Josh Siegle, a doctoral student at MIT’s Wilson Lab, recently told Wired that today’s neuroscientists are expected to be accomplished hardware engineers, fully capable of designing new tools for analyzing the brain and collecting relevant data.
“There are many off-the-shelf commercial instruments that help you do such things, but they’re usually expensive and hard to customize,” Siegle explained. ”Neuroscience tends to have a pretty hacker-oriented culture. A lot of people have a very specific idea of how an experiment needs to be done, so they build their own tools.”
The problem? As Wired’s Klint Finley notes, few neuroscientists actually share the tools they create, which often lack design principles such as modularity. Meaning, project-specific devices and platforms can’t be reused for other experiments. That is precisely why MIT’s Siegle and Jakob Voigts of Moore Lab at Brown University founded Open Ephys, a project for sharing open source neuroscience hardware designs.
“We don’t necessarily want people to use our tools specifically,” Siegle clarified. “We just want to build awareness of how open source eliminates redundancy, reduces costs and increase productivity.”
Open Ephys officially kicked off three years ago as part of a research project tracking hippocampus and cortex activity in mice.
“We spent about half a year looking for the perfect commercial data acquisition tool to use for our experiment recording electrical signals from brains,” said Siegle. “We looked at all of the commercial systems and all of them were inadequate in some way.”
Rather than MacGuyver yet another platform, the duo decided to adopt a more modular approach by moving the creative process online. In addition, the two chose many of the same tools used by hackers and modders, including Arduino boards.
“We like Arduinos because lots of people know how to use them, and they’re easy to get your hands on,” Siegle added.
As SemiWiki’s Daniel Nenni notes in a recent blog post, the symposium, hosted at the Intel HQ Auditorium in Santa Clara, was standing room only. Dr. Reza Kazerounian, SVP & GM, Microcontroller Business Unit of Atmel, delivered a keynote speech at the event. According to Dr. Kazerounian, the Internet of Things (IoT) is opening up fresh horizons for a new generation of intelligent systems that leverage contextual computing and sensing platforms, effectively creating new markets.
“One of these platforms is the wearable category of devices, where the combination of sensors using low-power sensor fusion platforms, and short-range wireless connectivity, are giving rise to a variety of exciting end markets. From self-quantification to a variety of location-based applications, to remote health monitoring, wearables are becoming the harbinger for a whole host of services,” he explained.
“With the right set of biometric sensors combined with local fast data analytics, wearables have the potential to revolutionize the health care industry. These devices can provide real-time data and contextual information along with all the health care requirements, improving the quality of care and lowering the overall cost of care.”
Indeed, as we’ve previously discussed on Bits & Pieces, sports and healthcare functionality currently dominates shipments and is expected to drive future wearable device adoption. According to analysts at ABI Research, the most popular device functionality is heart rate monitoring – with close to 12 million devices shipped in 2013. These single function devices are designed to communicate with nearby hubs such as smartphones or activity sports watches. Pedometers and activity trackers were the next two most popular devices, accounting for around 16 million devices combined in 2013.
“The market for wearable computing devices is driven by a growing range of wireless connected wearable sports, fitness and wellbeing devices,” confirmed Jonathan Collins, principal analyst at ABI Research.
“Heart rate and activity monitors will outpace shipments of smart watches and glasses for some years to come, and they will provide the essential foundation for the development of the broader wearable market.”
Collins also noted that wearable devices will increasingly move into healthcare services over the next five years.
“Sports, fitness and wellness devices will increasingly be augmented by connectivity to the emerging number of smart watches and glasses devices that become available over the next five years,” he said. “Likewise, general use wearable devices will increasingly support aspects of health monitoring. The interplay between health monitoring and wearable devices will be crucial in the development of both these markets.”
Canalys analyst Daniel Matte expressed similar sentiments about a related space in late 2013 when he confirmed that wearable bands represented a massive opportunity in the medical and wellness segment.
“The wearable band market is really about the consumerization of health… There will be exciting innovations that disrupt the medical industry this year. With the increased awareness about personal well-being they will bring to users, having a computer on your wrist will become increasingly common,” he added.
A British lecturer at the University of Surrey has proposed a “virtual ride to space” using a weather ballon equipped with an Atmel-based, Arduino-powered payload.
