OpenCircuits - User contributions [en]

Linuxstamp

2007-04-29T21:02:06Z

24.121.9.24: /* Cross Compilier */

== Description ==
The Linuxstamp is designed to be a general purpose processor module. It is designed to work as a stand alone module (SD card, ethernet and USB/Serial converter are all on the module). This allows all initial development to be done without a motherboard, but for integration into a specific project a motherboard with specific features could be designed.

== Features ==
* Atmel AT91RM9200 processor (Arm9 processor with MMU)
* 32MB SDRAM (Only limited by 1x 54-TSOP SDRAM chip)
* 8MB SPI Dataflash
* 1x 10/100 Ethernet
* 1x USB host port
* 1x SD card slot
* Serial debug port access through FTDI USB/Serial converter
* JTAG port
* 2-Layer PCB design

== Licence ==
All files for this project are licensed under the GNU GPL V2

== Project files ==
* [[Media:at91-rev1.1.0-top.pdf|PCB Top view (pdf)]]
* [[Media:at91-rev1.1.0-bottom.pdf|PCB Bottom view (pdf)]]
* [[Media:at91-rev1.1.0-sch.pdf|Schematic (pdf)]]
* [http://greenflaginc.com/at91-linuxstamp-20070416.zip Project zip file]

== Status ==

== Booting ==
The AT91RM9200 has several features the faciliate easy booting. There is a good description of the booting order [http://www.open-research.org.uk/ARMuC/At91rm9200_Booting.html here]. Atmel provides a tiny [http://www.atmel.com/dyn/resources/prod_documents/uboot-DataFlash_1_01.zip program] that lives in the Dataflash and loads u-boot.
*Configuring and building u-boot 
First we need the u-boot source found [http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=65938 here]. If you have not yet built a cross compilier now would be a good time to do so (See the cross compilier section below). Now you can do a test for the Atmel AT91RM9200 DK board.
*run "make at91rm9200dk_config"
*run "make"
This should give you a "u-boot.bin" file. We will have to write a board specific configuration file for the Linuxstamp. We should be able to base it off the the Atmel DK board. If you look at "/u-boot-1.1.6/include/configs/at91rm9200dk.h" you can see the configuration for the DK board.

== Cross Compilier ==
In order to compile for the AT91RM9200 we need to build a cross compilier. Dan Kegel has created a very useful [http://kegel.com/crosstool/ tool] for building a cross compiliers. I am using Fedora 6 (x86_64) as my host system. After downloading and extracting crosstool I made two small changes. In the "demo-arm.sh" file I changed the eval line to
*"eval 'cat arm.dat gcc-4.1.1-glibc-2.3.2.dat' sh all.sh --notest" 
In the "arm.dat" file I changed the TARGET to "arm-linux" (By default u-boot looks for arm-linux-* tools). Now if you run "demo-arm.sh" you should get a cross compilier.

== Links ==
*[http://atmel.com/dyn/products/product_card.asp?part_id=2983 Atmel]: AT91RM9200 info on Atmel's site
*[http://maxim.org.za/at91_26.html]: Up to date kernel patch for the AT91RM9200
*[http://cadsoft.de/ Cadsoft.de]: Free (as in beer) tools for schematic and PCB design
*[http://openhardware.wordpress.com/ openhardware.wordpress.com]: Here is my openhardware blog
*[http://www.atmel.com/dyn/products/app_notes.asp?family_id=605 App notes]: for Atmel arm processors

== Pricing ==
The parts cost for qty 1 is $75 from digikey, and $55 for qty 100 
I'm sure this can be greatly reduced with higher quantity 
We will make a small run soon, and I will let you know when these are available 

== Discussion ==

Can I plug a USB peripheral into the Linuxstamp, such as a USB Wifi adapter? --[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 22:02, 17 April 2007 (PDT) 
Yes, any USB device that is supported by the kernel should work with the Linuxstamp. --[[User:Linuxvolts|Linuxvolts]] 23:15, 18 April 2007 (PDT)

== Contact ==
For further questions or comments please contact Paul (pthomas8589 _at_ gmail _dot_ com)

Linuxstamp

2007-04-29T20:52:16Z

24.121.9.24:

== Description ==
The Linuxstamp is designed to be a general purpose processor module. It is designed to work as a stand alone module (SD card, ethernet and USB/Serial converter are all on the module). This allows all initial development to be done without a motherboard, but for integration into a specific project a motherboard with specific features could be designed.

