High altitude glider aims for the stratosphere

The Centurion House4Hack crew is building a High Altitude Glider and accompanying launch balloon which are slated to be catapulted 40km into the stratosphere on June 14th.

According to Adam Oxford of HTXT.Africa, the X-UAV Mini Talon V-tail will carry an on-board camera, an Atmel-based Arduino board to control the autopilot and an array of weather sensors.

“It’ll be floated up on helium balloons, and will deploy a parachute to control its descent via remote control,” Oxford explained.

“[Centurion House4Hack] partnered with local weather balloon specialists HABEX to put together the equipment needed. As far as we know, however, no-one in South Africa has managed to successfully land a glider launched from that kind of altitude before.”

Project participant Gert van den Berg told HTXT that the team already owned much of the required equipment, with the rest sponsored by local hobby shop High Flyer.

“We’re hoping to get [and stream] some spectacular video,” said van den Berg.

“From at least 20km up. Ideally, we want a controlled landing at a known location too.”

It should be noted that the Centurion House4Hack crew has already begun testing various components at temperatures of -75 Celsius, using dry ice from a local ice cream supplier.

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

Cosino prototyping platform has Atmel’s SAM9 under the hood

Powered by Atmel’s ARM-based AT91SAM9G35, the Cosino Project is an embedded prototyping system that combines the functionality of a mini-computer with those of a professional automation system.

According to company rep Rodolfo Giometti, Cosino includes a comprehensive lineup of CPU boards, carrier boards and multiple peripherals that support industrial applications, as well as DIY projects by Makers.

Aside from Atmel’s AT91SAM9G35, key platform specs include 128MB RAM and 256MB NAND.

In terms of extension boards, Cosino has developed the Mega 2560, which Giometti describes as a fully Arduino Mega 2560 compatible board (based on Atmel’s ATmega2560 MCU) connected to a GNU/Linux system running Debian/ARM Wheezy.

“The Cosino CPU module – inserted into a Mega 2560 extension – [becomes the] Cosino Mega 2560 KIT [which] can be used to extend Arduino Mega 2560 based projects – without modifying the code and by using all Arduino’s shields as is,” Giometti explained.

More specifically, the Cosino Mega 2560 offers devs and Makers:

• 1x Ethernet 10/100
• 1x USB Host 2.0
• 1x USB Host 1.1
• 1x USB Host/Device 2.0
• 1x microSD
• 1x RS232
• 1x RS485
• 1x realtime clock
• 1x I2C
• 2x SPI
• 1x Wifi (optional)
1x LCD (optional)

Giometti also noted that a number of additional extension boards and peripherals are either currently available or will be in the near future, including an RFID reader, smartcard reader and several MODBUS clients.

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

ATmega64 dev board surfaces on Electronics Lab

Radek Malina has introduced an ATmega64 development board on the Electronics Lab website.

Interestingly, the hardware was developed in the Czech Republic at a time when Arduino boards wasn’t locally available.

“It can be used to easily develop custom AVR firmware or as an introduction board to microproccessors and programming,” Malina explained.

“A development board is better to be used instead of a breadboard setup as it facilitates the connection of the different components using PCB headers.”

Key specs and features of the dev board include:

• Atmel ATmega64 MCU – all ports available via pins, a different crystal can be connected (optional frequency crystal)
• DS3231 RTC, real-time IC / I2C
• Temp. DS1820 1wire Temp. sensor
• EEPROM 24AA00SN / I2C EEPROM
• USB Port FT232RL USB/RS232 converter
• 
Buttons 8x -16x LED
• Connect LCD Display 16×2 
7segment-LED Display
• N-FET For PWM
• ISP Programming connector

“All module pins are labeled for easy connection with the processor and there are separate connectors and jumpers for all MCU ports so you can easily connect, test and debug your firmware. Also there is an ISP programming connector J2,” 

 Malina added.

“[Plus], the PCB can be powered via the USB connector, or with a voltage regulator through an external adapter.”

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

Monitoring Bitcoins with Atmel’s ATmega328P-PU

A Maker by the name of MiCavaleri has created an inexpensive DIY prototype Bitcoin price ticker powered by Atmel’s ATmega328P-PU microcontroller (MCU).

The tracker – which updates every minute – displays the price of Bitcoins in three different currencies: USD, EUR and GBP.

Aside from Atmel’s ATmega328P-PU (or Arduino Uno), key project components include:

• 

5x 10k Ohm resistors
• 220 Ohm resistor
• 7805 Voltage Regulator 5V
• 2x 10uF capacitors
• 2x 22pF capacitors
• 16 MHz crystal
• LCD display 16×2
• 9V battery connector
• 4 switches (buttons) (I used tact switches)
• Wire (and quite a lot of it)
• Plastic box
• Prototyping board 120x80mm (I used 1½ in total)
• Adafruit CC3000 breakout board

“I suggest you build everything on a breadboard first using your Arduino. Then you will be able to test if the code works, and that you are able to connect to your WIFI,” MiCavaleri explained in a recent Instructables post.

