Editorial

Esta é a Newsletter Nº 105 que se apresenta com o mesmo formato que as anteriores. Se gostar da Newsletter partilhe-a!

Todas as Newsletters encontram-se indexadas no link.

Esta Newsletter tem os seguintes tópicos:

• Novidades da Semana
• Ciência e Tecnologia
• Documentação
• Projetos Maker

Esta semana a Newsletter comemora dois anos de existência. São 105 semanas a publicar noticias e projectos interessantes.

Faz hoje anos que nascia em 1931 Dawon Kahng. Este engenheiro electrotécnico Sul Coreano ficou conhecido pelos seus trabalhos com Electrónica de estado solido. Quando trabalhava como investigador nos laboratórios Bell, inventou o MOSFET (Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field-Effect Transistor). Foi também responsável pela invenção, conjuntamente com Simon Sze, do FGMOS (floating-gate MOSFET) que permite guardar informação e que é usado em EPROM, EEPROM e memórias flash. Faz também anos que nascia em 1655 Bartolomeo Cristofori. Este fabricante italiano de instrumentos musicais ficou conhecido como sendo o inventor do piano. Faz igualmente ano que nascia em 1874 Frank Conrad. Este engenheiro electrotécnico ficou conhecido por ter criado a primeira radio-emissora comercial a KDKA.

Esta semana a China anunciou que um grupo de investigadores construiu a primeira forma de computador quântico que dizem ser mais rápido que um dos computadores convencionais das primeiras gerações. Um grupo de cientistas russos inventaram um novo material polimérico multi-funcional, o que irá reduzir significativamente o custo de produção, tornando a nova geração de polímeros disponíveis para uso generalizado. Este novo material polimérico multi-funcional poderá ser usado para impressão 3D de drones, robôs e próteses. Engenheiros bio-médicos ingleses criaram uma mão biónica que e equipada com uma câmara que instantaneamente tira uma foto do objeto à sua frente, avalia a sua forma e tamanho e desencadeia uma série de movimentos na mão. Ignorando os processos usuais que exigem que o utilizador veja o objeto, estimula fisicamente os músculos do braço e acciona um movimento no membro protético, a mão "vê" e reage com um movimento fluido.

Na Newsletter desta semana apresentamos diversos projetos de maker. É apresentado o livro "Electronics: Radio and Electronics Cookbook". São igualmente apresentadas as revistas MagpI nº 57 e a revista newelectronics de 25 de Abril.

João Alves ([email protected])

O conteúdo da Newsletter encontra-se sob a licença Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

China hits milestone in developing quantum computer ‘to eclipse all others’

"A team of scientists from eastern China has built the first form of quantum computer that they say is faster than one of the early generation of conventional computers developed in the 1940s. The researchers at the University of Science and Technology of China at Hefei in Anhui province built the machine as part of efforts to develop and highlight the future use of quantum computers. The devices make use of the way particles interact at a subatomic level to make calculations rather than conventional computers which use electronic gates, switches and binary code. The Hefei machine predicts the highly complex movement and behaviour of subatomic particles called photons, which make up light. Normal supercomputers struggle to predict the behaviour of photons because of their huge level of unpredictability and the difficulties in modelling. Pan Jianwei, the lead scientist on the project, told a press briefing in Shanghai on Wednesday that their device was already 10 to 11 times faster at carrying out the calculations than the first electronic digital computer, ENIAC, would have been capable of. ENIAC was developed in the 1940s." [...]

New Russian-Made Polymer Technology Paves Way to 3D-Printed Robots

"Svetlana Kashirova, the head of the Kabardino-Balkarian State University laboratory stated that Russian scientists have invented a new multifunctional polymer material, which will significantly reduce the cost of production, making the new generation of polymers available for widespread use. Russian scientists have invented a new multifunctional polymer material, which could be used for three-dimensional printing of drones, robots and prostheses, Svetlana Kashirova, the head of the Kabardino-Balkarian State University laboratory of progressive polymers set up by the Russian state-run Foundation for Advanced Research Projects (FPI) told Sputnik. According to the scientist, the new technology, which has been under development since 2014, has a number of key advantages, such as reduction of production stages, high efficiency and low spoilage in the production process and high level of material's purity. Such innovations will significantly reduce the cost of production, making the new generation of polymers available for widespread use." [...]

Hand that sees offers new hope to amputees

"Led by biomedical engineers at Newcastle University and funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), the bionic hand is fitted with a camera which instantaneously takes a picture of the object in front of it, assesses its shape and size and triggers a series of movements in the hand. Bypassing the usual processes which require the user to see the object, physically stimulate the muscles in the arm and trigger a movement in the prosthetic limb, the hand ‘sees’ and reacts in one fluid movement. A small number of amputees have already trialled the new technology and now the Newcastle University team are working with experts at Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust to offer the ‘hands with eyes’ to patients at Newcastle’s Freeman Hospital." [...]

Internet of the future: massive mobile antennae technology

"Mobile base stations for 5G solutions will consist of hundreds of small antennas. Benefits include faster transmission, improved energy efficiency, better security and wider coverage. Researchers at Aalborg University are at the forefront of developing the new antenna technology. As we move toward a world that is increasingly interconnected with a 5G network that is expected to roll out during the next 3-5 years, the need for a well-functioning mobile network with ample room for more connected devices as well as increased data traffic becomes increasingly important. “With the ‘internet of things’ as it is popularly known, more and more devices need to be connected,” says Elisabeth De Carvalho, Associate Professor in the Department of Electronic Systems at Aalborg University. Along with her colleagues Associate Professors Patrick Eggers, Jesper Ødum Nielsen and PhD fellow Anders Karstensen and with funding from the Chinese technology giant Huawei she is working on a new type of base system that caters to the seemingly endless increased need for data transmission. The system that is still in its early stages is called a ‘massive MIMO’. MIMO is an abbreviation for ‘Multiple-Input Multiple-Output’ – a wireless technology used to transmit and receive data between a large crowd of connected devices and users at the same time. In today’s mobile base stations - the mobile antennas that we might have noticed attached to tall buildings or rooftops – each unit might have a maximum of eight antennas that point out in different directions, spreading out data transmission over a large area. But the team in Aalborg is working on a base station unit that holds several hundred antennas, making it possible to connect much more precisely to each mobile unit." [...]

Flexible tactile sensor lets robots feel

"Using silicon and carbon materials, researchers at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) have developed a tactile sensor that can act as skin for robots, which can absorb shock and distinguish various forms of touch. Current robotic sensory technology allows robots to have visual and auditory systems at nearly similar levels to human capacity, but there are limitations in tactile sensors that can detect changes in the environment throughout the body. To apply skin with similar functions as humans to robots, it is essential to develop skin sensor technology with high flexibility and high shock absorption. Another limitation for developing robot skin was connecting numerous sensors all over the body using electric wiring. To overcome this problem, the research team led by Professors Jung Kim and Inkyu Park from the Department of Mechanical Engineering combined silicon and carbon nanotubes (CNT) to produce a composite, which was then used in combination with a medical imaging technique called electrical impedance tomography (EIT)." [...]

