Tindie

Working with surface mount components allows you to save a huge amount of space on your projects. You may also save money and assembly time, but what doesn’t help is when you end up loosing tiny components. Even if they’re not truly ‘lost’, having to poke around to find the right items before tweezing them into place repeatedly dramatically adds to the assembly time.

As a solution to the problem (that doesn’t involve simply paying someone else to do it) Ahmsville Labs has come up with the Pick-N-Place wheel. Vaguely resembling an oversized seashell, or perhaps an alien spacecraft; this device features two trays of parts that rotate back and forth to present the needed part to your tweezers. The board-in-process is also presented on a rotating platform for optimum positioning.

While that would be neat in and of itself, it gets even more interesting. This wheel isn’t just a mechanical assembly, but features magnets on each rotating parts wheel, and a SAMD21-enabled encoder board that picks up on this rotation. This interfaces with a custom program on your computer that uses the board’s generated pick-and-place file to show what drawer of components to use, and where to place them.

Notably, the listing is for the board only, and you’ll need to do a fair amount of 3D printing to get a usable wheel. Still, if you do this type of task with any frequency, I’d say it’s well worth the price (and time) needed to get one.

Keep Reading ›

Who doesn’t love an analog synth? Better still, who doesn’t love a homemade analog synth?! Yes, indeed the Homebrew Analog Sound Synthesizer Solder Build Kit is a newly-released box of synthesis beauty, which comes in kit form ready to solder yourself!

This glorious little box comes comes with a 3D printed case with a choice of colours to choose from. Looking at the front panel, you’ll find a single Oscillator with controls for frequency, LFO and envelope depth, as well as a low pass filter, LFO and envelope section to sculpt the sound. It has a 3.5mm socket to connect to headphoens or an external mixer/device – as well as a nice array of knobs and switches to put you in control.

The kit comes fully complete and includes a speaker, a 9V battery, jumper wires, potentiometers, switches, capacitors, resistors, diodes and all ICs (integrated circuits) included). Upon purchase you’ll find a schematic wiring diagram and a BOM included, so you can get started on home brewing this little beast!

It’s a superb educational project for those new to synthesis to learn about the early days of electronic sound. It’s sold by RetroTechLyfe who are based in Utah, USA, offering some fantastic retro tech solutions.

Keep Reading ›

Addressable LED lighting is truly an amazing technology, allowing us to control a multitude of individual points of light with just a single data line. This works well in the vast majority of cases, but what if you run into a situation where you’d like to use a commercial LED controller some of the time, then switch to an ESP-based solution, such as WLED for phone control?

While you might be able to put together a solution for this scenario, Wasatch Pixels has one ready to go in the form of their LED Controller Multiplexer. This board takes in data from two control signals, and outputs it as a single data output to your LED strip/assembly.

The ESP/WLED controller is connected to the Data 1 terminal, and the commercial controller (or even a second WLED unit) is connected to Data 2. When the WLED device is powered on, the Multiplxer passes along data from this input, and when it’s off it defaults to signals from Data 2. Screw terminals are provided for easy board connections, allowing you to get started with custom dual lighting with ease!

Of course, if you need a few ideas for what to do with your addressable LEDs, check out this 2018 post on hacked Holiday lighting. It’s never to early to start preparing!

Keep Reading ›

Arduino Pro Micro ATMega32U4 development boards have long been prized for their user HID capabilities, allowing them to act as a keyboard and/or mouse as far as the host computer is concerned. This board works well if you’d like to experiment with a breadboard, but when you want to use it as a ‘serious’ input device for arcade buttons and joysticks, you’ll need something more reliable than semi-loose spring tension to keep your wiring in place. You’ll also want something that allows for easy wiring changes.

The solution to both of these challenges can be found in the form of screw terminals. For a convenient way to use this type of connector with the Pro Micro, consider the Pro Micro Breakout Arcade Controller PCB. The PCB breaks out and labels pins used with this arcade encoder software project, making it easy to create your own custom arcade input setup with it. Additional pins can be broken out on a pin header, allowing them to be used for other purposes as needed.

Notably, the listing is for the PCB only, so you’ll need to supply screw terminals, pins, and the Pro Micro itself. For another way to use the Pro Micro board as an interface device, I’d invite you to also check out the JC Pro Macro. It features a rotary encoder and keyswitches for user input, and additional IO breakouts that can be used for other purposes.

Keep Reading ›

Soldering up a PCB is, one might argue, a largely two-dimensional operation. If you’d like a solder kit that fully takes advantage of our world’s three-dimensional space, then look no further than the MiG-29K Solder Kit from Phyx.

The device ships as a single PCB, with 5 parts for the jet that are de-paneled and soldered together at 90º angles. This forms a beautiful blue jet that hovers in the air over its oval base, which contains a CR2032 batter holder to power the model’s LED jet engine exhaust representations.

An interesting aspect of this design is that the solder joints not only hold model parts together at right angles, but also transmit power from the base, up through the vertical standoff PCB, and through the body to the LEDs. A switch is included to allow you to turn off the lights to save power when you’re not in the room to admire your work.

If you like the idea of an airplane solder kit, but would rather create something more associated with NATO instead of the former Eastern Bloc, Phyx also has similar F-16, as well as an SR-71 solder kits available on their store.

