Gareth has been busy building over the past few weeks; here’s the first look at the interactive coaster that he’s been making.

Hello Homesense, and welcome to Letterkenny. My name’s Gareth Ladley and for the past few weeks I’ve been working on a coaster that flashes lights and reminds me when to take my cup of tea. I’ve a tendency to sit too long at a computer and my eyes start to hurt and I don’t take the required tea break. So – there’s a lid and a base that I printed up on the 3D printer, and the components on the inside. Round the outside are four LEDs and a button in the centre; and it’s all connected to the Arduino. So when the lid’s snapped into place and it’s powered up a light will come on. When the cup’s put onto the coaster the lights will start flashing to recognise that there’s a cup on it, and then will stop. After an hour the lights start flashing again to remind me to get up and take a break. It’s as simple as that and I hope you find it interesting!