ATmega32U4 illuminates tricked out business card

Mathieu Stephan (aka limpkin) has designed a revamped business card that packs an ATmega32U4 micrcontroller (MCU).

According to Stephan, the new card stackup fits perfectly into a USB connecter, measuring 
2.4mm high (1.6+0.8).

“The old version was actually thinner so I had to apply solder on the USB pads, which was not so pretty in retrospect. You’ll be surprised to know that the new card can still fit in a normal wallet as it is completely flat,” Stephan wrote in a recent blog post.

“However, the hard part was to solder the two PCBs together as a 1.5mm wide exposed copper ‘band’ was put near the cards’ edges to this goal. Using a reflow oven with the card facing up turned the soldermask yellowish so I ended up soldering them by hand with a hot air gun.”

Nevertheless, says Stephan, not much has changed between the two versions in terms of function, except the number of PWM channels. Meaning, the card is still recognized as an external USB drive and can be reprogrammed using an integrated bootloader.

“The only thing worth mentionning here is that given the ATmega32U4 only had 7 PWM channels I had to use a given PWM channel complementary output and two extra I/O pins to enable/disable these given LEDs,” he added. “Two groups of 2 LEDs will therefore always have the same duty cycle.”

Interested in learning more? You can can check out the project’s official page here.

iPod hacking with Android and Arduino

A Maker with the handle “Erroneous Data” has posted a detailed Instructables explaining how to hack an old iPod using an Atmel-based Arduino Uno (ATmega328 MCU) and Android. Oh, and yes. There is no need to break out the soldering gun for this project.

“Just leave [your] old iPod plugged into the stereo and your music will start to play when you walk in the door. The Arduino acts as a liaison between the iPod and your Droid,” Erroneous Data explained.

“Since the iPod device is connected directly to your stereo, it eliminates any error that can occur when streaming the music to a separate device.”

Key features include:

• Auto connect
• Auto play
• Auto pause
• In-call pause
• Alarm

As HackADay’s Brian Benchoff reports, with the right resistance on a specific pin on the 30-pin dock connector, iPods will send the track name and playlists over a serial connection, all while responding to play, pause, skip and volume commands.

“There hasn’t been much work towards implementing the copious amount of documentation of this iPod accessory mode in small microcontroller projects. [However], with a little bit of work, [he] managed to replicate the usual iPod dock commands with an Arduino,” said Benchoff.

“Using an HC-05 Bluetooth module, it’s possible to get this iPod-connected Arduino to relay data to and from an Android device with a small app. The circuit is simple, the app is free, and if you have an iPod with an old battery or cracked screen, it can still work as a music storage device.”

Interested in learning more? You can check out the project’s official Instructables page here.

BuildersBot CNC Router is also a 3D printer

A Maker named “aldricnegrier” has designed an Arduino-based BuildersBot machine, which he describes as a CNC Router that is also capable of 3D printing.

“The BuildersBot works/moves within a three-dimensional Cartesian coordinate system, allowing the machine to position its tool (drill bit or hot end) in any location inside the three-dimensional work space,” aldricnegrier explained in a recent Instructables post.

“The X axis will move the tool from left to right, the Y axis will move the tool from back to forth and finally the Z axis will move the tool up and down inside the work area.”

Key BuildersBot components include:

• 4 Nema 23 Motor dual shaft 425oz-in
• 4 driver 4.2A 128MicroDriver
• 3 power supplies (36V, 36V and 12V)
• 1 Arduino Mega (ATmega2560)
• 1 Ramps 1.4 Board (for CNC milling and 3D printing)
• Smart controller LCD
• 6 end stops
• 5 meter LED Strip with remote control (IR)
• Kress 1050 Spindle MFE

“The Buildersbot electronics enclosure is made from 7 laser cut acrylic parts, [with] all parts fitting together to make the enclosure. The enclosure houses the four Micro Stepping Drivers, three power supplies (36V, 36V and 12V), the Arduino Mega, a Ramps 1.4 board and two fans for cooling,” said aldricnegrier.

“The enclosure has rear holes for all exterior wire connections, [with] all stepper drivers mounted on an acrylic plate and positioned in the middle of the enclosure. The enclosure is closed using zip-ties. For extra fun there are four blue LEDs that light up the enclosure when power is on.”

Interested in learning more? You can check out the project’s official page here.

minDUINO v1.5 (ATmega328) goes live

Steve Smith of Project AVR has published the design files and relevant data for the Atmel-powered minDUINO v1.5 board – with the information released under the Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike license.

According to Smith, the ATmega328-based minDUINO is relatively easy to assemble, featuring a two layer through-hole design, along with headers for FTDI, ISCP and port breakouts.

“The board has two LEDs, one red, as seen above, for power indication and one green for testing,” Smith explained in a recent blog post.

