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'''Morning Monster'''
by: Nick Hardeman 

[http://yg.typepad.com/computation09/2009/05/morning-monster-ahhhh.html Morning Monster Project]

This project really caught my eye because of its practicability as well its artistic value.  The project's purpose is to make an alarm clock that also opens the blinds as an added 'waking' effect.  I guess the idea is similar to the alarm clock on wheels which already exists.  That alarm clock runs away the moment the alarm goes off so the sleeper has to go look for the runaway clock when he wakes up.  I chose this project because it seemed like a project that was fun to create.  He uses the Arduino to run the clock and a moving arm on the monster to move the blinds manually.  The Arduino can sense where the position of the blinds are at so that it doesn't overturn the blinds.  The blinds are connected to the monster via a radio frequency and code that he wrote.  The alarm clock sound comes from a piezo speaker that goes off when the set time is reached.

I am interested in a design that is a working piece of art.  One that serves a purpose like this one.  I want to integrate the physical adjustments of the environment and have the Ardunio interpret my movements and translate it into whatever I want. I'm also interested in the wireless communication he set up.