This is a link to my web page that documents my Arduino eclipse plugin.
If you feel constrained by the Arduino IDE there are other options around. One of them is my arduino eclipse plugin.
The plugin is easy to install, has all arduino functionality, comes with a integrated serial monitor.
And is is 100% opsen source and free.
Best regards
Jantje
Whenever there is a shadow, somewhere is light.
The Party Lumibot is a remote controllable and autonomous lamp-bot that is somekind of desktop-robot. It consists of white and pink LEDs that are controlled from an Arduino. The pink LEDs are prepared with shrink-tube to get water resistant and submarine able. The head is composed of seven transparent one-way plastic cubs. The body is a 1.5L PET bottle filled with water. Controlled via remote control through a IR sensor to the microcontroller.
The Story
Arduino devices have had the option of a GSM linkup for awhile, but getting that cellular link to truly strut its stuff hasn't always been easy, even for those of us who'd be inclined to program an Arduino in the first place. Enter Telefonica, which wants to be the backbone of your internet of things. It's backing a new version of the GSM/GPRS Shield add-on (shown here) by offering both the expected machine-to-machine SIMs for the cellular connection as well as freshly added remote control of the board through the carrier's BlueVia pages. The Shield itself is getting a quiet upgrade in the process -- the software both takes up a smaller footprint and can now talk to the world in the background while the Arduino keeps on keepin' on. If you happen to be in Berlin, the new Shield is making the rounds at Campus Party workshops until April 25th. Neither side has said how readily available the new part will be available after that; for now, you can familiarize yourself with the current technology at the source link.
Continue reading Arduino GSM/GPRS Shield gets helping hand from Telefonica for data, remote control
Filed under: Peripherals, Wireless
Arduino GSM/GPRS Shield gets helping hand from Telefonica for data, remote control originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 24 Aug 2012 11:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | CommentsThis is my first PCB project so I would appreciate the feedback.
The GOduino III is an Arduino compatible Open Source Hardware robot controller. It's a simple and inexpensive robot controller (appx. $25). I built this controller for my robotics workshops as well as for my personal projects. The GOduino III can be inserted into a breadboard for easy prototyping.
Added Part 2, on 26 August, 2012.
I already have one project where arduino outputs audio signal to USB speakers via software 10-bits PWM. In first, I was not satisfied with quality of sound generated via PWM. There are just not enough speed in arduino engine to run PWM well. For example for 20.000 Hz audio, PWM has to be at least 2 – 3 times higher above normal frequency range, or 40 – 60 kHz. If we multiply this value with 10-bits resolution, we would get 40 – 60 MHz, that is too much for small arduino to drive.
In second, the idea to create multichannel audio system was boggling my mind for about a year now. This is how UNDECIMA project was born. 1 + 11, or 12 channel !!! audio system running on arduino UNO board with full 10-bits resolution – maximum available with internal ADC. Project gets its name because there is 1 Master channel, and 11 linearly delayed copy of the same audio stream, or Puppets channels, In its essence, this is acoustic Phase Array.
HARDWARE.
As you can see on posted drawings, the “heart” of the project is 10-bit multiplying (parallel) digital analog converter DAC1022. Output of the IC than buffered with OPA and “demultiplex’d” via two 74HC4051 8-channel analog switches. Outputs of the switches loaded by sampling and hold capacitors 0.01 uF, to filter out unwanted sampling frequency noise. DAC is configured for single supply power line. Usually, they recommend to buffer output with / high input impedance / high slew rate / rail – to – rail / OPA in such configuration. Which I don’t have, and it costs about half a price of DAC itself, So, this is why I implemented two variable voltage references based on NE5532 and couple of pots. Difference in voltages between two references forms a “span”. Lower voltage creates an off-set for cheap non rail-to-rail OPA LF351, with adequate slew rate 13 V/usecond. OPA is heavily loaded by sampling and hold capacitors, which it sees as connected in parallel at its output, 0.12 uF overall! To minimize distortion level due overloading of the OPA, span couldn’t be adjust too wide, and preset in current design 1.414 V, providing exactly 1V RMS output for pure sine wave. I know, that 12 buffers / filters inserted after switches would solve a problem, but idea to solder more than 100 electronics components on a breadboard doesn’t look attractive for me.
