Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this product for free so that I could provide product feedback to the company and post a product review. I was not required to write a positive review and I do not rate products higher than they should have been. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's requirements.
I recently received quadcopter motor thread caps for a product review. Although these are listed for the P3, I used them for my Xiro Xplorer V.
These thread caps are designed to cover the motor threads when you have the propellers removed. If you transport your quadcopter in a backpack or case, the caps can prevent damage to the inside of the case.
Bare motor (no propeller / thread caps)
Thread cap installed
From what I can tell, they seem to be 3D printed material and feel pretty light but not cheap or fragile. The caps were very easy to install, just a simple twist (in the correct direction depending on the motor rotation). Once installed they fully cover the threads, but they don’t add too much material to the end so it shouldn’t cause a problem unless your case/backpack is a very tight fit with no room at all.
Thread caps all around
These worked fine on my Xiro Xplorer V, and likely work with any quadcopter motor that uses similar thread as the DJI series such as the P3. UAV Bits also has a newer product ( http://www.uavbits.net/store/p34/Gold_Motor_Caps.html ) I don't know if they fit the Xplorer V, but it looks like a great option to also keep anything from going inside the motor during transport.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this product discounted so that I could provide product feedback to the company and post a product review. I was not required to write a positive review and I do not rate products higher than they should have been. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's requirements.
I recently received a NiteCore D4 battery charger for a product review. In addition to the battery charger itself, it came with two power cords ( house and car ) and a small plastic battery box.
The specs on this charger are pretty nice - it can charge many different sizes and types, including NiMh, Li-Ion and LiFePO4 batteries. I also really liked the fact that each of the 4 slots is individually controlled, so you can charge the mix you need. My old charger was just a AA/AAA charger and I had to charge in pairs of the same size/type so this NiteCore was a huge different.
Despite the capable feature set, this unit isn’t complicated at all. Most batteries it can handle are automatically recognized, you only have to take additional steps for small capacity batteries and LiFePO4 batteries.
Types of batteries I tested:
- 18650 2200 mAh Li-Ion battery
- AA Eneloop 1900 mAh NiMh battery
- AA Energizer 2450 mAh NiMh battery
- AAA Duracell 850 mAh NiMh battery
Testing out the charger
I tried a mix of batteries and every single one charged without a problem, and without having to take additional steps to set a certain mode or select the type of battery. Initially I found myself messing around with the unit to look at the voltage etc, but this really is a “set and forget” type of charger. I was worried that the charger would be complicated, and not usable by others in the household that prefer to just drop the batteries in and let it charge like the old charger - I was glad to see that unit worked great without having to be setup each time.
Bottom line: This is an impressive charger that can handle normal household AA/AAA rechargeable batteries with no problem, but can also handle a wide range of batteries that are starting to become more common.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this product for free so that I could provide product feedback to the company and post a product review. I was not required to write a positive review and I do not rate products higher than they should have been. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's requirements.
I recently received a GW008 Mini Skull Quadcopter from Banggood for a product review. In addition to the quadcopter itself, a transmitter, charger and spare set of propellers were included.
All you need is 4AAA batteries, everything else is included
The quadcopter comes with pretty much everything you need, other than 4 AAA batteries for the transmitter. As always, I recommend reading the instructions before using any electronic device.
Charging and setting up the quadcopter is very simple. Once you are ready to fly, the controls are fairly simple to use and are mode 2 setup which is the same as two other quadcopters I have tested.
Here are some of the design aspects I noticed:
- Cool design
- Pads on the landing feet to help make landings softer
- Propeller guards help avoid crashing if you bump into things
Front of quadcopter
Bottom of the quadcopter
Pads for landing feet, helps for rough landings
The quadcopter has a nice design and pretty sturdy from what I can tell - I hit walls, the floor, and the ceiling multiple times and haven't broken anything yet.
As for flight, it is fairly smooth and stable but practice does help. I did notice when you move from a stable hover, you also want to give it a little throttle to keep the quadcopter from dropping a bit. Once you learn how to do fly around pretty smoothly, the controller has an button to adjust the movement speed and has an easy "flip" button to do stunts.
