Recently I was asked (by a friend of mine) about a temperature controller, to automate a solar water heating system. A system that is used in combination with a classic central heating system based on natural gas. In short, it requires a temperature controller with two inputs: first – temperature of water in solar panel(s) […]
In recent weeks I tried to solve an old problem, a problem that haunts me for some time. I want to use a regular, inexpensive, common, ordinary potentiometer with an ADC. Also an inexpensive, common, ordinary ADC that we can find in almost all microcontrollers these days. And doesn’t matter if we are talking about […]
Several years have passed since the Arduino project grew. It is well known that this development has drawn new generations in the world of microcontrollers and digital electronics. Mainly this is not about professionals, engineers, but amateurs, enthusiasts, hobbyists, makers. And obviously some of them are at the beginning. This article is dedicated to those […]
Even if the analog domain is not in my main area of activity, in many cases we are dealing with small signals which can not be used directly by an usual ADC (that we can find in almost any microcontroller these days). For instance: measuring the voltage drop across a shunt resistor temperature measurement with […]
It’s been a while since this idea (to control a LCD module with a shift register) appeared. There are several variants, different registers, different schematics, different libraries. Even if using a shift register to increase the number of digital outputs it is a common technique (even trivial), using it to drive a LCD module is […]
Now we move to a more interesting project. A small(and smart) module with 4 relays, RS232 and RS485 interface. This is a very good example about what can be done with these small hardware projects from this site (open source projects). So. I joined three projects: Mini AVR40 Board RS232TTL Board Simple Relay Modules. And […]
Even though there are plenty of similar modules on the market I felt the need to design my own relay module. Primarily because I did not have one handy when I needed. And these modules are two months away from me. Secondly because I wanted to test the project with components chosen by me (through-hole, […]
ABOUT PROJECT There is nothing special with this little board. The schematic is standard (from MAX323/MAX232N datasheet). Although there are hundreds of projects that treat this topic, I felt the need to redesign in gEDA. The main reasons are as follows: I tried to make schematic easier to follow when make this project on perfboard/stripboard. […]
ABOUT PROJECT After I wrote several articles about using ATmega microcontrollers (DIP40) in Arduino environment (here and at Instructables), I had some feedback that I was asked how to be effectively put into operation this project. As I came into the Arduino world from classical microcontrollers development world, I have not found necessary to elaborate […]