16 Bit Micro Experimenter Board
EXCLUSIVE-ONLINE ARTICLE. A computer-based scope called the BitScope.
Learn about the man who always wanted to help everybody.
Exclusive Online Article: Decode and read text message communications being sent over shortwave amateur radio frequencies.
Exclusive Online Article: The locator beacon weighs about an ounce with its 12-volt A23 alkaline battery, and could be made lighter with the use of surface-mount parts. It’s also simple and inexpensive, so you can afford to build another one if necessary.
Exclusive Online Article: It’s Friday night and you’re hungry, so you decide to go pick up some food. Maybe a pizza, or maybe some kungpao chicken. You love them both, but you must choose one or the other. Do you flip a coin? Sure! But now, you can do it electronically! Let’s build a coin toss circuit!
Ready to move up to 16-bit stuff? Well, we've got the perfect Experimenter for you, along with some cool applications to get your feet wet.
For those interested in high voltage phenomena, this device is for you.
Learn the fundamental principles that PLL circuits embody and try your hand at a couple applications.
Wire wrapping is a technique for constructing single or small numbers of simple to moderately complex electronic assemblies.
Learn the fundamentals of renewable energy through this educational series. This month: Build a Solar Powered Battery Charger
This time, investigate basic solid-state theory, diodes, rectifiers, transistor amplifiersm, and charaterize them.
If you want your circuits to work right, you gotta have the right components for the job. This tutorial will help you make sure you know what you're doing.
The problem with using Field Programmable Gate Arrays is that you have to learn a design language and then set up a fairly complex development environment to write programs in. That problem is addressed here.
Part 1 will cover the theory behind these useful devices that have a lot of overlooked features.
This month, make discoveries about IC circuits that are well-known and learn more about the concepts of sub-circuits and macromodels.
Last time, we examined how to use power MOSFETs. This time, we'll build two projects.
Joe highlights his design process and the problems he encountered during the creation of his most recent DEFCON badge.
Even in the midst of the digital revolution, there's still a place for analog mathematics to streamline your designs.
Don't get burned on your next build. The proper heatsink can save you from burnt fingers and burned up devices!
This time, we’ll use these same microcontroller circuits and code to illustrate three primary conditions that affect solar panel operation in the real world: heat, shading, and tilt angle.
This month's tutorial covers capacitors and inductors.
Get over your fear of working with these tiny components.
In this final part, take a look at oscillator circuits that create their own signal during simulation.
Never soldered before? Now you can learn how!
Learn the fundamentals of renewable Energy with this new educational series. This month: Solar Energy.
Is it necessary to break-in speakers for them to reach "full fidelity," or is it just a manufacturers ploy to get customers used to their speakers so they won’t return them?
Combine a used cat food can, a 25-year old CMOS chip, and a handful of components, and you too can make your neighborhood school buses safer!
Simulate keyboard strokes using inputs on a microcontroller to fly your (simulated) place.
As promised last month, the two different operation modes will be explained, as multople coils in a differential sensor approach are used.
Incorporate additional instrumentation to a flight recorder to measure a rocket's rate of roll, relative altitude, and booster-stage separation detection.
This 'Recycled Electronics' build uses a knob from a VCR to create a controller for the Windows Media Player.
Establish serial communication between computers or microcontrollers over low power laser beams.
Keypad access is a great convenience and with this unit you can trigger activiation of up to two
A series resonant circuit built on a Propeller demo board is utilized in this build to detect the proximity of metallic objects.
Wanna know how fast your projectile is going? Than you need to build this!
Here’s a really fun project that will get a lot of attention. It’s an electronic pendulum that operates on the principle of magnetism.
Size matters when you're working with surface mount components. This handy device will get you right to the point of things.
Build it, play it, and re-master your skills at Retro Rover and Tetris.
This is one for the most unique approaches ever for keeping track of time.
Here’s a couple of simple circuits to tell you what gear your bicycle is in while you’re pedaling down the road. I usually check what gear I am in by looking down at the front and rear gears. I decided I needed a better way after I bought a good road bike with 30 (!) gear combinations (three gears in front and 10 in back).
This project allows the user to create thier own scrolling display to show the time (or other messages) in multiple colors.
This time, we look under the hood of last month's design to see how the mistaIXG hardware and software work together.
