Schlagwort: MKR Zero

  • How makers can use AR and VR

    How makers can use AR and VR

    Reading Time: 4 minutes

    Augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) are both currently experiencing a meteoric rise in popularity, with the combined market expected to reach $77 billion by 2025, from just $15.3 billion in 2020.

    For makers, AR and VR represent exciting opportunities to build new types of projects, tapping into entirely new possibilities and learning skills that will only become more valuable as time goes on. 

    We’ll explore the significance of AR and VR for makers and look at some of the ways in which makers can integrate these technologies into their projects, rounding off with some real-world examples. 

    AR and VR — what’s the difference?

    AR and VR are similar technologies, but they’re crucially different. Let’s take a quick look at what sets them apart.

    • Augmented reality involves overlaying digital elements onto the physical world, allowing us to observe and even interact with these virtual objects in the context of our actual environments.
    • Virtual veality is much more immersive — typically you will put on a headset and enter a completely virtual world, totally different from your actual physical environment.

    How can makers use AR and VR in their projects?

    Let’s take a look at some of the specific ways makers can leverage AR and VR to improve their projects, along with some examples from Arduino users.

    Gaming and fun

    AR and VR are both making a massive impact in the world of gaming, allowing for far more immersive, novel, and fun experiences. This represents a great opportunity for makers to play around with an entirely new trend, playing a small role in shaping this next chapter of video gaming.

    Probably the best example of this is Pokémon GO — where players track down Pokémon in real-world locations. But this is just the beginning. Ryan Chan decided to design a way for Minecraft — the best-selling video game of all time — to start using AR.

    Thanks to Chan’s work, Minecraft players can now control their in-game movements via their real-life actions. For example, taking physical steps forward will translate into in-game movement. Ryan’s project uses an Arduino MKR Zero board, a MPU-6050 IMU (inertial measurement unit), and two force-sensitive resistors.

    It’s an awesome approach to bringing a fresh set of features to an already established and popular game, and could mark a new generation of smart individual gamers making adjustments to their favorite games.

    Training safety, and education

    Developing new skills is essential if you want to keep making progress as a maker, but it can be tricky. After all, making is a highly technical and complex activity with no real rules.

    The good news is that AR and VR can be massively helpful here. AR can help make learning more interactive, intuitive, and visual by overlaying instructions and visual augmentations onto real-world objects. VR, meanwhile, can help by constructing immersive virtual environments where makers can practice technical tasks in a risk-free setting.

    Let’s check out an example. Kids typically don’t take fire drills too seriously, which means they miss out on important information. This is where AR can come in. This project from a team of engineers at Sejong University created an augmented reality fire drill system based on video games to make fire safety training more realistic and effective.

    By combining virtual reality, AR, and the real world, you can conduct fire drills that simulate smoke-filled rooms and other realistic elements, mimicking the actual experience of a fire much more than standard drills.

    On top of that, the team also made a fire extinguisher that works with the VR system but also looks and feels like the real thing. It connects to an Arduino UNO WiFi Rev2 and can give users the realistic sensation of operating a real extinguisher to put out flames.

    Data visualization and analytics

    It’s important for makers to be able to gain and analyze data related to their projects. This might be a central part of the project’s function — like with a wearable health monitor or a thermostat — or it may just be a way to learn more about your creation to make improvements.

    AR and VR can massively improve your ability to interact with and understand data. By representing data in an entirely new, much more immersive, and more visual way, these technologies can allow you to spot new insights, make connections, and learn more about your projects.

    Mars Kapadia chose to build his own set of smart glasses for a school science fair, using a transparent OLED display paired with Retro Watch software running on an Android phone and powered by an Arduino Nano Every and an HC-05 Bluetooth® module.

    Mars’ glasses also come with darkened lenses to keep the glare of the sun at bay when outdoors, which can also be lifted up when in darker environments.

    Get started today

    With Arduino, you can start bringing AR and VR into your own projects, expanding your horizons and opening up fascinating new possibilities to use this tech as it continues to grow.

    In our Project Hub, you can browse other people’s projects according to category, including AR and VR, and share your own work, too. 

    The post How makers can use AR and VR appeared first on Arduino Blog.

