Advanced capacitors based on conductive polymers maximize performance and reliability. Capacitors may seem simple enough, but specifying them has actually grown more complex in recent years. The reason why comes down to freedom of choice. The universe of capacitors has expanded greatly over the past few years, in large part because of capacitor designs that
Understanding Polymer and Hybrid Capacitors Continue Reading
After I built the tiny balancing robot using an IR sensor for stabilization, there was a comment on the youtube video about how it would be a good thing for kids to build and learn about PID controls. I thought that was a great idea, the only problem was that that tiny robot was the simplest of
PIDDYBOT – A Self Balancing Teaching Tool Continue Reading
We took a look at Punch Through Design’s Light Blue Bean back when the board was called the “Cortado” and Punch Through had just opened its doors for pre-orders. However with the board now shipping to pre-order customers, and going on general sale at the end of the month, it’s time to take proper look at
Hands on with the Light Blue Bean Continue Reading
A beautifully designed robotic bartender capable of producing perfect drinks every time, with technology that brings people together. Introducing Barobot Barobot is an open source device that pours cocktails by mixing alcohol, soft drinks and sodas. It holds up to 12 bottles and can pour a drink with millitary accuracy! Barobot features over 1000 cocktail
Barobot: A Cocktail Mixing Robot Continue Reading
I bought this tiny display from Adafruit: http://www.adafruit.com/products/1393 First thing I did was breadboard a circuit to make sure it worked and I could use it. Board design I was thinking along the lines of “Game Boy Micro:” http://i.imgur.com/1s5qvFH.jpg . I spent an evening coming up with this design in Eagle. In order for me
Making a Handheld game Continue Reading
Matrix keypads are an excellent way of providing user input data into microcontroller-based systems. Keypads find applications in remote controls, standalone data-loggers, security systems, door entry systems, calculators, microwave ovens, etc. They are usually implemented as pushbutton switches arranged in a row and column matrix format to reduce the number of I/O connections. For example,
MM74C922N-based encoded matrix keypad Continue Reading
Here is a small personal project to brighten my home made from a cheap IKEA photo frame, and Arduino and a multicolor “NeoPixel” LEDs strip. The goal is simple: to realize a matrix of 12×10 big square pixels able to emit light in any color, and controllable from a smartphone. A simple demo video will
A decorative LED frame Continue Reading
An all-in-one breadboard with Oscilloscope, Spectral Display, Function Generator, and Power Supply. We are excited to bring a low-cost audio range electronics development board to classrooms, labs, small businesses, and techno-geeks everywhere. This idea has been bouncing around in our family for many years and now the technology has caught up to make it a
Bakerboard: The Educational Breadboard with More Continue Reading
A few weeks ago I’ve had the great opportunity to attend the awesome Hacker Camp in Shenzhen, hosted by Ian Lesnet from DangerousPrototypes. I could say a lot about that incredible experience, so I’ll start by sharing an experiment I did to explore Shenzhen’s manufacturing ecosystem. The idea Shenzhen is a big city where you
Making stuff in Shenzhen – The Grillino Continue Reading
FT800 with Streaming Video I like to check out the thrift stores in my area for one of a kind technical gems to add to my collection. A few years ago I came across a Connectix QuickCam. This is one of the earliest webcams that didn’t require a separate video capture card. Due to how
FT800 with Streaming Video on Gameduino 2 Continue Reading
