9 Fun Embedded Projects, No Raspberry Pi Required
Not every embedded computing project requires the power of a Raspberry Pi. Here are nine based on much simpler platforms that still give you outstanding results.
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As I have recently explored, Raspberry Pi projects could offer hours of summer fun for you and your family. The kicker to those projects is that you also get to learn about Linux and some business-class embedded programming languages while you're having fun. A win-win, right?
The trouble is, there are lots of folks for whom the RasPi is a platform too far. If polishing your basic programming skills or learning to control hardware through software is your goal, the overhead of a real operating system can add just enough complexity to move the project from "challenging" to "discouraging." Fortunately, there are project platforms that don't carry the OS weight and can get you straight to the hardware interface and application coding steps.
In many ways the start of the current embedded control explosion can be traced back to the debut of the Arduino. A simple controller with an even simpler programming language and IDE (Integrated Development Environment), the Arduino provides an ecosystem that will allow you to start with turning an LED on and off and progress up to industrial-level projects with multiple inputs and outputs.
Of course, the Arduino isn't the only option when it comes to embedded control projects. From "traditional" answers like the Intel 8051 family, to the Picaxe and Beagle Bone, to the Galileo and the Edison, there are now embedded control platforms that can meet just about any requirement you might have for a project.
This article is mostly Arduino, though there is a Picaxe thrown in for spice. There's a range of project complexity in here and, yes, there are two different ways to do the same thing -- two weather projects because they show very different ways to approach a common problem.
[See Top Programming Languages That Will Future-Proof Your Portfolio.]
If you're going on vacation, throw a couple of Arduinos in your kit with your laptop and you'll find that you've got a good way to while away a rainy afternoon or an unexpected airport layover. You can spend a few evenings and build a project that's Facebook-worthy. If you add the right Lego kit you can even spend some time with a youngster building a robot that can do very cool things. (Even if you don't have a young one to work with, don't let that stop you from buying your own box of Lego bricks for a robot project.)
Take a look and let me know which of these projects seems like a winner to you. I've got some favorites -- and I have a box full of controllers just waiting for me to free up some time.
If you've built a project that's not on the list, please let me know that, too. I'm always on the lookout for the next way to spend a long weekend building something cool.
I live in a state where the weather can be exciting. I'm sufficiently geeky about the weather to have gone through training with the NWS on severe weather. If that's not enough, Jim Cantore and I have the same hairstyle. So you could say I really like keeping up with the weather.
This is the first of two weather projects on the list. This wireless weather station with PC logging has several things going for it from a project perspective. It lets you do WiFi data transfer and connection with a central PC (thereby teaching some of the principles used in industrial IoT analysis and control); it uses solar power for the external sensors; and it provides a platform you can later expand for more data points. This one is written up nicely, and it's a great intermediate-level project for your Arduino journey.
Ahh, is there any activity more perfectly summery than spending time in the garden? All that nature, all those delicious vegetables, all that time spent paying attention to the needs of plants... If that last point takes the shine off the first two for you, then this geek gardening project should be right up your alley.
In this project, you don't even have to go outside -- the Arduino-based system waters the plants when necessary, makes sure they get enough light, and even lets you know if the temperature sails out of control. All you have to do is set everything up and prepare to accept the compliments on your gardening skills. In the meantime, you'll have gained some real experience with different sensors and control systems based on input ranges. Sounds like summer to me.
I like the whole Steampunk aesthetic, so this Steampunk Binary Color Clock strikes me as quite cool. The electronics are pretty simple, but if you like to make things with your hands, there are a lot of options beyond those covered in the project. In terms of learning, one of the skills you gain if you follow the project instructions is in breadboarding -- a way of working with electronic components while you're still figuring out the design. It's a solid, useful skill -- and how better to learn it than with a clock that can tell you when it's time to head to your local cosplay meetup.
