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4 November 2013
08 TechKnowledgey 2013
Events, Advances, and News
The first human B2B interface, the world’s thinnest
keyboard, digital detox, and some tough little fuses
are some of the tittilating tidbits you’ll read about.
12 The Spin Zone
Adventures in Propeller Programming
Digging Into Dynamixels.
Learn the inner workings of these drivers, so you
can use them to make your own projects move.
20 Q&A
Reader Questions Answered Here
A Jacob’s ladder redux, a video monitor alarm, and
robot communication issues are discussed this time.
53 Smiley’s Workshop
Programming • Hardware • Projects
Arduino Handheld Prototyper — Part 5.
Data Logging — Take a look at the SRAM and
EEPROM on the Arduino, then graduate to SD cards
to learn cheap and easy ways to store LOTS of data.
62 Near Space
Approaching the Final Frontier
A New Airframe Design for Near Spacecraft
— Part 1.
After a recent capsule landing that did not go
smoothly, it was the opportune time to come up
with a better and stronger design.
71 The Design Cycle
Advanced Techniques for Design Engineers
Discovering a Better and More Powerful
Engineering Workstation.
One of the first commercial operational amplifier-based computing components was the Model K3-A
Adding Component. Unfortunately, you needed a full
blown lab to gather the K3's analog
results. In contrast, the Analog
Discovery packs an oscilloscope,
waveform generator, voltmeter, and
digital I/O into a space smaller than
the first vacuum tube operational
amplifier.
28 Quick and Easy USB Keyboard Input
This circuit is perfect for any application where
you use a physical trigger to input data onto a
computer. Read how it was implemented for video
TIC-TAC-TOE and a bag toss game.
■ By William Pippin
34 Build the CHROMATICON
Want to be sure you’re playing musical chords
correctly? This unit will tell you if you are and
display a light show in the process.
■ By Matthew Bates
40 Build a Personal Guitar
Microphone Pre-Amp
Fine-tune the sound for your guitar just the way
you want it with this handy device that will also
work with Karaoke machines,
boom boxes, and
surround sound systems.
■ By Ron Hoffman
46 MakerPlot — The DIY Software Kit
Part 2
Besides being a great debugging tool, the real
power of this customizable software is in its ability
to become a virtual instrument for your
microcontroller’s data.
■ By John Gavlik and Martin Hebel
Columns
November 2013
06 DEVELOPING
PERSPECTIVES
Sound Off!
07 READER FEEDBACK
24 NEW PRODUCTS
27 SHOWCASE
66 ELECTRO-NET
68 NV WEBSTORE
77 CLASSIFIEDS
78 TECH FORUM
80 AD INDEX
Departments