Mini RC Car Hacked (Controlled with Arduino, PC and Android devices)

February 15, 2013 Hugo Rosário
An RC car like the one I bought.

Hello friends, it has been a while since I posted something new on the blog but I have been wasting too much time learning new stuff.

Today I want to show you one of my latest projects which combines electronics and programming for PC and Android devices.

For most of my life I have been working with software and never adventured much into the electronics world but I always wanted to, so I bought an Arduino Uno controller a few months ago to get me started but never made any real projects with it. I just played around with some leds and light sensors that came with the kit, but a few days ago I had some time to make a little project which involved simple electronics knowledge, the Arduino platform, programming desktop applications to communicate with the Serial port and creating my first Android application.

I am now controlling a mini RC car (which I bought at a chinese store for 10€) using my computer and my Android cellphone and tablet.

car

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Android, Arduino, Arduino, Electronics, Hacking, Programming, Technology android, arduino, car, delphi, few days, hack, leds, light sensors, micro controller, RC, remote controllers 3 Comments

Raspberry Pi and Oscam

October 6, 2012 Hugo Rosário

I have recently acquired a couple of Raspberry Pi to play with, and I must say I am quite impressed with this cheap little device.

You can use it as a desktop, a small server, a media center and you also have GPIO interface to control external hardware, like sensors and motor drivers (like the Arduino but with much more processing power and memory).

The first experiment I did when I got my hands on the Raspberry was to compile and install Oscam so I could have a server with little energy consumption but still has the processing power required to sustain a large number of Oscam users and readers.

This post is the report of my experiment and will allow you to reproduce my steps.

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Cardsharing, Oscam cardsharing, external hardware, interface, libusb, media center, motor drivers, oscam, pcsc, processing power, raspberry, raspbian, smargo 13 Comments

OscamLauncher v1.1 has been released.

August 8, 2012 Hugo Rosário

Hello dear friends.

Just want to inform you that OscamLauncher v.1.1 has been released to the public.

You can find the new version at the OscamLauncher page.
This new version implements most of the features requested by our users.
I already have some plans for the next release which will include a configuration editor for Oscam among some other stuff.
If you would like some feature to be implemented, please leave a comment here or the OscamLauncher page.

Also, if you like my free work, please consider making a donation and help me pay for the hosting and all the coffee and beer I drink developing this free software.

Here is the changelog of this version :

Version 1.1 
 - Fixed bug in Oscam updater algorithm.
 - Add option to start Oscam automatically when OscamLauncher is executed.
 - Add option to install Oscam as a Windows service using nssm (Non Sucking Service Manager).
 - Configuration is now saved to OscamLauncher.ini.
 - Some minor GUI changes.

 Download Version 1.1

 Oscam Launcher (469.1 kB)

OscamLauncher

General changelog, configuration editor, dear friends, gui changes, windows service 1 Comment

Raspberry Pi

March 14, 2012 Hugo Rosário

 

Raspberry Pi is a project being developed by the Raspberry Pi Foundation that wants to produce a very cheap computer that is as small as a credit card. The main purpose of the project is to provide cheap hardware and software solutions for teaching programming languages to kids, but it had lots of attention from IT enthusiasts because of the price and the endless possibilities of usage.

When I first saw this project, my first thought was :
“I wonder if this thing can be used to make an HTPC with a DVB-S2 USB tuner. From the hardware point of view it certainly can. I can´t wait to get my hands on one of this delicious Raspberries.”

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Electronics, Programming, Technology interface bus, pi foundation, raspberrys, sdio card, serial peripheral interface, target price 2 Comments

Titanoboa, the giant snake.

November 17, 2011 Hugo Rosário

Here is a video of Titanoboa, a design of a robotic snake ten feet long and weights a ton.

Because robotics does not only mean miniaturization of devices, see a snake and a giant spider, built by the Mondo Crew, a team of scientists, artists and designers.
In this video, although not in confrontation, the Mondo Spider Titanoboa past each other, making strange noises.

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Robotics, Technology confrontation, giant snake, giant spider, strange noises, ten feet Leave a comment