Wax Coupler for EggBot

Lets you use wax to securely mount an egg in the EggBot, in such a way that it can be removed and easily placed back into position. Ideal for use with the Electro-Kistka.
Not currently available

The Wax Coupler for EggBot

This EggBot accessory solves a unique problem: If you take an egg (or other spherical or egg-shaped object that you are printing upon) out of an EggBot and put it back in, it is challenging to get it precisely lined up in exactly the same place. Normally, that's not an issue— when you draw with pens, you leave the object in place, and take the object out only when it's done.

However, things are different when using the Electro-Kistka for EggBot. The Electro-Kistka is a hot-wax "pen," used in the traditional wax-resist and dye (batik) method. In that process, you typically apply wax to the egg, dip it in dye to color it, let it dry, and then repeat with progressively darker colors of dye. And in doing so, you end up repeatedly removing the egg from the EggBot and putting it back in place.

The Wax Coupler for EggBot makes this process much easier. It is a specialized replacement for the "egg coupler" that connects the egg (or other spherical or egg-shaped object that you are printing upon) to the "egg motor" that turns it. Rather than having a soft surface, it is made of solid aluminum with a three-pronged face. To use it, you center the egg in the coupler (as you normally would) but then securely attach the Wax Coupler to the egg with wax. Then, when you need to remove the egg, you unscrew the Wax Coupler. The Wax Coupler stays securely attached to the egg when you dip it in the dye, provides a stand for drying it after dying, and then provides registration when you go to put it back on the EggBot.

In order to provide good registration, the Wax Coupler uses (1) a flat-tip set screw that indexes against the flat side of the EggBot's motor and (2) an included 5 mm shaft collar that provides a consistent depth stop for the Wax Coupler.

Specifications

  • Construction: CNC machined 6061 aluminum
  • Finish: Anodized (clear)
  • Size: 5/8" diameter × 9/16" tall, 5 mm bore
  • Kit contents: Wax Coupler with stainless steel flat-tip 10-32 set screw, 5 mm shaft collar, printed instructions
  • Compatible with all EggBot models.



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Adafruit NeoPixel Stick

NeoPixel Stick - 8 x WS2812 5050 RGB LED with Integrated Drivers
Not currently available

Make your own little LED strip arrangement with this stick of NeoPixel LEDs. 8 of the tiny 5050 (5mm x 5mm) smart RGB LEDs are crammed onto a PCB with mounting holes and a chainable design. Use only one microcontroller pin to control as many as you can chain together! Each LED is addressable as the driver chip is inside the LED. Each one has ~18mA constant current drive so the color will be very consistent even if the voltage varies, and no external choke resistors are required making the design slim. Power the whole thing with 5VDC (4-7V works) and you're ready to rock.

The LEDs are 'chainable' by connecting the output of one stick into the input of another - see the photo above. There is a single data line with a very timing-specific protocol. Since the protocol is very sensitive to timing, it requires a real-time microconroller such as an AVR, Arduino, PIC, mbed, etc. It cannot be used with a Linux-based microcomputer or interpreted microcontroller such as the netduino or Basic Stamp. The Neopixel library for Arduino supports these pixels! As it requires hand-tuned assembly it is only for AVR cores but others may have ported this chip driver code so please google around. An 8MHz or faster processor is required.

Comes as a single stick with 8 individually addressable RGB LEDs assembled and tested.

The detailed NeoPixel Uberguide has everything you need to use NeoPixels in any shape and size. Including ready-to-go library & example code for the Arduino UNO/Duemilanove/Diecimila, Flora/Micro/Leonardo, Trinket/Gemma, Arduino Due & Arduino Mega/ADK (all versions)

Technical Details:

  • Dimensions: 51.10mm / 2" x 10.22mm / 0.4" x 3.19mm / 0.12"
  • Weight: 2.57g
  • WS2812B 4-pin chip LED. The B chip type adds polarity protection.




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Bluefruit LE

Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE 4.0) nRF8001 Breakout
Not currently stocked.

The Adafruit Bluefruit LE (Bluetooth Smart, Bluetooth Low Energy, Bluetooth 4.0) nRF8001 Breakout allows you to establish an easy to use wireless link between your Arduino and any compatible iOS or Android (4.3+) device. It works by simulating a UART device beneath the surface, sending ASCII data back and forth between the devices, letting you decide what data to send and what to do with it on either end of the connection.

Unlike classic Bluetooth, BLE has no big contracts to sign and no major hoops that you have to jump through to create iOS peripherals that you can legally design and distribute in the App Store, which makes it a great choice compared to classic Bluetooth which had (and still has) a lot of restrictions around it on the iOS platform.

And now that Android also officially supports Bluetooth Low Energy (as of Android 4.3), it's also -- finally! -- a universal communication channel covering the main mobile operating systems people are using today.

You can get started super fast with this BLE module which can act like an 'every day' UART data link (with an RX and TX characteristic). Send and receive data up to 10 meters away, from your Arduino to an iOS device. It's easy to get started with the available BLE connect app that has a "serial console" for sending/receiving data and also an 'arduino pin i/o control station" to let you set pins on your Arduino to inputs or outputs, high or low logic or even PWM output, as well as read button presses and analog inputs. You can start prototyping your accessory and then use the open source Objective C code to base your new app on!

