301 Moved Permanently

Posted May 11, 2011 by Chris

Ultrasonic sensors have become very popular, however they often carry a heavy cost of $50-100. This might not be much for industry, but for hobbyists that’s a chunk of change. This article shows you how to use a PIC and 2 ultrasonic transducers to make your own sonar proximity sensor.

Posted May 10, 2011 by Chris

Putting an accelerometer with a wireless transmitter is a quick and easy way to track foot movement. In this case, to help track why female athletes suffer more frequently from ACL injuries. The parts are all off the shelf and the article explains how it was made. A neat little project.

Posted May 9, 2011 by Chris

Here is a pretty sweet little robot that is a great resource for anyone looking to build their own mobile robotics platform. The article and google project is a documentation of a robot that combines together a mobile platform with various sensors for navigation and external sensory.

Posted May 8, 2011 by Chris

Today’s article explains the ins and outs of reading and writing to proximity (RFID) ID cards. His example Reader/Cloner design cost only $30 and all the hardware schematics and software are freely available. The website also has many other RFID designs and theory explanations to peruse and use as examples.

Posted May 7, 2011 by Chris

Xbee wireless modules have quickly come into the spotlight in the wireless communication world. They offer a cheap, quick and easy way to add wireless to any microcontroller based project. The error correction routines they implement make the modules very versatile, this article explains how to get started with them using a PIC.

Posted May 6, 2011 by Chris

Although there seems little practicality for putting a $500 iPhone on a robot, the novelty seems to be alluring enough. This project uses a jailbroken iphone to send commands to a microcontroller, telling the robot to move in different directions. Don’t miss the action video.

Posted May 5, 2011 by Chris

Learn how to create a video VGA controller that uses a resistor DAC to create 512 unique VGA colors. The tutorial uses an Altera CPLD and VHDL code to create all the video signals. The theory, hardware schematics and software are all explained and available for viewing/download.

Posted May 4, 2011 by Chris

Quadcopters have been increasing in popularity in the robotics world because of their stability and ease of design. This project shows you how to make a remote control flying PCB. The motors are attached directly to the PCB! Since this project was made in 2000, it should be that much easier to make your own in 2011!

Posted May 3, 2011 by Chris

Here’s a small robot that uses a few servos to make it walk. At its heart is an AVR microcontroller and the rest of it is just make-shift parts. The article explains what parts were used and how everything fits together, but is a little light on details. Check out the action vid of the Little Brother walking!

Posted May 2, 2011 by Chris

With Solar Energy becoming more mainstream, we need to have a better understanding of the sun’s movement, and the most efficient spots for solar panels to be point toward. This project shows you how to build a system that records the irradiance of the sun at specific time intervals, working as an SD card data logger.