My arduino caches

[+cliptwings 3]

Just wanted to share a couple of arduino-driven caches I've developed here in Tucson.

Simon Says Cache

 

Sensor Cache

 

I've got a couple more out there, one called "Know Your Park," where your need to answer questions to get the next stage's coords, and "Quick Draw," where you need to react quickly to a flashing light. I'd really be interested in what you all have done with arduino microcontrollers. They're powerful, very cheap, and very reliable in the field.

Edited March 15, 2016 by cliptwings

[+zihyer 0]

Great job on these! I really love the thought and effort you put into them and hope to find them one day since I'm just an hour or so south of you.

 

That being said, you may want to edit out some of the actual answers. All the videos I've seen online about caches like this have things like clues, answers and hints edited out or covered. Not sure if this is to comply with an actual guideline.. it's probably more just to keep folks from skipping over parts of the cache and going right to the end.

 

Thanks for sharing!

[+cliptwings 3]

Edited videos. Thanks for the advice.

[+hukilaulau 83]

Those are so cool! I would love finding something like that. I have no ideas, though. The best I could do would be to copy your ingenious creations in my area. Mostly I'll just keep hiding ammo cans under piles of sticks in the woods...

[+lee737 441]

Very good.... I might use ideas like this with a little microcontroller I use here called a micromite....

I would probably attempt to encase as much as possible in resin or otherwise to water/moisture proof it....

[+cliptwings 3]

Not much of a problem here in Tucson with waterproofing! However, the plastic ammo containers I use (from Harbor Freight) are supposed to be water resistant.

[+kunarion 2682]

I'd really be interested in what you all have done with arduino microcontrollers.

One cache idea (not yet placed when I saw it in action) was a set of two small boat boxes that must be separated a distance apart before they reveal information. At that point, the two cachers must cooperate to properly combine the information.

 

I've never made an electrically powered cache, although I have a handful of magnetic switches and pondered some ideas .

Edited March 15, 2016 by kunarion

[+bflentje 428]

I've built several Arduino caches. Right now I have three that are active. This is by far the most well received..

 

My link

Edited March 15, 2016 by bflentje

[+cliptwings 3]

Now THAT is one cool (and hot) cache!

[+IOError 0]

Just wanted to share a couple of arduino-driven caches I've developed here in Tucson.

Simon Says Cache

 

Sensor Cache

 

I've got a couple more out there, one called "Know Your Park," where your need to answer questions to get the next stage's coords, and "Quick Draw," where you need to react quickly to a flashing light. I'd really be interested in what you all have done with arduino microcontrollers. They're powerful, very cheap, and very reliable in the field.

Those are freaking cool! Wow good on you!

[+Team Microdot 989]

I've built several Arduino caches. Right now I have three that are active. This is by far the most well received..

 

My link

 

I have a box full of arduino stuff which I've dabbled with but not actually managed to get around to making a cache from - although I do have a few ideas.

 

I've been sort of surprised about how difficult it is to provide an efficient power source out in the field. I see that yours uses a 9v battery so can I ask what arrangement you've used to drop the voltage down to something more suitable for the arduino?

 

I tried a voltage regulator as a quick fix but it was grossly inefficient and drained a fresh 9v battery in no time at all

[+cliptwings 3]

A voltage regulator is already on the Uno arduino board. It changes the 9 volt input to the 5 volts it can use. So you connect the 9 volt directly to the board. It's that easy! Now, to turn the controller on only when the cache is found, I use a momentary-on switch like the kind you find on car doors that turns the lights on when you open the door. Opening the container energizes the arduino, and closing it turns it off. I've had good success with regular old 9 volt batteries. Colder climates may need to use lithium batteries, however.

[+lee737 441]

I've seen one around here, where you need to bring your own 9V battery with you - would simplify maintenance. I'd be inclined to use larger cells - a group of C/D cells , to greatly increase battery life.....