Some video of my testing (and crashing)
I mainly flew indoors, but I would suggest that first timers practice outdoors (with no wind) to have plenty of room to get comfortable with the quadcopter. Also, try to practice over grass instead of the street - chances are, you will crash it a few times until you get the hang of it.
Bottom line: A cool looking and fun quadcopter that is also pretty sturdy. Great for a first time quadcopter owner, or someone who just wants to add another quadcopter to the collection.
Related Links (they redirect to the correct pages)
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this product for free so that I could provide product feedback to the company and post a product review. I was not required to write a positive review and I do not rate products higher than they should have been. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's requirements.
I recently received a Life-Phorm device mount for a product review. It is designed to support tablets, smartphones and cameras. I have used a Breffo smartphone adjustable mount before, so I knew the value of these sorts of mounts - you can mount devices in creative positions/locations.
Nexus 7
Side view of Nexus 7
I didn’t test the Life-Phorm with a camera, but I did try the following devices with mixed results:
- Samsung Galaxy S5: It mounted fine even though it was in an Otterbox case.
- Nexus 7 2013: I had to remove it from the case, then it fit without any problems.
- Nabi DreamTab HD8: This wouldn’t really mount securely, but I think it was because the tablet itself is oddly shaped - the back has a section that is thicker.
Overall, I found this mount to be useful to hold my smartphone especially since I use it as a baby monitor sometimes and sometimes I just like having the phone setup next to me while I work on my laptop. I also like the fact the legs have a hole in them, so you can tie a string or something to make the mount secure - I plan to try this with a tablet in the car.
Bottom line: Unique device mount with adjustable setup options.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this product for free so that I could provide product feedback to the company and post a product review. I was not required to write a positive review and I do not rate products higher than they should have been. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's requirements.
I recently received a LinkIt ONE development board for a product review. The package included the following items:
- LinkIt ONE development board
- 3 Antennas ( GPS, combined Bluetooth/Wi-Fi and GSM )
- Lithium-Ion Battery
- Backplate for LinkIt One board
- Getting Started manual (printed copy)
- Board reference (useful reference showing pins and switches, printed copy)
The LinkIt One board is actually not much larger than a standard Arduino UNO compatible board, which was impressive considering the amount of technology you get. You get the normal things you would expect from an Arduino compatible board ( Digital I/O, Analog I/O, etc ) but you also get features that would traditionally require a shield or add-on such as GSM (including GPRS), Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS and SD card. You can read up more on LinkIt ONE and the development board at the following links:
Size Comparison: LinkIt ONE (Top) and UNO compatible board (Bottom)
Back of board without metal plate. The SIM and microSD slots are on the bottom.
There isn’t much hardware setup needed initially. There is a metal plate ( with a sticker that has info like the Wi-Fi MAC address and IMEI ) which you should attach to the bottom of the board which is fairly simple. The battery is easy to connect, and so are the antennas but I would suggest not connecting the battery or antennas until you need them.
Once the board is ready, the next step was to get the software ready.
I tried following the steps on the “Get Started” paper guide, but they seemed to be for older versions of the Arduino IDE. Instead of following the included paper guide, I would suggest using this link as a starting point:
After following directions and getting everything setup, I was ready to start playing around with the board. This board is not exactly an Arduino UNO compatible board, there are differences listed in the MediaTek LinkIt ONE Developer's Guide ( Section 3.5 as of version 1.3 of the guide available at http://labs.mediatek.com/linkitguide ). I would recommend reading the entire guide before doing anything else - if you are going to use code, libraries and shields designed for the UNO you may have issues due to the differences.
Just playing around with the board and trying out sample code, I have tested a few things I couldn’t have done with a normal UNO compatible board (without shields) such as:
So far, I am very impressed by this kit. If you are planning to do projects that require connectivity, this is a great all-in-one board to consider. I will continue to read up on the hardware capabilities, and continue to try out some simple projects to learn how to use the board. I hope to post a project either on my blog or on Hackster.io (or both).
Bottom line: Impressive development board that is compatible with Arduino language, and has integrated features that should allow for some interesting mobile / connected projects.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this product for free so that I could provide product feedback to the company and post a product review. I was not required to write a positive review and I do not rate products higher than they should have been. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's requirements.
