OCT23
Small ATmega8 multi-use USB enabled board
It is always good when we have some kind of universal microcontroller board at hand.
This one is USB enabled with many IO pins exposed, LM1117 voltage regulator and ATmega8 AVR on board. There is a free firmware USB driver available that we can use to write our own code around. As the author states, this is version 1 and there is also version 2 which is much better and with even mode I/O pins exposed. There are also many projects built using this board such as temperature, humidity and pressure sensors and infra-red receiver for Kenwood keyboard on the project page.
Source: Raphael Assenat
OCT22
Gear clock based on PIC16F628A
We have seen all kinds of clocks, binary, nixie, led, vcr tape clocks, but this time we will see a big clock based on gears.
Current time is displayed as hours and minutes on two big gears which are made out of wood. They are turned by stepper motor which is controlled by PIC16F628A microcontroller that keeps track of time. This clock is adjusted by turning big gears by hand or by two push-buttons on the electronics board. Source code for PIC is available for download on project page, for all those electronic woodworkers.
Source: Alan Parekh
OCT21
Frequency generator with MAX038
Frequency generator or function generator is a signal generator of various shapes commonly used for electronic or acoustic equipment testing and debugging.
This frequency generator is based on MAX038 circuit from Maxim-IC and is controlled with PIC16F877 microcontroller. MAX038 circuit is able to generate signals with frequency of up to 20MHz which is pretty enough for most applications. Current signal being generated with this unit is displayed on character LCD. Project schematics is unfortunately not available but PCB, PCB with placed components diagram and HEX file is available for download on project page.
Source: DIY hifi
OCT19
Advanced RLC meter based on dsPIC
The RLC meter is not a very common device among hobbyists. Since we all are going towards building SMD projects we sure can use one of these devices because of vast number of unmarked SMD components around us.
Here you can see an RLC meter that can be built at home. It uses advanced DDS (direct digital synthesis) techniques for test signal generation and DSP (digital signal processing) techniques for analysis of resulting voltages and currents. It is based on dsPIC30F4012 16-bit Microchip DSP controller and measurement results are displayed on graphic LCD. Source code is written in C and is available for download on the project page.
Source: Miguel Rusch
OCT14
The absolute green soldering
Some time ago we have seen a Soldering press for cables and now we are looking at the solar power soldering method.
Even though this is not recommended for common use but in extreme situations (and I can't think of any at the moment) this can actually work pretty good. Soldering requires a lot of energy because solder melts at over 200 degrees Celsius and the metals in the electronic parts quickly conducts away heat. This can easily be achieved by focusing sunlight using biconvex lens on a very sunny day.
Source: Robot Room
OCT12
Small binary clock
You simply must love a clock that most people can't tell time from.
A small binary clock is built on 2.5x2.5cm board with PIC16F84 microcontroller and 4 LEDs. When "show" button is pressed, current time is displayed in BCD fashion showing tenths of an hour, than ones of an hour followed by minutes. This is a cool project for beginners although only HEX file for PIC is available. If someone wants to make their own firmware for the clock, there is a Single tube nixie clock with timekeeping functions and almost all job already done.
Source: Maco
OCT10
Timed air conditioner infrared remote
If your air conditioner doesn't have a remote controller with built-in timer, don't worry - you can build one yourself.
The idea is to have an air conditioner turned on an hour before going to work. That way the office would be cool at summer and warm at winter. This device is based on ATtiny13 microcontroller and it's job is to reproduce the original IR signal after a certain time when triggered. So, after leaving work at let's say 17:00 the device should count 14.5 hours and than send the IR signal to turn on the air conditioner at 7:30. It is powered by 1.5V (or 1.2V) battery which is boosted by using MAX756 step-up converter. The IR code of remote controller must be sniffed for other air conditioner units since this one is for "Midea".
Source: Tom
Changes on website
After total redesign of this website, leaving comments on news and schematics articles was allowed only to registered forum users. From now on, leaving comments is welcome to everyone without need to register to forum.
Besides these changes, there is also a "share" button on every article which allows you to send content from this website to e-mail and other portals such as digg, facebook and others. Finally there is some sort of option to "track" users of this website and see where they surf by clicking on the "Check them out" link in "online visitors" section :)
