solar-blogg

Nexys 2/Spartan 3E LED blinker and counter

2011-11-01T20:05:00.002-04:00

Here's a verilog project I coded for the Nexys 2/Spartan 3E - a simple LED counter and multiplexed 7 segment display counter. Download project

FT232H

2011-10-31T01:24:00.002-04:00

FT232H - High speed USB 2.0 interface. Can communicate via high speed parallel FIFO interface at up to 40MBytes/s. Should be very easy to interface to an FPGA or MCU.

pSRAM memory test for the Nexys 2

2011-10-07T18:31:00.002-04:00

This is a very simple pSRAM memory test for the Nexys 2 with the Spartan 3E 500 FPGA. Simply writes and reads back the memory. Note that the RAM chip on the Nexys 2 board is the MT45W8MW16BGX in a BGA package. module Main( input wire clk, output wire [7:0] Led, input wire [3:0] btn, output wire MemOE, output wire MemWR, output wire RamAdv, output wire RamCS, output wire RamClk, output

UBW32 Generic USB demo

2011-09-29T11:45:00.000-04:00

I ported and cleaned up the generic USB demo from the Microchip application libraries. The project is designed to work with the UBW32. Requirements: UBW32 or any other pic32 microcontroller board. PICKIT/ICD/REALICE to program your board, or a linker script to load with the USB bootloader. Download Download the project and compile/flash the firmware onto your chip. Open the USB/Device -

PIC32 Timer1 example code

2011-09-29T11:37:00.000-04:00

The following code snippet opens and uses Timer1 as an interrupt. In your initialization sequence: //Open Timer1 with 1:8 prescaler (80MHz -> 10MHz), with period of 10, therefore tick = 1MHz. OpenTimer1(T1_ON | T1_PS_1_8 | T1_SOURCE_INT, 10); ConfigIntTimer1(T1_INT_ON | T1_INT_PRIOR_2); INTEnableSystemMultiVectoredInt(); And the interrupt handler: void __ISR(_TIMER_1_VECTOR, ipl2) _

PIC32 pin change interrupt

2011-09-29T11:10:00.000-04:00

The following is a quick snippet for interrupt on change pin void __ISR(_CHANGE_NOTICE_VECTOR, ipl2) ChangeNotice_Handler(void) { mPORTDRead(); //Need to read the port (see PIC32 datasheet) mCNClearIntFlag(); //Your code... } And, in your initializing code: mCNOpen(CN_ON | CN_IDLE_CON, CN13_ENABLE | CN14_ENABLE | CN15_ENABLE, CN_PULLUP_DISABLE_ALL); //See plib documentation and

Crimping a modular connector without a cimp tool

2011-09-26T05:52:00.002-04:00

So it turns out that the guy at the local electronics store near the university is too damn cheap to lend me a crimp tool for literally 10 seconds, and would rather charge me $5 to merely crimp a header onto the end of a cable. So I decided to crimp the modular header (for ICD) onto a the cable myself. I decided to instead use a flat ribbon cable (like the computer IDE cable) since they're

Simple USB Hello World for PIC32 (UBW32)

2011-09-23T15:06:00.001-04:00

Here's a simple USB Hello World program that I wrote/modified/set up for the PIC32 (specifically UBW32 board, but any PIC32 will run it). It's a very quick, minimal, bare bones project, with minimal comments and clutter, formatted nicely. Download project Requirements: PIC32 board (any board is fine) MPLAB IDE, C32, Microchip Application Librararies Some way to program your board such as

Constant current source/sink

2011-09-16T19:20:00.000-04:00

A very accurate MOSFET current source/sink I designed. Number of MOSFETs is variable. I designed this for load testing, so the circuit is using 4 MOSFETs to be able to dissipate more power. As can be seen on the bottom graph (green), it works well down to very low voltages due to the use of MOSFETs instead of BJTs.

FPGA first post

2011-03-06T06:35:00.000-05:00

I've been looking into FPGAs. Sites: http://www.fpga4fun.com/ http://www.fpga-faq.com/ Development boards: Papilio One (250K gates) Basys 2 (100K/250K gates) Much more information to come as I find it.

Arduino on Linux - Serial Communication

2010-06-12T20:50:00.001-04:00

To open a serial terminal to your Arduino, execute with root privileges (may not need to use root, but it is known to work if you do): screen /dev/ttyUSB0 9600 Where /dev/ttyUSB0 is your serial device.

