Michael Dunn @ edn.com did a quick tear-down of his drone.
The main processor is an ST STM32F031K6, an ARM Cortex-M0 with the usual cadre of peripherals, as well as a motor-control block (the leftmost large chip in Figure 2). Although at the lower end of the ARM continuum, it’s doubtless more than powerful enough for this application. Amazing what $1 will buy you in a microcontroller these days.
FPV drone teardown – [Link]
Our friends on educ8s.tv published a new video! Check it out.
Hello guys, I am Nick and welcome to educ8s.tv a channel that is all about DIY electronics projects with Arduino, Raspberry Pi, ESP8266 and other popular boards. Subscribe to the channel now if you don’t want to miss any future videos. In this video we are going learn how to use this inexpensive character LCD display with Arduino. After we learn how to use the display we are going to build something useful. A simple real time clock. Let’s start.
20×4 I2C Character LCD display with Arduino Uno – [Link]
This compact board will help you to drive 4 Wheel Drive Robots, each axis can handle a load current up to 3 Amps and supply 12V – 48 V DC. Board requires two PWM and Dir. signals for full 4WD operations, mainly differential steering for taking turns left or right or complete 360 degree rotation. The module has been designed around LMD18201 from Texas Instruments. The LMD18201 is a 3A H-Bridge designed for motion control applications. The device is built using a multi-technology process which combines bipolar and CMOS control circuitry with DMOS power devices on the same monolithic structure. Ideal for driving DC and stepper motors; the LMD18200 accommodates peak output currents up to 6A. An innovative circuit which facilitates low-loss sensing of the output current has been implemented.
4 Wheel Robot Motor Driver ( 4X 3Amps LMD18201 H-Bridge) – [Link]
This compact board will help you to drive 4 Wheel Drive Robots, each axis can handle a load current up to 3 Amps and supply 12V – 48 V DC. Board requires two PWM and Dir. signals for full 4WD operations, mainly differential steering for taking turns left or right or complete 360 degree rotation. The module has been designed around LMD18201 from Texas Instruments. The LMD18201 is a 3A H-Bridge designed for motion control applications. The device is built using a multi-technology process which combines bipolar and CMOS control circuitry with DMOS power devices on the same monolithic structure. Ideal for driving DC and stepper motors; the LMD18200 accommodates peak output currents up to 6A. An innovative circuit which facilitates low-loss sensing of the output current has been implemented.
T A Babu @ edn.com has a design idea of a led controller with some nice features:
The key features of this Design Idea are:
Soft switch on/off operation
Zero current drain in sleep mode
Two level dimming
Low battery protection
Simple controller based on CMOS 4017 Johnson counter
Multi-brightness LED controller draws zero off-current – [Link]
Graham Prophet @ eedesignnewseurope.com discuss about two new MEMS accelerometers from Analog Devices:
Analog Devices (ADI) has added two devices to its low noise, low drift, low power, three-axis MEMS accelerometers. The low noise performance over high frequencies provided by the ADXL356 and ADXL357 MEMS accelerometers delivers high resolution vibration measurements that enable the early detection of machine failure in condition monitoring applications.
Accelerometers for vibration measurements & wireless condition monitoring – [Link]
Boris Landoni @ open-electronics.org documents his UV index detector.
It measures solar radiation and visualizes the corresponding value on the integrated display of a miniaturized Arduino, in order to tell us when to expose ourselves to the sun…
Open Source UV Index Detector – [Link]
by Gheorghe Plasoianu @ edn.com
Many applications require positive and negative supply voltages, with only one voltage requiring tight regulation. This Design Idea describes a dual-output, hybrid SEPIC–Ćuk converter whose positive output voltage can be lesser or greater than the input voltage. The unregulated negative output is a mirrored replica of the positive output.
SEPIC/Ćuk converter sprouts second output – [Link]
Ken Shirriff has written an article on reverse engineering the 76477 “Space Invaders” sound effect chip:
Remember the old video game Space Invaders? Some of its sound effects were provided by a chip called the 76477 Complex Sound Generation chip. While the sound effects1 produced by this 1978 chip seem primitive today, it was used in many video games, pinball games. But what’s inside this chip and how does it work internally? By reverse-engineering the chip from die photos, we can find out. (Photos courtesy of Sean Riddle.) In this article, I explain how the analog circuits of this chip works and show how the hundreds of transistors on the silicon die form the circuits of this complex chip.
Reverse engineering the 76477 sound effect chip – [Link]
by Graham Prophet @ eedesignnewseurope.com:
Two versions of the PADS software package (by Mentor, now a Siemens business) have been made available through distributor Digi-Key. Positioned as design software for “the aspiring innovator” both the free and the $499 versions include access to parts libraries and to a circuit simulator.
Free PADS PCB packages from Mentor/Digi-Key – [Link]
login
