magicbobert
12-11-2008, 08:37 AM
Hello all. I rarely post (been lurking here for a good 2 years) but I've been wrapping up some fun projects over the last month or two that I thought you fellow Systm folk might enjoy.
The first is this device, which was designed and assembled on a custom PCB. I'm not going to say what it does (for *ahem*, certain "reasons") but suffice it to say that for some strange reason I have trouble making phone calls when I plug in the battery.
http://xs234.xs.to/xs234/08504/cj1606.jpg
http://xs234.xs.to/xs234/08504/cj2770.jpg
It doesn't work quite as well as I'd hoped. I know very little about RF and I had to replace the RF amp at the last minute with a slightly different model, plus the 0603 SMT inductors were just not even remotely hand-solderable, so I fashioned some quick and dirty inductors with some 20 gauge wire (black coils on the left side near the antennas). It was still quite fun though.
The second would be a project I did with 5 other guys for my embedded systems class. We recreated Pong from scratch on two microcontroller boards. You move your paddles using the Wii remotes, it outputs graphics using a 640x480 graphics module with a custom hardware driver, and plays cheesy synthesized sounds and music using a D-to-A and some pitch frequency tables in software (which drive an audio jack which is connected to that retro stereo).
Video of it operating here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42-WNMrRE0w
I'm also finishing up another project I'd always wanted to do: animate the Christmas lights on my house to music. I've been working on the design (everything is DIY) since roughly October and it's coming together very nicely. The boards for that project should be here by Friday and hopefully it will all be hooked up by Monday. I know a few of you have mentioned that you wanted to do that, so I'd be happy to post more details in a few days when it's finished.
Anyways, 'tis all for now.
The first is this device, which was designed and assembled on a custom PCB. I'm not going to say what it does (for *ahem*, certain "reasons") but suffice it to say that for some strange reason I have trouble making phone calls when I plug in the battery.
http://xs234.xs.to/xs234/08504/cj1606.jpg
http://xs234.xs.to/xs234/08504/cj2770.jpg
It doesn't work quite as well as I'd hoped. I know very little about RF and I had to replace the RF amp at the last minute with a slightly different model, plus the 0603 SMT inductors were just not even remotely hand-solderable, so I fashioned some quick and dirty inductors with some 20 gauge wire (black coils on the left side near the antennas). It was still quite fun though.
The second would be a project I did with 5 other guys for my embedded systems class. We recreated Pong from scratch on two microcontroller boards. You move your paddles using the Wii remotes, it outputs graphics using a 640x480 graphics module with a custom hardware driver, and plays cheesy synthesized sounds and music using a D-to-A and some pitch frequency tables in software (which drive an audio jack which is connected to that retro stereo).
Video of it operating here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42-WNMrRE0w
I'm also finishing up another project I'd always wanted to do: animate the Christmas lights on my house to music. I've been working on the design (everything is DIY) since roughly October and it's coming together very nicely. The boards for that project should be here by Friday and hopefully it will all be hooked up by Monday. I know a few of you have mentioned that you wanted to do that, so I'd be happy to post more details in a few days when it's finished.
Anyways, 'tis all for now.