Optical fingerprint scanners are prominent security devices nowadays. These scanners are low-cost and easy to use with any embedded hardware platform. The scanners have built-in memory and a controller to store and compare fingerprints. Usually, optical fingerprint scanners have a USB and/or UART port to communicate with external controllers or computers. The scanner handles enrollment…

A majority of middle-aged people suffer from health issues like asthma and breathing problems, particularly in cities. Air pollution is the major cause of it. In this project, we have designed a portable device that detects different air pollution metrics and displays them on a small OLED screen. People with respiratory issues can use the…

A very common feature in Android and iOS fitness apps is calculating the number of steps the user walks and the distance he covers. These apps calculate the number of steps walked by the user either using GPS location and manipulating the geospatial data or by monitoring the acceleration vector of the device using an…

BMP180 is a digital pressure sensor designed for low-power, low-voltage operation in mobile phones, navigation devices, and personal digital assistants. The sensor has an I2C interface to communicate sensor data. It can operate on 2.5~3.6V and consumes only 12 uA even in the ultra-high-resolution mode. The sensor can be used for several applications, including measuring…

Environment sensors are of great importance in embedded applications. Many temperature sensors measure the ambient temperature or temperature of a surface. For measuring water temperature and other fluids, waterproof temperature sensors are required. One of such temperature sensors is DS18B20. This sensor can measure the temperature of the air, liquids like water, and ground. The…

When it comes to general-purpose microcontrollers, nobody expects them to perform heavy-duty software operations. Microcontrollers are simple devices that control binary devices and talk over serial interfaces. Building audio/video or multimedia applications on microcontrollers is never attempted. It is challenging and infeasible in most situations to handle any kind of multimedia through microcontrollers. Microcontrollers are…

It is common to use different sensors with microcontrollers in embedded applications. Microcontrollers are equipped with parallel data ports and several serial data communication interfaces that allow them to interface and communicate with sensors. There are times when the data fetched from sensors need to be stored for future use. This may be just for…

Electronic door locks are safer than conventional door locks. There is no possibility of lock picking in such door locks as the entire mechanism is electronic. Such door locks have an underlying embedded access control system which is generally impenetrable. Several access control systems are used in electronic door locks. The most common access control…

RFID is a popular tagging and identification technology. Radio frequency identification involves one RFID tag and the second RFID reader. RFID tags and labels are low-cost and easily available. Compared to barcode tracking systems, RFID solutions have several advantages. One of the apparent advantages of RFID over barcodes is that it does not require a…

Motion tracking sensors are used in applications like robotics, gesture recognition, vehicle stabilization, position control in drones/quadcopters, pointing devices, game controllers, and fitness tracking devices. One of the popular motion tracking sensors is MPU6050. It is a six-axis MEMS motion tracking sensor that includes a MEMS accelerometer and a MEMS gyroscope. The sensor also has…

In this project, we will design a simple application using a 3.5-inch TFT LCD that displays different kinds of graphics and text messages with Arduino. TFT LCDs are the most popular color displays – the displays in smartphones, tablets, and laptops are actually the TFT LCDs only. There are TFT LCD shields available for Arduino…

The measurement of pulse rate or heartbeat is a very common medical procedure. Quite often, the patient kept under observation is essentially monitored via their pulse/heartbeat rate. Pulse rate varies from person to person. The pulse is lower when we are resting because at that time, the body does not need much oxygen, and the…

SSD1306 is a popular OLED display driver. Portable and wearable devices are the new trends. Small OLED displays are just perfect for such compact and portable devices. SSD1306 is a single-chip CMOS OLED/PLED driver. It can manage a 128×64 dot-matrix graphic display.  It is designed to control common-cathode OLED panels. The chip has several built-in…