BeagleBoard guts (a single-board computer driven by a 720MHz ARM Cortex-A8 OMAP3530 CPU, with 2GB of NAND and an SD card slot), and the BeagleJuice battery module, along with an SD card pre-loaded with Angstrom Linux. You put all the pieces together and then just basically go nuts, designing your own application marketplace, infrastructure for direct-to-consumer video and audio sales, and a revolutionary and magical user interface that blurs the lines between waking life and a hallucinatory dream-state where anything is possible, and the only limitation is yourself. Check the Moscone Center's booking information below to see scheduling availability for your developer conference, and hit the source link to offer up your $393.61 to Liquidware.
Liquidware announces modular, scalable Arm-based motherboards
If your idea of fun is developing software for obscure computing platforms, then you're probably already down with Liquidware. It seems that Arduino-based projects like the GamePack and OpenBerry have become a little too easy for the gang, so they've decided to embark on a little project to revolutionize computers by "turning them inside out," so to speak. The Illuminato X Machina is a 4-inch square upon which sits a 72MHz ARM-based microprocessor, a dedicated EEPROM chip for data storage, RAM, LEDs for output, and 14 I/O pins that line each of its four sides -- in short, a fully functional computer. The true magic of the operation, however, lies in the fact that these things are designed to cluster together, with each cell operating in parallel. "Like living organisms," it says at the group's website, the cells are "social." They autonomously communicate, distribute processing power and programming, and even isolate faulty neighbors -- when one of the cells crashes, it won't bring the whole cluster down with it. Believe us, we've only scratched the surface here -- hit that read link order up some of these bad boys for yourself, but not before you check out the videos after the break. [Via Wired, Thanks Justin]
OpenBerry DIY messenger heavy on style, won't replace your smartphone
Looking for a weekend DIY project? Using a 26-key ButtonShield keyboard module and salvaging parts from his Open Source GameBoy project, Liquidware Antipasto blogger intheblitz has created the OpenBerry, a Arduino-based mobile messenger that's maybe one-half part BlackBerry and seven parts great icebreaker at parties (the kind of parties we go to, at least). Right now the functionality is minimal -- it sends and receives messages synced to your laptop via a XBee module. The interface is also lacking, but a GUI is in apparently the works. See the device for yourself in the video after the break.
Open source "Game Boy" has five awesome parts, zero games
The Arduino-based, DIY GamePack is sort of like the Mignon Game Kit we saw in 2005, but it definitely looks much, much radder. For a mere $249.93, all the necessary parts -- CPU, "Inputshield" customizable, vibrating controller / button component (say, for right or left-handed configurations), "TouchShield Stealth" OLED display unit, and "MeCap" lithium battery pack -- can be yours. Once you've cobbled it together, of course, the real fun begins -- it's pretty much a blank slate with little more than code for a color-changing dot to start with, so if you want to play any "games" on that new "Game Boy" of yours, you're going to have to write them yourself. See a video of the device in action after the break.[Via technabob]
