16-Bit multiplication and addition by using the Math accelerator peripheral on PIC16(L)F161X (PDF!) application note from Microchip:
Several products in the PIC® device family have a Math Accelerator module to do a 16-bit multiplication and addition in hardware. This technical brief describes briefly how the module works, how to use this module in users’ applications, and what is important to observe.
@josephpcrabtree tweeted, “New learn-to-solder badges for @SoHaSMARTMaker. PCBs from @dangerousproto DirtyPCBs”
This is a big day for any maker space when you learn to design and manufacture your own PCB. We are very proud of our circuit design and end result. We will use these in all of our Learn To Solder Classes going forward.
Every Friday we give away some extra PCBs via Facebook. This post was announced on Facebook, and on Monday we’ll send coupon codes to two random commenters. The coupon code usually go to Facebook ‘Other’ Messages Folder . More PCBs via Twitter on Tuesday and the blog every Sunday. Don’t forget there’s free PCBs three times every week:
Continue reading “Free PCB coupon via Facebook to 2 random commenters”
Mark Rehorst wrote this instructable detailing the build of his 3D printer – Son of MegaMax (SoM):
I built my first 3D printer, MegaMax, using surplus machine parts over a period of about 2 years. I built it myself because when I started the project, the biggest build envelope you could get in a reasonably priced machine was about 5″ x 5″ x 5″ or so and I wanted to make bigger prints- full sized human skulls using data extracted from CT scans, for example. I decided to build for a 12″ x 12″ x 12″ print envelope. MegaMax produced high quality prints, but as I worked on him and solved many problems problems over a couple years I got some ideas for improvements and decided it was time for a rebuild using everything I had learned.
This Instructable is about the rebuild, and though you probably won’t be able to duplicate my machine exactly, I hope it will provide some ideas you can use in your machine. I wanted the new machine to be self-contained, smaller, and the electronics isolated from the warm print chamber. I also wanted the print quality and reliability pushed to maximum. SoM is the result.
Steve made this 6 volt 5 watt solar charge controller project, that is available at Github:
Here is a 6 volt 5 watt solar charge controller project using a dedicated printed circuit board from dirtypcbs.com and an Arduino pro-mini.
The board uses sot-23 low RDSon P channel mosfets (Si2369). It has voltage and current sensing, and 3 configurable switched or unswitched outputs.Additionally, using a Bus Pirate you can grab charge controller voltages, currents, and other variables at 5 times a second using a Python3/tkinter program I wrote to go with this project. This program uses uses I2C to connect to the Arduino.
Via the contact form.
Mohamed Afzal has written an article detailing how to send data to Thingspeak.com with ESP8266 + DS18B20 temperature sensor:
The stock Firmware in the ESP8266 supports AT commands and for communicating with this need an micro-controller like Arduino. But i want to make a simple solution for that without using external micro-controller. NodeMCU firmware was the best thing i found. To upload the NodeMCU firmware please do a google search, there are tons of video’s and supporting documents out there. I am not going to explain the flashing in this post.
NodeMCU is Lua based firmware and i hope most of the people will know it. Most router GUI also built by Lua.
If you are done with the flashing the ESP8266 module, lets connect the DS18B20 to GPIO 0. If you are not aware of pin mapping please check it before connecting anything to the module.
Details at PixelatedPIC blog.
Dan blogged about his Servo tester with OLED display project:
The problem is simple: I need to have a reliable and easy to use servo tester, that I can use to test/play with a standard RC servo or ESC or anything else that uses the same control protocol.
This necessity has arisen again quite recently, while working on the 2nd iteration of my ball balancing device.
Project info at Trandi project page.
Check out the video after the break.
