Richard over at ESP8266 CommunityForum writes, “I have setup a new section for ESP8266 Arduino as IGRR and myself have successfully ported the Arduino IDE over to the ESP8266 and have it all working very nicely now. ESP8266 Arduino and the code is on github, we have also set up a compilation server and executables will also be available for download. So go to town and start writing Arduino code the ESP8266! Get your ideas off the ground in no time! FAST!”
Tomasz Watorowski has published a new build, a NE612 RTL SDR Upconverter:
This is a simple yet completely functional upconverter for the popular SDR donlge. The construction was build around cheap and easily obtainable mixer IC marked as NE 612, manufactured by Phillips Semi. Despite its limitations, it performs outstandingly well, at least when price-to-quality factor is discussed. This IC is used to upconvert 0-30MHz to a region acceptable by SDR dongle: 100-130MHz, all of that was achieved by employing a 100MHz 4-pin crystal generator.
Project details at MightyDevices site.
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:
Application note(PDF) specific on microcontroller EMC from ST Microelectronics.
Electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) must be taken into account at the very beginning of a project as the cost of correcting an EMC problem encountered at the start of production can be far greater that the cost of a detailed EMC study during the development phase of an application.
The use of microcontroller-based systems is increasingly wide-spread, especially in such areas as consumer, industrial and automotive applications, where the drive for cost reduction is the common trend. This emphasis on cost reduction and the increasing complexity of such systems requires the manufacturers of semiconductor components to develop highly integrated, single chip, high operating frequency microcontrollers using the highest density technology possible. Unfortunately, for semiconductor structures, the higher the density and the faster the operation, intrinsically the higher the level of electrical noise generated, and the increased sensitivity to spikes induced from external noise. Therefore, the PCB layout, the software and the system must now apply EMC “hardening” techniques in their design.
This note aims to provide guidelines for designers of microcontroller-based applications so that the optimum level of EMC performances can be achieved.
Application note(PDF) on EMC from ST Microelectronics.
Because many electronic circuits are in proximity to each other, it is essential that their design is not affected by external noise sources and that the circuit itself is not a noise source affecting other circuits. This relationship is known as electromagnetic compatibility or EMC.
Sources of electromagnetic noise are numerous and have both natural and man-made origins. Natural sources below 10 MHz are dominated by the atmospheric noise generated by electrical storms. Above 10 MHz, natural sources consist primarily of cosmic noise and solar radiation.
Man-made noise include AM, FM, TV and other broadcast transmitters, mobiles radios but also computing devices, motors, appliances, power lines, auto ignition systems and many others. With the proliferation of these sources (particularly in urban areas), electromagnetic noise has reached important levels.
PunchThrough has released support for Node-RED to connect their LightBlue Bean modules to the Internet. According to the developer, the move allows for easy creation of fully interactive Internet accessible devices that can serve consumers, educators, students, artists, marketers and businesses looking to leverage mobile and the web.
Node-RED is a free tool for wiring together hardware devices, APIs and online services in new and interesting ways. Running on Mac and Linux computers – including the low-cost Raspberry Pi – Node-RED allows users to easily create flows by dragging and dropping “nodes” to build actions and reactions.
Continue reading “Arduino compatible LightBlue Bean adds Node-RED support”
If the earlier Arduino projects weren’t your cup of tea, try out this Automatic 3D Printed Tea Brewer. 24 Hour Engineer Brian McEvoy designed this project which uses the Arduino to control a servo which dunks the tea bag for a predetermined length of time for perfect brew control. The LCD readout provides information about the brewing time for various teas.
The Automatic Tea Maker is powered by the USB cable. The device clips to the side of your tea cup. When the dial on the device is turned, the display will tell you how long you need to wait while your tea is steeping. McEvoy’s evident loathing of oversteeped tea led him to include this feature. The text at the top of the display will tell you what kind of tea is steeped for that length of time, but here’s the caveat according to McEvoy: “These times are not universally agreed upon.”
The mechanical supporting parts are 3D printed.
Details, code and STL files can be found at Brian’s Instructables page.
Via 3DPrint.com.
It’s Arduino Day and Alex Sanchez at opensource.com, has posted a roundup of Arduino activities and projects for all skill levels from beginner to advanced. You can open your door, make a pot of coffee and catch Pokemon’s all with Arduino! Check it out at opensource.com.
Operational amplifier applications using 8-Bit PIC microcontrollers (PDF!) from Microchip:
This document aims at uncovering some of the more important parameters of the op amp and the significance in certain applications. Specific examples and case studies of applications using the on-chip op amp of the PIC16F families of microcontrollers will be discussed. A comparison of the characteristics of the op amp on PIC16F will be done with the stand-alone op amps like MCP602 and TL082.
DirtyPCBs two layer ENIG PCB review by manis404:
The standard service is $14 for 10 boards. You can have the pads ENIG finished for $15 more, which brings the total cost to $29 for 10 boards, shipped. It is still an excellent deal. The quality is excellent too, as the closeups below illustrate.
