The smallest camera module for mobile devices
Nidec Copal, the world’s biggest manufacturer of camera shutters, has developed the smallest, thinnest and lightest camera module for mobile devices. It measures just 8.5 x 8.5 x 4.2 mm and weighs 0.57 g. The new camera module is about half the size of Nidec Copal’s previous...
Continue ReadingYour laundry is done!
Tinkerman @ tinkerman.cat tipped us with his latest project. It's a laundry notification system that will message you when it's finished. I often forget my wet clothing in the washer and after a day they really smell… so I thought about monitoring my washer and get a notification...
Continue ReadingThunderboard React – A New BT 4.2 IoT Kit From Silicon Labs
Silicon Labs recently introduced a new platform that enables users to develop their own sensor driven IoT application, this platform is called Thunderboard React and it’s for 29$. Thunderboard contains Silicon Labs’ BGM111 bluetooth smart module connected with punch of sensors...
Continue ReadingRTL8710 Is a New ESP8266 Competitor
In the last two years, ESP8266 was the Wifi Chip/Module which dominated the market of hobbyists, even a lot of commercial products use ESP8266, due to the low price, ease of use and large community around ESP8266. RTL8710 is a Wifi network solution from the Taiwanese Company...
Continue ReadingIEEE Ranking for Programming Languages – 2016
Are you an embedded system programmer? Checkout the rank of your favorite programming language according to IEEE Spectrum ranking. C language is in the first place for programming devices controllers, followed by C++, Arduino, then Assembly. IEEE Spectrum has special methods to figure...
Continue ReadingTFoC: FPGA & Forth = VGA
Here is a fun project, created from start to finish by Matthias Koch: In itself, this is no big deal. The generated pattern is a 16x16 expanded pixel image, and 640x480 displays are pretty basic by now - although they’re fine for presenting text-mode information and retro...
Continue ReadingOpto-isolated laser controller build
Scott Harden built his own opto-isolated laser controller and wrote a post on his blog detailing its assembly: My goal was to utilize a free hardware output line to signal to a device that I build to modulate the laser in a special way. This way there would be no modification to any...
Continue ReadingApp note: Solid-State Relays
Solid-state relays introduction from Vishay, (PDF) MOSFET SSRs feature an optocoupler construction, but have a pair of MOSFETs on the output instead of a phototransistor. A pair of source-coupled MOSFETs emulate an electromechanical relay by providing bidirectional switch capability...
Continue Reading