ArduinoMania

Previously I had got both my Arduino and the accelerometer shield working, with it returning values of “x:453 y:450 z:395.” But I had no idea of what they meant. After doing a little detective work on the data sheet I figured that around 450 meant 0g, that is to say, it was not experiencing any gravity in those planes. This then meant that around 395 meant it was experiencing +/- 1g as I was unsure of the intended orientation of the sensor. After rechecking the data sheet it seemed the chip was designed to be facing down, this would mean that around 395 meant -1g. Doing some rough maths (450 – 390 = 60) I guessed that a change of 1g was equivalent to 60. This would mean that +1g would be about 510. I turned the Arduino module and the shield over and lo and behold I got a value of about 510 in the Z axis. What remains is to turn this int value into a float value of how many much g the board is experiencing.

I also very recently received a Babe bones Arduino Breadboard PCB and soldered it up, and this is what I received.

And a closer look at the top of the unpopulated PCB:

I then preceded to start soldering it up, starting with the surface mount inductor, then the continued with the smallest components, and ending with the largest. This allows me to rest it on the work surface as I solder, greatly easing construction. Below I have a picture of the Bare Bones Arduino board fully soldered up. I have to say i find it to be a great kit which is very simple to understand and then solder together. I only now need to figure out a way of getting a USB->TTL cable.

I found it fairly simple if not rather tight to fit it into my mini-breadboard but it fitted and seems to work perfectly. I’ll post again later with some news of how it’s worked for me.

One other thing I’ve been keeping an eye on is, again, at uHobby, where Mr Fowler has now finished development of a Signal Generator that is designed to fit on the header pins attached to the Bare Bones Arduino. You can see his post here and his earlier post on the Signal Generators development here. One thing that is touched upon often is the feeling that comes from ordered PCB’s arriving, begin soldered up, and then working! I, as yet, have yet to order PCB parts, but I have made my own, and I’ve found it to be very relaxing.

Previously I had got both my Arduino and the accelerometer shield working, with it returning values of “x:453 y:450 z:395.” But I had no idea of what they meant. After doing a little detective work on the data sheet I figured that around 450 meant 0g, that is to say, it was not experiencing any gravity in those planes. This then meant that around 395 meant it was experiencing +/- 1g as I was unsure of the intended orientation of the sensor. After rechecking the data sheet it seemed the chip was designed to be facing down, this would mean that around 395 meant -1g. Doing some rough maths (450 – 390 = 60) I guessed that a change of 1g was equivalent to 60. This would mean that +1g would be about 510. I turned the Arduino module and the shield over and lo and behold I got a value of about 510 in the Z axis. What remains is to turn this int value into a float value of how many much g the board is experiencing.

I also very recently received a Babe bones Arduino Breadboard PCB and soldered it up, and this is what I received.

And a closer look at the top of the unpopulated PCB:

I then preceded to start soldering it up, starting with the surface mount inductor, then the continued with the smallest components, and ending with the largest. This allows me to rest it on the work surface as I solder, greatly easing construction. Below I have a picture of the Bare Bones Arduino board fully soldered up. I have to say i find it to be a great kit which is very simple to understand and then solder together. I only now need to figure out a way of getting a USB->TTL cable.

I found it fairly simple if not rather tight to fit it into my mini-breadboard but it fitted and seems to work perfectly. I’ll post again later with some news of how it’s worked for me.

One other thing I’ve been keeping an eye on is, again, at uHobby, where Mr Fowler has now finished development of a Signal Generator that is designed to fit on the header pins attached to the Bare Bones Arduino. You can see his post here and his earlier post on the Signal Generators development here. One thing that is touched upon often is the feeling that comes from ordered PCB’s arriving, begin soldered up, and then working! I, as yet, have yet to order PCB parts, but I have made my own, and I’ve found it to be very relaxing.