Calendar 2015

Conrad Shop Christmas to arrive. The Arduino compatible microcontroller with integral WLAN module (Pretzelboard) and the included components are perfectly suited for 24 themed, diverse and exciting experiments. Internet of Things includes the communication and control of sensors and actuators in a large network. The various aspects of the IoT theme are explored in practice by using simple examples starting from simply switching an LED on or off with a smartphone, the creation of a Web server or the long-term monitoring by means of sensors. All circuits are put up on a pinboard; no soldering is required. ...

The final project consists of several elements you have been introduced to in the course of the advent time. One function is the Cheerlights function presented the day before. You can also receive the current colour of the Cheerlights project and display it with the RGB-LED. The board is also used for long-term monitoring of the temperature. At the same time, the board is used to emit an alarm sound when the temperature exceeds a specific value, e.g. because there is a fire. As a last function, the board can be used as a Christmas bell, by making it play the song Jingle Bells with a time-controlled TalkBack command. All in all, today’s project is an all-rounder for the Christmas tree. ...

Today’s experiment is based on a project by Hans Scharler that is called Cheerlights. The idea is globally linked lights that can be simultaneously controlled via Twitter commands. It is a good example of the world growing closer and closer together with the Internet. The circuit is similar to previous projects Behind today’s door, you will find a fourth extension cable with which the RGB-LED can also be placed aside. This can be particularly practical if, for example, you want to hide the board in the Christmas tree while the RGB-LED decorates the top of the tree. ...

Today’s project is about another app of the ThingSpeak page, i.e. the TalkBack-App. This function permits creating a command that is read and executed by the controller. What appears nonsensical with a single controller does make sense when using two or an entire network of controllers. Some boards can act as sensors then, e.g. with motion detectors, and send a TalkBack command. Another module reads the command from the ThingSpeak page and then opens the door or reports an alarm. ...

Today’s project is an alarm system with which you can, for example, check whether someone opens a drawer without permission. There is a continuous check for whether the connected light sensor is exposed to too much light. If this is the case, an alarm signal will sound and a message will be sent via Twitter. Lightsensor on A0 and Piezo on D8 Behind today’s door, there is a Piezo speaker that is used as alarm signal encoder. The structure of today’s experiment is shown in the figure. ...

The website ThingSpeak offers a lot more than just long-time monitoring of sensors. Today’s project is similar to the projects from days 9 and 10 in its basic idea. Information is collected from a website on the internet. In this case, it is whether a specific stream is currently online or not. There are two decisive advantages of the ThingSpeak version over the first attempts. First, the ThingSpeak page can also call websites via HTTPS (HyperText Transfer Protocol Secure), while the module only supports the unsafe HTTP-protocol. Second, the website can pre-filter important information and thus clearly reduce the data volume to be processed by the controller. ...

In the last days of the advent time, we will deal with an entirely new subject: the website ThingSpeak. This website has been specifically developed for the subject of Internet of Things and contains various practical functions for you. Before you tackle the setup and programme as usual, you need to set up an account on the website www.ThingSpeak.com Log in with your user data under the item Sign In. You can see a website that shows your channels. Since you have no channels yet, this site will look rather empty. Click New Channel and assign a name, e.g. Light. In this project, you will measure brightness. In the item Field1, you can now assign a name to the field, e.g. Brightness. All other fields can be left empty for now. ...

Yesterday, you built a receiver for infra-red remote controls. Today, you are building the remote control itself. More precisely, you will build a universal remote control that you can operate by computer or Smartphone and with which you can operate your TV or other devices whenever you misplace the original remote control. The IR-diode at Pin D3 For this project, you need the component behind today’s door: the IR diode. It looks like a simple LED, but it sends light in the invisible infra-red range. The IR-signals are visible to a digital camera, however. The structure of today’s experiment is shown in the figure. Don’t be surprised that the IR-LED is not given a dropping resistor. The effective dropping resistor is the On-resistor of the port, at approx. 30 Ohm. Because of this, the current through the diode is quite high, but the impulses sent are so short that the diode will not take damage. ...

Today’s project permits controlling the controller by remote control. You can change the colour of the RGB-LED with buttons you can choose on an infra-red remote control, and change the background colour of the website right along with it. TheIR-Modul on Pins D7-D5 Behind today’s door, you will find the important part of today’s project, i.e. the infra-red receiver module. You can connect the module without a cable as shown in the figure below. The program sets the corresponding pins so that the module is supplied with power. ...

Today’s project permits simple control of the digital pins D2-D7 per website. The status of the respective pin is also presented on the website, so that you will never lose the overview. To review the condition of the pin well, a setup as in the following figure is recommended. Both the RGB-LED and the regular LED are used. The cathodes of the LEDs are now not connected to the long ground line on the outside of the board, but are also at a digital output. Only when these pins are switched low can the LEDs light up. ...