Posts Tagged ‘Arduino’

Arduino UNO Super 2-Day Sale, Don’t Miss Out!

Friday, September 30th, 2011
RobotShop Arduino Super Sale

RobotShop Arduino Super Sale

Attention all RobotShop adepts! We are having an exclusive two-day sale on the awesome Arduino UNO Microcontroller. Arduino is hands down the most popular open-source microcontroller on the market, and it is an excellent choice for beginners and advanced experimenters alike. This sale will be going on from Tuesday, October 4th (9AM GMT-5) to Thursday, October 6th 2011 (9AM GMT-5) so do not miss your chance to pick up this fantastic microcontroller at an amazing 20% off!

With the money you save, get some extra robot parts and make an awesome project to share on the forum!

Android + Arduino + ROS = Cloud Robotics

Tuesday, May 17th, 2011

Another important announcement for the field of robotics was made at Google IO 2011 that complements the announcement for the Android Open Accessory Kit.

As shown in the video below about Cloud Robotics (this presentation is very interesting and explores somewhat involved robot programming), there is a new implementation of ROS, the popular operating system for robots, that runs directly on Android. Even PR2 was invited to the talk!

This means that any ROS compatible robot  (including Arduino-based robots) can be controlled via an Android phone, including the popular PR2. This interoperability and the power of cloud computing could provide robots, in the future, with better abilities especially when facing unexpected situations. With the power of the cloud, robots can offload complex computations and thus require less electrical power for computations. They could also learn new skills on the fly without needing to have all possible skills installed at once.

We are also happy to see that this technology is accessible to everyone through the use of Arduino and Open Hardware. RobotShop’s MyRobots.com initiative is compatible with this vision ans also aims to give robots, and robot owners, the power of the cloud though Open Hardware and Software.

Via Google IO.

Google Embraces Open Hardware

Friday, May 13th, 2011

Google announced in the yearly Google IO event the release of the Android Open Accessory Kit. This kit consists basically of an Arduino Mega combined with the USB host shield and some customized firmware. What this allows us to do is to create Android applications that will interact with an Arduino and thus with the external world. Since this is open source software and hardware, everybody can start developing around this concept right away.

Android Open Accessory Kit

Android Open Accessory Kit

This is a great opportunity to give robots a good powerful Android-based brain in a simple way. Of course, that was possible in the past but it just got much simpler. We are eager to see what the community comes up with in the future.

You can see the entire Keynote below but they only Start to talk about Arduino at minute 36.

Via Google IO and Make.

Arduino RGB LED Mood Cube

Thursday, January 27th, 2011
Arduino-Compatible RGB LED Mood Cube

Arduino-Compatible RGB LED Mood Cube

RobotShop is putting together a series of video tutorials in order to get you up and running with electronic and robotics projects. The first such project is an Arduino-compatible RGB LED Mood Cube. This is basically the high-tech geeky version of a mood light.

The video below illustrates how the cube is made and what components are involved.

For those of you who are already salivating, we suggest you fire-up your soldering irons and get your own RGB LED Mood Cube Kit.

The Arduino Documentary is Live and Open

Tuesday, January 11th, 2011

Arduino, the very popular open source microcontroller from Italy, is making headlines again. This time, its own documentary has been released and is free for everybody to watch.

Arduino Documentary

Arduino Documentary Poster

The documentary was independently made and depicts the origins, the philosophy, and the great people involved in the Arduino movement. You can see the documentary in its entirety (and in HD!) below.

Now that you know everything about Arduino, get your own at RobotShop and start hacking.

Via Arduino Blog.

The Arduino Uno and Mega2560 Are Here

Tuesday, October 5th, 2010

Arduino Uno and Mega2560 New Packaging

Arduino Uno and Mega2560 New Packaging

The new Arduino Uno and Mega 2560 are in stock at RobotShop. These two successors, for the Arduino Duemilanove and Mega respectively, were released on September 25th, and feature several technical improvements as well as a trendy new packaging, improved branding and the new Arduino logo.

Arduino Uno and Mega2560 Evolve

Arduino Uno and Mega2560 Evolve

What is new?

The Arduino Uno (or Arduino 1.0) replaces the Duemilanove and should put non-Italian speakers tongues at rest since the name is mush easier to pronounce.  The main change is the replacement of the FTDI chip with a custom-made usb-to-serial converter built with an Atmel ATmega8U2. This provides lower communication latency and eliminates the need for drivers. Also, the Uno has its own USB Device ID. Furthermore, more advanced users will be able to reprogram the USB chip to make the board show up as a variety of USB devices such as keyboards, mice, joysticks, etc.

