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SOFTWARE AND HARDWARE SOLUTIONS FOR EMBEDDED WORLD

Small things & great
editors

You only have to read a few of Umberto
Eco's books to be reassured that in
mediaeval times 'things invisible' like
vacuum, gravity, time, the plague
and static electricity were awe inspir-
ing if not a cause of great fear to the
uninitiated. I wonder if the same applies
to such seemingly unrelated stuff we
struggle with in today's electronics, like
surface mount components, electromag-
netic radiation, microcontroller firmware
and buried vias. Invisibility and tiny
dimensions both cause the same feeling
of unrest. When the transistor took
over from the valve, a frequently heard
complaint was that 'it sure is much more
efficient but your can't see if the thing is
alive or not' and 'these things die with
not so much as a whisper'. Reportedly
some radio & TV servicemen actually
opened up faulty transistors to see if
they could be fixed.

Although far from being invisible, in
the case of SMD components we heard
reports like "more ended up in mum's
vacuum cleaner that on my printed
circuit board". Being able to view SMD
parts is the first requirement to using
them — next come handling, position-
ing them on a board, and only then,
soldering. The soldering having been
covered in great detail in last month's
issue on the Elektor SMD Reflow Oven,
we figured a magnifying glass might
open up a world to you if you still feel
those minuscule parts are encroaching
upon the hobby. The card-shaped flex-
ible lens attached to this month's front
cover is a free gift included with the full
125k print run of Elektor in all language
editions — newsstands sales and sub-
scriptions. Personally, I am near-sighted
to the degree of being able to scrutinize
SMD solder joints with my nose almost
on the board surface, so the magni-
fier saves me the trouble of raising my
expensive glasses to an insecure posi-
tion on my forehead.

On 1 8 September 2008,

Guy Raedersdorf, editor of the French
edition Elektor, officially retired. Guy
was 'Monsieur Elektor' for 27 years, not
just to his French readership but also to
all Elektor staff struggling with the fine
points of the French language. Guy's
helpful attitude, sheer speed, inventive-
ness and accuracy down to the last
comma made him an exemplary editor
totally dedicated to his audience whilst
exerting 'precision in expression' (now
a fast disappearing skill it seems). Merci
Guy and bonne chance from all of us.

Jan Buiting
Editor

lekfo r

electronics worldwide

Speed Camera

Warning Device

The little module developed using e-Blocks lets you detect geo-
graphical points of interest (POIs) using the frames output from
a GPS receiver module. These POIs might be restaurants, petrol
stations, or — why not? — the positions of fixed speed cameras!

22

Come see us at

• Embedded Systems — Boston, USA, October 27-30.

• Matelec — Madrid, Spain, October 28 - November 1 .

• Elektronica — Munich, Germany, November 1 1-14.

• Elektor Live ! — Eindhoven, The Netherlands, November 22.

30 Remote Control by Mobile Phone

IiMK

M«"i

\\\ 1

t

1!

il . s

*■ r- > ■

* in ■

Q 'I

This ingenious new design
combines powerful capabilities
with low technical overheads.

It has programmable AC mains
switching outlets plus status
reports by text message and
alarm-activated delivery of GPS
data. Remote control by mobile
was never easier, cheaper or
more reliable!

Many audio enthusiasts still prefer a good
potentiometer for adjusting the audio volume. It
would be even nicer if this potentiometer could
also be controlled remotely.

This is possible with a high-quality motorised
potentiometer from Alps and a handful of
electronics, as is described in this article.

CONTENTS

Volume 34
November 2008
no. 383

roiects

Speed Camera Warning
Device

Remote Control by Mobile
Phone

38 Motorised Volume Pot
4 ' Tracking Hot Spots
48 Lazy on the Bike

ATmega meets Vinculum
58 Bascom AVR Course (3)
66 Colourful Computer Light
70 U niversal Remote Switch
74 Water Alarm (mini project)

48 Lazy on the Bike

Electric bikes have become popular in recent times. But an off the shelf
contraption is not nearly as much fun as one which we have to build
ourselves. So, on the look-out for DIY kits!

