Editorial

Esta é a Newsletter Nº 183 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
• Modelos 3D
• Documentação
• Projetos Maker

Faz hoje anos que nascia, em 1863, George Parker. Este Inventor norte-americano aperfeiçoou a caneta-tinteiro e fundou a Parker Pen Company para fabricá-la. Ele começou numa carreira docente que o introduziu na falta de fiabilidade das canetas usadas pelos seus alunos. Através da venda e reparação delas, ele aprendeu sobre sua construção. Deixou de ensinar em 1888 para experimentar seu próprio projeto. Em 8 de março de 1892, ele incorporou a Parker Pen Company. Posteriormente, ele patenteou muitas melhorias e foi particularmente bem-sucedido na criação de um sistema fiável de fluxo de tinta.

Faz também hoje anos que nascia, em 1879, Oskar Barnack. Este engenheiro alemão projetou a primeira câmara miniatura (1913), a Leica I. A sua introdução comercial, adiada pela primeira guerra mundial, foi feita em 1924 pela empresa de ótica Ernst Leitz em Wetzlar, Alemanha, onde ele estava empregado. Barnack era um fotógrafo entusiasta numa altura em que apenas as câmaras pesadas estavam disponíveis. No início de 1905, ele concebeu usando um negativo de formato reduzido, para ser ampliado após a exposição. Ele adaptou sua ideia do equipamento que ele fez para tirar fotos em filmes cinematográficos para testar a sua sensibilidade e consistência antes do uso do filme. Para esta câmara, Barnack estabeleceu o tamanho padrão de filme de 35 mm ao dobrar o quadro de cinema padrão de 18x24mm. A sua invenção tinha apenas 1/250 do peso de uma câmara de placa.

Faz igualmente anos hoje que nascia, em 1911, Donald William Kerst. Este físico norte-americano inventou o betatron (1940), o primeiro dispositivo para acelerar electrões ("partículas beta") a velocidades altas o suficiente para ter um momento suficiente para produzir transformações nucleares em átomos. Os electrões são acelerados por indução eletromagnética num anel em forma de donut (toroidal) do qual o ar foi removido. Este tipo de acelerador de partículas pode produzir electrões de alta energia até 340 MeV para fins de pesquisa, incluindo a produção de raios X de alta energia. Para tais velocidades altas, o campo magnético é aumentado para coincidir com o aumento relativístico na massa das partículas. Durante a Segunda Guerra Mundial, Kerst trabalhou em Los Alamos em um projecto de bomba atómica. Ele completou o maior betatron em 1950, na Universidade de Illinois.

Por fim, faz anos hoje que nascia, em 1950. Robert B. Laughlin. Este Físico norte-americano partilhou (com Daniel C. Tsui e Horst Störmer) o Prémio Nobel de Física em 1998 pela pesquisa sobre o efeito quântico de Hall fracionário. Num condutor de corrente, o efeito Hall clássico é a voltagem produzida em ângulo recto com um campo magnético, como descoberto em 1879. Um século depois, o físico alemão Klaus von Klitzing descobriu que num poderoso campo magnético a temperaturas extremamente baixas a resistência Hall de um semicondutor é quantificada em “passos” integrais. Usando campos magnéticos ainda mais fortes e temperaturas mais baixas, Störmer e Tsui descobriram etapas fracionarias, explicadas pela teoria de Laughlin de que os electrões podem formar um novo tipo de fluido quântico com quasi-partículas contendo fracções de uma carga do electrão.

Nesta semana que passou foi lançado o Fedora 29. Dentro de 1 semana fará 15 anos desde que foi lançado o Fedora 1. Esta nova versão do Fedora foi preparada para diferentes ambientes como o "core", Workstation, Server, Atomic Host, etc. Em termos de novidades esta versão trás como principio a sua modularidade que permite enviar diferentes versões de pacotes na mesma base do Fedora. Outras grandes mudanças incluem o GNOME 3.30 na área de trabalho, o ZRAM para as imagens ARM e uma imagem Vagrant para o Fedora Scientific.

Nesta semana que passou também ficámos a saber que a NASA desactivou o telescópio espacial Kepler. Depois de nove anos no espaço profundo obtendo dados que indicam que o nosso céu será preenchido com biliões de planetas ocultos - mais planetas até que estrelas - o telescópio espacial Kepler da NASA ficou sem combustível necessário para outras operações científicas. A NASA decidiu aposentar a sonda dentro de sua órbita actual e segura, longe da Terra. Kepler deixa um legado de mais de 2.600 descobertas de planetas de fora do nosso sistema solar, muitas das quais poderiam ser lugares promissores para a vida.

Na Newsletter desta semana apresentamos diversos projetos de maker assim como um modelo 3D que poderá ser útil. São apresentadas as newelectronics de 22 e 23 de Outubro de 2018.

João Alves ([email protected])

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

Announcing the release of Fedora 29

"In just one week, it will be fifteen years since we announced the release of Fedora Core 1. Now, we’re announcing the release of Fedora 29 — now not just “core”, but Workstation, Server, Atomic Host, a whole collection of desktop Spins and special-purpose Labs, images for Cloud and ARM devices, versions for Power and S390, and more. We were tempted to wait a week to make the dates line up perfectly. But why make everyone wait? This is, yet again, the best Fedora operating system release ever. So go to https://getfedora.org/ and download it now." [...]

NASA Retires Kepler Space Telescope

"After nine years in deep space collecting data that indicate our sky to be filled with billions of hidden planets - more planets even than stars - NASA's Kepler space telescope has run out of fuel needed for further science operations. NASA has decided to retire the spacecraft within its current, safe orbit, away from Earth. Kepler leaves a legacy of more than 2,600 planet discoveries from outside our solar system, many of which could be promising places for life. "As NASA's first planet-hunting mission, Kepler has wildly exceeded all our expectations and paved the way for our exploration and search for life in the solar system and beyond," said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator of NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. "Not only did it show us how many planets could be out there, it sparked an entirely new and robust field of research that has taken the science community by storm. Its discoveries have shed a new light on our place in the universe, and illuminated the tantalizing mysteries and possibilities among the stars."" [...]

Always-On Inertial Measurement Unit from STMicroelectronics Improves Accuracy, Optimizes System Power

"The LSM6DSO iNEMO™ Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) from STMicroelectronics is an always-on 3D accelerometer and 3D gyroscope system-in-package that is, by itself, extremely power efficient and accurate. At the same time, the IMU makes the entire embedded system around it more power efficient, too. Always-On Inertial Measurement Unit from STMicroelectronics Improves Accuracy, Optimizes System Power Two key features play into this increased system-level power efficiency. The LSM6DSO contains a 9k-byte FIFO that can store significantly more data than comparable sensors and, as a result, allows the system processor to wait longer and make fewer requests for data. In addition, the LSM6DSO adds a MIPI I3C℠ serial interface to a Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI) / I2C. The higher speed MIPI I3C interface offers dynamic address assignment, follower-initiated communication, and communication speeds about 10x faster than I2C." [...]

