Writing a basic I2C or SPI driver for your sensor is only 1/2 the work (often less!). All of the real magic is doing something with that sensor data, and that often means getting your hands dirty with some basic DSP (digital signal processing). I stumbled across this paper on filtering sensor data to balance a device, but it shows a lot of the tradeoffs and decisions that go into making real-world use of raw sensor data. (See The Balance Filter: A Simple Solution for Integrating Accelerometer and Gyroscope Measurements for a Balancing Platform by Scott Colton.) DSP is an extremely interesting field, and there a lot of fun challenges to be had, but picking the right filters (with the right performance characteristics) can take some thought. Have any fun stories yourself where a favorite filter saved the day? Post the up in the comments below!
Stop breadboarding and soldering – start making immediately! Adafruit’s Circuit Playground is jam-packed with LEDs, sensors, buttons, alligator clip pads and more. Build projects with Circuit Playground in a few minutes with the drag-and-drop MakeCode programming site, learn computer science using the CS Discoveries class on code.org, jump into CircuitPython to learn Python and hardware together, or even use Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for MakeCode, CircuitPython, and Arduino. It has a powerful processor, 10 NeoPixels, mini speaker, InfraRed receive and transmit, two buttons, a switch, 14 alligator clip pads, and lots of sensors: capacitive touch, IR proximity, temperature, light, motion and sound. A whole wide world of electronics and coding is waiting for you, and it fits in the palm of your hand.
Have an amazing project to share? The Electronics Show and Tell with Google Hangouts On-Air is every Wednesday at 7:30pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat – we’ll post the link there.
