Zeta Reticuli: Arduino MIDI controlled 10-band EQ and multiple external effect interface

Posted on November 17, 2012 by Red Binary

I. Background

Zeta Reticuli: Arduino MIDI controlled 10-band EQ and external effect interface

Zeta Reticuli: Arduino MIDI controlled 10-band EQ and external effect interface


Approximately half my lifetime (20 years) ago I used to have literally drillions & drillions of ideas that I still feel aren’t a complete waste of time. One of these brilliant ideas was to be able to control a guitar wah pedal from my computer. At the time I had scant musical equipment to match my scant muscial abilities. I had scavenged what I could afford in my extremely limited means from pawnshops, flea markets, thrift stores, & the Penny Power. Among this discarded mess were an Atari 1040st computer which has built in MIDI, a Korg Poly800MkI synth, & a Boss DR550 drum machine. I had been successfully using the Atari to sequence the synth & drum machine, but wanted to also control effects for my guitar at the same time and in the same way. But this was the early 1990′s. I didn’t have the skill nor the funds to do anything of the sort.

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Designing a replacement for an obsolete Electro Cam control system in a Maac thermoformer using a Teensy Arduino-compatible

Posted on November 4, 2012 by Red Binary

A high-output count DIY Arduino industrial controller and interface on the cheap


This story revolves around one of the workhorse machines in the company where I work: a Maac vacuum former. It is a solid, well-designed machine with a solid, well-designed control system that Maac contracted out to the Electro Cam systems group. As with any industrial equipment, as time goes by the OEM develops new products that replace their old stuff, technologies advance, and eventually they start the formal process of obsoleting their older inventory.

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Android Dev: mundane button making

Posted on March 11, 2012 by Red Binary

Before

Before

One of the parts of Android dev that I personally find the most challenging for a number of reasons is the mundane task of making the user controls. I’m not sure if the fact that it is also an area in which I am most lacking is a cause of this or it is an effect of it. Either way I’m going to walk you through the process I use to get it done.

For this example I’ll use the real world button that I’m avoiding working on by writing this. It’s the “Equivalent Parallel Conductors” button for the Conductor Size Selection calculator in Electrist.

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Ohm’s Law calculator 1.71 minor update

Posted on March 3, 2012 by Red Binary

1.71 [Mar 3, 2012]
+ added some exception handling and better handling of parsing numbers from input strings

The Android Ohm’s Law calculator suffered from the same parsing frailty as Electrist. This update aims to correct this.

If you haven’t gotten it yet, get Ohm’s Law calculator 1.71 now on the Android Market!

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Electrist 0.61b2 minor release

Posted on March 3, 2012 by Red Binary

0.61b2 [Mar 3, 2011]
+ added some exception handling and better handling of parsing numbers from input strings (based on 2 ACRA reports)
+ fixed Conductor Size Selection calculator clear function
+ hardened classes, refactoring, and general code cleaning
+ changed RedBinary.com link on “About” to to point at Electrist category archives

This release reflects a couple of ACRA reports generated following yesterday’s release of 0.61b1. These reports indicated an issue in the routines that parse numeric values from the text in the input fields. While hopefully taking care of the issue, this update will still generate an ACRA report if this issue occurs. This is in an effort to gather more information on the root cause of the issue.

If you haven’t gotten it yet, get Electrist 0.61b1 now on the Android Market!

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Electrist 0.61b1 released

Posted on March 2, 2012 by Red Binary
Electrist 0.61b1

Electrist 0.61b1

Electrist 0.61b1 has been updated in the Android Market with the following changes:

0.61b1 [Mar 2, 2011]
+ new menu icons
+ calculator activities now finish() on switching back to the chooser
+ revamped calculator chooser - now with 1000% more icons and favoritability
+ installed periodic waves calculator



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Electrist 0.60b1 released

Posted on February 27, 2012 by Red Binary
Electrist 0.60b1

Electrist 0.60b1

I’d like to assure everyone that development will be ongoing. For a full explanation of the slow updates please see my previous post.