Intel Optane DC Persistent Memory Readies for Widespread Deployment

"Intel today launched its beta program for Intel® Optane™ DC persistent memory. This program allows leading original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and cloud service providers (CSPs) to offer their customers early access to Intel’s revolutionary memory technology and paves the way for general availability in the first half of 2019. As part of today’s news, the world’s leading OEMs and CSPs have announced beta services and systems for early customer trials and deployments. “Intel Optane DC persistent memory is a groundbreaking technology that helps address real problems our customers face. In the data-centric era, businesses need to move data faster, store more of it and process everything. Delivered with next-generation Intel® Xeon® Scalable processors, this technology will transform critical data workloads, from cloud, databases and high-performance computing to in-memory analytics and content delivery networks.” –Lisa Spelman, Intel vice president and general manager, Intel Xeon Products and Data Center Marketing How It’s Different: As a part of today’s news, Intel announced unique capabilities delivered by Intel Optane DC persistent memory through two special operating modes – App Direct mode and Memory mode." [...]

Wingcopter, DHL and GIZ pilot drone delivery in Tanzania

"Revolutionising the delivery of medicines to remote areas using drones – the pilot project Deliver Future proves that it’s not science fiction. Three experts in their respective fields are making it happen: The German drone manufacturer Wingcopter, the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and DHL. Over a six-month period, they successfully tested the delivery of health commodities using a drone flying to Ukerewe Island in Lake Victoria. During the trials, the autonomous DHL Parcelcopter 4.0 completed the 60 km flight from the mainland to the island in 40 minutes on average. A total of 2,200 km were flown and roughly 2,000 flight minutes recorded during the pilot project. " [...]

First private Chinese attempt to send rocket into space fails

"Beijing-based Landscape says ‘something abnormal happened’ in the third stage of its ZQ-1 rocket A privately developed Chinese carrier rocket failed to reach orbit after lifting off from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre on Saturday, in a blow to the country’s nascent attempts by private companies to rival Elon Musk’s SpaceX. The three-stage rocket, Zhuque-1, was developed by Beijing-based Landspace. The company said in a microblog post after nominal first and second stages that the spacecraft failed to reach orbit as a result of an issue with the third stage. The company said that “cowling separation was normal but something abnormal happened after the second stage.” The statement on its Weibo social media account did not elaborate. Landspace was founded in 2015 and soon aimed to be the first Chinese private company to deliver a satellite into orbit. The company said it was the first private licensed company in China to launch carrier rockets." [...]

NASA's Dawn Mission to Asteroid Belt Comes to End

"NASA's Dawn spacecraft has gone silent, ending a historic mission that studied time capsules from the solar system's earliest chapter. Dawn missed scheduled communications sessions with NASA's Deep Space Network on Wednesday, Oct. 31, and Thursday, Nov. 1. After the flight team eliminated other possible causes for the missed communications, mission managers concluded that the spacecraft finally ran out of hydrazine, the fuel that enables the spacecraft to control its pointing. Dawn can no longer keep its antennae trained on Earth to communicate with mission control or turn its solar panels to the Sun to recharge. The Dawn spacecraft launched 11 years ago to visit the two largest objects in the main asteroid belt. Currently, it's in orbit around the dwarf planet Ceres, where it will remain for decades." [...]

Spinning the Light: The World's Smallest Optical Gyroscope

"Caltech engineers create an optical gyroscope smaller than a grain of rice Mechanical versus Optical Gyroscopes Gyroscopes are devices that help vehicles, drones, and wearable and handheld electronic devices know their orientation in three-dimensional space. They are commonplace in just about every bit of technology we rely on every day. Originally, gyroscopes were sets of nested wheels, each spinning on a different axis. But open up a cell phone today, and you will find a microelectromechanical sensor (MEMS), the modern-day equivalent, which measures changes in the forces acting on two identical masses that are oscillating and moving in opposite directions. These MEMS gyroscopes are limited in their sensitivity, so optical gyroscopes have been developed to perform the same function but with no moving parts and a greater degree of accuracy using a phenomenon called the Sagnac effect. What is the Sagnac Effect?" [...]

Nanocrystals arrange to improve electronics

"Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) researchers are working to make better electronic devices by delving into the way nanocrystals are arranged inside of them. Nanocrystals are promising building blocks for new and improved electronic devices, due to their size-tunable properties and ability to integrate into devices at low-cost. While the structure of nanocrystals has been extensively studied, no one has been able to watch the full assembly process. That’s where LLNL scientists Christine Orme, Yixuan Yu, Babak Sadigh and a colleague from the University of California, Los Angeles come in. ‘We think the situation can be improved if detailed quantitative information on the nanocrystal assembly process could be identified and if the crystallization process were better controlled,” said Orme, an LLNL material scientist and corresponding author of a paper appearing in the journal Nature Communications. Nanocrystals inside devices form ensembles, whose collective physical properties, such as charge carrier mobility, depend on both the properties of individual nanocrystals and the way they are arranged." [...]

Novel Material Could Make Plastic Manufacturing More Energy-Efficient

"An innovative filtering material may soon reduce the environmental cost of manufacturing plastic. Created by a team including scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the advance can extract the key ingredient in the most common form of plastic from a mixture of other chemicals—while consuming far less energy than usual. The material is a metal-organic framework (MOF), a class of substances that have repeatedly demonstrated a talent for separating individual hydrocarbons from the soup of organic molecules produced by oil refining processes. MOFs hold immense value for the plastic and petroleum industries because of this capability, which could allow manufacturers to perform these separations far more cheaply than standard oil-refinement techniques. This promise has made MOFs the subject of intense study at NIST and elsewhere, leading to MOFs that can separate different octanes of gasoline and speed up complex chemical reactions. One major goal has proved elusive, though: an industrially preferred method for wringing out ethylene—the molecule needed to create polyethylene, the plastic used to make shopping bags and other everyday containers." [...]

New Chip Measures Multiple Cellular Responses to Speed Drug Discovery

"Finding ways to improve the drug development process – which is currently costly, time-consuming and has an astronomically high failure rate – could have far-reaching benefits for health care and the economy. Researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology have designed a cellular interfacing array using low-cost electronics that measures multiple cellular properties and responses in real time. This could enable many more potential drugs to be comprehensively tested for efficacy and toxic effects much faster. That’s why Hua Wang, associate professor in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Georgia Tech, describes it as “helping us find the golden needle in the haystack.” Pharmaceutical companies use cell-based assays, a combination of living cells and sensor electronics, to measure physiological changes in the cells. That data is used for high-throughput screening (HTS) during drug discovery. In this early phase of drug development, the goal is to identify target pathways and promising chemical compounds that could be developed further – and to eliminate those that are ineffective or toxic – by measuring the physiological responses of the cells to each compound." [...]

