CURRENT ISSUE
Contests
task manager
|
|
Issue #229 August 2009
Embedded Development and Beyond
by C. J. Abate
In the 2008 Embedded Development issue, we presented several articles with the intention of helping you hone your embedded development skills. Since then, we’ve received a fairly constant stream of interesting articles documenting amazing design projects. You’ve put that issue to good use!
This month we present several new articles that are sure to get you thinking about your next application. But before you turn to the last article and start reading backwards (Don’t most of you do it that way?), I encourage you to read the first part of Dale Wheat’s article series titled “Get Started With Embedded Development” (p. 14). It’s an appropriate point of departure because Dale explains how to use your current design skills and some free software to tackle a new project.
Once you’re done soaking in all of Dale’s practical tips, you can jump to the article of your choice. To make things easy, I’ll present the articles in chronological order.
In “Infrared Radiation Measurement,” Michael Hamilton presents an FFT double-beam infrared spectrophotometer, which measures IR radiation to identify various chemical molecules (p. 22). He gets into the nitty-gritty details by describing how a dsPIC30F4012 controls the spectrometer with FFT algorithms.
On page 31, columnist Ed Nisley presents a high-voltage DC dosimeter charger project. If you’re unfamiliar with such a design, don’t worry. Ed covers all the bases, from transformer measurement to high-voltage power supplies.
The eye-catching design on the cover of this issue is based on Kevin Gorga’s cable tracer design (p. 38). The tracer is used to detect underground (“embedded”) cables. It works by transmitting a 125-kHz signal into an underground cable. In the first part of this series, Kevin presents the hardware. Next month he covers the software portion of the project.
If a particular design topic confuses you, Robert Lacoste is the man to consult. This month, in “Power Analysis Primer,” he demystifies yet another complex engineering topic: power factor control (PFC). Turn to page 50 for the details and a few helpful experiments.
On page 60, Jeff Bachiochi presents a thought-provoking project that highlights a useful way to move data in and out of an embedded application. He uses a USB FIFO IC to move information in his “threat-level indication system.” The design retrieves threat-level-related data from the Internet and sends it to an LCD via a parallel connection. You might not need a threat-level indicator, but you can use this basic design to develop an application that suits your current needs.
According to Tom Cantrell, when it comes to chips, “thin is in.” This month he presents new “micro-energy cells” and describes exciting advances in battery technology, alternative energy, and nanopower silicon.
|
