The RP2040 Mini Board

I focused on its maths, solving different problems related with the movement of the robot, making a very looking forward model which only implements the maths necessary to run the robot, showing how every equation is related with the real robot and givin a general view of it.This is not the most robust way of building a model, as in real world robots there are lot of additional maths methods in order to pulish the behaviour of the robot, for example, adding interpolation methods would make the robot performs smoother or building an state stimator + filter (kalman state stimator) would let you do very preccise meassurements on the robot and make its movements even more natural.Visual scheme of electronics and model.As you can see in the scheme, in this setup i use one bulk converter por 3 servos, with 4 bulk converters in total. This is because each servo drains up to 4A peak.NOTE: This would not be a rigorous way of wiring, it is just a drawing.Kinematic model and Inverse kinematics.First thing to take into account is the robot geometry and its DOFs, to ilustrate this, in the next image you see where are they and how they transform. This model is very looking forward, in real robotics first is to make a robust state stimator so you can have smooth meassurements of robots states.NOTE: All vector are defined inside the robot frame, no world frame is used for now.So, we have 4 frames on each leg and one which is commun for all, which is the geometric center of the robot (very close to the CoM).For our setup, there are 2 important frames on the leg, which are the frame0 (coxa frame or first frame on the leg) and frame4 (foot frame or last frame on the leg).So now, we are going to calculate Inverse Kinematics between those frames. If you want more information on how to calculate IK you can read this article: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/320307716_Inverse_Kinematic_Analysis_Of_A_Quadruped_RobotAs you can see the setup is a bit diferent, but it only change the simetry of the legs, so the analytic function is the same.Inverse Kinematics are solved on the IK_solver.py file, which is basically two functions, one for right legs and the other for the left legs. These functions works as shown:Now, we can locate foot in the 3D space, inside the frame0.Next step is to move the body frame in relation with the feet. Which is essentialy the kinematic model i built, kinematic_model.py file in the code.For this, we need to define 3 vectors, the vector from the center to the frame0 or coxa frame is going to be rotated and translated with the desired body position.The next is the vector from body frame to frame4 or foot frame, this vector is where we want the foot to stay with recpect to world coordinates.With this two vector we can calculate the IK vector needed for the inverse kinematics just by subtracting body to frame4 and body to frame0.Now, we want the body to rotate on its 3 dofs and its 3 logitudinal movements, for this, we just multiply the body to frame0 vector by the rototranslation matrix, shown at the next step:You can see how this woks on the geometrics.py file, where the fuctions for the rototranslations are defined.Here there is a figure to ilustrate the rotation of the body with respect to the feet in the pitch rotation:As the the principal frame is transformed, all other child frames are also transformed, so in order to keep feet still, we need to undo the fransformation for the frame0 to frame4 vector (IK vector) before IK are solved. This ends with all frames transformed in order to mantein the the frame4 at the same position with respect the BodyFrame.Step trajectory and Gait Planner.As in the kinematic_model.py you can change the foot position, you can make a time varying system by changing the feet position describing a bezier curve.So building a parametric bezier curve (11 points for now) you can follow a closed step loop, i drew this curve on this bezier curve generator: https://www.desmos.com/calculator/xlpbe9bgllThis can by written by an equation dependant of the N point and a parameter going from 0 to 1 in order to describe the trajectory. Here i show you the parametrized Bezier curve:In the the gaitPlanner.py file t is known as phi. This parameter is important, because it tells you where the foot is located, these coordinates are defined inside the foot frame.The Points are based on the paper Leg Trajectory Planning for Quadruped Robots with High-Speed Trot Gait from the MIT cheetah robot (equations 11-23-24-TABLE II).But in my case, i chose similar points but with 10 points (removing P6 and P4) and i'm just multiplying all points by a velocity command in order to make the trajectory wider. This way i have a very simple solution to the stance and swing controller. Trajectory of step at different speedsAlso for every loop, the swing and stance loops are running, each from 0 to 1, first stance phase then swing, with an offset between them which, if it is set at 0.5, both phases last the same. In another case, for creep gait, this offset must be set at 0.75, meaning that stance phase will last 3/4 of the step.In order to ilustrate this, here is a diagram which shows the stance face in gray along phi for each foot.In the video i explain how you can generate different gaits just by changing the offset between the feet loop:Building premises.I'm going to enumerate some important concepts i have taken into account for the robot design.This robots depends hardly on its mass distribution and dynamics of the moving parts (legs). Thats why i decided to go for this servo configuration, having the coxa servo on the body, the femur servo on the coxa and tibia servo on the the femur, so there is only 2 servos moving with the legs.This way, the less leg weight the less unexpected inertia, causing a better dynamic behavior.Also the robot weight should be as less as posible becouse hobby servos can be overcharged easily.About the mass distribution, this would define the Center of Mass which should be the closest to the Geometric Center, for this the building must be as simetric as posible, this way CoM is easier to locate and the control would be more predictable.The lenght of the leg is defined at 100 mm for both tibia a femur, this way, a motor with 20 Kg/cm will hold 2 kg at a 10 cm arm. So the longer the arm, the less force the motor can support.Avoid plastic vs plastic joints, this would involve unnecessary friction forces.Printing premises.This is simple but is important to take this into account, at the time of printing, these parts are not supporting much mechanical forces, for this and taking into account building premises, the 3D printed parts should be printed with ~10-20% infill , 1-2 outer perimeters and 2-3 solid layers.Bolt list:M3 x45 mm: quantity 12M3 x30 mm: quantity 26M3 x25 mm: quantity 16M3 x20 mm: quantity 8M3 x15 mm: quantity 16M3 x7 mm: quantity 4M3 threaded rod x 42 mm: quantity 4M3 threaded rod x 74 mm: quantity 8Plus its respectives nuts and washers where is needed.Electronics.Here is the electronics setup i have:As you can see, appart from the 4 power lines in order to power the servomotors, there is also a voltage divider in order to read the batterie voltage in the arduino from an analog pin and then 5 LEDs will indicate the batterie status. Finally, IMU is connected via I2C interface. Raspberry pi is powered via another bulk converter at 5V 3A, that i miss (i will correct this in the next updates) and arduino communicates via USB cable (which also power it) to raspberry pi.ELECTRONICS UPDATE.For making all connectivity I have design a PCB shield for all the components. In this version I'm using Teensy 4.1 which is much more powerful than Arduino Mega, this way everything can go much more smooth.

