Messages

166

Wirelings / Re: Accelerometer Units/Dog Fitbit

« on: December 21, 2021, 09:41:33 PM »

Hiya,

There's some example data of the accelerometer output available in the tutorial via a plotted graph: https://learn.tinycircuits.com/Wirelings/Accelerometer_Wireling_Tutorial/

That data will probably not be helpful since I was just waving the accelerometer around before I took that screenshot. The best way to know the change in accelerometer values is to test with the real situation/factors that you will be working with.

I will offer a few words of caution with the pulse oximeter - these sensors are very sensitive in general and this hardware in particular takes a few readings over multiple seconds before being able to print values to some degree of accuracy. For a human, this means holding a finger gently and very still over the red LED of the wireling sensor for a few seconds in order to get a reading. Most real world pulse ox's are embedded in some sort of pinching-finger-apparatus to keep the sensor still with even pressure over the course of a few seconds - at least the ones I've encountered. I'm not sure if the pulse oximeter will be usable with a dog without some sort of fixture (and possibly some hair shaving).

It sounds like a fun project and I would love to hear more about your execution and results! Pictures of the puppy would be an extremely welcome bonus. (Sorry if the pulse info is a bummer.) It reminded me of this neat turtle tracker project I saw a bit ago using our hardware: https://www.hackster.io/brian-k2/accelerometer-and-data-logger-for-small-animal-research-c877c6
The accelerometer code in that project might help!

Cheers,
Réna

167

TinyTV & Tiny Video Player / Re: file conversion

« on: December 21, 2021, 09:19:26 PM »

Hiya,

Check these few things:

• The title cannot be longer than 50 characters
• The title cannot include characters/symbols outside of A-Z, 0-9
• Some videos could be corrupted from the original mp4/source file - make sure the source video is playable on your device
• Some source files can be protected by a DRM - make sure you have the ability/license/permission to alter or re-distribute the video

Let me know if any of those tips help!

Best,
Réna

168

General Discussion / Re: Robot from YouTube 5 years ago Build info or insight on how it's made

« on: December 20, 2021, 12:50:53 PM »

That prototype unfortunately never made its way to a project or further than that demo video. The files were created by a sculptor friend, Jason.

Here's a tutorial he wrote up on the process: https://tinycircuits.com/blogs/news/new-machines?_pos=8&_sid=9ba67cf7e&_ss=r

His patreon if you were interested in his other work: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=3278712

169

TinyTV & Tiny Video Player / Re: Files/Channels

« on: December 20, 2021, 12:46:24 PM »

Glad to hear those tips helped!

Would love to see your paint job or hear about how the gift-receiver reacts to it!

170

TinyTV & Tiny Video Player / Re: Audio but No Video

« on: December 20, 2021, 12:45:02 PM »

Great to hear that everything's working just in time for the cold season & holidays!

171

TinyTV & Tiny Video Player / Re: TinyTV modification with shields - Wifi/BLE

« on: December 20, 2021, 12:44:14 PM »

V,

I believe the Bluetooth TinyShield would fit into the case readily, but this would get in the way of the SD Card access. Additionally, the Micro SD & Audio TinyShield are not compatible due to some pin conflicts, so you could use the bluetooth with the screen, but you wouldn't be able to play videos or audio. Here's the compatibility matrix: https://learn.tinycircuits.com/TinyDuino_Overview/#tinyshield-compatibility

The Wifi tinyshield is longer than any of the TinyShields, so it would not fit into the case and would need a significant re-design.

I will add that the case might reduce bluetooth ability due to the physical barrier, but I haven't tested this and can't say for sure.

Best,
Réna

172

TinyTV & Tiny Video Player / Re: Tiny Screen Buttons

« on: December 20, 2021, 12:37:36 PM »

Ben,

You can definitely leave the TV on. This forum post might give you some ideas on how you can provide power to the kit: http://forum.tinycircuits.com/index.php?topic=2383.0

Let me know if you need clarification or have additional questions.

Best,
Réna

173

TinyTV & Tiny Video Player / Re: My Video player freezes on fuzz too

« on: December 20, 2021, 12:32:47 PM »

Hiya Ben,

Do the source videos play without issue on your computer before you convert them?

I've converted entire 3 hour movies with no issue - there isn't a file size limit for conversion, there's just a limit in size to the SD Card you use (the one with the kit is 8GB). There's the character limit, but you also can't use special characters or symbols. You can try re-naming all the videos to something like "video1, video2, etc" to rule that out as a problem.

What format are the source videos? mp4?

Let me know!

Réna

174

TinyTV & Tiny Video Player / Re: Files/Channels

« on: December 13, 2021, 05:57:55 PM »

Hi there,

The skipping of numbered channels is a stylistic choice of behavior that mimics cable television signals where you wouldn’t get every channel, but maybe every other. In the program, the cable number is randomly assigned between 0-9 as you switch through the channels/videos.

With this in mind, the actual channels/videos should play in the order they were added to the SD Card regardless of the channel numbering.

If all of the 7 converted movies appear on the TV, then you should be able to ignore the channels. They are randomly assigned and don't have any real meaning. It sounds like you might have another issue with those not playing, copied from the FAQ: https://learn.tinycircuits.com/Kits/TinyTV-FAQ/

- If the title of the video is too long, the videos will not display. Try keeping the titles of the videos shorter than 50 characters. "For example - this sentence is 50 characters long!"
- It's not common, but it is possible that the .mp4 video or .tsv converted video file is corrupted. Please make sure the video is playable on your computer before converting it, and then be sure to safely eject the SD Card from your computer to avoid any file corruption issues.

