MindKits News and Blog

Notifying Doorbell with PushingBox

Wed, 16 May 2012 02:30:00 GMT

With home security getting more on demand, we can tinker with Arduino and get alerted when events are triggered and even get a photo of who was there! With a few cimple components and a little soldering knowledge, this project looks at the Arduino with an Ethernet Shied to send a message to an online service that forwards that to your mobile!

Here we need a few simple components,
Arduino + Ethernet Shield
A Doorbell
10Kohm resistor
some wire and a little bit of soldering knowledge

We will open the doorbell
and solder the wires to the switch terminals,
after that you can close the doorbell

Now we will connect the wires from the doorbell to the Arduino,
one wire to +5v and one wire to digital pin 3 (D2)
connect the 10K resistor between GND (Ground) and Pin 3 (D2)

Lets testing the doorbell switch,
Put the following program on the Arduino IDE and upload it!

Well done on doing the work on the Arduino,
Now we will setup up on Pushingbox website
Login in with your Google Account
Go to the My Services page
Click on Add a Service

Now click on the service that suits your needs on Push notification
> Prowl or Pushme.to for iPhone
> Notifry for Android
> Toasty for Windows Phone
Enter the name of your new service
and fill in the API that this application gave you when you installed it
Click Submit

Now lets go to the My Scenario page
Create a scenario called “Someone's at the door”
Click on Create Scenario
Click on Add an Action

First we will add an action to the Email Service
Fill in the mail Subject and the Body
The third field is optional, you can add the URL of your IP Camera here (publicly reachable)
(Camera's output has to be less than 100KB)
Do the same to the Push notification service, then click Back

Great just about there, your Scenario has been created
Now we want to test it, Click on Test button
You should receive a Push notification on your phone and and email
Make a note of the DeviceID value of this scenario.
You will paste it into the Arduino code next

Download the Arduino source code for the PushingBox API here
In the #define DEVID1 line, paste the Device ID of your scenario. Make sure you enclose it with quotes as shown.
Compile the code and program your Arduino

You're Done! Have fun testing and installing this on your door.

MindKits Sponsors the First RobotNZ Robot Competition

Fri, 04 May 2012 00:16:00 GMT

Intro by Tim from MindKits:
On Saturday 28th of April 2012 MindKits was lucky enough to help support the growing community of robotics enthusiasts and their first competition which was help at NextWindow in Auckland.

Gary T was key in instigating the competition with the aim of getting people motivated and build robots, for fun and foster innovation. And man, what a lot of fun it was. Gary was kind enough to write a guest blog post for us on the events of the day. Read on for more...

While trying to get such a thing to happen in Auckland on a regular basis, ie 3 - 4 months, the first was small with a single objective, well 5 objectives. To remove 5 empty drink cans from a 1.2m diameter table as quickly as possible.

6 robots came but only 5 worked on the day - however this didn't detract from the fun in the slightest. It was a day for gentle competition, encouragement and to share in a love of robotics and making stuff. The dead robot just didn't make a scratch in that fun.

Wes, A father with his two sons all had robots, as did Keith Colson and Hein Beyleveld.

Soon after the "Official" contest, they decided to step things up a notch and use a rectangular table.

It was quickly noticed that cans near the corner of the table were the most difficult to remove.

There were funny times where the robot went loopy

Or decided that they had enough to drink and decided to drive somewhere else.

But when it did go the way it was suppose to, everyone was excited.

Overall the day went extremely well, and were going to do it again. Keeping the same 5 cans on a 1.2m diameter table as an entry level competition, as well as a more advanced version on a large wooden textured table with 10 cans and another objective, yet to be decided.

If you'd like to read more from the winner of the day, Wes, you can check out his account of the day here. It's a great read.

We learn't what to change for next time, mostly with can's being white instead of red, as red absorbs some IR light making it harder to see the cans.

In the future we'd like to see a National Championship with our friends in Christchurch (nudge nudge). Also many of us would like to do a really awesome contest involving two robots running at the same time, which you can read here, at the bottom of the page.

