Part 1 - My Stuttering First Attempts with an Arduino Pro Mini

[DBK]

I posted slightly mischievously the other day a photo of the Arduino Pro Mini I'd bought. This is a tiny (very tiny) device described as a microcontroller board. I've a bit of experience with various Raspberry Pi boards but this Arduino is a very different type of device. Arduinos are good for performing simple tasks like opening garage doors. The Raspberry Pi has a proper Linux based OS and can run several programs at the same time. The Arduino is designed to run just one program and do this automatically as soon as it is switched on.

The first challenge with the Arduino Pro Mini is it indeed very mini (18mm * 33mm) and I'm no professional solderer. So I've bought this thing:

Sometimes described as a "Third hand" it has a magnifying glass (burning a hole in my soldering mat!) and a couple of adjustable arms with clips. It can be used like this:

It was only £7 on Amazon and seems well made except the wing nuts are rubbish and can't be done up tight so I've sent away from some solid thumb wheels. In the photo below I used the second clip to hold the wires in place while I soldered them. It was much easier to do when nothing moves which is what happens if you try this on the bench with everything free to move about.

The other challenge with the Pro Mini version is it has no USB port so to get the program in you need a thing called an FTDI USB to Serial converter which you connect to the end of the Arduino like this:

The FTDI is the red thing which is connected to my PC with a USB cable. A short strip of header pins connect to the Arduino. They are not soldered but if you apply gentle pressure it seems to make a good connection. The sharp-eyed might spot this is not the same board as I showed in the Photo of the Day thread. This is a £1.99 board from eBay which I thought I'd try first, my other one cost over a fiver but seems no different, if anything the £1.99 board seems better made. The printing on the board is much clearer. Arduino boards are an open source design (well this one is, I'm not sure if they all are) and there are lots of clones available.

After a few false starts finding and installing the correct driver I eventually accessed the board using the Arduino IDE program, which is a free download. It includes a range of example programs or "sketches" as they are called in the world of Arduino. I managed on the third attempt (wrong drivers) to upload the Blinky sketch and here it is, an Arduino with a flashing LED.




In the coming weeks I want to make something a bit more complicated with it - so watch this space.

 

[David and Sally]

Something tells me I should know what you are talking about

 

[Bobby-gg]

I built a word clock using a Pro last year as the advantage over a pi zero was the real time clock module and the ability to run the different words as ramdom colour changing rgb leds

 

[Spriddler]

Arduinos are good for performing simple tasks like opening garage doors. ..........

Emptying Thetford cassettes perchance?

Something tells me I should know what you are talking about

Me too.

 

[DBK]

What I'm hoping to build is a tiny tracker, similar to this one:

LoRaWan GPS tracker - The Things Network

This LoRaWan GPS tracker uses the TTN Cayenne integration and shows your movements on a map in your Cayenne dashboard. …

www.thethingsnetwork.org

This means delving into The Things Network and getting my grey cells moving.

I've got all the bits so just a matter of getting started.

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[Podney]

Well I think you are getting the hang of it DBK,but you need to ensure that you include the upper decker knacker flapper before the final solder.

 

[Taran_Las]

Welcome to the world of Arduino.......prepare to have your pockets emptied.......you will not be able to resist all the 'can't live without/must have' sensors out there.

 

[Spriddler]

I've got all the bits so just a matter of getting started.

At 75 that's what I had to tell the actress.

 

[Langtoftlad]

Processor of choice for flagpole lights!



Jump to 2m30s

 

[68c]

I love Arduino, I made up a two digit display to show how far the throttle was open on my Moto Guzzi while playing with the fuel injection. Good coffee machines as well.

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[Revolvor]

My son gave me an Arduino Uno kit at Christmas. I'm having fun playing with it.

My Daughter has been working from home since lockdown Early on she was not very busy, but because she was connected to her employer's network, and they use VOIP phones her boss had a flag come up to show if any PCs had not been used for more than 5 minutes.

