“This application note describes the techniques to mitigate the issues caused by moisture in QTouch designs. (PDF!)” The basic conductive nature of water poses a great challenge to capacitive touch technology. This is aggravated by the varying salinity of water and the presence of impurities. Water accumulation can occur in a variety of unpredictable ways, […]
Category Archives: app notes
Decompensated operational amplifiers
“This video by Analog Devices’ Matt Duff explains why a few operational amplifiers (op amps) on the market are not stable at low gains, but are stable at higher gains.”
App note: Temperature sensor design guide
Temperature sensor design guide: In many systems, temperature control is fundamental. There are a number of passive and active temperature sensors that can be used to measure system temperature, including: thermocouple, resistive temperature detector, thermistor and silicon temperature sensors. These sensors provide temperature feedback to the system controller to make decisions such as, over-temperature shutdown, […]
Tips and tricks for microcontroller programming and debugging
This video by Johndoe271828 shows three tips for microcontroller programming and debugging.
App note: EEPROM emulation using flash
Here’s is a video describing the basic concepts of using Freescale flash memory to emulate EEPROM.
App note: Water-resistant capacitive sensing
This application note describes a new hardware sensing method which is resilient to water drops appearing on the surface of the touch sensing area.
App note: Using the deep under-voltage recovery mode (DUVR)
AVR354: Using the Deep Under-Voltage Recovery Mode (DUVR) [PDF!] DUVR mode represents the intelligent pre-charge mode for Atmel’s smart battery microcontrollers ATmega16HVA, ATmega8HVA, ATmega8HVD and ATmega4HVD. It is intended for controlled charging of cells even when the cell voltage is below the minimum operating voltage of the chip. The charging is done without using a […]
Atmel AVR042: AVR hardware design considerations
This app note discusses common problems encountered when starting designs involving AVR microcontrollers: This application note has been written to provide answers to some of the questions and problems faced when starting designs involving Atmel®AVR® microcontrollers. The application note treats topics that are known to cause problems. The scope is to provide an introduction to […]
NiMH trickle charger with status indication
NiMH trickle charger with status indication: In spite of the considerable media attention to the concept of recyclable power sources, usage of rechargeable Nickel-Metal Hydride (NiMH) cells has been limited. The combined charger and cell cost have been a mitigating factor in favour of primary cells. The high internal impedances of primary cells are not […]
Stability 101: Loop gain in operational amplifiers
This video by Analog Devices’ Matt Duff discusses the key term, loop gain, in determining whether an operational amplifier circuit is stable.
How I2C isolators work
How I2C isolators work: Watch this video to learn how the ADuM1250/ADuM2250 iCoupler® digital isolators use a three level logic system developed by Philips specifically for I2C to implement bidirectional data transfer.
App note: Resistive bridge basics – Part One
Part One – Resistive bridge basics: Bridge circuits are a time-honored way to make accurate measurement of resistance and other analog values. This article covers the basics of bridge circuits and shows how to use them to make accurate measurements in practical environments. It details the key concerns of bridge-circuit applications such as noise, offset […]
Microchip capacitive proximity design guide
Microchip capacitive proximity design guide: This application note describes how to use the Microchip capacitive sensing solution to implement a capacitive-based proximity detector, provide hardware layout guidelines and analyze several factors that can have an impact on the sensitivity.
App note: USB HID lithium-ion battery charging via USB with ATmega16/32U4
This app note discusses how to use the Atmel® EVK527 evaluation kit to charge Lithium-Ion (Li-Ion) batteries using USB connection as power supply: This document (PDF!) describes an application running on the Atmel EVK527 evaluation kit. The EVK527 is dedicated to the Atmel ATmega16/32U4. The USB offers a 5V power supply on the VBUS pin. […]
Texas Instruments: Antenna selection quick guide
Here’s an antenna selection guide from Texas Instruments. What we find interesting are the various comparisons of 2.4 GHz wireless antennas and the linked documents which describe how to design them.
App note: Joystick game controller reference design
Atmel AT01095: Joystick game controller reference design This document (PDF!) shows the implementation of a joystick game controller based on the Atmel ATxmega32A4U microcontroller. This design allows users to control the mouse cursor and simulate left/right clicks from a personal computer (PC) or laptop via push buttons on the joystick of a game controller.
Noise of a Non-inverting Operational Amplifier Circuit
This video discusses the total noise of a non-inverting Operational Amplifier (Op Amp) circuit by Analog Devices’ Matt Duff.
App note: Bit Banging I2C on mid-range MCUs with the XC8 C compiler
Bit Banging I2C on mid-range MCUs with the XC8 C compiler: This application note is intended to serve as a reference for communicating with Microchip’s 24XXXX series Serial EEPROM devices without relying on a hardware serial port to handle the I2C operations.
App note: Getting started with a radio design
Getting started with a radio design: The process of designing a radio system can be complex and often involves many project tradeoffs. With a little insight, balancing these various characteristics can make the job of designing a radio system easier. This tutorial explores these tradeoffs and provides details to consider for various radio applications. With […]
App note: Using MCP6491 Op Amps for photodetection applications
This app note discusses how to detect the intensity, position, color and presence of light: Low input bias operational amplifiers (op amps) are often required for a wide range of photodetection applications, in order to reduce current error and improve the accuracy of the output signal.