After playing second (maybe third?) fiddle for a while to a range of maker-friendly boards from Arduino and others, STMicro finally got it right with the STM32F103C8T6 Arm Cortex-M3 microcontroller-based “BluePill” development board which can be programmed using the Arduino IDE. As all good hardware requires, a new version of the board which is being called the “Blue Pill 2” or “Black …
One of the things I love about JavaScritpt is the fact it keeps finding applications in different domains. One such use is in Arduino, with Espruino (open-source JavaScript interpreter for microcontrollers), and an interesting new one is the AVR8js. AVR8js is an open-source Arduino simulator based on JavaScript that can run in the cloud or virtually anywhere javascript runs. Arduino has …
AVR8JS – OPEN SOURCE ARDUINO SIMULATOR BASED ON JAVASCRIPT Read More »
Introduction While building microcontroller based projects, there are occasions where communication will be required between two devices, either in a duplex/transceiver based operation (where both devices can transmit and receive at the same time) or in a simplex-based operation where communication is one way (Receiving device cannot transmit and the transmitting device cannot receive). Several …
Using the 433MHz RF Transmitter and Receiver with Arduino Read More »
As a consequence of the social distancing and self isolation, many a maker has been searching for ways to cure boredom. So what happens when you put a maker in a closed space with electronics parts. The answer is a bunch of random microcontroller projects that help beat boredom. [Danac1886] posts a video with a bunch …
THE ATTINY SERIES IS A GREAT COMPANION IN ISOLATION Read More »
Multifunction data-acquisition systems have been around for a long time as stand-alone instruments, plug-in cards, cabled computer peripherals, and embedded in systems. Such systems are often designed with separate ADCs, DACs, and digital I/O devices. Many microcontrollers include ADCs and DACs, but that locks you into using that device. The AD5592R from Analog Devices combines …
Introduction Previously I made a simple frequency-modulated continuous-wave (FMCW) radar that was able to detect distance of a human sized object to 100 m. It worked, but as it was made with minimal budget and there was a lot of room for improvement. FMCW radar working principle If you have read my previous articles you …
Open source has finally arrived to microcontrollers. Based on RISC-V instruction set, a group of doctoral students at the Universidad Industrial de Santander in Colombia have been working on an open source 32-bit chip called “Open-V“. Onchip, the startup of the research team, is focusing on integrated systems and is aiming to build the first system-on-chip designed in Colombia. The …
Open-V, The Open Source RISC-V 32bit Microcontroller Read More »
Orlando Hoilett from Calvary Engineering LLC designed a versatile Li-Po battery breadboard power supply and wrote an Instructables on it. This power supply outputs 3.3V to the breadboard and takes input from a single-cell LiPo battery. The breadboard power supply also has the ability to charge the battery without needing to separate it from the circuit board. More importantly, this …
VERSATILE AND OPEN SOURCE LIPO BBATTERY BREADBOARD POWER SUPPLY Read More »
Introduction Previously I made a simple frequency-modulated continuous-wave (FMCW) radar that was able to detect distance of a human sized object to 100 m. It worked, but as it was made with minimal budget and there was a lot of room for improvement. FMCW radar working principle If you have read my previous articles you should …
Arduino boards are very useful for beginners to get started with building hardware projects. But at some point, more powerful controller than the Arduino’s 8 MHz one will be needed, featuring faster clock rate, floating point engine, and rich peripherals. As Kris Winer found, the code editors and compilers for these controllers aren’t as simple …
Butterfly & Ladybug, STM32L4-Based Arduino-Programable Development Boards Read More »
Actual microcontrollers have powerful bidirectional I/O ports, and you can use different techniques to fully exploit such capabilities. Recent Design Ideas described the “Charlieplexing” method as an effective way to drive M=N×(N–1) LEDs using only N bidirectional I/O ports and N resistors (reference 1 and reference 2). Unfortunately, using Charlieplexing allows you to drive only …
“Chipiplexing” efficiently drives multiple LEDs using few microcontroller ports Read More »
Most of us who work with electronics know the name of Texas Instruments (TI) as a manufacturer of several important digital and analogue ICs as well as fancy sophisticated scientific calculators. However many people don’t know that TI is also a manufacturer of some of industry’s best microcontrollers. TI’s portfolio of micros is pretty large. …