52 ATmega meets Vinculum

When it comes
to matters
of memory,
microcontrollers
tend to be rather
poorly endowed. A
external USB memory
stick is the ideal remedy, offering
straightforward data transfer to
your PC. Now if bonding the
memory stick to a micro was
somewhat problematic until recently, it's
now totally stress-free with the Vinculum chip from FTDI!

1 GB

technolo

6i Friction-free

Angle Measurement

info & market

6 Colophon
8 Mailbox

News & New Products
8 An introduction to SMD
80 ElektorSHOP
Sneak Preview

infotainment

76 Hexadoku

77 Retronics: Tektronix 7D01
Logic Analyser (1978)

ELECTRONICS WORLDWIDE

elektor international media

Elektor International Media provides a multimedia and interactive platform for everyone interested in electronics.
From professionals passionate about their work to enthusiasts with professional ambitions.

From beginner to diehard, from student to lecturer. Information, education, inspiration and entertainment.

Analogue and digital; practical and theoretical; software and hardware.

better
of SMDs

f (10 Ve*t*j*f

clrcuitsjdeasTups

Volume 34, Number 383, November 2008 ISSN 1757-0875

Elektor aims at inspiring people to master electronics at any personal level by
presenting construction projects and spotting developments in electronics and
information technology.

Publishers: Elektor International Media, Regus Brentford,

1000 Great West Road, Brentford TW8 9HH, England. Tel. (+44) 208 261
4509, fax: (+44) 208 261 4447 www.elektor.com

The magazine is available from newsagents, bookshops and electronics retail
outlets, or on subscription.

Elektor is published 1 1 times a year with a double issue for July & August.

Elektor is also published in French , Spanish, German and Dutch. Together with franchised
editions the magazine is on circulation in more than 50 countries.

International Editor:

Wisse Hettinga (w.hettinga@elektor.nl)

Editor: Jan Buiting (editor@elektor.com)

International editorial staff: Harry Baggen, Thijs Beckers,

Ernst Krempelsauer, Jens Nickel, Clemens Valens.

Design sta Antoine Authier (Head), Ton Giesberts,

Luc Lemmens, Daniel Rodrigues, Jan Visser, Christian Vossen

Editorial secretariat: Hedwig Hennekens (secretariaat@elektor.nl)
Graphic design / DT Giel Dols, Mart Schroijen

Managing Director / Publisher: Paul Snakkers
Marketing: Carlo van Nistelrooy

Customer Services: Anouska van Ginkel

Subscriptions: Elektor International Media,

Regus Brentford, 1000 Great West Road, Brentford TW8 9HH, England.
Tel. (+44) 208 261 4509, fax: (+44) 208 261 4447
Internet: www.elektor.com

6

elektor - 11/2008

Elektor j
SMT Oven

Multi-purpose and indispensable
to professional and enthusiast

From now on, "anyone can play SMD"!
The Elektor SMT is at home where
SMD boards have to be produced to
a variety of requirements on size,
components and soldering materials.

• Selected, tested & certified by Elektor

• Including Elektor-produced user manual

• Fully menu controlled

• Ideal for R&D laboratories, schools, small
companies and... electronics enthusiasts

• Product support from Elektor Customer Services

• Demo video on www.elektor.com/smtoven

• Order before 1 November 2008 and get
£ 83 - € 1 00 - US$ 75 discount!

You pay £ 799 - € 995 - US$ 1 450
(plus shipping)

Main technical specifications

Line voltage: 230 V AC / 1 650 W

Line frequency: 50-60 Hz

Size: 41 8 x 372 x 250 mm (1 6.5 x 1 4.6 x 10 inch)

Weight: 1 6.7 kg (net)

Effective PCB area: 280 x 280 mm (11x11 inch)

Apart from the handle on the drawer giving access
to the PCB tray, the user interface consist of an LCD
and five buttons on the front panel.

Art. #080663-91 • Price: £882 • € 1095 • US$ 1525

\ J

Further information and ordering at

lektor

SHOP

www.elektor.com/smtoven

In

Email: subscriptions@elektor.com

Rates and terms are given on the Subscription Order Form

Head Office: Elektor International Media b.v.

P.0. Box 1 1 NL-61 1 4-ZG Susteren The Netherlands
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Advertising rates and terms available on request.

