Geoff designed this USB PC case fan controller. It is used to control the speed of your fans depending on the temperatures in your case. Software that was developed for this project allows you to customize the temperature profiles for your computer. The project is based on the PIC18F2550 that is connected to the computer […]
Tag Archives: USB
Arduino MIDI foot controler
Bharat shared his USB MIDI foot controller. This design is basically an extension board for the Arduino that has a bunch of buttons and switches that control instruments and sound effects on a PC using an app like Guitar Rig. There are 3 switches to control the stomp box and 2 additional switches to scroll through sound patches. […]
Universal Serial Bus general-purpose device controller
rsdio writes: Depending upon the quality of open-source 8051 compiler tools, this might be a good chip (one of many like the EzUSB) for open hardware development without being stuck with Microchip’s partially open tool chain. The TUSB3210 is a USB-based controller targeted as a general-purpose MCU with GPIO. The TUSB3210 has 8K × 8 […]
App note: Designing USB devices for proper current and max power
This ‘app note’ was posted in the forum by rsdio. Great advice for designing USB devices for proper current and maximum power: There are some common misconceptions about USB Device design with regard to the amount of current available and the MaxPower field of the USB Descriptors. Many DIY developers simply enter the maximum 500 […]
Editorial: Our friend Microchip and open source
Microchip jumped into open source last spring with the chipKIT Arduino-compatible development boards and open compiler/IDE. They wanted to tap the existing tutorials, enthusiasm, and customer base of Arduino community, and they were going to play nice with open source. A review of the chipKIT situation today is disappointing. The compiler still replies on closed […]
Announcing an open source USB stack for PIC 18F and 24F
Good news everyone! A new free and open source USB stack is now available for PIC microcontrollers. Today we finished testing and prepared a simple echo test that works with PIC 18F and 24F. We hope a demo release will get more developers involved. A release package and overview are in the forum. As always, […]
Testers needed: USB Infrared Toy firmware v20 release candidate 1
We are exceedingly proud to announce the first USB IR Toy firmware using an open source USB firmware. In the past we used the Microchip USB stack, but it’s not distributable so we can’t release the full source code. Sure, it’s easy enough to download the code from Microchip directly, but that is an extra […]
RS-422 networked infrared transmitters
Gridstop posted pictures of his networked infrared transmitters in the project log forum.
USB 3.0 peripheral controller EZ-USB FX3
viswesr writes: Cypress has a new USB 3.0 peripheral controller EZ-USB FX3 – CYUSB3014 with ARM926EJS core. It has an architecture which enables data transfers of 320 MBps from GPIF II (a 32bit Port) to USB 3.0 interface.This value includes protocol overheads. This is a promising device for Open Logic analyzers, DSOs and any data […]
chipKIT: Open source PIC USB and Ethernet drivers?
According to Microchip Digilent is currently working on a USB, Ethernet, and CAN shield for the chipKIT. This is a really interesting project because it means drivers for PIC USB and Ethernet peripherals will be released. To jive with the Arduino community those drivers will need to be open source. We’ve had nothing but problems […]
Raspberry Pi tiny Linux computer platform
This tiny USB stick PC was featured on Slashdot and many other sites. It’s intended as a $25 throw-away computer education tool, and uses an ARM11 with 128MB of RAM: David Braben has developed a tiny USB stick PC that has a HDMI port in one end and a USB port on the other. You […]
USB PIC on a breadboard
What is the simplest way to try a USB project? PyroElectro has a simple breadboard-based example of USB with a PIC microcontroller. It uses an interrupt driven HID USB device as an example, based on the Microchip USB stack. Video below. Via the contact form.
MIDI over USB using Arduino Uno
krishi shows how-to use the Arduino as an HID MIDI device. Via the contact form.
8 strange places to find USB ports
We’ve been aware of USB dead drops for some time. But Carl Shroder’s article in IT World highlights seven other unusual places/devices where USB ports can be found.
The basics of USB battery charging: a survival guide
An introduction to USB battery charging: a survival guide Arguably the most useful part of USB’s power capabilities is the ability to charge batteries in portable devices, but there is more to battery charging than picking a power source, USB or otherwise. This is particularly true for Li+ batteries, where improper charging can not only […]
FTDI FT232H single channel USB 2.0 chip
MichaelZ writes: Well FTDI is at it again. FT232H is a Single Channel Hi-Speed USB to Multipurpose UART/FIFO IC. It appears to be 1/2 of a FT2232H which requires the crystal and EEPROM. It’s a single MPSSE (JTAG, serial module) version of the FT2232H used in the Bus Blaster, and it comes in a friendly […]
App note: Bridge from USB to I²C
rsdio tipped us to an app note on interface circuits: hmm… breakout board candidate? This circuit provides a direct I²C interface to your PC’s USB port. A USB to 1-Wire® dongle supplies the PC with a 1-Wire master, which controls a 1-Wire I/O extender. This I/O extender has two bidirectional open drain ports, which the […]
HACK: Open source USB stack on MCP2200
Microchip has a new USB->serial converter chip called the MCP2200. We suspected they made this chip from a 20-pin PIC. The MCP2200 pinout is like other PIC uCs, and it has similar reset pin and internal voltage regulator circuits. We hooked up our trusty PICKIT3 and read the device ID. The MCP2200 was recognized as a […]
NEW PRODUCT: MCP2200 USB to Serial breakout board
The MCP2200 is a new USB to serial converter chip from Microchip. Our MCP2200 breakout board brings all the pins to bread board friendly headers. USB CDC virtual serial port interface Secondary HID configuration interface Up to 8 additional IO 256bytes user EEPROM TX/RX indicator LEDs All pins to bread-board friendly header Open source (CC-0) […]
Announcement: Open source PIC USB stack
Forum member Honken released an open source USB firmware for PIC microcontrollers. This is a major open source contribution, congratulations! Most PIC 18F2550 and 18F4550 USB projects you see on the web use the Microchip USB source code. It’s easy to use and free. There’s one big problem: Microchip uses a license that isn’t open […]