microcontrollers

A Quick Rundown on Adafruit’s Feather Ecosystem

A Quick Rundown on Adafruit’s Feather Ecosystem

By Cabe Atwell

Cabe Atwell

The one-man ace engineering wrecking crew - If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find me, maybe you can hire... the Cabe-team

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Adafruit began their Feather ecosystem endeavor last year with the introduction of the Feather 32u4 Basic Proto, a tiny (51mm×23mm×8mm) development board outfitted with an ATmega32u4 SoC, 20 GPIO pin-out and an onboard prototyping section. What made the board unique was its integrated battery charger (for LiPo batteries), making it a portable board that could […]

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Making a Pizza Box MIDI Controller with Conductive Paint

Making a Pizza Box MIDI Controller with Conductive Paint

By Gareth Branwyn

Gareth Branwyn

Gareth Branwyn is a freelance writer and the former Editorial Director of Maker Media. He is the author or editor of over a dozen books on technology, DIY, and geek culture. He is currently a contributor to Boing Boing, Wink Books, and Wink Fun. His free weekly-ish maker tips newsletter can be found at garstipsandtools.com.

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Paint a fun and funky MIDI input device for making music on a pizza box.

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How to Design a Microcontroller Circuit

How to Design a Microcontroller Circuit

John Teel

By John Teel

John Teel

John Teel is president of Predictable Designs a company which helps entrepreneurs bring new products to market. John was formerly a senior design engineer for Texas Instruments where he created electronic designs now used in millions of products (including some from Apple). He is also a successful entrepreneur who developed his own product, had it manufactured in Asia, and sold in over 500 retail locations in three countries. Download his free cheat sheet for developing your new electronic hardware product.

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This article will focus primarily on the circuit design considerations of incorporating an ARM Cortex-M microcontroller.

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12 Specs to Consider When Choosing a Microcontroller for Your Product

John Teel

By John Teel

John Teel

John Teel is president of Predictable Designs a company which helps entrepreneurs bring new products to market. John was formerly a senior design engineer for Texas Instruments where he created electronic designs now used in millions of products (including some from Apple). He is also a successful entrepreneur who developed his own product, had it manufactured in Asia, and sold in over 500 retail locations in three countries. Download his free cheat sheet for developing your new electronic hardware product.

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Don’t know the first thing about microcontrollers? Well, here are some basics.

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Smart Bike Tweeted its Cross-Country Journey

Smart Bike Tweeted its Cross-Country Journey

By Adam Flaherty

Adam Flaherty

I make cool stuff and write about other people making cool stuff on makezine.com. If you have something you think I should see, send me a tip.

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Precious is the name of the sensor laden anthropomorphized bicycle modified by New York makers Zolty, Mattias Gunneras, and Michael Lipton of Breakfast. The project started when its rider, Janeen, had decided to ride across the US on the TransAmerica Trail to raise money for LIVESTRONG. The crew at Breakfast wanted to lend support and saw it as an opportunity to create something different and exciting.

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