Breadboard hacks from Protostack.com

As memebers of the new DIY generation we love hacking things. There is just something rewarding about taking a cheap product and making it work just as good or better than its expensive counterpart. Most of the time these hacks involve the projects we are building, but sometimes they involve the tools we use. Protostack has just released a list of several hacks that will make using your breadboard much more user friendly... More after the jump.

A few months ago we covered Microchip and Digilent's first entry into the Arduino community: The chipKIT line of Arduino compatible PIC32 MCU boards. News spread fast and it seems like anyone who is serious about Arduino dev has picked up at least one of the chipKIT boards. Shortly after the launch of the UNO32 and Max32 board, Digilent announced the existance of 2 shields slated for release in June: The chipKIT Networking shield and chipKIT General I/O shield. June quickly passed and July came and went  with no word on the release date for either shield. Well today Microchip and Digilent have officially released both the Networking shield and the General I/O shield. We received our evaluation samples about 3 weeks ago and are planning full writeups on both shields in the next few days. In the mean time we have some exciting photos as well as the full press release after the jump. 

PIC32 based Arduino Compatible Dev Board

Earlier this week we were contacted by Microchip PR asking if we would like to check out a new Arduino compatible board based around the PIC32. We of course replied with a yes. We should have our sample here in the lab within a week. Microchip teamed up with Digilent Inc. to design and distribute the board, and today Digilent Inc released the chipKIT Max32™ Arduino-Compatible Prototyping Platform. Keep reading after the jump for a quick overview and a photo.

DIY Benchtop PSU / DIM from PC PSU

A friend of mine Will Lyon ( AKA SXRguyinMA ) has just completed his latest project which he dubbed Powerhouse. Having fallen in love with custom electronics and actually deciding to go back to college and get a degree in the feild, Will realized he would need a benchtop PSU so he could test his work. Being an accomplished PC modder and Dedicated DIYer, he decided to build his own based on an every day common PC PSU. After some planning Will decided to incorporate a Digital Multimeter, Adjustable 1.3v-30v adjustable source, and dedicated 3.3v, 5v, and 12v rails. If that was not enough, he decided to incorporate some LEDs to give it that PC Case Modder feel! We tip our hat to Will on this one. It's truly a functional work of art! Check out Proect Power House's full build log over on TheBestCaseScenario.com. We have a few photos after the jump for those of you who want instant gratification.

Arduino GPRS Shield

Have you ever wanted to turn your Arduino into a cell phone? Until now I have not thought about it but I see tons of applications for this. For an example you could have your Arduinophone send you a text message when your doorbell has been rang. Let us know if you have any project ideas where this could be useful. More info on the SeeedStudio GPRS Shield after the jump.

 Update + Development Setup Pics

Over the last few weeks I have had several emails asking what my development setup looks like for this project. Today I am going post a small update and a few photos of my development setup. First I would like to give a big shout out to all the guys over at Seeed Studio. Their Seeeduino has played a big role in this project and now we will be using their Seeeduino Mega along with 2 of their Water Flow Sensors to complete the project. Stop by their online store and check them out for all of your open source project needs. Keep reading after the jump for more ACLCIC excitement.