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Issue #212 March 2008
Design, Program & Prosper
by C. J. Abate
This isn’t your average Robotics issue. When we began planning this edition of Circuit Cellar several months ago, we set out to put together an issue that would feature a diverse set of articles that would touch on the topics of both hardware design and software development. We could have easily packed the issue with six or seven feature articles about projects like simple motor control applications and line-following robots, but what good would that have done for engineers who are hungry for information about designing and programming interesting real-world applications?
This month, we deliver articles about useful projects that you can easily design and program at your workbench. If you start now, you can have one or two of them up and running by early April.
Want your next robotics project to run smoothly? First, check out why Daniel Ramirez uses the Ada95 programming language for many of his robotics applications (p. 14). Next, jump to page 52, where Monte Dalrymple describes a peripheral chip for low-level functions. He makes a strong case for using the Rabbit Semiconductor I/O (RIO) device in robotics and motion-control projects.
I first introduced you to Miguel Sanchez’s innovative vertical plotting system back in September 2007 (Issue 206). Remember the video posted at www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmB14M78CWU? Not long after Miguel showed me the video, we began planning an article about the design. This month, you can learn how it was built and programmed (p. 30). You can build a similar plotter to work in private or industrial settings.
On page 36, a team of designers from Camosun College describes its recent contribution to a flight control system for an RC helicopter. In this article, the team explains how it designed a functional communications system that can be tweaked to work efficiently in a variety of aircraft systems. The team covers the hardware, software, and firmware.
On page 43, Chris Coulston describes the exciting new motion control design that he calls the “Do-It-Yourself Wii.” The system enables him to interact with graphics programs on a PC in the same way that gaming enthusiasts use a Wii controller to play video games. In this series of articles, Chris describes how he developed the hardware and software for the system.
In the issue’s last feature article, Kripasagar Venkat describes efficient multiplication and division techniques for microcontrollers with no hardware multiplier (p. 60). Although the article is aptly titled “Efficient Micro Mathematics,” it could have been called “MCU Math Made Easy.”
Our columnists Jeff Bachiochi, George Martin, and Tom Cantrell round off the issue with interesting articles about using ARM processor power to monitor the heavens (p. 69), working with C language when troubleshooting a real design problem (p. 76), and finding the right 32-bit chips for next-generation applications (p. 80).
Finally, note that the winners of the Microchip 16-Bit Embedded Control 2007 Design Contest are listed on page 26. Congratulations to all of the winners!
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