This unique talking clock and MP3 speaker can record voice memos or your favorite song for your alarm, plus it's an interactive nightlight too!
Don't let your TV or other appliances suck power while in standby mode. Leave them connected to the grid while cutting the costs of your electric bills at the same time.
Use your cell phone and this device as a receiver/decoder system to perform remote functions.
Learn the fundamentals of renewable energy through this educational series. This month: Experimenting with the Double Wide Sun Tracker.
CamTim is a digital hack to convert your camera into a high-res time-lapse camcorder.
Don't let water dripping from your ceiling be your first indication you've got a leak. You can build this handy device in just a couple hours.
Build a digital clock using only transistors as the active elements. The final parts count is 194 transistors, 566 diodes, 400 resistors, and 87 capacitors.
Time for another cool clock design using Nixie tubes.
This project was built for field troubleshooting and replaces blown fuses until the problem is solved. By dialing in the amperage, you can preset the drop-out point in the place of a fuse (200 mA – 5 amps). It is also known as a programmable relay. It displays the active AC or DC amperage being drawn when in the circuit.
Take proto circuit building to the next level with this device that allows you to expand your existing board so you can create all kinds of circuits.
mistaIXG is a USB connected, PIC-basd synthesizer that will help you turn your computer into a music machine.
Find out what you can do with a dead microwave, a wooden box, a power cord, and a socket.
Learn the fundamentals of renewable energy through this educational series. This month: Build a Double Wide Sun Tracker.
Use this board as a platform for your switch-mode projects and experiment with winding transformers.
Assemble this power supply for higher performance from your class-D amplifier.
Run your own game shows at home with this fun build.
TechKnowledgey
by Jeff Eckert
TechKnowledgey 2009 | November 2009
Topics covered include tapping tree power, a dual monitor laptop, subminiature pushbutton switch, plus other stuff
TechKnowledgey
by Jeff Eckert
Techknowledgery 2009 | December 2009
Topics covered include a $10 million buzz, adapter to simplify sharing digital content, vintage Mac fetches $8260, plus other stuff.
TechKnowledgey
by Jeff Eckert
TechKnowledgey 2009
Reconnecting Brain Cells, Another Leap Toward The Sun?, New Unified Storage Appliance, Rugged Military Computer Introduced, and more.
TechKnowledgey
by Jeff Eckert
TechKnowledgey 2009
DNA analysis, owning a Cray, Navaztags explained, plus more.
TechKnowledgey
by Jeff Eckert
Techknowledgey 2009
Topics covered include a dual screen laptop, phone watch, motor sets RPM record, plus more.
TechKnowledgey
by Jeff Eckert
TechKnowledgey 2009
Topics covered include "meat" for robot brains, rodent power, dangerous printer particles, plus other cool stuff.
TechKnowledgey
by Jeff Eckert
TechKnowledgey 2009
Topics covered include super charged lithium-ions, fuel cell buses, viewing Mars, plus other cool stuff.
TechKnowledgey
by Jeff Eckert
TechKnowledgey 2009
Topics covered include cold fusion... it's back, new Minis arrive, PUMAs, chip sales bottoming, pluys other cool stuff.
TechKnowledgey
by Jeff Eckert
Techknowledgey 2009
Topics covered include harnessing antimatter, eye-to-robot interface, Intel fined $1.45 billion, plus other info you won't want to miss.
TechKnowledgey
by Jeff Eckert
TechKnowledgey 2009 | August 2009
Topics covered include lasers with curves, the smallest DC/DC concerter, quantum error suppression, plus other info you won't want to miss.
TechKnowledgey
by Jeff Eckert
Techknowledgey 2009
Topics covered include the world’s smallest reed switch, lasers that create new forms of metal, a new all-in-one PC, plus other stuff you’ll find fascinating.
TechKnowledgey
by Jeff Eckert
TechKnowledgey 2009 | October 2009
Topics covered include iPOD recording device, repulsive light force discovered, protecting personal data, China to dump Lenova holdings, plus other stuff.
The Spin Zone
by Jon Williams
Do It Up With DMX
Even if you’ve never heard of DMX512-A (DMX), chances are you’ve seen it in action.Where? At any large stage production. Concerts and plays are big users of DMX-controlled lighting.
