Airboxlab is an open source indoor air quality monitor

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This device is certainly a breath of fresh air!

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Watery eyes. Itchy nose. Soar throat. Headaches. Do you always seem to feel a bit ill yet are not sure why? The answer may be found in the air around you. While we’re all aware of the pollutants that we breathe in on a regular basis outdoors, do you ever wonder what exactly you’re inhaling inside right your home? This is where Airboxlab comes in.

Airboxlab is a smart, cylindrical device that monitors indoor air quality and reports on how much volatile organic compounds (VOC), CO2, CO and particulate matter surrounds you on a regular basis. These embedded sensors continually measure the various sources and levels of your indoor pollution around the clock, while the results are safely collated and stored in the cloud for analysis. On top of that, it is completely modular. With support for I2C and analog already built-in, adding more sensors to your unit is super simple.

In addition to its sensors, the airflow gadget is equipped with an ATmega32U4 at its core, a Wi-Fi module for wireless communication, RGB LEDs for displaying air quality, and a microUSB port for power. Each Airboxlab is designed specifically for use in living spaces, where it will send data to the cloud every five minutes and relay results along with helpful advice to your smartphone.

“The firmware was written with Atmel Studio, a powerful and free software tool, slightly more complicated than Arduino but which allowed [us] to write way faster code. We also provide the tool to configure the device from a computer and to flash its firmware,” its creators reveal.

If the name sounds familiar, that’s because you may stumbled upon their successful Indiegogo campaign back in 2013. The team had garnered over €13,000, and has continued to work on enhancing its features. For instance, you can now receive instant measurements by double-clicking on the top of the household accessory.

While the concept of indoor air quality is nothing new, what’s intriguing about Airboxlab is that it is entirely open source and is tailored towards the burgeoning Maker community. Not only is it based on easy-to-use AVR chips, the team has crafted its enclosure in such a way that it can be recreated in any Makerspace or fablab with a laser cutter, a drill and a few other tools. They have shared all of their files, including their CAD, on GitHub.

Interested in learning more about the air you breathe in 90% of the day? Then head over to Airboxlab’s official page here.

Irrighino is a fully-customizable, Arduino-based watering system

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Irrigation + Arduino = Irrighino!

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As the Internet of Things continues to blossom, there will surely be more and more ways for you to water your lawn and gardens. Whereas some commercial units can set you back thousands of dollars, Makers like Luca Dentella are finding much more affordable and just as effective solutions with the help of low-cost hardware.

Meet Irrighino, a complete watering system based on the mighty Arduino Yún (ATmega32U4) along with some other off-the-shelf components. The main features of the DIY irrigation platform include a configurable number of solenoid valves, an AJAX web interface, a weekly schedule, and manual activation/deactivation.

In terms of hardware, the Yún is connected to the switch panel (with three physical switches and status LEDs), a rain sensor and a relay shield to control the solenoid valves. The Arduino also links to your home’s Wi-Fi network, allowing you to open its web-based interface on a mobile device or PC.

The drag-and-drop, Excel-like interface is divided into three tabs: ‘runtime’ to manage the system, ’setup’ to configure the scheduling, and ‘events’ to view system logs. While scheduling the Irrighino is just as easy as putting appointments into your Outlook calendar, it is possible to manually command the water solenoids as well.

“I put the Yún in a plastic enclosure for DIN rails (6 units). When closed, I noticed that the Wi-Fi signal strength was very poor… I therefore decided to add an USB Wi-Fi adapter with an external antenna,” Dentella explains. “I mounted the antenna outside the enclosure and connected it to the adapter with an RP SMA male to female cable.”

A relay module is mounted to a dedicated box, while Irrighino’s power is supplied by a pair of transformers — a  5V for the electronic circuitry and a 24V for the solenoid valves. The two transformers along with the main switch are located in different DIN rail enclosures.

As for outside in the lawn, the watering system itself is divided into zones, each one paired to a solenoid valve. What’s more, a commercial rain sensor acts as a switch surrounded by a spongy material. When this material absorbs the rain, it begins to expand and triggers the switch. The Arduino sees the sensor as a simple digital input.

The software behind Irrighino is broken down into three elements: the web interface (based jQuery, jQuery DataTables and jQuery WeekCalendar), the backend subsystem (based on PHP and SQLite) and the sketch running on the ATmega32U4. Dentella has made all of the code available on GitHub, and provides a detailed explanation of how to install, configure and customize the

Intrigued? Check out the Maker’s entire project here.