I started this project not because it's unique, revolutionary or game changing for the Commodore 64, but because it's an interesting project to work on and I knew I would learn a lot.Anybody who has built a SixtyClone Commodore 64 will know there is no RF Modulator. It is up to you to source one, either a salvaged original, or a modern replacement of which there are now several to choose from. For the experience, I wanted to design my own and using the original Commodore schematics as my starting point, I created the JaF64 RF Modulator replacement to output Composite and S-video on my SixtyClone 250466, dispensing with the unnecessary (for my requirements) RF circuitry. I'm delighted with the result.Using simple through hole components, the JaF64 retains the 80's aesthetic and is very easy to build for anyone with a modicum of soldering experience. The JaF64 gets its power directly from the unregulated 9V at connector 1 of the M1 Modulator, using a L78L05ACZ-AP voltage regulator to convert to 5V. The JaF64 takes advantage of existing mounting holes in the 250466 SixtyClone to allow very secure mounting to the board resulting in a robust, flex-free design (see pictures).The end result is, I believe, a simple and elegant solution with video quality output on par with anything I have seen short of an RGB Mod. Please see my notes about video quality below.IMPORTANT COMPATIBILITY NOTESThe JaF64 has been designed exclusively for the 250466 variant of the SixtyClone. Whilst it is entirely possible the JaF64 will work on other variants of the Commodore 64 "longboard", this has never been tested.The 250466 longboard for which it has been designed MUST have ground at connector 8 of the M1 Modulator. Test this with a multimeter to be certain.The JaF64 will NOT work on the Commodore 64 "shortboard" (250469). This has a different connector configuration on the Modulator and is therefore not compatible. I have no interest in the 250469 and therefore there are no plans to make a compatible design.This has only ever been tested in PAL. There is no reason the JaF64 will not operate as normal in an NTSC machine but please be aware his has never been tested.I'm afraid I'm not in a position to provide any technical support.VIDEO QUALITY NOTESWithout installing an RGB Mod, it is not currently possible to get an artefact free image from the 250466 SixtyClone. I certainly make no claims to this effect. These are my observations regarding video quality with my current setup which include: an LCD TV with HDMI and Composite Input; a cheap Composite and S-Video HDMI converter; a C64 to Composite cable, a C64 to S-Video cable and a 5 meter HDMI cable.Composite - Direct to TVThis is not my normal method of connecting but the JaF64 does output a serviceable composite image, with the following observations:Picture is softFaint jailbars visible with a slight magenta hueSome colour bleed visible in areas of high contrastSome ghosting in areas of high contrastColours are accurate and nicely saturatedText is clear and legible despite obvious artefactsSome significant smearing with certain colour combinations.Composite - Upscaled via HDMI ConverterMy cheap HDMI converter doesn't handle the composite signal well and the result is awful, introducing very prominent horizontal lines and darkening the colours significantly. This method, for me, is unusable.S-Video - Direct to TVUntested. I have no suitably equipped TV with the necessary S-Video input.S-Video - Upscaled via HDMI ConverterThis is my normal connection method and the video quality here is really very good, with the following observations:Picture is very sharpFaint jailbars are visible with a slight magenta hueMinimal colour bleedMinimal ghostingSome smearing.Occasional checkerboard patternPlease note: it is almost certain that with different equipment in your setup, your results will vary from that described here but to what degree I cannot say.BUILDING NOTESSome of the solder pads are quite small and so a magnifier will be helpfulPlease refer to the BoM for component placement and value informationThe BoM provides suggestions for specific components which have been tested and are known to workFor connecting to the 250466 SixtyClone, I suggest using standard 2.54mm pitch male/female connector pin headers easily obtained online. This will ensure the JaF64 can be easily removed if required.For mounting to the 250466 SixtyClone, I suggest M2 10mm hex standoffs which can be screwed/bolted securely in placeBefore soldering the connector pins to the JaF64, I suggest mounting the JaF64 to the SixtyClone first. This will ensure perfect alignment of board, connectors and standoffs and provide a stable surface to solder the connectors in place.I do NOT recommend installing the JaF64 in the SixtyClone without the additional support of the standoffs. This is liable to put undue strain on the connector pins.

