PICAXEd "Electronic Brain Box"!

premelec

Senior Member
Cublets - Magnetic and RF coupled building blocks...

I heard a radio interview this morning with an architect who has been developing a high tech "toy" - www.modrobotics.com . These modules contain batteries and wireless communication and magnets to snap them together. Cublets is their name and obviously they aren't simple or cheap yet seem to have interesting possibilities. They have a location a few miles from where I live so I'll visit them when the weather lightens up... It's possible that PICAXEs could be part of their system - a PICAXE Cublet...
 

manuka

Senior Member
Interesting, but at US$160 for 6 basic cubelets (with a battery charger extra), perhaps a tad pricey. Educationally I'd be wary that kids wouldn't respect the connectivity involved, & may just blunder around until something works! Cubelets don't as yet seem to be programmable, & a PICAXE module may indeed have some mileage.
 

fanoush

New Member
As for the snap fasteners I hope I will eventually find correct one. If anyone finds working one please let me know.
Just to let you know that I found them in one local shop. They fit prefectly :)
snap1.jpgsnap2.jpg
The first thing is making jumper wires with one snap on one end and male/female end for breadboard/pin header. Next step is making 8 pin IC socket part similar to the red one manuka made.
 

manuka

Senior Member
Good work-I guess prowling the displays in such shops has been quite an eye opener! Can you please take a picture of the card they come on, & also let us know the snap lettering details (if any). Are connections as reliable as the kit ones? Do the snaps solder OK (after suitable prep.) ? Stan
 

fanoush

New Member
Good work-I guess prowling the displays in such shops has been quite an eye opener!
Indeed :)
Can you please take a picture of the card they come on, & also let us know the snap lettering details (if any).
Unfortunately there are no markings or numbers. The only "specification" is that they are washable up to 95 degrees C :) The diameter of the top part (usable as a bottom part in snap circuits) is ~14mm and the bottom (usable as a top part) is ~13 mm. The strip with 6 of them was for 20 CZK ~= 1 USD

snap4.jpg
Are connections as reliable as the kit ones? Do the snaps solder OK (after suitable prep.) ? Stan
Yes, I don't see any difference, they snap in pretty tightly and they are conductive. As for soldering I don't know yet but next to washing details there is sign with iron which is not crossed so soldering should be possible ;-) As they are supposed to be sewed on there are holes around so I was thinking about interweaving wire around and soldering it to itself if the solder will not stick to them. Like this
snap3.jpg

I have put some detailed pictures here http://fanoush.wz.cz/snap/

If you are interested I guess I could send pack of six or twelve in airmail envelope.
 

manuka

Senior Member
Great pix-thanks- but don't worry about sending me samples at this stage. It's some years since the snap PICAXE approach was dreamt up,& my local outlets may now have this size. Please carry on with your quest! Stan.
 

Dippy

Moderator
Nice one Stan.
"Firebreathing" - you old drama queen! :)
(I know you wrote it - its full of ~~ and bold ;) )
 

stevesmythe

Senior Member
For what it's worth, I hacked one of those little Snap Circuits red sound IC boxes to make a useful Darlington driver module. Coupled with an IR module on port 3, it allows remote controlled operation of the Snap Circuits (or other) relay module to control an external circuit. My 6 year-old son is more than capable of wiring up and programming the Picaxe to make some neat circuits using these.
 

manuka

Senior Member
Good one! I'd used a simpler "power strip" approach with a grunty BD681 NPN Darlington bipolar - it's centre B connection quite nicely showed the "weak control of strong" transistor action in fact. Refer my Instructable - or pix below.

FWIW these snap kits are still going strong, with Aust/NZ outlet Jaycar now recently stocking the "80-in-1" kit (KJ-8970). Recommended for parents/granparents after $20 stocking stuffers to suit their bright spark youngsters!? Stan.
 

