Your touchscreen can now seamlessly transition between hover, finger and glove touch

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The new maXTouch mXT641T family is the industry’s first auto-qualified self- and mutual-capacitance controller meeting the AEC-Q100 standards for high reliability in harsh environments.

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Optimized for capacitive touchpads and touchscreens from five to 10 inches, Atmel has expanded its robust portfolio of automotive-qualified maXTouch controllers with the all-new mXT641T family. These devices are the industry’s first auto-qualified self- and mutual-capacitance controllers meeting the AEC-Q100 standards for high reliability in harsh environments.

The maXTouch mXT641T family incorporates Atmel’s Adaptive Sensing technology to enable dynamic touch classification, a feature that automatically and intelligently switches between self- and mutual-capacitance sensing to provide users a seamless transition between a finger touch, hover or glove touch. As a result, this eliminates the need for users to manually enable ‘glove mode’ in the operating system to differentiate between hover and glove modes. Adaptive Sensing is also resistant to water and moisture and ensures superior touch performance even in these harsh conditions.

The latest family of devices support stringent automotive requirements including hover and glove support in moist and cold environments, thick lens for better impact resistance, and single-layer shieldless sensor designs in automotive center consoles, navigation systems, radio interfaces and rear-seat entertainment systems. The single-layer shieldless sensor design eliminates additional screen layers, delivering better light transparency resulting in lower power consumption along with an overall lower system cost for the manufacturer.

“More consumers are demanding high-performance touchscreens in their vehicles with capacitive touch technology,” said Rob Valiton, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Automotive, Memory and Secure Products Business Units. “Atmel is continuing to drive more innovative, next-generation touch technologies to the automotive market and our new family of automotive-qualified maXTouch T controllers is further testament to our leadership in this space. Atmel is the only automotive-qualified touch supplier with over two decades of experience in designing, developing, and manufacturing semiconductor solutions that meet the stringent quality and reliability standards for our automotive customers.”

Interested? Production quantities of the mXT641T are now available. Meanwhile, you can learn all about the entire maXTouch lineup here.

OpenROV Trident is a next-gen underwater drone

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The future of underwater exploration has arrived. 

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Since its debut three years ago, OpenROV has made their dream of a low-cost, easily-accessible underwater drone for the masses a reality. With their AVR powered robot, the team has provided Makers, students and professional researchers alike with the ability to explore the deep seas and relay video information back for analysis. However, it’s not just about gathering data; instead, its creators are looking to revolutionize the aquatic experience with a remotely operated vehicle that could go places where no other has gone before.

Whereas most ROVs simply go up and down, left and right, or forward and reverse (and slowly, need we mind you), the newly-revealed Trident is changing the game. Its sleek, hydrodynamic body enables the bot to swiftly swim and maneuver its way through the water in dolphin-like fashion, at varying speeds of up to two meters/second with the upmost precision.

“It can fly in long, straight survey lines called ‘transects’ and perform delicate maneuvers in tight spaces, all while maintaining a sleek and powerful form factor,” the OpenROV crew explains.

Needless to say, capturing footage underwater has always been a challenge. That is why the team has developed a lightweight, 25-meter tether that communicates a video feed up to the surface. (It should be noted, however, that a 100-meter option is also available.) Trident wirelessly connects to a towable buoy that allows an operator to control their machine from any Wi-Fi device, whether it’s a tablet on a boat or a laptop on shore.

“Using a wireless towable buoy greatly increases the practical range of the vehicle while doing transects and search patterns since a physical connection between the vehicle and the pilot doesn’t need to be maintained,” OpenROV adds. “Every aspect of the Trident design has been painstakingly thought out in order to optimize performance and usability in any situation.”

Not only has it been crafted for performance but portability as well. Trident’s form factor is small enough to squeeze in a backpack or fit under an airplane seat. Meanwhile, its side panels are overmolded with a strong, rubber coating to give it protection from underwater obstacles and rough handling when being transported.

Trident is equipped with what would appear to be custom electronics along with an onboard HD camera, embedded LED lights for illumination and a LiFePO4 battery providing roughly three hours of run time. What’s more, the software driving the drone continues to be a living open source project, which can be found on GitHub.

Interested in one of your own? Apparently so is everyone else. OpenROV has already soared past its initial Kickstarter goal of $50,000 in a matter of hours. Pending all goes to plan, delivery is expected to begin sometime around November 2016.

Introducing the all-new Atmel | SMART SAMA5D2 series

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The latest Atmel | SMART ARM Cortex-A5-based MPU is pushing the boundaries of performance and power for industrial IoT and wearable applications.

