Editorial

Esta é a Newsletter Nº 191 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 1571, Johannes Kepler. Este astrónomo alemão formulou as três leis principais do movimento planetário que permitiram a Isaac Newton conceber a lei da gravitação. A trabalhar a partir das posições cuidadosamente medidas dos planetas registadas por Tycho Brahe, Kepler deduziu matematicamente três relações a partir dos dados: (1) os planetas movem-se em órbitas elípticas com o Sol num foco; (2) o vetor do raio percorre áreas iguais em tempos iguais; e (3) para dois planetas, os quadrados de seus períodos são proporcionais aos cubos de suas distâncias médias ao sol. Kepler sugeriu que as marés eram causadas pela atração da lua. Ele acreditava que o universo era governado por regras matemáticas, mas reconhecia a importância da verificação experimental.

Faz também anos hoje que nascia, em 1654, Jacob Bernoulli. Este matemático e astrónomo suíço foi um dos primeiros a utilizar plenamente o cálculo diferencial e introduziu o termo integral no cálculo integral. As primeiras contribuições importantes de Jacob Bernoulli foram um panfleto sobre os paralelos da lógica e da álgebra (1685), o trabalho sobre a probabilidade em 1685 e a geometria em 1687. O seu resultado de geometria deu uma construção para dividir qualquer triângulo em quatro partes iguais com duas linhas perpendiculares. Em 1689, ele publicou importantes trabalhos sobre séries infinitas e publicou sua lei de grandes números na teoria das probabilidades. Ele publicou cinco tratados sobre séries infinitas (1682 - 1704). Jacob ficou intrigado com a espiral logarítmica e pediu que fosse esculpida na sua lápide. Ele foi o primeiro da família de matemáticos Bernoulli e irmão de Johann Bernoulli.

Faz igualmente anos hoje que nascia, em 1773, George Cayley. Este pioneiro aeronáutico inglês construiu o primeiro planador bem sucedido de transporte humano (1853). Ele fez extensos estudos anatómicos e funcionais do vôo das aves. Medindo as massas musculares de aves e humanos, ele percebeu que seria impossível para os humanos amarrarem um par de asas e elevarem-se no ar. Os seus estudos posteriores sobre os princípios de sustentação, resistência e impulso fundaram a ciência da aerodinâmica da qual ele descobriu que as aeronaves estabilizadoras exigiam lemes traseiros verticais e horizontais, que as asas côncavas produziam mais sustentação do que superfícies planas e que as asas arrastadas proporcionavam maior estabilidade. Cayley também inventou o trator de lagartas (1825), sinais automáticos de travessia de ferrovias, botes salva-vidas de auto-direcção e um motor de ar de expansão (ar quente).

Por fim, faz anos hoje que nascia, em 1822, Louis Pasteur. Este Químico francês é considerado o fundador da microbiologia. Ele começou como químico trabalhando nas propriedades ópticas do ácido tartárico e sua estereoquímica (1849). Ele mudou-se para a microbiologia quando descobriu o papel das bactérias na fermentação - que eram microrganismos na levedura causando a formação de álcool a partir do açúcar - e provou que o crescimento de micro-organismos não era gerado espontaneamente a partir de matéria não-viva. Isto levou à compreensão da teoria do germe da infecção e ao seu método de matar bactérias nocivas em líquidos, mantendo-as por um tempo a uma dada temperatura, que agora é conhecida como pasteurização. Ele criou e testou vacinas para difteria, cólera, febre amarela, peste, raiva, antraz e tuberculose.

Nesta semana que passou foi lançado o Kernel 4.20 do Linux. Linus Torvalds, depois da sua sabática volta aos comandos do Kernel Linux e 350.000 novas linhas de código depois as novidades são muitas. Desde logo a remoçao do controverso algoritmo de cifra Speck da NSA, adicionando e melhorando o suporte a gráficos, CPUs e outros hardwares. Suporte para AMD Picasso e Raven 2 APU, Qualcomm Snapdragon 835, melhorias nos gráficos do Intel Icelake “Gen 11”. Também são introduzidos alguns "fixes" para o problema do ano 2038 que é o ano em que o numero de segundos desde 1 Janeiro de 1970 se esgota (e volta a zero) nos sistemas de 32-bits.

Na Newsletter desta semana apresentamos diversos projetos de maker assim como um modelo 3D que poderá ser útil. É apresentado o livro "Teach Yourself Logic 2017: A Study Guide".

