Morse code Broadcaster App & Receiver using Arduino

Me and Sayanti Chatterjee had been working on this for over a month now.
This was really an ambitious project and we tried to pull off something big !

The app takes in a string of words - encodes it into Morse code and broadcasts it in form of light pulses using the phones flash light in accordance with both of the frequency parameters. Changing those parameters changes the speed of the broadcast. On the other end there's a Arduino with a photo-resistor which keeps sleeping and wakes up only when senses the first light pulse. ( So, basically it's a auto on/off feature ) which receives and reads those light flashes, processes it and decodes it into it's original form. ( Again, in accordance with those parameters ) Displays it and goes back to sleep ! This is how wireless data transfer works ! It's just a simplified form of a WiFi or a cell tower. We've recreated a model wireless communication system from scratch !

What is the most important skill that you can have in a field like Robotics ? I mean, how do show off that you've learnt enough ? No matter how simple the project is - personally, I think it is when you have an idea inside of your head and you're able to turn that into reality using the knowledge you've gained.

Coming up with an Idea

So, I've been trying to come up with something crazy, totally out of the box. Something that had never been done before. And, I remember reading about Morse code in this article long ago. Now, in case you don't know - Morse code is basically a method used in telecommunication to encode text characters as standardized sequences of two different signal duration, called dots and dashes. What if I can make something in Arduino which receives these signals and decodes them to display the original message or sequence of strings. I didn't just want to do that, I wanted to turn up the heat ! What if the signals it receives are in form of light pulses. So, if I can develop an app in android for a smartphone which broadcasts the code in form of a sequence of light pulses and the Arduino receives and decodes it, what I get at the end of the day is a wireless communication system.I would've created a model wireless communication system from scratch !

Turning that Idea into reality

I needed to have all of these up and running with a single week including Android app which needed to be designed, developed and published. Because our exams were right around the corner ! So, I got in touch with one of my classmates to help me out in this project. Luckily, she agreed !
Before starting everything, we Carried out a simple test to find out whether it was possible to create such a device which could detect the light flashes or pulses with accuracy, agility and efficiency. We're in the middle of a second wave here in India. So, had to do everything online. Anyway, when this was out of the way - I started working on the App. Now, this is not just any app - This was going to be my app. And you know what we do here in this channel "WE WORK WITH STYLE !"

So, I spent days ! Trying to find a look and theme which best suits the app while remaining simple and user friendly ! I Was screening the whole time ! I never had to use XML before. And it's so hard to get things done in it. I was using ue4 to develop this fitness app previously and it's so user-friendly and easy to get things done which enabled me to focus on the artistic side of the things. But this, this was a nightmare !

Anyway,
Throughout the development process it went through a lot of iterations - as the app functionality and user experience was altered. But at the end I settled with something like this ! It looked good enough.

Now, finally coming down to the development part,
What I was worried about, the main functionality ! Went well.
The whole turn on and turn off - flash pulse thing was time dependent so had to make up a complex multiple recursive pipeline for everything to work in sync and with strict time accuracy, because using just a simple delay won't work - obviously when you have so much stuff on your plate.
Which - later gave me headaches when I had to comeback and look at it ! But, debugging this thing was a disaster. Because there isn't a flash unit on a emulator so it kept giving me all sorts of exceptions. Which, I had to work around by pumping out log entries in every god-dam line. And why is it such a headache to inflate a view and create a simple alert pop up ?

After almost 5 days of work - Everything was up and running and it looked good visually.
I had a small info windows with our names on it as well.
And it showed a cute little "Broadcasting" alert-box while working. Lastly, when Sayanti sent me the map to fill up the internal database - I fused it with my code and the app was fully functional and ready !

Some screenshots from the App

Now I had to do the reverse in a different language. To get the Arduino side of things working ! We've been carrying out tests to it was easy to get things up and running ! In our app we had these two parameters 'frequency' which determined the time duration of a 'dot' in the Morse code and the blank gap between the individual units in a code. And 'frequency_gap' which determined the same for a 'dash' and the blank gap between two different entities or characters.
These values between the app and the Arduino needs to be synced up in order for the whole thing to work. The code in Arduino detects, calculates and separate the light pulses in accordance with their pulse duration and the blank gap which is then decoded into readable text. With all these in mind, it took me about 2 days to program the whole thing in the same recursive manner and fortunately it was working perfectly !