( *I will try to find another IC / circuits capable to drive big capacitive load later on. )
SOFTWARE.
Software part of the project is straightforward ”sample-delay-output” function, completely wrapped inside interrupt subroutine. Main loop is empty. In setup 16 digital pins configured as outputs, 10 of them represent data bus, 5 are address bus and last one is check-point to measure performance with oscilloscope. Timer 2 defines a “heartbeat”, and fires interrupt every 25 usec, or at 40 kHz. ADC configured to take samples on analog input A5 (first 4 analog pins belong to data bus). Conversion prescaler: 1 MHz, allowing sampling to be completed with fast speed. I left two digital pins D0 and D1 free, as my initial attempts to use them in data bus failed. Arduino periodically refuses to reload updates, I’m not sure if it’s Linux problem or on-board USB/RS232 converter. Each sample, received from the ADC, is shifted left on two bits to skip D0 and D1, and plus one bit more (3 bits left shift overall) to fix “imperfection” of input preamplifier stage, as NE5532 (again) “non rail-to-rail” OPA. Look for drawings in “Audio Input” blog. Measurements show that each channel is receiving a data for about 1 usec “window”, which is quite fast, nevertheless not fast enough to run 16 channels or to do something else with data before sending them out. In current hardware implementation the “bottle neck” is OPA, as DAC has settling time only 500 nanoseconds.
Link to arduino UNO sketch: UnDecima.
To be continue….
Part 2.
After I expressed my concern about heavily loaded OPA, I was thinking, that it would be nice to run some measurements, in order to decide what part number would be better for this specific hardware realization (LF351 replacement), or if I have a few candidates, it would make sense to compare them based on measurements results, instead of what I can hear with my own ears. It didn’t take long to download and install JAAA application, which turn my laptop (Linux) into “home-brew” DSP laboratory. To cancel any distortion generated in ADC (plus another non rail-to-rail OPA*) on performance evaluation of the OUTPUT stage, I modified sketch adding sine-wave LUT table, basically turning it into Sine test generator. 20 – 20.000 Hz, sweeping along frequency axis by pot, connected to same pin A5, ground and +5V power rail.
First of all, I check if my “off-set” 2.000 V was set correctly, as according to data sheet 3V is a minimum.
Test confirmed, that 2V off-set was a mistake. The best results at 3V, with distortion level IMD-2 and IMD-3 less than 0.03%. And there is no surprise, that level goes up with a Span ( difference in V-1 and V-2), simply because OPA is loaded harder. All data were taken with phasor equals to 0. Look at the last line, where phasor was set to 11, approximately “worst case scenario” – when load of the OPA jumping up and down, in other words, when one channel is charging its capacitor, in less than 0.5 microseconds next channel connected to OPA output asking just opposite, to discharge a cap. It happens, when relation between phasor and test frequency forms 180 degree phase difference in neighboring channels. OPA just have no time to “settle” in between. Still not bad, for $0.60 “obsolete” OPA.
Second test, variation of the distortion level over frequency range. I’d not comment, just look at the pictures:
Summary: the results are quite remarkable. They show, that Arduino is capable to run 12 channels audio system with less than 0.03 % THD. Distortion level would be a little bit higher than 0.03 % if all 12 channel outputs not “in phase” melody, but not much than 0.05 % or so, as it’s quite unusual to have exactly 180 degree out-of-phase 100% magnitude ( what I highlighted in red line in posted table). Anyway, I will fix it replacing LF351.
Link to arduino UNO sketch: Generator
* Things to DO: I have to test INPUT for distortion level as well, more to come in part 3….
The ATtiny10 – along with its younger siblings that go by the names ATtiny 4, 5, and 9 – are the smallest microcontrollers Atmel makes. With only 32 bytes of RAM and 1 kB of Flash, there’s still whole lot you can do with this tiny six-pin chip. [feynman17] figured out a way to program this chip using an Arduino, allowing him to throw just about anything at this absurdly small microcontroller.
The ATtiny10 doesn’t use the familiar ISP programming header found on other Atmel-based boards. Instead, it uses the exceedingly odd Tiny Programming Interface to write bits to the Flash on the chip. [feynman17] realized he could use the Arduino SPI library to communicate with this chip and built a small programming shield with just a few resistors and a 8-pin DIP socket to mount an ATtiny10 breakout board.
