This guide was written for the Gemma board, but can be done with either the v1, v2 or Gemma M0. We recommend the Gemma M0 as it is easier to use and is more compatible with modern computers!
Build yourself a buzzing bracelet for subtle haptic feedback as time passes! It’s great for reminding yourself to get up and walk away from your desk for a few minutes each hour, or just as a way to have a new awareness of how the perception of passing time varies based on what you’re doing.
Manfred Mornhinweg bought a Chinese J306β Geiger-Müller counter tube, the glass version, which is rated to give 88 counts per minute at average background radiation, or 8 counts per second at a radiation intensity of 1µSv/h. This tube is nearly 20cm long, and about 18mm in diameter.
I took quite some time to decide whether to use a microcontroller to count the pulses and display various processed measurements on an LCD, or choose the classical way and use dumb circuitry and an analog meter. Each method has its own specific advantages: A microcontroller can integrate the counts over a long time, achieving greater accuracy when measuring stable radiation levels, and also measuring the total dose over a long time. Instead an analog meter is far more convenient when scanning an area for radiation sources, because it’s so much easier to watch a needle move up, than to read and interpret dancing numbers on a display.
It was sort of a tie between the two approaches. The decisive factor, in the end, was that with this large tube I could easily do enough averaging by simply using a basic analog low-pass circuit, a feat that is not really practical when using small tubes. So the rule is: Small tubes used to measure low-level radiation need to be used with digital counters, while large tubes can use analog circuits even at low radiation levels. At high levels, any size of tube can work with analog circuitry. My decision to built an analog Geiger counter was further reaffirmed by the fact that many Chinese digital Geiger counters are widely available. Instead of building my own, it would be more practical and even less expensive to just buy a ready-made one from China. So, to bring any sense into building a Geiger counter at home these days, I went analog.
A modern pen holder in 2 sizes designed as the first entry in a planned desk-utility series. Assembly is intuitive — press the legs into the base part. Clean, minimal look that fits any workspace aesthetic. Perfect back-to-school desk staple. By mgm86
Every Thursday is #3dthursday here at Adafruit! The DIY 3D printing community has passion and dedication for making solid objects from digital models. Recently, we have noticed electronics projects integrated with 3D printed enclosures, brackets, and sculptures, so each Thursday we celebrate and highlight these bold pioneers!
Have you considered building a 3D project around an Arduino or other microcontroller? How about printing a bracket to mount your Raspberry Pi to the back of your HD monitor? And don’t forget the countless LED projects that are possible when you are modeling your projects in 3D!
A modular hexagonal LED lighting installation you can build to your exact preferences. Fully 3D-printable, connected by gluing or with M4 screws. Print the lid in transparent material for diffused light (community feedback: white filament actually scatters light better in some cases). Alternative approach to the modular LED cluster this week
Every Thursday is #3dthursday here at Adafruit! The DIY 3D printing community has passion and dedication for making solid objects from digital models. Recently, we have noticed electronics projects integrated with 3D printed enclosures, brackets, and sculptures, so each Thursday we celebrate and highlight these bold pioneers!
Have you considered building a 3D project around an Arduino or other microcontroller? How about printing a bracket to mount your Raspberry Pi to the back of your HD monitor? And don’t forget the countless LED projects that are possible when you are modeling your projects in 3D!
martina. shares how they created this handheld game console that doubles as a photo-editing control surface. Check out the project details on hackster.io
**PIXEL QUEST** is a handheld game console you can hold in both hands — three original
mini-games, a 2-inch screen, eight knobs and a joystick.
But hold the blue button while powering it on with a USB cable connected, and the same
device wakes up as something completely different: a **USB MIDI control surface** for
photo and video editing software. The eight knobs become Exposure, Contrast, Highlights,
Shadows — the sliders you would otherwise drag one at a time with a mouse.
Same hardware. Same firmware binary. Two entirely different machines, chosen at the
moment you press the power button.
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ethan1110lin got tired of lukewarm water and designed a device that notifies them when their water reaches the perfect temperature. Check out the project details on instructables.
So what can you do? Or, as a matter of fact, what can a Raspberry Pi do? As it turns out, quite a lot. This single-board computer — about the size of a wallet — can tell you exactly when your water is at its coldest, no guessing required. Instead of opening the fridge every ten minutes, I strapped a temperature sensor to the bottle and let a Raspberry Pi do the waiting for me.
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Chris Staecker on YouTube presents the Digi-Comp I, a plastic mechanical computer from 1963.
This educational toy used logic rods and tubes to simulate binary computation, offering a tangible introduction to programming for kids during the space race era.