Neo to Physical Devices (was: Re: Alarmclock puzzle)

[Michael Shiloh]

You'll have to create your own plastic disc launcher.

Seriously, I want to see some Neo to physical devices interfaces. They 
needn't be practical.

For instance, you can mock up the flying disc alarm clock with some toys 
and a USB interface gadget, e.g.:

1. Find a toy that launches something and is controlled electrically, 
e.g. Nerf ball shooter that has an electric trigger.

2. Add sensor to the toy so you can tell when the projectile is in place 
or not, e.g. IR proximity sensor.

3. Connect to Neo USB port an interfacing device e.g. Arduino.

4. Digital output from Arduino activates trigger on Nerf ball gun

5. Analog input from Arduino reads IR proximity sensor

6. Alarm clock application on Neo controls everything. When alarm time 
is reached, turn on alarm and fire Nerf ball. Keep sounding alarm until 
IR proximity sensor detects the Nerf ball back in place.

I'll award 5 t-shirts for this!

Mo Abrahams wrote:
> So, will there be one of these plastic disc slots in the freerunner? or
> do we have to wait till the next gen of openmoko? =P
> 
> On Tue, 2008-05-13 at 08:55 -0700, Michael Shiloh wrote:
>> Joe Pfeiffer wrote:
>>> Michael Shiloh writes:
>>>> Way off-topic, but the best alarm clock I've ever seen is one that 
>>>> shoots a little flying disc out of the top when the alarm goes off. You 
>>>> have to get out of bed, find the disc (perhaps this would encourage my 
>>>> daughter to clean up her room before going to bed?), and insert it 
>>>> correctly in the clock in order to shut the alarm off.
>>>>
>>>> I laugh every time I think of this thing. Innovative, practical, and fun.
>>> "Fun" is not a concept that I'm able to consolidate with "alarm
>>> clock"...
>>
>> Oh lighten up. Imagine this:
>>
>> You've been up until 2am packing, you had to wake up at 5:45 to get an 
>> early morning flight, the airport shuttle is outside honking its horn, 
>> the baby is crying, and the dog just chewed up little plastic disc from 
>> the alarm clock.
>>
>> What's not fun about that?
>>