Estando a poucos dias do final do ano resta-me desejar a todos em meu nome e em nome do altLab votos de um excelente ano de 2019 com muitos projetos DIY!

João Alves ([email protected])

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

Get High with The Newly Released Linux Kernel 4.20

"Christmas comes early. Linus Torvalds plays Santa and releases Kernel 4.20 just before Christmas. Torvalds sees no point in delaying the 4.20 release because everybody is already taking a break I encouraged people to get it over and done with, so that people can just relax over the year-end holidays. How thoughtful of Linus Torvalds! Let’s see the high points of this ‘special’ release. Here are the major new features added by the 350,000 new lines of code in the Linux kernel 4.20." [...]

Mersenne Prime Number discovery - 2^82589933-1 is Prime!

"The Great Internet Mersenne Prime Search (GIMPS) has discovered the largest known prime number, 282,589,933-1, having 24,862,048 digits. A computer volunteered by Patrick Laroche made the find on December 7, 2018. Patrick is one of thousands of volunteers using free GIMPS software available at www.mersenne.org/download/. The new prime number, also known as M82589933, is calculated by multiplying together 82,589,933 twos, and then subtracting one. It is more than one and a half million digits larger than the previous record prime number, in a special class of extremely rare prime numbers known as Mersenne primes. It is only the 51st known Mersenne prime ever discovered, each increasingly more difficult to find." [...]

Brake Calipers and Wheels? Now from a 3D printer!

"Volkswagen has opened a new and highly modern 3D printing center at the Autostadt. This makes Wolfsburg a central site for metallic 3D printing. But what is the Group using 3D printing for? With a new generation of printers, the Volkswagen brand’s Toolmaking unit at the Wolfsburg site will soon be able to go into 3D series production. The new generation were developed in cooperation with the printer manufacturer HP and the component manufacturer GKN Powder Metallurgy. At the opening ceremony for the 3D printing center, the Group presented a metallic production process known as binder jetting that sets new standards in speed, flexibility and automation." [...]

Samsung Introduces Remote Access, Enabling User Control Over Peripheral Connected Devices Through its Smart TVs

"Remote Access feature on Samsung’s 2019 Smart TVs to provide users wireless, on-screen control over connected peripheral devices, enabling convenient web browsing, cloud office access and more Samsung Electronics today announced Remote Access, a new feature that will be available on its Smart TV lineups starting 2019. The Remote Access feature will provide enhanced wireless connectivity with PCs, tablets, and smartphones – allowing consumers to remotely control compatible programs and apps through their Samsung Smart TV. With Remote Access, input devices, including keyboards, can be connected to a Samsung Smart TV, making it easier for users to control their on-screen content. Without a separate HDMI cable connection, users can remotely access a PC in their room through the TV in their living room to perform various tasks including surfing the web or playing games from their TV’s screen using a connected keyboard and mouse. Remote Access allows users to directly control their devices connected to a TV with a keyboard and mouse in addition to simply displaying the content on a larger screen. Additionally, web browser-based cloud office service can be accessed through Remote Access, so users can now access files and work on documents from their Smart TVs." [...]

Quantum Tricks to Unveil the Secrets of Topological Materials

""Topological materials" are very interesting for technology, but difficult to study. TU Wien (Vienna) and the University of Science and Technology in China are presenting new approaches. Electrons are not just little spheres, bouncing through a material like a rubber ball. The laws of quantum physics tell us that electrons behave like waves. In some materials, these electron waves can take on rather complicated shapes. The so-called "topological materials" produce electron states that can be very interesting for technical applications, but it is extremely difficult to identify these materials and their associated electronic states." [...]

Researchers Monitor Electron Behaviour During Chemical Reactions for the First Time

"Using laser pulses and supercomputing simulations, researchers observe electrons’ motions in real time. In a recent publication in Science, researchers at the University of Paderborn and the Fritz Haber Institute Berlin demonstrated their ability to observe electrons’ movements during a chemical reaction. Researchers have long studied the atomic-scale processes that govern chemical reactions, but were never before able to observe electron motions as they happened. Electrons exist on the smallest scales, being less than one quadrillionth of a meter in diameter and orbiting an atom at femtosecond speeds (one quadrillionth of a second). Experimentalists interested in observing electron behaviour use laser pulses to interact with the electrons. They can calculate the energy and momentum of the electrons by analysing the properties of the electrons kicked out of the probe by the laser light." [...]

