Chip with simple program for Toy

[Bill Bowden]

Larry Hatch <lhatch@flite.net> wrote in message news:<vgga5622m7c8c2@corp.supernews.com>...

My son wants a robot and I have a remote I would like to use a couple
buttons to tell it forward, back, left, right, stop.

My thought was build a IR detector, drop a AVR mega8 (microcontroller)
in and get 0 and 5 to it from the IR signal. Have the input on the uC
learn the buttons and turn on drivers to the motors. I doubt RadioShack
has that type stuff now. Any simple IR detector ideas. I have IT
receiver LED in my box somewhere, and photo diodes as well.

Radio Shack still has a 38Khz IR receiver listed on the website.
Part number is 276-640 for $3.69. I think it runs at 5 volts
and delivers TTL output for IR input. It has 3 connections for
+5, ground and TTL output, and should work with TV remote controls.
But as others have said, you can probably find the same thing in
an old TV or VCR.

-Bill

 

[Michael Black]

DarkMatter (DarkMatter@thebarattheendoftheuniverse.org) writes:

On Sun, 06 Jul 2003 09:46:58 -0400, Larry Hatch <lhatch@flite.net
Gave us:


My son wants a robot and I have a remote I would like to use a couple
buttons to tell it forward, back, left, right, stop.

My thought was build a IR detector, drop a AVR mega8 (microcontroller)
in and get 0 and 5 to it from the IR signal. Have the input on the uC
learn the buttons and turn on drivers to the motors. I doubt RadioShack
has that type stuff now. Any simple IR detector ideas. I have IT
receiver LED in my box somewhere, and photo diodes as well.

Rat Shack has a yard light switch that is IR, and has a fresnel
lens. The whole thing is cheap, and contains circuitry that you
probably want to use. You have to find out what it get powered by
locally (at the PCB) as it is an AC device. You don't need all that
AC stuff in there.

Aside from that, the device you want for doing it yourself is called
a resistor bolometer. and comes in several canned transistor packages.

Some have FET front ends on them already. Not cheap, those.

Then, you need the proper IR window, for the type of work you are
doing. You can determine what you need, and usually just by the right
pre-windowed bolometer.

Your IR led device may work, depending on the wavelength you are
interested in. It would be strictly binary in nature though,
providing no difference in output for different temperatures. A
simple yes/no, is it there, is it not there switch.

Huh?

He needs/wants some sort of IR remote control. An infrared lightsource
that is modulated with some sort of code so he can send commands to
the robot.

That yard light is totally unuseable, because it's an on/off thing.
It's not expecting the light source to be modulated, so it likely
will trigger on unwanted sources of light.

And your "resistor bolometer" takes the prize from complicating
something far beyond necessity. For that matter, it's such an obscure
device that I have no idea if it would even apply to this situation.

Michael

 

[DarkMatter]

On 7 Jul 2003 02:36:44 GMT, et472@FreeNet.Carleton.CA (Michael Black)
Gave us:

DarkMatter (DarkMatter@thebarattheendoftheuniverse.org) writes:
On Sun, 06 Jul 2003 09:46:58 -0400, Larry Hatch <lhatch@flite.net
Gave us:


My son wants a robot and I have a remote I would like to use a couple
buttons to tell it forward, back, left, right, stop.

My thought was build a IR detector, drop a AVR mega8 (microcontroller)
in and get 0 and 5 to it from the IR signal. Have the input on the uC
learn the buttons and turn on drivers to the motors. I doubt RadioShack
has that type stuff now. Any simple IR detector ideas. I have IT
receiver LED in my box somewhere, and photo diodes as well.

Rat Shack has a yard light switch that is IR, and has a fresnel
lens. The whole thing is cheap, and contains circuitry that you
probably want to use. You have to find out what it get powered by
locally (at the PCB) as it is an AC device. You don't need all that
AC stuff in there.

Aside from that, the device you want for doing it yourself is called
a resistor bolometer. and comes in several canned transistor packages.

Some have FET front ends on them already. Not cheap, those.

Then, you need the proper IR window, for the type of work you are
doing. You can determine what you need, and usually just by the right
pre-windowed bolometer.

Your IR led device may work, depending on the wavelength you are
interested in. It would be strictly binary in nature though,
providing no difference in output for different temperatures. A
simple yes/no, is it there, is it not there switch.

Huh?

