JAN21
PIC16F877A development and test board
Here is a very basic PCB layout for a simple PIC16F877A development and testing board. It has a voltage regulator and connector, ability to connect LEDs and inputs (switches) to any PORT, few jumpers and a crystal.
This is very useful for beginners and for prototyping with PIC for those who don't have a more serious development board.
There is also an Eagle version of this PCB with ICSP connector for easy FLASH re-programming.
Source: leevonk
JAN17
Solid wood block digital LED clock
LED clocks are nothing special but this version sure is. In this version of LED clock all that you can see is a block of wood. Front side is drilled almost the whole way through so LEDs shine through the wood itself. This clock is not only a clock, it has an alarm function that will play your favorite radio station when it's time to get up in the morning. Besides that, you can also play games like Pong, Labyrinth and Jump.
Setting the time, alarm and playing games is done with Atari joystick controller. If you don't have Atari controller you can build one with a few pusbuttons. It is built with Arduino board with Atmel microcontroller.
Source: J_Hodgie
JAN16
Arduino Fortune Teller
This project is actually a version of Magic 8-Ball that we have all seen in the movies. Whether you are seeking advice or just need your fortune told, all you need to do is press a button and a cosmic answer will appear on LCD display.
Common answers are predefined and hard-coded into Atmel microcontroller so microcontroller generates a random number that corresponds to message-index that will be displayed. This project is kind of similar to a more advanced one: Sinister7 by SparkFun.
Source: Paulys
JAN15
CharliePlexed RGB LED Dice
Electronic dice persay is not a very interesting electronic project, but controlling 21 LEDs with just 4 I/O microcontroller pins is really interesting. Multiplexing used in this project is Charlieplexing. We all know that electronic dice requires just 7 LEDs, but since RGB LEDs were used, a total of 21 LEDs had to be controlled.
After a pushbutton is pressed, microcontroller ATtiny13V generates a random number from 1 to 6 and displays the result on RGB LEDs in 6 possible collors and in random fashion.
Source: cedtlab
JAN13
High-power LED torch
Here you can see yet another Joule thief circuit. It is powered from a single 1.2V (1.5V) battery and it powers 4 high efficiency LEDs.
What is interesting about this circuit is that a coil which is necessary for Joule Thief is actually wound on a battery case!
Source: qs
JAN11
Vibrobot Socbot - remote controlled micro robot
This is one very small and compact wireless robot. The only moving parts are rotors of vibration motors from an old pager or a mobile phone. Now, we all know how our mobile phone dances around on a table while vibrating. Imagine another vibra-motor inside a phone that rotates in the opposite direction. Now imagine first vibra-motor is activated, then the second one. That would make your phone first move left than right, and if both motors are running simultaneously you would get forward motion.
This robot has IR receiver and can be controlled with RC5 remote control. Microcontroller used in this application is PIC microcontroller, actually PICAXE chip.
Source: biochemtronics
JAN10
GSM controller without microcontroller
If you are not familiar with microcontrollers but you still need some kind of DIY GSM controller, well, this is the thing for you. It consists of some cheap GSM phone that has "handset" port and can be configured to auto-answer incoming call, DTMF decoder (MT8870) and a few controlling relays.
When you call this GSM controller it will establish a voice connection. By pressing on any key on your phone's keypad, GSM controller will receive that DTMF signal and MT8870 circuit will set the appropriate binary value on it's data pins Q4..Q1. Those data pins will turn on or off relays connected to them. In order to expand number of data lines, you should connect SN74LS138 or SN74LS154 integrated circuit that will enable up do 12 relays to be connected and controller.
Source: unknownpocketnerd
JAN8
Mobile bar - BaR2D2
Jamie has sent us his newest creation and quite a creation it is! It's a remote controlled bar called "BaR2D2" with all corresponding bar-features. It was constructed in his garage and it took him 5 long months. The mechanics are quite impressive and regarding the electronics - it is all off-the-shelf, so no custom electronics had to be developed. It is powered from a 12V/35A sealed lead-acid battery.
You really need to check out the video to see this bartender in action and all of it's features.
Source: jamiep
