MappyDot Distance Measurement Badge

SensorDots created this standalone wearable badge that will show people how far away they are so they don’t accidentally run into you:
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MappyDot Distance Measurement Badge

This project will show you how to create a standalone application with the MappyDot Plus working as an I2C master with an I2C 7 segment display. This example can also be adapted for use with a wide range of different client I2C devices for standalone applications.

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Once you have assembled the 7 segment display, you can now hook everything up as per the schematics below. Provided your battery supply outputs a voltage between 2.8 and 5 volts, you don’t need to use a voltage regulator to supply this project. Using 4xAA 1.2v rechargable NiMH batteries is perfect for this setup. If using 1.5V alkaline batteries, you should consider using a voltage regulator (or a diode with a large voltage drop) or opt for only 3xAA alkaline batteries.

MappyDot Distance Measurement Badge

Join two KiCad livestreams TODAY

Screenshot from 2020-04-01 16-17-56

At 9:00 AM US PDT today, April 1st, KiCad leader developer Seth Hillbrand will be hosting a KiCad Community meetup video conference on Jisti Meet:

Last week’s meetup was nice to see and talk with other KiCad users. Let’s do it again this week.

This week, I’m happy to answer questions and I’ll be working through designing a KiCad version of the Medtronic OpenVentilator project (http://www.medtronic.com/openventilator 5). You may have heard that Medtronic (a multi-billion $ company) bought the company that cancelled the original gov’t contract 2 for low-cost ventilators in 2015 and then this week released a “kind of” open source version 3 of their current (not low-cost) ventilator.

In reality, they released scans of the schematics and some word documents for bring-up procedures. I’m going to see if we can turn the scans into a set of useful KiCad schematics + board files. This still doesn’t get to what’s needed to actually recreate more of these ventilators but it is a needed first step.

If you are curious about recreating designs from incomplete schematics, reverse engineering in KiCad or just want to hang out and chat, please stop by.

Then at 12:00 PM US PDT, Piotr Esden will livestream KiCad board layout:

Electronics Let’s Play – iCEBreaker-bitsy update/design work Ep. 3

Screenshot from 2020-04-01 16-15-10

Join two KiCad livestreams TODAY

COVID-19: update on our staff and operations

Hey folks! This is a tough time for everyone, and we just wanted to provide an update on the health and safety of our employees, company, and production chain.

First and foremost, we’re making sure our employees are safe and tucked away at home. This is fortunately quite easy: Most of our staff works remotely to begin with. Our shipping crew is currently staying home, with pay, until such a time that we feel it’s safe to safe for everyone to commute again.  Our current physical operations are currently being handled by Laen who basically lives at the office anyway.  If anything does come up, us employees do have solid health care and plenty of allowance for leave.

As a company, don’t expect to halt operations, so you can expect your orders to be as prompt and purple as ever.

Lastly, we rely upon some contract fabrication facilities for the physical production. These fabs are critical for ventilator production, so it’s extremely unlikely they’ll be halting operations anytime soon.  Our orders are obviously a lower priority than medical equipment, but should be produced on our normal schedule and help keep their machines up and lights on.  Our fabs are doing their best to push for remote work when appropriate (such as handling orders, invoicing, and CAM operations), and minimizing staff on site.

– Dan Sheadel, OSH Park Support

[For more information, please visit our turnaround times and shipping page]
COVID-19: update on our staff and operations