He needs/wants some sort of IR remote control. An infrared lightsource
that is modulated with some sort of code so he can send commands to
the robot.

Ahh. I thought he wanted an IR detector. You know... like the
HEADER says. I thought he wanted to use it for proximity or detection
or such, not signaling.

Hell, if he wants that, the little PCB assemblies which are sold for
the computer industry are quite cheap, and usually available at any PC
store, and are easily addressed. I think they are transceivers as
well, giving him two way capability.

That yard light is totally unuseable, because it's an on/off thing.
It's not expecting the light source to be modulated, so it likely
will trigger on unwanted sources of light.

It would be fine, with the right circuit behind the detector.

The current switch it is set up as now would not work for data.
Excuse me for not getting the right idea from the header, and the one
post I did read.

And your "resistor bolometer" takes the prize from complicating
something far beyond necessity.

The header says IR detector. Do you have a problem with these
transducers?

For that matter, it's such an obscure
device that I have no idea if it would even apply to this situation.

No it isn't "obscure". They are still used in the industry, every
day. The IR thermometry industry. Imagine that. They are not obscure
at all. The IR "LEDs" that receive are a variation of them, in fact.

Anyway. A simple bolometer is no harder to implement as a data
receiver than the devices used on the transceiver I just mentioned
earlier.

 

[C. James Callaway]

http://feynman.ee.ualberta.ca/ee401/archive_fall_2001.html#irbot

Simple using the IR Detector module you can get at Radio Shack, and a pic.
Very simple... full details.

-cjames

"Larry Hatch" <lhatch@flite.net> wrote in message
news:vgga5622m7c8c2@corp.supernews.com...

My son wants a robot and I have a remote I would like to use a couple
buttons to tell it forward, back, left, right, stop.

My thought was build a IR detector, drop a AVR mega8 (microcontroller)
in and get 0 and 5 to it from the IR signal. Have the input on the uC
learn the buttons and turn on drivers to the motors. I doubt RadioShack
has that type stuff now. Any simple IR detector ideas. I have IT
receiver LED in my box somewhere, and photo diodes as well.

 

[Terry Pinnell]

John Larkin <jjlarkin@highlandSNIPtechTHISnologyPLEASE.com> wrote:

On Sun, 06 Jul 2003 22:53:30 +0100, Terry Pinnell
terrypinDELETE@dial.pipexTHIS.com> wrote:

"Kevin Aylward" <kevin@anasoft.co.uk> wrote:

A relaxation oscillator of this sort is not possible with a normal
transistor in a normal circuit, to my knowledge. You can do this with a
unijunction one. Well, actually, you might get one to work in avalanche
mode. You drive the CE through a resister, with a cap across the CE, and
^^^^^^^^

let it break down, which discharges the cap. I have never tried this, so
there may be some catch.

I would move on to solving some more usefull problems.
^^^^^^^
I would move on to learning either how to spell or to use your spell
checker.


Oh, relax. This isn't an English Composition class.

John

Agreed. But sloppy spelling and sentence construction (rife in Kevin's
posts) says something, to me at least, about respect for detail and
consideration for readers.

--
Terry Pinnell
Hobbyist, West Sussex, UK

 

[Kevin Aylward]

Terry Pinnell wrote:

John Larkin <jjlarkin@highlandSNIPtechTHISnologyPLEASE.com> wrote:

On Sun, 06 Jul 2003 22:53:30 +0100, Terry Pinnell
terrypinDELETE@dial.pipexTHIS.com> wrote:

"Kevin Aylward" <kevin@anasoft.co.uk> wrote:

A relaxation oscillator of this sort is not possible with a normal
transistor in a normal circuit, to my knowledge. You can do this
with a unijunction one. Well, actually, you might get one to work
in avalanche mode. You drive the CE through a resister, with a cap
across the CE, and
^^^^^^^^

let it break down, which discharges the cap. I have never tried
this, so there may be some catch.

I would move on to solving some more usefull problems.
^^^^^^^
I would move on to learning either how to spell or to use your spell
checker.


Oh, relax. This isn't an English Composition class.

John

Agreed. But sloppy spelling and sentence construction (rife in Kevin's
posts) says something, to me at least, about respect for detail and
consideration for readers.

Then it only illustrates, with all due respect, that you ideas about
what constitutes respect and detail, are wrong.


Kevin Aylward
salesEXTRACT@anasoft.co.uk
http://www.anasoft.co.uk
SuperSpice, a very affordable Mixed-Mode
Windows Simulator with Schematic Capture,
Waveform Display, FFT's and Filter Design.

