I've got a plan for an aircraft that can fly in various orientations (I.e Rotate to face upwards in flight but carry on flying forward) by dynamically changing its Center Of Gravity (COG) along a rail. Before anyone asks, I've ran it through a computer simulation and it works.

The next thing I need to do if find some way of moving the majority mass of the aircraft (The electronics and batteries) along a rail quickly and precisely. So I've come up with the idea of using the cartridge and rail from an old inject printer (the part that moves from left to right and applies the ink). The issue is, I don't currently have an old inject printer to hand, and I want to know if this'll work before buying an old one off ebay.

Has anyone hacked the carriage on a printer before with an arduino and been able to control it and make it move to a specific position on the rail? If yes, how did they do it, and what kind of interface is it? Is it a simple stepper motor or something a bit more complicated? And is it capable of moving and holding in place 500 grams against gravity? I.e: Can it lift 500g?

Thanks to anyone who can help. If this isn't a practical way of doing it, can anyone suggest an alternative (has to be electric though. No hydraulics/pneumatics or anything like that.)?

Thanks again!

sscanf didn't seem to work particularly well for me (RE, Not at all. Not sure If I was using it right TBH though ), so in the end I went with the last suggestion, being as I understood it. Works good enough, Thanks so much for your help guys!

So I've got a GPS unit that send the time to my arduino in form XX:XX:XX and I want to take the integers from this and place them in an integer array so that int[2] is the seconds, int[1] is the minutes and int[0] is the seconds. I've tried various combinations of String.charAt, String.substring and atoi, and all I've gotten is nowhere due to an immense amount of errors.

Please help!

Thank you so much!



An example of what I want doing, in case I've explained it badly up there:
'String time = "01:02:03"' going into 'int currentTime[2] = {1,2,3}'

I've got a GPS device that does not remember its settings once switched off, and I can't keep it switched on all the time. Its default baud rate that it will always start at is therefore 9600. However, I can configure it through serial to go to a higher baud rate, which is required for a function I wish my program to have.

I can send the change baud signal fine, but then of course I need to change the baud rate of the arduino to match it, otherewise I just get meaningless squiggles.

Can anyone help?
In case that explanation is a bit confusing, here is what I (essentiallu) want to do in code:

Code:

mySerial.begin(9600);
mySerial.write("XXXXXXXX"); // string to send to change baud rate
  mySerial.write(13); // returns to accept change
  mySerial.write(10); // ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
mySerial.begin(38400) // ISSUE: How can I change the baud rate HERE!

Thanks everyone who took time to read this and especially anyone who can help!

Ahhhh okay, thanks! the MT3329 has a USB option so i'll try that. If thats bad, I'll know I've damaged the chip. If its good I'll get a translator, Thanks! I don't suppose you'd know the part number/ chip number of the kind of translator I'd need to get?

[Can the arduino read 3.3 volt TTL logic levels]

So I got a MT3329 GPS chip and I'm trying to wire it up to my arduino Duemilenove. I'm relatively new to this aspect of electronics so I thought that this would be a relatively easy but informative project. So far, though, I've got nothing from the module. The MT3329's TX pin goes to the arduino RX pin, and the Arduino's TX pin goes to the MT3329's TX pin. However, when I test the voltage level of the arduinos TX, I've notices that its 5 volts.With the Module, its ~3.3 volts (around 3.4 volts)

My question is this:
Can the arduino read 3.3 volt TTL logic levels, hence why I don't seem to be getting data from it? If it can't, what do I need to scale the module's 3.3 volt logic to the arduino's logic level? Is it a simple transistor, or more complex?

Little background: I've tried reading the chips serial data by: Using the software Serial library, Also writing to eeprom from the default TX/RX when the arduino is unplugged, all to no avail?

Please help ASAP as I have an entire weekend at which I can do whatever I like, which can't be said for the week afterwards :/

Thanks!!!!!!

Does it work? What exactly does it detect (i.e. concentration, Brain usage, Emotion strength)? and where are the electrodes and grounds placed on the head?

Yes, you need to upload the standard firmata sketch to the Arduino. Select File + Examples + Firmata + StandardFirmata (or one of the other examples).

Just tried that, still no success. Any more advice?

Update: also, the RX light flashes briefly just after i send the command, but Thats all that happens

I am making a model rocket 'launch-box' that ignites a rocket engine from computer control, and then takes a picture through the computers webcam.
I've made the application in Visual basic 2008 and it works well.

Now I have the arduino interfacing to deal with. I'd implemented the Firmata VB Dll into my project, assuming that when the time came and the board was delivered, it would work. I've tested all the digital and analogue pins through arduino's own software and programming language, and they all work. BUT (and here's my problem)

When I try and manipulate any of the Inputs/Outputs in Visual Basic, even on the samples that FirmataVB came with, the arduino gives no response.

Have i done something really stupid, or is this an actual problem? Do i need to download a FirmataVB sketch onto the arduino (and if so, where can i download it?)?

I'm using an Arduino Duemilanove, and on COM 34.
Please help as soon as possible and thanks in advance  

Hi, I've made this Programme that runs on a computer that generates arduino code that lets users create 'hotspots' on a Nintendo DS touch screen. The hotspots act like buttons, as in when a hotspot is pressed, it runs the code that corresponds to that button. The thing is, I'm not sure if it works, because I'm still waiting for a breakout board for the Touch-screen. Could anyone who's trying to use an NDS touch screen with an arduino try it out, see if it works and perhaps give me some improvements I could make to it?
you can download it at: http://code.google.com/p/touchscreen4adruino/downloads/list

Thanks in advance! Â

Thx! Now I know what kind I need (General)! Could you (or anyone else) Suggest a unit (Tx and Rx) that will get to 300+ Meters line of sight? And will I need another arduino to connect the Rx module to USB or is their another way? I'm assuming you just attach the DATA lines to the serial Tx and Rx ports on arduino?

The range specified is line of sight, and i want a baud of 9600. The arduino is reporting voltage, and GPS Sentences from a 24 volt electric car

I'm trying to get an arduino to interface with a serial computer application i wrote. The application reads information from any serial (COM) port on the computer, and works fine (It will already read things from my arduino while it's attached with a USB wire) However ineed it to be able to interface with the computer wirelessly over a range of +300 meters (So bluetooth is out of the question) how will I accomplish this? It can be one or two way, whichever, but ideally I need the cheapest, simplest solution. Can anyone help with what parts I will need, how to put them together and where i can but them? I'm using an arduino Nano (NOT pro-nano) Thanks!

I'm trying to get an arduino to interface with a serial computer application i wrote. The application reads information from any serial (COM) port on the computer, and works fine (It will already read things from my arduino while it's attached with a USB wire) However ineed it to be able to interface with the computer wirelessly over a range of +300 meters (So bluetooth is out of the question) how will I accomplish this? It can be one or two way, whichever, but ideally I need the cheapest, simplest solution. Can anyone help with what parts I will need, how to put them together and where i can but them? I'm using an arduino Nano (NOT pro-nano) Thanks!