This device lets you select music by its tempo

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Radio Activity is an Internet-enabled device that connects to Spotify and lets you choose music by tempo.

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Royal College of Art graduate Gemma Roper has developed a metronome-inspired device that enables users to select music based on the tempo and rhythm at which they’d like to listen.

Radio Activity works by connecting to Spotify and selecting songs based on their beats per minute by sliding a circular metallic dial up and down a vertical pole. From there, it automatically chooses tracks from the user’s music library that best match the set tempo and plays them aloud through its attached speakers.

“The device explores physical and tactile interfacing for online music without a screen through the use of an overtly reduced aesthetic that becomes the central focus for interaction,” Roper explains.

In order to make this possible, the designer had programmed the gadget to recognize Spotify genres and only emit the songs within the categories that match the setting. The metal dial, which can also be rotated to adjust the volume, makes its way up and down the pole at various increments representing different BMPs. It starts at 60-85 BPM, the tempo of slower classical music, and heads upward to 85-110 BPM for hip-hop, 110-135 BPM for techno, 135-160 BPM for dubstep, and so forth.

A marble base houses most of its electronics, which include an Arduino Micro (ATmega32U4), and supports the steel shaft onto which the dial is mounted.

“The internal component composition is incredibly complicated, as the electrical current needed to be carried throughout the length of the rail on small brass tracks that are connected to tiny switches inside the dial all the way to an Arduino Micro in the marble base,” Roper tells Dezeen.

Looking ahead, Roper is hoping to work with developers to apply the idea to other music platforms like Soundcloud. Until then, you can watch the impressive project in action below, or check out its official page here.

[h/t Dezeen]

Bluefruit LE Micro is a BLE board for Makers

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Bluetooth Low Energy + ATmega32U4 = Bluefruit LE Micro 

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Makers who are looking to create a Bluetooth-enabled project will be excited to learn of Adafruit’s latest product. The newly-unveiled Bluefruit LE Micro rolls the versatility of the ATmega32U4 MCU and the wireless connectivity of the SPI Bluefruit LE Friend all into one board.

What’s nice is that the Bluefruit LE Micro makes is easier than ever to add BLE capabilities to any number of DIY projects. Makers can program the ATmega32U4 over USB using its built-in USB bootloader, either directly with AVRDUDE or the Arduino IDE. The board runs at a 8MHz clock speed, boasts a logic level of 3.3V for compatibility with a wide range of sensors, and features more than 20 GPIO pins, including I2C, SPI, a UART and six analog inputs. On top of that, the chip packs 28KB of Flash, 2KB of RAM, and of course, native USB for programming and communication.

As Adafruit points out, Makers can add a rechargeable LiPo battery with the help of a LiPoly backpack as well. Simply solder it on top of the Bluefruit LE Micro and it’ll juice up the battery via the microUSB connector. When the USB is unplugged, it will run off the battery.

“The Bluefruit LE module is an nRF51822 chipset from Nordic, programmed with multi-function code that can do quite a lot! For most people, they’ll be very happy to use the standard Nordic UART RX/TX connection profile. In this profile, the Bluefruit acts as a data pipe, that can ‘transparently’ transmit back and forth from your iOS or Android device.”

“Thanks to an easy-to-learn AT command set, Makers will have total control over how the device behaves, including the ability to define and manipulate your own GATT Services and Characteristics, or change the way that the device advertises itself for other Bluetooth Low Energy devices to see. You can also use the AT commands to query the die temperature, check the battery voltage, and more, check the connection RSSI or MAC address, and tons more.”

Additionally, the Bluefruit app enables Makers to quickly prototype their projects by using their iOS or Android device as a controller. Adafruit has a color picker, a quaternion/accelerometer/gyro/magnetometer, an eight-button gamepad and a GPS locator. This data can be read over BLE and relayed to the on-board ATmega32U4 for processing.

Interested in this un-BLE-ievable board? Head over to Adafruit’s official page to order yours.

Maker creates a FLORA-powered, light-up necklace dress

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In her exploration of e-textiles, one N.C. State student has crafted an illuminating necklace dress powered by FLORA.

