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Build Inside The Box - Brainstorming Call!

 

Click on the banner below to register for the upcoming live stream to see which of your favorite vcp project has won:

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Our Build Inside The Box challenge was designed to celebrate our 500th episode of element14 presents.  We chose three of our video hosts to go head to head in the competition to build the best the project that must use ALL of the products in The Box.

 

The challengers (James, Katie and Clem) met virtually to discuss the parts and their initial ideas on building a working project that uses ALL of the parts in The Box.

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If you're looking for the product links, you need to see What's in The Box !

 

  • Which part is the one that the project will be built around?
  • Which part is the hardest to integrate into a working project?
  • How does that temperature sensor actually work?
  • What coding language best fits the desired functionality?

 

These and other exciting questions are discussed in this video.

 

Join the conversation by posting your ideas and commenting below!

 

You still have time to participate in the Build Inside The Box Challenge - your project blogs for the member contest are due Tuesday, 7th May 2021 5pm CDT.

  • in reply to cstanton

    The main page says to have final videos (for us plebeians) posted at 5 pm CDT today - I won't make that time, but I'll have it posted tonight.

  • in reply to easyejl

    When the 500th episode of the Friday release of element14 presents goes live I believe image which should be...28th of May.

  • When do the videos of the primary contestants go up?

  • in reply to baldengineer

    I suspect this is a windows communication issue (dropping com ports is typical for it)
    Under Linux I never had that experience, I can even keep the Serial port open while programming without any issues.

  • in reply to kmikemoo

      wrote:

    I'm also surprised by how finicky the MKRZERO is.  Depending on the sketch I load in, it just won't upload without a RESET double tap.

    Based on the hundreds of times I've had to reset, I am starting to get used to it.

     

    Here's what I've come to realize about the SAMD21 / MKRZERO

     

    1. There is some background interrupt that services CDC communication. If that can't run, the COM port drops and you can't reprogram without going into bootloader mode.

    2. If the CDC communication isn't serviced and the serial monitor is open in the IDE, it can cause the entire IDE to lock up. (However, double-tapping into bootloader mode "fixes" that.)

    3. Any time your code misbehaves, it is possible for you to lose communication. In one program, a while(1) caused mine to require the double-tap.

    4. If programming appears to stall, a double-tap into bootloader mode will sometimes finish the process.

     

    Once I started to notice the patterns, it was less finicky (and less frustrating) to work with. My only concern at this point is that once I button up my enclosure, no more double taps for me...

  • in reply to kmikemoo

    > Depending on the sketch I load in, it just won't upload without a RESET double tap.

     

    I remember the Arduino Leonardo being this awkward in Windows initially as well.

  • When James said two OLEDs, I just assumed that he meant 2 TOF sensors - especially given the 180 degree viewing angle that he was talking about.  I'm only planning on using one TOF to start.  I'm trying to keep the project creep in check.

     

    My box didn't contain a SD card, but that's fine.  It would have been used as a data logger.  The second iteration would have been to store audio clips and play "HEY!  HEY!  Pay attention to me!" or something similar as an alarm.  I'll save that for another day.

     

    I was tempted to use the original box as the project box but decided that others would be doing that so I moved on.  Clem just verified my assumption.  image

     

    I am SHOCKED at how much I've forgotten about Arduino programming.  I'll blame COVID brain, but WOW!  I'm also surprised by how finicky the MKRZERO is.  Depending on the sketch I load in, it just won't upload without a RESET double tap.

    I also regret not bench testing better.  Now that my stuff is installed and I'm live testing it, I'm getting a different response.  It still works, but I've got to adjust the response values in code rather than what the bench tests showed.

     

    All in, this has been amazing.  There's so much that I want to redo already...

  • it is so hard to get all the components into a single project. I just hope to make a project practical enough to justify not using all the parts to the full extent.
    I'm so courious about what all the people in the community build with the Box, there are as many possiblities as there are pitfalls!

    First I was hesitant about the SD card, but now it is kind of the centerpiece of my build.

     

    On parts usage I think using one of each if you got multiples it is totally fine (got one spare in case something breaks).
    And Bonus points if the Box itself  plays a role as well!

  • in reply to easyejl

    Still no idea how I would have worked the thermo reader into that though.

    One idea I briefly had for the temperature sensor was a really slow-to-respond touch sensitive button. In my testing, I found that touching the sensor with my finger would raise it 2-3 C within a second. And it seemed to be a relatively steady rise. (of course, I wasn't doing anything with the data, so what looked linear to me may not have been!)