A servo motor is a special geared DC motor equipped with an electronic circuit for controlling the direction of rotation, as well as the position, of the motor shaft. Because servo motors allows precise angular positioning of their output shaft, they are used extensively in robotics and radio-controlled cars, airplanes, and boats to control the motion of their various parts. In this lab session, we will first explore what a servo motor consists of and how it works and then illustrate how to interface it with a PIC microcontroller.

Our curriculum has been broken out into three main categories: beginner, intermediate and advanced. Materials may include presentations, handouts, code and whatever else we've got!

You'll be able to learn simple programming techniques, soldering skills, and other basics before moving on to more advanced skills like using an Atmega and Xbee Wireless. The curriculum is simple enough for a child to understand, but interesting enough for an adult to walk away with some good knowledge. The entire curriculum is free and you'll even get a nice big Intro to Arduino book. If you've been toying with the idea of taking on some of the electronics projects we've featured here but didn't know how to start then this curriculum will give you a good understanding of what you need to know.

Ich habe mich in letzter Zeit ziehmlich mit dem Thema LED Matrix beschäftigt, hauptsächlich mit dem Rainbowduino RGB Led controller von Seeedstudio. Dieser Treiber steuert eine common anode 8x8 rgb led matrix an. das schöne: jeder controller hat ein i2c/spi/uart anschluss (man kann beliebige matricen hinzufügen), das negative: software pwm. nichts desto trotz, habe ich die rainbowduino firmware aufgemotzt und dazu eine einfach library für Processing geschrieben, damit man das teil auch einfach ansteuern kann. ich wollte mich natürlich mit einer 8x8cm "grossen" led matrix zufrieden geben, daher baute ich mir selber eine grössere. Das ganze habe ich in meinem blog dokumentiert, hier ein screenshot der matrix ohne diffuser:

Tired of waiting for Raspberry Pi? With delay after delay, and no fixed release date in sight, maybe it’s time to look for an alternative

The Raspberry Pi is no doubt a very exciting device, with an unmatched ratio of size, power, and value. However, after months of delays and false starts ranging from manufacturing problems to certification issues, the open source wonder board hasn’t actually been delivered to those who have bought it, or would love to buy it. All is not lost though, as there are several alternatives available that might just pique your interest.

Eric Wilhelm, Gründer des Webdienstes Instructables.com – auf dem Konstruktionspläne für offene Hardware angeboten werden –, ist jedoch optimistisch. Ninja Blocks könnten für alle interessant sein, die ein einfaches, konkretes Problem haben, dass sich mit bisherigen Systemen nicht kostengünstig lösen ließ – etwa eine SMS zu erhalten, wenn die Post ein Paket vor der Tür abgelegt hat. Michael Nelson von der Georgetown University glaubt gar, dass die Ninja Blocks den "Hype um das Internet der Dinge“ entscheidend weitertreiben könnten. Er hat sich bereits eine der bunten Kistchen bestellt, zusammen mit fünf Sensoren, einem WLAN-Dongle und einer Webcam. Die 265 Dollar hat Nelson nicht angelegt, weil er sich von seinem Ninja Block die Lösung von Alltagsproblemen erhofft. „Ich kann nun anfangen nachdenken, wie man Probleme löst."

Während es für Gold, Silber und Kupfer bereits erprobte Recyclingverfahren gibt, werden die für die Hochtechnologie wichtigen Seltenen Erden wie Palladium und Indium bislang nicht nennenswert wiederverwertet. Deren Recycling ist zwar technisch möglich, wurde aber wirtschaftlich zumindest bislang nicht für sinnvoll erachtet. Angesichts steigender Preise für Edelmetalle und Seltene Erden sollte man jedoch annehmen, dass auch die Wiederverwertung der Altgeräte zunehmend interessanter und die Goldmine in der Abstellkammer erschlossen wird.

If you're a fan of technology, chances are you've retired a few gadgets over the years and they're sitting in a box in your closet. Today's the day to dig out your leftovers and start thinking about what you can do to let them live and breathe again. Here are ten of our favorite ideas to get you started.

Auf Weather.chrisge.org ist in den letzten Monaten eine kleine Wetterstation mit Livecam entstanden. Als Basissystem kommt eine Seagate Dockstar mit Debian Squeeze zum Einsatz. Ein 1-Wire Netzwerk verbindet die 2 Temperatursensoren sowie einen Multisensor. Das Auslesen dieser Wetterdaten übernimmt OWFS. Des weiteren wird eine Webcam eingesetzt, die mit Motion betrieben wird. Die Wetterdaten werden mit Munin graphisch ausgewertet.

