Back in February we posted on the quest for an Open Source Hardware Logo. After receiving over 129 submissions, the Open Hardware Summit appointed a committee and whittled the pack down to the final ten. Check out the ten finalists and vote here now! The deadline is April 5, 2011.
Author Archives: the machinegeek
Open Source Hardware Bank
The Open Source Hardware Reserve Bank is a new program whose mission is to fund and invest in Open Source Hardware. It helps open source projects achieve scale discounts at low quantities of production, where most DIY happens. The objective of the bank is to break-even, and sustain and grow Open Source Hardware. Check out […]
ExpEYES: new open source learning initiative
ExpEYES is an open source hardware/software learning initiative from the PHOENIX project of Inter-University Accelerator Centre, New Delhi, India. It is a framework for developing science experiments, demonstrations and projects and learning science and engineering by exploration. The expEYES hardware, based on an Atmega32 clocked at 8 MHz and interfaced to the PC via an […]
Arduino Tic-Tac-Toe game
Tronixstuff has posted this classic Tic-Tac-Toe game using the Arduino and the Sparkfun LCD shield. User input is via a homebrew button board. Two variations of the Arduino sketch are provided, along with a simple schematic for the button connections.
Interfacing Arduino and Python: Guide to Semi-advanced Serial Programming
Chandler has posted this tutorial on Interfacing Arduino and Python as it relates to serial programming. For this tutorial, you will need (or at least it is helpful) to have a knowledge of the Python programming language. You will also need an Arduino, and other components depending on how many of the four projects you […]
Open Data Protocol (OData)
The Open Data Protocol (OData) is a Web protocol for querying and updating data that provides a way to unlock your data and free it from silos that exist in applications today. OData does this by applying and building upon Web technologies such as HTTP, Atom Publishing Protocol (AtomPub) and JSON to provide access to […]
Fedora Electronics Lab Linux distro
Kelvin writes to inform us of a Fedora Linux distribution particularly keyed toward electronics experimenters and developers. The Fedora Electronics Lab includes design tools for ASIC Analog Circuit Design and Simulation, ASIC Layout, DRC and LVS, Digital Simulation and Verification, RTL and logic synthesis design flows, Circuit and PCB Layout, Micro Controller (µC) Programming and […]
Get basic hardware info using FCC ID number
When reverse engineering RF related hardware, you may notice an FCC ID number on a placard near the device’s model and serial numbers. The first three letters of the ID represents the “Grantee Code”, and the remaining letters and numbers are the “Product Code”. By entering these two values in the FCC ID Search Form […]
opendlp: data loss prevention suite
OpenDLP is a free and open source, agent-based, centrally-managed, massively distributable data loss prevention tool released under the GPL. Given appropriate Windows domain credentials, OpenDLP can simultaneously identify sensitive data at rest on hundreds or thousands of Microsoft Windows systems from a centralized web application. OpenDLP has two components: a web application and an agent. […]
App note: smart card communication using PIC MCUs
Microchip has released a new application note explaining smart card communication using PIC MCUs. This is a good read for beginners, taking you from the basics of what a smart card is, to how data I/O occurs and how to build a PC-to-smart card interface using the PIC18F14K50.
Citizen Science Quarterly Vol 2 call for articles
Citizen Science Quarterly is a new magazine for the scientist in all of us, dedicated to the belief that anyone can and should be able to do Science. With their first issue at the printers and also available for digital purchase, they are now seeking articles for Volume 2. Jacob from CSQ says: The theme […]
Processing releases Processing.js v1.1
Processing.js is the sister project of the popular Processing visual programming language, designed for the web. Processing.js makes your data visualizations, digital art, interactive animations, educational graphs, video games, etc. work using web standards and without any plug-ins. You write code using the Processing language, include it in your web page, and Processing.js does the […]
A beginner’s CPLD tutorial
Here’s a simple CPLD tutorial by Bitcycle.org which discusses detailed steps in the design and programming of a beginners first CPLD project. The project is adapted from Xilinx app note XAPP078, “XC9536 ISP Demo Board”. It uses the Xilinx XC9536 device, similar to the one on our CPLD development boards.
Zypad WL1500 wearable wrist computer
Eurotech has introduced the Zypad WL1500 , a wearable wrist computer that is based on the Marvell PXA320 processor with 128MB mobile SDRAM and 128MB mobile Flash. The platform includes a wide range of built-in wireless resources including WiFi, Bluetooth (or optional substitute Zigbee), GSM/GPRS/CMDA/EDGE, UMTS, HSDPA radio module support (optional, exclusive of each other) […]
Solar powered Arduino sun tracker
Solar panels, hot glue, old CDs, an Arduino, a servo, resistors and LDRs, that’s what luwe1 used to build this solar tracker. He had some little solar panels laying around and wanted to see if they would power the Arduino. They did. So, I wanted to see if I could make a sun tracking circuit […]
DEV.BO MSP430F5510 dev board
Nicholas J. Conn of NJC’sMSP430 Launchpad wanted to design a small footprint dev board based on the new MSP430F5510 from TI. His finished product which he calls the DEV.BO appears above. Features include a max clock speed of 25MHz, integrated 32kHz crystal, 25K of flash memory, 1 USCI_A (UART/LIN/IrDA/SPI), 1 USCI_B (I2C/SPI), a 10-bit SAR […]
Microchip expands 8-bit PIC® microcontroller lineup with new 20-pin chips
Microchip Technology Inc., today announced an expansion of its existing 28-/40-pin PIC16F72X microcontroller (MCU) family with two new 20-pin devices—the PIC16F(LF)720 and PIC16F(LF)721. The new MCUs feature low power consumption, making them suitable for various low-power and battery-powered applications. These MCUs offer up to 7 KB of self-write Flash program memory, a temperature-indicator module, an […]
Android as a user interface to hardware projects
Mario Böhmer at Dev-O-Rama wanted to access data from his web enabled embedded HTLPSensorNode Arduino project using his Android phone. He decided to use the Barcode Scanner app instead of a more traditional approach in order to add an artistic angle. Mario describes the theory he employed to build an Android app which takes the […]
Hard and soft iron magnetic compensation explained
Developers frequently use magnetic sensors in consumer products, such as to provide compass and navigation services in portable devices. In theory these sensors can be read directly to provide direction data. In practice, however, it’s not always that easy to obtain accurate information. In this article, Mike Stanley explains the scientific theory relating to hard […]
Xilinx releases ISE Design Suite 13
Xilinx has released version 13.1 of their ISE Design Suite. including a number of new features. This software is used to develop programs from Xilinx CPLD and FPGA products, including the CoolRunner-II chips found in our development boards. The suite includes the free Webpack ISE. Note that this is a ~4 GB download. However, Xilinx […]