A History of Early Microcontrollers, Part 1: Calculator Chips Came First (2022)
(eejournal.com)
Gary Boone, who worked in the Texas Instruments (TI) MOS Department, devised the first chip that can be called a microcontroller because he was becoming bored with his job and in trouble with his family.
Gary Boone, who worked in the Texas Instruments (TI) MOS Department, devised the first chip that can be called a microcontroller because he was becoming bored with his job and in trouble with his family.
Beyond BLE: Cracking Open the Black-Box of RF Microcontrollers [video]
(media.ccc.de)
Despite the recent popularity and breadth of offerings of low-cost RF microcontrollers, there is a shared absence of documentation for the internal workings of their RF hardware.
Despite the recent popularity and breadth of offerings of low-cost RF microcontrollers, there is a shared absence of documentation for the internal workings of their RF hardware.
Demystifying Common Microcontroller Debug Protocols [video]
(media.ccc.de)
Many developers know that the answer to "How do I debug this microcontroller" is either "JTAG" or "SWD". But what does that mean, exactly? How do you get from "Wiggling wires" to "Programming a chip" and "Halting on breakpoints"? This talk will cover how common debug protocols work starting from signals on physical wires, cover common mechanisms for managing embedded processors, and ending up at talking to various common microcontrollers.
Many developers know that the answer to "How do I debug this microcontroller" is either "JTAG" or "SWD". But what does that mean, exactly? How do you get from "Wiggling wires" to "Programming a chip" and "Halting on breakpoints"? This talk will cover how common debug protocols work starting from signals on physical wires, cover common mechanisms for managing embedded processors, and ending up at talking to various common microcontrollers.
Monkey Island PC speaker music player
(thanassis.space)
TL;DR: I modified DOSBox to extract the frequency/delay value pairs of the Monkey Island PC-Speaker songs. I then used Huffman compression to squeeze all music inside an ATtiny85 (512 bytes of RAM, 8 KB of flash) Once I managed that, I then created a small circuit with a speaker - to play the music... ...as a gift for my nieces and nephews; whom I'll see next week after more than a year's isolation (COVID)!
TL;DR: I modified DOSBox to extract the frequency/delay value pairs of the Monkey Island PC-Speaker songs. I then used Huffman compression to squeeze all music inside an ATtiny85 (512 bytes of RAM, 8 KB of flash) Once I managed that, I then created a small circuit with a speaker - to play the music... ...as a gift for my nieces and nephews; whom I'll see next week after more than a year's isolation (COVID)!
Build a Low-Cost Drone Using ESP32
(digikey.com)
Drones have rapidly evolved from niche hobbies to versatile tools with a wide range of applications, from photography to agriculture or even for defence and military purposes.
Drones have rapidly evolved from niche hobbies to versatile tools with a wide range of applications, from photography to agriculture or even for defence and military purposes.
A $0.03 RISC-V microcontroller brings an Acer N30 PDA back to life
(liliputing.com)
The Acer N30 is a PDA released in 2004 that shipped with a 240 x 320 pixel resistive touchscreen display, a 266 MHz Samsung S3C2410 processor, and Windows Mobile 2003 software.
The Acer N30 is a PDA released in 2004 that shipped with a 240 x 320 pixel resistive touchscreen display, a 266 MHz Samsung S3C2410 processor, and Windows Mobile 2003 software.
Show HN: openai-realtime-embedded-SDK Build AI assistants on microcontrollers
(github.com/openai)
A SDK to using the Realtime API with Microcontrollers like the ESP32
A SDK to using the Realtime API with Microcontrollers like the ESP32
Asynchronous Rust on Cortex-M Microcontrollers (2023)
(memfault.com)
In the realm of embedded software, the demand for efficient and responsive applications is ever-increasing.
In the realm of embedded software, the demand for efficient and responsive applications is ever-increasing.
E-Paper weather display powered by ESP32 microcontroller
(github.com/lmarzen)
This is a weather display powered by a wifi-enabled ESP32 microcontroller and a 7.5in E-Paper (aka E-ink) display. Current and forecasted weather data is obtained from the OpenWeatherMap API. A sensor provides the display with accurate indoor temperature and humidity.