”For this project the experience is everything, so we’re going with the cutting edge of available technology. The Oculus Rift, developed by Oculus VR, is an unparalleled virtual reality headset, which delivers a high definition wide field of view 3-dimensional virtual environment for the user.”
However, says Knoll, the proposed virtual ride to space should provide a comprehensive experience, rather than just offering amazing visuals.
“A soundtrack feature will overlay music on top of actual audio recorded by the cameras. Plus, you can incorporate your own MP3 playlist instead of the default audio tracks,” he explained.
“The software will allow you to slow down, speed up, or even reverse time. All with an immersive panoramic view of the earth as you ascend slowly to space.”
Don’t have an Oculus Rift? No problem, because Knoll is coding two additional iterations of the software to work with smartphones and PCs.
“In order to create this virtual experience, we need to first gather raw video data from the real world. This is where the balloon and payload come into play. The weather balloon is designed to carry the payload and parachute to an altitude of 20km (twice the height of a commercial airplane) and then burst,” Knoll continued.
“The device then descends to the ground using the recovery parachute where it can be collected. All this time, the payload electronics are recording video footage that will be stitched together afterward in order to recreate the ascent as an immersive panoramic environment.”
In addition to shooting raw video footage, the Arduino-powered payload tracks the position and orientation of the balloon, ensuring the raw video is correctly mapped onto the virtual environment. In addition, the payload transmits its position at the end of the mission, allowing the ground crew to locate the ‘chute using a SPOT Satellite Messenger.
Last, but certainly not least, the payload is tasked with keeping everything warm inside the enclosure by using a hand warmer to regulate the frigid temperatures. This allows the electronics to function within optional parameters – despite an average temperature of -55C.
The UK government will reportedly spend an extra £45m on developing Internet of Things (IoT) technology. The pledge, made by British Prime Minister David Cameron, more than doubles the amount of IoT-related funds currently available to UK tech firms.
“I see the internet of things as a huge transformative development,” British Prime Minister David Cameron recently told CeBIT attendees in Germany in a statement quoted by the BBC. “[It is] a way of boosting productivity, of keeping us healthier, making transport more efficient, reducing energy needs [and] tackling climate change.”
As we’ve previously discussed on Bits & Pieces, the IoT is essentially a combination of multiple market segments, tens of thousands of OEMs and hundreds of thousands of products.
“It is seen by many as the next wave of dramatic market growth for semiconductors. If you look at the different estimates made by market analysts, the IoT market will be worth trillions of dollars to a variety of industries from the consumer to financial, industrial, white goods and other market segments,” Dr. Reza Kazerounian, Senior VP and GM of the Microcontroller Business Unit at Atmel, recently told EEWeb.
“Companies that provide cloud-based services, service providers and semiconductor companies will also benefit from this market. The number of small or new companies that are showcasing connective devices has increased – there will be 50 billion connected devices by 2020. These nodes will have characteristics such as low-power embedded processing, a human-machine interface and connectivity.”
My buddy Wayne Yamaguchi sent a little update on making printed circuit boards (PCBs) at home. Wayne always was the expert on toner transfer PCBs. This is where you print your Gerber art on a special film. Then you use an iron or a hot roller to transfer the printer toner from the plastic film to the copper-clad PCB material. The printer toner becomes the resist that keeps the acid away from the copper foil. Wayne has also figured out how to use a sponge to rub the ferric chloride on the board, so the copper etches away in seconds, not minutes.
I gave this a brief mention in an article about prototyping years ago. Wayne just keeps on improving this process and I hope to give a complete update soon. Wayne is also the guy that figured out PCB-Pool in Ireland was doing good work, as well as the USA triumvirate, Proto Express in Silicon Valley, Advanced Circuits in Colorado, and Sunstone (PCB123) in Oregon. Lately Wayne has been a fan of OSH Park up in Oregon. They operate like a community, where they take a bunch of PCB orders and panalize them on one substrate, so you can share the cost with a bunch of other people. For Wayne’s small boards, this can be ideal.
Wayne Yamaguchi holding a PCB he had made by OSH Park. Before stage this he makes his prototypes with toner transfer and acid etch.
