When you’re trying to grow a bunch of plants in a field where a water source is lacking, things can be a bit tough. Hauling water on-site is a very arduous process, even with a tractor/trailer full of buckets. After hauling 5-gallon buckets to water blueberry bushes for months, we began to work on a better reservoir irrigation system that was cheap and easy to automate with expandable capacity.

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ZonCoffee is a full-featured PID controller package for Arduino, customized for use with espresso machines. ZonCoffee is written in Processing/Wiring, and includes some code from Tim Hirzel‘s BBCC project.

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Many DIY projects that people attempt these days include internet connectivity, logging, gps tracking, sensor data storage, and remote control. People have used xBee, GPS modules, and extra hardware to integrate all of these features, but there is a much simpler way–using an iDen pay-as-you-go phone. (more…)

PanoBot is a rudimentary panorama-taking device for any Canon camera running the CHDK firmware. This project was made back in ’08 so there are numerous projects that are much more full-featured than this implementation; nevertheless, I am making the code available for reference.

What The Current Code Does:

• Takes a photo via usb pulse sequence
• Rotates X degrees
• Takes a photo via usb pulse sequence
• ^REPEAT^
• When it goes 360 degrees, it rotates 360 degrees in the opposite direction
  • Keeps the camera cable from wrapping around the base
• Operation pauses, waits for user input
  • At this time, the user tilts the camera to a different angle
  • After tilting, the user presses the button on pin 10
• The camera begins this sequence again

Features

• 360 Degree rotation
• .9 Degree Accuracy per shot
• Programmable Delay
• USB Shutter Control
• Portable

Parts

• Arduino Microcontroller
• Stepper Motor (1.9 Degree step or less recommended)
• Some sort of battery for standalone operation
• A Supported Camera
• A tripod (old all-metal tripods with bolt interconnects are best)
• Bolts and nuts to fit your motor and tripod
• Scrap wood or sheet metal (Sheet metal recommended for camera arm)
• Set Screw and metal tube to fit around motor shaft (or use whatever you have lying around)

Supports

• Canon S* IS Series
• All other cameras that support CHDK

Sample Panorama

Resources:

• PanoBot Code