MORE ABOUT Arduino

In the last episode, we configured the ESP32 to set up its own local Wi-Fi network. With a PC, smartphone or tablet, we are able to log into this network called ‘ESP32_MyJourneyIoT’ and request a configuration page from the ESP32 web server using a web browser. To show successful hook up we light up an LED. In this episode we change the indicator light to a pulsing LED and write our own class library.

This kit enables the rapid development of applications for fun, sound, useful or just pleasing. With conductive ink and other conductors of adhesive copper track. These components form switches and sensors which are controlled by a programmable board such as an Arduino. It can also make sounds. Five minutes after unpacking, thanks to the included accessories, you’re already having lots of fun.

The FreeSoC2 PSoC® 5LP Dev Board uses Cypress ARM processors and built-in configurable hardware to make a versatile system that can be used in the Arduino IDE or in the Cypress PSoC Creator environment (which offers many significant advantages). We take a quick look at the board to discover just some of the powerful features it has to offer. The FreeSoC2 PSoC® 5LP Dev Board is now available from the Elektor Store as part of a promotion.

The Pretzel board is a really useful tool especially when you are starting out with networks. Now however it was time to try out a different type of board. We took a look at the ESP32 which is the more powerful cousin of the ESP8266 with many more peripheral functions built-in...

Described in the January & February 2017 edition of Elektor, the Sand Clock project, unique for its mechanical design, is all the better for its availability in kit form, which I’ve wanted to examine more closely. The principle of this gadget is amusing: to write the time in sand every minute, with a stylus on a pantograph and some servomotors, and erase it just before the next minute, and repeat endlessly.

Rapid prototyping has been the craze for the last five, six years or so. Hundreds, maybe thousands of open source, open hardware platforms have been created by enthusiasts (including Elektor), were published on the Internet and have been entirely forgotten. Well, not entirely... One small group of indomitable boards still holds out against oblivion. These are their stories.

We may have equal rights, but not the means to use them! If we want our children or friends to the same satisfaction in electronics as we do, we need to choose introductory programs that can guide them in gaining knowledge and experience. Here’s an ambitious program built around simple encapsulated bricks, devised to learn about everything from ohms to gigahertz, a system open to the world.

The “Flip & click” from MikroElektronika is an Arduino Due with Arduino Uno R3 compatible shield connectors on one side and four mikroBus slots on the other. The Arduino side is Arduino blue, the click side is white. The outline of the board vaguely reminds of a butterfly, and is as surprising as its packaging that you have to unfold completely in order to read the full description of what is inside.

The SDR shield for Arduino published in the July/August issue of Elektor magazine is a complete universal radio receiver, suitable for listening to radio signals from 150 kHz to 30 MHz. In this second video, the designer of the SDR shield explores the options offered by SDR programs for optimizing the reception of radio stations.

Arduino is the electronic Swiss Army knife of simple and creative programming. There remains the question of parts, soldering, wires…. that some feel is an obstacle. If you don’t want to jump into the Arduino waters without a lifejacket, you’ll want a good introductory kit. And here’s one that is affordable and offers a good selection of sensors and controls with easy connection to the Arduino.