Digi has announced the release of a WiFi version of the popular Xbee modules. They share a common XBee footprint with previous Xbee modules, and provide flexible SPI and UART serial interfaces. The product release sheet, getting started guide and other docs are available from the Digi docs page. Several models are available, including with […]
Category Archives: News
Hackerspace passports
Here’s a really cool idea: hackerspace passports. Mitch Altman, developer of the TV-B-Gone and Brain Machine, has designed a Hackerspace Passport, to provide official, non-government issued credentials to hackers, makers and time travelers visiting hackerspaces and cons throughout the solar system. He writes: I created Hackerspace Passports to: -help promote people visiting as many hackerspaces […]
Video: Hackers vs makers
Are you a hacker or a maker? If you answered “yes”, then you understand the proposition of this video. Intel_Jim gave this talk at Ignite Intel in Portland, OR on July 12, 2011, publicly explaining what we already know: that true hackers and makers are people who like to tinker with gadgets to make them […]
FBI analyzes new gadgets for surveillance potential
If you look with a suspicious eye at new technology, wondering whether that new phone or gadget has the potential to intrude on your privacy, you’re not alone. According to this 84 page FBI Tech Newsletter, the Bureau has been paying attention to emerging computer and telecommunications technologies and assessing them to determine whether they […]
ARISSat-1/KEDR test transmissions planned from ISS July 30-31
We know, we’ve been down this road before with the ARISSat-1, but this time they say it’ll work. Test transmissions from ARISSat-1/KEDR are scheduled to begin four days prior to deployment at 19:15 UTC on July 30 and then continue until 1430 UTC on July 31. The satellite will be connected to an external antenna […]
Radio Shack announces “The Great Create”
Radio Shack continues to pursue the DIY market: Welcome to The Great Create. We want to know what great creations you’ve come up with using RadioShack parts. Our goal is to gather the coolest projects from our most creative customers and share them here. So, show us what you’ve got and submit your project now. […]
CircuitBee schematic-tube
Ben Delarre writes to inform us of his new online library/archiving service for schematics: I’ve recently released CircuitBee which is a bit like YouTube, only for electronic schematics. It lets you upload KiCAD (or Eagle with the help of an export script) format schematics to our service, which then creates a web-embeddable version of them […]
MachXO2 Pico Development Kit promo II
For those who didn’t get in on the MachXO2 price break back in April, Lattice Semi is making the MachXO2 Pico Development Kits available again for $29 through December 31, 2011. (Regular price is $49.)
Protostack dev-board and programmer winner
Today we announce the winner of the Protostack ATmega168A development board and USBasp programmer. There were lots of great project ideas. Congratulations to oakkar7, his idea is to construct a digital signal generator with a key pad and LCD based on the AVR DSS: AVR DDS signal generator V2.0 is a firmware based DDS signal […]
New release: XILINX ISE Design Suite 13.2
Xilinx has announced the availability of their ISE Design Suite 13.2. While most of the improvements appear geared toward the 7 Series FPGA families, if you’re in need of the Xilinx software or just want to upgrade you’ll find downloads for Windows and Linux here. As a much appreciated courtesy, Xilinx is also making DVDs […]
Dangerous Prototypes: Interview with HotHardware
HotHardware has an interview with Dangerous Prototypes: Dangerous Prototypes is a two-year old organization with the stated mission of producing “one new open source project every month.” In its nearly two years in existence, DP has created about 30 projects, such as the Flash Destroyer. All are being sold by another interesting company, Seeed Studio. […]
Dangerous Prototypes: Interview with EDN
EDN published the first-ever article about Dangerous Prototypes. Open-source hardware suits kitchen-table start-up: Seeed Studio noticed an untapped need in the United States from engineers who have good ideas but lack the know-how and capital to start a production line. Seeed Studio’s first partner is Ian Lesnet, whose protocol debugger, Bus Pirate, became the first […]
xQFP breakout board back in stock
xQFP breakout boards are back in stock at Seeed Studio. These popular boards let you solder a surface mount chip and then use it with wires or breakout pins. 0.50mm is by far the most popular size. Available in 0.50mm, 0.65mm, and 0.80mm for $3.
Open source hardware business model study
Remo Abbondandolo studied open source hardware as a business model. The results are published in his Master’s thesis Open Source Hardware Fostering User Entrepreneurship: Empirical Evidence from Arduino Users. Where do we fit amongst giants like Adafruit and SparkFun? 3.2. Business Models in OSH Drawing on detailed information from company websites and interviews, and applying […]
The US wants YOU to help verify chip integrity
The US government’s intelligence community research arm, the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Agency or IARPA, is responsible for verifying the integrity of chips procured by the government and destined for mission critical national security applications. They are well aware that foreign suppliers can adulterate the supply of mission critical chips in various ways, including designing […]
Microchip announces new 16-bit PIC® MCUs & dsPIC® DSCs
Microchip Technology Inc. today announced a new series of 16-bit PIC® microcontrollers (MCUs) and dsPIC® Digital Signal Controllers (DSCs) that bring advanced control to cost-sensitive general-purpose and motor-control designs. The general-purpose dsPIC33FJ16 “GP” devices include a Real-Time Clock/Calendar and up to 21 general-purpose output pins, making them ideal for driving intelligent sensors. The dsPIC33FJ16 and […]
Get ready to drive your robo car in Nevada!
As a result of recent legislation, Nevada has become the first US state to allow driverless, autonomous vehicles on public roadways. The Nevada legislature passed Assembly Bill 511 which allows the operation of “autonomous vehicles”, defined as: a motor vehicle that uses artificial intelligence, sensors and global positioning system coordinates to drive itself without the […]
Radio Shack listened: kits now in stock
Radio Shack is now selling educational electronics kits. Walk in in to your nearest store and you will find about 20 kits ranging small (transistor)blinky to a USB Experiment Interface Board with a Microchip pic18. the kits are manufactured by Velleman, and come with all through-hole components, so a beginner can solder together a kit […]
Seeed Studio 3rd anniversary sale
Seeed Studio is having a happy hour sale for their 3-Year anniversary: Seeedstudio turns 3 years old next month, and because this is such a special event we’ve decide to launch our “Happy Hour” to celebrate with all our fans out there. What this means is that for couple hours every day from July 6th […]
Lattice launches “Do-It-All PLD” design challenge
Lattice Semiconductor Corporation and UBM Electronics have announced the Lattice “Do-it-All PLD” Design Challenge. The objective of the Design Challenge is to foster a social community in which electronics engineering contestants can use the Lattice MachXO2™ Pico Development Kit to create designs for evaluation by a panel of expert judges. The Design Challenge will take […]