Embedded Systems

📟 SDR DSP Radio with Raspberry pi and RTLSDR dongle The radio presented above is capable of receiving the entire spectrum, from 500 kHz to 2 megahertz Software-defined radio (SDR) is a radio communication system where components that have been traditionally implemented in hardware (e.g. mixers, filters, amplifiers, modulators/demodulators, detectors, etc.) are instead implemented by means of software on a personal computer or embedded system. The radio presented in the video above is capable of receiving the entire spectrum, from 500 kHz to 2 megahertz. It can decode all digital and analog radio signals. Also contains a tuning knob for easier frequency dialing. More information... #projects #raspberry

🧠 Flashlight: Fast and flexible machine learning in C++ Flashlight is a new open source machine learning (ML) library, written entirely in C++, that was built by FAIR to power groundbreaking research by enabling teams to rapidly and easily modify deep and ML frameworks to better fit their needs. More information... #articles #machine_learning #software #programming #artificial_intelligence #cpp #libraries

📰 Hardened Underwater Modular Robot Snake (HUMRS) Researchers from the Biorobotics Lab in the School of Computer Science’s Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University tested the hardened underwater modular robot snake (HUMRS) last month in the pool, diving the robot through underwater hoops, showing off its precise and smooth swimming, and demonstrating its ease of control. The robot's modular design allows it to adapt to different tasks, whether squeezing through tight spaces under rubble, climbing up a tree or slithering around a corner underwater. For the underwater robot snake, the team used existing watertight modules that allow the robot to operate in bad conditions. They then added new modules containing the turbines and thrusters needed to maneuver the robot underwater. More information... #news #robots

📷 Fingerprint Door Lock and Surveillance Camera with Telegram notification Via Telegram, get apprised of every attempt to lock or unlock the door w/ surveillance footage by 5MP night vision camera or USB webcam I decided to create a Telegram bot to manage my security system on disparate devices easily. In Telegram, it is effortless to create bots with a command list unalike any other messaging application, which are special accounts that do not require an additional phone number to set up. IoT Surveillance System, the Telegram bot I created for this project, allows me to change the camera type option, request surveillance footage, and display the entry log with these commands: ▫️ enable_night_vision ▫️ disable_night_vision ▫️ status_check ▫️ last_access ▫️ entry_log More information... #projects #IoT #raspberry

📰 How Vision Systems Work in Robotics Machine vision systems enable robots to identify objects, whether for lifting or inspecting Robot vision systems are commonly referred to as machine vision. This tool is used in several industrial processes, including material inspection, object recognition, and pattern recognition. Robotic visions systems can include: ▫️ 1D technologies measure the height of an object moving along a conveyor or read barcodes. ▫️ 2D scanners can read 1D barcodes, but they can also read 2D barcodes and read 1D barcodes that are dented or crinkled. These are similar to our everyday camera. They can recognize shapes. ▫️ 3D technology can take distinguish more exact measurements. They can perceive depth as well as shapes. ▫️ Structured light sensors project light onto a part and analyze the dimensions of the parts by reading the light. ▫️ Time-of-flight cameras. These cameras use infrared light to determine depth information. More information... #articles #robots

📟 Rocket Data Logger based on Arduino Pro Mini This guide will show you how to make a model rocket with a data logger payload.The data logger uses an Arduino Pro Mini and a GY-86 IMU (Inertial Measurement Unit - typically used in quad copters) to record altitude, temp, pressure and G-force. The data is stored on an SD card and also broadcast via a Bluetooth module. The live data can be seen on your Android smart phone using an app called Talking Serial Monitor . This helps validate the code is working when the electronics are mounted in the rocket before launch. A small alarm has been built in to help you find the rocket if it gets lost! You can either build your own rocket or use a rocket kit. The data logger weighs 35 grams and will fit rockets with an inside diameter of 30mm or larger. More information... #projects #arduino

📟 ESP32/ESP8266 MicroPython Web Server – Control Outputs Learn how to build a web server to control the ESP32 or ESP8266 outputs using MicroPython framework. As an example we’ll build a web server with ON and OFF buttons to control the on-board LED of the ESP32/ESP8266. We’ll use sockets and the Python socket API. More information... #projects #esp32 #python #IoT

🎚 Allwinner D1 Linux RISC-V SBC Allwinner D1 RISC-V processor is slated for an announcement next week, and a business card-sized SBC, also made by Allwinner, will become available in May 2021. That’s a pretty interesting board for smart displays, IP cameras, smart speakers, and other applications that do not require fast I/Os nor 3D graphics accelerators. Specifications: ▫️ SoC: Allwinner D1 single-core XuanTie C906 64-bit RISC-V processor @ 1.0 GHz with HiFi4 DSP, G2D 2D graphics accelerators ▫️ Memory: 1GB DDR3 memory ▫️ Storage: 256MB SPI NAND flash, MicroSD card slot ▫️ Connectivity: Gigabit Ethernet via RTL8211F PHY ▫️ Power Supply: 5V/2A via one of the two USB-C ports More information... #boards

📋 Soldering Techniques and Tips The few important guidelines to be followed: ▫️ Don’t handle bare wire with dirty hands. Wash the hands cleanly. There should be no grease, no oil. ▫️ We have to use a PCB eraser to remove any film from the tracks. This should be done very carefully otherwise the film will prevent good soldering of the components to PCB. We may check the tracks using a magnifying glass. ▫️ Use an appropriate wattage – 40 for larger wires and terminals, 25 for everything smaller. If you need a torch for electrical work, you need not solder. Patience is required while heating the iron. Never solder with a warm iron. ▫️ It is better to keep a small bottle of alcohol and some q-tips and cotton swabs handy to clean the area afterwards. ▫️ You should never put a curve in a solder joint. The wire is always tinned straight. To solder two pieces of wire together, just place the tinned ends side by side and heat briefly. No additional solder is needed. More information... #articles