Once again i'd like to thank Keith Colson at Next Window for hosting the contest, and future contests there, Tim Carr from MindKits for putting up hard cash/credit to sponsoring the prizes. And all the competitors.

What a great way to support and grow the community.

Cheers
Gary T

Money vs Love - Returning to MindKits Foundation

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 04:47:00 GMT

It's one of those moments that makes us all sigh and feel a little disappointed. A great company grows and as it grows its pricing and margins go up instead of what we were all told in school about supply and demand causing pricing to come down. Their once great supplies become expensive, we buy less of them and we long for the old days when that company was on 'our side'.

We've been faced with this and I can tell you it's hard not to take the easy route. The truth is, that with limited resources like time and space, it's often easier for a company as it grows to jack pricing up, turn some customers away but make far more from each individual sale - The alternative is scaling linearly as we grow - adding more sales people, more warehouse space, more time and effort.

It was the 'crank up your pricing until you start dropping customers' model that MindKits were advised to take and I have to admit, for a time we headed that way. The truth is that it's just so easy to focus on money alone as it's so easy to quantify and measure. But "What about the founding inspiration for MindKits?" I said, "What about the people that gain great enjoyment from having a local supplier and the same range of parts our American friends have without having to pay horrendous shipping to get them down to New Zealand? What happens to them?"

What it comes down to is a conscious decision for a business owner - am I here to make money, or do something that adds something to the world?

Well, money is great but I learned in my previous life in business development that having lots of it doesn't guarantee you'll be happy.

So, as of today we're getting back to the founding reason MindKits is here - to support you the makers, the inquisitive, the inventors and the community minded. We've taken the pricing back to where it should be in my mind (some items dropped 50%, some 25% and some not at all, but it's all fair and reasonable), with my driving force behind it and not financial advisers. For this to work though, we (read: I) really need your help and support....

You see, it's a pretty huge risk taking something that works well but goes against the grain of your ethics and shaking it up like this. Right now it feels like a one way street and that we couldn't go back to what I call 'facilitator agreed revenue template' mode (AKA FART growth) because everyone would think we're just jacking the pricing up to gouge profit. I hate that, but I also need to put food on my family table and I really want this to work - I really hope it works and I really hope you'll help me prove that inflating pricing isn't the only way a company can continue to grow.

We love having you as a customer - the community of makers that's popped up around MindKits and New Zealand is phenomenal and I want more than anything to see MindKits be a part of seeing that grow over the next years. You guys and girls bring a smile to my face every day with your antics, projects and generosity (we just had a box of parts arrive for charity so we can run teacher trainer kits - this was done for love and without a single dollar being requested).

You, the maker community; are amazing and you make every day at MindKits worthwhile.

Warmest of regards,
Tim

MindKits Chief Ninja

LED Cube

Wed, 04 Apr 2012 00:09:00 GMT

We all get mesmerised with LEDs. Instead of making a few turn on, why not make a cube of LEDs! Here we have a 3x3 cube LED arrangement. I'm sure you will learn more programming and have a cool use of this. We have an easy to understand tutorial on how to put this all together and program it.
Video at the bottom running the Cube.

(Click Title for more Info)

LED Cube project

Open Doors by RFID

Wed, 04 Apr 2012 00:10:00 GMT

Could have lots of door locks and chains, but gets difficult opening the door in a hurry. Some how we need to use what is already there and make it more security. Let's have a look at Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), that has been check out at MIT Media Lab. Swipe your card over the RFID reader and the door will unlock, anyone else that is not authorized will have no chance. You could even use this on you high-tech tree hut.

(Click at the bottom for more Info)

If you want to build this yourself download the zip file
It contains the part-list, lasercut and arduino files
You can get Sparkfun items from Mindkits
Door.zip

Building your own Adruino

Tue, 17 Apr 2012 02:45:00 GMT

After making an awesome Arduino project, you might want to finalize it so you can reuse that Arduino for future creativity. Here is a link from one of the Tutorials in Mindkits. This Tutorial can be more than building your own Arduino, there are other great educational links if you are just starting. It's a way to understand more on Arduino at the same time!

