EverLost shared his color wordclock in the project log forum: Display: It is now 2:45pm (Simulated, the RTC part is still WIP…) I am always fascinated with exotic clocks. You may have came across a DIY word clock before (if not, google it). This is my own flavor of word clock. Color, Traditional Chinese character, with a […]
Author Archives: DP
Bus Pirate v4 back in stock
Bus Pirate v4 is back in stock at Seeed Studio. The Bus Pirate is an open source hacker multi-tool that talks to electronic stuff. It’s got a bunch of features an intrepid hacker might need to prototype their next project. You can get a Bus Pirate v4 for $40, including worldwide shipping.
HVSP fuse resetter
An AVR ATtiny HVSP fuse resetter by SimpleAVR reads device signature and hi-low fuses for hi-voltage serial programmable attinys reset hi-low fuses to factory default on target devices layout to drop-on attiny13, attiny25/45/85 8 pin devices targets attiny24/44/84 targets needs additional breadboard and jumper wires standalone operations, fuses values show on 7 segment display cannot reset […]
Easy Stepper motor controller
Weiss has written up documentation on his Stepper motor controller: The reason for this project was my frustration over how much it takes to just test a simple stepper motor. To test a stepper motor you usually need some kind of MCU most likely a Arduino, your breadboard, cables, some kind of driver and other components. When […]
App note: Cascading NXP LCD segment drivers
A great app note from NXP on cascading multiple LCD driver to work as one large display. This application note aims to assist designers using NXP LCD segment drivers in making a cascaded design. Cascading means combining more than one LCD driver in a design in such a way that makes them appear to the […]
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: Guidelines for full-speed USB on NXP’s LPC microcontrollers
Hook up your LPC microcontrollers using USB full-speed connectivity using these guidelines from NXP app note Full-speed USB operates at 12 Mb/s, and although this is not a high data rate, observing some basic rules or guidelines will usually guarantee successful operation. This application note highlights some of the more important issues that you need […]
App note: Electroluminescent display drivers
Another app note from Micrel the MIC4826/7 Electroluminescent (EL) lamp drivers and designing with EL lamps (PDF!): The design of an EL lamp circuit begins with the selection of a lamp. A typical lamp will exhibit a capacitance on the order of 2nF to 3.5nF per square inch. When a high voltage AC signal is applied across […]
App note: Fan health monitoring and the MIC502
An application note from Micrel: Fan health monitoring and the MIC502 (PDF!) This section presents a fan monitoring circuit that can be used in conventional MIC502-based circuits employing pulse-width modulation (PWM) fan speed control. The circuit relies on detecting motor commutation to indicate fan operation and does not require a three wire fan with a tachometer output.
Minimal PIC 18F2550 USB board V2.0
cmardone made this 18f2550 minimal board v2.0: It was made to simplify breadboard connections for a 18f2550 pic micro. Features: improved Silkscreen ART including a polinesian MOAI :) smd 1206 components , more simple to solder 1 smd led mini usb conector reset pads mclr resistor Via the forum.
A quick and dirty methods to drive 7-segment LED displays directly with a microcontroller and no external components
Scott Harden writes: I came across the need for a quick and dirty display to show a 4 digit number from a microcontroller. The right way to do this would be to use a microcontroller in combination with a collection of transistors and current limiting resistors, or even a dedicated 7-segment LED driver IC. The […]
Free PCB coupon via Facebook to 2 random commenters
Every Friday we give away some extra PCBs via Facebook. This post was announced on Facebook, and on Monday we’ll send coupon codes to two random commenters. More PCBs via Twitter on Tuesday and the blog every Sunday. Don’t forget there’s free PCBs three times every week: Free PCB Sunday. The classic. Every week, get […]
K4S, a keyboard for Arduino to use with Scratch
Jechavarria writes: Here’s my las project, in collaboration with the blog www.desafioecuador.org. It’s a keyboard board to mount in Arduino UNO board that allows work with S4A, a mod of Scratch to use with Arduino. I hope you like it! Via the forum.
Week in (p)review February 28, 2014
Here’s a summary of major developments over the last week. Free PCB Friday is coming up soon. Bus Pirate v3.8 free PCB build Bus Pirate v3.6 Sick of Beige v1 acrylic case v1 and USB Infrared Toy v2 back in stock Check out piranha32 and Tom’s prototyping cape for the BeagleBone/Black in the project log forum Coming up: Free PCBs […]
antiAFK project
scasagrande shared his project antiAFK in the project log forum: The antiAFK is essentially a stripped down Arduino Leonardo with the intention of sending occasional keyboard commands to the attached PC with the intention of preventing the user from being logged out of online games due to inactivity. This can help on high population servers […]
Spoofing wattage info from a Dell power adapter with an MSP430
Xuan over at the 43oh forum writes: This is all about learning one wire protocol and I did learnt a lot. I think the most important thing is timing, with a uC working at 16Mhz or 8Mhz, you need to carefully counting how many cycles your interrupt routine takes and providing the logical level in time. And […]
TCN75A Temp sensor investigation
Charles writes: Upon receiving the SOIC breakout boards I took one and carefully used a Dremel to mill out the package outline. I had started to design my own PCB but I abandoned that because I didn’t want to wait for fabrication. I mounted the new sensor on it’s vented PCB then plugged the sensors right […]
Vintage multimeter – Weston 6000
Teardown and repair of a Vintage multimeter – Weston 6000 by KuzyaTech: Another addition to my growing collection of vintage multimeters is this Weston Schlumberger Model 6000 meter from the mid 1970s The meter was listed as in almost like new condition except for a spot on the front panel. It came with (very rubbery) test […]
Bus Pirate v3.8 free PCB build
j/k built a free Bus Pirate v3.8 PCB. If you build a free PCB we’ll send you another one! Blog about it, post a picture on Flicker, whatever – we’ll send you a coupon code for the free PCB drawer.
Remote flower watering project
Lucy Matchett, Nicole Yi Messier, and Joselyn McDonald (Snax_and_Macs) made a remote flower-watering device so you can water your loved ones’ plants when you water your own. We used Arduinos, a photoresistor, a servo, Arduino and Processing sketches, Spacebrew, and a little elbow grease to put it all together. Via Hacked Gadgets.