Sold as a bare-bones kit (sans the Atmel-basedArduino Uno which can be purchased here), the platform is regulated by Java software tasked with converting pictures into lines.
Essentially, the software sends the lines to the robot one at a time with GCODE. The robot leverages trigonometry to calculate the length of each belt.
Meaning, to move from point A to point B the robot determines the change in belt length and subsequently pulls the belts at the right speed to move in straight lines. Repeat 10,000 times and yes, you have a beautiful picture.
Currently available on Tindie at a $200 price point, kit contents include:
“To detect the proximity of the human hand or finger, we use the projected capacitive technique. This is the principle of virtually all modern touch screens – except that now we are in the air, relatively far away from the detector surface (10 cm max). So we build capacitors which are as ‘open’ as possible, using electrodes drawn on the electrode plane PCB in order to obtain a maximum ‘hand effect,’” 3Dpad creator Jean-Noël explained.
“[Meanwhile], the capacitors formed by the electrodes are part of an oscillator whose frequency is influenced by the distance of a hand. When it enters the electrostatic field, this ‘intruder’ is going to cut the field lines and divert the electrical charges. The closer the hand approaches the electrodes, the more the oscillator’s frequency increases.”
Recently, Jean-Noël told Bits & Pieces that Ootsidebox is working with Matlab to create a 3Dpad Arduino shield as a Simulink block.
“After a discussion we had with MathWorks, we decided to make the 3Dpad Arduino shield available as a Simulink block, downloadable from MATLAB central,” he explained.
“We are convinced that this solution, which enables graphical programing, is one of the best ways to learn and experiment with Arduino.”
In addition, says Jean-Noël, the Ootsidebox team is designing a MIDI controller for electronic music built around the 3Dpad.
“It will be based on 3Dpad shield + an Atmel-based Arduino Mega,” he added. “Making a ‘virtual percussion’ system with few 3Dpad synchronized sounds good!”
Fortunately, the DIY project isn’t limited to just garage doors, allowing Makers and tinkerers to create various types of simple motorized locks by modding the initial Instructables.
Aside from Atmel’s ATtiny85 microcontroller (MCU), key project components include:
“The serial LCD kit sold by Sparkfun comes with an ATmega328 MCU to control the LCD. The ATmega has extra processing power to be used for other tasks besides controlling the LCD. Because of this, we can use it as an Arduino to communicate with the fingerprint scanner, send an ATtiny85 commands, control the LCD and use a buzzer to play tones,” nodcah explained in a detailed Instructables post.
“To prevent the module from running continuously, I’ve added a limit switch to detect when the case is closed. If it’s closed, power will not be supplied to it (saves battery power).”
After gathering the above-mentioned materials, drawing the circuit and assembling the serial LCD kit, nodcah builds the circuit boards, programs the ATmega328 and ATtiny85, configures the fingerprint scanner, writes the sketch and 3D prints a basic case.
“To open the garage door I wired my module to the button that normally opens the garage. Instead of a physical connection being made, the module uses a NPN transistor to ‘press’ the button. The wires should first be measured and cut to size, leaving a little extra wire just to be safe,” nodcah added.
“Then, the hard part: soldering the wires from the button to the FPS module. The wires should next be wrapped with a generous amount of tape. To get the signal from the ATmega outside of the garage to the ATtiny inside the garage, three wires (power, ground and signal) will need to be fed through the wall. On my garage, there was a piece of wood that I just drilled right through.”
Last, but certainly not least, nodcah notes that the module’s built-in enroll feature can be used to open the garage and create personalized messages for each profile.
As Julian Horsey of Geeky Gadgets reports, the wireless robotic hand faithfully reproduces the movements of an accompanying glove worn on another hand.
Aside from the above-mentioned Arduino boards, key project components include:
Shield to connect the Xbee module
Robot_Shield
5 Flex sensors
5 resistors: 47 KΩ
Battery pack with 3×1.5 V batteries
LilyPad FTDI adapter (optional)
A steel structure for the palm of the hand and wood for the fingers
5 servomotors
Fishing wires
9 V Battery
“To connect the servomotors I used the Robot_Shield from FuturaElettronica, which has also a switching regulator to power the entire circuit, but you can use any shield made for that,” Gabry25 explained in a recent Instructables post.
WidgeDuino – which recently made its Kickstarter debut – is an intelligent and easily configurable Windows-based application for communication between a Microsoft Windows platform and a microcontroller based system such as an Atmel-basedArduino board.
Essentially, WidgeDuino communicates with the microcontroller system via serial protocol or TCP/IP.
“It allows simultaneous use of multiple widgets to create complete SCADA systems using simple WidgeDuino library written for [the Atmel-based] Arduino Uno,” WidgeDuino rep Shehzad Nazir explained.
