Robots, cars, robotcars, and all sorts of prank devices require some degree of remote control. Most of the time, it's tempting to implement this yourself using XBee or some other wireless technology. Sometimes it's not a bad idea, but more often than not it's an over-powered and somewhat frustrating way to go. You find yourself thinking, "I remember the good old days when I just put batteries in the RC car and pushed the stick and it moved."

Well, welcome back to the good old days.

RC transmitter/receiver combos range from the simple and inexpensive to the seriously tricked-out, but the nice thing about them is that they all stick to a standard which makes them largely interchangeable. It turns out that connecting an RC receiver to your Arduino project is about the same as connecting a servo, and the code is just as simple. In this tutorial, I'll take you through the basics of using your Arduino to interpret commands from an inexpensive RC remote, so you can control anything, from a simple four-wheeled robot to your favorite processing sketch!

[Jean] wrote in eager to share his latest project, a standalone temperature logger with USB connectivity. Back in November, [Jean] found himself wanting a temperature logger that was roughly the size of a USB memory stick. What he found on the market was not quite adequate in terms of price or size, so he decided to design his own. His would be the size he wanted and wouldn’t require any software or drivers to run. You simply plug it in, edit the configuration text file to set your intervals, and off you go!

You can follow along through the entire design and fabrication on his site. He’s really great about discussing why he made each decision and how he resolved any errors he ran into. You can download the schematics and source code on his site.

I do a lot of towing with my LB7 Duramax diesel truck. On hot days I kept having an overheating problem, so I built this six channel temperature scanner for around $40. Compared to an expensive commercial scanner, it's worked out to be a great tool. My scanner is built using a Nokia 3310 LCD screen and an Arduino Pro Mini 3V version. The temperature probes are simple thermistors (see below for Jameco parts list).

A schematic diagram, also called a circuit diagram, is the standard way of describing the components and connections in an electronic circuit. It uses iconic symbols to represent components, with lines representing the connections between the components.

A circuit diagram represents the connections of a circuit, but it is not a drawing of the actual physical layout. Although you may initially find that drawings and photos of the physical wiring can be easier to understand than a schematic, in a complicated circuit it can be difficult to clearly see where each wire gets connected.

Circuit diagrams are like maps. They have conventions that help you to orient yourself once you become familiar with their style and symbols. For example, inputs are usually to the left, outputs to the right; 0V or ground connections are usually shown at the bottom of simple circuits, the power at the top.

Single best read this month: today's NYT, "Innovation & the Bell Labs Miracle" (by author of forthcoming book). http://t.co/uPY8BNA6

Simple remote monitoring using the Eye-Fi wireless SD card and Adafruit Data Logging Shield for Arduino

This board combines the low-power LPC1114 from NXP (50-MHz, Cortex-M0) with the AT86RF212 802.15.4 wireless transceiver from Atmel (700/800/900MHz).  The longer 868MHz (EU) or 915MHz (US) wavelength provides much better penetration of walls, concrete and other urban obstacles compared to 2.4GHz radios, while still maintaining reasonably high transfer rates (100 or 400 kbit/s, with faster rates possible).

The board has been designed to work off battery power -- ideally a single 3.7V LIPO or Lithium-Ion cell -- and includes a SW-selectable 2.2V and 3.3V output ULDO (though it can be also powered by providing an externally regulated 1.8-3.3V supply on the VIN pin).*  An SMA connector is provided for use with an external antenna (for best range and signal strength), along with a 2-pin JST PH-series connector to allow a secure, polarised battery connector.

While there are definately no dead otters in my freezer (<confessions>a few choice duck parts may be  hidden in there somewhere</confession>), there are a few OtterBoxes.  While looking for ways to test out the new LPC1114 802.15.4 Wireless Transceivers and to make sure that the code base and deep sleep mode works as expected (so that the batteries last years instead of, well, hours) and just to make sure that the lights actually DO go off when I close the door on the fridge, I stuck a sensor node plus a digital luminosity sensor (a TSL2561 from TAOS to be specific, which approximates the human eye and measures both regular and infrared light levels), and used the LM75B temperature sensor on the board to see just how chilly it really is (or isn't) in there.

The medium waterproof box (available from Adafruit.com in three sizes) turned out to be perfect.  They're transparent so I can measure the light levels (with a bit of adjustment of course), and since they're air tight, water proof and generally indestructible feeling, I don't have to worry about the LIPO battery shorting and burning the fridge down and robbing me of my diet Coke fix.

This humble dish could be served as a main dish with the addition of a little fish or meat, but in Spain it is prized as a side dish with chicken, seafood, and roast meats.