Hybrid Digital-Analog Circuits Can Increase Computational Power of Chaos-Based Systems

"New research from North Carolina State University has found that combining digital and analog components in nonlinear, chaos-based integrated circuits can improve their computational power by enabling processing of a larger number of inputs. This “best of both worlds” approach could lead to circuits that can perform more computations without increasing their physical size. Computer scientists and designers are struggling to keep up with Moore’s law, which states that the number of transistors on an integrated circuit will double every two years in order to meet processing demands. They are rapidly reaching the limits of physics in terms of transistor size – it isn’t possible to continue shrinking the transistors to fit more on a chip. Chaos-based, nonlinear circuits have been proposed as a solution to the problem, as one circuit can perform multiple computations instead of the current “one circuit, one task” design. However, the number of inputs that can be processed in chaos-based computing is limited by ambient noise, which decreases accuracy. Ambient noise refers to random signal fluctuations that can be caused by temperature variations, voltage fluctuations or semiconductor defects." [...]

Control of molecular motion by metal-plated 3D-printed plastic pieces

"Many measurement techniques, such as spectroscopy, benefit from the ability to split a single beam of light into two in order to measure changes in one of them. The crucial device that separates the beam is the beam-splitter. These have been mostly limited to light beams, where one uses simply a partially reflective glass. EPFL scientists have now developed a similar device for splitting beams of molecules, where high-voltage electrodes are used to control the motion of the molecules inside a vacuum. The electrodes are built by an innovative method that combines 3D printing and electroplating for the fabrication of complex metallic structures. The same approach can also be used in a wide range of other experiments. The new method is published in Physical Review Applied and overcomes previous fabrication problems thus opening up new avenues. Sean Gordon and Andreas Osterwalder at EPFL’s Institute of Chemical Sciences and Engineering, developed the new fabrication method, and demonstrated it by constructing the complicated combination of electrodes required to guide and split beams of molecules. The production method not only allows complex shapes to be made but, in addition, speeds up production by a factor of 50-100. The technique begins by 3D-printing a plastic piece and then electroplating a 10 μm-thick metal layer onto it. Electroplating is an established technique in various branches of industry like the automobile industry, fabrication of jewelry, or plumbing. It generally uses electrolysis to coat a conductive material with a metallic layer. “but the plating of printed pieces has not been done before in the context of scientific applications,” says Andreas Osterwalder. To make the printed plastic pieces conductive and thus amenable to electroplating, they were first pre-treated by a special procedure developed by the company Galvotec near Zurich. Once the first conductive layer was applied, the pieces could be treated as if they were metallic. The first step can be applied selectively to certain regions of the printed piece, so that the final device contains some areas that are metallic and conductive while others remain insulating." [...]

Heat-resistant capacitors: Stability at up to 300 degrees

"Heat is one of the worst enemies of electronics. It can disrupt functionality and cause electronic components to age more quickly, or even destroy them. Now Fraunhofer researchers have developed a capacitor that can withstand temperatures of up to 300 degrees Celsius. They did so by using an innovative mix of materials – and a special 3D trick. Heat, dust and moisture damage electronic components. Protecting against dust and moisture is fairly straightforward, but heat remains a problem because it is created within the component itself. Anywhere electricity flows, heat is generated as well. There is not always enough space in the electronic component to draw away the waste heat with cooling fins or ventilators. Devices that operate in a hot environment pose an even bigger problem. For example, a drill bit in the oil industry rotates at high speeds thousands of meters below the surface, generating temperatures of up to 250 degrees – not to mention the enormous mechanical load on the electronic components. Fortunately, the Fraunhofer Institute for Microelectronic Circuits and Systems IMS has a solution to this problem: a capacitor that can withstand temperatures of up to 300 degrees. By comparison, conventional electronics can cope with temperatures only up to 125 degrees. Capacitors store charge carriers and are among the most frequently used passive structural elements in electronics. The design of a capacitor is simple: it has two conducting plates, which function as the plus and minus electrodes, separated by an insulating layer called the dielectric. Dorothee Dietz, a scientist at Fraunhofer IMS, and her team were able to improve the capacitor’s heat resistance by using an innovative mix of materials and several design tricks." [...]

Mapping the edge of reality

"Australian and German researchers have collaborated to develop a genetic algorithm to confirm the rejection of classical notions of causality. RMIT's Dr Alberto Peruzzo said: “Bell’s theorem excludes classical concepts of causality and is now a cornerstone of modern physics. “But despite the fundamental importance of this theorem, only recently was the first ‘loophole-free’ experiment reported which convincingly verified that we must reject classical notions of causality. “Given the importance of this data, an international collaboration between Australian and German institutions has developed a new method of analysis to robustly quantify such conclusions.” The team’s approach was to use genetic programming, a powerful machine learning technique, to automatically find the closest classical models for the data. Together, the team applied machine learning to find the closest classical explanations of experimental data, allowing them to map out many dimensions of the departure from classical that quantum correlations exhibit. Dr Chris Ferrie, from the University of Technology Sydney, said: “We’ve light-heartedly called the region mapped out by the algorithm the ‘edge of reality,’ referring to the common terminology ‘local realism’ for a model of physics satisfying Einstein’s relativity." [...]

This Robot Knows When It’s Confused and Asks for Help

"Robots aren’t generally meant to get confused, but modeling confusion might help make them more useful workmates. As part of an effort to explore ways for humans and robots to work together more naturally and effectively, a team of researchers at Brown University has developed a robot that measures its own confusion and then asks for help if it feels it needs it. The work is important because it’s so easy for confusion to arise in everyday interactions. So making relations with a robot as natural as possible means figuring out ways of coping with this. The robot takes a command and measures with what certainty it can respond. And when it isn’t sure what’s being asked of it, it requests help. Previous work by the Brown University team allowed a robot to read both speech and hand gesture cues to infer what’s being asked of it. The researchers have shown that this is more effective than voice commands alone. If, however, a human asks for a wrench but there are two wrenches near each other, the robot will now decide if the situation is too uncertain and ask for further information, pointing to one and saying, “This one?” This is the latest step toward mimicking the way two people hold a conversation, says Stefanie Tellex, an assistant professor at Brown University and the lead researcher on the project." [...]

New chip under development at UTSA extends battery life of electronics

"Ruyan Guo, Robert E. Clark Endowed Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA), has received a $50,000 I-Corps grant from the National Science Foundation to commercialize a chip that can make lower power electronics, like cell phones, work more efficiently. Guo's team developed the technology, which is about the size of a pin's head, with UTSA researcher Shuza Binzaid in the UTSA Multifunctional Electronic Materials and Devices Research Laboratory alongside graduate student Avadhood Herlekar. "The purpose of this grant is to better identify the commercial opportunities for technology created at universities," Guo said. Guo and Binzaid are currently working with marketplace experts, as well as UTSA technology and IP management specialist Neal A. Guentzel, to understand the needs of consumers so they can determine which industry their chip is best suited for. It's an odd problem to have, since the device is applicable to several different uses, from every day electronics to medical apparatuses." [...]