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  • Bipedal robot walks with a single motor

    Bipedal robot walks with a single motor

    Reading Time: 2 minutes

    A popular goal among roboticists is animal-like locomotion. Animals move with a fluidity and grace that is very hard to replicate artificially. That goal has led to extremely complex robots that require a multitude of motors and sensors, along with heavy processing, to walk. But even those don’t quite match biological movement. Taking a new approach, engineers from Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign created a simple bipedal robot named “Mugatu” that walks using a single actuator.

    This approach is counter-intuitive, but quite sensible when we actually look at the gaits of real animals. Bipedal animals, such as humans, don’t need to engage many muscles when walking on flat surfaces. We achieve that efficiency with balance and body geometry evolved for this purpose. In a sense, a walking human is always falling forward slightly and redirecting their inertia to take a step. This robot walks in a similar manner and only needs a motor to move one leg forward relative to the other.

    The team built Mugatu using 3D-printed legs connected by a servo “hip” joint. An Arduino MKR Zero board controls that motor, moving it with the precise timing necessary to achieve the “continuous falling” gait. This prototype doesn’t utilize it yet, but there is also an IMU in the left leg that could provide useful feedback data in the future. For now, the robot relies on pre-programmed movements.

    While the prototype Mugatu has little utility, the research could prove to be indispensable for developing more natural gaits with fewer actuators.

    Image credit: J. Kyle et al.

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  • Celebrate good grades with this Arduino-powered robot

    Celebrate good grades with this Arduino-powered robot

    Reading Time: 2 minutes

    For some students, getting decent grades or even finding the motivation to attempt to do schoolwork is a challenge, and this is often met with incentives such as money, praise, or simply avoiding embarrassment. Adam Soileau of element14 Presents had the idea to build a robot, which is an incentive unto itself by playing music, launching confetti, and waving one of those inflatable car dealership arm-waving tube things when grades cross a predetermined threshold.

    The first challenge Soileau was met with involved determining the best way to launch confetti. Due to the prevalence of party poppers, or mini confetti cannons, he chose to use a high-torque servo motor that could pull the string back. The audio portion of the project relies on reading music data from an SD card, outputting it via a digital-to-analog converter (DAC), and then amplifying the sound using an LM386 op-amp for the speaker. Finally, the wacky waving inflatable tube-man is placed onto the fan in order to inflate it, while waving is done by toggling the fan on or off quickly with a MOSFET. An Arduino MKR Zero was employed to control each component due to its DAC and SD card capabilities.

    Perhaps the most important aspect, retrieving grade data was done by harnessing Canvas’s web API through which assignment, quiz, and test grades can be programmatically accessed. Once collected, this data was then processed and stored in a CSV file so new grades could be compared to older ones. After an ‘A’ has been spotted, the system activates and rewards the student with the aforementioned confetti, music, and dancing. Detailed information about this project can be found here and seen in Soileau’s video below.

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZhZgp4e6d0?feature=oembed&w=500&h=281]

    The post Celebrate good grades with this Arduino-powered robot appeared first on Arduino Blog.

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  • This project facilitates augmented reality Minecraft gaming

    This project facilitates augmented reality Minecraft gaming

    Reading Time: 2 minutes

    Augmented reality (AR) is distinct from virtual reality (VR) in that it brings the real world into virtual gameplay. The most famous example of AR is Pokémon Go, which lets players find the pocket monsters throughout their own physical region. Minecraft is the best-selling video game of all time, but lacks any official AR gameplay. So Ryan Chan tackled the problem himself and built a system that translates real world movement into control of a player’s Minecraft avatar.

    We’ll just assume that you know how Minecraft works, because you have probably played it yourself. Chan’s project works with the standard game and doesn’t require any special mods — Chan could even use this to play on others’ Minecraft servers if he chose. The system counts footsteps and converts them into forward movement in-game. It also detects real life rotational movement and replicates that movement in the game. But other actions, like attacking or swapping items, require conventional button presses.

    The key components of this project are an Arduino MKR Zero board, a MPU-6050 IMU (inertial measurement unit), and two force sensitive resistors. The IMU detects rotational movement, while the force sensitive resistors detect footsteps when worn on the player’s shoes. Four mechanical key switches trigger the other actions. Chan configured the Arduino to appear as a standard USB HID keyboard and mouse when plugged into a computer, so Minecraft accepts the control commands without issue. To tidy everything up, Chan designed a custom PCB that hosts the aforementioned components.

