Tag Archives: open source

Solar-OSE is an open source steam generator

Gesto allows you to use any part of your body as a controller

Gesto is an open source kit for gesture recognition, motion patterns and muscle analysis.

When it comes to user interfaces for today’s devices, there are two words that every tech enthusiast loves to hear: Minority Report. The concept of gesture control was made popular back in 2002 during Steven Spielberg’s film, which featured Tom Cruise’s character navigating a gestural interface with sensor-embedded gloves on a giant transparent screen. Fast forward several years and innovations like Thalmic Labs’ Myo armband are making that sci-fi-like technology a reality. With aspirations of bringing that capability to the masses, one Portuguese startup led by Maker Ricardo Santos has developed an open source board kit for gesture recognition built around an ATmega1284P MCU. Unlike other systems which require the use of cameras and calibrations, the aptly named Gesto is able to transform any part of the human body into a controller.

Once attached to the body, the AVR based system works by reading a user’s muscle activity and analyzing bio-signals in real-time. This enables a user to control a wide range of electronic devices through wave and pinch gestures, interact with computer-based applications by drawing letters, numbers and figures in thin air, not to mention turn any surface into a touch interface by simply applying finger pressure. And that’s just the arm.

Gesto is capable of recognizing movement patterns from any part of the body, such as a foot, leg or torso, and relaying these signals instantaneously. This is accomplished through the combination of EMG muscle sensors and three-axis accelerometers. Unlike other solutions on the market, this kit is not influenced by the environment nor does it require having to raise a hand in front of a camera. Instead, Gesto can be implemented in the dark, tight spaces and pretty much anywhere else without any problems. The boards don’t need ground electrodes either, meaning less cables and noise.

The platform employs the same algorithm, no matter the gesture, letting a user carry out actions that were never before possible, whether that’s turning a table surface into a music machine or commanding an entertainment center in a more intuitive manner.

For its crowdfunding debut, Gesto is available in two separate versions: an out-of-the-box ready kit for starters (Caelum) and a fully-configurable dev kit (Stella) for more experienced inventors. Both units are based on an EMG circuit and an ATmega1284P yet boast much different form factors — Caelum measures in at 40mm x 40mm, while Stella a bit smaller at 35mm x 20mm.

Caelum comes with eight reusable electrodes, cables, a 3.7V rechargeable battery, a microUSB cable and an elastomeric band, and connects to an accompanying mobile app via Bluetooth, enabling a user to create their own gestures easily without programming. 3D printable designs for the modular band will also be made available, allowing Makers to utilize Gesto throughout various parts of the body. Meanwhile, Stella is an Arduino-compatible, fully-configurable kit comprised of a tinier board, 16 disposable electrodes and cables for connection.

“From Stella you get the raw muscle data by SPI communication. It’s like an external sensor that you can connect to an Arduino or Raspberry Pi, for example. We provide all you need to start doing gesture recognition and muscle analysis,” the team writes. “Here the possibilities are endless, because you are not limited to Bluetooth connectivity! Use Wi-Fi or IR, combined muscle data with other sensors.”

What’s more, each Gesto unit has four bipolar muscle channels, and provides Makers will all of the necessary tools to do conduct muscle analysis: software filters, machine learning algorithms, feature extraction, data compression and integration, all of which made available in various languages including Matlab, C, Python, Java.

“Gesto provides free software that you usually find on expensive platforms,” its creators add. “We eliminated the ground electrode by creating a virtual ground. This means you can measure muscle activity in any part of the body without extra cables and electrodes.”

Intrigued? Head over to Gesto’s crowdfunding page, where the startup is currently seeking $75,000. Delivery is scheduled for March 2016.

The Autonomo lets you easily connect your IoT devices outdoors

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SODAQ is bringing the Internet of Things outdoors with its new matchbox-sized, solar-powered board.

It’s safe to say that a vast majority of Kickstarter projects focused around the M2M and IoT space are seemingly designed with indoor connectivity in mind. As a result, Makers are often challenged with finding a decent solution to power their smart devices that can be easily and reliability implemented outdoors. Cognizant of this, SODAQ has developed a next-generation, Arduino-comaptible board that is capable of recording data and triggering actions in any environment — whether it’s in a rural area, on the beach or throughout the house.

If the name of the Dutch startup sounds familiar, that’s because the team had launched an incredibly successful crowdfunding campaign back in 2013 for their LEGO-like, plug and play prototyping board. With an ATmega328P as its brain, the multi-feature microprocessor enabled both Makers and engineers to easily connect a wide variety of sensors and devices to the Internet.