 

[Roy McCammon]

Kevin Aylward wrote:

Agreed. But sloppy spelling and sentence construction (rife in Kevin's
posts) says something, to me at least, about respect for detail and
consideration for readers.


Then it only illustrates, with all due respect, that you ideas about
what constitutes respect and detail, are wrong.

another ail for the warden


--
Achilles: I wish my wish would not be granted.
< an undescribable event occurs >
Achilles: What happened? Where's my Genie?
Tortoise: Our context got restored incorrectly.
Achilles: What does that cryptic comment mean?
Tortoise: The system crashed.


To email me send to :

rb <my last name> AT ieee DOT org

 

[Ricardo Matos Abreu]

"JohanWagener" <rebeldog@webmail.co.za> wrote in message
news:be9kvh$1c3$1@ctb-nnrp2.saix.net...

Please comment on my calculations

If I take two 10W resistors of 1k each and put them in parallel I would
get
a 500ohm resistor right? Now if I apply 220V over it there would be about
0.44A flowing through it. That is power of about 98.6W. How long will it
take to boil 500ml of water?

You'd blew up the resistors, even if power dissipation is helped by being
under water.

 

[Iwo Mergler]

Mike wrote:

On Sun, 6 Jul 2003 05:57:27 -0700, JohanWagener wrote:


What can be used as an element in a simple homemade kettle running off
220V?


The simplest approach would be to add salt to the water. Then, just put the
wires in the water, and adjust the salt content until the desired heating
time is achieved. Make sure you use a glass kettle. When the water is
heated, simply remove the salt and make your tea. The salt is reusable.

I have seen an improvised 'kettle' built with a piece of PCB, two gold-plated
copper areas connected straight to an industrial size 230V mains socket.

Didn't need salt, the impurities in the tap water were enough to boil it
within 2 minutes.

Whole thing went up in fireworks when someone tried to add sugar to his
coffee water while the contraption was still powered.

:^)

Iwo

 

[John Larkin]

On Mon, 07 Jul 2003 06:38:23 +0100, Terry Pinnell
<terrypinDELETE@dial.pipexTHIS.com> wrote:

John Larkin <jjlarkin@highlandSNIPtechTHISnologyPLEASE.com> wrote:

On Sun, 06 Jul 2003 22:53:30 +0100, Terry Pinnell
terrypinDELETE@dial.pipexTHIS.com> wrote:

"Kevin Aylward" <kevin@anasoft.co.uk> wrote:

A relaxation oscillator of this sort is not possible with a normal
transistor in a normal circuit, to my knowledge. You can do this with a
unijunction one. Well, actually, you might get one to work in avalanche
mode. You drive the CE through a resister, with a cap across the CE, and
^^^^^^^^

let it break down, which discharges the cap. I have never tried this, so
there may be some catch.

I would move on to solving some more usefull problems.
^^^^^^^
I would move on to learning either how to spell or to use your spell
checker.


Oh, relax. This isn't an English Composition class.

John

Agreed. But sloppy spelling and sentence construction (rife in Kevin's
posts) says something, to me at least, about respect for detail and
consideration for readers.

Kev's posts always make sense to me. An occasional spelling error - I
make them too - is no big deal in what is essentially casual
conversation. I can think of both loathsome and nonsensical people who
post here and spell beautifully.

John

 

[JohanWagener]

"Iwo Mergler" <"Iwo Mergler"> wrote in message
news:3f098da5$0$11379$4d4eb98e@read-nat.news.uk.uu.net...

Mike wrote:
On Sun, 6 Jul 2003 05:57:27 -0700, JohanWagener wrote:


What can be used as an element in a simple homemade kettle running off
220V?


The simplest approach would be to add salt to the water. Then, just put
the
wires in the water, and adjust the salt content until the desired
heating
time is achieved. Make sure you use a glass kettle. When the water is
heated, simply remove the salt and make your tea. The salt is reusable.


I have seen an improvised 'kettle' built with a piece of PCB, two
gold-plated
copper areas connected straight to an industrial size 230V mains socket.

Didn't need salt, the impurities in the tap water were enough to boil it
within 2 minutes.

Whole thing went up in fireworks when someone tried to add sugar to his
coffee water while the contraption was still powered.

:^)

Iwo

HAha wish I could see that. You get some clever people! But why? sugar does
not really make water more conductive? or am I missing something?