    Using this system for Minecraft gaming is tricky, as it requires plenty of real world open space to navigate the virtual world. But with access to a large park, it lets the player enjoy an AR Minecraft experience.

    The post This project facilitates augmented reality Minecraft gaming appeared first on Arduino Blog.

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  • The Baldcorder is James Lewis’ tricorder-like device for measuring light levels and temperature

    The Baldcorder is James Lewis’ tricorder-like device for measuring light levels and temperature

    Reading Time: 2 minutes

    The Baldcorder is James Lewis’ tricorder-like device for measuring light levels and temperature

    Arduino Team — July 11th, 2021

    As part of element14’s Build Inside the Box Challenge, James Lewis (AKA Bald Engineer) decided to make his own DIY tricoder from Star Trek. In the series, a tricoder is a ubiquitous scanning tool that can perform various scans of the environment through its onboard sensors, as well as record and analyze them later — all in a handheld format. Lewis’ design incorporates a MKR Zero as the microcontroller, a phototransistor to detect light levels, and an analog temperature sensor to sense ambient temperatures. 

    The enclosure itself was based on a tricorder toy and recreated in Fusion 360. It features a hinge mechanism for easy opening and closing, as well as handling the wiring harness that connects both halves of the device. Once it was 3D-printed, Lewis moved onto the electronics.

    A VL53L0X time of flight sensor was used to detect if the hinge was open, and thus if the OLED information screens should be turned on. Lewis utilized the SAM D21’s onboard capacitive touch controller to add four buttons onto his device for simple inputs. Finally, the DIY tricorder can play looped WAV files via its onboard SD card and DAC, along with an external op-amp and speaker circuit. 

    To read more about how the Bald Engineer created this fun project and view its associated schematics, code, and design files, be sure to check out its write-up here on element14’s website. You can also see the build log and demonstration below! 

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ri2RpTgju-Y?feature=oembed&w=500&h=281]

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  • This MKR Zero system gives early warning of potential sump pump problems

    This MKR Zero system gives early warning of potential sump pump problems

    Reading Time: 2 minutes

    Arduino Team — June 29th, 2021

    As most homeowners with a basement will tell you, keeping track of the sump pump is an important part of maintenance, as neglecting it can lead to the basement turning into a swimming pool. This is the exact predicament that a recent element14 Build Inside the Box winner, Mike Moore, ran into with his house because freezing pipes and an unreliable pump often became problematic. He went with multiple approaches to solve this, including water level detection, temperature monitoring, and even checking if the pump has ceased working. 

    The first component used was a TCST1103 photo interrupter, and its job is to send a signal if a bobbing piece of plastic gets between its emitter and receiver, which would indicate the water level has risen too high. For more granular and continuous measurements, Moore also implemented a VL53L0X time-of-flight sensor that sends a laser beam towards the water and waits for a reflection. Because water can distort this reading, a couple of readings get taken and then averaged together. Temperatures are read by a simple MCP9701 IC that was placed inside of a plastic tube and stuck to the side of the pit. Finally, detecting if the pump is running is handled by an MCP604 IC. 

    All these sensors are controlled with an Arduino MKR Zero that can sound an alarm if something’s wrong, and power is provided via a portable high-capacity battery bank. In the future, Moore plans to add SD card logging so he can view long-term trends in the data readings.

    To see more about his project, you can view the element14 Presents video below and check out Moore’s write-up here.

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-mAIYFYO7k?feature=oembed&w=500&h=281]

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  • Turn your bicycle into a Pokebike with DJ Harrigan’s MKR Zero device

    Turn your bicycle into a Pokebike with DJ Harrigan’s MKR Zero device

    Reading Time: 2 minutes

    Turn your bicycle into a Pokebike with DJ Harrigan’s MKR Zero device

    Arduino Team — June 16th, 2021

    Within the Pokemon series there exists a special bicycle that plays a little tune when ridden, and this is what element14 Presents’ DJ Harrigan was trying to recreate with his DIY Pokebike project. It has a simple purpose: play a song and increase its volume while accelerating and then decrease the volume and eventually stop playing it once the bike comes to a halt.

