My first Arduino project - part 1

The components I'll be using at the start of this this project are:

• an Arduino Duemilanove
• an Adafruit Data logging shield
• a Parallax RFID reader
• a breadboard

The Data logger shield gets plugged onto the Arduino.  However, this makes it difficult to connect anything else to the Arduino, certainly in this prototyping phase.  So, before soldering together the Data logging shield I ordered some extra connectors from Ebay and cut these up to the appropriate size.

Once the Data logging shield was put together I soldered these connectors onto the Data logging shield.  This allows me to use all unoccupied data connections of the arduino e.g. for the parallax RFID shield.

To make sure I'm not trying to use the same pin outs for 2 different things I'm falling back on ShieldList website. The contain all the pin outs for every shield possible.

My first Arduino project - preface

I wanted to mess around with an Arduino for a long time so I set up a challenge for myself to build a project with it.

The basis of my project will be to build an access control device using an RFID reader and some RFID tags.  Yeah I know, this has been done allready a few times before.  But next to the basic RFID stuff I'll add a data logging shield from adafruit.  The setup is a POC for a secure access to a gym.

The data logging shield will at one hand keep track who entered at what time and will also keep an extended list of people that are allowed to enter (or not).

When this setup is working I would like to see how I can interface with this working system to:

• look into the data log to see who entered when
• update the status of certain users e.g. if subscription is paid, extend the time a person is allowed to enter the building.

When this is (hopefully) working I'll see how much extra hardware I can slap onto this arduino e.g. an LCD for visual output, a rotary encoder or buttons for manual input/control.  I'll see what is possible.

Arduino documentary

I'm currently busy studying for an upcoming exam Japanese.  I have a blog post in the line up that involves an arduino, but in the mean time, enjoy this documentary:

http://arduinothedocumentary.org/ 

Possible solution for Octane display problem

I connected to the octane through a serial connection and run the diagnostics which didn't provide me any information, all seem to be well with this Octane.

During the weekend I got an old CRT from my parents place and tried out an other rewiring that I found on forums.nekochan.net.  Lo and behold, I got an output on my screen.

The black bands on the CRT were not visible with the naked eye (AFAIK this is due to the frequency of the screen refresh and the shutters speed of my phone camera).

This is the latest rewiring:

VGA	13W3
1	A1
2	A2
3	A3
5	10
6	A1 return
7	A2 return
8	A3 return
12	7
13	10
14	5

But not all is well, if I reboot the Octane, the image is gone, replaced by some twirling image.  Halting the machine and disconnecting and connecting the power cable of the Octane re-enables good video output.  What is causing this behaviour is not yet really clear to me.

I'll try out the CRT later on my O2 and see if it provides a better output than on my DELL monitor.
I'm also waiting for the 'real' SGI 13W3-to-VGA adapters to arrive and try them out. I'll let you know how that turned out.