April 2012 Competition Results

April is well and truly over so time to announce the results of our April 2012 Competition!

The winner of the First Prize is Michael F from Germany who will receive a new Freetronics DMD – Dot Matrix Display as reviewed recently and used in Clock One:

The DMD consists of 16 rows of 32 LEDs that can run directly from an Arduino-compatible board, or at a much higher brightness using an external power supply. It is simple to program for yet a load of fun to use. Specifications include:

• 32 x 16 high brightness Red LEDs (512 LEDs total) on a 10mm pitch
• 5V operation
• Viewable over 12 metres away
• Tough plastic frame
• Controller ICs on board, simple clocked data interface
• Arduino compatible library, graphics functions and example support
• Dimensions: 320(W) x 160(H) x 14(D)mm (30mm(D) including rear connectors)

DMDs are also available in blue, as shown below:

The winner of the Second Prize is Hendrik from Germany (!) who will receive one each of the eleven modules from the Freetronics Module/Sensor range, as reviewed recently:

With this range of modules you will be able to sense temperature, humidity, magnetic fields, light and sound pressure levels, sound and shock. Plus light up with the RGB LED, get more I/O with the expansion module, interface with the level shifter board, control high currents with the N-MOSFET, and power the lot with the tiny switch mode power supply. Available from Freetronics or a reseller near you.

For the curious, the questions and answers were:

1. Name three HP calculators that use LED displays – There are many. Just scroll through the list available here.
2. What does CPLD stand for? Complex programmable logic device. (Why CPLD? We were going to review some CPLD gear but it didn’t work out)
3. In which year was Tektronix founded? 1946.
4. Which company introduced the term “numitron”? RCA.
5. Which company invented Bluetooth? Ericsson.

Thanks to Freetronics for the prizes!

In the meanwhile, follow things on twitter, Google+, subscribe  for email updates or RSS using the links on the right-hand column, or join our Google Group – dedicated to the projects and related items on this website. Sign up – it’s free, helpful to each other –  and we can all learn something.

April 2012 Competition

Welcome back!

 

 

Another month and time for another competition! First we’ll look at the prizes, and then examine the rules of entry.

 

First Prize is a new Freetronics DMD – Dot Matrix Display as reviewed recently and used in Clock One:

The DMD consists of 16 rows of 32 LEDs that can run directly from an Arduino-compatible board, or at a much higher brightness using an external power supply. It is simple to program for yet a load of fun to use. Specifications include:

• 32 x 16 high brightness Red LEDs (512 LEDs total) on a 10mm pitch
• 5V operation
• Viewable over 12 metres away
• Tough plastic frame
• Controller ICs on board, simple clocked data interface
• Arduino compatible library, graphics functions and example support
• Dimensions: 320(W) x 160(H) x 14(D)mm (30mm(D) including rear connectors)

The winner can select either a red DMD as shown in the video above or a blue one as such:

Second Prize consists of one each of the eleven modules from the Freetronics Module/Sensor range, as reviewed recently:

With this range of modules you will be able to sense temperature, humidity, magnetic fields, light and sound pressure levels, sound and shock. Plus light up with the RGB LED, get more I/O with the expansion module, interface with the level shifter board, control high currents with the N-MOSFET, and power the lot with the tiny switch mode power supply. Available from Freetronics or a reseller near you.

How to enter!

There will be five questions for you to answer spread across articles published between the 1st and 30th of April.  At the end of April and once you have answers to all five questions, email the answers along with your full name, email address and postal address to competition at tronixstuff dot com with the subject heading April.

During the second week of May, all the correct entries will be collated and two randomly chosen. The first correct entry drawn will win first prize, and the second entry the second prize. Entries will be accepted until 05/05/2012 0005h GMT.

As with any other competition, there needs to be some rules:

• Incomplete entries will be rejected, so follow the instructions!
• The winners’ first name and country will be announced publicly;
• The winners’ name and mailing address will be passed to the prize supplier only for the purpose of prize delivery and not for any form of marketing.
• Entries that contain text not suitable for minors or insulting to the competition will be rejected (seriously – it happens);
• Prizes will be delivered via Australia Post domestic or regular international air mail. We take absolutely no responsibility for packages that go missing or do not arrive. If you live in an area with a “less than reliable” domestic postage system, you can pay for registered mail or other delivery service at your expense.
• Winners outside of Australia will be responsible for any taxes, fees or levies imposed by your local Governments (such as import levies, excise, VAT, etc.) upon importation of purchased goods;
• Prizes may take up to 45 days to be received;
• No disputes will be entered in to;
• Prizes carry no warranty nor guarantee – and are to be used or abused at entirely your own risk;
• Entries will be accepted until 05/05/2012 0005h GMT.

