SDI-12 on AVR with bitbanging
Recently I had to implement SDI-12 communication on a multi-parameter sensor. The PCB had an extension port on the PCB, exposing UART1 RX&TX, but also 2 GPIO's. While I considered…
Decoding Renke Weather station data
The Renke RS-FSXCS-N01-*-EX weather station is a compact, all-in-one environmental monitoring solution capable of measuring key atmospheric parameters such as wind speed and direction, temperature, humidity, noise levels, air quality (PM2.5, PM10),…
3D Printed 4×4 Rover
Advancements in 3D printing and robotics have revolutionised the design options, enabling rapid prototyping and cost-effective production for many gadgets including rovers. Looking back on previous articles on this topic,…
FDM 3D Printing troubleshooting
With so many tutorials out there, so many opinions and also the multitude of printers and filaments available, why another guide? Well, because it is useful for me to keep…
Teltonika RUT955 NMEA HTTP Post + Parser
RUT955 is highly reliable and secure LTE Industrial router with I/O, GNSS and RS232/RS485 for professional applications. For a given application, several such devices were installed on buses and I…
NMEA GPS Library for Microcontrollers -2-
A few years back I wrote a NMEA parser library that would run on AVR Microcontrollers. Released as open source under GPL, it became quite popular. All these years I…
Covid Coronavirus Face Mask
With the supply chains breaking due to the #covid-19 pandemic, some resources are becoming hard to procure. But there are cases when someone's health or even life, depends on these…
TTP229 Capacitive Touch Keypad
Use a TTP229 as a multitouch capacitive keypad that can function even from beneath a plastic enclosure, making this a perfect interface option for devices in sealed enclosures.
SSD1306 OLED LCD Library
Although there are already many examples and fine libraries readily available, most of them are using a buffer, meaning all the drawing operations are saved to a memory array and them dumped to the LCD as one complete frame. This has certain advantages that I would normally go for, but it also uses a lot of memory, a no go for small microcontrollers. This is why I wanted to write a library that will directly write to the LCD hardware instead of using a buffer. It's a bit slower but it saves considerable memory!
Simple AVR Bootloader tutorial
I've used AVR microcontrollers both for hobbies and work projects. These versatile microcontrollers ran the code I programmed them with, but once the final device was shipped, it was hard…
RAK831 LoRaWAN Gateway
Previously, I covered the Dragino LG01 Single Channel LoRaWAN Gateway, a low cost solution good for testing basic LoRaWAN communication setups. I needed a better gateway and I was about…
High Voltage inverter KIT
This blog was home to some exciting high voltage related experiments already. While my time for hobbies is becoming increasingly limited, I recently got a HV-1 high voltage inverter KIT…
RN2483 / RN2903 Firmware upgrade guide
The Microchip RN2483 and the RN2903 are Low-Power Long Range LoRa® Technology Transceiver Modules, in the same package and Pin compatible. The RN2483 is intended for the 433 MHz and…
Simple IOT temperature sensor
IOT stands for Internet of Things and refers to small devices equipped with direct internet connectivity, without needing an external computer. They are usually composed of a main microcontroller and…
Dragino LG01 LoraWAN Gateway
I already covered the impressive LPWAN LoraWAN technology with a proof of concept remote air quality monitoring unit based on the BME680 from Bosch and the RN2483 from Microchip, in…
Portable Power Supply
I have a few excellent external batteries, the kind with USB female connectors used to charge phones. Now I needed a high voltage 12V battery, or more specifically something in…
CNC Router for DIY PCB manufacturing
I'll have to go straight to the point: get yourself a CNC router now! I'm serious: I used to make my PCBs dual layer and in the kitchen, as Hackaday…
Yihua 8786D Hot air station with soldering iron
I don't change my tools too often, and those that I get stay with me for a long time. These are the things that extend my hands and allow me…
An IOT Swing
The new generations benefit of an advance over their predecessors. This is a simple equation that guarantees progress. For that I can do a simple comparison between the toys I…
Microcontroller Programming Issues
Bugs in software are bad, bugs in hardware are even worse, but inconsistent results are what makes it a total nightmare. Not my first post on crazy voodoo wasting precious…
Easy PCB Manufacturing
For a maker, there's now no excuse in not using his/her creativity to the maximum extent. All the tools are readily available, you just need to think of what you…
Gerber Viewer
You designed your new PCB board and you're sure it's all perfect, but some mistakes can go unnoticed resulting in wasted time and money. This is why it is important…
Introduction to CC2541
Exploring the versatile AVR microcontrollers or the powerful STM32 counterparts were amazing experiences which resulted in interesting projects, many of them presented on this blog. For a hardware designer, the…
Morse encoder
The morse code encodes the latin alphabet comprised of 26 letters to a binary base. Traditionally, the destination set used dots and dashes, making the encoded letters easy to transmit…
Voronoi diagrams and OpenLayers 3
OpenLayers is an opensource javascript library for rich web-based geographic applications. I recently had to represent temperature readings on a map. The first idea was to use heatmaps, due to…
Sharp GP2Y1051 dust sensor
The previous Sharp GP2Y1010 dust sensor was already a successful optoelectronic product due to its small factor, simplicity and low cost. The 1051 update comes with some important improvements to…
LoRaWAN, RN2483 and BME680
Some of the best moments are those when exciting technologies come together to create even greater products or results. This is such an example. Taking advantage of the latest IoT…
Full metal Delta 3D Printer
Finding the right 3D printer is not an easy task, considering the many options on the market. Many sellers claim unprecedented innovation, when instead all they offer is just another…
Featured by Atmel
Trained as a software developer I've been active in the field doing mostly mobile apps since 2003. My first contact with microcontrollers came later, in 2009, and I still remember…