Messages

1

TinyDuino Processors & TinyShields / Re: Serial String Input

« on: September 16, 2021, 03:10:30 PM »

Bullwinkle,

I am glad you were able to solve the problem! Sorry for missing the update!

2

TinyDuino Processors & TinyShields / Re: Serial String Input

« on: September 16, 2021, 10:09:54 AM »

Hello Bullwinkle,

Could you attach your program's file? Should be faster to help you debug that way!

Did you try Serial.readString before trying the Until version? https://www.arduino.cc/reference/en/language/functions/communication/serial/readstring/

My last quick tip is to check that your baud rate in the code matches your baud rate in the serial monitor. Let me know if that helps!

Best,
Réna

3

General Discussion / Re: How to expand program storage space?

« on: August 12, 2021, 04:03:57 PM »

Bertie,

Would you mind posting or direct messaging the program you're using? Or at least the error log?

It will help me help you debug if I can see what you're seeing. What hardware are you using?

Best,
Réna

4

General Discussion / Re: How many Shields can you install?

« on: August 12, 2021, 03:59:03 PM »

Hello,

There shouldn't be an issue as long as all the shields don't have any conflicting pins. You can check this with the compatibility matrix: https://learn.tinycircuits.com/TinyDuino_Overview/#tinyshield-compatibility

Physically, if you're going to be moving this stack around at all it might help to have a mounting kit between some of the boards: https://tinycircuits.com/collections/components/products/tinyduino-mounting-kit
You could use one mounting kit and space out the components as I have poorly portrayed in the attached image.

Additionally, depending on what boards you plan on using and project goals, it might help to use the Wireling board format instead of TinyShield: https://tinycircuits.com/collections/wirelings

If you want to share more on what boards you want for your project or what the end goal is, I would be happy to recommend any hardware setups that might work better / be cheaper.

Let me know if you run into any questions on compatibility.

Thanks,
Laveréna

5

General Discussion / Re: How to expand program storage space?

« on: August 11, 2021, 11:49:09 AM »

Hello,

Yes, we have a few options for expanding memory space using TinyShields: https://tinycircuits.com/collections/memory

We have MicroSD, FRAM, Flash, SRAM, and EEPROM options so you can go with whatever works best for your project.

Thanks,
Réna

6

TinyTV & Tiny Video Player / Re: More storage for tiny video player

« on: August 03, 2021, 01:26:48 PM »

Hello,

Yes, you can definitely load more videos on a larger SD Card, but you will then be limited by the battery inside the TV on how long you can continuously play videos.

The SD Card should be formatted to FAT32, you can accomplish this by using an SD Card Formatting Utility (https://www.sdcard.org/downloads/formatter_4/). Make sure any important files on the SD Card are moved before starting this process - all files will be deleted during formatting.

I hope that helps!

Thanks,
Réna

7

TinyTV & Tiny Video Player / Re: Tiny TV Arcades

« on: July 28, 2021, 10:57:10 AM »

So! I sort of have an update on that front, but not a great one. We haven't been able to get the screens we were planning on using for the new touchscreen processor, or the processors.

The part shortage is stalling everything for us currently. We even have a few customers buying our boards with more sought-after sensors on them just to take the sensor off and use it in their own products. The soonest we could have the touchscreen processor as a product would be winter if everything goes right and we are able to buy the components.

I wish I had better news for you, but for now, we just have to be patient as all of the supply chains get caught up with everything. Hopefully, I will have a positive update on this front in the coming months! We're definitely keeping our fingers crossed here.

8

TinyTV & Tiny Video Player / Re: How do I remove the black selection bar on the Tiny Video Player?

« on: July 26, 2021, 10:31:10 AM »

Hello,

Yes, you can absolutely remove the black bar. We have a Settings menu built into the program, so I believe you would just need to turn on "Auto-Play" in the settings and the black bar would disappear. You may want to play around with some of the settings to get the right functionality for your project: https://learn.tinycircuits.com/Kits/TinyTV-Tutorial/

It is possible to solder wires onto the switch and I can find a diagram that would help with this, but I would recommend not doing this unless you are skilled with soldering in small spaces or if you trust yourself! This would involve soldering wires onto the pads of the existing switch which is close to other hardware that could be easily damaged if not being careful.

Another way to extend the power switch is to leave the hardware switch "ON" without a lithium battery and control the power using a Micro USB cable plugged into the top of the TinyScreen+ and plugged into a more easily controllable power source (like a wall outlet).

Let me know if you have any other questions, thanks!

Réna

9

Tiny Arcade & Pocket Arcade / Re: Map creator for dungeons and dragons

« on: July 26, 2021, 10:12:49 AM »

Withane,

If you're looking to create these applications on the Tiny Arcade or Pocket Arcade, we do have a (quite long) tutorial about developing a game for these platforms that may help you get started with these ideas: https://learn.tinycircuits.com/Help/Developing-a-Game-For-Tiny-Arcade_Tutorial/

There are also other programs for different games available on the forum, like the game Color Monsters that works similar to Pokémon - http://forum.tinycircuits.com/index.php?topic=1919.msg3770#msg3770

A dice roller program would be a great place to start. You would need to use a random component and a display visual component for this. So using the Arduino Random library would help: https://www.arduino.cc/reference/en/language/functions/random-numbers/random/ and it may help to look at other dice roller Arduino projects and programs to get comfortable with the programming style: https://create.arduino.cc/projecthub/projects/tags/dice

I hope that helps. Let me know if you need help along the way or have any questions!