Back again with a new matchbox-sized board, Autonomo is built around an Atmel | SMART SAM D21 MCU and is equipped with a Bee Socket that can host up to 10 different communication modules, including Wi-Fi, GPRS, 3G, LoRa, SIGFOX and Bluetooth to name a few. Given its Cortex M0+ 32-bit core, the unit can do just about as much as a Raspberry Pi while consuming 100 times less energy. Impressively, the board can be powered by a solar panel no larger than a smartphone, thereby allowing it to become self-sufficient and autonomous, hence its name.

“The new M0+ processor packs computing power which is comparable to the first Mac. It will make you wonder why you ever used anything else. We also have created a Grove shield for you to use with all of your favorite Grove modules (sensors and actuators),” the team writes.

With all of the data services available online today, the Autonomo comes with a simple set of visual programming tools that will help Makers easily upload their codes to any gadget. What’s more is that the focus lies on outdoor applications that run efficiently and on extremely low power. Meaning, if a user wants to devise their own application, such as a solar radiation alert, SODAQ has made a plethora of open source example code readily accessible. Next to that there is a complete library to let FIWARE developers upload data to the Orion context broker.

Looking forward to tinkering around and bringing your hacks to the most remote corners of the planet? Neither can the crew at SODAQ. In order to bring their technology to the masses, its creators have launched Autonomo on Kickstarter with aspirations of garnering $11,380. Delivery is slated for October 2015.

SeraMaker is an open-source, Arduino-powered 3D printer

Eedu is an easy-to-use drone kit for young Makers

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Assemble. Code. Fly. It’s as simple as that.

According to Mary Meeker’s 2015 “State of the Internet” presentation, drone shipments are estimated to hit 4.3 million units this year, with consumer drone usage expected to jump 167%. Combine those figures with the hundreds of thousands of Makers looking to begin tinkering with their next DIY project, and well, you have yourself quite the market. Much like a number of educational robotic kits that have been introduced to provide children with basic electronics and programming principles over the years, one Las Vegas startup is looking to take that education from the ground and into the skies.

Inspired by the hands-on learning that goes on inside classrooms, Skyworks Aerial Systems has launched Eedu — an easy-to-use drone set that allows young Makers, educators and hobbyists starting out to devise new applications, other than just flying cameras. In order to make this a reality, the team has developed an intuitive platform that gives Makers the canvas they need to design their own UAV. The airborne apparatuses can be quickly pieced together using nothing more than its included parts, and are completely compatible with Arduino shields and other open hardware (littleBits and Seeed Studio).

Once assembled, the drone can be paired with its special robotic development environment (RDE) called Forge. This cloud-based, community-driven software lets users code their vision into a reality, while offering ground control, community interaction and various programming capabilities. What’s nice is that, being open source, Makers can build from existing codes. As soon as an app is completed and compiled onto their Eedu, the DIY copter is ready for the skies.

The drone itself is based on an Intel Edison, which enables programs to be easily created on a full Linux OS and boast enough processing power to develop more advanced apps, and employs an ARM Cortex-M4 running on RTOS for sensor processing, main flight control and to interface with the Edison. Eedu also comes with a set of four brushless motors with standard trapezoidal drive, each powered by megaAVR MCUs. What’s more, the machine features a sensor mounting platform, an Arduino shield port and a quick release battery pack. Crafted with safety in mind, the propellers are extremely lightweight and comprised of soft plastic alongside intelligent speed controllers that automatically disable the rotors whenever something gets in the way.

Beyond that, the team has unveiled a highly-advanced, adaptable flight controller driven by an Atmel | SMART Cortex-M7 MCU. Equipped with all of the electronics required for a drone to take to the sky, LUCI includes four built-in 20Amp brushless speed controllers, an Intel Edison expansion port, a DSMX compatible radio receiver, an optical flow position sensor, GPS and Arduino shield capability. Impressively, she can even be integrated on a number of consumer 250mm sized drones, giving Makers the ability to produce their own LUCI and Forge-powered UAV.

With hopes of granting future Makers and engineers access to the necessary tools for innovation, the team has given its crowdfunding backers the option to purchase a kit for students or entire classrooms.

“More than ever, schools are having a hard time acquiring technology. We passionately believe that students’ accessibility to technology should not be hindered! As such, we are creating a donation fund that will allow us to distribute drones to schools across the nation.”

Intrigued? Fly on over to Eedu’s Kickstarter page, where Skyworks Aerial Systems is currently seeking $100,000. Delivery is expected to begin in December 2015.

