Olaf Lüke - 9 years, 3 months ago
We haven been asked how the Load Cell Bricklet and load cells work in general several times now. To demonstrate the functionality we made a small scale project with a 1kg load cell. It turned out so well, that we put it in the shop as a Scale Kit ;-).
The Scale Kit is build from MakerBeam, a 1kg Load Cell and laser cut plastic parts. It is very easy to put together and it demonstrates the functionality of a load cell.
A precision of ±1g is the complete 0-1kg range is possible with the kit.
Olaf Lüke - 9 years, 3 months ago
Instead of mostly talking about new products in our blog we want to show small and big projects more often. Today we start with two example programs for the RED Brick. The projects show how you can send and receive SMS messages with the RED Brick.
The sms_humidity example sends a SMS humidty message with a 60 second interval. It uses the callback of the Humidity Bricklet. The projects needs the RED Brick, a 3g stick with sim card and a Master Brick with Humidity Bricklet. In a Python script you can enter the UID of the Humidity Bricklet, the pin number of the sim card as well as the phone number of the sms message receiver. If transferred to the RED Brick, the python script will automatically send the humindity SMS message every 60 seconds.
The sms_location example uses a GPS Bricklet and it sends the position via SMS message. Instead of using a sending interval, the position is requested. To request the position you can send a SMS with the command “tf:loc” to the RED Brick. It will then send back the current position.
Both examples are written in Python and can be easily used as a starting point for your SMS message sending and receiving applications! Have fun with your automated SMS messaging!
Olaf Lüke - 9 years, 3 months ago
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Industrial Analog Out Bricklet
The Industrial Analog Out Bricklet is used to create current signals (0mA to 24mA) and voltage signals (0V to 10V) according to DIN IEC 60381-1 and DIN IEC 60381-2, to control devices with corresponding interfaces.
Industrial Dual Analog In Bricklet
The Industrial Dual Analog In Bricklet is equipped with a 2-channel 24-bit ADC for voltage measurements. It is factory calibrated. This allows for a full-scale (-35V to +35V) accuracy of 0.1% (±4mV) with up to 976 samples per second. Therefore, the Industrial Dual Analog In Bricklet represents the current high-end Bricklet for voltage measurements.
RS232 Bricklet
The RS232 Bricklet can send and receive serial data to communicate with other serial devices. The Bricklet offers three different connection options. A D-sub 9 connector and a 5-way terminal block provides a serial interface with RS-232 signal level. Alternatively, a 5-way pin header provides the same serial interface but with 3.3V TTL signal level.
ENDE, END, FIN, коне́ц
This was the last part of this series. We are eager to read about your projects! More Bricks and Bricklets to extend the system of building blocks will follow in the future. Stay tuned!
Olaf Lüke - 9 years, 3 months ago
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Accelerometer Bricklet
The Accelerometer Bricklet is equipped with a 3-axis accelerometer. The measured acceleration values for the three axes can be used to calculate the inclination of the Bricklet as roll and pitch angle. The Accelerometer Bricklet fits into the category of motion and position sensors in between the Tilt Bricklet and the IMU Brick.
Possible applications for the Accelerometer Bricklet are vast. For example, it can be used as an vibration sensor, or as a level, or to measure g-forces while driving a car, or du build an electronic dice.
Dust Detector Bricklet
The Dust Detector Bricklet is equipped with a dust sensor to measure the airborne dust density. This can be used as accurate indicator for when to vacuum or air the room.
Laser Range Finder Bricklet
The Laser Range Finder Bricklet uses a laser distance sensor. It can measure distance up to 40m with a resolution of 1cm and velocity up to 127m/s with a resolution of 1m/s. The velocity measurement range can be reduced in four steps down to 12.7m/s. The smaller measurement range allows for higher resolution up to 0.1m/s.