This is a really simple ambient display for temperature using an Arduino, an RGB backlight LCD, and a temperature sensor. The LCD displays the temperature in Fahrenheit and Celsius and adjusts the color of the backlight depending on the reading. An ideal range is set at 61F to 67F. If the temperature is in this range the backlight will change green. Above this range and the color will change red, below the range it will change blue.

Developers' pages Welcome to the digitalSTROM server software developers' pages. The dSS software was first published at Linux day 2009 as a pre-release. The 0.7.5 version was released at the dSS Developer Day on 15 January 2010. The software is released under GNU General Public License 3 (GPLv3). There is also a closed source license available for digitalSTROM alliance members. A contributors agreement defines the terms under which bugfixes and modifications can be submitted. Subscribe to the dss-announce mailing list to stay up-to-date with news on digitalSTROM open source topics. Developers can subscribe to dss-developer to exchange ideas.

As a designer and engineer, I asked myself what should I do, I do not have political or economical power enough to make a difference. eWaste and kids not interested in education. What should I do? Ah! there there, eWaste = partly functional gadgets at no cost and kids = maybe fun interactive toys made from those gadgets? With that thought, ThinkerToys started, converting eWaste into educational fun interactive toys. Tinkering was a central part of coming up with new toys, and these toys were made to make the kids think, and yes that's where the name comes from, Thinking X Tinkering = Thinkering.

Having done half a dozen V-USB tutorials I decided it’s time to whip up something cool. As USB keyboards were an area untouched, I decided to make a small USB HID keyboard device that types a password stored in EEPROM every time it’s attached. A new password can be generated just by tabbing CAPS LOCK a few times (4 times to start password regeneration and one tab for each password character generated, 10 is the default password length)

The SocialBot9000, as [Chris] calls his build, is an Arduino Uno connected to an Ethernet shield and an LCD character display. The firmware uses the Twitter API to search for recent posts containing the phrase, ‘socialbot9000.’ A PHP script on the Arduino does all the heavy lifting and with the great Bildr tutorial on getting the Ethernet shield up and running

arduino_serial.py is a Python port of Tod E. Kurt's arduino-serial.c program for communicating with an Arduino microcontroller board over a serial port. It only uses standard Python modules (notably termios and fcntl) and does not require any special serial communications modules.

DigiKey is hosting a schematic editor as a web application, complete with PNG and PDF export, compiling a bill of materials, etc. It actually works better just running in the browser than some commercial schematic capture programs I’ve used. Now, if someone would just do this with printed circuit board layout…

twas dahinter ist der Micro-SD-Card-Slot ausgestattet mit einer 2 GB Karte. In einige Beschreibungen aus der digitalSTROM Community steht noch 1 GB. In Anbetracht der geringen Nutzung dürfte das auch ausreichen. Denn der Server läuft auch ohne SD-Card. Der Server selbst und die Scripte, sowie die Apps laufen nach Aussage eines Technikers auf dem internen Flash von ca. 256 MB. Oben sind die Beiden USB-Anschlüsse. Mit einem späteren Update soll hier auch ein WLAN-Stick ansprechbar sein. Bis jetzt dienen sie zum Updaten des Servers wenn kein LAN-Anschluss vorhanden ist.

: First because there are many people who would like to know more about driving and controlling LED lights, and second because i was provided an excellent LED driver chip from Farnell for test, and i wanted to put it under the microscope. So i will place this chip against some other LED drivers to see how good it is. The chip that I'm talking about is the A6210 from Allegro Microsystems. It is a Buck-Regulating LED Driver able to drive up to 3A load with constant current, with switching frequencies up to 2 MHz and supply voltage from 9 to 46 volts. It has an optional PWM input to control the brightness of the LED. The sense voltage is down to 0.18 volts for higher efficiency.

It's definitely not the most efficient way to get a clock on your wall, or the cheapest, but if you're looking for a clock that turns heads, looks cool, and is a great starter project if you're interested in tinkering with an Arduino, this laser wall clock definitely fits the bill. If you dig DIY clocks or you just think lasers are cool, this is the kind of project that you might want to try, especially if you're getting started with Arduino projects. You'll need an Arduino, of course, and you'll also need a pair of laser pointers, a few servos and motors to make the lasers move as time passes, and of course, the IKEA BLANDA salad bowl, available for 5 bucks, which will serve as the housing for all of the gear.

