Christopher Woodall from HappyRobotLabs shared this Water LED Art: Making LEDs Light Up With Water: I wrote up a little explanation because the BUILDS hackerspace at BU wants to recreate the wall for an exhibit and maybe make a water based input system. Mostly we just found it cool an inspiring. Via the contact form.
Author Archives: DP
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 […]
GOduino III – the breadboard-friendly Arduino-based robot controller
Techbitar wrote this Instructable detailing the build of his GOduino III – the breadboard-friendly Arduino-based robot controller. We previously covered the GOduino II. The GOduino III is based on the ATmega328p microcontroller and the L293D dual h-bridge. It’s built with DIP ICs and through-hole components for ease of assembly and repair. This robot controller can handle […]
Week in (p)review November 16, 2012
Here’s a summary of major developments over the last week. Free PCB Friday is coming up soon. WORKSHOP VIDEO: rhydoLABZ open hardware tour in Kochi Global Geek Tour India: Bangalore’s SP Road market, Tenet Technetronics, protoCentral and Cerebra Tech visits Global Geek Tour India: protoCentral shop tour Global Geek Tour India: Tenet Technetronics tour Ealge Parts: […]
Multiple serial devices in one terminal
John wrote informing us of a terminal program that can host multiple serial devices in a single prompt: Cool python terminal program that allows multiple devices to connect. Each device prints in a separate color so its easy to debug complicated setups like networks of many devices. Via the contact form.
Box of new PCBs
A box of PCBs just arrived from Seeed Studio’s Fusion PCB service. This batch includes: ATX Breakout Board v1.3 Smoke Tester v1 Bus Pirate Demo Board v5c Logic Shrimp v2b ATX Breakout Board v1.3, Smoke Tester v1, Bus Pirate Demo Board v5c, and Logic Shrimp v2b are available now in the free PCB drawer.
Fine pitch BGA deadbug soldering
Xevel shows us how to solder fine pitch BGA dead-bug: After seeing a few posts about “deadbugging” (soldering wires to the leads or pads of a component instead of soldering it on its recommended footprint) of BGA chips on Dangerous Prototypes, some with “big” solder balls, and some with smaller ones, I thought I would […]
PartSim free online circuit simulator
Drone refers us to this browser-based online schematic capture, SPICE simulator, and waveform viewer: PartSim exemplifies the power of browser-based innovations that span technical simulations to social entertainment, allowing anyone to create, simulate, and share electronic circuits directly in their web browser,” said Cody Miller, Aspen Labs president and CEO. “Such tools unlock tremendous productivity, skipping […]
Stellaris Launchpad OLED display progress
Bluehash is porting The Terminal user interface for the MSP430 to the Stellaris Launchpad. The 43oh OLED Display – The Terminal has been a suitable UI platform for the MSP430 Launchpad. I wish to extend the same functionality to the Stellaris Launchpad too. Via the contact form.
WORKSHOP VIDEO: rhydoLABZ open hardware tour in Kochi
Our Global Geek Tour of India ends in Kochi where we visit India’s largest open hardware manufacturer rhydoLABZ. Thushar takes us on a tour of the company’s offices and production lines. rhydoLABZ started as distributors for SparkFun and Arduino, but now produce mostly their own custom open hardware designs. During a recent visit, their innovative […]
An ad in 2600:The Hacker Quarterly
Special thanks to the machinegeek for arranging the most recent ad in the infamous 2600: The Hacker Quarterly. This ad is in the issue that hits newsstands now. 2600’s free ads are still the only advertising we do on a regular basis. We’re in good company in the 2600 marketplace, TV-B-Gone has an ad right […]
The surface mount component codebook
An illustrated guide to identifying surface mount components from our previous post on the topic. Thanks Celia! Via the comments.
Ealge Parts: Combined surface mount and through-hole DIP socket
We wanted to make a footprint for a combined surface mount and through hole DIP socket. It’s a through hole socket with bent leads so it could be soldered in a surface mount process. This will be used in a secret project which will revealed next week in China.
Giant Digi-Comp II Recreates Mechanical Computer from 1960s
From the comments on our earlier Mechanical Donkey Kong post: I love this kind of stuff. Here’s another one, totally mechanical, that you may not have seen before: Giant Digi-Comp II Recreates Mechanical Computer from 1960s Maker Faire NY 2011 and the Digi-Comp II Via the comments.
Speed of light measurement with the Analog Discovery scope
Measure the speed of light using the Analog Discovery. Digilent donated two Discoveries to the Open 7400 Competition this year, they were among the most popular prizes. The optical pulse response of the Discovery scope shows a reasonably clean shape with a fall time of ~ 30ns and minimal ringing. With such a clean response, […]
Workshop Update for November 13th, 2012
Today we’re preparing for the Shenzhen sourcing challenge, pricing shippers, setting up meetings, and etc. We’ll be in Hong Kong on Friday and in Shenzhen on Monday. Aaron from oomlout sent us an SMD reel stand which we’ll assemble as soon as we get back from China. In other news the 7400 Contest 1st place […]
#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 […]
Aud-I/O I2S audio breakout
Bertho is working on a breakout board for the WM8782 I2S ADC and the WM8523 I2S DAC. The boards are intended to be interfaced with an ARM micro-controller. I am working on a project that requires some real audio and I always wanted to play with I2S (attached to an arm microcontroller). So I decided […]
Workshop Update for November 12th, 2012
We finished the Kochi video. We’re trying to get some stuff shipped by sea from Shenzhen, so we’re trying to figure out what shipping terms mean. FOB? EXW?
Logic Sniffer 16-bit input buffer wing back in stock
Logic Sniffer 16-bit input buffer is back in stock at Seeed Studio. This accessory buffers the extra 16 I/O bits on the ‘wing’ header. The Open Logic Sniffer buffer wing in stock and shipping now for $15.