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40 Pin & 28 Pin dsPIC Development Board

The dsPIC Development Board is a development and evaluation tool that helps create embedded applications using dsPIC30F Digital Signal Controllers for motor control family. Sockets are provided for 28 and 40-pin devices in the motor control family.

The dsPIC Development board has been designed mainly for Motor dsPIC30F4011 Digital Signal Controller in the 40-pin motor control socket and dsPIC30F4012 28 Pin digital signal controller, the board can also be used with other dsPIC ICs. Board provided with 3.3V and 5V regulator, crystal oscillators and a programming connector. In addition, the board is populated with dual header connector for all I/O, reverse supply protection diode, onboard 3.3V & 5V LED, Screw terminal for supply input, push button switch for reset, 6 pin header connector for programming, serial communication header connector, jumpers for multi serial communication option , electrolytic capacitor for filters. Optional provision for LM317T TO220 Regulator for 3.3V and 5V and Jumper for 3.3V or 5V power supply selection to power up the dsPIC.

Specifications

Dual sockets for 28 and 40-pin PDIP devices
On Board Reverse Supply Input Socket
Supply Input 7V to 15V ( LM7805 & LM1117-3.3V) Regulators
Optional Supply Input 7V to 36V DC If Populate LM317T TO220 IC
Sample application programs and project files available from microchip website for supported dsPIC30F devices
dsPIC30F4011 40-pin PDIP and dsPIC30F4012 28-pin PDIP
On Board Dual 5V & 3.3V regulator provided to full fill low and TTL supply requirement.
On Board programming Header Connector
On Board 3.3V & 5V Power LED
Jumper to select 3.3V or 5V going to dsPIC
Jumper for 2 UART Port or CAN selection
Controller Area Network (CAN) interface
1 push button for Reset
Access to all pins on the dsPIC30F device sockets via Dual headers

Schematic

Pinout

Photos

An isolated analog output for Arduino Uno

Posted on 10 October, 2016 by mixos

Giovanni Carrera discuss how to achieve an isolated analog output on Arduino. He writes:

This project completes the series of my articles about the Arduino analog I/O with the aim to use it as a controller of small automation systems.
In control systems of the industrial plants it is always advisable to isolate both the inputs and the outputs coming from the field. This prevents disturbances caused by power surges, lightning strikes or other EMI sources and also by ground potential differences.
Arduino Uno, or systems based on the ATmega328 chip has no a true analog output, but it may be realized using a PWM output averaged with a low-pass filter.

An isolated analog output for Arduino Uno – [Link]

18 PIN PIC Development Board with Header IO

PIC16F 18-pin Development Board will help you with your prototyping. It works with any of Microchip’s 18 pin of 16F PIC microcontroller.

Features

All ports terminating in separate box header with 5 VDC source option
ICSP connector for programming for the PIC’s with ICD support
Jumper selectable on board pull up resistor for PortA.4 pin on the microcontroller
Bridge in the input provides any polarity DC supply connection to the board
Jumper selectable 20 MHz crystal source
Onboard +5V Voltage regulator
Four mounting holes of 3.2 mm each
PCB dimensions 56 mm x 55 mm

Schematic

Parts List

Photos

PIC16F 28-pin Development Board with LCD

This development board offers various important add-ons which we considered are important to a developer of Microcontroller based project from Microchip.

Features

This board can be used with any of the 16F / 28 Pin PIC ICs compatible with 16F73 MCU. This kit is supplied with a PIC 16F73 MCU for development purposes.
The Clock frequency to the MCU is a 4 Mhz Crystal
This Development Board offers a ICSP connector for easy download of your code onto the MCU. Resistor R1 and Diode D1 Offer protection of Programming voltage interfering with the Supply voltage.
A 16×2 Backlight LCD helps as a displays of data in your project. PR1 controls the Contrast of the LCD.
D2 diode offers reverse polarity connection protection to the Board.
A 24C04 EEPROM can help store valuable data of your project on it.
J3 offers Aux Supply to other cards that might require 5V DC for operation. Please calculate the current requirement of the external card which could use this supply before connecting it.
On board Voltage regulator with PWR on indication via LED D3.
3 Tactile key inputs with their individual pull-up resistor.
2 LED out put, one of which is connected to the hardware PWM port on the MCU.
Infra Red (IR) sensor with associated components for IR related projects.
All IO pins available for external connection with the help of Relimate Connectors.

