At recent international trade shows Epson debuted the S4E5A0A0 Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU). An inertial measurement unit senses inertial motion consisting of angular rate sensors on three axes and accelerometers in three directions. IMUs are primarily used to measure and control the behavior of mobile objects. The IMU includes triple gyroscopes and a tri-axis accelerometer, […]
Category Archives: Chips
TMP006 IR temperature sensor pictures and tests
Joe posted pictures of the single-chip digital IR temperature sensor covered earlier. jbeal has measurement tables and first impressions in the forum: I got the eval kit for the TI TMP006 sensor mentioned here last week. It does seem to be able to detect the presence of my hand (apparently about 37 C), when I […]
Single-chip digital IR temperature sensor
Joe writes: TI have announced a tiny (1.6mm sq), low power and low cost (~$2) IR temperature sensor Enables contactless temperature measurement in portable and consumer electronic applications Developed through TI’s expertise in MEMS technology, the TMP006 is the first of a new class of ultra-small, low power, and low cost passive infrared temperature sensors. […]
IBM unveils graphene chip
As detailed in this report, IBM has announced their first graphene integrated circuit. Graphene’s structure of one-atom-thick planar sheets of sp2-bonded carbon atoms that are densely packed in a honeycomb crystal lattice make it one of the thinnest semiconductor materials. Further development using graphene should open the door to greater practicality of flexible electronics. While […]
MIC4811: High Current 6 Channel Linear WLED Driver with DAM™ and Ultra Fast PWM™ Control
Micrel has announced the availability of the MIC4811 High Current 6 Channel Linear WLED Driver with DAM™ and Ultra Fast PWM™ Control. The MIC4811/MIC4812 are high efficiency linear White LED (WLED) drivers designed to drive up to six high current WLEDs for signage lighting. The MIC4811/MIC4812 provide the highest possible efficiency at low source voltages […]
Microchip expands low pin count, enhanced mid-range 8-bit PIC® microcontroller family
Microchip recently announced the latest additions to its Enhanced Mid-Range core 8-bit PIC® microcontroller (MCU) family, the low pin count PIC12F(LF)1840 and PIC16F(LF)1847. Features include MI2C, SPI, and EUSART (w/auto baud) interfaces, and an ECCP (Enhanced/Capture Compare PWM) Module, along with the usual ADC, DAC, capacitive touch sensor channels, 256 bytes of EEPROM and In […]
Si4707 weather band radio receiver ICs
NashblackCat writes to inform us of a chip that reads weather radio data: Silicon Laboratories makes an IC Weather Band (WB) radio called the Si4707. This IC is capable of using the specific area message encoding (SAME) and also supports the detection of the 1050Hz alert tone that is used by the National Weather Service. […]
Practical MC13224 firmware extraction
Travis Goodspeed wrote this article on his blog detailing his extraction of firmware from the MC13224 that had been read protected. This is the same MCU used in the Defcon 18 badge and the Redwire Econotag. He presents two methods. In one he decaps the SPI flash memory chip using nitric acid, then removes and […]
TI’s ultra-low-power MSP430FR57xx FRAM microcontrollers
TI has has announced their MSP430FR57xx ultra-low-power ferroelectric random access memory (FRAM) line of 16-bit microcontrollers. Their stated benefits are the ability to write data more than 100 times faster with power consumption of 250 times less than flash- and EEPROM-based microcontrollers. They are also code compatible with other MSP platforms. The on-chip FRAM allows […]
What does a $7,500 dev kit look like?
We’re all familiar with CPLD and FPGA. Now Tabula, Inc., has debuted their line of 3PLD chips. Known as the ABAX product family and presently targeted primarily at communications equipment vendors, the chips are said to employ an innovative architecture called Spacetime that enables the devices to achieve superior density and capability for logic, memory, […]
MachXO2 Pico Development Kit promo
Remember the Lattice MachXO2 PLD we mentioned back in December? Well the MachXO2 Pico Development Kits are now available from Lattice Semi! The MachXO2 Pico Development Kit features the MachXO2 LCMXO2-1200ZE device, 1 Mbit SPI Flash, I2C temperature sensor, an expansion header for JTAG, SPI, I2C and GPIO interfaces, an LCD display and capacitive touch […]
Voltage threshold chart
Many 5volt chips will working with the output from a 3.3volt part. An example is the Arduino, it sees 3volts or more as a ‘1’. A 3.3volt device with 5volt tolerant pins, such as the Bus Pirate, can interact with an Arduino despite the voltage difference. This table shows common logic threshold voltage levels and […]
555 adding machine
Alan Yates had always been fascinated with decadic dialing mechanisms. He also had been thinking about building a ring-counting Nixie or neon bulb clock. So when it came time to submit a project to the 555 Contest, he combined these interests along with 102 LM555 timers to build this decimal adding machine. The circuit includes […]
Chip powers LED lamps in MR16 halogen bulb systems
This driver is used in LED replacement lamps for MR16 halogen bulb sockets. It’s compatible with common dimmers: The MAX16840, an LED driver that employs a proprietary architecture to ensure flicker-free, dimmable operation with electronic transformers and cut-angle dimmers. Maxim’s patent-pending approach enables the design of retrofit LED lamps that can replace halogen MR16s without […]
Bosch Sensortec BMP085 pressure sensor tests
In a comment on our STMicroelectronics MEMS pressure sensor post, jbeale offers his tests of the Bosch Sensortec BMP085 pressure sensor: The Bosch Sensortec BMP085 is slightly larger (5×5 mm) and has been out for some time. In its highest sensitivity mode it offers 0.01 hPa resolution and 0.03 hPa noise level. (Note: 1 millibar […]
14bit 125MSPS low-power ADC
MichaelZ tipped us to the ADS9412x a 14-/12-Bit, 65/125MSPS, ultralow-power analog to digital converter: • Ultralow Power with 1.8V Single Supply: – 103mW Total Power at 65MSPS – 153mW Total Power at 125MSPS • Programmable Gain up to 6dB for SNR/SFDR Trade-Off • DC Offset Correction • Differential input voltage range 2 VPP Thanks McZ!
MAX2209A RF power detector
The MAX2209A is an efficient and fast RF power detector: Fast RF step-response allows faster tracking of the output envelope, ensuring more efficient and more accurate PA control Shutdown feature allows lower overall current consumption Small size saves board space You can check out the complete datasheet. Thanks rsdio!
More MAX3421E USB peripheral/host controller shields
Circuits@Home has two Arduino USB Peripheral/Host Controller shields with the MAX3421E we covered earlier. A driver is available for the Arduino, which should be portable to other microcontrollers. There are also libraries for working with USB devices, such as cameras, bluetooth devices, and simple Human Interface Devices like mice and keyboards.
555 timer Easter egg?
What’s in a name? David L. Jones of EEVBlog thinks he’s found an Easter egg in the performance characteristics of the 555 timer chip which reveals the basis of the “555” in its name. Build his circuit (schematic at video 13:25), fire up the scope and see if you agree!
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 […]