AMIGA 1200 KEYBOARD HEADER PCB FOR PCB MEMBRANE (IDC CONNECTOR)Layers : 2 Layers PCBSize : 134.9 x 441 mmMaterial : FR-4Thickness : 0.6 mmHello,This PCB has not been tested by me, but two of my friends tested it, and it worked as it should.I drew this PCB for use with PCB keyboard membrane for the Amiga 1200. This PCB plugs into the keyboard connector on the A1200 motherboard and is used to assist the connection between the PCB keyboard membrane and the A1200 motherboard.This PCB is prepared for use with an ordinary 34 Pin male IDC connector, so that; the connection between the A1200 motherboard and the keyboard can be established with an ordinary flat Floppy disk drive cable.I plan to draw and share a PCB membrane for the Amiga 1200 keyboard, but if you don't want to wait until then, you can use this PCB with the PCB membrane I shared for the Amiga 500. When using with the Amiga 500 PCB membrane, you must solder the membrane side ends of the flat cable. (you need to solder 31 points.)With this header, it is also possible to use an Amiga 500 keyboard on an Amiga 1200. (by soldering the 31 wires under the membrane connector of the A500 keyboard). ;)Make sure your keyboard membrane is defective before ordering this PCB. Sometimes the problem is the conductive rubbers under the keys, and you can easily fix this with a soft 4B pencil. You only need to completely scribble the conductive rubber itself and the membrane's pads with a 4B pencil.With the connector locking system in the unlocked position, gently push the PCB into the connector. You may need to shake the PCB a little if it's having trouble getting in. Next, close the lock of the connector by pushing it slowly.Do not rush and be careful while following these procedures, ask for help from a knowledgeable person at a point you need asistance.For testing Amiga keyboard, you can download the "Amiga Test Kit" ADF disk image from this link.https://github.com/keirf/Amiga-Stuff . Many thanks to Keir Fraser (keirf)Gerber files can be changed at any time. Before paying for the PCBs, be sure to update your orders!Use this PCB at your own risk !Have funThank you.Components:34pin DC3 2.54mm Pitch Jtag Isp Male Socket Straight IDC connector (2x17 Male Box Header)34pin (2x17) female-female IDC cablePs. Solder the IDC box connector in the correct side and correct direction, with the notch facing down, as in the photos.

Robot-sumo, or pepe-sumo, is a sport in which two robots attempt to push each other out of a circle (in a similar fashion to the sport of sumo). The robots used in this competition are called sumobots. In this video, I used the Robot Sumo board that I designed myself. All details will be added as soon as possible, enjoy.

?? Save The ElephantsLet's work together and save the beautiful elephants using cutting edge technologies around us.?? On Going CrisisAccurate estimates suggest that there were 12 million elephants in the early 1900s. Today there are only 350, 000, which includes both savanna elephants and forest elephants.That’s a 97% decline in just one century. At current mortality rate this species will extinct by 2030 !Botswana is the largest home for African elephants (130, 000) followed by Zimbabwe.Poachers are the biggest threat to African elephants. As per source, Poachers are currently shooting elephants at a rate of about 100 per day, or about 30, 000 every year. In other words, about 10% of the population is being wiped out ever year. More elephants are being killed than being born.According to National Geographic, a pair of ivory chopsticks can sell for several thousand dollars, and carved tusks can sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars. This money is the reason poachersWhile poachers are the biggest threat to African elephants, there are number of other factors which are playing big roles in reducing the numbers very fast such as environment, human-elephant conflicts and sudden aggressive behavior of young male elephants due to hormonal surges a.k.a Musth.More than 350 elephants died in just few months in Botswana in early 2020. While the cause of death is still unknown but based on the information we have so far could be due to environmental issues such as soil poison, lack of water."Musth" (Musth or must /?m?st/; from Persian, 'drunk') is a periodic condition in male elephantscharacterized by highly aggressive behavior and accompanied by a large rise in reproductive hormones. A musth elephant, wild or domesticated, is extremely dangerous to both humans and other elephants. There are several reported incidents of musth elephants killing other elephants, buffalos and even villagers. Study has indicated, putting elder male elephant in the pack help reduce the the aggressiveness in young musth elephants.Elephant-human conflict poses a great threat to their continued existence. Studies on conflict between elephants and humans in Asia and in Africa have identified crop raiding as the main form of conflict. Elephant-human conflict is a result of habitat loss and fragmentation. When elephants and humans interact, there is conflict from crop raiding, injuries and deaths to humans caused by elephants, and elephants being killed by humans for reasons other than ivory and habitat degradation.Elephants cause damage amounting from a few thousand dollars to millions of dollars. Every year, 100 humans (in some years it may be 300 people) and 40-50 elephants are killed during crop raiding in India. Source.So, based on all the research I have done so far following are the major threats elephant population in Africa as well as in Asia.Illegal killing of elephants or poachingHuman-elephant conflictMusth or aggressive behavior of male elephantEnvironmental issues such as wild fire, drought etcMost, if not all of the above situations can be handled or avoided if park rangers or authorities are notified timely.?? Mahout - The Elephant Collar with A BrainIntroducing Mahout a smart elephant collar with GPS tracker and artificial intelligence on the edge (TinyML)The collar uses two MCUs along with a Ublox GPS tracker and MQ135 air quality sensor. Two MCUs used in the collar are -Heltec Wireless Stick Lite ( based on ESP32 chip )This MCU has BLE 4 and LoRa module. BLE 4 module is used to scan any mobile or bluetooth device near elephant which indicates human presence. LoRa module provides capability to connect to LoRaWan based Helium network without any need of WiFi or GSM.Arduino Nano BLE SenseThis MCU is mainly used to run edge impulse model locally. It has on-board microcontroller, 3 axis accelerometer and temperature & humidity sensor. 