“I chose to connect the green test LED to pin D10 (physical pin 16) because it is capable of PWM output. I used a shrouded connector for the ICSP connection which matches the plug from my USBASP programmer.”

The minDUINO boards were fabricated by the Hackvana crew, with the relevant gerber files available here.

“I have been using Hackvana for a while and they have fabricated several boards for me,” he added.

“Their customer service is second to none and the end result is a high quality, professional PCB that would be at home in any commercial equipment.”

Interested in learning more? You can check out minDUINO’s official project page here.

ATmega328 tick-tocks this binary clock


A Maker named Aaron has built a rather impressive binary clock using the shell of an old, discarded hard drive. The unit is powered by a DS1307 Real Time Clock (RTC) module paired with an Atmel ATmega328 microcontroller (MCU).



”As I have an abundant supply of old hard drives, I went the upcycling route and used one for the enclosure. Should add to the clocks nerd cred as well, which can’t hurt,” Aaron explained in a recent blog post.

“You typically need a torx screwdriver bit to crack open most hard drive cases. However, you can bust out some dodgyness and use a flat head if need be.The only parts to be re-used were the body and cover of the hard drive, [although] there’s also some handy rare-earth magnets that can be salvaged.”

Aaron kicked off the binary clock project by marking a grid, then punching and drilling the holes, which he describes as a common LED arrangement for DIY binary clocks. Simply put, the left two columns represent the hours, while the right side displays the minutes.

“Each LED is installed and secured into place with a bit of hot glue. All the LEDs negative legs are soldered together creating a common ground connection. A color coded wire was soldered to each positive connection then insulated with another healthy dob of hot glue,” he continued.

“I had a couple of ATmega328 microcontrollers with Arduino bootloaders (can be programmed by an Arduino) so I breadboarded out a functional Arduino (hackduino) and tested it with the standard blink sketch.”

Aaron then adopted a more permanent model using a protoboard with the RTC – adding outputs for each LED with a resistor in series, 7805 5V regulator and other supporting passive components.



”Once everything was connected up, I let it run naked for a couple of days to make sure everything was sweet. A spare 9v wall wort provides enough power for the unit,” he added.

According to Aaron, the RTC “remembers” the time for approximately 10 years on its own battery, although it is capable of drawing power from an external source when available.

Last, but certainly not least, the Arduino sketch uses Adafruit’s RTC library to interact with the RTC module and ask for the current time/ The sketch then takes those values and calculates which LEDs should be lit to display the current time in binary format.

Interested in learning more? You can download the code here and check out the project’s official page here.

A DIY altimeter for RC planes

A Maker by the name of Qubist has created an Arduino-based altimeter targeted at RC planes. For the uninitiated, an altimeter or altitude meter is an instrument used to measure the altitude of an object above a fixed level.

According to Qubist, the DIY altimeter documented on Instructables is capable of measuring altitude with an accuracy of 0.3 meters, all while saving the highest and lowest values.

Key project components include:

• Arduino Pro Mini (ATmega168 MCU)
• 40 mAh Lithium Polymer battery
• LCD bubble display
• MPL3115A2 Altitude Sensor
• 3D printed case (optional)
• Button
• Switch
• JST connector

“The entire build adds up to around $30, but you may have some or most of the parts lying around already,” said Qubist.

“You can make this! It is not a very difficult project, and could be good practice for through-hole soldering and coding if you want to do modifications.”

Qubist kicks of the DIY altimeter project by soldering the bubble display, adding the button and JST connector/switch.

Next up?

“Solder the JST connector into the GND and RAW pins on the Arduino. Then, cut the lead that goes to RAW in half. This is where the switch circuit will be added so we can turn the device on and off. Glue the switch into place. Push it right up against the button so there is enough space to program the Arduino with FTDI later. I used superglue to stick it in place. We won’t be using any of the pins that it is covering up so you can glue it right onto the board,” he continued.

“Next, twist the JST connector so it is facing the rest of the board instead of the switch. This will allow the battery to plug in (there wasn’t enough space before). Only one of the leads of the connector is in the Arduino now, so it should be easy to twist. You may need to do some supergluing to get the metal pins that stick into the plastic part of the JST connector to stay in place. Solder the button into the cut lead of the JST connector as shown in the picture and you are done with the power circuit.”

After connecting the altitude sensor, Qubist prepares and installs the battery, uploads the sketch and makes a 3D case to house the completed device.

Interested in learning more? You can check out the project’s official Instructables page here.

Creating a Dr. Who Handles replica

John F. has created a slick replica of Handles from Doctor Who that was recently featured on the official Adafruit blog.

