Robotics Class is Open
If you are like us, you probably just spin up your own code for a lot of simple projects. But that’s wasteful if you are trying to do anything serious. …read more Continue reading Robotics Class is Open
Author Archives: Al Williams
Forgotten Internet: UUCP
What’s Forgotten Internet? It is the story of parts of the Internet — or Internet precursors — that you might have forgotten about or maybe you missed out on them. …read more Continue reading Forgotten Internet: UUCP
No Ham License? Listen Anyway in Your Browser
Full disclosure: ham radio isn’t for everyone, and there are many different facets to it. What appeals to one person might bore another to death. One area of ham radio …read more Continue reading No Ham License? Listen Anyway in Your Browser
Head to Head: Servos vs Steppers
You have a project that needs something to move. Should you use a stepper motor or a servo motor? [Matthias] has an opinion, and you can hear his thoughts in …read more Continue reading Head to Head: Servos vs Steppers
Gaming Table has Lights, Action
We couldn’t decide if [‘s] Dungeons and Dragons gaming table was a woodworking project with some electronics or an electronics project with some woodworking. Either way, it looks like a …read more Continue reading Gaming Table has Lights, Action
Retrotechtacular: The 1951 Telephone Selector
Telephone systems predate the use of cheap computers and electronic switches. Yesterday’s phone system used lots of stepping relays in a box known as a “selector.” If you worked for …read more Continue reading Retrotechtacular: The 1951 Telephone Selector
The Engineer Behind Mine Detection
According to [Joanna Goodrich] in IEEE Spectrum, prior to World War II, soldiers who wanted to find land mines, simply poked at the ground with pointed sticks or bayonets. As …read more Continue reading The Engineer Behind Mine Detection
A Low Effort, Low Energy Doorbell
Bluetooth is a good way to connect devices that are near each other. However, it can drain batteries which is one reason Bluetooth Low Energy — BLE — exists. [Drmph] …read more Continue reading A Low Effort, Low Energy Doorbell
Toner Transfer, but Not for PCBs
It is old news that you can print PCB artwork on glossy paper and use a clothes iron to transfer the toner to a copper board, which will resist etchant. …read more Continue reading Toner Transfer, but Not for PCBs
Writing a RISC-V OS From Scratch
If you read Japanese, you might have seen the book “Design and Implementation of Microkernels” by [Nu Tian Sheng]. An appendix covers how to write your own operating system for …read more Continue reading Writing a RISC-V OS From Scratch