== Features ==
* Atmel AT91RM9200 processor (Arm9 processor with MMU)
* 32MB SDRAM (Only limited by 1x 54-TSOP SDRAM chip)
* 8MB SPI Dataflash
* 1x 10/100 Ethernet
* 1x USB host port
* 1x SD card slot
* Serial debug port access through FTDI USB/Serial converter
* JTAG port
* 2-Layer PCB design

== Licence ==
All files for this project are licensed under the GNU GPL V2

== Project files ==
* [[Media:at91-rev1.1.0-top.pdf|PCB Top view (pdf)]]
* [[Media:at91-rev1.1.0-bottom.pdf|PCB Bottom view (pdf)]]
* [[Media:at91-rev1.1.0-sch.pdf|Schematic (pdf)]]
* [http://greenflaginc.com/at91-linuxstamp-20070416.zip Project zip file]

== Status ==

== Booting ==
The AT91RM9200 has several features the faciliate easy booting. There is a good description of the booting order [http://www.open-research.org.uk/ARMuC/At91rm9200_Booting.html here]. Atmel provides a tiny [http://www.atmel.com/dyn/resources/prod_documents/uboot-DataFlash_1_01.zip program] that lives in the Dataflash and loads u-boot.
*Configuring and building u-boot 
First we need the u-boot source found [http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=65938 here]. If you have not yet built a cross compilier now would be a good time to do so (See the cross compilier section below). Now you can do a test for the Atmel AT91RM9200 DK board.
*run "make at91rm9200dk_config"
*run "make"
This should give you a "u-boot.bin" file. We will have to write a board specific configuration file for the Linuxstamp. We should be able to base it off the the Atmel DK board. If you look at "/u-boot-1.1.6/include/configs/at91rm9200dk.h" you can see the configuration for the DK board.

== Cross Compilier ==
In order to compile for the AT91RM9200 we need to build a cross compilier. Dan Kegel has created a very useful [http://kegel.com/crosstool/ tool] for building a cross compilier. I am using Fedora 6 (x86_64) as my host system. After downloading and extracting crosstool I made two small changes. In the "demo-arm.sh" file I changed the eval line to
*"eval 'cat arm.dat gcc-4.1.1-glibc-2.3.2.dat' sh all.sh --notest" 
In the "arm.dat" file I changed the TARGET to "arm-linux" (By default u-boot looks for arm-linux-* tools). Now if you run "demo-arm.sh" you should get a cross compilier.

== Links ==
*[http://atmel.com/dyn/products/product_card.asp?part_id=2983 Atmel]: AT91RM9200 info on Atmel's site
*[http://maxim.org.za/at91_26.html]: Up to date kernel patch for the AT91RM9200
*[http://cadsoft.de/ Cadsoft.de]: Free (as in beer) tools for schematic and PCB design
*[http://openhardware.wordpress.com/ openhardware.wordpress.com]: Here is my openhardware blog
*[http://www.atmel.com/dyn/products/app_notes.asp?family_id=605 App notes]: for Atmel arm processors

== Pricing ==
The parts cost for qty 1 is $75 from digikey, and $55 for qty 100 
I'm sure this can be greatly reduced with higher quantity 
We will make a small run soon, and I will let you know when these are available 

== Discussion ==

Can I plug a USB peripheral into the Linuxstamp, such as a USB Wifi adapter? --[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 22:02, 17 April 2007 (PDT) 
Yes, any USB device that is supported by the kernel should work with the Linuxstamp. --[[User:Linuxvolts|Linuxvolts]] 23:15, 18 April 2007 (PDT)

== Contact ==
For further questions or comments please contact Paul (pthomas8589 _at_ gmail _dot_ com)