3 axis accelerometer data is feed to edge impulse model to predict elephant's activity such as resting, walking, running or musth behavior.The microphone is used to capture voice around the elephant and feed to another model to predict situations such as trumpet or rumbling, poachers etc.Temperature, humidity and air quality are used in combination to predict if there is any fire in the wild.Nano sends data to Heltec over UART and Heltec sends data to Helium network in certain interval.The collar is powered by 18650 batteries. I have not done much research on long battery life as that's already done by smart park & open collar.?? Demo??? ArchitectureEntire ecosystem is comprised of 4 componentsThe Collar - which we explained above.Helium Network - which is backed by LoRaWAN, first people's network ever. Helium publish messages to MQTT channel when it receives UPLINK data from the collar.NodeJS Backend - which uses IoT Connect SDK to interact with Avnet IoT Connect dashboard. It listens for incoming messages from MQTT.Avnet IoT Connect Dashboard - Visualization of the sensor data and alerts to help park rangers monitor important data most effectively and get notified of any situation such as elephant moving out of park, entering into risk zone or any sign of human presence.Let's take a deeper dive into each components and how they are used.??? Helium NetworkHelium is based on LoRaWan protocol which naturally provides Long Range (LoRa) coverage compared to Wifi or Bluetooth.I was looking for a solution without GSM or WiFi. African elephants live very far in the forrest and changes are there is very poor GSM connection. Moreover the cost of GSM connection is very high when compared with Helium. Each helium hotspots can provide coverage for around 3-5 miles radius in the wild. With powerful antenna and very high altitude we can increase the coverage even further. The cost of data from device to helium network will be paid of by the earning of those hotspots.So only cost would be to install those hotspots and data transfer from hotspot to blockchain. One hotspot can connect to thousands of devices. We can also consider building DIY helium hotspots with cloud backend miner which will further reduce the cost data and processing power on the hotspot itself.Each collar is registered with Helium console and configured with MQTT integration channel.Heltec LoRa module will send data packets to helium console periodically and helium will delegate that message to MQTT channel.?? Avnet IoT Connect PlatformIoT Connect is the only IoT platform available in the market that comes with a powerful device management system and built-in analytics that allows you to connect and manage devices with little to no coding. Its powerful yet easy-to-use interface enables enterprises to create applications faster than laborious coding saving a lot of time and money.IoT Connect provides businesses with the infrastructure required to connect their assets, collect data and analyze it to improve decision-making practices. This is achieved by facilitating device communication and management while adhering to industry-grade security protocols. [ copied from source ]Setting up dashboard in Avnet's IOT Connect platform is super simple but you need to follow few steps before you get there. Let's go though them one by one.Create TemplateTemplate defines the data structure a device sensor and also ability to deploy multiple devices using same template. Head over to Template and click on Create Template button.Create AttributesOnce your template is created, add some attributes, for example latitude and longitude of the elephant collar.Create DeviceOnce you have your template and attributes created, head over to Device tab and click on Create Device button. Type unique Id and display name. Choose the template you just created above. Choose right Entity and click on Save button.Create Custom DashboardLet's create a cool dashboard with some widgets. Head over to Dashboard and click on "New Dashboard". Double click on "Device Location" widget from left pane and edit the configuration on right. Choose your template and attributes.Add some more widgets as necessary to display all the sensor data. I ended up with something like this.Create Some RulesNow let's create some rules to trigger alerts when something unusual happens such as human conflict detected or elephant moves out of geo fencing or enters into risk zones. Head over to Rules tab and start creating rules.One you have all the pieces wired up on dashboard, simulate the sensor data to make sure dashboard works as you expect.?? The NodeJS BackendNodeJS Backend powered by IoT Connect SDKNodeJS backend is playing a role of middle-man here. It listens for incoming messages on MQTT topic, decodes the massage and sends to IoT connect using IoT connect SDK. If this service does not receive any message for a given period of time, it assumes the collar is offline and notifies dashboard. There is a very nice and well explained document on Avent website to get started with SDK. You must have nodejs 8+ installed on your computer or server. If you like to build my backend, clone the repository which is listed under code section. Open the project on Visual Studio Code or your favorite IDE.Before you begin, open backend/config.json file and add values from you Avnet console.{ "cpid": "your_cpid", "uniqueId": "device_id", "env" : "Avnet", "mqtt": "mqtt_topic_from_helium_console" } Then open terminal and cd into backend folder. Then run following commands.npm installnode server.jsIf all goes well, you should see your backend made connection to dashboard and status circle will turn green from red.?? Edge ImpulseUndoubtedly machine learning (ML) has lot of application when thinking about saving wild animals such as activity monitoring, human conflict detection etc. Unlike normal computer programs, the rules of ML programs are not determined by a developer. Instead, ML uses specialized algorithms to learn rules from data, in a process known as training.Traditionally we send sensor data from IoT device to cloud and run inference engine on server. This approach has serval flaws such as high latency, high bandwidth consumption, cost of transferring data from IoT device to cloud etc.Recent advances in microprocessor architecture and algorithm design have made it possible to run sophisticated machine learning workloads on even the smallest of microcontrollers. Embedded machine learning, also known as TinyML, is the field of machine learning when applied to embedded systems such as these.Edge Impulse had made this journey freaking simple. As a developer you can capture data, train them and finally deploy on your IoT device from Edge Impulse website. You don't need any additional hardware. It has official support for few boards include Arduino Nano BLE Sense which means you can connect your Nano directly to Edge Impulse studio, collect data, train data and deploy back to your