rsdio tipped us to an app note on precision current sink and source circuits:
The precision current mirrors shown allow you to transform one type of 4–20mA transmitter to another, or to create a repeater for the purpose of extending the length of the current loop. The circuits include an input-sink/output-sink mirror and an input-source/output-source mirror.
Thanks rsdio!
EETimes has posted their video of the teardown of the Azio USB 3.0 3.5″ HDD enclosure, one of the first devices using USB 3.0 (4 Gb/sec.), with a street price of about $25 USD.
The nRF24LE1 is a single chip radio that can be used with a microcontroller for low power wireless stuff. It has lots of extras like an ultra low power analog comparator for voltage level system wake-up. Nordic Semiconductor provides an RF protocol stack and applications for microcontrollers.
Via MDFLY.
This amplifier with an analog voltage multiplier could be useful in a bench power supply:
Combining a high-side current-sense amplifier with an analog voltage multiplier, the MAX4211 can easily measure the power dissipated in a load. One multiplier input connects to the load voltage, and the other to an internal analog of the load current—that is, a proportional voltage produced by the internal current-sense amplifier. The multiplier output (VLIL) is then a voltage proportional to load power.
Thanks rsdio!
McZ found a sim card reader with integrated voltage translation:
The TXS02326 is a complete dual-supply standby Smart Identity Module (SIM) card solution for interfacing wireless baseband processors with two individual SIM subscriber cards to store data for mobile handset applications. It is a custom device which is used to extend a single SIM/UICC interface to be able to support two SIMs/UICCs.
FEATURES
• Level Translator
– V_I/O Range of 1.7 V to 3.3 V
• Low-Dropout (LDO) Regulator
– 50-mA LDO Regulator With Enable
– 1.8-V or 2.95-V Selectable Output Voltage
– 2.3-V to 5.5-V Input Voltage Range
– Very Low Dropout: 100 mV (Max) at 50 mA
• Control and Communication Through I2C Interface With Baseband Processor
• ESD Protection Exceeds JESD 22
– 2000-V Human-Body Model (A114-B)
– 1000-V Charged-Device Model (C101)
• Package – 24-Pin QFN (4 mm x 4 mm)
Thanks McZ!
In this advanced app note Microchip details the theory behind converting solar energy into usable electric power. Starting with a discussion of the electrical characteristics of photovoltaic (PV) cells, they move onto the tech behind inverters and the mathematics involved with their proper design and use. Finally a microinverter reference design is presented, using a single Microchip dsPIC33F ‘GS’ series device (dsPIC33FJ16GS504) to control power flow from the PV panel to the commercial power grid. The complete reference design and source code will be made available for download on the Microchip site for this newly released note.
This is not an app note you can use to develop a project using spare components on a Saturday afternoon. Rather, it highlights the theory and component design considerations which go into the development of real life grid-connected solar power solutions which are becoming increasingly significant.
Drone tipped us to the cheap development board for Kinetis MCUs:
Freescale has a neat looking “Kinetis KWIKSTIK” dev kit for $29 USD. This looks like an ARM Cortex M4(?) with LCD, audio out, IR, Mic, buzzer, SDCard, JTAG, & USB. The dev tools don’t look exactly FOSS though (typical).
Looks kinda’ cool. Would be a steal for ten bucks less maybe?
Marketing hype:
The KWIKSTIK is an ultra low-cost, all-in-one development tool for evaluating, developing and debugging Kinetis MCUs. It features the K40X256VLQ100 (144LQFP) MCU with USB, Touch Sensing and Segment LCD functionality. The KwikStik development tool can be used standalone or integrated with the Freescale Tower System. The on-board Segger™ J-Link™ debug interface allows the user to evaluate the features of the on-board Kinetis K40 MCU or to develop, debug and program their own target hardware based on any Kinetis MCU.
Thanks Drone! Via contact form.
Tronixstuff has posted a tutorial explaining how to implement IR remote control in an Arduino project. His demo uses the Vishay TSOP4138 IR receiver and his own downloadable IRremote library for Arduino.
This segment is the latest in a series of Arduino tutorials posted by Tronixstuff.
Don’t forget to share your current project in the comments or the forum. This week our favorite project gets a free QFP protoboard.
Here’s a summary of major developments over the last week:
April already?
What are you hacking this week?
Dino from Hack A Week posted his first project for April Fool’s day, “Screaming Altoids“:
I decided to create “Hack A Week”!
This is no April Fool’s day joke, it’s real. I’ll be posting one project a week for at least the next year! Big challenge yes, but also lots of fun! Stop in and see the first project for April Fool’s day, “Screaming Altoids”.
First episode video is below the break.
Via the forum.
Thanks NBitWonder! Via the contact form.
Chris built a Tupperware turret airsoft gun:
This “Tupperware Turret” is a highly modified airsoft pistol put onto a pan and tilt platform with a turret cover. It rotates, tilts up and down and has precise fire control. Control is done wirelessly with a generic TV remote control.
Thanks Chris! Via the contact form.
