Milestone 1: For my first milestone I have completed the mount and pan and tilt mechanisms for the thermometer and the laser, and have attached the laser and thermometer. The mount is fully assembled and all moving parts are working flawlessly. The first set of servos did not function properly, this meant the entire case had to be reconstructed and soldered with new servos. The laser is soldered into the circuit and temporarily taped to the setup. The thermometer is temporarily connected to the circuit in a breadboard and will be soldered in once I confirm the thermometer functions properly. My goal is now to make the entirely assembly more compact and have less clutter.
Start Project: Big Time Watch
6/25/15
Today I finished my starter project: a Sparkfun “Big Time Watch.” The watch comes from a kit and has 7 main components:
- 1 x Pre-programmed ATMega328 DIP IC (processor)
- 1 x 4-Digit 7-Segment Display
- 1 x 32kHz Crystal
- 1 x 10kOhm Resistor
- 2 x 0.1uF Capacitors
- 1 x Right Angle Tactile Button
- 1 x 20mm Coin Cell Battery
The watch uses a 32kHz crystal to keep time. The mechanical resonance of the vibrating piezoelectric material (the 32kHz Crystal) creates an electrical signal with a very precise frequency, the pre programmed ATMega328 is set to recognize that frequency and is aware of how much time is passed based on the number of oscillations that have passed and pushes the time to the display. The display, processor, crystal and the rest of the parts are all soldered to the main circuit board and encased in an acrylic shell.
