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DIY3DController bykylemcdonald(/member/kylemcdonald/)
Download(/id/DIY3DController/?download=pdf) (/id/DIY3DController/step3/MaketheConnectors/) SeeAll(/id/DIY3DController/?ALLSTEPS) JumpTo (/id/DIY3DController/step5/FinishandAttachtheConnector/) 8Steps Favorite

Step4:MaketheCircuit

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Posted: Jul21,2008 License:

kylemcdonald (/member/kylemcdonald/)
Follow (/member/kylemcdonald/) Morebykylemcdonald 154

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electronics(/tag/typeid/category technology/keywordelectronics/) diy(/tag/typeid/categorytechnology/keyworddiy/) sensor(/tag/typeid/categorytechnology/keyword sensor/) processing(/tag/typeid/category technology/keywordprocessing/) arduino(/tag/typeid/categorytechnology/keyword arduino/) 3D(/tag/typeid/categorytechnology/keyword3d/)

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The"circuit"isjusttworesistorsperpieceofaluminum.Tounderstandwhythey'rethere,ithelpsto knowwhatwe'redoingwiththeArduino.Whatwe'lldowitheachpin,sequentially,is: Setthepintooutputmode.

(/files/deriv/FN1/0BTJ/FIWH3S95/FN10BTJFIWH3S95.LARGE.jpg) discharge.

Writeadigital"low"tothepin.Thismeansbothsidesofthecapacitoraregroundedanditwill Setthepintoinputmode. Counthowmuchtimeittakesforthecapacitortochargebywaitingforthepintogo"high".This dependsonthevaluesforthecapacitorandthetworesistors.Sincetheresistorsarefixed,a changeincapacitancewillbemeasurable.Thedistancefromground(yourhand)willbethe primaryvariablecontributingtothecapacitance.

(/id/Halloween Usethe"Force"todrivea RemoteControlledDevice withaDIY3Dcapacitor! (/id/UsetheForcetodrivea RemoteControlledDevic/) (/id/Usethe bySarahandDillon 3DAIRmouse|Arduino+ Processing(/id/3DAIR mouseArduinoProcessing/) byetgalim(/member/etgalim/) (/id/3DAIR 3DPrintedQuadcopter (/id/3DPrintedQuadcopter/) bytherobotfish
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The270kresistorsprovidethevoltagetochargethecapacitors.Thesmallerthevalue,thefaster they'llcharge.The10kresistorsaffectthetimingaswell,butIdon'tcompletelyunderstandtheirrole. We'llmakethiscircuitatthebaseofeachwire. Solderthe10kresistortotheendofthewireoppositethealligatorclip (/files/deriv/FBN/7X52/FIWH3S94/FBN7X52FIWH3S94.LARGE.jpg) Solderthe270kresistorbetweentheshieldandthewire(plate).We'llshieldthewirewiththe same5Vweusetochargethecapacitors

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Unit042(/member/Unit042/)says:

Nov29,2008.8:55AM

Reply(CYC5UYEFNZAHE1T)

NowthatI'vehadaquietfewdays,I'mfinallybuildingthisthing.I'vedonesimilarR/Ctimingstuffto readthepositionofavariableresistor,butthis hasmereinspired(afterforgettingaboutitfora (/member/Unit042/) while)...! I'mgonnastartwithasingleplate,tokeepthingssimple...untilIgetmythreeplatesworking together. Then,I'mgoingtohackausbmousewithatrackball,andmakeatouchlessmouse!Granted, clicking,scrollwheeloperationswilltakesomethought,butstill.... "The10kresistorsaffectthetimingaswell,butIdon'tcompletelyunderstandtheirrole." The10k'slimitcurrentgoingthroughtheI/Opinsonthearduinotopreventburningitout. Usually,youwanttolimititto20mAor0.02AforlightingLED's.Otherwise,10mAissafer. Themaximumamountofcurrrentgoingthroughanyoneofyourarduino'spinsis: 5v/10,000=0.0005A (Maximumvoltageinthecapacitor)dividedby(resistor'svalueinohms)equals(currentpassing throughinamps.) or0.5mAworstcasescenario(capscompletelyfull). Youcouldlowerthe10k'sto1k'sfor5mAtolowertheamountoftimethatthecapsdischarge, allowingfasterreadingandlowerpowerconsumption. What?Howcan5mAconsumelessthan0.5mA?