Thanks to Freetronics for the prizes!

In the meanwhile, have fun and keep an eye out for the four competition questions spread through the February posts… In the meanwhile, follow things on twitter, Google+, subscribe  for email updates or RSS using the links on the right-hand column, or join our Google Group – dedicated to the projects and related items on this website. Sign up – it’s free, helpful to each other –  and we can all learn something.

Results – February 2012 Competition

Now that February is over it’s time to announce the lucky winners of our February competition…

Prize One is a brand new Freetronics EtherMega board – the mother of all Arduino-compatible boards. As reviewed recently, the EtherMega combines the power and versatility of the Arduino Mega2560, a microSD card shield, a full Ethernet shield and power over Ethernet support:

Winner of the first prize is Rosemary H from the United Kingdom.

Prize Two is awesome – and a mystery no more. It is the new Freetronics LeoStick:

From the Freetronics website:

The LeoStick is just like the upcoming Arduino Leonardo, but given the “honey, I shrunk the kids” treatment!
Just pop it into your USB port (no cable required!) and upload straight from the Arduino IDE. We’ve even included on-board RGB LED lights and a speaker in this handy sized board. All the usual Arduino pins are present and each LeoStick comes with low profile header sockets for plugging in modules, shields and wires.

Winner of the second prize is Andrian from Moldova. Congratulations to the winners and thanks to everyone for entering.

For the curious, the questions and answers were:

1. What frequency crystal would you use with the DS1307 RTC? – 32.768kHz
2. How many LEDs are on an EtherMega board? Now I have two answers as the question should have been more specific. There are ten LEDs on the actual PCB, plus two more on the ethernet socket. So we accepted ten or twelve for the answer
3. What are the dimensions (length x width) of an 0805 SMT component in mm? – 2.0 x 1.3 mm
4. In what year was Ikea founded? – 1943
5. What nationality is the Hakko company? Japanese
6. Who came up with the name for the device known as the ‘transistor‘? - John R. Pierce

Finally, thank you for your competition entries – I really appreciate it. So in that spirit we will have another competition in March – so stay tuned using one of the methods below.

Once again, thanks to Freetronics for the EtherMega and LeoStick prizes!

In the meanwhile, follow things on twitter, Google+, subscribe  for email updates or RSS using the links on the right-hand column, or join our Google Group – dedicated to the projects and related items on this website. Sign up – it’s free, helpful to each other –  and we can all learn something.

February 2012 Competition

Update – The competition has now finished, and the winners will be announced shortly…

It’s that time of the month again so we are running another competition. This month we have two prizes. Let’s check those out then follow up with the rules of entry.

Prize One is a brand new Freetronics EtherMega board – the mother of all Arduino-compatible boards. As reviewed recently, the EtherMega combines the power and versatility of the Arduino Mega2560, a microSD card shield, a full Ethernet shield and power over Ethernet support:

From the Freetronics website:

The EtherMega is a 100% Arduino Mega 2560 compatible board that can talk to the world. Do Twitter updates automatically, serve web pages, connect to web services, display sensor data online, and control devices using a web browser. The Freetronics EtherMega uses the same ATmega2560 as the Arduino Mega 2560 so it has masses of RAM, flash memory, and I/O pins, and also includes the same Wiznet W5100 chip used by the official Arduino Ethernet Shield, so it’s 100% compatible with the Ethernet library and sketches.

Any project you would previously have built with an Arduino Mega 2560 and an Ethernet shield stacked together, you can now do all in a single, integrated board. We’ve even added a micro SD card slot so you can store web content on the card, or log data to it. But it gets even better: we found space to squeeze in a small prototyping area, so now it’s possible to build a complete, Internet-enabled Arduino device including your own custom parts all on a single board! You don’t even need to use a prototyping shield for many projects.

Prize Two is awesome – and a mystery no more. It is the new Freetronics LeoStick:

From the Freetronics website:

The LeoStick is just like the upcoming Arduino Leonardo, but given the “honey, I shrunk the kids” treatment!
Just pop it into your USB port (no cable required!) and upload straight from the Arduino IDE. We’ve even included on-board RGB LED lights and a speaker in this handy sized board. All the usual Arduino pins are present and each LeoStick comes with low profile header sockets for plugging in modules, shields and wires.

