Retro/Robot/Software/Hardware Things.
My current Arduino project is a self-balancing robot, which requires repeatedly reading angle and acceleration values from an MPU-6050 gyro.
These values can be quite ‘noisy’ – fluctuating considerably when vibration is added into the system – so I found myself in need of some simple code that helps smooth out the values…
Continue reading “Arduino Code – Complementary Filter”Needing to write output to the Arduino IDE’s ‘Serial Monitor’ is something you might find yourself doing a lot. It’s one of the easiest ways of giving feedback on variables, and is invaluable when it comes to debugging.
To output content you can use code like this:
Serial.println("Hello world");
All good so far. How about if you want to output a variable? That’s slightly more work…
Continue reading “Arduino Code – Logging”I have been coding for the Arduino for a while now, and over time I have written a small collection of routines that can be reused in different projects.
I will share some of this code in future posts, but I thought it would be useful to show how you can add code to your project without ‘bloating’ the main source file too much. Continue reading “Arduino Code – Header Files”
For anyone planning on making their own ‘Useless Box’, you might find my Arduino Sketch(/code) useful as a starting point. The version I’m using here is not my final version, which adds more ‘character’ at the expense of code readability.
You’ll have to tweak the fingerMin/fingerMax and lidMin/lidMax values to suit your own designs, but hopefully that should be quite straight forward.
If you find the code useful, or develop or further, please let me know! It would be great to see others getting some benefit from it!
Another evening of ‘I Made A Thing’-ing, and I’m happy with the results.
I’ve used a ‘ProtoShield‘ to help tidy up the wiring. I’d recommend anyone to check them out, especially if your soldering skills are a bit rusty.
These slot straight onto the top of your Arduino, but can easily be removed if you need the Arduino later on for other projects – Without you needing to remove all your wires! Very handy.
I’ve popped the lid back on to the top of the box and used my breakout board as a ‘go between’ from the servos and Arduino. It all looks a bit messy at the moment, but this is only temporary.
I’ve been looking for a better ‘finger’ for my useless box. A Halloween-style finger would be great, but trying to find one of a suitable size was proving ‘tricky’.
So, after raiding my kids’ toy boxes I found the perfect thing – A Nerf dart! It’s small and light, and fits over my Lego finger ‘skeleton’ easily.
Bosh.
So I’ve got a rudimentary ‘box’ built, and I know how to control the servos with an Arduino.
I figured the next step is to work on the ‘finger’. The design evolved through trial and error, with a goal to Keep Things Simple. There’s some cool and very clever implementations a Google search away, but I worked my own design out using Brains.
The photo here shows my initial design – A basic ‘C’ shape constructed (again) from Lego. The 90 degree joints are fairly strong, but I suspect in the long term I’ll be reinforcing them somehow. Superglue is always an option…
When it came to the box I was in two minds – Either I make it in wood, or Lego. (Give me a few months and ‘plastic’ would be an option – But I’m waiting until I buy a 3D printer…)
Wood has a certain charm, but Lego is much easier to work with and adds a nice ‘retro’ feel.
The design is simple, as you can see…
For now I’m leaving a hole in one side, allowing easy access without having to go through the top. I don’t know how tall the walls need to be (I’ve got to fit a couple of servos, a ‘finger’, and an Arduino in there yet!), so it’s all a bit ‘prototype’.
Good enough for now though!