The nRF8001 is nice in that it is just a BLE 'peripheral' (client) front-end, so you can use any micrcontroller with SPI to drive it. There is example C++ code for Arduino, which you can port to any other microcontroller, but some microcontroller is required - it is not a stand-alone module!

Please note: There is not an Android version of the Adafruit Bluefruit LE App available (the native BLE application) at this time. However, you can use Nordic's Android nRF UART application with the nRF8001 Breakout on BLE capable Android devices (Nexus 4, Nexus 5, Nexus 7, etc.) for sending/receiving data. This is a product for ADVANCED USERS - this product is recommended for people who are either OK with using the apps available (Nordic's UART demo or the Bluefruit LE Connect) or are comfortable with writing iOS apps (and can refer to the App repository). There is not a tutorial for writing your own iOS or Android BLE app at this time, but one is in the works.

There is a guide to help you setup your nRF8001 Bluetooth Low Energy breakout, and start using some of the sample sketches to connect to an iOS or Android device. If you're new to Bluetooth Low Energy, be sure to check out the Introduction to Bluetooth Low Energy learning guide as well.

  • RoHS Compliant
  • Dimensions: 29mm x 28mm / 1.14" x 1.10" .8mm thick / .03"
  • Weight: 1.8g



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5 V USB Port Power Supply

1000 mA capacity
Not currently available

Need a USB jack for charging or powering a project, but don't want to lug around a computer? This switching supply gives a clean regulated output at up to 1000 mA! 110 or 240 input, so it works in any country. The plugs are "US 2-prong" style so you may need a plug adapter, but you can pick one up at any hardware store inexpensively.

This adapter was specifically designed to provide 5.25 V not 5 V, but we still call it a 5 V USB adapter. This was done on purpose to solve a problem that occurs often with USB-powered gadgets: they draw so much current than the resistance of the cable causes a voltage drop, so instead of 5 V, the device sees 4.75 V or so. To avoid this problem, we made the adapter 5.25 V. This is because the USB power specification allows up to 5.25 V, and it's safe for all 5 V electronics, and has the benefit of making up for any loss due to thin USB cables. Basically, you can use it where ever USB 5 V power is needed, with no risk of damage, and it will happily work at the full current range, no matter what cable you use!

The adapter does not have a cable, instead there is a USB 'A' type port on the bottom, where you can plug any USB cable in. The data lines have resistors on them, to match what is inside of an 'Apple iPhone' type charger, and this adapter has been successfully tested with an iPhone 4 so it ought to work with anything that can charge with an iPhone adapter.

This particular adapter is very nice, with a red indicator LED to let you know it's working. RoHS compliant.




Bluefruit EZ-Link

Bluetooth Serial Link and Arduino Programmer
No longer in production.

The Bluefruit EZ-Link is a regular 'SPP' serial link client device, that can pair with any computer or tablet and appear as a serial/COM port (except iOS as iOS does not permit SPP pairing). But here is where it gets exciting: unlike any other BT module, the EZ-Link can automatically detect and change the serial baud rate. That means if you open up the COM port on your computer at 9600 baud, the output is 9600, 57600? 57600. Yep even 2400. All the most common baud rates are supported: 2400, 4800, 9600, 19200, 38400, 57600, 115200 and 230400. You never have to configure or customize the module by hand - it all happens completely automatically inside the RF module.

The EZ-Link has another impressive feature: the DTR/RTS/DSR flow control pins are automatically synced to the computer serial port. What this means is that if the computer sets the hardware flow control DTR or RTS pins high or low the pins on the bluetooth module will follow. If the DSR input pin is brought high or low on the EZ-Link, the computer can detect that as well. Other Bluetooth SPP devices, if they even have the RTS/DTR pins brought out, do not sync back to the computer, but instead the flow control is for the module serial buffer itself.

Together, this creates something pretty amazing: a Bluetooth module that can change baud rates on the fly and toggle the DTR pin as desired. What we've got here now is a way to program an Arduino (or compatible) from 10 meters away, completely wirelessly, with no extra software, custom hardware, odd firmware hacks or modified firmware. In fact, you can use the Bluefruit as a sort of 'wire free' FTDI-like cable with any device that has an FTDI re-programming port. It works great, and you can use the serial console as well. This package includes the necessary 1uF capacitor between the DTR and reset pin.

To round out the design there are also two RX/TX indicator LEDs so you can tell when data is sent & received as well as a connection status pin. When the paired computer opens up a UART connection, the status pin goes high, letting the microcontroller know that it can now expect data to be sent and its also OK to send data to the computer.

Each order of this EZ-Link + Extras pack includes one ready to go and assembled EZ-Link board, with FCC/CE/RoHS certification. A 6-pin right angle female header is also included, along with a stick of 6-pin extra-long male header. Chances are you will want to solder the female header in to the center of the board so you can use it like an FTDI-cable but you have the option of wires, or other kind of header. A JST connector is also included. The JST connector can be soldered on the back (optional) to connect a Lipoly battery for portable projects. If the JST is used, the battery can also power the microcontroller that the EZ-Link is plugged into.

  • Dimensions: 20.4mm / 0.8" x 41mm / 1.6" x 4mm / 0.2"
  • Weight: 4.35g
Additional usage details available in the Adafruit Learning System.



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