Features of the LeoStick include:

• Native USB port built-in, no need for any USB or FTDI cables
• Two Full Color RGB LEDs on-board! Drive different colored outputs and fun feedback from your sketch right away. One RGB LED is completely programmable, the other does Power, USB RX and TX indication, the RX and TX LEDs can also be controlled.
• On-board Piezo speaker element, play sounds, tunes and beeps. Can also be used as a knock/vibration sensor
• Same I/O pins. The LeoStick provides all the same header connections as larger boards, you can connect all the same sensors, actuators, and other inputs and outputs as typical Arduino models.
• Breadboard compatible, has 0.1″ pitch pads and header pins can be fitted underneath
• 500mA polyfuse and protection on the USB port
• ATmega32U4 microcontroller, Arduino compatible with on-board USB, 32K Flash, 2.5K RAM, 1K EEPROM at 16MHz
• ISP 6-pin connector for advanced programming of the ATmega32U4 MCU

Please note: The LeoStick currently uses a modified beta version of the upcoming Arduino Leonardo bootloader. There are some known issues with Windows 7 64-bit drivers and some library functions don’t work perfectly yet. Any firmware or Arduino Leonardo compatible support should not be considered to be final release firmware or in any way an official Arduino. Don’t hassle the Arduino team with support or requests related to this board: they’re solely our responsibility. The LeoStick is also a very complete ATmega32U4 breakout and USB board by itself and the LeoStick can be programmed directly from the supplied standard ISP header by AVR Studio, Mac OSX-AVR, avrdude, WinAVR etc.

How to enter!

There will be six questions for you to answer spread across articles published between the 1st and 29th of February. So you will need to review older posts. At the end of February and once you have answers to all six questions, email the answers along with your full name, email address and postal address to competition at tronixstuff dot com with the subject heading February.

During the second week of March, all the correct entries will be collated and two randomly chosen. The first correct entry drawn will win first prize, and the second entry the second prize. Entries will be accepted until 03/03/2012 0005h GMT.

As with any other competition, there needs to be some rules:

• Incomplete entries will be rejected, so follow the instructions!
• The winners’ first name and country will be announced publicly;
• The winners’ name and mailing address will be passed to the prize supplier only for the purpose of prize delivery and not for any form of marketing.
• Entries that contain text not suitable for minors or insulting to the competition will be rejected (seriously – it happens);
• Prizes will be delivered via Australia Post domestic or regular international air mail. We take absolutely no responsibility for packages that go missing or do not arrive. If you live in an area with a “less than reliable” domestic postage system, you can pay for registered mail or other delivery service at your expense.
• Winners outside of Australia will be responsible for any taxes, fees or levies imposed by your local Governments (such as import levies, excise, VAT, etc.) upon importation of purchased goods;
• Prizes may take up to 45 days to be received;
• No disputes will be entered in to;
• Prizes carry no warranty nor guarantee – and are to be used or abused at entirely your own risk;
• Entries will be accepted until 03/03/2012 0005h GMT.

Thanks to Freetronics for the EtherMega and LeoStick prizes!

So have fun and keep an eye out for the four competition questions spread through the February posts… In the meanwhile, follow things on twitter, Google+, subscribe  for email updates or RSS using the links on the right-hand column, or join our Google Group – dedicated to the projects and related items on this website. Sign up – it’s free, helpful to each other –  and we can all learn something.

Results – January 2012 Competition

Hello Readers

The January 2012 competition has now closed. For the curious, the questions and answers were:

Q – What does the acronym PWM mean?
A – Pulse-width modulation

Q – How many LEDs are contained in the Freetronics DMD?
A – 512

Q – How many digital I/O pins on an Arduino Mega2560?
A – 54

Q – What type of processor core does the PIC32 (from the Uno32 review) use?
A – MIPS (or to be more precise, 32-bit MIPS M4K Core)

Congratulations to Jack M. from the interesting state of South Australia! Jack has won the following prizes:

One v1.0 Akafugu Akafuino-X board as reviewed recently:

Jack’s Akafuino-X will have a companion on its journey which will be the Mayhew Labs “Go Between” Shield, as reviewed recently:

Thanks to Akafugu for offering the Akafuino-X prize!

The February 2012 competition will be announced soon, so in the meanwhile have fun and follow things on twitter, Google+, subscribe  for email updates or RSS using the links on the right-hand column, or join our Google Group – dedicated to the projects and related items on this website. Sign up – it’s free, helpful to each other –  and we can all learn something.

