Posted November 16, 2013 by Chris

"Presenting ‘6buttons’; a simple six button keypad based on the QProx QT160 charge transfer proximity sensor chip (the brains of the operation). Special mylar capacitors are required for it to work properly. I tried cheap-o ceramics with terrible results."

Posted November 14, 2013 by Chris

"A few weeks ago I was asked about creating a musical-effect display with an RGB LED cube kit from our friends over at Freetronics, and with a little work this was certainly possible using the MSGEQ7 spectrum analyzer IC. In this project we’ll create a small add-on PCB containing the spectrum analyzer circuit and show how it can drive the RGB LED cube kit."

Posted November 4, 2013 by Chris

"N-Bot is an educational robotic platform developed at the NatalNet laboratory with the aim of making robots popular among students of all ages. N-Bot uses a simple, yet universal communication interface: the audio channel."

Posted October 23, 2013 by Chris

"The project consists of both a custom hardware front-end for data acquisition and an Android application for visualizing the collected data samples to the user. Data is transferred over USB to the Beagleboard running Android, and then plotted on an external screen."

Posted October 22, 2013 by Chris

"The ultrasonic haptic vision system enables a person to navigate hallways and around large objects without sight, through the use of an ultrasonic rangefinder that haptically interfaces with the user via tiny vibrating motors mounted on the user’s head."

Posted October 16, 2013 by Chris

"Interestingly the resistance of the material decreases when bent, implying that the electrical connections are being broken in the material because it is being stretched or damaged. When pressured the resistance through the material decreases."

Posted October 14, 2013 by Chris

"ArduCopter is an easy to set up and easy to fly platform for multirotors and helicopters. Its features go far beyond the basic manual control RC multicopters on the market today."

Posted October 7, 2013 by Chris

"The 2009 Robot Rally spotlighted all the flaws that result from a quick 3 week engineering and building project. Time saving shortcuts in code and hardware bit my butt several times. Failed edge detectors – Ouch! Failed beacon tracker … chomp! Ow! Line follower reversal – Arrrg! I’m happy to report I’ve investigated all the issues that cropped up and fixed them all."

Posted October 6, 2013 by Chris

"A modern microcontroller has almost everything that’s needed to implement a touch sensor matrix. There are several sensing technologies: IC manufacturers typically advise using certain tech, sometimes they offer ready to use hardware- or software-based solutions. I was curious to try to implement a sensor matrix entirely from scratch all by myself."

Posted September 30, 2013 by Chris

"The Haptic Creature has three degrees of freedom through which it communicates its emotional state: a pair of ears, which vary in stiffness; lungs, which simulate breathing; and a purr box, which renders a vibrotactile “purr”. The robot has an array of force sensors across its body to sense touch and an accelerometer to sense movement."