Talk:Linuxstamp

2007-04-19T06:10:25Z

24.121.9.24:

test

Linuxstamp

2007-04-18T02:45:02Z

24.121.9.24:

Linuxstamp

2007-04-18T02:26:06Z

24.121.9.24:

Linuxstamp

2007-04-18T01:36:03Z

24.121.9.24:

Linuxstamp

2007-04-18T01:23:15Z

24.121.9.24:

Linuxstamp

2007-04-18T01:22:41Z

24.121.9.24:

Linuxstamp

2007-04-18T01:22:09Z

24.121.9.24:

Linuxstamp

2007-04-18T01:20:56Z

24.121.9.24:

Linuxstamp

2007-04-18T01:15:55Z

24.121.9.24: /* Pricing */

Linuxstamp

2007-04-18T01:15:32Z

24.121.9.24:

Linuxstamp

2007-04-18T01:14:40Z

24.121.9.24:

Linuxstamp

2007-04-17T01:39:35Z

24.121.9.24:

Linuxstamp

2007-04-17T01:37:56Z

24.121.9.24:

Linuxstamp

2007-04-17T01:35:40Z

24.121.9.24: /* Links */

Linuxstamp

2007-04-16T19:28:48Z

24.121.9.24:

Linuxstamp

2007-04-16T19:27:43Z

24.121.9.24:

Linuxstamp

2007-04-16T07:41:38Z

24.121.9.24:

Linuxstamp

2007-04-16T06:31:13Z

24.121.9.24:

Linuxstamp

2007-04-16T05:11:35Z

24.121.9.24:

Linuxstamp

2007-04-16T05:02:24Z

24.121.9.24: /* Features */

== Features ==
-Atmel AT91RM9200 processor (Arm9 processor with MMU) 
-32Mb SDRAM (Only limited by 1x 54-TSOP SDRAM chip) 
-8Mb SPI Dataflash 
-1x 10/100 Ethernet 
-1x USB host port 
-1x SD card slot 
-Serial debug port access through

Linuxstamp

2007-04-16T05:02:06Z

24.121.9.24: /* Features */

== Features ==
Atmel AT91RM9200 processor (Arm9 processor with MMU) 
32Mb SDRAM (Only limited by 1x 54-TSOP SDRAM chip) 
8Mb SPI Dataflash 
1x 10/100 Ethernet 
1x USB host port 
1x SD card slot 
Serial debug port access through

Linuxstamp

2007-04-16T05:01:40Z

24.121.9.24:

== Features ==
Atmel AT91RM9200 processor (Arm9 processor with MMU)
32Mb SDRAM (Only limited by 1x 54-TSOP SDRAM chip)
8Mb SPI Dataflash
1x 10/100 Ethernet
1x USB host port
1x SD card slot
Serial debug port access through

Linuxstamp

2007-04-16T04:48:38Z

24.121.9.24:

== Headline text ==
Features

Linuxstamp

2007-04-16T04:48:14Z

24.121.9.24:

Linuxstamp 

Features

Projects

2007-04-16T04:47:01Z

24.121.9.24: /* Linuxstamp */

=== [[ARMUS Embedded Linux Board]] ===
An ARM920T board running Linux at 200 Mips with sound, Ethernet, CAN, 48+ bidirectionnal IOs and 4 DSPs for motor control (DC, Servos, etc...). Built as a student proof robotics design platform.

=== [[Programmable Chip EEG]] ===
The Programmable Chip EEG is a Multi-channel electroencephalograph that could be a brain-computer interface.

=== [[Open Mobile Gadgets]] -- open source, open hardware, mobile phone ===
An open source, open hardware mobile phone in its preliminary development.

=== [[Music Player]]s including MP3 players === Nguyen Xuan Truong Tin6 k48

[[TRAXMOD]] Open source MOD music player for dsPIC/ARM microcontrollers.

=== [[PG31 GPS RS232 Dev Board]] ===
A simple RS232 example project that takes 3.3V TTL serial and outputs to a super-common RS232 connection. Insto-NMEA!