I recently received a SIM908 development board from DIYmall for a product review. In addition to the board itself, two antennas ( GSM and GPS ) were included. I believe you would need to use a SIM card tied to T-Mobile network or AT&T network if you plan to use this unit in the US.
SIM908 Board
I used an Arduino UNO to connect with the SIM908 dev board, it took me a while to figure out how to use it - apparently you must have a SIM card in the unit, otherwise it won’t fully start up and won’t respond to AT commands.
Once I figured out how to get things connected, I focused on two projects (links are at the end of this entry):
1) Being able to send “AT” commands to the unit so I could play around with different commands.
2) Being able to get GPS information in a NMEA standard format, so that software on my computer could use the data.
Overall, this is a neat little board. I didn’t get a chance to write any other programs, but the basic capability of issuing AT commands and getting GPS data both worked fine. I was able to send and receive a sms (text) message which was pretty neat. This sort of board is going to require that you have a solid grasp of Arduino (or whatever board you are using) and how to interact using AT commands -- not something I would recommend for a new user.
Bottom line: Neat little board to experiment with GSM/GPS capabilities.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this product for free so that I could provide product feedback to the company and post a product review. I was not required to write a positive review and I do not rate products higher than they should have been. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's requirements.
I recently received a XIRO Xplorer V Quadcopter / Drone from Amazon seller DIYmall for a product review. My package came with the following, but keep in mind this is a newer product so the contents might change:
- XIRO Quadcopter itself
- Charger and battery
- 3 sets of propellers (two different styles). I don’t think this is standard.
- Transmitter, lanyard and range extender
- Camera with 8GB memory card installed, mounted on 3-axis gimal. The camera includes a filter cover for use in bright sun, and a lens cover. You can fly without it attached - in fact it is recommended you do not use it when you are just starting to learn.
- A few other smaller things, like a set of extra rubber feet for the landing legs
The package itself includes a piece of cardboard with “XIRO” on it, I actually use that as a takeoff and landing pad. Everything is packaged up nicely, and you can actually use the box as a carrying case - you have to remove a few pieces, but still a great way to reuse the box.
The cardboard on the right makes a nice landing pad
Quadcopter removed, everything is packed nicely.
Setting up the quadcopter was pretty simple, just follow the directions - everything you need is included, which is nice. I decided to update the firmware for the flight control and gimbal, I would recommend anyone with a quadcopter always run the latest versions of firmware. As a note, the bottom of the battery charger gets hot so you may want to put it on the side.
Closeup of one of the motors
Close up of the battery mount - it has a green line to show you where to line it up, very useful
Flying this quadcopter is very fun and not difficult at all. This unit uses GPS, which helps keep it stable even if there is wind outside - the fact the unit itself is fairly slim also helps minimize the impact due to wind. The unit has 3 control modes, I keep mine in mode 1 most of the time which is best for new users but mode 3 does make it faster which is fun. Basically it can grow with you.
Landing legs down ( use with gimbal )
Landing legs down ( you can use without gimbal if you want )
The XIRO has some pretty cool features, such as:
- Auto takeoff and landing, just press a button
- It can return home when you press a button (it will fly to you, then land within a few feet of where it took off). It will also do this automatically when your battery is low.
- If the quadcopter loses connection with your transmitter, it will come back towards you to try to get signal and if that fails it will come back to the “Home” position and land.
Removable piece with camera and gimbal
Includes a 8GB microSD memory card, lens cover, lens filter for use in the sun
This version allows you to use your smartphone to connect and watch live video plus get information such as remaining battery which is very useful. The transmitter has a cradle to hold the smartphone, which is very nice. Using the software, you can trigger the onboard camera to take pictures or record video that gets stored on the included microSD 8GB memory card (which you can upgrade to 32GB).
To see the quality of video, I would recommend do some searches on Youtube to see samples -- I got my quadcopter up about 100ft and took some nice video of a local park ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AfxXar_3W-0 ). The 3-axis gimbal makes the video very stable and smooth.
I plan to keep using the quadcopter, and will update this review if I run into any issues. I haven’t tested all the features yet, but so far from what I have seen it performs very well.