CC1101 and CC1111 ISM tranceivers

2010-03-29T16:59:00.000-04:00

I've recently ordered a few samples of the CC1101 and CC1111 ISM band transceivers from Texas Instruments. The CC1101 is the transceiver itself while the CC1111 is a full system on chip with a built in 8051 microcontroller core. Full details on this chip are here. I have yet to figure out how to use these chips. Google searching hasn't revealed any useful hobby schematics or example projects with

Making a Time Machine server with Ubuntu

2009-12-17T06:52:00.000-05:00

I recently got a MacBook Pro and wanted to use it's Time Machine functionality. The only large hard drive I had was in my desktop computer dual booting Windows 7 and Ubuntu - so I decided to add an AFP server to Ubuntu to make it act like a Time Machine server. I originally tried using NFS and Samba, but the setup procedure turned out to be too complicated and neither of them worked out in the

Electronics Supplier in Toronto

2009-11-20T02:46:00.002-05:00

creatroninc.com This store, located on 255 College st., sells Arduinos for $30 as well as a whole bunch of other stuff you'd expect to find at Sparkfun.

Hamachi is great!

2009-09-11T01:35:00.000-04:00

If you're into playing games online, with people you know, the best way to do it is through a VPN such as Hamachi. It took me only a few minutes to download and install Hamachi. After that, I created a network and a password and created a little VPN consisting of myself and a few other (trusted) people. Hamachi simulates a physical LAN very closely, so every game I tried worked on the LAN

Use an AVR as an RFID tag

2009-08-30T03:23:00.000-04:00

This project uses so many little tricks to work. It's really amazing!

The Pirate Bay Sold - Alternatives

2009-08-28T03:31:00.003-04:00

The Pirate Bay has been sold. Here are some alternative sites: http://torrentfreak.com/25-great-pirate-bay-alternatives-090822/ BTJunkie, Demonoid and EZTV are the best.

Bicycle Speedometer Project

2009-08-22T02:27:00.000-04:00

Here's a new project I've been thinking about building: a bicycle speedometer. At it's core, it's just a simple reed switch hooked up to a PIC microcontroller's CCP module (in capture mode) which measures the period of the turning of the wheel. Based on the period data, the microcontroller then calculates the speed and displays the information to the user on an LCD screen. Now, to dive in deeper

Free Blogger Templates

2009-08-22T01:45:00.000-04:00

BTemplates BTemplates is a gallery that shows, describes and ranks the best templates for Google’s platform for blogs. It was the first blogger templates gallery created in March 2008 and currently has the largest collection of templates.

Sonsivri

2009-08-22T01:20:00.000-04:00

Sonsivri is a really great forum pertaining to the discussion of electronics and microcontrollers. Has a lot of other goodies as well :)

Pictures of my first home-made PCB

2009-08-14T02:41:00.001-04:00

The first 3 pictures are of the normal component side view. The last picture shows the copper side.

UART Example for DSPIC33 (DSPIC33FJ128GP802)

2009-08-13T03:20:00.001-04:00

#include _FOSC(OSCIOFNC_ON & FCKSM_CSDCMD & POSCMD_NONE); //Oscillator Configuration (clock switching: disabled; // failsafe clock monitor: disabled; OSC2 pin function: digital IO; // primary oscillator mode: disabled) _FOSCSEL(FNOSC_FRCPLL); //Oscillator Selection PLL //_FOSCSEL(FNOSC_FRC); //Oscillator Selection no PLL _FWDT(FWDTEN_OFF); //Turn off

Tungsten Carbide Drill Bits

2009-08-12T01:51:00.002-04:00

I just received my order of 1/32" tungsten carbide drill bits with 1/8" shank. The 1/32" size is very good for drilling general purpose holes in PCBs. I simply used a Dremel and drilled the holes by hand. The tough part is centering the drill bit on the hole (on the copper side), but once you have it centered, the drill goes through very quickly. I didn't have any trouble with drilling and did

Pure Gnome/KDE on Ubuntu

2009-08-06T21:13:00.001-04:00

I’ve used this so many times to clean my system. A simple command to get back to a pure Gnome or pure KDE Ubuntu/Kubuntu system – especially if you have both desktops installed. http://www.psychocats.net/ubuntu/puregnome or http://www.psychocats.net/ubuntu/purekde

Etching my first PCB

2009-07-18T03:46:00.001-04:00

I etched my first PCB today. It came out very well (considering that it was the first one I did). I used a mix of different techniques which all worked out well for me in the end. To begin, I made a simple design for a quick prototype board for my dsPIC33FJ128GP802. The board itself is very small, just about 1.5" x 2.5" (off the top of my head). I had a large sheet of copper clad board so