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Exciting news — a new family of Atmel | SMART ARM Cortex-A5-based microprocessors have arrived! These MPUs deliver sub 200µA in retention mode with context preserved, 30µs ultra-fast wake-up and a new backup mode with DDR in self-refresh at only 50µA. The Atmel | SMART SAMA5D2 series provides great system integration with the addition of a complete audio subsystem, lower pin-count and ultra-small package for space constraints applications, and built-in PCI-level security targeting industrial Internet of Things, wearables and point of sale applications.

Expanding the Atmel SAMA5 family, the SAMA5D2 offers just the right price-to-performance ratio for applications requiring an entry-level MPU and extended industrial temperature range (-40 to 105°C ambient temperature). These MPUs are also a great migration path for designers using ARM926-based MPUs looking for higher performance and additional features including low power, higher security, DDR3 support, smaller footprint, audio, USB HSIC and Atmel’s patented SleepWalking technology.

“As a leader in ultra-low power MCU and MPU IoT solutions, we are excited to launch the new Atmel | SMART SAMA5D2 series for designers requiring a general, entry-level MPU,” explained Jacko Wilbrink, Atmel Senior Director of MPUs. “Designers for industrial IoT, wearables and POS applications are demanding more performance, lower power, smaller form factors and additional security for their next-generation applications. The Atmel SAMA5D2 is well positioned for these demanding requirements, delivering the world’s lowest power MPU, along with low-system cost and PCI level security.”

Featuring an ARM NEON engine, the new SAMA5D2 boasts 500MHz and 166MHz of system clocking. The memory system includes a configurable 16- or 32-bit DDR interface controller, 16-bit external bus interface (EBI), QSPI Flash interface, ROM with secure and non-secure boot solution, 128kB of SRAM plus 128kB of L2Cache configurable as SRAM extension. The user interface system for the SAMA5D2 is comprised of a 24-bit TFT LCD controller, an audio subsystem with fractional PLL, multiple I2S and SSC/TDM channels, a stereo class D amplifier, as well as digital microphone support.

The robust security system in the new SAMA5D2 is even equipped with the ARM TrustZone technology, along with secure boot, hardware cryptography, RSA/ECC, on-the-fly encryption/decryption on DDR and QSPI memories, tamper resistance, memory scrambling, independent watchdog, temperature, voltage and frequency monitoring and a unique ID in each device.

To support the SAMA5D2 MPUs, a free Linux distribution has been developed and published in the mainline kernel. For non-operating system users, Atmel delivers more than 40 peripheral drivers in C. Moreover, the company also collaborates with a global network of partners, including IAR, ARM, Free Electrons, Active-Semi, Micron, ISSI, Winbond, Segger, Lauterbach, FreeRTOS, Express Logic, NuttX and Sequitur Labs, that provide development tools, PMIC, memories and software solutions.

Interested? The SAMA5 Xplained Ultra kit is currently available for just $79. The board packs an embedded debugger and programmer and a wide range of compatible extensions boards. Standalone programmer debugger solutions supporting the SAMA5 family are available, too. Early samples of the SAMA5D2 are now ready, while those wishing for an ATSAMA5D2-XULT Xplained Ultra boards will have to wait until October. First production quantities of the SAMA5D2 series will ship in December 2015.

C-way is a plug and play wearable for kids

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C-way is a GPS wearable that allows kids to have fun and parents to check their whereabouts.

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It’s tough being a parent these days — a glimpse of the news makes that abundantly clear. Parents have the responsibility of protecting their children, but it often requires a fine balance. Kids also need their space in order to develop their independence and to experience their childhood.

Luckily, C-way is a device that can help with balancing these two challenges. The stylish wearable allows kids to enjoy themselves with various add-on modules. The product is geared towards children, providing a plug and play concept that enables 3-6 year olds to personalize their gadget with LEGO figurines along with games like hide and seek. As for the 8-10 year old crowd, the device becomes a bit more advanced as it displays icons, text messages and even the time.

Not only does C-way function as a wristband, watch, compass, scheduler and entertainment console, its GPS locator feature lets parents monitor their children’s location and the approximate distance between them using its accompanying mobile app. You can even keep tabs on up to three kids at once! What’s more, should the wearable ever be removed, an alert will be immediately sent with their last whereabouts.

Upon opening the unit, simply scan the QR code with your smartphone to directly link the two. As its creators reveal, “No need to enter any number, IMEI, or phone number. No Wi-Fi or Bluetooth pairing needed.”

