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4D Systems makes some really nice serial OLEDS. They aren’t hard to use, but the documentation for them is very scattered. This tutorial pulls together the various pieces i’ve found so that you can get up and running very quickly.
Controlling 4D OLed Displays with Arduino - [Link]
Mos writes:I’ve made a DIY USB Controller. Well i needed some extra buttons on my G25 wheel. Maybe someone will find it useful.You need a hardware programmer to write the bootloader to the Chip once. A simple programmer layout I’ve made is attached, but note that it only works with LPT ports with >= 4Volt levels. But many modern PC LPT’S have lower voltage, check your LPT port first. All cables should be as short as possible. Connect 12V & 5V to appropriate PC power supply pins or other stable powersupply with 5V & 12V. My programmer doesn’t has a socket, it programs the chip “In Circuit”. [via]
Do it yourself USB Controller / Display - [Link]
The RSS Weather Reader is a homebrew device that goes onto the internet, finds information about the current weather conditions, and then prints the latest info to a small LCD screen. Weather Underground provides an RSS feed that is constantly updated with the current conditions. The board has custom firmware that knows the address of the wunderground RSS feed, and can connect to it and update periodically. The board is connected to the internet via a standard router/hub/switch on a local home network. [via]
RSS Weather Reader - [Link]
The Nixie Clock uses the Make Controller’s Ethernet capabilities to go online and check what the time is, via a protocol called NTP (Network Time Protocol). Once it determines the current time, it uses the digital outs on the Make Controller to communicate with a pair of custom circuit boards that drives the nixies and updates the time. [via]
Nixie Clock – [Link]
This project was developed as an inexpensive way to drive small dc brushed motors as positioning servos for use on a desktop sized CNC machine. The board is interfaced to the PC through 2 pins of a parallel port. The drive signal on these pins is known as quadrature drive. The power stage consists of a power op amp driven in constant current mode. The internal PIC processor ( a 30f4012 from Microchip ) is programmed in C through the C30 compiler and the Microchip IDE. The servo loop parameters are programmed through a serial port connection and are saved in the dspic eeprom. Once set for a particular drive, they should not need to be changed. [via]
Dspic-Servo Project - [Link]
In this lab, you’ll control a servomotor’s position using the value returned from an analog sensor. Servos are the easiest way to start making motion with a microcontroller. Even though they don’t turn 360 degrees, you can use them to create all sorts of periodic or reciprocating motions. Check out some of the Flying Pig mechanisms for ideas on how to make levers, cams, and other simple machines for making motion. [via]
Controling a servomotor - [Link]
William J. Turkel writes:
A sure sign of a 1970s childhood is a fond memory of doodling with the Kenner Spirograph toy. In the back of my mind I’ve been thinking it would be fun to build something like it into a history appliance. You can already find software versions online, but I wanted something that could be used at the periphery, rather than the focus, of attention. On a recent trip to Active Surplus in Toronto I realized I could build a version quite cheaply. So here it is: a little too thrown together even to call a hack, this is really a kludge. [via]
Laser Spirograph - [Link]
The EnvStick is cheap, homemade temperature sensor that plugs into a USB port. It provides a simple way to collect a room’s ambient temperature.The EnvStick shows up as a serial port – a COM port on Windows boxes. You can see the typical output (on a program like Hyperterminal) – it waits a specified number of seconds, spits out a temperature reading, and starts waiting again. If you press “p”, you can set the number of seconds in between each temperature reading. [via]
EnvStick USB temperature sensor – [Link]
This circular board has 12 LEDs animated by a microcontroller. Assembly and HEX code and EAGLE files are provided on the web page.
This project uses the Simple LED Animation Kit (SLAK post or page) with the LEDs arranged in a circle around the PIC16F628A. I decided to do this project after picking up some red SMD LEDs at HSC in Santa Clara, CA, last week. Although the only difference from the basic SLAK is the board design, I find that this layout to be have the potential to be more useful. It could easily be a medallion on a necklace. If I had blue LEDs this would go well in an IronMan Reactor Core package.
This board only needs 4.5V and in the video is running on only 3 AA batteries. You can see that the PIC is still in a socket.
If anyone is interested, I can easily change the SMD parts to thru-hole parts and post an updated board. [via]
Circle LED animation - [Link]
NedLog writes:The HandySwipe provides a portable magnetic card reader interface and display. It collects card data from a “Type 2″ card reader (shown here), and displays the data on a small character LCD screen. Type 2 stripes are by far the most common in use, such as on credit cards and drivers’ licenses. The device can store up to 50 cards, runs on four AA’s, and has a serial connection to download its memory to your computer in CSV format. It can also download data in a raw bistream format compatable with StripeSnoop, so you can take advantage of StripeSnoop’s powerful parsing and analysis features. [via]
HandySwipe portable magnetic card reader - [Link]
