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In a previous post I introduced my latest project which started out as an exercise in familiarisation of PIC24/dsPIC assembly language programming but morphed into the development of a FORTH interpreter/compiler. Version 0.1 saw a working interpreter with a limited number of FORTH ‘words’. The compiler and a fairly standard word set are now operational with Version 0.2.
RS’ free of charge IDf-to-Collada converter allows EDA tools to connect with the popular Google SketchUp 3D Modelling package. Ever had a design that did not quite fit the mould? You have laid out t
Only a few more sleeps left now until Christmas eve when Santa sets out to deliver toys to kids and gadgets to us geeks! :0) But did you know that modern technology actually allows us to track Sa
Electro-surgerySurgical operations through electric currentWe discussed the role of microcontrollers in pain management in Microcontrollers for medicine part II.Now, let's see how microcontrollers hel
As the festive season hits us squarely in the face (or tummy in my case - I like Christmas pudding!), our good friends at TraceParts have launched their fifth Christmas Tree Design Contest!The conce
There is a dark, even destructive, force within electronics. You can't see it, you can't touch it, but every electronics engineer needs to worry about it. This nemesis is electromagnetic i
This post takes a look at interfacing the novel AS3935 lightning sensor with an Arduino.
A look at getting the Processing programming language and IDE up and running on a Raspberry Pi, and example code working with the TI Chronos eZ430 development kit.Processing is a programming language
Many of us sit and complain about how well products work, point out there issues and bad point but few spend time doing something about it. In this review I look at just such a product, designed by en
A 600 um long “Nyan Cat” etched into 200nm thick copper film (HomeCMOS project, New BSD License)First we had software where the source code is made freely available to all. Then came open source h
Among the low cost FPGA development tools sits one name that we are all familiar with. FTDI who are well known for their range of interface chips, from USB to just about anything they are true a leade
The use of planes in Multilayer PCB's can offer a designer advantages in terms of good grounding for noise, high speed design, reducing length and impedance on VCC traces and EMC considerations.
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Andreas Steill's group's OpenBTS setup at Fachhochschule Kaiserslautern
Software-defined radio (SDR) holds incredible promise for the future of communications: from reducing the bill of materials and enabling software upgrade of equipment, to cognitive radio systems that
A comparison of the respective benefits of the low cost embedded development platforms that may help with making a decision as to which to use when.
Raspberry Pi running Debian/LXDE and displaying the DesignSpark homepageExcitement surrounding the Raspberry Pi has reached fever pitch as enthusiasts, engineers, and software developers and hardware
A first look at the mbed platform and the recently launched Application Board.
Like it or not, many of us are plugged into some form of Electronic Device, but on the Underground, you can’t connect to the virtual world as you are out of range of a cellular or WIFI network.
Look what you can do with a bunch of old Vacuum Cleaner parts and a little imagination!
Shoaib Javed (msjaved) is a senior design engineer for Telegesis (UK) Ltd in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, specialising in Zigbee modules. Shoaib has more than 10 y
Have you ever wondered how to build an isolated USB cable? This requires both isolated D+ and D‐ lines as well as an isolated dc‐dc converter to supply power to the downstream port and cable.
In my last blog Raspberry Pi goes to the movies I took an initial look at using the Raspberry Pi as a media centre.In this blog I thought I’d talk you through putting XBMC onto an SD card and running it on a Raspberry Pi.
Being one of the few Linux users at RS towers I have had the enviable task of taking home one of our Raspberry Pi's to put it through it's paces and I am absolutely amazed.
Kevin Murrell is Director of the UK's National Museum of Computing based at Bletchley Park. I caught up with Kevin and he kindly agreed to be interviewed, providing us with insights into how he starte
Modkit is an in-browser graphical programming environment for the Arduino.Its still at the 'Invite Only' stage but is worth watching ..... I can't wait to try it out http://www.modk.it/
An electronics or embedded engineer should not limit themselves to writing firmware. Having thorough knowledge on hardware empowers the designer to understand what is happening and take the right path
There are many pioneers and inventers that have made their names in the world. There are also great numbers of scientist that any high school child can name. We are blessed with great names in history
A first look at the upcoming modular expansion system for Raspberry Pi.
A small company in California called Sound of Light has come up with an innovative new approach to playing music wirelessly. And it's as easy as installing a light bulb.The speaker system uses a light
I Need Your Help-! Yes that's right, you, why? Because this is the start of one of the most ambitious project I have ever done. For it to work I need engineers from around the world to pull together and help me design and build a Earth Rover. This could be the start of something very big.
The TL-WR703N is a 3G travel router that has become a hit with the hacking community due its low cost, compact size and the ease at which it can be re-purposed. This post covers initial experiences wi
Few would argue that a framework governing access to wireless spectrum is required in order to enable efficient use and minimise interference. But it's increasingly being suggested that the idea of sp
Christmas morning 1979 Santa delivered Bigtrak under the Christmas Tree, unfortunately he forgot the batteries… I was just 1 x 9V and 4x 1.5V D Cells away from Christmas morning heaven!.
After getting MAME going on my Raspberry Pi so that I could play old arcade games. I wanted to hook up a proper joystick. Back in the 80′s I had the excellent and ubiquitous Competition Pr
Welcome to the new look DesignSpark!
ESD (ElectroStatic Discharge) is a significant threat to quality in the electronics industry. Major companies state that 25% of all unidentified failures of electronic equipment result from damage cau
Today marks the release of DesignSpark PCB version 2.0. The latest iteration of the world's most powerful free schematic and PCB layout tool. One particularly cool feature is the 3D output but what to
The next World Solar Challenge car race takes place in October 2013. The race involves purpose-built vehicles being driven from the north to the south coast of Australia powered by energy which must come from the sun or be recovered from the kinetic energy of the vehicle itself. Here is the second post in a series charting the development of one entrant sponsored by Renesas Electronics.
Having attended several technology shows at the beginning of the year, it’s clear to me that multicore is finally really happening, and it’s happening fast.
Technological progress has dramatically changed the way that we interact with machinery, and reshaped assumptions of how user interfaces are designed. Early human-machine interface (HMI) designs wer
In an amazing development that seems to be more akin to science fiction than engineering, a group at the Fraunhofer Institute are using RepRap type technology to manufacture blood vessels.The project
Communication is a fundamental element to life itself. Before any one individual animal or plant started to communicate individual cells found ways to connect and send messages between each other. Mil
One of the ways the Raspberry Pi keeps costs low is by omitting a real-time clock (RTC) chip. When connected to the Internet system time can be set from NTP servers, but when you don't have Internet a
A number of readers have commented in posts that they are not familiar with Linux so I thought I would explain the process of installing software on Raspberry Pi.
Some of you will know that I have a passion of great engineering and find beauty in clean and simple designs. This is one of those designs, not made to save the world, or make a corporate boss lots
Do you want a slice of Raspberry Pi? RS and DesignSpark are proud to be announced today as a Raspberry Pi Partner. Demand for these boards is very high!
Those clever people behind the Arduino have opened the door on their latest venture Arduino Labs .The purpose of the Lab is to allow the open Source community to contribute to the development of new p
An interesting thought occured to me recently whilst working my way through a particularly tough mechanical design problem on our CFD software in the design office of ebm-papst UK Ltd . Part of my rem
The DrDAQ is a multifunction USB device that incorporates sensors for light, sound and temperature, supports external sensors including a pH electrode, and has inputs and outputs...