    The circuit uses an Arduino MKR Zero to handle all of the inputs and outputs, and with an onboard microSD card slot and the ability to output digital I2S audio, playing music is easy. Speed is determined by a Hall effect sensor and magnet pair that sends a pulse whenever the wheel has made a rotation. By tracking how many rotations have been made in a second and seeing the changes between these values, acceleration can be derived.

    Harrigan then designed and 3D-printed a simple enclosure that houses all of the circuitry, including a battery pack. The front is shaped like a Pokeball, and it has an illuminated push button that allows for the user to interact with it. Finally, there’s a small speaker at the back connected to an I2S amplifier that takes signals from the MKR Zero and converts them into sound. 

    With everything assembled and programmed, Harrigan had to make a slight modification as the wires coming from the hall effect sensor were unsightly, so he just made the pushbutton on the front toggle the sound on or off manually. Even though some adjustments were made, the project still turned out well, and you can read more about it on element14.

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VT_w-rydEI?feature=oembed&w=500&h=281]

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  • This disguised campsite security system lets you know ‘hoos’ there

    This disguised campsite security system lets you know ‘hoos’ there

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    This disguised campsite security system lets you know ‘hoos’ there

    Arduino Team — June 10th, 2021

    Motion sensors for home security stick out like a sore thumb, as their shiny white exteriors can be easily seen from a distance. This is made worse when camping, as small, discrete security devices that blend into their surroundings are even harder to come by. This is what inspired Sean Miller to create his own that uses automotive bumper sensors to detect intruders and play loud noises when necessary. Better yet, the circuitry for this project was stuffed inside of an owl decoy, making it the perfect unassuming campsite guardian. 

    At the heart of this disguised intruder detection system is an Arduino MKR Zero, which handles both the incoming distance readings from the sensors and playing various sounds from an onboard SD card. Miller had to perform a few hacks to get the automotive sensors working, as they use different custom protocols that can vary between manufacturers. After figuring it out, he then wired up the sensors to the MKR Zero and connected a small speaker to a custom amplifier circuit.  With the electronics completed, he produced some code that checks the distances between the owl and any obstacles, with an alert being produced if an intruder is detected nearby. 

    You can read more about how Miller built this intruder-detecting owl here on Instructables, as well as see how he added an optional ESP8266 for sending alerts to his phone. 

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  • The Nespresso Shield logs your coffee consumption using a MKR Zero

    The Nespresso Shield logs your coffee consumption using a MKR Zero

    Reading Time: < 1 minute

    Arduino Team — April 26th, 2021

    How much coffee do you consume in a day? No idea? Then the Nespresso Shield by Steadman Thompson may be just what you need!

    The device employs an Arduino MKR Zero, and a microphone unit to sense when a Nespresso machine gets louder than a certain threshold. When this level is met, it knows that a drink is being prepared and records this on the board’s built-in SD card reader. Info is coordinated with RTC values, allowing the card to be pulled in order to produce nice graphs in Excel or LibreCalc.

    It also keeps track of water levels, based on how many cups have been poured, with a reset button and LED as the user interface. The unit simply sits on top of the machine, so there’s no modification needed whatsoever. 

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  • A MKR ZERO-based volume controller for your PC

    A MKR ZERO-based volume controller for your PC

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    A MKR ZERO-based volume controller for your PC

    Arduino Team — September 18th, 2020

    While some keyboards provide media keys or even knobs to adjust your overall computer sound up and down, often what you really want is the ability to tune program volumes separately. To make this extremely easy, SNR Tech Bytes has come up with a beautifully-designed controller, which runs on the MKR ZERO.

    The device features five encoders to individually tune the master volume, Discord, Chrome, gaming, and Spotify, with the help of software on the PC itself. Encoder button mutes each channel as needed, using NeoPixels below to indicate each status.

    The build is based on the deej volume mixer, and more specifics on this version are available on GitHub.

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkEw7x2GMIA?feature=oembed&w=500&h=281]

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  • Recreating Rosie the Robot with a MKR ZERO

    Recreating Rosie the Robot with a MKR ZERO

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    Recreating Rosie the Robot with a MKR ZERO

    Arduino Team — August 3rd, 2020

    While 2020 may seem like a very futuristic year, we still don’t have robotic maids like the Jetsons’ Rosie the Robot. For his latest element14 Presents project, DJ Harrigan decided to create such a bot as a sort of animatronic character, using an ESP8266 board for interface and overall control, and a MKR ZERO to play stored audio effects.