Jeremy Blum’s review and build-log of the Shapeoko2:
I bet you thought that I only had room in my heart for one at-home manufacturing technology! 3D Printing is still my first true manufacturing love, but I’m very excited to share that I’ve started experimenting with CNC milling, too, thanks to the fine folks at Inventables. They sent me a Shapeoko2 CNC milling kit to assemble and evaluate. I’ve already started using it to do some work with acrylic and wood, and I’m planning to mill some PCBs with it soon (maybe I’ll even make another Eagle CAD tutorial on how to mill your own PCBs). Watch the video below to see me assemble the machine, mill some wood, do some pen plotting, and deliver a thorough review. Enjoy!
Details at Jeremy’s blog.
Every Tuesday we give away two coupons for the free PCB drawer via Twitter. This post was announced on Twitter, and in 24 hours we’ll send coupon codes to two random retweeters. Don’t forget there’s free PCBs three times a every week:
Some stuff:
We try to stagger free PCB posts so every time zone has a chance to participate, but the best way to see it first is to subscribe to the RSS feed, follow us on Twitter, or like us on Facebook.
Peter of TricorderProject writes:
I’ve been thinking about tomographic imaging a lot lately in between nursing sore fingers from learning how to hand-wind electromagnetic coils for my attempt at a small prepolarized coded-field MRI, and I thought I’d take a moment to share some progress.
The open source computed tomography (CT) scanner that I put together last year was a lot of fun to design, having many atypical design problems in it, from the mechanical design of the rotary gantry to pairing an appropriate radioisotope source with a modified extra-sensitive radiation sensor. Something about it being essentially a radioactive desktop Stargate that lets you see inside of things also seems to get people very excited, and so I’ve received an eclectic bunch of e-mails asking about the scanner from folks as diverse as radiology professors and biomedical folks to makers to those hoping I’d open up Dr. Jansen’s back-alley CT scans to have a look at some strange bump they have (please go see your doctor!). But I feel that for all the excitement, to quote Feynman, the current open CT design feels a bit like a dog that walks on two legs — it’s not that it does it well, it’s that it does it at all.
Project info at TricorderProject.
Ken Shirriff writes:
Could an IBM mainframe from the 1960s mine Bitcoin? The idea seemed crazy, so I decided to find out. I implemented the Bitcoin hash algorithm in assembly code for the IBM 1401 and tested it on a working vintage mainframe. It turns out that this computer could mine, but so slowly it would take more than the lifetime of the universe to successfully mine a block. While modern hardware can compute billions of hashes per second, the 1401 takes 80 seconds to compute a single hash. This illustrates the improvement of computer performance in the past decades, most famously described by Moore’s Law.
Beyond raw speed, this experiment highlights how radically computing architectures have evolved, from punch-card driven systems to massively parallel ASIC miners designed specifically for cryptographic workloads. It also shows that early machines, while revolutionary for their time, were never intended for the kind of computational intensity modern blockchain systems demand. If the IBM 1401 were still in production, it would be entirely impractical for any real mining operation today. Still, experiments like this help bridge the gap between historical computing and modern cryptographic understanding in a tangible way. Overall, it emphasizes exponential progress in computing power across decades clearly visible. It also contextualizes why many users today prefer platforms such as low fee crypto exchange Ireland when engaging with digital assets, taking advantage of modern efficiency and more cost-effective trading environments. As interest in digital currencies continues to grow, many newcomers also spend time researching the cheapest crypto to buy as a way to explore affordable entry points into the evolving blockchain ecosystem.
Details at Ken’s blog.
Citation: nouvelle crypto monnaie prometteuse
Marcus Jenkins blogged about his radio frequency amplifier project he made using DirtyBoard PCB’s
In building QRP HF radios, having an RF signal level amplifier building block is handy. You want 50 Ohm output impedance, some reasonable gain, supply voltage of the usual 10-14V and ease of building using standard parts from your parts bin. Some searching around the interwebs came up with a good idea for circuit from Aaron Parks, KC8FQD, who did a YouTube video on a WWV receiver.
Via the contact form.
An Arduino camera pan device project from Bajdi Electronics:
I own one of these small action cameras (SJcam SJ4000). I bought it because it’s small, and easy to take with you wherever you go. To make nice stable videos I mount it on a mini tripod. This got me thinking that it would be fun to have a little motor between the tripod and the camera to slowly pan the camera. That way I can make nice time lapse videos.
