TeenLogger, a Teensy GPS Logger | Weird-Lab

TeenLogger, a Teensy GPS Logger | Weird-Lab: TEENLOGGER, A TEENSY GPS LOGGER

Wireless voice-controllable smart home project

Wireless voice-controllable smart home project:

Wireless voice-controllable smart home project by Jiayuan Wang and Sheng Zhang from Cornell University, built as a final project:

There are two CPU in our project, ATmega328 and ATmega1284. We set up the wireless communication by two Xbee chips. One of them connects with ATmega328 working as the transmitter to transmit the signal, another one is connected with ATmega1284 to be the receiver. We pick up ATmega328 to be our transmitter part because there is a microphone on it which could receive and store the voice signal from people. When people say the voice instruction, microphone gets it first and then ATmega328 receive it. By the program controlling, ATmega328 will send the signal to transmitter Xbee. When the Xbee is enabled, it will send the corresponding signal to the receiver Xbee by the different voice instructions. When the wireless communication set up successfully, it will send instructions for ATmega1284.

Via Hacked Gadgets.

Displaying Arduino data on website

Displaying Arduino data on website:

There are many ways of putting real world data to webserver. You can use third party services like cosm. But if you do like to keep everything under your control then do it simple way. Luca chares a tutorial how to do this using simple PUT and GET methods. For this he uses PHP pages to read data from Arduino with Ethernet shield and then display on webpage in your desired form.

His example is based on reading SD18B20 temperature sensor. Data is stored in CSV file, but it is recommended to use database instead. But for demonstration purposes it is enough.

REC10 Wireless Range Extender Fixes Your Crappy Wi-Fi Signal

REC10 Wireless Range Extender Fixes Your Crappy Wi-Fi Signal:


If you live in a home larger than a single room, chances are you've experienced Wi-Fi reception issues before. We've offered several DIY solutions in the past, but those only go so far in larger homes with signal-killing walls. The Amped Wireless REC10 powers through those impenetrable corners of your home so you can actually get internet access everywhere.
I live in a large apartment with a roommate, so it isn't huge but it's big enough that the Wi-Fi just won't make it to my bedroom without causing significant dropouts. I'd repurposed an old Airport Express to extend the signal, which worked fine, but the speeds could've been a bit better. After implementing the REC10, however, the signal made it right through the Wi-Fi-killing wall no problem and gave me the same speeds I could expect when sitting in the living room, much closer to the router.
The REC10 connects to your existing Wi-Fi router wirelessly. You don't have to run an ethernet cable to it, like I had to with my AirPort Express. Setup isn't too difficult, either. You just connect to the REC10, choose the network you want to extend, provide the Wi-Fi password and fill in a few other settings. When you're done, you'll have a new extended network to connect to in the formerly Wi-Fi-less corners of your home. Of course, the REC10 won't work miracles. You need to put it somewhat near the router. I was actually able to place it fairly far away—in an area that received poor Wi-Fi reception normally—and it extended my network just fine. That said, if you're attempting to extend your network over a long range you may need more than one little gadget.
Overall, I was really surprised by how effectively the REC10 boosted my Wi-Fi signal. I tried it assuming it wouldn't manage to solve my Wi-Fi problems, but it did. If you're stuck with a crappy signal and DIY options aren't doing the trick, give this thing a try. It's pretty powerful for such a tiny little thing.
Amped Wireless REC10 High Power 600mW Compact Wi-Fi Range Extender ($70) | Amazon

BeagleBoard black – will it beat Raspberry Pi?

BeagleBoard black – will it beat Raspberry Pi?:

It seems that Raspberry Pi continuously is loosing the “cheapest Linux” board positions. After BeagleBoard black has been announced, you may thing twice before purchasing your next or first Linux based development board. Firs of all its price has been cut to $45 which makes it very attractive choice. It becomes even more attractive when looking at technical specs.

First of all it comes with AM335x 1GHz processor. We all now that clock cycle doesn’t determine the system performance. We will definitely see the comparison results soon. It also comes with 512MB of RAM. Then there is 2GB of onboard flash memory where angstrom Linux distribution is preloaded. Also you can always boot from uSD you own image. Among all other features you can find onboard JTAG, USB, serial port, Ethernet, HDMI, 65 GPIO that can be split in to several special function IOS like LCD, analog and so on. If you were keen to buy white BeagleBoard, then why not grabbing the black one.

