Adafruit's ATmega Pinout Can Save You Troubleshooting Time

Ever have problems identifying pins on IC chips? Does constantly looking at the data-sheet just annoy you? Then, counting the individual pins causes you to have hours of debugging - just to find that you have GND hooked up to the wrong pin? Adafruit has your back and made these handy pinout labels for ATmega328 ICs. Meaning that your breadboard Arduino has just become 10 times easier to use! Check out the download HERE and make sure you use some good double-sided sticky tape to keep it securely adhered.

Using an ATtiny to Save Space and Money

Have you ever needed a microprocessor that is easy to use but isn't as large and bulky as your Arduino? Or maybe you just don’t want to put a bunch of unnecessary money into a project and using a full Arduino just makes the project not worth the effort? That’s where the ATtiny85 comes in. Using a tutorial found on the MIT High-Low Tech Group page, you can now program your ATtiny using a traditional Arduino. Check out the video below for an easy to follow tutorial as well.

I tried this recently and had no issues. It even works with the newest Arduino IDE (Check out Arduino 1.0 if you haven't yet already). All you need to do is load some hardware folders and program your Uno to be an ISP. Then, change your board type to “ATtiny85 w/ Arduino as ISP” and upload your sketch. If you have an Uno you must remember to jump  the ‘reset’ pin to ground so that the auto-reset is disabled with a 10uf cap. Presumably you could also use a 120ohm resistor.

Overall the ATtiny works really well and uses most Arduino commands. The only issue for me is that the Servo library doesn't seem to work - meaning the project I had intended to work on has to use a regular ATmega. Either way, the ATtiny will find a use in some low-processing projects that I’m working on. Leave me some feedback on Facebook or Twitter with some cool project ideas or if you’re having any issues.

Building a Gaming Rig for Under $600

A few weeks ago my friend asked me to design him a custom gaming desktop for under $600 that could handle Starcraft II on Ultra settings. Being the arrogant nerd that I am, I took the challenge and went off with his credit card to buy the parts. I looked over the Falcon Guide and tweaked it depending on the prices at the time and the wants of my friend. I also replaced the graphics card with a budget one that I know could play SCII on max settings (the same one that I use now).

The parts are all listed below and all bought from Amazon. I chose Amazon compared to Newegg because I’m a prime member and get free 2-day shipping on most things. Plus we bought these during ‘Cyber Week’ and there were some pretty good sales on Amazon.

They all came in just a day ago and we started constructing the PC seen above (my first complete desktop build). The computer handles Starcraft II with no lag and hasn't gotten hot enough to even notice a difference from the air temperature. The build was smooth and all disks/drivers needed were provided. The only issue we ran into was realizing that we didn’t buy a disk drive. Luckily you can put anything on a disk onto a flash drive and use that instead. Or resurrect an old drive from another computer (just make sure it’s SATA if you use the motherboard below). I would normally post a how-to but there are hundreds online and the build is pretty simple for the tech people out there.

Let me know if you have any suggestions or questions on Facebook or Twitter and be sure to try to build a desktop yourself! Gaming just isn’t the same on a laptop.

Siri Hacked - Cheaper iPhone4s' Incoming

Unless you’ve been living under a rock you probably know about Apple’s newest iPhone - the iPhone4s. The name really hasn’t changed much besides the ‘s’ slapped on the end and to be honest the hardware isn’t a huge jump either. The 4s has a better camera (8MP up from 5MP), a slightly faster processor (dual-core), and a better battery (allthough recently the battery life has been significantly worse due to buggy software). So what makes the iPhone4s better? The ‘s’ is exactly what; Siri.

Siri is Apple’s new voice command software which is built into the 4s. It can do tons of cool things and save tons of time. But Siri is software, and that’s all. Therefor there isn’t any logic reason as to why Siri couldn’t run on older iPhones, except maybe due to a possible lag. Below I have a video from 9to5mac.com which shows Siri hacked to run on an old iPhone4 and working! 