Nano.The elephant collar uses two EI models1. Activity prediction based on 3-Axis accelerometer data2. Trumpeting or poacher activity based on acoustic sound captured by microphoneFollow this tutorial to connect Nano to EI Studio and then follow this tutorial to build ML model using accelerometer on Nano board.As I can't collect real data from elephants, I simulated elephant walk, rest, run and musth behavior using a toy elephant ??First you need to create a project in EI Studio and connect your Nano.Next you need to collect data while Nano is connected to EI Studio. Head over to data acquisition tab and start collecting data for 4 labels - Musth, Resting, Running & Walk. Collect at least 2 minutes of data for each labels for better prediction.Then add the processing block and learning as below. Follow the tutorial I linked above for step by step guide.Once your model is trained, head over to live classification tab and test your model against live data.Once you are satisfied with the classification result, head over to Deployment tab and select "Arduino" and build the model.This will create the binary with sample Arduino sketches. Follow the instruction on screen to import the library to your Arduino IDE. If you are interested in my code, checkout the code section below.Similarly I have created 2nd ML model capturing acoustic sound by the on-board microcontroller. Follow this tutorial for step by step guide on how to capture sound and build the model.Alright, so I have explained all the component and how they are linked together to make this awesome, smart collar. Now it's time to explore all the features this collar is bringing on the table and how it can solve or reduce major threats to elephants we discussed at the very beginning.?? Features Of The Collar1. GPS TrackingFirst thing first. As we are making collars to track position of each precious elephants in the wild, we need gps tracking and visualize the position on dashboard. I got the basic covered. ??The collar has ublox Neo 6M GPS module to track gps coordinates. For better performance and low power usage we should think about advanced ublox GNSS modules such as M9N.2. Geo Fencing & Risk Zone AlertsAs we are tracking gps location, system will alert park rangers from dashboard immediately when an elephant is moving out of the defined territory or entering into a risky zone such as village. Park rangers can take immediate action to retrieve the elephant and avoid any poaching risk or human-elephant conflict.3. Human Presence Detection and AlertOn collar Heltec Wireless Stick Lite microcontroller has bluetooth module which is used to scan any bluetooth devices near by. Any presence of bluetooth device in the wild will indicate human presence and notify park rangers immediately so that they can take required action on time.4. Elephant Activity Monitoring and Musth BehaviorDetectionUsing 3-Axis accelerometer and edge impulse model deployed on Arduino Nano, collar can predict elephant activities such as walking, resting, running or any aggressive behavior such as musth. All the activities will be easily visualized on the dashboard.If any aggressive behavior is detected, park rangers will be notified immediately so that they can reduce the damage.5. Collar Malfunction AlertsCollar sends remaining battery life which is visualized on the dashboard. System sends alert when battery life goes below a threshold. Backend system also keeps track if receiving incoming messages from the collar. If backend does not receive any message that would indicate device is malfunctioning or offline. Park rangers will be alerted immediately.6. Poaching Risk AlertsAnother fine use of edge impulse model running on Arduino Nano. The model is trained to detect any aggressive or feared acoustics of elephants such as trumpet, rumbling and crowd voices, gun shots etc.7. Wild Fire Detection AlertThis feature definitely calls for extra credit ?? Collar has MQ315 air quality sensor which can detect smoke in the air. Along with smoke and temperature sensor, we can predict is there is any wild fire and alert park rangers immediately.?What's Next?CameraEI is capable of image processing. We may think about including cheap arduino cameras and predict more accurate situation such as poachers spotted or carcasses found. To keep the cost low, we may add cameras to selected elephants not all.Autonomous DroneWe may deploy some autonomous drones which will be triggered when poachers are detected or any carcasses are found. The drones will hover over the impacted area and provide more information about the incident through live video streaming. This would eliminate any false alarms and details insight.

ATMega 328P Based PWM controller CardAs part of my recent ESP-12E I2C Base Board project, I designed an ATMega 328P Based PWM controller card, that can be used as an add-on card with the existing project, or standalone as a custom Arduino Nano compatible development board.What is on the PCB?The PWM controller card contains standard Arduino Nano circuitry running at 16MHz, without the USB to Serial converter, as well as a 3v to 5v level converter on the I2C port ( A4 and A5 ), as well as another 12v to 5v level converter, with a build in resistor-divider circuit, used to drive a 12v blower with 3.3v PWM control circuitry.All analog inputs are broken out to make attaching additional sensors easier.All the other unused GPIO pins are also broken out, either directly to headers on the PCB (D6~,D7,D8,D9~), D11,D12,D12 (ISCP Header) and D3 ( Marked RPM on the Fan Header)Most of these pins are also additionally broken out onto the 2x20p female header at the bottom of the card ( See schematic for more details)The board is designed to be powered from 12v DC (via the VIN pins on the 2x20p header) which is internally regulated down to 5v via an LDO voltage regulator.External 3.3v should also be supplied to the 2x20Pin header to enable the I2C level converters on the same header. I2C is not directly broken out onto the PCB in this version of the PCB.A reset button, and power led, as well as the standard led on D13 is also provided.

To build a streamer, you can use any Raspberry Pi microcomputer. The microcomputer is installed on a 40-pin audio card connector. As a software, use any player or OS image that is recorded on a microSD card for Raspberry Pi. Operating systems automatically detect the ChipDip DAC audio card and configure sound output to it. In some players, you may need to select ChipDip DAC as the audio output device. - Plug and Play- Compatible with all 40-pins Raspberry Pi- Official support for RaspberryPi OS / Volumio3 / rAudio1 / Album Player / OpenELEC / Manjaro OS / MoOde and more.- High quality PCM5242 DAC for the best sound quality.- Audio output connectors: 2 x XLR (left and right)- Built-in EEPROM for automatic OS configuration (with write protection).- Automatic frequency switching according to I2S input signals.- Sample rate and bit depth range from 44.1kHz/16bit to 192kHz/32bit- Compatible with PurePathStudio and ChipStudio for audio processor rebuild

