Author Archives: DP

Philosophy of engineering podcast

Cris form Amp Hour, and Jeff from Engineering Revision started a podcast discussing the philosophy of engineering. The first episode is online and features a discourse on the finer points of starting a new engineering project. Lots of insightful stuff on the things engineers have to deal with when starting new projects. Chris Gammell and […]

Integrating the XSVF player into Bus Pirate firmware

Jean modified the Bus Pirate firmware to integrate the standalone XSVF player into it. The XSVF player is an alternate firmware for the Bus Pirate that allows it to program CPLDs and FPGAs via XSVF files. I have integrated the support of XSVF Player within the current 6.1 BP firmware as a new bitbang mode. […]

Programing your DIY Bus Pirate v3.5-SOIC build with the MSP430

Hardwhack bought 2 DIY Bus Pirate v3.5-SOIC PCBs and programmed them using the MSP430 microcontroller. Since he didn’t have any PIC programmers around, he decided to port the AVR Bus Pirate programmer code to a MSP430 MCU. The custom firmware he coded is open source, and available on his site. I built two DIY Bus […]

Interfacing Arduino with an HP LED display from the ’70s

John demonstrates how to interface a vintage LED display with the Arduino. The display in question is a HP 5082-745 model, found in calculators, and other products from this manufacturer in the ’70s. Using the display is very easy – kudos to the engineers at HP for making a simple design that could be reusable […]

Using servos with PIC16F microcontrollers

Raj wrote a tutorial on how-to implement servo control on PIC16F microcontrollers. The article starts off with some servo theory, and is followed with an open source practical example. A servo motor is a special geared DC motor equipped with an electronic circuit for controlling the direction of rotation, as well as the position, of […]

Interfacing CMOS cameras to 8bit microcontrollers.

Here is an article from IKALOGIC describing how to implement CMOS cameras as sensors in 8bit microcontrollers. Processing color video in real time requires powerful  DSPs or MCUs, but by downgrading the image to gray-scale, and using a lower resolution, processing becomes much easier to handle, so even small 8bit MCUs can handle it Many […]

App note: Using Philipp springs to create touch keys

Here is an app note from Atmel describing how build DIY touch keys using Philipp springs (or any spring made from conductive material) and their qTouch ICs. This design allows PTH LEDs to be mounted inside the keys. The Philipp™ spring is a simple and cost-effective method of creating a touch key on a dielectric […]

App note: Implementing digital lock-in amplifiers using the dsPIC DSC

Here is an app note from Microchip describing how to use dsPIC digital signal processors to implement digital lock-in amplifiers. Lock-in amplifiers use phase-sensitive detection to measure the presence of small signals buried in large amounts of noise. By measuring the coherent system response from an incoming AC signal, the digital lock-in amplifier can detect […]

App note: A reference design for high-performance, low-lost weigh scales

Bearmos tipped us about this reference design  from Analog Devices for high-performance, low cost weigh scales. The design uses load-cell, and a load-cell ADC AD7799. The trend in weigh scales towards higher accuracy and lower cost has produced an increased demand for high-performance analog signal processing at low cost. The scope of this requirement is […]

Using the MSP430 LaunchPad to program MSP430 microcontrollers

Kerry wrote a tutorial on how to use the MSP430 LaunchPad to program external (off board) standalone MSP430 microcontrollers. To program an external MSP430G2 device, you need to simply remove all the jumpers from the LaunchPad develpment board and connect the TEST, RST and ground pins with your target device (see picture below). Since the […]

Week in (p)review April 4, 2012

Here’s a summary of major developments over the last week. Free PCB Friday is coming up soon: Free PCB: guess where @dangerousproto is going with @Finnair 3D Model: Part Ninja v1a Fixing botched prototypes Part Ninja semiconductor tester demo firmware available FT2232H breakout board back in stock CPLD development boards back in stock Coming up: […]