Quantum Maxwell's demon 'teleports' entropy out of a qubit

"Researchers from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, ETH Zurich, and Argonne National Laboratory, U.S, have described an extended quantum Maxwell’s demon, a device locally violating the second law of thermodynamics in a system located 1-5 meters away from the demon. The device could find applications in quantum computers and microscopic refrigerators cooling down tiny objects with pinpoint accuracy. The research was published Dec. 4 in Physical Review B. The second law says that the entropy — that is, the degree of disorder or randomness — of an isolated system never decreases. “Our demon causes a device called a qubit to transition into a more orderly state,” explained the study’s lead author Andrey Lebedev of MIPT and ETH Zurich. “Importantly, the demon does not alter the qubit’s energy and acts over a distance that is huge for quantum mechanics.” All quantum Maxwell’s demons described or created so far, by the authors or by other researchers, have had a very limited range of action: They sat right next to the object they operated on." [...]

Better characterization of ultra-thin materials

"A new optical technology may revolutionize the semiconductor industry and create brand new possibilities within sustainable electronics and data handling. The project is subsidized by Innovation Fund Denmark. We take it for granted that a new smartphone or tablet is faster than its obsolete predecessor. It has more memory, is thinner, and its touch screen is crystal-clear with a fast response rate. In a few years it may even be flexible, allowing you to roll it up and put it in your pocket. We expect that renewable energy from solar and wind power will become increasingly efficient and profitable, and that electric cars and trains will play a major role in a future sustainable society and for our environment." [...]

Chemists create new quasicrystal material from nanoparticle building blocks

"Brown University researchers have discovered a new type of quasicrystal, a class of materials whose existence was thought to be impossible until the 1980s. PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — The strange class of materials known as quasicrystals has a new member. In a paper published on Thursday, Dec. 20, in Science, researchers from Brown University describe a quasicrystalline superlattice that self-assembles from a single type of nanoparticle building blocks. This is the first definitive observation of a quasicrystalline superlattice formed from a single component, the researchers say. The discovery provides new insight into how these strange crystal-like structures can emerge. “Single-component quasicrystal lattices have been predicted mathematically and in computer simulations, but hadn’t been demonstrated before this,” said Ou Chen, an assistant professor of chemistry at Brown and the paper’s senior author." [...]

A safe, wearable soft sensor

"Biocompatible sensor could be used in diagnostics, therapeutics, human-computer interfaces, and virtual reality Children born prematurely often develop neuromotor and cognitive developmental disabilities. The best way to reduce the impacts of those disabilities is to catch them early through a series of cognitive and motor tests. But accurately measuring and recording the motor functions of small children is tricky. As any parent will tell you, toddlers tend to dislike wearing bulky devices on their hands and have a predilection for ingesting things they shouldn’t. Harvard University researchers have developed a soft, non-toxic wearable sensor that unobtrusively attaches to the hand and measures the force of a grasp and the motion of the hand and fingers. The research was published in Advanced Functional Materials and is a collaboration between The Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS), The Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and Boston Children’s Hospital." [...]

Fingernail Sensors and AI Can Help Clinicians to Monitor Health and Disease Progression

"Grip strength is a useful metric in a surprisingly broad set of health issues. It has been associated with the effectiveness of medication in individuals with Parkinson’s disease, the degree of cognitive function in schizophrenics, the state of an individual’s cardiovascular health, and all-cause mortality in geriatrics. At IBM Research, one of our ongoing challenges is to obtain a better understanding of the effects of diseases on an individual’s overall health, as well as how AI can help clinicians to monitor individuals in their natural environments, and potentially point to indicators and clues into the progression of a patient’s conditions. In new research published in Scientific Reports today, our team details a first-of-a-kind “fingernail sensor” prototype to help monitor human health. The wearable, wireless device continuously measures how a person’s fingernail bends and moves, which is a key indicator of grip strength. The project began as an attempt to capture the medication state of people with Parkinson’s disease." [...]

3D-printed robot hand 'plays' the piano

"Scientists have developed a 3D-printed robotic hand which can play simple musical phrases on the piano by just moving its wrist. And while the robot is no virtuoso, it demonstrates just how challenging it is to replicate all the abilities of a human hand, and how much complex movement can still be achieved through design. Smart mechanical design enables us to achieve the maximum range of movement with minimal control costs: we wanted to see just how much movement we could get with mechanics alone Josie Hughes The robot hand, developed by researchers at the University of Cambridge, was made by 3D-printing soft and rigid materials together to replicate of all the bones and ligaments – but not the muscles or tendons – in a human hand. Even though this limited the robot hand’s range of motion compared to a human hand, the researchers found that a surprisingly wide range of movement was still possible by relying on the hand’s mechanical design. Using this ‘passive’ movement – in which the fingers cannot move independently – the robot was able to mimic different styles of piano playing without changing the material or mechanical properties of the hand. The results, reported in the journal Science Robotics, could help inform the design of robots that are capable of more natural movement with minimal energy use." [...]

