Posted April 1, 2011 by Chris

With stability through electronic sensors now easily achieved, autonomous quadcopters seem to be all the rage and this project demonstrates exactly why. A human, or two quad copters can play a simple game of catch with a ball. Don’t believe it? Check out the action video in the article.

Posted March 31, 2011 by Chris

Today’s PyroElectro Project: The Tupperware Turret is a highly modified airsoft pistol put onto a pan and tilt platform with a turret cover. It rotates, tilts up and down and has precise fire control. Control is done wirelessly with a generic TV remote control.

Posted March 30, 2011 by Chris

This project shows you how to use a digital output (Arduino for example) to control a motor or any high powered device. The TIP120 transistor is used and it works very well for this application. The project write-up is methodical and easy to understand, even for new robotics hobbyists. Take a look!

Posted March 29, 2011 by Chris

For applications where you need to be able to check for movement and alignment, long range IR can be the answer. Whether you need to set a home location on a moving device, or track movement on a machine, a beam break detector can be your low-cost solution. This project write-up shows you how easy it is to make one, and how well it works.

Posted March 28, 2011 by Chris

Hot on the heals of the previous i2c tutorial, here is a great summary of what you need to know about communicating between two Arduinos using i2c. The article describes things from the hardware perspective, since the software is mostly just API functions.

Posted March 27, 2011 by Chris

This semi-new development set was a war-waging act by Texas Instruments to force their way into the hobbyist market. Put out in mid 2010, the MSP430 launchpad has all the features of all the other PIC or AVR’s in the world, but at the price of less than $10 a unit, it a bargain for any DIYer.

Posted March 26, 2011 by Chris

This project goes through the very basics of making a USB device using the PIC. The PIC series 18F4550 is a great low-power USB enabled device and this tutorial demonstrates that. Hardware schematics and PIC software is included in the project write-up.

Posted March 25, 2011 by Chris

Here is a pretty sweet project that uses a laser diode with a mirror reflector to create a dynamic image or text display. The engineering behind this one is more complex than your average hobbyist project but the write-up has all the details for building your own.

Posted March 24, 2011 by Chris

This week’s PyroElectro tutorial explores the high speeds of I²C communication and how to create an interface using the PIC uController. I²C is very popular as only 3 wires are required for highspeed multi-device communication. An example design to communicate with an I²C flash memory device is used in the tutorial to get you started.

Posted March 23, 2011 by Chris

If ever there was a project that reinforced how cool LEDs are, this one takes the cake. A huge matrix of surface mount LEDs are controlled by an ATMEGA168 to do some cool stuff. Hardware schematics and source code provided in the write-up.