Posted June 21, 2011 by Chris

This article is fairly similar to my own Digital Tach except it goes a bit above and beyond. The 99k Digital Tech uses an Atmega microcontroller and amplifying hardware to get clean counter signals back from a wireless tachmeter. The article explains the details indepth with schematics and project pictures.

Posted June 13, 2011 by Chris

Detecting a person’s heart rate using electronics is not as hard as it might sound. Using an infrared emitter LED, photo transistor and some knowledge about light reflectivity we can detect blood flow in a finger! Read the article for more info about how it is done and how you can build your own.

Posted May 27, 2011 by Chris

Making your first robot should be a moment you remember as you progress in the electronics and robotics field. Whether it is a line follower or a wall dodger, it brings you to the first step into a larger world. Today’s article gives you a great starting point for how to build your first robot. Similar to my line follower, except with more digital circuity.

Posted May 24, 2011 by Chris

Even though it may not rival a wristwatch for james bond, the Biojoy wristwatch offers many cool features like measuring blood pressure or heart rate. The fairly complicated design is documented in a project pdf available for download in the article. A fun concept to look at and even funner to have something like this in DIY form.

Posted May 15, 2011 by Chris

For today, here’s a themometer circuit that was used as a beginning board for teaching atmel micros to students. An onboard ADC converts signals from a thermistor and an AVR displays the values on some 7-seg LEDs. The article has hardware schematics and explains the theory of the circuit.

Posted May 11, 2011 by Chris

Ultrasonic sensors have become very popular, however they often carry a heavy cost of $50-100. This might not be much for industry, but for hobbyists that’s a chunk of change. This article shows you how to use a PIC and 2 ultrasonic transducers to make your own sonar proximity sensor.

Posted May 10, 2011 by Chris

Putting an accelerometer with a wireless transmitter is a quick and easy way to track foot movement. In this case, to help track why female athletes suffer more frequently from ACL injuries. The parts are all off the shelf and the article explains how it was made. A neat little project.

Posted May 9, 2011 by Chris

Here is a pretty sweet little robot that is a great resource for anyone looking to build their own mobile robotics platform. The article and google project is a documentation of a robot that combines together a mobile platform with various sensors for navigation and external sensory.

Posted April 27, 2011 by Chris

The IR link design built in this article is described from start to finish, the goal being to communicate with the lego mindstorms NXT IR interface. An AVR is used with an I2C bus to communicate across the IR link. If AVR is your micro, then take a look at this well written article.

Posted April 24, 2011 by Chris

This robotic project is an attempt to build an open source project with everyday products. The main sensor feedback comes from an Xbox Kinect, with a laptop for processing with the entire assembly ontop of a roomba-like device, making the system mobile. The project website is very transparent about how everything is being done, so no need to hunt for the details.