I was looking for a way to handle wireless communications between two Arduino boards. Other options like Xbee or Bluetooth were going to cost $50 to over $100. Then I found a cheap RF transmitter and receiver at Sparkfun. The total cost is only $9! Here are a few limitations to RF solution: Communications is […]
Radio link between two Arduino boards Continue Reading
Like me, you may have a few old Arduino boards or ATmega8 chips (in the boards) laying around from when you were first playing with Arduino. Those chips can still be really useful as the heart of a tiny “Minimal Arduino” setup. A normal Arduino board contains support components that make it easy to use.
Minimal Arduino with ATmega8 Continue Reading
The 74HC595 is an easy and inexpensive (at about 60 cents apiece) way to increase the number of digital out pins on your Arduino. In this tutorial I’ll show you how to drive up to 16 LEDs with one 74HC595 using a technique called multiplexing. In the end, all 16 LEDs will require only three
Multiplexing with Arduino and the 74HC595 Continue Reading
I acquired an old fax machine that looked like a ripe source of parts, like steppers, IR sensors, micro switches and things. As it turned out, it was. It also had a nice looking 2 x 16 character LCD. However, after taking everything apart, I found the LCD only had 13 pins instead of the
Salvaging an LCD from a fax machine using an Arduino Continue Reading
Sometimes when you’re testing a sensor or debugging a value in an Arduino project, you want to see something other than numbers flying by in the Serial Monitor. However, you want to get the sensor working quickly, and you don’t want to take the time to write code to graph it or display it in
Graphing values in Arduino, the EASY Way! Continue Reading
To connect a 12V relay to the Arduino you need the following things: – 1 Arduino – 1 diode for example 1N4007 – 1 NPN transistor for example 2N2222 (in the US) or BC548 (in Europe) – 1 relay for example one with coil voltage 12V and switching voltage 125VAC/10 A – 1 multimeter Step
Connecting a 12V relay to Arduino Continue Reading
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
ISP Clip for ATtiny44/84 (or others!) Continue Reading
One of the most fun and useful projects on instructables is to create your very own solar USB/ iPhone charger. They’re not overly difficult to make, nor are the parts overly expensive or hard to find. For the most part they do a rather good job of charging up small gadgets. Mostly. The big flaw
Lithium Battery Solar USB – iPhone – Arduino Charger Continue Reading
If you have looked at my 5 LED ATtiny85 POV display, we programmed the ATtiny with the Arduino. (If you haven’t seen it, click here) We will be doing the same thing for this LED Dice project. The total parts cost for this project is about $5-$10. (Not including the Arduino board and the tools.)
ATtiny85/45/25 LED dice (Super Simple and CHEAP!) Continue Reading
How To Interface a CDV 700 Geiger Counter to a PC Using an Arduino (Part 1) The second part of our video series of our project to interface to a CDV-700 radiation meter using an Arduino Uno! How To Interface a CDV 700 Geiger Counter to a PC Using an Arduino (Part 2) Code: A
