Wifi internet radio(2)
Here’s a quick review of what I’ve been doing lately in my attempt to create a Wifi internet radio. Started with a simple “copy-and-paste” manner of posts Jeff (link) wrote about a similar project, I found that I had to deviate from some strategies. This series of posts describe my actions from the point that I veered from Jeff’s course. This post will explain my work for now that I’ve put in the user interface.
Since my last post, I’ve been busy with coding the routines for handling the user input and projecting the construction of the controller. The coding involved a simple bash script that reads the input from the controller. The script determines its action depending on the context of the input and will eventually carry out that action. The user later on reads – in some cases also hears – the result. This is of course, only possible when there is a controller to begin with. The controller’s task is to read input (by reading the state of four buttons and a variable potentiometer), sending this data to the router over a USB connection and sending translated input from the router to an LCD.
Both elements are not finished yet. I’ve ordered all the components necessary and created a schematic of the controller.
The controller
The Arduino I mentioned in my previous post was intended as a controller since I decided to add it to the project. I now have decided that the Arduino is way too functional to be locked in a wooden box, never to be heard from again. After reading several articles and how-to’s on the subject, I found that programming a new Atmel micro controller with the Arduino and using this instead will be cheaper and more interesting than using the Arduino as an easy way out.
And so I’ve gathered the required details and began projecting this new course. There is a practical how-to available that explains how the microcontroller can be integrated into a circuit without blowing it up. It basically describes how to set up the power supply and the crystals in order to make this work. It even covers including a USB break-out adapter to the circuit!
Of course I do not need a power supply as described in the article, since I use the power supply provided by the USB adapter.
The parts I will use:
- 1 x 10k resistor
- 4 x 1k resistor
- 2 x 22pf capacitor
- 4 x strategic push button
- 1 x variable potentiometer
- 1 x Atmel atmega168 microcontroller
- 1 x 16MHZ timer crystal
- 1 x USB to Serial adapter
I’m soldering this on 2 print boards (buttons and variable potentiometer; microcontroller and USB adapter).
Here I want to take a brief moment to talk about software, circuit design software that is. I stumbled on several options, varying from easy-to-use educational software as Yenka (
wine!) to professional software (Eagle, Geda, Oregano). I would like to take this opportunity to mention Kicad here. Kicad is simple, well documented and conveys neat 3d modeling. I would say that simpleness is by far the most important reason to go for Kicad, other software solutions out there are simply not simple.
When it comes to designing and simulating basic circuits, Yenka is your friend.
I have used Kicad as a mean to designing the circuit of the controller. The schematic:
Note: the LCD is not included in the bill of materials
This schematic includes the USB to serial adapter, which I made from scratch (other software solutions didn’t provide it either, I’ve checked). Here is the library file which you can import in the library editor in Kicad. The following schematic covers the buttons and the variable potentiometer, pretty basic, but a schematic nonetheless.
I’ve mentioned earlier that I didn’t finish both the script and the controller. I did, however, put some time in designing the end-product in Google’s SketchUp. It is still in ‘beta’ but I believe it is in the right direction. See these images below for an inner and outer view of the wifi internet radio. I’ve added an Arduino Duemillenove to illustrate the controller.
So far so good, my next post will be a somewhat in-depth how-to about building the controller. This will also be added to Circuits For Beginners, a source for other circuit plans and tutorials explaining how to build them.
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