CheapStat: an open-source potentiostat

CheapStatPhoto

A commercial potentiostat can cost several thousand dollars, but the CheapStat is an open source project that makes it possible to build your own at a tiny fraction of that cost. It is possible to build one for less than $80, breaking down the cost barrier faced by many labs that would like to have this test hardware. A potentiostat is used to measure electrochemical properties. To give you a … [Read more...]

Fixing Arduino’s serial latency issues

arduino_latency

[Paul] wrote in to tell us about some interesting Arduino latency issues he helped nail down and fix on the Arduino. It seems that [Michu] was having some problems with controlling his Rainbowduino project we featured earlier this year, and he couldn’t quite figure out why he was experiencing such huge delays when sending and receiving data. Searching online for answers turned up very … [Read more...]

Arduino Based ambient lighting improvements

java-plus-arduino-ambilight-clone

[Simon] improved upon an existing hack by making this Arduino ambient lighting system that has four different color regions. He was inspired by [Roy's] processing-based setup which we saw a few weeks ago. That system used processing to determine the average color of the currently displayed image, then it displayed the color on a single RGB LED strip. [Simon] was thinking a little bit … [Read more...]

Arduino + Java + Joystick

arduino-joystick-java

Interfacing your own hardware with a Java app couldn't be easier than this example. [Pn] created this proof-of-concept using an Arduino, an analog joystick from a gaming controller, and a few lines of Java code. The Arduino reads an ADC value from the joystick's x-axis and transmits it over the serial connection ten times a second. The Java program triggers on every serial event, parsing the data … [Read more...]

Data confirmation with RF communications

SAMSUNG

[Rafael] built a system that uses radio frequency for communications. The code he was using with the inexpensive receiver/transmitter pairs already had some error correction but from time to time an entire message would be missed by the receiver. He set out to make these RF communications more robust. A little more than a year ago we looked at using these same transmitters with an Arduino. … [Read more...]

Android oscilloscope

android-oscilloscope

Here's a 2-channel Oscilloscope for your Android phone. It uses a base module driven by a dsPIC for signal processing. From there, an LMX9838 Bluetooth module broadcasts the data to the phone so that the waveform can be displayed. [Yus] ported some Python code he had been using over to a set of Java and XML files in order to get it working on Android. This was actually the first time he worked … [Read more...]

Open source artillery

Thanks to [Josh, Kyle, and Mike], it is now possible to wage (Nerf) war with an Arduino. The turret designed around it is capable of shooting 6 foam projectiles in close succession, between reloads. The faux weapon interfaces with a computer through the Arduino's onboard serial link (via USB). Software on the PC sends commands to the Arduino, which then executes functions, such as panning, … [Read more...]