“These images will show you how to set it up using the CC3000 shield, but it will work with the breakout as well.”

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

Atmel powers Black & Decker Gyro Screwdriver

A recent teardown by the Hacked Gadgets crew confirms that Black & Decker’s Gryo Screwdriver is powered by Atmel’s ATxmega16D4 microcontroller (MCU).

“Opening the unit was very simple since there are just 5 phillips screws holding the unit together,” writes Alan Parekh of Hacked Gadgets.

“The battery and circuit board are press fit into one half of the housing and all connection on the PCB have are connectorized which is quite nice. Looks like they wanted to keep it as modular as possible so they could service it easily. The microcontroller is Atmel’s ATxmega16D4, it has 16K of flash and 34 IO pins.”

According to Parekh, the dual axis Invernsense ISZ-650 gyroscope is tasked with position sensing. Meanwhile, four devices at the bottom of the rear of the board by the battery jack turned out to be 4899NF Power Mosfets, which are likely configured as an H-Bridge to run the motor.

“I think this device would make for a great remote operated motor for some DIY projects like a wire winder,” Parekh added. “You could mount the motor to the winding drum and mount the drill to anything. I am thinking one of those old ship speed controls.”

Interested in learning more? You can check out a fullreview of the Black and Decker Gryo Screwdriver here and additional teardown information here.

Simple soldering – Arduino PID control

A proportional-integral-derivative controller (PID controller) is a control loop feedback mechanism (controller) widely used in industrial control systems. 

According to Wikipedia, a PID controller calculates an error value as the difference between a measured process variable and a desired setpoint.

Essentially, the controller attempts to minimize the error by adjusting the process through use of a manipulated variable.

Recently, a DangerousPrototypes forum member by the name of carlazar designed a simple soldering iron driver (SSID) with Arduino Uno (Atmel ATmega328 MCU) PID control.

Key features include:

• Minimal number of components.
• Additional control mode – on-off controller (+ PID PWM).
• External power supply.
• Fits into a 90mm x 110mm x 45mm (WxDxH) box.
• Easy assembly.

“The HQ soldering iron HQ20/HQ30 (24V, 48W) was used [for this project],” carlazar wrote in a recent DangerousPrototypes post.

“It has the E-type thermocouple built in (68uV/degC) but you can change that value in software according to the soldering iron that is used (for example K-type is 41uV/degC).”

In terms of actual use, the SSID features:

• UP and DOWN buttons, changes set-point temperature by 5 degC.
• Button SET cycle through set-point temperature presets: 0 – 150 – 280 320 -350 degC.
• Buttons UP and DOWN simultaneously, change the operating controller mode (PID control/on/off control).

Interested in learning more? You can check out carlazar’s original Dangerous Prototype page here.

DIY quadcopter adoption takes off with Arduino

Analysts at IDTechEx recently reported that the starting point for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) is rarely military or law enforcement. Rather, it lies at the other extreme – with DIY hobbyists and Makers.

HobbyKing LCD flight board, powered by Atmel’s ATmega644PA MCU

“As the sophisticated sensor systems in mobile phones migrate to hobbyists’ microcontroller boards, such as [Atmel-based] Arduino boards used in their homemade quadcopters, their uses rapidly widen,” an IDTechEx explained.

Self-learning ‘copter, powered by Atmel’s ATmega644 MCU
 (Cornell University)
.

“Professional quadcopters will also profit from the fact that over one million Arduino boards have been sold in a very short time to quadcopter hobbyists and the designers of wearable technology and Internet of Things (IoT) nodes.”

According to the analyst, equivalent boards sold directly out of China are also getting useful volume headed towards billions each year for IoT, driving down quadcopter costs.

“The last six months has seen many new applications for pure-electric quadcopters. [For example], Amazon proposed delivery of mail by quadcopter, others will use them for aircraft inspection, even indoors and yet others have new agricultural uses,” the analyst continued.

Peter Christian, a geographical information science graduate student, stands with the hexacopter being used to survey California landscapes. The hexacopter is a cheaper and safer way to get photos of California. Photo by Gavin McIntyre / Xpress

“[Meanwhile], easyJet, one of UK’s largest airlines, works with the Bristol Robotics Laboratory to make variants that inspect its 220 airliners. These quadcopters will be programmed to scan and assess easyJet’s planes, reporting back to engineers on any damage which may require further inspection or maintenance work.”

Hex ‘copter, powered by Atmel’s ATMega32u4 MCU.

Last, but certainly not least, the analyst noted that professional quadcopters cost many times the price of toy versions – so they may one day become the bigger market and certainly the most profitable and many will form part of the Internet of Things.

