Author Archives: Ian

Open source Arduino shield outline in gEDA

Eric writes: I’ve released an Arduino shield board outline in gEDA format under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license. These files can be used as a starting place for creating Arduino shield boards. Video overlay shield shown. Don’t forget there is also an Arduino shield outline in the Dangerous Prototypes Eagle parts library (CC-0). […]

Test a Bus Pirate firmware compiled with MPLAB X

doegox compiled a Bus Pirate firmware with optimizations in MPLAB X. With optimizations enabled the main firmware can fit all the add-on modes. We need some help checking if the optimizations broke anything, please test it if you have an opportunity. You can get your own handy Bus Pirate for $30, including world-wide shipping. Also […]

Sure Electronics 0805 resistor and capacitor kit

We design around a standard list of parts, but sometimes a nasty analog circuit or bias pin requires a specific resistor or capacitor. The local electronics shop doesn’t sell 0805 or 0603, so that means a Mouser or Digikey order just to get an odd-value part. After the last time this happened, we wised up […]

Open source PIC USB demo for the IR Toy

Honken has an updated open source USB firmware for PIC microcontrollers. We ported the update to the IR Toy, you can load it up and test it yourself using the bootloader. This version is much more robust, and a number of bugs were squashed. The first character sent is no longer lost, and strings of […]

App note: Digitally controlled DC/DC converter

A digitally controlled DC to DC converter: You can easily add margining capability (digital adjustment of the output voltage) to a DC/DC converter by adding a 2- or 4-channel, I²C-adjustable current DAC (DS4402 or DS4404) at the converter’s feedback input. Because each DAC output is 0mA at power up, the extra circuitry is transparent to […]

Web Platform and FreeRTOS update

Want to try FreeRTOS on the web platform? Join the hacking in progress in the forum. Current projects include a script interface, Telnet server, hardware CRC, and other performance enhancements. Grab the FreeRTOS port for the web platform from SVN. Our SVN tutorial is here. Get an assembled web platform for $40, including worldwide shipping. […]

Bus Pirate and FlashRom saved my mainboard

MrHijet writes with a followup to our previous post, The Bus Pirate and Flashrom saved my mainboard: I already wrote something about the rescue of my computer in my blog, however it was written in german. I flashed my brand new core i7 mainboard as my processor wasn’t recognized correctly. After that, the mainboard was […]

Producing better documentation

NBitWonder sends us a meta how-to, documentation for producing better documentation: Documentation is fun!  Well… not really, but it’s a necessary evil if you plan to share your projects with the open-source community (or remember how you did something a year or two down the road).  Documentation may not be glamorous, but it’s an important […]

Bus Pirate PIC programming adapter sold out

The Bus Pirate PIC programming adapters we made for developers are already gone. Seeed Studio is working on a couple more, in case some potential developers missed out. We started with a cautious 20 units, just for developers. We expected 20 to last a long time, since it’s totally unsupported hardware. Now we’re wondering where […]

Logic Sniffer: Version 2.12a windows installer

The Gadget Factory has a new Logic Sniffer upgrader that streamlines the install and upgrade process: Installs the original Sump Java client and Jawi’s excellent alternative Logic Sniffer client. Automatically installs the Windows Device Drivers for the OLS. Places shortcuts on the Start Menu to Documentation, User Guide, and Tutorial Videos. Includes a menu based […]