I designed these boards to be integrated into 12VDC track lighting fixtures
with MR16 LED lamps in the Media Lab atrium. They are based on the Atmel XMega
A4 series (originally designed for the ATxmega32A4 and that’s what’s in the
atrium lighting installation, but forwards-compatible with the A4U series
chips; most of my current uses for this board use the ATxmega128A4U) and the
AT86RF231 radio (though the RF230 and newer variants like the RF233 should also
be usable.)
3D-printed microphone clip and custom-built microphone. Please
excuse the messy desk in the background.
The idea of starting with a digital model of a 3D object and having a physical
representation in your hands a few hours later is certainly kind of magical. I
remember when my department at UW got its first 3D printer (which cost about as
much as a nice car and was the size of a refrigerator) I spent hours staring
through its window, watching it build up objects a layer at a time. Amazingly,
just a few years later, there are now several desktop-sized printers available
at a fraction of the cost. With the recent availability of these “personal” 3D
printers, it’s been interesting to see the resulting models that people have
printed. I’ve yet to see one that doesn’t have a few chess pieces and an
Eiffel Tower or two sitting next to it, showing off its capabilities.
While these intricate models are definitely cool, 3D printing isn’t just about
models that look nice. To me, the real value of 3D printing is being able to
print out physical models that are functional, that wouldn’t otherwise be easy
to obtain. I’ve recently been working with the Form 1, which is a recent
desktop-sized 3D printer capable of some pretty impressive prints. While I’ve
certainly printed a few things that are just for looking at, I’ve also been
using it to make functional objects. And so far, I’ve been pretty happy.
Computer rendering of prototype board. Created with Altium
Designer 6.9; components modeled in SolidWorks 2009
Many small projects seem like they would benefit from low-power, low-bandwidth
wireless connectivity. Commercial modules such as the excellent XBee series of
devices exist, but are relatively large, expensive, and seem better suited to
tinkering with the technology than integration into a finished project.
Single-chip RF transceiver solutions are small and inexpensive, but require a
fabricated PCB for every design. My goal with this project is to develop an
inexpensive and small RF transceiver module that is flexible enough to use in
the prototyping stages of a project while not being so general and large that
it’s wasteful to use in a finished work.