HACKberry is an open source, 3D-printed bionic hand

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This 3D-printable bionic limb is controlled by a smartphone, powered by camera batteries and based on an Arduino.

If you sit back and reflect over the past couple of years, it’s truly remarkable how far the world of prosthetics has come thanks to recent advancements in 3D printing and open hardware. These artificial limbs have transcended well beyond the heavy, plastic and metal pieces of yesteryear into lightweight, sci-fi-like accessories that can be easily constructed and controlled in ways never before imagined.

Aside from providing these body-adorned gadgets with futuristic capabilities, what makes the sleek and futuristic prosthetics even more appealing are their price tags — a fraction of the cost of its older and commercial counterparts. With aspirations of accelerating development and increasing accessibility, Japan-based startup exiii has developed an open source bionic hand that is built around an Arduino Micro (ATmega32U4) and myoelectric sensors, uses a smartphone as the brains of its operation and relies upon camera batteries for power. Named HACKberry, most of the device is comprised of 3D-printed components that can be taken apart and swapped out whenever necessary.

“HACKberry is a practical model for daily use created through the cooperation of actual users. Hackberries, which are a species of trees included in the elm family, grow many branches,” exiii writes. “Our goal is to develop an artificial arm that would become the platform upon which developers and artificial arm users from all over the world are able to build as they wish.
The name represents our vision to ‘hack’ at problems, grow branches of joy that reach out to users and enable their ideas and efforts to bear fruit (‘berries’).”

While its newest model may not be ready for sale yet, the limb only took $300 to create. The latest iteration boasts a number improvements compared to its more expensive (and not open source) sibling, the Handoii, which includes a more flexible wrist for various movements, a smaller palm to make it attractive for women to wear, and enhanced compatibility to an assortment of camera batteries. Impressively, what really sets HACKberry apart is that its ductile fingers that can even differentiate between grasping and picking up based on the object, whether that’s turning the page of a magazine, grabbing some nail polish or even tying one’s shoelaces.

Want to learn more? exiii has made all of its files available on GitHub page. This includes printing and source codes for software, as well as all the data for its hand, sensor and battery boards. In the meantime, you can see HACKberry in action below!

Tsunami is making signal generation accessible to everyone

The Tsunami is a powerful and flexible signal generator, analyzer and experimenter’s kit built on the Arduino platform.

With more Makers looking to design and build their own hardware, they are often faced with a difficult choice: either spend hundreds, or even thousands for that matter, on expensive test equipment and development boards or waste time trying to make do with what they can put together on a budget. Fortunately, one London-based startup has come up with solution. The Tsunami is a signal generator and frequency counter based on the highly-popular Arduino platform.

The brainchild of Arachnid Labs, Tsunami combines a versatile signal generator and frequency counter with an ATmega32U4 MCU, thereby making it possible to create sophisticated tools with a few lines of code, or simply load and run a wide variety of pre-written sketches for common tasks. The board’s capabilities also extend well beyond what you’d expect of a typical benchtop tool. Application ideas listed include music synthesis, packet radio modems, and reading and writing classic computer tapes, among countless other educational possibilities.

With Makers in mind, its creators have put quite a bit of effort into empowering the Tsunami to be easy as possible to use, thanks to the extensive Arduino library that covers all of Tsunami’s functions. Generating a sine wave, for instance, is as simple as telling the Tsunami what frequency you want.

“With its wide appeal and easy learning curve, the Arduino IDE was an obvious choice,” explains Arachnid Labs developer Nick Johnson. “And the ATmega MCU provided a familiar environment with the widest possible compatibility with existing code.”

The Tsunami’s most straightforward functions are frequency generation and counting. The Tsunami uses a high accuracy 2.5PPM crystal, which makes it an excellent tool to generate incredibly precise frequencies, in addition to measuring them with phenomenal accuracy. For comparison, a typical “high quality” crystal is between eight and 25 times less accurate, the team reveals.

“With its highly accurate crystal, you can use the Tsunami to generate signals — sine, triangle, and square waves — all the way from DC up to around two megahertz. A versatile analog fron-tend allows you to adjust amplitude from 0V to 6V peak to peak, and DC offset by up to 2V either side of ground,” Johnson adds.

Likewise, the Tsunami can be used to measure signals. The tool is equipped with a high speed comparator tasked with capturing the frequency, a peak detector for quantifying signal amplitude, and a phase detector to detect phase, of course. Each of these facilities work up to nearly eight megahertz.