Rice U. scientists form flat tellurium

"Two-dimensional element shows promise for solar cells and other optoelectronics In the way things often happens in science, Amey Apte wasn’t looking for two-dimensional tellurium while experimenting with materials at Rice University. But there it was. “It’s like I tried to find a penny and instead found a dollar,” he said. Apte and his colleagues made tellurium, a rare metal, into a film less than a nanometer (one-billionth of a meter) thick by melting a powder of the element at high temperature and blowing the atoms onto a surface. He said the resulting material, tellurene, shows promise for next-generation, near-infrared solar cells and other optoelectronic applications that rely on the manipulation of light. The slim jackpot is described in 2D Materials." [...]

Shielded quantum bits

"A theoretical concept to realize quantum information processing has been developed by Professor Guido Burkard and his team of physicists at the University of Konstanz. The researchers have found ways to shield electric and magnetic noise for a short time. This will make it possible to use spins as memory for quantum computers, as the coherence time is extended and many thousand computer operations can be performed during this interval. The study was published in the current issue of the journal “Physical Review Letters”. The technological vision of building a quantum computer does not only depend on computer and information science. New insights in theoretical physics, too, are decisive for progress in the practical implementation." [...]

Multi-functional Quantum Bits for Future Computers

"Compared to classical computers, future quantum computers are to far more efficiently solve certain computation problems. While conventional computers execute one computation step after the other, quantum computers can execute many computation steps in parallel. This will accelerate processing of large data volumes. The microstructure of certain materials and elements of the quantum bits, however, is of crucial importance. Researchers of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) study materials for such multi-functional quantum bits. Their project “Scalable Rare Earth Ion Quantum Computing Nodes” (SQUARE) is funded by the European Commission with EUR three million." [...]

Lens-free OLEDs with Efficiency comparable to that of Inorganic LEDs

"The use of organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) has extended to various applications, but their efficiency is still lagging behind inorganic light-emitting diodes. In this research, a KAIST team provided a systematic way to yield OLEDs with an external quantum efficiency (EQE) greater than 50% with an external scattering medium. Having properties suitable for thin and flexible devices, OLEDs are popular light sources for displays, such as mobile devices and high quality TVs. In recent years, numerous efforts have been made to apply OLEDs in lighting as well as light sources for vehicles. For such applications, high efficiency is of the upmost importance for the successful deployment of light sources. Thanks to continuous research and the development of OLEDs, their efficiency is steadily on the rise, and a level equivalent to inorganic LEDs has been demonstrated in some reports." [...]

Harnessing machine learning and big data to fight hunger

"A group of Cornell researchers has received a $1 million grant from the U.S. Agency for International Development to use machine learning to rapidly analyze agricultural and food market conditions, aiming to better predict poverty and undernutrition in some of the world’s poorest regions. The method will use open-source, freely available satellite data to measure solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF) – photons emitted from plants during the process of photosynthesis, detected by satellite, which can monitor agricultural productivity. It will also consider land-surface temperature, which provides information about crop stress under water deficit or excessive heat, as well as food-price data. “A method that can use near real-time, low-cost or freely available remotely sensed data can speed up the delivery of this information, and sharply reduce the cost,” said Chris Barrett, the Stephen B. and Janice G. Ashley Professor of Applied Economics and Management in the Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management, and the principal investigator on the three-year grant. “If you are a humanitarian organization trying to really target your resources at the poorest rural areas, this seems a powerful diagnostic tool.” Measuring agricultural health is essential in assessing conditions in poor, rural regions where the economy relies heavily on farming and where droughts, floods or crop failures can be devastating. Quickly identifying potential crises can help direct aid where it’s most needed." [...]

Making solar panels that last half a century

"Case Western Reserve University research team awarded $1.35 million to study solar photovoltaic module construction, part of broader U.S. effort to make solar energy efficient, affordable CLEVELAND—A team of solar energy researchers from Case Western Reserve University has been awarded $1.35 million from the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Energy Technologies Office to continue its work toward increasing the efficiency and lifetime of photovoltaic modules—specifically aimed at pushing their lifespan to 50 years. The project is being led by Roger French, the Kyocera Professor in the Materials Science and Engineering Department at the Case School of Engineering and head of the SDLE Research Center at Case Western Reserve. “This is the new challenge for solar energy—a 50-year lifetime for photovoltaic (PV) modules,” said French, whose research team had in 2017 received a similar $1.47 million Department of Energy grant to test new commercial silicon solar cell technology. “Right now, the lifetime of a solar panel is about 25 to 30 years, so this is a big jump, but one that can be made.” Building a better solar panel Specifically, the research at Case Western Reserve is expected to help determine the relative value of two different kinds of module construction for encapsulating photovoltaic cells: one of double-glass construction and the other known as glass/backsheet, where the backsheet is instead a multilayer polymer laminate. Each type of PV module construction has its advantages and disadvantages: double-glass better protects the structural integrity of the PV cells inside, but can also trap corrosive degradation products inside; glass/backsheet, on the other hand, “breathes” better to allow corrosives to leak out, but offers less physical protection to the inside components. “My background is in chemistry, so I’m looking at the chemical degradation of polymers inside the solar panels, especially in the glass-glass construction, as many manufacturers are starting to use that method,” said Laura Bruckman, an associate research professor at the center." [...]

A Solar Cell That Does Double Duty for Renewable Energy

"Researchers develop an artificial photosynthesis system that generates hydrogen fuel and electricity at the same time In the quest for abundant, renewable alternatives to fossil fuels, scientists have sought to harvest the sun’s energy through “water splitting,” an artificial photosynthesis technique that uses sunlight to generate hydrogen fuel from water. But water-splitting devices have yet to live up to their potential because there still isn’t a design for materials with the right mix of optical, electronic, and chemical properties needed for them to work efficiently. Now researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and the Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis (JCAP), a DOE Energy Innovation Hub, have come up with a new recipe for renewable fuels that could bypass the limitations in current materials: an artificial photosynthesis device called a “hybrid photoelectrochemical and voltaic (HPEV) cell” that turns sunlight and water into not just one, but two types of energy – hydrogen fuel and electricity. The paper describing this work was published on Oct. 29 in Nature Materials. Finding a way out for electrons Most water-splitting devices are made of a stack of light-absorbing materials. Depending on its makeup, each layer absorbs different parts or “wavelengths” of the solar spectrum, ranging from less-energetic wavelengths of infrared light to more-energetic wavelengths of visible or ultraviolet light." [...]

Novel quantum dots enhance cell imaging

"A team of researchers from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Mayo Clinic have engineered a new type of molecular probe that can measure and count RNA in cells and tissue without organic dyes. The probe is based on the conventional fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) technique, but it relies on compact quantum dots to illuminate molecules and diseased cells rather than fluorescent dyes. Over the last 50 years, FISH has evolved into a multi-billion-dollar industry because it effectively images and counts DNA and RNA in single cells. However, FISH has its limitations due to the delicate nature of the dyes. For example, the dyes rapidly deteriorate and are not very good at imaging in three dimensions. In addition, conventional FISH can only read out a couple of RNA or DNA sequences at a time." [...]

Researchers Create First Scalable Platform for On-chip Quantum Light Sources

"Nanoscale light sources can now be created with unprecedented efficiency and precision, paving way for new developments in quantum computing and quantum cryptography. Household lightbulbs give off a chaotic torrent of energy, as trillions of miniscule light particles – called photons – reflect and scatter in all directions. Quantum light sources, on the other hand, are like light guns that fire single photons one by one, each time they are triggered, enabling them to carry hack-proof digital information - technology attractive to industries such as finance and defense. Now, researchers at Stevens Institute of Technology and Columbia University have developed a scalable method for creating large numbers of these quantum light sources on a chip with unprecedented precision that not only could pave the way for the development of unbreakable cryptographic systems but also quantum computers that can perform complex calculations in seconds that would take normal computers years to finish. “The search for scalable quantum light sources has been going on for 20 years, and more recently has become a national priority,” says Stefan Strauf, who led the work and is also director of Stevens’ Nanophotonic Lab. “This is the first time anyone has achieved a level of spatial control combined with high efficiency on a chip that is scalable, all of which are needed to realize quantum technologies."" [...]

Inside these fibers, droplets are on the move

"Fibers containing systems for mixing, separating, and testing fluids may open up new possibilities for medical screening. Microfluidics devices are tiny systems with microscopic channels that can be used for chemical or biomedical testing and research. In a potentially game-changing advance, MIT researchers have now incorporated microfluidics systems into individual fibers, making it possible to process much larger volumes of fluid, in more complex ways. In a sense, the advance opens up a new “macro” era of microfluidics. Traditional microfluidics devices, developed and used extensively over the last couple of decades, are manufactured onto microchip-like structures and provide ways of mixing, separating, and testing fluids in microscopic volumes. Medical tests that only require a tiny droplet of blood, for example, often rely on microfluidics." [...]

Improved Switching Algorithm Helps Balance High-Voltage Power Converter

"Modular Multi-Level Converter Can Provide Greater Efficiency in Wind, Solar, Oil and Gas, and EV Applications A Khalifa University research team has developed a new switching algorithm for modular multi-level converters (MMC) -- a promising electrical power system that has the potential to benefit the clean energy and oil and gas sectors. The team, led by Associate Professor Dr. Abdul Rahman Balanthi Beig with graduate students Safia Babikir Bashir and Yan Yan, have developed a new switching algorithm to improve the performance of MMC. They recently published a paper in the international journal ‘Electrical Power and Energy Systems’ on their research. The MMC is expected to facilitate major changes in the way next-generation power systems are connected and operated. “With the emergence of multi-level converters, the whole concept of the way electricity is generated, transmitted and consumed is changing. Today efficiency is the key objective in the electrical energy sector." [...]

Engineers develop 'bury-and-forget' sensors, data networks for better soil, water quality

"The satellite images are full of red warnings: Miles and miles of bright red along the Louisiana coast; boiling reds covering most of Florida’s Lake Okeechobee. The images show harmful algae blooms that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says can create toxins, endanger human health, kill fish and wildlife, rob water of oxygen and otherwise create environmental trouble. Engineers at Iowa State University and the University of Florida are working on a new system of “bury-and-forget” soil sensors and remote, wireless, data-collection networks that could help reduce the fertilizer runoff that feeds the harmful algae blooms both states are working to control. Iowa’s efforts are, in part, aimed at reducing fertilizer runoff that flows down the Mississippi River and contributes to the “dead zone” of oxygen-depleted water in the Gulf of Mexico along the Louisiana coast. The runoff-reduction and healthy-soil system envisioned by the engineers could help reduce the runoff of nitrogen fertilizer by using data from the sensors to build better models of the interactions of fertilizer, soil and crops. Those models could help farmers reduce the fertilizer they use." [...]

New technology will enable metal parts manufacturing through 3D printing

"Just as it is already possible to manufacture a wide range of polymer-based (plastic) objects using 3D printing or additive manufacturing (AD), it will soon be possible to make metal parts using that technique in combination with some machining processes. That innovative manufacturing technology, which plans to replace, at least partially, traditional processes of casting, forging and machining, has attracted the attention of different research groups around the world. In Brazil, the main institutions working with additive manufacturing in the state of São Paulo gathered together through the project funded by FAPESP, to align efforts to further study, develop and apply the new technology. Some of the challenges involved in developing the technology in Brazil were mentioned by Reginaldo Teixeira Coelho, a professor in the São Carlos School of Engineering at the University of São Paulo (EESC-USP), in a talk presented at FAPESP Week Belgium, held in the cities of Brussels, Liège and Leuven October 8-10, 2018. “In the near future, some mechanical, automotive and aircraft parts and components, as well as human prostheses, will be manufactured using this new technology. If Brazil does not at least learn how to use the process, it will fall behind,” Coelho stated." [...]

Using fine-tuning for record-breaking performance

"Researchers at FAU achieve highest certified efficiency of organic solar cells to date October 31, 2018 Materials scientists at FAU have achieved a new record in the performance of organic non-fullerene based single-junction solar cells. Using a series of complex optimisations, they achieved certified power conversion efficiency of 12.25 percent on a surface area measuring one square centimetre. This standardised surface area is the preliminary stage for prototype manufacture. The results achieved in conjunction with partners from the South China University of Technology (SCUT) have now been published in the renowned journal ‘Nature Energy’*. Organic photovoltaic systems have undergone rapid development during the last few years. In most cases, organic solar cells consist of two layers of semiconductors – one acts as the donor by supplying the electrons, and the second acts as an acceptor or electron conductor." [...]

Graphene takes a step towards renewable fuel

"Researchers at LiU are working to develop a method to convert water and carbon dioxide to the renewable energy of the future, using the energy from the sun and graphene applied to the surface of cubic silicon carbide. The research group has now taken an important step towards this goal, and developed a method that makes it possible to produce graphene with several layers in a tightly controlled process. They have also shown that graphene acts as a superconductor in certain conditions. Their results have been published in the scientific journals Carbon and Nano Letters. Carbon, oxygen and hydrogen. These are the three elements you would get if you took apart molecules of carbon dioxide and water." [...]

