Completely Overwhelmed, Please Help

[system]

Greetings,
I have a project that I would like they do, but when I look for basic help, so many things come up that there seems to be no real starting point for someone with no experience with Arduino products.

I would like to build an accelerometer type device that spits out positional data and forces in real time over bluetooth.

I already have a gy-52(6050) board, as well as a BT2S Bluetooth board.

However I can't figure out how to even start this project.

Can someone please help me and guide me to some instructions on what else I might need and some instructions on how to build it?

Thank you in advance.

[DVDdoug]

This looks like an advanced project for a beginner... (I've never used an accelerometer or Bluetooth, so I can't help you with those details.)

Do you have any programming or electronics experience? How's your math & physics? If you are given the starting position, direction, acceleration, and time, can you calculate the new (or current) position? You can look that stuff up, but you might have to develop the related Arduino software yourself.

I suggest you read through the Arduino Language Reference and look at some of the Arduino Examples. You'll need a few miscellaneous electronic parts if you want to build any of the examples (except for the Blink LED examples that use the LED built onto the Arduino board).

Like any project, break it into parts.

You've got input via I²C, and output via Bluetooth, which can be developed separately. Once you can read the accelerometer and the Bluetooth is working, you can work on the code to process the data to get the positional information you need.

I didn't find the specs or datasheet for the Bluetooth board (I didn't really search that hard), but that's probably a good place to start. Make something that simply sends a message to your phone (or whatever Bluetooth device). If you can send a "Hello World" message to your Bluetooth device, the output side of your project is pretty much handled.

For the accelerometer, [u]SparkFun[/u] has links to some example code and the datasheet for the chip.

would like to build an accelerometer type device that spits out positional data and forces in real time over bluetooth.

I have no idea how sensitive this thing is.... I'm not so sure I'd trust it for slow movements. I'm not saying this won't work, and I don't know what your application is... I know they make devices that can measure 0-60 or 1/4 mile time for a car. But, the amount of acceleration for someone walking around a room or a robot moving around a room is very small. I'm sure there will be errors (there are errors in any measurement) and with a lot of different movements of a lot time those errors will build-up if you don't re-set or re-calibrate once in awhile. [u]Dead Reckoning[/u] is the worst, most primitive, method of navigation.

[jremington]

there seems to be no real starting point for someone with no experience with Arduino products.

Yes, there is. In the Arduino IDE there is a "getting started" menu item. Try it.
Under "File" and "Examples" there are also a bunch of simple projects to blink LEDs, read data from a sensor, etc. for you to try. Work through some of those examples and you will be in a much better position to start a more ambitious project.

[AverageGuy]

Cached-Entity:
Greetings,
I have a project that I would like they do, but when I look for basic help, so many things come up that there seems to be no real starting point for someone with no experience with Arduino products.

I would like to build an accelerometer type device that spits out positional data and forces in real time over bluetooth.

I already have a gy-52(6050) board, as well as a BT2S Bluetooth board.

However I can't figure out how to even start this project.

Can someone please help me and guide me to some instructions on what else I might need and some instructions on how to build it?

Thank you in advance.

For the first part check out this post, Parallax Gyroscope Module 3-Axis L3G4200D sample code - Sensors - Arduino Forum.
Download a copy of the spec sheet for the L3G4200D and study the code in that post and the spec sheet. Once you understand how the code interfaces with that part, then it should be easy to translate that knowledge to your part.

I'd make it talk with the serial port then tackle the bluetooth communications as a separate project.

Jim.

[Robin2]

Maybe the Thread planning and implementing a program would have some useful ideas.
Every programming project is a collection of small parts that can be learned and developed individually and then joined together.

...R

[system]

Thank you for all of the replies.
I do have some experience with some hardware and software, just not like this.

I really have no idea if I need more hardware or anything like that.

I want to use this thing to measure body movements and when I say it seems like there is no where to start, I mean that there is really nothing liad out to direct a person on what steps they need to take to get the hardware side of the project going. I have seen plenty of software libs around, but it gets overwhelming trying to piece these things together.

At least with a 12c508, you just use a pic programer and write your code. This is way different.

[Paul_B]

Cached-Entity:
At least with a 12c508, you just use a PIC programmer and write your code. This is way different.

Arguably, the Arduino IDE is easier.

Clearly you cannot do what you now want with a 12C508.

PICk one part of the project, study the available projects for that part (generally no shortage), connect it up and practice with that one part. Then the next.

[JWScotSat]

Cached-Entity:
I really have no idea if I need more hardware or anything like that.

Your hardware and software requirements will change as you better understand your project.

I believe you have two obvious starting points.

A: Reading your accelerometer - you have the hardware already (chose an Uno Arduino to get started, they're great for prototyping).

B: Communicating Over Bluetooth - you have software experience. Combine the bluetooth with an Arduino and bluetooth receiver and get a "Hello World" printing over bluetooth.

Once you have these blocks in place, things will come together quickly. Then you'll realise you need to power it without a pc (battery? PSU? Voltage levels etc) and then you can consider if you want an Uno running the project or if you need to move to something smaller or more powerful.

Start with what you know. You don't even know what you don't know yet..

Good Luck

[system]

Alright, thats what I was looking for, so I should get an uno and use that to build the project, then get my data and move on from there.

[mrburnette]

Cached-Entity:
Alright, thats what I was looking for, so I should get an uno and use that to build the project, then get my data and move on from there.

An UNO is what we normally recommend to newcomers. It is inexpensive and there are many variants for different form factors. It is, however, the least powerful of the series in overall memory and processor bandwidth: it should be adequate for this effort.

Ray
My Projects

[system]

An UNO is what we normally recommend to newcomers. It is inexpensive and there are many variants for different form factors. It is, however, the least powerful of the series in overall memory and processor bandwidth: it should be adequate for this effort

On that subject , I can say unequivocally that the UNO is the BEST choice for a beginner. Why ? 99.9% of ALL tutorial examples online use the UNO. Once you have learned the basics, you can order one of DIPMICRO ATmega328 with OPTIBOOT BOOTLOADER , a couple of 18 pF mica caps and a 16 Mhz crystall (all available from DIPMICRO), and build one of these: (standalone ATmega328 on a breadboard. The only stipulation is that to upload the programs (called "sketches" in ArduinoLand , (why I'll never know) , you will need one of these:
FTDI BASIC (5V VERSION)
They come in two flavors, (3.3V and 5V)

One of the nice features of this board is a jumper on the back of the board that allows the board to be configured to either 3.3V or 5V (both power output and IO level). This board ship default to 5V, but you can cut the default trace and add a solder jumper if you need to switch to 3.3V.

Once you receive the FTDI BASIC you need to install the USB driver before you can use it. You can then
use it for uploading sketches to ATmega328s OR Pro-Minis. ( I use mine for both).

After you get a little experience , sooner or later you will discover the ATtiny85:

Description: Atmel’s itty-bitty ATtiny85 8-Bit Processor. 8K of program space, 6 I/O lines, and 4-channel 10 bit ADC. Runs up to 20MHz with external crystal. Package can be programmed in circuit.

Yes, that's right; an 8-bit processor in an 8-pin DIP chip, with 6 I/O lines and 4-channel 10-bit ADC.
(and YES, it has PWM pins too) (all for $2.84)

ATtiny85

ATtiny85 Datasheet

And you will need this:
How to program ATtiny85 using arduino UNO

P.S.- You need to ask yourself "Why would I be interested in the Pro-Mini ?" (I'll let you figure that out)