Tag Archives: microcontroller

Arduino Launches Tiny New Arduino Micro Board

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If you’re the sort of DIY tinkerer that likes to fiddle about with Arduino-based projects, you’ll be glad to hear that the Arduino project has officially launched a new version of the powerful little microcontroller. The new product is called the Arduino Micro board, and it is based on the technology behind the Leonardo board. The main feature of the device is its small size, measuring just 1.9″ x 0.7″.

arduino micro

The new Micro board packs an ATmega32U4 controller, and all the power and performance of that Leonardo board in a significantly smaller package. Arduino says the new smaller form-factor makes it easy or for enthusiasts to embed the technology inside of even smaller projects. The Arduino Micro board can be used on a breadboard or soldered to a custom-designed PCB.

The Micro was developed in conjunction with Adafruit Industries. Adafruit is also creating a series of accessories to go along with the new Micro board. The new Micro board will be available exclusively online through Adafruit and in Radio Shack retail stores. The version with headers will sell for €21 (~$27 USD) and version without headers go for €18 ($23 USD). It will be available for pre-order starting next week, and shipments start on November 26th.


Netduino Plus 2 offers four times the speed, full round of futureproofing (video)

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Netduino Plus 2 offers four times the speed, full round of futureproofing video

The original Netduino Plus was a welcome alternative for Arduino developers that had its limits -- even networking was almost a step too far. Secret Labs doesn't want any of us to bump our heads on the ceiling with its just-launched Netduino Plus 2. The networkable, .NET-friendly developer board runs a four times faster 168MHz processor with double the RAM (over 100KB) and six times as much code space (384KB) as its two-year-old ancestor. Having so much headroom lets the team build common OneWire and Time Server code into the firmware; Secret Labs reckons that there's enough space that the Plus 2 can easily grow over time. The ports are just as ready for the future with four serial ports, software control of any add-on shields (including Rev C Arduino shields) and a new header that lets programmers debug both managed and truly native code at once. If the upgrade is sufficiently tempting, project builders just need to spend $60 today to enjoy some newfound freedom.

Continue reading Netduino Plus 2 offers four times the speed, full round of futureproofing (video)

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Netduino Plus 2 offers four times the speed, full round of futureproofing (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 08 Nov 2012 20:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Arduino Micro shrinks your favorite DIY platform down to ridiculous proportions

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Arduino Micro shrinks your favorite DIY platform down to ridiculous proportions

With the Arduino Leonardo, everyone's favorite hackable microcontroller turned a new page. Now it's time to bring that simplified design and slightly expanded feature set to the rest of the family, including the itty-bitty Arduino Micro. The tiny, embed-friendly board was designed with help from Adafruit Industries, one of the biggest players in the DIY market. At the heart of the Micro is the same 16MHz ATmega32u4 chip that powers the Leonardo, which means all the necessary USB controls are baked into the processor. Obviously, the layout here is different, so you wont be mounting the Micro to any shields, but with 20 digital I/O pins, 12 analog input channels and seven PWM channels, there's plenty of room for wiring up your own expansions. Amazingly it crams all that capability in a package just 48mm long and 18mm wide. The Arduino Micro will be available exclusively through Radio Shack and Adafruit first before becoming more widely available next month. The board is available with headers for €21 (roughly $27) and without headers for €18 (about $23). For more, check out the PR after the break.

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Arduino Micro shrinks your favorite DIY platform down to ridiculous proportions originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 08 Nov 2012 20:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Butlers, lunar rovers, snakes and airboats: the best of Carnegie Mellon’s Robotics Institute

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Butlers, lunar rovers, snakes and airboats the best Carnegie Mellon's Robotics Institute

How was your week? We got to spend a couple of days trekking around the Carnegie Mellon campus in Pittsburgh, PA to check out some of the latest projects from the school's world renowned Robotics Institute -- a trip that culminated with the bi-annual induction ceremony from the CMU-sponsored Robot Hall of Fame. Given all the craziness of the past seven days, you might have missed some of the awesomeness, but fear not, we've got it all for you here in one handy place -- plus a couple of videos from the trip that we haven't shown you yet. Join us after the break to catch up.

Continue reading Butlers, lunar rovers, snakes and airboats: the best of Carnegie Mellon's Robotics Institute

Butlers, lunar rovers, snakes and airboats: the best of Carnegie Mellon's Robotics Institute originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 27 Oct 2012 12:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hummingbird is a ‘pre-Arduino’ for kids (video)

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Humminbird is a 'preArduino' for kids video

It's an Arduino -- you know, for kids. Or, as BirdBrain Technologies' chief robot design Tom Lauwers put it, a "pre-Arduino." It's never too early to get kids into robot building -- or so goes the thought process behind this nectar-loving kit. At its center is a custom controller that can be used to manipulate a slew of different sensors, motors and lights, a number of which are included in the box. Getting started is extremely simple -- don't believe us? Check the video after the break, in which Lauwers connects two wires to get the whole process underway.

The kit's also reasonably priced at $199 a piece. On top of the controller, you get a handful of LEDs, two vibration motors, four servos and light, temperature, distance and sound sensors. The kits are currently available through the company's site (click on that source link). Lauwers tells us that his company (which you may remember from last year's MakerFaire NYC) is working on a slightly more affordable option priced at around $130, which scales back a bit on the in-box components.

