Some of the things that aren’t obvious in a still photo: The the block above the screen has two RGB LEDs behind it. These aren’t programmable, but one cycles through the colours slowly and the other does so quickly. Together they provide a sort of swirly multi-colour effect that I think is reminiscent of ST:ToS effects.

The red circle ‘red alert light’ is wired to the XBee’s RSSI so when the XBee receives a wireless command, the red light comes on for a few seconds.

The white gridded rectangle is the DHT22 sensor (temperature and humidity). I felt it would ‘blend in’ enough that it should be mounted right up front for all to see. The little black hole to the right of the DHT22 is for the light sensor.

Why is there a light sensor? Why not? Also: because I had an extra one laying around.

The screen display is mostly self-evident. Time, day, date. Heat/Cool. Run/Hold/Override. Target temp (small) and actual temp (large). Fan status (on/auto) and humidity.

The last line is EV (exposure value) and free memory. That’s 657 bytes. Not kB or MB, just bytes. It probably won’t ever change but it’s there just because there was space for it.

The following images have some more build details / information:

The sketch code, and a text file with lots of my design and build notes, can be downloaded here: Thermostat_3.zip

Yay! More solder!

Awww. Solder party’s over.

Anyhow – the Sneak Peek project from a few days ago is on a very brief hiatus as I await another component or two, so I thought Hey! I should build another thermostat!

The original was kind of drab and beige, with a lot of sloppy workmanship. Version two is sleek and translucent, and the workmanship is a little nicer. Version two looks very technical, with exposed circuitry and insides.

The problem with #2 though is that it didn’t cover all the holes and paint-outlines from the original antique non-DIY thermostat. So in order to hide the holes and mismatched paint, the obvious solution was a thermostat with a larger footprint. Making it super-geeky and sexy is just a bonus.

See, I had this Star Trek thingy from Think Geek, but it’s sound effects were really annoying and useless. Pretty though – a perfect enclosure for some kind of project. Toss in an LCD and some sensors from Adafruit, and an Arduino Pro from Sparkfun, and voilla – Thermostat!

I just need to wire in some relays and then it’ll be ready to hook into the house’s HVAC system. Maybe another week or two (unless I get distracted by something shiney) then I’ll post a detailed write-up and code.

Anyhow, here’s a sneak-peak at one of the projects I am currently working on:

Obviously we’ve got the time and date there. EV refers to Exposure Value, it’s a photography thing. Then there’s a compass readout, in degrees. Then there’s lat and lon, as well as altitude and signal strength, coming from a gps readout.

All of this (except the USB cable of course) fits in a space smaller than a business-card. Just add some buttons and a battery and…

I don’t approve of spiders. The creepiness of a creature is directly proportional to the number of legs it has. Extra eyes and wearing its skeleton on the wrong side are just additional strikes.

So lately I have like a dozen spiders roaming my livingroom ceiling. Quite brazenly too, they aren’t waiting till dark to scurry about. They’re strutting around like they own the place.

I’m not Ok with this, but I’m not running around trying to squash them either. For one thing, the ceiling is 9ft high so they’re hard to reach.

I’ve been worried that they’ll move into my bedroom. That’s where I draw the line. I can’t sleep while there’s spiders prancing around on the ceiling above me. I was just thinking this morning, how glad I am that they haven’t come into the bedroom yet.

Then that other part of my mind speaks up. The crazy part.

What if they are already in the bedroom and you just can’t see them yet?
Invisible spiders is a stupid idea.
Not invisible, but like, they don’t show up in normal light. Maybe they’re only noticable under a different kind of light?
You mean like a blacklight? Like how some scorpions are florescent? Spiders are related to scorpions.
Exactly. Get your blacklight and shine it around the bedroom, especialy the ceilings and corners.
Oh gods no, what if the ceiling is covered in invisible florescent spiders?!

And just like that, my normal rational line of thinking has been ursurped by the little crazy, and now I’m paranoid about blacklights in the bedroom incase I suddenly discover it’s full of invisible pseudo-scorpions.

Me: Hey cat, how’d you like to be on a T-shirt?

Misha: Meh. I was on a bunch of T-shirts last night, it’s nothing special.

Me: … Um what?

Misha: On the sofa. They were comfy.

Sometimes, I’m a bit lazy and my clean clothes get from the dryer to the sofa (where I sort them out) but then don’t quite get from the sofa to the closet or dresser.

Me: You were sleeping on my clean clothes. I should have put them away.

Misha: They’re not clean.

Me: Yes they are, I just did laundry the other day remember?

Misha: No, I mean, I was sick last night.

Me: …

Misha: Not my fault. You should have put them away.