The videos also won't play if the titles include some special characters outside of A-Z, 0-9. Accented or symbol characters like 'é' or '±' aren't readable by the TinyTV program, so these videos will not play when loaded on the SD Card.

I hope that helps!

Best,
Réna

175

TinyLily / Re: TinyLily Pinout documentation

« on: December 13, 2021, 02:40:26 PM »

Hello!

I split the topic since that other forum post was pretty old and long - the pinout for the TinyLily processor can be found on the tutorial page under the Notes section: https://learn.tinycircuits.com/TinyLily/Processor_TinyLily_Tutorial/#notes

There are two dropdown menus that you should be able to click to see the pin descriptions. The pinout pictures are also in the photo reel on the product page: https://tinycircuits.com/products/tinylily-mini-processor

Here's a tutorial on using the TinyLily LEDs as well: https://learn.tinycircuits.com/TinyLily/LED_Blink_Fade/
If you want to use multiples of these LEDs, you could remote the resistors for some of them. For RGB LEDs, you can connect as many as you want in a chain.

If you need more help or have more questions - a description of the project you're looking to make would help me help you!

Best,
Réna

176

TinyTV & Tiny Video Player / Re: How to wire a power switch/button to the TinyScreen+?

« on: December 13, 2021, 02:14:56 PM »

HIya,

There are a few different possible options:

1. Plug in a 'permanently' fixed Micro USB cable - RichArcade in this other forum post has some pictures and videos showing a right-angle cable that might be more ideal than a regular cable that sticks straight up: http://forum.tinycircuits.com/index.php?topic=2309.0

2. If you don't want any headspace, you could solder a power cable, or a stripped micro USB cable to a 2-pin JST for power and ground and plug this into the battery port. Here's a 2-pin jst: https://tinycircuits.com/collections/cables-connectors/products/jst-sh-2-pin-connector
If you like this option, you could potentially use the 2-pin connector on the battery that comes with the kit - you will just want to be very, very careful not to cross or short the battery leads after snipping the 2-pin off. Lithium batteries can smoke and potentially explode when shorted. 

3. This is the same process as #1 or 2, but if you ideally want a button or switch for the power rather than a cable you plug in and unplug, you could add in a switch to the wires. This might look ugly, but if you want a switch this would be an option.

4. Same as #1-2 where you would install a 'permanent' power source / cable, but you could use the IR Receiver that's on the MicroSD & Audio TinyShield if the enclosure around the TV isn't too thick (the IR chip is the black square at the top of the Shield), and if you have a spare IR Remote around. The TinyTV mode that uses a remote code to change channels/videos and toggle the screen power should be available as a setting on the Tiny Video Player kit, and you can edit the IR settings to work with whatever IR remote you have. Then you could turn the screen off and on using a remote. This might sound confusing if you're unfamiliar with the settings menu, but this would be my personal favorite option since you just need a micro usb cable and a spare IR remote. Here's the settings menu tutorial: https://learn.tinycircuits.com/Kits/TinyTV-Tutorial/ (don't get confused that all the pictures show the tinytv, the tiny video player kit has all the same software and hardware minus the Tiny Remote and printed enclosure)

Let me know if you have any questions or need clarification on anything I mentioned. Would love to see how you're using the kit!


Best of luck!
-Réna

177

TinyTV & Tiny Video Player / Re: Audio but No Video

« on: December 08, 2021, 02:04:06 PM »

Thanks for trying that out. It doesn't look like your forum email is in our system, so you can fill out a contact form here: https://tinycircuits.com/pages/contact-us

Include your order number and ask to be directed to me (Réna) and I will sort things out for ya. Thanks!

178

TinyTV & Tiny Video Player / Re: Audio but No Video

« on: December 07, 2021, 04:54:38 PM »

Hi there!

If no display is showing, it's possible that the screen could have been damaged during shipment or assembly. Or it could be that the converted videos are somehow corrupt. To check that the screen is working - can you try putting the TinyScreen+ board into bootloader mode? When correctly done, the screen will display "TinyScreen+ Bootloader Mode" on the screen.

For bootloader mode, turn off the TV device (switch should be down), and then hold in the top-left button closest to the micro USB port while turning the unit back on. The most important part is keeping the button held in. Make sure the battery is charged and try this a few times to see if you can get anything to appear on the screen.

I also attached some pictures of the bootloader mode steps.

Let me know if that works for you!

Best,
Réna

179

General Discussion / Re: Is there any "TinyCircuits for Dummies" info...?

« on: December 06, 2021, 11:41:19 AM »

No problem!

Feel free to ask more questions if you get stuck on something, and I would love to see the project once you finish it!

I love both the TinyLily and Wirelings, but the Wirelings are definitely a lot faster and easier to learn with since you can just unplug and re-plug them if you change your mind halfway through your project. The advantage of TinyLilys is that you can get simple projects really small and can even sew them into clothing with conductive thread (great for techy holiday sweaters!)

Best of luck!
Réna

180

TinyTV & Tiny Video Player / Re: Tiny TV Arcades

« on: December 03, 2021, 06:02:28 PM »

Wowza! It looks like you've collected all of the Hallmark cases and even have one of our Arcades - not often does my jaw drop on something shared on the forum like today. This is awesome and we would love to share this on social media!

I am obsessed with the very tiny rubber duck on one of the TVs.

I see USB connections on the TVs - how's the cable management look for all of these?