How To: Monitor Your Drinking in Style with the Buzzed Buzzer—A DIY Breathalyzer Party Horn

Last week, the whole world ushered in the new year, celebrating the start of 2013 with family and friends, and of course, that little thing we like to call alcohol. But just because New Years Day is over doesn't mean the party is.

And surely, there will be some assholes out there that will drink and drive this year. It happens. So, how can you make sure you're not one of those assholes?

Sure, you can buy an expensive breathalyzer and blow into it every so often (or even make your own), but at a party, that may be a bit drastic and obvious. If you're looking for something a little more subtle, the Buzzed Buzzer party horn may work a little better.

It's just what it sounds like—a party horn that hides a tiny breathalyzer inside. It was created by Tyler DeAngelo and Sacha De'Angeli of Havas Chi and relies on an Arduino microcontroller to gather the alcohol content, also using an alcohol sensor, some code, and a few other components to finish of the project.

The one downside is that the alcohol sensor inside the Buzzed Buzzer isn't as accurate as a professional breathalyzer. Also, the code built into the Arduino checks for the presence of alcohol, not your BAC—if it senses a spike in alcohol consumption, it will ring the alarm. You can modify the code from your computer to select exactly how much alcohol will make the alarm go off.

Check out the project in the video below.

If you want to make your own Buzzed Buzzer, you can find a parts list with instructions and schematics over on the project page.