Keep Reading ›

Getting your name is lights is something we all enjoy seeing, or perhaps your dog’s name, the time, a stock price, a notification… anything! Here is the perfect opportunity to do that very thing; the PIXIE PRO – Chainable Dual 5*7 Micro-LED Displays give you the chance to make a modular LED display to suit your illumination needs. Let’s see what they’re about!

The PIXIE PRO has the ability to display any kind of symbol or character, including ASCII characters, symbols, icons, global currency symbols, weather states, schematic symbols, diacritics and various typographic icons. You’ll even find an icon generator for anything it doesn’t show! You can chain up a few dozen of these neat displays with only 2 GPIOs (general-purpose input/output) on your Arduino – with the ability to program messages using their handy getting started guide. You can contact them using twitter for quick replies to any queries you may have.

The PIXIE PRO is PCB mountable and runs with a maximum bitrate of 143KHz, meaning you can update a chain of 6 units (12 displays) at over 200FPS on an ESP8266. The result is a series of very smooth scrolling screens with quick animations!

The PIXIE PRO – Chainable Dual 5*7 Micro-LED Displays are sold by Lixie Labs who are based in Kaysville, USA. Here’s a video of the displays in action at 60FPS, looking very smooth!

Keep Reading ›

We take a lot of things for granted nowadays; super fast internet, online shopping and wireless technology – though it wasn’t always this way. There was a time we had to connect our music systems with only wires, but thankfully the BlueTooth Audio Receiver is here to bring any speaker system or hifi unit into the modern, wireless world.

The unit can be hooked up to your computer, smart phone or any device with sound/music to broadcast over the bluetooth airwaves – ideal for transmitting your favourite podcast or album to your preferred playback method. Let’s look at the tech specs: it’s compatible with all devices supporting A2DP Bluetooth standard, has 102dB of signal to noise ratio, it’s 16-Bit and will transmit audio up to a sample rate of 48kHz. You’ll also notice some LEDs that show audio activity when it’s playing.

The unit comes with push buttons to navigate your tracks, with a mini USB connection for your device and compatibility across different devices such as Windows PC, iPhone, Android and more. What else do you need to get blasting out your favourite music across your home or office?! The Bluetooth Audio Receiver is sold by Diagonal Systems who are a family run business based in London, England.

Keep Reading ›

Sismo Synths have come up with a whole host of synth and sequenced gadgets for your musical delight! Their latest creation is the Qadrox Trace Sequenced Sequencer, a rhythm machine capable of emitting intermittent percussive sounds. crunchy noises and ambient pads! It looks gorgeous and you can check out the demo at the end of the article. Lets jump into it!

The Quadrox is a second iteration on the design, with added improvements and updates – principally featuring two oscillators and an 8 step sequencer with variable length. It has inputs and outputs for various functions including audio output, CV in, Gate In, Sync In and Sync out – each of which will allow you to set the tempo externally, trigger the synth externally and process external audio signals. Get it squeaking and squawking with your other toys for best results.

It’s powered by a 12V centre negative supply (not included) and has a case made of 5mm sturdy wood, which certainly sets it off well. The Qadrox is sold by Sismo Synths who are based in Portugal and have a fine selection of home made music devices on offer. Check out the video below to see it in action with their tiny Mr Knob device!

Keep Reading ›

Learning to solder is something of a rite of passage for hackers, and for many of us the early days of this could more accurately be described as “learning to solder poorly.” To get you started on the right foot and create an interesting device along the way, check out this Simon-style memory game from Four Bit Industries.

The game features four colored LEDs along with corresponding resistors and buttons. It also features a piezo buzzer for audio feedback, and you can put it into silent mode for situations where audible beeping might be inappropriate. Soldered components are all through-hole, and the controlling IC mounts in a socket, allowing it to be removed if you’d like to experiment further.

A quantity discount is available for purchases 10 or more, perhaps for a learn-to-solder class, and explicit instructions are available to help you get it assembled. Once it’s done, simple game instructions are printed on the board in English, Spanish, and French. This covers the vast majority of North America (and a variety of other places), and perhaps it could be employed in a language learning class as well!

Of course, there are a variety of other solder kits available on Tindie for your perusal and electronics edification. We even featured another Simon-style kit in early 2020!

Keep Reading ›

A keyboard and Mouse work fine–great even–for most input tasks. At the end of the day, however, standard equipment is meant to work for a wide range of people doing a wide range of tasks, not to fit your particular body or work style. Perhaps you have a favorite hard-to-reach shortcut or two, or want to repeat a sequence of keys at a single touch of a button. Or maybe you even like the feel of an actual knob for modifying the system volume. When a standard keyboard/mouse just isn’t cutting it anymore, it may be time to look into a macro pad, or perhaps even create your own.

In my case, I designed the “JC Pro Macro” auxiluary input. It features a rotary encoder that takes care of volume control by default, as well as 5 separate keys that can be programmed to execute a variety of tasks. The encoder button switches between input modes, the second of which moves the mouse around at random to makes it look like someone is there, if not being particularly useful.

Other features include space for four WS2812B LEDs, along with broken out SDA, SCL, GND, +5V, and two other GPIO pins. Pins are arranged in such a way as to easily mount a .96″ OLED display, and you could use them to expand the device in any number of ways.

The device is available as just the board, or with a variety of assembly kit options, and code is available on GitHub. Of course, this isn’t the only keyboard option available on Tindie. I was inspired, in part, to design this after seeing the Hub16 input device and USB hub, as well as this custom keyboard kit.

Keep Reading ›