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stevesmythe

Senior Member
Building on Manuka's approach, I have produced a "new improved" version of Snap-Picaxe for classroom use. In the UK, the John Adams Hotwires version of Snap Circuits includes a "Recording IC" which has seven snap connectors. These John Adams kits are readily available second-hand on Ebay (around £8.00 plus postage seems to be the going rate) and they provide a full-size baseboard, two 2xAA battery packs and various other useful components.

The Recording IC isn't of much interest per se but, when gutted, it allows all the ports on a Picaxe 08M2 except C.5 to be connected. Careful use of the thumbnails allows the back of the casing to be taken off without damaging the "lugs" that allow it to be snapped back into place after modification. Unlike Manuka's version, no Dremel is required - just a 6mm drill to allow the programming socket to be mounted.

I had some of these little circuit boards spare, which fitted nicely into the cavity in the Recording IC casing and allowed just enough space for the Picaxe plus download circuit.

I'm quite happy with the result.
 

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stevesmythe

Senior Member
Yes, but they are expensive and need an equally expensive (and flimsy) programming cable. I have a couple of the originals and even after gentle use with my own six-year old, the programming cable has needed to be re-soldered a couple of times. After paying delivery plus UK import costs, you are talking about £50 per set (Picaxe module plus programming cable) for the Snap Circuits original. Even allowing for two pupils sharing, that's £750 per classroom!

Manuka's and my home-made approach comes in at under £15 per set (depending which cable you use) and is more robust than the Snap Circuits version!

[updated with actual prices]
Picaxe module ($18.95)
Programming cable ($39.95)
International shipping ($36.00)

Plus import taxes @20%

So that comes to around $113.00...

[Edit: "Home made" prices]
By comparison, the home-made equivalent:
Snap circuits recording IC £2.00 (available as a spare part from John Adams)
Picaxe 08M2 chip (Rev-Ed) £1.62
IC holder (Rev-Ed) £0.04
Download Socket (CPC) £0.70
Resistors (22k, 10k) £0.02
Serial download cable £3.00
Serial-USB £1.00
Mini PCB £0.17
Total: £8.55


Or the complete XP set is currently on special offer at $99.00 plus $36.00 shipping plus 20% import duty, which gives you some more components too.

But you get the point....
 
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manuka

Senior Member
stevesmythe: Your 7 snap "U6" recording IC hack takes my fancy - bravo! I certainly agree with your bang for buck & robustness insights, and also feel that the bare "snap" IC holder is not so educationally attractive.

A significant benefit of your/mine approach is that the encased PICAXE, programming resistors & cable socket are encased in the one module. It's a productivity attribute that only those who've spent years wrestling with lethargic learners/teenage tantrums,classroom mangement,wafer thin budgets and -sigh-negligible technical assistance may appreciate...

Thought: My initial hack dates from ~6 years back, and since that time budget 3D printers have come available- it's possible hence that a suitable case could be rustled up in house?

Extra: For folks unaware of their uptake, "Snap" kits are increasingly popular with schools, and all manner of educational extras and learning guides now abound- even T-shirts! Some are quite costly (resistors, solar PVs etc) and could be readily rustled up in house. Several however are so well presented that they tempt in spite of their price. The snap to pin connectors below are especially handy for quick breadboard connection of non snap components -logic ICs, DS18B20,433MHz TX/RX etc.

Stan.
 

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stevesmythe

Senior Member
I'm glad you like it Manuka!

Unfortunately, I don't have access to a 3D printer and commercial "print shop" prices are still not low enough to make Snap casings economic but I know that some people have tried it.

I got myself a set of those Snap-to-pin connectors when they first came out (smuggled through customs by an American friend who was visiting :)) and they certainly extend the range of possibilities. They'd be a good candidate for Fanoush's sew-on poppers approach.

