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Trendnet NVR Dec 2016PatreonRaspberry Pi Basics: Installing The Latest Version of Raspbian onto a SD Card Windows 10 on Raspberry PiDIY Telescope to PC CableBurning Sanguino Bootloader with Arduino
25
Apr

Review: Digilent Pmod OLED Display Part 1 - Overview

Submitted by Charles Gantt on Wed, 2012-04-25 23:13

Digilent Pmod OLED review

 

Digilent Inc

 

Digilent has become a common name in the DIY / Maker commuity in the last year with the introduction of their PIC32 based Arduino compatible development boards dubbed chipKIT. Recently they updated their CEREBOT line of development boards to be fully compatible with chipKIT and MPIDE. The CEREBOT cK design incorporates numerous 12 pin headers spaced evenly around the exterrior of the PCB. These headers are specfically designed to accept Digilents break out modules named Peripheral Modules or Pmod for short. Today we begin a series of reviews based around the Digilent Pmod line, so sit back, relax and get your geek on as we show you the ins and outs of the Digilent Pmod OLED.

 

[node:read-more:link]

20
Feb

Digilent Releases Chipkit Compatible Cerebot Development Boards.

Submitted by Charles Gantt on Mon, 2012-02-20 12:56

Digilent Cerebot MX7cK

Microchip Technology Inc., a leading provider of microcontroller, analog and Flash-IP solutions, and Digilent®, Inc. today announced several new 32-bit PIC32 microcontroller (MCU)-based Cerebot™ development boards with prototyping capabilities for the Arduino™ compatible chipKIT™ development platform.  The Cerebot™ MX3cK, Cerebot MX4cK and Cerebot MX7cK (MX3/4/7) boards provide a single, general-purpose development platform for users to develop a wide range of 32-bit MCU applications using the free, Arduino-compatible chipKIT IDE—called the Multi-Platform IDE, or “MPIDE.”  Users can later migrate to development tools that are more widely recognized in the industry, such as Microchip’s MPLAB® X IDE and MPLAB C Compiler for PIC32 MCUs.  The Cerebot MX3/4/7cK boards break free from the traditional Arduino form factor, providing flexible pin access and connectivity with Digilent’s line of Pmod™ Peripheral Modules. 
[node:read-more:link]
17
Oct

Review: ModRight Super Large Anti-Static Mod-Mat Work and Assembly Surface

Submitted by Charles Gantt on Mon, 2011-10-17 23:06

ModRight Super Large Anti-Static Mod-Mat

By: Charles Gantt

Electro Static Discharge (E.S.D.) is the number one leading cause of PC components “arriving” D.O.A. I am sure to get a lot of public outcry, but the simple fact is that it's the truth. How many of you have received that new motherboard, graphics card, or hard drive in the mail and immediately opened the package, and removed the device from its anti-static bag with your bare hands? By doing so you possibly have subjected that device to tens of thousands of volts of static electricity which may or may not have friend that expensive component's delicate circuitry. ModRight, a company dedicated to improving your PC modding experience has taken steps to solve the E.S.D. problem that haunts us all by manufacturing affordable anti-static mats for our bench tops. After the jump we will take a look at their largest model. [node:read-more:link]

Ever thought of hacking your breadboard? Protostack has!

Protostack.com tutorial on Breadboard Hacks

Breadboard hacks from Protostack.com

 

As memebers of the new DIY generation we love hacking things. There is just something rewarding about taking a cheap product and making it work just as good or better than its expensive counterpart. Most of the time these hacks involve the projects we are building, but sometimes they involve the tools we use. Protostack has just released a list of several hacks that will make using your breadboard much more user friendly... More after the jump. [node:read-more:link]

29
Aug

Element14 and Freescale's XL-STAR- S08 Development Board.