=== [[RS232 Dev Board]] ===
A simple RS232 example project that takes all the power it needs from the serial port. Use it to power your microcontroller and communicate between serial port and microcontroller. Takes advantage of the fact that pc serial ports will accept 0-5V rather than the RS232 standard of around negative 10V to positive 10V. Very convenient - no external power required! Note that you may use either a 5.1V zener or a 5V regulator.

=== [[RS232 RS485 USB Converter Board]] ===
Aim to build a general Converter between different Interfaces.

=== [[PG31 GPS USB Dev Board]] ===
A great example project using the CP2102 USB to TTL UART IC as well as some basic battery holder info.

=== [[Chalk Roach|Number Six]] ===
"#6" (the son of Chalk Roach)
is a ultra simple microcontroller development board for Atmel ATmega32 = 16MHz, 2KB SRAM, 16KB Flash

=== LED displays ===

* [[24" Wall Clock]] A really big wall clock. Why? Well, cause it might look cool? Probably not. But we do use GPS to get the time! Groovy.
* [[POV display]] that spins around, giving the illusion of a large display. ([[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]])

=== [[Cellular Rotary Phone]] ===
An indepth breakdown of the Port-O-Rotary. Some clues to help you avoid audio problems with the GM862.

=== [[Das Brewmeister!]] and [[Fermenter Controller]] ===
* [[Das Brewmeister!]] : An attempt to wirelessly monitor temperatures of fermentation vessels
* [[Fermenter Controller]] : A web available fermenter vessel controller. Uses PICs, [[I2C]], Rs232 and python.

=== [[Home controller]] ===
Program your appliances to operate automatically in conjunction with your weekly and daily schedule, manually turn them on/off from your PC or use the controller as a process ON/OFF controller to regulate some kind of physical variable to the desired value.

=== [[Interactive Lock Box]] ===
An interesting project using an accelerometer and capacitive touch ICs.

=== [[Motor driver]] (H-bridge) ===

=== [[Atomic Microscope]] ===
An atomic-resolution microscope.
* STM (scanning tunnelling microscope)
* AFM (atomic force microscope)

=== [[BlueICE]] ===
A bluetooth JTAG ICE debugger for AVR's!!!

=== [[Sortof-Networked RFID Reader]] ===
A 125Khz RFID Reader with a simple RS232 based ring network - to allow connection of multiple units to the same control computer.

''Consider using [http://zytrax.com/tech/layer_1/cables/tech_rs232.htm#rj45 "RS-232D", aka "EIA/TIA-561"]. It has all the same wires and voltages as RS-232, but specifies a RJ45 connector.''

''Also consider RS-485.''

(What is the name of the standard for RS-485 on RJ14 ("4 wire RJ-11") or RJ45 ?)
(Ethernet? =P)

=== Battery charger ===

See [http://elecdesign.com/Article/ArticleID/1823/1823.html "Build A Smart Battery Charger Using A Single-Transistor Circuit"] by Ejaz ur Rehman.
But be sure to read the "Reader Comments" at the end.
The suggestion to add a zener diode is a good idea.

=== the Open Graphics Project ===

[http://linux.wordpress.com/2006/07/19/introducing-the-open-graphics-project/ the Open Graphics Project]
a project started by chip-designer Timothy Miller.
His goal, along with the rest of the project, known as the “Open Graphics Foundation” is to make a 3D accelerated video card which is fully documented, free-licensed, and open source.
See [http://wiki.duskglow.com/tiki-index.php?page=Open-Graphics the Open Graphics wiki].

=== [[Amiga floppy project]] ===

The Amiga floppy project:
designing, building, and programming an adapter to allow PCs to read from Amiga floppies.
"This is really designed to be a community project(hence the blog with progress reports)."

This project is the building of an external USB amiga floppy drive controller. It sits between the USB port on a Windows PC, and a regular PC floppy drive. It will allow the PC to create .ADF images from an amiga floppy disk. This device is based on a Parallax SX28 microcontroller, uses Ramtron FRAM memory for temporary track storage, and uses another Parallax component for the USB interface.

See http://www.techtravels.org/amiga/amigablog for the latest in the blow by blow attempts to get this thing off the ground!!