Check out a conversation with Lauwers -- and a pretty awesome cardboard dragon -- below.

Gallery: Hummingbird is a 'pre-Arduino' for kids

Humminbird is a 'pre-Arduino' for kids

Continue reading Hummingbird is a 'pre-Arduino' for kids (video)

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Hummingbird is a 'pre-Arduino' for kids (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 24 Oct 2012 12:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ben Heck builds Arduino-based automatic sunglasses, beats David Caruso to the punch (video)

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Ben Heck builds Arduinobased automatic sunglasses, beats David Caruso to the punch

CSI: Miami might be out of production, but that doesn't mean we'll be deprived of casual eyewear flipping. Not if Ben Heck has a say in the matter, at least. His latest DIY project automatically swings a pair of clip-on sunglasses into view whenever it's too sunny outside: a photocell attached to an AT Tiny microcontroller checks the light levels and, through an Arduino-based AVR MKII language, tells a rotor to spin the glasses into place. No one will be labeled a fashionista with the requisite battery pack strapped to their heads, but the construction doesn't require CNC milling and won't destroy a favorite frame. We're only disappointed that the sunglasses won't play The Who on command... yet.

Continue reading Ben Heck builds Arduino-based automatic sunglasses, beats David Caruso to the punch (video)

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Ben Heck builds Arduino-based automatic sunglasses, beats David Caruso to the punch (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 08 Oct 2012 22:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Researchers take full control of cockroach’s movement, turn it into a wireless sensor

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DNP Cockroaches

Built-in power supply? Check. Ability to survive anything? Check. Easy to control? Okay, anyone who's had a cockroach as an uninvited houseguest knows that's not the case. So, rather than re-inventing the biological wheel with a robotic version, North Carolina State university researchers have figured out a way to remotely control a real Madagascar hissing cockroach. They used an off-the-shelf microcontroller to tap in to the roach's antennae and abdomen, then sent commands that fooled the insect into thinking danger was near, or that an object was blocking it. That let the scientists wirelessly prod the insect into action, then guide it precisely along a curved path, as shown in the video below the break. The addition of a sensor could allow the insects to one day perform tasks, liking searching for trapped disaster victims -- something to think about the next time you put a shoe to one.

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Researchers take full control of cockroach's movement, turn it into a wireless sensor originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 06 Sep 2012 11:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Back in the BBS days: how-to helps newbs navigate to a pre-internet playground

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Back in the BBS days howto hack helps newbs navigate to a preinternet playground

The web has an origin story, one that predates any cozy trip in the wayback machine. That's because where we're going, there is no internet -- at least, not as you now know it -- only Bulletin Board Systems. And to help guide curious digital natives on this journey back to the time tech forgot, a programmer by the handle of Proppelerpowered has whipped up a how-to that leverages nothing more than a microcontroller-based microcomputer and BASIC knowledge. The brief step-by-step, listed over on Instructables, requires intrepid geeks to build a Pocket Mini computer, which purportedly takes only "an evening," after which they'll have to tinker with some low-level coding to complete the connection setup, hitch a ride online via PC and then link up with any number of active BBSs around the world. For the purposes of this beginner guide, you'll have instructions for access to a Canada-based Commodore 64 clearly laid out. But the more adept are encouraged to swap out the standard setup for an ANSI terminal and wade into serious retro-gaming waters (Trade Wars, anyone?). Hit up the source below to peek the blow-by-blow and see if this hack's made for you.

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Back in the BBS days: how-to helps newbs navigate to a pre-internet playground originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 21 Aug 2012 02:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Cornell students build spider-like robotic chalkboard eraser out of Lego, magnets, fun (video)

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Robotic Eraser

While you were trying to pass Poetry 101, Cornell seniors Le Zhang and Michael Lathrop were creating an apple-polishing Lego robot that automatically erases your prof's chalkboard. A final class project, the toady mech uses an Atmel brain, accelerometers for direction control, microswitches to sense the edge of the board, magnets to stay attached and hot glue to keep the Lego from flying apart. As the video below the break shows, it first aligns itself vertically, then moves to the top of the board, commencing the chalk sweeping and turning 180 degrees each time its bumpers sense the edge. The duo are thinking of getting a patent, and a commercialized version would allow your teacher to drone on without the normal slate-clearing pause. So, if designing a clever bot and saving their prof from manual labor doesn't get the students an 'A', we don't know what will.

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Cornell students build spider-like robotic chalkboard eraser out of Lego, magnets, fun (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 14 Aug 2012 08:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Super Angry Birds USB controller puts the sling back in your shot (video)

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Super Angry Birds USB controller puts the sling in your shot video

Yeah. We know. There are pretty much as many ways to play Angry Birds, as there are people who play it. That's a lot. However, the Super Angry Birds controller you see above speaks to us. Why? Because it's not just a sling shot, or a fudged use of existing technology. That wooden "sling" hides one of those motorized faders you see in big music studio desks. Using some coding magic (i.e. a force curve stored in a table), the creators were able to give it a realistic resistance feeling, sans elastic. The rest of the hardware is programmed in Max / MSP and Arduino, with a "Music and Motors" microcontroller. It's not just the sling part, either, with angle and special power triggering available from the same device. A pretty neat solution, we think. Now, we wonder if we could scale this thing up?

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Super Angry Birds USB controller puts the sling back in your shot (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 08 Aug 2012 16:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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