News Tutorials

Decoding Morse Code

A video posted by Dan Royer (@imakerobots) on

Morse code is an ancient tongue spoken by the hooded figures who worship a terrifying obsidian pillar in the sunken city of – oh, wait. Sorry! Wrong blog.

We’ve briefly looked over producing Morse code and making music. What if we’re receiving Morse code now? Today, we’ll be teaching the Arduino to translate Morse code back into English and use a microphone at the same time.

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Requesting Java + OpenGL + Swing

Are you a Java guru? I need some help in the form of a working demo. The results of which will work their way into several projects I’m planning. I’ve been trying to get Java to run JOGL OpenGL in a JPanel and Swing components in another JPanel, each divided by a JSplitPane. I can get them sort of working but when I resize the window things get really ugly. If you’ve got some time to show me how it’s done right, please contact us!

The next regularly scheduled post will be on Monday, as I am running all over restocking and visiting a machinist to check in on some R&D.

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3D printed Power Transformer for LED Lights

5v4a power supply

Mike Pretorius took our Arduino 101 LED class and was inspired to make an enclosure for the 5v4a power transformer.
This two piece print needs only a few screws and some double sided sticky foam to complete the project. Check it out:
Thing 669031 on Thingiverse.

In case you don’t know what LEDs we’re talking about, here’s a sample:

News Tutorials

Introduction to Speakers

Piezoelectric speaker

What you see in the picture above is a piezoelectric speaker – a tiny, electrically controlled diaphragm. On the back is a small crystal. When there is power flowing through the crystal, the size changes, bending the diaphragm. The change in the diaphragm is what causes sound and music as we know it. Today, let’s go through how we can make music with a piezo and Arduino.

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