Boris Landoni @ open-electronics.org designed COLIBRI, a board able to drive 4 color LEDs. He writes:
Recently some multicoloured power LEDs have appeared on the market and, differently from the more common RGB LEDs, they incorporate a white LED, as an addition: they are named RGBW (Red, Green, Blue, White) just because of this. They have been created because, even if in order to obtain a white light it is enough to light red, green and blue LEDs together (the brightness proportion as for red, green and blue will determine the white’s tone, that may be warm or cold), the addition of a white LED allows to obtain some much more “clean” white colours, in comparison with what could be obtained from mixing the three basic colours; it is moreover possible to use all the four LEDs together, in order to obtain a much greater luminous power.
This article is the first of a series detailing the design and build process of an Arduino controlled Dual Mono AK4490 DAC by DimDim:
The design goal was to do a dual mono design so as to maximize SNR and channel separation. A 4-layer PCB design was chosen so as to have a very solid, low impedance ground plane as well as proper power and signal planes. The I2S, audio signals and power after the local LDO regulators are routed on the top layer, the 2 middle layers are ground and power planes, and the bottom layer serves to route I2C signals and some power lines.
Sasa Karanovic @ sasakaranovic.com build a heart shaped keychain that flashes 2 LED with the touch of your finger! Source files are available on github.
This one is a very simple but cool project, something that I would recommend to anyone who is interested into DIY electronics, gadgets and learning new stuff in general. It is definitely one of those projects that don’t require too much time but you can learn a lot by making it and also earn a lot of credit by sharing it with your friends and family.
Libre has released a three flavor board called Tritium. The first board is a 32bit Allwinner H2+ based with 512MB onboard memory and costs only $9. The next one is in the range of $19, and is based around the 32-bit Allwinner H3, has 1GB onboard and is capable of 4K30 output via the HDMI socket. The most expensive model is the $29 2GB board, based around the 64-bit Allwinner H5 chip. All three of the boards have a proprietary Mali-400/450 GPU onboard. The boards are available on kickstarter and have 58 days to go.
It can be used to tinker with electronics, teach programming, build media centers, create digital signage solutions, play retro games, establish bi-directional video, and unlock imaginations. It is available in 512MB 32-bit 1080P, 1GB 32-bit 4K30, and 2GB 64-bit 4K30 configurations while utilizing a large existing collaborative ecosystem of parts for creators to build new and exciting products and services.
Electronut Labs recently released their open source Nordic nRF52832 development board that can be used for your next BLE project. This tiny board can be plugged on a breadboard or soldered on a PCB and provides additional value from just using the BLE module directly as it includes the necessary passive components, buck converter, RGB Led and push button. The board is available for sale on Tindie for 20 USD.
hackaBLE uses the Nordic nRF52832 which in turn is based on an ARM Cortex-M4 core. So you can really program it with any ARM compatible programmer. We do have a convenient solution though, in the form of our Bumpy blackmagic probe compatible SWD debugger and our PogoProg.
Over the years FPGAs have become readily available to the maker community. They are now more accessible than ever as many development boards has seen the light. It’s now possible to embed a soft-core MCU into an FPGA rather than using a hard-core ASIC MCU and here is where PulseRain comes into play with an open source design down to the silicon level.
The PulseRain M10 board embeds an open source soft MCU core (96 MHz) in an Intel/Altera MAX10 FPGA, while is Arduino compatible. In addition, the soft-core MCU features onboard resources like voice CODEC, microSD socket, SRAM, on-chip ADC, and dual IO voltages. The board will soon be available for funding on crowdsupply.com.
