A guide to Microchip’s USB Host stack. USB Host hardware lets a small chip like a PIC use USB hardware like flash drives, printers, or in this case any type of custom hardware. This document is an in-depth programmer’s guide for those customers who need to implement their own driver to allow an embedded host […]
Author Archives: DP
Workshop Update for June 15th, 2012
Today we ported the open source USB to two microcontrollers, the PIC18F2550, and the PIC24FJ64GB002. While the echo demo we had worked with the PIC18F2550, it was built to work with the IR Toy, so some board specific stuff was in there. The new ports are bare bones, and are intended for any board that […]
Laser cut acrylic Bus Pirate case
Here’s another cool laser cut acrylic case for the Bus Pirate. There are many custom enclosures for Bus Pirate, must be a very popular product (we at LAWICEL AB knows this of course). We sell the Sparkfun version (TOL-09544). The original version was made by Ian Lesnet of Dangerous Prototypes. After looking arround on enclosures […]
Open source USB echo demo ported to the PIC18F2550 Breakout Board
We ported the open source USB echo demo to the PIC18F2550 Breakout Board. It has only the bare essentials you’ll need to get a CDC class USB project going on a PIC18F2550. The code is setup for a 12 MHz crystal. To change to another just edit the #pragma config PLLDIV = 3 line in […]
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 a every week: Free PCB Sunday. The classic. Every week, […]
Week in (p)review June 15, 2012
Here’s a summary of major developments over the last week. Free PCB Friday is coming up soon. HOW TO: Bus Pirate as dev-board, read a voltage and view in terminal 3D Model: USB IR Toy v3 with remote PARTS LIBRARY: Bourns 3306F trimmer resistor DIY tiny Bus Pirate clone Stained hardwood case for the Bus […]
Zap mosquitoes in flight with a laser
Ridding Africa of Malaria spreading mosquitoes in the coolest way possible – with lasers. The software controlling the laser is smart, it can identify and kill only the bloodsucking females. Wish we had one of these in the office. Via the IRC channel.
Workshop Update for June 14th, 2012
Today we worked on the homemade flux video. Documentation for the Part Ninja continued. Most of the part recognition diagrams are uploaded, and the information on how the Part Ninja identifies different parts was added. Today we took a look at the Bus Blaster, and how we could improve it. This project is very far […]
PIC18F2550 breakout board free PCB build
Bennyboy built the PIC18F2550 Breakout Board, it has all the pins along one edge so it’s easier to use in a breadboard. The PIC18F2550 is a really popular USB chip from Microchip. There are lots of projects floating around the internet for it, as well as some of our own like the USB IR Toy, […]
ZofzPCB 3D gerber viewer
A while ago we asked What gerber viewer do you use and why?. The general consensus is that the gerber files need to be checked before you send them go get your PCBs made. ZofzPCB is a gerber viewer geared to make verification quick and easy. It shows the board and layers in 3D so […]
WORKSHOP VIDEO #26: How to make a simple soldering flux
Flux is a wonderful goo that makes soldering faster and easier. In previous videos we compared different types of commercial flux (Flux off 1, Flux off 2), but did you know it’s possible to make a simple and effective flux at home? We’ll get you started, and don’t miss the giveaway at the end of […]
Control a lab power supply via a tablet
ATAKOM released remote controlled power supplies that you can drive form any device with internet access. The major advantage of 73xxL series power supplies is the ability to be remote controlled via LAN or USB. Innovative software called AKTAKOM POWER MANAGER allows user to set and pre-set inputs, graph, as well as, time control the […]
ChipKIT Uno32 review and lots of tutorials
Raj made a in-depth tutorial series on the chipKIT Uno32, PIC32 based Arduino compatible boards. I have started this new tutorial series on chipKIT, and I believe they will be helpful for beginners to start using this platform for their own embedded projects and designs. Because I am also new to the Arduino and chipKIT […]
Workshop Update for June 13th, 2012
Today we mixed up a few batches of homemade Rosin based flux recipes, the results in tomorrows workshop video. Documentation on the Part Ninja continued today, with concept and overview documented on the part specific testing page. We hit a snag with a USB cable that kept disconnecting the Part Ninja while we were collecting […]
PIC18F2550 breakout board free PCB build
Benedykt built the PIC18F2550 Breakout Board free PCB. The PIC18F2550 is a really popular USB chip from Microchip. There are lots of projects floating around the internet for it, as well as some of our own, like the USB IR Toy, USB LCD Backpack, etc… This is a breakout board for the 28pin SOIC package version […]
HOW TO: Bus Pirate as dev-board, read a voltage and view in terminal
The Bus Pirate uses the PIC24FJ64GA002 microcontroller, and can be used as a development board. In this tutorial we’ll read an analog voltage with an analog to digital converter, and then send it to the PC terminal via the UART. This is a culmination of the previous 3 tutorials ( blink the MODE LED, ADC […]
Tetris on a 16×8 LED matrix display
Graham designed a portable Tetris game on a PIC18F4520. It uses two 8×8 LED matrices as a display, and 4 buttons for control: The 64 LEDs and four buttons are controlled by a single PIC (18LF4520) and two AA batteries. The source code operates very efficiently, and the program is extremely responsive. I was worried […]
USB power supply with a resettable PTC fuse and a ‘fuse blown’ indicator LED
Schazamp designed a small USB power supply with a resettable PTC fuse, and a ‘fuse blown’ indicator LED. When the fuse is blown a P-MOS gate is pulled low, and it turns on a LED.
AVR performance monitoring using the Open Bench Logic Sniffer
Alan wanted to check out just how much performance he could squeeze out of the ATMega328P. He needed was a way to measure the amount of time the CPU actually uses while executing various tasks. Using the Logic Sniffer to read a pin, that he toggles ON when the CPU is executing a task, and […]
Workshop Update for June 12th, 2012
Today we renewed websites, including 7400contest.com which is coming up again soon. We patched an SPI speed error in the Bus Pirate binary access mode. We had to cancel the company credit cards because 7 unexpected charges to Blizzard (World of Warcraft) and 4 to iTunes showed up today. In the process of checking the […]