I got my start in microcontrollers with the Arduino, as many of us outside of electrical engineering did. (And still do!) The ease of programming that little board makes it a great gateway… and like any gateway, sometimes you go through. Most of my projects now don’t use Arduinos directly. For simple microcontroller applications, it’s […]
Here’s a simple Arduino-based datalogger I’m currently developing: This test-of-concept model is based on the Arduino Pro Mini (ATMega168). It runs on a 1.5-V battery, using a voltage up-converter from Sparkfun.com. For a sensor, it’s using a 3-axis accelerometer on a breakout board, also from Sparkfun. It has one button for control. When the device
I’m teaching “Electronics for Scientists” this semester, and I wanted to allow each student to have their own Arduino to play with for microcontroller lab exercises and possibly use for their final projects. The Arduino is not very expensive at roughly $30 per, but they add up quickly when you have a whole class of
Ah yes, it’s time for another Instructable involving an Altoids tin… But this time it’s not about what’s inside the Altoids tin, it’s about the Altoids tin itself. In all its greatness, the Altoids tin we all know and love has one rather major flaw for DIY electronics use: it’s electrically conductive. To combat this,
This example simplifies the task of collecting data from the Esplora’s accelerometer and graphing it with your computer. The Esplora sends keypresses to a connected computer about the state of the accelerometer. If you open a spreadsheet application, you can log the data from the accelerometer. To start and stop the datalogging, press the down
This example demonstrates how to turn your Esplora into a customized computer game pad. It uses the analog joystick and the four switches as inputs to a video game. The Esplora will appear to the computer as a standard keyboard, the computer will see joystick movement and button presses as keystrokes. The configuration choosen in
The Haptic Proximity Module (HPM) seeks to enable people with low vision, or other vision impairments, to engage with their direct surroundings through vibration feedback from a range detector, and do so cheaply with readily available components. The aim of this instructables is to share the parts and process of creating this device in the
Haptic Proximity Module (HPM) for Low Vision users Continue Reading
This board needs FTDI cable to program it. It is not Arduino compatible in the meaning of taking shields (just like every small form factor board isn’t). But it has all the same pins (exept 3.3V power and Vin*) available as female headers. The input and output pins that are right next to each other
Small form factor DIY Arduino on stripboard Continue Reading
I buy a lot of these stackable Arduino header sets because they are handy for a lot of things. I make some breakout boards with them, I use them to add some clearance between a taller shield and the next shield that I am stacking on top, and sometimes they are necessary when a shield
In this, my first Instructable I’m going to show you how to make a stripped down Arduino for a fraction of the price, using Stripboard/Veroboard. Material List: 1x Atmel ATMega168 = �2.65 1x Stipboard = 72p 1x 7805 Voltage regulator = 26p 2x LEDs = 16p 2x 220 Ohm resistors = 8p 1x 10k Ohm
