This Instructable is for the build instructions for our new AVR ISP Shield Kit for Arduino. Its development owes a great deal to Instructables and our own community (particularly Nick!) and I hope to explain some of that along the way. Some astute Instructablites have asked. What does this do? Well essentially this shield can […]
Building an ISP Shield for Arduino Continue Reading
So we’re always cooking up hot new hardware in the Grav Corp labs. Recently, we’ve been working on a project using a 128×64 OLED screen with the SSD1306 controller. Adafruit is a good source of these displays, with an excellent library written by Limor Fried. The Adafruit_SSD1306 library makes it simple to use these displays with
SSD1306 OLEDs – DMA Library for Arduino Due Continue Reading
A little while back I released the very first version of ESPToy — a ESP8266 Development Board with a few useful on-board components like color LED, button, and temperature sensor. It has a built-in ATmega644 microcontroller, and pin headers for plugging in a ESP-01 through-hole WiFI module. Shortly after that, I discovered the Lua firmware
Introducing ESPToy 1.2 (with Lua Firmware) Continue Reading
This is the 1st part of a series of 3 posts on the new ESP8266 microcontroller I only talk about a bare handful of new boards because most of them don’t pass my test: whether they’ll let me do something today that I couldn’t do yesterday. But every once in a while a new board, or a chip, comes along that
ESP8266: Arduino compatible $5 MCU with WiFi Continue Reading
Embedded systems frequently use HD44780-type LCD displays as it is considered the most popular alphanumeric display controller. The interface comprises at least 14 pins: eight for data, three for control (EN, WR, RS), two for power supply (Vdd, Vss), and one for contrast (Vre). Configured in 8-bit mode, it requires at least 10 I/O lines
One wire brings power & data to LCD module Continue Reading
BLACKSBURG, Va., Jan. 22, 2014 – A Virginia Tech research team has developed a battery that runs on sugar and has an unmatched energy density, a development that could replace conventional batteries with ones that are cheaper, refillable, and biodegradable. The findings from Y.H. Percival Zhang, an associate professor of biological systems engineering in the
Battery Recharging… One Lump or Two? Continue Reading
WARNING: THE FOLLOWING PROJECT USES LASERS. PLEASE CHECK YOUR LOCAL AREA RULES ABOUT LASER USAGE. PLEASE BE CAREFUL AS HIGH POWERED LASERS CAN ALSO DAMAGE YOUR EYES. I CANNOT BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY CONSEQUENCES OF USE. Given the opportunity to use one of the Intel Galileo boards, we wanted to build something that would
Build An Open Astronomy Learning Tool With Arduino Continue Reading
Low-current, momentary action pushbutton switches, such as PCB-mount ‘tactile’ types, are cheap, and available in an abundance of different styles. Latching types, on the other hand, are often larger, more expensive, and available only in a relatively limited range of styles. This can be a problem if you need a small, inexpensive switch for latching
Latching power switch uses momentary pushbutton Continue Reading
About this project The Arachnio is the first Arduino variant with an integrated ESP8266. Arachnio hardware and software is fully Arduino-compatible and open source. This makes it easy to get your Arachnio up and running. Easy-to-use libraries make joining an existing WiFi access point or creating your own local access point quick and simple. The day that the first Arachnio leaves
ARACHNIO – Arduino Variant with WiFi Continue Reading
I was in Bhutan last December, and as we travelled to different locations, I kept wondering what the temperature and altitude was, and wished I had some gizmo that would show me these values. Back home, I did a bit of research on altitude sensors, and one that came up was the cheap BMP180 sensor.
Temperature / Altitude / Pressure Display using BMP180 Continue Reading
