My Arduinome is finally alive! With a little tip from Nils, I got the current firmware working. As I suspected, the firmware is broken with the current Arduino release. Using Arduino 11 solved the issue. Unfortunately I connected the columns of the matrix in reversed order, so I had to do some soldering too.

Initial tests with some Max/MSP scripts as well as Seven Up for Live are very promising. Although the keypad feels a bit flimsy, the keypresses seem to be accurate and to the point. I have not had any missed keys yet, fine! I’m very happy with it.

Now it’s time to do some practicing with Seven Up and maybe a first video on youtube.

Thanks to all the people involved in the Arduinome project. You did an awesome job!

Today, I had some time to work on my Arduinome. I already have prepared the button and led matrix as well as the shield PCB two days ago. Initial tests with the current Arduinome firmware were not that successful, leading to a strange led patterns on power up, as well as random crashes of the software. So I was worried about some mistakes I did with the hardware. Checking all the leds and switches manually revealed that there were no mistakes on the hardware, therefore there had to be something wrong with the firmware. Some initial hacking on the firmware allowed me to test the hardware, and proofed that basically everything is working. My current guess is that the firmware is broken with the newest arduino framework. I will have a better look and try to fix it. Maybe I’ll even rewrite the firmware from scratch, not using the arduino framework. Stay tuned …

My arduinome shield PCB has finally been shipped. The last missing part of my adruinome is on the way now. Many thanks to unsped for organizing and managing that group buy. I guess I will finish my arduinome just before christmas!

I just read a note that unsped is going to receive the shield PCBs in the next few days. Great news, as this means that I’ll be able to finish my arduinome shortly. I did not want to spend the effort and build the shield myself on veroboard, when I’m going to exchange it with a proper PCB anyway. But I can’t wait to finish my Arduinome!

Today I have been working on the Arduinome. First, I cut and filed the corners from the button PCBs, then I soldered all the diodes and LEDs. After that, I assembled the frontpanel. All that is missing now is the shield board as well as the wiring. As I have to wait for my shield PCB for another 2 weeks, I wonder if I should build the logic on a veroboard, and replace it later. I’ll see …

Today my order from Sparkfun arrived, what a nice little package. Except of the Arduinome shield PCB, all the material is ready to get assembled. I’ll continue building on saturday.

Today I started building my Arduinome. Didn’t have much time, so all I did was countersinking the holes, as well as putting together the frame. Still waiting for the button pads from Sparkfun …

Today, the enclosure kit and all the stuff ordered from Distrelec (diodes, leds, led driver and multiplexers) arrived. The enclosure kit looks really nice! Can’t wait to assemble. The stuff from Sparkfun should arrive soon.

After having the pleasure to play around with a Monome 256 from a friend of mine, I decided to build myself an Arduinome, a DIY clone of the Monome. I will only build an 8×8 Arduinome, so to speak a Monome 64 clone. But my findings with the 256 were, that it’s rather too large to work with intuitively. I got lost all the time. I have ordered all materials. The Arduino board as well as the pads are coming from Sparkfun, the enclosure is from MachineCollective, and everything else comes from Distrelec. The total price for the material is around 300$. I have chosen blue leds for my Arduinome, hope they look fine.

Unfortunately I have abandoned this site for quite a while now. I’m intending to change that now, and add stuff over time, using it mostly as a blog though. So stay tuned for more stuff to apear.