As soon as Sayanti provided me with the reverse map and all the other necessary snippets ! The main engine was done ! I wanted to display the decoded text through an LCD screen. So, programmed it in as well. With this done, the system was finally ready. Watch a detailed vlog on my channel to know How a did it.
And you can download this app for your own projects ! That is all of it.

Over the last few days I've been improving this system and I'll continue working on it for some days. Meanwhile, I've published this app. Named: Morse code broadcaster to the Amazon store.
So, you can go, download and use it for free !
I'll be publishing it in the Google Play store soon as well !

Ive since added a number pad which allows the user to change the frequency parameters in the Arduino and some buttons to help define the minimum luminosity which the program should consider as darkness and to carry out other calibrations.

Comments

A Multipurpose Mini Desktop Assistant Robot

We have named it 'Cookie Bot' 🍪 Cookie Bot is a multipurpose mini desktop assistant robot that you can control with your voice when needed but also has a mind of its own ! It uses a combination of AI, Machine Learning, and speech recognition to control its movements and actions based on different situations and surroundings. Users can interact with the robot through voice commands and its voice assistant artificial intelligence system allows it to detect and understand user commands in different natural languages including English and Hindi ! Cookie Bot acts lively, moves around on its own using a path finding algorithm to navigate and avoid obstacles while responding to different commands from the user. The Cookie Bot uses a LIDER sensor to detect objects in its path and a Ultrasonic sensor to sense objects and objects in its surrounding environment. Here's a video of the first working prototype : Prototype 1 : December 15th, 2022 Prototype 1 : Projec...

Search and Rescue Deployable Assistant

The Project Proposal Objectives : The future calls for a safer, more efficient, and reliable habitable environment for everyone throughout the globe - an attack, accident, and disaster-proof infrastructure with zero casualties in such events. But if there are any, we need to have the technology and resources to combat such situations. SARDA is a deployable robotic unit intended to help first responders in such crucial situations to carry out search and rescue operations in dangerous environments. When deployed into the disaster site, it helps to map and render a dynamic color coded 3D model of it's immediate surrounding along with data like temperature and humidity ; Which, not only aids the rescue team to better navigate the terrain but also informs us in case of fire and smoke along with it's exact location. This digital twin can also be overridden with manual control, providing us with an efficient two-way communication system. The Deploy-able unit ...

Robotic Shooter Game • From DIY to Unreal Engine 5 Masterpiece!

Previously, when we showcased our initial project at the national science fair, we presented "Armball Mania," a novel and intuitive sensor-controlled game. This project utilized an accelerometer connected to a compact Arduino Nano, with serial communication enabling the transfer of orientation data to an Unreal Engine game. The game's objective was to balance a ball on a football field and score goals by manipulating the field's orientation with the accelerometer mounted on a DIY glove worn by the user. The project was a hit at the fair in Kolkata, drawing long lines of enthusiastic students and children eager to experience the game. Despite the success, we encountered significant challenges with the accelerometer. The sensor's sensitivity to minute hand movements caused jittery and unstable outputs, making the gameplay less smooth and precise than desired. To overcome this, we decided to upgrade to a gyroscope. The gyroscope provided a remarkable improvement in a...

Homemade 2-axis gimbal using Arduino

I present to you the cheapest camera or object stabilizer in the whole world ! A 2-axis gimbal that keeps an object steady in a certain position despite the movement of the base on which it is mounted. This means when the base keeps changing its position constantly, the object will remain stable and there won’t be any change in its position. It all started with my new ADXL345 and I thought to myself why not try and build a hand-held gimbal at home since these things are rather costly out there. So, I fired up max and as usual started working on the digital prototype or the blueprint. I had a few servos left from the previous project that I worked on and two of them were enough for this simple stabilizer. And I have learnt from my mistakes ! Knowing that these servos won't be able to put up with so much, I designed the frame in a way that would fairly distribute the load away from the motor. With all this in mind, I roughly designed the whole thing and tried to make i...