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Victoria Rind, a Maker studying textile engineering at North Carolina State University, recently devised an interactive dress with one goal in mind: to stand out. How’d she do it, you ask? Using an Adafruit FLORA and NeoPixels to light up its attached necklace.

“People want to be able to customize their style and clothing,” Rind explains. “What’s more customizable than a programmable dress?”

The idea for the dress was first conceived after witnessing other garments with built-in necklaces. Channelling her inner DIY spirit, Rind went out and bought a basic shift dress pattern and beads to create the dress, along with an FLORA (ATmega32U4) wearable MCU, four RGB NeoPixels and some conductive thread.

Once satisfied with the NeoPixels output, the Maker sewed the circuit to the dress beginning with conductive thread, and finishing it off with normal fiber to prevent a short happening in between the wiring.

“Without the extra layer of thread, the lines of conductive thread would constantly touch, and the light pattern would be glitchy and inconsistent,” Rind adds.

So what’s next for the engineering student? In five years, she aspires to bring functionality to textiles.

“I would consider my work a success if I could create clothing that adapted to changes in the environment,” she concludes.

[h/t Adafruit via N.C. State]

Modulo is now based on the Atmel | SMART SAM D21

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Modulo is a simple, modular solution for Makers looking to build electronics.

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Back in May, former Pixar developer Erin Tomson unveiled a new set of plug-and-play boards designed to take the headache and hassle out of building electronics. Not long after its Kickstarter launch, Modulo flew by its $10,000 pledge goal having garnered over $50,000 from 315-plus backers. Since then, the Richmond, California-based startup has experienced tremendous popularity at Maker Faires and has even demonstrated its simplicity with some DIY projects of their own, ranging from a tea-brewing robot to a smart sous vide machine.

Essentially, Modulo is a series pre-made circuit boards that provides Makers with all of the necessary tools to bring their gizmos and gadgets to life, without the messiness of wiring and soldering. Each module is equipped with its own little processor (ATtiny841) that is tasked with handling its operation and communicating with a controller board. While the Modulo Controller had been built around the mighty ATmega32U4 for its crowdfunding debut, Tomson has since upgraded its design to include the much faster and powerful Atmel | SMART SAM D21 — the same Cortex-M0+ MCU at the heart of the Arduino Zero. What this means is that the Controller will work nicely with Arduino and will be well received by the flourishing DIY community.

“This new chip is four times faster, has eight times the Flash storage, and has 12 times the RAM of the ATmega32u4 used in earlier prototypes,” Tomson explains.

Using a connector on its back, Makers can slide their boards right into the so-called Modulo Base which securely holds them in place. Following a successful Kickstarter run, Tomson had decided to switch the connectors, both for attaching each Modulo to the base and for cables that link the bases together. These improved connectors are easier to assemble and more compact. Furthermore, those wishing to employ a Spark Core, Photo or Electron instead of the Controller can do so by selecting a Spark Base.

The Arduino-compatible Controller boasts six I/O ports that can be used as digital or analog inputs and digital outputs. Four of the six ports can even be used to control servos or output a PWM signal. Additionally, each port has its own power and ground pins to help keep things nice and neat, while circuitry on the board will protect it from any potential wiring mishaps.

Similar to other DIY dev kits like littleBits, Modulo features a number of different modules with varying capabilities. These include a color OLED display, a push-button illuminated knob, a motor driver, a thumb joystick, a temperature probe, I/O and extension cables, as well as an IR transceiver and a Blank slate that lets Makers devise circuits from scratch. Any four modules can be connected to the Base, or can be daisy chained together for larger projects.

The ARM Cortex-M0+ driven Controller can also act as a bridge, enabling users to manage their modules from Python running Raspberry Pi or a Mac, Windows or Linux computer. Beyond that, they can choose to use the Arduino IDE to reprogram the Controller or connect to the Internet via Spark. Communication between devices is accomplished through the standard I2C bus.

The Modulo Protocol allows for the Controller to dynamically discover connected devices, assign addresses, retrieve device capabilities and detect bus errors. It is an extension of I2C and can be utilized on a mixed ­protocol bus along with SMBus and traditional I2C devices.

“Modulo wouldn’t have been possible without the contributions of the open source community, so we’re giving back by open sourcing our protocols, hardware designs, firmware and libraries,” Tomson adds.

Those wishing to learn more, explore technical specs or pre-order a Modulo set can head over to its official website here.

