LTE NB-IoT Shield for Arduino

November 20, 2017November 20, 2017 fustiniarduino, hackaday.io, iot, LTE, microcontroller, wirelessLeave a comment

From Timothy Woo on Hackaday.io:

LTE NB-IoT Shield for Arduino

This open-source LTE shield uses SIMCOM’s SIM7000-series modules with the latest LTE CAT-M technology to allow Arduino users to painlessly connect their low-power IoT devices with the next-generation cellular technology!

NB-IoT is also available for many countries (but sadly not in the USA yet) simply by swapping out to a different SIM7000 module version. Luckily SIMCOM made it super easy to integrate this module because most of the AT commands are identical to previous version, and Adafruit has a wonderful library for their FONA 2G and 3G products. Check it out and help make this happen!

You can view the latest code and design files here on my Github page: https://github.com/botletics/NB-IoT-Shield. Note: The hardware works great but software is still under development! I plan on launching an Indiegogo campaign when I get a fully-working prototype, so stay tuned for updates!

NeuroBytes: Electronic Neuron Simulators

November 19, 2017November 20, 2017 fustiniCrowdfunding, education, hackaday, Kickstarter, neurobytes, neuron, nuerotinkerLeave a comment

From Brian Benchoff on the Hackaday blog:

Real-Life Electronic Neurons

NeruroBytes is not a strange platform for neural nets. It’s physical neurons, rendered in PCBs and Molex connectors. Now, finally, it’s a Kickstarter project, and one of the more exciting educational electronic projects we’ve ever seen.

Regular Hackaday readers should be very familiar with NeuroBytes. It began as a project for the Hackaday Prize all the way back in 2015. There, it was recognized as a finalist for the Best Product,

Since then, the team behind NeuroBytes have received an NHS grant, they’re certified Open Source Hardware through OSHWA, and there are now enough NeuroBytes to recreate the connectome of a flatworm. It’s doubtful the team actually has enough patience to recreate the brain of even the simplest organism, but is already an impressive feat.

The highlights of the NeuroBytes Kickstarter include seven different types of neurons for different sensory systems, kits to test the patellar reflex, and what is probably most interesting to the Hackaday crowd, a Braitenberg Vehicle chassis, meant to test the ideas set forth in Valentino Braitenberg’s book, Vehicles: Experiments in Synthetic Psychology. If that book doesn’t sound familiar, BEAM robots probably do; that’s where the idea for BEAM robots came from.

The Hacker Village of Supercon

November 18, 2017November 17, 2017 fustinihackaday, superconLeave a comment

I’m utterly exhausted and still in a state of awe. The Hackaday Superconference has grown in so many ways, but one thing remains the same: the spirit of the Hacker Village — an intangible feeling that grows up around all who attend — is bliss to take part in. There’s really no substitute for having…

via The Hacker Village of Supercon — Hackaday

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DRV8818 Stepper Driver Module for 3D Printers

November 17, 2017November 15, 2017 fustini3d printing, CNC, heat sink, motor driver, stepper motor, tindieLeave a comment

RAMPS compatible driver module based on DRV8818 by Dean Gouramanis:

DRV8818 Stepper Driver Module for 3D Printers

The goal of this project is to fit the DRV8818 driver circuit onto the standard 0.8″ X 0.6″ PCB size used in RAMPS 3D printers. DRV8825 drivers are a popular choice for desktop 3D printers, because they can provide up to 2.5 amps peak current. The DRV8818 is a similar IC capable of driving up to 3.5 amps, but the circuit is too large to fit on PCB using regular methods. Also, without a propper heatsink it will overheat.

https://hackaday.io/project/28197-drv8818-stepper-driver-module-for-3d-printers

Schematic, gerbers and mechanical CAD files are shared on GitHub:

dgouramanis/T18_driver

Tiny ESP32 WROVER pSRAM board

November 16, 2017November 15, 2017 fustiniESP32, iot, tindie, wifiLeave a comment

Tiny ESP32 board from the Kilobyte store on Tindie with optional battery header and pSRAM:

Tiny ESP32 WROVER pSRAM board

It’s a little ESP32 Board. Perfect for controlling or sensing stuff in the real world and sync it to the internet! Despite that it features the ESP32 WROVER Module. This means it got 4MB FLASH and 4MB RAM. That’s an absolute incredible amount of RAM. I honestly have no clue for what I will ever need 4MB in my embedded Projects.

Why did you make it?

I wanted a small ESP32 Board with the pSRAM and which works and doesn’t eat your whole time to get it working and find it’s issues and quirks.

I’ve used the CP2102 Serial converter because this is the one, which works the best way to program the ESP32. Even Espressif uses this serial converter on their own dev boards.

What makes it special?

It’s propably the smallest ESP32 Board with pSRAM. Despite the size it’s ideal for battery operation. It uses under 200uA in Deep Sleep mode!