Ball Game using Accelerometer & Arduino

Project Proposal PDF : Armball Mania Project Proposal I was recently experimenting with serial communication between Arduino and ue4 and suddenly had this urge to make a fun sensor controlled game . Something different and intuitive ! Now, I remember that I had the ADXL from my previous project which had become one of my favorite sensor ! - and I knew exactly what to do. I know, I know. Why am I using an accelerometer ! Using a gyro would've been a better idea. And you're right, That's the intuitive part ! The Arduino Part Before everything, I needed to test if it even works. So, I created a demo project, where I would control the pitch yaw and roll of a flat rectangular object with live inputs from the sensor which Will be in the users hands. Serial communication was a bit tricky. And I needed to open and close the ports dynamically so that I can change it on the go. After a bit of tweaking, I got it to work ! To summarize the protocol in English, ...

DIY Contactless Mist Sanitizer

Today I'm going to show you how I turned a broken pocket mist generator into: A Contactless Mist Sanitizer Machine in just one day. Sounds cool, right? Let's get started ! First, let me explain what a pocket mist generator is. It's basically a device that sprays a fine mist of liquid, usually water or sanitizer, to moisturize or disinfect your skin or surroundings. It's handy and portable, but mine stopped working after a few months of use. So I decided to open it up and see what's inside. To my surprise, I found out that it doesn't use any heating element or pump to create the mist. Instead, it has a tiny diaphragm that vibrates at a very high frequency, around 100 kHz, and breaks the liquid into tiny droplets that form the mist. This is called ultrasonic atomization, and it's very efficient and quiet. I wanted to control this diaphragm using my Arduino Uno, but I couldn't generate such a high frequency with it. So I had to use the origi...

DIY LiDAR SLAM Robot from Scratch

Showcase & Documentary 1. Deep Learning Based Calibration 2. ICP Based Odometry & Positioning (Manual) 3. Path-Finding using A* Algorithm & Traversing (Manual) 4. Automatic Navigation & Path-Finding 5. Complete Autonomus Navigation With Feedback Loop Download Vagabond: https://github.com/Kawai-Senpai/Vagabond/ Welcome to this exciting exploration into the world of SLAM—Simultaneous Localization and Mapping. Most people working on SLAM typically rely on Robot Operating System (ROS) and predefined libraries, using simulations instead of real-world scenarios. But we decided to take a different route. We believed that if we wanted to truly master SLAM, we needed to do it the right way—from scratch. Rather than using pre-built templates and libraries, which can be picked up at any time, we challenged ourselves to build a SLAM system manually. Now, we didn’t have the budget to buy a professional LiDAR sensor, which can be quite expen...

Miniature Remote controlled Robotic Arm

A remote controlled cute little miniature version of a robotic arm which can sit on your table and pick up your eraser when you drop it. I've always been fascinated by Industrial Robotic arms. They are so simple yet complicated ! And I wanted to try and make one from the ground up without any help. Kind of wanted to simplify it and work with what I got. Planning At the moment, I had only two servos and 1 stepper motor. So, I needed to build the whole thing with nothing but those. So, I fired up Max and started working on the blueprint. It's like a prototype that I like to create virtually - Which give me the Idea on How the real thing should be built ! And also, I can change stuffs easily here if things dont work out and improve the overall model if I need to. So, I found a way to create a cute little robotic mechanical arm with only the things I got. This would be able to pick up things with the help of that mouth and move ut around. Pretty simple...

AI-Powered 6-DOF Robot in Unreal Engine

Waste management has become one of the most pressing issues of our time, and innovative solutions are needed now more than ever. What if we could blend the precision of robotics with the power of AI to create a system that not only automates waste segregation but also bridges the gap between virtual simulations and real-world applications? In this documentary, we’ll take you behind the scenes of a groundbreaking project: the development of a 6-degree-of-freedom robotic arm designed for waste segregation, all simulated within the immersive environment of Unreal Engine. The journey began with the idea of creating a robotic arm that could mimic human movements with high precision. To achieve this, we focused on developing a 6-degree-of-freedom (6-DOF) system, allowing the arm to move in any direction, rotate, and grasp objects as efficiently as a human hand. But building this complex system wasn’t just about mechanics—it was about crafting a seamless interaction betwee...

Ranit's Robotics Blog

Search This Blog