Clik here to view.
A fingernail vs a moon lander
Small microcontroller chips, modern laptops/desktops - the range of computing power is enormous nowadays. So enormous, that it can be pretty hard to grasp the magnitude.This week, I’m going to do some...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A diversion into FPGAs
Last week’s exploration of “processing with limited computing power” a few decades ago has led me into another direction which turned out to be mesmerising and addictive…All due to a chip called a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Switching to a new server
As you may know, the various websites here at JeeLabs are served locally. Houten offers very fast Fiber-To-The-Home connections, my ISP (XS4ALL) is excellent, and I don’t see the point of putting...
View ArticleTying up 2015's loose ends
As the end of 2015 is approaching and now that the new server setup has been completed, it’s time to clean up some remaining loose ends. Spring cleaning is early, here at JeeLabs!Next week will be a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Turning the page on 2015
As the last few days of 2015 pass, I’d like to reflect on the recent past but also look forward to things to come. For one, the JeeLabs weblog is now thriving again: the new weekly post-plus-articles...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Getting (a bit more) organised
More spring cleaning. This has been keeping me busy for a couple of days, so I thought I might as well write about the issues and solutions I’ve found for them:Sh(r)edding those CDs & DVDs -...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Arduino shields... or not
Once upon a time, when the Arduino was still young, someone made a mistake with the headers on its PCB, placing one of the headers off the standard 0.1” placement grid - as used by just about...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Overcoming JET lag
Long-time readers of this weblog know that the topics here have always been all over the map - electronics, digital design, embedded firmware, but also trying out new stuff, getting organised,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
What's in a hub?
The restart of the JET project is progressing nicely. This week’s episode is about installing a first version as a basic-yet-functional new core system and describing / documenting some of the central...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Let's talk about the 'N' in WSNs
The acronym “WSN” stands for Wireless Sensor Network. Ok sure, we all have one or more wireless sensor nodes, JeeNodes or whatever, and they probably work nicely. But how do we manage them? What about...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Day-to-day JET practicalities
Here’s a “JET” engine, for your amusement:This week, I’m going to go into the practical aspects of the JET project: for production, i.e. the always-running hub + MQTT server, and for development, i.e....
View ArticleClik here to view.
The PDP-8, half a century ago
In 1965, computing history was made when DEC introduced a new computer, called the PDP-8. It was the start of a long series of incrementally improved models, later to be followed by the even more...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Dive into Forth
In 1965, computing history was made when DEC introduced a new computer, called the PDP-8 - oh, wait, that was last week’s post.But it applies here too: 1968 was the year when Charles Moore invented...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Dive into Forth, part 2
Switching to Mecrisp Forth implies starting from scratch as far as low-level access is concerned. There’s no C “runtime library” to fall back to, everything will have to be implemented in Forth.This...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Dive into Forth, part 3
The Forth adventure continues… this is part 3 of a series about Mecrisp Forth on ARM STM32F103 µCs - an amazing environment for interactively trying out the hardware in this well-established chip...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Where is this going?
The last three weeks have been a deep dive into the programming language Forth on STM32 µCs. Results so far have been very encouraging, in terms of using Forth for programming ARM µCs in general.But...
View ArticleClik here to view.
And so Forth...
This week’s episode will be a short one, as I try to push though some issues and prepare for greater things to come.First, a little progress report on getting USB going in Mecrisp Forth on the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
From Zero To Wireless
This week, I’m going to set up a wireless node from scratch, using an STM32F103 board, RFM69 radio module, serial USB interface board, and very simple software:The result is a node with all the...
View ArticleAnalog Explorations
There are many projects going on in parallel here at JeeLabs at the moment. One reason is that I’m simply always chasing new butterflies… ehm, I mean areas of technology. Another one is that sometimes...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Real op-amps
Operational amplifiers are the work horses of analog. The standard notation for it is:There are lots of low-cost op-amps available these days. Easy-to-use 8- or 14-pin chips, with 1, 2, or 4 op-amps in...
View Article