iCircuit – Circuit Simulation on iPhone and iPad

Posted on October 24, 2011 by kalle.lindbeck

The iCircuit tool gives you a live circuit simulator right in your iPhone or iPad. The simulation engine can handle both analog and digital circuits and in operates in an always-on, real-time mode. This means that you can alter the circuit configuration live and watch the changes as they take place. It is just like playing with a live circuit while measuring.

There are over thirty elements you can use to build circuits, ranging from simple resistors, to switches, to MOSFETs, to digital gates. Having a circuit, you can connect a multimeter to it, probing around the circuit to instantly read voltages and currents. If you want to see how a value changes over time, then you can add values to the built-in multi-channel oscilloscope.

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Data Alignment

Posted on October 21, 2011 by e8johan

When working in C, you will sooner or later use structs. This is a very handy construction, but it has hidden pitfalls. One of them shows up when the sizeof your structure changes. Why is that so?

It all comes down to something that is called data alignment. This is because computers today do not read individual bytes from memory, instead they read a word. I.e. a number of bytes that work well for the given CPU architecture. As you can tell, this differs between different CPU architectures.

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Modelling On-line

Posted on October 19, 2011 by e8johan

CC-BY-NC SteveMcNModelling 3D graphics is as much about the tools, as about the talent of the designer. In one end of the spectrum, the likes of SolidWorks are found. In another corner, the more programatic approach of OpenSCAD is found attractive. Some others might want a cloud based solution. Then TinkerCAD and 3DTin provides something for your needs.

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SMD Soldering

Posted on October 17, 2011 by e8johan

In this video, David Pello takes us through the process of soldering SMDs using a soldering iron.

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Breaking PIC’s Firmware Encryption

Posted on October 14, 2011 by e8johan

The PIC18F1320 has a built in protection of the configuration, e.g. the firmware. Over att Bunnie’s blog, there is an article on breaking this. Apparently, it takes a UV light source, some tape and mild violence. Stir these components together and you can unlock the devices. Makes you think about what you actually put in your firmware.

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Materialize Your Models

Posted on October 12, 2011 by e8johan

When working with hobbyist 3D printers, you will sometimes suffer from the printer resolution. Then, it is good to know that there are professional printers out there as well. We have already looked at shapeways, and now it is time for i.materialize.

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eMaker Huxley Build – part 2

Posted on October 10, 2011 by e8johan

Second night of building. X and Y axes are almost done. A minor hickup with the X-axis ends. The clips for holding the Igus bushings should really not be printed to look clips, please update to full circles. Still, nothing a little super glue could fix.

Next up: the nozzle mount, but that will have to wait for tomorrow.

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Shaping Prototypes

Posted on October 10, 2011 by e8johan

Shapeways is a 3D printing webshop. They offer prints in non-plastic materials such as metals, ceramics, glass, coloured sandstone – but also plastic, of course. The shop is run using professional grade 3D printers, so the results can be expected to be of higher quality than if you self-print with a RepRap or similar device.

The beautiful thing about the site is that it accepts STL files. This means that you can use the same designs as you do for your RepRap here. For instance, you can prototype parts in plastic and then have the final design printed in steel, glass or even silver and gold.

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eMaker Huxley Build – part 1

Posted on October 9, 2011 by e8johan

Adjusting the frame

So, the EMaker Huxley arrived the other day. This Sunday, my brother and I started putting it together. Building the frame, we encountered some minor issues with the instructions (pieces not listed in the parts list of a step) but updated the wiki as all good citizens does.

The machine sure looks neat, and having a MakerBot since earlier , the size of the frame is really impressive. Bigger build envelope in a smaller chassis. On the other hand, the MakerBot was easier to put together, and is probably sturdier if you want to bring it somewhere.

And a final note, the bottom bar, holding the smooth rods for the Z-axis, looks like the picture below. There is no clear image pointing this out in the original wiki.

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Solar Panels Tutorial

Posted on October 7, 2011 by e8johan

CC-BY http://www.flickr.com/photos/oedipusphinx/4008724345/The nice people over at voltaicsystems has published a three part tutorial on solar cells and charging the power (1, 2, 3). Solar powered, wireless systems can really be the future in monitoring and automation systems.

Via make.

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