Apr 13 2017
It’s amazing what you can get in a microcontroller board these days for just over $2. For example, just search ebay.com or alibaba.com for the key word ‘STM32F103C8T6’. You will see the links to an ARM Cortex M3 STM32F103C8T6 development board for just over $2 US including shipping (usually from China, so it may take …
Feb 12 2017
I became re-interested in Microchip PIC assembler coding recently. I hadn’t really used it for a number of years (since before 2009). The ‘C’ language is usually efficient enough and easier to code for most projects I do. I used one of my DIY PIC18F4550 Pinguinos for experimentation. As you might guess, I decided to …
Jan 25 2017
An Arduino shield is basically another circuit board that plugs into the Arduino and extends its capabilities in some way. So, of course, if you create your own DIY Arduino, you have to create a DIY Arduino shield. I needed a way to attach an HD44780 LCD to my DIY Arduino so I created a …
Dec 24 2016
![DIY Arduino [Side View]](https://microcontrollerelectronics.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/DIY_Arduino_Side-300x200.png)
I have a new version of my DIY Arduino UNO. It is somewhat different than the old one that I have written about before (HERE). I moved some components around on the board, added the user LED and moved all the wiring to the bottom of the board. Here is a picture of what it …
Nov 24 2016
Lately, I have been experimenting with Arduino-Builder. It was been available as a command line interface to compile sketches since version 1.6.6 of the Arduino IDE. It is actually what the Arduino IDE invokes behind the scenes to compile the sketch. It is written in the Go language. The source code is available HERE on …
Nov 10 2016
Some would say that an ATmega328 with two identities is not possible. However, it depends on who you ask. 🙄 First though, before we ask, here is some necessary background information. Microcontrollers from Atmel (AVR) and Microchip (PIC) have a built in ‘signature’ or identity. This signature is a unique code that identifies its …
Nov 07 2016
The arduino does not have an RTC (Real Time Clock). However, it is trivial to add one. And if you have the time, you can do a number of interesting things with your arduino, limited only by your imagination. I am using the DS1307 RTC module which looks like this: …
Sep 07 2016
Flashrom is an amazing piece of software and a life-saver when you need it! If you’ve tried to update your BIOS before using manufacturer supplied software and something went wrong, then you know how valuable Flashrom can be. I’ve written about Flashrom and the BusPirate in a previous post HERE. However, I just found out …
Jun 20 2016
I created a simple circuit using the LM317 to output 3.3 volts from a 5V or greater input voltage. Why? Because, a number of modules for the Arduino (or Pinguino) take 3.3 Volts. It’s true, some of the Arduinos do have a 3.3V voltage regulator (and thus a source of 3.3V), however, that might not …
Jun 01 2016
There are many Linux (and Windows) programs ‘out there’ that allow you to do serial port communications. However, I needed some things that those programs did not provide (on my Linux system) so I came up with my Serial Port Communication via Python script. If you want something that you can learn from and/or customize …
Recent Comments