When Electrotap started selling sensors almost 3 years ago, we initially offered all of our sensors in two versions: the full “polished” version, and a “project” version.

The project version came with no cable, no connector, no shrinkwrap, etc. It’s just the sensor and the conditioning circuit, at a lower price. This is great for people that want to solder their own wires onto the board, or do some other custom thing (or just save a few dollars).

After a long hiatus, I’m happy to say that we are now able to bring them back! All the info is on the sensor info pages: http://electrotap.com/sensors/

We have a new sensor available: http://electrotap.com/sensors/T305A.shtml

It’s a small 2D joystick with our standard sensor-conditioning circuitry.

Our new accelerometers (pictured above) are available. There are a number of improvements over the previous design:

• Superior performance and resolution
• Two mounting holes in the board for attaching it to things
• Use of standard RJ11 cables instead of bulky, quirky, heavy XLR splitter cables
• Power-on LED indicator
• Tilt version is built on the board with the accelerometer – meaning no external components are needed for tilt applications. This means that the sensor is easier to use, and also less expensive for tilt applications – now $95 instead of $149!

We’re pretty stoked about the new sensor – we’re very proud of it!

In July, we will be releasing a new accelerometer. This will be in addition to our existing accelerometer. Our current accelerometer is +/-2G unit, whereas the new one is a +/-5G unit.

One of the cool things about the new accelerometer will be the connectors. It will have 2 configurations: the first uses 2 of our standard cables, the other uses a single RJ11 connector. Also, a tilt-optimized version will be available – with all of the scaling built into the accelerometer itself.

On the existing accelerometer the tilt version is a regular accelerometer with two of our scaler accessories. While more flexible than the new accelerometer’s tilt version, it costs more and is a little harder to control. The new accelerometer is also larger than the old one.

It will be nice to have to some additional options in the accelerometer line. Pricing will likely be similar to the existing accelerometer.

Here is link that someone sent me recently that discusses flex/bend sensors: http://www.ee.ualberta.ca/~rchapman/Cmpe401/lab1.html

• USB sensor interface
• MIDI Sock Puppet
• Accelerometers built into PowerBooks
• DIY Art Installation Electronics

The picture above is a tap tile sensor that we’ve been working on for a while now. Jesse has been working on the options for finishing it with some sort of protective black enamel. One of the nice things about our tap tile (that I haven’t seen in others’ tiles) is that the sensor is internal to the tile. That means you can flip it over and it looks, and works, the same way. It also means that the sensor is completely protected.

A picture below shows the tap tile from above opened up. The edges are spaced with two strips of cork, between which a track of really strong glue is laid to bind the two sides together. The pressure sensor runs down the middle with a strip of 3M bumpon bound to it. This brings the sensor into contact with the other piece of wood.

We are looking to begin shipping the tiles in about two weeks.

Pictured above is a custom sensor that I just finished making for someone. They wanted individual toggle switches, like those on our toggle array but not grouped together. They are going to be used with a Kroonde sensor interface, which is why they are fitted with a different cable (as seen with one of the switches above) than what we normally use.

I obviously have a conflict of interest in talking about the Kroonde, so I won’t say too much about it. One of the more annoying facets of it, however, does affect me. When building this order, I had to make the plugs on the end of the cable meet the pin order for the Kroonde – which is different than almost everyone else’s pin configuration. For example, when we made the Teabox we made sure that the pin layout was the same as the I-Cube. The Kroonde will take I-Cube style connections, but with the pins in a different order things will burn up if you plug some sensors! Ack!

• Pin 1: Ground
• Pin 2: Sensor
• Pin 3: 5V

• Pin 1: Ground
• Pin 2: 5V
• Pin 3: Sensor

So you can see that pins 2 and 3 are reversed.

Anyway, I rather like the single switches. Prior to being contacted with the request I hadn’t thought about making them. It turned out that we could cut down one of our existing circuit boards to do it, so it was really easy. Perhaps we’ll consider making it an official sensor someday…

We have a couple of preview pictures of the sensor voltage scaler that we will be releasing when we begin selling the Teabox. It works by taking an input signal from a sensor, applying a gain factor to the signal (effectively multiplying it) that is controlled by a pot, and then applying an offset to the signal. It will allow you take a voltage and put it in the range you desire to optimize a sensor for performance in any given context.

There are two styles that we’ve created. One uses right-angle pots that you can use your fingers to adjust (or attach knobs). The other uses a phillips-head screwdriver-type pot for the settings. The later is more precise for making adjustments and also won’t get accidentally bumped so easily.

Below is a picture of a scaler connected to a pressure sensor.

A few quick snapshots of our light sensors are below. Notice the red colored soldermask used on the PCB! This particular board is setup for a variety of sensors, which we will be posting soon…

enjoy!