The hardware designer of Microchip’s ChipKIT Arduino thing gave us some more info in the forum: I’m the engineer at Digilent who designed the chipKIT boards. The USB interface is done using the FTDI FT232R USB-UART chip. This is the chip used on earlier Arduino boards. The newer Uno and Mega2560 use the ATmega8U2. The […]
Author Archives: Ian
DIYLILCNC: Low-cost, open-source desktop CNC mill
Taylor Hokanson writes: Please check out our awesome, free, open-source table top milling design: the DIYLILCNC. Now that the first design has been vetted by an international community of builders, we’re ready to embark on version 2.0. The second generation plans will focus on user-submitted design improvements. Via the contact form.
Single-sided, through-hole IR Toy v2
LisandroP completed his single-sided, through-hole USB IR Toy v2 and installed it in a home theater PC. You can get IR Toy v2 for $22.05, including world wide shipping.
Cheeky, personalized PCBs
Creative PCB graffiti. How do you personalize your boards? In ancient times, digital mariners would steer their charges by the light of heavenly vias. Sometimes, they would see figures in the vias, and give them names. Via Adafruit.
RS-422 networked infrared transmitters
Gridstop posted pictures of his networked infrared transmitters in the project log forum.
ATmega168A pulse width modulation (PWM)
ProtoStack shows how to dim a LED using pulse width modulation and an ATmega168A: Dimming an incandescent bulb is easy. Simply adjust the current down using a potentiometer and you are done. Dimming an LED is another story entirely. When you reduce current through an LED there are unintended consequences like color shifts and dropouts. […]
Server status: Off the cloud
A few weeks ago we had some erratic down time, followed by a migration to a dedicated server. Things are looking great now. Pingdom says our average response time has gone from 1500ms to 430ms. A ton of traffic from a single IP address first knocked us offline during the morning, US time. Our ISP […]
Thermal Tweeter facts and figures FAQ @dangerousproto
A lot of questions are coming through the Thermal Tweeter. Here’s some answers: How many rolls? About 1/day on Thursday, Friday, Saturday. 2.5 on Sunday, and it ran out twice for a few hours. Also, about 2/day of this variety. The printer uses thermal paper in rolls. It doesn’t use ink. Rolls were 5 for […]
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 we’re giving away two […]
JTAG debugging introduction and simulation
Henrik writes: This seems like a clever open source project, you can order a free kit or build it yourself based on the FTDI chips. Free software to develop or educate yourself on jtag. goJTAG is the first university-driven open-source project aiming at providing a full package for a JTAG newcomer including training materials, slides […]
Motherboard’s sound builders
Kaley Bolt writes: This particular installment of Sound Builders takes the Motherboard team to the “Anti-Theory Workshop” of Reed Ghazala, the father of circuit bending. It’s a nice timely tease for this year’s Bent and I think fans of Dangerous Prototypes would be really into it. With Ghazala as our guide, we navigate the history […]
BGA soldering at home
Jack at the Gadget Factory (co-creator of the Logic Sniffer) documented his pancake griddle BGA circuit board soldering technique. Via Hack a Day.
App note: Extending the input voltage of op-amps
An app note on extending the input voltage range of standard op-amps: Using its own output to bootstrap a low-dropout voltage regulator (MAX6771) with high input-voltage range (up to 76V), this circuit extends the input range of a CMOS op amp (MAX4162) while preserving its high input impedance and very low input bias current (< […]
A simple part: Pinheader connectors
From the Dangerous Prototypes partlist: pinheader connectors. 0.1″ (2.54mm) header is the standard width of bread boards Straight and right angle versions They are used on every project we’ve made so far. Their standard pitch spacing makes them easy to use with breadboards, jumpers, and wires with female connectors on them. We use them on […]
TI F28M35H multicore microcontroller
Texas Instruments has a new milticore microcontroller that’s overflowing with communication peripherals: The Concerto family is a multi-core system-on-chip microcontroller with independent communication and real-time control subsystems. The F28M35x is the first series in the Concerto family. The communications subsystem is based on the industry-standard 32-bit ARM Cortex-M3 CPU and features a wide variety of […]
App note: Substitution rules for nonvolatile memory
Substitution rules for nonvolatile memory components: This article explains basic guidelines for substituting a nonvolatile (NV) memory component in an existing design.
Free PCB coupon via Facebook comments
Every Friday we give away some extra PCBs via Facebook. The first few people who comment on this at Facebook get a free PCB. More PCBs via Twitter on Tuesday and the blog every Sunday. This week we’re giving away two PCB codes. Pick your own PCB from the free PCB drawer. Don’t forget there’s […]
OHS 2011 project demo proposal: Thermal Tweeter
Today is the deadline for Open Hardware Summit 2011 talk, breakout, and project demo proposals. We’re publishing ours for feedback, and maybe to inspire your last minute entry. OHS has an evening happy hour with a project show and tell. We thought the Thermal Tweeter, packed into an open source 3d-printed stand, would be a […]
OHS 2011 breakout proposal: Open hardware for the (not so) masses
Today is the deadline for Open Hardware Summit 2011 talk, breakout, and demo proposals. We’re publishing ours for feedback, and maybe to inspire your last minute entry. A last minute proposal to discuss the practical aspects of low-volume (20-500units) open hardware manufacturing. Who is doing it, what are the arrangements, what is the process like. […]
Week in (p)review: June 24, 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: Thermal Tweeter, networked Twitter printer @dangerousproto Bus Pirate v3.5 is now shipping A box of new PCBs just arrived Bus Pirate is back in […]