Posts | Comments

Planet Arduino

Archive for the ‘open hardware’ Category

Stecchino demo by the creator

Self-described “Inventor Dad” [pepelepoisson]’s project is called Stecchino (English translation link here) and it’s an Arduino-based physical balancing game that aims to be intuitive to use and play for all ages. Using the Stecchino (‘toothpick’ in Italian) consists of balancing the device on your hand and trying to keep it upright for as long as possible. The LED strip fills up as time passes, and it keeps records of high scores. It was specifically designed to be instantly understood and simple to use by people of all ages, and we think it has succeeded in this brilliantly.

To sense orientation and movement, Stecchino uses an MPU-6050 gyro and accelerometer board. An RGB LED strip gives feedback, and it includes a small li-po cell and charger board for easy recharging via USB. The enclosure is made from a few layers of laser-cut and laser-engraved material that also holds the components in place. The WS2828B LED strip used is technically a 5 V unit, but [pepelepoisson] found that feeding them direct from the 3.7 V cell works just fine; it’s not until the cell drops to about three volts that things start to glitch out. All source code and design files are on GitHub.

Games are great, and the wonderful options available to people today allow for all kinds of interesting experimentation like a blind version of tag, or putting new twists on old classics like testing speed instead of strength.

MKRzero

Say hello to the newest member of the Arduino family! The MKRZero–now available on our stores at the price of $21.90/€20.90 (+ tax)–shrinks the functionality of the Arduino Zero down into an Arduino MKR1000 form factor, making it a great educational tool for learning about 32-bit application development.

Like the Zero, the latest board is based on a Microchip SAM D21 ARM Cortex®-M0+ MCU. An integrated SD connector with dedicated SPI interfaces (SPI1) allows you to play with files without any extra hardware, while an analog converter enables you to monitor its battery voltage.

The MKRZero’s features in a nutshell:

  • small form factor
  • number crunching capability
  • low power consumption
  • integrated battery management
  • USB host
  • integrated SD management
  • programmable SPI, I2C and UART

Interested? You can explore the MKRZero in more detail, including its technical documentation, via the links below:

On the software side:

  • If you use the Arduino IDE, you will need to add the new Intel SAMD Core, selecting Tools menu, then Boards, and last Boards Manager on the Arduino Software (IDE).
  • If you use Arduino Web Editor, everything is already updated!

Watch out music makers, we’ve got some news for you! We have released two libraries for your enjoyment:

  • Arduino Sound library – a simple way to play and analyze audio data using Arduino on SAM D21-based boards.
  • I2S library – to use the I2S protocol on SAMD21-based boards. For those who don’t know, I2S (Inter-IC Sound) is an electrical serial bus interface standard for connecting digital audio devices.

Buy a brand new Arduino MKRZero now!

Join the discussion on the Arduino Forum!

Ever wanted to own your own Theremin but couldn’t justify dropping hundreds of dollars on one? Now you can build your own, or buy it for a quintuplet of Hamiltons. The Open.Theremin.UNO project has built up antenna-based oscillator control around the ubiquitous Arduino Uno board.

So what’s the Arduino in there for? This is a digital Theremin, but check out the video below and you’ll agree that it sounds amazing and has excellent response. The aluminum antennas used for volume and pitch are attached to the top portion of the shield but it sounds like they’re not included in the kit. Don’t fret, you can use a variety of materials for this purpose. On the bottom you need to connect a speaker cable, and also a ground wire if that cable’s not grounded.

As the name implies, this is Open Hardware and we’re quite happy with the documentation on their site and the BOM (found on the GitHub repo). This design was shown off back in 2013 hiding in a pack of cigarettes. If you don’t want to build your own they’re selling kits on their site for 48 Euro delivered, or on Tindie for $55.

Okay, we’ve screwed this up so many times that we’re going to try to get it right here: the Theremin was not heard in the opening of Star Trek the original series, or in the opening of Doctor Who. It wasn’t featured in “Good Vibrations” either. As far as we can tell, it’s not used for anything in pop culture at all… but recognizing the sound and knowing what one is remains core geek knowledge.

If you want a Theremin to play using your entire body you need the Theremin Terpsitone.

[via Open Electronics]


Filed under: Arduino Hacks, musical hacks

I caught up with [Massimo Banzi] at the Shenzhen Maker Faire to talk about manufacturing in China, the current and future of Arduino, and how recent events may shape the Open Hardware landscape.

The big news from Arduino at SZMF is a new partnership with Seeed Studio to manufacture theGenuino. This is an official Arduino board manufactured in China for the Chinese market. Knowing that the board is official and connected to the founders is key point to get makers to adopt this hardware. [Massimo] makes a good point about the ideal of “Proudly Made in China” which I could see as a selling point for the burgeoning maker market there. This may be a growing principle in China, but in an ocean of clone boards it sounds like a tough path forward. On the other hand, their booth was mobbed with people putting in new orders.