When Siri first came out it was hacked to run on an iPhone4, but the servers that do Siri’s commands wouldn’t respond to the outdated iPhone. Assuming that this video is real, there is a lot of hope to iPhone4 users out there and could hopefully save a lot of money down the road. Now to just get the guy to release the programs he used and a walkthrough (although, I’m sure that he intends to and is working on it as afst as he can right now). Check back here in the future for when the walkthrough is released and hopefully you too will be able to get an iPhone4s at the cost of the regular iPhone4.

Installing Ubuntu on a Series-5 Chromebook

Dualbooting the Samsung Series-5 (I have the 3G version) with Ubuntu is actually a lot easier than expected and is almost the same as dualbooting on the CR-48 (Google’s beta program to Chromebooks). Online there aren't many tutorials on how to do this because the method used on the CR48 still works perfectly. You can find the tutorial HERE, and I personally only had one problem throughout the whole process.

After Ubuntu is installed for some reason my Chromebook wouldn't boot into my Linux partition. After trying all of the possible commands,  I decided I needed to do some more research, and discovered my boot-up screen looked different from other people’s. They had a massive blue frowning computer picture when booting while I only saw some ASCII art. It turns out, once you boot into developer mode, you need to install a developer BIOS. To do so you open the terminal (Ctr Alt ->) and type in the following.

localhost login: chronos
chronos@localhost $ sudo bash
localhost chronos # chromeos-firmwareupdate --mode=todev

When you restart, your computer startup screen should look like this (press Ctrl+D to skip)

After running that, you will want to re-run the startup script ‘wget http://goo.gl/hnkxo; sudo sh hnkxo’. Your Chromebook should now boot up into Ubuntu! If you want to easily switch between them click HERE for a simple tutorial. If you have any issues feel free to comment here, or tweet me @RoboTechEd.

Arduino Based Computer Temp Sensing

The Problem

I bought a new graphics card for my computer recently, just to realize I didn’t have a power supply large enough to properly power the new card - causing it to overheat (temporarily, I opened the side of my computer and used a desk fan to cool it). After buying the correct power supply, I decided I needed some type of temperature indicator on my computer...Hello Arduino! (I actually used my Uno32 for this project, to view my review on it click HERE)

Now, this hack is very simple, versatile, and easy to implement. All you need is a general purpose temperature sensor, an RGB LED (or more if you want your computer to look really flashy), and some appropriate resistors so you don't blow up your LED. The Arduino fades an RGB LED from blue to red depending on the temp of your component. When it is over 50°C, the LED will be red. (50C is close to what most NVIDIA GFX cards can handle). I also have a processing sketch in progress to read the value of the temp sensor and store it into a .txt file, and a C++ program (in progress) to alert you when the .txt file says that your computer is too hot.


The Set-Up

Below is the schematic. I know that it isn’t standard, but it’s much easier to read for electronics beginners. I recommend giving yourself a pretty good length in wire so that you can attach the LED(s) wherever you need to. Also, HEAT SHRINK ANY VISIBLE METAL so that you don’t end up messing up your computer. Often, your computer will use the casing as a ground, so any visible wires would be really bad. 

Once you’re all soldered up and ready to go, you’ll want to attach the temp sensor wherever you think has a chance of overheating. To attach it I recommend using electrical tape, and just taping it down (If you have better ideas then let me know). Then put your LED anywhere you think will be easily visible. I recommend taping the wires down with electrical tape as well, or zip-tying it down. You then want to zip-tie all loose wires and attach them to the Arduino somewhere that you have free space. I recommend putting electrical tape on the bottom of the Arduino AND Velcro-ing it down, that way your Arduino doesn’t short, and it won’t move.

