Author Archives: DP

IR helicopter automatic altitude control

Amieres built a IR controlled Helicopter with Wiimote using USB IR Toy V1. A camera connected to the laptop tracks the helicopter. Using the USB IR Toy the laptop sends automatic altitude control signals. Setting attitude points is done with Wiimote’s up/down buttons, while nunchuk joystick is used for motion control. Via the comments. You can get […]

7400 competition entry: Masochist’s video card

Chris entered his Masochist’s video card into the Open 7400 Logic Competition. Using only discrete logic his circuit cycles through 8 presettable colors at a variable frequency. Using a simple resistor network he outputs it over the VGA output. It is well documented and all the design files are available. Check out the video below. Via […]

Sparkfun has new oscilloscope

Sqkybeaver let us know Sparkfun now carries a scope similar to the one he reviewed. It is a two channel 100MHz digital scope with 500MSa/s real-time sampling rate. Saving waveforms to a USB flash drive is available, as well as interfacing with the computer over the USB port. The waveforms and menu are displayed over a 5.7″ LCD Screen. Via the forum.

App note: High speed USB design guidelines

This app note by Intel covers how to design for high speed USB. It’s full of great tips for your next project. While mainly written for multi-layer motherboard design, we picked up tips on proper termination and routing techniques. We picked up tips on routing and placement guidelines, trace length and spacing, proper termination, plane splits, […]

App note: Building a stable DAC external reference circuit

Having a stable external reference is important in digital-to-analog converter design and this app note helps. For a DAC to function properly it must have a stable reference to create a precise output signal. Unfortunately because it is a simple concept, proper reference design is usually overlooked. In this app note from TI a simple force and […]

App note: Driving LEDs in battery-operated applications

Driving many LEDs from a battery can be a pain to do, especially if you need many of them to have the same brightness. One way to do this is to use current mirrors for each individual LED, and drive them from the battery voltage only. Another is to drive them with a dc-dc boost converter in […]

STM32L-Discovery board and ChibiOS/RT

Getting started with the STM32L-Discovery board and ChibiOS/RT: This article will explain how to get started with the recently released STM32L-Discovery board using ChibiOS/RT. This board is really cheap (around 12$) and is an excellent evaluation platform for the STMicroelectronics STM32L family. Thanks Giovanni! Via the contact form.

App note: Using Microchip’s capacitive sensing module

Capacitive sensing is used in tons of stuff like buttons, sliders, touch panels and proximity sensors. We like it because you only need to design the various buttons/sliders directly on the PCB and it works even under a face plate. It works by measuring the changing capacitance between a pad and a users finger as […]

Chronoduino board v0.3

The Chronoduino uses an Atmega168PA microprocessor. On the peripheral side there is a DS1337 RTC, a BMP085 barometric/temperature sensor, and a MCP73831 Li-Po battery charging IC. Numerous headers as well as two buttons, LED, and a buzzer are on the board. The idea behind the project is to design an Arduino watch platform (hence, quite unimaginatively – Chronoduino) that’s also […]

43oh Project of the month contest winners

We gave two PCB codes as prizes for a contest at 43oh. Here’s the winners: Congrats to andy1324 Okay so here is mine, it’s a small strotoscobic guitar tuner/development board for msp430 in 16 pin tssop package. and to xmob My entry, a camera intervalomter. For automatically taking photos at set intervals. This allows the […]

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: October 07, 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: There’s 3 weeks left to enter the Open 7400 Logic Competition 7400 competition entries: Money counter, Discrete logic POV clock, Discrete servo driver, and […]

Bus Pirate: JTAG XSVF player successfully programs Amani64 CPLD

Cliff bought an Amani64 CPLD shield for the Arduino, he had no way to program it except: I did have a Bus Pirate on hand, the ‘Swiss Army Knife’ of digital hobbyists. He successfully uploaded the LED blinking firmware onto the Amani64 with the Bus Pirate JTAG XSVF player. Now he is free to develop his CPLD skills. Get your […]