January 2012 Competition

Hello Readers

The competition has now ended and the winning entry will be announced shortly. Thank you to all those who entered, and of course to Akafugu for their prize this month.

It’s that time of the month again so we are running another competition. Our prize for this month consists of two items:

One v1.0 Akafugu Akafuino-X board as reviewed recently:

The winner’s Akafuino-X will have a companion on its journey which will be the Mayhew Labs “Go Between” Shield, as reviewed recently:

— *** How to Enter *** —

There will be four questions for you to answer spread across articles published between the 1st and 31st of January. So you will need to review older posts. At the end of January and once you have answers to all four questions, email the answers along with your full name, email address and postal address to competition at tronixstuff dot com with the subject heading January.

During the second week of February, all the correct entries will be collated and one randomly chosen. The first correct entry drawn will win the prize. Entries will be accepted until 03/02/2012 0005h GMT.

As with any other competition, there needs to be some rules:

• Incomplete entries will be rejected, so follow the instructions!
• The winners’ first name and country will be announced publicly;
• Entries that contain text not suitable for minors or insulting to the competition will be rejected (seriously – it happens);
• Prizes will be delivered via Australia Post domestic or regular international air mail. We take absolutely no responsibility for packages that go missing or do not arrive. If you live in an area with a “less than reliable” domestic postage system, you can pay for registered mail or other delivery service at your expense.
• Winners outside of Australia will be responsible for any taxes, fees or levies imposed by your local Governments (such as import levies, excise, VAT, etc.) upon importation of purchased goods;
• Prizes may take up to 45 days to be received;
• No disputes will be entered in to;
• Prizes carry no warranty nor guarantee – and are to be used or abused at entirely your own risk;
• Entries will be accepted until 03/02/2012 0005h GMT.

Thanks to Akafugu for offering the Akafuino-X prize!

So have fun and keep an eye out for the four competition questions spread through the January posts… In the meanwhile, follow things on twitter, Google+, subscribe  for email updates or RSS using the links on the right-hand column, or join our Google Group – dedicated to the projects and related items on this website. Sign up – it’s free, helpful to each other –  and we can all learn something.

December 2011 Competition Results

Hello readers

Well December has well and truly passed on so it is time to announce the winners of our December 2011 competition. The lucky winner of the first prize, which consists of the eleven modules from the new Freetronics Module/Sensor range, as reviewed recently:

Is Stephanie F. from Melbourne, Australia. I hope you enjoy working with the new modules.

And the lucky winner of the second prize, the awesome and still the world’s best all-in-one Arduino Uno/ethernet/PoE/uSD card board solution – the Freetronics EtherTen:

Is Jaroslav F. from Slovakia. Your EtherTen will be on the way around the globe shortly. In the meanwhile thanks to everyone for taking the effort to enter our competition and having some fun. As always we had a few ineligible entries and a few rude ones. Why? I don’t know.

The questions and answers were:

Question: What does the acronym ASCII mean?
Answer: American Standard Code for Information Interchange

Question: What is the unit of measure for sound pressure level?
Answer: decibels (dB)

Question: What is an ultrasonic sound?
Answer: sound waves above the normal range of human hearing.

Question: Who played along side Mel Gibson in the Lethal Weapon movies?
Answer: Danny Glover

Question: which soviet leader allegedly banged his shoe in the United Nations?
Answer: Nikita Kruschev

Question: Who is the editor of “Silicon Chip” magazine?
Answer: Leo Simpson

And of course thanks to our sponsor Freetronics! Stay tuned for the January competition which will be announced shortly. In the meanwhile I’d better get back to work and write something…

So have fun and keep checking into tronixstuff.com. Why not follow things on twitter, Google+, subscribe  for email updates or RSS using the links on the right-hand column, or join our Google Group – dedicated to the projects and related items on this website. Sign up – it’s free, helpful to each other –  and we can all learn something.

December 2011 Competition

Hello Readers

The competition for December 2011 has now closed, and the winners will be announced shortly. Thank you to all those who entered, and stay tuned for the January competition!

It’s that time of the year again so we are running another competition. First let’s look at the prizes, then review the rules of entry.

— *** Prize One *** —

Prize One consists of the eleven modules from the new Freetronics Module/Sensor range, as reviewed recently:

With this range of modules you will be able to sense temperature, humidity, magnetic fields, light and sound pressure levels, sound and shock. Plus light up with the RGB LED, get more I/O with the expansion module, interface with the level shifter board, control high currents with the N-MOSFET, and power the lot with the tiny switch mode power supply. Available from Freetronics or a reseller near you.

