Wifi enabled 8×64 pixel LED matrix display

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This project is a modification of my previous Bluetooth-enabled LED matrix display project, which used 8×64 monochromatic LED matrix (total 512 LEDs) for displaying scrolling text message. The original project used Bluetooth for display data transfer from a smartphone, but this one now uses Wifi. The display message is sent through web browser to a ESP8266 module that is configured as a web-server. No Arduino or any other microcontroller is used. ESP8266 alone works as a WiFi server and drives the MAX7219-based LED matrices.

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A very simple DIY solar-powered USB charger

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Yesterday, I built a very simple DIY solar-powered USB charger for my TP-link 10400mAh USB Power Bank. All I needed was a 6V/3.5W solar panel and the TD1410-based 5V buck converter module. I bought both of them on Aliexpress for less than $8. It was one of the easiest projects I built. All I needed to do was to connect the input of the 5V step-down buck converter to the output of the solar panel using two wires. From TD1410 datasheet, The TD1410 is a 380 KHz fixed frequency monolithic step down switch mode regulator with a built in internal Power MOSFET. It achieves 2A continuous output current

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Using Easy Pulse mikro with MPLAB Xpress board

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Easy Pulse mikro is our new educational pulse sensor in a mikroBus form factor. Like our previous Easy Pulse sensors (Easy Pulse and Easy Pulse Plugin), it is also based on the principle of transmittance photoplethysmography (PPG) applied to a fingertip. The sensor consists of a pair of IR LED and photodiode to detect the cardiovascular pulse signal from the fingertip. The output of the sensor is passed through a necessary instrumentation amplifier to derive a nice and clean analog PPG waveform. The analog output is routed to the AN pin of the mikroBus connector. In this article, I will describe how

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Portable weather data logger

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Jesus Echavarria‘s new project is a portable weather data logger that is battery-powered and is capable of recording ambient temperature, humidity, and light level into a SD card along with a time stamp. It’s based on the PIC18F2620 microcontroller, the HDC1050 temperature and humidity sensor, and the TEMT6000X01 ambient light sensor. The board uses M41T00SM6 RTC for time keeping, a Li-Ion battery charger, push buttons and leds for user interface, and a MCP2221 USB bridge to configure the board through PC. Hi all! I’m continuing here with the last board I design and now I’m continuing testing. It’s a battery-powered small datalogger based on a

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DIY power bank using recycled Laptop battery

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This DIY power bank project from Do It Yourself Gadgets uses recycled laptop battery and a 5V boost converter to construct an USB charger. This article will show you the basic powerbank circuit consisting of Lithium cell charging circuit, boost converter and toggle switch as well as my improved version with self activating boost converter and LED status indicator and homemade housing. It all started with an old Lenovo laptop battery. I carefully pried it open to examine the cells. Three packs of two parallel 18650 Lithium 2200 mAh cells were connected in series.

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