FreeRTOS on the dsPIC33

2009-06-27T22:25:00.001-04:00

I recently ordered a bunch of dsPIC33F samples – specifically the dsPIC33FJ128GP802. These devices are amazing. They’re fast, have lots of RAM, and very very easy to use with FreeRTOS. Things to keep in mind when setting up a project for the dsPIC: Ensure you define the MPLAB_DSPIC_PORT macro (Project options –> MPLAB C30 –> Add… (in the preprocessor macros box) I prefer to use heap_3.c

Setting Up FreeRTOS for the PIC18 Using MPLAB C18

2009-06-19T23:26:00.001-04:00

FreeRTOS is a really cool real-time operating system (preemptive scheduler) for various architectures. It has been ported to the PIC18 platform (using MPLAB C18 compiler). However, the port is not very good. Isaac Marino Bavaresco (isaacbavaresco AT yahoo DOT com DOT br) of the PICLIST has greatly improved and optimized the port for PIC18. His PICLIST page is here. It took me a long time to get

FreeRTOS Finally Working!

2009-06-19T12:28:00.001-04:00

With a lot of help from Isaac Marino Bavaresco (PICLIST), I finally got FreeRTOS up and running perfectly on my PIC18F2620. It’s a fun chip loaded with features and perfect for FreeRTOS. I’ll write a complete tutorial shortly to get the RTOS working on this chip. Hopefully, when I get my dsPIC33 and PIC32, it will be a whole lot easier to get the RTOS working.

Some Starter C18 Code for the PIC18

2009-06-08T19:55:00.001-04:00

I haven’t posted anything in a while, so here is some C18 code for a starting off a project. #include #include #include #include #pragma config OSC = INTIO67 //Internal oscillator #pragma config FCMEN = OFF #pragma config IESO = OFF #pragma config PWRT = ON #pragma config BOREN = OFF #pragma config WDT = OFF #pragma config MCLRE = OFF //MCLR is disabled #pragma config PBADEN = OFF #pragma

FreeRTOS has a PIC18 port!

2009-05-29T03:23:00.001-04:00

Havn’t posted anything in a while, but working with FreeRTOS and the PIC18 port. Fully preemptive scheduling, small, fast, efficient and works with C18 compiler. More on this once I have everything sorted out.

More thoughts on my token bus based RS485 protocol

2009-05-18T12:55:00.001-04:00

It was suggested on the PICLIST that I list all possible errors that could happen with my protocol and write possible solutions. Let’s see how this goes. In a perfect bus where there is no line disturbance, no random death of a node, and proper following of protocol by each node, we can assume that data will not get corrupted, the token will not get lost and the buss will never fail. However, in

2 more network protocols suggested on the PICLIST

2009-05-18T12:45:00.001-04:00

http://yaspnet.sourceforge.net/ http://www.hth.com/snap/ These look really useful. For embedded applications, CSMA/CD, token bus, and the polling system seem to be good choices.

Olin’s Old Network

2009-05-18T12:35:00.001-04:00

Olin Lathrop: There are other ways to guarantee this. I think the vast majority of RS-485 networks use a bus master system. This simplifies a lot of stuff. I did one a while back where the master addressed each slave in turn. If the slave had nothing to send, it responded with a NACK so that the master would know to go on to the next slave. In my system, the configuration wasn't known up

My RS485 Network Protocol

2009-05-17T14:40:00.001-04:00

After hours of research, I was unable to find a suitable real-time, multi-master/peer-to-peer network protocol for RS485. So I made my own. Please evaluate it and comment on it. The protocol is designed to work over RS485, using an RS485 transceiver hooked up to a PIC's UART pins. 8 bit, no parity, 1 stop bit. Maximum length of data segment of packet is 0xFF bytes long, but since most

I2C for chip-to-chip communication

2009-05-10T13:00:00.001-04:00

If you have several PIC microcontrollers and other I2C devices on the same PCB, the best bus to use would probably be the I2C bus. It’s a synchronous multi-master bus so the PICs can talk to each other while controlling the slave devices as well. Here are some interesting sites on the I2C bus: http://www.robot-electronics.co.uk/htm/using_the_i2c_bus.htm http://www.i2c-bus.org/i2c-primer/ http

CAN – It’s Awesome!

2009-05-03T21:04:00.001-04:00

After further research, I learned more about the CAN bus (controller area network). It only requires three wires (high, low, ground) and terminating resistors (typically 110 ohms for CAT5 cable) and a CAN transceiver. Unlike RS485, the CAN bus specifications specify the physical layer as well as the protocol layer. The bus allows for multi master communication over long distances (1000 m) and

Microcontrollers & Communication

2009-05-02T22:02:00.001-04:00

I recently started a project which required several microcontrollers (placed around the house) to be able to communicate with each other. The difficult part is choosing a communications method and protocol. After doing some research, I found the following to be suitable options for inter-microcontroller communications. The most interesting and suitable option I found was was the RS485 bus. This

Another cool idea for connecting vias for DIY double-sided PCBs

2009-04-26T16:50:00.001-04:00

Tony Smith, , of the PICLIST gave me this idea: Take a long piece of solid strand wire and thread it through all of the vias, like sewing. The wire should obviously be bare (stripped of all insulation). Solder one side, then the other. Do this for all the vias and clip off the excess wire and the interconnecting wire. It’s fast, easy, cost-effective, and it works.