“This includes, amongst others, keypad, LEDs, gauges, knobs, sliders, thermometers, tanks and buttons. Its intuitive approach to communication simplifies rapid prototyping and development of a complete automation system.”
More specifically, Widgeduino is based on Microsoft’s .NET framework, using the popular Visual Studio Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) as its designer. It leverages National Instrument controls to enable the control of devices connected to the microcontroller system. As noted above, the app runs on a Windows system and supports both wired and wireless connections.
“Widgeduino comes with built-in APIs which facilitate addition of user-friendly widgets to embedded designs,” Nazir continued. “The libraries are primarily designed for communication with Arduino boards.”
Widgeduino offers two primary modes of operation:
Widgeduino over Serial: Serial based point-to-point (using RS232) or wireless point-to-multipoint (via Xbee 802.15.4) communication between the Widgeduino application and Arduino boards.
Widgeduino over Internet: IP based networking to enable Internet of Things (IoT). This mode can also be used as a hybrid (i.e. with Serial and IP protocol) to connect serial devices over internet with the Widgeduino app.
“Widgeduino simplifies the process of prototyping as it has multiple widgets that are very valuable in testing a design concept,” Nazir added.
“Once you finished with prototyping and testing with Widgeduino, you can use these widgets in your real SCADA system designs. Widgeduino provides a simple serial or ethernet interface to your microcontroller based designs, with a particular focus on Arduino boards.”
Examples of current (supported) WidgeDuino applications include:
Jack Eisenmann has created a number of Atmel-based homebrew computers that we’ve covered on Bits & Pieces, including the DUO tiny, DUO portable and DUO Mega.
“[This] ATTiny84 based computer [features a] 7 segment number display and 2 buttons. [You can] use the 512 bytes of EEPROM to store program code,” Eisenmann explained in a recent project post. “[Plus, you can] use the 512 bytes of SRAM for program data and as a code editing buffer.”
Additional key project components include:
(x1) 7 segment number display: LA-401VD (SC56-11EWA)
(x2) Button: 101-TS7311T1602-EV
(x3) 10K ohm resistor: 291-10K-RC
(x1) 20K ohm resistor: 291-20K-RC
(x1) 330 ohm resistor (7 isolated): 4114R-1-331LF
(x1) 14 pin chip socket: 2-641599-4 (1825093-3)
(x2) 3 pin male header: 69190-403
(optional) 5 pin female header: 929870-01-05-RA
(x1) Larger capacitor: UVR1H100MDD1TA
(x1) Battery holder: BAT-HLD-001
(x1) Battery: CR2032
(x1) Switch: MHSS1104
(x1) Board
(x1) Fuse for preserving EEPROM between programming cycles
As HackADay’s Adam Fabio points out, Eisenmann designed an entire language for the new board.
“DUO Decimal is programmed in an interpreted language called DUO Decimal Numeric Code (DDNC),” said Fabio. ”There are 47 DDNC commands, covering everything from basic math to list manipulation. Programs can be entered through the buttons, or save your fingertips by downloading them through the AVR ISP interface. The entire C code for the DUO Decimal, including the DDNC interpreter is available on Jack’s website.”
It should also be noted that Eisenmann coded several example DDNC programs, including 6 function calculator with trigonometry, a Mandelbrot set tester and even a version of the classic of the rock-paper-scissors game.
Known as “FLORA,” Adafruit’s wearable electronics platform is built around Atmel’s Atmega32u4 MCU. The microcontroller boasts built-in USB support, eliminating the need for pesky special cables and extra parts.
As Adafruit’s Limor Fried notes, FLORA is extremely “beginner-friendly.” Indeed, the device is difficult to accidentally destroy by connecting a battery backwards, thanks to a polarized connector and protection diodes. Meanwhile, an onboard regulator ensures even connecting a 9V battery won’t result in damage or ruined projects.
Today, we’re going to be taking a closer look at a MIDI drum glove designed by Adafruit’s very own Becky Stern that is powered by the versatile Atmel-based platform. Aside from FLORA, key project components include:
4X small piezos
USB mini cable
4X 1M ohm resistors
Ribbon wires
Glove
Scrap fabric
Stern kicks off the MIDI drum glove project by ironing out some fabric to match the glove, cutting four small pieces slightly larger than her fingertips and ironing a small hem on one side.
“Put your glove on and establish what spots make contact with the table, then mark those spots with a pencil. Thread your needle and double the thread over, then tie a knot at the end of the tails,” Stern explains in detailed project tutorial.
“Stitch through one of your pieces of fabric and affix it to the glove fingertip over the pencil mark with a whip stitch. Be careful not to stitch the glove finger closed! Check periodically to be sure your stitches only pierce the intended layer. Stitch halfway around the pocket, tucking the seam allowance in as you go.”
Next? Stick the piezo in the pocket, finish stitching it shut, leaving the wire sticking out towards the back of the hand. Tie off and cut the thread.