Copyright Notice

The circuits described in this magazine are for domestic use only. All drawings, photo-
graphs, printed circuit board layouts, programmed integrated circuits, disks, CD-ROMs,
software carriers and article texts published in our books and magazines (other than
third-party advertisements) are copyright Elektor International Media b.v. and may
not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopy-
ing, scanning an recording, in whole or in part without prior written permission from
the Publisher. Such written permission must also be obtained before any part of this

publication is stored in a retrieval system of any nature. Patent protection may ex-
ist in respect of circuits, devices, components etc. described in this magazine. The
Publisher does not accept responsibility for failing to identify such patent(s) or other
protection. The submission of designs or articles implies permission to the Publisher
to alter the text and design, and to use the contents in other Elektor International
Media publications and activities. The Publisher cannot guarantee to return any mate-
rial submitted to them.

Disclaimer

Prices and descriptions of publication-related items subject to change.

Errors and omissions excluded.

© Elektor International Media b.v. 2008 Printed in the Netherlands

11/2008 - elektor

7

INFO & MARKET

MAILBOX

PaX amplifier stability

Dear Jan — I would like to comment on the article on the paX
Amplifier by Jan Didden in the April 2008 issue of Elektor.

Error

correction

Around 80
years ago
already, before
feedback was
commonly used,
Black obtained
a patent on
feedforward
error correc-
tion. Due to the
limited availa-
bility of suitable
components at
that time, this
principle was
not used on a
large scale until
much later. The

basic scheme of Hawksford [1], as shown in Figure 1 of Did-
den's article, is often used as the starting point. If a = 0 and
b = 1 , feedforward error correction is present. If a = 1 and
b = 0, there is feedback error correction. Accurate addition
of the correction signal at the output is difficult with a power
amplifier, which is why the feedback approach is often used.

In Figure 2 of the article, SI and S2 are idealised functions
whose purpose is to add the error correction signal to V in at the
input. However, the problem here is that a replica of the error
signal must be generated. As a result, conversion stages are
necessary to transform current into voltage and voltage into
current. This means that the accuracy of the replication process
is dependent on the matching of pairs of transistors and/or
resistors. As a result, the replication factor K can be less than
or greater than 1 . This inaccuracy influences distortion reduc-
tion, and possibly other characteristics of the circuit as well. It
is thus desirable to analyse the stability of the amplifier as a
function of K.

Feedback error correction

The basic circuit shown in Figure 2 of Didden's article is based
on a form of feedback. My version of a simple equivalent
circuit of the feedback loop is shown in Figure A.

As far as I know, this is the first time that the use of a current
conveyor for this purpose has been described in a published
article. If Z is connected to X, the current conveyor acts as
a current mirror with 100% voltage feedback. In order to
analyse the feedback loop, the input terminal is connected to
ground. The behaviour of the current conveyor is idealised in
order to avoid complex formulae: V x = V , A = 1 (where A. is
the current gain of the current mirrors in the current conveyor).
The error signal V , which in this case is the signal between the
Z and P terminals, is converted to a current by R34. As a result

of the current mirroring action of the current conveyor, a current
with the same value flows in R25 if A. = 1 . This current produces
a replica of the error signal across R25 if R25 = R34.

Now it is extremely important for the loop gain H |oop to be less
than 1 . If H h is equal to or greater than 1 , latch-up will occur
with a DC-coupled circuit such as the one shown in the figure.

This means that depending on the polarity of the DC offset, the
output level will gradually increase until it reaches the positive or
negative supply voltage.

With the previously mentioned simplifications, the loop gain H |oop
is given by:

H, = (1 - G) x R25/R34
= °(°f - G) x K [1]

Here the replication factor K is equal to R25/R34 and G is the
combined voltage gain of the buffer and the output stage. This is
a special form of feedback, since feedback is present if G is gre-
ater than 1 , the loop gain is zero if G is 1 , and feedforward is
present if G is less than 1 (as in the paX amplifier). If G is 0.95
(which is a reasonable estimate of the transfer function of the
buffer plus the output stage) and K is 1 , the loop gain is 0.05.
This is well below the critical limit (G = 1 ). This means that the
feedback loop is sufficiently stable with regard to latch-up risk.

