Sharkuino: Arduino-controlled Air Swimmers Shark

This is the shark I presented at my SCALE 10x talk, "Fun with Linux and Devices".

I will have more details up soon, including a blog entry with photos and diagrams, but for now, here are:

• shark.pde, the program that runs on the shark. It listens on the USB cable for commands like "L 200" (hold the tail left for 200 milliseconds) and sends the appropriate signals down the wire to the shark's transmitter.
• Makefile for shark.pde (though you can use it with the Arduino IDE if you prefer)
• shark.py: this is a Python class that initializes the USB-serial interface and sends the commands to the shark. It includes a simple commandline interface.
• sharkwindow is the python program that displays the window and lets me control the shark by dragging the mouse around. It uses shark.py under the hood.
• sharktest.pde is a simpler test I used on the Arduino side when I was getting the wiring working; it doesn't require any USB-serial commands, just twitches the tail and attitude controls around a bit.
• sharkcircuit.svg is the circuit diagram connecting each Arduino digital output to the corresponding button on the shark's transmitter.
• WIRING is just a text file reminding me how to plug everything in. Since the wires in the ribbon cable are stranded, I tinned them with solder, but they were still hard to plug in, so I plugged them in once to a header and I use that as a connector. It's surprising how hard it is to find connectors that just plug into a breadboard. (It's hard to find headers, too, locally, but Halted in Santa Clara has them if you search.)

You can see some preliminary photos and diagrams by skipping to the Sharkuino section of my talk slides (advance to the next slide with spacebar, page down, or right arrow).