Page 969 – Electronics-Lab.com

LDO regulator is qualified for automotive designs

Posted on 4 August, 2015 by mixos

by Susan Nordyk @ edn.com:

Housed in a tiny 2×2-mm, 6-pin DFN package, the MAQ5300 voltage regulator from Micrel boasts a dropout of only 100 mV at 300 mA. The AEC-Q100-qualified part is suitable for space-constrained and high-reliability applications that are subjected to the harsh environments and temperatures commonly encountered in automotive and industrial applications.

The CMOS regulator operates from an input voltage of 2.3 V to 5.5 V, while delivering a guaranteed output current of 300 mA. Fixed output-voltage options include 1.5 V, 1.8 V, 2.5 V, 2.8 V, 2.85 V, 3.0 V, and 3.3 V. Output voltage noise is specified at 120 µV RMS typical. The MAQ5300 also achieves an initial output voltage accuracy of ±2% and ±3% over temperature.

LDO regulator is qualified for automotive designs – [Link]

ESP8266 MQTT battery monitor project

Posted on 4 August, 2015 by mixos

Steve’s latest project, a wireless MQTT battery monitor:

This board uses an ESP8266 (ESP12), a Texas Instruments INA226 I2C voltage and current monitor, and a Texas Instruments LMR12010X buck converter. This board is designed to wirelessly monitor 12 volt batteries and power supplies using an external current shunt resistor. The voltage across the shunt resistor is measured differentially. The shunt resistor value and current rating is programmable in the firmware.

ESP8266 MQTT battery monitor project – [Link]

Do you need a “Raspberry Pi” with a display? Try Armadillo 43T

Posted on 3 August, 20156 August, 2015 by mixos

Armadillo 43T integrates a 4.3″ TFT display, resistive touch panel and a single board computer with Linux OS into one compact unit.

Armadillo 43T is suitable for everyone, who needs a complete microcomputer with a display – “all in one solution”.

Armadillo 43T is driven by operating system Armadillian designed in a way to optimally use possibilities of the Armadillo processor while maintaining „Raspbian compatible“ – enabling to run majority of applications created for Raspberry Pi™. Armadillian contains “ArmadilloConfig” tool enabling setting of basic properties of a touch panel without necessity to connect external keyboard or mouse.

USB Host interface enables to connect wide range of devices like for example Ethernet or WiFi USB module (dongle). Armadillo 43T uses the same processor like Raspberry Pi™, while here – http://elinux.org/RPi_VerifiedPeripherals you can find compatible devices.

Armadillo 43T provides 13 GPIO (binary inputs/ outputs), from which 2 can be used as I2C, 5 as SPI and 2 as UART. A user can also use 2 PWM outputs, one of them shared with mono audio output connected to mini speaker. GPIO are 3.3V TTL compatible. In case, they´re configured as 5V tolerant inputs.

Armadillo 43T can be powered through DC connector, micro USB connector or through power supply pins from an external 5V DC/1A power source (typical consumption is 400 mA).

Armadillo 43T can be found in our standard stock offer. Detailed information will provide you the Armadillo 43T datasheet.

Do you need a “Raspberry Pi” with a display? Try Armadillo 43T – [Link]

Distance Measurement using Infrared Sensor with ADC0804 & 8051 Microcontroller

Posted on 3 August, 20153 August, 2015 by mixos

This project primarily consists of four units: Microchip Technology’s SST89E54RDA-40-C-PIE, a sensor unit, an ADC0804 ADC component and the LCD module. Along with detecting an obstacle, its exact distance is also calculated and displayed on a 16×2 LCD interfaced to the microcontroller. The IR receiver detects the IR radiations reflected by the object being measured. The output voltage level of this IR sensor depends upon the intensity of IR rays received by the receiver. The intensity, in turn, depends on the distance between the sensor module and the obstacle. When the distance between IR pair and obstacle is lesser, more IR radiations fall on the receiver, and vice versa. The receiver along with a resistor forms a voltage divider whose output is supplied as the input for ADC0804. The calculation of the distance is achieved by processing the output of IR sensor through an ADC0804 analog to digital converter. It is calibrated to get accurate distance measurement.