Smiley’s Workshop
by Joe Pardue
Smiley’s Workshop 17: Arduino Simple Motor Speed Control
Simple motor speed control using the Arduino. Part 17
Personal Robotics
by Vern Graner
Robo Resolution 2009
My New Year's resolution is 1650x1280.
The Design Cycle
by Fred Eady
The Design Cycle
Older language, newer interface.
PICAXE Primer
by Ron Hackett
Programming Your Serialized LCD Display
This month we’re going to turn our attention to some of the details of programming the display. Specifically, we’ll investigate two of the most useful features of LCD displays: scrolling a long line of text across the relatively small width of the display and creating custom characters to enhance the functionality of the display.
Open Communication
by Louis E. Frenzel
E-Books
E-books offer one more way to communicate electronically.
PICAXE Primer
by Ron Hackett
Implementing a serial data link with the IR multi-board
This month, we're going to resolve the problem of the missing keypresses that we had last time with our SIRC system and then move on to accomplishing our final goal for the IR Multi-Board:
Stamp Applications
by Jon Williams
Creating Time-Lapse Video
In the video age, time-lapse movies are not easily produced with a video camera, but as my friend (and VFX wizard) John demonstrated, one can easily create a time-lapse movie with a digital still camera and video editing software.
Personal Robotics
The Saga of a Sonar Station
Follow the unique build experience of an interactive kiosk.
The Design Cycle
by Fred Eady
Into the Guts of USB Drivers
When it comes to replacing a Legacy RS-232 Interface with USB, try a Microchip PIC18F14K50 USB Flash microcontroller.
The Spin Zone
by Jon Williams
Loving LEDs Again
The Stamp Applications column has evolved into Propeller based projects now! This month, you'll be loving LEDs again.
Smiley’s Workshop
by Joe Pardue
Smiley’s Workshop 14: Some ALP Sensors
Sensing light and temperature. Part 14
Stamp Applications
by Jon Williams
Control from the Couch - Redux
With the SX and SX/B I think it's time to revisit SIRCs decoding and even couple it with serial I/O so that we can enable dual-mode control (IR plus serial) or have the ability to use our project as an IR-to-serial translator.
Smiley’s Workshop
by Joe Pardue
Smiley’s Workshop 15: Infrared Object Detection
Infrared object detection meets tomato soup cans. Part 15
Near Space
by L. Paul Verhage
A Near Space Environment Chamber Update
Sometimes it’s difficult to leave things well enough alone. Occasionally, this is to my detriment as I can makes things worse off than they were originally.
Open Communication
by Louis E. Frenzel
Smart Phones Leading Cellular Growth
The cell phone has become a must-have item in our modern life. You pick it up when you grab your car keys and wallet or purse every day.
Smiley’s Workshop
by Joe Pardue
Smiley’s Workshop 12: AVR Learning Platform Projects
Another communications project, reading the voltage across a potentiometer, and then redo the Cylon Optometry code for the ALP. Part 12
Personal Robotics
by Samuel Aaron Ward
Solar Tracker
A solar-tracking power supply for a mobile unit; a device that not only provides power to sustain its own functions (tracking the sun for optimal energy collection), but also for propulsion and steering of an unmanned vehicle.
Q&A
by Russell Kincaid
Q&A
Wind chime light show, DC-to-DC converter, bug zapper, plus more.
Open Communication
by Louis E. Frenzel
Converting To Digital TV
Fun with converter boxes and antennas.
Q&A
by Russell Kincaid
Q&A
Softening up a table saw, returning light to Christmas, high voltage generation, plus more.
Getting Started With PICS
by Chuck Hellebuyck
Programming the PICDEM 2 Plus Development Board
After getting everything set up — I used an MPLAB® ICD 2 for the programming tool because it is available bundled with the PICDEM 2 Plus board — I was ready to write some code.
Q&A
by Russell Kincaid
Questions & Answers
High impedance preamp, audio to LED display driver, FM shutdown problem, and more.
Getting Started With PICS
by Chuck Hellebuyck
Counting Pulses with Timer 0
Keep track of your distance traveled on the golf coarse with this counting application.
Q&A
by Russell Kincaid
Q&A
Game show lockout circuit, fluorescent ballast, PICAXE or PIC, plus more.
Q&A
by Russell Kincaid
Q&A
CO2 laser power supply, a cycling circuit, LED replacement of incandescent bulbs, more.
