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Category Archives: Uncategorized
DC Motor Control: H-Bridge and L293D chip
My OWI-535 robotic arm (link) has DC motors, which are controlled by mechanical switches. Here’s what the schematic looks like for each motor in the robotic arm: Since there are five motors, there are five switches like this. This type … Continue reading
Nooli Dots
I wrote a memory match game app. It’s free with no ads or in-app purchases on Google Play. Here’s the link: Nooli Dots
Timesense, a science fiction novella
Free July 7-8 on Amazon Kindle: For millennia the starship voyaged from Sirius to Sol. It seemed as dead as any sterile asteroid drifting between the light years. Nothing moved within the frames of its unlit portals. Aside from the … Continue reading
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The Ten Million Ton Space Elevator
Carbon nanotubes are often assumed to be the sole viable material for the construction of an Earth-based space elevator. However, carbon nanotubes in the lengths required for construction of a space elevator remain a laboratory curiosity. Is there an alternative … Continue reading
Posted in space technology, Uncategorized
Tagged space colonization, space elevator, ten million ton, zylon
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Graph of IQ vs. US Household Income Percentiles
Here’s a graph that I made of IQ vs. US Household Income percentiles. In other words, I looked up the percentiles for IQ and cross-referenced them with the percentiles for US Household Income. Of course, financial status is a function … Continue reading
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Multi-mode pen light: ATTiny85 with RGB LED
This is a bread board prototype of a multi-mode pen light. It shines white, red, green, and blue light. Intensity is adjustable. Strobe, emergency flasher, ‘psychedelic,’ and candle simulation functions. It’s powered by a USB phone battery charger pack and … Continue reading
Beyond the Blink: RGB LED multiple lighting effects with arduino, push button, and potentiometer
Ever want to do more with an LED than just blink? This circuit and source code demonstrates some creative possibilities for lighting effects with an RGB LED. CC has descriptive subtitles. Sorry for the poor phone video quality. Here’s a … Continue reading
Making a flickering candle with an RGB LED and an ATTiny85 chip
Normally you don’t use an ATTiny85 to drive an RGB LED, because an RGB LED needs three pulse width modulation pins and the ATTiny85 only has two. However, for the application of a flickering candle, you need only two PWM … Continue reading
Controlling Multiple RGB LEDs with Smartphone via Bluetooth
Many people have done projects similar to this where they use their smartphone to control an RGB LED. My project has some twists. First, I traded color variation for intensity variation. Second, I routed the Arduino PWM signal pins through … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged app inventor, arduino, bluetooth, phone battery charger pack, rgb led, smartphone
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Ultrasonic Toggle Switch Source Code (Arduino)
// ultrasonic toggle switch // Joe Schembrie aka ‘Engineer Zero’ // comments 6-23-2016 // the circuit for this sketch consists of a yellow and green LED and an ultrasonic distance sensor (pinger). // when a hand approaches the pinger, the yellow light comes on with the approach. // when the hand gets close enough, the value of green is toggled. // IE, if the green LED was off, it turns on. If it was on, it turns off. // to see this in action, visit https://engineerzero.wordpress.com/2014/06/01/ultrasonic-toggle-switch/ // The green LED toggles only once while the hand is near. // IMPORTANT // The hand must be retracted far enough so that the yellow light goes off // for the green LED to be toggled again. This prevents ‘bouncing.’ // NOTE: In some respects, this device seems to work best when the yellow light is disconnected. // NOTE ON NOTE: I wrote the above note a couple years ago AND DON’T REMEMBER WHY. // Now for inclusion of the library. // the NewPing.h library is available on the Internet. // I did not write it. I cannot answer questions about it. // It comes with documentation on the Internet. // Google away! #include <NewPing.h> #define TRIGGER_PIN 11 // Arduino pin tied to trigger pin on the ultrasonic sensor. #define ECHO_PIN 10 // Arduino pin tied to echo pin on the … Continue reading
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