Please refer to the schematic diagram for the configuration of this board.

The kit includes all components required for the project accepts power supply and cabinet. Please check the components supplied to you as per the BOM “Bill of Material” listed in this document. The kit PCB is RoHS Compliant. Component legends and In/Out port pins are clearly printed.

Schematic

Parts List

Photos

A $20 Heart Rate Module For Health-Tech Projects

Posted on 7 October, 20169 October, 2016 by AlHasan Muhammad Ali

Heart rate monitoring is a common procedure for most of health related projects. Therefore, producing sensors modules and circuit boards for such tasks will facilitate and push forward the development of new health-tech projects.

Maxim Integrated, an analog and mixed-signal integrated circuits manufacturer, has developed a new module for measuring heart rate and pulse oximetry. It’s called “MAXREFDES117#”, derived from Maxim Reference Design, and it is a small board which is compatible with Arduino and Mbed boards, enabling a wide range of possibilities for developers.

MAXREFDES117# can be powered by 2 to 5.5 volts. It is a photoplethysmography (PPG)-based system that uses optical method for detecting heart rate and SpO2. It consists of three main parts:

1. MAX30102, a high sensitivity heart rate and pulse oximetry sensor. It is used with integrated red and IR LEDs for heart rate and pulse oximetry monitoring.

2. MAX1921, a low-power step-down digital-to-digital converter. It generates 1.8 V from input to supply the sensor.

3. MAX14595, a high speed logic-level translator. It works as an interface between the sensor and the connected developing board.

The board size is only 0.5” x 0.5” (12.7mm x 12.7mm) and has low power consumption that make it suitable for wearable applications. Thus, it can be placed on a finger, an earlobe, or other fleshy extremity.

MAXREFDES117# uses open-source heart-rate and SpO2 algorithm in its firmware. It also can be used with any controller having I2C interface. But the available firmware had been tested only on 6 different development boards, three of them are Arduinos (Adafruit Flora, Lilypad USB, and Arduino UNO), and the others are mbed boards (Maxim Integrated MAX32600MBED#, Freescale FRDM-K64F, and Freescale FRDM-KL25Z).

Accuracy of data collected by MAXREFDES117# depends on the used platform. According to the results with tested boards, Arduino boards give less accuracy than mbed ones because of theirs smaller SRAM size.

MAXREFDES117# is available for $20, it can be ordered online through the website.
More detailed information and quick start guide are presented here. In addition, all of the source files including schematic, PCB, BOM, and firmware are open and can be reached at the official product page.

An open-source IoT power meter

Posted on 7 October, 2016 by R-B

The first step toward finding ways to reduce home electricity usage begins with installing an energy monitoring system. These days you can find an electric meter in every residence, but it is likely that you would find it installed in a location that is more convenient to access for a utility person and not for you, the homeowner. This DIY Internet-of-Things enabled power meter is what you would need for an easy access to the real-time electricity usage data right on your computer screen at your desk.

This IoT power meter (IPM) is designed by Solenoid and it works in conjunction with a regular watt meter that consists of a flashing LED as a watt-hour usage indicator. The IPM senses the blinks of the LED using a light-dependent resistor (LDR), counts those pulses, saves the values to an SD card, and later uploaded to a cloud service, such as Google spreadsheet, for remote access using internet. Another advantage of IPM over the regular power meter is it extrapolates the measured data samples for improved resolution and estimation of energy usage.

The heart of this project is the WiFi-enabled ESP8266 microcontroller, which is coupled to an SD card and a 0.96” OLED screen. The SD card is used for storing the energy usage data as well as the HTML web pages that are served by ESP8266 on a client’s request. The network credentials required by ESP8266 to connect to a WiFi router are hardcoded into the firmware. The OLED serves as a local display for showing the current time and date, local IP address of the ESP8266 device, watt-hour usage for the day, etc. For accuracy, the ESP8266 synchronizes its local time with an NTP server.

The IPM is an open-source project and costs about $20 to build. The BOM and detail documentation can be found here.

