Thought that I would share my latest project, it is a web application written in Ruby on Rails but also embedded related. The site is http://imp.guru it is basically a tool that can be used to graph data from a phant.io server also known as data.sparkfun.com.
You can also browse other peoples data streams in the "Discover" section. It also serves is a url shortener so that you can tweet a link (if you are into that) or just simple remember it so that you can type it into a friends phone or computer.
Personally I have http://imp.guru/f1, if is a Si7005 Temp and Humidity Sensor attached to a MSP430G2553 that is soldered onto a Anaren Air Booster pack, then this transmits the measurements back to another MSP430 that forwards the data to an Electric Imp then the Imp uploads to data.sparkfun.com. Sounds worse than it really is. Here's some pics:
Selling my Tek TDS544A scope. So far I have exchanged about 80% of the electrolytic caps and managed to get the Acq/Proc Interface test to pass but still falling short on some of the other tests.
This is a great scope and I did use it for a few years without issue, after taking some grad classes having a baby, I did not power it on for at least a year and when I fired it up last fall it no longer works. I'm sure that there is something simple wrong with it, just don't have the energy to debug.
Also for most of my projects, I don't need the 500MHz bandwidth so maybe I would be better suited by a Rigol DS2072.
Any trade offers would also be considered but its a 7 day auction so think fast
I thought that I would share my project on the forum. I call it BLDC Booster. It is a booster pack for the MSP430 LaunchPad that allows for sensored or sensorless control of a brushless DC motor. It is open source hardware & firmware under Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike license.
I designed the PCB in Design Spark and prototyped fabs at iTead. Currently I have the first prototypes and motors are spinning using my alpha firmware and custom GUI written in Python+QT. For slower motors, I think that it works pretty decent but currently I'm having some difficulty spinning high Kv motors under no load conditions due to my PWM method (unipolar) and slow ADC sample rate (20 kHz). Moving forward, I see not technical reason why I cannot leverage the full sample rate of the MSP430, just need more time to iron out the code. Also in version 2 I added current feedback via a lowside shunt resistor and TI INA199.
My current scheme for sensorless commutation is using BEMF integration and flux thresholding based on the theory of operation for TI's InstaSpin technology however my libraries are 100% written from scratch because the InstaSpin code does not port well to the Value Line series of MSP430's and is somewhat closed. My source is licensed under BSD so everyone is welcome to hack away.
All files are available on github. There's still a lot of work to do on the firmware side but I'm pretty happy with the hardware. Currently I have a few more v1 boards on hand but just ordered 50 of the v2 fabs which I plan on building up on Jan 9th with my friend who owns a CM service. I'd like to offer them for sale and was thinking that I would ship them USPS to anyone in the US for $35. I do have a connection with a motor vendor in China that if there is sufficient interest, we could do a order. Baseline motor would cost an additional $9. Contact me if you are interested.
Some pictures attached, more info is on github. Looking for feedback on the design and anyone interested in helping out with code development. Ian's comments are always welcome and by the way, nice interview on theamphour it is my inspiration for sharing this design on the forum.