[+Team Microdot 989]

A voltage regulator is already on the Uno arduino board. It changes the 9 volt input to the 5 volts it can use. So you connect the 9 volt directly to the board. It's that easy! Now, to turn the controller on only when the cache is found, I use a momentary-on switch like the kind you find on car doors that turns the lights on when you open the door. Opening the container energizes the arduino, and closing it turns it off. I've had good success with regular old 9 volt batteries. Colder climates may need to use lithium batteries, however.

 

Good point.

 

I just realised that I was thinking of an ESP8266 wifi module.

[+fizzymagic 727]

Now, to turn the controller on only when the cache is found, I use a momentary-on switch like the kind you find on car doors that turns the lights on when you open the door. Opening the container energizes the arduino, and closing it turns it off.

 

I recommend using a pushbutton power controller like this one from Polulu. It turns the Arduino on when you push the button, and then the Arduino turns itself off when it is finished doing whatever it does. That means nobody can run your battery down by not closing the container properly, etc.

[+cliptwings 3]

I thought about a push button to turn it on and off. However, I believe a finder is more likely to close a container than to remember to push a button. For reliability, I'm trying to keep it simple.

Edited March 16, 2016 by cliptwings

[+fizzymagic 727]

I thought about a push button to turn it on and off. However, I believe a finder is more likely to close a container than to remember to push a button.

 

You don't understand. The button push is only to turn it ON. It turns itself off when it is done. No action is required on the part of the finder.

[+bflentje 428]

I've built several Arduino caches. Right now I have three that are active. This is by far the most well received..

 

My link

 

I have a box full of arduino stuff which I've dabbled with but not actually managed to get around to making a cache from - although I do have a few ideas.

 

I've been sort of surprised about how difficult it is to provide an efficient power source out in the field. I see that yours uses a 9v battery so can I ask what arrangement you've used to drop the voltage down to something more suitable for the arduino?

 

I tried a voltage regulator as a quick fix but it was grossly inefficient and drained a fresh 9v battery in no time at all

 

I use the cheap knock-off Chinese Arduino Nano clones in the field mounted on an expansion board which has voltage regulator. It looks similar to this..

 

Sample Expansion Board on ebay

 

I use the clones because like anything of value I hide, disappears. A branded Arduino is 10 times the cost of the clones I use.

[+cliptwings 3]

I understand the unit turns itself off after use. Great idea. But for me, it adds complexity and cost. Here's my Quick Draw cache:

 

Quick Draw Cache

Edited March 16, 2016 by cliptwings

[+bflentje 428]

I understand the unit turns itself off after use. Great idea. But for me, it adds complexity and cost. Here's my Quick Draw cache:

 

Quick Draw Cache

 

Cool. So, what do you do when someone bumps or unplugs the power connector which looks accessible? Do you have a way to pop the latch? I always make sure to hide/lock ALL circuits and wires.. except for any sensors or power connectors required by user.

[+bflentje 428]

I once had a 12 stage James Bond themed multicache, 8 stages of which were Arduino gadgets. I had a lot of fun with it while it lasted. Here's a lame post about the making of that cache..

 

For Your Eyes Only

[+cliptwings 3]

I understand the unit turns itself off after use. Great idea. But for me, it adds complexity and cost. Here's my Quick Draw cache:

 

Quick Draw Cache

 

Cool. So, what do you do when someone bumps or unplugs the power connector which looks accessible? Do you have a way to pop the latch? I always make sure to hide/lock ALL circuits and wires.. except for any sensors or power connectors required by user.

 

Sure, always a good idea to minimize access to sensitive contents. I make the battery accessible only so I can replace it if it goes missing or dead. Otherwise, I need to get out a screw driver and unscrew the hinge. When I began to make these things, I asked the searcher to bring their own battery. I thought I could simplify things by integrating the battery into the design. We'll see how they last. The oldest one has only been out there for five months, but it's still going strong. It's called "Morse Code," and it blinks the numbers you need to unlock the combination lock on the container. Pretty simple.

[+cliptwings 3]

I once had a 12 stage James Bond themed multicache, 8 stages of which were Arduino gadgets. I had a lot of fun with it while it lasted. Here's a lame post about the making of that cache..