High Speed Data Acquisition Chat

November 15, 2017November 9, 2017 fustiniBeagleBone, beaglelogic, DAQ, hackaday.io, hackchat, linuxLeave a comment

Kumar Abhishek, creator of the BeagleLogic Standalone, will be hosting a Hackaday HackChat on Friday, November 17th:

High Speed Data Acquisition Chat

This Hack Chat is at 9:30a PST, Friday, November 17th.

This chat is about data acquisition. Data acquisition (DAQ) is a process by which a signal such as voltage, current, temperature, pressure, or sound is measured with a processing system. A processing system can be an entire computer or a standalone chip. The goal of a good DAQ system is to provide accuracy as quickly and be as cost effective as possible.

Kumar [Abhishek] is an engineering graduate from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur, India, whose journey into the world of hardware began when he picked up the soldering iron at the age of 7. As a student under the Google Summer of Code (GSoC) program under BeagleBoard.org, [Abhishek] worked with BeagleBoard.org to realize a logic analyzer using the Programmable Real-Time units on the BeagleBone, called BeagleLogic. He has also served as a Summer of Code mentor for BeagleBoard.org.

In this chat, we’ll be discussing:

The PRUs on the BeagleBone series of hardware, and their capabilities

How BeagleLogic uses the PRUs to perform data acquisition

Ways to program the PRUs

(Ways of) processing the data acquired from the PRUs

Arduino Neural Network Robot

November 14, 2017November 9, 2017 fustiniarduino, hackaday.io, microcontroller, RoboticsLeave a comment

Sean Hodgins created an Arduino-based robot that avoids light by navigating using a neural network:

Arduino Neural Network Robot

This project is meant to teach about utilizing neural networks in robotic platforms. There will be a 3 part video series on the Make YouTube channel on building the robot. It will start with prototyping and design, then move onto assembly and testing, and finally programming and running the neural network. You will be able to follow along and make your own robot in the end.

Part 1: Prototype and Design

Part 2: Soldering and Assembly

Open Source Underwater Glider Wins 2017 Hackaday Prize

November 14, 2017November 14, 2017 fustiniLeave a comment

The Open Source Underwater Glider has just been named the Grand Prize winner of the 2017 Hackaday Prize. As the top winner of the Hackaday Prize, the Open Source Underwater Glider will receive $50,000 USD completes the awarding of more than $250,000 in cash prizes during the last eight months of the Hackaday Prize. More than…

via Open Source Underwater Glider Wins 2017 Hackaday Prize

Grid-EYE 8×8 Infrared Camera

November 13, 2017November 9, 2017 fustinigrideye, microcontroller, sensors, thermal vision, tindieLeave a comment

From Jeremy S. Cook on the Tindie blog:

Grid-EYE 8×8 Infrared Camera

Thermal imaging has remained an interesting, if costly, technology for some time. One lower cost option is the the Grid-EYE sensor from Panasonic. While it has a resolution of only 8×8 pixels, it’s priced in the low double digit range, making it an ideal candidate for budget projects. If you’d like to add it to your build, Pesky Products has a has a breakout available that allows it to be used with the I²C protocol.

Xose Pérez, after finding this sensor and breakout on Tindie, which he (correctly) considers “a great place to find uncommon electronic components or weird/interesting boards,” decided to make his own low-resolution IR camera. At only 64 pixels of resolution, it’s not as capable as more expensive units, but it could still be very useful for getting a general idea of what is hot and cold in a room/environment. The case is made out of slices of acrylic, paper, cardboard, and MDF, giving it a very unique look. It also features a small screen to display supplemental information, and a simple button/switch interface.

Donkey Self-Driving Car

November 12, 2017November 9, 2017 fustinicomputer vision, microcontroller, openmv, robocar, RoboticsLeave a comment

Kwabena Agyeman shows how to create a DIY Robocar forked off of the “Donkey” Self-Driving car platform using the OpenMV Cam

Donkey Self-Driving Car

The OpenMV Cam Donkey Car is designed to be easy to build out of parts that you can buy online and assemble together with basic tools. Below is the list of essential parts you’ll need to build the self-driving car.

Here is the car in action:

kwagyeman has shared the servo controller board on OSH Park:

OSH Park

Perfect Purple PCBs

Month: November 2017

LTE NB-IoT Shield for Arduino

LTE NB-IoT Shield for Arduino

NeuroBytes: Electronic Neuron Simulators

Real-Life Electronic Neurons

The Hacker Village of Supercon

DRV8818 Stepper Driver Module for 3D Printers

DRV8818 Stepper Driver Module for 3D Printers

dgouramanis/T18_driver

Tiny ESP32 WROVER pSRAM board

Tiny ESP32 WROVER pSRAM board

High Speed Data Acquisition Chat

High Speed Data Acquisition Chat

Arduino Neural Network Robot

Arduino Neural Network Robot

Part 1: Prototype and Design

Part 2: Soldering and Assembly

Open Source Underwater Glider Wins 2017 Hackaday Prize

Grid-EYE 8×8 Infrared Camera

Grid-EYE 8×8 Infrared Camera

Donkey Self-Driving Car

Donkey Self-Driving Car

OpenMV Cam Servo Controller