New Product News
DIGITAL POWER CONTROLLER
SPEEDS PRODUCT
DEVELOPMENT
The versatile power, control, and data interfaces of the
MultiDriver™ Board save valuable time by providing
an integrated system for digital controller development.
Typical applications include power, thermal, motion, lighting, and flow control for industrial and educational purposes. The switching power stage accepts 12 V to 48 V
supplies and provides a 6 A half-bridge or 3 A full-bridge
output current. Protection features include current limit
and thermal shutdown, as well as filters and clamping on
a split ground plane. FlexController™ SOC allows quick
verification of control algorithms through the PC with free
FTview™ software.
The 28-pin DIP controller socket also accepts PIC
microchips and provides an In-Circuit-Debugger connection. Data communication is through the FlexBus™ isolated multi-drop serial bus that eliminates line drops and
ground noise from measurements, provides protection
from power transients, and enables operation at voltages
not possible with other systems. The data bus is port-powered, four-device addressable, and compatible with
common USB to serial converters for maximum flexibility.
Flextek’s product manual provides application notes
with schematics and code examples. The board is 2.3 x
3.0 x 0.9 inches with convenient screw terminal connectors. The MultiDriver Board FCMD010 is available now
from Flextek Electronics for $79.50.
For more information, contact:
FLEXTEK
Web: www.flex-tek.com
Circle #54 on the Reader Service Card.
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POLOLU USB-TO-SERIAL
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Pololu introduces
their new USB-to-serial adapter for connecting microcontroller-based projects
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to personal computers. The diminutive unit measures under
1.0” x 0.7” including its connector, making it perfect for
projects where space is a premium. For quick prototyping,
the simple layout of the ground, transmit, and receive lines
allows for easy mounting that takes up as little as four
breadboard rows.
The USB adapter’s drivers make it look like a standard
serial port to the operating system.
Therefore, the adapter can be used with existing
software — such as servo controller interface programs —
that are designed for traditional serial ports. Unlike most
USB-to-serial adapters that require an additional RS-232-to-
TTL converter, the Pololu USB adapter uses 3. 3 V signal
levels that can be connected directly to microcontrollers
running at up to 5 V.
The adapter is compatible with USB 2.0 standards and
allows baud rates of up to 921.6 kbps. Support is initially
available for Windows 98 through XP; Mac and Linux
support will follow shortly.
With the trend toward removing serial ports from
new computers, the Pololu USB-to-serial adapter provides
one of the most economical, small, and simple solutions
to the common problem of interfacing small projects to
PCs. The price for one unit is $23.00 with free shipping in
the US.
For more information, contact:
POLOLU CORPORATION
6000 S. Eastern Ave., Suite 5-E
Las Vegas, NV 89119
Tel: 1-877-7-POLOLU or (702) 262-6648
Fax: (702) 262-6894
Email: www@pololu.com
Website: www.pololu.com
Circle #33 on the Reader Service Card.
ezVID SERIAL VIDEO MODULE
The ezVID serial
video module is a
simple video card for
use with microcontrollers,
Stamp modules, and similar
devices. The module makes
use of an onboard micro-controller and video signal
generating chip to allow
simple color video generation with
only two I/O lines.
The easy-to-use ezVID commands allow placement of
any built-in or user defined character anywhere on the
screen in any one of 14 colors; it also allows the user to
define up to 256 custom characters, change the
background color to any one of 14 colors, clear the entire
screen to any one of 14 colors, or reset the system for a
SEPTEMBER 2004
