So, who else is planning to base a quadcopter around the SparkCore? 
And what else do you have in mind for projects?
Our irrigation controller will be driven by the core, fired up to bring her to life.
I would like to replace the Arduino Mega and Ethernet shield in this motion-sensitive camera with a SparkCore.
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Iām planning on making my hot tub monitor system smart. Iāll be measuring and reporting on Ph, Temp, and ORP. Originally I intended to use SmartThings for this interaction, but Iāve been having a lot of trouble with their maker support and implementation. It seems that if I implement a sparkCore to get the functionality now I need, then later I can integrate back in to SmartThings when their support improves.
Iām building digital piggy banks for my kids that show their bank account balances in real-time.
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Love this idea, please share how it works for you, Iād love to do something similar!
I plan to use the spark as a temperature controller (I am going to start off with a wine fridge) that will send me periodic updates of temperate, or notify me if there is a large change in temperature.
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Iāve so many plans for these!
Plan to use them to convert my regular old light switches into gesture enabled capacitive smart switches. Using the capactive library on Github, will put 2 (at least) foil plates behind the light switch facia, connected to pins on the spark core. The core will ultimately send messages to Lifx smart bulbs (lifx.co - another exciting kickstarter project) telling them what mode I want them in.
This opens up lots of opportunities. For example, turning on the
bedroom light after midnight with a double tap would mean you are
just going to the bathroom, so keep the lights very very dim in the
bedroom, hallway and bathroom. Tap again to turn off.
Double tap the light switch at the front door on the way out set the house in āaway modeā, which plays back how lights are turned on/off on a normal evening to simulate presence in the home for security purposes.
The wireless programming, simple REST API and Wifi may mean the cores can talk directly to the bulbs (via sparkcloud) without needing to go via a server of mine.
Another project I thought of a sensor, attached to my clothes dryer. Using a humidity sensor to detect the exhaust humidity coming from the dryer. It would allow me to set the desired ādrynessā of the clothes required and could alert me as soon as theyāre done and turn off the dryer (via a 10A relay). Iāve often left clothes in the dryer too long, causing them to be too dry and thus hard to iron, or left them sitting there after the cycle is done, which causes them to become wrinkled. This solves both those problems, and ensures that drying clothes uses the minimal amount of electricity, turning off as soon as they are dry, rather than continuing to run until the timer is finished.
Iāve one spark core ordered, but I think I need about another 7!
I am developing an Open Source Myoelectric Prosthetic Arm and the size and power consumption of the SparkCore will be decisive.
Take a look:
I like to close the window in my roof before sunrise, so the rooster of the neighbours doesnāt wake me up.
A simpel way to do this is by letting a motor roll up a wire connect to the window.
I am still looking for a quiet motor to do this. The motor does not have to be very powerful; the window closes easily.
Does anyone have a suggestion what motor to use and where to buy it?
(It would be great to not only close, but also open the window automaticly. But as a beginner with arduino, I decide to start simpel ; )
Neat idea. The sensordrone has something like that as a smartphone app.
I will have to check that out Rockvole, thanks.
It is ironic that you will use the Spark Core to control a Lifx lightbulb
2 projects on my list:
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Grandfather clock control. A non-intrusive device that keeps a pendulum clock on accurate time. Non intrusive = no mechanical or electrical contact with the existing mechanism. The Spark Core provides an ideal form factor combined with easy internet connection to time standards. This one is already partially implemented with an Arduino.
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Aquarium management. Monitor and control water parameters (temperature, PH, etc.), change water, trigger alarmsā¦ No rocket science here but remote connection when you are away from home is a real improvement on existing systems.
how are you controlling it if its ānon-intrusiveā? got pics?
Maybe non-intrusive is not the right way to describe it, but as explained above by this I mean that the clock mechanism, dial, hands, weights, etc. remain unchanged (no addition, subtraction or modification), no sensor or electrical contact need to be placed on them, no light or laser beam reflected or interrupted, etc.
I never bothered to make pictures: all you see is a small box in a clock, nothing fancy or impressive.
Iām also curious @JMarc. If nothing in the old clock is touched then what you mean is that you probably have a low power screen that displays a small reference clock and then grandpa comes from time to time, compares the reading and adjust the handles of the pendulum clock as heād always done?
Iāve seen projects like this before. They use an electromagnet to adjust the timing of the pendulum.
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Adrian: too bad I didnāt think of the adjusting grandfather before, it would have saved a lot of code !
The general idea is that the pendulum period and the time (from the bell or the gong) are captured with a microphone, which calls for some signal processing to eliminate interfering noise, and that the pendulum period is adjusted through a magnetic field ; to minimize current consumption this is not done with an electromagnet, but by controlling the position of a permanent magnet.