Microcontroller for Dummies

I got my cute little micro-controller board this week and immediately sat down to see what cool things it can do together with my circuits and components. It's an Arduino compatible micro board. There's a lot hype over these micro-controller boards, and rightfully so because of the many exciting possibilities of what you can do with your circuits. The micro-controller will be your interface to your computer, as it can accept analog and digital inputs and can be programmed through the open-source Arduino IDE (Interface Drive Electronics). It connects to the computer through USB. All you need is some little skills in programming in C language, and it's open to the world of many exciting possibilities. For the newbies in programming, don't lose heart because it's not really difficult to learn. You'll actually find it fun to learn.

Arduino Compatible Micro Board

So what can a micro-controller really do? The fact that you can connect it your computer is already cool. Which means you can ask it to do something for you, or interpret what your circuit does. Because a micro-controller is actually a small computer that has its own memory that it retains even though the power has been take off from it it. So you can build a circuit, hook it up to a micro-controller, and program it such that it interprets the output of your circuit and make a response based from the input, for example turn on a buzzer or display an output. The functionality will be retained as long as the codes are not erased from the device. This is exactly what's inside the gadgets, appliances, tools, etc. that do multiple functions that are seemingly intelligent. After having been programmed to your desired functionality, you will not need your computer anymore. Your circuit together with the micro-controller can be a standalone but of course with an external supply, such as a 9V readily available battery from a convenience store. I'll have more for examples of using this micro board in my next blogs.

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Arduino Transistor DC Motor Control

Arduino boards have PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) outputs that can be used to control like the speed of a DC motor. On a Pro Micro, those outputs are encircled white on the board. You can program it such that it outputs on a scale of 1-255, 1 being the slowest and 255 being the fastest. PWM gives out pulses whose width is varied (modulated) while the period is constant. The longer it is high, the higher power it delivers to the circuit. PWM can be used to drive a transistor (switch) which in turn drives the motor ON and OFF. The longer the switch is ON, the higher the power delivered to the motor, and thus faster. The circuit consists of a transistor Q1 (TIP31) NPN transistor, driven by the PWM from Arduino. The resistor is to limit the current to the base, but enough to operate the transistor in saturation when the input is high. The diode is to protect the motor from any back emf that might come from the motor when the current is cut off. The circuit is supplied by a 9V battery.

What Can You Do With Two Transistors (BJT)? Part 2 - Transistor Regulator

In the first installment of this series, we talked about what exciting things we can do with just two transistors, in particular BJT transistors. Some of us might probably think that we don't talk a lot about BJT transistors nowadays, not with the thrill, excitement, and trend brought about by high advancements in the technology in the Internet of Things, Machine Learning, Machine Intelligence, Advanced Algorithm, etc.. But we argue that these little circuits and components are constantly in the background of the advancements we see around us and we should not ignore them, as much we will not ignore what we currently enjoy and what the future holds for us. Let's continue to look at the Two-Transistor Series Regulator we talked about in Part 1 . The circuit below is a different version, now using the transistor to provide feedback from the output. This makes the output voltage higher. The output is still derived from the zener voltage. The output voltage is now a s

How Does The Howland Current Source Work?

Current source programs an output current as defined by the user, regardless of the load resistance. We know that when load resistance is larger, the voltage across it also increases. An ideal source would maintain a constant amount of current even if the load resistance changes, or in other words even if the output voltage changes. Such behavior describes a very good current source that has high output impedance. Remember, the output voltage changes, but very little or no change in output current. That means high output resistance or impedance. We use the term impedance when dealing with changes. Howland circuit in the figure is a classic current source circuit. When R 1 is made equal to R 2 , R F equal to R 3, the output current is given by V IN /R 1 where V IN is V 1 minus V 2 . A simple implementation is grounding V 2 and taking V 1 as the V IN . Figure 1 Basic Howland Current Source This circuit is such a clever manipulation of the op amp, such

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