Young Maker creates a portable, 3D-printed game console

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One 14-year-old Maker has built a portable, multi-purpose gaming console based on Raspberry Pi.

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Evident by the recent success of Arduboy, not to mention a number of other projects, do-it-yourself gaming has surely risen in popularity over the years. Take for instance, 14-year-old Maker Rasmus Hauschild, who has developed a portable, multi-purpose Raspberry Pi console.

The Maker created a vast majority of the homebrew system’s components, along with its four action buttons, in Autodesk 123D Design, and then 3D printed them out on an Ultimaker 2. In total, the print job required just shy of 210 hours and called for roughly 1,000 feet of filament.

The console itself is comprised of a 3.5” TFT screen with a resolution of 480 x 320, a 6000mAh rechargeable Li-ion battery, two MP3 speakers taken out of a broken Nintendo DS Lite, an analog volume slider from a pair of old headphones, as well as a built-in controller with tactile switches and an analog thumb stick.

Users can expect anywhere from four to five hours of play time on a single charge, which is plenty for even the longest of car rides. When depleted, an Adafruit PowerBoost 1000C juices the battery up in about five to six hours. Additionally, since he used a cheap composite backup camera screen, the Maker does note that the console calls for 12V to operate out of the box, or can be configured to work with 5V.

In terms of hardware, the system is based on a Raspberry Pi running Retropie OS. This allows it to emulate games dating back to 1977 through 2003. It has both Raspbian and Kodi installed, too.

For Rasmus, the controller proved to be the most challenging part of the project, namely the thumb stick. This led him to use a Teensy 2.0 (ATmega32U4) to convert the controls from the gamepad into digital format since the Raspberry Pi seemed to have a difficult time understanding analog right away.

“If I had been a master programmer I could probably have gotten away with buying an ADC (analog to digital converter) and then writing a driver for it myself. But that did not work for me. So I did some research on the Internet, and found that the Arduino could convert analog signals to digital, but since the Arduino was way too big to ever fit in my design I decided to go with an Arduino ‘clone’ called the Teensy, because of the much smaller footprint,” Rasmus writes.

Aside from serving as a Game Boy alternative, the console can also be used as a media device, since Kodi and Raspbian are already loaded. Admittedly, Rasmus says that the screen is a bit too small for browsing the web, but when it comes to watching movies, it works just fine. Alternatively, it can be connected to a TV via HDMI.

Want to make one of your own? Check out his project on Thingiverse here.

Retrofitting an NES console with a Nexus Player

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This project doesn’t just boast the features of a media player, it still works as an NES system as well. 

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Chances are that, if you have an old Nintendo system lying around, at one time or another you’ve thought about tearing it apart and rebuilding it with a Raspberry Pi. While Maker Adam Haile could never find the time to get around to doing that, he did recently manage to cram a Nexus Player inside his NES console. Even better, the weekend project doesn’t just work as a modern-day media player, it still functions as a gaming system should he want to relive the days of Mario Bros., Donkey Kong and Blades of Steel.  

The low-cost Nexus Player runs Android and packs much more power than the original Chromecast. With this in mind, Haile  knew that this would surpass the capabilities of the Raspberry Pi and even enable him to run NES emulators.

“My main desires for this build was that the NES look completely stock and unchanged from the front and that original, unmodified, NES gamepads worked via the original gamepad ports. Fortunately, this turned out not to be too bad,” the Maker notes.

Unlike today’s gaming consoles, the NES turned out to be pretty simple to pull apart, requiring nothing more than removing a few screws and the motherboard. To do this, he also had to disconnect the power connector and two gamepad connectors.

The Maker used a custom PCB, an Arduino Pro Micro (ATmega32U4) and an NES gamepad library to interface the original controllers to the Nexus Player. 3D-printed brackets were employed to ensure that everything fit nicely inside the NES case, too.

“The reason I use an Arduino Pro Micro is that it is based on the awesome ATmega32U4 (just like the AllPixel) which includes on-chip USB functionality. This makes it really easy to make the board show up as a USB keyboard and send keystrokes to a computer. 100 lines of code was all it took to convert the gamepad button presses (for both gamepads simultaneously) into keystrokes that could be used on anything that supports USB keyboards,” he explains.

Intrigued? Head over to the project’s official page, where you’ll find a step-by-step breakdown of the build along with all of the necessary files and software.

