

Cheap Arduino Wireless Communications - profquail
http://www.glacialwanderer.com/hobbyrobotics/?p=291

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proee
The wireless modules in this article are pretty weak sauce (In fact they make
me cringe)

If you're going to do anything that requires reliable data transfer or data
rates higher than a few k, consider the following:

[http://www.microchip.com/wwwproducts/Devices.aspx?dDocName=e...](http://www.microchip.com/wwwproducts/Devices.aspx?dDocName=en535967)

These only cost 10 bucks in single quantities and include a tuned pcb antenna.

These modules are MUCH, MUCH, MUCH better...

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joshu
that looks awesome.

but if i go to $20, i can get xbee parts. any suggestions regarding
differences?

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proee
These modules are basically equivalent to the xbee parts. You'd have to pull
out the spec sheets to see the differences, which may come down to the MAC
layer or software protocals.

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urfe42
I just finished a project using these exact same parts! After looking at the
high prices on the XBee chips I got a few of these same transmitters and
receivers from Sparkfun to build a remote control for one of my robots. The
chips have a lot of quirks but are not very hard to figure out despite some
comments to the contrary on Sparkfun. If you are interested in Arduino I would
_highly_ recommend Tom Igoe's book Making Things Talk. The book is filled with
a ton of wireless projects and walks you through the Arduino basics. If you
are in L.A. and interested in Arduino I recommend checking out the occasional
Arduino classes offered at Machine Project (www.machineproject.com).

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skolor
While not entirely related to the article, I've been wanting to start playing
with an Arduino for a while now. I have a little bit of experience with
circuits, but not really anything that goes beyond soldering a longer wire
onto something.

Does anyone have a suggestion about where to start with Arduinos?
Specifically, a kit which would be complete enough to play with and make a few
things.

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blhack
I recently bought and arduino and have been having a _LOT_ of fun with it...

Last night, actually, I was the most giddy I think I have been in YEARS...

I stole two servos out of a remote control plane from my childhood, and
connected them to one another so that I could point a stick at almost any
point...(think like what an observatory does...the end of my servo was the
telescope)...

Anyhow (this is going to be a birthday present for my friend that introduced
me to this)...I connected an LED to the end of a stick that was connected to
one of the servos, then wrote some code to spell out words with it in the
air...

Set a camera in front of it, turn the lights out, expose for about 30 seconds
(or however long the drawing takes) and get a word...totally stupid, totally
pointless and TOTALLY fun...

For this project I needed:

2 servos (any servos will pretty much work...you can buy them at your local
hobby shop)

1 LED

some wire.

Some Spaghetti sticks (I used these to make an "arm" for the LED).

The birthday present is going to be a program that spells out "Happy Birthday"
in the air, as well as the source code for it :).

Honestly, after the servo went back to its "home" position, and shut off the
LED, it took about 10 seconds for the photo to process. Seeing the photo come
onto the screen with my message in it was _AMAZING_.

Seriously, if you're even thinking about buying one of these, JUST DO IT!
Playing with this thing feels like when I first started to code way back
when...

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lsb
That sounds really cool, you should write it up and submit it.

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kiba
My ideas for a wireless arduino project/startup:

1\. Build a wirless mesh tower that send a stronger signal than of your
typical internet router.

2\. Connect a server to it.

3\. Write docs and plans so others can build it too. Sell arduino kit for lazy
people.

4\. Build a UAV that retransmit wireless signal to other mesh tower.

5\. Again, write docs and plans so other can build transmitter UAV too. Don't
forget selling the kits.

6\. Use profits to build next generation of wireless mesh towers(solar
powered? long lasting?) and transmitter UAV(higher up? Bigger payload? Stay in
the air longer? More pointers?)

7\. Repeat the cycle of improvement, selling, and education.

As a bonus, you get FREE internet.

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joshu
sounds pretty great, except for all the hard parts.

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evgen
yeah, I also missed that step about explaining to the FCC why this unapproved
device should be allowed to "send a stronger signal than of your typical
internet router." As a bonus you do get a FREE visit from some government
bureaucrats though :)