    The device features a moveable head, arms and eyes, and even has a very clever single-servo gear setup to open and close its mouth.

    UI is via smartphone running a Blynk app, and Rosie’s antennas can light up along with a “beep beep” sound to let you know it needs your attention!

    More details can be found in Harrigan’s post here.

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CH7B6zuqAk?feature=oembed&w=500&h=281]

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  • Build a comment-critiquing keyboard adapter using TensorFlow Lite and Arduino

    Build a comment-critiquing keyboard adapter using TensorFlow Lite and Arduino

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    Build a comment-critiquing keyboard adapter using TensorFlow Lite and Arduino

    Arduino Team — July 7th, 2020

    If you’ve ever left an online comment that you later regretted, this anti-troll bot will keep that from happening again by letting you know when you’re being a bit too harsh.

    The device — which was created by Andy of element14 Presents — intercepts raw keyboard inputs using a MKR Zero board and analyzes them using a TensorFlow Lite machine learning algorithm.

    As an output, the Arduino controls the mouth of a rather hilarious human cutout via a servo motor, which as seen in the video below, also features a wisp of black hair and oversized googly eyes. If you’re typing happy thoughts, its mouth turns up into a smile, while mean words produce a frowny face.

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxG065trbQQ?feature=oembed&w=500&h=281]

    The project is a great example of running ML code on limited hardware, and more info on the sentiment-analyzing keyboard adapter can be found here.

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  • Meet Tomo, a DIY virtual pet that’ll spark ’90s nostalgia

    Meet Tomo, a DIY virtual pet that’ll spark ’90s nostalgia

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    Meet Tomo, a DIY virtual pet that’ll spark ’90s nostalgia

    Arduino Team — June 19th, 2020

    If you miss your Tamagotchi virtual pet from the ’90s, Element14 Presents’ DJ has come up with the next best thing — or perhaps something even better!

    His DIY device named “Tomo,” for friend, displays a digital companion on its 1.3” OLED screen, and features a variety of mini games that lets you level it up with new characteristics.

    The game/pet, which runs on a MKR Zero, implements three buttons for control, a power switch, and a piezo speaker for audio feedback (all the beeps and boops you’d expect). While still very much handheld, its blue and purple 3D-printed shell is significantly larger than the original Tamagotchi. This should make it easy to use, and its low part count means it wouldn’t be hard to duplicate either.

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  • Arduino barrel piano plays encoded sheet music

    Arduino barrel piano plays encoded sheet music

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    Arduino barrel piano plays encoded sheet music

    Arduino Team — June 17th, 2020

    Max Danilin created an automatic barrel piano that outputs MIDI signals, not through an SD card or internal memory, but by reading sheet music encoded on paper as black dots and dashes.

    The sheet is pulled under an array of 40 optocouplers using a hand crank — or even power drill — providing musical info to the device’s controlling MKR Zero board. These inputs are translated into USB MIDI, which can then be passed along to any synthesizer for a wide range of audio output.

    The electronics and paper feed mechanism are put together in an elegantly simple way, and it appears to work quite well in the video below. In fact, it can even be played while mobile via casters on the bottom of its stand!

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rObmt3vAhc?feature=oembed&w=500&h=281]

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  • Developing a photovoltaic solar tracker controller with a MKR Zero

    Developing a photovoltaic solar tracker controller with a MKR Zero

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    Developing a photovoltaic solar tracker controller with a MKR Zero

    Arduino Team — August 7th, 2019

    While energy consumption is an important concern in our modern world, you might have noticed that energy in the form of light shines down on us every day from the sun. Solar panels can be utilized to harvest this and turn it into useful electricity, and if your panels can track the sun throughout the day, you can see an efficiency bump of 15-40%.

    In order to experiment with this concept, Frank Migge has, after several iterations, come up with a beautiful display called the “SunTracker2 Revision 2.”

    The device uses stored sun data fed to an Arduino MKR Zero via its SD card reader, and controls 32 LEDs that show the sun’s position, sunset/sunrise, and magnetic north. Automatic alignment is handled by an onboard magnetometer, and a stepper is even implemented to simulate future panel movement.

    You can check out the demo below, and find more info over on GitHub.

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8dpviy-tlI?feature=oembed&w=500&h=281]

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