S1axter's Tech Log of Crazy Stuff
s1axter
Check out these two tutorials on how to build a simple CPLD dev board and an introduction to Verilog found on pyroelectro.com.
The dev board is quite sparse, but could be a really good base for a series of tutorials on how to work with programmable logic.
http://www.pyroelectro.com/tutorials/cpld_board/
http://www.pyroelectro.com/tutorials/verilog_intro/
About programmable logic: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Programmable_logic_device
I love stuff like this, lol!
http://www.ariel.com.au/jokes/The_Evolution_of_a_Programmer.html
Check out some pix of a simple guitar amp I made using an 8-Ohm speaker and an LM386 audio amp from Radioshack
http://mybitbox.com/gallery/amp/
Here are some links for making a min amp:
http://www.cigarboxguitars.com/workshops/CigarBoxAmp.php
http://www.runoffgroove.com/littlegem.html
And a video of the amp in action:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHqhDsH4HUo
Looks like the Sparkfun gift certificate contest is going well, lots of comments. I am really looking forward to giving out the prize, should be interesting.
Check out the number of submissions per person: http://geeksinside.com/comments.php
There are a few things on the horizon for Geeksinside and I would love to get some feedback from our readers.
First, the guys here and I have been talking about opening GI up for unrestricted registration for blogs. The system would work just like it does now, discrete blogs with the option to post to the main page. Posts suggested for main would be reviewed by admins and either approved or not (They stay in the blog). For major contributors admins could grant auto main post approval, article ability, file storage (kinda like this), admin rights, etc. Think of it as Slashdot but with blogs ;-) What else would you the user want?
I would also love to do more contests, any suggestions?
Embedded.com has an interesting article on the perceived obsolescence of assembly by some professions. I've spoken with a number of programmers and engineers, and almost every one, with the exception of low level computer engineers, says 'Nobody programs in assembly anymore'. This might be true for desktop applications, server applications, or web service engineers, however nothing is further from the truth for embedded engineers. I've always believed that to understand how something works, you need to know how it is implemented. This article shares this thought and asserts that any good embedded engineer needs to understand computer architecture and thus assembly. That or you are going to be stuck with this:
"If a Java-only developer ever pondered CPU design, can you imagine the horribly-complex room-full of logic he'd envision? 'Here's the circuit that implements a formatted print instruction.'"
What do you do and when was the last time you programmed some assembly?
Article: http://www.embedded.com/design/206801678
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assembly_language
Dean Kamen's company, Deka Research (creators of the Segway), has been working for the past two years on a prosthetic modular arm to help amputees. The arm weighs in around 50 7.5 lbs and has an impressively wide range of motion. From the IEEE Spectrum article:
"The arm has motor control fine enough for test subjects to pluck chocolate-covered coffee beans one by one, pick up a power drill, unlock a door, and shake a hand. Six preconfigured grip settings make this possible, with names like chuck grip, key grip, and power grip. The different grips are shortcuts for the main operations humans perform daily."
This is really cool but I don't know about the foot controls, what happens when the guy walks?
Article: http://spectrum.ieee.org/feb08/5957
Via Science Punk
Hahaha, too funny
http://www.linuxkungfu.org/images/fun/geek/project.jpg
Due to a number of requests for info on the VHDL traffic light controller video on youTube, I thought I would post a quick write up.
"In college my Junior year lab included a project to construct a simple traffic light controller using only digital logic. This means no microcontroller, no 'if' statements nothing but pure hardcore logic. The intent of the lab was to implement a state machine in a realistic application. This article is a collection of pictures and a very general explanation of my solution, plus a VHDL implementation of it."
If you are interested in digital logic or VHDL, take a look.
Article: http://geeksinside.com/articles/8/Traffic-Light-Controller/
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvSwrPh7X2g
Back in July 2007 I posted an article on setting up a Slackware file server using Samaba. In the latest rewrite of GI the article was lost since it was not a review. Well, tonight I updated the site a little more and make the 'reviews' section an 'articles' section and reposted the Slackware How-To.
http://geeksinside.com/articles/7/Slackware-12-File-Server-HowTo/
There are a few more articles I want to post so look for some cool stuff!
Take a look at this tutorial from PC Magazine on adding an M-Audio Micro USB audio interface to a guitar. The Micro USB comes with M-Audio's Session software for recording your newly modded guitar. This isn't something for a guitarist with a favorite guitar as you need to drill and route out part of the body.
http://machrone.net/usbguitar/
