Category Archives: Arduino.

All about my proceedings in the “arduino area”.

IKEA Samtid mood-light BT firmware — simple_serial

Posted on July 9, 2015 by robert

This firmware for the ISML + HC-05 Bluetooth module currently implements the same simple interface as the current WiFi-code named ‘browser_control’.

Pairing the ‘HC-05’on linux using the command line (openSUSE 13.2): When first powered on, the HC-05 module will … Continue reading →

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Small project #12 ½ — IKEA Samtid mood-light-upgrade upgrade

Posted on April 16, 2015 by robert

Someone, I won’t mention any names here, practically coerced me into upgrading this little project a bit. Now there’s the option to add a bluetooth module (HC-05, JY-MCU “ZS-040”), which supports remote code upload, or a WiFi module (ESP8266-1) using … Continue reading →

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Small project #12 — IKEA Samtid mood-light upgrade

Posted on August 16, 2014 by robert

This upgrade is based on the loved-by-everybody WS2812B intelligent RGB LED and works just fine with Adafruit’s NeoPixel library. The concept is – once again – rather simple. Whack a lot of WS2812B RGB LEDs onto a small board, add … Continue reading →

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YOUYUE 858D+ hotair station — reverse engineering #6

Posted on March 10, 2014 by robert

Adding some more stuff is always fun.

Posted in Arduino., Soldering & PCBs. | Tagged , , , , , | 35 Comments

YOUYUE 858D+ hotair station — reverse engineering #5

Posted on January 5, 2014 by robert

The lack of an ISP connector on this board has given me a lot of grief. This little adapter board will solve that problem once and for all. It also provides a couple of through-hole pads for potentially adding some … Continue reading →

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YOUYUE 858D+ hotair station — reverse engineering #4

Posted on December 2, 2013 by robert

Possibly (and hopefully) the last post in this little hot-air station series. I’ve opened and closed that device far too often – and popped out the chip multiple times in each instance. You see the designer failed to add a … Continue reading →

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YOUYUE 858D+ hotair station — reverse engineering #3

Posted on November 29, 2013 by robert

After tweaking some control loop parameters and adding a hard-limit for the temperature (heater cut-off + resetting the error term, effectively restarting the loop), the massive temperature overshoots are a thing of the past. I declare this a success. “Some … Continue reading →

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YOUYUE 858D+ hotair station — reverse engineering #2

Posted on November 28, 2013 by robert

In part one I dealt with the very basics: fan control, buttons and the display. Now it is time to attack the business end of this device! Safety warning / disclaimer: Please understand that operating a device powered by line-voltage, … Continue reading →

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YOUYUE 858D+ hotair station — reverse engineering #1

Posted on November 25, 2013 by robert

The YOUYUE 858D+ I have in my possession uses an AVR ATmega8 microcontroller to control the fan-speed, drive a 7-segment display, read 2 buttons and drive the TRIAC via an opto-isolator.

Posted in Arduino., Soldering & PCBs. | Tagged , , , , | 45 Comments

WS2812B + ATmega168 breakout — a.k.a. RGB LED RING V3

Posted on October 19, 2013 by robert

No more software PWM, no more LED driver chips, just intelligent LED pixels. These things come with integrated controllers/drivers and support 24bit colors (8bit per R,G,B). This makes projects smaller and is much easier on the microcontroller, no more need … Continue reading →

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Arduino to go

Posted on May 19, 2012 by robert

I’m probably not the first one to do it, but it is still a very good idea. Especially when combined with a product like ‘Parted Magic‘. Ultimate usefulness. Save / restore / backup / image computers – AND – code … Continue reading →

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Adding IR remote control

Posted on March 20, 2012 by robert

Recently I bought a small IR remote control + matching (38kHz) demodulating receiver at Adafruit. I just couldn’t find such a small remote over here. As it turns out the remote uses the extended NEC data format, which is nicely … Continue reading →

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RGB LED Ring V2 + ShiftPWM — super smooth color fading

Posted on January 20, 2012 by robert
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Arduino 1.0 — a few things you can do to save FLASH space

Posted on December 7, 2011 by robert

Since the release of Arduino 1.0, some libraries have seen a huge increase in compiled file size. This is _not_ a fix for those. This will be taken care of the community sooner or later! Here are a few general … Continue reading →

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Succumbing to the XMAS-lights madness

Posted on December 1, 2010 by robert

“This time of the year” is approaching __again__. Where did all the time go? I remember having seen my neighbours’ light shows and illuminated windows as if it had been just yesterday. But this year I will fight back! I’ll … Continue reading →

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More light! — Prolly my LAST large perfboard prototype

Posted on November 23, 2010 by robert

I’m still alive — physically that is. Recently I felt the urge to do some soldering an I promptly succumbed to it. 3 days later I was done and totally fed up with having to solder using the “W-word”. The … Continue reading →

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RGB LED Ring — now available as DIY SMD kit !

Posted on May 15, 2010 by robert

The RGB LED Ring is available as a DIY SMD kit! Honestly, ignore the next two paragraphs :-) Well as of next Monday 18:00 CET to be honest (May 17th 2010). I’ve already added it to zen-cart, but it’s still … Continue reading →

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Nitelite upgrade — another RGB thingy

Posted on February 28, 2010 by robert
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jU23Af8sHPo

A few days ago I visited my parents. The main purpose was to ‘deposit’ my new Lecroy WaveAce 224 DSO. I bought it as a gift for myself, but I haven’t fulfilled all criteria to receive the gift yet. Therefore … Continue reading →

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Playing with the OSCCAL register of an ATmega168

Posted on December 25, 2009 by robert

I was having problems with the “led ring” boards. Their internal oscillators were not ticking with the same speed and required constant re-syncing. I tried to improve the situation by recalibrating by adjusting the OSCCAL registers. Recalibration can be done … Continue reading →

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IKEA SAMTID modification — part 2

Posted on August 19, 2009 by robert

Not having the right tools is such a pain. The modification I’m planning to do requires cutting 72 round 35mm holes into the white plastic foil that forms the Ikea SAMTID’s “head”. I tried to do that with a scalpel, … Continue reading →

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