A new board for the 3Drag: there’s more than Sanguinololu

A new board for the 3Drag: there’s more than Sanguinololu:

Let’s improve the 3Drag with this new board that allows to control a fan and (thanks to the  ATmega2560 processor) add some code and accessory devices such as a display or an SD Card

 

When we first released our 3D printer, we tried to use some parts that were already available and tested, in full respect of the open source philosophy. In particular, we decided to use the electronic card Sanguinololu. The “open” firmware we chose, the Marlin firmware by Erik van der Zalm, solved the biggest part of the computer interface issues. The Sanguinololu was great, but being innovators by vocation, we looked around testing new developments. The first improvement was about introducing a fan, capable of blowing cool air on the just deposed layers, while the second came from the Sanguinololu weaknesses in managing the heated plate. The first new feature is very useful because it allows you to cool the deposed material more quickly and makes it more viscous than the subsequent deposition, while the latter is for those who want to use the ABS and serves to prevent the deformation of the lower layers the piece.

Unfortunately with the original Sanguinololu card, which indeed sports a dedicated output for controlling a heating plate, we were able to control power heaters of quite limited power that couldn’t keep up with our requirements. In addition, the control outputs of the Sanguinololu (which is the classical RepRap board) are sufficient to check only the four bipolar stepper motors that drive the mechanics, the extruder heater, the heated plate, and two inputs to read the temperature.

Since we were looking for something more, we evaluated two possibilities: to design a board from scratch or try a customizable open source solution. Eventually we found an interesting starting point in an open source project, that of the RAMPS board. Amending and supplementing the RAMPS board schematics, we derived the unit described in this post.

 

We replaced the original microcontroller with a great Atmel ATmega 2560, that can accommodate more lines of code in the Flash and allows us to implement more features than those of a typical 3D printers control board. We also re-shared the design in open source, in full respect of the open source world rules.

Compared to other solutions available on the market, this solution allows those who know how to program the ATmega with the Arduino IDE to add functions and enhance the functionality by modifying the available source code: you’ll not feel limited by the scarcity of program memory that characterizes the micro (ATmega 644) available on the original Sanguinololu board.

Indeed, the ATmega2560 processor sports 256 KB of program memory with 16 MHz clock. Our board can be programmed directly from the Arduino IDE: a USB connection to connect via a standard miniUSB cable is available, and the same port allows PC control during prints.

Our board allows you to control a cooling fan: this is very useful since both the printing software Repetier host and the slicing software Slic3r include cooling management during extrusion phase: the fan is activated only when necessary, with a speed that is tuned on the characteristics of the printing layers.

The board also sports few LEDs connected to the stepper motors drivers, allowing you to check immediately whether the microcontroller commands are correctly given letting you check the operation status of the system in case of fault. Even MOSFETs that drive the extruder heater and the heated plate are matched with LEDs with the very same function. The same was done for the FT232RL that deals with the USB / serial conversion: it’s equipped with LEDs indicating information exchange with the PC.

Regarding the control of the stepper-motors: the default drivers configuration is 1/16 of a step: by cutting the three thin tracks on the bottom, those connecting two by two the jumpers’ pitches, you can solder the standard pin-strips to operate the manual selection of the steps through 2,54 mm jumpers. This operation can be made ​​for one or more drivers depending on the needs.

Let’s see the circuit diagram that describes our unit.

The diagram

The circuit may appear small but it is a little complex, given that counts a 100-pin microcontroller, four stepper motors drivers, three MOSFETs allowing us to drive two heaters (one is that heating of the plate and the other one heats the nozzle of the extruder) and a low tension fan, as well as a USB / serial converter to interface the ATmega with the computer and to a power supply stage, which completes the ensemble.

As said the microcontroller is loaded with “Marlin” firmware properly configured to drive the electronics.