In terms of hardware, the C-way is equipped with a GPS and GSM antenna, a GPS locator, a SIM card and a 330mAh lithium-ion battery with a lifespan of about a day. Meanwhile, its watch add-on sports an 128 x64-pixel LCD screen and Bluetooth Low Energy connectivity.

Interested? Head over to C-way’s Kickstarter campaign, where the team is currently seeking $111,638. Delivery is slated for February 2016.

Disney researchers found a way for devices to communicate using LEDs

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Visible Light Communication enables the interaction between objects using only LEDs.

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If devices are going to communicate with one other, more times than not it’s going to be done through Bluetooth or Wi-Fi. However, wireless networks aren’t always available and Bluetooth can drain battery life. Knowing this, a Disney Research team has come up with an alternative way for Internet of Things objects to ‘talk.’ How, you ask? Through LED lights.

Unlike incandescent or fluorescent bulbs, the brightness of LEDs can be controlled with extreme precision. Meaning, they can be turned on and off at very high frequencies that are faster than the human eye can detect. Aside from that, LEDs can even be used as receivers just like photodiodes.

Similar to how two ships passing in the night can communicate via Morse code, a couple of IoT gadgets can now secretly converse through the visible light generated by an LED — a method that the team calls Visible Light Communication, or VLC. Not only can it illuminate a room, but the MCU inside each bulb is capable of transmitting and receiving data.

“VLC creates opportunities for low-cost, safe, and environmentally friendly wireless communication solutions. We focus on connected toys and light bulb networks,” the team writes. “Our work targets a full system design that spans from hardware prototypes to communication protocols, and applications.”

Though the concept of “Li-Fi” has been around for a while, as expected, it would appear that many of VLC’s initial examples are focused primarily on toys. (It is Disney, after all!) Among them included a toy car that can turn on its own lights and come to life when placed near a lamp, as well as a princess dress whose embedded LEDs are activated whenever a wand with its own light comes near.

“LED-to-LED Visible Light Communication allows interaction between toys by only using LEDs. No dedicated hardware is required. When multiple devices are networked with each other, we organize the communication with our software protocols,” the researchers add.

However, the technology has other potential applications as well, with an adapter connected to the headphone jack of a smartphone or tablet to receive signals from overhead lights operating at wavelengths unnoticeable by the human eye. This, for instance, opens the door for LED emitters to be placed around a store to beam notifications to the smartphones of shoppers.

Using a simple mobile app on the device, the lightbulb data can be used to tell a story and visualize both pictures and text. When off, no data is transmitted. When switched back on, the storytelling continues.

As you can see in the photo above, the researchers employed various Arduino Uno boards (ATmega328) as part of the study’s testbed. Read all about the project here.

Introducing a personal assistant to help you remember your things

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THE O will make sure you never leave your valuables behind again.

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With people always on the go and in a rush these days, it’s easy to leave important things behind by accident. Even if you’re on alert, an item can slip out of your pocket or purse without your knowledge. But thanks to THE O, not anymore.

Billed as “a comprehensive virtual personal assistant,” the smart accessory will notify you as soon as you forget or misplace one of your belongings. THE O can easily attach to just about anything, from your keys and wallet to your jacket and briefcase. The wearable unit comes in three different models: original and octopus (gunmetal rhodium), luxury (gold plated), and light (rubber).

The accessory works by connecting to an accompanying mobile app via Bluetooth and alerting you only when it needs to, acting as a virtual leash when you’ve moved too far away from your item. THE O can also check your essentials for you before leaving the house in the morning or after getting up from lunch, storing GPS location and time then marking needed items on appropriate days.

Focusing on a minimized size and a waterproof feature, its creators have designed a custom PCB to fit into its special ABS shell. The devices are assembled through ultrasonic welding, and a small PET slip is used to connect to the circuit. THE O itself measures only 4mm x 39mm x 29mm in size, so it’s certainly mall enough to be slipped into a pocket, sewn onto an umbrella or clipped onto a bag. Aside from that, the device’s coin-cell battery boasts a life of around 18 months.

Currently live on Kickstarter, THE O team is seeking $48,606. Pending all goes to plan, the first batch of units will ship in February 2016.

Defend your personal space with this wearable device

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Maker builds an over-sized, electro-mechanical backpack with a shoulder-mounted, self-firing Super Soaker. 

