News @ Suspect Devices

Tag: daily thing

  • Day 4, Thing 4 Aduino (adaboot) Programmer.

    (Archive of: http://www.thing-a-day2.com/2008/02/04/day-4-thing-4-aduino-adaboot-programmer/)

    I was using the programming half of a a bulky prototype that I have been working on to program one of the mice from Day 1 and I looked at the pile hanging precariously off of the coffe table and thought to myself.

    “I need to just build one of these. “

    The finished productModifying Sparkfun Board.to fit in the boxthe input sideflea assemblyblinkin lightsin placetest runTranslucencedone

    So I did.

    The programmer is based on the Auto-Reset Hack and the AdaBoot bootloader. The reset is pulled by putting a capacitor on the DTR line of the serial interface which is also the bootloader interface. Most people put the cap on the Arduino but I put it on the programmer (where it belongs). This programmer was built using the ftdi ft232rl breakout board sold by sparkfun. I had to trim it down to get it to fit in the pretty blue box i bought at Tap Plastics. The chip out of the box presents two of its 4 gpio (general pourpose i/o) pins to indicate when serial is being sent and recieved. I wired a pair of very bright leds that I had to them and then tried to pipe the light to the corners using some translucent plastic tubes and hot glue. It looks pretty cool!

  • Thing 3 (tiny45 emulation using the Arduino)

    (Archive of: http://www.thing-a-day2.com/2008/02/03/thing-3-tiny45-emulation-using-the-arduino/)

    Target projectA while ago I started working on a flapping wing mechanism using voice coils taken our of hard drives. To drive them I built a set of boards based on the Atmel tiny45. After getting the basic motion down I wanted to use a light sensor to detect motion so that they would only move when something was around to watch them.

    Rather than developing on the tiny45 itself, it seemed that the Arduino with its bootloader and built in serial port would make a good emulation platform. All I needed was a “pod”. I scrapped a daughterboard from an old checkreader (that I have a small pile of) and made two out of it.

    The last photo is the Arduino connected to the target.

    Wha La!
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    Wha La!

  • Day 2 (IKEA inspired stackable box)

    (Archive of: http://www.thing-a-day2.com/2008/02/02/day-2-ikea-inspired-stackable-box/)

    Today we only broke 1 tool.

    Model BoxesAs preparation for moving out of my storage space I went to IKEA with my g/f and spent 100 that I didn’t really have. I got the idea that I could make them cheaper. I went to the hardware store and got an 8 foot section of drywall corner for $1.50. I originally wanted to do boxes that were “compatible” but realized that I had scrap that allowed me to build the main part of the box with only 2 cuts. (this is important as I only have a scroll saw) I was going to build a second box but the blade wandered and broke so I called it a day.

    Model BoxesModel BoxesModel BoxesModel Boxes

  • Day 1

    (Archive of http://www.thing-a-day2.com/2008/02/01/day-1-25/)

    Today we made 4 things, and broke 2 soldering irons.

    Thing 1a closet shelves.

    Left Shelf
    Shelf 2
    I recently moved out of my storage unit. While putting most of the boxes into my hall closet I realized that there was a ledge which would make it a no brainer to put in a shelve. So I cut down some laminated boards that I dumpster dove last year and rounded the corners off of
    them so I wouldnt hurt myself coming and going. I hot glued the edge of the laminate around the corner so It looks good as well :)

    Thing 1 b and c Meg and A168 mouse (arduino based mouse bots).

    Meg and A168 mouses.

    My son and I have been working on modifying a pair of Tamaya wall following mice. After some thought and discussion we decided to build both of them out using the arduino and the motor controller boards that I had built for this purpose previously. My main soldering iron went out in the morning when I was preparing these. My spare went out in the middle of the second motor contoller board. I should move the soldering iron timer up on my to do list.