The drivers motors are produced on our own and can be found in the scheme as signed U4, U5, U6, U7. Each module is essentially an Allegro A4988, very versatile since it can be set to define both the direction of rotation of the motor shaft and the number of degrees that the rotor must complete after each command: we can decide whether when we provide a pulse, the module will rotate the shaft of 1, 1/2, 1/4, 1/8 or 1/16 of a step at a time, based on the accuracy that you want to get.

Each driver consists of a dual H-bridge managed by an electronic device that allows you to set the direction of rotation of the electromagnetic field and, then, of the stepper-motor shaft. Each time a pulse arrives on pin STEP (the minimum allowable is 1 µs), unless otherwise set, outputs 1A, 1B, 2A and 2B provide the pulses for controlling the displacement of the rotor unless the inputs MS1, MS2, MS3 are set differently.

Notice that the /STEP line of each controller is connected to an NPN transistor, which serves as a current amplifier to drive a LED, which will pulsate similarly to the corresponding command line of the microcontroller (PA4 for U4, PF6 for U5, PF0 for U6 and PL3 for U7) so that we monitor what happens. Thus, in the case that an engine does not rotate despite its related LED pulses, it means that the problem is within the driver or the motor, or in the wiring. It is understood that since the LED pulses at the same frequency of the control pulses, we can see it flashing only when the corresponding motor will run at very low speed, since already at 25 Hz, the human eye sees the diode always illuminated.

Let’s talk about the MOSFET driver used to power the heaters and the fan: they are all BUK6215-75C, manufactured by NXP, with N-enhancement mode channel, capable of a drain current that reaches 57A and capable to bear with a Vds in lock state, of 75 V; their very low Rdson (15 milliohms max with a drain current of 15A) is used to minimize the power dissipation and therefore being able to solder them directly to the PCB track (which acts as a heat sink). The case is a SOT428, for surface mount, and allows to do this.

In our case the MOSFETs are used with small currents, because we are in the order of 2 to 2.5 A for the heater extruder (which must be connected to HEATER1) and 5 to 6 A for the heated plate (to be connected to HEATER2), which is why there is no need to equip them with the heat sink and they cool just thanks to the dissipative effect of the slopes where the foil collector is welded.

Each of the heaters related outputs is provided with a pulsating LED associated with the 4 Hz PWM signal, allowing to visually check the state of operation, the PWM of the cooling fan is instead at a higher frequency and the corresponding LED will seem always switched on when the fan is on, regardless of the speed of rotation.

Continuing with the analysis of the I / O of the microcontroller, PE5, PJ1 and PD3, serve to read the status of the end-of-run switches on the three axes; for the accuracy, PE5 and PJ1 respectively detect the end of run of the plate (horizontally) forward/backward and sideways. Instead PD3 detects the end of run of the extruder mover. All lines are equipped with internal pull-up, enabled by the firmware.

End of run switches, when properly placed, are turned on when the plate or the print head support arrives at the end of the run: in our case those are mounted on the chassis.

Using a end-of-run switch, we can connect with the contact between S and – (ground) on the understanding that it will be necessary to instruct the firmware to both read the low logic state, and set the internal pull-up on pins 7, 64 and 46 of the microcontroller.

Well, let’s now check the PC communication section, which belongs to the lines PE0, PE1 and RST of the microcontroller: the first two are assigned to the internal UART, which communicates with the USB / serial converter U3. The latter is an FT232RL from FTDI, and contains the logic that is necessary to transform the data from the TTL serial format to USB, sorting incoming data from TXD and RXD on DP and DM pins. The chip is powered directly from the USB’s 5 volt.

LEDs dubbed LD6 and LD5 locally indicate the activity of the transmission lines and data retrieval.

Notice that the integrated circuit is provided with pins for some of the control signals of the RS232 standard, of which we use the DTR (Data Terminal Ready) to start the bootloader when you need to load the firmware into the microcontroller.

Continuing the circuit analysis we can look to PK5 and PK6 lines, thanks to which the micro reads from the temperature sensors from the heaters. These sensors are 100 kohm/25 °C NTC thermistors to be connected to the THERM1 and THERM2 contacts. More in details, THERM1 is connected to the extruder sensor, while NTC should be connected to THERM2 that detects the temperature reached from the potentially heated plate.