So here is Wayne’s latest missive:
“Many of you know I still make my own PCBs at home. I think I just tweaked or ironed out a nagging issue. Sometimes I would lose some toner during the process of putting it on the PCB. Using the GBC laminator I’ve had reasonable success and I finally think that putting the board through once is insufficient to apply pressure across the whole board. I put the board in offset 30 degrees and then a second pass with the board turned offset -30 degrees. Putting the board through the laminator at different angles ensures all of the board gets heated and pressed.
“Here’s a board I made a week ago and now it’s aged and somewhat tarnished. You can see the test patterns in the circuit and one test pattern outside of the circuit board. All test patterns came out. The test pattern has an 8 mil trace, 6 mil trace, 4 mil trace and a 2 mil trace. Of course they all get flattened out during the process, but, the 2mil really had little toner and was surprised how well it came out even if it was flattened.
Wayne Yamaguchi gets down to 2-mil traces with home-made PCBs done with toner transfer and ferric chloride acid etch.
“Rough measurements show the 2mil came out around 3mil and the 4 mil squished out to around 5.5mil and the 8 came out around 11 mil. Typically for prototypes I try and stay with 10mil trace widths.
“This particular prototype yielded some good info and with that info I’ve made a few changes and have sent out for real 2 sided PCB at OSHPark. The OSHPark order came out to a total $4.95. The boards were placed on a panel within a day or so and have been sent out to the fab shop. I might get the boards next week some time.
“The process is a slight derivation from Pulsar, who created this process a long time ago. Frank at Pulsar is the originator and should get all the credit for the process.”
Well thanks Wayne, many of us still like to whip out a single-piece prototype before going to fab and this is a great way to do it. My only warning, gleaned from personal experience, is to not put any vias under surface mount parts. There are no plated-through holes with these home-made PCBs, so you have to solder a little wire into every via.
So if you are attending one of our ToT events, or happen to see us stopping to refuel, be sure to come on over and take a selfie with the Atmel crew and our tech-packed mobile trailer. Don’t be camera shy, because you could win a brand new Samsung Galaxy Tab 3!
This weekend, Atmel’s ToT will be at SXSW in Austin, Texas. We’re based at the Hyatt Regency Austin from March 7-9, 2014, so be sure to stop by during the show to see our latest demos.
So you’ve designed a plethora of cool DIY Maker projects with Atmel-basedArduino boards. Want to take the next step with stand-alone Atmel AVR microcontrollers (MCUs)? Written by Elliot Williams, Make: AVR Programming will help you discover how the AVR’s built-in hardware peripherals can be harnessed to solve various design issues, allowing Makers and engineers to fully benefit from working with Atmel’s AVR-based hardware.
“The Arduino platform is great to learn the basics on. But if you’re a hacker on a budget and you’d like to make a swarm of robots, you’re going to want to use the AVR chips directly,” said Williams. ”This book focuses on interfacing between the real world and the virtual world throughout. The two together open up infinite possibilities for creative projects.”
As the author notes, nearly everything in the book is project-oriented. Makers will learn microcontroller basics, as well as intermediate and advanced topics.
For example, you can:
Respond instantly to as many external events as your AVR has pins
Build an inexpensive footstep detector
Build circuitry to drive DC and stepper motors as well as other demanding loads
Make your projects talk by storing voice sample data in the AVR’s non-volatile memory
Learn to speak SPI and I2C
“Bottom line: If you’ve had some experience programming an Arduino, and you’d like to get to know the AVR chip more intimately, Make: AVR Programming is the book you need,” Williams added.
Interested? You can purchase Make: AVP Programming for $45 at the official MakerShed here.
Jean-Noël says projected capacity is the primary principle behind his Atmel-powered Ootsidebox, with an electric field projected in front of the existing touch surface affected by movements of the hand. Simply put, it is possible to calculate 3D coordinates and recognize certain gestures by measuring the perturbations of an oscillator caused by the movement of the user’s fingers (or an object) at several centimeters from the control surface.
Recently, Atmel’s Tom Vu had the opportunity to discuss the Ootsidebox with product inventor Jean Noel Lefebvre.
Jean Noel: I kicked off this project 6 years ago and have worked on it full time since March 2013. Most of the parts used to construct Ootsidebox are actually off-the-shelf electronics.
