YourITronics

I would like to wish my readers a Happy New Year and may all your wishes come true. As you may have experienced, during the holidays,  hobbyists get some free time and they like spending it building stuff. In this case the author, Infernoz, build this 8 LED POV display, which seems like a fun way of wishing a happy new year. The device is based on the Attiny26 from ATMEL and from the video we can see it works quite nice, but unfortunately I was unable to locate any source code posted on the project page, but this is not that bad as you can find POV source code from others projects(POV1 POV2 POV3) if you’re interested in building one.

Happy new year 2010 POV: [via]

You want to learn more about DC to DC boost converters? Here is a good and practical application of such converters, an LED tail light for your bicycle. Why do you need a boost converter for that you might ask, when you can simply have a battery power up some LEDs. Well, this way you greatly increase efficiency, you increase the number of LEDs you can drive and thus increase the perceived power of light. And yes, you will learn about them.

This project makes use of the National Semiconductor LM3410 chip. This chip provides a current regulation rather than a voltage regulation and makes it suitable when working with LEDs. This current regulation is done by switching a NMOS gate at constant frequency of 525Khz ( you can also chose 1.6Mhz) and varying the duty cycle, the so called pulse width modulation. Given a constant frequency varying the pulse width results in varying the mean value in time. The regulation is done by providing a feedback current that causes a voltage drop on a resistor which in turn is fed into a comparator.

The output of this comparator goes to the PWM comparator where it faces the output of the amplifier that reads the switched current through an inductor. The result will be a PWM signal attacking the NMOS gate and thus providing a steady mean output current value. The current sensing amplifier also provides an output for switched current limiting. Some nice features of LM3410 makes things easier, it’s internally compensated,  has a very low stand-by current, has dimming possibilities and thermal shutdown.

As the author states in his article you have to be careful when choosing components. Since the operation frequency is pretty high the diodes through which the inductor discharges must be high speed or you risk blowing the chip. Taking things a step forward he added a PIC12F683 microcontroller to provide some light effects selected by a pressing a button.

If we look closer at this project we can see it can be further developed, using the dimming possibility of LM3410 you can also turn it into a stop light. Whenever you break light intensity goes higher. Another development is to adapt it to be used with a dynamo. Have fun.

Bicycle Tail Light: [Link]

Toy cars are something that everybody has encountered during the childhood and even a non-car enthusiast like myself has had his share of toy car playing, racing, garage and road building and all that good stuff. You’d think that something like this would be more suited for kids, but what if you’re a grown-up, you have a small car at your disposal AND possess the knowledge to make some cool hardware improvements? That’s right, awesomeness occurs!

This is a DIY project that enhances a Kyosho Mini-Z car with some incredibly useful features: front, rear and under car lights! The model is actually a VW Golf R32 and, as you can see from the picture, it looks terrific, in true Fast and Furious fashion. The lights are LEDs, two white ones for the front, two red ones for the rear and two bars with 4 LEDs for under the car. The circuit keeping them all on uses a NE555 timer that generates a delay and keeps them on regardless of what the car is doing. Other parts include three capacitors, three resistors and three diodes (you can find a complete parts list and detailed schematics in the link provided, as well as other cool pics).

This is a truly astonishing piece of art, soldering a bunch of LEDs on a toy car, especially with the blue under car lights. If you’re a girl, then I suspect this amazing achievement of science might appear… uninteresting. But if that’s the case, then perhaps an LED Heart of Love would be more appropriate.

Mini-car Light Installation: [Link]

A valuable item in a hardware enthusiast’s arsenal, an ultra violet LED exposure box can be used with good results in making quality PCBs. LEDs are cheaper and safer than usual fluorescent lamps and also have a longer life span, so using high brightness UV LEDs is a great choice for an exposure box. The only downside is the longer exposure time, but this is an acceptable trade-off for most hobbyists.

The Exposure Box described here is a double sided one, with 84 5 mm UV LEDs on each side which need 700mA at 12V (that means 8.4 Watts for each panel). Therefore, the Exposure Box possesses 168 LEDs that add up to 16.8 Watts. It is important that the LEDs have at least 2000mcd brightness, a peak wavelength of less than 400nm and a viewing angle of at least 20 degrees. Other important components are the resistors (you will need 56 of them), the boards on which the LEDs are mounted and a power supply unit (this design uses 2x 160mm x 100mm pieces of Veroboard and a 12 Volt 24 Watt switch mode power supply).

The box itself is made of 6mm MDF, which can be easily shaped to build the case. The walls of the box are glued together and you will also have to drill holes for screws and the PSU connector. Take precautions when soldering the LEDs (check the polarity and don’t look directly to them when powered). You will also need a power switch and wiring to connect both panels to the PSU. When everything is done you could test the Exposure Box to see how it works using a piece of metal with photo resist.

A great project for home use, the UV LED Exposure Box can come in handy when making PCBs. Details on the components, assembly, soldering as well as schematics and other useful information in the link.

DIY UV LED Exposure Box: [Link] – [via]

“Love is a smoke raised with the fume of sighs,

Being purged, a fire sparkling in lovers’ eyes,

Being vexed, a sea nourished with lovers’ tears.

What is it else? A madness most discreet,

A choking gall and a preserving sweet.” (William Shakespeare)

When in love it can be important to find the right gifts for the right occasions. You know, the kind of thing that would bring a big smile to her face (followed by a wet kiss). It can be difficult to even remember to buy a present, let alone come up with something that will be appreciated. But fear not! I have found the solution to the problem and next Valentine’s Day you will be ready to really impress your sweetheart.

The Twinkling LED Heart of Love is a wonderful DIY project that will melt her heart and turn the next 14th of February into an unforgettable event. The Heart of Love is based on an Atmel AVR ATmega168 microcontroller coupled with 20 red LEDs that… blink randomly! The heart itself can be made of cardboard and, although red is the usual color for love-related objects, you can show your creativity and paint it something meaningful to you and your damsel. Like orange, if you’re both Netherlands soccer fans. Or black, if you’re black metal fans (pentagram is optional). Originality is usually appreciated, so go for it!

Tips and tricks: your Heart of Love is awesome and will surely knock her socks off, but don’t start explaining how it’s made, how the microcontroller works and so on, because she might start yawning and eventually fall asleep.

As for me… I think I’ll settle for a big bouquet of red roses, thank you very much.

Twinkling LED Heart of Love: [Link]