Transistors are incredibly useful devices. My favorite use for bipolar junction transistors (BJTs) is switches. By either applying a high (1) or low (0) voltage to them, the transistors switch from on to off or vice versa. These transistors also can be used for current amplification. They can…
Many projects do not actually require much knowledge about electricity. Despite what is learned in places like physics classes, it is almost never necessary to use Ohm’s law to calculate voltage, resistance, and current in a circuit. Many of the components that you will use are really…
The MCP23017 and MCP23008 integrated circuits are a great way to add more I/O pins to a microcontroller. They use the i2c standard, so they can share the same serial line with 254 other sensors and even up to 8 other chips of the same exact type. They are particularly good for a Raspberry Pi…
These parts are designed to be used in a quadrocopter. They are sold as replacement parts to pre-built quadrocopters, but work well as interchangable parts. This is documention on the specs and how to use the parts, since none is really provided.
Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) is used because a microcontroller cannot easily send a specific voltages. It really can only turn a switch on and off. To be able to send a ratio of the current voltage, something like a variable resistor would need to be digitally controlled, but we don’t have that.…
A lot of us have an old desktop computer we don’t want anymore and it’s good to re-use components. You’ll find in each standard sized desktop, an ATX power supply. It’s a standardized form factor for AC-to-DC power conversion with +3, +5, +12, and sometimes -5 and -12 VDC rails. If you look on…
This is a tutorial on how to build a clock display using only an Arduino, a Shift Register, and 4 digit seven segment display.