In much of North America, Summer brings thunderstorms and thunderstorms bring lightning. Since lightning is a fairly dangerous phenomenon, an electronic lightning detector can be quite useful. This particular project uses very simple electronics for the detection circuit -- the most advanced technology is in the software. It has to be noted that this is a very simple project -- it will provide a known output when lightning is detected within 20 miles, or so. As you gain skill and knowledge you can do other things with the output, from triggering a camera shutter to playing an audio file that screams, "Get out of the pool NOW!"
Once upon a time, engineers used X-Y plotters to turn their CAD files into paper. Today, large inkjet printers have mostly done away with the plotter, but there are still a lot of interesting things you can learn from building a small plotter -- things like a linear actuator or a stepper motor control. This project is built around a Picaxe controller. Picaxe is a family of controllers that's been around longer than the Arduino and has a huge community of supporters.
It's one thing to build a weather station if you just want to keep up with the weather. It's another if you're interested in the weather for a particular purpose like, say, agriculture or kite-surfing. Those other purposes led to the creation of this wireless weather station that addresses a couple of technologies that weren't in the first weather station on the list.
The first technology new to this project is 3G data transmission. Since the instrumentation and display are around 100 miles apart, simple WiFi won't work. The next thing this addresses is a key concept in embedded control called "de-bouncing." It's a technique that is required for many, many routines that convert sensor input into action. This designer explains it well. This isn't a simple project, but it's one where you can learn a lot, even if you don't ever picture yourself strapped to a kite in the middle of a lake.
The internet has been filled with great high-speed videos that show interesting things happening in slow motion. On the still side, we've been treated to all sorts of images of objects exploding, lightning strikes, or objects hitting the water in mid-splash. How cool would it be to make one of those photos for yourself? With this project to create a splash photography rig, you could be on your way.
This is an involved, advanced project that requires you to build hardware and program software. Some fiddling will be required because of the differences in cameras, flash units, and things that go "splash." All that fiddling also means that there are lot of opportunities for learning and customization, and lots of great photos to be taken when you get it right.
Sometimes you just want to make something that looks cool. An 8 x 8 array of LEDs qualifies, at least for me. When you watch patterns play out through the cube, it can become positively hypnotizing. There's some skill-building here, as well. If you haven't had enough practice with soldering, this project has enough joints to build your skill in some serious ways, and you get to learn about multiplexing in software, too. All in all, it's a very neat project that can be the basis of even cooler things to come.
If you're like many of us, you've spent hour after hour sighing and thinking, "If only I didn't have to turn my head to look at the clock to know what time it is." Thanks to this talking multimedia clock, your life is now complete. This is actually more than a clock. It also gathers temperature and light information, then lets you know about time, temperature, and light in a pleasant electronic voice, while dazzling you with more of the blinky LEDs we all love so much.
This project isn't organized quite as neatly as some of the others, but all of the information is there. Be sure to watch the video, as well -- it's important for figuring out some of the hardware pieces of the project.
That's it! Those are nine projects that should keep you active for a while. The question is, did any of them pique your interest? Are you ready to reach into your drawer of embedded controllers (you do have one of those, don't you?) and pull one out for something on the list, or do you have your own list of projects? Let me know -- I'd love to share ideas with you on how to have the most geek-filled summer ever.
If you're like many of us, you've spent hour after hour sighing and thinking, "If only I didn't have to turn my head to look at the clock to know what time it is." Thanks to this talking multimedia clock, your life is now complete. This is actually more than a clock. It also gathers temperature and light information, then lets you know about time, temperature, and light in a pleasant electronic voice, while dazzling you with more of the blinky LEDs we all love so much.
This project isn't organized quite as neatly as some of the others, but all of the information is there. Be sure to watch the video, as well -- it's important for figuring out some of the hardware pieces of the project.
That's it! Those are nine projects that should keep you active for a while. The question is, did any of them pique your interest? Are you ready to reach into your drawer of embedded controllers (you do have one of those, don't you?) and pull one out for something on the list, or do you have your own list of projects? Let me know -- I'd love to share ideas with you on how to have the most geek-filled summer ever.
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