As I develop circuits that connect to the USB port on my computer I have been thinking that a short circuit could damage my computer costing a lot to repair. The USB port on a host computer has limited protection.…
Category: Technique
Pogo Pins and Lasers
When I designed the capacitive switch I didn’t include any connectors on the board so that it would be as thin as possible. As a result, there is no easy way to program the micro-controller when I first assemble one…
Packaging my Capacitive Switch
One of the features I wanted with my capacitive switch was the ability to package the device in a non-traditional package. In contrast to a regular push button the capacitive switch geometry is very configurable just by sizing the electrodes.…
ARM compiler for the LPC134x
I think that a very easy way to get started with the LPC1347 is to buy an LPCXpresso board for about $30. This comes with a development board and in circuit emulator and is supported with an Eclipse IDE that…
Conquering software complexity
I am involved in a number of robotic, volunteer and art groups and find that the computer questions I come across are very simple, yet the questions illustrate just how difficult it is to get started. Perhaps the greatest credit…
Surprise. There is NO GCC QTouch library for the ATTINY40!
Atmel does not have QTouch support for the GCC compiler when using the ATTINY40. Of course you can write your own library but that would defeat the purpose of using the Atmel’s patented closed source design. On the up side…
300kHz I2C Sniffer
For the quadracopter code I use the NXP I2C driver which works well with the MEMs sensors however it proved unreliable with the AVR slave. This is a huge issue since this is the radio and motor control path and…
Capacitive touch switch
Capacitive switches have shown up in many products most notably the iPod where it really hit the mainstream. Despite its commercial success I rarely see capacitive touch switches in hobby projects. A friend of mine asked me what I thought…
Re-flow Soldering; what Mom never taught me about cooking!
Having worked in the electronics industry for 30+ years I have had my fair share of problems making the change to surface mount technology (SMT). As a hobbyist I thought of SMT soldering as a new source of hair loss.…