Annoyances and solutions for components when top-soldering DIY double-sided PCBs

2009-04-25T23:47:00.001-04:00

Most components are very easy to top solder when making double-sided PCBs. However, some can be annoying and hard. The following may be a simple solution for such components: Large capacitors Do not insert completely. Leave space on top and bend capacitor over on its side. This will leave a lot of space for easy top soldering. Male/female pin headers For the male pin

Ubuntu 9.04 Released!

2009-04-23T23:20:00.001-04:00

Ubuntu 9.04 Released today!

Kubuntu 9.04 RC

2009-04-21T23:54:00.001-04:00

I just gave Kubuntu 9.04 RC a try - installed it on my old Dell Inspiron 6000 laptop. Works very well (KDE4.2). It was flawless and did everything I needed. Unfortunately, KDE login/logout is still a bit slow compared to Gnome, but this will improve with time. 9.04 final release is due in two days.

Driving a Piezoelectric Speaker with a PIC

2009-04-21T23:50:00.001-04:00

Piezoelectric speakers are really cool. You can get them inexpensively from most hobby electronics stores, take them out of PCs, and so on. You can directly connect them to your microcontroller (resistor recommended) and generate any tone you want. Simply connect one end of the speaker to an output pin on your PIC and connect the other end to GND for the simplest configuration. You make the

PICKIT2 Linux GUI – In Progress

2009-04-19T13:44:00.001-04:00

I’m working on a Linux GUI for the PICKIT2, it’s in progress – almost done. Stay tuned.

MAX233A

2009-04-18T14:40:00.001-04:00

I just got my MAX233A samples from Maxim. They’re UART RS232 <—> TTL level computers so you can interface your PIC’s UART to your computer’s RS232 port. Makes development a lot quicker since it’s easy to program and view output. On windows, you can use the termite terminal to communicate via UART on a windows machine. On a Linux machine, you have a lot more options – see Minicom. There are even

DIY IPOD Battery Pack

2009-04-11T00:23:00.001-04:00

So my IPOD Nano 1st G internal battery is dying. I can barely squeeze out a few minutes of play time using the normal Apple firmware. IPOD Linux and Rockbox are awesome; by setting the backlight brightness to a minimum, I can get a whole lot more playtime. One option is to buy a battery and installation kit (they’re pretty inexpensive). However, this method requires you to open up your IPOD (

DIY Through-Plating for Double-Sided PCBs

2009-04-08T01:05:00.001-04:00

Creating your own PCBs can be annoying – especially when trying to make them compact and contain many parts. Routing can be very difficult. Luckily, we can make our own double-sided PCBs just as easily. However, the problem now is finding a way to create vias and plated through holes at home safely, efficiently, effectively, quickly, easily and cheaply. Large chemical through-plating machines are

Java Games in 4K

2009-04-05T23:34:00.001-04:00

http://digg.com/d1o16Y

Salvaging an RS232 serial mouse

2009-04-05T14:24:00.001-04:00

I recently got some MAX232A samples from Maxim-IC. These chips convert the TTL RS232 signals from your PIC to the RS232 voltage levels required by your PC. They make it very easy to connect your PIC with your PC. I only needed one more thing: an RS232 serial cable. I noticed I had some old RS232 serial mice lying around. I decided to break one open and remove the cable. Perfect – the cable had

Homebrew CPU

2009-04-04T15:46:00.001-04:00

I found some interesting sites on making your own CPU from scratch. Some of them are only made out of 74 series integrated circuits. http://www.homebrewcpu.com/ That site is part of the homebrew CPU webring. Just scroll to the bottom and you can click “next” through all the sites in the webring.

DS18B20 1-wire Driver for CCS C

2009-04-04T15:39:00.001-04:00

I got my hands on a few of these DS18B20 1-wire digital temperature sensors. They’re really awesome. They’re small, easy to work with, and they run on the 1-wire bus which means they can run on a minimum of two wires. However, I found it easier to just run these devices with 3 lines: +5V, GND, Bus – saves a lot of design complexity. I found a few good 1-wire drivers for CCS C (especially for

University of Toronto Life Sciences

2009-03-30T23:27:00.001-04:00

I just got accepted into the University of Toronto Life Science program. Awesome!

