News

 Prolific author Simon Monk has published a review of our Freetronics LeoStick and a matching tutorial that creates a unique and useful device. Simon's project uses the LeoStick to generate an obscure password, which is then stored in the microcontroller's EEPROM. As the LeoStick can emulate a USB keyboard, the password is "typed" into the connected computer at the press of a button. Then when it comes time to change the password, the other button will re-generate the password for for future use. In the project example below you can see how easy it is to mount the external circuitry on the matching ProtoStick board:

Well done Simon for sharing this great project with us. You can follow his writings and review this project from his website. And for more, we're on twitter and Google+, so follow us for news and product updates as well.

So what is a LeoStick? It's the Arduino Leonardo-compatible board that's cheaper and smaller than the original:

 If you're looking for an enclosure for your Freetronics EtherTen board, and have access to a 3D printer - then this enclosure published on Thingiverse may be for you. Created by Andrew Gemmell the enclosure allows for wall-mounting and space for another protoshield on the EtherTen. And the M3 bolts at the end add a snazzy technical finish as well:

Kudos to Andrew for publishing his work, and the design files can be found on Thingiverse. And for more, we're on twitter and Google+, so follow us for news and product updates as well.

So what is a Freetronics EtherTen? It's a great board that saves you space, time and money - it combines an full Arduino Uno-compatible board, an Ethernet shield, a microSD socket and the option of using power over Ethernet - all on one board. For more information and to order - click here!

 Analogue panel meters don't die - they just find uses in new and interesting projects. An example of this is by Instructables user "tech-e" who has harnessed a pair of 5 V panel meters with which he can display the time, audio VU levels and other data of interest. Driving the meters is easily done using pulse-width modulation (using the Arduino analogWrite() function) and with a little calibration the results can be quite successful. With a little more work the use of custom panel backgrounds and LEDs really enhance the effect, for example:

Very well done, and not difficult at all - so visit the project page to get started. And for more, we're on twitter and Google+, so follow us for news and product updates as well.

 The Futaba company (popular for remote-control devices, servos and so on) has a control bus for their newer products that allows an easier method of wiring multiple servos, batteries, controllers and so on - called the "S-BUS". Being a proprietary system you'd be stuck with their parts - however enthusiast Michael Baker has worked on the reverse-engineering of the bus - and created some example sketches and an Arduino library to allow control of the Futaba devices with an Arduino. 

Well done to Michael and all those who contributed to the project. For more discussion, library and notes visit the Arduino forum. And we're on twitter and Google+, so follow us for news and product updates as well.

When prototyping more advanced Arduino-based projects, you'll need a protoshield to mount the external circuitry. In doing so, consider our range of ProtoShields. From the tiny LeoStick to the Mega range, we offer a complete range for you to work with.

 Amongst the multitude of things you can do with MATLAB software is the ability to remotely control an Arduino board via Ethernet. With the included code you can create a visual interface to simply control Arduino digital outputs, and expand on them with your own requirements. Although the project uses a separate Arduino Ethernet shield you could also use an integrated board such as an EtherTen.

An interesting and useful example for MATLAB users out there - click here to get started. And for more, we're on twitter and Google+, so follow us for news and product updates as well.

If you're looking for an Ethernet-enabled Arduino-compatible board, consider one of Ethernet-enabled boards, such as the Freetronics EtherTen - the Arduino Uno-compatible with onboard Ethernet, microSD socket and optional PoE:

 As we often say you can do a lot with an Arduino and the following project is a great example of this. Arduino forum member "rediculum" is working on a staging box to control a 20mW laser that will generate various lighting effects. It uses a system of servo-controlled mirrors to alter the laser reflection and thus the resulting patterns, and after final construction will end up cheaper than a commercial unit. Here's an example of the current work in action:

It's a work in progress, however the project is being documented very well, and you can follow to find the results from here. And for more, we're on twitter and Google+, so follow us for news and product updates as well.

It's easier that you think to control an Arduino remotely via the Internet, and the following project by Instructables user "fpoels" is another example of this. In his project he uses an Ethernet-enabled Arduino board as the target device, which runs a sketch which generates a simple HTML control page for the digital output - which then naturally can be accessed and used to control a digital output. It's a great example and one that you can work with for your own remote-control devices. A quick demonstration follows in the video below:

For complete instructions, visit the project page. And for more, we're on twitter and Google+, so follow us for news and product updates as well.

If you're looking for an Ethernet-enabled Arduino-compatible board, consider one of Ethernet-enabled boards, such as the Freetronics EtherTen - the Arduino Uno-compatible with onboard Ethernet, microSD socket and optional PoE:

Michael Paholski was tasked with creating a modern rendition of an employee punch-clock, and turned to Arduino as the base for his solution. By using a Freetronics EtherTen, an after market NFC shield and related circuitry his goal has been successful. Over various articles the project is described from the idea phase through to the culmination of the final product. When completed it can record the card data, the direction of entry on the card and alter this, and send required data to an external database. 

It's an interesting and useful project to follow, so for more information start here. And for more, we're on twitter and Google+, so follow us for news and product updates as well.

 Although it's enjoyable to make fun projects with an Arduino, there are also serious applications that can help with daily activities. One example of this is the weather-prediction LED by Mike's Lab. They use an Ethernet-enabled Arduino board to interrogate web-based weather information websites, and then display different colours or effects using an RGB LED. If you're not interested in weather, this could be a good framework for other Internet-based information retrieval and display system. View the following video for a complete explanation:

For more information and code links, visit the about section on the YouTube page. And for more, we're on twitter and Google+, so follow us for news and product updates as well.

 If you're not a fan of using raw I2C-commands with a real-time clock IC, check out the new Arduino library for the DS3232 by Vino Rodrigues. Unlike other versions, Vino's library uses the official Arduino time library, and thus more portable. You can easily set and retrieve the time and date as well as read the onboard thermometer, set the alarms and choose whether the alarm interrupt or square-wave generator is enabled. It's a great addition for a very useful component.

To download the library, visit the library github page. And for more, we're on twitter and Google+, so follow us for news and product updates as well.

When making your own clock - don't skimp on timing accuracy - so consider using our real-time clock module based on the DS3232 - with a temperature-controlled oscillator it is highly accurate, and has an onboard backup battery for when the power dies and 236 bytes of non-volatile memory for user data.