Tech Articles

Very-large-scale integration or VLSI chips integrate several high-level components, which are highly sophisticated gate-level circuits. Semiconductor Intellectual Property (IP) is the standard source for synthesizing higher-level components in VLSI chips or FPGA boards. Semiconductor IPs typically provide the hardwired, implementable design of one of the following:  A transform  An encryption or deciphering algorithm The adaptive…

Home automation is quickly becoming mainstream, letting residents easily connect with and remotely control appliances or security systems. To support these efforts, there are several popular “smart” home systems available, such as Amazon Hub, Google Nest, Amazon Echo, Apple HomeKit, Hue Smart Hub, and others. For the hobbyist or do-it-yourselfer (DIY), customized home automation systems…

Connecting embedded microcontrollers to the internet is a crucial task in modern applications. The embedded controllers, particularly in consumer devices and wearables, now essentially require ping online. This is more important as the devices are getting smarter. Connecting to the internet is not just crucial but a hefty task as well. The typical TCP/IP stack…

The communication technologies used by IoT devices to communicate data with each other are called IoT networks. Some the examples of IoT networks are cellular networks like LTE-M and NB-IoT, WiFi, Bluetooth Low Energy, Sigfox, LoraWAN, Zigbee, RFID, and Ethernet. IoT devices are usually connected via wireless communication technologies. In some rare cases, you may…

Robots are a perfect example of how electronics can precisely and accurately perform mechanical jobs. Over the past decades, the scope and definition of robots has extended far from the realms of mechanical tasks. Now, robots are imagined to automate everything possible, including communication and intelligence. A cause behind this is an attempt to replicate…

3D printing has never been so affordable, with printer costs as low as $200 to $1500 for home use. This lets hobbyists delve into various electronics and robotics projects that require 3D-printed parts. For example, many open-source humanoid robot projects use 3D parts. However, the printing requirements differ per project. A desktop gamer might want…

Displaying potentiometer value and temperature using LM35 In my previous tutorial series on displaying sensor data (value) on OLED display, I have explained how to display values of different sensors like a potentiometer, LM35, soil moisture sensor, DHT, HC SR04, etc. on a tiny 1” OLED display. This time, I will demonstrate and explain how…

Power consumption of the embedded controller is a primary concern in low power design. Arduino boards are often used in devices that rely on battery or solar charging. Such devices often deploy far from the power line to have periodic battery replacement or are mobile devices designed for periodic charging cycles. In such a case,…

Experiment 2 Aim To run an MCU on low power mode, read the temperature, pressure, and humidity readings using AHT10 and BMP280 Sensors, and send the readings over wifi. Requirements MCU: ESP32-WROOM-32D (Generic Wi-Fi + Bluetooth + Bluetooth LE MCU module) Temperature/Humidity Sensor: AHT10 (Temperature and humidity sensor) Pressure and Altitude Sensor: BMP280(Absolute Barometric Pressure…

by Ken Ghadia, Sales Engineer, TechnoTronix The introduction of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in PCB manufacturing has largely improved the product quality, optimized the production process, and significantly reduced the manufacturing cost. AI drives independent automation of PCB production by using the vast data aggregated from several sensors. Machine learning and deep learning are the AI…

Since 3D scanners have become more affordable, 3D scanning has changed the world of custom 3D printing. Once, 3D scanning was only used in military equipment and spacecraft parts production. With desktop and handheld 3D printers available for a few hundred dollars, 3D scanning has found a place in home fun and hobby projects. You…

The use of solar energy technology is expanding rapidly in the wake of greater need for clean, renewable or alternative energy to save the Planet Earth. Expected to become the world’s largest source of electricity by 2050, solar power is an inexhaustible resourcethat can meet the energy requirements of the entire world.  

Recent years have seen a series of exponential technological advances, innovation and invention manifested in variousways such as cloud, artificial intelligence, blockchain, augmented and virtual reality, Internet of things (Iot), robotics, quantum computing, and so on. This technology revolution represents vast potential for changing how human beings live, work, learn and share today, tomorrow and beyond.According to Accenture Technology Vision 2018, there is a paradigm shift in the role of business itself: it is moving closer to the centre of people’s lives. 

New approaches in augmenting human-machine interaction (HMI) have found to be extremely useful in mitigating effects of neurological diseases and injuries. Before we delve into the intricacies of these technologies, let us learn how HMI works in simple terms. Technologies and computer systems are assuming important tasks in our everyday life and work either visibly or behind the scenes. It is well known now that the smooth communication between people and machines requires interfaces – the place where or action by which a user engages with the machine.

According to The World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) — a non-profit organization of semiconductor product companies and source for industry statistics — the electronic design automation (EDA) market was valued at $11.57 billion in 2020 and is expected to reach $21.36 billion by 2026. EDA refers to using computer-aided tools and services for the design,…

Many IoT applications are controlled with the help of a webpage or an HTML website running within a Local Area Network (LAN) or Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN). Some examples of such IoT applications include home automation, office automation, and smart farming. The HTML webpage or website controlling the things is hosted on a microcomputer…

There are generally six power modes in an MCU: Run: In full run mode, an MCU consumes full current. This mode is best suited for applications where power efficiency is not essential. Doze: As we know, power increases proportionally to the frequency. Therefore, we can conclude that higher clock speeds tend to higher power consumption.…

Selecting components is one of the most essential and critical processes when designing any electronic system. Poor component selection can lead to many problems within the design, PCB layout, power budget, etc. In this article, we will discuss how to select a component for a low-power-optimized design. Resistor The power dissipated by a resistor is…

MQTT (Message Queuing Telemetry Transport) is a simple messaging protocol often used in IoT applications. The protocol is based on a publish-subscribe system where both types of devices that publish and subscribe MQTT messages are called MQTT clients. The exchange of messages between the publishers and subscribers is done with the help of a broker,…

ESP8266 and ESP32 are popular WiFi development boards. These microcontroller boards are ideal for building the internet of things (IoT). We covered how to connect ESP8266 and ESP32 (or any MicroPython port) with a network connection for use as a WiFi station here. We used the MicroPython network module.   This network module provides a driver…