For anyone who decides to purchase a quadcopter, consider the following suggestions:
- Read all the directions/manuals first, it comes with paper manuals but you can get them online and the Android app also lets you access instructions. Look at them all, too much information can’t hurt.
- If you live in the US, consider joining the AMA ( www.modelaircraft.org ).
- If you live in the US, make sure you know the FAA rules. Commercial use is very restricted, but for hobby use check out ( https://www.faa.gov/uas/model_aircraft/ ).
- If you live in the US, Check out this site ( http://knowbeforeyoufly.org/ ).
- Find an open space when you are learning how to use the quadcopter
- Avoid parks with kids, they will end up coming near you and ask questions which is a distraction or they will actually stand under it which isn’t safe
- Do NOT try to fly this inside your house, resist the temptation.
Bottom line: This is a very impressive quadcopter that should be able to handle a beginner with no problem, but provide features that an experienced owner will appreciate.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this product for free so that I could provide product feedback to the company and post a product review. I was not required to write a positive review and I do not rate products higher than they should have been. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's requirements.
I recently received a Volmate digital multimeter ( model VOL880 ) for a product review. In addition to the meter itself, two probes (red/black) were included.
The meter can be used to measure the following:
- DC and AC voltage ( up to 600V )
- Resistance (200Ohm-2000K Ohm range)
- It can also test things like continuity, diodes and transistors
You have to manually set the ranges using the dial, so it isn’t as convenient as an autoranging meter but manual ones typically cost less than autoranging meters.
For real world tests, I used the meter to measure various voltages on supplies and batteries that I had -- the meter seemed to work fine. The “hold” button is useful if you are logging your data and need to write down your measurements, and the backlight helps you see the screen clearly. The backlight stays on for a few seconds before turning off, but the hold button doesn’t change the display until you press it again.
So far the meter works, I will update this review if I run into any issues.
Bottom line: If you are looking for digital multimeter for hobby use, and don’t mind having to manually set the range this is a nice option.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received the JBtek, 1Sheeld and DIYmall products for free so that I could provide product feedback to the company and post a product review. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's requirements.
I have been playing with my Arduino boards lately, and I wanted to try out the servo control. I didn't have any spare servos laying around, but I did have a Traxxas Slash R/C truck with a servo mounted in it. I decided to play around with the steering servo, and then I got ideas of how to control it using some of the 1Sheeld capabilities.
I decided that I wanted to use my smartphone to control the truck just by tilting the phone (left/right for steering, forward/back for power). After some time playing around with the code and hardware, I had a rough working setup.
Main components I used (full list is on the Hackster.io project page):
- DIYmall Arduino compatible UNO R3
- 1Sheeld
- Traxxas Slash (2wd)
For the software, I just played around with samples for Servo control and the 1Sheeld orientation sensors until I got a good understanding of how everything operated.
To prepare the Traxxas Slash, I removed the waterproof cover from the receiver and disconnected the two cables (steering servo and electronic speed control). It was very simple, and I can return it back to R/C mode very easily once I am done. I then mounted the breadboard with the breadboard power supply on the Slash chassis, and also put the UNO + 1Sheeld on the breadboard using a rubber band to keep things in place. After that, I just had to connect my setup.
WARNING: For normal servos, you would connect the red cable from the servo to your + voltage however with an Electronic Speed Control the unit typically does not need power (since it is connected to the battery). In fact, on my unit the ESC was providing 6V on the red wire so if you did connect that to your 5V supply bad things could happen.
Close up of breadboard with components
R/C receiver with one of the servo cables removed
Shot of the entire setup
Once the software + hardware was ready, I turned on the breadboard power supply but left the Electronic Speed Control (ESC) off. This would allow me to test the steering without the truck moving. The steering seemed to work fine, not as smooth as the regular R/C setup but not bad. Next, I turned on the ESC and tilted the phone to confirm the wheels got power.
After I confirmed everything was working, I did a quick test inside the house and then took it outside to play around. It was pretty neat being able to just tilt the phone to control the truck.