Features & Specifications
FPGA: Intel/Altera 10M08SAE144C8G
Logic Elements: 8 K
Block Memory: 378 Kb
User Flash Memory: 32 KB
18 x 18 Multipliers: 24
Internal Configuration: 2 (This FPGA does not need external memory for configuration)
PLLs: 1
On-chip A/D Converter: 12 bit
Temperature Sensor: On-chip TSD (Temperature Sensor Diode)
Package: 144-pin EQFP
Microcontroller:Soft-core FP51-1T, with support package for Arduino IDE
Clock Rate: 96 MHz
Processor Core: Enhanced 1T 8051, with RISC implementation
Throughput: Single clock cycle execution for most instructions
Instruction Memory: 32 KB
Data Memory: 8 KB
On-chip Debugger: Yes (supports code download throughput of 921600 bps)
4D Systems, the manufacturer of intelligent graphics solutions, has announced a new 0.9” smart display module as part of the ‘IoD-09’ series. This series is a set of small full-color TFT display modules that feature the Espressif ESP8266 SoC. It also comes with microSD card slot and is compatible with Arduino IDE.
The IoD-09 modules have 6-pin connector at each end, which can connect easily to other applications and boards. It is also suitable for connecting to accessory boards for a range of functionality advancements. The design of these display modules provides a suitable platform for easy integration of displays into a product.
IoD-09 Display Module Specifications:
80 x 160 Resolution, RGB 65K true to life colors, TFT Screen.
Built-in WiFi suitable for ‘Internet of things’ applications.
802.11 b/g/n/e/i support
Integrated TCP/IP protocol stack
WiFi 2.4 GHz, supporting WPA/WPA2 and WEP/TKIP/AES, along with STA/AP/STA+AP/P2P operation modes
4Mbit (512kb) of Flash memory for User Application Code and Data.
128Kb of SRAM of which 80kb is available for the User.
12 pin/pad interface, for all signals, power, communications, and programming.
Onboard microSD memory card connector for multimedia storage and data logging purposes.
DOS compatible file access (FAT16 or FAT32 format).
Display full-color images, animations, and icons.
4.0V to 5.5V range operation (single supply).
Module dimensions:
(TH version) 31.8 x 16.4 x 11.7mm.
(SM version) 37.0 x 16.4 x 5.9mm.
Weighing: (TH / SM) ~5 g.
RoHS, REACH, and CE compliant.
IoD-09 is also available on two different models, IoD-09TH TFT LCD module with Through Hole interface, and IoD-09SM TFT LCD module with Surface Mount interface. In addition, they can act as master or slave devices, connect to the internet, display a raft information and graphics, along with the capability to communicate to SPI, I2C, and/or 1-wire devices, as well as having general GPIO for digital control/input.
The IoD-09 is compatible with Arduino IDE and the 4D Systems Workshop4 integrated development environment (IDE). Workshop4 provides powerful graphics using the GFXdloIoD09 graphics library specifically for the IoD-09 series through a drag and drop style graphical user interface (GUI).
Finally, you can buy the IoD-09 display module for about $20. There is also a starter kit for $40 which includes the module, the 4D-UPA programmer, and a 4GB micro-SD card. For more information, you can visit the official page and download the datasheet.
An ECG patch with HRV monitoring that’s open source, affordable, and Wi-Fi/Bluetooth connected.
HeartyPatch is a completely open source, single-lead, ECG-HR wearable patch with HRV (Heart Rate Variability) analysis. It is based on the popular ESP32 system-on-a-chip. By using low-cost, highly-integrated components, we are able to keep the BOM’s cost low, while the simplicity of the circuit design means future expansion will be easier. HeartyPatch can be used both as a lifestyle device for managing fitness and stress as well as for diagnostics and medical research, with the potential for even more interesting applications.
HeartyPatch – Open source ECG patch with Wifi – [Link]
REFLO is a stylish, portable reflow oven for creators and makers to easily, quickly, and professionally prototype their IoT device, wearable, small robot, etc.
REFLO’s features:
Portable at only 6” x 6” x 2” – it’s the worlds smallest reflow oven
A team of medical and bioengineering undergraduates from McMaster University, Canada have designed a cancer detection device able to detect melanoma. Their design solution, the sKan, is a low cost and non-invasive detection device.
Annually, skin cancer accounts for 1 in every 3 cancer diagnoses1. The estimated 5-year survival rate for patients whose melanoma is detected early is approximately 98 percent2. Current melanoma detection methods either rely on a visual inspection, or need a specialist’s opinion which is time consuming and costly. With high numbers of patients needing a rapid diagnosis to begin treatment, the health services are at maximum capacity. The sKan poses a viable solution.
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