10 input devices | Fab Lab Monterrey

The world of input and output devices is something really fascinating for me, it looks like something magical … but I developed this activity as a beginner because I have not any experience with them.

Exploring all the possibilities of the “hello world”, decided to make something that can be useful for my final project; I’m thinking to do a device to show personal synaesthesia, especially “the colors of the numbers, letters and word”; to show the colors of the letters and the word, I can imagine a device that when you tell a word, how the color of that word;

the input can be a microphone to catch the sound, and the output a light that changes colors.

I made the hello.mic, that works with the small ATtiny45, and that has a microphone.

fab academy_hello.mic.45

this is my board: I had to change a little bit the external shape, because the pins that i have are to small and with the original border, is impossible to connect with the cables.

… but the terminal shows an error

I re-tried, checking the connections and I realized that the connections of the cable was flipped.

I fixed them, but the “error1″ appears anyway.

I though that maybe I did an error welding the board … specially because the amp. is very small … and the microphone looks so fragile … but i seems welded well … anyway I removed the amplifier and welded again; I did the same with the microphone.

Another check …and the same problem.

I tried many and many times (every time removing the two files that was generating in the folder of the code: the .hex and the.out) ; finally I had an idea that looks to simple … maybe was my laptop?

.. I tried in another computer, and making exactly the same thing … and it works !

To use the board, I did the next step with the Arduino ID, and using a code for measuring sound level, from Adafruit:

measuring sound level adafruit

but before to run the code, is very important to select the microprocessor (Attiny45) , check the clock ( in this case I’m using the internal clock)

Test with the board:

I made one of the boards of Daniele Ingrassia to run the codes

Another Fabkit: satshakit by Daniele Ingrassia

Here, is very important to select the port with the FTDI cable!

When I was connecting the ground and the power, I realized that there are just only one of each; I had to made a bifurcation, to connect to the microphone.

* upgraded

First work: to familiarize with sensors

( to translate …)

This week we have some trouble to found components, and the world of sensor is totally new … for this, to familiarize with them and until we receives all the components, in our fab lab we decided to buy various sensors, to explore them and try to understand how they work. For this, the first step of this activity was to do some test with a color sensor; the second step will be to build some of the hello boards and for the future, I hope to be able to make my own drawings.

SENSORS

1 -Sensor de Altura/Presión – MPL3115A2
2 – Acelerómetro de Tres Ejes – MMA8452Q
3 – HTU21D Sensor de Humedad
4 – Receptor IR
5 – Magnetómetro de Tres Ejes – HMC5883L
6 – Giroscopio de Tres Ejes con Salidas Digitales ITG-3200
7 – Telémetro Ultrasónico – Maxbotix LV-EZ1
8 – Sensor de Movimiento PIR
9 – Sensor de Vibración Piezo Grande
10-Interruptor de Láminas (Reed Switch)
11- Imán Cuadrado 0.25″
12 – Resistencia Sensible a la Fuerza de 0.5″
13 – SoftPot
14 – Célula Fotoeléctricia
15 – Detector Óptico/Fototransistor
16 – Sensor Flexible
17 – Sensor de sonido
18 – Sensor de color

For my project , I think that need something related with sound and something with a light that changes colors; I’m thinking about a color sensor (18) and maybe a microphone ( 17); for now I’m using the Arduino Mega 2560 to to start to understand what the sensor can do and work, but I had to make a board; I0m thinking to make a FabKit, but in our fab lab we are waiting for a lot of components that we miss! here in Monterrey is difficult to found all the components, and sometime when we buy form the internet, they stay a lot of time on the customs.

color sensor

I did some test with the sensor adafruit TCS34725 RGB using Arduino tand Processing

http://www.adafruit.com/product/1334

On the page of Adafruit is possible to found all the data for this sensor, like the codes, but also the data an the files to make this sensor.