[Massimo] belives the current Arduino strife has actually served to move the project forward. He cites the schism between arduino.cc and arduino.org for catalyzing manufacturing partnerships with both Adafruit Industries and Seeed Studios. This has resulted in official Arduino hardware that is not made only in Italy, but made in the region the hardware will be used; NYC for US orders, Shenzhen for China orders.

Our discussion wraps up with a plea from [Massimo] for the Hackaday community to be a little less fickle about projects using Arduino. That one makes me chuckle a bit!


Filed under: Arduino Hacks, Interviews
Giu
11

Certifying open-source hardware? OSHWA seeking feedback

certification, Featured, open hardware, open source Commenti disabilitati su Certifying open-source hardware? OSHWA seeking feedback 

oshw-logo-800-px

The Open Source Hardware Association (OSHWA) is seeking feedback on a proposal for the certification of open-source hardware. The certification would provide a more formal means of verifying the compliance of a particular project or organization with the practices of open-source hardware, as understood by the community. There are, however, many different ways in which such a certification process could work, e.g. whether it should include a single standard for open-source hardware or recognize multiple levels of openness; whether people should be able to self-certify or if OSHWA would need to pre-approve certifications; etc. OSHWA is seeking feedback from the broader open-source hardware community in order to help refine the certification proposal.

You can see the full proposal here and provide feedback on the OSHWA forums.

openQCM

Marco Mauro is a physicist currently employed as Scientific Coordinator at Novaetech, the first Spin-off Company of the National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF) in Italy. He shared with us all the info about a project he’s been working on  and based on Arduino Micro.

OpenQCM is a fully open source scientific microbalance capable of weighing mass deposition down to 1 billionth of gram:

The sensing core of the microbalance is a piezoelectric quartz crystal oscillator. The deposition of a very tiny mass on the surface causes the variation in the quartz frequency. openQCM belongs to a new generation of innovative smart sensor which boast high resolution and ultra high mass sensitivity. The open source strategy made the creation of openQCM available at low cost which represents a bit fraction of the cost of similar scientific products.

openQCM was built keeping in mind the emergent principles of the open source hardware movement. The open source hardware gives people the freedom to control their technology through the open exchange of all the project features, 3D design, electronics and software. The open hardware potentiality is even greater when it comes to hardware for scientific applications.

openQCM is exactly something like that, the first open hardware quartz crystal microbalance with applications in a wide range of scientific fields, such as chemical and biological sensing, material science.

openQCM has an Arduino Micro board inside at heart. By hacking the timer counter of the AtMega32U4 Arduino microcontroller, it is possible to measure the quartz crystal frequency variations using the 16 Mhz microprocessor clock. openQCM team has designed an Arduino Micro shield with an embedded quartz crystal oscillator driver circuit and a temperature sensor. The output of the quartz crystal oscillator driver is fed to the Arduino Micro timer counter and the analog value of the temperature sensor is fed to the analog pin of the board. This configuration allow you measure the quartz crystal frequency with a resolution of 1 Hz, which roughly corresponds to a mass resolution of 700 pg over the entire quartz surface in air.

One of the major challenge of an open hardware project is that such devices require funding to prototype and manufacture. That’s why the openQCM team have selected the 3d printing technology to keep high quality and low cost. Using 3d printing to print out the prototypes via the SLS process from OS Formiga P100, P110, P395, and P730, the openQCM team created the device’s parts, which required a precision down to 60 µm.

The open source concept made openQCM publicly available so that anyone (scientists, technology enthusiast, makers, hobbyist …) can study, modify, and develop the hardware based on the original design. openQCM is now working and ready to win the heart of the scientific community and more.

Go and make one yourself!

openQCM2

Feb
24

According to [Squonk42], nope. And we think he’s probably right.

The Yun is an Arduino Leonardo with an Atheros AR9331 WiFi SoC built in. It’s a great idea, pairing the Arduino with a tiny WiFi router that’s capable of running OpenWRT.  But how is this no longer Open Source Hardware? Try getting an editable board layout. You can’t.

Or at least [Squonk42] couldn’t. In Sept. 2013, [Squonk42] posted up on the Arduino forums requesting the schematics and editable design files for the Arduino Yun, and he still hasn’t received them or even a response.

Now this dude’s no slouch. He’s responsible for the most complete reverse-engineering of the TP-Link TL-WR703N pocket router, which is, not coincidentally, an Atheros AR9331-based reference design. And this is where the Arduini ran into trouble, [Squonk42] contends.

[Squonk42]’s hypothesis is that Arduino must have done what any “sane” engineer would do in this case when presented with a super-complex piece of hardware and a potentially tricky radio layout: just use the reference design (Atheros AP-121). That’s what everyone else in the industry did. And that’s smart, only the rest of the consumer electronics industry isn’t claiming to be Open Source Hardware while the reference design is protected by an NDA.

