Serial Communication

Asynchronous communication Synchronous communication

TX RX clock
data A->B
Device A Device B Device A Device B
data B->A
RX TX

asynchronous – no clock Synchronous – with clock

Data represented by setting Data represented by setting
HIGH/LOW at given times HIGH/LOW when “clock” changes

A single clock wire & data wire for

Separate wires for transmit & receive
each direction like before

Each device must have good “rhythm” Neither needs good rhythm, but one is the conductor

Is one better than the other? It depends on your application. Async is good if there are only two
devices and they’re both pre-configured to agree on the speed (like your Arduino sketches)

Synchronous is generally better for faster speeds (because you don’t need an accurate clock, just
the ability to watch the clock wire).
 I2C, aka “Two-wire”
Synchronous serial bus with shared a data line
a little network for your gadgets

SCK clock
Master
device
SDA data

Peripheral Peripheral Peripheral

•••
device 1 device 2 device N

• Up to 127 devices on one bus

• Up to 1Mbps data rate
• Really simple protocol (compared to USB,Ethernet,etc)
• Most microcontrollers have it built-in
The shared data line means the devices have to agree on when they should “talk” on it. Like how on
CBs you say “over” and “over & out” to indicate you’re finished so the other person talk.

See “Introduction to I2C”: http://www.embedded.com/story/OEG20010718S0073

“I2C” stands for “Inter-Integrated Circuit”, but no one calls it that
And if your microcontroller doesn’t have I2C hardware built-in, you can fake it by hand in software
(for master devices anyway)
 Many I2C devices

non-volatile
memory
touch sensor compass

fm transmitter

And many others

(gyros,keyboards, motors,...)
temperature &
LCD display humidity sensor
Images from Sparkfun.com,except LCD from matrixorbital.com
 Obligatory BlinkM Promo
I2C Smart LED

Does all the hard PWM & waveform generation for you
You should be able to buy these from Sparkfun.com in a month or so.
 Nintendo Wii Nunchuck
• Standard I2C interface

• 3-axis accelerometer with

10-bit accuracy

• 2-axis analog joystick with

8-bit A/D converter

• 2 buttons

• $20

If you look at the architecture for the Nintendo Wii and its peripherals, you see an almost un-Nintendo adherence
to standards. The Wii controllers are the most obvioius examples of this. The Wii controller bus is standard I2C.
The Wii remote speaks Bluetooth HID to the Wii (or your Mac or PC)

Because it uses standard I2C, it’s easy to make the Nunchuck work with Arduino, Basic Stamp or most other
microcontrollers.

See: http://www.wiili.org/index.php/Wiimote/Extension_Controllers/Nunchuk
and: http://www.windmeadow.com/node/42
and: http://todbot.com/blog/2007/10/25/boarduino-wii-nunchuck-servo/

And then there’s the Wii Remote, besides Bluetooth HID, it also has accelerometers, buttons, speaker, memory, and
is I2C master.
 Accelerometer?
• Measures acceleration
(changes in speed)

• Like when the car

pushes you into the seat

• Gravity is acceleration

• So, also measures tilt

horizontal tilt right tilt left

 Nunchuck Accelerometer
Z
X

Wii Remote & Nunchuck

accelerometer axes
I’m not sure if I have the Nunchuck one right.

Wiimote axis image from http://www.wiili.org/index.php/Wiimote

 I2C on Arduino

• I2C built-in on Arduino’s

ATmega168 chip

• Use “Wire” library to access it

• Analog In 4 is SDA signal

• Analog In 5 is SCK signal

SDA

SCK
 Arduino “Wire” library
Writing Data
Load Wire library
Join I2C bus
(as master)

Start sending
Send data
Stop sending

And what the various commands do are documented in the instructions / datasheet for a particular
device.
 Arduino “Wire” library
Reading Data

Join I2C bus

(as master)

Request data from device

Get data

What kinds of interactions you can have depends on

the device you’re talking to
Most devices have several “commands”

And what the various commands do are documented in the instructions / datasheet for a particular
device.
 Wiring up the Nunchuck
We could hack off the connector
and use the wires directly

But instead let’s use this

little adapter board
 Wii Nunchuck Adapter
Nunchuck Pinout Adapter Pinout
SCK GND
n/c
GND SDA

n/c +V SCK
+V SDA

(looking into Nunchuck connector)

Note there *are* labels on the adapter, but they’re wrong. So you’ll have to trust the diagrams
above
 Wiring it Up
SCK (pin5)
SDA (pin 4)

+5V SCK
GND SDA
Pluggin’ in the ‘chuck
 Trying the Nunchuck
“NunchuckPrint”

Read the Nunchuck

every 1/10th of a second
& print out all the data:
- joystick position (x,y)
- accelerometer (x,y,z)
- buttons Z,C Z
X

Uses the beginnings of an Arduino library I’m writing.

 Adding a Servo
“NunchuckServo”

Move the servo by

moving your arm

You’re a cyborg!

Also press the Z button to

flash the pin 13 LED

Utilizes the task slicing mentioned before

 Nunchuck Servo
Twist the
nunchuck

and the servo

matches your
movement
 Segway Emulator

Same basic code as NunchuckServo.

For details see: http://todbot.com/blog/2007/10/25/boarduino-wii-nunchuck-servo/
 Going Further
• Servos
• Hook several together to create a multi-
axis robot arm
• Make a “servo recorder” to records your
arm movements to servo positions and
plays them back
• Great for holiday animatronics
 Going Further
• I2C devices
• Try out some other devices
• Just string them on the same two wires used
for the Nunchuck
• Cooperative Multitasking
• Try making a theremin with nunchuck & piezo
• See if previous examples can be made more
responsive
 Going Further
• Nunchuck
• It’s a freespace motion sensor. Control
anything like you’re waving a magic wand!
• What about the joystick? We didn’t even
get a chance to play with that
• Alternative input device to your
computer: control Processing, etc.
 Summary
You’ve learned many different physical building blocks

switches/buttons
resistive sensors
LEDs Z
X

piezos

motors accelerometers servos

 Summary
And you’ve learned many software building blocks

serial
pulse width communication
modulation I2C
analog I/O

data driven digital I/O

code
frequency
modulation
multiple tasks
 Summary

Hope you had fun and continue playing with Arduino

Feel free to contact me to chat about this stuff

 END Class 4

http://todbot.com/blog/bionicarduino/

Tod E. Kurt
tod@todbot.com

Feel free to email me if you have any questions.