Well,thosenumbersdefinerateofpowerflow.Rememberthat270k?Allthewhilethecapis discharging,the270kisfeedingpowerdownthedrain,sothelongerthecapacitortakestodischarge throughthearduinopin,themorepoweriswasted. Itwouldbehelpfulifsomebodygaveanestimateastohowlongtodischargethecapbeforereading capacitance....

kylemcdonald(/member/kylemcdonald/)(author)says: Nov29,2008.10:34AM HeyUnit042,

6 Itriedmakinga"mouse"recently (/member/kylemcdonald/) http://vimeo.com/2216027

Reply(CA9VE82FNZAHECJ)

(http://vimeo.com/2216027)but I'mstilllimitedbyaccuracy issuesduetothe60Hz interference.Isuggestyoutry overcomingtheinterferencefirst. Someonepostedacapacitive sensinglibrary(on/off)onthe Arduinositerecently: http://www.arduino.cc/cgi bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl? num=1227388576/0 (http://www.arduino.cc/cgi bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl? num=1227388576/0)thathasa verysimpleprincipleIwas planningonusing:checktheRC timeonboththeactualplate,and asmall(orsomethingshielded fromyourhand)plate simultaneously.Spitoutthe differencebetweenthetwo. Thanksforalltheinsightonthe resistors:) Iwaitverylittletimebetween dischargingandreading capacitance,ifyoucheckthe code.Somethinglike510cycles at16MHz

Unit042(/member/Unit042/)says: Nov29,2008.11:09AM

Reply(CZ4F4B2FNZAHEF9)

Woah,quickreply!Ijusttriedthiswithapicaxe(singleplate,about1/4thsizeofoneof yours),asIdonothaveanarduino.Iuseda10Mohm(tenmillionohm)insteadofthe270k (/member/Unit042/) (slowthingsdownfortesting),butkeptthe10k(hadadozenlyingaround).Turnsoutthat my08Mat4MHzissimplynotfastenoughtoreliablytimetheR/Ccircuit,evenwiththe 10Mohmresistor.Ithenswitchedtolastditchnontimingsoftware(afterthecapisempty, setpintoinputandimmediatelyreaditasanADC,oranalogtodigitalconverter).Thislet meknowthatthecircuitwasworking,andIgotavaluefromitthatvariedalittlebitwhen myhandgotcloser.Anotetoanyonewhoreadsthis:shieldingmatters!Iusedplain alligatorclipstomy(small)plates.Ireadthevalues,then,Itwistedthetwowirestogether (thinktwizzlercandy),andthesensitivityimprovedmarkedly.Ifsuchasmallthingasthat willdothismuch,shieldedwiresareworththebother,especiallyinsomethingas"critical" asamousecontroller.(whoops,mymouseclickedanddraggedmyfilestotherecyclebin allbyitself!)Say....IhaveabunchofunusedRCAcablesinmyattic...nowI'mgoingto switchtomybasicstamp2.Ithassomeinbuiltsoftwareroutinesthatmayhelp.Ifthat fails,I'mmakingmytinfoilcapacitorbigger,oraddaregularcapacitorinparalleltolower thefrequencytoareadablelevel.Ifthatfails,I'llresorttoadiscreetcomponentanalog solutionutilizinganoscillatorandothercoolstuff.

Unit042(/member/Unit042/)says: Whoops!"Ijusttriedthiswitha picaxe(singleplate,about1/4th (/member/Unit042/) sizeofoneofyours),asIdonot haveanarduino." Thestuffintheparenthaseswas talkingaboutmycapacitor,which isasingleone,withtwoplates, 1/8ththesizeofyours. Nov29,2008.11:11AM

Reply(CDPI9KWFNZAHEFP)

Unit042(/member/Unit042/)says: No,wait,mypicaxemighthave somethingalso.Gottasearchmy (/member/Unit042/) documentation....IthinkI'llsetup asingleopampschmitttriggered oscilator(alreadybreadboarded frompreviousproject)withthe sensor,whichwilloutputacertain frequencydependingupon capacitor'scapacitance,andthe micricontrollercountsthenumber ofpulses(viainbuiltsubroutines) sentfromtheoscillatorovera (short)periodoftime. Nov29,2008.11:22AM

Reply(C91XQA6FNZAHEGJ)

kylemcdonald(/member/kylemcdonald/)(author)says: Nov29,2008.12:44PM Idefinitelyencourageyoutotry doingitoffchipandsending 6 databacktothemicrocontroller. (/member/kylemcdonald/) Noticethat,bymaking somethingthatoutputsa frequency,you'remakinga theremin:)Thisisthesimplest kindIknow: http://www.thereminworld.com/pics/schematics/simple.jpg (http://www.thereminworld.com/pics/schematics/simple.jpg) IknowinBASICthere's "rctime",butIhaven'tusedPICs before. Also,Idon'tthinkRCAcables areshielded,thoughnicerones forvideomightbe.

