June 01, 2012

"Point Cloud" – Arduino-controlled structure that breathes weather data

 Instead of using text-based or other two-dimensional forms of displaying numerical weather data, James Lang created a seemingly magical thin wire mesh sculpture that represents a cloud. The mesh cloud contains eight servos controlled by an Arduino, which accepts weather data and controls the shape and form of the mesh in order to illustrate the change in the weather. James writes:

Weather has always had a unique place in our lives, because it has a multiplicity that encompasses both the concrete and the indeterminate. It is the intangible context within which we build our lives and our cities, but it is also the physical element against which we create protective shelter. Most of the time it is an invisible network that we can see but are not aware of; yet it can manifest in a spectacle or disaster, come forward and activate our senses, make us forget our rationality in delight or fear.


Watching the mesh cloud is quite mesmerising, for example:


The level of imagination, creativity and ability to complete this project is phenomenal. For those looking to replicate Point Cloud, start with one of our Arduino-compatible boards such as the Eleven and our temperature/humidity sensor. You can read more the Point Cloud project here

June 01, 2012

Using sound, light and an Arduino to trigger a camera flash

 Maurice Ribble has created and described an Arduino-based system that uses sounds and light to trigger the flash of an SLR camera. His purpose for doing this was to shoot still images during interesting points of motion. For example, a still during the a liquid being splashed:

Although such a task would initally seem to be complicated, the implementation is quite simple. A small laser pointer shines a beam which is detected by a photoresistor, and can trigger the flash when the beam has broken. Furthermore, Maruice also uses a small microphone to detect noise which is then interpreted by the Arduino and triggers the flash. 

This project is a great example of how anyone can use an Arduino or compatible board to turn the ordinary into the extraordinary. For those looking to recreate this project we offer a range of Arduino-compatible boards such as the Eleven, and also our MIC sound input module for the sound triggering. You can review the design and Arduino sketch at the product website here

May 21, 2012

Building a PIC programmer using Arduino

Another interesting project that popped up in the forum recently is Rhys Weatherley's Arduino-based programmer for PIC MCUs. Rhys has a background in PIC development but his old RS-232 based programmer is no longer convenient to use because of lack of serial ports on new computers, so his first major Arduino project was designing and building his own PIC programmer with a USB interface:


Rhys has written up some details in the forum and published all the design details and source code, so if you're interested in PIC development definitely check it out!

http://forum.freetronics.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=342

May 15, 2012

New device: ProtoStick micro prototyping shield for the LeoStick

The Freetronics LeoStick is an amazing little Arduino-compatible board, and now we've made it even easier to build your own micro-sized projects on it with the introduction of the ProtoStick.


The ProtoStick provides 70 general-purpose plated-through holes for you to add your own parts to your LeoStick projects. It includes markings for the ICSP header as well, so you can choose to either use those holes for your own purpose or you can fit a female header to bring ICSP connections up to your project.

Because the board is so tiny we didn't want to waste space using an entire row of pads just for the header breakouts, so instead we put a tiny row of breakouts between the headers and the first row! That makes it easy for you to jumper across from any header to your circuit.

We'd love to hear about any projects you build using the ProtoStick, so make sure you jump on the Freetronics Forum and tell us about it!

May 06, 2012

An introduction to Arduino by Jaycar Electronics and Freetronics

A little while ago Marc and I recorded an internal training video for Jaycar staff to explain what Arduino is all about, and a cut-down version has just been posted on YouTube. Check it out!

April 30, 2012

Controlling a Vacuum Fluorescent Display (VFD) from a LeoStick (Arduino compatible)

Prolific "repurposer" Matt Evans is well known for taking old or discarded electronics and giving it new life. When he departed for the UK earlier this year he was given a Vacuum Fluorescent Display (VFD) module as a parting gift - very appropriate!

He then combined it with a phone charger, some random bits of wire, and a Freetronics LeoStick:


Matt said: "The VFD has a row of 0.1" pins and is odd in that it's not serial nor HD44780-style, just ASCII over D[7:0] and Write/Busy handshake lines - the Leostick pushes straight onto the pins to drive it."

If you look to the left of the VFD you'll see the LeoStick connected to the side, driving characters to the display.

Nice work, Matt!

April 20, 2012

Low cost wireless environmental sensing with Arduino

Check out this great video showing how a group of people with different skills and backgrounds came together to build an environmental monitoring system. One of the key components is a Freetronics EtherTen, which acted as a communications gateway for the system by linking sensors to the Internet via a 3G connection.

From the video description:

On the 23 of February ScienceMob organised a sprint event with Gaia Resources, the JCU eResearch Centre and Townsville City Council. Many of us were strangers working with systems we were not familiar with.

The event took place at the Rowes Bay sustainability demonstration house, a pre-1980s concrete block home that has been retrofitted with energy efficiency measures and renewable energy solutions with a focus upon the benefits of maintaining biodiversity through planned urban landscapes.

Our plan was to make 8 subterranean enclosures and monitor their temperature with different types of covers. We chose galvanized iron as our roofing material and painted half of our roofs black and the other half white. We also used various thicknesses of insulation and left one black and white treatment un-insulated. 

Temperatures were measured using the maxim DS18B20 1-Wire digital thermometer. These sensors were connected to a solar charged lithium ion powered Seedunio Stalker v2.1 board with XBee wireless communication. Data was transmitted to an XBee module on an EtherTen connected to a 3G modem via an ethernet connection.

Information was then sent by a web service to Gaia Resources' servers in Perth and visualized on the web using Google APIs.

Preliminary results showed that a plain white roof without insulation may be better than a black roof with insulation; we will make the visualization and setup details available to the general public in the coming months so that you can watch the progress of the experiment from wherever you have an internet connection.

April 17, 2012

GyroStar marine rotation sensor interfaced with Arduino

Michael Carey's experience in the marine electronics industry and with amateur radio means his first ever Arduino project hasn't been the typical blinking LED: instead he interfaced a MuRata GyroStar rotational sensor to a Freetronics Eleven!

The GyroStar is a Piezo-electronic device that measures rotation, and they're used in marine autopilots to keep the boat travelling in a straight line. Michael's idea is to incorporate it into a robot project to help it go into a straight line. Check out his video demo:

Nice work, Michael!

April 13, 2012

Time lapse camera dolly with Arduino control

This very cool project was built by Steve Tester using an Eleven, a ProtoShield Short, a Terminal Shield, and various other bits of hardware.


The Eleven controls a stepper motor that "winches" the dolly along the tubes while the camera takes a series of photos, which can then be stitched together to form a time-lapse video.

Check out the details on Steve's blog, including a time-lapse video of the end result: http://tester.id.au/?p=248

April 06, 2012

EtherMega giveaway on The Amp Hour podcast

The Amp HourWant a free EtherMega? Of course you do!

Marc and I are big fans of The Amp Hour podcast by Dave Jones and Chris Gammell, and when Chris made a comment in episode 85 about wanting to run some kind of contest or giveaway it seemed like a great way to support the show.

So, in episode 89 they put out the call: anyone who emails in a candidate for the Chip Of The Week segment will go in the draw for a Freetronics EtherMega (Arduino Mega2560 compatible) board with built-in Ethernet!

I won't give you all the details here of how to enter, because then you won't have to listen to the show  ;-)

For all the info head on over to Episode #89: Dissimulated Demigration Dontopedalogy. Don't just listen for the contest though - it's a fun show so make sure you check it out!