Issue 262: An Interview with Lawrence Foltzer
Lawrence Foltzer’s frequency-domain test instruments. An Analog Devices AD9834-based RFG is on the left. An AD5930-based SFG is on the right. The ICSP interface used to program a Microchip Technology PIC16F627A microcontroller is provided by a dangling RJ connector socket. (Source: L. Foltzer, CC254)

In the U.S., a common gift to give someone when he or she finishes school or completes a course of career training is Dr. Seuss’s book, Oh, the Place You’ll Go. I thought of the book’s title when I first … Continue reading

Issue 262: Advances in Measurement & Sensor Tech
The portable touch-sensor assembly. The touch-sensor boards are mounted on the back of a digital radio, connected to a IOIO board and a Nexus One smartphone. The Android interface is displayed on the phone. (Source: M. Oppenheim)

As I walked the convention center floor at the 2012 Design West conference in San Jose, CA, it quickly became clear that measurement and sensor technologies are at the forefront of embedded innovation. For instance, at the Terasic Technologies booth, … Continue reading

Wireless Data Control for Remote Sensor Monitoring
iFarm-Host/Remote PCB Prototype (Source: R. Bowen, http://wireless.xtreemhost.com/photo-album.htm)

Circuit Cellar has published dozens of interesting articles about handy wireless applications over the years. And now we have another innovative project to report about. Circuit Cellar author Robert Bowen contacted us recently with a link to information about his iFarm-II … Continue reading

FPGA-Based VisualSonic Design Project
at Design West 2012 in San Jose, CA (Photo: Circuit Cellar)

The VisualSonic Studio project on display at Design West last week was as innovative as it was fun to watch in operation. The design—which included an Altera DE2-115 FPGA development kit and a Terasic 5-megapixel CMOS Sensor (D5M)—used interactive tokens … Continue reading

Design West Update: Intel’s Computer-Controlled Orchestra
Intel's "Industrial Controller in Concert" at Design West, San Jose

It wasn’t the Blue Man Group making music by shooting small rubber balls at pipes, xylophones, vibraphones, cymbals, and various other sound-making instruments at Design West in San Jose, CA, this week. It was Intel and its collaborator Sisu Devices. … Continue reading