Arduino + Bluetooth + Android

Here is a quick tutorial on getting two-way Bluetooth communication up and running on Arduino and and Android smartphone using the SeeedStudio Bluetooth shield. I am also using an Android app called Bluetooth SPP to handle the serial communication from an Android phone to the Arduino.  Rudimentary, but for testing purposes is a great tool….

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S.T.E.A.M. Power Podcast: Episode 1 – The Pilot

The Pilot:  S.T.E.A.M. Podcast #1.Highlights from this week’s science, engineering, and technology news:  White House OSTP announces National Day of Civic Hacking  Intel to stop manufacturing desktop motherboards  Software Defined Radio Challenge  Nintendo Miiverse smartphone app: A harbringer of things to come?  For more tech news follow along on Twitter @mbparks.  Or listen on iTunes.Music by Halloween,…

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Arduino Esplora Video Game

Arduino Esplora I have been tinkering with the Arduino Esplora.  The Esplora is quite a bit different, in terms of physical layout than your normal Arduino microcontroller.  It resembles a rather standard video game controller in it’s layout.  Also, there are a number of onboard sensors already onboard the circuit board and are multiplexed to…

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The Engineering Code of Ethics

PreambleEngineering is an important and learned profession. As members of this profession, engineers are expected to exhibit the highest standards of honesty and integrity. Engineering has a direct and vital impact on the quality of life for all people. Accordingly, the services provided by engineers require honesty, impartiality, fairness, and equity, and must be dedicated…

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Using a Bus Pirate as Logic Analyzer

Dangerous Prototypes Bus Pirate Using an forked version of the Open Logic Sniffer (available here) you can setup a Bus Pirate to act a digital logic analyzer.  Not a substitute for a dedicated logic analyzer, but can do the trick if necessary.  Amazingly enough the client runs on Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, and Solaris. There…

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Raspberry Pi and the Adafruit I2C Library

In the last post we looked at testing new I2C devices using the Bus Pirate when prototyping a new design.  In this post we look at making a more permanent implementation by interfacing the MCP4725 Digital-to-Analog Converter to the Raspberry Pi.  Just as last time, we will be driving an LED.  Some notes about our…

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Route 66 – Version 2.0

“That the passing of our friend the horse is only a question of time […] however much the breeders of the [horse] may strive to arrest the progresses of public opinion in the adoption of this view […] and there is little room to doubt that they will ere long have to accept the inevitable,…

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New Software, Old Energy

“Nothing endures but change.” ~ Heraclitus Change is hard.  But it is also inevitable.  Death is nature’s change agent.  And just as people die, so do paradigms and businesses.  And though it is hard on those who must live through the change, the end result for future generations is a world better off than what existed…

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