2D materials more than graphene

"Graphene took the world by storm in the 00s. But the world is full of alternative 2D materials, and some of them may have the potential to revolutionize the electronics industry. Several times during the interview, Steven G. Louie lifts up the paper on his table. But he is not interested in the text as such. The paper is flat—just like the various materials in atom-thin layers that constitute the subject of his work as physics professor at the University of California, Berkeley. This random A4 sheet is a convenient model for 2D materials." [...]

Discovery of Topological LC Circuits Transporting EM Waves without Backscattering

"NIMS succeeded in fabricating topological LC circuits arranged in a honeycomb pattern where electromagnetic (EM) waves can propagate without backscattering even when pathways turn sharply. Engineers have succeeded in fabricating topological LC circuits arranged in a honeycomb pattern where electromagnetic (EM) waves can propagate without backscattering even when pathways turn sharply. These circuits may be suitable for use as high-frequency electromagnetic waveguides, which would allow miniaturization and high integration in various electronics devices, such as mobile phones. There has been a surge in searching for materials with topological properties, whose functions are not influenced even if the sample shapes are changed. Topological properties were first discovered in electron systems, and more recently the notion has been developed for light and microwaves, which is expected to be useful for building optical and electromagnetic waveguides immune to backscattering. However, realization of topological properties in light and microwaves normally requires gyromagnetic materials under an external magnetic field, or some complex structures." [...]

Music technology accelerates at MIT

"An increasingly popular program is drawing students eager to build — and use — the next generation of tools for making music. The room fills with electronic beeps and chirps, rising and falling notes generated by computer. Students are poring over their glowing laptops, trying to match frequency with pitch. In this, as in other introductory music technology classes at MIT, the sound that fills the room is lively, if not exactly melodic. Like beginning violinists or pianists, novices to music tech need to “learn the nuances of their instruments,” says Ian Hattwick, an artist, researcher, and technology developer who teaches 21M.080 (Introduction to Music Technology). These initial electronic notes are their first steps." [...]

Improved Allen Wrench / Hex Key Holder Parametric with Labels

"Cleaned up the code and made it possible to flip the text with a variable. I suspect that if the slope is on the "bottom" it will be easier to insert and harder to remove the keys, so the model should be "flipped." Added a "toggle" for the groove to be angled or straight as in the original. "Standard Set" stls (The original STL didn't include 9 and had an extra 3.5 that isn't standard). Inch: 1/20, 1/16, 5/64, 3/32, 7/64, 1/8, 9/64, 5/32, 3/16, 7/32, 1/4, 5/16, and 3/8 in Metric:1.5, 2, 2.5, 3, 4, 4.5, 5, 5.5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10mm Probably not as pretty, but setup to allow you to enter your own wrench sizes as an array and get a holder with labels. Also, there is a generous chamfer on the upper portion so support shouldn't be needed." [...]

Teach Yourself Logic 2017: A Study Guide

"Before I retired from the University of Cambridge it was my greatest good fortune to have secure, decently paid, university posts for forty years in leisurely times, with almost total freedom to follow my interests wherever they led. Like many of my contemporaries, for most of that time I didn’t really appreciate just how lucky I was. This Study Guide to logic textbooks is one very small attempt to give a little back by way of heartfelt thanks. Please don’t be scared off by the Guide’s length! This is due to its coverage starting just one step above the level of what is often called ‘baby logic’ and then going quite a long way down the road towards pretty advanced stuff. Different readers will therefore want to jump on and off the bus at different stops." [...]

Dotter - Huge Arduino Based Dot Matrix Printer

"Hi, welcome in this instructable :) I am Nikodem Bartnik 18 years old maker from Poland. I made a lot of things, robots, devices through my 4 years of making. But this project is probably the biggest when it comes to size. It is also very well designed I think, of course there are still things that can be improved but for me it's awesome. I really like this project, because of how it works, and what can it produce (I like this pixel/dot like graphics), but there is much more in this project than just the Dotter. There is story of how I made it, how I came up with an idea for it and why failure was a big part of this project." [...]