I was lucky enough to have a working USB port INSIDE my computer, so that I could leave my Arduino plugged in. The unlucky one’s out there will need to upload the code before they put it in and power it off of a battery, or find some way to get a programming cable inside of their case. After the Arduino code (below) is uploaded, everything should work fine. I set the default room temperature as 17C because that’s how it is in my boiling dorm- but that could easily be changed.
int bluepin = 5; int redpin = 6; int tempPin = A0; int blueout = 0; int redout = 0; float conv = 0.55555; //Wouldnt let me do 5/9 float tempC; int limitinC = 50; void setup() { Serial.begin(9600); pinMode(bluepin, OUTPUT); pinMode(redpin, OUTPUT); } void loop() { float tempVolts = (analogRead(tempPin) * .004882814); //Reads temp sensor and converts it to a voltage level float tempF = (tempVolts - .5) * 100; //Converts the voltage level into a temp(F) float tempC = (conv * (tempF - 32)); //Converts the temp into Celcius //Serial.print("tempC ="); //Commented out for testing //Serial.println(tempC); //Serial.print("tempF ="); //Serial.println(tempF);
float CelConstraint = (tempC - 15); //The average temp of my room in C (limiting the colors to be blue at 15 and red at 50) float CelCtoVal = (CelConstraint*29.68);//converts the value //Serial.print("CelCtoVal = "); //Commented out for testing //Serial.println(CelCtoVal); 
redout = CelCtoVal; blueout = ((512 - CelCtoVal) + 512) //Inverts the colors so 1024 = 0 and 0 = 1024 //redout = ((redout+CelCtoVal)/2); //Use these lines instead of the above if the sensor sometimes is flickering (averages the values) //blueout = ((((512 - CelCtoVal) + 512)+blueout)/2); //Serial.print("blueout ="); //Commented out for testing //Serial.println(blueout); //Serial.print("redout ="); //Serial.println(redout); analogWrite(bluepin, blueout); analogWrite(redpin, redout); if (tempC > limitinC){ Serial.print(1, BYTE); //Send 1 to Processing sketch if too hot delay(100); } else{ Serial.print(0, BYTE); //Send 0 to Processing sketch if cold delay(100); } }

Work In Progress

Below, I have a processing sketch that will read whether or not your Arduino is overheating and write a ‘1’ into a .txt file if it is. I also have a C++ program that will read that file. This is a work in progress. I just started to learn processing and only know very basic C. I hope eventually to make a program that will print the temp in C, F, and to pop-up when the temp is greater than a certain temperature.


Download Everything


Let me know how this works for you guys! If you have any comments/questions be sure to post below or tweet me!

The Uno32 - A Cheaper and Better Arduino

If you’re looking for a solid new Arduino with better specs, then you should check out the ChipKIT Uno32 by Digilent. The Uno 32 has over double the regular Uno’s IO pins (20 vs 42), a much faster processing speed(16MHz vs 80MHz), and a massive amount of flash memory (32k vs 128k). I recently bought one to test it out, so let’s dive into the review. ( If you want a head start preview, check it out HERE)

Comparison
The major difference between the Uno and the Uno32 is their operating voltages. The Arduino Uno operates at 5v while the Uno32 at 3.3v(Don’t worry though! The Uno32 still has a 5v output pin for your projects). The only issue because of this, is shield compatibility. Some Arduino shields won’t work with 3.3v, but can be rigged to using a transistor and a pull-up resistor. Also, all of the I/O pins are safe for 5v input, just in case you forget (which I have to admit I did...quite a few times). To find out if your shield can be used, go HERE.

Ease of Use
The Uno32 operates almost exactly as a regular Arduino. The IDE looks the same as Arduino’s, and all of the example programs are able to be used on the 32’. The setup and programming all work exactly the same as the regular Uno as well...Honestly there is no obvious difference.

Advantages
The Uno32 has tons of advantages besides the obvious ones I stated in the beginning. The Uno32 has many more user controlled LEDs, as well as more indication LEDs (ex: USB data LEDs). There are also multiple jumpers across the top of the board that can change whether the board is an SPI Master/Slave, if a pin can be used as PWM output, or even if the 5v output goes through the voltage regulator or not (could be handy for some AC signals?). There is also a huge forum dedicated to the Uno32. Having professionals at your disposal is always an advantage!

Disadvantages
Besides the 3.3v operating voltage, there are two more drawbacks that you should know before buying the Uno32. The Uno 32 has 1 less PWM output than the Arduino. Pin 11 cannot be used as one because of the actual limitations of the chip. Also, not every port on the Uno32 can be used as interrupts, only a few (not a big deal considering I rarely use more than 1 anyways in my projects).

