Win a $200 gift card, a Make: Electronics Book and Energizer® Night Strike Swivel Light

22. December 2010 by admin.

From: http://makezine.com/makeitlast/?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Make+Newsletter+December+2010&utm_content=Make+Newsletter+December+2010+CID_4bf43fa9357c29ce8d277a0f4863d8d9&utm_source=Email+Campaign&utm_term=Make+It+Last+landing+page

Welcome to Make It Last, a project build series and contest, sponsored by Microchip and Energizer. Over the course of this contest, we’re going to cover a series of three project builds, demonstrating some of the finer points of low-power microcontroller design. We’re hoping these will be fun, informative projects and a good introduction to using “bare” microcontrollers and learning more about the relationship between microcontrollers and power management. Starting with basic components, we will build up each design and you can follow along in a series of Make It Last build newsletters. We will be awarding some really cool prizes at the end of each build, based on the quality of your submission, what you learned in the process, your documentation, etc.

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Second Build: The Robotic Plant

[November 18 - December 22, 2010]

For the second project, we’ll build a robotic plant seedling that will use its microcontroller brain to monitor its environment, and bloom when the time is right. The whole project will be housed in an ordinary plant pot, and thanks to an energy-efficient design, should be able to lie dormant for months, even years, on a single set of AA batteries. That means you could set it by your window and be delighted when it finally wakes up, or give it as a gift to a patient robot enthusiast for safekeeping.

As with the first build, this one is also a contest that you can enter for a chance to win some awesome prizes. We’ll provide instructions on how to build our example plant, that you can follow along at home, however, you are free to design something completely on your own. The official rules are below. Your build must be powered by a battery, have some plant-like quality, and be capable of responding to input from its environment. The rest is up to you!

Enter Here!

Posted in Battery Power, Energizer, Make Magazine, Low Power, Contest, Microchip | Print | 1 Comment »

The Make It Last Build Series, Sponsored by Microchip and Energizer

13. October 2010 by admin.

 

From: http://makezine.com/makeitlast/

Welcome to Make It Last, a project build series and contest, sponsored by Microchip and Energizer. Over the course of this contest, we’re going to cover a series of three project builds, demonstrating some of the finer points of low-power microcontroller design. We’re hoping these will be fun, informative projects and a good introduction to using “bare” microcontrollers and learning more about the relationship between microcontrollers and power management. Starting with basic components, we will build up each design and you can follow along in a series of Make It Last build newsletters. We will be awarding some really cool prizes at the end of each build, based on the quality of your submission, what you learned in the process, your documentation, etc.

 

First Build: The Data logger

The first project in the build is a data logger. This is a battery powered device that can periodically sample the temperature and record it for later analysis. It’s basically like a thermometer combined with a recording device- you could track the temperature of your home, refrigerator, personal volcano, or anything else over a long period of time, using a single set of batteries. To save battery power, the device will spend most of its time in a reduced-power ’sleep’ mode, only waking itself up every so often measure a temperature probe before going back to sleep.

The contest part comes in when you try it at home and make your own version. You can follow along with our instructions, or build your own version using any parts that you want. The official rules are listed at the bottom of this page. To qualify, your build must be powered by a battery, and be capable of sensing and recording something in the environment (i.e. a “data logger”). The rest is up to you!

What would a contest be without prizes? The prizes for the first build are as follows. The entry that gets the most points will win a prize package consisting of the following items:

• MPLAB® ICD 3 In-Circuit Debugger
• Explorer 16 Demo Board
• F1 Evaluation Platform
• MPLAB® Starter Kit for PIC24F
• MCP1640 Single Cell Boost Converter for Energizer® MAX AlkalineAAAA
• Energizer® Night Strike Swivel Light
• $50 Maker ShedGift Certificate

And the second place entry will take home:

• F1 Evaluation Kit
• MPLAB® Starter Kit for PIC18F MCU
• MCP1640 Single Cell Boost Converter for Energizer® MAX AlkalineAAAA
• Energizer® Night Strike Swivel Light

Posted in Make Magazine, Contest, Microchip | Print | 1 Comment »

24-hr Microchip Technology giveaway zeta - GO!

21. October 2009 by admin.

from http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2009/10/24-hr_microchip_technology_giveaway_3.html

• Interview with MakerBot owner Andrew Plumb
• Main
• Skiing robot caught in steady decline

24-hr Microchip Technology giveaway zeta - GO!

Closing at noon PDT today, we will be accepting comments, below, describing the Halloween-y use (or uses) to which you would put the prize bundle consisting of one Microchip Technology PIC10F Cap Touch Demo Board and one MCP1650 Multiple White LED Demo Board.

For this giveaway, the prompt is: “How would you use the prize bundle in a Halloween costume?”

The winner will be announced this afternoon at the bottom of the comment thread. Be sure to include a valid e-mail address.

Posted in Make Magazine, Contest | Print | 1 Comment »

Win a PIC10F Cap Touch Demo Board and one MCP1650 Multiple White LED Demo Board

8. October 2009 by admin.

From http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2009/10/24-hr_microchip_technology_giveaway.html:

The sponsors of this year’s Halloween contest have sent us a bundle of, er, bundles to give away in the weeks leading up to the 31st, and we’re gonna start chucking ‘em up in the air pretty fast now. Beginning at noon PST today, and closing at noon PST tomorrow, we will be accepting comments, below, describing the Halloween-y use (or uses) to which you would put the prize bundle consisting of one Microchip Technology PIC10F Cap Touch Demo Board and one MCP1650 Multiple White LED Demo Board. The winner will be announced tomorrow afternoon at the bottom of the comment thread.

Posted in Make Magazine, LED, Touch Sensing, Free Stuff, Microchip, Sweepstakes, Development Tool | Print | 1 Comment »

First Microchip Technology Halloween promo giveaway

5. October 2009 by admin.

As part of  this year’s MAKE Halloween contest, Microchip  will be providing us with a number of product samples to give away throughout October. First up for grabs is a PIC32 Starter Kit, shown above, with a retail value of $50, together with a PIC32 I/O Expansion Board, shown below, which sells for $72. To enter, leave a comment describing what cool Halloween-themed project you’d make with it. The winner will be announced next Friday, October 9.

Posted in Sweepstakes, Make Magazine, Contest, 32-bit, Microchip, Development Tool | Print | 2 Comments »

Win Prizes from Microchip and Make Magazine

25. September 2009 by admin.

Make: Halloween Contest 2009, sponsored by Microchip Technology!

Microchip Technology Inc. and MAKE have teamed up to present to you the Make: Halloween Contest 2009! Show us your embedded microcontroller Halloween projects and you could be chosen as a winner. Use a microcontroller to make anything from themed lawn decorations to creative costumes - the possibilities are endless. The Make: Halloween Contest will run for 8 weeks, and the Prizewinners will be announced on Friday, November 6th. Deadline for entries is 11:59 p.m. PDT November 3, 2009. Each entry will be judged based on the following criteria: creativity of idea, use of Halloween theme, technical implementation using a microcontroller, execution and craftsmanship, and quality of documentation. Please see Official Rules for more information on the Winner selection.

To submit a project, you can either submit photos to the Make: Halloween Contest Flickr pool or upload a video and add it to the Make: Halloween Contest YouTube group. Please include a short description when you post images/videos. In addition to this, you must fill out our contest entry form.

Posted in Make Magazine, Contest, Microchip | Print | 1 Comment »