Computers learn to understand humans better by modelling them

"Researchers from Aalto University, University of Birmingham and University of Oslo present results paving the way for computers to learn psychologically plausible models of individuals simply by observing them. In newly published conference article, the researchers showed that just by observing how long a user takes to click menu items, one can infer a model that reproduces similar behavior and accurately estimates some characteristics of that user's visual system, such as fixation durations. Despite significant breakthroughs in artificial intelligence, it has been notoriously hard for computers to understand why a user behaves the way she does. Cognitive models that describe individual capabilities, as well as goals, can much better explain and hence be able to predict individual behavior also in new circumstances. However, learning these models from the practically available indirect data has been out of reach." [...]

Important milestone in quest for hydrogen production using photosynthesis

"Hydrogen gas has long been proposed as a promising energy carrier for future energy applications, but generating the gas from water has proved inefficient. Researchers at Uppsala University have now managed to activate a key enzyme called hydrogenase in E. coli bacteria, which opens the door to future applications in photosynthesising microorganisms. The method involves inserting designed molecules into genetically modified E. coli bacteria to induce an otherwise inactive enzyme to start producing hydrogen gas. In other words, the method uses a combination of synthetic chemistry and biology." [...]

Revolutionary method reveals impact of short circuits on battery safety

"How lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries behave under short-circuit conditions can now be examined, using a new approach to help improve reliability and safety - developed by an international research team, including WMG at the University of Warwick. The use of high energy density Li-ion batteries is ubiquitous – from powering portable electronics to providing grid-scale storage – but defects can lead to overheating and explosions. Although catastrophic failure is extremely rare, recent high-profile cases including the recall of Samsung’s Galaxy Note 7 smartphone line and the grounding of an aircraft fleet highlight why it’s important to understand battery failure. Romeo Malik, a researcher at WMG, explained the experiment: “As the safety and reliability of batteries is paramount, it is important to know and understand the extreme scenarios of battery failure. “In this work, we were able to see the initiation of thermal runway and how quickly it escalated to the neighbouring cells in seconds. Being able to observe and capture these rapid failures with high-speed X-ray imaging technique is amazing.”" [...]

Flexible, organic and biodegradable: Stanford researchers develop new wave of electronics

"As electronics become increasingly pervasive in our lives – from smart phones to wearable sensors – so too does the ever rising amount of electronic waste they create. A United Nations Environment Program report found that almost 50 million tons of electronic waste were thrown out in 2017—more than 20 percent higher than waste in 2015. Troubled by this mounting waste, Stanford engineer Zhenan Bao and her team are rethinking electronics. “In my group, we have been trying to mimic the function of human skin to think about how to develop future electronic devices,” Bao said. She described how skin is stretchable, self-healable and also biodegradable – an attractive list of characteristics for electronics. “We have achieved the first two [flexible and self-healing], so the biodegradability was something we wanted to tackle.” The team created a flexible electronic device that can easily degrade just by adding a weak acid like vinegar. The results were published May 1 in the Proceedings of the American Academy of Sciences." [...]

Detecting walking speed with wireless signals

"We’ve long known that blood pressure, breathing, body temperature and pulse provide an important window into the complexities of human health. But a growing body of research suggests that another vital sign – how fast you walk – could be a better predictor of health issues like cognitive decline, falls, and even certain cardiac or pulmonary diseases. Unfortunately, it’s hard to accurately monitor walking speed in a way that’s both continuous and unobtrusive. Professor Dina Katabi’s group at MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) has been working on the problem, and believes that the answer is to go wireless. In a new paper, the team presents “WiGait,” a device that can measure the walking speed of multiple people with 95 to 99 percent accuracy using wireless signals." [...]

Infrared 3D scanner: fast and accurate

"Infrared 3D scanners have been used in video games for quite some time. Whereas in video games the scanners are, for example, only able to identify if a player throws his arms up in the air while playing virtual volleyball, the new 3D scanner of the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Optics and Precision Engineering IOF is able to be much more precise. With a resolution of one million pixels and real-time data processing, numerous applications are possible with this new device. The measuring technology works in a similar way to human vision. However, instead of two eyes we are using two near-infrared cameras«, Stefan Heist from the Fraunhofer IOF explains. »In order to detect the object, we project a-periodic patterns onto the surface using a specially developed near-infrared projector.« A sequence of different patterns is projected in rapid succession in order to record as many measurement points as possible by the two cameras. Within a few milliseconds, the software then calculates the 3D data from the images." [...]

Murphy develops another marsupial-inspired robot

"Dr. Robin Murphy, Raytheon Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at Texas A&M University and director of the Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station’s Center for Robot-Assisted Search and Rescue, saw a need for a safer, more efficient way to use quadcopter unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) in indoor disaster environments. Her idea for a quadcopter tethered to a home-base robot was inspired by marsupials, who have external pouches to hold their young and keep them close. Murphy has been working with marsupial robots since 1998, with ground-ground teams and boat-aerial robot teams supported by the National Science Foundation and the Office of Naval Research. In the case of her new robots, the ‘mother’ provides a steady connection for the ‘baby’ quadcopter to safely assess the situation of a dangerous, indoor environment without the hazard of crashing into a potentially disastrous object. Not only does the mother provide stability, it delivers a steady power source for the baby to feed off of to stay in-flight longer. Fotokite is the company who developed the quadcopter robot, and Endeavor Robotics developed the PackBot-base mother robot. The mother-daughter combination can be used in countless dangerous situations, such as nuclear power or chemical plants where it is unsafe to fly UAVs. It could be used to rapidly respond to an incident or, if used routinely, to prevent damage from occurring." [...]

The world’s fastest film camera: when light practically stands still

"Forget high-speed cameras capturing 100 000 images per second. A research group at Lund University in Sweden has developed a camera that can film at a rate equivalent to five trillion images per second, or events as short as 0.2 trillionths of a second. This is faster than has previously been possible. The new super-fast film camera will therefore be able to capture incredibly rapid processes in chemistry, physics, biology and biomedicine, that so far have not been caught on film. To illustrate the technology, the researchers have successfully filmed how light – a collection of photons – travels a distance corresponding to the thickness of a paper. In reality, it only takes a picosecond, but on film the process has been slowed down by a trillion times. Currently, high-speed cameras capture images one by one in a sequence. The new technology is based on an innovative algorithm, and instead captures several coded images in one picture. It then sorts them into a video sequence afterwards. In short, the method involves exposing what you are filming (for example a chemical reaction) to light in the form of laser flashes where each light pulse is given a unique code. The object reflects the light flashes which merge into the single photograph. They are subsequently separated using an encryption key. The film camera is initially intended to be used by researchers who literally want to gain better insight into many of the extremely rapid processes that occur in nature. Many take place on a picosecond and femtosecond scale, which is unbelievably fast – the number of femtoseconds in one second is significantly larger than the number of seconds in a person’s life-time." [...]

