Optocouplers: Defending Your Microcontroller, MIDI, and a Hot Tip for Speed
Deep in the heart of your latest project lies a little silicon brain. Much like the brain inside your own bone-plated noggin, your microcontroller needs protection from the outside world from time to time. When it comes to isolating your microcontroller’s sensitive little pins from high voltages, ground loops, or general noise, nothing beats an optocoupler. And while simple on-off control of a device through an optocoupler can be as simple as hooking up an LED, they are not perfect digital devices.
But first a step back. What is an optocoupler anyway? The prototype is an LED and a light-sensitive …read more
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