ARDX

I’ve build this simple game on the arduino as a train project;
It uses a simple 128×64 graphical LCD, a button, a potmeter and some wires and resistors to connect them all together.
It’s based on the all time favorite online “Helicopter Game“.

It’s still a rough version but it’s quite fun.

- Edit -
Source code is now available! Not much improvements but the demand was high
It uses the KS0108 library from the Arduino playground.

Specifications:

• just under 8kb (so it should fit a cheap Atmega-8)
• Speed and block size grow
• Still a little glitchy, weird artifacts, is anyone able to fix them?
• Day and Night mode, hold the button when game over for night mode, gentle press for day
• Score build in, post your highscore in the comments

To play:

• Connect a KS0108 LCD as described in the library’s page
• Connect a button with a pull-down resistor to pin 12
• Make sure the KS0108 library is available
• Upload the sketch
• Enjoy!

Download it here…

The Arduino comes with a lot of features but not all of them are known to all users. Here are some features you might not know about yet.

1. Extra output ports
The arduino has 13 digital ports and 6 analog input ports; But did you know that you can use the 6 analog ports as digital ports as well? Just continue counting (analog 0 = port 14, 1 = 15 etc.) and don’t forget to set the pinMode for the ports. Might come in handy when you just need a few more ports.

I guess a common problem for all people that start working with electronics is that you always need parts to make cool stuff. The ARDX starter kit offers a nice base for a starter but very soon you want to have more and more parts. Bargain hunter as I am I started looking for great deals and found some nice resources which I would like to share with you.

I started off at a dutch site called SamenKopen.net. On this Dutch site people come together to buy stuff in larger amounts so they can get it cheaper. Most of this stuff is electronics related. I bought some nice 16×4 LCD’s there for just €6,- a piece and a lot of very cheap components from another “shopkeeper”. Great site, but there are limited amounts and most of the people that organize them only ship to The Netherlands or Belgium.

Hi and welcome to ARDX.eu; Yet another Arduino blog.

When I first saw the Arduino a couple of weeks ago I really liked the concept. I showed my interest in PIC/AVR programming before but the entry cost and the programming language/interfaces scared me off.

The Arduino both solved these 2 barriers for me (since it’s cheap, uses a simple C programming language and has a simple IDE which is Mac and Linux compatible). So only a day after I first saw the Arduino in action I ordered a starter-kit on a small dutch webshop called floris.cc (nice site, good service). This starter-kit I offered delivers some great value for it’s money and since I like it so much I decided to name this site to it (it’s called ARDX, the Arduino experimentation kit). If you want to start electronics I would highly recommend this kit since it gives you a great push in the right direction.

I’ve been a software engineer for the last couple of years now so programming on the Arduino isn’t all that hard; But the electronics are a fairly unknown territory for me. I hope I can help other people with this site by providing useful information I’ve gathered on my own.

I hope you will enjoy my upcoming posts.

Dave