CMiYC Labs, Inc. http://www.cmiyc.com Projects and Ideas by J. Lewis Fri, 13 Jan 2012 00:33:36 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 New Digi-Key tool lets Engineers share schematics – Electronic Products http://www.cmiyc.com/blog/2012/01/12/new-digi-key-tool-lets-engineers-share-schematics-electronic-products/ http://www.cmiyc.com/blog/2012/01/12/new-digi-key-tool-lets-engineers-share-schematics-electronic-products/#comments Fri, 13 Jan 2012 00:33:36 +0000 James http://www.cmiyc.com/?p=770 Dig-Key Scheme-It(tm)

Tools like National’s WebBENCH have allowed engineers to design power supplies without downloading any software for quite some time. Recently I got an account at Upverter.com. This web application is focused schematic capture with social sharing.

Just announced this week, Digi-Key is looking to enter this area with their new web based tool to share schematics, Scheme-It(sm).

I haven’t had a chance to put it through its paces yet, but I look forward to comparing to Upverter and Eagle version 6 soon.

]]> http://www.cmiyc.com/blog/2012/01/12/new-digi-key-tool-lets-engineers-share-schematics-electronic-products/feed/ 1 Arduino and MSGEQ7: Simple Spec Analyzer http://www.cmiyc.com/blog/2012/01/07/arduino-and-msgeq7-simple-spec-analyzer/ http://www.cmiyc.com/blog/2012/01/07/arduino-and-msgeq7-simple-spec-analyzer/#comments Sat, 07 Jan 2012 09:01:10 +0000 James http://www.cmiyc.com/?p=762

Putting music signal into the Analog Input of an Arduino can be pretty boring. That is, unless you use a totally awesome chip like the MSGEQ7. This  simple Spectrum Analyzer driven with an Arduino only takes a handful of parts.  I used these incredibly awesome protoboards from Adafruit for the first time.   The protoboard alone gives a fit and finish even before it starts!

Perma-Proto (Image at Adafruit.com)

]]> http://www.cmiyc.com/blog/2012/01/07/arduino-and-msgeq7-simple-spec-analyzer/feed/ 0 Picking an Arduino Board: Comparison Chart http://www.cmiyc.com/blog/2012/01/06/picking-an-arduino-board-comparison-chart/ http://www.cmiyc.com/blog/2012/01/06/picking-an-arduino-board-comparison-chart/#comments Sat, 07 Jan 2012 05:37:44 +0000 James http://www.cmiyc.com/?p=743 Arduino Comparison Table

Can’t decide which Arduino Board is for you? Have a board you want others to know about? This Google Docs Spreadsheet compares some of the key attributes of various Arduino boards. Whether you are trying to decide which one to buy or just want to know the differences, this chart can help.

]]> http://www.cmiyc.com/blog/2012/01/06/picking-an-arduino-board-comparison-chart/feed/ 0 Spotting Arduino Clones http://www.cmiyc.com/blog/2011/12/26/spotting-arduino-clones/ http://www.cmiyc.com/blog/2011/12/26/spotting-arduino-clones/#comments Tue, 27 Dec 2011 00:40:20 +0000 James http://www.cmiyc.com/?p=600 Spot the Arduino Uno Clone Mistakes

Open Source Hardware (OSH) means not only releasing devices, but all of the documentation associated with them. For some projects, this may include the actual CAD files used to produce the device. For example, the Arduino team produces not only schematics but the Eagle PCB CAD files for each of their boards. The great thing about such disclosure is that one can easily tweak the existing design for their own purposes. The downside is that nearly anyone can submit the exact same files to their own production house and have immediate clones.

Even when some people choose to do this, as have some eBay (and now Amazon) sellers, differences crop up from “real” boards and the clones (aka “fakes”). Click on the above photo for a Flickr-based “spot the differences” game!