More specifically, I used the Atmel AT90USB1286 microcontroller (MCU) to power the device. Currently, I am exploring the possibility of meshing the popular Unity 3D gaming Engine with Ootsidebox. Combining a well known gaming engine will help us tease out more latent, long-term potential for the project, while simultaneously expanding the boundaries of game play with touchless or hybrid touch/touchless technology.
TV: How does Ootsidebox differ from other touchless and gesture sensor solutions?
JN: First of all, there is nothing at the center. For the microchip solution, you need a center electrode with two layers integrated within the body. In contrast, Ootsidebox is designed to be platform and device agnostic. In fact, the incasing can be modeled to fit around existing technologies and devices. Take, for example, example, the Android or iPad. The idea that you can simply wrap this touchless interface around existing devices and products opens new possibilities while enhancing use-cases for existing devices.
With this external fitting, much like an accessory, one can quickly enable their devices to be touchless, with gestures executed from within 10cm (set to double very soon) at maximum in front of a small screen. The device can be used in many different scenarios. For example, say you are in the kitchen cooking with greasy hands filled with sauce. The Ootsidebox can be set to seamlessly interact with various kitchen appliances – without the user ever having to touch knobs, buttons, glass, dials or sliders. Instead, activating/adjusting appliances can be performed via simple gestures (left to right or circular motions). Of course, there are many additional applications that can benefit from a touchless interface, ranging from home consumer device, gaming, health or even industrial uses.
TV: Can you tell me more about the product design? Is there any particular reason you chose Atmel AVR?
JN: The design is very simple, using only well known “stock components” found on any distributor or reseller site. The more complex part may be found in the 14bits DAC in SPI. Most of the components are “old school” logical chips such as 4000 family (my best friends for a long time in electronics). As for the microcontroller, I didn’t need high performance uC, so 8 bits were enough. The idea is to prepare Ootsideboxfor mainstream adoption via a strategy of simplicity, a philosophy which fits well with Makers and the open source community. In terms of selecting the appropriate uC, I was careful to precisely balance price and performance. I also took into consideration various factors such as the large AVR community, availability of open source libs and the quality of the support and tools from the chip manufacturer. The mindset, reputation and philosophy of the brand (Atmel and Arduino) helped steer my uC choice. In fact, startups today are very closely tied to Maker Movement, reflecting Arduino and Atmel. That’s why I’m very confident when choosing Atmel, because Atmel and the Arduino community really support the Maker Movement today.
TV: How does Ootsidebox differ from other platforms on the market?
JN: It’s really a control device that computes touchless gestures versus touching and manipulating. Most of us are quite familiar with the ongoing touch revolution, as we use the very same interface interacting with smartphones and tablets on a daily basis. In addition, there are already commercially viable products such as Android devices equipped with sensor hubs that are designed to process gestural movement of the hand.
Ootsidebox differs on many levels, as the device is meant to be an add-on or fitting to an already existing device. Easy modification will encourage HMI enhancements for existing products or emerging devices. Remember, a consumer/user does not have to be married to just one product line from a major manufacturer. With Ootsidebox, you can control the devices without touching; move up, down, side-to-side, rotational, and even emulating the click of a button. Perhaps most importantly, the touchless interface will undoubtedly inspire future design roadmaps. For example, the touchless form factor is perfect for industrial and medical use. Just imagine a dentist needing to activate or handle various devices during treatment when messy hands are not necessarily ideal.
TV: What is the future of Ootsidebox? Do you plan on making it open source?
JN: Yes, there are plans to launch a campaign on Kickstarter or Indiegogo to attract more involvement in the development and use of this touchless sensor solution. The platform and innovative slope for additional development is limitless. We plan on releasing Ootsidebox as open source / open hardware, complete with specs for mechanical design. Crowdsourcing will help spur additional innovation, while allowing the platform to accommodate a wider degree of functionality.
JN: Afew years ago, disruptive products and ideas were conceived in garages. Today, the very same process takes place in Hackerspaces, where creativity thrives and technical skills abound. By designing projects in Hackerspaces, Makers and engineers are fully connected with a worldwide network of creative people boasting different backgrounds. This synergy significantly accelerates the innovation process.
TV: What is your personal experience with AVR microcontrollers (MCUs) and Arduino boards?
