Where to find money to support your projects

Hi, today I'm here with a post to suggest you where to get the money you need for your projects.
If you have little startup or you're simply a person with a nice idea but you haven't enough money to develop it I suggest you crowdfunding.

Crowdfunding is the collective effort of individuals who network and pool their money, usually via the Internet, to support efforts initiated by other people or organizations. (wikipedia)

You can do this through many websites, the most popular are:
-http://www.indiegogo.com/
-http://www.kickstarter.com/
-http://www.crowdrise.com/
-http://www.rockethub.com/

In this site you will be able to collect the money you need if you make a good presentation of your project.
I hope you like this post.

Bye, Dami

quod acerbum fuit ferre, tulisse iucundum est

Hi guys today I'm here with this latin phrase, which I found really impressive.
Probably you're asking why I'm posting latin phrases instead of projects with arduino, electronics or stuffs like that: I was asking this to myself too than i thought that there were no reason to post about things i don't like (at the moment).
Certainly in future I'll post about projects like the old one but at the moment I have mainly three reasons for not doing that:

-I haven't enough time (I'm focusing on school, sport and playing piano): posting about a project takes a lot of time, you have to make the project, remake it and take photos and video during the making of, write a post (in english, which is not really for me because i'm italian)
-I'm finding interest in other things like music, cool phrases (like the one in latin) and spending time with friends
-Everyone live once (maybe just Jesus had a bonus life) and I think that you have to spend your life in the best way which means 2 things: •do things that you like
                                                              •do the previous thing within limits that make you being        
                                                                accepted in your society, because just being a part of it you
                                                                will be able to leave your mark in this world

Coming back to the latin phrase it means (this probably isn't the best translation but i think you may understand the main concept): what we had to tolerate is displeasing but tolerating it is pleasing.

I hope you like this post

Bye, Dami

Watsky, rap genius, poet and artist

Hi, this post isn't about any project. It's about a person who i admire: Watsky, a 27 years old american rapper and poet; here are two of his creation:

I hope you like this post

Bye, Dami

Some random stuffs with my friends

lol

Arduino ultrasonic distance measurement

Hi guys' today I'm here with a tutorial about interfacing arduino with ultrasonic distance meter like the HC-SR04.
First of all, the theory:

If we know that the sound take a time t  to reach the obstacle and come back and that
speed s is equal to s=d/t where d is the distance then d=s*t .
We consider that speed of sound is 340.29 meters/seconds that is equal to
0.034029 centimeters/microseconds.

Now let's see the hardware parts, which is very simple:

To start measuring distance you just have to upload this code to the arduino
int trigPin = 2;
int echoPin = 4;

void setup() {
  Serial.begin(9600);
}

void loop(){
  long duration;
  float cm;
  pinMode(echoPin, INPUT);
  pinMode(trigPin, OUTPUT);
  digitalWrite(trigPin, LOW);
  delayMicroseconds(2);
  digitalWrite(trigPin, HIGH);
  delayMicroseconds(10);
  digitalWrite(trigPin, LOW);
  duration = pulseIn(echoPin, HIGH);
  cm = microsecondsToCentimeters(duration);
  Serial.print(cm);
  Serial.print("cm");
  Serial.println();
  delay(100);
}
float microsecondsToCentimeters(long microseconds){
  return (microseconds*0.034029)/2;
}

Here is a video of me testing this project:

I hope you like this post, if you have any question please comment or send me an email to damianoandre@gmail.com

Bye,Dami

Use Arduino with RF Modules

Hi guys, today I'm here with a really cool project.
If you have ever wondered how to make 2 arduinos communicates without using expensive shield, here is the solution: there are some RF modules sold for about 2$ (transmitter + receiver)  that offer one way, easy-to-use communication with a range of about 150 meters.
In this post I'll explain how to use this modules.

First of all you'll need:
-2 arduinos
-a rf transmitter
-a rf receiver

STEP 1: the transmitter
Connect the transmitter to arduino this way:

Upload this code to the arduino connected to the transmitter:
 
#include <VirtualWire.h>
void setup(){
  vw_setup(2000); // bps
  }
void loop(){
  send("hello world"); //your message
  delay(1000);
  }
void send (char *message){
  vw_send((uint8_t *)message, strlen(message));
  vw_wait_tx();
  }
STEP 2: the receiver
Connect the receiver to the arduino this way:

Upload this code to the arduino connected to the receiver:

#include <VirtualWire.h>
byte message[VW_MAX_MESSAGE_LEN];
byte messageLength = VW_MAX_MESSAGE_LEN;
void setup(){
  Serial.begin(9600);
  Serial.println("Device is ready");
  vw_setup(2000); //bps
  vw_rx_start();
  }
void loop(){
  if (vw_get_message(message, &messageLength)){
    Serial.print("Received: ");
      for (int i = 0; i < messageLength; i++){
        Serial.write(message[i]);
        }
      Serial.println();
    }
  }
STEP 3: test ;)
Connect the 2 arudino and check with the serial monitor if it works

I hope you like this post, if you have any question please comment or send me an email to damianoandre@gmail.com

Bye, Dami

Where to buy electronic parts for cheap

Hi guys Today I'm here with a tip about where to buy electronic parts(Arduino boards, LED, ICs, Arduino Shields, RF modules ecc...) for cheap.
 It's an ebay store located in Hong Kong, here is the link to the ebay page, I think it's a good seller beacuse it offers:
-really low prices
-good quality items
-more than 3000 items
-free shipping
The just thing I found not perfect is the slow shipping, but it's free so however it's good.
I hope you like this post,

Bye, Dami