Price
The ChipKIT Uno32 sells for £17.99 at Farnell, which is less than $25 USD. This makes the Uno32 CHEAPER than the Arduino Uno (Yes, at least double Arduino’s specs, at a cheaper price)...A pretty obvious buy for anyone looking into buying a new microprocessor.

Rating
I highly recommend ChipKIT’s Uno32 to anyone looking into an Arduino replacement - 5/5 gears!

-Example Video Coming Soon-

Dorm Room Automation 01 w/ Arduino

So my year is almost over, and I have some overly ambitious goals for next year. My future room mates and I want to automate our dorm room (Yeah, that IS my college life). And with my new Arduino and Ethernet shield, I definitely have the materials. And after a few late nights, I now have a working code.

In the video below you see me display a message, and change a RGB LED. I used an LED instead of a motor because I only have one motor, and my Arduino doesn't give out enough power to run it. But the code is the same, you just hook up the LED output to a transistor or even directly to a motor (if you need to change the code, feel free to ask for help). The hookup is pretty simple, and is typed out in the code itself - but could change depending on what LCD screen you have, so yet again feel free to ask for help (tweet me @roboteched or post below).

This part of the code in my final room automation will take place every 30 seconds, so that other code can be executed in-between (like temperature, light switch controls, etc). To do this I use the Time library on Arduinos website. My next goal is to control the LCD using a ShiftOut IC. If you have any ideas, or know how to do this, let me know and I’ll reference you! Check back sometime within the next week for an update on my next project.

CODE DOWNLOAD

Chrome OS: Free Netbook, Please!?

Everybody and their mother (seriously, even my mom) has applied for Google’s new Chrome OS beta testing, or as they call it ‘Pilot Testing.’ This new revolutionary netbook is simple; nothing but a web browser, and lacks end-product  functionality, like USB Support, and printing (which you can expect in later updates). It sports an Intel Processor (said to be ~1.6GHz), 2GB of RAM, and also comes with fully built in webcam support, Bluetooth, and a free 100mb of data a month courtesy of Verizon. Not a bad gig for free, eh? And for you fellow nerds out there who are planning to ‘jailbreak’ it, no worries; It comes with a built in mode to allow you to edit the source code (probably because Google is looking for easy solutions to the initial issues).


It is said that Google has around 60,000 to send out to people. Yes, that is 4 zero’s. And best of all, the application takes a total of 20 minutes; no jumping through flaming hoops, or giving Nigerian bankers your bank account info. Not only that but it’s rumored that you get to keep the netbook after the trial, which should be an incentive to almost anybody.


Now, I know that by informing people of this will lower my chance of winning, but I want to see Google succeed with the best users more than I want the netbook...Well, that’s half true, but I could use a little competition seeing as I’m Google’s biggest fan. So, want to see what Chrome OS is all about? Check out the video below for a demo of what you can expect. And if you’re already sold, click HERE for the application.


Update: Yeah! My friend (Not me :(  ) , so feel free to check out his blog on his Chrome experience. Appropriately named 'The Chrome Chronicles.'

The Kinect - For Kids and Hackers Alike

Remember when the Wii came out? It was the hottest new tech toy on the block, and was said to revolutionize modern gaming - not so much. But I guess it was a step in the right direction, considering both Microsoft and Sony have followed suit. The new Xbox Kinect is the hottest thing on the market and it has been reported that it sold just over 2 million within the first week (a lot of cash at $150 a pop).

Well this revolutionary camera is redefining casual gaming all together, and has become the new fad for household hackers. When the Kinect came out, one underground hacker had a $1000 reward for the first person to successfully hack it enough to where a computer could control it, and use it as a peripheral.  Within the first 2 days there was a video of someone controlling the Kinect's internal motors through a terminal window. Now there are a seas of free open source 'jailbreaks' online, each unlocking nerd fantasies.

Anything you can imagine can be done with this person tracking camera. From playing Super Mario, to Minecraft. Yes, even Minecraft has been reported; so would it be wrong of me to want it, but just for the sake of computer games? I don’t think so, I think it would be wrong of me NOT to hack it. Seriously...Minecraft.