Author Archives: andy

Water Level Transmitter – digitization

Posted on 2013/10/09 by andy

It was a long and bumpy way from taking pressure transducer hardware in my hands to having stable digitized values. Most of the time I spent learning instrumentation circuitry from app notes and books, just to make sure the solution … Continue reading →

Posted in Electronics, Software | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Push and Shove in KiCad

Posted on 2013/10/06 by andy

When laying down PCB track manually usually some other tracks are obstacle and need to be moved away. In KiCad it is manual work, in advanced tools they are pushed making room automatically while another track is approaching. FreeRouter can … Continue reading →

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Water Level Transmitter – overview

Posted on 2013/10/01 by andy

One of methods for automatic water level metering is to put a waterproof pressure sensor under the surface at well-known absolute depth and measure hydrostatic pressure that translates into the level of water over the pressure sensor. There is a … Continue reading →

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Making of Water Level Station

Posted on 2013/09/28 by andy

Since the spring of 2013 I am working on most complex hardware & software solution I have ever designed and built myself. The undertaking is challenging as I am dealing with complete life-cycle of solution from electronic, mechanic and software … Continue reading →

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FreeRouter for KiCad working in offline

Posted on 2013/08/14 by andy

KiCad has some built-in auto routing capabilities for laying out PCB wires. More advanced version, online auto-router from www.freerouting.net, can cooperate with KiCad and gives better results.  FreeRouter however does not work in offline even after copying Java Web Start resources to … Continue reading →

Posted in Electronics, Software | Tagged | 14 Comments

Into the wilder wild

Posted on 2013/08/04 by andy

Plan of return to Jo’burg projected a vision of visiting wild life park. Pilanesberg appeared to be better choice comparing to Kruger Park I considered first, as the former is in one-day-visit roundtrip distance. Budget of two free days was … Continue reading →

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FreeRTOS on Atmega8?

Posted on 2013/07/22 by andy

How to compile FreeRTOS real-time operating system on 8-bit AVR microcontroller Atmega8? It is not supported out of the box as well as google hardly helps with that issue. I did some experiments and understood why people are not doing … Continue reading →

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Vegas

Posted on 2013/07/21 by andy

Vegas. Mecca for crowd of Americans looking for something extraordinary. To me a curiosity worth experiencing and catch in a bunch of pictures with a bit of notes on top. Find my first impressions on April 2013 visit to the … Continue reading →

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Headphones for street skater

Posted on 2013/05/12 by andy

Urban skater wearing glasses is in trouble picking up right headphones. The problem is multifold. Let start with head movements that are really rapid, far more aggressive then runner or cyclist does. Wearing glasses means there are extra obstacles near … Continue reading →

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Beirut

Posted on 2013/04/21 by andy

It was nice move to have Beirut on early March work schedule, when the winter was still keeping Europe in tight grasp. For most people Lebanon means danger: neighbor Syria continues crackdown on uprising or the other neighbor Israel that … Continue reading →

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