After writing a sketch to upload a .hex file from the Arduino serial console, [feynman] had a programmed ATtiny10, ready to be dropped into whatever astonishingly small project he had in mind.
As for what you can do with this small microcontroller, chiptunes are always an option, as is making a very, very small Simon clone. It may not be a powerhouse, but there’s still a lot you can do with this very inexpensive microcontroller.
This is the LMR robot for the today's Campus-Party Berlin. Its purpose in life is to help children if they are afraid of monsters in the night. The Monster Catcher stays under the bed and makes noises to catch the monsters...
The Monster Catcher is a collective work of Drakuni, Antonio, Isotope, TinHead, Frits, RobotFreak, Lumi and Francisco.
The Making
Here some impressions from the making.
Frits, Nils and Antonio elaborate on the ideas. It is important that it is a very easy-to-make robot that does not need rocket science software and hardware.
[Steve] is often host to all sorts of guests, and he was looking for an easy way to let his friends come and go as they please. After discovering that his front door came equipped with an electronic strike, he decided that an RFID reader would be a great means of controlling who was let in, and when.
Giving all your friends RFID cards and actually expecting that they carry them is a bit of a stretch, but lucky for [Steve] he lives near Boston, so the MBTA has him covered. Just about everyone in town has an RFID subway pass, which pretty much guarantees that [Steve’s] cohorts will be carrying one when they swing by.
He crafted a stylish set of wooden boxes to contain both the RFID reader and the Arduino that controls the system, matching them to the Victorian styling of his home. A single button can control the setup, allowing him to add and remove cards from access lists without much fuss. For more granular control however, [Steve] can always tweak settings from the Arduino serial console.
The card system is both stylish and useful – a combination that’s hard to beat.
Setup can be made to automatically sweep in X and Y direction or controlled manually using the GUI. Last link is fitted with a force sensing resistor to detect obstacles. It is always perpendicular to the datum plane. On contact with obstacle (my hand in the video), it changes direction in the Z axis. The location of the obstacle is recorded and shown on the MATLAB GUI. Resources: Seeeduino Mega1280, MATLAB, x4 Hitec servomotors and 1 force sensing resistor. For more projects, visit http://retardokiddo.blogspot.sg/
Over on the Arduino blog, the release of the official Arduino WiFi shield was just announced. On the spec page for this WiFi shield. we can see this new board isn’t a slouch; it’s powered by a 32-bit ATMega 32UC3 microcontroller, has provisions for WEP and WPA2 encryption, and supports both TCP and UDP with the Arduino WiFi library. It also costs €69/$85/£55 from the Arduino store.
Now that the announcement of the Arduino WiFi shield is over with, we’ll take this opportunity to go through a few other WiFi adapters for the Arduino that don’t cost an arm and a leg.
The WiFly shield – available from Sparkfun – is a WiFi adapter with the same form factor as the ever popular XBee modules. Of course, it’s possible to make your own breakout board; the WiFly only needs a TX, RX, power and ground connection to connect your Arduino project to the Internet.
We’ve seen a few projects use the WiShield from async labs. It’s a WiFi module packaged in the familiar Arduino shield form factor, and costs $55 USD.
For the hardcore hackers out there, you could always get a bare Microchip WiFi module and get it to work with an AVR as [Quinn Dunki] attempted to. In all fairness, [Quinn] was trying to de-Arduinofy the WiFi library; if you’re cool with Arduino code swimming around in your project, this method will probably work.
There’s also the very, very cool Electric Imp. Basically, it’s an SD card with a built-in WiFi module. After configuring the Imp by holding it up to patterns flashing on your smartphone screen, this device serves as a transparent bridge to the magical ‘cloud’ we’ve been hearing about. The Electric Imp was supposed to have been released in late July/early August, and we’ll put a post up when this cool device actually launches.
Of course we’re neglecting the simplest solution to getting WiFi running on an Arduino project: just use a wireless router. Really, all you need is a pair of TX and RX pins and a copy of OpenWRT. Easy, and you probably have the necessary hardware lying around.
We’re missing a few methods of Arduinofying a WiFi connection (or WiFying an Arduino…), but we’ll let our readers finish what we started in the comments.