Q&A
by Russell Kincaid
Q & A
Measuring energy use, more on oscillators, flat panel TVs, plus more.
Q&A
by Russell Kincaid
Q&A
EV battery charger, 90 VDC power supply magic, getting an A+ in class D, plus more.
Q&A
by Russell Kincaid
Q&A
In this column, I answer questions about all aspects of electronics, including computer hardware, software, circuits, electronic theory, troubleshooting, and anything else of interest to the hobbyist. Feel free to participate with your questions, comments, or suggestions. Send all questions and comments to: [email protected]
Q&A
by Russell Kincaid
Q&A
Audio comb filter, high current/low voltage amp, time delay circuit, plus more.
Q&A
by Russell Kincaid
Q&A
Solar panel voltage regulator, op-amps and diodes, current sensing motor control, plus more.
Q&A
by Russell Kincaid
Q&A
Analog tachometer, calulated inductance, soft start AC circuits, plus more.
Q&A
by Russell Kincaid
Q & A
Voltage conversion, understanding thermal lag, software-based power control, plus more.
Personal Robotics
by Vern Graner
Robot Art
In an attempt to explore some of the interesting and inspiring ways art and technology intertwine, this month we will focus on a number of works from some talented technoartisans who have used technology and robotics to pursue their muse in interesting and ingenious ways.
The Design Cycle
by Fred Eady
Take An IO-Warrior Into Your Next Embedded Battle
We are all used to stuffing code into a microcontroller to enable our embedded applications.This month, the tables are turned.The microcontroller work has been done for us and we must perform some Bill Gates C++ coding to force bits back and forth across the USB pipe.
The Design Cycle
by Fred Eady
Find the HIDden virtues of USB
While we were extolling the virtues of USB as an RS-232 killer, we were totally ignoring one of USB’s greatest strengths: the HID class.
Smiley’s Workshop
by Joe Pardue
Smiley’s Workshop 11: Getting Started with the Arduino Projects Kit
Adding some hardware to the mix. Part 11
Personal Robotics
by Vern Graner
The Halloween Prop Dropper
The Prop Dropper is designed to detect the presence of a person, rapid-deploy a small prop, display it for a moment, then wind it back up out of view, ready for its next victim
PICAXE Primer
by Ron Hackett
Taming Unruly LCDs: Part 1
In the previous installment of the PICAXE Primer, I said we would turn our attention toward interfacing our Master Processor with inexpensive LCD displays based on the Hitachi HD44780 controller
Getting Started With PICS
by Chuck Hellebuyck
Eight-Pin Projects
I recently received a development setup that I found quite interesting, as it’s targeted at my favorite audience—the beginner market. It is called the CHIPAXE system.
Personal Robotics
by Vern Graner
The Parallax Stingray Robot
Stronger than a BOEBOT, more powerful than a pen-wielding Scribbler, easier to carry than a QuadRover, the Parallax Stingray mobile robotic platform has landed!
Personal Robotics
by Vern Graner
Das BlinkenBoard
The search for the "perfect" blinken board results in a versatile, scratch built, feature rich design, that you can build!
The Design Cycle
by Fred Eady
Demystifying USB To Serial
It's time to stop talking and start soldering. This month, you have your choice of USB projects.
Personal Robotics
by Vern Graner
The Probotix Fireball V90 CNC Visited
In that article, we detailed the PROBOTIX Fireball v90 — one of the first high-accuracy/sub-$1,000 CNC systems on the market.
The Design Cycle
by Fred Eady
The Design Cycle | October 2009
Unlocking a 16-bit USB front end for the new ENC624J600 stand-alone 10/100 Ehternet controller.
Personal Robotics
by Vern Graner
Try, Try Again
My direct experience has taught me that nothing is ever as easy as it looks. Experience has also taught me that when things get complicated, a methodical and consistent approach is typically the best course of action.
Smiley’s Workshop
by Joe Pardue
Smiley’s Workshop 9: The Arduino Way
Coming up to speed with the Arduino — Going back before we go forward. Part 9
Smiley’s Workshop
by Joe Pardue
Smiley’s Workshop 10: Moving Beyond Arduino
Converting Arduino programs into regular C programs that can be used with the official Atmel software. Part 10
Near Space
by L. Paul Verhage
Near Space | September 2009
I’m always on the look-out for neat stuff to do. So, when Mike Manes of EOSS posted over the GPSL* email list that Harbor Freight had discounted a vacuum pump that might be suitable for near space testing, I couldn’t resist. My creation takes near space testing to new lows and represents a unique use for an air-tight flour container that the manufacturer surely hadn’t intended.