Submitted by Charles Gantt on Mon, 2011-08-29 10:54

Element14 Newark STAR-XL-S08 Development Board

 

Newark Element14 Logo

 

A few weeks ago we announced on our Facebook Fan Page that we were teaming up with Newark.com to review some of the new products that they carry. After browsing their new products section we noticed a development board branded with Newark's Element14 brand. For those of you who have been living under a rock lately, Element14 is Newark / Farnel's community for DIY electronics enthusiast as well as professional electronic engineers.  Naturally after seeing this board we had to check it out first, so we requested the Element14 STAR-XL-S08 Development Board as our first review item.  [node:read-more:link]

Digilent Releases long awaited chipKIT Networking Shield and General I/O shield.

[node:read-more:link]

 

Microchip / Digilent chipKIT Networking Shield

A few months ago we covered Microchip and Digilent's first entry into the Arduino community: The chipKIT line of Arduino compatible PIC32 MCU boards. News spread fast and it seems like anyone who is serious about Arduino dev has picked up at least one of the chipKIT boards. Shortly after the launch of the UNO32 and Max32 board, Digilent announced the existance of 2 shields slated for release in June: The chipKIT Networking shield and chipKIT General I/O shield. June quickly passed and July came and went  with no word on the release date for either shield. Well today Microchip and Digilent have officially released both the Networking shield and the General I/O shield. We received our evaluation samples about 3 weeks ago and are planning full writeups on both shields in the next few days. In the mean time we have some exciting photos as well as the full press release after the jump. 

Tutorial: Burning the Sanguino Bootloader to the ATmega 644P Using an Arduino as ISP.

Burning the Arduino Bootloader Using Arduino as ISP ATmega 644p

DIY Electronics Tutorial on TheMakersWorkbench.com

So you just finished soldering up your Sanguinololu 1.3A board and are ready to test it to see if everything is working properly, but before you can upload any firm ware to the board you need to burn a Bootloader to the ATmega 644P. In this tutorial I will cover using an Arduino or Arduino clone as your ISP programmer.  … Class starts after the jump. [node:read-more:link]

11
Aug

Digilent Pmods invade our workbench and and bring their Cerebot overloards along for the ride!

Submitted by Charles Gantt on Thu, 2011-08-11 16:03

Digilent Cerebot 32MX7

Back in May we were the first to formally introduce you to Digilent's chipKIT line of Arduino compatible PIC32 based development boards. Digilent liked our coverage so much that they sent an army of their Pmods led by their Cerebot masters to take over our workbench. We have a ton of stuff to cover from Digilent in the coming weeks and if they manufacture something you would like to see covered here on TheMakersWorkbench just let us know in the comments and we will do our best to give it a full write up... Keep reading after the jump. [node:read-more:link]

Protostack educates us on Pulse Width Modulation.

Protostack, AVR, Pulse Width Modulation, PWM, Arduino, C++

ATmega168A Pulse Width Modulation Tutorial

 

 

Protostack is back with another AVR tutorial. In this installment Daniel covers everything you need to know about PWM and gives you 3 examples using an Atmega 168. The first two use the existing PWM pins and are fairly common for the experienced AVR enthusiast, the third example however is quite interesting and shows us how to use timer interrupts to create 3 more PWM lines. Keep reading after the jump.... [node:read-more:link]

Cadsoft Eagle Video Tutorial Series.

Cadsoft EagleVideo Tutorials. Custom PCB and Schematic Design, DIY

Eagle Video Tutorials

Like most DIY electronics beginners there was a point where I needed to create my first custom PCB, and like most I was directed to Cadsoft Eagle as my schematic and board layout editing tool. After downloading Eagle and running it for the first time I was a bit overwhelmed and quickly realized that I was in over my head. I then turned to Google and began searching for tutorials. I found a few here and there but they were lacking the basics and often times confusing. I eventually got the hang of eagle and now have a few friends who also use it, so I have a support base to turn to. I came across a channel on youtube last night that would have made my early days with eagle much easier.... read on after the break. [node:read-more:link]

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