Best,
Réna

10

General Discussion / Re: Sequential filenames on the SD Card

« on: July 19, 2021, 12:02:34 PM »

Hello,

This tutorial that includes some code on writing to a file on an SD Card should start you off in the right direction: https://www.circuitbasics.com/writing-data-to-files-on-an-sd-card-on-arduino/

I found it by googling/searching "arduino write csv to sd card"

Best of luck,
Laveréna

11

General Discussion / Re: newer Nordic BLE module

« on: July 13, 2021, 09:50:03 AM »

John,

Our plans for a new BLE processor would likely include the Nordic NRF52832: https://www.u-blox.com/sites/default/files/BMD-350_DataSheet_UBX-19033354.pdf

That being said, the national chip shortage has put a wrench in our plans for new products for the foreseeable future with a lead time on this chip currently at 26 weeks. It is difficult to say when the supply chain issues will be over and when we would be able to produce any new products with this processor.

Thanks,
Réna

12

TinyTV & Tiny Video Player / Re: Tiny TV Arcades

« on: July 13, 2021, 08:56:29 AM »

Thank you for the video. The sound effects really make you feel like you're standing in an arcade!

I added the video to the TinyTV blog: https://tinycircuits.com/blogs/news/tinytv-hall-of-fame
Let me know if there is a social media account you want me to credit with it.

Thank you for letting us share!

Best,
Réna

13

General Discussion / Re: Dual Motor TinyShield Repair

« on: July 09, 2021, 02:09:38 PM »

John,

That is possible and you could replace it with a jumper cable, but I would recommend just changing your program to accept the changed address of the motor board.

Changing: MotorDriver motor(NO_R_REMOVED);

To: MotorDriver motor2(R1_REMOVED);

I believe that should do the trick.

Best,
Réna

14

TinyTV & Tiny Video Player / Re: Tiny video player screen sizes

« on: July 07, 2021, 01:15:08 PM »

Hiya,

1. We do not currently have plans to make a larger TinyTV specific board. We do have a touchscreen (240x240 pixels) that is larger than that 0.96" (96x64). I am not sure on the measurements off the top of my head, but we did get the TinyTV code working with the screen during our testing phase and it could be a possibility in the future. That being said, with the worldwide chip shortage and a lot of other supply-chain issues stemming from the pandemic, we do not have the ability to estimate when we would have this new touchscreen processor product or any other new products we have in the works.

2. The 0.96" screen and driver/processor are on the same board, the TinyScreen+, so it would be difficult to add an external screen into the hardware stack without needing to swap some hardware/do some soldering and re-programming. It’s possible but would require some thought.

Adafruit offers more variety in screen sizes (they have a 1.5” and 1.27” which may work for you), but it looks like you would have to get larger screens and do some soldering to work with them since their screen boards are just the screens and an SD Card holder. You will also need to do some programming since it looks like their examples end with static images and do not include video support – I could be wrong here and there could be software or a tutorial that I didn’t find with their hardware, but a software example is not readily available from their graphics library. I am no expert on Adafruit products, so it may help to get in touch with their support team/forum to ask what the best way forward is and how you could leverage our hardware with theirs to create the perfect/easiest hybrid solution for your project.

We did at one point design a smaller TinyTV - that we call TinierTV - and we were excited to offer it in the future, but the smaller screen isn't available for purchase now or at any predictable point in the future due to the manufacturers not having enough demand to build more of the smaller screens. I included a picture of the TinierTV enclosure that we designed for the all-in-one TinierTV board.

I wish it were easier to swap out larger and smaller screens on the TinyTV hardware, but unfortunately, different screens require different hardware configurations which makes the solution of different screens not trivial.

I hope that answers your question. Let me know if you have any additional questions or remarks.

15

General Discussion / Re: "Best" way to send sensor data via BLE?

« on: July 07, 2021, 12:59:33 PM »

Tacca,

The Micro SD card and Bluetooth Shields use the same Chip Select (CS) pin for SPI communication, making the boards incompatible with each other simultaneously. You can see the compatibility chart for our TinyShields here: https://learn.tinycircuits.com/TinyDuino_Overview/#tinyshield-compatibility

I apologize for my previous advice that might have sounded like a recommendation to use the Shields together. I meant that it might be best to use an SD Card instead of the Bluetooth TinyShield since it sounded like accuracy and speed were needed and that Bluetooth could cause a lot of practical problems like the question of distance between the Bluetooth receiver/smartphone and hardware stack while running.

I hope that clears up my former message.

Best,
Réna