With any robot, it’s always useful to have some form of remote connection, if not full remote control. The question is how to achieve this. By the way, in this post, I’m definitely in ‘thinking out loud/workshop notebook’ mode, because nothing described here is finished. I’m just playing with concepts. Now, when I mention ‘remote control’, I’m not talking about… Read more »
Many beginners’ guides to electronics teach you how to build motor controllers using mosfets, H-bridge circuits and all that good stuff. And maybe I’ll get around to doing that one day. But to get this robot project up and rolling, I decided to go for an off-the-shelf motor controller. I’ve used many before, including Arduino shields from Adafruit and Snootlab…. Read more »
Right from the beginning I knew that the Sheldon robot would have a multi-processor architecture. This appeals to me the same way object-oriented programming appeals – you can create a modular system in which each part does a specific task and can be treated like a black box. The structure will be hierarchical. At the top – what I’m going… Read more »
One of the things that spurred my current interest in electronics was a resurgence of my fascination with robots. And so, here we go with another project – a robot base vehicle that I can use for experimenting with sensors and algorithms. (Technically, this is not a new project – it’s a new start to a years-old project, but anyhoo…)… Read more »
The Dreambox will eventually sit by the side of my bed lulling me to sleep with gentle music (via headphones). But it seemed a shame that it couldn’t do more. So then I started thinking, why not also make it a reading light? The problem with that is getting enough light out of the damn thing. Having removed the original… Read more »
Planning is a good thing. Having your project mapped out before you start saves time and avoids wasteful detours and last-minute kludges. I should definitely do that some day. My approach to electronics is the same as my approach to writing software: just get started – it’ll all work out somehow. Luckily, I don’t write code or build electronic devices… Read more »
So I’m finally getting somewhere with my HMV1960, a gutted valve radio that I’m using as a somewhat oversized case for a Raspberry Pi. It looks great with the keyboard I’ve just bought via Massdrop. I’ve replaced the original fabric-covered speaker section with some aluminium sheeting into which I set a display, an LED matrix and two speakers. Because I’m ham-fisted… Read more »
Okay, so I couldn’t get the headline to scan to fit that godawful song, but here’s the thing: I mentioned before that my Dreambox project – a way of playing music to lull me to sleep – would be driven by a Raspberry Pi but would also involve a Teensy. And you probably want to know why. The answer is:… Read more »
So I was looking around for a case for a Raspberry Pi and I noticed this old radio gathering dust in the cupboard. And it all just got out of hand from there. The HMV Model 1376 valve radio dates from 1960. When I bought it in a junk shop for a few quid it was working. When I took it… Read more »
My More Significant Other (MSO) sometimes has trouble sleeping. She’ll wake in the night and can’t drift off again. So she bought a hypnotherapy recording and a headband/blindfold thing with built-in headphones. And she played the recording on her iPod Nano that some fantastically thoughtful husband once bought her. There was a problem with that set-up, though. Getting the iPod… Read more »