The traditional incandescent bulb is an energy waster and it should be removed off shelves. My new technology is focused on improving the energy utilization of the bulbs and making them more efficient when it comes to energy saving.The technology is based on the FAN7710N integrated circuit, which is a modern IC built by Fairchild. The IC is suitable for compact fluorescent ballast. For more information about the IC check the datasheet which will give a better outlook on how the IC works and its suitable characteristics.Apart from FAN7710 IC, other components that make this project complete are listed below;1n4007 diode 4Electrolytic capacitors polarized; 10u, 50V 1Electrolytic capacitors polarized; 10u, 400V 1Unpolarized electrolytic capacitor 680n, 25V 1Unpolarized electrolytic capacitor 100n, 25V 1Unpolarized electrolytic capacitor 470p, 1000V 1Unpolarized electrolytic capacitor 2n7, 1000V 1UF5400 diode 3Inductor 2mH5 1Resistor 470kResistor 82kFuse 100mAScrewed terminal block connector 01x02 3The Schematic DiscussionThe schematic is designed through KiCAD EDA whereby the components are wired accordingly, they are given symbol designators, loaded with footprints and the electrical design rules check is carried out. It is at the design of the schematic where BOM files are generated too. Before moving to the PCB layout process, you need to generate the netlists which will help you place the schematic on the PCB layout working area. Check The Engineers Hub for the process of schematic design using KiCAD.The PCB routingAt this level, the PCB components are connected with well-designed traces. The traces should be at least 0.254mm and should have a 45 degrees bend. The components must be arranged in order of the schematic which separation of high heat dissipation components from low heat dissipation components. Add vias to your board to increase conductivity. The routing process will end with the addition of copper pores to our layers and also a design rule check to ensure that everything has been done accordingly.Generation of the 3D and Manufacturing filesThe process ends here so that you can proceed to manufacture.You convert the routed board into a 3D design. It is also important for us to generate the manufacturing Gerbers, pick and place, drill files, and any other relevant file that would make the fabrication of the board successful. This can be achieved using the same KiCAD design tool.PCBway KiCAD Plugin for Ordering for ManufacturingSometime back, ordering for manufacturing from the KiCAD design tool to PCBway manufacturers was a difficult and much-involving process. Today the process is just a one-time click courtesy of the introduction of the PCBwayTo install the plugins;Open KiCAD, then go to ' Plugin and Content Manger' as shown below;Click it and scroll down until you come across 'PCBway plug-in for KiCAD as shown below by the curserFinally hit install and the plugin will automatically be installed as shown below.When you click the PCBWay Plug-in button on Kicad, we will export these files to your project：1. Gerber files in the correct format for production2. IPC-Netlist file3. Bom-file that includes all information of components4. Pick and Place-file used in the assembly

MotivationThis project is basically designed and programmed by my daughter, Sashrika with little help from me. She participated in 2021 do-your-bit contest where she prototyped indoor plant harvesting system using Micro:bit. Since then, she was asking me how enhance her project so that she can control certain things in a smarter way.I suggested her to use Wio Terminal for some obvious reasons.1. In-Build Display2. In-Build WiFi3. Rich community support4. Easy integration with BlynkBasically all you need to get started with cloud connected IoT solution. For more information about Wio Terminal, visit thisThough Wio Terminal has 40 pins where you can connect multiple analog and I2C sensors, it's nice to have an expansion board with in-build battery pack. I have used this chassis from Seeed's studio which has four additional digital/analog, one UART Grove connectors.How To Integrate Wio Terminal With BlynkI am not going to document the steps here as there is a superb documentation already available on seeedstudio wiki. Follow the tutorial and you will be all set to build your own Blynk app.Once you create your Blynk app, upload the code ( maalee.ino in code section ) after putting blynk auth code and your wifi credential.Blynk WidgetsWhen you build your Blynk app, you need to add following widgets1. One Gauge with Virtual Pin 1 for temperature2. One Gauge with Virtual Pin 2 for humidity3. One Gauge with Virtual Pin 3 for soil moisture4. One Super Chart with 2 data streams - one for moisture and one for soil moisture5. One Slider with Virtual pin 6 to control moisture threshold6. One Slider with Virtual pin 7 to control darkness threshold7. One Timer, choose your own timer to start and stop LED strip8. One NotificationHardware ConnectionsConnections used in this project can't be easier. I have used all grove sensors which are just plugged into grove sockets. No wiring, no soldering needed except LED strip.#define PIN_PUMP 3 #define PIN_SOIL 2 #define DHTPIN 4 #define PIN_LIGHT 6 #define PIN_RELAY 0 Integrated pump and soil moisture sensor connected to top-right socket ( pin 2 & 3 )DHT11 sensor connected to bottom-right socket ( pin 4 )Relay is connected to top-left socket ( pin 0 )Light sensor is connected to bottom-left socket ( pin 6 )LED strip is connected to the relay via battery charging module.FeaturesReal time display ??Realtime display of room temperature, humidity, ambient light and soil moisture level on Wio Terminal's display. Same data can be viewed from Blynk app from anywhere. No matter how far you are from home.Automatic Watering ??When soil gets dry, system automatically turns the pump on and water the plants. This threshold can be updated from the Blynk app based on your plants need. You don't need to change your code for different plants.Automatic Lightings ??LEDs are on and off based on predefined schedule. You can set the schedule on Blynk app without touching the code. When the schedule is on, system also checks for ambient light. If it's bright, such as very sunny day, system automatically turn the LEDs off to save energy. This light threshold can also be adjusted from the Blynk app.I hope this project will inspire some of you to try out Wio Terminal and start harvesting your own plants ??

