News

 Technologist Jim Paris has created a simple terminal emulator for Python which is quite useful - it allows connection to two or more device in the single window. Setup is via the command line, and each device connected can be colour-coded to save confusion. What this has to do with Arduino is quite simple - when you're prototyping with more than one board at the same time - you no longer have the confusion about which window is for which board. 

Kudos for Jim for creating this tool. For more information visit here and the download files are here. And for more, we're on twitter and Google+, so follow us for news and product updates as well.

 Using an Arduino board, a protoshield, shift register and a few hours tinkering, Jen Shen turned an aged Casio SA-47 piano into a MIDI keyboard that actually works. By determining how the keyboard is wired, Jen connects the matrix to the shift register and reads the keyboard using the parallel-out shift register technique. Then the Arduino can convert the signals into MIDI data and send it off to the outside world. Here's a quick video of the keyboard in action:

That's a fine example of hardware hacking and making something more useful from a toy. 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.

When creating projects with external circuitry hacking existing devices - consider our range of ProtoShields. From the tiny LeoStick to the Mega range, we offer a complete range for you to work with. 

 Robotics is always a fun topic, and the following project is a good example of this. By using two constant-rotating servos, three infra-red sensors and an ultrasonic sensor, the robot's Arduino board can control and drive the robot to follow the line plus be aware of any obstacles it may face. Making this may seem like a simple project, but it's a good foundation for greater things. For inspiration here is the robot in action:

 To satisfy the desire to write their own IDE, and also improve on the Arduino-supplied version, enthusiast Alex went ahead and created his own - MariaMole. It has several new features and improvements over the original, such as multiple serial monitors, allowing multiple sketches to be open in one window, different colour schemes, and the ability to easily import existing sketches and libraries. And it looks pretty snazzy, for example:

Finally Alex has made the project open source, so everyone is free to download and improve on the IDE. So 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 new to Arduino, the first step is a solid board for your projects - our Freetronics Eleven - the Arduino-Uno compatible with low-profile USB socket, onboard prototyping space and easy to view LEDs:

 To satisfy the desire to write their own IDE, and also improve on the Arduino-supplied version, enthusiast Alex went ahead and created his own - MariaMole. It has several new features and improvements over the original, such as multiple serial monitors, allowing multiple sketches to be open in one window, different colour schemes, and the ability to easily import existing sketches and libraries. And it looks pretty snazzy, for example:

Finally Alex has made the project open source, so everyone is free to download and improve on the IDE. So 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 new to Arduino, the first step is a solid board for your projects - our Freetronics Eleven - the Arduino-Uno compatible with low-profile USB socket, onboard prototyping space and easy to view LEDs:

Not content with their previous efforts, the people at rcarduino blog have demonstrated a method of controlling twenty servos using only four Arduino digital pins, the two timer registers and some 4017 logic ICs. These decade-counter ICs allow for throwing signals to each of the ten servos in sequence very quickly. However they have created a serial servo library to make coding simpler, and the whole project is very much convenient. Just the thing for making your own motorised creatures with ten legs, or a huge analogue display board.

For more information, click here for demonstration code and the Arduino library. And for more, we're on twitter and Google+, so follow us for news and product updates as well.

When creating projects with external circuitry or ten servos - consider our range of ProtoShields. From the tiny LeoStick to the Mega range, we offer a complete range for you to work with. 

 A lot of inexpensive and aged Motorola GSM handsets might not be the latest thing, however they have one very useful characteristic - their ease of interfacing with an Arduino. You can connect the serial TX/RX lines straight into the phone using a hacked headset cable and control them with normal AT commands. This has been demonstrated once more by Matthew Sheffield with a Motorola c168i. He demonstrates the required wiring and Arduino sketch to send an SMS on demand, for example:

You can also use Motorola C261s for this type of project as well, so keep an eye on eBay or the discount stores for a cheap Arduino-SMS gateway. For the details - click here. And for more, we're on twitter and Google+, so follow us for news and product updates as well.

 Using a simple umbrella, Joe Saavedra has created an device that uses "light and sound spatialization this umbrella creates an immersive, mobile, and highly personal multi‐sensory environment.  Range sensing technology helps the Spatialized Umbrella react to your movement through a space". In other words, as someone gets closer to the umbrella (with the distance being measured by an infrared distance sensor), sound loops are played through five speakers around the umbrella, and LEDs generate a visual display. Here's an example of the umbrella in action:

Certainly something different or perhaps a form of modern art? You decide. And for more, we're on twitter and Google+, so follow us for news and product updates as well.

If this type of project interests you and you're new to the Arduino world, check out our new Experimenter's Kit for Arduino:

 Arduino forum member 'teckel' has a few dogs at home, however they have a habit of doing their "business" indoors instead of out. In an attempt to combat this behaviour, teckel has used an Arduino-controlled ultrasonic distance sensor to detect their presence in the area that will sound a piezo siren when the dogs enter the forbidden zone. It's an interesting ... solution to the problem, or at least a blueprint for a new type of distance alarm. 

For more details and discussion related to this project, head over to the Arduino forum. And for more, we're on twitter and Google+, so follow us for news and product updates as well.

If you're interested in working with piezos for various reasons we have a neat littleSOUND: sound and buzzer module:

It can be used as a noise-maker driven by your microcontroller for audible feedback of events, and it can also be used as a knock-detector input to sense events and react to them. Includes a built-in 1M resistor to allow the piezo element to detect shocks. For more information and to order, please visit the product page here. 

 It seems like new web-control interfaces for Arduino boards are appearing every week now, so here's another one - called "Bitlash Commander". It's a node.js web interface toolkit for Arduino, that allows control of digital outputs and pulse-width modulation using onscreen buttons and slider controls - with communication to the board via the local USB-serial cable. This would be a good setup to test external hardware connected to digital outputs without having to customise or write a test sketch - so perhaps an interesting time saver. The following is an example of the web interface:

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

If you're new to Arduino, the first step is a solid board for your projects - our Freetronics Eleven - the Arduino-Uno compatible with low-profile USB socket, onboard prototyping space and easy to view LEDs: