ADS1112 is a 16-bit delta-sigma A/D converter. This A/D chip has an I2C interface, a 2.048V internal voltage reference and performs a self-calibration on each conversion. These characteristics make it very easy to work with an MCU such as ATmega328p.
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I was interviewed by EEWeb a few weeks ago, and the interview is featured in today’s Featured Engineer column. In that interview, I touched upon many topics, from my background to the projects I that I have been working on.
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I got a used 250VA power transformer that was removed from equipment a couple of weeks ago. The transformer has a dual 10V AC output and a few auxiliary voltage outputs. The 10V winding is rated at 10A, I thought it would be perfect for a high current power supply project.
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About a year ago, I wrote a simple library for interfacing AD7705/AD7706 with Arduino. The library works, but it requires some decent knowledge of the underlying chip, which had made it somewhat difficult to use. Most issues users reported can be resolved by adjusting the timing in user code, but I admit that it is somewhat difficult for users who are not familiar with the chip. For a library, I should have made it easier to use to begin with. So, I decided to add a few long-awaited features and hopefully these tweaks will make the library easier to use.
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LTC6904 is a programmable oscillator which is capable of generating frequencies from 1kHz to 68MHz. The oscillation frequency can be changed via the I2C interface and thus makes it very easy to interfacing with MCUs.
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In this blog post, I will show you how to program an MSP430G2 series chip outside the MSP430 LaunchPad (MSP-EXP430G2) development board using the Launchpad itself as a programmer. This is useful for doing in-system programming without having to swap the target chip in and out of the LaunchPad.
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In part one, I went over the theory behind the self-balancing robot and in part two, I showed you my build using a modified toy truck. In this post, I will walk you through the code and show you the finished balancing robot. If you are impatient, you can scroll to the end for the demostration video and the source code.
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In my previous post, I explained the theory behind the self-balancing robot at a high level. Here, I will discuss the actual build in more details.
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Building a self-balancing robot is one of those things that every hobbyist and engineer want to do. But there are a few hurdles for a lot of people. There is the theory on the one hand and then there is the mechanics on the other. In this and the next few posts, I will show you a self-balancing robot I recently built and will explain in details on some of the most important aspects.
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You probably know this already from just reading some of the posts in my blog. Like millions of others, I am a big Arduino fan. So I thought I would share my side of the story and you can decide for yourself.
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I just started playing with TI’s MSP430 LaunchPad (MSP-EXP430G2) a few weeks ago and have found it surprisingly capable so far. But having to remember all those register names is not an easy task, especially if you do not use it often. So, inspired by this article (Header file brings Arduino sketches to the TI Launchpad) on Hack A Day, I decided to write a few functions that can simplify some of the more mundane tasks.
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By default, ATmega328 used in Arduino (such as Uno or Duemilanove) operates under 5.0V. Sometimes though it is necessary to use 3.3V supply voltage to accommodate peripheral circuits that cannot tolerate 5.0V.
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MSP430 LaunchPad (MSP-EXP430G2) is compatible with many of the TI‘s Value Line series of microcontrollers. For these MCUs, both the Master clock (MCLK) and the sub-main clock (SMCLK) can be driven directly by the internal DCO, without having to use an external crystal. This is very useful in situations where timing requirement is not so strict. In this blog posting, I will show you all the discrete frequencies that can be generated by only using the DCO. The charts included below will come in handy when you are designing your MSP430G2 based circuits.
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Since the current Arduino tools do not support in-circuit debugging, you will have to rely heavily on the serial print outs when tracking down those hard-to-find bugs unless you are one of those few elites whose code just works 100% every time. It is all good when you are doing your development when a computer is readily available. But what if you need to capture the outputs when you do not have the access to a computer? I found myself running into this situation quite often.
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This topic is nothing new and there are already quite a few good articles on the web on this. But I thought I would try to provide a more comprehensive view on this issue and give a few concrete examples on how to filter out the electrical noise from motors in your circuits.
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