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This application report discusses the implementation of a low-cost solution to store and play audio or using an MSP430. The reference design uses an external SPI flash memory, which enables flexibility of storage memory size based on the amount of playback time needed, while the low-cost MSP430F2002 MCU offers ultralow-power speech playback solution.
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This Application Note from Microchip provides a reference design for building a non-invasive blood pressure meter using the PIC24FJ128GC010 microcontroller and MCP6N11 instrumentation amplifier. A digital blood pressure meter measures systolic and diastolic pressures by oscillometric detection. Microchip’s digital blood pressure meter demo can measure blood pressure and pulse rate during inflation. The Measurement While Inflating (MWI) principle reduces overall measuring time, which in turn reduces discomfort caused by the pressure in the cuff.
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TI’s MSP430 family of MCUs are low-power and RISC-based powerful mixed-signal processors that require a Flash Emulator Tool (FET) for in-system programming. The official MSP430 FET from TI costs about $100. Vincete describes a way to construct a MSP430 FET using TI’s popular and in-expensive Launchpad board. [via]
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Single-sided PCBs are relatively easier to homebrew. Holes for PTH components can be drilled with a reasonable accuracy without any sort of visual aid. However, if you want to make double-sided PCBs with strict drilling requirements, eyeballing might not be enough to drill holes at precise locations. This Instructable is about making a USB microscope guided PCB drill to achieve better accuracy in drilling holes in PCBs. Unlike regular drills, this machine drills holes from bottom to top.
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Francois AUGER & Philippe Fretaud has posted this Design Idea on EDN that shows how to drive three LEDs and scan three tact switches with only three I/O pins of microcontroller. They have demonstrated the technique using the Atmel microcontroller (Arduino), and the technique could be useful for any low pin count devices where you can run out of I/O resources easily.
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