JN: I was using other brands before I discovered the benefits of AVR uC during my discussions about Ootsidebox with my friends at Elektor Labs.
Also during my stay at Noisebridge Hackerspace, Mitch Altman was using AVR Arduino to teach electronics for newbies (I really love what’s happening there). My first experience with the Arduino environment was with Teensy++ 2.0, based on the AT90USB1286 MCU. This Atmel AVR microcontroller is the one I used for my last prototype of the Ootsidebox tablet accessory, which will be launched soon on Kickstarter or Indiegogo. We are also working on a smaller project with Elektor Labs. Essentially, it’s a “3D Pad” built in the form of a shield for Arduino.
TV: Are touchless gestures the future of user interfaces?
JN: Touchless gestures are a part of the natural evolution of the more traditional user interface. It’s a way to provide a more natural and intuitive user experience, which is somewhat of a growing requirement due to the proliferation of complex equipment in our everyday life. Of course, touchless gesture interaction is also more natural. In the future, with the help of Ootsidebox technology, product designers and Makers will not create electronic platforms to “manipulate” or “interact” with devices, but rather, for individuals to directly “communicate” with them instead.
Really, people expect them to be as smart as living entities. I learned that during various discussions with scientists about the project. In the brain, “communicating” vs. “manipulating” simply does not invoke the same connections pathways. Clearly, touchless and gesture UI are paving the way to a very fascinating evolution of consumer electronics in the near future. That being said, I see touchless user interfaces complimenting, rather than replacing, multi-touch, much the same way the mouse didn’t replace a keyboard.
Clearly, this kind of technology can help save lives, while reducing nosocomial risk in healthcare environments. It may also allows drivers to stay more attentive to the road when navigating with gesture-based infotainment. Personally, I’m dreaming of disruptive aesthetic designs in the field of high-tech consumer electronics. I can’t wait to see what a guy like Philippe Starck will be able to create. As I noted earlier, this project is 100% open and we invite everyone to participate on Twitter. Just post your questions and suggestions here: @OOTSIDEBOX, while including the hashtag #AtmelBlog. I’ll answer you personally. You can also check us out here on Facebook.
The TimeSys crew recently posted a YouTube video illustrating a major boot time reduction for Atmel’s SAMA5D33-EK.
The fast boot – which can be seen in the side-by-side comparison video above – is facilitated by Warp!! This licensed app for embedded Linux is designed to significantly reduce the amount of code and memory access required at boot time, loading an application in seconds. You can read more about boot time reduction with Timesys here.
In other SAMA5D3 news, the new $79 Atmel SAMA5D3 Xplained evaluation kit (ATSAMA5D3-XPLD) – a low-cost, fast prototyping and evaluation platform for microprocessor-based design – is now officially available at the Atmel store here.
As we’ve previously discussed on Bits & Pieces, the board, which is built around Atmel’s SAMA5D3 ARM Cortex-A5 processor-based MPU, is packed with a rich set of ready-to-use connectivity and storage peripherals, along with Arduino shield-compatible expansion headers for easy customization. In addition, the platform is a perfect target for headless Android projects, while a Linux distribution and software package facilitates rapid software development.
Born in Sichuan, China, Eric Pan (潘昊) graduated with an Electrical Engineering degree from Chongqing University. He founded the wildly popular Seeed Studio in July 2008 to help Makers transform their ideas into actual products, subsequently establishing the first organized Maker Community in Shenzhen. Known as Chua Huo, the MakerSpace facilitates interaction among DIY Makers, while encouraging dialogue and cooperation with both industry and academia.
Eric is understandably enthusiastic about the open source movement, as he also organized the Shenzhen Maker Faire and established the hardware incubation project “HAXLR8R” with Cyril Ebersweiler. In 2013, Eric was named one of the “Top 30 Entrepreneurs” in China by Forbes, which prominently featured the engineer on the magazine’s front cover.
Recently, the staff of Bits & Pieces had the opportunity to sit down with Pan for a wide-ranging interview covering a number of topics including the rapidly evolving open source movement, Atmel-basedArduino boards, Atmel-powered 3D printers such as RepRap, the Maker Movement and Shenzen, a major city in the south of Southern China’s Guangdong Province.