(Click at the bottom for more Info)

Tutorials
Building you own Arduino

Arduino and Eye-Fi

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 04:39:00 GMT

Wifi is growing, and we want some of the action! If you are interested in security, and want to add a camera (to catch the neighbours dog!), we can look at attaching some Shields to your Arduino. This project uses a cool Wireless SD card that can be detected on you home Wifi network, so you can download photos and videos that are taken without unplugging the SD card.
This is a big project and would be cool on telling your friends that you put it all together and programmed it!
(Click title for more Info)

Arduino and Eye-Fi Project

Video link on what Eye-Fi is all about!

http://sandisk.fi/products/wireless-memory-cards/sandisk-eye-fi-wireless-memory-card/

How to revive my Arduino

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 04:43:00 GMT

We all enjoy doing our projects and it's great when all is working... But sometimes your Arduino my get stubborn and won't allow you to Upload programs, making sure you have selected the right board, it still produces uploading errors.
Before you put your Arduino in the bin, we can try to revive it and get our cool projects running again! Lets take some time and (a coffee if you like), look at Sparkfun's website, where there is a nice tutorial on Reinstalling the bootloader onto your Arduino.
(Click at the bottom for more Info)

Revive Your Arduino!

Arduino and Helicopter equals ArduCopter

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 21:06:00 GMT

We have lots of flying objects out there, aeroplanes, helicopter, and even cars (maybe). Lets have some fun and use our Arduino knowledge and maybe learn some mechanics aswell. ArduCopter is complete UAV solution, offering both remote control and autonomous flight, including waypoints, mission planning and telemetry displayed on a powerful ground station.
> There is a video of this running at the bottom of the blog.
http://code.google.com/p/arducopter/

http://code.google.com/p/arducopter/wiki/ArduCopter

(Click the heading to read more)

Arduino and Mindstorm Lego NXT

Mon, 05 Mar 2012 01:13:00 GMT

We all enjoyed playing with Lego and I'm sure some still do, but now there is a way to plug it in with Arduino compatible devices! A simple Mind-sensors Multiplexer for NXT Motors adaptation, lets you connect your Lego NXT experiences with Arduino, using a I2C interface. I'm sure this can extent your fun, as you can easily add another one, where Robots need many motors!
There is a video of this running at the bottom of the blog.
Guest Blogger: William George
(Click the heading to read more)

Shrinkify Your Arduino Projects

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 03:09:00 GMT

I’ve been interested in how to making Arduino projects smaller when some only use a few inputs/outputs, and I guess you want to box it up easier. This tutorial from High-Low Tech MIT Labs may help you shrinkify some future projects. There is a video about this that tells you of some pitfalls, but I think this can help us start new adventures.
Click the heading to read more.
Guest blogger: William George

Using the Freetronics LCD Shield to Get a Simple LCD Temperature Readout

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 20:48:00 GMT

This is an easy first project to get your Freetronics LCD Shield up and running and presenting some real-world data.

In a nutshell, it's a temperature sensor with an LCD output. The model of Arduino board you use isn't too important, but my current favourite is the Freetronics TwentyEleven. The prototyping area on the TwentyEleven is really handy for soldering everything onto for the more permanent projects.

Because the LCD shield covers all the pins on the Arduino board, you need a way to connect your temp sensor jumper wires. I used a proto shield but soldered an extra strip of headers inside the main ones. This way I can still plug the jumper wires in once the LCD shield is on top. Once you finish prototyping, you can reuse this shield for the next project.

>
The DS18B20 temperature sensor uses just three wires and a 4k7 resistor. It's on a breadboard here but you could attach it to a cable (I've used them on the end of Cat5 cable up to 30m away from the Arduino).

If you plug the DS18B20 into the breadboard with the flat face facing towards you, the pins are 1, 2, and 3 from left to tight. Pin 1 (black wire) goes to a ground pin, pin 2 (yellow wire) is the data pin and goes to digital pin 10, and pin 3 (the red wire) goes to the 5V pin on the board. With a 4k7 pull-up resistor between pins 2 and 3 you're good to go.

