Banner with yellow background
Cybord Signal Detector

Some digital radio signals use Frequency Shift Keying (FSK). This often has one frequency for a Mark and one for a Space. I plan to build a cybord or other chip that will decode an FSK signal, producing three different values: NO_SIGNAL, MARK, and SPACE. The signals would then go to a decoder chip to recover the original digital signal (a stream of zeros and ones).

... Link


Arduino drives iTunes

To build an outboard iTunes controller using an Arduino board and Powershell:

  1. Make a sketch to read various buttons. Say Pause/Play, Next Track, Previous Track. When a button is pressed write a command string to the serial port.
  2. Powershell opens the serial port and reads the inbound commands.
  3. Powershell uses the COMObject "iTunes.Application" to drive iTunes.

For extra credit add an LCD display to the Arduino and send the current track info to it.

Since I have several computers on my desk but only run iTunes on one of them it would be great to change tracks without having to switch the KVM. Might be even more fun to have the computer play a particular track when say the light is turned on or a motion sensor detects something...

See also:
Writing and Reading Serial Ports (powershell blog)
Driving iTunes (holistic detection)

... Link


Dunderbot

I've got this old RC car that I've been meaning to rebuild for years now. I just haven't been able to do anything with it. I was thinking about doing a line following robot, but the thing is just too darned fast for that to ever work. So I came up with a new concept today...

I'll just put an accelerometer on the thing. Forward motion: keep going. No forward motion: back up and turn. Yeah, it would be stupid. But fast. And probably destructive. Maybe I'll put it in the robot wars someday. If it can just keep going, maybe the opponent robot will self-destruct at some point. Perhaps I should add some extra weight, give it more impact when it hits something...

... Link


Creative Commons License (by-nd)

Creative Commons License

Blog entries licensed under a Creative Commons License.

8142 days of detection
mod: 12/3/08, 5:42 AM

days of detection

... PMOG
... ideas
... brain hurts
... weblo

owner

Biography

Randall Bohn lives in Orem, Utah, USA. He works as a Software Quality Engineer. He is a big fan of the AVR line of microcontrollers. He has been in the computer industry since 1989. Randall is married and has three children.

rsbohn can be reached via gmail.com.


status
Youre not logged in ... Login
Amazon.com DVD Shop
menu
... home
... topics
... galleries

... Antville.org home
search

related


calendar
November 2024
SunMonTueWedThuFriSat
12
3456789
10111213141516
17181920212223
24252627282930
December
recent updates
Arduino Starter Kit
MAKE Blog How-to Tuesday posted a challenge: Optimize the sketch code for a pressure sensor bar graph. Here is my second attempt: int gate[] = {10, 20, 50, 100, 200, 32767}; void setup() {DDRB = 0b00111110;} void loop() { int dval = 0; int rval = analogRead(2); for (int x = 0; rval...
12/3/08, 5:42 AM
Measuring Supply Voltage
I'm running my latest handheld computer on solar power. It starts up when the sun rises and runs all day. I started wondering how I could measure the voltage coming in from the solar panel. I came up with a way to use a diode and a resistor and the...
7/29/08, 9:53 AM
Ten Pin ISP adapter
I've already built a six pin ISP adapter, but my Olmex cards use the ten pin ISP. I put a header on a scrap of perf board, added an LED for the heartbeat, and then connected the ten pin cable. Actually it is a fifteen pin cable, off a joystick...
7/16/08, 10:00 PM
Hello 5x7 Style
Wrote a new firmware for the 5x7 display. Now it scrolls out 'hello' over and over again. I'm running it on a solar panel, so it wakes up with the sun and runs all day long. When I built the LED matrix I put resistors on the five columns. I'm starting...
6/17/08, 12:48 PM
Provo, Utah
With a walkable downtown and access to two Universities, Provo Utah is a great location. I live next door in Orem. Kipplinger: Provo: Pristine Tech Mecca (Video) (Text)
6/2/08, 10:07 AM
Another release of AVRISP sketch
There is a new release of the AVRISP emulation sketch for Arduino: avrisp.02.zip. This one should work with Mega8 and Mega168. mega-isp
5/28/08, 4:48 PM
Sorting Out Page Sizes
There is a new release of AVRISP Emulation for Arduino. This is an Arduino firmware that allows you to program other AVR microcontrollers. The new zip file (avrisp.01.zip) should compile on the current Arduino IDE, and I changed the comments that put the wrong labels on the SPI pins. Go ahead...
5/27/08, 11:31 AM
Flash Problems
I'm building a project using the AVR ATMega8 microcontroller. Once I got the thing wired up to where I could write firmware to it I found that it was always failing. I made a .hex file full of 0x10 values (256 bytes worth) and tried uploading that to the chip....
5/16/08, 2:56 PM
William's Arduino Board
I'm building an Arduino-compatible board for William. I'm building it on the Evil Mad Scientist MegaXX8 business card. It will have four built-in LEDs and a USB interface. It will also have connectors so he can use it with a breadboard. Perhaps we can connect it to some of his...
5/15/08, 7:26 AM
Cybord Signal Detector
Some digital radio signals use Frequency Shift Keying (FSK). This often has one frequency for a Mark and one for a Space. I plan to build a cybord or other chip that will decode an FSK signal, producing three different values: NO_SIGNAL, MARK, and SPACE. The signals would then go...
5/15/08, 7:20 AM

destinations

Listen to IT Conversations



Made with Antville

Quantum Touch

RSS Feed