Army researchers make giant leap in quantum sensing

"Scientists at the U.S. Army Research Laboratory are developing a new quantum sensor using atoms excited to unusually high energy levels. The research community is also experiencing "high energy and excitement" thinking about the new technological possibilities this discovery could enable. Drs. Paul Kunz, Kevin Cox, David Meyer and Fredrik Fatemi from the laboratory's Sensors and Electron Devices Directorate's Quantum Technology Branch are leading a research effort that seeks to equip future Soldiers with more accurate sensors that operate with less background noise; and it all started with what are known as Rydberg atoms. "The most precise measurement devices in the world are based on atoms and are revolutionizing critical Department of Defense capabilities such as timekeeping and magnetic field sensing," Kunz said. "We have recently been investigating the characteristics of highly excited atoms, known as Rydberg atoms, for applications as electric field sensors and communications receivers."" [...]

New laser breakthrough

"Case Western Reserve University researchers, global collaborators, first to demonstrate ‘random, transistor’ laser that can be manipulated at nanoscale In the last half-century, laser technology has grown into a multi-billion-dollar global industry and used in everything from optical-disk drives and barcode scanners to surgica­­­­­­l and welding equipment. Not to mention those laser pointers that entertain and confound your cat. Now, lasers are poised to take another step forward: Researchers from the Department of Physics at Case Western Reserve University, in collaboration with partners around the world, are able to control the direction of a laser’s output beam by applying external voltage. It is a historic first among scientists who have been experimenting with what they call “random lasers” over the last 15 years or so. “There’s still a lot of work to do, but this is a clear first proof of a transistor random laser, where the laser emission can be routed and steered by applying an external voltage,” said Giuseppe Strangi, physics professor and the Ohio Research Scholar in Surfaces of Advanced Materials at Case Western Reserve. Strangi, who led the research, and his collaborators recently outlined their findings in a paper published in the journal Nature Communications." [...]

Qubits trained to find iron ore, brain pathologies, and distant quasars

"Researchers from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT), Aalto University in Finland, and ETH Zurich have demonstrated a prototype device that uses quantum effects and machine learning to measure magnetic fields more accurately than its classical analogues. Such measurements are needed to seek mineral deposits, discover distant astronomical objects, diagnose brain disorders, and create better radars. “When you study nature, whether you investigate the human brain or a supernova explosion, you always deal with some sort of electromagnetic signals,” explains Andrey Lebedev, a co-author of the paper describing the new device in npj Quantum Information. “So measuring magnetic fields is necessary across diverse areas of science and technology, and one would want to do this as accurately as possible.” Quantum magnetometer offers more precision A magnetometer is an instrument that measures magnetic fields. A compass is an example of a primitive magnetometer. In an electronics store, one can find more advanced devices of this kind used by archaeologists." [...]

Berkeley computer theorists show path to verifying that quantum beats classical

"As multiple research groups around the world race to build a scalable quantum computer questions remain about how the achievement of quantum supremacy will be verified. Quantum supremacy is the term that describes a quantum computer’s ability to solve a computational task that would be prohibitively difficult for any classical algorithm. It is considered a critical milestone in quantum computing, but because the very nature of quantum activity defies traditional corroboration, there have been parallel efforts to find a way to prove that quantum supremacy has been achieved. Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, have just weighed in by giving a leading practical proposal known as random circuit sampling (RCS) a qualified seal of approval with the weight of complexity theoretic evidence behind it. Random circuit sampling is the technique Google has put forward to prove whether or not it has achieved quantum supremacy with a 72-qubit computer chip called Bristlecone, unveiled earlier this year. The UC Berkeley computer theorists published their proof of RCS as a verification method in a paper published Monday, Oct. 29, in the journal Nature Physics." [...]

Simple, effective Earth-system modeling

"A faster, cheaper modeling method could improve our understanding of long-term atmospheric chemistry and provide a powerful tool for risk assessment. To assess long-range risks to food, water, energy and other critical natural resources, decision-makers often rely on Earth-system models capable of producing reliable projections of regional and global environmental changes spanning decades. A key component of such models is the representation of atmospheric chemistry. Atmospheric simulations utilizing state-of-the-art complex chemical mechanisms promise the most accurate simulations of atmospheric chemistry. Unfortunately their size, complexity, and computational requirements have tended to limit such simulations to short time periods and a small number of scenarios to account for uncertainty. Now a team of researchers led by the MIT Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change has devised a strategy to incorporate simplified chemical mechanisms in atmospheric simulations that can match the results produced by more complex mechanisms for most regions and time periods." [...]

SMORES-EP

"SMORES-EP is a modular robot designed and built at the University of Pennsylvania, and used by researchers at Penn and Cornell. SMORES stands for Self-Assembling MOdular Robot for Extreme Shapeshifting, and EP refers to the Electro-Permanent magnets the modules use to connect. SMORES-EP modules have four degrees of freedom (pan, tilt, and left/right wheels). The left and right wheels have rubber tired, and allows the module to drive like a car on flat surfaces. Each module has its own battery, and communicates with a central computer over 802.11 WiFi. So far, 24 modules have been built." [...]

A new approach to liquid-repelling surfaces

"Novel surface design overcomes problem of condensation that bedeviled previous systems. “Omniphobic” might sound like a way to describe someone who is afraid of everything, but it actually refers to a special type of surface that repels virtually any liquid. Such surfaces could potentially be used in everything from ship hulls that reduce drag and increase efficiency, to coverings that resist stains and protect against damaging chemicals. But the omniphobic surfaces developed so far suffer from a major problem: Condensation can quickly disable their liquid-shedding properties. Now, researchers at MIT have found a way to overcome this effect, producing a surface design that drastically reduces the effects of condensation, although at a slight sacrifice in performance. The new findings are described in the journal ACS Nano, in a paper by graduate student Kyle Wilke, professor of mechanical engineering and department head Evelyn Wang, and two others." [...]

First two-dimensional material that performs as both topological insulator and superconductor

"MIT researchers have demonstrated that a Tungsten ditelluride-based transistor combines two different electronic states of matter. A transistor based on the 2-D material tungsten ditelluride (WTe2) sandwiched between boron nitride can switch between two different electronic states — one that conducts current only along its edges, making it a topological insulator, and one that conducts current with no resistance, making it a superconductor — researchers at MIT and colleagues from four other institutions have demonstrated. Using four-probe measurements, a common quantum electronic transport technique to measure the electronic behavior of materials, the researchers plotted the current carrying capacity and resistance characteristics of the two-dimensional tungsten ditelluride transistor and confirmed their findings across a range of applied voltages and external magnetic fields at extremely low temperatures. “This is the first time that the exact same material can be tuned either to a topological insulator or to a superconductor,” says Pablo Jarillo-Herrero, the Cecil and Ida Green Professor of Physics at MIT. “We can do this by regular electric field effect using regular, standard dielectrics, so basically the same type of technology you use in standard semiconductor electronics.” New class of materials “This is the first of a new class of materials — topological insulators that can be tuned electrically into superconductors — which opens many possibilities which before there were significant obstacles to realize,” Jarillo-Herrero says. “Having one material where you can do this seamlessly within the same material to transition between this topological insulator and superconductor is something which is potentially very attractive.” Tungsten ditelluride, which is one of the transition metal dichalcogenide materials, is classified as a semimetal and conducts electricity like metals in bulk form." [...]