GreetingsHere's a tutorial on how to use an HC-SR505 PIR Module with and without a microcontroller to drive XYZ Load when any motion is detected.This Tutorial contains three different types of setups that we can use to prepare a Motion Detection Based Project like an automatic Hallway Light or Motion Detection Security System Etc.Let's get started.Material RequiredFollowing are the materials used in this built-PIR HC-SR505 ModuleAttiny13ATTGO T Display BoardLEDsJumper WiresBC547BreadboardUSB Micro Port Breakout boardHC-SR505HC-SR505 is a PIR Sensor that picks up infrared radiation emitted by the body and then outputs a signal based on the motion of a body.You see, as we move, our body emits more and more infrared radiation that is picked up by this sensor.Following are its electrical parameters and features-Operating Voltage Range: DC4.5-20VStatic current:<60uAOutput level: High 3.3V / Low 0VTrigger: repeatable triggerDelay time: Default 8S + -30% (can be customized range of a few tenths - tens of minutes)PCB Dimensions: 10 * 23mmInduction angle:<100 degree cone angleInduction distance: 3 metersWorking temperature: -20 - +80 degreesSensor Lens Dimensions: Diameter: 10mmAs for its working and implementation in real-life projects, we provide VCC and GND of this module with 5V.We add an LED's VCC Pin on the signal Pin of this module and connect the GND of the LED with the GND of the Module.This will be the first and most basic Setup we can prepare with this module.Just by standing near this sensor, It turns ON the LED, LED will stay ON for 8 seconds and then turn OFF, if we are near the 3M Radius of this module, the LED will turn ON again.As for sourcing the HC-SR505, I got it from PCBWAY's Giftshop.Aside from PCB Services, PCBWAY also has a dedicated components store.PCBWAY GIFTSHOP is an online marketplace from where we can source all the major electronics stuff, like Arduino boards, Raspberry Pi boards, Modules, sensors, etc.PCBWAY have this system that lets us purchase anything from their gift shop through beans, Beans are like a redeemable currency or coupons that we get by placing an order on PCBWAY or by sharing your projects in the community to get beans.Check PCBWAY out for getting great PCB service from here- https://www.pcbway.com/With Microcontroller TTGO T DisplayHere's the second setup that uses a TTGO T Display board to Turn ON and OFF an LED and also display a message when motion is detected on its onboard RGB Display.Preparing TTGO Board for Arduino IDEwe first have to install board files for ESP32 by putting this link in the preferences of the Arduino IDE Settings and then installing the boards through the board manager.https://dl.espressif.com/dl/package_esp32_index.jsonInstalling TFT_eSPI Library and making changes in User SetupWe then move on to the next step which is to install the TFT_eSPI Library that enables us to use the display onboard.Next, we go to C:\Users\ACER\Documents\Arduino\libraries\TFT_eSPI and make changes in the User Setup.h by replacing it with User setup for TTGO T Display.The default one is set for ILI9430 Display and we change it for TTGO T Display by adding // in front of ILI9430 User setup and removing // in front of TTGO T Display.Connections - Wiringnext, we connect everything by following the attached wiring diagram image.VCC of PIR to 5V of TTGOGND to GNDSignal Pin of PIR to D22LED's VCC to D21LED GND to GNDSketch for TTGOHere's the code we use.#define sensor 22 #define LED 21 #include <TFT_eSPI.h> // Graphics and font library for ST7735 driver chip #include <SPI.h> #define TFT_GREY 0x5AEB // New color TFT_eSPI tft = TFT_eSPI(); // Invoke library, pins defined in User_Setup.h void setup() { Serial.begin(9600); pinMode(sensor, INPUT); pinMode(LED, OUTPUT); digitalWrite(sensor, LOW); digitalWrite(LED, LOW); tft.init(); tft.setRotation(1); } void loop() { tft.fillScreen(TFT_GREY); tft.setCursor(4, 10, 2); tft.setTextColor(TFT_BLACK,TFT_GREY); tft.setTextSize(2); if (digitalRead(sensor)) { tft.println("Motion Detected"); digitalWrite(LED, HIGH); } else { tft.setCursor(4, 10, 2); tft.setTextColor(TFT_BLACK,TFT_GREY); tft.setTextSize(2); tft.println("No Movement"); digitalWrite(LED, LOW); } delay(50); } It uses TFT_eSPI Library to display a message on the onboard RGB Display as soon as the board receives the signal from PIR Module, also the board triggers an LED depending on the signal received.WorkingWe supply board 5V through the USB Cable and the setup will start functioning as it should. When we move in front of the module within a radius of 3M, PIR detects the movement and sends a signal to the TTGO Board that displays a message of signal detection and also turns ON the LED connected on D21.Attiny85 Standalone setupHere's another setup that is similar in working with the TTGO Version but uses a single Attiny85 MCU that significantly reduces the number of components.Attiny85 is an AVR MCU that has 8 KB ISP Flash memory, 512B EEPROM, and 512B SRAM which is enough for driving a load with PIR Sensor as its sketch is small in size so it would be an overkill to use an ESP32 Device in this project.Connections - WiringWe connect everything by following the attached wiring diagram image.VCC of PIR to VCC of AttinyGND to GNDSignal Pin of PIR to D0 of AttinyLED's VCC to D1 of AttinyLED GND to GNDUSB Micro Breakout's VCC to VCC of AttinyUSB Micro Breakout's GND to GND of AttinySketch for AttinyHere's the code I used for flashing the attiny85.#define sensor 0 #define LED 1 void setup() { pinMode(sensor, INPUT); pinMode(LED, OUTPUT); digitalWrite(sensor, LOW); digitalWrite(LED, LOW); } void loop() { if (digitalRead(sensor)) { digitalWrite(LED, HIGH); } else { digitalWrite(LED, LOW); } delay(50); } The sensor is connected with the D0 pin and the LED is connected with the D1 Pin.When the Sensor picks any motion, it sends a signal to D0 and MCU triggers D1 Pin that turns ON the LED.ResultHere's the result of the Attiny85 Setup.Pros of using this setup are its size and form factor, it can be easily used in a custom board and it's minimal, we don't need any other components to properly run it which is a plus point of using this small MCU in a lighting-related project that I'm already working on.Without MicrocontrollerHere's the third setup that is similar to the first one, the only difference here is an additional NPN Transistor that drives a load by changing the state of the transistor's base through the PIR Signal Pin.Connection- WiringWe connect an NPN transistor with the PIR setup by connecting a load with it through the collector and connecting its base with the signal pin of the PIR Module.Here, the BC547 Transistor is Setup in the "transistor as switch" configuration that is commonly used to turn ON-OFF XYZ stuff like LEDs, Relays, etc.RESULTHere's the result, the setup is working and the loads are working properly.Similarly, we can add a Mosfet in place of a Transistor to drive bigger loads like a motor or high power led, even relays.ConclusionPIR works with all three setups but the best one would be the attiny85 setup as we can control the ON Timing and even add three more loads as three I/O Pins are vacant.As for the TTGO T Display board, using it was fun because of the display but it's not ideal for implementation in a small lighting-related project because of its big size and overkill for such a low level.A simple setup with NPN Transistor also worked but there was an issue of uncontrollable timing of the load which can be controlled only if we add another OP Amp setup with it that can control the output's duration.By utilizing the Attiny85 and a transistor, I will prepare an automatic hallway light board that will turn ON-OFF and an AC light through a relay.Stay tuned for the next project!DM me or leave a comment if you need any help regarding this project.Thanks PCBWAY for supporting this project, you guys can check them out if you need great PCB Service for less cost.Peace out.

