Chris Taylor's Door Project
Check out this project inspired by "Young Frankenstein."
First off, a small order of business. The National Weather Service is predicting a pretty hefty storm here in Colorado over the next couple days. This has its positive side for our beloved ski/snowboard industry, but we have also seen the effects on class attendance here at SparkFun. We have always proceeded with the policy that classes take place rain or shine, but in the interest of our customers safety we are instituting a rain check policy. If the weather makes class attendance a safety issue we will reschedule a class or refund with a pre-reserved slot in the same class at a later date. If we cancel a class due to weather we will contact customers via email the night before. We apologize in advance for any inconvenience this going to cause, but we feel like taking our classes should not be a matter of life and death. And if the snow is that good you should be on a chair lift anyway! Now on to today's business...
One of my favorite movies (nay, films) of all time is "Young Frankenstein," so when I recently came across this project from SparkFun Engineer Chris Taylor, I was downright giddy. Whether your pronounce it "Frahnk-in-schteen" or "Frank-in-stine," I think all Mel Brooks aficionados will agree that this project is awesome.
Chris doesn't often work with his door closed, but when he does, his coworkers usually announce their presence with a ceremonial "rap-tap-tap" on his office door. Chris decided to have a little bit of fun with that.
Using a piezo sensor, an MP3 Player shield, an Arduino, and a healthy dose of duct tape, Chris rigged up a system that morphs a gentle knock at the door into a resounding bang - inspired by the sound created by the large Gothic door knockers in "Young Frankenstein." Check out the above video to see this project in action or read the tutorial for more info and to see how you can make your own.
