Arduino

Has anyone used this before? I've been interested for a while to try it out.
Been quite a while since I worked on anything similar. I used to do some PIC programming, but this stuff looks super easy.

Now I just need a project...

Strange you should bring it up - I got my first Arduino in the post yesterday! I'm presently playing around with the idea of building a light harp using high powered LEDs and photo diodes as a MIDI trigger. The Arduino will run a VSTi soft synth on the laptop.

I've not programmed in C for about 15 years, but the Arduino playground/forum seems to have a lot of code that I can use as a starting point and then butcher.

If you're seeking inspiration for projects you could try hackaday.com/. Clearly you haven't yet realised how desperately you need an automated chicken coop door opener!

I hate that I can't think of something better, but I will probably start with a simple house lighting control. I can automate my whole house's lights for less than the price of an X10 starter kit 😕

I'm getting a couple of these for free from a buddy who used them for a GPS application and has spares lying around doing nothing: http://icop.com.tw/products_detail.asp?ProductID=138
I'm gonna try to get a Linux LAMP setup on it with a basic website so I can control it over the web.
Both use 5V power, so I can box 'em up.


My dad and I are also chatting about automating greenhouse irrigation etc. on his property.

Originally posted by Crowley
I hate that I can't think of something better, but I will probably start with a simple house lighting control. I can automate my whole house's lights for less than the price of an X10 starter kit 😕

I'm getting a couple of these for free from a buddy who used them for a GPS application and has spares lying around doing nothing: http://icop.com.tw/products My dad and I are also chatting about automating greenhouse irrigation etc. on his property.

Originally posted by Crowley
I'm getting a couple of these for free from a buddy who used them for a GPS application and has spares lying around doing nothing: http://icop.com.tw/products_detail.asp?ProductID=138
I'm gonna try to get a Linux LAMP setup on it with a basic website so I can control it over the web.

Godamnit! Just got my light harp up and running a VST synth and I go and blow up my poor little Arduino with a stray wire - poor little fella didn't deserve that. Is it worth trying to replace the Atmel chip, or should I buy a new board?

How are you going with your project, Crowley?

Originally posted by Marcusr
Godamnit! Just got my light harp up and running a VST synth and I go and blow up my poor little Arduino with a stray wire - poor little fella didn't deserve that. Is it worth trying to replace the Atmel chip, or should I buy a new board?

How are you going with your project, Crowley?

it's the size of a card deck or smaller, couldn't you just play with it on your desk?

Originally posted by zeeblebot
it's the size of a card deck or smaller, couldn't you just play with it on your desk?

mine are 8 and 13. i can see that happening, though, when they were smaller. my neighbor still has the Legos all boxed up to keep the littlest one from swallowing them.

might try bundling your stuff up in a small tote box when not in use. or put it all on a board on the desk, and put the whole board in a larger tote when not in use.

TI has a microcontroller dev kit on a USB jump stick for $20 (last checked a couple of years ago). comes packed in a standard DVD box with a CD or DVD with compiler, tools, etc. the microcontroller's on a little daughterboard, thumbnailed-sized, that you can detach from the rest of jump stick. think some other manufacturers have recently come out with similar. anyhow, less worry if the kids should grab it.

here you go, TI now has a dev kit built into a sports watch, very cheap 🙂.

http://www.ti.com/corp/docs/landing/mcu/index.htm?DCMP=MSP430&HQS=Tools+OT+ez430

the same page also shows the USB stick i mentioned (eZ430-F2013), and some newer stuff.

Originally posted by zeeblebot
here you go, TI now has a dev kit built into a sports watch, very cheap 🙂.

http://www.ti.com/corp/docs/landing/mcu/index.htm?DCMP=MSP430&HQS=Tools+OT+ez430

the same page also shows the USB stick i mentioned (eZ430-F2013), and some newer stuff.

that looks expensive. i wonder why he needs 1 processor for every 3 LEDs.

"9000 LEDs, 3000 MSP430 processors, six XMOS XC-2 Ethernet modules"

Originally posted by Crowley
Has anyone used this before? I've been interested for a while to try it out.
Been quite a while since I worked on anything similar. I used to do some PIC programming, but this stuff looks super easy.

Now I just need a project...

Originally posted by Ragnorak
Build me a sound trigger for off camera flashes...
http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2008/04/arduino_flash_trigger.html

I'd be interested to hear how you get on. They're something I'd like to look into in the future, but I have more urgent projects atm.

D