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Don’t you hate when people invade your personal space and get up in your business? What better way to send a message than by squirting them with a water gun? However, having to manually target people with your soaker of choice can be a tedious task, especially if there is an entire army of time-wasting, close-talking friends or colleagues approaching you. Luckily, there’s an automated solution that will do the trick. Introducing the Personal Space Defense System (PSDS). 

The brainchild of DJ from Instructables, the system is described as an “over-sized, electro-mechanical backpack with a shoulder-mounted, self-firing water gun.” While this isn’t the first robotic buffer zone defender, it’s perhaps one of the coolest — and most applicable nevertheless. (Anouk Wipprecht’s Spider Dress is still pretty sweet, too!)

How it works is pretty straightforward: If someone encroaches upon your personal space, an embedded sensor pendant will detect the invader and the Super Soaker Electro Storm will blast a few shots of water towards them.

Aside from the stripped-down water gun, the Maker employed several electronic components to make the project a reality. These included an Arduino Micro (ATmega32U4), an IR distance sensor, a PIR motion sensor, a laser diode, a power switch, an illuminated switch, a 2200mAh 7.4V LiPo battery, a voltage regulator, a MOSFET, a bunch of resistors, a transistor and a capacitor, as well as a number of other off-the-shelf supplies.

The PSDS is comprised of three main parts: a shoulder-mounted water gun, a sensor-laden necklace and a trigger mechanism. As AJ explains, pressing the power button activates system while pushing the trigger button will toggle between armed and disarmed modes. Once the system is armed, the gun will flip up and the attached laser diode will power on.

What’s more, he removed the original case of the Super Soaker to reduce the weight and allow for easy direct electrical control. This enabled him to wedge the water gun and reservoir into a channel bracket and actuate it by a geared servo.

“For ease of mounting and added comfort, I designed the system to be mounted to a regular backpack. The pack provides a sturdy mounting point for the main tube and proto-board for the electronics,” AJ adds. “The gun assembly is a bit hefty, so to balance out its inherently wobbly nature, I created a counterweight that has a mount for a camera. I ended up attaching a GoPro.” (This will surely capture some hilarious clips!)

The program running the PSDS is a basic Arduino sketch, which the Maker has made available, along with the Bounce library that will need to be installed. Those wishing to build a personal space defending wearable of their own can head over to AJ’s Instructables page, where you’ll find a detailed breakdown of the project.

This wearable device gives you an extra sense for better orientation

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Inspired by birds, TheSixthSense is an ankle device that gives wearers a better sense of direction. 

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Release a homing pigeon thousands of miles from home, and it’ll find its way back using its innate ability to sense the Earth’s magnetic field. Following the same principles, Maker Sebastian Foerster has developed what he calls “an extra sense for a better orientation.”

Initially inspired by his father’s balance disorder, TheSixthSense is an ankle-worn device that uses vibration motors to help guide a wearer in the right direction. Ideally, a gadget like this could one day prove to be invaluable for the visually-impaired, for those with a lack of orientation and in environments where there is limited visibility.

The wearable itself is comprised of a small, two-layer circuit board featuring an ATxmega32E5 at its core, along with an accelerometer, a magnetometer, a LiPo charger, a 2.5V LDO regulator and some MOSFETs to drive the set of vibration motors. TheSixthSense is also equipped with a 700 mAh LiPo battery, which boasts a life of about 30 hours before needing to be recharged. To program the system, Foerster employed Atmel Studio and the Atmel Software Library.

TheSixthSense must be calibrated before wearing. Once completed, the program is ready for magnetometer readings. Simply push its small button and turn the PCB around the different axis; push again and the calibration data is written to the EEPROM section. Beyond that, an accelerometer is used to make a tilt compensated compass, which means the exact position of the PCB on the anklet doesn’t matter all that much.

“However, the inconstant movement speed of the foot is a problem. When you walk the ground vector is moving with the acceleration of your feed. Since the acceleration is raising and falling in one step an additional filter is required to determine the true ground vector,” the Maker explains.

Once the magnetometer output is read, the two vectors can be used to calculate the angle to magnetic north. Afterwards, the correct motors are activated and set to the desired intensity.

“For my first test, I used four motors. As it turns out, four motors don’t work well enough when it comes to exact positioning. The shin isn’t sensitive enough to detect the small differences between two vibration sources. The solution for my second prototype is to use eight motors,” he adds.

“At the time, TheSixthSense works well and it is rather comfortable. I have been wearing it for three days during my time in the office and nobody could hear the vibration,” Foerster writes. “Nevertheless, in a noise free environment, it is loud enough to be heard by other people in the same room. It can be easily washed since all of the electronic parts can be taken out of the belt.”