‘Good vibrations’ no longer needed for speakers as new research encourages graphene to talk

"A pioneering new technique that encourages the wonder material graphene to “talk” could revolutionise the global audio and telecommunications industries. Researchers from the University of Exeter have devised a ground-breaking method to use graphene to generate complex and controllable sound signals. In essence, it combines speaker, amplifier and graphic equaliser into a chip the size of a thumbnail. Traditional speakers mechanically vibrate to produce sound, with a moving coil or membrane pushing the air around it back and forth. It is a bulky technology that has hardly changed in more than a century. This innovative new technique involves no moving parts. A layer of the atomically thin material graphene is rapidly heated and cooled by an alternating electric current, and transfer of this thermal variation to the air causes it to expand and contract, thereby generating sound waves. Though the conversion of heat into sound is not new, the Exeter team are the first to show that this simple process allows sound frequencies to be mixed together, amplified and equalised - all within the same millimetre-sized device. With graphene being almost completely transparent, the ability to produce complex sounds without physical movement could open up a new golden generation of audio-visual technologies, including mobile phone screens that transmit both pictures and sound. The research is published in leading journal, Scientific Reports." [...]

Electronics: Radio and Electronics Cookbook

"Radio and Electronics Cookbook is a unique collection of electronics projects, ideal for all electronics enthusiasts and experimenters. The simple step-by-step instructions also make this book ideal for amateurs seeking to build up their electronics skills and knowledge. The projects draw on the massive enthusiasm and design know-how of the RSGB, the UK's leading federation of radio amateurs. Only a basic acquaintance with electronics construction is assumed, with clear step-by-step instructions and numerous illustrations supplied throughout. The projects are also supported with features on the electronics involved. The circuits themselves provide a wealth of quick, rewarding construction projects ranging from radio receivers and amplifiers to test equipment, a moisture meter, a desk microphone, a water level alarm, and Christmas tree LEDs." [...]

newelectronics 25 Abril 2017

"New Electronics is a fortnightly magazine focusing on technological innovation, news and the latest developments in the electronics sector. Downloadable as a digital page turner or pdf file, or offered as a hard copy, the New Electronics magazine is available in a format to suit you." [...]

The MagPI 57

"We’re extremely excited to share with you the latest issue of The MagPi – The official Raspberry Pi magazine. It’s a very special issue bundled with an exclusive project kit from Google. Called AIY Projects, the free hardware kit enables you to add voice interaction to your Raspberry Pi projects. The first AIY Projects kits are bundled free with the print edition of The MagPi 57." [...]

Modern JukeBox - CMOY Amplifier and Bluetooth Speaker

"This project was born out of constellation of things and desires :) I've always wanted to make up a CMOY amplifier, just because I think it is a cool project and I always wanted to see if the headphones amplifier makes sense. I did buy my components, but never got to actually making it. Next, while looking through my stuff recently, I've came across these 16340 cells that I bought for some reason. And finally, being a long time user of PCB sensors (excellent btw), both in the academy and in the industry, I wondered if we can find a "better" use for their sensor boxes other than...well.. holding sensors :) It all boiled up to the point when I decided to fit a CMOY amplifier inside one of these boxes. Since we are in the modern age, of course it will be powered from rechargeable lithium battery which can be easily charged and used for charging phones and stuff. And being in the modern age, why not fit an additional Bluetooth speaker to the device? The merit for this is as follows: the main functionality is to be a headphone amplifier (it is worth it by the way). Then, every once in a while you will need the bluetooth speaker, so just flip the switch and use it. And along the way you will want to charge an occasional phone. This device will give the answers for all three. So, here it goes, I hope you will enjoy this instructable." [...]

Solar Powered WiFi Weather Station

"In this Instructable, I am going to show you how to build a Solar powered WiFi Weather Station with a Wemos board.The Wemos D1 Mini Pro have small form-factor and wide range of plug-and-play shields make it an ideal solution for quickly getting started with programming the ESP8266 SoC. It is an inexpensive way to build Internet Of things ( IoT ) and is Arduino compatible." [...]

UltraBuggyBot - Robot Controlled Using Ultrasonic Sensors

"This is a small ,cheap and affordable project that you can make in just an hour! This is a really simple project and I intended so that younger people could make it on simpler micro-controllers , and more experienced people could make it on an Arduino or their preferred micro controller. This is in a way wirelessly controlled as you use your hands as a controller!" [...]

Simple Mini Dusk to Dawn Switch for 220v AC

"At or farms, we required to install a few lights that would automatically turn on at night and turn off at dawn and since we required quite a few, it had to be cost effective and efficient. I thought about installing a timer switch at first but gave up on the idea. Finally after searching through numerous circuits the internet, I figured that an effective, small and cheap circuit could be designed with ease. The entire switch costs under 50 cents (Rupees 31/- in India). I extend my heartfelt thanks and gratitude to all the contributors of the many designs and circuits on the internet from where I have drawn the inspiration, the names of the contributors I do not individually know but my thanks to all." [...]

Noise Cancelling W/ 741 Inverting OP-AMP

"This project is called the NC741 because Noise Cancelling with 741. Also NC741 sounds cool. The purpose of this build is to show that Noise Cancellation is possible with basic parts like OP-Amp. And that application of fundamental physics of wave. Cool!" [...]

PaperSynth: an "8-bit" Synthesizer Made Out of Paper and Copper Foil

"PaperSynth v2 is an "8-bit synth" circuit for creating musical square wave tones - made with paper, copper foil tape, an ATTINY85 microcontroller and some simple electrical components." [...]

How to Make a DC Motor Speed Controller

"Previously I made a DC motor Speed Controller, the design was good but it could be used with only 12 V motors. Soon I needed to control 24 V motors, so I had to come up with a design I can use for the work. I saw it would be easy to use a 7812 with the 555 or a zener, but I wanted something very versatile, then decided to use lm317 as a voltage regulator." [...]

Build an Arduino Multi-Node BLE Humidity and Temperature Sensor Monitor

"Use Cypress Solar-Powered BLE Sensors, an Arduino UNO, and an HM10 BLE module to make your own multi-node temperature and humidity monitor and display. Previously, we presented an overview of the new solar BLE beacons from Cypress Semiconductor. It is recommended that you read that article first to provide some background on BLE beacons in general, and the Cypress solar beacons, in particular. In this project, we will test drive the beacons by building an Arduino-based device to display temperature and humidity from two solar beacons." [...]

Tinku: a Personal Robot

"Tinku is not just a robot; it is a personal robot. It is an all in one package. It can see(computer vision), listen(speech processing), talk and react to the situation. It can express emotions, and the list of things which it can do goes on. I gave it a name; I call it Tinku." [...]

A Printed Three-wheeled Smart Car Kit

"This design is based on the Freenove Three-wheeled Smart Car Kit for Arduino Uno Robot Wireless Ultrasonic kit. The only place to get these shields." [...]

Library Noise Detector With Humidity and Temperature Sensor

"This is a temperature/humidity/noise detector to be used in any room, in this case a library. This device continuously takes the input devices and logs the data into the dashboard with a buffer of 1 hour and access every data intake online through phpMyAdmin. This device can take incoming Tweet events to do various jobs through outputting current readings to Twitter or mail. You can also access these functions through the dashboard." [...]