 

[Rich Grise]

John Larkin <jjlarkin@highSNIPlandTHIStechPLEASEnology.com> wrote in message news:<jg6jgvo63a6k3c24fjpd9p88jul9b2edkv@4ax.com>...

On Mon, 07 Jul 2003 06:38:23 +0100, Terry Pinnell
terrypinDELETE@dial.pipexTHIS.com> wrote:
....
Agreed. But sloppy spelling and sentence construction (rife in Kevin's
posts) says something, to me at least, about respect for detail and
consideration for readers.

Kev's posts always make sense to me. An occasional spelling error - I
make them too - is no big deal in what is essentially casual
conversation. I can think of both loathsome and nonsensical people who
post here and spell beautifully.

John

Is that, Loathsome and Nonsensical Simultaneously?

Thanksh %-}
Rich

 

[Rich Grise]

et472@FreeNet.Carleton.CA (Michael Black) wrote in message news:<beambs$e82

...
Huh?

He needs/wants some sort of IR remote control. An infrared lightsource
that is modulated with some sort of code so he can send commands to
the robot.

That yard light is totally unuseable, because it's an on/off thing.
It's not expecting the light source to be modulated, so it likely
will trigger on unwanted sources of light.

And your "resistor bolometer" takes the prize from complicating
something far beyond necessity. For that matter, it's such an obscure
device that I have no idea if it would even apply to this situation.

Michael

There used to be little modules, about a 1/2" cube, that were a
(an?) IR photodiode and detector circuit, that duplicated the
sensor on TVs and VCRs and stuff. I took a quick look at RS, but
didn't see anything like that, albeit I don't know what the official
name for it is. IR receiver module or something, I suppose.

Happy Hunting!
Rich

 

[John Larkin]

On 7 Jul 2003 17:03:35 -0700, richardgrise@yahoo.com (Rich Grise)
wrote:

John Larkin <jjlarkin@highSNIPlandTHIStechPLEASEnology.com> wrote in message news:<jg6jgvo63a6k3c24fjpd9p88jul9b2edkv@4ax.com>...
On Mon, 07 Jul 2003 06:38:23 +0100, Terry Pinnell
terrypinDELETE@dial.pipexTHIS.com> wrote:
...
Agreed. But sloppy spelling and sentence construction (rife in Kevin's
posts) says something, to me at least, about respect for detail and
consideration for readers.

Kev's posts always make sense to me. An occasional spelling error - I
make them too - is no big deal in what is essentially casual
conversation. I can think of both loathsome and nonsensical people who
post here and spell beautifully.

John

Is that, Loathsome and Nonsensical Simultaneously?

Thanksh %-}
Rich

Actually, they tend to be one or the other. The lunatics tend to be
pretty friendly.

John

 

[C. James Callaway]

This has been done so many times, you can get it off the shelf for almost
nothing. Check out the Rayming products. Encoder/Transmitter available
from Digikey for about $25.00 and the Receiver/Decoder for about $30.

Search for Rayming products at Digikey.

http://www.rayming.com/products/rf_product.htm
http://www.digikey.com/scripts/us/dksus.dll?Detail?Ref=154495&Row=335049

-cjames

"nick" <i141802596@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:4f981f90.0307041718.22a99a5a@posting.google.com...

1.if i want to make a simple remote controller and reveiver ,e.g. when
i pressing button A from the controller,then LED A will turn on in the
receiver side,i don't want the use IR TX &RX,so i want to use RF, but
i have no idea to make it,so anyone can give me a simple diagram,or
give me some web sites about the RF.

2.i have found some diagrams about them ,i think they are very
complex for me ,in the diagrams a component called inductor,what is
this? , How to use it?

3.if i want to make a simple bug,is it principle like the remote
contoller? i have found some web sites only teach how to make the
transmitter,they use radio to work as the receiver, that means anyone
turn their radio to the same band ,then they also can receive the
singles?

 

[John Fields]

On Sun, 06 Jul 2003 19:30:09 GMT, "Patrick Leonard"
<transactoid@rogers.com> wrote:

I may be in engineering, but I disagree strongly with the addage that we
must be an illiterate bunch
---

Well, _most_ of us aren't...

BTW, it's "adage". ;^)

--
John Fields

 

[Iwo Mergler]

JohanWagener wrote:

"Iwo Mergler" <"Iwo Mergler"> wrote in message
news:3f098da5$0$11379$4d4eb98e@read-nat.news.uk.uu.net...

