Latest Technical Articles

Building on skills developed in the introductory KiCad tutorial, this article will focus on creating custom parts and…

Building on skills developed in the introductory KiCad tutorial, this article will focus on creating custom parts and adding them to a local library, expanding the default libraries to include community repositories, and contributing parts back into the open source ecosystem. The end product will be a MAX31855 K-type thermocouple amplifier which can be used for a huge array of temperature sensing projects.

Detect audio with an electret microphone and a TI CC3200 Wifi microcontroller. This handy project will allow you to set…

Detect audio with an electret microphone and a TI CC3200 Wifi microcontroller. This handy project will allow you to set up an audio detection device that can be used to catch your roommate stealing things from the fridge or send you an alert if the noise in your room goes above a certain threshold.

The use of dependent sources when using Nodal Analysis.

The use of dependent sources when using Nodal Analysis.

How to read humidity and temperature from a DHT11 and display it on a LCD with a PIC microcontroller. In this example…

How to read humidity and temperature from a DHT11 and display it on a LCD with a PIC microcontroller. In this example we're going to use a PIC16F628A.

This article walks through the very basics of quantum computing and how they are designed. It will also provide accurate…

This article walks through the very basics of quantum computing and how they are designed. It will also provide accurate information about the principles behind quantum theory that helps quantum computing work. The objective is to help you understand this new age technology and its benefits.

Part 2 in the "How to Make an Ambient Light Monitor" Series. Our smart ambient light monitor will need to digitize and…

Part 2 in the "How to Make an Ambient Light Monitor" Series. Our smart ambient light monitor will need to digitize and analyze signals from an optical detector, so it is time to explore the EFM8’s integrated analog-to-digital conversion functionality.

Part 3 in the “How to Make an Ambient Light Monitor” series. The project continues by building an ambient light…

Part 3 in the “How to Make an Ambient Light Monitor” series. The project continues by building an ambient light sensor circuit on a breadboard, digitizing the circuit’s output signals, and interpreting the digitized measurements.

LTSpice possesses several features that can be used to test your design beyond simple transient analysis and AC sweeps.…

LTSpice possesses several features that can be used to test your design beyond simple transient analysis and AC sweeps. This article will go over a few advanced functions.

How to interface a Raspberry Pi to an I2C temperature sensor (TMP102) and then publish the data to a Google sheet and graph.

How to interface a Raspberry Pi to an I2C temperature sensor (TMP102) and then publish the data to a Google sheet and graph.

This article is part 1 of a two-part series that introduces the tools and techniques for programming PICAXE…

This article is part 1 of a two-part series that introduces the tools and techniques for programming PICAXE microcontrollers. Part 1 focuses on construction of a test circuit and the AXEpad IDE; part 2 will cover the PICAXE Editor 6 IDE.

Integrated Development Environments (IDEs) are software applications that provide a programming environment to streamline…

Integrated Development Environments (IDEs) are software applications that provide a programming environment to streamline developing and debugging software programs.

Multiplexing was developed in the early 1870s, but it’s become much more applicable to digital telecommunications in…

Multiplexing was developed in the early 1870s, but it’s become much more applicable to digital telecommunications in the late 20th century. Today, frequency division multiplexing (FDM), time division multiplexing (TDM), and wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) have become an extremely important asset to telecommunication processes and has greatly improved the way that we transmit and receive independent signals over AM and FM radio, telephone lines, and optical fibers.

This article describes in detail the connections necessary for two way communications between PICAXE microcontrollers and…

This article describes in detail the connections necessary for two way communications between PICAXE microcontrollers and personal computers. Both serial connections and USB to serial conversion connections are covered.

An in-depth look at transformer isolation. Electrical isolation is necessary to protect circuits, equipment, and people…

An in-depth look at transformer isolation. Electrical isolation is necessary to protect circuits, equipment, and people from shocks and short circuits, as well as to make accurate measurements. Isolation transformers are one way to go.

LTSpice is a versatile, accurate, and free circuit simulator available for Windows and Mac. This is an overview of AC and…

LTSpice is a versatile, accurate, and free circuit simulator available for Windows and Mac. This is an overview of AC and DC simulation, as well as how to analyze output signals.

Interested in using Linux for your everyday tasks, but worried about compatibility? This article will provide a brief…

Interested in using Linux for your everyday tasks, but worried about compatibility? This article will provide a brief overview of the new tools available to you.

Learn how to install the new and improved KiCad on Ubuntu 15.04 and then build a simple microcontroller board to blink an RGB LED.

Learn how to install the new and improved KiCad on Ubuntu 15.04 and then build a simple microcontroller board to blink an RGB LED.

This introduction to the PICAXE microcontroller overviews the economical, versatile, and fun-to-use MCU family with which…

This introduction to the PICAXE microcontroller overviews the economical, versatile, and fun-to-use MCU family with which all designers should become familiar.

Learn how to use an EFM8 microcontroller to convert current and voltage measurements to digits that can be displayed on…

Learn how to use an EFM8 microcontroller to convert current and voltage measurements to digits that can be displayed on an LCD. We'll discuss a convenient way to report analog-to-digital conversion values that represent current and voltage amplitudes.