Author: Matthew Mucker

RSS Feeds are Messed Up

The RSS feeds for the blog entries and comments are.... broken. In a really odd way. I'm aware of the problem and am working on it. Google Reader and Firefox are able to somehow parse the feeds, but Outlook and IE (rightly) complain about the RSS.

First MSP430 Launchpad Project

In case you're not aware of it, Texas Instruments has a value line of microcontrollers, the MSP430 line. They have a starter kit called the Launchpad and they're practically giving these things away! The Launchpad costs $4.30 and that includes shipping! You can order three at a time from TI's online store (registration required).

The MSP430 is not a particularly powerful microcontroller, but for the cost it's definitely worth getting and playing with. One nice thing is that it's a 16 bit controller so it's able to crunch numbers a little faster than an 8 bit proc. Be sure to download the Getting Started Guide, as the datasheets are really not terribly useful to a beginner. TI did a pretty good job with the labs in the Getting Started Guide.

Here's a video of my first project. I did this in a few hours of studying and coding, but then again I have some experience working with other microcontroller families that helped me get up to speed more quickly. In future videos I'll go over the Launchpad and the MSP430 in more detail, and we'll dissect the code I used to create this project.

Etch a PCB with Ingredients from your Kitchen

Steve Hobely was out of "Ferret Chloride" and "Bureaucratic Acid" and needed to etch a circuit board. What did he do? He grabbed some vinegar, some hydrogen peroxide, and some table salt and concocted a new etchant! He explains the recipe in this post, complete with a detailed description of the reaction by his Ph.D-in-Chemistry sister.

OSHW Logo Submissions are Looking Good

I haven't really paid a whole lot of attention to the Open Source Hardware Summit happenings, but the logo submissions all look great!

I expect we'll see great things in OSHW in the future. It's definitely a trend to keep an eye on. The OSHW Definition 1.0 was recently published and I see that 1.1 is already being drafted. Er, no... released. At least, that's what the text on the page says, though I can't find a definition versioned 1.1.

Anyway, there's an organized, deliberate movement afoot to formalize what Open Source Hardware is, what it means, and the ramifications it has on the community and intellectual property rights. Many of the Big Names in the hacker community are part of the organization and there will be, I'm sure, pressures for hardware hackers to release hardware under the 'official' OSHW definition. OSHW will definitely play a big role in hardware hacking as time goes on.

Other People’s Projects: Gameduino, Laser Cutter v2

My RSS feeds dumped two really intriguing products into my lap today: an Arduino-compatible shield that produces VGA output, and an open source laser cutter.

The Gameduino is a VGA output device that can be driven by a microcontroller. It outputs a 800x600 display in 512 colors. It's powered by an FPGA (I haven't yet been able to determine which one) and has a host of pretty cool features:

  • video output is 400x300 pixels in 512 colors
  • all color processed internally at 15-bit precision
  • compatible with any standard VGA monitor (800x600 @ 72Hz)
  • background graphics
    • 512x512 pixel character background
    • 256 characters, each with independent 4 color palette
    • pixel-smooth X-Y wraparound scroll
  • foreground graphics
    • each sprite is 16x16 pixels with per-pixel transparency
    • each sprite can use 256, 16 or 4 colors
    • four-way rotate and flip
    • 96 sprites per scan-line, 1536 texels per line
    • pixel-perfect sprite collision detection
  • audio output is a stereo 12-bit frequency synthesizer
  • 16 independent voices 10-4000 Hz
  • per-voice sine wave or white noise

Really cool. Graphics are sent to the Gameduino over a SPI bus. I was thinking of building something similar in the future for a project, but I wouldn't have included many of the features that this device has. The builder has some sample videos up that show the power of this little gem. It's really, really cool stuff! Definitely click on the sample images to see just how powerful this platform is.

The Gameduino is currently seeking funding on Kickstarter. I pleged $53 which should get me an assembled and tested unit from the first production run. Well worth it! (I'm obviously not the only one who thinks so. The Kickstarter project has a goal of $3,333 but has already raised over $10,000 in pledges with 27 days to go!)

The other project is Buildlog.net 2.x Laser laser cutter. This is a homemade laser cutter design shared under a Creative Commons license. I haven't looked at in detail yet but I suspect I'll be building one of these. Even if it costs as much as a commercial unit (~$2,000), it'll be worth the fun and the experience to build my own.

Coming Online, and the 555 Contest

I'm just now getting the website set up and WordPress configured. Hopefully I'll figure it all out before I get visitors to my site.

In other news, the 555 contest ends today at midnight EST. I'm just amazed by this contest. Jeri and Chris had an idea, they tweeted about it, and were able to put together a high-profile electronics design contest and solicit quite a few prizes from major sponsors. Kudos to Jeri Ellsworth and Chris Gammell for putting this together; it's not every day you see an entire worldwide online community come together. This contest will live on in engineering folklore, I'm sure.

I can't wait to see the entries.