This is what I call some time consuming project. 8×8x8 is 512 total LEDs to solder. But end result looks really cool.  Each LED in this cube can be controlled individually by ATmega32 microcontroller.

The controller board can be interfaced to RS232, CAN and two joysticks from the C64. To control such amount of LEDs isn’t easy task without special time controlled multiplexing. The cube is divided in to 64 LED planes where each plane is switched about 100 times per second, so for spectator it looks like individual LEDs are controlled separately. Construction schematics aren’t final, but you can see some versions here. The complete software is written in C for the AVR-GCC compiler and can be found here.

FPGA player uses same hardware part as in Super Nintendo game console. It plays .SPC music files stored in flash memory through Sony SPC700 8-bit sound chip. SPC files are more complex than usual mp3 files as they contain so called memory state of SNES sound module. Anyway this is more or less a theory, which you have to study well before start doing something.

The project is developed by using Altera DE2 board equipped with Cyclone II FPGA chip. Hardware part is written with VHDL language. 8 bit microprocessor that executes program is also emulated in software. Seems to be it is very valuable source to study, as project directory can be downloaded freely.

This is very simple example of interfacing Nokia 3510i LCD to PIC16F84 microcontroller. LCD connects to PIC via serial interface. The only concern may be the voltage. If microcontroller works on from 5V then it is necessary to lover it to 3.3V.

The easiest way to lower voltage to 3.3V is to use voltage regulator like LM317. A simple assembly code shows how to work in a 12bit color mode. The code is written in ASM and can be compiled with MPASM compiler.

There are quite many MP3 player projects done by enthusiasts. So here is another one which works with compact flash cards, handles FAT16 and fits in Altoids mint box.

Player runs on PIC18LF452 microcontroller which handles flash card interface and sends data to STA013 MP3 decoder chip. Decoded digital audio is converted to analog by CS4340 DAC. The project is running from 3.3V LiIon battery. MP3 player also has a MAX756 DC boost regulator that allows using different batteries like couple AA Alkaline. In order to get rid of cables there is an optional FM transmitter MAX2606 to play music via car radio receiver. And last shot is USB connectivity, so it is possible to upload/download files and even charge LiIon battery via MAX1811. Latest project files can be downloaded form here.

Have an old hard drive and want to do some fun with it? You can make a clock from it. Clock uses 12 high power LEDs for displaying clock hands. Blue LED represents minutes, red -hours and purple - seconds.

Rotating is synchronized with IR LED sensor. Clock is controlled by PIC16F628 which is responsible for reading IR sensor, and lighting LEDs at right hard drive platter position. Only hex file is available, so you only need to flash a PIC and enjoy the view in the dark.