=== Irsensor-a ===

Infrared Proximity Sensor Alfa
[http://www.kedo.com.mx/modules/content/index.php?id=3 Infrared Proximity Sensor Alfa in www.kedo.com.mx]

The Infrared Proximity Sensor Alfa is a sensor to detect objects that can reflect infrared light. It has the following characteristics.
* Designed to detect objects that are close and can reflect infrared lights.
* It has a Infrared Transmitter to eliminate the dependency of solar lighting. So It can be used in the night.
* It has a Infrared Receiver that detects the closest object that reflects the infrared lights.
* It has an incorporated voltage regulator
* The output is a constant 5V when it is active and 0V when no detection.
* You can change the proximity threshold with a potentiometer.

=== [[dsPIC30F 5011 Development Board]] ===
A development board using Microchip dsPIC30F 5011. Contains information on development platforms, programming methods, programming tips, and bootloaders.

=== [http://balloonboard.org Balloon Xscale ARM+FPGA dev board] ===
The Balloon project has produced Balloon3, a high-performance ARM board designed for use by OEMs and Higher education. Spec is PXA270 (583Mhz), FPGA or CPLD, 1GB flash, 784MB RAM, USB (master, slave, OTG), CF slot, expansion bus, 16-bit bus, I2C, LCD, serial, audio. Very low power in CPLD confiuguration. Small, light. Various add-on boards: VGA LCD driver, robot motor driver+A/D, digital IO. Released under the Balloon Open Hardware license, which allows anyone to manufacture and for people to make derivatives. The expansion bus allows balloon to be used as the computing component for various special-purpose devices.

=== scavenge ===

Some people derive an inordinate amount of pleasure from building semi-useful objects from zero-cost junk.

In the electronics field, most of the stuff built from scavenged components falls into 2 categories:
* ham radio transmitters and receivers -- built from a few transistors, caps, resistors, and wire
* BEAM robotics -- built from the above plus motors, solar cells, ...

According to http://coprolite.com/art12.html ,
"I'd love to hear about where you found your 8048. Take a picture of the host that you remove it from (CD player, truck, refridgerator, whatever) and I'll put your picture on a page that chronicles our adventures sifting through the rubble."

=== openEyes ===
openEyes is an open-source open-hardware toolkit for low-cost real-time eye tracking.
See [http://hcvl.hci.iastate.edu/cgi-bin/openEyes.cgi the OpenEyes hardware and software] and [http://hcvl.hci.iastate.edu/cgi-bin/openEyeswiki/index.cgi the openEyes wiki].

=== RepRap ===
RepRap is an open source project to create a 3d printer or fabber machine. There is tons of information available on [http://www.reprap.org its website]. The current iteration is a 3 axis cartesian robot with 2 extruder heads: a Thermoplastic head that extrudes plastics like HDPE, ABS, and CAPA, and a support material head that extrudes a water soluble material to support the build process.

=== TwentyDollarWikiDevice ===

Challenge: Build a Wiki Device with a parts cost of no more than twenty dollars which is usable as a portable wiki. Include feature to make it compatible with a desktop or laptop computer's PersonalWiki, with a connector allowing this use.
--
http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?TwentyDollarWikiDevice

=== [[breakout boards]] ===
These are three boards that I designed for a specific project and found them very useful. Each of these boards uses the phoenix contact plugable terminal blocks. The 50-pin breakout board is for a 50-pin ribbon cable. The LEM breakout board is for LEM AC/DC current sensor. The power supply breakout board is for a +5v +/-15v power supply.

=== [[Linuxstamp]] ===
The linuxstamp is an open source processor module. It is designed to be a very simple board capable of running linux. It is based on the Atmel AT91RM9200 processor (An ARM9 processor with a MMU).

== eyes for open robot ==

* [http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/product_info.php?products_id=637 $20 CMOS Camera Module - 640x480] has a [http://forum.sparkfun.com/viewtopic.php?t=2442 "Get-that-camera-working competition" discussion forum] and [http://www.makezine.com/blog/archive/2007/01/hack_this_cmos.html now been adequately documented] ... http://elinux.org/wiki/SparkfunCamera ... [http://forum.sparkfun.com/viewtopic.php?t=2442&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=135 by David Carne].

