Hobbyists are rediscovering the appeal of classic microcomputers from the 70s and early 80s, eager to tinker with computers at their fundamental level. Vince Briel designed the Replica I with permission from the Apple I’s original creator, Steve Wozniak. He sells it assembled ($199), as a kit ($149), or just the motherboard and specialized chips ($79). (Alternatively, […]
Got a project to prototype? Freescale’s Tower system with its Real Time Communications Suite (RTCS) offers greater processing power and more programming resources than Arduino, although it takes longer to learn. The basic kit consists of the 32-bit microcontroller board with USB and RS-232 interfaces, accelerometer, four display LEDs, switches, and a potentiometer. Additional modules […]
In the next few years there’s going to be an influx of a not-so-new technology called Near Field Communication (NFC), which is very similar to RFID, and enables small devices to read passive tags and communicate with each other in close proximity. Card readers use it, as do phones that do payment processing. Adafruit’s PN532 […]
You can find an endless number of cool microcontroller projects and tutorials online these days. The tricky part is finding one that matches the components you already have or sourcing what you need to tackle that awesome project you’re dying to sink your teeth into. So the MAKE staff designed this pack with everything they wanted […]
The Voice Shield is an analog audio shield for Arduino and compatible boards that allows you to play audio files saved in WAV format, whether short sound bites or entire operas. It lets you easily add audio to your next micro-controller project, thanks to a unique and very user-friendly way to access different sound clips. […]
The Mintronics Bundle from the Maker Shed is a great way to get started with Arduino and electronics. It includes a MintDuino — a mint tin containing all the components you need to build a full-featured Arduino-compatible microcontroller — plus the Mintronics Survival Pack, another tin containing over 60 über-handy components you can use for […]
When working with the Arduno Uno, I often find myself needing more output ports than it’s got. Instead of having to trade my Uno for an Arduino Mega, I just plug in an EZ-Expander Shield, which plugs into three I/O ports and furnishes 16 — instantly providing 13 more I/Os. While each added pin can […]
