Book excerpt: CREATE FIENDISHLY FUN tinyAVR MICROCONTROLLER PROJECTS This wickedly inventive guide shows you how to conceptualize, build, and program 34 tinyAVR microcontroller devices that you can use for either entertainment or practical purposes. After covering the development process, tools, and power supply sources, tinyAVR Microcontroller Projects for the Evil Genius gets you working on exciting LED, graphics LCD, sensor, audio, and alternate energy projects. Using easy-to-find components and equipment, this hands-on guide helps you build a solid foundation in electronics and embedded programming while accomplishing useful--and slightly twisted--projects. Most of the projects have fascinating visual appeal in the form of large LED-based displays, and others feature a voice playback mechanism. Full source code and circuit files for each project are available for download. tinyAVR Microcontroller Projects for the Evil Genius: Features step-by-step instructions and helpful illustrations Allows you to customize each project for your own requirements Offers full source code for all projects for download Build these and other devious devices: Flickering LED candle Random color and music generator Mood lamp VU meter with 20 LEDs Celsius and Fahrenheit thermometer RGB dice Tengu on graphics display Spinning LED top with message display Contactless tachometer Electronic birthday blowout candles Fridge alarm Musical toy Batteryless infrared remote Batteryless persistence-of-vision toy Each fun, inexpensive Evil Genius project includes a detailed list of materials, sources for parts, schematics, and lots of clear, well-illustrated instructions for easy assembly. The larger workbook-style layout and convenient two-column format make following the step-by-step instructions a breeze. Make Great Stuff! TAB, an imprint of McGraw-Hill Professional, is a leading publisher of DIY technology books for makers, hackers, and electronics hobbyists.