Reply(CH45OW2FNZAHEQG)

Unit042(/member/Unit042/)says: Nov29,2008.1:14PM

Reply(CUC5BM6FNZA8I8K)

Itworked!Frequency(with10Megaohmresistor)borderson70Hz,goingdownto60Hz whenmyhandisneartouchingit.<br/>Schematic(simpleindeed)isavailableuponrequest, (/member/Unit042/) butI'mstillexperimentingwithit.<br/><br/>Now,toincreaseresolution(accuracy),Ican either:<br/>1.Increasefrequencycountingtime(butlowerpositionreadingspeed)<br/> <br/>2.Increasefrequencyofsingleopampschmittoscillator(morecountsallowsmeto decipherbetween1352(close)and1353(inchcloser)forinstance,insteadofthecurrent 60(handnearlytouching)to70(handfaraway)range.)<br/><br/>Hmmmm...I'mgoingwith #2.Simpleenough,I'llreplacethe10megaohmresistorwitha1Mohmtoincrease frequncytenunfold.(It'snottenfoldbecausewe'renotfoldingthingsup,whe'reunfolding ourmultipleoffrequencynevermind)<br/><br/>Hey!Didyouputthoseyellowboxesonthe schematicjustnow,orweretheytherethewholetime?<br/><br/>==============<br/> <br/>Oh,anotherreply.Goodie!<br/><br/>Ipreferoffchipstuff,leavingtheprogrammingto stuffthatneedsprogramming(justmyopinion).<br/><br/>Yes,thereminthingsarecool.I sawoneonce.Onlyasingletonecapability,butthenontouchnessofitmadeit <em>awesome</em>!Butyes,inprinciple,handproximitycausingachangeinoutput frequency.IbetifIputtheoutputfrequencytoaspeaker,I'dbeabletohearthe6070Hz tone.<br/><br/>{shakesheadofdreamsofmakingathereminwithtrickedouttouchless tone/volumecontrols}Butthat'snotwhatI'mdoingnow,I'mmakingamouse.Acoolmouse. {yes,Ineedreminding}<br/><br/>AsforPICstuff,thepicaxepeopleputabootstrapcodein itthatletsmeprogramitinbasic.granted,thereareoddthingsinthelanguage,andother wierdquirks,butit'sthebestmoney/easeofusethingIcouldfind.Itonlycostme~$20to getstarted(programmingcableincluded,softwareisfree)VSBasicstamp:extremelyeasy, workseverytime,buttakesavampiretoyourwallet.<br/><br/>rctimetimeshowlonga giveninputstayslow,right?Iwasabouttodothatwithmybasicstamp,whenIlookedover thepicaxedocumentationagain.<br/><br/>RCAisavideocablewithshielding.It'stheones withtheonepininthemiddlesurroundedbyaringofmetal,kindalikeBNC'sorcoax's.see: <br/><br/><arel="nofollow"href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RCA_connector">wikipedia: RCAconnector</a><br/><br/>IthinkImightnamemydevice:<br/>Thereminesque CapacitiveAppendageProximitysensorMouseControllerThing(TCAPMcThingorTCAP Mc.T)<br/>

Unit042(/member/Unit042/)says:

Nov29,2008.4:59PM

Reply(CKNJS3DFNZA8IVI)

I'vetenunfoldedandthendoubled,thendoubledagainthefrequencyoftheoscillator.After gettingafeelforthetypicalnumericalvaluesacquired,Ithensetanarbitrarythreshold (/member/Unit042/) beyondwhichthepicaxewouldlightanLED.Thisexperimentresultedina"holdyourhand closetothepadandtheLEDlights"device.Prettyfun!Now,tomakesomethinguseful...I knowamouse!

Fillitup4(/member/Fillitup4/)says: Mar9,2009.8:49PM

Reply(CT3UB91FS1N6EF5)

1 (/member/Fillitup4/)

heyman....couldyoupostyourcode?Irealllyreallynewtothisandwouldliketoknowhow youcountedthetimeforthepintogohigh....

6 (/member/kylemcdonald/)

kylemcdonald(/member/kylemcdonald/)(author)says: Mar9,2009.9:07PM Theendofinstruction6hasalink totheArduinocodeusedforthis.

Reply(CJMPEGOFRXUSXAT)

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