Some interesting electronics/hobby/microcontroller sites

2009-03-28T14:39:00.001-04:00

http://dev.emcelettronica.com/ Your Electronics Open Source http://www.youritronics.com/ Youritronics: DIY, Electronics, IT and Gadgets http://www.embedds.com/ Embedded projects from around the web

DIY Reflow Soldering

2009-03-26T22:18:00.001-04:00

I recently ordered a whole bunch of samples and high end integrated circuits from various companies such as Maxim, Austria Microsystems and Microchip (such as the PIC32). These chips are all really cool. However, there’s a problem. They’re all surface mount. It has become a trend for companies to offer high pin count and new devices in surface mount packages only. This is bad news for prototyping

Peltier Elements

2009-03-22T14:01:00.001-04:00

A Peltier element is a metal element which passes heat from one side to the other when a current is passed through the element. So one side gets really cold and the other gets really hot. They’re inexpensive and compact. Solid state as well. Seems interesting, could possibly be used to make a drink cooler or something similar.

Logic Families

2009-03-21T11:49:00.001-04:00

Some information I found on different logic families. Device Families: TTL (74xx) True TTL 74L Low power 74S Schottky 74H High speed 74LS Low power - Schottky 74AS Advanced - Schottky 74ALS Advanced - Low power - Schottky 74F(AST) Fast - (Advanced - Schottky) 74C CMOS

QtCreator – Trolltech’s Own IDE

2009-03-21T03:48:00.001-04:00

I didn’t find out about this amazing IDE until I was browsing for themes for my KDE 4 desktop on kdelook.org and saw an interesting looking icon in one of the theme screenshots. Curious, I googled the icon name (qtcreator) and was pleasantly surprised to find out that it was Trolltech’s own IDE for Qt. It’s amazing. Really easy to make anywhere from quick and simple GUIs to complete and complex

More Hobby PIC18 Devices

2009-03-21T03:36:00.001-04:00

The best hobby chips are: (spaces added in part numbers for readability) PIC 18 F 26/46 20 – Very robust, but a bit more expensive ($5.50), 100 K flash write cycles (the two below only have 10 K flash write cycles) PIC 18 F 26/46 K 20 – Low power PIC 18 F 26/46 J 50 – Low cost ($3.30), 2 – 3.3 V, 5.5 V tolerant digital inputs, USB, peripheral pin select, RTCC PIC 18 F 2550 – USB

Microcontrollers for Hobby Purposes

2009-03-19T14:39:00.001-04:00

If you want to dive right into the art of electronics and microcontrollers, choosing the right chip might be a bit difficult. Microchip alone offers hundreds of different microcontrollers with many different cores and series. In today’s post I’ll list a few good microcontrollers that are inexpensive, readily available, have lots of RAM, flash and onboard peripherals. I’ll start off with

Rorschach’s Quotes (from Watchmen [2009])

2009-03-18T14:00:00.001-04:00

(In Rorschach's Journal) Dog carcass in alley this morning, tire tread on burst stomach. This city is afraid of me. I have seen its true face. The streets are extended gutters and the gutters are full of blood and when the drains finally scab over, all the vermin will drown. The accumulated filth of all their sex and murder will foam up about their waists and all the whores and politicians will

Prototyping Wire

2009-03-12T20:25:00.001-04:00

For breadboards, use thin, single-stranded copper wire. It bends and holds into various shapes and can easily pierce into the breadboard holes. However, for prototyping with copper strip boards such as Veroboards, stiff, single-stranded wire is not ideal. Instead, use thin, multi-stranded wire because it bends around stuff easily and does not get in the way. Also should be very easy to solder

SPI Modes in CCS C

2009-03-10T00:07:00.004-04:00

When interfacing SPI devices, the appropriate SPI mode should be used. The SPI modes are described here in detail: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serial_peripheral_interface Here are some easy to use defines for use with the CCS C compiler in the setup_spi() function: #define SPI_MODE_0_0 (SPI_L_TO_H | SPI_XMIT_L_TO_H) //SPI Mode 0 #define SPI_MODE_0_1 (SPI_L_TO_H) //SPI

My First CCS Program – 16F690 on Low Pin Count Demo Board (PICKIT2)

2009-03-08T19:01:00.001-04:00

Here’s my first real CCS program. It’s for the 16F690 on the low pin count demo board that comes with the PICKIT2. All this program does is read the voltage on RA0 provided by the trimpot and show the 4 most significant bits of the result on the LEDs. Simple, elegant, easy and it works. CCS is really cool once you get it set up the way you like. Source: http://pastebin.com/f3516334c Header:

CCS Annoyance Update

2009-03-08T18:39:00.001-04:00

Update: the progress popup window can be suppressed. Just go to Project Options > Output Files and you’ll see the option. You can even make it default for new projects. Source: Matt Pobursky from the PICLIST.