The build uses an Atmel-based Arduino Uno (ATmega328 MCU), Wave Shield, Proto-Screw shield, triple axis accelerometer and a class D stereo amplifier. All of the components were purchased directly from Adafruit.

In related news, YouTube user Jamison Go is constructing an impressive Mercury Hammer that Debonair Jayce of League of Legends would be proud of! The cosplay hammer even transforms into a Mercury Canon – complete with lighting effects and moving parts.

According to the official Adafruit blog, Go’s iteration of the Mercury Hammer is packed with an RGB LED to change the prop’s colors between yellow and cyan, a servo to power the wings on the sides, solenoid valve to activate the extending rods and an Atmel-based Arduino board.

Interested in learning more? You can check out John F’s Handles replica here and Go’s Mercury Hammer here.

Video: Atmel demos QTouch tech at Computex

Atmel’s comprehensive QTouch Library makes it simple for developers to embed capacitive-touch button, slider, and wheel functionality into a wide range of microcontroller applications.

The royalty-free QTouch Library provides several library files for each device, supporting various numbers of touch channels – enabling both flexibility and efficiency in touch applications.

Simply put, by selecting the library file supporting the exact number of channels needed, developers can achieve a more compact and efficient code using less RAM.

Earlier this week at Computex 2014, Atmel staff engineer Paul Kastnes demonstrated the integration of QTouch solutions with low-power consumption, using ARM Cortex-M0+ microcontrollers and sensor engines.

In addition, Atmel senior manager Dr. John Logan showcased how mobile applications can be customized using customized sensors, exhibited by a modified SAM D20 ARM Cortex-M0 microcontroller and an accelerometer gyroscope.

Interested in learning more? You can check out Atmel’s official QTouch page here and Atmel’s SAM D lineup here.

Nano tech could store power in cables, clothes

Professor Jayan Thomas and Ph.D. student Zenan Yu have developed an innovative method of transmitting and storing electricity in a single lightweight copper wire.

According to UCF Today (University of Central Florida), the technology could ultimately allow individuals to power their MP3 players, smartphones and tablets using the fabric of their jackets. 

Indeed, by being able to store and conduct energy on the same wire, heavy, space-consuming batteries may very well become an outdated remnant of the past.

“It’s an interesting idea. When we did it and started talking about it, everyone we talked to said, ‘Hmm, never thought of that. It’s unique,'” said Thomas. 

”We take it step by step. I love getting to the lab everyday, and seeing what we can come up with next. Sometimes things don’t work out, but even those failures teach us a lot of things.”

As Thomas notes, while copper wire may be the starting point, special fibers could eventually be developed with nanostructures to conduct and store energy.

The current model involves a single copper wire equipped with a sheath of nanowhiskers grown on the outer surface of the copper wire. 

The whiskers were subsequently treated with a special alloy, which created an electrode.

However, two electrodes were required to handle the energy storage, so the researchers created another by wrapping a thin plastic sheet around the whiskers using a metal sheath (after generating additional nanowhiskers). 

The layers were then glued together with a special gel. Because of the insulation, the inner copper wire retains its ability to channel energy, with the layers around the wire independently storing powerful energy.

Simply put, Thomas and his team managed to create an effective supercapacitor on the outside of the copper wire.

Although more research is required, the technique has the potential to be adapted for a wide range of applications. For example, flexible solar cells paired with the above-mentioned fibers could be used to design a jacket capable of powering various electronic devices.

Adafruit builds a GPS logging dog harness

Adafruit’s Becky Stern has put together a in-depth tutorial that details how to build a GPS logging dog harness using the Atmel-powered (ATmega32u4 MCU) FLORA platform. The project can be completed with conductive thread, so there is no need to break out the soldering gun.

Aside from the Atmel-based FLORA main board, key project components include:

• FLORA sewable GPS
• Sewable coincell battery holder with battery
• 3xAAA battery holder and batteries
• Scrap of tablecloth vinyl
• Sewing needle and thread
• Scissors
• Sturdy tape like gaff or packing
• Clear nail polish
• Ruffwear Single Track dog backpack

Stern kicks off the GPS logging dog harness by presenting a circuit diagram that displays the following connections:

• FLORA 3.3V -> GPS 3.3V
• FLORA RX -> GPS TX
• FLORA TX -> GPS RX
• FLORA GND -> GPS GND
• GPS BAT -> positive coincell battery terminal
• GPS GND -> negative coincell battery terminal

Next up? Sew the various components, load the logging program in the Arduino IDE or Codebender and upload, paste logs into LOCUS Parser, copy the KML output into a text file and import with Google maps.

It should be noted that Stern has also created a brooch version of the above-mentioned circuit, adapting the design for fashionable humans who want to track and review their trips around town.

Interested in learning more? You can check Becky Stern’s full tutorial on Adafruit’s Learning System here.