See more closeup photos at the io page.
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”
Steven Hickson writes:
Introducing videolooper 3.0! This image is compatible with the A,B,B+, and B 2 versions.
I have a brand new version of the Raspberry Pi Videolooper that is compatible with the new B V2 and has a bunch of new features that streamline it for easy use.
It can now loop one video seamlessly (without audio though) thanks to a solution from the talented individual over at Curioustechnologist.com
Source code available on Github.
More details at Steven’s blog.
Peter wrote an article detailing his prototype solder-paste extruder:
The prototype that I put together is more of a sketch in hardware to help me appreciate the issues of paste extrusion, and help hammer out a design. Instead of using a plunger, I’ve used a very long lead screw that acts as the plunger, and has a gear atop with a captive nut to transfer force. The gear is driven by a Parallax continuous rotation servo, which I thought I’d try given that it simplifies the design by having an integrated gear box (which gives it lots of torque), and it can be directly driven by a microcontroller rather than requiring a separate stepper driver.
More details at Tricorder Project.
Martin writes:
The rumors for RFM12B’s end-of-life two years ago seem to have been highly exaggerated now and the popular RF module is still available in abundance. HopeRF has introduced a pin-compatible upgrade, the RFM69CW. The module itself offers improved sensitivity and range compared to the RFM12B (+30%) at the cost of increased power consumption, making it probably a good choice for the receiving end (RFM2Pi), and probably less suited for low power battery operated nodes. The new module supports RSSI for those interested in measuring it.
The new module is more power hungry, and simply replacing a RFM12B on the RFM2Pi v2 or a Funky v3 with it didn’t work; The boards browned out so I had to swap C4 and C7 on the RFM2Pi with 10uF caps and populate the 0805 10uF on Funky v3’s boost regulator circuitry to get it to work. I’ll ship the boards with these refinements from now on so that they are compatible with both the RFM12B and RFM69CW.
The Energia team announces the availability of version 0101E0015:
The Energia team is very happy to announce the release of Energia 15. This release aside from bug fixes adds support for the new Texas Instruments ARM Cortex M4F based MSP432 LaunchPad. This time around it’s a bit different though. The MSP432 Wiring/Energia framework is based on TI-RTOS. What does this mean? Basing the MSP432 implementation on TI-RTOS takes the Wiring / Energia framework to a whole new level. With this new feature you will be able to run multiple Sketches in parallel. Yes, in parallel! How awesome is that?!
The example we like to use is the problem of blinking multiple LED’s at a different rate. Easy enough you would think? Now imagine what that Sketch would look like. Not so easy huh? Now imagine that you have multiple tabs in Energia with their own setup/loop that run in parallel (Sketches). You can now have multiple tabs each running their own blinky Sketch as a task under TI-RTOS. This is just a simple example. Imagine that you can have multiple tabs doing different things like posting to the internet on one tab while reading sensor date on the other and printing Serial data on yet another tab. All in parallel. These are some ways to use Energia MT that we came up with. We would love to see and hear about what you can come up with! With this release, Energia MT is supported on the MSP432 but the following releases will support the Energia MT for CC3200, TivaC and MSP430 LaunchPads. Learn more about multitasking @ Energia MT
Downloads are available for Linux, Mac OSX and Windows.
Richard Visokey of AD7C made a DDS VFO using AD9850 and an Arduino Uno:
I built a simple VFO for a direct conversion receiver I am putting together. The VFO uses an AD9850 DDS chip to synthesis a nice 1Vp-p sinusoidal wave. I used an Arduino Uno to set the AD9850 frequency, drive an LCD display, and take input from a rotary encoder to set the output frequency.
Project info at AD7C.
Check out the video after the break.
Introducing MSP432: MSP’s new low-power 32-bit ARM® Cortex®-M4F MCUs
TI is announcing an expanded MSP portfolio including a new family of 32‐bit processors built on the ARM Cortex‐M4F core. The first family includes the MSP432P401x MCUs with 48MHz speed, 1MSPS 14‐bit ADC, up to 256KB flash, up to 64B RAM and low‐power operation of only 95uA/MHz active and 850nA in standby with RTC.
MSP432 FAQ here.
Via 43oh.
Do you always forget your umbrella whenever it rains? No more! Jeremy Blum shows you how to easily make a RainCloud Umbrella Minder:
The RainCloud is a web-connected smart umbrella holder. Built around the LittleBits Cloud Bit, the RainCloud allows you to tell with a glance if you need to bring your umbrella with you for the day! A 3D-printed stand holds the umbrella, and features a subtle EL-wire pattern that illuminates if rain is imminent. If you’re very forgetful, the RainCloud will even ping your phone to inform you that you’ve left your umbrella behind if you leave home without it on a potentially rainy day.
Check out the video after the break.
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.
Erich of MCUonEclipse writes, “In case you are using Altium to design your boards, then this one might be useful for you. I have have posted the Altium .SchLib and .PcbLib files on GitHub here”
Details at MCU on Eclipse.