About the Team Amador Valley Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (AmadorUAVs) is a high school robotics club based in Pleasanton, CA. Since 2018, we have been designing an autonomous octocopter drone to compete in the international AUVSI SUAS competition, a collegiate contest where each aircraft must perform a series of tasks including waypoint navigation, obstacle avoidance, computer vision, and payload drop. As one of only 4 high schools among 70 college teams, we recently won second place, beating many prestigious universities including Cornell, Duke, IIT Bombay, and others.(Our team at the competition grounds) The Drone Our main drone, named Boreas, is a large coaxial quadcopter design (2 motors * 4 arms) with a 1.4 meter arm span and a 2 meter propeller tip-to-tip span. It uses a Pixhawk 5X flight controller with PX4 autopilot. It also includes a Jetson Nano to run our image processing and autonomous detection. All of this is sandwiched in between two large carbon fiber plates, holding down the large carbon fiber arms. A smaller top plate holds our 6S 22Ah LiPo batteries, and a wooden plate on the bottom carries additional electronics, our ground vehicle, and our camera/gimbal. To see more about our drone, check out our website at https://www.amadoruavs.com/(Boreas is able to produce over 45kg of thrust and can hover for 45 minutes) Custom Boards Our team heavily utilizes custom PCB designs in order to pack powerful MEMS sensors and microcontrollers into small spaces, and in order to simplify our electronics onboard our vehicles. However, these board designs push against the limit of what we, as a small high school robotics team, are capable of assembling ourselves. Without access to expensive tools, it is very difficult to reliably assemble small pitch QFN components, BGA sensors, and 0402 passives. Rover Driver BoardOne of our tasks is to drop an autonomous ground rover from the drone. It needs to be as small and light as possible to fit on the bottom of the drone. Our new driver board controls the motors, payload winch, and power regulation of the rover. This will significantly reduce the overall weight and size of the rover. It also replaces delicate wires with more robust PCB traces, which will improve reliability.(A KiCAD render of the PCB) AHRS Board Many of our vehicles and devices, including the drone but also our camera gimbal and ground vehicle, require accurate angle and altitude estimation. For this purpose a compact, yet powerful solution is needed; our team has designed a custom, low-cost AHRS (Altitude and Heading Reference System) solution, which keeps our costs down while utilizing the latest MEMS technology. This type of technology is essential for our small form factor devices, such as our custom camera gimbal. Due to the small mobile sensor chips used on this compact board, it is especially difficult to manufacture ourselves. (A KiCAD render of the PCB) Power Monitoring Module Due to the high voltage and current consumption of our drone, it is very difficult to find off the shelf power modules that monitor current consumption (to calculate remaining flight time) and regulate lower voltage for our electronics. We designed a power module that includes a microcontroller and CAN for power monitoring. Microdrone One of our club’s most ambitious projects is to design an open source, small form factor, inexpensive drone for education and experimentation. By utilizing a custom, integrated flight controller to keep weight down and integrate state-of-the-art sensors into a tiny package, we hope to be able to bring low-cost access to high-quality open-source drone technology to our entire community. However, due to the complexity of the board (over 150 components per FC!) and the size of some of the sensors, hand assembly is unfeasible. Antenna Tracker ControllerTo communicate with our drone in flight, we use a Ubiquiti PowerBeam WiFi dish. Since it is a directional antenna, we designed a motorized antenna tracker to point it at the drone. We have created a Raspberry Pi HAT PCB with sensors and motor drivers to control the tracker. The problem we face in most of these designs is that they are just far too small to manufacture by hand. They have a number of small components that make it almost impossible for us to assemble by ourselves. Due to this, a lot of the boards shown are unable to work as they should, and we are left with insufficient products. Receiving support from PCBWay would allow us to further develop these boards as well as more, furthering our project and increasing our performance overall. Thank you for your support!

As someone who struggles to talk to a camera, I decided to make a mini battery-powered teleprompter for vloggers out there that struggle like me. This prompter is controlled by a Raspberry Pi that spins up a Laravel Web Server (accessible at port 8000) so I can upload .txt files to use as scripts. There are three buttons on the handle that allow me to speed up, slow down, and pause the prompter, and the button inputs are handled by a custom PCB that is managed by an Arduino Pro Micro.I ended up stripped the charging circuitry out of a DIY 18650 battery pack, and soldering some short micro USB patch cables to allow myself to recharge the batteries without opening up the prompter. I also added power button so I can easily switch on and off the device.In the end, this project turned out awesome, and I hope I can find some awesome uses for it in the future!YouTube Video: https://youtu.be/SK_FR7XRf3oProject Code: https://github.com/modern-hobbyist/modern-vlogging-teleprompter/blob/master/README.mdProject Write Up: https://www.modhobbyist.com/projects/24