Heather, Zach and myself created a one-bit mechanical adder (with a carry function) that runs on marbles. I found the basic design online and we modified it to our purposes. Zach and Heather used cardboard, foamcore and genius to prototype the flip-flop mechanism, then mounted each on a cardboard box, adding ramps and chutes to […]
One-bit Mechanical Marble Computer Read Post »
I’m working on a physical clock that also broadcasts time to the entire ITP floor via XBee ZigBee radio. The time signal can be picked up by any project on the floor that incorporates ZigBee, and used for anything from clock display to inter-project synchronization. The code is being written in PIC Basic Pro. At
This moisture meter was based on a circuit from Forrest Mim’s excellent “Getting Started in Electronics” book. It uses an Ampere meter (not pictured) via a amplifying transistor to display the conductivity of the soil in a planter. And it works! This setup may be the basis for our primary plant sensors for ITPlant.
Samtec will sample small quantities of parts (usually no more than 10 of each. However their web site is confounding. If you want to find a part number, request or download a catalog first. When you are ready to order, use the Samtec Sample Form Put in the Item number and Quantity only. You don’t
Sampling from Samtec Read Post »
May 15, 2007: Apparently the AT commands for the BlueSMiRF radios are a trade secret. BlueRadios requested that they not be posted. So, uh, don’t use them I guess? Here’s the AT command set for BlueSMiRF modules. It’s tremendously handy to know all this stuff when working with the modules. I had high hopes that
BlueSMiRF AT Commands Read Post »
At ITP on Thursday evenings, students teach students in hour-long sessions that we call DriveBys, because a lot of knowledge gets sprayed into the crowd in a short period of time. I just did one on the XBee ZigBee radios, covering the basics of applications, comparisons to other technologies, how to make one, advanced projects
XBee DriveBy Presentation Read Post »
For Project Development Studio I’m working with Kate, Rebecca and Kati on a project to create an interaction network between live plants and people. Here’s our ITPlant notes.
