Improved annoyatron

by david 31. October 2009 10:12

I think that it's good to keep your hand in with some plain old C programming once in a while.  So I ocasionally mess around with microprocessors. I've been working on an improved annoyatron, with my version it will pretend to be a mobile phone - by playing a simple ringtone. This is what it currently looks like:

annoyatron 2.0

 I've used an AVR ATmega168 microprocessor, which is over spec, but I had a couple of them lying around.  In fact all of the other components except for the button cell battery and holder were things that I had sitting around.  What tends to happen is that before I throw anything away, I take it to bits to see if I can remove anything.  Even a salvaged switch can be useful one day.  And it's fun to take stuff apart :-)

So ... what I'll try to do is post more about this - what development tools I've used and what I have discovered along the way.  I'll be sure to refer back to it if nobody else does.

About the author

David
I'm a C# developer having worked with .Net since it was in beta.  Before that I mainly worked in C and C++.  I have been developing commercial software for more than 20 years.  I also mess around with microprocesors, but that's just for fun.  I live near Cambridge, England and at the moment I'm contracted to one of the departments at Cambridge University.