🔬 Automated Overhead Camera Assistant This excellent automated overhead camera assistant runs on an Arduino Mega and is operated by typing commands in the serial monitor Have you ever wished you had an extra pair of hands in the workshop to handle the camera, while you were concentrating on your project ? This build tries to help with this, by providing an automated camera assistant, that can automatically move between learned keyframe camera positions, or alternatively continuously pan between them from above your workbench. The Camera Assistant is designed to hang upside down, moving parallel to the workbench. Furthermore in the relaxed position, the heavier lens in naturally balanced downwards, putting little stress on the steppers and bearings. More information... #projects #camera #arduino

📰 Audi Brings Augmented Reality to the Head-Up Display Automotive Head-Up Displays promise to provide helpful augmented reality information in the driver’s field of view Augmented reality is a long-promised capability that is finally coming to life in the Audi Q4 e-tron EV. The possibilities for augmented reality in this application are immense, as such a system would be able to overlay the driver’s view of the real world through the windshield with helpful navigation directions, warning signs, and vehicle data. The Audi system displays turning arrows from the navigation system and starting points and destinations that are visually superimposed in the corresponding place on the real-life outside world as dynamically displayed augmented reality content. Images appear to float in space about ten meters ahead of the driver. This keeps the focus for the information close to that for the real-world scenes. More information... #news #display

🔫 Wi-Fi Drone Disabler with Raspberry Pi Build a Pi-powered drone disabler to understand the security risks of wireless communications Quadcopters capable of transmitting high-quality video are making it possible to affordably record unique perspectives. But these “unmanned aircraft systems,” as the FAA calls them, have posed new challenges in security, safety, and privacy, and many experts caution pilots to consider the implications of increased drone usage. In addition to the concern of constant surveillance, there’s the possibility that businesses (or hackers) can collect location information from mobile devices by using roving drones. As a result, a cottage industry is forming for anti-drone technology. These devices come in a range of sizes, from plane-mounted to handheld tools. I will show you how to build our own rig to execute a particular network-based attack against one type of quadcopter control: Wi-Fi. More information... #projects #raspberry #wifi

📟 MicroPython on ESP32: Sending Data to Google Sheets A simple weather station based on ESP32 and MicroPython which sends data to a Google Sheet. Here is a list of main features: ▫️ Measuring temperature and humidity with DHT22 sensor. ▫️ Sending data to a Google Sheet. ▫️ Supporting Google OAuth 2.0 service to get access to the sheet. ▫️ Configuring the device via web browser. The Google Sheet doesn't need to be publicly available on the Internet. The device doesn't require any middleman such as PushingBox or IFTTT. More information... #projects #esp32 #python #IoT

📄 Exploring Cooling Technologies for Electronic Systems Increasingly, today’s electronic equipment and devices integrate additional functionalities, but this inadvertently results in greater heat flux. We explore the various techniques used to adequately handle heat flux to ensure that electronic systems operate with efficiency. Ohmic heating (caused by bridging) may damage a device’s various delicate electronic parts, and may cause voids or even explosions. However, with optimised thermal management through cooling, these issues can be avoided. More information... #articles #electronics

💻 5 Tools Embedded Developers Should Use Daily The tools that we use as developers can make a dramatic difference in the speed, quality, and overall cost of the software we develop. Here are five tools that I’ve found to be very helpful. ▫️ Saleae Logic Analyzer: It can even perform an analog sampling on the signal which helps ensure the analog signal as well as the digital logic look as they should. ▫️ Percepio Tracealyzer: A tracing tool allows developers to see the transitions into and out of tasks, monitor stack and heap usage, monitor state machines along dozens of other activities that are occurring in software every millisecond. ▫️ Understand: Understand, developed by Scitools, provides developers with a great environment to analyze and understand their software. The tool provides capabilities to perform cyclomatic complexities, perform software metric analysis and static analysis, among other things. More information... #articles #design

📟 E-Ink Tide and Weather Tracker This project uses a Raspberry Pi for the brains and an E-Ink display for the information The weather is pulled directly from OpenWeatherMap.org based on coordinates of the town/city. Using the free One Call API we get get current, forecast and historical weather data all in a single json file. This is the information that will be printed to the screen and used to determine the weather icons used. Tide Data: Local NOAA station using noaa_coops python package which is an awesome tool that allows you to pull requested data through their easy API. First you have to identify the closest local station that collects the data we're after and get the station ID number. The information that is displayed is actually a single image file that is pushed to the screen meaning that a new image is created every time the program updates (currently set to 10 minute intervals). More information... #projects #display #IoT

💻 3D Printing Process Creates Objects Made of Both Liquid and Solid Materials Typical plastic 3D printing processes turn liquids into solids. Now researchers have invented a way to integrate materials directly into the process to fabricate an object with both solid and liquid elements. The method, invented by chemists at Martin Luther University (MLU), in Germany, paves the way for applications such as the incorporation of active medical agents in pharmaceutical products or the integration of luminous liquids in materials to provide damage monitoring, researchers said. In addition to the examples they demonstrated, the team envisions other uses for the process. One could be to print battery parts, which tend to use combinations of both liquid and solid materials that are typically produced separately. More information... #articles #3d_modeling