Thanks to the Sun SPOT team, who sent me a Sun SPOT development kit. SPOT stands for Small Programmable Object Technology, and are very powerful and sophisticated little devices, perfect for sensor-based applications, and pervasive computing.
A Sun SPOT has the following:
- a 3-axis accelerometer (with two range settings: 2G or 6G)
- a temperature sensor
- a light sensor
- 8 tri-color LEDs
- 6 analog inputs readable by an ADC
- 2 momentary switches
- 5 general purpose I/O pins and 4 high current output pins
Very cool indeed. I will be playing with these gadgets, and will be writing about what I learn here in this blog. I’ve a number of projects in mind — starting with basic sensors, to more sophisticated guidance, navigation and control, it would be cool if used in Rocketry, to using the Sun SPOTs to teach and get kids involved in Computer Science, via LittleTechies.org, a non-profit organization I’ve been wanting to establish for a while now. So many things to do/try. Send me your recommendations for projects to consider.
I’ve added a new page on my blog dedicated to Sun SPOT, which will develop over time as I learn more.
ceo