PICAXE Primer
by Ron Hackett
Interfacing Seven-Segment LCD Displays
This time,we’re going to experiment with interfacing seven-segment LED displays with PICAXE processors.To explore the basic concepts involved, we’ll begin with the simplest case: interfacing a single-digit LED display with a 20M processor.
Smiley’s Workshop
by Joe Pardue
Smiley’s Workshop 8: Interrupts, I/O Registers, and the Butterfly Joystick
Using the joystick as an introduction to AVR interrupts and I/O Registers. Part 8
Open Communication
by Louis E. Frenzel
Wireless Made Easy with a New Kit
Think of your TV remote control, garage door opener, remote keyless entry on your car, and other wireless devices you use daily. Now you can bring that convenience and functionality to other projects.
PICAXE Primer
by Ron Hackett
Taming Unruly LCD’s: Part 2
The 14M is the perfect processor for this project. It has more than enough I/O lines and program memory for the task at hand and it’s cheap enough that you can construct two or three complete “serialized” LCDs for the price of one commercial display.
PICAXE Primer
by Ron Hackett
Using The AXE027 USB Programming Cable
This month's Primer we're going to take a first look at how to cope with the process of migrating from the serial to USB programming connections.
Smiley’s Workshop
by Joe Pardue
Smiley’s Workshop 16: Arduino, Some Loose Ends
Tying up some Arduino loose ends before moving on. External Interupts, Arduino IDE Serial Monitor, Optical Isolation of Voltages Part 16
Getting Started With PICS
by Chuck Hellebuyck
I2C Communication
It's a new year and, unfortunately, economic times are looking quite dismal.
The Design Cycle
by Fred Eady
A Reasonable Replacement For RS-232
I'm going to include USB interfaces on subsequent Design Cycle projects that require serial communications with a personal computer.
Stamp Applications
by Jon Williams
Spinning Up Embedded Control Projects
Get in touch with your Propeller side.
Getting Started With PICS
by Chuck Hellebuyck
Improving the PICKit 2 Development Board
The one thing I always wanted to add was a breadboard area, so I modified the development board included with the Starter Kit — it’s called the low pin count development board.
The Spin Zone
by Jon Williams
LCDs & Things
It must have been 1994 when I discovered how much I enjoy character LCDs. Like so many others, I got started thanks to Scott Edwards and his articles here in Nuts & Volts.
Open Communication
by Louis E. Frenzel
New Integrated Circuits Make Wireless Easier
The one thing that has made wireless so easy to implement everywhere is the integrated circuit. The single chip radio transceiver is a common device and it is available in many forms to give us the huge number of communications options we have today.
Personal Robotics
by Vern Graner
Robotics on a Budget
Most towns have a thrift store or other shops that recycle and resell clothes, toys, household wares, and the like. In many cases, you'll find these stores carry lots of useful electronics that can be picked up for a song.
The Design Cycle
by Fred Eady
Chatting Up A Thumbdrive
Using the CDIP2 API coupled with the VDIP2 hardware interface we've designed and built, you should have no problems including USB Flash drives in your Design Cycle.
Smiley’s Workshop
by Joe Pardue
Smiley’s Workshop 7: The Wearable Alarm Clock
Binary Coded Decimal (BCD) for the wearable alarm clock, functions, and variables. Part 7
The Design Cycle
by Fred Eady
And Now, A Riff From Jeff Beck
Designing a wireless guitar.
The Design Cycle
by Fred Eady
Kids CAN Love Engineering
This year’s science station consisted of a Lenovo NetBook coupled to a USB-to-CAN bridge. The goal was to introduce the students to a working network they could actually see and touch.
The Design Cycle
by Fred Eady
USB To Ethernet Using Microchip’s Free Stacks: Part 1
This month, the mountain man is coming to town as the coders at Microchip have put together a brand new TCP/IP Stack to support the new Ethernet ICs and wireless Ethernet modules that are coming out of the pipe.