OpenPIR Hookup Guide

"Passive Infrared (PIR) sensors detect motion in a local area and are the sensor of choice in security systems, home automation and proximity-sensing applications. The SparkFun OpenPIR is a highly customizable PIR sensor based around the NCS36000 PIR controller. The OpenPIR allows you to set the sensitivity, trigger time and pulse mode of the motion sensor, so you can tailor-fit it to your application." [...]

3D Printed Lathe

"Before I begin at the moment I am waiting for final parts to take all my pictures for the sake of this instructable. I am going to post this before I finish so people can have an earlier access. I believe all my instructions are clear enough to be understood even without images so I hope you enjoy and please wait and check back in a few days to see the final design. First off, I am a sophomore high school student who actively participates in FTC Robotics representing Shark Beta Team #10088 and FatherBoards Team #10087. The goal of our robotics team is to learn as much as possible before graduating and going off to college. One crucial skill everybody on our teams had the desire to learn was how to manually lathe parts our self instead of sending the files for somebody else to machine them for us. This was where the idea of building my own lathe came in. As our school did not want to purchase a full-size lathe or for that matter allow students to operate a full-size lathe; the only other option was to build a miniature one myself. The major challenge of this project was that because all of our funds go straight into our robotics program and purchasing parts, the lathe had to be constructed out of existing parts in our lab, or the parts needed to be made personally (this is where the idea of 3D printing the lathe itself came into play. Another major challenge of this project was that the lathe needed to be relatively precise and accurate so that the final parts could actually be used on our robots. Those were the main challences I was faced with and I believe I did a relatively good job at solving these. If you do decide to build this you will find how percise and accurite it is despite it being 3D printed. So lets get to building!" [...]

Temperature Logger With Nodemcu Esp8266 D1 Mini to Thingspeak

"I know this looks like just another WiFi logger, but this is a little bit more. It uses Thingspeak free service, can be configured through WiFi AP, and uses minimal components. It only needs 3 components: Wemos D1 mini (or nodemcu v1.0 if you prefer), a waterproof DS18B20 and a 5V micro USB wall charger. The picture shows a pushbutton switch as well, but if you use nodemcu, that can be omitted. That is just for erasing EEPROM." [...]

Current Sensor Amplifier & Over Current Switch

"Current sensor amplifier and over current switch project is based on ACS714-30A current sensor and LM358 Op-amp, ½ of LM358 op-amp used as an amplifier for low voltage and 2nd 1/2 LM358 op-amp used as comparator which provides over current TTL output, trimmer potentiometer provided to set the over current limit. ACS714 sensor measures the current up to +/-30Amps, final output of the amplifier is 235mV/1A, and normally over current output is High-TTL, its goes low once the current over shoot than a set point. Circuit requires 5V DC and 40mA, Onboard LED indicates the power. Resistor divider R1, R3 provides bus voltage output for micro-controller interface to measure the bus voltage, choose appropriate value for R3, R1 as per your application and bus voltage, it’s should be less than 5V DC." [...]

Beacon Keyer

"This is likely the first ham radio related project that I document here on this blog. But my very first PIC project was a beacon keyer that I made for my father, HB9BBD. That was was in 2013. A beacon keyer is a great project to get started with microcontrollers since it’s not much more than a fancy way of blinking an LED. At that time I didn’t even use Eagle yet and so the layouts were based on a software called Sprint Layout. These were all very simple circuits, all based on a PIC16F688, and therefore perfectly suited for making some of my first homemade PCBs as well. The very early versions like the one in the picture above even used the DIP version of the PIC in a socket. All the resistors and capacitors are 1206 size not 0805 like of my later designs." [...]

Bi-directional Communication Robot

"Most of the robot work on uni-directional commands like Bluetooth, joystick etc. But what if you want some data back to your transmitter ? This project creates a bi-directional system, that is data is send and received continuously." [...]

People Counter for $30 Using an ESP8266 an NodeMCU

"A people counter is a device that used to measure the number of people traversing an entrance, hallway, street corner, etc. If you need to know how many people exist in a space - this is your simple solution. Mostly used in retail stores, shopping malls, and smart office buildings, this counting technology has provided insight to how shoppers/employers behave. How is the people counter application applicable to you (other than just being really cool technology)? Imagine you're the owner of a shop; this counter would will alert you to daily visitors, the walking paths taken when inside, where they stop, and how long they linger at in a place. Wouldn't you like to know what materials gain the most attention; possibly being able to reposition products geographically to increase awareness to benefit your customers needs and your bottom line? In this guide you will learn how to build your own home-made people counter. Also included are instructions for you newly collected data to be utilized via Ubidots, an application enablement platform." [...]

Reverse engineering the 76477 "Space Invaders" sound effect chip from die photos

"Remember the old video game Space Invaders? Some of its sound effects were provided by a chip called the 76477 Complex Sound Generation chip. While the sound effects1 produced by this 1978 chip seem primitive today, it was used in many video games, pinball games. But what's inside this chip and how does it work internally? By reverse-engineering the chip from die photos, we can find out. (Photos courtesy of Sean Riddle.) In this article, I explain how the analog circuits of this chip works and show how the hundreds of transistors on the silicon die form the circuits of this complex chip. The 76477 chip combines several functional blocks to produce a variety of sound effects. A voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) produces a signal whose frequency depends on the control voltage. A "super low frequency" SLF oscillator generates a triangle wave. Feeding this into the VCO generates a varying pitch, useful for bird chirps, sirens, or the warbling sound of the UFO in Space Invaders. A "one-shot" produces a pulse of a fixed length to control the length of the sound. An envelope generator makes the sound more realistic by ramping its amplitude (volume) up at the start and down at the end. A digital white noise generator can be used for drums, gunshots, explosions and other similar sound effects. Finally a digital mixer combines these signals and feeds them to the output amplifier. The diagram below indicates the functional blocks on the 76477 die. Looking under a microscope, you can see the circuitry that makes up the chip. The yellowish lines are metal traces that connect the circuits of the die. The reddish and greenish regions are the silicon of the chip, forming transistors and resistors. The black blobs around the edges of the chip show where tiny bond wires connected the die to the integrated circuit pins. Analog circuits are outlined in purple, while digital circuits are in cyan. The 76477 is primarily analog—most control signals are analog, the chip has no digital registers, and most sounds are generated from analog circuits—but about a third of the chip's area is digital logic." [...]

The Annoy-O-Bug: A Chirping Light-Up Throwie

"Stick this little electronic device practically anywhere and watch your friends go crazy as it beeps and blinks. They won't find it! Small enough to slip in a mint tin, yet loud enough to be heard across a house at only a few dollars per unit. A nice combination for a pretty good prank! Let's dive in!" [...]

