How-tos

Audiences
Any audience
OSC Users
Electronics Hackers
Microcontroller Developers
Desktop Developers

Any audience

Sensors & Actuators

Connect a Switch

How to connect a switch, or pushbutton, to the Make Controller.

Connect an LED to a Digital Output

Connect and use an LED with the Make Controller.

Distance Measuring Sensor

How to use a distance measuring sensor with the Make Controller Kit.

Photocell

How to connect and use a photocell (light sensor) with the Make Controller.

Piezo Sensor

How to connect and use a piezo sensor with the Make Controller Kit.

PIR Sensor

How to use a PIR sensor with the Make Controller Kit.

Potentiometer

How to connect a potentiometer to the Make Controller Kit.

Scale a 5V Signal to 3.3V

Convert a 5V signal (common with many sensors) to 3.3V (required by the Make Controller).

Temperature Sensor

How to use a temperature sensor with the Make Controller Kit.

Mechanical

Add Rubber Feet

Small rubber pads on the bottom of the Application Board make it much nicer to work with!

Connect a DC Motor

How to connect and use a DC motor with the Make Controller Kit.

Connect a Servo Motor

Connect and use a servo motor with the Make Controller Kit.

Make a Proper Screw Connection

How to make a proper connection to a screw terminal of the Make Controller Kit.

Manufacture a Make Controller Kit

How to make one yourself (sort of).

Replace Output Driver Chips on the Application Board

Replace the output drivers on the Application Board if you've burned them out.

Selecting Wire

How to select the right wire to use with your project.

Stepper Motor

Connect and use a stepper motor with the Make Controller Kit.

Powering Your Projects

Connect a power supply to the green slip-on connectors

How to adapt any old power supply into one that you can use with the Make Controller.

Power Via an AC Adapter

Provide power to your Make Controller and any I/O devices via an AC adapter.

Power via USB

Power your Make Controller via a USB connection.

Split a power connection between several devices

Use a single power or ground terminal to connect to several devices.

Communication With the Make Controller

Change Network Settings

How to change the IP address, and other network settings on the Make Controller Kit via OSC.

General Organization

How to use this resource

A brief description of how you use and contribute to the Documentation Center.

Project Planning

You want to create a project, but don't quite know where to begin.

Upload Content to Your User Space

Share your MakingThings-related content with the world.

OSC Users

Sensors & Actuators

Connect a Relay to a Digital Output

Explains how to use Relays with the MC.

Mechanical

Connect a Relay to a Digital Output

Explains how to use Relays with the MC.

Powering Your Projects

Connect a Relay to a Digital Output

Explains how to use Relays with the MC.

Communication With the Make Controller

Communicate via XML with mchelper

mchelper can make a socket connection to a script/application to communicate with any Make Controllers connected to it.

Configure the Make Controller to Automatically Send Input Values

How to configure and use the autosend feature in the Heavy firmware.

Easily update and set XBee module settings with X-CTU

Use Digi's X-CTU application to read and write the settings of your XBee module.

Integrating With Desktop Software

Communicate via XML with mchelper

mchelper can make a socket connection to a script/application to communicate with any Make Controllers connected to it.

Pass data to/from MS Excel with Make Controller C#

This how to explains how to communicate with Excel and the MC using Visual C# Express Edition. A free IDE available from Microsoft.

Electronics Hackers

Sensors & Actuators

Connect a Relay to a Digital Output

Explains how to use Relays with the MC.

Make a Wireless Motion Detector

Create a remote motion detector with the Make Controller and a pair of XBee modules.

Mechanical

Connect a Relay to a Digital Output

Explains how to use Relays with the MC.

Powering Your Projects

Connect a Relay to a Digital Output

Explains how to use Relays with the MC.

Communication With the Make Controller

Serial RS232 Connection How-to

A step by step process of setting up a serial interface to your make controller

Integrating With Desktop Software

Make a Wireless Motion Detector

Create a remote motion detector with the Make Controller and a pair of XBee modules.

Microcontroller Developers

Communication With the Make Controller

Connect Two Make Controllers Wirelessly

Use the XBee modules to communicate between 2 Make Controllers wirelessly.

Writing Firmware

Build Firmware on Windows

Set up to create your own programs for the Make Controller.

Build Firmware With Eclipse

Use Eclipse (a free development environment) to create programs for the Make Controller Kit.

Build Firmware With XCode

Use Apple's XCode IDE to compile firmware for the Make Controller.

Connect Two Make Controllers Wirelessly

Use the XBee modules to communicate between 2 Make Controllers wirelessly.

Create Your Own OSC subsystem

Create a custom OSC interface to your own Make Controller program.

Generate up to date firmware documentation

Sometimes, if you're working from the source code in SVN, the online documentation can be out of date - generate your own if you want.

Read info from an RSS feed

How to get your Make Controller to check for updates from an RSS feed.

Desktop Developers

Sensors & Actuators

Make a Wireless Motion Detector

Create a remote motion detector with the Make Controller and a pair of XBee modules.

Communication With the Make Controller

Communicate via XML with mchelper

mchelper can make a socket connection to a script/application to communicate with any Make Controllers connected to it.

Easily update and set XBee module settings with X-CTU

Use Digi's X-CTU application to read and write the settings of your XBee module.

Talk to the Make Controller with Ruby

Use the rosc (Ruby-OSC) library to communicate with the Make Controller via Ethernet.

Integrating With Desktop Software

Communicate via XML with mchelper

mchelper can make a socket connection to a script/application to communicate with any Make Controllers connected to it.

Make a Wireless Motion Detector

Create a remote motion detector with the Make Controller and a pair of XBee modules.

Pass data to/from MS Excel with Make Controller C#

This how to explains how to communicate with Excel and the MC using Visual C# Express Edition. A free IDE available from Microsoft.

Talk to the Make Controller with Ruby

Use the rosc (Ruby-OSC) library to communicate with the Make Controller via Ethernet.

Use the Make Controller with Exemplar

Exemplar is a graphical environment that allows you to program by demonstration.