Latest Optoelectronics Technical Articles

This article reviews the basics of finding Thevenin and Norton equivalents and discusses how to apply Thevenin's theorem…

This article reviews the basics of finding Thevenin and Norton equivalents and discusses how to apply Thevenin's theorem to a practical circuit.

Using an LCD increases the versatility of any microcontroller by displaying data outputs and memory contents. This serial…

Using an LCD increases the versatility of any microcontroller by displaying data outputs and memory contents. This serial adapter uses only one I/O.

This article will show you one way of making an accurate clock by using the Real Time Clock IC DS1307. The time will be…

This article will show you one way of making an accurate clock by using the Real Time Clock IC DS1307. The time will be shown on a LCD display.

LCDs are great for showing info from your microcontroller. A serial adapter is inexpensive, uses only one I/O, and is…

LCDs are great for showing info from your microcontroller. A serial adapter is inexpensive, uses only one I/O, and is easy to connect and to use.

Part 5 in the “How to Make an Ambient Light Monitor” series.

Part 5 in the “How to Make an Ambient Light Monitor” series.

This is the first in a multi-part series on writing PICAXE BASIC code. This article covers how to read PICAXE pin-out…

This is the first in a multi-part series on writing PICAXE BASIC code. This article covers how to read PICAXE pin-out diagrams, a circuit for coding practice, and the general program format.

This article is part 2 of a two-part series that introduces the tools and techniques for programming PICAXE…

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

Part 4 in the “How to Make an Ambient Light Monitor” series

Part 4 in the “How to Make an Ambient Light Monitor” series

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.

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.

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.

Use the EFM8’s USB functionality to transfer an image from your PC to an LCD.

Use the EFM8’s USB functionality to transfer an image from your PC to an LCD.

Learn how to connect your device with Linux Screen using the built-in Lua interpreter to set up the file system and…

Learn how to connect your device with Linux Screen using the built-in Lua interpreter to set up the file system and connect to the network. Then, learn how to automate the scripting process with Luatool and put it all together with a basic TCP server that can interact with a pulse-width modulated LED, a potentiometer, and a switch.

The 08M2 is the smallest member of the PICAXE family of microcontrollers; it is inexpensive, versatile, and easy to…

The 08M2 is the smallest member of the PICAXE family of microcontrollers; it is inexpensive, versatile, and easy to program using free software.

Learn how to design characters using an image editor and display them on an LCD controlled by an EFM8 microcontroller.

Learn how to design characters using an image editor and display them on an LCD controlled by an EFM8 microcontroller.

A simple LCD control project with an EFM8 evaluation board demonstrates basic principles of embedded development.

A simple LCD control project with an EFM8 evaluation board demonstrates basic principles of embedded development.

Since different colors reflect different levels of light, you can use a photoresistor or a phototransistor to sense…

Since different colors reflect different levels of light, you can use a photoresistor or a phototransistor to sense different colors.

The ease with which an Arduino can obtain sensor values is one of the features that makes it so useful.

The ease with which an Arduino can obtain sensor values is one of the features that makes it so useful.