While I feel Python’s a great learning language on PCs (and it would be “great” if the Arduino IDE supported it), I have to point out you’d be losing a lot in terms of “ecosystem” if you went with anything other than an Arduino platform.

While you could (eventually) learn to code Arduino projects yourself and make your Arduino do almost anything, you can also simply piggy back off open-source projects already available (that's what this budding Arduino user has done). Programming knowledge isn't required to get started with an Arduino. You just need a little patience. Project complexity varies, but most can be accomplished exclusively with an Arduino and a computer.

“FLORA has the benefit of not using an ISP header for programming; FLORA is completely USB-compatable.”

True, but there’s a Lilypad kit that includes the ISP header to USB thingy, so in practice you’re just programming it over USB anyway.

Not as slick as having USB built in (and the HID support in Flora is sweet) but folks shouldn’t get the idea that loading programs onto the Lilypad is somehow tricky.

Hier steht eine Beschreibung des Pollin Bausatzes AVR-NET-IO. Best.Nr. 810 058, oder als aufgebautes Fertigmodul, Best.Nr. 810 073.

Einige Features: Ethernet-Platine mit ATmega32 und Netzwerkcontroller ENC28J60. Die Platine verfügt über 8 digitale Ausgänge, 4 digitale und 4 ADC-Eingänge, welche alle über einen Netzwerkanschluss (TCP/IP) abgerufen bzw. geschaltet werden können

Arduino is an open embedded hardware and software platform designed for rapid creativity. It's both a great introduction to embedded programming and a fast track to building all kinds of cool devices like animatronics, robots, fabulous blinky things, animated clothing, games, your own little fabs... you can build what you imagine. Follow along as we learn both embedded programming and basic electronics.

What Does Arduino Do?

Arduino was invented by Massimo Banzi, a self-taught electronics guru who has been fascinated by electronics since childhood. Mr. Banzi had what I think of as a dream childhood: endless hours spent dissecting, studying, re-assembling things in creative ways, and testing to destruction. Mr. Banzi designed Arduino to be friendly and flexible to creative people who want to build things, rather than a rigid, overly-technical platform requiring engineering expertise.

Here is the documentation for a solar PV monitoring system that’s been developed as part of the OpenEnergyMonitor project. It’s based on Arduino and is fully open-source; hardware, firmware and web application.

The system monitors both generation and consumption and gives the user a clear indication of when their household electricity demands are being met by their solar PV array (green light) or when their not (red light). The wireless display also shows how much electricity is currently being exported or imported. Monitoring data is also posted on-line by a wireless
web-connected base-station to our powerful open-source web-application emoncms.

This development is part of the actively on-going OpenEnergyMonitor project to design and build open-source tools for the monitoring, visualization and control of energy.

Stromverbrauch im Überblick

volkszaehler.org ist ein freies Smart Meter im Selbstbau.
Der Nutzer behält dabei die vollständige Kontrolle über die anfallenden Strom, Wasser & Gaskosten

his is the home for everything about amateur Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). Use the tabs and drop-down menus above to navigate the site.

This community also created ArduPilot, the world's first universal autopilot (planes, copters of all sorts, ground rovers, boats). The ArduPilotMega autopilot hardware runs a variety of powerful free Arduino-based UAV software systems, including:
* ArduPlane, a pro-level UAV system for planes of all types.
* ArduCopter, a fully-autonomous multicopter and heli UAV system.

Smart Meter erlauben die Analyse des eigenen Stromverbrauchs.
Der Haken an den erhältlichen Lösungen? Eine detaillierte Analyse ist in der Regel nur möglich, wenn die Daten zuvor auf den zentralen Server des Anbieters übertragen werden.
Dabei möchte man diese Daten gar nicht aus der Hand geben, denn sie erlauben einen detaillierten Einblick in die Lebensgewohnheiten eines Haushalts:

Wann stehen die Bewohner auf?
Wann gehen sie zu Bett?
Wie oft und wie lange sind sie in Urlaub?
Welche Elektrogeräte gibt es im Haushalt: Spülmaschine/Waschmaschine/Gefrierschrank?
Wie oft werden diese benutzt?
Wie oft wird gekocht?
Wie oft wird die Toilette nachts aufgesucht?

