Hardware project
Facebook Box
A picture is worth a thousand words.
Arduino + Python
How it works
A digital number, a physical object.
Facebook Box takes a number that normally lives inside a web page and puts it on your desk. A Python script fetches the value and sends it over serial to an Arduino, which shows it on the box.
No notifications, no app to open: just look at your desk.
Components
Python
The script on the computer reads the value from Facebook and sends it to the Arduino.
Arduino
Receives the value and drives the displays and the servo.
Displays and servo
Three 7-segment digits for the number and a servo on the lid.