During power-on reset, the SST89E54RDA-40-C-PIE can be configured as either a slave to an external host for source code storage or a master to an external host for an in-application programming (IAP) operation. The microcontroller is designed to be programmed in-system and in application on the printed circuit board for maximum flexibility. The device is pre-programmed with an example of the bootstrap loader in the memory, demonstrating the initial user program code loading or subsequent user code updating via the IAP operation. The sample bootstrap loader is available for the user’s reference and convenience only; SST does not guarantee its functionality or usefulness. Chip-Erase or Block-Erase operations will erase the pre-programmed sample code.

This design using infrared sensor with ADC0804LCN/NOPB and SST89E54RDA-40-C-PIE microcontroller has numerous applications. It can be used for automatic guided vehicles, positioning of robots as well as measuring generic distances, liquid levels in tanks, and the depth of snow banks. Moreover, the device can serve as a motion detector in production lines.

Distance Measurement using Infrared Sensor with ADC0804 & 8051 Microcontroller – [Link]

Raspberry Pi OLED Internet Bandwidth Display

Posted on 3 August, 2015 by mixos

by Archie500 @ instructables.com:

In a very brief summary it works as follows: The Raspberry Pi uses SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) to get the WAN data rates from the router and then displays these graphically on the OLED screen.

The Raspberry Pi was already set up as our media player and is next to the television. The OLED display was inexpensive and can be bought from a number of places including eBay.

Raspberry Pi OLED Internet Bandwidth Display – [Link]

Energy Harvesting Circuit

Posted on 3 August, 2015 by mixos

by hackarobot.com:

Recently, I built an energy harvesting circuit based on an ultra low voltage DC/DC step up converter chip (LTC3108) from Linear Technology. With a 1:100 coil transformer (CoilCraft LPR6235), it converts the tiny voltage generated from Peltier thermo-electric generator into high enough level to drive small circuits.

Energy Harvesting Circuit – [Link]

Extech GX900 vs Fluke 287 Graphical Multimeter Review

Posted on 2 August, 2015 by mixos

This is a review of the Extech GX900 vs Fluke 287 Multimeter
Extech Is owned by FLIR. Thanks to FLIR for providing the GX900 for this review.

Extech GX900 vs Fluke 287 Graphical Multimeter Review – [Link]

Siglent SDM3055A (SDM3055) 5.5-Digit Multimeter Review, Teardown & Experiments

Posted on 1 August, 2015 by mixos

In this episode Shahriar reviews the Siglent SDM3055A (SDM3055) 5.5-Digit Multimeter. After a brief look at the instrument’s datasheet, a full teardown is presented. The instrument utilizes a two-board design and a large LCD screen. The SDM3055A provides a comprehensive set of measurements including capacitance as well as various graphing capabilities including histogram, trend and bar graphs. USB and LAN connections are standard and a USB-GPIB can also be purchased. The performance of the instrument is verified through experiments with various functions and setups.

Siglent SDM3055A (SDM3055) 5.5-Digit Multimeter Review, Teardown & Experiments – [Link]

Scullcom Hobby Electronics #26 – Build a Function Generator Part 2

Posted on 1 August, 2015 by mixos

by Scullcom Hobby Electronics @ youtube.com

This is part 2 of the building a function generator. We cover the output stage and discuss some changes to the original design. Finally, we build the project in to a case and test.
Below are the links to the latest main schematic diagram and a second file for the Display and Arduino schematic.

Scullcom Hobby Electronics #26 – Build a Function Generator Part 2 – [Link]

Infineon’s Security Chip

Posted on 31 July, 2015 by mixos

by Martin Cooke @ elektormagazine.com:

Protection of Intellectual Property is a major issue as industrial systems become increasingly more interconnected. According to Bartol Filipovic, head of the Product Protection and Industrial Security department at the Fraunhofer Institute for Research “Most companies have no idea just how easy it is to copy their products, encrypted software is not enough to protect standard products or machine code. The software must be ideally stored inside protected hardware.”

Infineon has developed a broad range of semiconductor technologies to counter these growing security threats. The OPTIGA Trust E SLS32AIA hardware security device provides a cost effective solution for high value goods. It forms part of the OPTIGA™ Trust family high-security solution for industrial automation systems, smart homes, consumer and medical devices. The OPTIGA™ Trust E provides enhanced protection of services, business models and user experience. Based on its 1-way authentication mechanism, it uniquely identifies objects and provides protection of Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) networks.

Infineon’s Security Chip – [Link]