Messages

286

General Discussion / Re: TinyShield to MicroSD Cable

« on: March 08, 2021, 03:44:09 PM »

Hello,

The Ribbon Cable Extender is probably the best bet for a quick solution: https://tinycircuits.com/collections/proto-boards/products/tinyshield-ribbon-cable-extender

Otherwise, you can do some soldering with two Proto Board TinyShields, but this option would require some time and technical skill: https://tinycircuits.com/collections/proto-boards/products/proto-board-tinyshield

I hope that helps!
Réna

287

General Discussion / Re: Best Single Board Computer to display videos

« on: March 01, 2021, 04:37:38 PM »

Hello,

You can do this with a pi zero, but for a smaller option we do have a Tiny Video Player Kit: https://tinycircuits.com/collections/kits-1/products/tiny-video-player-kit
Or the TinyTV kit that comes with a 3D print TV enclosure and remote: https://tinycircuits.com/products/tinytv-diy-kit

This also comes with a smaller display, however, but I am not sure how strict of a requirement that is for your project. More details help on the project would help me help you!

Let me know,
Réna

288

TinyTV & Tiny Video Player / Re: TSV Video conversion issues

« on: February 22, 2021, 02:07:45 PM »

Hello,

1. Any file size or video length should work, the larger and longer the video, the longer the conversion will take. The longest we have tested is a 2.5 hour movie.
2. Those formats should work. mp4 is the most commonly used format
There could be some corruption from the main video. I would recommend trying different videos to see if you can rule out that it's a specific video causing problems.

Let me know if you see the same behavior on multiple videos.

Best,
Réna

289

General Discussion / Re: TinyScreen + setup

« on: February 19, 2021, 12:35:19 PM »

Hello there!

I have some great news. If you purchased the kit in the last year, it shipped with firmware that includes a settings menu. This tutorial shows how you can navigate to the settings menu, and what settings are available: https://learn.tinycircuits.com/Kits/TinyTV-Tutorial/

The settings include "Loop" and "Autoplay" modes that should work perfectly for your project.  You can also elect to use a different remote with the IR settings if that could be of use!

If you have an older kit, you can upload the newest firmware using this tutorial: https://learn.tinycircuits.com/Kits/Tiny-Video-Program/

I hope that helps! Let me know if you have any other questions.

Would love to see the model you end up building when you're finished! The hardest part of selling cool hardware is that we almost never get to see what happens with it 

290

TinyDuino Processors & TinyShields / Re: Arduino IDE not compiling Real-Time Clock TinyShield Arduino sketch

« on: February 18, 2021, 02:13:49 PM »

Looks like we made an oopsie there on the tutorial page - sorry about that! I'll get that fixed sometime today.

I looked around for a library for the DS1339 RTC chip that was compatible with the SAMD21 processor but didn't have much luck. Arduino has a list of different libraries for RTC's, but since the SAMD21 has a built-in RTC there isn't much support. It's possible I may have missed something though, so you can take a look for yourself: https://www.arduino.cc/reference/en/libraries/category/timing/

The battery on the RTC board is connected to the RTC chip and is used when there isn't another power source - so unfortunately it's only suited to power the DS1339 chip and won't be useful for the TinyZero RTC. If you want to return the RTC TinyShield since we had a mistake in the tutorial, you can contact info@tinycircuits.com with your order number and we can solve that.

To power the onboard RTC, you should be able to use a Lithium battery with the processor in sleep mode. The Arduino documentation found on their page (https://www.arduino.cc/en/Reference/RTC) clarifies the details: "To keep the time and the RTC running it is necessary to keep the board powered. A button-sized lithium battery or any battery in the 3V range, connected through a diode to the 3.3V pin, is enough to keep RTC alive if the CPU is put in sleep mode before the standard USB or VIN power is disconnected." For the TinyZero, you just need to plug in a charged-up battery and use sleep mode.

I hope that helps!

Best,
Réna

291

General Discussion / Re: Error in AnalogRead from A0 compared to a multimeter with tinyduino processor

« on: February 18, 2021, 01:30:10 PM »

Hey there,

I'm not completely clear on the question, but I thought that I would mention a voltage divider will divide the voltage - resulting in less voltage rather than more voltage. There's a good tutorial here that includes a calculator to calculate the expected voltage drop: https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/voltage-dividers/all

It sounds like you want to boost the 5V voltage up to 6V for the diode? You can add more solar panels in series and put them under bright lighting, or you could consider getting a boost converter to up the voltage output. That being said, most Ge diodes require just 0.3V to become active (forward-biased), compared to Si diodes needing 0.7V. Do you have a datasheet or more info on the particular diode?

Let me know if I am misunderstanding any of your project goals!

Réna

292

TinyDuino Processors & TinyShields / Re: Arduino IDE not compiling Real-Time Clock TinyShield Arduino sketch

« on: February 16, 2021, 01:50:49 PM »

Hello there,

The avr error message you are getting is due to the RTC TinyShield example being specific to avr processors like the one included on the TinyDuino.

Fortunately, the TinyZero has an onboard RTC from the SAMD21 processor and does not need the RTC TinyShield to tell time.