— *** Prize Two*** —

Prize Two consists of one Freetronics EtherTen:

This is the mother of all Arduino-compatible boards. Designed in Australia and manufactured to the highest quality standards the EtherTen replaces three boards – consider having an Arduino Uno SMD, Ethernet shield with PoE, and a microSD shield – all on the one board. From the Freetronics website:

The EtherTen is a 100% Arduino compatible board that can talk to the world. Do Twitter updates automatically, serve web pages, connect to web services, display sensor data online, and control devices using a web browser. The Freetronics EtherTen uses the same ATmega328P as the Duemilanove and the same Wiznet W5100 chip used by the official Arduino Ethernet Shield, so it’s 100% compatible with the Ethernet library and sketches. Any project you would previously have built with an Arduino and an Ethernet shield stacked together, you can now do all in a single, integrated board.

We’ve even added a micro SD card slot so you can store web content on the card, or log data to it.

All the good things about the Eleven and the Ethernet Shield have been combined into this one device so please see those pages for all the specific details, but the highlights include:

• Gold-plated PCB.
• Top and bottom parts overlays.
• Top-spec ATmega328P MCU.
• Mini-USB connector: no more shorts against shields!
• D13 pin isolated with a MOSFET so you can use it as an input.
• Power-over-Ethernet support, both cheapie DIY or full 802.3af standards-compliant.
• Ethernet activity indicators on the PCB and the jack.
• 10/100base-T auto-selection.
• Fully compatible with standard Ethernet library.
• Reset management chip.
• Fixed SPI behavior on Ethernet chipset.
• Robust power filtering.
• Sexy rounded corners.

Note that just like our Ethernet Shield with PoE support, the EtherTen provides a number of options for different Power over Ethernet. You can use the supplied jumpers and feed 7-12Vdc down the wire for cheap DIY version, or you can fit our PoE Regulator 24V and feed a bit more voltage down the wire, or you can use our PoE Regulator 802.3AF along with a proper commercial PoE injector or switch. It’s up to you.  Available from Freetronics or a reseller near you.

— *** How to Enter *** —

There will be six questions for you to answer spread across articles published in December. At the end of December and once you have answers to all six, email the answers along with your full name, email address and postal address to competition at tronixstuff dot com with the subject heading December. During the second week of January, all the correct entries will be collated and two randomly chosen. The first correct entry drawn will receive prize one, the second correct entry drawn receives prize two. Entries will be accepted until 05/01/2012 0005h GMT.

As with any other competition, there needs to be some rules:

• Incomplete entries will be rejected, so follow the instructions;
• The winners’ entry, first name and country will be announced publicly;
• Entries that contain text not suitable for minors or insulting to the competition will be rejected (seriously – it happens);
• Prizes will be delivered via Australia Post domestic or regular international air mail. We take absolutely no responsibility for packages that go missing or do not arrive. If you live in an area with a “less than reliable” domestic postage system, you can pay for registered mail or other delivery service at your expense.
• Winners outside of Australia will be responsible for any taxes, fees or levies imposed by your local Governments (such as import levies, excise, VAT, etc.) upon importation of purchased goods;
• Prizes may take up to 45 days to be received;
• If you have met John Boxall in person, or you have won a previous tronixstuff.com competition you cannot enter;
• No disputes will be entered in to;
• Prizes carry no warranty nor guarantee – and are to be used or abused at entirely your own risk;
• Entries will be accepted until 05/01/2012 0005h GMT.

So have fun and keep checking into tronixstuff.com. Why not follow things on twitter, Google+, subscribe  for email updates or RSS using the links on the right-hand column, or join our Google Group – dedicated to the projects and related items on this website. Sign up – it’s free, helpful to each other –  and we can all learn something.

October 2011 Competition Results

Hello readers

October has now passed by (too quickly!) and it is time to announce the winners of the October competition. Congratulations to all those who entered – there was some great examples of creativity and enthusiasm. Although less people entered this month, the standard of entries was very high – which made judging very difficult. However with some deliberation we narrowed it down to three entries:

First Prize:

Congratulations to Nick P from New York, USA for his entry:

Droid ‘bot assassin,
Misses elevated mark.
Forgot third axis.