RFID NFC Arduino Access Control System

"What I needed was an access control system for my office. The whole project is pretty easy to build. I had a spare Aduino Mega and a Ethernet shield at home, so, with a few more components I have been able to build an access control system for my office. It uses NFC tags and mySql database to collect data's into a table. Substantially, the Arduino waits for a tag, then it will try to contact a php webpage which will manage the upload of the data into the database. To do this, it will check first for the presence of the tag into a "users" table of "known" tags." [...]

Raspberry Pi Surveillance Camera With Email Alert

"Security is major concern now days and there are lot of technologies present today to keep your place secure and monitored. CCTV cameras are very useful to keep an eye on your house or office. Although prices of these types of cameras have been reduced significantly since their beginning but still IP cameras, which have ability to send and receive the date over the network, are very expensive. In this Instructable we made a small surveillance camera which will send an email alert, if the camera detects any motion in front of the camera" [...]

ATtiny85 Weather Station

"This is a weather station based on an ATtiny85 and an Adafruit Bosch BME280 sensor breakout. It displays the atmospheric temperature, pressure, and humidity on a 96x64 SD1331 colour OLED display. It uses my Widget Dashboard to display the values on the display. Introduction To display the readings the Weather Station uses a low-cost 96x64 OLED display with 64K colours, and an SPI interface. It's available from a number of suppliers including Adafruit [1] or Banggood [2]. The Weather Station is based on a Bosch BME280; it's is the perfect sensor for a home weather station as it provides temperature, pressure, and humidity in a single device [3]." [...]

Self Parking Car

"A low-cost prototype for implementing autonomous parallel parking on a robot car with a Raspberry Pi. Introduction We are offering a solution to the most feared part of a driver’s test – parallel parking. Driving through the city, it is a grueling task finding a parking spot. But squeezing your car into it is a whole different ball game. Wouldn’t it be great if you could just press a button let your car take care of this? We have built a low-cost prototype for implementing a parallel parking algorithm on a mobile robot car, using a Raspberry Pi, camera, ultrasonic sensors and an optical sensor." [...]

Arduinoflake - PCB Version

"A few weeks ago I made a freeform Arduinoflake. Lot of you loved it. But its magic is not only being freeform but also in the pattern of the LEDs. So I decided to create a PCB version which would be really easy and cheap to make for everyone! It's the same beauty in a different coat. This tutorial will show you how I designed my Arduinoflake and what it can do!" [...]

Wifi Synchronized Lamps

"A project for someone who lights up your life... 2 years ago, as a Christmas present for a long-distance friend, I created lamps that would synchronize animations via internet connection. This year, 2 years later, I created this updated version with the knowledge gained from the additional years of electronics dabbling. This version is much simpler, without any external monitors or keyboards needed (and just one simple chip, not two!) in addition to an easy phone app interface (thanks to Blynk IoT) instead of website and physical soft potentiometer. There are buttons in the app that provide more flexibility in what animations you want to add: there are 3 sliders for RGB control, in addition to a widget at the bottom that allows you to pick colors from a map (so you don't have to figure out what the RGB numbers are for the color you want). There are also preset buttons for happy, angry, sad, and "meh" so you can easily convey your emotions to the other person in the form of lamp animations, for the times you have something you want to talk about but don't want to bother the person with lots of texts." [...]

3D digitizer

"For a long time I wanted to make a device that allowed non-digital people to enter physical measurements for digital production. While using some cheap quadrature encoders for a servo control system I realized that these encoders are useful for measuring angles. At first I thought about building a structure with a X,Y- and Z axis, much like a 3D printer with the stepper motors replaced with these encoders. By moving the “print head” to different locations and reading the position of the encoders the X,Y and Z position of the head could be resolved. Realizing that this Cartesian approach would be quite complicated to build I sought after a simpler solution. I found that if I used the encoders as both sensors and structural bearings in a polar construction I could end up with a much simpler construction: The measurement arm has three articulated joints." [...]

5V Relay Module Mod to Work With Raspberry Pi

"It's really easy these days to get your hands on a relay board but you'll quickly find out that most of them are designed for 5V which can a problem for a poor raspberry pi or any other microcontroller running on 3.3V, They just don't have the voltage required to trigger the transistor controlling the relay. So in this tutorial, I'll show you a simple modification of these relay boards to make them 3V3 compatible. " [...]