Here is video of the truck running:
Here is a simple wiring diagram:
Click to enlarge
Check out the project at Hackster.io to see the code/diagram:
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this product for free so that I could provide product feedback to the company and post a product review. I was not required to write a positive review and I do not rate products higher than they should have been. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's requirements.
I recently received a JBtek breadboard power supply module for a product review. The packaging just included the module itself, two of the pins were slightly bent but it was an easy fix.
Top of power supply module
Bottom of power supply module
Power supply module mounted on breadboard
Side shot of power supply module on breadboard
To provide power to the board you can either use the USB port, or the barrel socket DC jack. Each of the two sides/rails of the power supply can have 5V or 3.3V supplied to it. The board also has a simple on/off power switch, and a green LED to indicate if the board has power or not.
You can use 5V on one rail and 3.3V on the other providing flexibility for your project. The board also has 8 pins ( four ground, two 3.3V and two 5V ) for additional connectivity options.
Close up of power supply module mounted on breadboard
Using the power supply module to test a JBtek relay board
Using a USB power supply, I tested the voltage output and read the following:
5.4V on the 5V rail (no load)
3.42V on the 3.3V rail (no load)
The board as a 12V max, so I would suggest not using a random 12V power supply you grabbed from another device as it may exceed that limit. Also, I would assume you should only use one of the two inputs at a time.
Here are the main points I noticed about this product:
Input options: You can use a USB or barrel socket plus to power the unit, just make sure you stay within the limits.
Output options: Each of the two rail outputs can be configured to output 3.3V or 5V, and you can use both 3.3V and 5V at the same time.
Other Features: The board includes an on/off switch to control your project, a power LED, and additional pin header with 3.3V / 5V and ground available for connection.
Bottom line: If you do projects on a breadboard this power supply is a great way to supply power.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received the 1Sheeld, SainSmart, and DIYmall products for free so that I could provide product feedback to the company and post a product review. I was not required to write a positive review and I do not rate products higher than they should have been. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's requirements.
NOTE: For readers of my blog, you can use the discount code "bigboystoys" (which expires September 20th, 2015) to get a 25% discount at ( http://1sheeld.com/buy ).
I recently received a 1Sheeld for Arduino and Android for a product review. The package just included the 1Sheeld device itself, the documentation and Android software is online.
This product is very interesting, because it allows you to use your Android smartphone or tablet to act as various shields for your Arduino device. This approach can help the new user simulate various input/output devices without actually wiring any hardware or allows the experienced user to make some creative projects.
Top of 1Sheeld
Bottom of 1Sheeld
The shields that this 1Sheeld can emulate are grouped as follows:
I used the getting started tutorial ( http://1sheeld.com/tutorials/getting-started/ ) to get everything setup and tested. If you see a prompt about an update, go ahead and update your board.
Arduino UNO R3 w/ 1Sheeld, OLED display and Nexus 7 running 1Sheeld App
Close up of x/y/z axis information from accelerometer
Left : OLED information is from Arduino/1Sheeld
Right : Nexus 7 screen from 1Sheeld app
Once the 1Sheeld was mounted on my Arduino board and everything was working, I started to play around with various examples and try a few different things. Here are a few things I tried:
Tested the advanced “Text to speech” sample which shows the text-to-speech and voice recognition capabilities.
Created sample code to pull GPS coordinates and display and the LCD shield
Tested the simple “Internet” sample which connected to a website and displayed the HTML code in the terminal shield
Pulled x/y/z axis information from accelerometer, displayed on a small OLED screen (as shown above). My Arduino code had a delay between sampling, so the numbers do not match exactly.
Bottom line: Overall, the 1Sheeld is very impressive - you can use it to mock certain hardware components in projects before you actually setup the hardware or you can actually use your smartphone/tablet as part of your project - a great way to give new life to an old device.
NOTE: For readers of my blog, you can use the discount code "bigboystoys" (which expires September 20th, 2015) to get a 25% discount at ( http://1sheeld.com/buy ).
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this product for free so that I could provide product feedback to the company and post a product review. I was not required to write a positive review and I do not rate products higher than they should have been. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's requirements.