Bits & Pieces: How are Atmel-based Arduino boards and 3D printers such as RepRap helping to inspire the design and prototyping of new products in China?
RepRap Version 2 ‘Mendel’ (Image Credit: Wikipedia)
Eric Pan: Hardware development has traditionally been perceived as a complex process, with a product lineup often taking years to improve and perfect. However, tools such as Atmel-based Arduino boards and 3D printers have significantly lowered the entry barrier for hardware innovation, thus creating a much wider playing field for DIY Makers. Indeed, over the past a few years, we’ve seen designers and Makers create prototypes and iron out issues in days and weeks, rather than months or even years.
Clearly, hardware development is becoming a more agile process with the aid of prototyping tools like RepRap and Arduino boards – both of which are helping to facilitate innovation across the world and particularly in China.
Bits & Pieces: What role do MakerSpaces and Universities play in setting technology trends for Chinese tech companies?
Eric Pan: Universities have established links and collaborated on a number of projects with various Chinese tech companies, with many engaging in pioneering research. In addition, MakerSpaces have evolved into innovation hubs responsible for encouraging a diversity of ideas and products. Essentially, MakerSpaces act as a virtual bridge for cross-boundary conversations between industry and academic research. This enables constructive dialogue about issues which are typically overlooked. Personally, I believe niche market Maker platforms and devices are analogous to indie movies that provide the commercial film industry with a hotbed of new ideas.
MakerSpaces will likely enable a new wave of tech startups in China as in the US. To be sure, Makers working with their peers are now able to more easily realize their goals, while bringing products to market with new platforms such as e-commerce sites and crowdfunding. Nevertheless, major companies in China are somewhat cautious about encouraging grass-root innovations, even though some of them are actively involved in a collaborative dialogue with Makers as part of a strategic open innovation strategy. So for now, MakerSpaces are gradually helping Chinese tech companies discover additional possibilities, although the Maker role is likely to increase, with participants in the DIY culture setting technology trends in conjunction with major industries.
Bits & Pieces: The Maker Movement seems to be particularly active in Shenzen and Shanghai. Why do think this is?
Eric Pan: The most important factor is the intellectually fertile ground of the two locations. Shanghai is particularly active, first and foremost because of its foreigner base and natural Maker culture.
Local tech and art people are also enthusiastic about the trend, which helps bolster the DIY attitude. Meanwhile, Shenzhen has an established manufacture and supply based chain which is attractive to Makers from all over the world. If you look at the bigger picture, it is quite clear that these local two MakerSpaces have inspired a larger group of Makers and Makers-to-be across China. Unfortunately, the cost of living in both Shanghai and Shenzhen are too high for many Makers to realistically design and develop their products. As such, I hope to see more Makers gathers in smaller cities where the cost of living is somewhat lower and more amenable to a DIY crowd.
Bits & Pieces: What is the future of open source hardware and the Maker Movement in China? Does it face any specific hurdles?
Shenzhen (Image Credit: Wikipedia)
Eric Pan: There are currently a number of opinions being heard about the future of the Maker Movement in China. Nevertheless, one thing is for certain. The inherent entrepreneurial spirit of the Chinese people will help the Maker culture grow – and vice versa. The biggest hurdle, from what I can tell, may very well come from established educational facilities, simply because Chinese students expect to be trained in traditional methods when specific professional skills are required. However, exposure to multiple academic disciplines will encourage people to people think out of the box and explore different ways of approaching problems and opportunities. In addition, being asked more open-ended practical questions instead of simply memorizing facts would go a long way in encouraging students to try out real-world solutions.
Bits & Pieces: What can companies like Atmel do to help encourage the growth of the Maker Movement in China?
Eric Pan: Atmel has already played a very important role in engineering universities through its programs. The inspiring part is that art and design students are using Atmel chipsets which power Arduino boards – effectively building a bridge for major cooperation between Makers and the corporate world.
Continued support from Atmel for future Maker events will definitely contribute to the evolution and growth of the DIY movement in China. On the business side, hardware generated by Maker projects will also help encourage major industry players to create more varied products using Atmel microcontrollers and microprocessors. Last, but certainly not least, the direct involvement of Atmel engineers in local Maker communities will undoubtedly help nurture and grow the DIY movement across China.
