Something I’ve been working on for several months: The Winchester Library‘s theme for the Summer Reading Program this year is ROAR (Rush Out And Read). I built a revolving carousel with big cats instead of horses. When you open the lion’s mouth and push the button, the lights begin to flash randomly until they finally settle on one picture. We’ll be using this to give out small prizes throughout the summer.

Build notes: the LEDs are powered and connected to an Arduino board inside the carousel that I programmed to control the random flashing. The backlit pictures (six in total) are made from Shrinky Dinks. The big red button was purchased from Staples and the “EASY” lettering was sanded off. The carousel does revolve on a lazy susan, but it isn’t motorized.