Nick will receive a Freetronics USBDroid and one Terminal Shield:

Designed in Australia and manufactured to the highest quality standards the USBDroid combines the functionality of the Freetronics Eleven along with a USB host-mode controller and a microSD memory card slot all merged together into a single, integrated board that is 100% Arduino compatible. This is the ideal platform for developing peripherals or projects based around Android devices with ADK (Android Developer Kit) functionality, but without requiring a USB host controller shield stacked onto an Arduino. Connect your Android phone for all kinds of controller and networking features, and other USB devices like game controllers, Bluetooth dongles, digital cameras, etc. All the good things about the Eleven are included:

• Gold-plated PCB.
• Top and bottom parts overlays.
• Top-spec ATmega328P MCU.
• D13 pin isolated with a MOSFET so you can use it as an input.
• Robust power filtering.
• Sexy rounded corners.
• PC communications with the Mini-USB connector: no more shorts against shields!
• And of course the USB Host connector to go out to your Android phone and other USB devices.

In addition we’ve included a high current onboard power supply so you can charge your Android device directly off the USBDroid. Available now from a Freetronics reseller near you.

The Terminal Shield breaks out all the Arduino headers to handy screw terminals, making it really easy to connect external wires without using a soldering iron. Ideal for quick experiments or for robust connections! The center area of the shield is also a huge prototyping area, allowing you to add your own parts to suit your project. A blue “power” LED shows when your Arduino is powered up, and there are also red, green, and blue general-purpose LEDs with current-limiting resistors. The Terminal Shield comes with all the supporting components already fitted as surface-mount parts so you can start using it right away, and we even provide stackable headers to allow you to mount another shield on top.

Features

• Gold-plated surface: solders easily and very resistant to finger oil, etc.
• Large prototyping area with through-plated holes.
• Clearly marked GND and 5V rails beside prototyping area.
• Blue surface-mount “power on” LED.
• 2 × 100nF power supply smoothing capacitors pre-fitted as surface-mount parts.
• Reset button wired through to the Arduino so you can reset it even with the shield mounted over the top.
• 3 general-purpose surface-mount LEDs (red, green, blue) with current limiting resistors pre-fitted: driveHIGH to illuminate.
• Overlay printed on both the top and the bottom of the board so you don’t have to turn it over to see what you’re soldering onto.
• Sexy rounded corners.

Second Prize:

Congratulations to James from Christchurch, New Zealand for his entry:

Ether Ten, what shall I make?
Why, remote access.
My home is automated.

James will receive a Freetronics EtherTen and the new AM3X 3-Axis Accelerometer Module:

This is the mother of all Arduino-compatible boards. Designed in Australia and manufactured to the highest quality standards the EtherTen replaces three boards – consider having an Arduino Uno SMD, Ethernet shield with PoE, and a microSD shield – all on the one board. From the Freetronics website:

The EtherTen is a 100% Arduino compatible board that can talk to the world. Do Twitter updates automatically, serve web pages, connect to web services, display sensor data online, and control devices using a web browser. The Freetronics EtherTen uses the same ATmega328P as the Duemilanove and the same Wiznet W5100 chip used by the official Arduino Ethernet Shield, so it’s 100% compatible with the Ethernet library and sketches. Any project you would previously have built with an Arduino and an Ethernet shield stacked together, you can now do all in a single, integrated board.

We’ve even added a micro SD card slot so you can store web content on the card, or log data to it.

All the good things about the Eleven and the Ethernet Shield have been combined into this one device so please see those pages for all the specific details, but the highlights include:

• Gold-plated PCB.
• Top and bottom parts overlays.
• Top-spec ATmega328P MCU.
• Mini-USB connector: no more shorts against shields!
• D13 pin isolated with a MOSFET so you can use it as an input.
• Power-over-Ethernet support, both cheapie DIY or full 802.3af standards-compliant.
• Ethernet activity indicators on the PCB and the jack.
• 10/100base-T auto-selection.
• Fully compatible with standard Ethernet library.
• Reset management chip.
• Fixed SPI behavior on Ethernet chipset.
• Robust power filtering.
• Sexy rounded corners.

Note that just like our Ethernet Shield with PoE support, the EtherTen provides a number of options for different Power over Ethernet. You can use the supplied jumpers and feed 7-12Vdc down the wire for cheap DIY version, or you can fit our PoE Regulator 24V and feed a bit more voltage down the wire, or you can use our PoE Regulator 802.3AF along with a proper commercial PoE injector or switch. It’s up to you.

Which way is up?