“Advanced military capabilities such as intelligent swarming of small electric craft will also migrate to the civilian sector,” the rep added.

ATmega8 MCU goes guitar pickup winding

Davide Gironi has created a DIY guitar pickup winding machine powered by Atmel’s ATmega8 microcontroller (MCU), a 12V (1200rpm) DC motor and a L298N chip board.

Key features include a wind counter, slow startup, automatic stop, configurable motor speed and configurable winds. 

The unit’s winder is also equipped with an LCD display that shows current motor direction, rotating speed of the pickup and the total, current wind counter.

According to Gironi, users can configure:

• Motor direction – clockwise, or anti-clockwise
• Direction of the wind counter to increase – clockwise, or anti-clockwise
• Motor max speed – from 1(min) to 100 (max)
• Motor startup acceleration – from 1(min) to 100 (max)
• Numbers of wind – from 1(min) to 99999 (max)
• Auto stop mode – manual mode, or stop when all winds are done

“There are three buttons, SELECT, button UP and DOWN. To enter the programming mode, just long press SELECT button. Press SELECT once to change the programming parameter, button UP and DOWN to edit the selected value, then long press SELECT again to save new values,” Gironi explained in a recent blog post.

“If you are in building mode, to make the wind start press the RUN pedal, it will start with a slow startup, to stop the winder release the RUN pedal. The winding machine will automatically stops when the wind counter reach the configured number – and it can goes less than zero. If you disable the autostop mode, the machine will always count wind, independently by the direction chosen.”

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

Capacitive sensing with ancient keyboards

The Model M keyboard is a designation for a group of computer keyboards manufactured by IBM, Lexmark, Unicomp and MaxiSwitch, starting in 1984.

According to Wikipedia, the many variations of the keyboard have their own distinct characteristics, with the vast majority boasting a buckling spring key design and many having fully swappable keycaps.

As the venerable M keyboards are understandably ancient, there really is no easy method of connecting the device to a modern system. This unfortunate fact prompted a modder by the name of xwhatsit to ultimately build his own controller.

According to Hackaday’s Brian Benchoff, the beam spring keyboards use capacitive switches.

“With 122 keys, the usual method of reading capacitance – putting a capacitor in an oscillator – would be far too slow to be of any use in a keyboard. There is another method of reading capacitance: measuring the current going through the capacitive switch. This can easily be accomplished with an LM339 comparator,” he explained.

“xwhatsit‘s keyboard controller uses this capacitive sensing circuit to read the four rows of keys, with a few shift registers taking care of the columns. Atmel’s ATMega32u2 MCU is the brains of the outfit, running LUFA to translate the key presses to USB.”

Interested in learning more? Well, you’re in luck, because xwhatsit is selling Atmel based controllers for the Model M as well as the Model F using the same basic circuit.

Video: Tangible Orchestra plays for the masses

Tangible Orchestra – which was recently featured on the official Arduino blog – combines electronic and classical music in a three-dimensional space.

 Designed by Rebecca Gischel and Sebastian Walter, the installation is equipped with 112 ultrasonic sensors controlled by a single Atmel-based Arduino Mega (ATmega1280 MCU).

“Human interaction within Tangible Orchestra is made possible by 16 ultrasonic sensors on the inside of each cylinder, granting a 360 degree field of view. The sensors are run by one integrated microprocessor per cylinder, evaluating and comparing the readings of all sensors making very accurate assessments,” Gischel and Walker explained.

“To avoid interference between ultra sonic waves of different cylinders, the microprocessors run consecutively rather than simultaneously. All microprocessors are controlled, assessed and coordinated by one Arduino Mega.”

On the software side, Processing is used to communicate with Arduino and the microprocessors in each cylinder.

“It is programmed to coordinate the microprocessors, so that their sensors cast their rays consecutively as with 112 ultrasonic sensors operating at the same time, there would be a substantial risk of interference and acoustic shadow misreading. It also assesses the data coming from Arduino and, after verification, generates the output,” the duo continued.

“If a person detected within the bubble of a cylinder, Processing receives the digital information as an input from Arduino and stops muting the respective instrument which then joins into the melody. Processing also reads the values of each instrumental track to calculate the digital signals for the LEDs and controls the LED stripes inside of the cylinder.”

According to Gischel and Walter, each instrument is played by a separate speaker located in the base of each cylinder – with multiple sound outputs enabled via several external sound cards paired with the minim library by Damien Di Fede.

“When an instrument plays, the beats of the audible track are analyzed and consequently values are calculated to create an equalizer-like light beam,” the two concluded.

”The outcome is transferred via Arduino to a transformer, which converts the 5V Arduino signal into an 230V output operating 192 LEDs per cylinder. Another transformer converts 5V Arduino signals into 12V output powering LED stripes inside of each cylinder as soon as they are activated.”

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