So it looks like Arduino’s hands are tied. They, or their partner Dog Hunter, either signed the NDA or downloaded the PDF of the reference design that’s floating around on the Interwebs. Either way, it’s going to be tough to publish the design files under a Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike license.

Is this a change of strategy for the Arduino folks or did they just make a mistake? We won’t know until they respond, and that answer’s a year and a half in coming. Let’s see what we can do about that. And who knows, maybe Arduino can lean on Atheros to open up their reference design? It’s already an open secret at best.

But before you go out lighting up your righteous Open Source Hardware pitchforks and sharpening up your torches, read through [Squonk42]’s case and then dig through the primary sources that he’s linked to make up your own mind. You’ll make your case more eloquently if you’re making it yourself.

Good luck, [Squonk42]! We hope you at least get your answer. Even if you already know it.


Filed under: Arduino Hacks
Ago
25

From Open Making to Open Manufacturing at Open Hardware Summit in Rome

events, Hardware, Innovation, open hardware, open source, rome, Summit Commenti disabilitati su From Open Making to Open Manufacturing at Open Hardware Summit in Rome 

openhardwaresummit14

The fifth edition of the Open Hardware Summit, for the first time happening outside the USA, is taking place on the 30th of September 2014  in Rome (you can now book your free tickets here).The event launches the Rome Innovation Week, culminating with the second edition of Maker Faire Rome (3-5 October). 

The topic of this edition of the Summit wants to reflect on how production models are shifting from one to one, to one to many structure and the latest schedule features several outstanding speakers of the open hardware scene such as Adrian Bowyer (father of RepRap), Tomas Diez (Fab Lab Barcelona Director), Yasmin Elayat (GOOD fellow), Becky Stern (Director of Wearable Electronics, Adafruit Industries), Eric Pan (Founder, Seeed Studio, Forbes China’s 30 under 30), David Lang (OpenROV Founder, Author of Zero to Maker), Gawin Dapper (CTO, Phonebloks), Nick Ierodiaconou (Co-Founder Open Desk), Phoenix Perry (Founder, Code Liberation) and many more.

Check the Summit’s blog for features and updates about speakers.

Muy  buenas a todos de nuevo, Tras mucho tiempo sin poder publicar un video tutorial, hoy os quiero presentar un tuyo sobre EasyVr. Éste es un tutorial que hacía mucho tiempo que quería hacer. Que es EasyVR? Pues bien, es una placa que nos va permitir control nuestro arduino mediante nuestra voz. La cual cosa, […]
Mag
14

MakerFaire european edition and Open Hardware Summit next October in Rome!

events, MakerFaire, open hardware, open source, rome Commenti disabilitati su MakerFaire european edition and Open Hardware Summit next October in Rome! 

makerfaire rome 2014

Come and join the biggest European gathering of Makers, full of amazing people who enjoy learning and love sharing projects and inventions from the 3rd to the 5th of October in Rome.

If you have an awesome project and want to show off to an international community, remember that the Call for Makers will be open until the 25th of May. Click here to submit your project.

There are a number of different types of maker applications you can do. You can apply as:

Maker : Individuals, groups, schools and organizations that would like to demonstrate what they make and/or how it works; interactive exhibits are encouraged. No fee to exhibit for Makers in a standard setup.

Light-Talk speaker: Individuals and groups who would like to talk about an idea or project of interest to the Maker community, OR makers who are interested in demonstrating what they make and how it works in a stage setting. Presentations are typically 15 or 40 minutes, with some time for Q&A.

Hands-On Workshop: If your passion is in inspiring the public into Making, we invite you to propose activities and workshops. The organization can provide materials and components for activities (please be specific in your proposal). Activities has to be guided and Maker facilitated. Each Activity should have a duration of 2 hours and half or the whole day and should be accessible for younger audience to make with parental guidance.

This year the venue will be the Parco della Musica Auditorium, the multi-functional complex designed by Renzo Piano (Viale Pietro Coubertin 30), in the Flaminio area of the city.

ohs2014

And just some days before on  September 30 and October 1 , the same venue will host the fifth edition of the  Open Hardware Summit, the annual conference organized by the Open Source Hardware Association and the world’s first comprehensive conference on open hardware.

Keynotes cover a wide range of subjects from electronics and mechanics to related fields such as digital fabrication, fashion technology, self-quantification devices, and DIY bio. Confirmed speakers until now are Becky Stern from Adafruit, Gabriella Levine COO of Protei Inc, manufacturing robotic biomimetic sailboats, Phoenix Perry - Adjunct Professor at NYU teaching Gaming, Design and more to come. They are seeking submissions for talks and workshops from individuals and groups working with open hardware and related areas. Submit your proposal (Accepted contributors will have airfare PAID by the organization)!

 



  • Newsletter

    Sign up for the PlanetArduino Newsletter, which delivers the most popular articles via e-mail to your inbox every week. Just fill in the information below and submit.

  • Like Us on Facebook