Creating a Siri clone with an Arduino Yún

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An Arduino Yún can act just like Siri, allowing users to ask it a question and get an audio response.

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Over the years, voice control applications have risen in popularity with programs like Siri, Alexa, Cortana, and “OK Google” revolutionizing the way in which people interact with their mobile devices. With this in mind, Maker Bob Hammell decided to recreate the capabilities of Apple’s intelligent personal assistant using an Arduino.

An Arduino Yún (ATmega32U4) was chosen to mimic Siri, enabling users to ask it a question and to receive an audio response moments later. A Proto Shield with a pushbutton sits on top of the Internet-connected Arduino, while an audio interface plugged into the Yún’s USB socket is attached to a microphone and a battery-powered speaker.

Whenever the circuit’s pushbutton is pressed, the Arduino sketch running on the ATmega32U4 launches a Python script on the Atheros AR9331, which emits a tone promoting a user’s question. The inquiry is recorded through the microphone and saved as a WAV file. From there, the file is translated to text using AT&T’s Speech to Text API. This then gets passed into the WolframAlpha computational knowledge engine using the Temboo library, and upon receiving a response, calls another Linux command to share the answer through the speaker.

Interested? You can find out more about the project, including its source code and sketches, on the Maker’s detailed page here. Or, simply watch it in action below.

Create your own cardboard armor with programmable lights

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Crafteeo combines art with the magic of technology to create a fun learning experience for children. 

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One look around any Maker Faire would reveal that DIYers love cosplay. With this in mind, one San Diego startup has developed an innovative way to inspire future generations to build things with their hands while exploring the technological world around them. How, you ask? By transforming themselves into heroes with their own armor and then programming its LED lighting.

“Kids love playing with cardboard boxes. This is well know fact that seem to be universal across different cultures and generations. If there’s any cardboard in the house, kids will inevitably grab it and start crafting something,” entreprenuer and Maker dad How-Lun Chen explains.

The idea behind Crafteeo was first conceived after Chen and his wife decided to do all of their holiday shopping online back in 2011, which of course, left them with mountain of boxes on Christmas morning. Upon opening his gifts, rather than play with his shiny new toys and RC cars, they watched their son exercise his imagination using nothing more than the pieces of cardboard spread across the floor. Then it hit him: What if there was a way to recycle these materials into something cool, like a helmet, shield and sword, all while teaching children to learn electronics?

And so, Crafteeo was launched. Currently live on Kickstarter, each kit comes with some pre-cut cardboard, D-rings, faux leather cords, pieces of plastic, water-based paint in metallic colors, and a series of solder-free, Arduino-compatible hardware. The Pulsar Helmet and Armor are built around an ATmega32U4, powered by three AAA batteries and ships with jumper wires, header pins, a proto board and a photoresistor module.

“To increase the versatility of the kit, we selected a powerful Arduino-compatible microcontroller that can be adapted to a variety of projects beyond glowing a LED light. Additionally none of the components are permanently connected together. We envision that down the road we will add additional capabilities to the helmet and armor either as upgrade kits or as free online tutorials. More importantly we want your kids to reuse or repurpose the electronics,” Chen adds.

What’s nice about the project is that it can grow with the Makers themselves. Meaning, as the child gains confidence and hones their programming skills, the Pulsar kit includes different lesson modules for each step of the way. For instance, the earliest stage — geared towards ages eight and up — doesn’t require any programming and provides users with an overview of basic electronics, as well as an introduction to microcontrollers and LEDs. Once completed, a second level walks them through the process of changing pre-set variables to customize LED lights. And finally, a young DIYer will ultimately be able to discover how to program from scratch using the Arduino IDE.

The armor, helmet and shield are comprised of double-layered cardboard which makes them quite durable. The sword, in particular, is stiff and much like those made of soft woods like pine. Digital patterns for both the helmet and shield are emailed in PDF format to those just starting out, along with a set of step-by-step video instructions. And to keep in line with its mystique and to help spark the child’s imagination, Crafteeo has created its own magical storyline around the “World of the Guardians,” the fantasy world’s equivalent of the Coast Guard.

“When kids put this on, their persona completely changes. You see their former self just kind of melt away, and they become this heroic self,” Chen explains.

Interested in a Pulsar helmet and armor for your child? Head over to its Kickstarter page, where Crafteeo is currently seeking $10,000. Delivery of units is expected to get underway in November 2015.