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Practical PCB Layout Tips Every Designer Needs to Know

Practical PCB Layout Tips Every Designer Needs to Know

This article contains practical PCB layout tips that can help your PCB projects work correctly and reliably.


Understanding Electricity with Hydraulics

Understanding Electricity with Hydraulics

An overview of how the concepts of electron flow and the role of individual circuit components can be related to the flow of fluid in pipe networks. The analogy between hydraulics and electricity is a useful tool for teaching and for those who are struggling to understand how circuits work.


What is a Transmission Line?

What is a Transmission Line?

Explanation of what a transmission line is, and the conditions under which it exists. Uses lumped element model to derive differential equations and manipulates the equations to get telegraph equations. Uses solutions to telegraph equations to get characteristic impedance and propagation constant and looks at matched and unmatched load cases.


Negative Feedback, Part 2: Improving Gain Sensitivity and Bandwidth

Negative Feedback, Part 2: Improving Gain Sensitivity and Bandwidth

Having introduced the general negative feedback structure, we will now demonstrate that negative feedback has a beneficial effect on two important characteristics of amplifier circuits.


How to Build a Robot - Line Follower

How to Build a Robot - Line Follower

Part four of a series of articles on building a robot that can follow lines or walls and avoid obstacles!


Control Your AC Mains with a Microcontroller

Control Your AC Mains with a Microcontroller

Learn how to put together your own toaster oven controller with a handful of inexpensive, through-hole parts. The emphasis is on safety, low price, and minimal modification of the toaster oven.


Projects Nov 09, 2015 by Patrick Lloyd
Create Your First Application with TI’s LaunchPad

Create Your First Application with TI’s LaunchPad

Texas Instruments' LaunchPad makes developing applications with MSP430 microcontrollers easy and fast. Learn all about it and create your first application.


Projects Nov 08, 2015 by Tim Youngblood
Negative Feedback, Part 1: General Structure and Essential Concepts

Negative Feedback, Part 1: General Structure and Essential Concepts

This article, the first in a series, will introduce you to the fundamental concepts required for understanding and analyzing negative feedback amplifiers.


Universal Logic Gates

Universal Logic Gates

NAND and NOR gates are widely known to be universal logic gates, meaning that any other logic gate be made from NAND or NOR gates. This article discusses other universal logic gates.


Introduction to the RFM69HW Transceiver

Introduction to the RFM69HW Transceiver

This handy introduction teaches you all about the RFM69HW transceiver module using two circuits running a wireless version of the "blinky" code.


Build 9 Simple, Low-noise Linear Voltage Regulators Using the Same PCB

Build 9 Simple, Low-noise Linear Voltage Regulators Using the Same PCB

What linear voltage regulator circuits lack in efficiency, they make up in simplicity and low noise. Here's a scheme for 9 voltages from 2.5V to 15V on the same PCB design.


How to Build a Robot - Testing Hardware

How to Build a Robot - Testing Hardware

Part three of a series of articles on building a robot that can follow lines or walls and avoid obstacles!


How to Build a Robot - PCB Design

How to Build a Robot - PCB Design

Part two of a series of articles on building a robot that can follow lines or walls and avoid obstacles! This time we'll be covering PCB design.


How to Use a Rotary Encoder in an MCU-Based Project

How to Use a Rotary Encoder in an MCU-Based Project

Learn how to use a rotary encoder in an Arduino project. Rotary encoders are electromechanical, electro-optical or electro-magnetic devices which convert rotational motion into digital or analog information.


Projects Nov 01, 2015 by Tim Youngblood
How to Build a Robot - Design and Schematic

How to Build a Robot - Design and Schematic

Part one of a series of articles on building a robot that can follow lines or walls and avoid obstacles!


Make a Wireless Thermometer with Arduino

Make a Wireless Thermometer with Arduino

Learn how to use a 433MHz RF module with an ATMega 328P-PU. In this article, we'll make a circuit with a DHT11 sensor and a RF transmitter. We'll also make a receiving circuit with a 433MHz RF receiver and an LCD display.


Make an Analog Sound Reactive LED Strip

Make an Analog Sound Reactive LED Strip

This analog design allows your LEDs to respond to your music. Just plug your music source into this which sends a channel to your sound system and some LEDs.


Projects Oct 28, 2015 by Fadi Kasem
Update the Firmware in Your ESP8266 Wi-Fi Module

Update the Firmware in Your ESP8266 Wi-Fi Module

Updating the firmware in an ESP8266 Wi-Fi module can be frustrating! Here's a procedure to reduce the pain.


Read and Write on NFC Tags with an Arduino

Read and Write on NFC Tags with an Arduino

Learn to use an Arduino to read NFC tags and write information on them! Near field communication protocols are what electronic devices can use to communicate and transfer data between each other.


Make an EFM8-Based System for Monitoring and Analyzing Thermocouple Measurements

Make an EFM8-Based System for Monitoring and Analyzing Thermocouple Measurements

With this microcontroller-to-PC interface you can conveniently monitor a temperature and visualize how the temperature changes over time.


Projects Oct 26, 2015 by Robert Keim