Arduino Uno and Mega2560

Arduino Uno and Mega2560

As for the Arduino Mega 2560, besides replacing the FTDI chip, the main microcontroller was upgraded as well. As its name indicates, the Mega 2560 uses the larger ATmega2560 and sports twice as much Flash memory as its predecessor.

As a final remark, one of the nicest new features is the inclusion of a set of stickers that come with every new Arduino.The stickers read, among other things, “Hacked” and “DIY” and will certainly give your projects some character.

4D Systems Arduino Full Colour Display Shields

Thursday, August 19th, 2010
4S Systems Display Shields for Arduino

4S Systems Display Shields for Arduino

4D Systems has recently released four new Arduino Shields that allow their displays to be easily interfaced with the Arduino (or other shield-compatible microcontrollers). These shields allow the Arduino to display all sorts of full colour images (including cuddly hearts) trough their OLED displays .

The 4Display shields are available in 0.96″, 1.5″, 1.44″ and 1.7″.

Arduino, The Movie

Tuesday, August 3rd, 2010
Arduino Duemilanove

Arduino Duemilanove

Arduino might be the first microcontroller to get its own movie (or documentary at least). The LABoral Centro de Arte y Creación industrial (in Spain) has commissioned the creation of a documentary about Arduino and has just released the trailer, as shown below.

The movie is scheduled for release this summer under the Creative Commons licence. This means that soon, every Arduino enthusiast will be able to showcase the documentary in classes, pubic events and more, and use the content to create their own documentaries. People can also help with the subtitle translation by visiting the movie’s home page.

Via Arduino Blog.

The DFRobotShop Rover is Here, Arduino Goes Mobile

Thursday, July 29th, 2010
DFRobotShop Rover

DFRobotShop Rover - Mobile Tracked Arduino Based

We are proud to announce that the DFRobotShop Rover, an Arduino-compatible robotic tracked platform, is available for immediate purchase right now. The Rover has been available for pre-order for some time on the RobotShop website but it is only today that we got the last shipment for the remaining parts.

What is the DFRobotShop Rover?

The DFRobotShop Rover is a versatile mobile robot tank based on the popular Arduino Duemilanove.  It incorporates all the Duemilanove features (since it uses a surface mount ATMega328),  including shield compatibility, and is supplemented with (1) an on-board DC step-up that allows it to be easily powered from small power sources such as AA batteries,  (2) a dual H-bridge DC-motor controller (L293B), and (3) an APC220 and Bluetooth serial interface connector for telemetry and radio control. As an addition it also features a temperature and light sensors that can be readily connected to analog inputs on the ATMega328 for immediate use.

This Arduino-compatible platform rides on the popular Tamiya twin motor gearbox and the Tamiya track and wheel set.  This created a low-cost traction system that has been tested to carry over 2 kg without issues.

DFRobotShop Rover - Back

DFRobotShop Rover - Back

What can it do?

The DFRobotShop Rover can be programmed using the Arduino IDE to perform any robotic action you can imagine and is versatile enough to accommodate various electronics and mechanical accessories such as various Arduino shields, a breadboard, a standard servo motor through its servo mounting point, etc. The user is free to choose what task this little robot should accomplish; we are eager to see it in the outside world doing crazy things.

Who is it for?

This robot is intended for geeks  (obviously!), anybody wanting to get started in robotics, schools (elementary, high-school, college…),  people who need to give a cool gift (to that special geek in their lives). In short anyone curious about the world of robotics.

DFRobotShop Rover and Accessories

DFRobotShop Rover and Accessories

Lego Mindstorm NXT Controlled with Arduino

Friday, July 23rd, 2010

Clinton Blackmore form the Southern Alberta Robotics Enthusiasts club put together some pretty neat software to control Lego NXT motors and sensors by using the Arduino microcontroller.

Lego NXT robot Controlled by Arduino

Lego NXT robot Controlled by Arduino

As shown in the video below, he is using the Mindsesors Multiplexer for NXT Motors coupled with an Arduino Compatible Seeeduino in order to control a small robot made from Lego NXT parts, read NXT encoders and more. All the required code for the Arduino can be found in the NXT I2C Devices For Arduino Project Page.

The possibilities that this enables are almost endless.  Especially when considering that now Arduino Shields can be used in order to extend the capabilities of the Lego NXT parts.

Via Make.

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