This tiny 3-axis accelerometer module can operate in either +/-1.5g or +/-6g ranges, giving your project the ability to tell which way is up. Ideal for robotics projects, tilt sensors, vehicle dataloggers, and whatever else you can dream up. It has independent X, Y, and Z axis outputs ready to connect directly to analog inputs on an Arduino, and we’ve included an onboard 3.3V regulator so that you can run it from either 5V or 3.3V. It even has a “zero g!” output to detect when the device is in free-fall, so you could connect that to an “interrupt” pin on an Arduino to have your project react immediately if it’s dropped!

Very cool.

The module includes mounting holes suitable for M3 or 1/8″ bolts, and a flat rear face so you can easily glue it to any surface. Available here now or at a Freetronics reseller near you.

Third Prize: 

Congratulations to CV Rao from New Delhi, India for their entry:

I waiting to receive the Zoombadger,
To play with my daughter.
A game of detective and murderer,
Along with her lovely mother.

CV will receive three Snootlab Zombadge Kits:

With Trippy RGB sketch uploaded, this is the Snootlab games platform based on the Mitch Altman original design, it can receive original Snootlab collaborative games. This badge can be used for soldering workshop and electronic board programming. Being a badge, it can be worn as a pendant. More details on the dedicated website zombadge.com.

Once again thanks to everyone for their entries. We had a few ineligible entries and two rude ones. Such is the Internet!

And of course thanks to our sponsors Freetronics and Snootlab

Stay tuned for the November competition which will be announced shortly. 

So have fun and keep checking into tronixstuff.com. Why not follow things on twitter, Google+, subscribe  for email updates or RSS using the links on the right-hand column, or join our Google Group – dedicated to the projects and related items on this website. Sign up – it’s free, helpful to each other –  and we can all learn something.

October 2011 Competition

Hello Readers!

The October competition has now closed and the entries will be judged very soon. Stay tuned for the results and the forthcoming November competition!

— *** Prize One *** —

Prize One consists of a Freetronics USBDroid and one Terminal Shield:

Designed in Australia and manufactured to the highest quality standards the USBDroid combines the functionality of the Freetronics Eleven along with a USB host-mode controller and a microSD memory card slot all merged together into a single, integrated board that is 100% Arduino compatible. This is the ideal platform for developing peripherals or projects based around Android devices with ADK (Android Developer Kit) functionality, but without requiring a USB host controller shield stacked onto an Arduino. Connect your Android phone for all kinds of controller and networking features, and other USB devices like game controllers, Bluetooth dongles, digital cameras, etc. All the good things about the Eleven are included:

• Gold-plated PCB.
• Top and bottom parts overlays.
• Top-spec ATmega328P MCU.
• D13 pin isolated with a MOSFET so you can use it as an input.
• Robust power filtering.
• Sexy rounded corners.
• PC communications with the Mini-USB connector: no more shorts against shields!
• And of course the USB Host connector to go out to your Android phone and other USB devices.

In addition we’ve included a high current onboard power supply so you can charge your Android device directly off the USBDroid. Available now from a Freetronics reseller near you.

The Terminal Shield breaks out all the Arduino headers to handy screw terminals, making it really easy to connect external wires without using a soldering iron. Ideal for quick experiments or for robust connections! The center area of the shield is also a huge prototyping area, allowing you to add your own parts to suit your project. A blue “power” LED shows when your Arduino is powered up, and there are also red, green, and blue general-purpose LEDs with current-limiting resistors. The Terminal Shield comes with all the supporting components already fitted as surface-mount parts so you can start using it right away, and we even provide stackable headers to allow you to mount another shield on top.

Features

• Gold-plated surface: solders easily and very resistant to finger oil, etc.
• Large prototyping area with through-plated holes.
• Clearly marked GND and 5V rails beside prototyping area.
• Blue surface-mount “power on” LED.
• 2 × 100nF power supply smoothing capacitors pre-fitted as surface-mount parts.
• Reset button wired through to the Arduino so you can reset it even with the shield mounted over the top.
• 3 general-purpose surface-mount LEDs (red, green, blue) with current limiting resistors pre-fitted: driveHIGH to illuminate.
• Overlay printed on both the top and the bottom of the board so you don’t have to turn it over to see what you’re soldering onto.
• Sexy rounded corners.

