DREAM.DESIGN.BUILD.REPEAT.
Welcome to the new Roteno Labs.
The web presence for the labs has needed an update for some time now. I hope everyone likes it!
Welcome to the new Roteno Labs.
The web presence for the labs has needed an update for some time now. I hope everyone likes it!
The views expressed by Moose the Lab Intern are his own and do not reflect those of his employer/owner. Video data provided in this email is for comedic purposes only. Moose the Lab Intern makes no representations as to accuracy, completeness, currentness, suitability, or validity of this data and will not be liable for any errors, omissions, or delays in this information or any losses, injuries, or damages arising from its display or use.
The Shuttle inspired our nation and motivated us to reach toward the stars. I personally thank the Shuttle program for motivating me to become an engineer.
In 2009 I put together a project called RFiDJ that used media tiles to queue media that I wanted to play from my HTPC (Home Theater PC). We had a lot of fun with the project but felt that the tether to the reader surface was too much of a limitation. In 2010 we decided to break the tether and make the reader surface wireless and portable. Since then we have found this project to much more interactive & entertaining. Of course we added a few features along the way. This is the RFiDJ Refresh.
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This is the architecture we designed for this project. I'll use this diagram as a guide to document the project from left to right starting with the Media Tiles.
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The media tiles are the same from the original project although they can be anything that can hide an RFID tag. The circular RFID tags I used are visible in this picture.
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The reader uses a rechargeable lithium polymer battery back to power an RFID reader and the 433MHz transmitter.
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Everything is enclosed in a small shadow box frame (thanks Ikea).
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The assembled reader and media tiles.
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The 433MHz receiver is powered by the FT232R UART to USB converter. It can be connected directly to the HTPC.
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Not shown in the schematic is the LPC1114 that I added in between the 433MHz receiver and the FT232R. While not necessary, I added it to perform the data framing since the 433MHz is not a packet based radio.
Finally this is a second video that shows me opening up the reader with the receiver in the shot.
Note: You'll hear references to RF-AID in the videos but we decided to drop that name in favor of RFiDJ Refresh. What's in a name right?
My 555 contest submission is an Earthquake Controlled Oscillator (ECO).
---------- UPDATE ----------
In my haste to get this project submitted I neglected to include its purpose. Terremoto is an art project to allow participants to experience earthquakes around the world. It is an engineers attempt to demonstrate how connected we really are.
This project has recently been incorrectly reported as an alert system. I apologize for this error as it is apparent to me that one might easily come to that conclusion after reading my post. This concept or its implementation is not and should not be used as a safety system.
---------- UPDATE ----------
The USGS maintains a server online that consolidates all the seismic data received from sensors all around the world. Terremoto uses an LPCXpresso board and an XPORT AR Ethernet module to query the USGS server for a list of earthquake activity. When a new earthquake is received by Terremoto, tones are generated that correlate with the magnitude of the earthquake.
The higher the magnitude the more tones used and a faster tempo.
The ECO is based on a 555 in astable mode with a resistor network to set the tones. NPN transistors are used as switches to switch in more or less resistance.
At first I was not sure how to query the USGS server to access the feed I needed. I immediately downloaded cURL to find out what I needed to send to the server. Turns out it was only a few short strings (very simple).
The feeds are located at:
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/catalogs/
The feed I am using is:
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/catalogs/eqs1hour-M0.txt
Schematic
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Earthquake Controlled Oscillator
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cURL USGS server
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If there is any interest in the firmware send me a message on Twitter (@roteno) and I'll post it to the website.
Future Development: (I always like to write down what I would change on a project if I were to do it again so here goes)
1) come up with a better music algorithm
2) maybe use linear actuators and bells
3) add a low pass filter to soften the edges a bit on the square wave
4) perhaps use this project with other feeds (Twitter searches, stocks, breaking news)
I recently received a few TI LaunchPads that were in immediate need of a project. I have decided to dedicate one LauncPad for use in a scoreboard project I am calling the bacBoard. I'll document my progress here for those interested in exploring different applications based on the $4.30 TI LaunchPad.
I need a game plan for how the score board is going to look. [flickr-photo:id=5294575647,size=-,style=margin:10px]
First we start things up with a Blinky:
Next I need to come up with an offensive strategy for how the score board is going to get built.
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Since my scoreboard will have eight 7-segment displays it will require 56 (8*7) IO pins that the LaunchPad (MSP430G2231) obviously doesn't have. Luckily NXP has come to the rescue and developed an I2C based driver (SAA1064) that can handle up to four 7-segment displays per IC. First lets wire up the the SAA1064 driver and see if we can communicate to it via I2C and simply toggle some LEDs. Did I hear someone ask for another Blinky?
Next lets wire up two seven segment displays and make it countdown.
So what is next? Quite a bit. Come back and watch the bacBoard build unfold.
TODO 0
Assemble 7-segment displays to PCB. Use 0.100" headers and IDE cables to connect the multiple boards.
TODO 1 - COMPLETE!
I am using the SAA1064 in static mode which only allows for two 7-segment displays. The SAA1064 will support four 7-segment displays in dynamic mode which will require two NPN transistors. I found two 2SD05920RA NPN transistor in my junk box. To ensure I was in dynamic mode I measured the ramped waveform that can be found on Cext (pin 2). After some modifications to the firmware I am now able to use four 7-segment displays.
TODO 2
The LED 7 segment displays will need a boost supply so that the bacBoard can run off of a Lithium Polymer battery.
TODO 3
I will want to charge the bacBoard so I will need a Lithium Polymer battery charger.
TODO 4
Add two switches (arcade buttons) as user input.
TODO 5
Integrate all the components in the enclosure.
TODO 6
Print the bacBoard template.
TODO 7
Re-factor FW so that I am not too embarrassed to publish.
TODO 8
Move on to the next project. :)
A quick test movie I took on my new Flip MinoHD. I'll give you one guess to figure out what that object is above the clouds. :)
Over the last few days I have heard an amazing amount of buzz over the new Apple iPad. To be honest, I'm kind of shocked. Before I get into my opinion of the iPad let me state the standard "I'm just an engineer" disclaimer. Engineers are not the best at identifying new markets. I mean, what engineer would have ever guessed there would be a demand for The Jersey Shore. :)
A good example of this buzz is Mike's post on the iPad being "potentially one of the most important, culture-changing products in history." For me the bar for important culture-changing technologies is quite high: Light bulb, refrigerator, radio, TV, cell phone, internet and so on.
In my opinion we can categorize all of these devices (PMP, Tablets, Laptops, Desktops) by two broad use-cases: Content Consumption and Content Creation. The iPad is a great device for light to medium content consumption. I use my iPod all the time to quickly check my email, twitter, search, and so on. The GUI was so masterfully designed that I use the iPod rather than the laptop. However, there are times when I need to perform heavy content consumption and I absolutely need multi-tasking, large display, and quick application switching. The iPod or iPad will never be my first choice.
On the content creation side (above light content creation) the iPad fails miserably. Even with the larger iPad display I'll still use my laptop. At a price point that makes the iPad comparable to a laptop I am not sure why anyone would not just buy a laptop that will serve both use cases.
So my final opinion: I think it is a great device that will make a great upgrade for someone that enjoys the iPod/iPhone. As far as transformational, I'll wait till the next big thing from Cupertino.