The Laser Range Finder Bricklet is the new star among the Bricklets for distance measurements. In contrast to the Distance IR Bricklet it is not sensitive to sunlight and its distance measurement range is much bigger compared to the Distance US Bricklet. Because it uses a narrow laser beam, instead of infrared light or ultrasound, it can to pinpoint measurements.
The Laser Range Finder Bricklet can be used for many applications. Here are some robotic examples: it can be used as height-above-ground sensor for drones or as laser scanner when combined with a servo or stepper motor.
Load Cell Bricklet
The Load Cell Bricklet can be connected to a load cell to build an individual and precise scale. There alre also four different load cells for different weight ranges available in the shop: 1kg, 5kg, 20kg, 50kg.
The Load Cell Bricklet can be used in all applications that benefit from automatic scales. For example, while automating a hobby-beer-brewery to automatically check the amounts of different ingredients.
How it continues tomorrow…
In the last part, that will be published tomorrow, we will introduce three new I/O Bricklets: Industrial Analog Out, Industrial Dual Analog In and RS232 Bricklet.
Olaf Lüke - 9 years, 3 months ago
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Yesterday we introduced the new Bricklets, today we will characterize a selection of them in detail. The Ambient Light 2.0, Analog In 2.0, Analog Out 2.0 and Moisture Bricklet 1.1 are improved versions of already existing Bricklets.
Ambient Light Bricklet 2.0
The Ambient Light Bricklet 2.0 is the successor of the Ambient Light Bricklet. The new version uses a better light sensor with a higher precision and bigger measurement range (0-64000 lux). This allows to measure sunlight much better than with the old Bricklet with its smaller measurement range (0-900 lux). Additionally, the measurement range can be configured in six steps between 0-600 and 0-64000 lux and the integration time can be configured in eight steps between 50 and 400 milliseconds. A smaller measurement range results in more precise measurements. A longer integration time results in less but more precise measurements. This allows to adapt the Ambient Light Bricklet 2.0 to the actual measurement task at hand.
Because we are already out-of-stock on the old Ambient Light Bricklet, all orders that have not yet been shipped, that include an old Ambient Light Bricklet, will automatically receive a new Ambient Light Bricklet 2.0 instead.
Analog In Bricklet 2.0
The Analog In Bricklet 2.0 is the successor of the Analog In Bricklets, that is already discontinued for a while now. We suggested the Voltage/Current Bricklet as a intermediate replacement. The improved Analog In Bricklet 2.0 is a more cost-effective alternative to the Voltage/Current Bricklet, in case you only want to measure a single voltage. It measures a DC voltage (0-42V) with 12bit resolution (~10mV). The new version uses a filtered non-inverting amplifier to reduce noise, compared to the simple voltage divider of the old Analog In Bricklet.
Analog Out Bricklet 2.0
The Analog Out Bricklet 2.0 is the successor of the Analog Out Bricklets. The new version is able to output 0-5V on its own, just as the old version. Additionally, it can output 0-12V with a external power supply connected to it. This allows to control a standard 0-10V industrial interface (DIN IEC 60381-1).
With still have some old Analog Out Bricklets in stock and will sell them for a reduced price along the new Bricklet. Once the old stock is sold we will only sell the Analog Out Bricklet 2.0.
Moisture Bricklet 1.1
The Moisture Bricklet 1.1 is a improved version of the Moisture Bricklet. In contrast to the three 2.0 Bricklets, the Moisture Bricklet 1.1 is only a new hardware version. Plugin and bindings stay the same. The old Moisture Bricklet used a specific method of measurement that could result in corrosion of the metal contacts. This destroyed the Bricklet. The improved version uses a capacitive method of measurement without bare-metal contacts, so no corrosion can occur anymore.
With still have some old Moisture Bricklets in stock, but we wont sell them anymore because of the corrosion problem. If you need an old Moisture Bricklet for some reason you can contact us.
How it continues tomorrow…
Tomorrow we will introduce four new sensor Bricklets: Accelerometer, Dust Detector, Laser Range Finder and Load Cell Bricklet.
