Embedded web server is all about clever formatting

embedded-web-server

Take a look around here and you'll find all kinds of embedded web servers. This one doesn't look all that interesting, especially because it's just a NIC plugged into a development board. But for us the interesting part is in how [Andrew Rossignol] chose to format the webpage assets to best utilize the under-powered server. The project was spawned as part of a class in Internet Embedded … [Read more...]

VGA message board displays SMS without a computer

gsm-message-board

[Achu Wilson's] latest creation is a VGA message board which is written to via SMS text messages. This doesn't sound too interesting at first, until you find out he's doing this with a microcontroller rather than a PC. All of the complexity is in the code that drives the VGA. He managed to do it without any jitter while using an 8-bit microcontroller. But first, the cellular side of things. A … [Read more...]

A capacitive discharge welder/cutter for all your lightweight needs

microspot-welder

[Radu Motisan] wrote in to share a cool project he has been working on lately, a pulsed microspot welder/cutter. The device is capable of spot welding thin metals such as foils and battery tabs by sending a pair of high current pulses between the two electrodes whenever [Radu] presses the trigger button. The cutting portion of his device uses the same general mechanism, though it requires a far … [Read more...]

Espresso upgrade gives you more data with your caffeine

espresso-display-upgrade

Whether you take it as a single shot or a double, a great Barista want's to know the details on what's happening with the espresso machine. [Tobi] was happily generating the morning cup when he realized that the needle-thermometer on his machine wasn't working any longer. Instead of shelling out a lot of money for a direct replacement, he built his own display and controller for this espresso … [Read more...]

Build your own miniature self parking car

self-park

[Achu Wilson] was watching TV when he saw an ad for Volkswagen’s latest Passat, which happens to come equipped with a park assist mode. This essentially allows the car to park itself with little to no user interaction. While these systems come as a pricey add-on option, he figured he could build something similar in his own home, albeit on a much smaller scale. Digging through his parts bin … [Read more...]

Learn the geometry to draw an analog clock on a graphic LCD screen

concepts-behind-drawing-an-analog-clock

Does the image of the clock above make you shutter with fear because of the math you'd need to use to recreate your own version of the project? We certainly understand that High School geometry is becoming a very distant memory, but it's really not as hard as you think. [Janw] built this analog clock using a graphic LCD and he's done a great job of explaining the concepts behind it. The … [Read more...]

Frequency counter for $10 worth of parts

frequency-counter

[Scott] built this frequency counter using less than $10 in parts. It's set up to meter frequencies in megahertz which is fitting since he's planning to use it with his radio hardware experimentation. But we would find it useful too because our cheap multimeter only reads up to around 4 MHz. He's using an ATmega16 that he had on hand but it has features way beyond the specs for the device. He … [Read more...]