Arduino Five Ten Egg Timer circuit - John LeMasney
English: Photograph of an Arduino Duemilanove (2009b Revision) Português: Fotografia de um Arduino Duemilanove (Revisão 2009b) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The next Princeton PC Users Group meeting is August 26, 2014 at 7:00 pm at the Lawrence Branch of the Mercer County Library, New Jersey.
John LeMasney on “Hands-On Arduino”
Arduino is an electronics prototyping platform that allows you to scratch your own itch. It exemplifies the making movement, in which we are moving away from off-the-shelf solutions, and moving towards regaining a sense of how things work. Come learn how to gain a new control of the technology that we use everyday.
Bio:
John LeMasney is a technologist, designer, and artist working in New Jersey.
Arduino Five Ten Egg Timer circuit - John LeMasney
I love the five-ten egg. It’s a hard-boiled egg that leaves the yolk just a bit soft and the outside done. Simply boil water, drop your egg, and watch your time. At 5 minutes, ten seconds, pull and ice bath the egg to stop cooking. Peel, enjoy.
I have been relearning my Arduino chops, and one of the ways that I’ve done this is by recreating the Arduino starter kit projects, including one for a digital hourglass.
I decided to repurpose the digital hourglass to light an LED each minute through five minutes, then blink the last LED for ten seconds. Here is the circuit:
Arduino Five Ten Egg Timer – John LeMasney
Here is the code:
/*
Arduino Starter Kit example
Project 8 – Digital Hourglass, modified to a Five-Ten egg timer.
This sketch is written to accompany Project 8 in the
Arduino Starter Kit
Parts required:
10 kilohm resistor
six 220 ohm resistors
six LEDs
tilt switch
// named constant for the switch pin
const int switchPin = 8;
unsigned long previousTime = 0; // store the last time an LED was updated
int switchState = 0; // the current switch state
int prevSwitchState = 0; // the previous switch state
int led = 2; // a variable to refer to the LEDs
// 60000 = 1 minutes in milliseconds
long interval = 60000; // interval at which to light the next LED
void setup() {
// set all of the LED pins as outputs
for(int x = 2;x<8;x++){
pinMode(x, OUTPUT);
}
// set the tilt switch pin as input
pinMode(switchPin, INPUT);
}
void loop(){
// store the time since the Arduino started running in a variable
unsigned long currentTime = millis();
// compare the current time to the previous time an LED turned on
// if it is greater than your interval, run the if statement
if(currentTime – previousTime > interval) {
// save the current time as the last time you changed an LED
previousTime = currentTime;
// Turn the LED on
digitalWrite(led, HIGH);
// increment the led variable
// in 1 minute the next LED will light up
led++;
if(led == 6){
// the 5 minutes is up, light up fifth LED, then blink last LED for ten seconds, then leave solid.
digitalWrite(6,HIGH);
for(int b = 1;b<6;b++){
digitalWrite(7,HIGH);
delay(1000);
digitalWrite(7,LOW);
delay(1000);
}
digitalWrite(7,HIGH);
}
}
// read the switch value
switchState = digitalRead(switchPin);
// if the switch has changed
if(switchState != prevSwitchState){
// turn all the LEDs low
for(int x = 2;x<8;x++){
digitalWrite(x, LOW);
}
// reset the LED variable to the first one
led = 2;
//reset the timer
previousTime = currentTime;
}
// set the previous switch state to the current state
prevSwitchState = switchState;
}
When considering pricing your product, you are considering more than the cost of the parts + some percent for profit. You also have to consider the other factors at play. For instance, what is the value in the mind of the consumer, regardless of your costs? What is the perceived value in the consumer’s circle of colleagues and friends? Do the consumers have experiences that might degrade their perceived value of your product? You have to choose the price that the consumer is after, the one that they can justify for themselves or others.
$35 is the new $19.99
I’ve noticed a trend that reminds me of my younger years. I remember watching commercial after commercial for products offered at the magic price of $19.99. But recently, there seems to be another magic price, one that no one would blink at. $35.00 is the new $19.95, it seems, and I have some examples to show what I mean. I gave a presentation at Cherry Hill Public Library recently where I talked about these, and so they were fresh in my mind. I included the presentation below.
Successful Examples:
The ChromeCast – Google’s smart TV in a dongle, sold out about a day after its announcement. Google is particularly sensible about pricing generally, though I think the Chromebook Pixel may be an exception. ChromeCast offers the ability to run app content from apps like Netflix and Google Play Music on your HDTV with the great surround sound, and allows you to control it from your phone, tablet, Chromebook, laptop, or desktop. I use it all the time, and often bring it with me as a backup for presentations, since I can run presentations on it using Google Drive.
