Circuits & Schematics - Microcontrollers Usage - 7

Tom Gay EDN Most current microcontrollers offer I/O ports that can change their functions during program execution. As outputs, the circuits can sink and source reasonably large amounts of current. This Design Idea shows three alternative methods ...

It’s almost a corollary to Moore’s Law: Next year, microcomputers will have more features, and the software team will have bigger ideas. Unfortunately, though, the number of output pins will stay the same. Finding even one spare output ...

Dan Meeks EDN Most current microprocessors, DSPs, and field-programmable gate arrays integrate hardware and software resources that support either or both of two common interface standards SPI (serial-peripheral interface) and I 2 C ...

Jim Brannan EDN Combining PWM with a small R-2R ladder improves both. It reduces PWM ripple significantly and increases the DAC’s resolution. In this Design Idea, an eight-resistor array and three output pins construct a modified R-2R ladder ...

Most of us know about PWM DACs. They are easy to implement, cheap, and acceptable for low performance applications. The approach is to filter the HF components of the PWM signal and be left with only the LF or DC component that is proportional to ...

By using this simple capacitor-network circuit and software, designs using the Arduino Uno need only two I/O pins to read a hex-switch decoder, leaving the remaining pins for other functions. A pulse-width-modulated (PWM) signal and the RC-charging ...

Traditional control-system designs use separate switches to control power and various system functions, but adding a few components to a small, microprocessor-based system can combine a control function with the system's on/off switch. For ...

Tommaso Angelino Electronic Design A microcontroller's internal ADC was inadequate to measure its own supply rail, so a circuit using standard discrete components was devised to do this with just one pin of the IC. This circuit solved a problem ...

Part 1 - Arduino Version. Schematic, Sketch and PCB General information Schematic diagram Printed Circuit Board (PCB) Arduino Sketch Highlights Conclusion Downloads References General information The second version of the controller is made on a ...

The ubiquitous LCD (Figure 1) (and VFD) modules based on the HD44780 controller IC can require up to 12 lines from the host. Figure 1. A typical LCD module. This hardware interface Design Idea (Figure 2) reduces the connection to just one wire, ...