Author: Eliot

1332 Articles

USB And UDP Using An AVR

October 12, 2005 by 1 Comment

usb ir

If you understand that alphabet soup title you’re in for a treat. Igor Cesko’s original project was constructing an IR interface for his computer so he could control it remotely. He built a simple serial dongle for this task because he didn’t want to use a microcontroller for decoding the IR. USB is becoming far more common than serial interfaces so Igor decided to try programming a microcontroller for USB communication. His controller works for his IR project, but it should be easy to use for any other project you want a USB interface on. His most recent project was teaching an AVR to do UDP. Using his IR -> UDP device and a crossover cable he can place the receiver farther away from the computer. It requires a full duplex connection and has been tested connected directly to a NIC. It’s unknown whether it will function properly connected to a router.

[thanks johannes]

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X10 Signal Analyzer

October 11, 2005 by 8 Comments

x10

[hb] was having some serious issues with noise in the power line communication of his X10 home automation system. He decided to switch to an all RF module system eliminating the need for power line communication. While trying to improve his reliability he built a data logger. It is constructed out of a LEGO RCX and an X10 universal module. Once the RCX is set to listen it records every time that the module activates. A script is used to tell the universal module to trip at regular intervals. Missing time steps in the RCX’s log relate to missed commands. If you’re interested in home automation you should check our previous story and its comments.

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Hackaday Links

October 10, 2005 by 11 Comments

I usually don’t link to MAKE:Blog because I assume everyone is already reading it (you should). I just thought the GPS tracking link today deserved special attention.

We’ve been talking about “guerrilla drive-ins”. Dirk put together an FM transmitter kit this weekend that would probably work well. He’s also got a nice picture of why you shouldn’t keep your Replay-TV at a construction site.

[Spazz] put together a Hack-A-Day RSS Konfabulator widget.

[jeffers] pointed me to the Bluetooth car whispering article over on Autoblog. I had shrugged it off earlier in the day because I knew it was possible. I didn’t realize they had released the POC software on their site. This is another gem to come out of What The Hack. Here is the pdf of their slides and the torrent link for the video (370MB).

[TILT-MODE-ARMY] claims to have a working HTTP server on a PSP. They’re doing a stress test, but I’m not going to hot link it for fear of melting the little guy.

[Geoff] wrote to inform me that Weta Digital is expanding their render farm with 250 Dual Xenon blades.

The tip line

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