Linear Servo Actuators

"This is a general purpose linear servo actuator (pusher style). Two sizes have been designed, for different space constraints and force outputs. These use continuous rotation servos which helps keep the cost very low. Off the shelf actuators of this type can cost around $70 USD. The “mini” version will fit in smaller spacers, but has a much lower force output. The “large” version has a higher force output, but is...larger in size than the “mini”." [...]

newelectronics 22 Outubro 2018

"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. " [...]

newelectronics 23 Outubro 2018

"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. " [...]

RaspiWWV - Simulated WWV Shortwave Audio Time Broadcast

"Remember the days when you would sit listening to WWV time signals on your Shortwave radio (tick, tick, tick At the tone, the time will be)? (Hear it on YouTube above) Oh! You missed out on that? Now you can (re-)experience those moments and have your own WWV clock, no Shortwave Radio and no Internet connection required. Isnt that what you always wanted? Actually, this is a project to help show you how to connect a tiny OLED screen, a Real Time Clock (RTC) and an Audio Amplifier all to a single Raspberry Pi Zero!" [...]

5-Wire Resistive Touch Sensor

"Hello hello! It's been a while since I've worked on this site and quite a lot has changed it seems! I'm finally ready to get back behind the wheel for another project, and I think it's time to change things up a bit myself! I've had in mind for some time a project based off 271828's Plate and Ball, but I've got a lot to learn about sensors and control theory before it's finished. I thought that so long as I'm learning a thing or two, I might take you guys with me! To that end, my goal for these tutorials is going to be a sort of hybrid between my more polished tutorials, and a record for the project itself." [...]

The Victorian Tantalus Nixie Clock

"This clock was originally going to be known as the Victoriana Clock after the Victorian hobby of putting objects under glass domes until a well respected Nixie clock builder called Paul Parry informed me that it looked like a Victorian Tantalus. A Tantalus is a lockable rack for decanters of spirits and would be on display in any fashionable Victorian house, so having a similarity to this it is now called The Victorian Tantalus Nixie Clock. I have always had an idea of putting nixies under glass but when I received the first glass dome I ordered a few years ago out of curiosity I was put off due to it being very rough looking. I recently managed to get some smooth matching glass domes from PV Electronics that were ideal for the project. The next thing was to get matching colon tubes and the solution was 12 x 100 mm rimless test tubes. The clock is built around the PV Electronics Spectrum ZM1040 kit which I have modified to act as a 'DINK' kit (remote tubes)." [...]

Control 4WD Robot With Tv Remote Using Arduino UNO and L293D

"How to use your TV remote or any Remote control to control 4WD Robot, No shield required , Connecting the 4 Motor with L293D ic ," [...]

1 Square Inch 20msps Oscilloscope

"A 1" by 1" 20msps Oscilloscope based on the PIC32MZ For the Return of the Square Inch Project, we are designing a PIC32MZ based oscilloscope that is only 1" by 1" including an OLED screen. This project is designed around a PIC32MZ EF processor. We use its internal ADCs in an interleaved mode in order to get the full 20Msps. We have found that in practice we are able to achieve approximately 1MHz of bandwidth. " [...]

Interactive Tic-Tac Toe Game Controlled With Arduino

"The goal of the Physical Tic-Tac-Toe project is to move a well-known game into the physical realm. Originally, the game is played by two players on a piece of paper - by putting X and O symbols in turns. Our idea was to examine players behavior when confronted with a radically different form. Additionally, we really liked to explore Steampunk aesthetics by combining the mechanics of gears with electronics. The key idea behind our project is that the game fields states can be represented by the shape of the bendable material. Fields have 3 different states: X, O and NULL (unused field)." [...]

Make a DIY Smartwatch Using ESP8266

"Smartwatches are extremely fascinating because of the numerous features provided by them with tiny body. The Smartwatch craze began when Pebble released their first Smartwatch. Since then, many companies are constantly working on designing the most utilitarian smartwatch. But, What really makes a Smartwatch cool? It is definitely its looks and features. The best way to get personalized features on a Smartwatch is to design and build one on your own." [...]

Thingspeak Temperature And Humidity App Using Esp8266

"While tinkering with my electronic stuff, I got this idea to make web-based weather app. This web app uses the SHT31 sensor for getting the real-time temperature and humidity data. We have deployed our project on ESP8266 WiFi module. Online or offline! No need to worry, whether you are online or offline you will get the weather updates from anywhere and anytime. This web app posts data to the local web server as well as to cloud." [...]

Class AB AMPLIFIER

"Hey all!! In this tutorial, i will try to explain how to make an amplifier circuit known as Class AB Amplifier.There are a lot of amplifier circuits and have their circuit analysis methods as well. However, i will cover the only basic implementation of it with the two stages. First stage consist of non-inverting amplifier circuit using Op-Amp. It is for the amplicitaion of small signal araound more than 20 times. However, we cannot drive any speaker with only non-inverting amplifier." [...]

Halloween + Micro:bit

"Add some life to your Halloween decorations! Using micro:bit + LEDs, and some spooky music! I did something similar last year using Arduino, but because of the limitations of some of the libraries, I needed to use two separate boards to combine the LEDs and music. Using Micro:bit allowed me to combine them all into one. Watch video for more details: What you need: Pumpkin! Micro:bit - https://amzn.to/2CHCzXlAddressable LED Strip - https://amzn.to/2CIBkXFPower supply - https://amzn.to/2SmLUt8 (you can use the battery case that comes with micro:bit and some AAAs, but I usually power through the usb connection using a cell phone power bank) Speaker - https://amzn.to/2D5Ciyh -can use pretty much any speaker with two terminals or with a standard headphone jack." [...]

ESP32 Xiaomi Hack - Get Data Wirelessly

"Dear friends welcome to another Instructable! Today we are going to learn how to get the data that this Xiaomi Temperature and Humidity monitor transmits using the Bluetooth functionality of the ESP32 board. As you can see, I am using an ESP32 board and a 2.8 color TFT display. On the display, we display the temperature and the humidity. The cool thing is that I havent connected any sensors to the ESP32 board. I get the temperature and the humidity wirelessly from this commercial Xiaomi Temperature and Humidity monitor." [...]