FPG-1 is a PDP-1 implementation in FPGA

"DEC PDP-1 is a computer designed and produced in 1959. Considering the pace of change in computing, that might seem like the prehistoric age. However, it is also surprisingly modern and proves a point that the basic concepts still withstand the test of time. This project is trying to re-create this computer in FPGA and enable running the first real computer game, SpaceWar!, on a modern display and gamepad. It is designed to run on the MiSTer platform, a retro gaming system based on the Terasic DE10-Nano FPGA board. The implementation is done in Verilog, a hardware description language specifying the structure and behavior of digital logic circuits." [...]

Variable Power Supply (Buck Converter)

"A power supply is an essential device when you are working with electronics. If you want to know how much power your circuit is consuming, you will need to take voltage and current measurements and then multiply them to get power. Such a time-consuming work. This becomes even more difficult if you want to continuously monitor the power over a period of time. Well, let your microcontroller do all the hard work. In this video, we will see how to make a cheap variable power supply and learn its working." [...]

Music Synced RGB LEDs | RGB Fun With Arduino

"Love music ? Want to RGB everything ? Then you are at the right page .Today we'll see how to visualize our music on any RGB LED strip or infact any LED Strip (RGB would be more fun). Hardware required : 1: RGB strip with the 12v adaptor (without the controller, we'll use arduino and preferably common anode type). 2: Arduino 3: 3 N-channel mosfets or NPN transistors. 4: 3 1k resistors Software required: 1: Arduino IDE (Arduino) 2: Processing IDE (Processing)" [...]

Steampunk Weather Monitor

"I wanted to build a weather monitor on my own for a long time. When I saw the epaper displays from Waveshare I thought this would definitely be the way to go. This instructables describes how to build a weather monitor with an epaper screen and a Raspberry Pi Zero W underneath the hood. The weather data is gathered from Openweather.org. For this project I used the following components: 1 Raspberry Pi Zero W for 17.76€ on Exptech.de 1 SanDisk Micro-SD card 16GB for 7.99€ 1 Waveshare 7.5inch e-paper display for 47.11€ on Exptech.de 1 Waveshare Universal epaper panel driver hat for 6,75€ on Exptech.de 1 picture frame for 10cmx15cm pictures with 2cm depth to place the electronics inside 1 USB cable + USB power supply some nice steampunk accessories like gears and tin corners from your local craft store The overall cost should be around 85€. Electronics Putting the hardware together is pretty straight forward." [...]

Tilt Compensated Compass With LSM303DHLC

"In this Instructable I want to show how to use the LSM303 sensor to realize a tilt compensated compass. After a first (unsuccessful) attempt I dealt with the calibration of the sensor. Thanks to these, the values of the magnetometer have improved significantly. The combination of calibrated values from the magnetometer and accelerometer then resulted in a tilt compensated compass. What you need: 1 Arduino Uno 1 LSM303DHLC Breakout 1 Breadboard 1 Resistor 220 Ohm 1 Potentiometer 10k 1 2x16 LCD in 4-bit mode 1 Cardboard case 1 Compass 1 Protractor Some wires" [...]

W-GM Count - IoT (Wifi) for Radioactivity Monitoring

"The W-GM Counter based on an ESP32 chipset (Heltec WIFI kit-32 with OLED) is a fork of the Ethernet C-GM Counter and costs (27$/22) about half price of the C-GM Counter. This D.I.Y low cost radioactivity counter project provides hardware and firmware for building a Geiger-Mller counter device aka G.M. counter for continuous measurement of the radioactivity level. It is uses an ESP-32 with OLED, a booster module inside the 400V power supply, a battery charging circuit and very few components around. Our design has been drastically optimized to reduce as much as possible to the minimum number of components and enable users to wire the hardware on a piece of Veroboard without requiring specific material. The W-GM Counter is able to run as a standalone radioactivity counter or for ensuring long term radioactivity monitoring, can be used in association with A-GM Manager (see the Eco-System) that is an open-source web application running on a SOHO server (e.g." [...]

Arduino Color Recognition

"I found limited documentation on the usage of a color sensor I recently purchased, so here is my attempt to make it more simple. This project uses a TCS230 color sensor I ordered from Amazon. It uses both "passive" and "active" color recognition: Passive recognition goes straight to an RGB LED. Active recognition is processed by the Arduino to output a specific color. According to a similar product's datasheet, In the TCS3200, the light-to-frequency converter reads an 8 × 8 array of photodiodes. Sixteen photodiodes have blue filters, 16 photodiodes have green filters, 16 photodiodes have red filters, and 16 photodiodes are clear with no filters." [...]