As a joke, I made this, to keep her mouse moving if she was away from her desk.

 

[Lenny HB]

Looks like fun, can't believe you didn't have one of those magnifying holders I they were standard in every toolbox we even have one in the bureau the lounge.

 

[DBK]

My son gave me an Arduino Uno kit at Christmas. I'm having fun playing with it.

My Daughter has been working from home since lockdown Early on she was not very busy, but because she was connected to her employer's network, and they use VOIP phones her boss had a flag come up to show if any PCs had not been used for more than 5 minutes.

As a joke, I made this, to keep her mouse moving if she was away from her desk.

That's brilliant. Your daughter can enjoy extended loo breaks now.

 

[Figaro]

Did you ever get the weather balloon and location tracker to work ?

 

[DBK]

Did you ever get the weather balloon and location tracker to work ?

Yes, I'm planning a launch in August. I've got CAA approval to launch from a field near me, got the balloon and the gas too. It's all down to the wind direction and hopefully I can spot a launch window during the month and give the CAA the 72 hours notice they need to raise a NOTAM, which is the warning published for pilots.

Fingers crossed.

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[Figaro]

Fingers crossed.

Let us know how it goes

 

[DBK]

Let us know how it goes

I will do but watching the wind direction this month I'm not confident about success. The wind can be blowing in the right direction at ground level but higher up it could be completely in the other direction.

There's a website which predicts where balloons might land. For example, a look later this week suggests only a short period where a balloon's payload might land back on land after the balloon bursts. Either side of this period they would all end up in the sea.

We shall see what August brings.

 

[David and Sally]

Can I ask a question please. You say payload may land. Do you mean some poor sod is going to get a bang on the head with whatever your balloon drops? Or will the stuff land on a motorway somewhere causing a crash?
Just askin.

 

[DBK]

Can I ask a question please. You say payload may land. Do you mean some poor sod is going to get a bang on the head with whatever your balloon drops? Or will the stuff land on a motorway somewhere causing a crash?
Just askin.

Good question. It will weigh less than 100g including the expanded polystyrene box around it. There is also a parachute and it should descend at only around 3 m/s.

And I have insurance if the worst should happen.

The insurance is the single biggest expense.

 

[David and Sally]

And I have insurance if the worst should happen.

Seriously??

I hope that reassures the poor family who plough through the barrier of the M5 when your 100g scares the daylights out of them.

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[DBK]

Seriously??

I hope that reassures the poor family who plough through the barrier of the M5 when your 100g scares the daylights out of them.

Radiosonde balloons are sent up every day in the UK to gather meteorological data. They fall down the same way mine will.

 

[David and Sally]

Another genuine question. So it's ok to launch these things with CAA permission so they can issue NOTAMS. But if you are not sure of the course how can they accurately warn aircraft?

 

[DBK]

Another genuine question. So it's ok to launch these things with CAA permission so they can issue NOTAMS. But if you are not sure of the course how can they accurately warn aircraft?

The NOTAM only covers the launch area. Above that the biggest risk to aircraft are birds, weather, other aircraft and of course the pilots themselves . Some birds weigh over a kilogram and they can fly very high on migration. They have caused crashes.

I heard an account of a conversation with an aircraft engine engineer recently, a turbine blade expert, who said balloon payloads like mine wouldn't cause a massive failure. Which isn't wholly reassuring but balanced against the risks from birds and the meteorological balloons etc., I'm happy to go ahead.

The CAA wouldn't allow it if they felt the risks were unacceptably.

 

[olsgreen]

The NOTAM only covers the launch area. Above that the biggest risk to aircraft are birds, weather, other aircraft and of course the pilots themselves . Some birds weigh over a kilogram and they can fly very high on migration. They have caused crashes.

I recently found out that it was not unheard of to have large birds flying at 30,000ft+, amazing... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_birds_by_flight_heights

Looking forward to hearing about the launch!