The two probes are fundamental to stabilize the extruder temperature: in fact they allow the microcontroller to adjust the current supplied to the resistor that heats the nozzle so as to keep the temperature set.

Without this feedback we couldn’t stabilize the temperature: even admitting to work with a constant current and supposing that this corresponds to a certain temperature, environmental and operational changes could alter the temperature at which the plastic material is brought to extrude, with obvious deposition and printing problems.

As said, the thermistors used in our machine are 100 kohm / 25 ° C from NTC.

BOM

R1: 10 kohm (0805)

R2: 10 kohm (0805)

R3: 330 ohm (0805)

R4: 10 ohm (0805)

R5: 100 kohm (0805)

R6: 1,8 kohm (0805)

R7: 4,7 kohm (0805)

R8: 4,7 kohm (0805)

R9: 4,7 kohm (0805)

R10: 10 ohm (0805)

R11: 100 kohm (0805)

R12: 1,8 kohm (0805)

R13: 10 ohm (0805)

R14: 100 kohm (0805)

R15: 1,8 kohm (0805)

R16: 470 ohm (0805)

R17: 470 ohm (0805)

R18: 10 ohm (0805)

R19: 10 ohm (0805)

R20: 330 ohm (0805)

R21: 330 ohm (0805)

R22: 330 ohm (0805)

R23: 330 ohm (0805)

R24: 10 kohm (0805)

R25: 10 kohm (0805)

R26: 10 kohm (0805)

R27: 10 kohm (0805)

R28: 100 kohm (0805)

R29: 100 kohm (0805)

R30: 100 kohm (0805)

R31: 100 kohm (0805)

R32: 4,7 kohm (0805)

R33: 4,7 kohm (0805)

R34: 4,7 kohm (0805)

R35: 4,7 kohm (0805)

R36: 10 kohm (0805)

R37: 10 kohm (0805)
C1: 100 nF (0805)

C2: 100 µF 25 VL (E)

C3: 100 nF (0805)

C4: 100 µF 25 VL (E)

C5: 100 µF 25 VL (E)

C6: 100 µF 25 VL (E)

C7: 10 µF 35 VL (B)

C8: 10 µF 35 VL (B)

C9: 22 pF (0805)

C10: 22 pF (0805)

C11: 100 µF 25 VL (E)

C12: 100 nF (0805)

C13: 100 µF 25 VL (E)

C14: 100 µF 25 VL (E)

C15: 100 nF (0805)

C16: 100 nF (0805)

C17: 100 nF (0805)

C18: 100 nF (0805)
D1: GF1M

D2: BAT42W

D3: MBRA140TRPBF
T1: BUK6215-75C

T2: BUK6215-75C

T3: BUK6215-75C

T4: BC817

T5: BC817

T6: BC817

T7: BC817
U1: ATMEGA2560-16AU

U2: MC7805ABD2T (D2PAK) > cod. RS 516-5988P

U3: FT232RL

U4: Driver

U5: Driver

U6: Driver

U7: Driver
LD1: LED (0805)

LD2: LED (0805)

LD3: LED (0805)

LD4: LED (0805)

LD5: LED (0805)

LD6: LED (0805)

LD7: LED (0805)

LD9: LED (0805)

LD10: LED (0805)
P1: Microswitch
Q1: 16 MHz (C7S)

The stepper motor driver module

The control of the stepper motors has been entrusted to four modules based on the Allegro’s A4988 integrated circuit which sports a dual H-bridge driver governed by a logic that controls the motor ignition and allows the motor to make shorter steps. As an example for each control pulse sent to STEP (the pin that receives the motor drive pulses) the stepper-motor can take an entire step or fractions ranging from 1/2 to 1/16, depending on the combination logic on MS1, MS2, MS3.

The direction of the movement resulting from each pulse received on STEP depends on the logic level applied to DIR (the logic 1 implements anticlockwise rotation, 0 makes it clockwise). Each bridge can deliver a current of 2 A, while the module is fed continuously with voltages up to 35 V; a small trimmer on the base and connected to the A4983’s REF pin (17), allows you to adjust the bridges output current.