— *** Prize Two*** —

Prize Two consists of  a Freetronics EtherTen and the new AM3X 3-Axis Accelerometer Module:

This is the mother of all Arduino-compatible boards. Designed in Australia and manufactured to the highest quality standards the EtherTen replaces three boards – consider having an Arduino Uno SMD, Ethernet shield with PoE, and a microSD shield – all on the one board. From the Freetronics website:

The EtherTen is a 100% Arduino compatible board that can talk to the world. Do Twitter updates automatically, serve web pages, connect to web services, display sensor data online, and control devices using a web browser. The Freetronics EtherTen uses the same ATmega328P as the Duemilanove and the same Wiznet W5100 chip used by the official Arduino Ethernet Shield, so it’s 100% compatible with the Ethernet library and sketches. Any project you would previously have built with an Arduino and an Ethernet shield stacked together, you can now do all in a single, integrated board.

We’ve even added a micro SD card slot so you can store web content on the card, or log data to it.

All the good things about the Eleven and the Ethernet Shield have been combined into this one device so please see those pages for all the specific details, but the highlights include:

• Gold-plated PCB.
• Top and bottom parts overlays.
• Top-spec ATmega328P MCU.
• Mini-USB connector: no more shorts against shields!
• D13 pin isolated with a MOSFET so you can use it as an input.
• Power-over-Ethernet support, both cheapie DIY or full 802.3af standards-compliant.
• Ethernet activity indicators on the PCB and the jack.
• 10/100base-T auto-selection.
• Fully compatible with standard Ethernet library.
• Reset management chip.
• Fixed SPI behavior on Ethernet chipset.
• Robust power filtering.
• Sexy rounded corners.

Note that just like our Ethernet Shield with PoE support, the EtherTen provides a number of options for different Power over Ethernet. You can use the supplied jumpers and feed 7-12Vdc down the wire for cheap DIY version, or you can fit our PoE Regulator 24V and feed a bit more voltage down the wire, or you can use our PoE Regulator 802.3AF along with a proper commercial PoE injector or switch. It’s up to you.

Which way is up?

This tiny 3-axis accelerometer module can operate in either +/-1.5g or +/-6g ranges, giving your project the ability to tell which way is up. Ideal for robotics projects, tilt sensors, vehicle dataloggers, and whatever else you can dream up. It has independent X, Y, and Z axis outputs ready to connect directly to analog inputs on an Arduino, and we’ve included an onboard 3.3V regulator so that you can run it from either 5V or 3.3V. It even has a “zero g!” output to detect when the device is in free-fall, so you could connect that to an “interrupt” pin on an Arduino to have your project react immediately if it’s dropped!

Very cool.

The module includes mounting holes suitable for M3 or 1/8″ bolts, and a flat rear face so you can easily glue it to any surface. Available here now or at a Freetronics reseller near you.

— *** Prize Three *** —

Prize Three consists of not one, not two – but three Snootlab Zombadge kits:

With Trippy RGB sketch uploaded, this is the Snootlab games platform based on the Mitch Altman original design, it can receive original Snootlab collaborative games. This badge can be used for soldering workshop and electronic board programming. Being a badge, it can be worn as a pendant. More details on the dedicated website zombadge.com.

— *** How to Enter *** —

In thirty words or less explain what you would do with your preferred prize if you received it. Use your imagination and have some fun – perhaps try your hand at Haiku or some nerdy poetry. You can enter once for each prize bundle, however you can only win one out of three prizes.

Email your submission along with your name, email address and postal address to competition at tronixstuff dot com with the subject heading October. Entries will be accepted until 01/11/2011 (that’s November the first) 0005h GMT.

As with any other competition, there needs to be some rules:

• The winners’ entry, first name and country will be announced publicly;
• Entries that contain text not suitable for minors or insulting to the competition will be rejected;
• Prizes will be delivered via Australia Post domestic or regular international air mail;
• Winners outside of Australia will be responsible for any taxes, fees or levies imposed by your local Governments (such as import levies, excise, VAT, etc.) upon importation of purchased goods;
• Prizes may take up to 45 days to be received;
• If you have met John Boxall in person, or you have won a previous tronixstuff.com competition you cannot enter;
• No disputes will be entered in to;
• Incomplete entries will be rejected;
• Prizes carry no warranty nor guarantee – and are to be used or abused at entirely your own risk;
• Entries will be accepted until 0005h GMT on 1st November 2011.

So have fun and keep checking into tronixstuff.com. Why not follow things on twitter, Google+, subscribe  for email updates or RSS using the links on the right-hand column, or join our Google Group – dedicated to the projects and related items on this website. Sign up – it’s free, helpful to each other –  and we can all learn something.