]]> http://www.cmiyc.com/blog/2011/12/26/spotting-arduino-clones/feed/ 0 Video Tutorial: Buttons and Pull-Ups http://www.cmiyc.com/blog/2011/12/19/video-tutorial-buttons-and-pull-ups/ http://www.cmiyc.com/blog/2011/12/19/video-tutorial-buttons-and-pull-ups/#comments Mon, 19 Dec 2011 06:20:26 +0000 James http://www.cmiyc.com/?p=565 This is a 4-minute video version of the Arduino Pull-Up Tutorial:

]]> http://www.cmiyc.com/blog/2011/12/19/video-tutorial-buttons-and-pull-ups/feed/ 0 Arduino Exercise: Pull-Ups http://www.cmiyc.com/blog/2011/11/28/arduino-pull-ups/ http://www.cmiyc.com/blog/2011/11/28/arduino-pull-ups/#comments Tue, 29 Nov 2011 02:41:28 +0000 James http://www.cmiyc.com/?p=487 When hooking up switches or buttons to an Arduino I/O pin, sometimes the results might appear completely random. Sometimes it will appear as though there is a delay from when the button is pressed until the state of the pin actually changes. Other times the pin’s value will seem to randomly fluctuate from HIGH to LOW. Even more maddening might be as your finger gets closer to the switch, the pin’s state changes!

The fix to these problems is simple: use pull-up resistors. Here’s how they can fix this problem and how you can use them with an Arduino board.

Detailed explanation…

Continue reading: Arduino Exercise: Pull-Ups

]]> http://www.cmiyc.com/blog/2011/11/28/arduino-pull-ups/feed/ 0 Now that’s an Apple Pie! – EMSL http://www.cmiyc.com/blog/2011/11/28/now-thats-an-apple-pie-emsl/ http://www.cmiyc.com/blog/2011/11/28/now-thats-an-apple-pie-emsl/#comments Mon, 28 Nov 2011 15:55:22 +0000 James http://www.cmiyc.com/?p=532 Laser Cut Apple Pie

 

What is more American than an Apple Pie?  Why, a Pie designed in California, made in China.  This is one pie I’d like to jailbreak.  Is applying too much heat to this pie considered an upgrade?  Okay, that’s all the lame puns I have for this laser cut pie.

Evil Mad Scientist Labratories provides a tutorial on how to bake a Mac Mini Style Apple pie, complete with Laser Cutting Instructions.  Yeah that’s right, a laser cut pie.

Now that’s an Apple Pie! – Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories.

]]> http://www.cmiyc.com/blog/2011/11/28/now-thats-an-apple-pie-emsl/feed/ 0 BinBoo Control Board, Alive http://www.cmiyc.com/blog/2011/10/29/binboocontrol-board-with-leds/ http://www.cmiyc.com/blog/2011/10/29/binboocontrol-board-with-leds/#comments Sun, 30 Oct 2011 05:07:56 +0000 James http://www.cmiyc.com/blog/2011/10/29/control-board-with-leds/ Control Board with LEDs by JamesC4S

The control board is up and running, with some re-work. Shown next to the working LEDs is my original inspiration.  Last Christmas my brother gave me the ThinkGeek Binary watch.  Since then I’ve been fascinated with binary clocks.  Finally I had an idea that can help with other projects

Continue reading: BinBoo Control Board, Alive

]]> http://www.cmiyc.com/blog/2011/10/29/binboocontrol-board-with-leds/feed/ 1 The Making of Arduino – IEEE Spectrum http://www.cmiyc.com/blog/2011/10/28/the-making-of-arduino/ http://www.cmiyc.com/blog/2011/10/28/the-making-of-arduino/#comments Fri, 28 Oct 2011 16:41:57 +0000 James http://www.cmiyc.com/?p=458

Even knowing that the name Arduino was rooted in Italian, I have often wondered what it meant.  David Kushner of IEEE Spectrum has a great write-up on the beginnings of the Arduino project.

Great read.  The most surprising thing to me is that over 250,000 official boards have sold since 2005.  That isn’t counting clones and stand alones.  Wow!

]]> http://www.cmiyc.com/blog/2011/10/28/the-making-of-arduino/feed/ 0 Binary Clock Control Board http://www.cmiyc.com/blog/2011/10/27/binary-clock-control-board/ http://www.cmiyc.com/blog/2011/10/27/binary-clock-control-board/#comments Fri, 28 Oct 2011 03:38:10 +0000 James http://www.cmiyc.com/blog/2011/10/27/binary-clock-control-board/ Untitled by JamesC4S
Untitled, a photo by JamesC4S on Flickr.

Assembled control board. The processor is an ATmega328, RTC is DS1307 RTC, and LED driver is a TLC5904. There is also a FT232RL on the back side for USB to Serial connection, however, it doesn’t appear to be working.Next I’ll need to turn on the RTC and make sure it can actually keep time.

]]> http://www.cmiyc.com/blog/2011/10/27/binary-clock-control-board/feed/ 0