The module allows you to disable the H bridge while still being fed: just bring the EN line to a high logic level. For normal operation, this contact must be set to zero; note that EN can not be managed, as the module incorporates a pull-down resistor (R6) that in the absence of control voltage supplied from outside keeps it enabled.

The SLEEP line deactivates U1, without un-powering the module; it is kept at a high logic level by the pull-up resistor R3: in the absence of an external control the module is always active. By placing SLP to logic zero, U1 goes into sleep mode, or in standby, absorbing a few tens of microamps, in this mode does not drive the H-bridge and does not respond to any commands.

Operation of the bridges is governed by a PWM signal generated by a circuit controlled by a one-shot timer, whose off pulse duration determines the off time of each MOSFET. Depending on the voltage applied to Rosc three modes of operation are possible:

- Vdd = off time is permanently set to 30 ms and the decay mode is Mixed except when you opt for 1/1 step mode

-mass (J1 closed) = off-time is 30 microseconds, while the decay mode is Mixed for both growing and declining currents, except in 1/1 step mode;

- intermediate voltage = off time is defined (in microseconds) from this formula toff ≈ ROSC / 825.

Such rules are related to engine command pulses that, if the output current reaches the limit value fixed by the trimmer applied to Vref (Imax),have an envelope that has a rapid rise time and then a Mixed decay. When this occurs, the MOSFET of the bridge makes the output current decrease (for the 32.5% of the toff time) quickly at the start and then slower.

The current delivered by each bridge can be easily regulated and limited by the application of a control potential to A4988’s pin 17 (by means of R9). The maximum current supplied by the driver (Imax) is defined by the formula:

Imax = Vref / 8xRs

where Vref is the voltage applied to pin 17 of the integrated circuit and Rs is the value of the resistor connected to the Sense pin (SENS1 for a bridge and SENS2 for the other). To have the same current on both bridges R7 should be equal to R8.

Driver BOM 

R1: Trimmer 10 kohm

R2: -

R3: 100 kohm (0603)

R4: 10 kohm (0603)

R5: 20 kohm (0603)

R6: 100 kohm (0603)

R7: 0,05 ohm (0805)

R8: 0,05 ohm (0805)
C1: 4,7 µF (1206)

C2: 100 nF (0603)

C3: 100 nF (0603)

C4: 100 nF (0603)

C5: 100 nF (0603)

C6: 220 nF (0603)

C7: 220 nF ()
U1: A4988SETTR-T

Visit the store

Mini PC με κόστος 45 δολάρια και μεγάλες δυνατότητες επέκτασης | e-pcmag.gr

Mini PC με κόστος 45 δολάρια και μεγάλες δυνατότητες επέκτασης | e-pcmag.gr: ρέξει και Android για όποιον

Rattle generator is a new type of dynamo for a bicycle

Rattle generator is a new type of dynamo for a bicycle:

This project is in one of our favorite categories; the kind where asking “why?” is the wrong question. [Berto A.] built the device after observing some power generation by placing a large magnet next to a mechanical relay coil and quickly clicking the relay’s lever. From this humble beginning he built up the RattleGen, a bicycle spoke driven generator.
To get the most power possible he searched around for a massive relay and found one which was originally meant for telephone exchanges. He cut the case open and strapped a big bar magnet to the side of the coil. Next he fabricated an arm which will press against the relay’s lever. To that he added a small wheel which is pressed each time a spoke from the bicycle passes by it. This repeated clicking of the relay lever generates a current (and a rattling sound) that is harvested by the joule thief circuit built on some protoboard. An LED is illuminated, with excess current stored in the capacitor bank. Don’t miss the build and demonstration video after the break.



Filed under: green hacks

Using Mobile Processing and a Motorola cell phone to relay arduino data to and from a website.

fiveboh

Mobile Arduino with Mobile.Processing

Using Mobile Processing and a Motorola cell phone to relay arduino data to and from a website.

http://www.eeweb.com/blog/circuit_projects/mobile-processing-based-on-arduino

Generating electricity from alcohol

Generating electricity from alcohol:

Here’s a thermoelectric generator which [x2Jiggy] built. The concept uses heat from a flame, biased against cooler temperatures produced by that huge heat sink making up the top portion of the build to produce electricity via the Peltier effect.
The build is passively cooled, using a sync assembly that takes advantage of heat pipes to help increase the heat dissipation. A nearly flat heat sink makes up the mounting surface for the hot side, which faces down toward a flame driving the generator. [x2Jiggy] started the project by using a can, wick, and olive oil as the heat source. He managed to get about 2V out of the system with this method. What you see here is the second version. It swaps out the olive oil lamp for an alcohol stove. The cans with holes punched in them act as a wind screen while also providing a stable base. This rendition produces about 3V, but it doesn’t sound like there are any precise measurements of what it can do under load.