By connecting the output of the Tsunami to an analog filter or an audio amplifier, and employ the Tsunami’s input to capture what comes out, it’s even possible to measure how it responds at different frequencies. The phase detector senses the phase delay, which means a user can construct bode plots.

“That’s not all you can do with the Tsunami, though. The DDS has built-in support for phase and frequency modulation, and the Tsunami adds on support for amplitude modulation too. With just a few lines of code you can take digital data and modulate it onto an audio or RF signal at any frequency the Tsunami supports, and using the Tsunami’s input features, you can demodulate data.”

For those unfamiliar with DDS, this refers to the process of generating waveforms directly from digital data, and is commonly implemented in applications such as radio communications, test equipment, proximity and motion detection, and audio synthesizers. Unfortunately, many DDS chips come in difficult to solder packages and have complex interfaces. That was until now. Arachnid Labs has provided Makers with an on-board DDS chip and comprehensive libraries and sample applications for use familiar Arduino environment.

Recently, Arduino revealed that the board became the latest member of its growing Arduino At Heart program. At the moment, Tsunami can be found on CrowdSupply, where the team nearly doubled its original $14,785 pledge goal. The first wave of units will ship in August 2015.

Roby is an Arduino-based, 3D-printable robotic platform

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Young Makers can build their own customized, self-balancing robots as they explore programming and 3D design.

The brainchild of Seattle startup Socially Shaped, Roby is a 3D-printed robotic machine that not only drives on four wheels, but can walk on two. If it falls, it can even pick itself up again with its two arms.

The open-source robotic platform features a programmable on-board computer along with an Arduino remote controller. Developed as a way to introduce young Makers to programming and basic electronic principles, users can customize a personality for their bot, as well as add new attributes like computer vision, sensors and voice recognition.

“Roby is not just an entertaining robot, it’s a robotic learning platform. When you build Roby you will have an opportunity to learn in a fun and engaging way,” its creators explain.

In piecing together one’s very own Roby, Makers will have the unique ability to master programming languages, explore Arduino and Raspberry Pi, acquire rudimentary skills in Linux-based operating systems, and dabble with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth communication. Moreover, a child can leverage 3D printing to put a personal touch on their design.

For its Kickstarter launch, the team has unveiled three Roby kits — Roby Junior, Roby Standard and Roby Genius — each varying in price, capabilities and levels of complexity. What’s nice is that the Maker-friendly platform is also entirely upgradeable, so that a a user can graduate from one stage to the next.

Designed for novices, Roby Junior is an autonomous, RC robot controlled by an Arduino. Aside from the Atmel based board, the kit includes a pair of DC motors, a shield to drive the motors, an ultrasonic sensor to help Roby avoid obstacles and a remote control for enhanced entertainment.

Meanwhile, Roby Standard is an intermediate set for those seeking a little more adventure. The self-balancing bot can walk (well, sort of) on two wheels and is equipped with a pair arms to help it stand up should it fall. Beyond that, it can speed down a driveway in race car-like fashion or be outfitted with a set of tracks for some off-road fun. This Roby, which is a step up from the Junior model, features an Arduino, a custom shield, an ultra-sonic distance sensor, a gyroscope for self-balance, high-grade NEMA17 stepper motors for precision, servo motors for its arms, in addition to a few other electronic components.

As a Maker progresses with their Roby, they will ultimately arrive at the aptly dubbed Genius. Like its name would suggest, this gadget packs an on-board Raspberry Pi that can carry out countless actions and respond to voice commands. Not only does this kit ship with everything found in the Standard, Genius boasts a Wi-Fi and Bluetooth module for IoT exploration, a color graphical screen, a video camera, a microphone and a speaker.

It’s always refreshing to see new DIY platforms, such as mBot to LocoRobo, emerge in an effort to introduce children to STEM-related fields. Is Roby right for you? Head over to its Kickstarter campaign, where the Socially Shaped team is seeking $25,000. Shipment is expected to begin in August 2015.

C.H.I.P. is the world’s first $9 computer

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Save your documents, surf the web and play games with this palm-sized computer.

When you think back to the days of the earliest computers, which weighed in at 55-pounds, packed only 64 KB of RAM and a carried a price tag of a whopping $20,000, it’s always astonishing to really see just how far we’ve come. Take for instance, Oakland-based startup Next Thing Co., who has just introduced an uber mini, single-board computer with 512MB of RAM for only $9.