ECG Logger - a Wearable Cardiac Monitor for Long-Term Data Acquisition and Analysis

"ECG Logger is a Wearable Cardiac Monitor for Long-Term Data Acquisition and Analysis. The ECG Logger Project is aimed for providing a very low-cost (~35$) open-source hardware and software for a Rhythmic Holter. The hardware has been made very simple and is based on an Arduino Nano with two companion boards for the SD card and the instrumentation differential amplifier. It helps monitoring arrhythmia syndromes such as bradycardia, tachycardia, extra-systoles or pause. In no case it can be use to replace a professional medical examination. ECG Logger Viewer is the companion software for reading ECG data from the ECG Logger device ECG Logger is an affordable very low-cost (~35$) and simple ECG-Logger Holter offering a complete solution including a pocket-size ECG recorder hardware device with embedded firmware." [...]

Binary single row Led Clock (24h)

"This is a again a clock, I know, and agian a binary one, I know! I just like to create different kinds of clocks, mainly using RGB leds. Binary time is not always easy to be read, so I thought to make even some more complicated. I think that makes it more interesting on the other side, if you also like such things. The time is displayed like an ordinary digital clock, just each number is in a binary code. For example: 21:36:43 = 10 0001:011 0110:100 0011 I had the chosen layout in mind after having created my last binary led clock, but I also noticed that already other people did have this same idea." [...]

Making a Bus Schedule Sign w/ ESP8266, Arduino & NeoPixels

"A simple prototype to query a web API with ESP8266, get the time until the next bus arrives, and display it on a battery powered LED sign. What it Is: This tutorial is about how to build a battery powered, internet-connected NeoPixel LED sign to display up-to-date information using Arduino and the ESP8266. It is an extension of my tutorial on how to parse XML data on the ESP, but while that tutorial focused mostly on the code, this is covers how to actually fabricate the signage, drive the LEDs, and tidy up the circuitry a bit. " [...]

Running Arduino firmware on a GOJO LTX-7 Soap Dispenser

"This project documents how I modified our GOJO LTX-7 soap dispenser by reflashing it with an Arduino firmware. Apparently the GOJO LTX-7 and possibly similar models are Arduino ready. They are powered by AVR Tiny48 (256B RAM, 4K FLASH) and have row of PCB pads that provide access to the ISP signals for programming. IMPORTANT: once you reflash your soap dispenser you cannot restore the original firmware. If you want to be able to restore the original firmware, replace the ATTiny48 on the board with a digikey ATTINY48-MURCT-ND IC and install the stock IC back to restore the original functionality. To reflash the soap dispenser I soldered a row of header pins that connects via an adapter board to an Arduino supported programmer (the one I used in Atmel MKII)." [...]

4 Wheel Robot Made With Arduino Controlled Using Dabble

"Another project, another out-of-the-box gifting idea! Presenting to you the Dabble controlled 4-wheel robot - an simple-and-fun to build and easy-to-control robot that can be controlled via Bluetooth using Dabble, a mobile application indigenously developed us. All you need to make your robot is an Arduino Uno board, chassis, wheels, motor shafts, and other accesories and tools. To control it, you need to install Dabble from Google Play and pair it with Bluetooth; and your robots ready to go places! What better way to end the year with the same DIYing spirit that it began with, right? So what are you waiting for!" [...]

Ciclop 3D Scanner - My Way Step by Step

"I'm going to create a Ciclop 3D scanner, but I will design a new base and PCB to do It fast and better. ;-) Hi all, I'm going to realize the famous Ciclop 3D scanner. All the step that are well explained on the original project aren't present. I made some fix to simplify the process, first I print the base, and than I restilize the PCB, but go on. " [...]

CNC Cyclone PCB Factory, My Way

"I'd like to renew my CNC for PCB so I decided to create a new one from an existing project, "Cyclone PCB Factory." I'd like to renew my CNC for PCB, so I decided to create a new one from an existing project named "Cyclone PCB Factory." You can find the original project here. " [...]

DIY Turntable With Custom Control

"Hello, In this instruction, I will show you how I created a fully automated rotating platform from an IKEA Lazy Susan Kitchen Turntable. My goal was to build a device which can be controlled manually (with buttons), or automatically (by a program). The device is a good tool for different photo shootings, test measurements, can be used as a demonstration podium or as a funny serving table in the kitchen. It is capable to do a complex preprogramed movement, set by the user with a software. For that, I created a windows PC software to set up the movements and give orders to the turntable. The device can work without a PC." [...]

