Luca shows how to turn your Arduino with an Ethernet shield into a server. He goes over how to code your Arduino to handle HTML and HTTP protocols using strings. I’m going to show you a simple program that prints on serial connection browser‘s requests and answers with a simple HTML page. This program is […]
Category Archives: tutorials
Boot your PC with the Arduino using the Wake on Lan command
Luca explains how to boot your PC with a Wake on Lan command sent from an Arduino. Setup the WOL feature on your PC, then use the sendWOL() command to send a magic packet via and ENC28J60 ethernet chip: The wake command is issued sending on the network a specific packet, called Magic Packet. This […]
PCB ecthing at home using photo transfer method
Blondihacks wrote an in-depth tutorial on how to make PCBs made at home using pre-sensatived photo-PCBs. We especially liked the board design optimization for home etching tips. Wide traces, big vias, and using a ground plane are all strategies we use to get good DIY photo-transfer PCBs too. DIY etching is the fastest way to […]
SignalTap II integrates a logic analyser into your Altera FPGA projects
SignalTap II is a tool that embeds a logic analyzer into your FPGA project so you can see what is happening in the design. Kiran made a video tutorial on the basics using Altera’s Quartus II IDE. The advantage is that, there are no need to connect any wire or probe to the circuit. Every signal […]
A basic introduction to Phase Locked Loops
Kenneth was curious about Phase Locked Loops so he decided to dive into them. PLLs generate an output signal that is phase-synchronized to an input signal. They are widely used in telecommunication, radio, and computer systems. One place we commonly find PLLs is the frequency multiplier circuit inside microcontrollers. The inevitable next step was to […]
HOW-TO: Get your PCBs manufactured
The latest version of this tutorial is available on the documentation wiki. In the last few years many inexpensive PCB services have popped up. It used to be that buying PCBs in hobby quantities was expensive and filled with gotchas. Now, places like Seeed Studio can send your PCBs to the inexpensive prototyping factory in […]
Tutorial: using Ping ultrasonic sensor with Arduino
Tronixstuff has posted a tutorial explaining how to use the Parallax Ping sensor with Arduino. The Ping is an ultrasonic distance sensor from Parallax which retails or about $30. This segment is the latest in a series of Arduino tutorials posted by Tronixstuff.
Drag soldering with a GullWing tip
SparkysWidgets posted this drag soldering video in the comments of yesterday’s flux-off solder flux trials. He solders an FT232 IC with a Weller NTGW tipped soldering iron. These GullWing tips have a dimple in the tip that suck up excess solder, making it very easy to drag solder. Similar tips are also available for Pace […]
Dangerous Prototypes best practices for PCB and schematic design
For future projects we recently updated our best practices for designing schematics and PCBs. We compiled them to a wiki page, as well as some tips for using Cadsoft Eagle. Check them out below. Feedback and suggestions are welcome.
Using a ACS712 hall-effect current sensor
Raj made a two part tutorial on how to interface a PIC microcontroller with the ACS712 hall-effect current sensor. The first part covers hall-effect theory and basic operation of the ACS712. The second part covers the actual PIC interface, which is simply reading the output voltage of the sensor. Sensing and controlling current flow is […]
Getting an ATmega to light up some LEDs
Pete made an in depth tutorial on how to get started with ATmega microcontrollers. He covers how to read the datasheets and use them to write your firmware. Also covered are the initial stages of creating and programing a simple “blink LED” program in AVRstudio 5.1. In this Part 1 post, I’ll show how to […]
Using mikroC libraries to drive graphic LCDs
Raj made another tutorial on interfacing graphic LCDs with PIC microcontrollers. In his earlier post he covered how to setup the hardware and write your own firmware to drive these LCDs. This post covers how to use mikroC compiler libraries to do the same and more. Today’s discussion will focus more on using the built-in […]
Interfacing a DHT11 humidity and temperature sensor
Raj show how to interface his PIC16F breakout board with the DHT11 humidity and temperature sensors. The DHT11 uses a proprietary single-wire protocol, not Maxim’s 1-Wire (which we consider EOL). This articles discusses the DHT11 sensor which also provides calibrated digital outputs for temperature and humidity but is relatively lot cheaper than the Sensirion sensors. […]
Move pins on the fly on the Papilio FPGA board
Gadget Factory started a weekly series of tutorials for their Papilio FPGA development boards. This week they cover how to move IO pins around and change their assignments. Possibly the most exciting feature of the Papilio is the ability to shift peripheral functionality to any pin at any time, completely on the fly. Shifting SPI […]
First steps in designing projects with AVR microcontrollers
Pete made a nice tutorial on the fist steps of designing projects with AVR microcontrollers. He covers choosing the right uC for your project, finding datasheets, getting a programmer/debugger, and setting up the AVRStudio 5.1 for developing and debugging. In the wee hours of the night, I’ve been continuing to learn how to develop for […]
DIY double sided PCB with soldermask
Retromaster has honed his PCB making skills to get professional quality boards at home. He’s successfully made double sided PCBs with 8 mil trace width, with 6 mil clearance. In his guide he describes how to etch the PCB with toner transfer, how to use mechanical vias, and hot to apply soldermask paint.
Weekly tutorials on the Papilio FPGA development boards
Gadget Factory started a weekly series of tutorials for their Papilio FPGA development boards. First tutorial covers the board’s interface headers. The first topic? How the Papilio Wing Slot scheme works, did you know that you can address the Papilio pins using several different referencing schemes? If you are writing sketches you can address the […]
KS0108-based Graphic LCD overview
Raj shows how to interface GLCDs with KS0108 controllers to PIC uCs. He covers the protocol used, LCD memory mapping, and how to write up the firmware using microC compiler. The use of a graphical LCD (GLCD) drastically changes the look of your project. It provides more freedom for presenting data than the HD44870 based […]
Tutorial: play simple Arduino audio samples
David Mellis from the Arduino crew presents this tutorial on playing short audio samples using only the Arduino and a simple speaker. Using the PCM Library for Arduino, this project takes a short (4 second) audio sample of your choosing which you encode on your PC into MP3 format (down sampled to 8 KHz, 8-bit […]
Mini Thermal Printer from Adafruit
If you need a hardcopy compact printer for your next MCU project, check out Adafruit’s Mini Thermal Receipt Printer Starter Pack. This device takes TTL serial data at 19200 baud and prints out data and images. The starter pack lists for $61.95 and includes 50′ of thermal printer paper, a 5V 2A power supply and […]