Looking ahead, the Maker hopes to improve its filter, test adaptive vibration time, create a case for the circuit board and battery, as well as integrate Bluetooth Low Energy connectivity. More on TheSixthSense, which is currently a semi-finalist in this year’s Hackaday Prize, can be found on its project page here.

SCOUTEE is the world’s first smart speed radar

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This smart device transforms your phone into a real speed radar.

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Miha Uhan was a baseball player and former member of the Slovenian national team. Turns out, he was also quite the Maker and entrepreneur. Having been around the game for quite some time, he realized that despite advancements in technology, pitching speeds are still measured using traditional radar guns and jotted down with a pen and paper. That was until now.

Meet SCOUTEE, the world’s first smart radar which uses your smartphone to record speed, capture video, save and analyze pitch parameters, monitor progress, and share results. The solution itself, which is much more convenient, compact and reliable than its conventional counterparts, is comprised of two parts: a hardware device and an accompanying mobile app.

The gadget, which is no larger than a bar of soap, can be easily placed on a tripod, clipped onto a fence, held in your hand, and even snapped onto your phone with a small magnet sticker. Once situated, its built-in Doppler radar technology can measure the speed of the ball and relay the data over to the mobile app via Bluetooth. From there, you can select pitch type, location and result right from on screen. The data is also saved so that you can keep tabs on your progress over time. What’s more, it even records video with pitch data overlay, making it super easy to share your talent with friends, coaches and scouts — ideal for creating those college recruiting videos!

As a former pitcher, Uhan was aware of how imperative it is for young players to protect their arms and train responsibility, so he insisted on including a customizable “pitch limit warning” feature that alerts a user whenever they’ve exceed their count. Additionally, SCOUTEE can be an invaluable tool for coaches to keep track of their players’ performance and stats.

The device is equipped with a pair of ARM Cortex MCUs — one tasked with communication, the other for running its Digital Signal Processing (DSP) algorithms — along with Bluetooth Low Energy connectivity, a range of up to 130 feet, an accuracy of +1/-1 mph, and a battery life of six hours with continuous use.

“Over multiple development phases we evolved the radar and processing part of the product dramatically. We started with simple of-the-shelf Doppler radar sensor combined with simple low-cost speed detection processing in our first working prototype. But to meet the final range and accuracy demands of the product we ended up with high-performance Doppler radar transceiver together with high-gain low-noise IF amplifying stages,” its creators reveal.

Are you a baseball player, coach or scout? Then you may want to head over to SCOUTEE’s Kickstarter campaign, where the team is currently seeking $50,000. Units are expected to begin shipping in April 2016 — just in time for opening day!

Made with Code helps design Zac Posen’s FLORA-powered LED dress

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Zac Posen teamed with Google’s Made with Code to create a black dress that displays a pattern created by LED lights.

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More and more, we’re seeing the fashion and technology worlds come together in ways never before imagined. There’s your less ‘out of the ordinary’ wearable devices like fitness trackers and watches, but then there’s smart garments that can do everything from react to your body’s temperature and mood to ambient sound. With the advent of conductive thread, mini microcontrollers and a burgeoning Maker community, the possibilities of what can be sewn and coded together are truly endless.

Demonstrating just that, Google’s Made with Code and Zac Posen teamed up to show how computer science can push the boundaries of what’s possible in fashion using technology developed by Maddey Maxey and electronics from Adafruit. Students had the ability to log onto Made With Code and select a mysterious LED-based project.

At the time, the girls had no idea as to what they were contributing to but were excited nonetheless. The result? An interactive dress converging Posen’s “Los Angeles at night” inspiration and the students’ coding skills that debuted at the finale of the Zac Posen Spring 2016 Fashion Show, which kicked off New York Fashion Week.

All eyes were on the LED-embedded dress worn by Coco Rocha as it dazzled the runway inside a packed auditorium at Manhattan’s Industria Superstudio. The black piece featured short sleeves and a mesh skirt, along with 500 tiny lights that were programmed to emit different animated patterns — all controlled by an Adafruit FLORA (ATmega32U4).

“There is nothing greater than the fulfillment of creating something and seeing it come to life — to light up,” Posen explains.

Not only did they get to have a hand in designing the LED sequences, but 50 girls had the chance to attend the show and witness their collaborative effort light up the catwalk. For those of us who couldn’t experience the magical moment firsthand, Adafruit was lucky enough to capture it for us all to see! Watch below!

[Images: Google, Adafruit]