Sound Bending Synth

"Ive built a few sound bending machines before (check out the links below to the ibles). This time I added a reverb and amp module which really gives you a whole new range of sounds to play around with. Plus, the voice recorder module used in the synth is pretty quiet without an amp so now you can really annoy the neighbours properly. This is a relatively simple build and doesnt need any circuits to be made as I use 3 off-the-shelf modules and mash them together. There is some soldering that needs to be done but its not too difficult. Anyone who is new to circuits and wants to try their hand at this should check out my ible here." [...]

Simple Weather Station Using ESP8266.

"In this Instructable I will be sharing how to use ESP8266 to get data like Temperature, Pressure, Climate etc. And YouTube data like Subscribers & Total view count. and display the data on Serial monitor and display it on LCD. The data will be fetched online so no additional sensors are needed for this one. Website used here is RemoteMe.org. Check out the previous Instructable about RemoteMe here if you haven't already." [...]

An Environmental Monitoring Tool

"An environmental monitoring system using a Nano, with GPS, BME680, VEML6070, MiCS-5524, BH1750, a 128x64 OLED, and NeoPixels. I created this device to be personal. It will eventually be paired with a Raspberry Pi with a 3.5" LCD to also display radar. The end product will allow me to see the current weather conditions no matter where I am at, including live radar using current GPS data. It currently uses: Arduino Nano (Rev3.0) Adafruit BME680 (Temperature, Humidity, Barometric Pressure, & AQI) Adafruit MiCS-5524 Gas Sensor (CO level) Adafruit VEML6070 (UV Index) BH1750 (Light intensity) NEO 6M GPS (Location services) OLED Monochrome 2.4" 128x64 I2C (Values display) Adafruit NeoPixel Stick (At-A-Glance display) It will show temperature, humidity, barometric pressure, (in both inHg, & mb,) Air Quality Index, UV Index, and luminosity; along with current latitude/longitude, altitude, speed, heading, and time in UTC. The Nano, BME680, and CO sensors are currently on an Adafruit Perma-Proto quarter size board mounted in a plastic craft container." [...]

SerialDebug: Improving Debug to Arduino

"Improved serial debugging, with debug levels and simple software debugger, to see/change global variables, add watch, or call a function. Improving debugging for the Arduino Modern development platforms, such as Android and iOS, has debug output with levels (verbose, debug,...). ESP-IDF, the native SDK for ESP32, have it too. Why levels on debug messages is important? Why do they allow you to set a level of each message, according to its importance, and it helps to filter important messages. Why do not we have this for the Arduino?" [...]

Node MCU With 4 Port Relay Module, Blynk App, IFTTT and Google Home. Profit?

"This post is all about how to connect google home with NodeMCU and blynk app, you can control your appliances with simple blynk controlled NodeMCU switch and google assistant. So lets go, Ok Google.. Turn on thingy :) " [...]

ESP8266 Remote Camera

"In this Instructable I will show you how you can make a remote IP camera from components you can easily purchase on Ebay, Banggood, or any other economic supplier. I wanted the camera to be portable, reasonable compact, and run within my home network. " [...]

Quad Speaker Synthesizer

"Here is a simple synthesizer that has: 22 keys volume control tone change different sound effects pan (for the speakers) four speakers light (for the speakers) Anyone can build it, except for the electronic components, everything else can be found at home. This synthesizer is a great way to experiment sound and electronics. " [...]

Charlieplexing Made Easy (and What It Even Means?!)

"Charlieplexing. Aside from being a fancy word it is a technique for driving multiple LEDs with relatively few pins on a microcontroller. It allows you to drive N*(N-1) LEDs with just N pins without requiring any additional hardware, making it a quick, cheap and easy way to add multiple LEDs to your arduino projects. Throughout this instructable you will see that I start the majority of steps by directing you to a corresponding simulation. I highly encourage you to play with it before reading contents of the step or looking at images. To play the simulation, click on "simulate" icon below circuit, wait for it to load and then press "start simulation" above the circuit." [...]

Multi-Source Controlled USB Lamp

"An ATtiny-based tiny USB lamp that can be turned on/off by knocking, clapping, blowing, finger snapping and shouting. If you don't mind having a bit of fun with electronics this project is for you. In this project, I am making an ATtiny-based USB lamp that can be turned off/on by multiple sources such as: Knocking Clapping Blowing Finger Snapping Shouting In this project I utilized, or I can say I misused, microphone sound sensor to detect different sources to turn on and turn off lamp.Also I wanted to make this project as small as possible, so I used a ATtiny 85 microconntroller.This is cool because the ATtiny is tiny, and - well - this allows you to make tiny things that don't need a big micro controller. Basic Idea A microphone is an acoustic to an electric transducer or sensor that detects sound signals and converts them into an electrical signal. To generate an electrical signal all you need to do is make movements in the diaphragm. So when blowing on a microphone sound sensor, microphone’s diaphragm responds because it is a displacement of air molecules pushing on one side of the membrane to the other causing electrical signal in the microphone to make it seem like sound." [...]

LCD Trainer Kit

"A few years back, I was introduced to the world of Arduino. I was fascinated by the fact that you can make things work with just typing in some lines of code. Do not like how it works? Change a few lines of code and there you have it. As soon as I got my first Arduino, like every other excited hobbyist, I tried each and every basic example circuits right from blinking an LED to displaying my name on a 16 x 2 LCD display. There are lots of tutorials on the internet along with the code." [...]

Theremin: an Electronic Odyssey

"In this experiment, I have designed an Optical Theremin using a 555 Timer IC. Here I'll show you how to generate music (close to it :P ) without even touching the musical instrument. Basically this instrument is called as Theremin, originally constructed by a Russian scientist Lon Theremin.The original theremin used radio frequency interference caused by the movement of the player's hand to change the pitch of the instrument. This optical theremin depends on the intensity of light that falls on a photoresistor which can be controlled by the movement of the player's hand. I'll try to explain the every stage of the circuit also. I hope you'll love this practical implementation of Electronics which you would have studied in your college." [...]

Build a 3D Printed Autonomous Robot

"This robot build is meant to be relatively cheap and easy. Here is what you will need to get started: Hardware 1 3D Printed Frame 1 Raspberry Pi 1 Dual H-Bridge Motor Driver 1 Buck Converter 2 3V-6V DC Motors 1 HC-SR04 Ultrasonic Sensor 1 2S Lipo Battery 1 Mini Breadboard or PCB Board 1 1k resistor 1 2k resistor F2F and M2F Jumper Wires Tools Hot Glue Gun Soldering Iron Prepare Frame Decide how you will position your components. This is important to do before you start installing components. " [...]

