Here’s an example of PyroFer’s DIY workaround to a problem: So, after Google killed the Google PowerMeter api I got the incentive to finish my own project using it. Odd huh. I wrote loads of code to hook into the Google API ages ago, but never got the hardware setup. Now After Google announce the […]
Category Archives: sensors
Pulse sensors for Arduino
Joel Murphy and Yury Gitman of pulsesensor.com are developing an Arduino compatible pulse sensor. “Pulse Sensor” is a well-designed plug-and-play heart-rate sensor for Arduino. It can be used by students, artists, athletes, makers, and game & mobile developers who want to easily incorporate live heart-rate data into their projects. After a few months of testing […]
Do it yourself heart monitor
victzh posted picture of his DIY ECG using an Xprotolab mini-scope/logic analyzer in the project log forum. Some time ago I bought an excellent toy – Xprotolab mini-scope/logic analyzer by Gabriel Anzziani. I touched it signal legs, and immediately saw that it picks up 60Hz through my body. I looked around and found couple of simple and inexpensive ECG […]
Arduino releasing new ADK, ethernet and sensor dev boards
According to the Arduino Blog they are in the process of releasing several new boards, including an Ethernet Board, Mega Sensor Board and Mega ADK. The Arduino Ethernet combines a regular Arduino board with the Ethernet Shield into a single board designed to power your internet of things projects. It has the ability (if fitted […]
What do you want, Arduino to cook for you too?
Well, yes, if you’re Lower East Kitchen you do. For the past four months they’ve worked tirelessly on designing a DIY sous vide kit. And now they’ve built the prototype! The device uses an Arduino to control a heating element under the cook pot. The Arduino monitors a temperature sensor and uses a solid state […]
One Wire Digital Temperature DS18B20 + Arduino
There are alot of Arduino + temperature sensor tutorials out there, but what makes this one different is the use of the DS18B20 sensor. Each DS18B20 has a unique 64-bit serial code, which allows multiple DS18B20s to function on the same 1-Wire bus. Thus, it is simple to use one microprocessor to control many DS18B20s […]
Read an Arduino via REST and upload value to Thingspeak
Thingspeak bills itself as “an open application platform designed to enable meaninful connections between people and things.” The graphic above demonstrates how dynamic temperature level readings can be made available on the internet via Thingspeak. In working with the Thingspeak API Sirleech has developed code he calls RestduinoThingspeak. It’s a Python script to read a […]
Mini theremin uses infrared proximity sensor
Chris writes: It’s a theremin that uses an IR proximity sensor to detect how far away a hand is, then plays a specific music note for that distance. It works quite well, checkout the demo video in the link. The purpose of this project is to build a simple but working theremin that can play […]
Interfacing the TMP006 IR temperature sensor with the Bus Pirate
Joe wrote an article on using the Bus Pirate to interface with the TI TMP006 non-contact temperature sensor covered earlier. This article explains how to interface the Texas Instruments TMP006 non-contact IR temperature sensor evaluation module (TMP006EVM) to a Linux computer using the Bus Pirate from Dangerous Prototypes. A small Java program has been written […]
LIN: Local Interconnect Network comms
The Local Interconnect Network (LIN) is a single-wire, low cost, serial communications system which is a subbus of CAN used primarily in automotive systems. In this video Microchip provides an overview of LIN and some of their related products and tools. For more info on the specifics of the LIN protocol, see this tutorial from […]
The backcountry logger
Big Mess o’ Wires backcountry logger: If you’re just tuning in, the backcountry logger concept is a portable ATmega-powered device that collects temperature, air pressure, and altitude data, and shows graphs on a built-in LCD screen. It’s intended for hikers, climbers, and other outdoorsy folks who want to know if it was colder last night than […]
Epson S4E5A0A0 Inertial Measurement Unit
At recent international trade shows Epson debuted the S4E5A0A0 Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU). An inertial measurement unit senses inertial motion consisting of angular rate sensors on three axes and accelerometers in three directions. IMUs are primarily used to measure and control the behavior of mobile objects. The IMU includes triple gyroscopes and a tri-axis accelerometer, […]
TMP006 IR temperature sensor pictures and tests
Joe posted pictures of the single-chip digital IR temperature sensor covered earlier. jbeal has measurement tables and first impressions in the forum: I got the eval kit for the TI TMP006 sensor mentioned here last week. It does seem to be able to detect the presence of my hand (apparently about 37 C), when I […]
Kinect for Windows SDK beta released
Microsoft has released the beta of their Kinect for Windows SDK. The Kinect for Windows SDK beta is a programming toolkit for application developers. It enables the academic and enthusiast communities easy access to the capabilities offered by the Microsoft Kinect device connected to computers running the Windows 7 operating system. The Kinect for Windows […]
Joe Grand’s laser range finder
Joe Grand has finished work on his Laser Range Finder (LRF) project. This project, which has been in development in cooperation with Parallax Inc., is now in final beta testing. Check out Joe’s development diary for all the exhaustive details and links to development videos. Joe reports that after final tweaking is completed, he expects […]
Hacking a PIR RF signal with PIC 12F683
Deepak from Mindfront.net acquired a PIR alarm sensor module which transmitted a digital code over 433 MHz RF to signal an alarm receiver. The problem: he didn’t have the factory receiver. So he set out to sniff the transmitted RF signal using a RCR-433-AS receiver module with the data out fed into an oscilloscope. This […]
Freescale publishes open sample data sets for inertial and magnetic sensors
On working with the MMA7260Q accelerometer Mike Stanley from Freescale semiconductors writes: There’s nothing like looking at the raw data, running it through an algorithm and viewing the results to cement an understanding of the technology. Later, I gathered an appreciation for the need to be able to reproduce my results from one run to […]
MIDI hats
Categorize this under Sunday Silliness. Here’s an examples of a project using hat mounted soft sensors to control MIDI on an attached laptop. They are known as MIDI Hats. The hat has sensors made from steel wool embedded in the felt which are connected to an Lilypad Arduino, which in turn communicates with MAX/MSP […]
App note: very low-cost sensing and communication using bidirectional LEDs
Squonk writes Here is an interesting paper on “Very Low-Cost Sensing and Communication Using Bidirectional LEDs”. Not new (2003), but this technical report is very detailed. The abstract to the document by Mitsubishi Electric states: “A novel microprocessor interface circuit is described which can alternately emit and detect light using only an LED, two digital […]
ADIS16407: Ten degrees of freedom inertial sensor
Drone writes: This is a single part MEMS 10-DOF IMU part that will ship around 15 July 2011. OK, here’s the catch: Unless I’m missing something obvious, it looks like this device costs $605 USD each in quantity 100-499 (no, I did not forget a decimal point). There’s an EV board, but Gawd only knows […]