The Raspberry Pi – This is a $35 computer, very simply put. You’d need to BYO keyboard, monitor and mouse, but once you have those, you have a rich, powerful desktop machine. You can also use it as a headless server, with remote access. You could set it up as a design workstation, with apps like GIMP, Inkscape, and Scribus. You could use it as a media server complete with a navigable interface in the form of XBMC. You could use it as a security system with a motion sensor, and camera. The possibilities are endless, and what a great price point.
The Arduino Uno – The Uno is a great electronics learning and testing platform from Italy. It is less than $35, often available for as little as $25. The Arduino has a higher learning curve than the others here, but also potentially has the greatest flexibility and rewards. You can use Arduino for home automation, light shows, and any other electronics project you can think of. You use an open source programming language called Processing to make sketches to direct the inputs, like switches and sensors, and outputs, like LEDs. It’s products like this that allow you to “scratch your own itch”.
Here is my presentation on these devices.
And here is my presentation on Context, Connectedness and the self, a look at the ways that sensors are increasing in importance.
Arduino Five Ten Egg Timer circuit – John LeMasney
Arduino starter project 09: Motorized pinwheel
Arduino simple circuit by lemasney
Introduction to Arduino
Last night I gave a talk on Introduction to Arduino at Princeton Public Library as part of their technology class offerings. I thought I might recap the talk here and invite you to come and visit the next time we offer it. For more information about their free and public classes, please click here:
Getting started with Arduino is the presentation I gave, complete with links, videos, photos, and other information.
What is Arduino?
Arduino microcontroller / Arduino Uno microcontroller ATmega328 / Arduino Mega 2560 / Arduino Nano ATmega328 / Arduino Pro Mini ver.3.3V ATmega328 / Photo by Arkadiusz Sikorski https://www.arq.pl/ (Photo credit: Arkadiusz Sikorski vel ArakuS)
Arduino is an open source hardware platform for learning and prototyping electronics projects. It’s open source in that the design of the board itself is shared so that you can build your own if you are so inclined. The software and scripts used to program it are also open source. It benefits from a strong worldwide community of developers, programs, and resources, including books, videos, and classes. It is an Italian project, co-founded by Massimo Banzi and others, and is designed to help people learn easily, even from a very young age. http://www.arduino.cc is the homepage for the project. You can get an Arduino Uno, one version of many good for getting started, for around $30.
Where can you get an Arduino and Learn more?
You can buy Arduino products in many places, including online on Amazon.com, element14.com, and in brick and mortar stores like Radio Shack.
http://makezine.com is a champion of projects using Arduinos and other open platforms.
What are inputs and Outputs?
Inputs are ways for the Arduino to get information. These include sensors like motion detectors, cameras, compasses, GPS, touchscreens, buttons, and many of the same kinds of sensors typically found on a contemporary phone. You use pins on the Arduino to connect them, and use scripts, called sketches, to tell the Arduino what to do with the signals.
Outputs are ways for the Arduino to send back information or do actions. Examples include Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs), speakers, motors, and fans.
You can use inputs, outputs and sketches to scratch your own itches, often for a very low price. If you want a station that feeds your cat once every twelve hours but only if it hears a meow or when the cat comes near, you might use an arduino, an RFID (proximity) sensor, and a motor or latch to make it so that if the cat’s collar with an RFID chip in it comes close enough to the station, once in 12 hours time, the container of food has a door that opens for 3 seconds and closes again.
How do I get started with Arduino?
Cover via Amazon
There are many fantastic books, websites, videos, and communities of practice that focus on Arduino. Here’s one video that tells you how to get started with an Arduino. If you search for ‘Arduino tutorial’ on Google, YouTube, Element 14, or Adafruit.net, you’ll find many more.
How do I work with an Arduino?
The key to working with Arduino is writing sketches. You can use the Arduino program (an IDE or integrated development environment) based on an open source application called Processing to write sketches. Get it from http://arduino.cc/en/Main/Software
The most common starting example, with very simple capabilities is the Blink example. You can open the Blink example from file/examples/basics in the application.
“/* Blink
Turns on an LED on for one second, then off for one second, repeatedly.
This example code is in the public domain. */
// Pin 13 has an LED connected on most Arduino boards.
// give it a name:
int led = 13;
// the setup routine runs once when you press reset:
void setup() {
// initialize the digital pin as an output.
pinMode(led, OUTPUT);
}
// the loop routine runs over and over again forever:
void loop() {
digitalWrite(led, HIGH);
// turn the LED on (HIGH is the voltage level)
delay(1000);
// wait for a second
digitalWrite(led, LOW);
// turn the LED off by making the voltage LOW
delay(1000);
// wait for a second
}”
~ Arduino – Blink –
What kinds of things can you do with an Arduino?
