We tested out all the Bus Pirate Edu Kit exercises and the connection diagrams. Some alterations may be made to the real time clock exercise to make it more interesting. Rediscovered SEG market. Had ignored it as a tourist trap but, was really successful sourcing some low volume items there today. Really nice people at […]
Author Archives: DP
Rave shades: The self assemble LED glasses kit
Rave shades: The self assemble LED glasses kit These Rave Shade – LED Glasses look like a ton of fun. They are Arduino based and use 74HC595 shift registers to light all the LEDs. At first I though it was a silly design since with a PCB sitting on your face you would not be […]
DIY AVR Atmega dehumidifier controller board
Davide Gironi documented his DIY AVR Atmega dehumidifier controller board build: Suddently my dehumidifier stop working, the original humidity switch get broken, it was a mechanical hygrometer, based on a thin transparent strip that react to humidity and engage the main electronic switch. So i decided to build my own dehumidifier board.
#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 […]
Having fun with big ultra capacitors
Here’s a video by Afrotechmods: Fun with ultracapacitors! So I recently got hold of some 2600F (no that is not a typo) ultracapacitors with an insanely low ESR of 0.7 milliohms, meaning they can discharge hundreds of amps even at low voltages. This video shows you some of the mayhem I got up to, and […]
3D printer stall at SEG market
3D printer spotted at SEG market building in Hua Quiang Bei, Shenzhen. Small, simple, and elegant design. Bent metal is cheap and plentiful, and they’ve capitalized on that to make one of the most bare bones 3D printers we’ve ever seen. Photo credit: Aaron/Oomout.
DIY USB Infrared Toy
Mike writes informing us of his DIY IR Toy: Finally got around to taking some pics of a DIY IRToy I finished last week. All the parts are 0805, since I don’t have an 0603 kit (yet). I have it working nicely on Linux with a patched lirc, with both transmit and receive. I’m currently […]
Vacuum former project
Here’s a 3D printed vacuum former by Jonny, documentation is available as a thing on Thingiverse: This is a vacuum forming machine that you can print. Which allows you to make a mold of your 3d printed object. I hope you like this and make one, you’ll be able to pour chocolate in your mold […]
Electronically controlled nichrome-wire cutter
Dilshan Jayakody presents an electronically controlled Nichrome-wire cutter: In this project we construct electronically Controlled Nichrome-Wire Cutter. The main feature of this cutter is its (non mechanical) variable temperature controller. The temperature of the Nichrome-Wire is controlled using TL494 PWM controller. In this design TL494 is oscillated with fixed frequency and only varying factor is […]
Lightweight PicKit2 using USB serial LCD backpack
jeanmarc78 shared his Lightweight PicKit2 using USB serial LCD backpack in the forum: Then i decided to try to use the LCD backpack which has the same microcontroller as the basis for a lightweight PicKit2 programmer. In fact, the LCD Backpack is a quite full PIC18F2550 breakout board with a 20 MHz quartz. The standard […]
App note: Single phase energy meter using XMEGA A
Single phase energy meter using XMEGA A (PDF!): AVR1631 single-phase energy meter design is based on the Atmel XMEGA® A4U microcontroller. This design is a lowcost solution considering the entire requirement for low-cost energy meter discussed in the previous sections.
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 […]
A digital constant current power LED driver
Here is an application note from Microchip describing how a PIC12HV615 MCU can be used to implement a digital current control loop for power LEDs: This document describes a power LED driver solution using the PIC12HV615 microcontroller (MCU). The PIC12HV615 is an 8-pin MCU with many integrated analog features. The LED driver circuit is a […]
2-section filter for low noise power supply
This video by Robert Kollman, TI senior applications engineer, discusses how to use a two section filter for a low noise power supply.
App note: Tin whiskers are real and complex
This app note discusses the problems caused by the removal of lead from electronics and ways to mitigate tin whiskers: “Tin whiskers” is not an imaginative, fanciful term for some aspect of electronics manufacturing. Tin whiskers are real. They are microscopic conductive fibers emanating from pure tin surfaces, and they pose a serious problem to […]
P01-118 GeePibber project
Asgard shared another project the GeePibber, an IEEE-488 (GPIB / HPIB) to USB adapter in the project log forum: This project is an IEEE-488 (GPIB / HPIB) to USB adapter. I need this because I recently acquired an ancient (but so am I) logic analyzer/oscilloscope which uses only the GPIB to read out and load the […]
Hot-air rework station repairing
Oakkar7 shares his experience repairing his hot-air station: I quickly checked the problem. There is no air flow at the nozzle. But I still heard the air compressor sound. Today, I tear down and find out the problem. My rework station is a cheap china made, LK852D brand. Here is what inside.
CERN supports KiCad development
Javier Serrano of CERN’s BE-CO-HT section has sent this message to the Developers list to help enhance Kicad: Introducing CERN BE-CO-HT As you know, the BE-CO-HT section at CERN has been contributing to Kicad for some time now. We see this involvement as a key part of our activities regarding Open Source Hardware. We are also […]
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 […]
Week in (p)review April 12, 2013
Here’s a summary of major developments over the last week. Free PCB Friday is coming up soon. ATX breakout board bench power supply back in stock This weekend was the second Shenzhen Mini Maker Faire Check out Asgard’s project the Powah and Rapper, Erl’s voltage reference project, MobileWill’s USB LED Matrix controller board, and Jechavarria’s DSETA […]