New Product Post
I hope that everyone had a chance to enter our monthly giveaway last week. We received quite a lot of emails regarding our Grove – Encoder and our Grove – Circular LED and the fun circular LED effect that they create together.
Now, five applicants are qualified to get our giveaway product for free. Congratulations!
They are :
Riyadh <riy******[email protected]>
Adeptus<ph******[email protected]>
Jose<jo******[email protected]>
Joshua<jos******[email protected]>
Alex <al******[email protected]>
This time, we won’t give a description of the 5 applicants’ projects here. Let’s be patient and wait for their reviews. Ready for the surprise!
In case you are unfamiliar with these products, the Grove – Encoder is an incremental encoder that translates rotation into an electronic pulse. While the Grove – Circular LED, consists of 24 separately controllable LEDs laid out on a circular board with a 1” x 1” cut-out in the center. Simply place the Grove – Encoder in the center of the Grove – Circular LED to create a cool, visual selection panel or use your imagination to create something unique.
Ever wanted to express your geek chic style with jewelry? Or share your love electronics with a loved one? The new iNecklace from Adafruit is just the ticket. It consists of an aluminum pendant with a power button symbol that is illuminated by a pulsating LED. It hangs on a diamond-cut, 16-inch, sterling silver curb chain, and it comes in a classy, black velveteen box. Moreover, it is a true open source product, as the circuit board can be reprogrammed to create a new pattern for the LED. You can find the source code, circuit board files, schematics, and CAD files on GitHub. Guys, if you’re feeling a little left out, we also have the iCufflinks, a sophisticated accessory to accent your dress shirts.
Next up is the Triggertrap Shield, an open source Arduino shield that when paired with an Arduino board, an SLR camera, and the corresponding camera dongle acts as a universal camera trigger to help you create breath taking pictures. Want to capture the different stages of what happens to an ice cube when it’s left on the counter? Use the time-lapse function. Want to take a photo of lightning the exact moment it strikes? Use the ambient light sensor. There is also a laser sensor, sound sensor, and a built-in RCA auxiliary port in case you want to create your own electrical signal to trigger a photo, such as your door bell or anything else that strikes your fancy.
The Triggertrap Shield is also a great DIY project because it comes unassembled. The Triggertrap folks have created a great step-by-step assembly guide and a corresponding timelapse video to ensure that your shield is assembled correctly. While soldering the parts onto the board, you may want to use our Iron Cleaner. It is a helpful too because it allows you to clean the soldering iron and still maintain a constant temperature.
Water sensors are great for projects when you need to detect the rate of flow. They calculate the flow rate by measuring speed changes with the internal hall-effect sensor. They come in many different sizes, including the G1/8 Water Flow Sensor and the G1/4 Water Flow Sensor, which are perfect for use in water dispensers or coffee machines.
Ready to geek out? The new Netduino Plus 2 is now available at Seeed. Netduino is an open source electronics platform using the .NET Micro framework, featuring a 32-bit controller and a rich development environment. It is great for writing firmware or debugging native and/or managed code. It is also pin compatible with many Arduino shields, although some shields may require third-party drivers. There is a vast difference between this microcontroller and the first edition Netduino Plus. It has four times the speed (168 MHz), six times the code space (384 KB), and twice the available RAM (100+ KB). It also has many new features, such as four serial ports, six PWM channels, and a 12-bit ADC. Don’t worry the Netduino Plus 2 still retains many of the benefits that made the Netduino popular, such as expandability and third party accessories that offer pre-built functionality, like servo control, battery power, and GPS location.
This week for the robot enthusiasts, we have the USB2AX, a small USB interface with optimized latency that allows you to easily control Dynamixel servos, like the AX-12, directly from your computer or embedded Linux device, such as the Raspberry Pi. Both the hardware and software are open source, so you can program or hack it yourself. It is compatible with all of the AX servos and the “T” versions of the MX servos, and it works with Linux, Windows, and MAC OS. Just connect the servos via a 3-pin Dynamixel connector to the USB2AX. Documentation and CAD files can be obtained at usb2ax.com while drivers for Windows can be found at usb2ax.inf.
Until next time, keep on making.
(written by Erin Linke)
About Author
