DIY: Home UBUNTU NAS Server

Back in 2003, I used to connect my computer on the my old 32′ TV, those huge and heavy TVs, to watch stuff from the internet, at that time, eMule was ruling the p2p community (can’t talk about USENET right? :} ). Then in 2008 I decided to build a better HTPC (Home Theater PC), a full dedicated computer connected to my TV, with good MotherBoard/VGA/SoundBoard, well, a good computer, with gaming capacities. It was good while it lasted, but you know, it was huge black box below my TV, bit noisy, but it did the job.

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Dotklok + LM35 Temperature Sensor

I got my Dotklok up and running some days ago, I am really enjoying it on my room.
But I want to do more with it. Too bad right now I don’t have much time to play with electronics and build cool things.

Anyway, today I decided to spend some time learning the Dotklok’s code and add a temperature sensor to it. The result was really cool, and now I am sharing the bit of code I added to the clock.
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My HTPC 2.0

Long ago, I wrote How I Made my HTPC at my place. Time passes and things change. End of year has arrived, Christmas and everything, so I decided to upgrade my system to a more efficient and cheaper one. The new choices were using a NAS (Network Attached Storage) allowing all files can be accessed from any machine connected to the network, in this case I am using Lacie Network Space 2 2TB storage. A Gigabit router TP-LINK , so far I’m very happy with this router, although. A media player WD-PLUS Live that has an embedded Linux and play videos in various formats, even FullHD , and access online content like YouTube and some radios.

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Arduino-Based Digital Clock

Wow, this is amazing! DOTKLOK is an open-source, hackable, Arduino-based digital clock that displays a series of unique time-telling animations.

DOTKLOK: Game Time from The Latest Artists on Vimeo.

DOTKLOK is an open-source, hackable, Arduino-based digital clock that displays a series of unique time-telling animations. The passing of time is depicted with numbers and abstract/geometric patterns such as Morse code and minimal analog clock faces, and includes animations inspired by classic video games such as Pong, Tetris, Pacman, and Space Invaders.

You can buy the kit for U$150.00 and it assembled for U$200.00
for me… I think I will build one, hell yeah I’m going to build one, just love it!!!

You can check more information from dotklok’s website.

Arduino PWM & Oscilloscope

Having fun with Arduino PWM & Oscilloscope and trying to understand some more

Here are some links if you want to know more at Wikipedia and Arduino Website

Working with LEDs and Resistors

The objective of this text is to help you to understand how Resistors work and use it in it’s most simple use, as a current limiter. If you want to know more about resistors and leds, check Here and Here.

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Ultrasonic Range Finder with Arduino

I recently got a Maxbotix LV-EZ4 Ultrasonic Range Finder to try understand how to use it with my little Arduino. Having a ultrasonic range finder can be very useful in many different projects, as it can detect objects, I can use it to make alarm systems (cars usually use this kind of sensor), Obstacle-Avoiding Robot and many other things that you may have in mind. It works better outdoors then the IR sensor, but the only thing I could notice is that it doen’t detects very well some thick carpets. Besides that, it’s a great sensor. From the datasheet we can read that it sonar range information from 6-inches out to 254-inches (15.24 cm – 6.452m).

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DIY: Binary Clock with Arduino

Yesterday I was going to start watching a movie, when me and my friend pedro decided to give up on the movie and build a binary clock. After sometime thinking on how to program it, we made it. It works beautifully, so I decided to show here how I’ve done. It may not be the easiest way to make it work, but that’s what we’ve done.

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Temperature Sensor + Arduino

Hello people, it’s been a while since I have posted projects on this website. This semester was really busy, I didn’t have time to much else, but soon I will have my winter holiday (Here in south our summer holiday is from December to February).

Today I am going to show you how to build a simple temperature sensor using one LM35 Precision Temperature Sensor and Arduino, so you can hookup on your future projects. The circuit will send serial information about the temperature so you can use on your computer, change the code as you will. I’m planning to build a temperature sensor with max/min + clock + LCD, and when I get it done, I will post here.

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How I built My HTPC

I’ve built my HTPC like one year ago, don’t know why I have never written about it on this website. Well, for today, I will be presenting the place I spend many hours of my life, my Home Theater PC, my Media/File/Gaming/BackUp Server. The idea came many years ago, but without $, it was not possible. Fist my main computer was near the tv, so I used to connect to my old tv using a S-Video Cable and a P2 to a RCA Cable, and as a Tube Tv, the quality wasn’t that good, and I couldn’t almost read any text on the screen, just big texts like subtitles.

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