Drjeseuss shares his Bus Pirate v4.0c PCB build using a toaster oven to reflow the solderpaste: All in all, this project was a success! The process worked well enough to repeat and the reflow toaster puts an end to my fears of QFN and BGA chips. It looks like I’ll be moving forward on the reflow controller […]
Author Archives: DP
Workshop Update for February 18th, 2013
Cleaned and sorted the workshop over the weekend so there’s room for the new tools. Assembled first complete Bus Pirate chip explorer kit with the Mouser order that came in today (pictured above). Thanks for your feedback on that! Also prototyped a new type of Bus Pirate cable. Started work on an Eagle export script […]
Minimatrix: A small and simple self-powered LED matrix
Nickjohnson posted his minimatrix project in the forum. It’s AVR powered 8×8 LED matrix, with an IR sensor for communication. It has just 8 parts in its BoM: A one-color 3cm LED matrix, an ATTiny2313/4313 to power and drive it, an 8-way resistor network, a battery holder, and two decoupling capacitors. Finally, it has a […]
eNTuino based biped robot
WebWarrior sends a video of a eNTuino based biped robot: Junior is a Biped Robot based on eNTuino (Arduino-Compatible) platform. Robotics enthusiasts can make the best of the quality electronics platform, smartly designed mechanics and the wonderful Arduino IDE to create some jaw dropping moves. Integrating Wireless (Zigbee, WiFi, Bluetooth, GSM/GPRS) and Sensors will be […]
DIY 3D scanner
Here’s a project made at the LVL1 Hackathon challenge. It’s a 3D scanner made from junk parts. This project came out of the Hackathon LVL1 had in June 2012. The rules were minimal but had a big impact on the end product. The competition ran from noon Saturday till noon Sunday, so 24 hours. We had […]
ATX breakout board V1.2
Crenn tweeted a picture of his ATX breakout board v1.2 power supply: Got a @dangerousproto ATX Breakout Board V1.2. Hooked it up to a cheap chinese powersupply to test it out! You can get one for $14 at Seeed Studio. You can also get a Sick of Beige case for your ATX breakout board for […]
App note: Getting started with a radio design
Getting started with a radio design: The process of designing a radio system can be complex and often involves many project tradeoffs. With a little insight, balancing these various characteristics can make the job of designing a radio system easier. This tutorial explores these tradeoffs and provides details to consider for various radio applications. With […]
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: Using MCP6491 Op Amps for photodetection applications
This app note discusses how to detect the intensity, position, color and presence of light: Low input bias operational amplifiers (op amps) are often required for a wide range of photodetection applications, in order to reduce current error and improve the accuracy of the output signal.
App note: How to prevent electrical overstress of analog integrated circuits
This video discusses electrical overstress of analog integrated circuits.
Workshop Update for February 15th, 2013
Drug pick and place up stairs. Watched instructional videos in Chinese. Couldn’t figure out how to change the language to English, but then it magically happened. Ordered parts we don’t have for Bus Pirate educational kit. We made a kit component page on our wiki.
Dangerous Prototypes stickers
Three times a week we give away free PCBs, and also a few stickers. Sqkybeaver posted this picture of his oscilloscope with Dangerous Prototypes sticker attached to it. Feel free to share yours as well. Via the forum.
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 […]
TM220A pick and place unboxing
After dragging this crate up two flights of stairs it’s time to unbox the pick and place.
RGB LED driver board
Sjaak designed the RGB led controller board which was featured on yesterday’s video. I made a quick RGB led controller for the RGB strips Ian and I took with us from china last year. Dunno about ians one, but mine was totally crap (after some time the blue channel quit working). The RGB strips take […]
Week in (p)review February 15, 2013
Here’s a summary of major developments over the last week. Free PCB Friday is coming up soon. WORKSHOP VIDEO #55: Infrared reflow oven Qinsi QS-5100 Bus Pirate education kit parts Eagle Tip: Gateswap and Pinswap tool This week we gave away 2×20 character vacuum florescent displays Workshop Update for February 14th, 2013 Workshop Update for February […]
Another project-a-week: 3.3volt and 5volt power solution
Rwinscot is attempting a project-a-week. This week he shared his RickPAW 3.3volt/5volt power project in the forum: This breakout could be used in an automotive application where bare wires are soldered into place and the whole package wrapped in shrink tube. Or… you might want to put a barrel jack on it and use it […]
HackEDA builds Eagle schematics and PCBs from standard circuit blocks
HackEDA has an online automatic circuit design that builds Eagle schematics and boards from predefined blocks. This is one of the great hacks now possible because Cadsoft switched to an open XML text format for board files: At it’s core, it’s a system for collecting reusable-sized pieces of electronic designs, along with the knowledge necessary […]
Workshop Update for February 14th, 2013
Today we spent most of the day preparing and editing the reflow oven video. We continue to work on our 3D models for the Bus Pirate Education Kit. Today we standardized the parts. Meaning we standardized the use of textures, which will speed up the rendering process. We also added names to specific part models. […]
Vacuum florescent character displays winners
Today we announce the winners of the 2×20 character vacuum florescent displays! There were lots of great ideas, thanks for your submissions. Congratulations to Erik, his idea for bench power supply scored him two 2×20 character vacuum florescent displays: Basically it uses an attiny85 as the brains and talks to the components over I2C. It has […]