Love it or hate it, Angry Birds is one of the most successful games around. Chances are, you've probably got hooked to the game at some stage, and worked out all kinds of theories on how to fling those four birds into various structures housing enemy pigs. So, how about making the game more hands-on and challenging with a USB slingshot controller?
A team over at Mbed created the USB Slingshot for Angry Birds after feeling that the game should in fact be a sport. Instead of using your mouse or trackpad to control the slingshot, you instead use a real one, capable of connecting to your computer.
The wooden slingshot consists of an accelerometer, a stretch sensor, a microcontroller, and a USB connector. As you can probably guess, the stretch senor acts as the "sling" of the controller, while the accelerometer measures where the slingshot is in relation to the screen. Throw in a touch of math and some coding, and the slingshot allows you to fling those birds to your heart's content.
All that's missing now are those grumpy birds and the levels to be built up in real life. While the controller may not convince officials to brand it a sport just yet, it could certainly become a fun multiplayer game to play against friends and family with next time they visit. As Mbed's video suggests, just use a projector for full-size fun.
If you fancy creating this controller, check out the tutorial, complete with all the parts and coding needed to get it working. If this sounds a little too time-consuming, why not make a playable Angry Birds cake instead?
http://www.pcworld.in/news/bring-angry-birds-life-real-usb-slingshot-65192012
A team over at Mbed created the USB Slingshot for Angry Birds after feeling that the game should in fact be a sport. Instead of using your mouse or trackpad to control the slingshot, you instead use a real one, capable of connecting to your computer.
The wooden slingshot consists of an accelerometer, a stretch sensor, a microcontroller, and a USB connector. As you can probably guess, the stretch senor acts as the "sling" of the controller, while the accelerometer measures where the slingshot is in relation to the screen. Throw in a touch of math and some coding, and the slingshot allows you to fling those birds to your heart's content.
All that's missing now are those grumpy birds and the levels to be built up in real life. While the controller may not convince officials to brand it a sport just yet, it could certainly become a fun multiplayer game to play against friends and family with next time they visit. As Mbed's video suggests, just use a projector for full-size fun.
If you fancy creating this controller, check out the tutorial, complete with all the parts and coding needed to get it working. If this sounds a little too time-consuming, why not make a playable Angry Birds cake instead?
http://www.pcworld.in/news/bring-angry-birds-life-real-usb-slingshot-65192012
