NEW PRODUCTS
MaKey Makey Invention Kits
SparkFun Electronics is now shipping the MaKey MaKey — a new product that invites everyone to be an inventor.
MaKey MaKey was designed by MIT graduate students
Jay Silver and Jay Rosenbaum, and is an invention kit that
encourages builders to discover creative new ways to
interact with computers. It allows users to create inventions
using almost any everyday object such as a keyboard key or
mouse. For example, you could replace your space key with
a banana, use Play-Doh™ to move and click your mouse, or
high-five your best friend to advance PowerPoint slides.
"The MaKey MaKey is an amazing kit because it really
lowers the point of entry for beginning electronics
enthusiasts," said AnnDrea Boe, SparkFun Director of
Marketing Communications. "This kit allows users to start
inventing immediately, right out of the box. It's a fantastic
way to start exploring DIY electronics."
The MaKey MaKey uses very high resistance switching
to detect when any of its 18 inputs are activated, even
through materials that aren't very conductive (like leaves,
pasta, or people). The MaKey MaKey communicates with
your computer using the USB Human Interface Device (HID)
specification which means that it can act just like a USB
keyboard or mouse. In addition, the MaKey MaKey is also
an Arduino-compatible platform, so users can easily re-map
any of the keys, or further customize it to their needs.
The regular kit is $39.95 and comes with the MaKey
MaKey HID board, an alligator clip pack, and a mini-USB
cable. The deluxe kit ($49.95) includes everything that the
basic kit does, in addition to a second alligator clip pack, a
jumper wires pack, and a roll of copper tape for even more
possibilities.
For further information, please contact:
SparkFun Electronics
22 SERVO 10.2012
Website: www.sparkfun.com
PS/2 Keyboard to ASCII
Converter Module
CHiPdesign announces the availability of the E1115 — a compact PS/2 keyboard to ASCII converter module
for embedded microcontroller applications. It offloads the
process-intensive PS/2 scancode decoding, while providing
a fast single byte output response for both ASCII and
non-ASCII keys including multi-media. Requiring only
+5V, the easy to use module provides a pin selectable
57.6K/115.2K baud rate, as well as a 100 kHz clocked serial
data output. The module also flashes an LED and generates
an interrupt pulse.
The converter allows for the quick development of any
keyboard-based project. The E1115B is available as a 10-pin
DIP style 1.3" x 0.7" module with integrated PS/2 connector,
and also as a SOIC- 14 chip. An application note on the
website describes how to parse the output into commands
and data. Pricing starts at $16 for the module and $8 for
the chip.
For further information, please contact:
CHiPdesign
Website: www.CHiPdesign.ca
Text To
Speech IC
The SP0-512 RoboVoice text to speech IC
from Speech Chips is a
pre-programmed
microcontroller that
accepts English text from a serial connection, converts that
text to phoneme codes, then generates audio. It is ideal for
adding a robot voice to embedded designs.
Features include:
