301 Moved Permanently

Posted May 1, 2011 by Chris

One of the first and simplest projects any electronics hobbyist should come across is the homopolar motor. It consists of wire, a battery and a magnet. There are some variations, but these 3 elements are all you need to make a motor. Read the article to see the introductory theory and build steps. Nothing too complicated here, an oldie but goodie.

Posted April 30, 2011 by Chris

For anyone who has spent some time doing EE or CS work, they will have strong opinions for why one side is more important than the other in electronics. I ran across this article that explains the difference between both sides with a bit of humor and insights.

Posted April 29, 2011 by Chris

This article details out the process for making a laser spirograph using a PIC micro. Laser Spirographs require precise control and can make some pretty wicked images, but they are pretty complex to build. The 8-part article gives you all the hardware schematics, software and information needed to build your own.

Posted April 28, 2011 by Chris

Today’s PyroElectro tutorial will show you how to use popular RF Modules to create a wireless link between two PIC microcontrollers. The article explains the theory, gives all schematic details and the software project files. The low cost and ease of use make these RF Modules a good choice for any project.

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 26, 2011 by Chris

Mixing a little creativity with robotic fun brings us the second yellow drum machine robot. It uses a few sensors to find something that it can use as a drum and then goes to town. The article has all the details of how to build your own.

Posted April 25, 2011 by Chris

Arkanoid is a classic from the golden days of arcade games and now you can make it yourself. Altera’s DE-1 board is used with some VGA output and buttons for input to create a simple yet awesome looking arcade game. The article is in italian, but the action video shows it all.

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.

Posted April 23, 2011 by Chris

The roboduino is a low-cost, arduino based robot that is great for beginners. The hardware is all off the shelf and easily found at radioshack or online and the article explains each step of the process to build it. If you’re looking to get started with Arduino, this would be great for you.

Posted April 22, 2011 by Chris

If Arduino is your platform of choice, don’t miss this article. It shows you how to use the Arduino to build a simple robotic arm with a gripper. Things are laid out in a step-by-step fashion using all off the shelf parts and with the source code included.