Haris Andrianakis wrote a post on his blog detailing his power line communication system: The primary objective was to enable two devices to communicate with each other over power line technology, specifically to transmit data reliably from a weighing machine to a remote display. Due to the inherent risks of data loss or interference — similar to issues often […]
Author Archives: DP
Clock with retro display
Marcus Linderoth built a clock using a TI MSP430g2553 microcontroller and a HPDL-1414 display, that is available at Github: After having ported Contiki to the Launchpad, I was eager on doing something with it. I built this simple clock with a vintage HPDL-1414 “smart four-character 16-segment alphanumeric” display and a msp430g2553. Check out the video after […]
Small form-factor GPS/GSM tracker
x893 writes: New version of small form-factor GPS/GSM tracker. Change MCU to EFM32 increase standalone time (previous version use STM32 MCU) Also change old BMA180 to MMA8562 and add 32Mbit (4MB) flash chip to save data if GSM not available or battery low. Use MS Azure platform for web site and service for collect data […]
HV Nixie DC-DC switching power supply
Michail Papadimitriou over at Electronics Lab designed a simple DC-DC switching regulator capable of powering most of Nixie tubes: The module is based on the MAX1771 Step-Up DC-DC Controller. This controller works up to 300kHz switching frequency and that allows the usage of miniature surface mount components. It accepts an input voltage from 2 to 16.5V […]
SD card logger library with log rotation that fits on ATmega8
Davide Gironi writes: This library implements an SD card Data Logger that runs on ATmega. It has a small footprint, so it can be loaded on an ATmega8, leaving space for user code. It supports SD and microSD cards formatted with FAT16. It also features log rotation. The “Petit FAT File System Module” by ChaN […]
DIY linear actuator design
Rolandvanroy is working on a six degree of freedom motion platform for a flight simulator: Detailed description of a home-build balanced linear actuator for six degree of freedom (6DoF) motion platform for flight simulator. Video shows step by step construction and some basic actuator test runs under load. The platform needs 6 of these actuators, and the […]
Home-brew milling machine tacho
Wardy writes: Why buy a tacho when you can build one? I thought it would be a cool project and there happens to be a convenient spot on top of the machine for a tacho to live. I fired up my pen and paper and wrote some code to do the requisite calculations. Then threw […]
Yet another Logic Sniffer case
Here’s another cool acrylic case for Open Workbench Logic Sniffer by Phenoptix. Spent some time with the calipers and laser cutter earlier today and came up with what turns out to be yet another acrylic case! Dxf files for cutting are up on thingiverse. It does require a fixing not show in the pic above to keep […]
#FreePCB via Twitter to 2 random RTs
Every Tuesday we give away two coupons for the free PCB drawer via Twitter. This post was announced on Twitter, and in 24 hours we’ll send coupon codes to two random retweeters. Don’t forget there’s free PCBs three times a every week: Hate Twitter and Facebook? Free PCB Sunday is the classic PCB giveaway. Catch […]
PCBs made using a laser cutter
Joebell wrote this Instructable detailing the process of making a double-sided PCBs with a laser cutter: With a little practice, you can make excellent double-sided PCBs by combining a laser cutter with chemical etching. The basic idea is: the laser cutter blasts away spray painted etch resist, then chemicals eat away the exposed copper. Once the copper […]
Digitally controlled HIFI amp with 4 way mixer
Acidbourbon posted a step by step guide of his digitally controlled HIFI amp with 4 way mixer build: The amplifier section is trivial. You just buy a TDA1554Q, bolt it to the inside of an aluminum box, solder some resistors and capacities to the pins of the IC according to the application note in the datasheet and […]
Using touch screen as remote control
Bajdi wrote an article on using an Arduino Due with a 5inch touch screen and a wireless nRF24L01 transceiver as a remote control: One of the things I wanted to try out was using the touch screen as a remote control. I have a lot of cheap nRF24L01 modules so I soldered one to the adaptor […]
300V AC/DC variable power supply
300V AC/DC variable power supply project by Dilshan Jayakody This 300V AC/DC variable PSU is designed for our vacuum-tube, MOSFET and some IGBT related experiments. This PSU consist with 0-300V Variac (variable auto-transformer), 700VA isolation transformer, which is described in previous blog post and high voltage AC-DC converter. Because of the size and weight of these […]
aspspi – USBasp SPI terminal
Nerd Ralph writes: While writing the picoboot module for avrdude, I noticed avrdude has a terminal mode which allows for commands to be sent to an AVR. The serial programming interface for AVR MCUs uses SPI, similar to the nrf modules. I realized instead of an AVR, the programmer could be attached to any device […]
App note: Understanding multidrop address assignments for thermal sensors
Here is a app note from Maxim on multidrop thermal sensing: In many thermal applications, it may be desired to utilize multiple temperature sensors, placed in different physical locations, to monitor the operating temperatures in predefined ‘zones’ within the system. To accommodate this desire, many thermal products have the added flexibility of user-defined slave addressing. A […]
Free PCB Sunday: Pick your PCB
We go through a lot of prototype PCBs, and end up with lots of extras that we’ll never use. Every Sunday we give away a few PCBs from one of our past or future projects, or a related prototype. Our PCBs are made through Seeed Studio’s Fusion board service. This week two random commenters will […]
App note: MRF24WG0MA/MB software migration
Another app note from Microchip on MRF24WG0MA/MB software migration (PDF!): This application note explains the necessary changes to the existing MLA software stack to migrate from older MRF24WB0MA/MB software stack to incorporate the MRF24WG0MA/MB modules
Application note: WiFly WebScan
Here’s an application note from Microchip: WiFly WebScan (PDF!) WebScan is a special firmware release based on the standard WiFLY firmware that is designed to run on all Roving Networks Wi-Fi™ modules such as the RN-171 and RN-131. The Webscan firmware adds Real-Time Location System (RTLS) capability and is designed specifically to address the key requirements in […]
Controller for soldering irons using the Hakko T12 type tips update
sparkybg writes: Soon there will be a new version. The most universal I can think of. Isolated USB connection (HID class) for firmware updates, live data, and PID tunning. Will be able to recognize unlimited number of instruments – can read resistor, 1-wire EEPROM or 1-wire MCU in the connector or handle. When MCU is […]
Sick Of Beige Basic Case v1 (DP5050) back in stock
Sick Of Beige basic case v1 (DP5050) is back in stock at Seeed Studio. A clear laser-cut acrylic project case kit that fits DP5050 square PCBs (50mmx50mm). Sick of Beige v1 DP5050 project case is available at Seeed for $3.