We are big fans of Joe Grand!  You may know him from his awesome designs like Emic 2 Text-to-Speech, Defcon badges, JTAGulator and many more on Grand Idea Studio.  We loved watching Joe introduce cable TV audiences to hardware hacking on the Discovery Channel show Prototype This!

Here’s a fun project from Joe Grand that he has shared on OSH Park:

Creaturepod

The Creaturepod is a portable walkie talkie system that enhances children’s interactive play. It mimics the fictional Creaturepod from the popular children’s television show, Wild Kratts.

Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/joesmooth/albums/72157656799535253

Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/joesmooth/albums/72157656799535253

Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/joesmooth/albums/72157656799535253

Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/joesmooth/albums/72157656799535253

Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/joesmooth/albums/72157656799535253

Joe writes:  “The design features an Arduino Mini Pro 328, 2.2-inch TFT liquid crystal display (LCD), DRA818U voice transceiver module, electret condenser microphone, speaker, and buttons for channel/ frequency selection and push-to-talk capability. Bitmap images are stored on a microSD card and displayed on the LCD to indicate the currently selected channel. A 2000mAh Lithium-Polymer battery provides more than 20 hours of playtime before recharging is necessary.”

Documentation links:

• Block Diagram
• Schematic
• Bill-of-Materials
• Assembly Drawing
• Source Code: Arduino
• Pictures (Flickr)

Shared Project: Creaturepod