The 100th post has arrived! So to celebrate, we’re having a giveaway! I wrote about it earlier, and I still cannot believe that it is finally here. I’ve wanted to extend my gratitude to those who follow my blog here, and to the electronics community, especially when it comes to Opensource. Thanks to our friends over at DFRobot for sponsoring this giveaway! A little background about them: as an online shop, they specialize in robotics. They make and sell a variety of boards (offering PCB services), tools, components, kits, etc. If it’s about robots, chances are, they’ve got it. They also plenty of other electronic items. If you’ve yet to hear about them, go check them out! The prize: Dreamer Nano V4.0 Source: DFRobot, with editing by heartsy Description from DFRobot: The Dreamer Nano …
Wishlist: Raspberry Pi 512MB
With the recent release of the latest Raspberry Pi (512MB version), I thought it would be fitting to add it the Wishlist. This newest version was announced just this week and I was fortunate enough to snag one before they sold out. If you’ve thought about diving into Linux and physical computing, this beauty would be the perfect gateway. Really, for me it’s become greatly addictive. Also, it would be an awesome gift to get someone started. The minimum requirements for it is a 4GB or greater SD card and a 5v power supply. A monitor or a TV with HDMI isn’t necessary; you could run it headless. You can also get some really cool accessories like cases (like the Pibow below), WiFi cards, USB hubs, or some breakouts for the GPIO. Newark and Adafruit …
New Project: Sneak Peek!
Here’s a sneak peek of our latest project!
Wishlist: Wearable Electronics
Side-stepping from holiday gift and wish lists, I thought it would be fun to share some products off my personal wishlist. So what exactly are wearable electronics? Some might refer to them as e-textiles, wearable tech, tech togs, or fashion electronics. Essentially, these are electronic components incorporated into clothing and accessories. You can make a simple baseball cap come alive with some LEDs or spruce up the back of that old denim vest with a mini light show. Design ideas are endless. And with so many projects and tutorials already out there, it’s easy so get started! breakdance One kit that’s on my list is the ProtoSnap – LilyPad Development Board available from SparkFun. From SparkFun’s listing:The ProtoSnap LilyPad Simple Development board is a great way …
Bluetooth Roomba Part One
A few weeks ago my dad called to let me know he had found a Roomba Discovery with the SCI (serial port) for $15. The first one I received that he found didn’t have the serial port so I gave it away. All that was missing was the remote, so he got it for $10. What a deal! Unlike the first one, the battery was not recoverable at all. So the weekend before last while visiting the Raspberry Pi tour at HackerDojo, I stopped by Fry’s Electronics to pick a new battery and a few components to add Bluetooth to the Roomba. Currently I am using Bluetooth since that is what I have on hand, later on I will probably convert it …
Upcoming: 100th Post Giveaway!
My first post was 12/07/2010, almost two years ago. It was a slow start, but things really picked up this year after the Maker Faire. Over the past two years I have gone from the basic Arduino starter kit to building Robots and programming weekly. I have learned more about electronics than I thought I ever would which has me wanting to completely change my major and my career. All because of the simple Arduino Kit I picked up at Fry’s. Every new project has me pushing my limits and expanding my knowledge, keeping my brain hungry for more. Now the Raspberry Pi has me becoming more proficient with Linux and venturing into other languages like Python. Thanks to the idea of starting a …
ARM-Powered Arduino DUE
Far removed from the legions of 3D printers featured at this year’s Maker Faire in New York was a much smaller, but far more impressive announcement: The ARM-powered Arduino DUE is going to be released later this month.Instead of the 8-bit AVR microcontrollers usually found in Arduinos, the DUE is powered by an ATSAM3X8E microcontroller, itself based on the ARM Cortex-M3 platform. There are a few very neat features in the DUE, namely a USB On The Go port to allow makers and tinkerers to connect keyboards, mice, smartphones (hey, someone should port IOIO firmware to this thing), and maybe even standard desktop inkjet or laser printers.The board looks strikingly similar to the already common Arduino Mega. That’s no mistake; …
Wishlist: Solar Charger & Battery Pack
Last Thursday, we showcased a tent designed to look like a circuit board. Incidentally, this week’s wishlist item is sold at outdoor sport stores, for campers and hikers alike. But it doesn’t have to be used just for camping. On the contrary, the Solar Charger & Battery Pack sold on SparkFun, can be hacked! It could be greatly utilized to power microcontrollers as an environmental logger, or as an on the go power source for projects, or even power a small robot. Really, there are so many possible uses. Check out sparkfun’s product showcase, where Robert disassembles the pack at 1:40. Reasonably priced, this neat solar charger would make a great gift for campers and hackers, or both!
Raspberry Pi and Cosm
Over a month ago I decided to give Cosm.com a try instead of using my own MySQL database and graphing in Python. Since this was awhile ago I don’t remember everything I did to get it working but I will post the code and libraries I am using that work. Here is a simple library to making sending to Cosm easy. http://www.netfluvia.org/layer8/?p=175 Here is the full code I am using to log the PIR sensor to Cosm, after the jump. #!/usr/bin/python#PIR LOGGING TO COSMimport RPi.GPIO as GPIOimport sysimport timeimport datetimefrom datetime import timedelta import cosmAPI_KEY=”API_KEY”FEED_ID=”FEED_ID”def writeCosm(status): pfu = cosm.PachubeFeedUpdate(FEED_ID,API_KEY) pfu.addDatapoint(“Pi”,status) pfu.buildUpdate() pfu.sendUpdate() print “Uploaded Motion data to Cosm” return ledPin = 17pirPin = 18motionCount = 0timerMin = 1 #Number of …
Raspberry Pi and Motorola Lapdock
Last month I jumped on the fire sale clearance at Verizon for the Motorola Lapdock 100 (for the Razr). First thing I wanted to do is connect it up to the Raspberry Pi. To do this I had to order some cables and adapters. Here are the cables I ordered plus and the adapter to later use it with an Android stick. HDMI To HDMI Female F/F – For the Android stick or connecting to a regulator HDMI cable. 5FT 1.5m Micro HDMI to HDMI Cable – Convert Micro HDMI to full size. Micro HDMI Type D Female to Micro HDMI Type D Female – Join the HDMI cable to the Lapdock. USB 2.0 A Male to Micro USB 5 Pin B Male adapter cable – Donor for RPi USB …