This is a weather display powered by a wifi-enabled ESP32 microcontroller and a 7.5in E-Paper (aka E-ink) display. Current and forecasted weather data is obtained from the OpenWeatherMap API. A sensor provides the display with accurate indoor temperature and humidity.
Making true random numbers with radioactive decay (2021)
(partofthething.com)
I plugged my Geiger counter’s audio cable into my oscilloscope just for kicks the other day and saw ~9V pulses coming out when it occurred to me that I could easily read those into an Arduino or Raspberry Pi or ESP8266 microcontroller and respond to them. As a demo, I made a hardware random number generator (HRNG) out of a esp8266.
I plugged my Geiger counter’s audio cable into my oscilloscope just for kicks the other day and saw ~9V pulses coming out when it occurred to me that I could easily read those into an Arduino or Raspberry Pi or ESP8266 microcontroller and respond to them. As a demo, I made a hardware random number generator (HRNG) out of a esp8266.
My4th Light – Custom 8-Bit Forth CPU
(mynor.org)
The new "XS" platform allows an even smaller computer design. Compared to the original My4TH computer board, the new XS platform has a much more compact microcode.
The new "XS" platform allows an even smaller computer design. Compared to the original My4TH computer board, the new XS platform has a much more compact microcode.
Ask HN: What is your RP 2040 development environment?
(ycombinator.com)
There are a ton of RP2040 boards out there and I expect a new wave of the RP2350 boards any day now. My current favorite board is this https://minifigboards.com/product/fig-pi/ since it has JST/SH connectors to add things vs a protoboard.
There are a ton of RP2040 boards out there and I expect a new wave of the RP2350 boards any day now. My current favorite board is this https://minifigboards.com/product/fig-pi/ since it has JST/SH connectors to add things vs a protoboard.
I sent an Ethernet packet
(github.com/francisrstokes)
For as long as I've been making videos on the low byte productions youtube channel, I've wanted to make a series about "Networking from scratch", by which I mean building a full TCP/IP stack from the ground up on a microcontroller. It's been nearly 6 years now, and the past few days felt like as good a time as any to start.
For as long as I've been making videos on the low byte productions youtube channel, I've wanted to make a series about "Networking from scratch", by which I mean building a full TCP/IP stack from the ground up on a microcontroller. It's been nearly 6 years now, and the past few days felt like as good a time as any to start.
Making Electronic Calipers
(kevinlynagh.com)
Have you ever wished for a 500 Hz, millimeter-precise linear position sensing system? Well you’re in luck — all you need is some circuit board, a basic microcontroller, and a wee bit of maths!
Have you ever wished for a 500 Hz, millimeter-precise linear position sensing system? Well you’re in luck — all you need is some circuit board, a basic microcontroller, and a wee bit of maths!
Release RP2350 and ESP32-C6 support, RISC-V native emitter, common TinyUSB code
(github.com/micropython)
This release of MicroPython adds support for the new RP2350 MCU, improved RISC-V support with native code generation, support for ESP32-C6 MCUs, update Zephyr version with threading support, unified TinyUSB bindings across ports, a portable UART IRQ API, and enhanced mpremote recursive copy. There are also numerous bug fixes, enhancements to the test suite and more attention to testing of the machine module and its API. Read on for more details.
This release of MicroPython adds support for the new RP2350 MCU, improved RISC-V support with native code generation, support for ESP32-C6 MCUs, update Zephyr version with threading support, unified TinyUSB bindings across ports, a portable UART IRQ API, and enhanced mpremote recursive copy. There are also numerous bug fixes, enhancements to the test suite and more attention to testing of the machine module and its API. Read on for more details.
Performance of popular microcontroller boards running uLisp
(ulisp.com)
The following table gives a summary of the performance of the different boards supported by the latest release of uLisp for each platform:
The following table gives a summary of the performance of the different boards supported by the latest release of uLisp for each platform:
Implementing neural networks on the "3 cent" 8-bit microcontroller
(wordpress.com)
Bouyed by the surprisingly good performance of neural networks with quantization aware training on the CH32V003, I wondered how far this can be pushed. How much can we compress a neural network while still achieving good test accuracy on the MNIST dataset?
Bouyed by the surprisingly good performance of neural networks with quantization aware training on the CH32V003, I wondered how far this can be pushed. How much can we compress a neural network while still achieving good test accuracy on the MNIST dataset?