Designed with Makers in mind, C.H.I.P. is not your everyday computer. The open-source board runs Debain-based Linux and boasts a 1Ghz R8 ARM processor, an ARM Mali-400 GPU, 512MB of RAM and 4GB of eMMC storage. Impressively, this little fellow is even more powerful than a Raspberry Pi B+ and equal to the BeagleBone Black in terms of clock speed, RAM and storage.

What sets C.H.I.P. apart from the others is its built-in Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and extreme portability. This enables users to save their spreadsheets and documents to its on-board storage, surf the web using a Chromium browser, or even play games wirelessly. With dozens of pre-installed applications and tools, the recently-revealed Kickstarter project is ready to “do computer things the moment you power it on.”

Beyond that, C.H.I.P. comes with a full-sized and micro-USB port, along with an audio jack with a microphone that doubles as a way to output video via a composite cable. The unit has been designed to work with just about any sized screen, whether new or old, and can be easily connected via its built-in composite output or by adding a simple expansion boards for VGA or HDMI.

“At 1Ghz and with 512MB of DDR3 RAM, C.H.I.P. is powerful enough to run real software, and handle the demands of a full GUI just as well as it handles attached hardware. Best of all, CHIP runs mainline Linux, which means it’s easier than ever to keep teaching it new tricks without inheriting a pile of kernel patches,” the Next Thing Co. crew writes.

What’s more, C.H.I.P. can even teach young Makers how to code. The board comes pre-loaded with the Scratch programming language which instructs users by making fun stories, games and animations. Or, for those musicians out there, just link a MIDI keyboard to C.H.I.P. and start jamming. It can be employed both as a portable music player or as part of an entire ensemble. Attach powered speakers and annoy those petty neighbors with some beats.

As eluded to earlier, C.H.I.P. was created to accommodate the needs of those on-the-go through what the startup calls PocketC.H.I.P. In essence, this gives the $9 board a 4.3” touchscreen as well as a five-hour internal battery. It also includes a “super-clicky” QWERTY keyboard, which is driven by an ATmega328. And, as its name would suggest, it’s small enough to fit right in your back pocket. Entirely open-source, the gadget features several GPIO breakouts and is removable via hatch.

When combined with the PocketC.H.I.P., users are provided with a fully functioning $50 computer — without the need for a monitor or keyboard. Or, for less than the price of tonight’s dinner, the palm-sized C.H.I.P. can be s slipped into a wide-range of projects, giving them the computer functionality you’ve always wanted.

Intrigued? Head over to its official Kickstarter page, where the Next Thing Co. team is seeking $50,000. Shipment is expected to begin in May 2016.

This wearable device lets you control objects by simply looking at them

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Designed with astronauts in mind, the Eye of Horus is an open-source platform that lets wearers interact with any device by just looking at it.

In recent months, we’ve seen quite a few 3D printing advancements stem from the aerospace industry, most notably Made In Space’s efforts to bring additive manufacturing into orbit as well as Rocket Lab’s battery-powered rocket engine destined for blast off. Now, a new project — which was created as part the 2015 International Space Apps Challenge — has employed 3D printers to help NASA engineers and astronauts safely complete tasks at hand.

While in space, engineers and astronauts are often forced to abruptly stop an activity to operate computers or some other tools, which could result in a loss of time that could ultimately jeopardize a mission. In an effort to solve this conundrum, a team from the Spain-based Makeroni incubator has set out to create a game-changing wearable that would enable these researchers to inteact with objects by simply looking at them. And adding to the impressiveness of the project, it was built in just two days.

Eye of Horus is a 3D-printed, open-source platform that allows a user to control devices via sight. The gadget in focus is identified using light beacons (similar to LiFi technology), which emit various frequency pulses for each device (whether that’s a PC, camera, TV or microwave). A frontal camera detects this light, differentiates and wirelessly communicates with the objects as the wearer glances at them.

As you can imagine, not only would this provide tremendous assistance to those in zero-G, but could be applied in a number of real world settings — particularly assisting those with mobility problems, drivers on the road who otherwise would have to take their hand of the wheel to interact with a device and gamers looking for an eye-controlled mouse.

Aside from its printed circuit board and software components, the Eye of Horus was created entirely by using 3D printing. Inside a custom enclosure lie a serial bluetooth 4.0 BLE Module, a relay control module, an infrared LED and n an Arduino Pro Mini (ATmega328). Meanwhile, the software is divided in two blocks: a server program (VoCore) running in the Eye of Horus and client in a laptop computer.

So what does the future hold for this incredible device? Its creators have their sights set on continuing the development of their eye-tracking devices and perhaps even a Kickstarter launch in the coming months. In the meantime, you can read up on their entire project here.

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