LeafCAN v2 Firmware in Alpha Test
I have been working on v2 of the LeafCAN firmware, which adds a whole slew of new screens, selectable via a rotary encoder. The rotary encoder is connected to the AD0/1/2 pins on the expansion header of the LeafCAN V2 hardware. The code is currently in alpha testing, and is available in the development branch [...]
UCTronics 3.2″ TFT LCD Arduino Shield with Touchscreen
I’ve been looking for a way to add a touchscreen UI to my projects. To this end, I purchased a UCTronics 3.2″ TFT LCD Arduino Shield. Most of the cheap TFT touchscreens that I found need about 38 pins, and therefore, need to interface with an Arduino Mega. What makes this UCTronics shield unique is that [...]
Build a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) Controlled RGB LED
I have been wanting to play with my RedBearLab BLE Shield for some time, but have been too busy. This weekend, I finally was able to allocate some time to experiment with it. I decided to do something relatively easy as my first project, so as to familiarize myself with the Bluetooth API’s on both [...]
LiquidTWI2 v1.1.0 Released
For the Adafruit RGB LCD Shield (MCP23017), I changed the GPIO writing from 16-bit to 8-bits. This increased the library size by 14 bytes, but it’s well worth it, because writing a 47-character string has sped up from 99ms to 76ms on my Arduino Duemilanove – that’s about a 25% increase! This is vs Adafruit’s [...]
LiquidTWI2 – A Lean, High Performance I2C LCD Library for Arduino
I have released LiquidTWI2, a lean, high speed I2C LCD Library for Arduino. This library is an extension of the great work done by FalconFour on his LiquidTWI library. Notable additions to LiquidTWI: support for Arduino 1.0+ support for Adafruit RGB LED Shield (MCP23017-based) LiquidTWI2 also supports the Adafruit I2c Backpack (MCP23008-based) in I2C mode. [...]
AT90CAN Support for Arduino 1.0+
I have adapted the Arduino AT90CANxx support to work with Arduino 1.0+. Also, I have moved the code to github, so that it will be easier to update. Note that the Arduino 1.0+ support is currently only alpha quality. I have compiled a few sketches, but I also have found some which currently can’t compile. [...]
RedBearLab BLE Shield – First Look
SeeedStudio was kind enough to send me a BLE Shield. Designed by RedBearLab and sold by SeeedStudio, the BLE Shield is a convenient way to experiment with Bluetooth Low Energy on an Arduino. Bluetooth Low Energy is a feature of the Bluetooth 4.0 specification, which is aimed primarily at low-power, low-latency wireless applications. Here is [...]
Avoid NCH Software Like the Plague!
I recently made the mistake of installing TwelveKeys by NCH Software on my computer. Afterwards, I noticed strange new items the context menus that pop up when you right click a file in Window Explorer. For instance, when I right clicked on a ZIP file, there was a new item, Extract with Express Zip. Since [...]
OpenSprinkler – An Open-source Internet-connected Sprinkler Controller with Web Interface
My house has a crazy amount of sprinklers. In the front yard alone, there are 14 channels, which have been controlled by two very old Irri-Trol DewBee 7-channel units. I’m sure that they were fancy high-end stuff when they were purchased, but they look like they’re over 20 years old. Not only were they a [...]
How to use a WiFi Dongle with Raspberry Pi
My house isn’t wired for Ethernet, so I needed to get my Raspberry Pi networked via WiFi. USB WiFi dongles are cheap, and can easily be found for less than $10. I just happened to have an Airlink101 AWLL6075 laying around. By coincidence, it uses the RTL8191SU chipset, and the official Raspbian distribution is preloaded [...]