For a couple of recent projects we have been asked to provide interesting and informative display units. We decided to build a unit which can be used in a number of different applications. It was designed to look good, be able to show graphics and text, have a couple of switch inputs and be configurable for a variety of uses. The end result was so
Click here to download the full size of the above Circuit.
useful, we decided to produce this design and a kit of the main parts. We are using a 32 by 8 LED dot matrix supplied by Sure electronics, based in Hong Kong. They also have an eBay shop. The price ranges from $8 to $16, check eBay first. To keep development time to a minimum, an arduino is used as the `brains` of the unit. This is a development board based upon the ATMEL 328 microprocessor chip. Our units use the less-expensive Xino, an arduino clone from Ciseco. Any Arduino compatible board should fit into this display unit (except the MEGA range). There are numerous open-source examples available for the arduino, hence development time is very short. We have developed a simple clock unit with temperature history display as a sketch to get you going with the use of this display, but the final use is left up to your imagination. A specially designed interface PCB has been produced for this unit. There was some extra space on the interface board, so we decided to add a number of components which might be useful for your project. These include: The hardware is mainly two pieces of frosted acrylic plastic which are cut out using a CNC machine. The Xino and LED display bolt onto the plastic and spacers are used to hold the two pieces of plastic together. The design for the plastic was produced using HeeksCNC, the design file is available here. The output g-code is used on our desktop CNC machine run on an Ubuntu machine using...
This project fits more for custom made battery casing that can have more space to hide things inside. This switch with few alterations can be used for any other project as well but is designed based on e-bike needs! This project use a clever functionality of....
The circuit described here uses ultrasonic oscillations and operates based on the propagation velocity of these oscillations in the air. Thus, we can easily determine the distance of two points if the time within which the wave travels this distance is....
Sometimes the precious metals are hidden too deep and are not detected except with complicated devices. In many cases, however, small pieces of precious metal buried near the surface can be detected by relatively simple means. Everyone is very attractive to....
Many times for various reasons we forget or can not water the plants that we have in our homes. And many humidity sensors units just notify us with a beeping sound or with a flashing light, that the pot needs watering. But what if we are away from home? This....
The principle behind a metal detector is really very simple. Proof of this is the circuit that follows, in which it proves that the construction of a metal detector can be done in the minute, with few components that we find very easily everywhere. With the....
The sub-harmonic bass generator is a sound producing unit for guitars. The sound it produces looks very much like that of the bass guitar. The octave generator is sometimes quite unusual since it does not produce any of the usual ways of coloring the sound,....
In the past the sounding (sea bottom measurement) was done with the "bullet", that is, with a heavy lead object that the seamen plucked into the sea hung from a calibrated rope. As soon as the "bullet" reached the bottom, the depth appeared directly from the....
This Amplifier was designed to have the following specifications: Distortion less than 0.1% at full power of 100W even at 20KHz. Power has to be attributed to an extended bandwidth. The output transistors must be protected against short circuits. The power....
A series of LEDs serve to alert the gardener when plants need water. Using two conventional digital integrated LEDs and a series of LEDs, we make a very useful device for gardening. The device detects the amount of water in the pot and alerts the grower.....
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