A new internet controlled lighting project called SplashLight is being developed. It has 4 relays to turn lights on and off, and 3 PWM outputs to drive RGB LEDs. The core of the project is a Cortex M3 uC with an Ethernet PHY/MAC from Texas Instruments. The project includes iPhone, Android, and web applications to […]
Author Archives: DP
Energy micro EFM32 “Tiny gecko” starter kit
Pedantine attended a seminar organized by Energy Micro about their new EFM32 Gecko processor that uses a Cortex M3. All attendees received a EFM32 starter kit. The cool thing about this starter kit is that power consumption is constantly monitored. The debugging software shows how much power each line of code consumes. Via the comments.
Bus Pirate v4 free PCB build
Megabug built a free Bus Pirate V4 PCB. After some initial debugging he got it to work. 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 drawer. Get your own handy Bus Pirate for $30, […]
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: Layout and physical design guidelines for capacitive sensing
We think DIY capacitive touch sensing buttons, and sliders are cool. Designing and shaping your capacitive panels can be a pain. Here is an app note by Microchip that covers all the basics required to get your capacitive touch sensing project started. This app note starts with which pad shape and size is best suited […]
Bus Pirate: Micro clone
Greeeg developed a micro board for the Bus Pirate v3. He has shrunken the PCB down to 4cmX2.6cm. Instead of using the FT232R chip originally in the Bus Pirate, he has delegated the USB communication to a PIC18F14k50 uC. PCB and schematic files are available, and firmware is currently under development. Via the forum. Get […]
PSoC3 custom board
Kmmankad is working on a development board for the PSoC3 chip. The PSoC3 is a mixed signal system on a chip developed by Cypress. Because he found the PSoC3 First Touch Kit too constricting, and the DVK kit to cumbersome and costly, he decided to build his own. It is designed to open source hardware […]
App note: Charlieplexing, using 9 pins to drive 8 digit 8-segment display
Back in 1995 Charlie discovered a way to drive large led matrices using a small number of pins. His technique makes use of the fact that many microcontrollers have tri-state outputs, and the fact that diodes pass current in only one direction. This app note by Maxim describes how to implement charlieplexing to drive 8 […]
App Note: Using FT2232H in FT245 synchronus FIFO mode
Ftdi’s FT2232H chip is a very useful device, it has two USB channels supporting the High speed USB standard. When the highest bandwidth is needed, the FT245 synchronous FIFO mode provides the best performance delivering up to 40MB/s transfer rates. This app note by FTDI provides all the necessary information to get this mode started. […]
Logic Sniffer: add-on board
Madworm made a Logic Sniffer add-on board, it has dip switches to allow users to pull up or down any of the 16 channels. It also has jumpers for selecting different pull up voltages. He is currently working out which resistors would work best for his purpose. Via the forum.
8devices Wi-Fi 4 things
There is a new Wi Fi module around. It supports UART, I2C, SPI, and Ethernet interfaces. The board has a RT3050 320Mhz CPU with 8MB of flash memory and a 32MB onboard RAM chip. It is built to support Linux based embedded systems via the OpenWRT. Via the contact form.
App note: Implementing ultrasonic ranging on PIC16 microcontrollers
This app note by Microchip describes how to implement ultrasonic ranging on their PIC16 family of microcontrollers. Object ranging is essential in many types of systems. One of the most popular ranging techniques is ultrasonic ranging. Ultrasonic ranging is used in a wide variety of applications including: • Autofocus cameras • Motion detection • Robotics […]
Week in (p)review: October 28, 2011
Facebook free PCB Friday is on the way. Don’t forget to share your current project in the comments or the forum. Here’s a summary of major developments over the last week: 7400 competition: Entries and reader’s choice Home Camp 4: Open source green technology meetup FT2232 breakout, PICqueño DIP, xQFP breakout board and Bus Pirate LCD Adapter […]
Bus Pirate: Modifying the EEPROM on a LED POV fan
MrZor decided to find some use for his Bus Pirate. After dissembling a LED POV fan he figured out that it uses a 24LC02B EEPROM chip to store the text displayed on the device. The 24LC02B is a I2C device so he used the I2C mode of the Bus Pirate to interface with it. After […]
DC power supply monitor with GLCD display
Here is a project built to provide a DC power supply with a GLCD interface: This power supply monitor is intended to measure the voltage and current of a DC power supply, and continuously display these values on a 128X64 pixel LED backlit GLCD display. Ezflyr built it for his aircraft ground power supply, but […]
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, […]
Converting an Inkjet printer to print PCBs
There are many ways to built a DIY PCB. Some of the more popular ones are the toner transfer method, and the UV exposure of PCBs. Both methods require lots of trial and error. Here is another way to go around building you PCBs. Pourcirup posted a tutorial on how to convert an old ink-jet […]
CSR bluetooth tutorials
Implementing bluetooth into your project, amongst other things, allows you to get wireless interface for your design. We think it’s really cool to built devices that have the ability to talk to mobile phones, laptops, tablets, etc. Byron is blogging about his experiences interfacing with CSR bluecore4 chips. There are instructions on how to build […]
FT2232 breakout free PCB build
Jan built a free FT2232 breakout board. 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 drawer. Via Twitter.
Krohn-Hite DC voltage standard teardown & calibration
Dave reviewed the Krohn-Hite DC Voltage precision power supply he bought. After checking if it was working within specs, he proceeded to open it up and see what it was made of. There were a few surprises inside, like the resistor voltage dividers were in the standard Kelvin topology, instead of the more precise Kelvin-Varley […]