0.60b1 [Feb 26, 2011]
+ added ACRA crash reporting library (requires INTERNET and READ_LOGS permissions)
+ added modular help dialogs that pull help text from RedBinary.com so that it can be changed to reflect FAQ without requiring an update to the app
+ general code housekeeping and refactoring
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My explanations & revelations: PT Mobile Track now in beta

Posted on February 25, 2012 by Red Binary
PTMobileTrack

PTMobileTrack

For the last year I have been really slow to update a the software titles that many have been looking forward to. The PTMobileTrack software is the reason why. I honestly & firmly believe that the premise behind this service is a genius idea.

Before I get into the particulars of the software, let me go back and describe the anticedents for you. On the afternoon of January 31, 2011 I had driven the hour commute home after the day job. On this particular day there had been a freezing rain that had put an icy coating on every exterior surface in the region. After pulling into my driveway I walked toward the curb to retrieve the trash & recycling bins. At the point where the driveway becomes steeper I slipped on the ice. My left foot shot toward the street while my right foot found purchase against an uneven crack in the cement. It seemed to happen almost instantaneously, like a flash of light. I felt the back of my head bounce on the cement and I swear to you I felt the pinky-side of my right foot touch my right calf.

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Posted in Android, Electrist, External, Red Binary, Software | 1 Comment

Recipe Convert receives updates to both paid and free versions

Posted on February 11, 2012 by Red Binary
Recipe Convert

Recipe Convert using fractions

Both the free and paid versions of Recipe Convert have been updated with more user interface changes as well as bringing both versions to the same level of functionality.

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Recipe Convert Paid version 1.8 update released in Android Market

Posted on February 5, 2012 by Red Binary
Recipe Convert Paid 1.8

Recipe Convert Paid 1.8

The newest update to the Recipe Convert software brings big changes to the user interface including a new color scheme, new graphics for controls, and a little rearranging. These changes should also find their way into the free version of the software within the next few weeks.

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PACMOD MIDI DJ Controller

Posted on January 22, 2012 by Red Binary
PACMOD MIDI DJ Controller

PACMOD MIDI DJ Controller

For my son’s birthday I made him a DJ controller designed to resemble an old cabinet arcade machine. What follows is a brief overview of the process to make it, including code.

The Teensy was chosen as the brains because of the way it handles USB. Not only does it have native USB, rather than the FTDI USB-to-serial interface that turns making use of the port a series of work-arounds, but as you’ll see in the code the MIDI library makes writing the firmware a trivial pursuit.

Caveat: I found out later that my scaling of the sliders is off & doesn’t allow for full travel in Traktor. Since the controller is away at college with my son I haven’t had access to fix this. I’m certain that it’s just a matter of changing the scale factor, though.

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Microchip PIC Serial LCD driver

Posted on January 21, 2012 by Red Binary
Running on breadboard

LCD driver

As a gift for putting you through revamping my site, here are the particulars for a microchip pic serial LCD driver that I personally use in projects and used to sell commercially.

The SLD01a serial LCD driver design is a for a Microchip PIC 16F628a, but it should be simple to port over to any PIC with a USART. It converts serial data in either RS-232c or TTL formats to display on any Hitachi HD44780-compatible LCD. Applications include industrial/PLC control read-outs, microprocessor projects, computer mods, and anything else that uses serial data. It doesn’t have a lot of bells and whistles (but it DOES have a bell DRIVER) as some other drivers do. It’s designed to be a simple, light-weight terminal-style display.

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extern: Retromaster’s Electronics Projects: Making PCBs

Posted on January 20, 2012 by Red Binary

Making PCBs

A bit about making DIY double-sided soldermasked PCB’s. There are a couple of tips here that I’m definitely going to try. Drilling before fusing the toner is one, but the method he uses for soldermask really seems brilliant.

via Retromaster’s Electronics Projects »

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Cheap and simple USB car fast-charger mod

Posted on January 1, 2012 by Red Binary
Disassembled charger

Disassembled charger

A few years ago I had to make a fairly long road trip. Around 8 hours each way. I typically use my phone to provide music through the aux jack on my stereo, and when I travel to parts unknown I also use my phone for GPS navigation assistance. On this particular journey I had also planned to play with a new bluetooth gadget that I had just purchased.

Obviously, a phone simultaneously running 3G, bluetooth, GPS, & playing music uses a lot more power than a sleeping phone running no services lying on the seat. I soon discovered that my off-the-shelf lighter-plug car charger would not provide sufficient current to keep up. Even when only using the GPS my phone’s battery was draining. After several purchases of progressively more expensive chargers I finally broke down and did some R&D.

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