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TinyLily / Running hc-sr04 ultrasonic sensor with TinyLily

« on: October 08, 2013, 09:49:51 AM »

I'm working on an autonomous helium/hydrogen-filled toy zeppelin for my kids' room that uses a TinyLily with an HC-SR04 ultrasonic proximity sensor to detect when it's approaching a wall and then turn until it can fly some more, flashing LEDs and producing sound effects like "Ahoy there!" all the while.

Weight is a concern, which is why I'm trying to do it with the TinyLily so the envelope of the zeppelin can remain small enough to provide sufficient lift but still maneuver within their room.

I have gotten the sensor to work with an Arduino Uno, but not with the TinyLily.  The voltmeter says the Uno's supplying 5V but the TinyLily's only supplying 3.3, below the 4.5 minimum the sensor needs.  Here are the specs for the sensor:


            Parameter    Min    Typ.    Max    Unit
Operating Voltage   4.50    5.0     5.5     V
Quiescent Current   1.5      2        2.5     mA
Working Current      10       15      20       mA

I am a beginner with electronics, and am stuck at this point.  What is the best way to get the sensor to work with the TinyLily?  Is there a way to bump up the voltage so the sensor will work? 

Thanks in advance for any pointers you guys might have.

2

TinyLily / Broken TinyLily USB Shield?

« on: October 03, 2013, 05:47:08 PM »

I received the TinyLily Starter Kit today and tried to plug it into my laptop via micro-USB and upload Arduino's Bare Minimum Sketch.  I got an error saying "avrdude: stk500_recv(): programmer is not responding."

I tried both Mini Processor Boards that came in the kit with the same result.  Could the TinyLily USB Shield be broken?  How can I tell?

I'm running Ubuntu 12.04, which googling says has the FTDI drivers already bundled with the Arduino IDE, and the IDE's Tools -> Serial Port lists /dev/ttyUSB0, so I think the driver's not the problem.

Anyway, appreciate any advice you guys might have.