Top 5 Holiday-Themed Technology Projects

‘Tis the season… for tech! We’re taking a look at our favorite festive technology projects.

1.       RFduino Holiday Lights

With just a little cable rewiring, you can control the color of holiday lights using RFduino’s powerful yet easy to use shields. Choose any color you can imagine through RFduino’s mobile app for strings of lights or even each individual bulb!

Customize your own holiday lights! Pick up your RFduino RGB LED / Button Shield, Single AAA Battery Shield, Dual AAA Battery Shield, CR2032 Coin Battery Shield, and development kits at SemiconductorStore.com.

2.       Web Enabled Christmas Tree 

The Incredible Machines team took custom lighting design a step further in 2013, creating a web enabled Christmas tree with the ability to be controlled from a browser. The proprietary Visualight Wi-Fi-enabled lighting system, powered by Arduino, allowed the public to control the colors of the tree’s LED lights along with the blink rate while watching the tree in real time over a live video feed.

Want to build your own hackable tree, or perhaps modify the project for a hackable menorah? SemiconductorStore.com has Arduino modules, LEDs, lighting drivers and controllers, video equipment, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) connectivity, and Power over Ethernet (PoE) supplies.

3.       Sundown Spinning Dreidel

littleBits powers a networked dreidel that starts spinning at sundown to celebrate Hanukkah. This project leverages the cloudBit and If This Then That (ITTT)’s weather channel to set the dreidel spinning as soon as the sun sets.

Get your dreidel going, tweak the project for a Christmas tree topper, or scale up to spin bigger decorations. Find the littleBits DC motor, power module, and wire at SemiconductorStore.com.

4.       Motion Activated Light Display

Ben Harben used an Arduino to control a motion activated light display.

Light up your night with Arduino, LEDs, audio equipment, and sensors from SemiconductorStore.com.  

5.       Mistletoe Drone

It’s no secret that we love quadcopters here at Symmetry. A tinsel-covered quadcopter with dangling mistletoe flying over Union Square in San Francisco spreading tidings of joy is right up our alley.

Unfortunately, a similar stunt did not go so well for restaurant chain TGI Friday’s, so please don’t try flying a quadcopter inside a restaurant or other indoor business. Keep the airborne merriment outdoors for everyone’s safety.

Happy holidays and best wishes from the Symmetry family to yours.