In this instructable I am going to show you, how to paint a black and white image of Darth Vader and bring it to life by adding a binary clock and making it talk.
If you are not a big Star Wars fan, don’t worry you can use the electronics and code to make any painting say the time. Even with your own voice.
This was my first ever Arduino project, so I’m certain, that anybody can do it. I started with a normal binary clock, but thought it was pretty boring, so I added a DS1307 and made a standalone version. Then after finishing the painting and getting everything to work I decided, that it would be infinitely better, if I could make the clock speak in Vader’s voice. So this is what I ended up with:
Step 1:
[box color=”#985D00″ bg=”#FFF8CB” font=”verdana” fontsize=”14 ” radius=”20 ” border=”#985D12″ float=”right” head=”Major Components in Project” headbg=”#FFEB70″ headcolor=”#985D00″]
Material:
- Arduino Mega 2560
- Wave Shield for Arduino (e.g. from adafruit industries)
- DS1307 Real Time Clock breakout board (e.g. from adafruit industries)
- 16 red LEDs (only 13 are needed for the clock, the other three are just there for the symmetry)
- 16 LED holders
- 13 220 ohm resistors
- 3 2.2 kohm resistors
- 8×4 holes grid-style PC board
- 3 push buttons
- Wire
- Duck tape
- Paint: black and white
- 60x30x3 cm canvas
- Heat shrinking tube[/box]
Tools
- Hot glue gun
- Round diamond file
- Small, sharp scissors
- Paintbrushes
- Optional: circle template, razor blade
Step 2: Paint
If you are not a good painter, check out this awesome tutorial on how to transfer a photo to a canvas. But believe me, you don’t need to be a skilled painter to get this right.
You will need inkscape to open the attached file (download the Vader image here). Start by printing out the vector graphic (if you would like to vectorice your own image check out this tutorial). You can of course use a poster printing program, but I prefer to use inkscape. Scale the image to the right size and print it to individual pages by moving it around. Use tape to stick them back together. Once you are done, use a pencil to colour the back of the image, turn it around, lay it on the canvas and trace the line with a ball pen.
I like to use a small flat paint brush. As a hint, should you mess up don’t try to cover the black paint with white paint, use a razor blade and carefully scrape the paint away.
For more detail: Talking Darth Vader Binary Clock
