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 professionally-made PCBs from one of our past or future projects, or a related prototype. This is a USB controlled RGB color changing light. Ian did this project at DIY […]
Author Archives: Ian
Live prototyping
Today we’re refining the new AVR programmer firmware for the Bus Pirate. The plan is to implement an optional high-impedance output mode that can be used with pull-up resistors to program AVRs at 5volts (or any voltage). You can follow our progress and get involved on an experimental chat page. Live prototyping was inspired by […]
Bus Pirate high voltage power supply
The crew at Robots and Dinosaurs prototyped a high voltage power supply for a geiger counter tube using the Bus Pirate pulse-width modulator. They were able to step up 5volts to 800volts+ with a simple boost converter circuit on a bread board. We always like to see new ways to use the Bus Pirate. Thanks […]
Bus Pirate STK500v2 AVR programmer firmware
See the latest version in the documentation wiki. Here’s an alternate firmware for the Bus Pirate that clones an STK500 programmer for AVR microcontrollers. We ported the GPL’d source from Guido Socher’s AvrUSB500 ATMEGA8-based programmer to the PIC. The firmware should work with any applications that support the STK500 v2 protocol. We used it to […]
Fundamental Logic Bus Pirate build
Matthew Neely documents his experience building the through-hole Bus Pirate kit from Fundimental Logic. Unfortunately, the through-hole kit is out of stock. An assembled Bus Pirate v3 is available for $30 at Seeed Studio, including worldwide shipping.
STK500v2 USB AVR programmer clone
We just finished porting STK500 v1 source to the Bus Pirate, but STK500 v2 is required for AVR Studio 4.11+. Fortunately, we found AvrUSB500, an open source AVR programmer that includes v2 protocol handling routines.
Open source logic analyzer update
Development of the open source logic analyzer, first discussed here, has progressed rapidly in the forum. We’ve looked at cost estimates, Uwe made some excellent block diagrams, and Jack has already added a basic layout to his SVN. Read our goals and specs after the break.
Instructables version of the Hackable Christmas card
The Instructables version of the Hackable Christmas card & ornament is up. Seeed has copies of the card as a surface mount kit for $12, or assembled for $15. The card is already being manufactured so it can be delivered ASAP. The Seeed stock numbers aren’t accurate, less than 100 are being produced and we’re […]
Bus Pirate as STK500 compatible programmer?
Via Hack a Day comes word of a USB PIC-based STK500 AVR programmer. The really interesting part of this project, to us, is the stk500.c source that handles the programming interface. It should be potable to the Bus Pirate as a separate firmware, or as a mode in the existing firmware. AVRDude already supports the […]
Open source logic analyzer development
We’re really excited to be joined by Jack Gassett, developer of the Butterfly FPGA platform, to prototype an open source, high-speed, low-cost logic analyzer. This effort grew out of a bunch of great comments on a post about open source logic analyzer clients. Share your ideas for the logic analyzer in the new ‘SUMP PUMP’ […]
Perl script feeds to #twatch
lme shared a Perl script that feeds text files to the #twatch through the Matrix Orbital-compatible TCP/IP server. The project SVN has several example scripts for the #twatch, if you’ve got something interesting we’d like to host a copy. Thanks for the tip! Via the forum.
Bus Pirate v3 preorder 2 update
Seeed Studio has the PIC 24FJ64GA002-SS chips for Bus Pirate v3 preorder 2. Orders should start shipping next week, from the 25th of November. What do you plan to hack with your Bus Pirate?
Prototype: Hackable LED Christmas card & ornament
Holiday cards that blink and beep have always fascinated us. This is our hackable DIY version, made with an ATtiny13A and a few LEDs. Push the button to play a short light show in the tree. We’re sending these to friends and family this year. It’s a handmade, hackable gift, and it was a ton […]
DIY Bus Pirate case
El_Rata sent pictures of his Bus Pirate case made from a Maxim chip sample box. Thanks for the tip!
Free PCB Sunday: AVR holiday ornament
This week we’re giving away free PCBs for an upcoming project, an AVR ATtiny13A-based holiday ornament and card. Later this week it’ll be available at Seeed Studio assembled, and as a kit, both under $20 (shipped). The how-to article should be out on Tuesday or Thursday. We received and tested these PCBs in the last […]
Bus Pirate v3 case?
Eric at Seeed Studio sent a sample case that fits the Bus Pirate v3 PCB, we wanted to share it with you right away. We imagine they can have holes put in it for the USB & IO headers, and the LEDs. What do you think? Is this a good accessory for the Bus Pirate? […]
Free PCB Sunday: AVR holiday ornament
This week we’re giving away free PCBs for an upcoming project, an AVR ATtiny13A-based holiday ornament and card. Later this week it’ll be available at Seeed Studio assembled, and as a kit, both under $20 (shipped). The how-to article should be out on Tuesday or Thursday. We received and tested these PCBs in the last […]
Personal Twitter timeline on the #twatch
twonk submitted an awesome Python script that pushes your personal Twitter timeline to the #twatch. We’ve added a new folder with a few user-contributed scripts for the #twatch in Python, Perl, etc. If you come up with a script for the #twatch, please share it in the #twatch forum.
#twatch firmware with backlight enabled
The white-on-blue screen that shipped with the #twatch really requires the backlight to be visible. Here’s an updated firmware that has the backlight on at power-up. The new firmware is loaded over the network using tools already available in most operating systems, Windows instructions here. We apologize for the lack of refinement. We prototyped with […]
Bus Pirate 102
See the latest version on the documentation wiki. By popular demand, here’s a second part to the original Bus Pirate 101 tutorial. This time we walk through the Bus Pirate user interface and demonstrate some basic stuff like bus modes, power supplies, pull-up resistors, and number entry. Even if you’ve worked with the Bus Pirate […]