Filed under: green hacks

IP Camera Bluetooth Robot

IP Camera Bluetooth Robot:
 

Our friend Dave from Plastibots has just completed this great looking Bluetooth Robot that has an IP Camera on board. Dave wrote an Android application called BT Bot Control to allow you to drive your robot around using commands over Bluetooth using your Android phone. The video from the camera is sent back using Wifi. I can just imagine how much fun this would be with a squirt gun connected! Connect either a powerful solenoid or a servo to squirt the target when you have them in your sights. Might need some larger motors to get the speed you would need to quickly drive away before the person you squirted tosses the bot in the pool though.

Old Sony Ericsson phone as GSM shield, clock, display, keyboard, BT, audio, more - Arduino Forum

Old Sony Ericsson phone as GSM shield, clock, display, keyboard, BT, audio, more - Arduino Forum: Old Sony Ericsson phone as GSM shield, clock, display, keyboard, BT, audio, more

Parker1 WiFi / 4G Mobile Robot

Parker1 WiFi / 4G Mobile Robot

Home automation server with router

Home automation server with router

How to set up home data server using OpenWRT on Linksys WRT160NL router

How to set up home data server using OpenWRT on Linksys WRT160NL router: How to set up home data server using OpenWRT on Linksys WRT160NL router�
Every home needs a router. Why not to turn your router into a webcam and data server, for example, to monitor a baby.

Linksys router WRT160NL can be reprogrammed to use OpenWRT (that is a kind of Linux), to connect a hub, flash stick, webcam, sound card, one wire interface and arduino for relay control, one-wire temperature sensors. The router still preserves its function as a rooter. Power consumption is 5W with webcam. WRT160NL costs ca 60 EUR+ 30 EUR webcam. Here are links to example router webservers:

http://router5.site90.com/
http://router4.site40.net/
http://78.84.193.176/
http://87.226.78.126/salaspils/

TL-WR703N serial port

TL-WR703N serial port: TL-WR703N serial port

Smart home automation webserver on OpenWRT router WR703N interfaced to Arduino, compared to Raspberry Pi and Ubuntu

Smart home automation webserver on OpenWRT router WR703N interfaced to Arduino, compared to Raspberry Pi and Ubuntu: Smart home automation webserver on OpenWRT router WR703N interfaced to Arduino, compared to Raspberry Pi and Ubuntu

SMS controlled Wireless Irrigation System

Getting the Materials: SMS controlled Wireless Irrigation System

432 MHz wireless sensors and power outlets for home automation using Arduino

432 MHz wireless sensors and power outlets for home automation using Arduino

Stealing cars and ringing doorbells with radio

Stealing cars and ringing doorbells with radio:

The cheap software defined radio platforms that can be built out of a USB TV tuner aren’t getting much love on the Hackaday tip line of late. Thankfully, [Adam] sent in a great guide to cracking sub-GHz wireless protocols wide open, and ringing doorbells, opening cars, and potentially setting houses on fire in the process.
The first wireless hack [Adam] managed to whip up is figuring out how a wireless doorbell transmitter communicates with its receiver. [Adam] connected a FUNcube software defined radio dongle (although any one of the many USB TV tuner dongles we’ve seen would also work) and used GNU Radio to send the radio signals received to a WAV file. When looking at this audio file in Audacity, [Adam] saw the tell-tale signs of digital data, leaving with a string of 1s and 0s that would trigger his wireless doorbell.
The FUNcube dongle doesn’t have the ability to transmit, though, so [Adam] needed a more capable software defined radio to emulate the inner workings of a doorbell transmitter. He found one in the Ettus Research USRP, a software designed radio that’s doing a good job of keeping [Balint], Hackaday SDR extraordinaire, very busy. By sending the data [Adam] decoded with the FUNcube dongle over the USRP, he was able to trigger his wireless doorbell using nothing but a few hundred dollars of radio equipment and software ingenuity.
Doorbells are a low-stakes game, so [Adam] decided to step things up a little and unlock his son’s car by capturing and replaying the signals from a key fob remote. Modern cars use a rolling code for their keyless entry, so that entire endeavour is just a party trick. Other RF-enabled appliances, such as a remote-controlled mains outlet, are a much larger threat to home and office security, but still one [Adam] managed to crack wide open.