* ... perhaps simpler to use an off-the-shelf webcam that plugs directly into a laptop ... [http://www.linux.com/howtos/Webcam-HOWTO/hardware.shtml Enabling Support for Your (Webcam) Hardware in Linux] ... [http://www.saillard.org/linux/pwc/ Philips USB Webcam Driver for Linux] ... [http://qce-ga.sourceforge.net/ QuickCam] ...

''Is there a simple way for my Java application to fetch the latest camera image in an Array of pixel values?''

== other lists of semi-open projects ==

=== [[WikiNode]] ===
The WikiNode project tries to link every wiki in the world together.
Our "[[WikiNode]]" links to closely-related wiki (and their WikiNode links back).

If you want to talk about something that is not quite on-topic here at Open Circuits
(say, "desktop PC case modding", or "embedded Linux programming"), our WikiNode helps you find another wiki where people love to talk about that exact topic.
The corresponding WikiNode on each of those wiki helps people who want to talk about "open hardware" to discover this wiki.

* Are [http://positron.org/projects/ the Positron projects] "open" enough to be mentioned? I especially liked the [http://positron.org/projects/acrylic_cases/ "Lasercut Acrylic Casebuilding Tutorial" ].

* Is [http://wiki.vislab.usyd.edu.au/moinwiki/PuckControl/BuildingThePuck the Vislab puck] suitable for this list?

Projects

2007-04-16T04:45:28Z

24.121.9.24:

=== [[ARMUS Embedded Linux Board]] ===
An ARM920T board running Linux at 200 Mips with sound, Ethernet, CAN, 48+ bidirectionnal IOs and 4 DSPs for motor control (DC, Servos, etc...). Built as a student proof robotics design platform.

=== [[Programmable Chip EEG]] ===
The Programmable Chip EEG is a Multi-channel electroencephalograph that could be a brain-computer interface.

=== [[Open Mobile Gadgets]] -- open source, open hardware, mobile phone ===
An open source, open hardware mobile phone in its preliminary development.

=== [[Music Player]]s including MP3 players === Nguyen Xuan Truong Tin6 k48

[[TRAXMOD]] Open source MOD music player for dsPIC/ARM microcontrollers.

=== [[PG31 GPS RS232 Dev Board]] ===
A simple RS232 example project that takes 3.3V TTL serial and outputs to a super-common RS232 connection. Insto-NMEA!

=== [[RS232 Dev Board]] ===
A simple RS232 example project that takes all the power it needs from the serial port. Use it to power your microcontroller and communicate between serial port and microcontroller. Takes advantage of the fact that pc serial ports will accept 0-5V rather than the RS232 standard of around negative 10V to positive 10V. Very convenient - no external power required! Note that you may use either a 5.1V zener or a 5V regulator.

=== [[RS232 RS485 USB Converter Board]] ===
Aim to build a general Converter between different Interfaces.

=== [[PG31 GPS USB Dev Board]] ===
A great example project using the CP2102 USB to TTL UART IC as well as some basic battery holder info.

=== [[Chalk Roach|Number Six]] ===
"#6" (the son of Chalk Roach)
is a ultra simple microcontroller development board for Atmel ATmega32 = 16MHz, 2KB SRAM, 16KB Flash

=== LED displays ===

* [[24" Wall Clock]] A really big wall clock. Why? Well, cause it might look cool? Probably not. But we do use GPS to get the time! Groovy.
* [[POV display]] that spins around, giving the illusion of a large display. ([[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]])

=== [[Cellular Rotary Phone]] ===
An indepth breakdown of the Port-O-Rotary. Some clues to help you avoid audio problems with the GM862.

=== [[Das Brewmeister!]] and [[Fermenter Controller]] ===
* [[Das Brewmeister!]] : An attempt to wirelessly monitor temperatures of fermentation vessels
* [[Fermenter Controller]] : A web available fermenter vessel controller. Uses PICs, [[I2C]], Rs232 and python.

