September | 2011 | Embedded Lab

Monthly Archives: September 2011

DIY plug-in modules to make microcontroller breadboarding easier

Posted on September 26, 2011 by R-B 21 comments

Breadboards are a great tool for prototyping and testing electronics circuits. Here I am sharing with you some plug-in modules that I once made to make my breadboarding life easier. I have used these modules many times in the PIC experiments described in this blog. These modules serve very common functions that are required in most microcontroller circuits. Their use not only reduces the number of wire connections on breadboard, but also expedites prototyping and makes debugging of the circuit easier.

A DIY I/O board for experimenters

Posted on September 20, 2011 by R-B 14 comments

I remember when I first stepped into the world of embedded electronics, I started with doing some basic microcontroller circuits on a breadboard. Breadboard is a wonderful tool for prototyping and testing circuits. When the test of a circuit is successful, you can dissemble it and the board is ready for a new circuit. While working on breadboard was a great learning experience, it was little bit frustrating sometimes when you realized after dissembling a circuit that you have to put it together again or just a part of it for your new project. It happens very often because most

MikroElektronika’s “Ready for PIC” board talks to “Processing”

Posted on September 17, 2011 by R-B 3 comments

“Ready for PIC“ is one of MikroElektronika‘s compact prototyping boards for 28 and 40 pin PIC microcontrollers. The board comes with PIC16F887 microcontroller which is preprogrammed with an UART bootloader firmware and thus eliminates the need of an external programmer. The on-board USB-UART module allows the serial data transfer between the PIC and a PC using an USB cable. It has also got a reasonable size prototyping area to add more functionalities to the board as required. These features make this board an ideal candidate for doing embedded projects that require PC interfacing. This article first reviews the basic features

TI’s TTL logic data book for $0.10, shipping included!

Posted on September 14, 2011 by R-B 6 comments

Yes, that’s true. Texas Instruments is offering their 1988 TTL Logic Data Book for only $0.10 that includes shipping in the United States. TI says the book covers everything from standard TTL and Schottky TTL circuits to CMOS logic and VSLI processors. It also explains function tables, parameter measurement information and typical characteristics related to TTL products. Hurry up! I just ordered two for $.10 each. Here is the link. Via: Dangerous Prototypes

Arduino comic for newbies

Posted on September 13, 2011 by R-B Leave a comment

If you want to get into the world of Arduino but not sure where to start from, you should check this comic book introduction to the Arduino platform from artist Jody Culkin. The comic is Creative Commons-licensed and can be downloaded in the PDF format from here.

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