Author Archives: R-B

Arduino midi controller

An Arduino powered midi controller project for music makers.

This my first arduino (microcontroller) project. I want to learn arduino with a usefull and large project.

I decided to make a midi DJ controller that have all the functions needed to be standalone to mix.

Every kind of sensor (potentiometer, push button,…) can be learn independantly and I think the best way is to learn “how it works” and “how it is connected” for each sensor step by step.

Midi controller using Arduino

Midi controller using Arduino

An old radio turned into RPi powered internet radio

Marcel describes in this Instructable how he gave a new life to his old radio by powering it with an Raspberry Pi that streams various radio channels over the internet. He kept the functionality of the original tuning knob for tuning to radio channels. The RPi speaks up the name of the tuned channel in English or in your own language, as configured. The radio also features a safe-power-off button for proper shutdown of the RPi. He wrote the software for the radio in Python that runs automatically upon boot.

RPi powered internet radio

RPi powered internet radio

DIY PICKit 3 programmer/debugger

Here’s a detail description from Reviahh on a DIY version of the PICKit 3 programmer/debugger. It uses all SMT components and is portable in size.

DIY PICKit 3

DIY PICKit 3

This schematic is very similar to the one Hendrik used, with a couple component changes and a fix for a PNP transistor that was shown backwards on his schematic. I’ll briefly talk about the different sections that I have labeled above. First – in the upper left corner is the pic24 processor that controls this device. It is a PIC24FJ256GB106 mcu. There are the requisite capacitors and 12MHz crystal attached, as well as a programming header to load its firmware. In addition to these components, the USB connector is shown, as well as the status LEDs and OTG Button connections. Directly below the MCU is the MCP1727 voltage regulator. At the bottom is a LTC4411, a MAX893L, and associated circuitry that among a couple other things, controls the power to the programming target, if it is not self-powered, and this device is supplying power to it. Above that is a MCP601 op-amp and voltage boosting circuitry. In the middle of the page is a MCP1525 voltage reference chip and the Target programming header. Top center you will see the three 74LVC1T45 voltage level shifters, and to the right are the 25LC256 EEPROM and also the SST25VF040B serial flash chip used for the Code image when doing OTG programming.

 

Arduino Pocket Tetris

A portable pocket Tetris project using ATTiny85 and SSD1306 based OLED screen by dombeef.

Pocket Tetris project

Pocket Tetris project

This project originally was meant as a fathers day gift for my tetris-loving father, and I felt like it should be available for others if they want to make a pretty small tetris clone. This was the smallest I could make it with a big enough battery and a thick durable 3d printed housing.

I modified tetris code created by Andy Jackson to be used with 3 buttons, since his original code was made for the AttinyArcade platform that has 2 buttons.

ESP8266 smart lamp

In her new Instructables, BECKY STERN illustrates how to add a voice control feature  to an vintage lamp using ESP8266 and Amazon Echo/Alexa.

Voice-controlled smart lamp

Voice-controlled smart lamp

To control the AC portion of the circuit, I’m using a Power Relay FeatherWing– just interrupt the hot lamp wire and plug the stripped ends into the Normally Open and Common screw terminals. Remember, if you don’t know AC, find someone who does to supervise. My lamp had a switch along the cord, so I just removed it and used the wire that the switch had been controlling.

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