Arduino Relay Timer

"Ref Link::: Arduino Alarm https://www.picmicrolab.com/lcd-digital-alarm-cloc... Timers were used in many applications in our day to day life.One can see the timers in washing machines,micro ovens etc. These devices uses timer to switch the loads for particular amount of time.Traditionally, various loads would have been manually controlled, i.e., the operator would turn ON the loads and after desired conditions met, the loads again would have been turned off by the operator. Here i am going to explain about Arduino Relay Timer, which doesn't require any External Real Time Clock module like DS1307. " [...]

NTP Synchronized Alarm Clock

"Hi. This is my first instructable and English is not my native language so please be patient. I wanted to build an NTP alarm clock with an RTC that will be synchronized from the internet. I found the very nice clock by ZaNgAbY and this guy( Thanks ). The clock is a led dot matrix RTC clock based on the famous ESP8266 that is synchronized to the NTP server. Despite the clock is very nice it lacks some functions I like so I added some." [...]

IoT Based Home Automation Using Arduino Powered Embbeded Platform

"You come home late from work, manage to get to your room somehow and launch yourself right at your bed to call it day but then you realize that you left the lights on and you neither have the energy nor are in the mood to get up. But alas, you dont have a choice; well, only if you have manual switches. What if we told you that you could control the lights and fans of your room, sitting (or lying?) in one place, with just a few taps on your Smartphone? Behold the great IoT Based Home Automation System! With its powers, you can easily turn ON and OFF the light as and when you like without moving an inch." [...]

kiloboot: 1kB TFTP Bootloader for AVR / ENC28J60

"I hate using things I don't understand. To understand something, really, you have to build it. That's what I was thinking when I tried to build a sewing machine out of old printers. And I stand by it! The only way I really got to grips with UART, SPI, I2C and so on was by bit-banging them. The internet." [...]

Dovetailed Arduino Humidity Sensor

"We live in Central Texas and throughout most of the year we get massive swings in the humidity in our shop. As woodworkers, this can be tough on certain projects so we built an Arduino-powered 'Shop Sensor' to give us a visually appealing way to see how the humidity is changing! It's made from Walnut and has dovetail joinery and as the humidity changes the color of the lighting shifts across the color spectrum. It also has an LCD screen in one of the eyes that displays the temperature in the room. One of our favorite things is combining fine woodworking with technology and this was a really fun project where we did just that. This project has some woodworking, some electronics and some 3D printing." [...]

Arduino Controlling Led With HC-06 Bluetooth Module

"Hello everybody, this is my first official tutorial on Instructable.com, I'm very excited about my first project! Today I will show you How to connect Arduino and Bluetooth module. Arduino will communicate with the HC-06 Bluetooth Module Board using Serial communication. (this tutorial also works no HC-05) WATCH INTRO HERE The Bluetooth module we will use today is HC-06 which is well-known and cheap. (I got mine for 2$ from aliexpress) What is HC-06? The HC-06 is a class 2 slave Bluetooth module designed for transparent wireless serial communication." [...]

Tiny Graphics Library

"This small graphics library provides point, line, and character plotting commands for use with an I2C 128x64 OLED display on an ATtiny85. It supports processors with limited RAM by avoiding the need for a display buffer, and works with I2C OLED displays based on the SH1106 driver chip. These are available for a few dollars from a number of Chinese suppliers. To demonstrate the graphics library I've written a simple application to measure the temperature every 15 minutes over a 24-hour period and display it as a live chart. Introduction The monochrome OLED graphics displays are accessed a byte at a time, and each byte represents 8 pixels; to plot a point you need to change just one pixel leaving the others unaffected, so you need to know what the previous contents of the byte were. The usual way to implement graphics commands on this type of display is to use a RAM buffer, and do all the drawing into the buffer." [...]

ESP32 BLE Presence Detector

"Hi there, In this instructable I will show how I made a really simple Bluetooth Low Energy presence detector, using my smart wristband and a relay I was able to control the ligths of my room; Everytime I go in, turn the light on and if I left the room or cut the bluetooth connection, the lights turn off. " [...]

How to Make a Binary Clock With 20 LEDs and an Arduino

"Hey guys, Welcome to Being Engineers. It has been long time since we posted any tutorial on this channel. Please excuse us for that. But we uploaded some videos in our youtube channel in this time. So you can check you those videos if you want. Channel link is given in the later part of this post." [...]

Pulsating LED Using a 555 Timer and Potentiometers

"Greetings! In this instructable, we will be showing you how to construct a LED Dimmer circuit that runs on an adjustable timed loop using a potentiometer, a 555 timer and other basic circuit components. We first obtained the idea for this project from another instructable that made an LED strip controlled by a dimmer switch, found here: https://www.instructables.com/id/LED-Strip-Control-With-Dimmer-and-Audio-Pulsing-Ci/. This project was incredibly helpful in understanding how the potentiometer could work as a dimmer switch. For our purposes, however, we want to set up the potentiometer as a timer switch that automatically controls the length of time it takes for the LED strip to fade in and out. Hope you find this helpful!" [...]

ABIR - Arduino Balancing Itself Robot

"Arduino Balancing Itself Robot This Robot is based on the Joop Brokking Project (YABR - Your Arduino Balancing Robot) Adapted for my building conditions and PID adjustments. The Robot has a very simple construction, but it has many concepts that can be learned and / or improved with the construction and adjustment of this robot. Constraining with other self-balancing robots, you will notice that it uses step motors unlike many (the majority) who use DC motors with gearboxes that are cheaper; but the one that uses stepper motor, offers much more opportunity of an excellent control of movement. DC motors have a lot of mechanical friction and electrical differentials that degrade over time and causes changes of performance over time, since stepper motors are free of these factors with much greater durability and constancy of operation. In this post I will show all the details of building the robot itself, also called self-balancing. It consists of an Arduino module with an MPU (Gyroscope and Accelerometer) controlling the angle and rotation of the robot to keep it balanced on the axis vertically, the control is done by driving two step motors so that it can have the balancing action using PID control to keep the robot upright (even when an external force is applied)." [...]

Hacking an AVR programmer to function as a USB MIDI interface

"This is going to be a quick post (compared to the average post here). I recently was in need of a USB to MIDI adapter, wanted to test a midi implementation on a ATmega8 and also check out VCV Rack with my keyboard, which is pretty old and only has a legacy MIDI connection. I didn’t have a USB to MIDI adapter, and was not so keen to buy one anyways, so I set out to find the easiest USB MIDI implementation I could build in a afternoon. Later, after some searching, I found this project by Yoshitaka Kuwata on the V-USB website. It is a USB MIDI IN and OUT adapter running on an ATtiny micrcontroller, as expected, by making use of V-USB. With some tweaking I could modify the code to run on a USBASP." [...]