The open-source Arduino environment makes it easy to write code and upload it to the i/o board. It runs on Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. The environment is written in Java and based on Processing, avr-gcc, and other open source software.

In the past we've covered how to turn the inexpensive Ikea Sunnan solar lamp into a solar display case and today we have a hack from electronics manufacturer Voltaic Systems to turn the same lamp into a solar charging station for an iPad or other power-hungry phone or tablet.
This hack is actually three mini-hacks rolled into one—Voltaic shows how to replace the low-capacity rechargeable batteries in the lamp's battery pack with larger batteries, mod the lamp to accept additional external solar panels, and adding a modified Minty Boost charging circuit to allow devices to pull up to 1 Amp of electricity.

Back in August 2010, an Electronics Engineer from the UK called Ken Boak wrote that he had built a web connected Arduino for £12 and later shared the schematic.

These posts became the basis of a whole new product he would create which is known as the “Nanode”. Nanode is short for “Network Application Node” and is an open source, low cost Arduino board with built in Ethernet courtesy of the Microchip ENC28J60 chip. Over 1000 Nanode’s have been sold in the past few months.

It would be crazy expensive to just buy a lot of batteries to store power for down times, and there are a lot of alternative ideas about how to efficiently store that power, but if you think of electric cars, where the batteries are also used for something else, and fairly cheap and reliable computer programs running smart charge/distribution networks to help out with the spikes and valleys of demand, then it makes a lot more sense economically.

This is great. The manual with my etrex is practically useless. I bought it because I thought is was basic. Unfortunately the instructions are less than basic. I found a lot of my answers at this web site. THANK YOU :)

"The LCDs we sell at Adafruit have a low power LED backlight, run on +5v and require only 6 data pins to talk to. You can use any data pins you want! This tutorial will cover character LCDs"

Not only is this clever use of a beer can an ultra cheap tech hack, it also means less fiddling around with cardboard and aluminum foil as required by other hack methods. This method has been proven to improve Wi-Fi reception from around 2 bars to about 4 on average, varying between 3 and 5. Give it a go – all you've got to waste is a beer can!
Edit Steps
Gather the required materials and tools. These are listed below under "Things You'll Need". Gather the required materials and tools.
Clean the beer can. Make sure there is no residue left inside. Clean the beer can.
Take the ring-pull off the can. Take the ring-pull off the can.
Cut the end off the beer can where there's no opening. Do this using the Stanley knife or similar suitable safety knife. Cut the end off the beer can where there's no opening.
Cut around the end with the opening almost all the way. Leave a little bit of metal to keep attached the part that will be the base (see the white line in the illustration). Cut around the end with the opening almost all the way.
Cut along the middle of the can in a straight line, opposite to the piece of metal attaching the base. Cut along the middle of the can in a straight line, opposite to the piece of metal attaching the base.
Being careful, open up the middle piece of metal by bending it until it vaguely resembles the shape of a radar dish. Being careful, open up the middle piece of metal by bending it until it vaguely resembles the shape of a radar dish.
Place the completed Wi-Fi booster on your router. Place it so that the antenna pokes through the opening, and stick the base of the can to the router with a small piece of poster tack or other suitable adhesive. It's time to test how much your Wi-Fi is now boosted! Place the completed Wi-Fi booster on your router.

Edit Warnings
Be careful of the sharp edges around the can. It's easy to cut yourself on the sharp metal (and it's a lot worse than a paper cut!). You can use adhesive tape to cover them and avoid dangers. Use duct tape to cover the cut edges of the can bottom and sides.

Edit Things You'll Need
An empty, clean 500ml (16.9 fl oz) beer can
A Stanley knife or similar safety knife
A pair of scissors strong enough to cut through thin metal (most will do it)
A small piece of poster tack or similar adhesive
A decent router

Edit Related wikiHows
How to Create a New Scope in DHCP
How to Fix the Network in Parallel Desktops
How to Set up Your Laptop to Print Wirelessly
How to See Active Network Connections (Windows)
How to Repair Wi Fi Connection After Windows Service Pack 2 Upgrade

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gives links and recommendations for categories of: books, electrical equipment, development tools, components, digital electronics, and analog chips. As he puts it, this post is a “gigantic list of everything I would buy right now to replace my entire workshop if mine were to disappear.” This is a great list of things you may need if you’re starting out. If you have some experience, this list may introduce you something new.