Here is a fun example that shows what you can do with the Arduino, with others in the presentation linked above:
Is Arduino related to Raspberry Pi?
Arduino and the Raspberry Pi are often talked about together, but they are very different devices. The Raspberry Pi and Arduino are both open source hardware, but aside from that they have very little to do with one another. While the Raspberry Pi has pins that you can use to manage electronics, the main purpose of the Pi is to have a $35 computer that you can use to connect to a TV or monitor via HDMI or composite jack and to a keyboard and mouse with USB. The Arduino would need to be very heavily modded to allow for anything like that. The Arduino is primarily an electronics prototyping platform.
John LeMasney speaks tonight to BCUG about the Make movement
“Once again, we are happy to announce a visit from our friend and active open source and social networking guru, John LeMasney, who has again offered a totally unique, new and innovative line of thought for our users group. It was no surprise when we contacted John for an idea and he responded with the current topic. I’m saying that, because here is a new, unheard of (by me at least) way to use technology. I am sure our group will be intrigued, even become potential users. As you know, we like to learn, and this is a chance to see something new and interesting. But, will it be comprehensible for non-programmers, like me, and those who are there for the first time checking us out.
According to John,
·“Scratch is a low-threshold-of-entry programming tool that even eight-year olds can master, though adults find it a great platform for developing games, animations, stories and more.
·Arduino is a programmable integrated circuit with lots of community support and low or no cost development tools that allow you to create anything from a Twitter account that shares when your dog eats from her food bowl to an always-on GPS reporter that tells a spreadsheet where it is every 30 seconds.
·Raspberry Pi is a $35 computer that you can use to do everything your desktop computer does, but because of the very low price, people tend to use them for more interesting dedicated projects, like an art project where lights and sound are affected by the presence of people. Come and learn where and how to get started with this exciting international movement away from consumerism and towards creation.” (slightly edited)
A little about John (from his web pages) – John LeMasney is a father who lives and works in and around Princeton, NJ. He now offers consulting in technology, design, communication, branding, and nutrition. He was the Manager of Educational Technology Training and Outreach at Princeton University from March 2011 to March 2013. He had worked from 1998-2011 at Rider University as the Manager of Technology Training. He was recently awarded a Master of Arts in Organizational Leadership with honors from Rider University in Lawrenceville, NJ, and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Sculpture with honors from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, PA .
John is a designer, artist, writer, poet, technologist, consultant, open web advocate and open source evangelist. He is most interested in helping people to use technology to make their lives, work, and world better.
I think we all agree that we would enjoy this presentation, as it’s outside of the box for us, and will give us plenty to think about. Jo Grazide” ~ BCUG Guest Speaker – http://goo.gl/wbL5N7
English: Soft boiled egg with black lava salt from hawaii (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The Five Minute Ten-Second Egg
I really love clarity. The five-ten egg (the five-minute ten-second egg) does this.
The five-ten egg is a very specific instruction for a perfectly soft-boiled egg. It refers to the amount of time which you boiled the egg to make it simply perfect, that is, easy to disrobe from the shell, hard on the outside, soft on the inside, and neither under-cooked not overcooked. I can attest to this reality, because I’ve done it and reaped the luxurious benefits of it. Boil an egg for exactly five minutes and ten seconds, and you have joy in a shell.
Make it yourself
What’s more, it could not be more simple to make this perfectly cooked egg yourself. Do the following if you want to experience it for yourself.
Bring a pot of water to a boil. Set another pot with water at room temperature. Set a timer for 5:10. Don’t start it until we’re set to drop the egg.
Take a pushpin and pierce the end of an egg, and drop it in the water and start your timer. The pushpin pierce gives the pressure in the heated egg somewhere to go. You might also want a drop of vinegar in the boil, but I can’t stand to be around the stuff. I found it fine without.
At the timer’s beep, remove the egg and place it in the cool bath. I use a tablespoon to keep my fingers from the scalding liquid.
After a minute, crack and remove the shell. Use the cool water to help you. I found the membrane and made easy work of it.
Finishing
At this point, be creative. I added the egg to a hamburger roll and had the most delicious explosion of yolk. What will you do?
Maybe some very thin sliced cucumber or tomato? A delicious small batch ketchup? Rooster sauce? Salt and pepper and nothing? Asparagus? A simple spoon into the chamber? A curry of rice and chicken? Sautéed mixed vegetables? A cheesesteak? The yolk would be so incredibly complimentary to a crisp piece of bacon. Since I’m mostly vegetarian, those suggestions would just be for you. 🙂
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