What’s in a Wattmeter?
The idea behind watts seems deceptively simple. By definition, a watt is the amount of work done when one ampere of current flows between a potential of one volt. If …read more Continue reading What’s in a Wattmeter?
Author Archives: Al Williams
Retrotechtacular: The IBM System/360 Remembered
Before IBM was synonymous with personal computers, they were synonymous with large computers. If you didn’t live it, it was hard to realize just how ubiquitous IBM computers were in …read more Continue reading Retrotechtacular: The IBM System/360 Remembered
Absolute Encoder Teardown
According to [Lee Teschler], the classic representation of encoders showing code rings is out of date. His post says that most industrial absolute encoders use a special magnetic sensor known …read more Continue reading Absolute Encoder Teardown
3D Printing a Carburetor Is Easier Than You Probably Think
We’ve all been there. You see a cool gadget on the Internet to 3D print and you can’t wait to fire up the old printer. Then you realize it will …read more Continue reading 3D Printing a Carburetor Is Easier Than You Probably Think
Summer’s Coming – Let Mowerino Cut Your Grass
In the Northern hemisphere, summer is about to hit us full bore. While we love the season, we do dislike lawn maintenance. Apparently, so does [salmec] who developed the Mowerino …read more Continue reading Summer’s Coming – Let Mowerino Cut Your Grass
Linux Fu: The Infinite Serial Port
Ok, the title is a bit misleading. Like most things in life, it really isn’t infinite. But I’m going to show you how you can use a very interesting Linux …read more Continue reading Linux Fu: The Infinite Serial Port
Arduino and Git: Two Views
You can’t do much development without running into Git, the version control management system. Part of that is because so much code lives on GitHub which uses Git, although you …read more Continue reading Arduino and Git: Two Views
High Temp Heat Engine Achieves 40% Efficiency
People generate lots of waste heat. It makes sense that there is a desire to convert that heat into usable energy. The problem is one of efficiency. Researchers from MIT …read more Continue reading High Temp Heat Engine Achieves 40% Efficiency
Linux Fu: An Odd Use for fork()
If you are a Star Trek fan, you’ll probably remember the phrase “You have to learn why things work on a starship.” The truth is, in most episodes, knowing how …read more Continue reading Linux Fu: An Odd Use for fork()
A Rotary Encoder: How Hard Can It Be?
As you may have noticed, I’ve been working with an STM32 ARM CPU using Mbed. There was a time when Mbed was pretty simple, but a lot has changed since …read more Continue reading A Rotary Encoder: How Hard Can It Be?