Eagle’s popularity is partly due to the sheer number of parts and footprint libraries available for it. Sometimes you can’t find the part you need in an existing library though, and it’s time to make your own. Making a new part in Cadsoft Eagle can be intimidating for new users, but the guide below shows […]
Author Archives: DP
Autonomous, cooperative, flying robots
Autonomous flying robots. They can navigate obstacles, map insides of buildings, fly in formations, build structures, and more… Just add lasers. Via Hacked Gadgets.
XC9572XL CPLD breakout free PCB build
Andrew has built a free XC9572XL CPLD breakout board. CPLDs are programmable logic gate arrays which allow you to build custom logic devices simply by programing them. If you build a free PCB we’ll send you another one! Blog about it, post a picture on Flicker, whatever – we’ll send you a coupon code for […]
Atmel releases AVR Studio 6 Beta
Learn about Atmel’s latest version of AVR Studio. The new version supports ARM based microcontrollers so the name was changed from AVR Studio to Atmel Studio. Via the forum.
Connecting a smart house over the CAN bus
Rynius has been working on his CAN house project. The CAN bus is a multi-master serial protocol that was initially designed for integrating sensors and microcontrollers in vehicles. I’m trying to automate my house using a CAN-bus. The first phase is two nodes, one at the front to collect data, and one in the kitchen […]
HID is one step closer on the open source USB stack for PIC microcontrollers
Dolabra took up the task to add support for the HID class to Hoken and JTR’s open source USB stack. Up till now it only supported the CDC class, and HID is still a long way away, but progress has been made. Yeah! a small victory. I got a set of descriptors that enumerate! The […]
#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 […]
xQFP breakout boards back in stock
xQFP breakout boards are back in stock at Seeed Studio. These boards make your QFP prototyping faster and easier. They’re available in 0.50mm, 0.65mm, and 0.80mm pin pitch for just $3.
Infrared thermopile sensor TMP006 breakout free PCB build
Fcobcn posted pictures of his free Infrared thermopile sensor TMP006 breakout board build. He used a hot air rework station to solder the small BGA sensor, and an ultrasonic alcohol bath to clean up the board. Here’s the finished pcb having a ultrasonic bath in alcohol, got a cleaner last week very cheap on ebay. No […]
PIC12F683 alcohol breathalyser based on MQ-3 sensor
Giovanni designed an Alcohol breathalyser [machine translation] using only an 8 pin PIC12F683 microcontroller, the MQ-3 alcohol gas sensor, and a 30 bar-graph breakout.
AS5040 magnetic rotary encoder video review
Here is a video review of the AS5040 magnetic rotary encoder IC. The maker of this video connected a scope to the output of the AS5040 IC, and demonstrates how the phase of the signals changes in relation to the angle of the magnetic field. We loved the LEGO-based rig. Demo of an evaluation board […]
Box of new PCBs
A box of PCBs just arrived from Seeed Studio’s Fusion PCB service. This batch includes: PIC TQFP-100 breakout board V2 Bus Pirate Demo Board v5 (final) Programmable dummy load (concept test) Soldering Iron Driver v1.5 PIC TQFP-100 BB v2, Bus Pirate Demo Board, Programmable dummy load, and Soldering Iron Driver v1.5 are available now in […]
PC/XT Compact Flash adapter
J1mbo designed a PC/XT to Compact Flash adapter. This board gives vintage XT PCs, often found in industrial and medical systems, the ability to use Flash cards as hard drives. It’s loosely based on our XT to IDE hard drive CPLD board, which is itself a CPLD-based knock off of the Vintage Computer Forum’s XTIDE […]
TCPIP to serial converter free PCB build
Smok built a free TCPIP to serial converter PCB. Give your projects an internet connection by simply connecting to this board over a serial interface. If you build a free PCB we’ll send you another one! Blog about it, post a picture on Flicker, whatever – we’ll send you a coupon code for the free PCB […]
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: Porting the Helix MP3 decoder to PIC32MX microcontrollers
Microchip shows how to port the open source Helix MP3 decoder algorithm to the PIC32MX family of microcontrollers. This algorithm was designed be used by both floating point processors, and fixed point processors like the PIC32. Application note describes the procedure to port the open source Helix MP3 decoder algorithm onto Microchip’s PIC32MX 32-bit microcontrollers […]
App note: PCI Express gen 1/2/3 clocks
SQKYbeaver found a PCIe clocking solution from Silicon labs the he thinks can be hacked into a precision clock generator with multiple outputs: The Si52144 is a spread-controlled PCIe clock generator that can source four PCIe clocks simultaneously. The device has four hardware output enable control inputs for enabling the respective differential outputs on the […]
App note: Sense multiple pushbuttons using only two wires
A 1-Wire port expander can be used to sense 8 push-buttons with only 2 wires. It can be powered via a strong pullup on the data line, so a separate power line isn’t needed. For applications that require less than a keyboard or numeric keypad, this simple circuit monitors multiple pushbutton switches using a single […]
App note: Texas Instruments’ standard linear guide
Texas Instruments puts out a selection guide for their op-amps, comparators, data converters and interface ICs. Most manufacturers have these, and they can be a big help when you need to substitute a no longer available linear component in design. Thanks rsdio!
BB313 – ATtinyX313 breakout board for breadboards
John designed a breakout board for the ATtiny2313/4313 microcontrollers. It features a power supply, decoupling capacitors, ceramic resonator, a FTDI 6pin header, and a programing header. The board is designed so it is easy to interface with breadboards by putting all the breakout pins on one side. We’re calling this breakout configuration the ‘blade’ breakout, […]