TechnologyIQ

I purchased some inexpensive RF remote power switches myself, but I have contemplated making a few of my own, too. This is but one way to get it done. -- Douglas I just recently got an Amazon echo and always wanted to expand its home automation possibilities but wasn't happy with the price tag of many of the ready-made IOT solutions and figured I could probably make something with reasonable functionality for much less money.  I already had a bunch of raspberry pi's laying around so I figured that was a good place to start. The pi is definitely the most expensive part of this project but it was free to me and you could probably get away with the $10 Pi Zero Wireless instead. Read Cheap Amazon Alexa Home Automation Light Switch via Instructables ​ Get Raspberry Pi Boards and Components from Amazon Get Raspberry Pi Boards and Components from eBay An interesting link found among my daily reading

A great story about scientists using off-the-shelf parts, like the Raspberry Pi, to create new experimental equipment and then sharing it to the world for everyone to use, even citizen scientists. — Douglas Researchers have created a Raspberry Pi-powered robotic lab that detects and profiles the behaviour of thousands of fruit-flies in real-time. The researchers, from Imperial College London, built the mini Pi-powered robotics lab to help scale up analyses of fruit flies, which have become popular proxy for scientists to study human genes and the wiring of the brain. The researchers call the lab an ethoscope, an open-source hardware and software platform for "ethomics", which uses machine vision to study animal behaviour. And while computer-assisted analysis promises to revolutionize research techniques for Drosophila (fruit fly) neuroscientists, the researchers argue its potential is constrained by custom hardware, which adds cost and often aren't scalable. The Ra...

It used to be a must-have on any hi-fi, a pair of moving coil meters or LED bar graphs, the VU meter. Your 1980s boombox would have had them, for example. VU, for “Volume Units”, is a measure of audio level, and the fashion for its visual measure in consumer audio equipment seems now to have largely passed. The LED bar graph VU meters were invariably driven by the LM3915, a chip that contains a resistor ladder and a stack of comparators which can drive LEDs directly. [Juvar] has taken an LM3915, and used it to drive a set of opto-isolated triacs which in turn drive a stack of appropriately coloured mains LED bulbs concealed within an Ikea Vidja lamp. The result is a huge and very bright VU meter that is as much a lighting effect as it is a measure of sound level. Read A Very Large VU Meter Indeed via hack a day An interesting link found among my daily reading

Read A Portable Meditation Aid • Hackaday.io via hackaday.io An interesting link found among my daily reading

I’ve been doing more meditation lately and this little project would be a great way to explore the ATTiny while creating a productive tool. — Douglas BreatheDot: A Portable Meditation Aid via HackaDay This is a small battery-powered meditation aid that is powered off a CR2032 battery. It uses an ATTiny85 and a single blue LED. By matching your breathing with the LED, you should feel the effects after 3 to 5 minutes.  The benefit of having a piece of hardware is that you can use it quickly and you don't have to strain your eyes looking at a screen.  It uses the box-breathing method used in yoga and the Navy Seals. Hopefully this project can help in promoting better health and well being. Read BreatheDot: A Portable Meditation Aid via HackaDay * A portion of each sale from Amazon.com directly supports our blogs An interesting link found among my daily reading

A new Instructables project has been posted this month which allows you to create a Raspberry Pi gaming system using the awesome RetroPie emulation software without soldering any components at all.  The breadboard RetroPie Raspberry Pi gaming system is powered by a Raspberry Pi Zero together with 4 x AA batteries. Watch the video below to learn more about this great project.  Building a game machine is a very good project to initial child studying electronics. However, most RetroPie projects built by an adult, the main reason is building it require too many advanced skills at the same time, soldering, 3D printing, or Laser cutting, metal case patching…  This project aims to make it simple, all things built on the breadboard, the first tools you should know while studying electronics. The most beautiful thing using breadboard is most things can be reused. When you want to build the next project you can unplug and reuse the components and also reuse the breadboar...

How to use a high-current solenoid with Arduino So you have a solenoid that you want to use as an electric door lock, or some other kind of actuator with your Arduino. But, here's the problem: too high a current for the Arduino to source, and too high of a voltage to drive. Well fear not, using a simple transistor we can set up the solenoid to work hand in hard with your Arduino.  Read How to use a high current solenoid with Arduino #Arduino via Adafruit Industries – Makers, hackers, artists, designers and engineers! Arduino Boards and Components via Amazon Arduino Boards and Components via eBay * A portion of each sale from Amazon.com directly supports our blogs An interesting link found among my daily reading

I love the ATtiny85. I use it in practically every project of mine — components of CastMinder are powered by the ATtiny85, and HaptoTech is completely powered by the ATtiny85. The ATtiny is also the brains of my game console/business card with a screen. Regular Arduino boards are awesome for prototyping and extended development, but sometimes it’s necessary to turn to something a little cheaper and smaller. The ATtiny85 satisfies both of these constraints quite handily — it costs only about a dollar, and the whole microcontroller is no bigger than the fingernail of your pinky. Read Making it Miniature: Integrating the ATtiny85 in your Arduino Project via Hackster’s Blog - Medium * A portion of each sale from Amazon.com directly supports our blogs An interesting link found among my daily reading

“Don’t do it for them!” Oh, yes, have I been here over the years of raising my son. Like all parents, I have wanted to jump in and “save” him and his projects. I feel like I ground off several sets of teeth over the years keeping my mouth shut, but I think it has helped  him create his own level of “maker grit.” — Douglas Developing Maker Grit via Barb Makes Things Some tips for grown-ups working with kids. There are a lot of valid ways of making things, but they aren't all equally effective at developing grit. Tinkering FTW. See also: How To Fail Like a Pro: Subscribe to Barb Makes Things on YouTube

Build your own camera slider to get those great shots while also getting a bit geeky at the same time. — Douglas Nothing better than a Ruiz Brothers’ project! From the Adafruit Learning System: We really love photography and camera gear here at Adafruit, so we came together and upgrade our original 3D Printed DIY camera slider. It’s now motorized using a single NEMA-17 stepper driven by the Adafruit Motor Shield ontop of an Ardunio Uno. The Adafruit Bluefruit SPI Friend allows us to remotely control the movement of the camera slider using the Adafruit Bluefruit LE Connect app on a mobile gadget like an Android or iOS device! Read Bluetooth Controlled Motorized Camera Slider  * A portion of each sale from Amazon.com directly supports our blogs ** Many of these books may be available from your local library. Check it out! An interesting link found among my daily reading