How to Design Common Emitter Amplifier

"Amplifiers are used to increase the voltage and current of a weak signal to desired level.There are two types of amplifiers.They are given below. In DC amplifiers,if you increase the voltage of DC Signal then the current will drop.If you increase the current of DC signal,then the voltage will drop.You can't amplify both the voltage and current of DC signal at same time using DC to DC amplifiers.DC amplifiers involves capacitors for boosting operation. AC amplifiers can increase the voltage and current both at the same time.AC amplifiers is used to amplify only AC signals,It can't amplify DC signals.AC amplifiers involves transistors to increase the voltage and current of weak AC signals.AC amplifiers consists of three configurations." [...]

Glowing LED Ita Bag

"Ita bags are a popular way for fans, especially in Japan, to show their love for an anime/character/ship. These bags have a clear protective pouch for displaying charms, badges, etc, so you don't have to worry about them falling off. My philosophy is generally, "Can I add LEDs to it? Yes? Okay, let's do it!" So of course I needed to add LEDs to an itabag for my growing collection of merch. In this Instructable, I'll show you how I made a glowing ita bag to display my Yuri on Ice charms. This tutorial assumes you have a basic understanding of how to work with WS2812B/Neopixel LEDs, Arduino, soldering, laser cutting, and sewing." [...]

Spiderbot V2 - Robot Car

"Spiderbot V2 is an upgrade version of my last project: https://www.instructables.com/id/3D-printed-Transformers-Robot-Spiderbot/ . The Spiderbot is inspired by the "Transformers". It is a RC quadruped robot and has two modes of operation: spider and vehicle, just like the robots in "Transformers". It is Arduino-based and controlled by Android phone using Bluetooth. In this version, the inverse kinematics was included for a better robot movement. The normal wheel in the last version was replaced by the omni wheel, it provides higher mobility in vehicle mode. You should check out the Youtube video demonstration first!" [...]

CleanSweep: the Floor Cleaning Robot!

"CleanSweep (couldn't think of better name :P) is a smartphone controlled robot that cleans your house's floor! The rotating mops on the front of the robot along with a foam roller (used to paint walls, not here) at the back can do the job perfectly. There's also a water pump and water reservoir which can be switched on when required to throw water on the floor and make the mops moist for a proper clean. The foam roller is movable, which means you can lift it when not in use. I've also added speed controls for the driver motors. The project uses bluetooth communication via an HC-05 bluetooth module to send the commands to the most commonly used microcontroller- Arduino UNO. The robot is powered on a 12V lead acid battery, the ideal voltage for all motors used here.. The driver motor pair are 100rpm ones while for the mops I've used 75rpm plastic ones. The best part is that the mops used were homemade, from old CDs and rags and they clean just perfectly. This is a smaller version so might not be suitable for a large area. There can be tons of other features added, like making it completely autonomous, which I couldn't due to shortage of time. It took me around 4-5 days to complete this thing, simultaneously making videos of the process. I hope you like it." [...]

Internet of Things Lighthouse Using Arduino ESP8266 & WS2812 LED

"A Lighthouse showing the current temperature outside as read by an IoT thermometer logging to Thingspeak. This whole idea was brought about by another Raspberry Pi Certified Educator and Computing at Schools Coordinator, Lorraine Underwood. She produced a thermometer that lit up the stairs by utilising an online weather report. See her blog about it here. Neopixel Temperature Stairlights. I tried her lights and they are great. But. I live in a bungalow and don't have any stairs. Also I already have in the garden a summer house with an NodeMcu ESP8266 with a DB18B20 Thermometer logging the outside temperature to Thingspeak every 5 minutes. That was my first proper go at using the NodeMcu, Arduino and The Internet of Things. I decided to make something based on the Stairlights that utilised my own data but instead of having blocks of colours that lit up it would sweep the LED colours gradually from cold to hot. All I needed was a bit of inspiration. That came from my locality in South West England, Cornwall. Not far from here is a lighthouse at Godrevy. I thought I could make a lighthouse with the lights sweeping round and changing colour as the temperature altered. An idea was born." [...]

Web Clock Version 2.0

"This digital clock is based on ESP8266 WIFI micro-controller unit. The flavor used for project design and creation is WEMOS D1 mini which is equipped with a ESP-12F (ESP8266), a 5v to 3.3v regulator, a CH340G USB to UART chip and of course a micro usb connector. This module has plenty of I/O pins to connect the LCD display via the one I2C converter and to use few of them for option and command switches." [...]

Arduino Guitar Note Detector

"This instructable will explain step-by-step how to build a device that detects which note is played on an acoustic guitar. The device accomplishes this task by using a microphone to read in the sound wave, audio amplifier and DC offset circuits to adjust the signal, an algorithm to determine the frequency, and a seven segment display and LEDs to display the note. This instructable was developed while referencing the following Instructables: Arduino Audio Input, Arduino Frequency Detection, and Arduino Guitar Tuner." [...]

Arduino Touch Tic Tac Toe Game

"Dear friends welcome to another Arduino tutorial! In this detailed tutorial we are going to build an Arduino Tic Tac Toe game. As you can see, we are using a touch screen and we are playing against the computer. A simple game like Tic Tac Toe is is a great introduction to game programming and Artificial Intelligence. Even though we won’t be using any Artificial Intelligence Algorithms in this game, we will understand why Artificial Intelligence Algorithms are required in more complex games. Developing games for Arduino is not easy and requires a lot of time. But we can build some simple games for Arduino because it is fun and it will allow us to explore some more advanced programming topics, like Artificial intelligence. It is a great learning experience and at the end you will have a nice game for the kids! Let’s now build this project." [...]

StripClock

"This is actually a project I did quite a while ago (the git repository goes back to September 2014), when the WS2812 LEDs became really popular and ubiquitous. Naturally, I had to get a 5 metre strip of them as well, to play around with them. And what would you do with them? A clock of course! At the time, I was also very much against just throwing an Arduino at it and being done with it, because I thought even that would be overkill. (Though it actually started as a real-time clock module for an Arduino Nano.) I had made an alarm clock before and knew, that the Arduino wasn’t doing anything most of the time, since I’d be using at dedicated real-time clock chip. The Arduino would most of the time just be idling and waiting for the interrupt, generated by the clock chip. And I also wanted to learn to design and manufacture my own PCBs. dermeb already did that several years ago, when he designed, etched and build BlinkenLED displays. So we still had the basic chemicals sitting in the basement waiting to be used again." [...]

Soil Water Level Status Using ESP8266

"Hi friends, in this instructable we will learn to get the status of the water content of the soil in which the plant is growing. We will send an E-Mail which will display the water content in the soil. Here, we will be using the ESP8266-01, because it does not need any additional breakout boards or shields. Also, it is less expensive and very small in size. So lets start making the project !!!" [...]