Filed under: radio hacks, security hacks

Adding fireplace control to your home automation

Adding fireplace control to your home automation:

[James] has an admirable home automation system which he’s been working on for years. It does things like monitor the state of the garage door, control the lights, and it even notifies him of a power failure. One thing that wasn’t on the system yet are the fireplaces he has in his home. The hardware you see above is how he patched into the fireplace remote control system in order to automate them.
The remote control uses RF to communicate with a base station. Unlike controlling home theater components which use IR, this makes it a bit more difficult to patch into. Sure, we’d love to see some reverse engineering of the protocol so that a simple radio module could be used, but [James] chose the route which would mean the least amount of hacking on his part. He soldered wires onto the PCB for the buttons and connected to them using reed relays. These let the Arduino simulate button presses.
With the rig connected to the home network he has a lot of options. The system can sense if the house is occupied. If it determines that no one is home it will switch off the fireplaces. [James] also mentions the ability to monitor for carbon monoxide or house fires, switching off the gas fireplaces in either case.

Filed under: home hacks

DIY Arduino Pro Mini quadcopter

DIY Arduino Pro Mini quadcopter:

[execUc] took a stock V929 quadcopter and started making some crafty customizations. The main change – the control electronics were replaced by an Arduino Pro Mini (16Mhz model). He soldered all the modules on a prototyping board and, although admittedly a bit heavy, the little guy takes flight with no problem.
Among other details, an HMC5883L (magnetometer) and MPU6050 (accelerometer / gyroscope) are used as sensors. A LiPo 7.4V battery pack supplies the power. The brushed motors are controlled by pulse-width modulation from SI2302 MOSFET with added diodes. He plans to swap out the micro-controller for an ARM7 stm32F103 for extra computing power, and needs to play with the PID values to correct a slight problem he seems to be having when rotating.
Check out a test flight video after the break. [execUc] has a thorough list of all the alterations he made in the video description, so be sure to read it.
[via Hacked Gadgets]



Filed under: arduino hacks, drone hacks, toy hacks

Python script migrates from dying Google Reader to Evernote

Python script migrates from dying Google Reader to Evernote:

We’re sure you’ve heard by now that Google has decided to close its RSS feed aggregator service called Google Reader. We’ve got to remember to get our list of thousands of great hacking blog feeds off of there before it’s gone. But just preserving the list is rather easy. [Paul Kerchen] has a bit different problem. He’s got hundreds of articles starred and he wants to preserve a way to find those pages again. His solution was to write his own Python script to migrate starred Google Reader articles over to Evernote.
We’re not here to promote the Evernote service. But just so we’re on the same page, it’s an archiving system that lets you save things like webpages and text documents for access on a wide range of different platforms. So all that really needs to happen is for [Paul] to get the list of links from his starred articles folder formatted for import on Evernote. It starts by using Google Takeout to download an archive of his account data. Within this dump is a JSON formatted file called ‘starred.json’. His script parses the data and imports each article into Evernote. There’s even rate limiting to manage the daily import maximum of free accounts.

Filed under: internet hacks

Sneak Peek at the Make: Labs DIY Turbojet Engine Project

Sneak Peek at the Make: Labs DIY Turbojet Engine Project: Well here it is, Make:Labs first rendition of a homemade turbojet engine! The first two clips are an attempt to get it started but we ended up flooding it (which resulted in a very impressive flame-out). The third clip is our very first successful start-up and self-sustained run. This development [...]
Read the full article on MAKE