The Trigger Trap is an Arduino compatible universal camera trigger. Supporting out of the box laser, sound and time lapse triggering, the Trigger Trap brings the ease and simplicity of the Arduino development environment to photography.

Currently in development, the Trigger Trap will support wired camera triggers through an electrically isolated dual port connection, as well as wireless triggering by way of an IR port. A dual auxiliary connector allows external sense events to be processed by the on board ATmega328 micro controller, extending functionality by comprehending the physical world. An 8×2 character display, touch interface, low power consumption and a clear acrylic shell round out the features the Trigger Trap brings to the table. Currently accepting pre-orders, the Trigger Trap can be found at TriggerTrap.com and Kickstarter.

The robot uses QRE1111 reflective IR sensors for line detecting, an ATmega328 running the Arduino bootloader, an on board USB to serial converter based on the FTDI232RL, a TB6552 H-bridge driving gear motors and battery power is boosted by an LTC3401 boost regulator. The motor mount/batter holder was CNC machined from a single block of one inch nylon stock. The wheels were courtesy of a dollar store toy truck, four rubber wheels for one dollar.

In the video seen below, the robot is running some rudimentary Arduino code for testing purposes. More information, schematics, Eagle files as well as PIC based designs by Aaron of http://aaronramsey.com/ can be found on the Ottawa Robotic Enthusiasts Wiki at: http://wiki.ottawarobotics.org/index.php?title=Line_Follower

1) PCB 2) Schematic 3) Video below

The heat source is four 5 ohm 25 watt resisters attached to a half inch aluminum plate.
The base of the heater was milled from a solid block of maple. An NTC is glued into a hole in the back of the plate for temperature feedback.

The controller is sporting an AtMega8 running from it’s internal RC oscillator at 8MHz.
It features a PID loop for fast acquisition and control of temperature.  An LCD as well as serial (RS232) connectivity are being used for debugging and visual feedback.

Currently it is being used as a thermal data logging test platform to investigate the behavior of heat transfer, thermodynamics…

1) Schematic  2) CAD model  3) Resistive heating  4) Hotplate surface
5) Sensor Calibration  6) Experimental data  7) Simulation data  8 ) PCB

Soldering Hotplate Version II

It was found that the initial version took an undesirably long time to reach a given temperature as the 50VA transformer limited the applied power. It was decided that the DC power scheme be revised to eliminate the bulky transformer and AC phase angle control be implemented instead.

A hairdryer consisting of 3 heating coils and an axial DC fan was salvaged for version two. A new heating plate was designed and CNC milled to accommodate one of the salvaged heating coils. An 8mm trough, 300 mm long, lined with fire cement for electrical insulation, now holds a 25 ohm coil. Utilizing phase angle control, this should equate to a maximum power of 575 watts.

The axial DC fan will be added to the design to assist in rapid cooling for faster solder setting times.  As well, a new temperature sensing system will use two thermocouples, one internal and one external to provide more accurate feedback via a pair of MAX6675?s. The circuit layout is currently under review and parts are awaiting arrival.

1) Side View 2) Capacitive feedback (active side) 3) Capacitive feedback (passive side)
4) Perspective view

A leaf vacuum was designed and built as a tribute to the endless pursuit of conserving one’s energy. Based on a material handling fan, the unit was designed as an attachment to a riding lawn mower. Utilizing a second hand Briggs and Stratton 3.5hp vertical push mower as a power source allowed for a low total project cost of under $40.

The impeller was designed in CAD with specific attention to the centrifugally induced stress on the assembly. The impeller base was CNC cut from 1/4″ 6061-T6 aluminum and the blades were CNC cut from 1/2″ nylon. The blower housing was constructed from plywood and aluminum fascia.

1) Impeller CAD model 2) Inside Housing 3) Impeller Blade 4) Video by Matthias Wandel

1) Bottom view 2) Side view 3) Perspective view

1) SX3 CNC mill 2) T-slot dimensions 3) Cutting 6063-T6 (below)

1) Schematic  2) Board  3) Assembly  4) Light Saber

The Lamp has 3 modes of operation, off, on and ambient light sense mode.
The AVR senses the temperature of the heatsink to control the fan speed.

1) Schematic  2) Board  3) Bottom of Lamp  4) Top of Lamp  5) Enlightened Lamp