=== [[Home controller]] ===
Program your appliances to operate automatically in conjunction with your weekly and daily schedule, manually turn them on/off from your PC or use the controller as a process ON/OFF controller to regulate some kind of physical variable to the desired value.

=== [[Interactive Lock Box]] ===
An interesting project using an accelerometer and capacitive touch ICs.

=== [[Motor driver]] (H-bridge) ===

=== [[Atomic Microscope]] ===
An atomic-resolution microscope.
* STM (scanning tunnelling microscope)
* AFM (atomic force microscope)

=== [[BlueICE]] ===
A bluetooth JTAG ICE debugger for AVR's!!!

=== [[Sortof-Networked RFID Reader]] ===
A 125Khz RFID Reader with a simple RS232 based ring network - to allow connection of multiple units to the same control computer.

''Consider using [http://zytrax.com/tech/layer_1/cables/tech_rs232.htm#rj45 "RS-232D", aka "EIA/TIA-561"]. It has all the same wires and voltages as RS-232, but specifies a RJ45 connector.''

''Also consider RS-485.''

(What is the name of the standard for RS-485 on RJ14 ("4 wire RJ-11") or RJ45 ?)
(Ethernet? =P)

=== Battery charger ===

See [http://elecdesign.com/Article/ArticleID/1823/1823.html "Build A Smart Battery Charger Using A Single-Transistor Circuit"] by Ejaz ur Rehman.
But be sure to read the "Reader Comments" at the end.
The suggestion to add a zener diode is a good idea.

=== the Open Graphics Project ===

[http://linux.wordpress.com/2006/07/19/introducing-the-open-graphics-project/ the Open Graphics Project]
a project started by chip-designer Timothy Miller.
His goal, along with the rest of the project, known as the “Open Graphics Foundation” is to make a 3D accelerated video card which is fully documented, free-licensed, and open source.
See [http://wiki.duskglow.com/tiki-index.php?page=Open-Graphics the Open Graphics wiki].

=== [[Amiga floppy project]] ===

The Amiga floppy project:
designing, building, and programming an adapter to allow PCs to read from Amiga floppies.
"This is really designed to be a community project(hence the blog with progress reports)."

This project is the building of an external USB amiga floppy drive controller. It sits between the USB port on a Windows PC, and a regular PC floppy drive. It will allow the PC to create .ADF images from an amiga floppy disk. This device is based on a Parallax SX28 microcontroller, uses Ramtron FRAM memory for temporary track storage, and uses another Parallax component for the USB interface.

See http://www.techtravels.org/amiga/amigablog for the latest in the blow by blow attempts to get this thing off the ground!!

=== Irsensor-a ===

Infrared Proximity Sensor Alfa
[http://www.kedo.com.mx/modules/content/index.php?id=3 Infrared Proximity Sensor Alfa in www.kedo.com.mx]

The Infrared Proximity Sensor Alfa is a sensor to detect objects that can reflect infrared light. It has the following characteristics.
* Designed to detect objects that are close and can reflect infrared lights.
* It has a Infrared Transmitter to eliminate the dependency of solar lighting. So It can be used in the night.
* It has a Infrared Receiver that detects the closest object that reflects the infrared lights.
* It has an incorporated voltage regulator
* The output is a constant 5V when it is active and 0V when no detection.
* You can change the proximity threshold with a potentiometer.

=== [[dsPIC30F 5011 Development Board]] ===
A development board using Microchip dsPIC30F 5011. Contains information on development platforms, programming methods, programming tips, and bootloaders.

=== [http://balloonboard.org Balloon Xscale ARM+FPGA dev board] ===
The Balloon project has produced Balloon3, a high-performance ARM board designed for use by OEMs and Higher education. Spec is PXA270 (583Mhz), FPGA or CPLD, 1GB flash, 784MB RAM, USB (master, slave, OTG), CF slot, expansion bus, 16-bit bus, I2C, LCD, serial, audio. Very low power in CPLD confiuguration. Small, light. Various add-on boards: VGA LCD driver, robot motor driver+A/D, digital IO. Released under the Balloon Open Hardware license, which allows anyone to manufacture and for people to make derivatives. The expansion bus allows balloon to be used as the computing component for various special-purpose devices.

