s1axter posted on Sun. February 25th 2007 at 09:11 PM PST
This week I got the entire gEDA suite up and running on my openSuSE 10.2 install. I had worked with PCB and gSchem a few years back for the circuit on the solar car but after that never really used it since undergrad lab had other programs. Since the lab is gone I decided to give it another shot and WOW is all I have to say. PCB and gEDA have come a LONG way in three years.
Today I made the parallel interface and exported some images of it and decided a new GI project dealing with the circuits would be a cool idea. So that's what you will find here, circuits, schematics and boards we design up. All files posted here are released under the GUN GPL http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html . So take a look and build some stuff.
firewire posted on Mon. February 19th 2007 at 03:57 PM PST
Last week S1axter and I attended the Electronics West Expo at the Anaheim Convention Center next to Disney Land. The expo was a fairly descent size however I was kind of disappointed in the lack of systems and software displayed. The majority of the exhibitors were distributors and suppliers who were in the medical field since there was also the Medical Devices and Manufacturing conference there at the same time. Since there were a lot of potential companies I guess this was a good opportunity for the distributors to increase their business with visiting members of companies and corporations. While there were a lot of small part makers there was also a large number of companies displaying cool laser cut keypads, die cut hardware, LCD displays and cool storage solutions.
S1axter and I did run into a few companies that were very interesting. I was very intrigued by the booths of companies working with flexible circuits and printed circuit boards and assembly. I was walking around looking for a company to create and assemble a few specific projects that I’ve been working on. One of the companies I found most interesting was Computrol. Computrol is an electronics contract manufacturing company based out of Idaho. The guys were cool and we chatted a bit about contracting them to create and assemble boards for some projects since they specialize in board etching and component placement all in one. Computrol is a company that prides themselves on the quality of the product that they create which is something you don’t see with large volume electronics assembly companies. They do it all from surface mount to box builds. I really suggest contacting them if you need a board assembled. More information about their company can be found at http://www.computrol.com/ .
We also came across a company called Rapid Prototyping. This company is based in California and uses a printing system to create prototypes from 2-D and 3-D drawings. They use a printing head like an inkjet printer to bond powder together in layers to make a three dimensional object. Technology like this is around in other fields but the really cool thing about Rapid Prototyping is the binder is dispensed with a CKMY pigment mixture allowing it to print the objects in color. It was a very interesting demonstration to watch. Take a look at http://www.3drp.com/index.aspx for more information.
s1axter posted on Sat. February 17th 2007 at 02:23 AM PST
Something to look out for if you use pay wifi AP. Remember there are always free unsecured AP out there and sending your card info over wifi is always sketchy.
s1axter posted on Sat. February 10th 2007 at 01:40 PM PST
Here are some videos I found on you tube of a final microprocessors project to solve a Rubik's Cube. Cool stuff, I will see if I can dig up the course web site.
s1axter posted on Wed. February 7th 2007 at 09:57 AM PST
After a few weeks of back and forth about the iPhone's CPU, Emebedded.com is reporting that the new Apple iPhone will in fact be run by ARM processors.
From the article:
"ARM is in 90 percent of the world's [mobile phone] handsets; we're in WiFi, baseband processors and applications processors and most of the world's MP3 players. So it's at least three," Warren East, president and CEO of ARM Holdings said.
s1axter posted on Sun. February 4th 2007 at 06:09 PM PST
This video is featured on the front page of youtube; and as soon as you watch it you will know why. Everytime I see one of these videos it blows my mind at what a small servo bot can do.
Circuits project - Schematics and boards
S1axter's Tech Log of Crazy Stuff
This week I got the entire gEDA suite up and running on my openSuSE 10.2 install. I had worked with PCB and gSchem a few years back for the circuit on the solar car but after that never really used it since undergrad lab had other programs. Since the lab is gone I decided to give it another shot and WOW is all I have to say. PCB and gEDA have come a LONG way in three years.
Last week S1axter and I attended the Electronics West Expo at the Anaheim Convention Center next to Disney Land. The expo was a fairly descent size however I was kind of disappointed in the lack of systems and software displayed. The majority of the exhibitors were distributors and suppliers who were in the medical field since there was also the Medical Devices and Manufacturing conference there at the same time. Since there were a lot of potential companies I guess this was a good opportunity for the distributors to increase their business with visiting members of companies and corporations. While there were a lot of small part makers there was also a large number of companies displaying cool laser cut keypads, die cut hardware, LCD displays and cool storage solutions. 
Something to look out for if you use pay wifi AP. Remember there are always free unsecured AP out there and sending your card info over wifi is always sketchy.
After a few weeks of back and forth about the iPhone's CPU, Emebedded.com is reporting that the new Apple iPhone will in fact be run by ARM processors.
