Tilt Snake Game using MSP430FG4619LCD

Utilize the accelerometer to control the snake.

Sorry, the apple might be too small on the video.

Tilt photo using MSP430FG4619LCD

This time, one photo is stored in the serial flash and displayed on the Nokia LCD.
Display is adjusted according to the orientation.

Photo Slideshow using MSP430FG4619LCD

Photos are stored in SD card and displayed on the Nokia LCD periodically.

Hardware Gmail Notifier – C# code

Here is the code that I used to get the number of email from Gmail in C#.

/// <summary>
/// Get the Number of Email
/// </summary>
/// <param name=”userName”></param>
/// <param name=”passWord”></param>
/// <returns></returns>

private int GetNumberOfMail(string userName, string passWord)
{

XmlDocument xmldoc = GetGmailFeed(userName, passWord);
XmlNodeList count = xmldoc.GetElementsByTagName(“fullcount”);
return int.Parse(count[0].InnerText);

}

/// <summary>
/// Get the Gmail Atom Feed
/// Adapted from Kevin Daly
/// http://www.dotnetjunkies.com/WebLog/kevdaly/archive/2004/12/24/38612.aspx
/// </summary>
/// <param name=”userName”></param>
/// <param name=”password”></param>
/// <returns></returns>
private static XmlDocument GetGmailFeed(string userName, string password)
{

HttpWebRequest req = (HttpWebRequest)WebRequest.Create(“https://mail.google.com/mail/feed/atom/”);
req.Method = “GET”;
req.Credentials = new NetworkCredential(userName, password);
XmlDocument response = new XmlDocument();
HttpWebResponse resp;
try
{

resp = (HttpWebResponse)req.GetResponse();
if (resp.StatusCode == HttpStatusCode.OK)
{

XmlTextReader reader = new XmlTextReader(resp.GetResponseStream());
response.Load(reader);
reader.Close();

}
resp.Close();

}
catch Console.WriteLine(“Error… HttpWebResponse”);
return response;

}

Note: I do not guarantee this code will always work. Use it at your own risk.

Hardware GMail Notifier

The work by Jamie Matthews inspired me to create the similar GMail Notifier.

This project consists of two parts: hardware and software.

The Hardware

The hardware is powered from the USB port. It uses the XBEE USB to serial module to communicate to the computer and MAX882 3.3V regulator. The microprocessor used is MSP430F2131 from Texas Instruments.

Five LEDs are used in this project:

• LED1: Green LED
• LED2: Green LED
• LED3: Yellow LED
• LED4: Red LED
• LED5: POWER Red LED

The microprocessor read from the UART port how many new emails sent from the software.
If there is no new email, LED1 to LED4 will turn off.
If there is one new email, LED1 will turn on.
If there is 2 new emails, LED1 and LED2 will turn on.
If there is 3 or 4 new emails, LED1 to LED3 will turn on.
If there is 5 or more new emails, all LEDs will turn on.

The Software

The software is written in C#. Using the GetGmailFeed( ) function written by Kevin Daly, we can get the atom feed from Gmail which is in XML format.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<feed version="0.3" xmlns="http://purl.org/atom/ns#">
<title>Gmail - Inbox for xxxxx@gmail.com</title>
<tagline>New messages in your Gmail Inbox</tagline>
<fullcount>2</fullcount>
...
</feed>

All we need to do next is to parse the XML docs and get the fullcount tag (which is the number of new emails) and pass it to the hardware through the virtual COM port.

Sony Ericsson White Screen of Death

Moments ago, my wife’s phone Sony Ericsson K800i crashed!!
It was displaying the white screen of death. Nothing we could do about it. I could not go to the menu or setting. Hopeless!

“Configuration Error : Contact your network or service provider error”

Downloading and running the Update Service software from the Sony Ericsson website did not help. It is useless.

Thanks to Akshay for his solution. Basically, we need to (sort of) reflash the firmware using the XS++ software.

This video tutorial about XS++ is also useful. 

 

Reuse Pizza Hut heat indicator

In Sydney, if you order a pizza from Pizza Hut these days, you will notice that there is a simple heat sensor sticker. Basically, if it is hot, the sticker would display “HOT”. Otherwise, it would turn black.

    

I peeled the sticker off and was wondering
“hmmm, where should I stick it on?”

I remember that every morning I have to touch the kettle to find out if the water is already hot or not. By sticking the sticker on the kettle, I can now have instant visual feedback.

     

Useful, huh? Hmm… What else can I stick these Pizza Hut stickers to?
Any ideas anyone?

Simple Response Time Game

Sorry, I haven’t been writing this blog. Our first baby girl just arrived few months ago.

Anyway, here is my recent home project.
It’s a simple response time game.

The game rule is:
When the display changes from “Ready” to “Hit”, press the button as quickly as you can.
If you are too slow, you lose!

The microprocessor is MSP430F2013 from Texas Instruments, where you can get directly from TI or from Digikey.

The button LCD is the RGB24 ScreenKeys, which can be obtained from Sparkfun.

Below is the schematics:

Below is the demonstration video.

Note: it is not easy to play this game while  holding the camera.

Missile Launcher Robot – 2

Here are a little bit more details about the missile launcher robot project.

1. I purchased this microprocessor module from Sparkfun last year. It is MSP430FG4619LCD made by Olimex. It has a Nokia 6610 LCD, accelerometer, serial flash, joystick and a couple of buttons.
2. For the crawler base, it is actually a modified version of the remote control robot construction set from Tamiya. It includes the two motors.
3. The PIR sensor was given by my colleague from UNSW. He purchased few of them from Digikey ang it was not cheap. This one produces an analog output if human movement is detected. It is normally used in home security system or automatic lightning system.
4. This is a non-USB missile launcher that I purchased from Jaycar last Christmas period. That time it was around $15 Australian dollar. Internally, it has three motors. One for rotating the launcher left and right, one for rotating up and down and one for releasing the spring to launch the missile.
5. The motor controller was SN754410 H Bridge Motor Driver by TI. It was actually much better (performance and efficiency) than my own H-bridge that I constructed using few MOSFETs before I used this chip.

Below is the final product. There are still lots more work currently being done including making a new robot as the target to be chased and to be shotted.

Don’t forget to give some feedback, suggestion or comments. Cheers!

Missile Launcher Robot

This is my latest home project. This robot will shoot the missile if there is human movement detected nearby (using the PIR sensor). More details about this will be discussed soon. Stay tuned!