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Wearables Roundup: Bio-hacking, Ford Motors, and Sensors that Stick to Your Body

Wearables Roundup: Bio-hacking, Ford Motors, and Sensors that Stick to Your Body

See what's new in the world of wearables this week.


News Mar 22, 2016 by Tim Youngblood
Teardown Tuesday: What’s inside a Bluetooth Radar Detector?

Teardown Tuesday: What’s inside a Bluetooth Radar Detector?

Ever wonder what's inside a radar detector? In this week's Teardown Tuesday you'll find out!


News Mar 22, 2016 by Alex Udanis
How Legitimate is the Science Behind These New Health Sensors?

How Legitimate is the Science Behind These New Health Sensors?

It seems like every week a new personal health sensor is designed that can track something we never thought to track, but are they actually effective?


News Mar 13, 2016 by Tim Youngblood
Embedded PID Temperature Control, Part 6: Ziegler–Nichols Tuning

Embedded PID Temperature Control, Part 6: Ziegler–Nichols Tuning

In this article, we will use a simple, proven tuning procedure to find effective values for proportional, integral, and derivative gain.


Projects Mar 07, 2016 by Robert Keim
Embedded PID Temperature Control, Part 5: Adjusting Gains

Embedded PID Temperature Control, Part 5: Adjusting Gains

We will explore how P, I, and D gain influences system performance, and in the process we will find a gain configuration that works well for our temperature controller.


Projects Feb 29, 2016 by Robert Keim
Embedded PID Temperature Control, Part 4: The Scilab GUI

Embedded PID Temperature Control, Part 4: The Scilab GUI

With USB communications and a Scilab graphical user interface, we can really see what the PID controller is doing.


Projects Feb 19, 2016 by Robert Keim
4 Key Technologies to Watch at Embedded World 2016

4 Key Technologies to Watch at Embedded World 2016

Embedded World 2016 is almost here. Here are some technologies to keep your eye on.


News Feb 18, 2016 by Majeed Ahmad
Check Out These Sensors Designed to Make Healthcare Smarter

Check Out These Sensors Designed to Make Healthcare Smarter

We examine some new sensors in development for cloud-based healthcare data.


News Feb 16, 2016 by Tim Youngblood
Embedded PID Temperature Control, Part 3: Implementation and Visualization

Embedded PID Temperature Control, Part 3: Implementation and Visualization

We will implement a basic PID (proportional–integral–derivative) controller in firmware and observe the results using an oscope and LEDs.


Projects Feb 15, 2016 by Robert Keim
Embedded PID Temperature Control, Part 2: Board-Level Integration

Embedded PID Temperature Control, Part 2: Board-Level Integration

This article covers the firmware that allows the EFM8 microcontroller to communicate with the DAC and the MAX31855.


Projects Feb 03, 2016 by Robert Keim
An Overview of Fitness Technology: Heart Rate Monitors

An Overview of Fitness Technology: Heart Rate Monitors

Wearable fitness technology has come a long way since the basic pedometers of yesteryear.


News Feb 02, 2016 by Alex Udanis
Embedded PID Temperature Control, Part 1: The Circuit

Embedded PID Temperature Control, Part 1: The Circuit

Invoke the power of the PID (proportional–integral–derivative controller)! The key components in this design are an EFM8 microcontroller, a DAC, and the MAX31855 thermocouple-to-digital converter.


Projects Feb 01, 2016 by Robert Keim
NXP’s New Stamp-Sized Radar Sensor for Automobiles

NXP’s New Stamp-Sized Radar Sensor for Automobiles

NXP Semiconductors N.V. has introduced the world's smallest, single-chip 77GHz radar transceiver. Roughly the size of a postage stamp, the new NXP chip can be “hidden” practically anywhere in the car


News Jan 15, 2016 by Murray Slovick
A Guide to the Applications of Hall Effect and Reed Switch Sensors

A Guide to the Applications of Hall Effect and Reed Switch Sensors

In the systems where custom sensors are required, it's imperative that the designer quantifies the environmental, mechanical, electrical, and magnetic parameters of the entire system so that a sensor which meets those operating conditions can be selected.


Galvanic Isolation: Purpose and Methodologies

Galvanic Isolation: Purpose and Methodologies

Galvanic isolation is a way to isolate functional sections of electrical systems to prevent current flow. A brief explanation of differing methods to create galvanic isolation.


How to Select a Custom Magnet Sensor

How to Select a Custom Magnet Sensor

Learn how to correctly select the right sensors for your project with this handy guide.


Getting Started with the Bosch BMP180 Sensor

Getting Started with the Bosch BMP180 Sensor

Learn one of the ways to get started with the BMP180 sensor and learn a simple way to improve the data.


Projects Dec 20, 2015 by Alex Udanis
Build a PICAXE ESP-01 Wi-Fi Communicator

Build a PICAXE ESP-01 Wi-Fi Communicator

A PCB for a Wi-Fi communicator using a PICAXE 08M2 and an ESP-01 module driven by interactive code makes a handy setup for data collection and IoT reporting.


Build Raspberry Pi Controllers: LED Flasher

Build Raspberry Pi Controllers: LED Flasher

In this project, you'll learn how to wire an LED and flash it using the Raspberry Pi. Also, to isolate the Raspberry Pi's + 3.3VDC compliant output pins from supply voltages greater than this power source, an opto-isolator will be introduced as well.


Projects Dec 11, 2015 by Don Wilcher
5 Great Sensors To Get You Motivated

5 Great Sensors To Get You Motivated

5 awesome sensors that you'll want to use on your next project!


News Dec 08, 2015 by Alex Udanis