PIC Development Board for RS485 & DMX512 Applications

"This PIC development board has been designed to develop RS485 based and DMX512 applications, the board has 28 pin SMD Pic micro-controller, RS485 chip for communications, all I/O line has pull-up resistor which can be soldered as per application requirement on particular port pins. In-circuit programming of PIC micro-controller can be achieved via a 6-pin header that is compatible with the Microchip PICkit2 or PICkit3. On board 3.3 V and 5V DC regulators allows using 3V and 5V PICS. This board support both 3.3V low power and normal 5V operation, supply selection with jumper closure. All I/O pins supported with parallel GND and VCC header connector for easy interface of any device or sensor and also can be used as address setting jumper by pulling high or low. Important for DMX512 Address. On board Optically isolated gate driver and Mosfet make DC solid state relay , which can be used to drive High Power LED, Solenoid, DC Motor and any device required DC supply On off or PWM, the input of gate driver is open and has header connector to connect with any suitable I/O line using female header wire hookup. 3Pin screw terminal for easy interface of RS485 twisted cable including GND connections for cable screen, 4 Pin header connector for DC supply input, diode provided at input supply for reverse supply protection." [...]

Low Power Arduino E-ink Display Box With RTC

"This tutorial is about how to use an e-ink display and Real-Time-Clock (RTC) with the Arduino mini pro, including a low power setup! The Arduino platform is awesome to create small projects in only a few days. The problem I encountered several times is, that tutorials covered HOW to build a small demonstrator, but not HOW to use it in a productive setting. Projects either focused on some sensors/ displays or rather on the energy part, but not on both of them. But this is essential for any Arduino project running on batteries. I will explain how I used the e-ink display from smart prototyping with a common RTC (DS3202) and how to get to a low power system which lasts over a year. This kind of system can be useful to many different projects. For me, it was a way to visualize the days of garbage removal. But it could be a platform for any kind of sensor like temperature, pressure, brightness ..." [...]

Build Your Own Vacuum Robot

"This is my first Vacuum Robot, which it's main purpose is to allow anyone to have a cleaning robot without paying so much money, to learn how they work, to build a nice robot that you can modify, update and program as much as you want, and of course to vacuum all that annoying fluff. This project is intended to be as easy to build as possible since all the elements and parts are easy to find on Digikey, eBay, Amazon, etc. The whole chassis was designed in Solidworks so that it could be 3d printed. Currently it uses an Arduino Uno (if you don't like it too much you can easily change it for another micro controller, I decided to use this since my objective is that anyone could actually build it), micro-metal motors, fan propeller, infrared sensors and respective driver modules. Another one bites the dust!" [...]

How to Build an Arduino Self-balancing Robot

"Ever wonder how Segways work? This tutorial will show you how to build an Arduino self-balancing robot that balances itself — just like a Segway! To keep the robot balanced, the motors must counteract the fall of the robot. This action requires a feedback and a correcting element. The feedback element is the MPU6050 gyroscope + accelerometer, which tells the Arduino the current orientation of the robot. The correcting element is the motor and wheel combination." [...]

PropHelix - 3D POV Display

"People have always been fascinated by holographic representations. There are several ways to do this. In my project i use a spinning helix of LED strips. There are a total of 144 LEDs that can displays 17280 voxels with 16 colors. The voxels are arranged circularly in 12 levels. The LEDs are controlled by only one microcontroller. Because i have used the APA102 LEDs i need no additional drivers or transistors. So the electronic part is easier to build. Another advantage is the wireless electrical supply. You need no brushes and there is no friction loss." [...]

Solar Tracker Using Arduino and Raspberry Pi 3

"This Instructable will teach you how to create a solar tracker using Arduino and Raspberry Pi 3 Model B. We will also learn how to create a graphic user interface using Processing. As we all know, energy is an indispensable part of our lives. From transportation to agriculture, cooking to water heating, air conditioners to refrigerators, using laptops to watching television, using phones to watch silly videos to typing this very Instructable, everything needs energy! Solar energy is the cleanest form of renewable energy which can be used to satisfy the growing need for energy while supporting sustainable development. However, the use of solar energy can face certain problems. One such problem is that the position of the sun throughout the day varies. We can solve this problem by creating a solar tracker. A solar tracker is a device which tracks the position of the sun and alters the position of the solar panel to maximize the power output of the system." [...]

Arduino Target Shooter

"This will be a guide to help anyone build a mini Target Shooting Range, without spending an absurd amount of money. What I'll be covering in the tutorial are the basic steps to have fully working prototype, it's up to you to personalize it and making it more fun or difficult depending what you are looking for. It's not extremely demanding in terms of coding, and the components that we'll be connecting are fairly simple to use separately, the challenge will be having everything working together." [...]

Obstacle Avoiding Robot Using Ultrasonic Sensor

"In this project I will show you how to create an Arduino based Obstacle Avoiding Robot using an HC-SR04 Ultrasonic Sensor and 9g Micro Servo. During the build I will explain to you why you should use a Motor Shield and I will also explain how does the HC-SR04 Ultrasonic Sensor Work. Let's get started!" [...]

Building Garage IoT: a Hacker’s Journey

"Shortly after moving into my new home, I found a key switch (above) near the front of my garage. I tested all the keys I was given and none of them worked. At the time, I had lots of bigger projects to work on, so I left it at that. Eventually, I got around to taking a closer look and I traced the key switch’s wires to the inside button that open and closed my garage. Hmmmm. I quickly cut and striped the wires near the key switch and found that if I touched them together, my garage would open! I did not like this! Anyone with a pair of vise grips, or better yet a dremel, could remove the “security bolts”, unmount the switch from the outside, cut the wires, and touch them to get into my garage. Even if I replaced the key switch with a keypad, or retina scanner for that matter, it would still be vulnerable to the previously outlined attack if it was using those 2 wires. I needed to somehow make the wiring that an attacker could access be independent from the logic to open the garage or not. I had two ideas. The first idea was to use a microcontroller and a keypad. The keypad would simply communicate number key presses to the microcontroller, which would chose to open the garage or not. This way if an attacker gained access to the wires, there would be nothing they could short to open the garage. Well, that’s not technically true, because they could short the correct button wires in the correct order to open the garage, but you get the point. The second idea was to use a microcontroller running a web server that I could connect to using my phone to open the garage. The beauty here is that there are no wires exposed for an attacker, however, there are other things to consider. For example, the security and access of my garage via this channel hinges on the availability and security of the web server on the microcontroller. I ultimately decided to build the later because it’s way cooler to open my garage from my phone and it would be a good exercise at attempting to build and secure an IoT device. I am penetration tester, so making sure the device is secure was very important to me." [...]

Pulse Room

"Technology connects us to the outer world, but have we lost touch with our inner selves? Let's attempt to remedy this modern condition by controlling room lighting & sound with the beating of your own heart. Hey - it's worth a shot. This project uses a Pulse Sensor Amped, Feather M0, MusicMaker FeatherWing, RGB LED strips, and power MOSFETs to turn any room into a thumping, flashing pulse room. For a more refined version of this idea in a gallery setting, see Sean Montgomery's excellent Emergence installation." [...]

Controlling Appliances and Weather Monitor Using IOT

"The Internet of things (IoT) is the inter-networking of physical devices (also referred to as "connected devices" and "smart devices"), buildings, and other items—embedded with electronics, software, sensors, actuators, and network connectivity that enable these objects to collect and exchange data. Now I am going to instruct how to make an IoT base device which is capable of controlling the appliances and realtime weather monitoring . This device is build using ESP8266 Node Mcu . Esp8266 node mcu is a device with built in wifi module and micro controller which can interface with arduino ide." [...]