We have been meaning to publish a more general RTCZero library example tutorial with our products using the SAMD21 processor (TinyZero, TinyScreen+, RobotZero, WirelingZero), but the only current published tutorial is the extended TinyScreen+ one that includes more about sleep mode and interrupts (very popular topic): https://tinycircuits.com/blogs/learn/tinyscreen-external-interrupt-sleep-mode

On the bright side, we have the program ready to go for testing. I attached a zip file of the program that you can use with the TinyZero to work with the onboard RTC. You will just need to download that program and install the RTCZero library: https://www.arduino.cc/reference/en/libraries/rtczero/

Let me know how the program works for you!

Best,
Réna

293

TinyDuino Processors & TinyShields / Re: Dual Motor Shield for vibration motor control?

« on: February 03, 2021, 05:02:01 PM »

I have an update on the topic!

It looks like we are looking to add a motorless option of the board at $7.95 sometime soon on the website. You can email info@tinycircuits in the meantime if you are interested in that as an option!

Réna

294

TinyDuino Processors & TinyShields / Re: Set rotation of TinyScreen?

« on: February 02, 2021, 05:01:54 PM »

Hello,

The screen contents can be flipped as you have discovered, but it is difficult to write a portrait mode translation of the screen contents due to the pixel difference in the length and width.

I can recommend looking into the writeRemap() function of the TinyScreen library. We have rewritten this function to work with rotating a different, square screen using the following code:

Code: [Select]

uint8_t _rotateDisplay=1;

void TinyScreen::writeRemap(void){
  uint8_t remap=(1<<5)|(1<<4)|(0<<2)|(1<<1);
  if(_flipDisplay){
    remap^=((1<<4)|(1<<1));
    //Set_Display_Offset(0x00);
  }else{
    //Set_Display_Offset(0x40);
  }
  if(_rotateDisplay)
    remap^=((1<<1)|(1<<0));
  if(_mirrorDisplay)
    remap^=(1<<1);
  if(_bitDepth)
    remap|=(1<<6);
  if(_colorMode)
    remap^=(1<<2);
   
   startCommand();
   TSSPI->transfer(0xA0);//set remap
   TSSPI->transfer(remap);
   endTransfer();
}
This does not work with the TinyScreen as is, but might be a good starting point for altering the writeRemap() function.

I hope that helps!

Thanks,
Réna

295

TinyDuino Processors & TinyShields / Re: Dual Motor Shield for vibration motor control?

« on: February 01, 2021, 02:14:44 PM »

Hello,

I would advise you to use a different chip than the DRV8837 on the Dual Motor TinyShield since it sounds like you want multiple vibration patterns and the Dual Motor TinyShield is intended for brushed motors/DC loads as stated in the product description. The DRV2605 chip, however, is meant to be used with ERM and LRA motors like the one you are looking to use.

We have a Wireling that uses the DRV2605 chip and has an LRA motor attached: https://tinycircuits.com/collections/wireling-input-output/products/lra-wireling-drv2605
The library with the chip includes over 100 built-in vibration patterns that might be a good place to start. If you're set on using an ERM motor, we could look into adding an option of the board without a motor attached by default.

I hope that helps!

Laveréna

296

TinyDuino Processors & TinyShields / Re: Arduino create engine problem

« on: January 26, 2021, 11:37:49 AM »

Hello,

Codebender may not fully support Arduino and our boards as well as it has in the past. Can you let me know what tutorial you are trying to use?

For now, I would suggest looking through the Learn Wiki site that holds a lot of our basic tutorials and projects: https://learn.tinycircuits.com/
You can also navigate to our wiki using the "Learn" tab on the website!

Let me know if you have any other questions!

Thanks,
Réna

297

General Discussion / Re: NRFL01+ 2.4 GHz Radio Shield / Documentation missing

« on: January 11, 2021, 11:07:56 AM »

Willem,

Nice catch! The datasheets and schematics are in the correct repo, but for some reason, the schematic pdf is incorrect and I will get that fixed on the Wiki/Learn site and the product page today. Since the part number of the NRF24L01+ 2.4 GHz Shield is one away from the 433 Shield, it looks like a simple mixup.

The GitHub is updated with the correct file now: https://github.com/TinyCircuits/TinyCircuits-TinyShield-NRF24L01-ASD2163/raw/master/design_files/ASD2163.pdf

Thanks for letting us know!

Réna

298

TinyDuino Processors & TinyShields / Re: TEMPERATURE / HUMIDITY TINYSHIELD I2C Communication

« on: January 05, 2021, 11:57:11 AM »

The SDA, SCL, GND, and VCC pads can all be soldered to like you would normally make connections directly to an Arduino. So, yes, you can use them for connecting an additional I2C device.

I hope that helps!

Thanks,
Réna

299

TinyTV & Tiny Video Player / Re: where is TinyTV IR receiver?

« on: January 04, 2021, 01:44:52 PM »

Hello,

The IR Receiver is located at the top of the TinyTV on the MicroSD and Audio TinyShield. Looking at the picture on the product page, it would be the black square at the bottom of the board: https://tinycircuits.com/collections/audio/products/microsd_audio-tinyshield

When installed in the TinyTV, the chip is at the top of the TV case.

You could try using a fresh battery in the Tiny Remote, but since the enclosure blocks the receiver, you may only get around 12" of reach with the Remote at that point.

I hope that helps!

Thanks,
Réna

300

TinyDuino Processors & TinyShields / Re: TinyZero Smartwatch Screen stops working

« on: December 30, 2020, 06:21:24 PM »

Have you tried the original example for the TinyScreen from the getting started tutorial? https://learn.tinycircuits.com/Display/TinyScreen_TinyShield_Tutorial/