More About CCS C Compiler

2009-03-08T18:30:00.001-04:00

When compiling a project, an annoying progress dialog pops up and stays for a few seconds after the compilation process has completed. Annoying. CCS C compiler integrates well into MPLAB, so you can bypass the annoyance above. However, MPLAB does not come with the awesome project wizard, which brings us to our next point: The project wizard doesn’t let you make modifications to your

EXT4 is FAST

2009-03-08T16:19:00.001-04:00

I decided to reinstall ArchLinux on my 4 year old Dell Inspiron 6000 laptop today. For the record, the specs of my laptop are as follows: CPU: Intel Pentium M 750 @ 1.86 GHz RAM: 1 GB DDR2 dual channel Screen: 15.4” 1680x1050 resolution I decided to install a default ArchLinux install using the EXT4 filesystem. I kept most of the options default but installed a few extra packages

AS1107 LCD Driver Chip Interface Code for C18

2009-03-06T23:50:00.001-05:00

I was unable to find any code to interface this chip on the Internet. However, there were a few people with videos demonstrating its use. After contacting them, borrowing a few of their driver ideas, and writing my own driver, I was finally able to get this chip to work. Here’s my driver. Written for Microchip C18 compiler. Can easily be adapted to other compilers. My chip is an 18F2620,

phpDesigner is Cool

2009-03-06T22:12:00.001-05:00

I’ve had the chance to evaluate phpDesigner. It’s one awesome PHP IDE – probably amongst the best out there. It’s inexpensive, feature-rich, fast, easy to use, highly configurable and even has multiple GUI skins. Windows only, but it may be possible to run on Wine. Works well with XAMPP.

DIY Automatic Precision Wire Cutter for Prototyping – Part 2

2009-03-05T17:37:00.001-05:00

In the previous post, we examined a possible set of features and design goals for such a device. However, the feature set and design goals are difficult to implement. So here’s idea #2. The design is greatly simplified and has less feature. However, it should be much simpler to make. The device will consist of a set of wire feed rollers, a wire cutter and a wire insulation stripper head. Since

DIY Automatic Precision Wire Cutter for Prototyping - Part 1

2009-03-05T01:01:00.001-05:00

One of the most annoying things while prototyping using solderless breadboards, prototyping boards, Veroboards and so on is cutting your wires at just the right length to make a perfectly straight connection. Sometimes, you may need a small piece of wire that will connect points 2, 3 or 4 holes across. If you have many of these, the wire cutting process itself will consume most of your time.

CCS C compiler is not as bad as I thought…

2009-03-02T17:09:00.001-05:00

In the past, I had believed that the two best C compilers for PIC microcontrollers were made by HI-TECH and Microchip. I didn’t give much thought to CCS C as there are many other PIC C compilers in the market. I was pleasantly surprised when I gave CCS C a try. Pros: Very easy to get started with and use. Produces compact code. Huge built in library of functions for peripherals

DS12887 (DS1287) RTC Chip Driver Writtin in CCS C for PICs

2009-03-02T01:39:00.001-05:00

Here’s a driver for the DS12887 (or DS1287) RTC chip written in CCS C for PIC microcontrollers. The code can easily be ported to C18 or HI-TECH C. Should be useful for my chip. http://www.ccsinfo.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=67343

Dell Laptop CPU Frequency Scaling and Fan Control

2009-03-02T01:37:00.001-05:00

SpeedswitchXP is a CPU frequency scaling utility for Windows XP which allows the user to select power profiles. I leave mine to dynamic when on both external power and when on battery. So far, it’s doing a great job keeping the laptop cool and quiet by reducing CPU speed when the processing power is not required (which is about 95% of the time). Now the fan never turn on high. I8kfan is a fan

LED Fan Clock

2009-02-27T22:51:00.004-05:00

LED Fan Clock - Uses an LED as a light strobe and the persistence of vision technique to show static coloured hands on a RPM countable computer fan like a clock. http://spritesmods.com/?art=ledfanclock&page=1

Interesting Maxim Chips

2009-02-24T23:09:00.003-05:00

MAX6952 The MAX6952 is an SPI based 5x7 dot matrix LED display driver that can drive up to 4 monochrome displays or 2 dual-colour displays. MAX232 The MAX232 is a very well known chip that converts TTL USART signals (such as the ones on the PIC) to RS232 level signals (on the PC). DS3234 The DS3234 is a precision real time clock with integrated crystal and 256 bytes of SRAM. MAX5402 The

