Comments: RETIRED - BadgerHack
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This is a fantastic way to get kids interested in hardware. Well done (and thanks for giving me a kit when I stopped by the booth)!
Thanks! Glad you liked it :) Any plans to make it do other stuff?
I'm trying to attach a parallax gyroscope via i2c but can't get any of that code to give me a response. SDA on A4 and SCL on A5? correct? (what other board is this closestly related to?)
btw, tell the crew, passing out an led array and INCLUDING charlieplexing with this was INGENIOUS. the one thing that was crippling me for months was not having enough pins to control a 4 digit alpha numeric display for some feedback... and / or no multiplexer. and here, Its got all of that built right in (basically)
Correct, SDA is A4 and SCL is A5. The board is most like the Pro Mini (the pinout is the same). However, keep in mind that it has a customized Arduino bootloader to let it run at 4 MHz and all the way down to 1.8 V for the microcontroller. It looks like the gyro you're talking about needs at least 2.7 V. Are you trying to run it from batteries or USB power?
And I'll tell the team that the LED array is working out great :)
I got one of these at AVC and I really like it! However, I can't find the exact eagle files for it. I found something close on Github, but it isn't exactly the one I have. It at least has a JST connector instead of a two-pin 0.1 header as I received and as appears in the photos in this tutorial.
Doh! I should have made a branch as I started working on the new version. Sorry! You'll want to look at this particular revision in the GitHub repo for the Badger that you have: https://github.com/sparkfun/Interactive_Badges/tree/3e532950b88883eb52b6dce60177c8f8807c5048
In the section "Your First Badger Hack," you should place a comment above the first delay statement telling users what that delay is for. Right after printing out "Hello world," we changed the string to something longer and were confused for a bit why only so much text scrolled by before disappearing.
Also, the comment above the scrollText call says to scroll 2 times but the parameter passed is a 1.
We got copies at the 2015 AVC workshop and really like them. I expect they might be offered for sale at some point. Some better documentation of the Sparkfun_LED_8x7 (so you don't have to open up the header or source files) just to play around would be much appreciated by casual users.
Thanks for the feedback! I added comments to the scrolling text, so hopefully it will be a bit more clear. We're working on making some of these pieces products, at which point there will be full hookup guides for them (e.g. the LED array).
I have Arduino IDE v.1.6.4 and replacing the boards.txt file does nothing. Any ideas?
I have v.1.6.3 and replacing the boards.txt file did work. Maybe that helps in identifying the issue and solution.
Arduino has changed how they handle board definition files in the last few revisions since they've added a board manager. For now, I recommend just downloading 1.6.1 and using that for the Badgers. I am working on an update to the Badgers that will play nicely with the latest Arduino (e.g. 1.6.3 and 1.6.4).
EDIT: You can run 1.6.1 and 1.6.4 side by side in your computer. It should not affect anything. I have 1.0.6, 1.6.1, 1.6.3, and 1.6.4 all installed next to each other. I find that they keep changing stuff on a regular basis, and it keeps breaking old libraries.
I'm using one of the SXSW boards to communicate with a GPS and SPI memory. I have got some sample code working but wondered about the 4Mhz clock. Will the slow speed affect the micros() command? I uderstand the following;
"Micros() Returns the number of microseconds since the Arduino board began running the current program. This number will overflow (go back to zero), after approximately 70 minutes. On 16 MHz Arduino boards (e.g. Duemilanove and Nano), this function has a resolution of four microseconds (i.e. the value returned is always a multiple of four). On 8 MHz Arduino boards (e.g. the LilyPad), this function has a resolution of eight microseconds."
Does this mean the 4Mhz Badgerback board would have a resolution of 16 microseconds?
That looks to be correct. My understanding is that Arduino relies on the value of Timer 0 (and how many times it has overflowed) to calculate micros() https://ucexperiment.wordpress.com/2012/03/17/examination-of-the-arduino-micros-function/. You could try printing out micros(), delaying for 1 second, and printing out micros() again to see if the difference is about 1 second. If not, it should give you an idea of what value you would need to multiply the value by (e.g. 16).
I'm using this for a project, where can I find info about the pinsouts and such?
It's the exact same pinout as the Arduino Pro Mini.
Hey Sparkfun! Are you going to sell the badgerhack through your site?
We're actually discussing the possibility of making that happen right now. :)
Is there a way to get one without going to SXSW?
We are discussing the possibility of selling them or something like it.
AWESOME!
what do you plan on using it for?
I like wearing name tags; especially when I'm browsing the Mall. I thought this one would get lots of attention.
definitely. I could see it working well as a watch and connected with bt to a phone