by Luis Bruno: Photo by Luis Bruno

When you´re tearing downhill on your snowboard, it´s a little distracting to take off your glove and dig out your iPod just to, say, hit pause. Instead, build this simple radio-frequency ID system and control your iPod by waving your hand in front of your coat.
A tag sewn into your glove sends instructions to a reader stashed in your pocket.

Unwire Your iPod

Cost: $161
Time: 6
Hours
Easy | | | | |
Hard

Parts

• RFID Reader (Parallax 28140) $39.95
  

Assemble the Electronics:
This step requires some soldering; see the diagram above


Connect:

1. The remote control to the reed relay
2. The RFID reader to the carrier board
3. The reed relay to the microcontroller
4. The switch to the nine-volt battery
   harness and to the carrier board

Program the Board: Tell the microcontroller to read and process a signal from the RFID tag by plugging the microcontroller into your computer with a serial cable. Download the code here and copy it from your PC to the
microcontroller.

Stash and Use: Slip an RFID tag into your glove, and plug the iJet remote receiver into the iPod. Stuff the electronic parts into a chest or sleeve pocket. Wave your glove within four inches of that pocket, and the music will pause, just in time for you to hear your friend shout â€Avalanche!â€

For further instructions, see the next page