Build Your Own Clock

2009-02-24T02:32:00.006-05:00

Here's a neat project idea to build your own clock using a PIC microcontroller. Parts: A PIC microcontroller (16F886 seems like a good choice; a 12F683 can also be used).A 32.768 kHz crystal for timing (can be used as the primary clock source as well as timer clock source for the PIC).A display. For this purpose, an LED Matrix display or LED 7 segment display can be used. A very low power static

Oscilloscopes

2009-02-23T17:30:00.001-05:00

A short article on oscilloscopes - http://www.best-microcontroller-projects.com/handheld-oscilloscope.html

Make a clock using a 32768 Hz crystal and a low end PIC

2009-02-23T01:51:00.008-05:00

32768 Hz crystals are extremely common and are used to make clocks as the number 32768 = 2^15 and can therefore be easily divided to obtain a 1 Hz pulse. Further information is provided on the Wikipedia article on quartz clocks. I believe the crystal can be used with a PIC as a secondary clock source for one of the internal timer modules which can generate an interrupt every so often with an

Multivibrator

2009-02-22T21:22:00.002-05:00

Wikipedia: A multivibrator is an electronic circuit used to implement a variety of simple two-state systems such as oscillators, timers and flip-flops. It is characterized by two amplifying devices (transistors, electron tubes or other devices) cross-coupled by resistors and capacitors. The most common form is the astable or oscillating type, which generates a square wave—the high level of

Displaying custom 5x8 characters on your HD44780 LCD

2009-02-20T23:37:00.009-05:00

Creating and displaying your own custom characters on your HD44780 based LCD is very easy. When you send "data" to the LCD (which represents an ascii character to be displayed), the LCD consults its internal ROM and looks up the pattern corresponding to your character. This internal ROM can not be modified by the user and contains a fixed set of characters that can be displayed. However, the LCD

Tiny ARM Embedded Linux Computers

2009-02-19T23:20:00.005-05:00

http://gumstix.com/index.html - ~$140 Gumstix, inc. makes the world's smallest full function, open source computers. These computers and related products are marketed to companies, product designers and hobbyist in more than forty countries worldwide. http://beagleboard.org/hardware - $149 The USB-powered Beagle Board is a low-cost, fan-less single board computer that unleashes laptop-like

Great Electronics Books

2009-02-19T16:06:00.002-05:00

As recommended by the PICLIST members: The Art of Electronics - by Paul Horowitz, Winfield Hill Practical Electronics for Inventors - by Paul Scherz

Two more radio transceivers from Futurlec

2009-02-18T01:07:00.002-05:00

Radio Data Transceiver - 433MHz - Priced at $7.90 and $8.90. SPI interface - easy interface with microcontrollers. http://www.futurlec.com/Radio.shtml - The 10th and 11th products on that page.

Popular Shift Register with Enable Pins

2009-02-17T23:36:00.003-05:00

Two cool high-speed shift registers: 74HC595 - 8-Bit Shift Registers with Output Latches - Datasheet at Futurlec - $0.50 each. UCN5832 (a bigger version of the 595)Thanks Colin! (PICLIST) These chips can also be chained to even further increase output lines: http://homepages.which.net/~paul.hills/Software/ShiftRegister/ShiftRegister.html

Great Electronics Stores to Buy Parts

2009-02-17T19:20:00.008-05:00

http://www.futurlec.com/ My all time favorite store to buy electronics parts. Very low priced for small and large quantities, great for hobby use. Really cool value packs, prototyping boards, components and so on. First stop when you need something. No minimum order, low prices, slow shipping. http://www.sparkfun.com/ Second stop. Lots of cool parts, good prices. They also make PCBs at the best

Turbocharge Your PIC with PLL

2009-02-15T23:44:00.009-05:00

The PIC18 series have a maximum internal oscillator frequency of 8 MHz, which translates to 2 MIPS. However, the PIC can run at much higher speeds (especially when using an external clock source). Using the PIC's PLL, one is able to multiply the clock source by up to 4 times. This is even software-controllable if using the internal clock source. Using the maximum speed of the internal oscillator,

Optical Heartbeat Detector

2009-02-14T22:03:00.004-05:00

http://www.johnhenryshammer.com/TEChREF/opAmps/opamps.html http://www.8051projects.net/_heartbeat_sensor_using_infrared_LED http://www.htw-aalen.de/extern/dti/Ti_proj/puls_3/puls_3.htm (translated) http://www.htw-aalen.de/extern/dti/Ti_proj/puls_1/puls_1.htm (translated) http://www.htw-aalen.de/extern/dti/Ti_proj/puls_2/Start.htm (translated)