“Repeat for the other three piezo pockets, and put your glove on to double check they are tapped when you finger drum,” Stern continues.
“We found the best placement was not necessarily on the pad of the finger, for instance the thumb is around to the side and the pinky is across the first knuckle.”
Next, Stern solders the FLORA circuit, tweaks/uploads the sketch and adds MIDI support to Flora.
“Once your glove is functioning properly, it’s time to tack everything down. Put the glove on and position FLORA so that the wires don’t tug when you make a fist. Tape it down so it stays put before stitching,” she concludes.
“Use plain thread to stitch FLORA’s unused pads to the glove. On the side where all the wires come in, stitch around the wires instead of through the pads. Tack the wires in place with strategic stitches along their lengths. Remove the tape and try on your completed drum glove!”
A Maker named Ugifer recently sent a box of electronics attached to a balloon approximately 124,000 into the air.
As Alan Parekh of Hacked Gadgets reports, the balloon was tracked using the Space Near Us system, with Ugifer creating a custom PCB to keep the circuit as robust and compact as possible.
Aside from the board, key project hardware components include:
Two stepper motors
Two bracket sets
Two couplers and a 2mm Allen Key
12V power supply
One Adafruit Stepper motor shield
On the software side?
“I considered using remote procedure calls, I thought about implementing Hewlett Packard Graphics Language (HPGL) as used in pen plotters, but in the end for fun I decided to use GCODE as my drawing protocol – GCODE is how laser cutters and 3D printers and many other CNC machines are driven, so it seemed like good experience to learn a bit about how it worked,” Toal explained in a recent Instructables post.
“I found an Arduino GCODE interpreter and modified it to suit my project. Mostly the mods were just to remove the Z-axis code that wasn’t needed (you can’t lift or lower the pen in an etch-a-sketch – when you move, it always draws a line) but the main modification was to remove some machine-dependent stepper-motor-driving code and replace it with portable calls to the Adafruit libraries.”
To create a functional LOGO interpreter, Toal turned to Marcio Passos from Brazil who quickly coded an interface (EASiLOGO) based on the “Papert” LOGO interpreter written in Javascript by Thomas Figg along with an Etch-a-Sketch demo from the Mozilla Developer network.
“Marcio and I modified Papert to use the ‘Node.js’ system which gave the code the ability to drive the serial port so that we could send GCODE commands to the Arduino and make the Etch-a-Sketch draw,” he said.
“In a mammoth 30-hr session over the weekend, we got the LOGO interpreter working and sending drawings to the Etch-a-Sketch.”
So, what’s next for Toal? Well, the Maker says he hopes to polish the software so that anyone can use it without needing to build a physical Etch-a-Sketch robot.
“The emulation of the computer-controlled Etch-a-Sketch on our web page is very accurate and we’ll continue to work on it to make it look and perform even better. Programs that run on the web page will run just as nicely on the real hardware,” he added.
“If you can’t build the hardware, you can do the human simulation we described in the introduction, by writing down the instructions on a piece of paper, and giving them to your kids to execute on a real Etch-a-Sketch toy by hand. It’s a great way to learn to program, even without a computer.”
Today, we’re going to get up close and personal with an ATtiny pocket sequencer created by bergerab that uses the very same tinyAVR microcontroller (MCU). Built around the popular ATtiny85, the pocket-sized sequencer is fully programmable and usable in a studio setting.
“Besides making a pocket-sized sequencer, my goal of this project was to stretch the uses of the ATtiny chips to show how powerful they really are,” bergerab explained a recent Instructables post.
“This project is great for those interested in music and/or electronics, and by the end you will have one of the smallest, unique sequencers ever made.”
Aside from the ATtiny85 MCU, key project components include:
Perfboard (5 cm by 7 cm)
Two 10k potentiometers
Two tactile switch-buttons
Two two-way switches
A 7805 voltage regulator
Two 10uF caps
One 100uF cap
One 2k resistor
8 LEDs
74HC595 shift register
1/4 inch audio female jack
Speaker/buzzer
9v Battery (with connector)
(optional) 5cm by 7cm acrylic sheet
On the software side, bergerab uses a relatively simple sketch to regulate the device.
“In my design of this sequencer, I wanted the user to program the steps right when the device is turned on. To do this I used the ‘setup()’ function, [which] is executed when the ATtiny is initially given power, or if its reset pin is set to LOW,” he continued.
“I added a startup tone (which is a little arpeggio of a c major chord) to notify the user that they are in the frequency programming mode. In the main loop (‘loop()), the ATtiny is told to go through each step, and for each step, light the appropriate LED. Then play the note assigned to that step, at the specified note length. During this, the MCU is checking if the button (analogRead(pot)<30) is pressed. If it is, the program enters a function called ‘setSustain()’. In this function, the user can select the notes length, (via the button and potentiometer).”
