Circuit Cellar Ink 263
June 2012

Table of Contents

4


CJ Abate

HTML Task Manager

H2M & M2M Communication

10


CJ Abate

HTML New Product News

DesignSpark chipKIT Challenge

12


Ian Bromley

DesignSpark chipKIT(TM) Design Challenge

Community Choice Winners

The DesignSpark chipKIT(TM) design challenge for energy-efficient applications is now closed. Here is a quick look at a few of the Community Choice Award Projects.

13


David Tweed

HTML Test Your EQ - Answers for Issue 262

14


Kevin Gorga

AC Tester

Testing, Troubleshooting, and Debugging

Safety is a top priority when working with electronics and circuits. The AC Tester design is an isolated variable voltage power source that includes an electronic circuit breaker for testing and debugging equipment. An mbed controller displays voltage and current, and it controls the breaker's trip point and response time. In addition, this inventive design can display power factor, VA, and VAR.

Download: Gorga-263.zip

RL78 Green Energy Challenge

22


Mohammed Dogar

Renesas RL78

The True Low-Power MCU Platform

Questions & Answers

24


Nan Price

Industrial Control Engineering

An Interview with Aubrey Kagan

Aubrey Kagan's engineering experiences and work have run the gamut from studying in Israel to designing controllers for mines in Africa to helping create specifications for the remote control arm on the International Space Station. He is now an engineering manager at a Toronto-based design house for industrial control interfaces and switch-mode power supplies. Aubrey and I recently discussed his background and some of the interesting projects he has designed and written about over the years.

28


Fergus Dixon

Smart Switch Management

Construct an MCU-Based, 'Net-Enabled Controller

Smart switches are handy energy-saving devices that simplify energy conservation. This microcontroller-based, 'Net-connected controller enables you to manage up to 50 switches with ease.

Download: Dixon-263.zip

36


Miguel Sanchez

Image Processing System Development

Use an MCU to Unleash the Power of Depth Cameras

You can accomplish a variety of computer vision-related tasks with a microcontroller, bipolar stepper motors, and a depth camera. This article details how to use embedded technology with Microsoft's Kinect motion-sensing device for innovative image-processing applications.

Download: Sanchez-263.zip

Embedded in Thin Slices

44


Bob Japenga

Concurrency in Embedded Systems

Part 1: An Introduction to Concurrency and Common Pitfalls

Most embedded systems have concurrency requirements that designers and programmers must identify, understand, and manage. This article is the first in a series about the topic. Concurrency is defined and pitfalls are examined.

The Consummate Engineer

48


George Novacek

Diode ORing

Diode ORing is a commonly used method for power backup. But there's a lot more behind the method than meets the eye. This article describes some solutions for maintaining uninterrupted power.

Above the Ground Plane

52


Ed Nisley

MOSFET Channel Resistance

Theory and Practice

This article describes the basics of power MOSFET operation and explores the challenges of using a MOSFET's drain-to-source resistance as a current-sensing resistor. It includes a review of fundamental enhancement-mode MOSFET equations, compares them with Spice simulations, and shows measurements from an actual MOSFET.

Download: Nisley-263.zip

The Darker Side

58


Robert Lacoste

Radio Frequency Mixers

Frequency mixers are essential to radio frequency (RF) designs. They are responsible for translating a signal up or down in frequency. This article covers the basics of RF mixers and their real-life applications.

Download: Lacoste-263.zip

From the Bench

68


Jeff Bachiochi

Build an MCU-Based Automatic Blood Pressure Cuff

Personal health products are becoming more and more commonplace. They reinforce regular visits to personal physicians and can be beneficial when diagnosing health issues. This article shows you how to convert a manual blood pressure cuff into an automatic cuff by adding an air pump, a solenoid release valve, and a pressure sensor to a microcontroller circuit.

76

Crossword Puzzle

79

Crossword Puzzle - Answers for Issue 262

80


Steve Ciarcia

HTML Priority Interrupt

Google Lunar X PRIZE

FTP Directory for INK 263

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