My KDE 4.2 Screenshot

2009-02-14T16:01:00.007-05:00

KDE 4.2 (release) on Arch Linux using the Perfection Plasma theme. Wallpaper: Chicago at Night

PICFLOAT

2009-02-13T22:11:00.003-05:00

Midrange PIC floating point library written in MPASM. IEEE 32bit single and 40bit format (8bit signed exponent,32bit mantissa, 1bit sign - calculations are done in 40bit format including trig, log, etc). http://picfloat.sourceforge.net/ Would be nice to have a 64 bit float in C with high precision math functions for use with all PICs, but 40 bit with 32 bit mantissa is still better than single

An Introduction to Analog Filters

2009-02-13T20:21:00.002-05:00

http://www.sensorsmag.com/articles/0701/24/main.shtml

Serial to Parallel Shift Register

2009-02-13T18:34:00.008-05:00

To expand the I/O of a microcontroller, one can use a serial-in-parallel-out shift register to convert serial signals to a parallel output. Useful to control HD44780 type parallel LCD modules using only 3 wires (one for enable one, one for the shift register data, one for the shift register clock). The shift register would control the LCD in 4 bit mode with another bit for RS). http://

XBee

2009-02-13T18:30:00.001-05:00

http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/product_info.php?products_id=8664 Another way to interface microcontrollers wirelessly.

DIY Electrocardiograph

2009-02-13T17:37:00.009-05:00

http://www.eng.utah.edu/~jnguyen/ecg/ecg_index.html http://www.diyhappy.com/homemade-ekg/ I was thinking about hooking one up to the ADC on a PIC microcontroller and use a high capacity SD card to log heart beat throughout the day as a fun experiment. Update - more links: http://www.cisl.columbia.edu/kinget_group/student_projects/ECG%20Report/E6001%20ECG%20final%20report.htm http://

Cheap Microcontroller USB to Serial Interface

2009-02-12T23:52:00.001-05:00

http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/product_info.php?products_id=718 Basic breakout board for FTDI's popular USB to UART IC. Now with internal oscillator and EEPROM, the FT232RL is an impressive IC!

Seems like an easy way to add wireless to any project...

2009-02-12T19:27:00.002-05:00

Transmitter - http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/product_info.php?products_id=8946 Receiver - http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/product_info.php?products_id=8950 Very cheap RF modules for easy wireless data communication.

PIC18 HD44780 LCD Driver Interface Code

2009-02-05T15:44:00.004-05:00

Hey all! This post contains my clean, simple, compact and easy-to-use HD44780 LCD driver code. This should work on any PIC18 and is trivial to port to any other PIC architecture if so desired. Designed for use with Microchip C18. delay.c delay.h LCD.c LCD.h main.h Usage example: Example.c - http://pastebin.com/f719a390

Delays

2009-02-04T00:31:00.001-05:00

Delays are used in code to pause for a specific amount of time, usually to allow humans to read output. But they are also important when interfacing peripherals. For example, when interfacing a microcontroller to an HD44780 LCD, enough time must be given for the LCD module to complete its operation. For this purpose, delays are used to waste time. There are numerous ways to implement delay

Basic Port I/O

2009-02-04T00:24:00.000-05:00

In this post, we will examine basic IO port control for the PIC18. In C18, it is very straightforward to control I/O pins of your chip.To set the data direction, use the TRISX register like you normally would. For example, if I want to make my PORTC all output, I would use:TRISC = 0x00; In hexadecimal notationorTRISC = 0b00000000; In binary notation.Once the tristate registers have been set, you

Setting Configuration Bits and Configuring Clock Speed

2009-02-04T00:16:00.000-05:00

Pragmas are preprocessor direrectives which are used in C18 to set configuration options for your chip. They are usually set at the top of the main source file, just under the includes.They are declared like this:#pragma [option] = [value]For example, my usual options are:#pragma config OSC = INTIO67#pragma config FCMEN = OFF#pragma config IESO = OFF#pragma config PWRT = ON#pragma config BOREN =

PIC 18 Microcontroller Programming in C- Introduction

2009-02-03T16:44:00.000-05:00

IntroductionI believe that the PIC18 series is the best family when diving into the world of microcontrollers. Myself, I have a PIC18F2620. It's a solid, all round, feature-rich chip with lots of flash and ram (64K, 3K). It's really easy to work with, very reliable, comes in a 28 pin DIP package and is compatible with the Microchip C18 compiler.AssumptionsThis tutorial assumes that you know basic