In the meantime, and thanks to Ebay, I have a good pile of Snap casings ready to be populated with yet more electronic goodies. I'm thinking IR detectors, Bluetooth modules and, like you, DS18B20 temp sensors. I think the RF transmitter/receivers might be a bit beyond my abilities to explain to primary-age children, but I might have a go. Similarly an RFID transmitter is easy enough to wire up (and would make a fun session) but the coding could get tricky to explain!

Thanks again for your initial inspiration.
 

manuka

Senior Member
Glad you've run with the idea! I even managed to fit an IR detector to my gutted sound box at PICAXE pin 3 -it peeked out thru' a small hole to good effect! Stan.
 

stevesmythe

Senior Member
RF Snap-Hack

Well, I had a think about it and decided to try out this Snap-Hack using Manuka's favoured Dorji 434MHz RF transmitter/receiver pair. The Dorji units fit nicely inside the Snap casings with a tiny hole drilled for the antenna.

I used the "wireless doorbell" example below on my (Picaxe-savvy) six-year old to show what could be done. It was also a good test of my ability to explain Oersted's law, electromagnetic induction, wave propagation and reception, carrier wave modulation and binary encoding to a young audience! Well, he pretty much got the hang of it and we had fun seeing how far apart we could go and still receive the signal - a good quarter of a mile with line of sight!

Transmitter code
Code:
#picaxe 08M2
asktx:
if pin2=1 then 'wait for key press on port 2
	pause 100 'switch debounce
	serout 4,N1200,(85,85,85,85,"ABC",1) 'send out pre-amble, qualifier and 1 as signal
	pulsout 1,200 'flash LED
endif
goto asktx
Receiver code
Code:
#picaxe 08M2
low 1 'CTS connection on port 1 active low
pause 100
askrx:
serin 3,n1200,("ABC"),b0 'read data on port 3 and wait for qualifier
if b0=1 then 'push button must have been pressed
	sound 2, (105,100) 'ding
	sound 2, (100,120) 'dong
	wait 1
endif
goto askrx
 

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manuka

Senior Member
-a good test of my ability to explain Oersted's law, electromagnetic induction, wave propagation and reception, carrier wave modulation and binary encoding to a young audience
I'm impressed- still to get a good grasp on some of these myself!

Glad the 433 MHz modules worked well. It may even be worth modifying a receiver module as a simple 433 MHz sniffer to suit Morse code type messages etc? Updated SpiritOn modules sold by Jaycar have been found even better for this than Dorji's. Stan.
 

manuka

Senior Member
Years later - Elenco's rather costly snap PICAXEd kits have now been discontinued. However a cheaper (US$45-$65 range) "Snap Circuit Arcade" has recently surfaced,complete with a bewitching PICAXE driven POV (Persistence of Vision) display. Yes - LCDs are so last year - although with an embedded PICAXE, motor & LED cluster to drive the AA battery drain may become an issue...
 

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premelec

Senior Member
That's very interesting - I tried to download manuals from www.elenco.com without success... I'll try again later... I wonder just how much access is given to the PICAXE or if it's only there to drive the POV..
 

stevesmythe

Senior Member
Schematic for the Picaxe (08M2) component is here. The dual 7-segment display is connected to the Picaxe via a couple of shift registers.

If you buy the set as it is, you won't be able to re-program the Picaxe as they don't supply the programming cable with this set. However the rather flimsy programming cable from their previous Picaxe set can be bought separately (if you have a spare $40). Those POV motors are a relatively cheap $16.95.

Although CPC Farnell stock some Snap Circuits parts, they don't stock these newer ones and, in any case, they seem to work on a £1=$1 exchange rate.

I'm sticking with my home-made SnapPicaxe, which is still seeing good use in my coding clubs.

PS The Picaxe is not used to control the POV. That seems to have an onboard chip that you program using push buttons, although it could be controlled by a Picaxe of course.
 
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premelec

Senior Member
@manuka - the link you gave gives me a '404' but now the other links at Elenco.com seem to be loading ok... whatever works... ;-0
 
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