Mike wrote:

On Sun, 6 Jul 2003 05:57:27 -0700, JohanWagener wrote:



What can be used as an element in a simple homemade kettle running off
220V?


The simplest approach would be to add salt to the water. Then, just put

the

wires in the water, and adjust the salt content until the desired

heating

time is achieved. Make sure you use a glass kettle. When the water is
heated, simply remove the salt and make your tea. The salt is reusable.


I have seen an improvised 'kettle' built with a piece of PCB, two

gold-plated

copper areas connected straight to an industrial size 230V mains socket.

Didn't need salt, the impurities in the tap water were enough to boil it
within 2 minutes.

Whole thing went up in fireworks when someone tried to add sugar to his
coffee water while the contraption was still powered.

:^)

Iwo



HAha wish I could see that. You get some clever people! But why? sugar does
not really make water more conductive? or am I missing something?

That's how the story went. I have seen the device boiling water but
wasn't there when it blew up. I guess it doesn't take much impurities
in the sugar to push it over the edge...

Iwo

 

[N. Thornton]

"Patrick Leonard" <transactoid@rogers.com> wrote in
news:iHtNa.58918$a51.44869@news02.bloor.is.net.cable.rogers.com:

I'm trying to figure out if its possible to build a super simple
signal generator uisng only one transistor and no other ICs.

The idea being you charge up a capacitor through a resistor then when
the cap is at an adequate potential, its voltage will turn on a
transistor. The transistor being on simply completes a circuit
allowing the cap to discharge. Whence the cap has discharged, the
transistor turns off, and the cap charges again. Repeat......

This seems logical to me, yet I cannot design a circuit that works
this way....it always seems like I'm missing something. Am I just not
being "clever" enough, or is such a circuit indeed impossible?

Hi Patrick.

This is perfectly possilbe, I'm surprised so many have queued up to
say it isnt.

Ah, I was going to ascii it, but I've got proportional font on.
Basically you put transistor (C and E only) in parallel with your Cap,
and add the R in series with that lot. Voila, one oscillator.

Or you can use a neon at higher Vs, and it looks nice.

Regards, NT

 

[John Fields]

On Tue, 08 Jul 2003 15:16:44 -0700, John Larkin
<jjlarkin@highSNIPlandTHIStechPLEASEnology.com> wrote:

On Sun, 06 Jul 2003 03:42:56 GMT, roma <roma@shaw.ca> wrote:


See cheapo oscillator page 23 http://members.shaw.ca/roma
roma

Your Cheapo Basic oscillator is cool... I've never seen this before.
The backwards transistor with open base is sometimes used as a
"reference zener" but apparently here the b-e zener breakdown is
tangled with some reverse-beta transistor action or something.

I've seen regular zeners oscillate with an r-c, but usually
erratically and at much lower currents.

Does anybody know what's really going on here?
---

If I had to guess I'd venture that it was the hysteresis associated with
negative resistance that was doing it. I remember back when I was
twenty-something and a Motorola 50 watt Zener in a TO-3 case fell into
my hands, the first thing I did with it was to put a cap across it and a
resistor in series with both of them to see if it would work like an
NE-2, but at a lower voltage. It did, but it got godawful hot in the
process!

I don't remember what the Zener voltage was, but it seems like if it
wasn't working in avalanche mode, it wouldn't have relaxation
oscillated.

--
John Fields

 

[Richard Freeman]

"JohanWagener" <rebeldog@webmail.co.za> wrote in message
news:becj4l$mbp$1@ctb-nnrp2.saix.net...

"Iwo Mergler" <"Iwo Mergler"> wrote in message
news:3f098da5$0$11379$4d4eb98e@read-nat.news.uk.uu.net...
Mike wrote:
On Sun, 6 Jul 2003 05:57:27 -0700, JohanWagener wrote:

I have seen an improvised 'kettle' built with a piece of PCB, two
gold-plated
copper areas connected straight to an industrial size 230V mains socket.

Didn't need salt, the impurities in the tap water were enough to boil it
within 2 minutes.

Whole thing went up in fireworks when someone tried to add sugar to his
coffee water while the contraption was still powered.

:^)

Iwo


HAha wish I could see that. You get some clever people! But why? sugar
does
not really make water more conductive? or am I missing something?

Metal Spoon ????