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 a every week: Free PCB Sunday. The classic. Every week, […]
Author Archives: DP
Week in (p)review August 17, 2012
Here’s a summary of major developments over the last week. Free PCB Friday is coming up soon. Next week there will be a new test firmware for the USB Infrared Toy with a number of bug fixes. FT311D Android Open Accessory IC breakout board update PROTOTYPE PREVIEW: FT311D Android Open Accessory IC breakout board Eagle […]
RIP Hanz R. Csmenzin – Inventor of the 555 timer
Hans R. Camenzin the inventor of the famous 555 timer IC died at the age of 78: Hans R. Camenzind was an electronics engineer best known for inventing the 555 timer IC in 1970. He was an inventor on 20 US patents. During his career he wrote three textbooks, designed the first integrated class D […]
Bus Pirate firmware v6.2 beta test
A test version of Bus Pirate firmware v6.2 is now available for download. This release has updates and bug fixes for hardware v3 and v4. Big changes: SPI mode speed fix BPv4 SUMP logic analyzer mode fixed BPv4 USB interrupt bug fixed (should fix many random bugs, including UART bridge) Fix translation files names A […]
Reader questions: Thickness of PCB traces for a 120A solenoid
George asks how thick PCB traces should be for driving a 120A solenoid: I’m doing a board design to power a solenoid that apparently draws 120 amps, but it’s only on for about 300 ms (I imagine it has some kind of “inverse curve” looking decrease with time, I haven’t thought about it too much). […]
Workshop Update for August 16th, 2012
Today we finished the Singapore Maker Faire video. Sent out thank yous. Refreshed the Logic Sniffer wiki a bit and moved older stuff to a new page. Maker Faire New York applications are due tomorrow (August 17th). We submitted a request for a table and a presentation proposal. We’ll also be giving a 10 minute […]
chipKIT uC 32 and chipKIT Wifi shield winner
Today we announce the winner of the chipKIT uC 32 and chipKIT Wifi shield! There were lots of great ideas, thanks for your submissions. Congratulations to Andreas, his idea for an internet connected Nixie Tube Clock scored him a chipKIT uC 32 and chipKIT Wifi shield: Have a bunch of alphanumeric nixie tubes in a […]
FT311D Android Open Accessory IC breakout board update
Here’s the update in our earlier PROTOTYPE PREVIEW: FT311D Android Open Accessory IC breakout board post: Added 2 10k pullup resistors on IOBUS0 and IOBUS1 with series jumper to turn it on/off Change 1×8 header to 2×5 for the breakout IO BUSES Breakout 3v3 and 5v onto the 2×5 IO BUSES header too Moved vias […]
GIVEAWAY: chipKIT uC 32 and chipKIT Wifi shield
Later today we will announce the winner of the chipKIT uC 32 and chipKIT Wifi shield! Leave a comment on the original contest post with an idea for a cool project. The chipKIT uC32 is available for $34.99 and chipKIT Wifi shield for $49.99 from Digilent.
Workshop Video #35: Singapore Mini Maker Faire 2012 report
Singapore’s Mini Maker Faire had a bunch of unforgettable projects. Check out improvised instruments, PC-controlled toys, a Twitter controlled blimp, the banana piano, a DIY Aquaponics system, and a sling shot controlled Angry Birds clone. The Director of the Science Center Singapore shared his motivations for holding a Maker Faire. We also talked to Robot […]
Sourcing cheap parts on TaoBao, China’s eBay
Matseng wrote about the Chinese eBay equivalent TaoBao as a great source for cheap electronics components. While the pricing is cheap, the downside is that most sellers only sell locally, so using an agent is a must. Read his full report below.
Workshop Update for August 15th, 2012
Today we’re editing the Singapore Maker Faire video, hoping to have it roughly done by tonight. The Bus Pirate Demo Board v5 firmware is finalized, only cleanup and documentation is left. Today we added device specific functions to the UART controlled menu, and with it finished the support for all emulated devices, on all three […]
Adding RS-232 DTR signal output to an AVR running the avr-cdc USB library
Cmdrk33n hacked the avr-cdc library to add the RS232 DTR signal output to one of the pins on his ATtiny MCU. Only a few lines of code need to be changed to implement his solution. Demonstrated in the above video is the DTR signal turning the LED on whenever a terminal window (connection) is opened. […]
Adding GPS to a Tablet PC without one
Epninety shows how to add GPS to a Tablet PC that doesn’t have one: A nice simple project, which made an otherwise tired tablet into a useful piece of kit, with the added benefit that when things go wrong off-road, at least it wasn’t in perfect condition to start with. Via the forum.
PROTOTYPE PREVIEW: FT311D Android Open Accessory IC breakout board
FTDI announced the FT311D Android Open Accessory IC last week and we designed a breakout board for it. The 7 GPIO pins are broken out, and it has everything necessary for the IC to function. Stuff like: 2 Power supplies: 3.3V for the IC, 5V for the VBUS line Quartz crystal oscillator for stable USB […]
GIVEAWAY: chipKIT uC 32 and chipKIT Wifi shield
Tomorrow we’ll give away a chipKIT uC 32 and a chipKIT Wifi shield! Leave a comment on yesterday’s post with a project idea, and these boards could be yours on Thursday. The chipKIT uC32 is available for $34.99 and chipKIT Wifi shield for $49.99 from Digilent.
Dithered images on the PCB’s silk layer
Matseng sent out some PCBs for manufacture with an interesting silk layer. He added the dithered image to the back of the PCB using a Floyd-Steinberg filter on the original to give him an image on the silk layer with a 6 mil pixel size. The PCB in the image above is a rendering made from […]
Workshop Update for August 14th, 2012
Today we continued verifying updates to the Bus Pirate firmware and prepared a beta test release. We also tested fitted some Scheme G Sick of Beige magnet holders in different hole diameters. Bus Pirate Demo Board v5 firmware development continues with the UART menu system now implemented and tested. We continued developing the next version […]
Eagle Parts: FT311D Android Open Accessory host USB IC
We added the recently released FT311D Android Open Accessory host USB IC in a LQFP-32 package to our Eagle library. The device makes it easy to communicate to Android devices using the Android Open Accessory Mode available on Android platforms from 3.1 and up. The reference circuit is pretty simple, like most FTDI chips, we’ll […]
Hackerspace Singapore visit
Hackerspace Singapore posted some pictures from our visit, taken during our Global Geek Tour. Be sure to check out our full video report from Singapore on electronics shops, the hackerspace, local food, and more. Thanks to everyone at Hackerspace Singapore for hosting us. Every hackerspace is unique, and it is always exciting to get to know […]