301 Moved Permanently

Posted July 3, 2014 by Chris

This week we’re moving on to Lesson 2: Hardware Hello world in our new PyroEDU course: An Introduction to CPLD and FPGA. Here’s an overview of the lesson:

"Building a ‘hello world’ application signifies a time honored approach to learning how to program. In this lesson, we will explore the first steps necessary for building and loading images onto a CPLD."

Posted July 2, 2014 by Chris

"The MiniPOV uses only a single PIC16F630 while the spoke uses an Amtel micro-controller, an EEPROM, and several 74×259 8-bit latches. I wanted to enhance the MiniPOV to display text on both sides of the bike wheel. I chose to use Microchip’s PIC because they sold a cheap programmer.."

Posted June 30, 2014 by Chris

"Contact-less measurement of RPM will be achieved through an IR sensor. An IR diode will send a beam of infrared towards the rotating disc, and any reflected pulse will be received by a photo diode. The resistance of a photo diode drops drastically when exposed to infrared. An infrared is reflected by a white surface and absorbed by the dark ones."

Posted June 29, 2014 by Chris

"Here we will discuss The ‘JTAG’ IEEE 1532 standard used for ‘ISP’ (In-System-Programming) I will also talk about Atmel’s ‘AVR ISP’ programmer and it’s ‘SPI’ (Serial-Peripheral-Interface)."

Posted June 28, 2014 by Chris

"This article explores the suitability of a Wii nunchuk based USB accelerometer as an earthquake sensor for the Quake-Catcher Network (QCN) project. It examines the nunchuk over several metrics: precision and range, frequency response, total cost and availability."

Posted June 26, 2014 by Chris

Today we’re happy to announce that lesson 1 of our new course: An Introduction To FPGA And CPLD is live. Here’s an overview of the lesson:

"Want to learn about FPGA and CPLD? Please start here! This lesson explains the course content, what expectations you should have and what parts are needed for the course."

Posted June 25, 2014 by Chris

"I have to admit, I am usually not the biggest fan of interpreted languages and high level programming. But in this case, they were very convenient.
This is thus a small article about what you can do in 3-4 hours with Matlab and a FTDI USB connectivity to your project. As an example, here is a project where my webcam output gets displayed on my led matrix."

Posted June 23, 2014 by Chris

Thanks to continued support and feedback from all of YOU, we are excited to announce that the 5th course of PyroEDU: An Introduction To FPGA And CPLD will begin this week! Here’s a preview of the course overview:

“This course is meant to create a pathway into learning about FPGA and CPLD electronics, for people who are scared of the code, tools and general trickery that usually comes with it. A hands-on approach is taken in this course through a combination of lecture and experimentation to teach you about the different features of both the development tools and languages used in the world of FPGA. Additionally, visuals are used throughout lectures like step-by-step schematic building and line-by-line code explanations so that everything gets explained.”

This course comes right on the heels of An Introduction To Microcontrollers and as such, it will use knowledge from that course to further expand to the world of programmed logic and hardware. Also, thanks again to all of our kickstarter backers who originally got us started! Read more at the course page at PyroEDU

Posted June 22, 2014 by Chris

"This is a quick guide with a bit of extra info (pin configurations etc..) that I’ve learnt along the way on how to use the L293D with the Arduino, showing that we can: A) Use a supplemental power source to power the DC motor B) Use the L293D chip to drive the motor C) Use a switch to change the direction of the motor."

Posted June 21, 2014 by Chris

"A year ago I have acquired a pure SNES console without any additional peripherals…The next step was straightforward: purchase or develop a flash cartridge for the SNES…"