MichaelZ started a list of Cadsoft Eagle tips and tricks. Learn something new, or share your tricks, in the forum.
We’ll keep the wiki updated with your contributions.
Thanks McZ!
flubberlab made an alternate firmware for the Bus Pirate with extended support for the SUMP logic analyzer protocol. This firmware works with the latest Jawi client and has lots of features:
Sample clock source (32 MHz CPU clock):
- Internal, 5.9 Hz to 108.8 kHz, jitter = -0/+250 ns
- External (via AUX pin), rising or falling, 0 Hz to 100.6 kHz, jitter = -0/+563 ns (falling), -0/+625ns (rising)
Trigger:
- Parallel only
- Conforms to SUMP basic trigger system (4 sum terms, each with mask/value/delay/level/action)
- Stages are evaluated sequentially, i.e. 1-2-3-4, on each sample
Other
- Sample buffer is pre-filled with telltale data (0,1,2…255,0,1…) to help indicate when a trigger occurs before the pre-trigger buffer is filled.
- OLS internal test mode supported (data = 0,1,2…255,0,1…)
Firmware is available in the forum, load it with the normal Bus Pirate upgrade method.
Get your own handy Bus Pirate for $30, including world-wide shipping. Also available from our friendly distributors.
Midnight Mountain Standard Time TONIGHT (March 31, 2011) is the deadline to enter the MPLAB® X Beta Sweepstakes! Microchip appreciates your feedback on MPLAB X and wants to reward you! Enter to win a variety prizes when you complete this sweepstakes form and you could win MPLAB X t-shirts, coffee mugs, playing cards and more! Winners will be chosen randomly.
Download your copy of MPLAB® X Beta here.
The large CPLD schematic library guide posted yesterday contains a lot of reference material to digest. You may be wondering just how to get started with writing program files using the Xilinx ISE WebPACK software package. We found this concise tutorial by Digilent, Inc. covering the basics of creating a CPLD program using the schematic entry method.
Note that this tutorial was written for use with a Digilent Nexys2 FPGA dev board. The differences to note when using our CPLD dev boards are on the New Project Wizard/Device Properties Screen, where you are asked to specify the Device Family, Device and Package. For the XC9572XL board, the Device Family is XC9500XL CPLDs, the Device is XC9572XL and the Package is VQ44; for the CoolRunner-II board, the Device Family is CoolRunner2 CPLDs, Device is XC2C64A and Package is VQ44. Also, for CPLDs you will not need to set the Startup Clock options on page 15 of the tutorial.
Here’s a keyboard-glove prototype in development by Jeff Rowberg. The Keyglove is a glove-based USB input device that provides full keyboard control, designed for wearable and mobile computing and to assist the disabled.
According to Jeff:
The Keyglove is a portable Arduino/AVR-powered glove that uses touch combinations (for keys) and an accelerometer (for the mouse) to generate keyboard and mouse control codes using only one hand. Once learned, the glove can easily be used without looking, making it perfect for embedded/wearable environments. The glove is thin and light, built to allow other activities (such as writing) without being in the way. The current design also incorporates Bluetooth wireless connectivity, a rechargeable lithium polymer battery, simple vibration feedback, audio feedback, and a tri-color status indicator LED.
Instructions, including BOM and code can be found on the build page. You can read more about the Keyglove project at the Kickstarter home page.
Our favorite tools have a new home on the wiki. Each week we’ll muse about one of them. Have your own tool review? We’ll post that too!
Hardware hackers build up a sizable collection of parts over time. Keeping them well organized makes it faster and easier to stuff prototype boards. We started out with a heap of silver anti-static bags, but it’s really hard to find the parts you need in a pile. This tool post looks at our storage strategy for a growing collection of parts.
This chest of small drawers holds the most common 0805, 0603, and other surface mount parts we use. These parts make up about 90% of most designs, having them directly in front of the soldering station saves a lot of time and digging. Currently, we have these parts in the drawers:
We buy most of these parts in reels because it’s cheaper, and so we’re pick and place ready.
More storage below the fold.
There is a new teaser site for an upcoming web-based CAD tool aimed at artists and makers. This looks like it may be a nice entry level tool to get even more people into 3D modeling. It is currently unknown how this will be released and what it will cost, but we look forward to more details as they become available.
Via Twitter (@ErikDeBruijn)
Boris tipped us to another SIM900-based GSM/GPRS wireless data shield for the Arduino, this one is from Open Electronics:
This is a very low cost and simple Arduino GSM and GPRS shield. We use the module SIMCom SIM900. It’s the cheaper module now available in the market. To connect this module to Arduino I make a PCB that include a LM317 some capacitor filter and no more. I performed a GSM library to control easily the module. The GSM library is a modified version of the library of HWKitchen.
With our version we control the module throw the pin 4 and 5 (so normal digital pin) and our GSM library include also the NewSoftSerial, so you can easy control the module, send and read SMS, make call, control the GSM state ecc.
To download schematics, PCB and Library check the site
Thanks Boris! Via the contact form.
