ScraperWiki commissioned us to develop an Internet of Things device which would let them know whenever they’d made a new sale. Taking inspiration from shipping (both ScraperWiki and MCQN Ltd are based in the port city of Liverpool) and the practice of salespeople to ring a bell whenever they close a sale, we came up with the Ackers Bell.

As you can see in the photo, it’s a traditional ship’s bell mounted in a custom designed wooden frame. The frame was cut on the laser-cutter in our workshop, and then a solenoid and Arduino Ethernet board hidden inside the bell. The software on the Arduino talks to an API that ScraperWiki provide which signals any new payments to their bank account. Whenever a new sale gets paid for, the bell will give a ding-ding to let everyone in the office know they’ve another happy customer.