 

For Your Eyes Only

 

Thanks for sharing your idea! I love the engineering and creativity you put into it. Gives me an idea....

[+Team Microdot 989]

I once had a 12 stage James Bond themed multicache, 8 stages of which were Arduino gadgets. I had a lot of fun with it while it lasted. Here's a lame post about the making of that cache..

 

For Your Eyes Only

 

Very cool

 

Your ammo can paint jobs are superb!

 

... I have one of those keypads in my box of bits ... and a micro SD card reader... and some IR LED's... and an MP3 player... and some tiny WIFI modules... and some addressable multi-colour LED strip... and... and... and...

[+Walts Hunting 3]

Just wanted to share a couple of arduino-driven caches I've developed here in Tucson.

Simon Says Cache

 

Sensor Cache

 

I've got a couple more out there, one called "Know Your Park," where your need to answer questions to get the next stage's coords, and "Quick Draw," where you need to react quickly to a flashing light. I'd really be interested in what you all have done with arduino microcontrollers. They're powerful, very cheap, and very reliable in the field.

 

I don't use dropbox and suspect many others don't. A link to the cache website would have been betterl

[+justintim1999 574]

Here is one you may want to check out. https://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC5PTYV_simon-says?guid=ccb92807-6ab1-4646-9507-8f865cac2e0e.

 

Great set up and execution on this one.

[+cliptwings 3]

Just wanted to share a couple of arduino-driven caches I've developed here in Tucson.

Simon Says Cache

 

Sensor Cache

 

I've got a couple more out there, one called "Know Your Park," where your need to answer questions to get the next stage's coords, and "Quick Draw," where you need to react quickly to a flashing light. I'd really be interested in what you all have done with arduino microcontrollers. They're powerful, very cheap, and very reliable in the field.

 

I don't use dropbox and suspect many others don't. A link to the cache website would have been betterl

 

Simon Say Cache

Sensor Cache

Quick Draw Cache

 

Good point. I loaded them on YouTube.

Edited March 16, 2016 by cliptwings

[+OwenfromKC 15]

Here is a page that is a good resource.

 

https://www.facebook.com/WiredGeocaching/

[+cliptwings 3]

Here is a page that is a good resource.

 

https://www.facebook.com/WiredGeocaching/

Thanks! I didn't know this existed! Great ideas on this page.

[+cliptwings 3]

Here's one that requires a secret knock to open:

 

Shave and a Haircut, Two Bits

[+kunarion 2682]

Here's one that requires a secret knock to open:

 

Shave and a Haircut, Two Bits

If I made one, I'd like it to open after this particular sequence of notes:

 

 

Somehow have a kind of keyboard, and sheet music. And finders would have to play it "wrong" just like that, at first.

 

No bomb of course, just have it open (or provide coords).

[+Lenu_ 0]

In 1 of my caches uses an arduino. It creates a Bluetooth beacon that you can connect your Phone to. For that you need a custom App I made (unfortunately just android). The coords of the cache are not exact. So the Checher moves around as the Bluetooth signal gets better. When they reach the maximum proximity. You arrived at the cache.

For that I used a cheap HC-06 bluetooth module of of banggod for around 3$(link: https://bit.ly/2JYxJ90) and a arduino for arround 5$ of of Banggood.

[+Max and 99 2151]

On 3/14/2016 at 7:06 PM, cliptwings said:

Just wanted to share a couple of arduino-driven caches I've developed here in Tucson.

Simon Says Cache

 

Sensor Cache

 

I've got a couple more out there, one called "Know Your Park," where your need to answer questions to get the next stage's coords, and "Quick Draw," where you need to react quickly to a flashing light. I'd really be interested in what you all have done with arduino microcontrollers. They're powerful, very cheap, and very reliable in the field.

 I'll have to see if yours are still active. Usually Eegees and the Gaslight  Theater lure me back to  Tucson, but now I've got your caches as an extra incentive!