Thanks to aerodynes, for the great review of our new USB Tester and Backpack 2.0. “This is a test and review of the new version of the FriedCircuits USB tester and backpack. If you read my previous articles on the backpack and its extensions, you already know that I am a big fan of this simple and very useful tool. …” Read the complete review here:http://www.aerodynes.fr/2014/02/05/friedcircuits-usb-tester-and-backpack-reloaded/
Back in stock: USB Tester Bundle 2.0 and Backpack 2.0
Available both on Tindie and FriedCircuits.us.
New Product: USB Tester 2.0 Bundle!
After months of development, the USB Tester 2.0 Bundle has arrived! Currently available on Tindie and soon on Friedcircuits.us USB Tester Bundle 2.0USB Tester Backpack 2.0 The bundle includes both a new version of the Backpack and USB Tester. At this time, the new USB Tester is only available with the bundle. New on Backpack Micro USB Button Location on the front left 128×64 OLED Display (Double height of the 1.x version, easier to source) Voltage monitoring of the USB Data lines Easier access to almost all the extra GPIO’s New on USB Tester Micro USB Separated voltage test points (Easier to attach test clips and avoid misplacing jumper) Better labeling Standard Dual Banana spacing 0.75in Standard test probe sized …
Angstrom Yocto 1.4 from Source
Going down the ROS road has been a long one. Full of hair pulling (if I had any) but also a huge learning experience now that it is working. Due to some of the requirements for mjpeg-server I had to compile Angstrom from source so that I can use the branch for Yocto 1.4. In turn this has lead to having to compile other components like the WiFi driver. Compiling from source isn’t too bad as it uses the same Bitbake process used for recipes. The hard part is flashing the SD Card and then flashing the eMMC. I am not sure if I did it the “correct” way but in the end it worked. This is how I did …
BBB: Getting Setup, Updating, NTP, WiFi
This post comes after having a few issues and deciding to redo my BeagleBone Black.Unlike the Raspberry Pi, there are few things you need to do, like loading the latest image, WiFi, and NTP. Your Beaglebone Black may not come with the latest image but after flashing there are still updates by running the opkg update and opkg upgrade. This takes a long time to run. Once complete, the SSH session will be disconnected and you can power cycle. If you have connection errors it’s a problem with DNS and you can add the feed URL to the hosts files. https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/beagleboard/Kyq1NQOFSns Running an upgrade is optional; it will run fine without it. Download the latest image:http://downloads.angstrom-distribution.org/demo/beaglebone/ Download the one with …
Weekend Harmony 720 Repair
A few days, weeks ago our Logitech Harmony 720 remote had some issues. It seems that the interface and buttons were working but not transmitting to any device. Over Thanksgiving weekend I got a chance to take it apart to see what was going on. During the IR Camera, test I was able to confirm the IR LEDs where not emitting at all. After a quick Google search, it looks like this is a common issue. It could be from the heat generated while charging. To me, it sounds like an engineering flaw. But I have to admit this remote lasted a long time and it was purchased from eBay. It’s probably been at least 3+ years. Harmony 720 Parts …
Twitter Bootstrap and ROS
Working on the BeagleBone Black and ROS, I started playing with the Twitter Bootstrap framework. Its a combination of CSS and Javascript libraries that make is much easier to create a website from scratch. I had heard of it and seen a few projects but never dived into it. With the new robot running ROS which has a websocket interface, I ended up trying Bootstrap. Here are few resources I used to get started plus a few screenhots of what I am working on. Once it is in a usable state I will post it on Github and a guide on how to use it. In the meantime I will try to post what I can. Get Bootstrap: http://getbootstrap.com/ Good …
BBB: WebCam Streaming
After figuring out the Raspberry Pi camera module and getting MJPG-Streamer working I decided to try it on the BBB(BeagleBone Black). This should be easier as you are working with USB vs the RPi camera module which isn’t full developed. Thanks to Warren I already had a Logitech C210 camera I use for the Adaruit show and tells and video chating with family. Any UVC camera should work, you can check out this list: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_USB_video_class_devices. Fastest way to check is to plug it in and see if the system sees it as a camera. # lsusb – will show all USB devices on the bus. This doesn’t mean it has the driver. # ls /dev/ – will list all the devices in …
Adruino and working with limited memory
Check out this great post about how Arduino memory works and how to work with limited memory. This includes tips of ways to trim the fat from your program. http://learn.adafruit.com/memories-of-an-arduino
BBB: Adventures in ROS – Cross Compiling and Recipes
Previously I setup ROS on the BeagleBone Black and installed Angstrom build environment on Ubuntu x86 so I can compile for ARM. Now that the base is setup we can add the Beagle-Ros layer and try cross compiling a recipe with Bitbake. Wait, what… what is layers and baking recipes you speak of, are we cooking? Since we can’t compile directly on the BBB we have to do it on a x86 system. But we have to tell the compiler the architecture we want and how to package it up into a IPK that we can install on the BBB. The IPK needs to have all the right parts to make a ROS package. But you can test using just …