Near Space
by L. Paul Verhage
BalloonSat Minis
BalloonSat Minis: One small step for a PICAXE, One giant leap for a BalloonSat Design.
The Design Cycle
by Fred Eady
USB To Ethernet Using Microchip’s Free Stacks: Part 2
Now that we’ve had a taste of the free Microchip TCP/IP and USB stacks, it’s time to put the chocolate in the peanut butter. As promised, this month we’ll put a Microchip PIC18F14K50 Low Pin Count USB microcontroller in front of a PIC18F67J60 Ethernet microcontroller and put another RS-232 converter IC out to pasture.
Near Space
by L. Paul Verhage
The Great Plains Super Launch 2008
GPSL - or The Great Plains Super Launch - is the largest annual amateur near space launch, and takes place every summer. This year, Near Space Ventures and CAP'n'Space hosted GPSL in Liberty, MO on August 1-2.
Smiley’s Workshop
by Joe Pardue
Smiley’s Workshop 6: A Menu Navigator
More C syntax for decision making, a menu navigation system for the Butterfly using its LCD and joystick. Part 6
Near Space
by L. Paul Verhage
Your Own Micro Datalogger
Build a bigger and more powerful flight computer.
Smiley’s Workshop
by Joe Pardue
Smiley’s Workshop 13: More ALP Projects
Developing a command interpreter and making some noise. Part 13
Personal Robotics
by Vern Graner
Pneumatics In Robotics
Let's dip our toe into some possibly unfamiliar waters as we explore the world of electronically controlled pneumatic actuators for hobby robotic and animatronic mechanisms.
Getting Started With PICS
by Chuck Hellebuyck
SPI Communication
In my January column, I described the I2C form of serial communication. This month, I am covering its cousin — the Serial Peripheral Interface or SPI communication.
Near Space
by L. Paul Verhage
GPS Simulator for Missions to Near Space
What I need is a convenient GPS simulator that will let me test a flight program on the ground. In this article, I’ll describe what I came up with.
Personal Robotics
by Vern Graner
The Dungeon Keeper
So, how about we make an animatronic body for our talking skull and put him in a creepy coffin so he can beckon them forward with a flickering candle? Though this may sound like a pretty big project, it's actually rather straight-forward and, if you start now, you should be able to have your own Dungeon Keeper ready to thrill the kids and wow the parents for this Halloween!
Open Communication
by Louis E. Frenzel
How To Achieve One Gigabit Per Second Data Rate Over Wireless
Longer distances, interference, and other environmental issues usually prevent that, but what we get is typically enough. With the new 802.11n standard, Wi-Fi speeds will be going up as more of the access points adopt the multiple input multiple output (MIMO) technology that will make 100+ Mbps common.
The End Of The Wristwatch
by Bryan Bergeron
From Developing Perspectives
New Products
in New Products
The Desktop Companion II
Developing Perspectives
by Bryan Bergeron
Please visit our Developing Perspectives blog to read the full article and comment.
Developing Perspectives
by Bryan Bergeron
Please visit our Developing Perspectives blog to read the full article and comment.
Kit Building
by Bryan Bergeron
My latest kit, a hybrid preamp, makes an affordable, high-quality guitar amplifier that provides real 'tube sound' that even the best all solid-state preamps can only approximate.
Developing Perspectives
by Bryan Bergeron
Please visit our Developing Perspectives blog to read the full article and comment.
Developing Perspectives
by Bryan Bergeron
Please visit our Developing Perspectives blog to read the full article and comment.
Developing Perspectives
by Bryan Bergeron
Please visit our Developing Perspectives blog to read the full article and comment.
Developing Perspectives
by Bryan Bergeron
Please visit our Developing Perspectives blog to read the full article and comment.
Developing Perspectives
by Bryan Bergeron
Please visit our Developing Perspectives blog to read the full article and comment.
Developing Perspectives
by Bryan Bergeron
Please visit our Developing Perspectives blog to read the full article and comment.
The Golden Age Of Electronics
by Bryan Bergeron
From Developing Perspectives
The Art of Diagnosis
by Bryan Bergeron
Don't get frustrated by non-working circuits. Embrace them!
Designing with Efficiency in Mind
by Bryan Bergeron
It’s difficult to ignore the ‘go green’ mantra that’s sweeping through the media and permeating virtually every industry.
