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 […]
Author Archives: DP
Battery monitor on a automotive relay form factor
Jesus Echavarria made this battery monitor and wrote a post on his blog detailing its assembly: Here’s one of the design I do last year for a client. He wants to measure the voltage of a car battery and set a couple of alarms when voltage falls below a defined values. Also, he wants to […]
ICSP switch box
Stynus has published a new build: For a project I need to program a few microcontrollers in the same circuit. This meant I needed to plug the programmer around on the board a lot. This got annoying very fast. Therefore I decided to make a switch box. In my junk pile I found an old […]
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: How to use LEDs with supervisory ICs for undervoltage and overvoltage fault indicators
Another app note from MAXIM Integrated utilizing supervisory chip and LEDs to indicate voltage faults. Link here Traditionally, supervisory ICs have been used to monitor voltage rails for undervoltage faults (UV). When a supply rail falls below a set threshold, the system is held in reset using the reset output signal to the microcontroller to […]
App note: How a SIMO PMIC enhances power efficiency for wearable IoT designs
App note from MAXIM Integrated on very compact PMIC using only single inductor to drive three independent switching regulators. Link here Small form factor and minimal power loss are key criteria for internet of things (IoT) hardware, particularly wearables. Meeting these criteria typically involves some tradeoffs. For example, to meet a specific power consumption goal, […]
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. The coupon code usually go to Facebook ‘Other’ Messages Folder . More PCBs via Twitter on Tuesday and the blog every Sunday. Don’t forget there’s free PCBs three […]
DIY custom power supply
Anthony Lieuallen made this custom power supply and wrote a post on his blog detailing its assembly: You might not truly be an electronics nerd until you build your own power supply. Either way, I’ve finally passed that threshold. As I’ve mentioned previously (and previouslier), I’ve been working on mine — very slowly, off and […]
Povon home energy monitor part 1, 20 channel system
Coyt Barringer documented his home energy monitor project called POVON. This first part of a series will detail the 20 Channel sub-metering hardware: Our initial goal was to monitor power consumption in different parts of the house, and we quickly realized every household circuit would need to be monitored. After some research, small clip on […]
uMesh – A self-contained, battery operated ESP32 module
Jarrett published a new build: I’ve been working on an ESP32 module. Part of the problem I’ve been seeing with inexpensive IoT dev boards, is that the design around the power system hasn’t been very good. Here’s my attempt to fix that. This is a battery-ready module with a proper lithium battery charge circuit, lithium […]
#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 […]
Vintage headset conversion
Quinn Dunki wrote a great article describing the conversion process of a 1980s-era Earmark into a bluetooth headset: The obvious thing is to convert it to a bluetooth headset for modern use, right? As I previously warned, converting a 1980s-era air traffic control headset into bluetooth headphones is probably the most hipster thing possible. Normally, […]
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: HT66FB574 single colour independent light streamer USB keyboard
Another app note from Holtek this time about their HT66FB574, a USB keyboard device that can support single color LED streamer. Link here (PDF) The video gaming industry is seeing continual increasing demand for multi-feature keyboards. These can include features such as keys with an individual LED which can display different graphical effects along with […]
App note: HT66FB574/572 colour effect USB mouse
App note from Holtek on using their HT66FB574/572 to develop color effect mice. Link here (PDF) Demands from the video gaming industry for different types of gaming mouse continue to expand. Adding a large number of RGB LEDs to the mice can produce different colours and brightness changes creating a range of visual special effects. […]
The USB-C Explorer
Jason has designed a development board for USB-C and Power Delivery, that is available on GitHub: The USB-C Explorer is a development board with everything needed to start working with USB Type-C. It contains a USB-C port controller and Power Delivery PHY chip, a microcontroller, and several options for user interaction. Project info on Reclaimer Labs blog. It’s […]
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. The coupon code usually go to Facebook ‘Other’ Messages Folder . More PCBs via Twitter on Tuesday and the blog every Sunday. Don’t forget there’s free PCBs three […]
Tutorial: Git with Eclipse
A detailed tutorial on Eclipse with the EGit plugin by Erich Styger: There are things which are game changer in the world of software development: one such event was when I started using a VCS (Version Control System): it changed for me how I keep and store my projects and settings. It even changed the way how […]
Tutorial: Adding the SSD1306 OLED screen to an Arduino logger (without a library)
Edward Mallon writes: While I loved the Nokia 5110 LCD’s readability in full sun, the pressure sensitivity was a real problem for the underwater units. So I started noodling around with some cheap OLED screens from eBay. With the exception of the init & XY functions (which are more complicated on the 1306 controller) the […]
SmileyBox – Statistics, the old fashioned way, upgraded
Vagrearg published a new build: Lies, damn lies and statistics. You have a high school science fair and want to know how your project was perceived by the visitors. Modern online behaviour will direct you to “taking the online survey”. That requires an extra step for the visitors, usually by taking hold of their mobile […]