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Tuesday, March 27, 2012

New layout

After way too much time with the same layout, finally and in sync with Blogger restructuring and connection to Google+, I present you with a bit of a nicer look, which is at least is clearer for reading. Stay tuned, as some new posts are on the pipe, with updates on various topics, such as:
  • Geiger Counter - full schematics and firmware source code will soon be posted;
  • Time Lapse Photography - some new scenes of nature at its best will soon be made available.

Saturday, March 24, 2012

Simulation mode for the Geiger Counter



While obtaining samples of materials radioactive above background is not an easy task (fortunately for the sake of human health), I had to find a way of testing the dose measurement algorithm in a different way. As I have explained in a previous post, the device is divided in two modules: a UI module, and the detector device. Each has its own digital logic, and communicate with each other through an I2C bus. As such creating a simulation mode would be a simple mather of programming a new function in the detector that would allow randomly spaced pulses to be generated, instead of being triggered by the Geiger tube. This have been done simply by using the Atmel standard libraries random() function. Using the interrupt generated by the watchdog timer overflow, the following code is executed periodically:

Saturday, March 10, 2012

More in Time Lapse

And to add to the party, another bit of playing around with time lapse. This time zoomed in on the Tagus river, and obtained this interesting sequence. To achieve it, the intervalometer was set to take a picture every 10 seconds. Again, automatic settings such as ISO sensitivity and aperture were chosen. Only the focusing was kept manual.


Sunday, March 4, 2012

The timelapse intervalometer - the technology behind the device

With the results having been posted in a previous post, it is now time to flesh through the details that led to the creation of this simple yet useful device.

I started with the optimism that my Fujifilm S9600 camera would have some form of remote control possibillity other than the mechanical shutter release that is supported in the shutter button itself.