As part of my tinkering with 802.15.4, I needed a way to bridge the divide between my computers and the microcontrollers. My initial idea was to build an ethernet to 6LoWPAN router, but this was soon shelved due to the complexity of the beast.

I bought a couple of these displays from Sure Electronics (an Ebay vendor) for an upcoming project.

The displays each consist of 4 LED modules, each module consisting of 8x8 LED chips, each under its own plastic diffuser lens.

With the growing amount of microcontroller work I do, I need a quick, easy way to prototype my projects. With this in mind, I came up with the following 40 pin module, which provides +3.3V & +5V regulated power, as well as 10 pushbuttons and 20 LEDs.

Power can be sourced either from a DC power supply (>7V), or from an ATX connector (note that components for both should not be installed simultaneously on the board - I don't think many ATX PSUs will take to having their low voltage outputs connected to their +12V output!).

After doing some research into Zigbee devices, I've settled on the Jennic 5139 modules for my home automation projects, which I now sell via New Millennium Networking.

The interface to the PC is via RS232 (TTL, so you'll need to level shift to 3.3V or hack a USB to serial cable), and the modules have a lot of cool stuff onboard.

I completed this project a while ago, but I thought I'd better write it up anyway.

A few years ago, I bought a CD duplicator cheaply at an auction, with the intent of upgrading it to a DVD drive. Since then, it had been collecting dust, until I got motivated enough to do something about it.

• Project Goal & Requirements

The main aim is to replace the control electronics of a Friendly Robotics RL850/RL1000 lawnmower.