Victorian Style Collar With Neopixel Ring

"Feeling Victorian? Got a knack for Arduinos? Say hello to your new favorite accessory. Keep reading for the how-to for this heartbeat controlled light-up Victorian-esque lace collar." [...]

Easy Infinity Mirror With Arduino Gemma & NeoPixels

"Behold! Look deep into the enchanting and deceptively simple infinity mirror! A single strip of LEDs shine inward on a mirror sandwich to create the effect of endless reflection. This project will apply the skills and techniques from my intro Arduino Class, and put it all together into a final form using a smaller Arduino Gemma board." [...]

Build a DIY Spy Microphone: The Acoustic Telescope

"Like spies in the movies and real life hearing a conversation from a distance can be the difference between war and peace. Of course, your intentions may be more honest such as wanting to hear an animal from a faraway distance. In this DIY Hacking project, I will show you how to build an Acoustic Telescope!" [...]

2-bit Communicators (RFM69)

"These “2-bit” radio communicators provide a means to signal each other (as to where they are; if their done …) when shopping at opposite ends of a big box store; even where cell phones have no service or cell battery charge. RFM69 915MHz radio modules are used. They are very efficient radios using digital packet communications. They can communicate over 100 meters using low power, only 10s of miliamps, and as much as 1/2 kilometer or even 1/2 mile using about 120 ma. The units supports a set of, digital, 10-20 (location?) style question and answer codes (refer to wiki/Ten-code https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ten-code ); as well as optional Morse code. The units do not support any voice (analog) communication. They could also be used as pagers with 3 levels of attention requests, when someone is convalescing or working under the house. Beyond that they can be a lot of fun, especially for kids or students." [...]

Save your Skin with this Open Source UV Index Detector

"It measures solar radiation and visualizes the corresponding value on the integrated display of a miniaturized Arduino, in order to tell us when to expose ourselves to the sun… Summer is just around the corner and whether you choose the seaside or the mountains for your holidays, there is no doubt that most of the people look for a sunny summer in order to come back with the most enviable suntan. Since sunlight contains ultraviolet rays, which are by the way responsible for our suntan, the first concern when it comes to sun rays is to protect ourselves, at least during the first days, with a sun lotion of adequate protection and by taking care to remain outside as little as possible, unless we have a sunshade or a sun umbrella. It is also useful to know the UV quantity contained in the sunlight, in fact, according to our geographic location and weather conditions, the atmosphere can retain UV rays more or less effectively. Getting to know the concentration (index) of UV rays is important because UV rays do not only cause sunburns but are also responsible for skin tumors, that is why we should try to get only the good part from the sun, which is composed of visible light or infrared light, and keep ultraviolet rays as far away as possible. This is the same reason why it is not recommended to sunbathe too long in certain geographical areas and on certain days. On an international level, UVI or UV index is the recognized parameter used to classify UV rays intensity, which is better described in the box you will find in these pages; that’s why in this article we are going to show you how to realize a device to measure and display the UV index, that you might use in order to verify the quantity of ultraviolet rays you are exposed to during your sunbathing session or, if you stay in the city, this will tell you when not to go out during the hottest afternoons in July and August and when you can go out with peace of mind, especially if you suffer from skin problems." [...]

CARDBOARD Robotic Hydraulic Arm

"In this Instrcutables we will be showing you how to make your very own Hydraulic Arm! This project focuses on the principal of hydraulic movements and to do that we made a small scale demonstration of a Robotic Hydraulic Arm. We managed to do some pretty cool tasks with our ''Arm'', do check out the video down below for a better understanding! This project is entirely made with cardboard and a couple of syringes, all the plans and blueprints are available so what are you waiting for? Let's get making!" [...]

UArm Miniature Palletizing Robot Arm for Arduino

"Back in 2014 I bought a Miniature Palletizing Robot Arm for Arduino online, I was also beginning to experiment with 3D printing. I began reverse engineering the arm I bought and researching when I cam across David Beck doing the same thing over on Makerbot's Thingiverse site. We began working together towards our common goal of an affordable, easy to make, DIY, Open Source Robotic Arm (Lite Arm i2). I am porting over a better version of the assembly instructions to this site as I am going to do another run of these in my online store Tesla Robotics & Electronics. You can 3D Print these arms yourself from the parts manifest here; Open Source Robotic Arm (Lite Arm i2) We also have a Google+ group for collaboration and learning here; Lite Arm Google + This model was a set of "Bubblegum" uArms whose proceeds were donated to charity." [...]

RaspiAsteriskGoogle - Run Google Voice Assistant Via Asterisk PBX on Pi

"This project is a proof-of-concept using Asterisk PBX, running on a Raspberry Pi, interfaced to Google Assistant™ Voice Service SDK & API. Using a SIP Phone or SoftPhone, the user dials into their Raspberry Asterisk PBX extension and follows the prompts to speak questions which are sent to Google Assistant Voice Service. Responses are spoken back over the phone. No Google Home™ required. The Google Assistant SDK lets you add voice control, natural language understanding and Google’s smarts to your devices. Your device captures an utterance (a spoken audio request, such as What's on my calendar?), sends it to the Google Assistant, and receives a spoken audio response in addition to the raw text of the utterance." [...]

The Roll-Bot

"Its a rolling robot which you can control via Bluetooth. The inspiration for this project comes from (very very awesome) Sphero robots that are available on the market. I decided to make something of my own that rolls around." [...]

Kerbal Space Program Controller

"This Kerbal Space Program controller is one that I built in my free time freshman year of college as a personal project. After its popular success on the Kerbal Space Program sub-Reddit (Complete Album)I attempted to form a small company called Mission Controllers to design and mass produce a similar controller. With a halfway finished second prototype me and my team attended the World Maker Faire in NYC in 2016. Now that those efforts have ultimately fallen short I am trying to publish a how to guide for people who were initially excited by my controller and would like to try to build their own. For those who don't know Kerbal Space Program is a relatively realistic yet fun space ship simulation game. This controller is designed to be an optimized and aesthetically appealing user interface for the game." [...]

Electromechanical Tone Generator

"The heart of the Hammond B3 Organ is the tone generator. This iconic jazz instrument relied on a series of metal disks each with a varying number of bumps along the edge. Those bumps allowed the metal disks when spun to warp the magnetic field of the electromagnetic pickups inducing current and producing near perfect sinusoidal signals. Those signals were then actively summed to produce the wide range of notes and tones needed for the organ. The Hammond B3 could produce seven and a half octaves using 91 separate disks. This technology ceased to be used for instruments with the advent of digital technology but it remains a forever desired sound and a fantastic demonstration of basic electrical engineering principles. The following will describe the construction of a very basic, single octave tone generator, based on the principles described above. It is a rough design in need of improvements that will be described at the end of the instructions. This Electromechanical Tone Generator was designed as a project for the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at Utah State University." [...]