Introducing the Bumble-b and using it to control a LED matrix October 8, 2009
Posted by GuySoft in Crictor, Electronics, Hamakor, ITU, diy, open source, programming.Tags: bumble-b, diy, Electronics, howto, leds, linux, open source, programming, usb
2 comments
The Bumble-b
Hi all,
The past week I have been playing around with my new Bumble-b, as I mentioned in my last post. Basically what I did with it is control an LED matrix. After doing that I made it in to a USB Device! Thanks to the simple library LUFA. Now I can use a simple echo > /dev/ttyACM0 command to send a text message to the display. Meaning that I have now /dev/matrix!
In this post I hope to explain how to use the Bumble-b, a programmable USB chip, including its own built in programmer, for just $20. I would also like to encourage people here in Israel to start playing with this, since its cheap and easy to order way to get started with amateur electronics.
Here is a quick introduction video (followed by a detail post):
What is the Bumble-b?
The bumble-b is a USB programmable AVR chip with a programmer built in to it (called a breakout board). It is an AVR chip, meaning that its based on something that is widely used (the model is at90usb162). Moreover, since it has a USB connector right on it , this makes the creation of USB devices really simple. But not only USB devices alone.
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Astrophotography Using Canon Camera’s Hack Development Kit August 16, 2009
Posted by GuySoft in Astronomy, Crictor, Hamakor, ITU, diy, linux, open source, programming.Tags: Astronomy, basic, camera, chdk, diy, ffmpeg, hacking, meteors, negev, open source, programming, video
9 comments
Hi all,
I am going to explain here how I managed to use the Cannon open source hack development kit , known as CHDK, to photograph stars and even create neat movies of the stars motion.
It all started this Monday, I was lucky to see that there is going to be Perseids meteor shower, a day in advance. So I had time getting the code ready before it was too late. I thought I would go somewhere next to Jerusalem and photograph, but in the end, friends of mine (Shy and Anna) from the Israeli Astronomy Association, which I am part of, told me they are going down south to the dessert, far away from light pollution, to take count of the meteors for the IMO. So I joined him, and my data is also available.
Before all the technical stuff, here is a video I made that shows you what this all comes to:
Now back to CHDK, and how this was done.
What is CHDK? And how do I install it?
CHDK is a firmware addon for Cannon powershot digital cameras. It supports most of them, mine is a simple powershot A590, costs to date about 700 NIS. Moreover, since its an addon, it will not void warranty, and can’t damage your camera. It has a lot of features (including games and an e-book reader!).
How to build “cantenna”, a wave guide antenna out of a coffee can November 27, 2007
Posted by GuySoft in Crictor, Hamakor, cantenna, diy, linux, open source, wifi, wireless.Tags: cantenna, computers, diy, hacking, howto, linux
14 comments
This is really a translation of a post I wrote in Hebrew out of Linmagazine.
Here is my own DIY guide to build a waveguide antenna. This antenna will dramatically boost your wireless connection to a specific direction, enabling connectivity to great distances.
