Q: What's small, remote controlled, able to eat yarn and excrete perfectly formed yarn balls?
A: Yarn Monster!
Yarn Monster was conceived when SparkFun customer Todd Treece was helping his girlfriend with some knitting. Ensnared by the tedious task of balling the yarn manually, Todd had plenty of time to think of more creative ways to perform such menial labor. He set out to build a custom solution that not only did the job for you but also seemed to be quietly watching you as you carefully crafted clothing from its food source.
The end result is powered by a stepper motor which is driven by an Easy Driver and an Arduino Pro Mini. Speed instructions are sent to the monster via XBee from a remotely connected potentiometer that looks strikingly similar to its mother. Check out the full parts list here.
It should also be noted that SparkFun customer Todd Treece is soon to be SparkFun employee Todd Treece! We found out about Yarn Monster with Todd's application for PHP Developer (one down but still hiring for more!). Soon the father of the Yarn Monster will be amid our developer circle, writing code and fixing bugs - a process not dissimilar from untangling messy yarn knots.
I read the beginning as y-a-m monster that eats yam and creates perfectly formed yam balls. I didn't know there was a need for yam balls.
One of the most fun project videos I've seen. Awesome!
Todd, I really enjoy how well you anthropomorphized both the monster, and his remote.
I love it! Possibly the most over engineered project ever, but that just makes it cooler in my eyes.
Amazing project and video quality, I don't knit, but I'd have one just for show!
This is the kind of project that gets people into things when they see it. :D
Congratulations!
I think the controller was the best/cutest part. I want all my controllers to look like little monsters now.
good job
wee.
^^
Awesome video!
Haha, thats one of the coolest projects Ive seen so far. Brilliant and creative! Im Impressed, I think I know a few people who'd like to have one of these.
Awesome project and video...Does anyone know the name of the song?
"Minas de Cobre (For Better Metal)" by Calexico
Thank you kindly.
Brilliant.
He bothered with a resume? Zeesh, talk about overkill.
Excellent video! The Yarn Monster ROCKS!
That was a very entertaining video. Looks like this Yarn Monster would work great if you happened to find a pile of completely untangled yarn. But how often does that happen?
Every other day. If you have a cat
As my wife is a knitter, I know the answer to this. Plenty of purchased yarn does not come in a ball, but comes in a "skein" (www.google.com/images?q=skein) which then needs to be wound into a ball.
Easily among the best video-production quality I've seen in a build demonstration...and the cabinet built around the device is just perfect :)
yes. yarn monster! Congratulations!
Yeah for HTML5 video!
Truly the best way to apply for a job at SparkFun!
Impressive project.
And as well, the great creativity in the video production.
Great video!