I recently received a JBtek 4 Channel Relay Module with 6 pin cable for a product review. The package just included the relay module and the 6 pin cable. One of the plastic covers on the pin was missing, but that wasn’t an issue for me and the company advised they would resolve the issue if needed.
Relay Module and Cable
Close up of connection to control relays
Close up of connections that are controlled by relay
The relay module did not have any documentation with it, so I had to do a little research online to figure out how to use it. The board pins were labeled, but I wasn’t sure what signal to send to the relay pins -- it seems you need to connect the pin to ground/low signal to active the relay.
Close up of Songle SRD-05VDC-SL-C relay
Bottom of relay module
Each of the 4 relays has a normally open and normally closed connection, so you can decide which one you need for your project. Each relay also has a corresponding LED on the module which is a great way to confirm which one is active/not active.
Using my Arduino board, I was able to do a few simple tests and have the relays turn off and on just to ensure everything is working.
Testing the relay module with a JBtek breadboard power supply
Here are the main points I noticed about this product:
Easy to Wire: Wiring everything was fairly simple, the connections you need on the relay module for power and signal have pins you can connect to and the connections controlled by the relays have screw terminals.
Easy to Use: Once you connect the power, you just need to use a switch or microcontroller to provide the correct low/ground signal to active the relay.
Neat for projects: This relay module allows you to control power to other devices, opening up a wide range of potential projects.
Bottom line: If you are looking for a relay module, this is a great option to consider and JBtek has other options ( 2 channel and 8 channel ) to match your needs.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this product for free so that I could provide product feedback to the company and post a product review. I was not required to write a positive review and I do not rate products higher than they should have been. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's requirements.
I recently received a DIYmall 0.96" inch yellow and blue OLED display module for a product review. The package just included the display itself, nothing else.
Size comparison with a quarter
The display is very small, and this model has a strip of yellow on the top part of the display and the rest is blue, but DIYmall does have other options if you don’t like that. After doing some guesswork and research, I was able to get the display working using method 1 below but after reading other review comments, it seems method 2 below also works.
Method 1)
Here are the steps I took to get my display working for some simple steps (I think I wrote down all the steps NOTE: The steps are for an Arduino Uno):
1) Download documentation from website on Amazon listing
2) Extract Files
3) Open the folder that ends with (SSD1306), it should be the only folder
4) Open the folder that starts with Arduino and ends with (UNO)
5) Open the top of the two folders, it should have a "Adafruit_ssd1306syp"
6) Copy the "Adafruit_ssd1306syp" and paste it in the "C:\Program Files (x86)\Arduino\libraries" folder
7) Open the Arduino app, go the menu "File > Examples > Adafruit_ssd1306syp" and choose "ssd1306syp_test"
Once the software is ready, wire up the hardware as follows:
VCC <> 5V
GND <> GND
SDA <> Digital 8
SCL <> Digital 9
Method 2)
In the Arduino app
- Go to menu option "Sketch > Include Library > Manage Libraries" and install "Adafruit GFX Library" and "Adafruit SSD1306"
- Go to menu option "File > Examples > Adafruit SSD1306 > ssd1306_128x64_i2c"
- In the example, find the line with "display.begin(SSD1306_SWITCHCAPVCC, 0x3D);" and changed it to "display.begin(SSD1306_SWITCHCAPVCC, 0x3C);"
Once the software is ready, wire up the hardware as follows:
VCC <> 5V
GND <> GND
SDA <> A4
SCL <> A5
After following either method, you should be able to load and run the sample. They both worked fine for me. I think method 2 takes up more space when you compile but gives more functions - seems like method 1 has less capabilities, but for simple text output it works fine. Part of the fun of all this is figuring things out, so try them both.
Simple volt meter
Once I finished my initial function test, I modified the code for method 1 to make a simple volt meter (0-5V) that would read the voltage and display it on the screen. I connected the voltage input to a potentiometer, and was able to see the voltage change on the screen as I adjusted it.
Overall, it worked and was really simple to wire up the hardware. Figuring out the software was a bit more interesting, and I still need to do more research to find other examples of what you can really do but for anyone doing projects this is a great way to display variables or even status messages.
Bottom line: If you are looking for display options for your microcontroller project, this is a really neat option.