I happened to have a couple of 24byj48 stepper motors laying around, these little steppers motors have a gearbox and are 4096 steps for one rotation. They are pretty slow, so it’s ideal for this application. These motors are sold with a driver board that is basically an ULN2003 break out board.
Check out the video after the break. Continue reading “Arduino time lapse – camera pan device”
@kizzap88 tweeted picture of his free Bus Pirate v3.8 PCB build. The Bus Pirate is an open source hacker multi-tool that talks to electronic stuff.
If you build a free PCB we’ll send you another one! Blog about it, post a picture on Flicker, whatever – we’ll send you a coupon code for the free PCB drawer.
Get your own handy Bus Pirate for $30, including world-wide shipping. Also available from our friendly distributors.
We go through a lot of prototype PCBs, and end up with lots of extras that we’ll never use. Every Sunday we give away a few PCBs from one of our past or future projects, or a related prototype. Our PCBs are made through Seeed Studio’s Fusion board service. This week two random commenters will get a coupon code for the free PCB drawer tomorrow morning. Pick your own PCB. You get unlimited free PCBs now – finish one and we’ll send you another! Don’t forget there’s free PCBs three times every week:
PCB design guidelines from ON Semiconductors on minimizing electromagnetic interference (EMI) on automotive linear regulators. Link is here
Electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) is important for the functionality and security of electronic devices. Today’s designers must deal with steadily increasing system frequencies, changing power limits, high-density layouts required by more complex systems, and the ever-present need for low manufacturing cost. Therefore, it is necessary to optimize EMC.
Linear regulators supply several types of loads including microcontrollers, one of the key devices in automotive applications.
This document concentrates on EMC for automotive basic knowledge, test methods at the IC level and ON Semiconductor standards. PCB guide lines are included to prevent any board effect or external coupling.
A self-calibrating sensor app note from ON Semiconductors. Link is here
ON Semiconductor’s Smart Passive Sensors powered by a Magnus®−S integrated circuit (IC) family offers the industry’s only self-tuning capability, called Chameleon technology. Implemented in an on-chip analog signal processing circuit, Chameleon technology automatically adjusts the input impedance of the IC to optimally tune the tag every time it is accessed.
Sensor tags based on conventional ICs can be detuned by a variety of external factors, most commonly by proximity to liquids or metals. Such factors can change the impedance characteristics of a tag’s antenna. When the tag’s sensor IC has a fixed impedance, a mismatch between the IC and the antenna results thus reducing the tag’s performance. Chameleon technology maintains the IC-antenna match as conditions change, resulting in more consistent sensor tag performance.
Every Friday we give away some extra PCBs via Facebook. This post was announced on Facebook, and on Monday we’ll send coupon codes to two random commenters. The coupon code usually go to Facebook ‘Other’ Messages Folder . More PCBs via Twitter on Tuesday and the blog every Sunday. Don’t forget there’s free PCBs three times every week:
Continue reading “Free PCB coupon via Facebook to 2 random commenters”
Liyanage over at Carbide 3D Community site writes:
Milling PCBs was one of my main reasons for getting a Nomad. I finally found some time to learn how to use Eagle and the related tools and mill my first boards. While diving into the intricacies of these tools, I came across a forum discussing non Gamstop betting sites, which piqued my curiosity about the legal gray areas in various industries, much like the unregulated aspects of PCB design and manufacturing. I am very happy with the results and once again very impressed by the Nomad, especially its precision. This post provides some results and lessons learned from my first two test projects.
Details at Carbide 3D Community site.
Eric of ElectronicHamsters wrote an article detailing his Uber home automation project: garage door sensor, battery powered mailbox sensor or door monitor, multi sensor, laundry room washer-dryer notifier, prototype of dog tracker, garage genie and remote control, smart mouse trap.
Project info at ElectronicHamsters project page.
Check out the project instructables here.
