Adventures with Arduino

Recently I have started exploring what can be done with Arduino and in particular when used in tandem with Cycling 74's MAX 7. I've had an Arduino Uno laying around for a little while and not really known what to do with it; other than using a pre made synthesizer shield and sketch. Part of my university work involved looking into making new controllers for music software so I started by playing around with some potentiometers and buttons i had and exploring how I could utilise them with a program such as MAX 7 or PureData.

Arduino Uno on a desk - Taken with Nikon D7000 with Sigma 105mm EX DG Macro

After a while i've found that there is a lot of potential for me to explore strange controllers and different ways to utilise an arduino. Currently I am building an expressive controller for music creation for a university module and I look forward to seeing the finished product.

Some limitations I have found are rapidly running out of analogue inputs on the UNO, this is relatively easy to resolve by using an analogue multiplexer such as a 4051, this allows you to read analogue data from eight sources into a single analogue pin on the Arduino. Another issue I'm running into is running multiple LED's from a fewer digital outputs, it appears to be possible however I'm having issues sourcing a chip capable of this.

Despite the issues I'm having I'm enjoying myself exploring the Arduino system and am having lots of ideas for projects to do with them, I'll be posting some more specific info on what I'm doing in the coming weeks.