The Android 3.1 platform (also backported to Android 2.3.4) introduces Android Open Accessory support, which allows external USB hardware (an Android USB accessory) to interact with an Android-powered device in a special "accessory" mode. When an Android-powered powered device is in accessory mode, the connected accessory acts as the USB host (powers the bus and enumerates devices) and the Android-powered device acts as the device. Android USB accessories are specifically designed to attach to Android-powered devices and adhere to a simple protocol (Android accessory protocol) that allows them to detect Android-powered devices that support accessory mode

Google's really not leaving any stone unturned at IO today -- it's now also announced a brand new Android Open Accessory standard, which promises to effectively be its own version of "Made for iPod." That means that any accessory designed using the API (which could even be something like an exercise bike) will be compatible with any Android phone or tablet -- running at least Android 2.3.4 or 3.1, that is. What's more, Google is also making a reference hardware design dubbed an "ADK" available to developers and, get this, it's based on Arduino.

Want more Android in your house? How about Android in your house. Google wants to think of "every appliance in your home" as a potential accessory for your phone. The opportunities are seemingly endless, the sort of thing we've seen in the Zigbee and Z-wave areas, but sadly this implementation doesn't actually seem to be using any of those standards. The team teased ideas like lights turning on and off based on calendar events, applications talking to washing machines, games automatically adjusting for mood lighting, and basically little green dudes taking care of all the menial duties in your house.

For the supporters out there, [John Boxall] has put together a site jam-packed with Arduino tutorials covering a wide array of concepts and techniques. We have covered his work before in relation to specific topics, but we felt that his site deserved mention as a whole. His tutorials cover some of the most basic concepts such as lighting LEDs with the Arduino, and work their way to more advanced subjects, lesson by lesson.

ElectroDroid ist eine Sammlung von Mini-Anwendungen und Tabellen für Elektronikbastler. Mini-Anwendungen dekodieren beispielsweise Farbringe auf Widerständen sowie SMD-Codes und berechnen bequem etwa Kondensatorladungsvorgänge, Operationsverstärkerparameter und Blindwiderstände bei Wechselspannungen. In zwei per Reiter erreichbaren Kompendien finden sich Steckerbelegungen und diverse Tabellen aus der Elektrotechnik.

Instead of designing a completely new product to fit a certain price range, large scale manufacturing dictates that it is often cheaper to simply “cripple” an existing high-end product. This way the manufacturer can use existing molds, parts, assembly lines and training, etc. In electronic products, firmware is usually crippled to omit/hide certain features. For example, digital camera companies reserve functions (like RAW output, exposure and white balance bracketing, long exposures, etc.) for their higher priced cameras, even though their cheapest camera has the same capabilities (See the CHDK project for more info).

Wie oft denkt Ihr darüber nach, wie die technischen Spielzeuge und Arbeitsmittel Eures Alltags hergestellt werden? Und wie oft verdrängt Ihr den Gedanken ganz schnell, weil Ihr ahnt, dass das nicht so ideal aussieht? Die Gründe, warum wir ständig neue glänzende Gerätschaften kaufen sollen und können, sind vielfältig. Eine Ursache sind die beschissenen Arbeitsbedingungen derer, die sie zusammenbauen.

After a little investigating, I learned a bit about how USB works and that I'd need some extra hardware capable of playing the role of "USB Host" (a job normally left to a full computer) in order to properly work with my keyboard. Enter the USB Host Shield from Circuits@Home. This Arduino compatible shield uses a MAX3421E peripheral/host controller + supporting code library chip to quickly solve my 'USB-without-a-computer' problem.

Comparing to Arduino… If you have to ask how it’s different, you probably need to stick to Arduino. Whatever other features the Renesas products might have, “Easy to use for beginners” is NOT one of them. (They’re probably not any worse than most mcus in the same class, but…)

What is an Ambient signage system? Ambient computing sits at the centre of an area of research called ubiquitous or pervasive computing. Ambient computing proposes devices that can present information in a way that sits at the periphery of our attention. This sits in contrast with the current desktop, laptop and mobile devices that we use to access information which require dedicated attention. Ambient devices are embedded in our surroundings and we can choose when and how to engage with them by simply glancing at them.

DIY electronics blog LucidScience has an easy to follow—if lengthy—tutorial on harvesting parts from an old radio to build your own simple FM bug. When you're done you'll have a simple variable-adjustment FM bug with enough broadcasting power to transmit a signal several rooms away.