=== scavenge ===

Some people derive an inordinate amount of pleasure from building semi-useful objects from zero-cost junk.

In the electronics field, most of the stuff built from scavenged components falls into 2 categories:
* ham radio transmitters and receivers -- built from a few transistors, caps, resistors, and wire
* BEAM robotics -- built from the above plus motors, solar cells, ...

According to http://coprolite.com/art12.html ,
"I'd love to hear about where you found your 8048. Take a picture of the host that you remove it from (CD player, truck, refridgerator, whatever) and I'll put your picture on a page that chronicles our adventures sifting through the rubble."

=== openEyes ===
openEyes is an open-source open-hardware toolkit for low-cost real-time eye tracking.
See [http://hcvl.hci.iastate.edu/cgi-bin/openEyes.cgi the OpenEyes hardware and software] and [http://hcvl.hci.iastate.edu/cgi-bin/openEyeswiki/index.cgi the openEyes wiki].

=== RepRap ===
RepRap is an open source project to create a 3d printer or fabber machine. There is tons of information available on [http://www.reprap.org its website]. The current iteration is a 3 axis cartesian robot with 2 extruder heads: a Thermoplastic head that extrudes plastics like HDPE, ABS, and CAPA, and a support material head that extrudes a water soluble material to support the build process.

=== TwentyDollarWikiDevice ===

Challenge: Build a Wiki Device with a parts cost of no more than twenty dollars which is usable as a portable wiki. Include feature to make it compatible with a desktop or laptop computer's PersonalWiki, with a connector allowing this use.
--
http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?TwentyDollarWikiDevice

=== [[breakout boards]] ===
These are three boards that I designed for a specific project and found them very useful. Each of these boards uses the phoenix contact plugable terminal blocks. The 50-pin breakout board is for a 50-pin ribbon cable. The LEM breakout board is for LEM AC/DC current sensor. The power supply breakout board is for a +5v +/-15v power supply.

=== [[Linuxstamp]] ===
The linuxstamp is an open source processor module. It is designed to be a very simple board capable of running linux. It is based on the Atmel AT91RM9200 processor.

== eyes for open robot ==

* [http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/product_info.php?products_id=637 $20 CMOS Camera Module - 640x480] has a [http://forum.sparkfun.com/viewtopic.php?t=2442 "Get-that-camera-working competition" discussion forum] and [http://www.makezine.com/blog/archive/2007/01/hack_this_cmos.html now been adequately documented] ... http://elinux.org/wiki/SparkfunCamera ... [http://forum.sparkfun.com/viewtopic.php?t=2442&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=135 by David Carne].

* ... perhaps simpler to use an off-the-shelf webcam that plugs directly into a laptop ... [http://www.linux.com/howtos/Webcam-HOWTO/hardware.shtml Enabling Support for Your (Webcam) Hardware in Linux] ... [http://www.saillard.org/linux/pwc/ Philips USB Webcam Driver for Linux] ... [http://qce-ga.sourceforge.net/ QuickCam] ...

''Is there a simple way for my Java application to fetch the latest camera image in an Array of pixel values?''

== other lists of semi-open projects ==

=== [[WikiNode]] ===
The WikiNode project tries to link every wiki in the world together.
Our "[[WikiNode]]" links to closely-related wiki (and their WikiNode links back).

If you want to talk about something that is not quite on-topic here at Open Circuits
(say, "desktop PC case modding", or "embedded Linux programming"), our WikiNode helps you find another wiki where people love to talk about that exact topic.
The corresponding WikiNode on each of those wiki helps people who want to talk about "open hardware" to discover this wiki.

* Are [http://positron.org/projects/ the Positron projects] "open" enough to be mentioned? I especially liked the [http://positron.org/projects/acrylic_cases/ "Lasercut Acrylic Casebuilding Tutorial" ].

* Is [http://wiki.vislab.usyd.edu.au/moinwiki/PuckControl/BuildingThePuck the Vislab puck] suitable for this list?