Seeed Studio XIAO RP2040 with NuttX(RTOS)
(seeedstudio.com)
NuttX is a mature real-time operating system (RTOS) widely recognized for its standards compliance and small footprint.
NuttX is a mature real-time operating system (RTOS) widely recognized for its standards compliance and small footprint.
Show HN: Running Game Boy ROMs on the STM32 ARM Cortex Microcontroller
(github.com/jnz)
Running Game Boy ROMS on the STM32 ARM Cortex microcontroller.
Running Game Boy ROMS on the STM32 ARM Cortex microcontroller.
Pimoroni Pico Plus 2 W Combines RP2350B MCU with Raspberry Pi RM2 Wi-Fi and Blu
(cnx-software.com)
Raspberry Pi released the Raspberry Pi Pico 2 a few months ago, featuring the new RP2350 chip. Despite several upgrades, it lacks wireless connectivity like Pico W. While there’s no official Raspberry Pi Pico 2 W yet, Pimoroni has developed an unofficial alternative, the Pimoroni Pico Plus 2 W, which integrates Wi-Fi and Bluetooth using a yet-to-be-formally-announced Raspberry Pi RM2 module and potentially set to appear in a future Pico 2W.
Raspberry Pi released the Raspberry Pi Pico 2 a few months ago, featuring the new RP2350 chip. Despite several upgrades, it lacks wireless connectivity like Pico W. While there’s no official Raspberry Pi Pico 2 W yet, Pimoroni has developed an unofficial alternative, the Pimoroni Pico Plus 2 W, which integrates Wi-Fi and Bluetooth using a yet-to-be-formally-announced Raspberry Pi RM2 module and potentially set to appear in a future Pico 2W.
Quake runs in just 276 kB RAM on the Arduino Nano Matter board
(silabs.com)
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Implementing Neural Networks on the tiniest "3 cent" 8-bit Microcontroller
(wordpress.com)
Bouyed by the surprisingly good performance of neural networks with quantization aware training on the CH32V003, I wondered how far this can be pushed. How much can we compress a neural network while still achieving good test accuracy on the MNIST dataset?
Bouyed by the surprisingly good performance of neural networks with quantization aware training on the CH32V003, I wondered how far this can be pushed. How much can we compress a neural network while still achieving good test accuracy on the MNIST dataset?
Sensor Watch Pro – hackable ARM Cortex M0 brain upgrade for F-91W
(crowdsupply.com)
Sensor Watch Pro is the most advanced version of Sensor Watch yet. In addition to its 9-pin connector for interfacing with external sensor boards (like the included accelerometer board add-on), it adds an RGB LED, an infrared light sensor, a voltage boost for the piezo buzzer for extra volume, and a soldering-free installation experience. It’s also, as a watch, extremely accurate thanks to its software-defined temperature compensation; with fine tuning, Sensor Watch Pro can drift less than a second per year.
Sensor Watch Pro is the most advanced version of Sensor Watch yet. In addition to its 9-pin connector for interfacing with external sensor boards (like the included accelerometer board add-on), it adds an RGB LED, an infrared light sensor, a voltage boost for the piezo buzzer for extra volume, and a soldering-free installation experience. It’s also, as a watch, extremely accurate thanks to its software-defined temperature compensation; with fine tuning, Sensor Watch Pro can drift less than a second per year.
I Booted full Linux on an Intel 4004
(dmitry.gr)
In 2012, I ran real Linux on an 8-bit microcontroller (AVR), setting a new world record for lowest-end-machine to ever run Linux.
In 2012, I ran real Linux on an 8-bit microcontroller (AVR), setting a new world record for lowest-end-machine to ever run Linux.
One-chip sound player – Dmitry.GR
(dmitry.gr)
The purpose of this project was to create a sound player that can play high quality sound using nothing but a single chip (plus an SD card for data storage).
The purpose of this project was to create a sound player that can play high quality sound using nothing but a single chip (plus an SD card for data storage).
Linux/4004: booting Linux on Intel 4004 for fun, art, and no profit
(dmitry.gr)
In 2012, I ran real Linux on an 8-bit microcontroller (AVR), setting a new world record for lowest-end-machine to ever run Linux.
In 2012, I ran real Linux on an 8-bit microcontroller (AVR), setting a new world record for lowest-end-machine to ever run Linux.