Wireless biosensor platform for medical disposables

Posted on 7 October, 20168 October, 2016 by mixos

STMicroelectronics and HMicro have announced a single-chip product for disposable, clinical-grade wearable patches and biosensors, to replace wires for vital-sign monitors and electrocardiograms. The IC technology developed by HMicro and ST also targets other high-volume clinical and industrial-IoT applications. By Graham Prophet@ edn.com:

Hmicro is a wireless solutions developer working in wireless peripherals and complex biosensor applications. With STMicroelectronics the two companies have launched their cooperation to create the first single-chip solution for clinical-grade, single-use disposable smart patches and biosensors. The product, HC1100, targets the 5 billion wired wearable sensors, such as those for vital-sign monitors and electrocardiogram leads, utilized annually.

Wireless biosensor platform for medical disposables – [Link]

FFTs and oscilloscopes: A practical guide

Posted on 7 October, 20168 October, 2016 by mixos

Arthur Pini @ edn.com published a guide on how to use FFT found in most modern oscilloscopes.

The FFT (Fast Fourier Transform) first appeared when microprocessors entered commercial design in the 1970s. Today almost every oscilloscope from high-priced laboratory models to the lowest-priced hobby models offer FFT analysis. The FFT is a powerful tool, but using it effectively requires some study. I’ll show you how to set up and use the FFT effectively. We’ll skip the technical description of the FFT, because its already implemented in the instruments. Instead I’ll focus on the practical aspect of using this great tool.

FFTs and oscilloscopes: A practical guide – [Link]

Arduino Touch Screen Music Player and Alarm Clock Project

Posted on 7 October, 20167 October, 2016 by mixos

Dejan Nedelkovski build an Arduino-powered MP3 Music Player plus Alarm Clock. The player has a 3.2″ TFT display and the home screen displays time, date and temperature along with touch control buttons.

In this project I will show you how you can make an Arduino Touch Screen MP3 Music Player and Alarm Clock. You can watch the following video or read the written tutorial below.

Arduino Touch Screen Music Player and Alarm Clock Project – [Link]

Lightweight Body Heat – Electricity Converter

Posted on 7 October, 2016 by AlHasan Muhammad Ali

Powering wearable technologies using thermoelectric generators (TEGs) is becoming more efficient. An undergraduate student in North Carolina University, Haywood Hunter, is producing a lightweight and an efficient wearable thermoelectric generator. It generates electricity by making use of the temperature differential between the body and the ambient air.This converter produces 20 times more electricity than other technologies (20 µwatts) and it doesn’t use any heat sink, making it lighter and much more comfortable.

Study co-lead Haywood Hunter, shows off the TEG-embedded T-shirt at work.

The design begins with a layer of thermally conductive material that rests on the skin and spreads out the heat. The conductive material is topped with a polymer layer that prevents the heat from dissipating through to the outside air. This forces the body heat to pass through a centrally-located TEG that is one cm2. Heat that is not converted into electricity passes through the TEG into an outer layer of thermally conductive material, which rapidly dissipates. The entire system is only 2 millimeters, and flexible. Some limitations to size can be solved by choosing right power settings for different sizes.

Even though the wrist is the best place to use heat-electricity converters because the skin temperature is higher, the irregular contour of the wrist limits the surface area of contact between the TEG band and the skin. To solve this issue, it was recognized that the upper arm was the optimal location for heat harvesting. Meanwhile, another experiment showed that wearing the band on the chest limited air flow and heat dissipation, since the chest is normally covered by a shirt.The researchers found that the T-shirt TEGs were still capable of generating 6 µW/cm2 – or as much as 16 µW/cm2 if a person is running. It was realized then that T-shirts are just not as efficient as the upper arm bands.

TEG-embedded T-shirt (left) and TEG armband (right).

The work was funded by National Science Foundation (NSF) and the research was done in the Nanosystems Engineering Research Center for Advanced Self-Powered Systems of Integrated Sensors and Technologies (ASSIST) at North Carolina State. This center’s mission is to create wearable, self-powered, health and environmental monitoring systems, such as devices that track heart health or monitor physical and environmental variables to predict and prevent asthma attacks.

Further details can be reached at the university website and the project’s paper.

Via: ScienceDaily