Controlling a Neopixel Led Ring With a Gesture Sensor

"In this tutorial we're going to play with a gesture sensor (APDS-9960) and a neopixel ring to learnin how to combine them both using an Arduino UNO. The end product will respond to left - right gestures by animating led movement right or left, and to up-down gestures by changing leds color. In the next steps, you'll briefly overview the part list and how to connect the components. And then we'll review the code step by step to learn how it works. " [...]

NES Controller Piano / Ultrasonic Theremin Mash-Up

"I recently built a simple 8 key piano using an original NES controller and Arduino UNO board.Unlike conventional Arduino piano projects which require one digital pin for each key / button the NES controller piano used only three digital pins (D5 for nesClock, D6 for nesLatch, D7 for nesDataIn) leaving 5 extra digital pins available for experimentation. The NES Controller sent pulses of 8-bit information to the Arduino UNO and the pulses were interpreted by the Arduino (bit-banging ) to make sounds via the buzzer module - Build the NES Controller piano and download the sketch then open the serial monitor to watch this process in action.The NES controller piano only played eight different notes (C4 to C5) and my kids tired of playing it pretty quickly - I decided to increase the pianos octave range (C1 to C8) by adding an ultrasonic sensor and create a NES Controller piano / Ultrasonic theremin mash-up that can play 50 notes using only 5 digital pins (+1 for piezo buzzer).Im still a learner when it comes to coding and welcome any feedback regarding my sketch. " [...]

Freeform robot

"A simple robot built from wire This is a tiny robot with chassis made from scrap wire I got from inductors in my parts box. The servo motors are hacked for continuous spinning. An ATmega8 runs arduino code to control the servos and an poll an ultrasonic sensor for obstacle avoiding. I started this project to participate in the Circuit Sculpture Contest. DETAILS This is a tiny robot with a chassis made from AWG 16 wire soldered together. The servos are micro servos hacked for continuous rotation, these also give the robot some support." [...]

Send Data From ESP to the WebPage With Minimal Effort

"It's very common that you need to display something to a webpage from your ESP device. There are several ways to do that. In this tutorial, I will show you the simplest one (in my opinion). It requires 10 minutes of your time to get your measurements onto the webpage. I've used remoteMe.org In this tutorial, briefly learn how to send and display data from ESP (I used WEMOS D1 pro version, but it will be the same for other types of ESP ) on the website. In the example, I used the ultrasonic distance sensor and the measurement from it will be displayed on the website." [...]

Sound Mouse

"In 2016, after being inspired by a video of the Scanman Line Follower on YouTube, I started work on a synthesizer device using the Toshiba TCD1304 linear CCD to synthesize audio from spectrogram data (or graphical data interpreted as spectrogram data) using Michel Rouzic's ARSS code (the source of his Photosounder application). This became overly bulky, hardware-wise, and really didn't work as a standalone controller, so I put it on the back burner. Recently I became aware that the sensors made by Agilent for optical computer mice do a lot of processing internally, both being able to provide a bitmap image (very slowly) and average darkness along with the change in X and Y using simple serial requests (much faster) rather than having to deal with a high-speed analog to digital conversion like the Scanman / Toshiba sensor. So, I decided to make a simplified version of the CCD synth using a mouse instead of the scanner. By modifying an Arduino library developed by Conor Peterson for reading pixel data from the Agilent sensor to read movement and average darkness I was able to grab the data fast enough for a simple yet responsive standalone gestural synthesizer The components in this device can be purchased for less than ten dollars and the code is simple enough for almost anyone to modify, making this a quick and inexpensive sound maker for performance or as a prank. Using the software below, the scrollwheel button switches between modes: 1 - pitch based on X-position, 2 - pitch based on camera input, 3 - a mix of the two." [...]

Arduino IR Lathe Tachometer

"Build a tachometer for your metal lathe using an Arduino Nano, a two line LCD display, and an IR sensor. Story This tachometer is for a WEN 3455 Variable Speed 7” by 12" Two-Direction Bench top Metal Lathe. You can probably modify it for your own lathe. Since my lathe didn’t come with a tachometer I decided to make one. I’m a computer programmer and decided to use either a Hall Effect or an Infrared (IR) sensor device with an Arduino and a two line LCD display. I tried the Hall Effect device first because it was very small, but it didn’t work too well at high speeds." [...]