Plug the LCD shield on the top (being careful of the jumper wires underneath) and you're ready for the software.

The Arduino environment has an LCD library built-in so it's easy to load up a sketch and have a play. You can find some example sketches under File>Examples>LiquidCrystal> in the Arduino development environment. There are plenty of examples of code for the DS18B20 temperature sensor out there too. Basically, any data you can get into the Arduino can be printed on the LCD screen.

This sketch takes some code I'd used previously to print the temperature at 5 second intervals to the serial monitor, and prints it to the LCD instead.

The LCD shield has 5 handy buttons so you could use it for input to the Arduino too. I'll be using this in quite a few future Arduino projects as a way to see what's going on, as well as telling the Arduino what to do.

Parts for this project:

Arduino (Freetronics Twenty Eleven)

Freetronics LCD Shield

4k7 resistor

Auckmageddon - Get your game on

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 02:19:00 GMT

Gaming event Auckmageddon is back once again, and thanks to Orcon with Vector fibre, connected to the Internet at ridiculously fast speeds.

Auckmageddon 6 is actually the seventh event of a series that has been running since 1997, and will see up to 400 gamers compete at the North Harbour Stadium for over 48 hours in February.

Event organizer Richard Patterson says: “We had such a fantastic response from the previous events that we’re back with even more prizes, bigger network, and even faster internet.”

“We want to make sure that the event is fun – too many gaming events become super serious and lose the enjoyment element.”

Tournaments will include game favourites such as Team Fortress 2, Counter-strike as well as new ones, Battlefield 3 and Starcraft 2.

Gamers compete for a range of awesome prizes sponsored by Compulink, Orcon, Alienware, Mighty Ape, Red Bull and more.

Registrations are now open, head over to http://auckmageddon.com for more information and to sign up.

WHAT: Auckmageddon: A6
WHEN: doors open at midday February 17th, event runs for over 48 hours
WHERE: North Harbour Stadium, Albany
WHO: First 400 people to register. Event is all ages but there will be an R18 bar.
HOW: Tickets on sale now for $95 from http://auckmageddon.com

Contact: Richard, Mansion Heavy Industries
Email: info@Auckmageddon.com

Tangleball - Auckland's Makerspace/Hackerspace! What? You didn't know there was one? Well read on.

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 22:28:00 GMT

Ever wished you had your own workshop? Well, Tangleball off Auckland’s Newton Road are happy to lend you theirs. This friendly community of makers, crafters, brewers, geeks, cyclists, artists - and even some ordinary people - has taken over a basement workshop and opened it up.

Behind the hallowed roller doors, lives a cornucopia of equipment from welders to silkscreen presses. Just as important though is the collection of brains. The community that works there enter the spirit of the thing and you’ll end up with plenty of useful advice.

If you want to give back, donations of gear, materials - and brains - are welcome. There’s a koha box for temporary users, and a weekly subscription for those who just keep coming back. Mind you, they do hold plenty of Open Days and special events going on. Keep an eye out for them at http://tangleball.org.nz !

Halogen to LED Light Conversion Project

Mon, 16 Jan 2012 01:40:00 GMT

Here's a nice simple demonstration of ingenuity and efficiency. MindKits customer Frits Schouten modified his outdoor light to use LED lighting. Pretty awesome to see the results. Lots more light at less than half the power.

The first image is the standard 10W halogen lightbulb. The four LEDs wired in 2x2 parallel. They are directly connected to the 6V via the original lamp holder (2 pin based)

In the second image you can see the difference the LED lighting made.

Note: with the night photos Frits used - for both photos - a 25 seconds exposure with an Av of 6.3
You van verify that by looking at the exif data of the photos.

The LEDs are connected without resistor because the reverse voltage of the leds is 3.4V and with two in series they will never blow up, drawing about 350mA all up and drawing just over 4W.