Output impedance

The open-loop output impedance of the buffer plus the output
stage is shown in Figure B. As R o has a large influence on the
non-ideal behaviour of the buffer and output stage, a value of 1
for G can reasonably be assumed for the purpose of calculating
the output impedance. The current source / (shown here for the
sake of the analysis) connected to the output produces a voltage
across R . A replica of this voltage (just as with the error correc-
tion feedback loop) is generated at the Z terminal. This can be
expressed by the following formula:

Z oul = R o x(l-R25/R34)) = R o x(l-K)[2]

The output impedance Z out is positive if K is less than 1 , zero if K
is 1 , and negative if K is greater than 1 . A positive output impe-
dance causes overdamping of the loudspeaker, while a negative

Panorama (virtual) CAD
DVD

Dear Editor — regarding your
topic in the September 2008
issue on CAD.

You did not include DIPTRACE
(hwww.diptrace.com). As a
non-electronics amateur but
one who has used AUTO-
CAD for many years in civil

engineering, I found DIPTRACE
was by far the most intuitive
CAD package I tested.
DIPTRACE is free for smaller
projects (up to 250 pins).

Please include this software in
your next review.

David (G3ZOI) (United
Kingdom)

8

elektor - 11/2008

output impedance causes underdamping. As a result, an
amplifier with a negative output impedance and a mediocre
impulse response will cause overshooting if it is loaded with an
LCR network (i.e. a loudspeaker), and in the worst case it can
oscillate.

Conclusions and recommendations

From the above, it can be seen that the error correction
feedback loop is stable, but the output impedance is negative
in the presence of overcompensation. This is undesirable, espe-
cially with a problematic speaker load (such as an electrostatic
speaker). The output impedance can easily be checked by
connecting an audio signal generator to the input of the ampli-
fier. When a load is connected to the amplifier, the amplitude
of the output signal will decrease if the output impedance is
positive or increase if the output impedance is negative.

If the output impedance is found to be negative, the cure is
to reduce the value of K by decreasing the value of R25 or
increasing the value of R34.

Wim de Jager (The Neterlands)

Response from Jan Didden, the designer of the paX amplifier:

Dear Wim ,

Your reasoning with regard to the output impedance is correct.
However , if you attach a few values from actual practice to it ; it
turns out to not be a real problem.

You raise two issues with regard to the stability of the error-cor-
rection amplifier implemented in my design.

The error correction resistors (R24 and R25) should be matched as
closely as possible for maximum error correction. In practice , 1%
matching can be achieve without having to use adjustable resis-
tors or trimpots. This yields an error correction of 40 dB. Further-
more, the loop gain of 0.05 that you mention (with an open-loop
output stage gain of 0.95) means that the values of these resistors
can differ by up to a factor of 20, or 2000%, with regard to stabi-
lity considerations. Consequently , latch-up is not an issue.

Your reasoning with regard to the output impedance is also cor-
rect. Here again, it is enlightening to consider a few practical
figures. A quick simulation shows that the open-loop output impe-
dance of the circuit shown in Figure B is approximately 0.4 ohm
(at 10 kHz). If the value of R25 is 1 % larger than it should be (rela-
tive to R34), this yields a negative output impedance of 4 milli-
ohms. For comparison , the resistance of 1 metre of speaker cable
with a 2-mm wire diameter is approximately 10 milli-ohms.

Here you could say that the negative output impedance offsets the
resistance of the first half metre of the speaker cable. If it has any
effect at all, it is to improve the damping.

In summary, it appears that a mismatch of the error correction
resistors by a few percent does not create any problem at all
with regard to latch-up or output impedance. A matching level of
1% can be achieved by a ' clever ' choice of standard resistance
values.

All of this is confirmed by the trouble-free operation of several
dozen amplifiers that have been built according to this design.

Jan Didden

Thanks for that David — will
do! By the way, for those keen
on statistics: the chunks to com-
pile the ISO file and from there
burn your own DVD were down-

loaded 2,880 times and almost
bowled over our web servers.

Multiple Digibutlers on the
same network

Dear Editor — in part 2 of the
DigiButler article (Elektor May
2008), it says that you can have
only one DigiButler (or more
generally, only one server) on
your network. However, this is
not strictly true - it is actually
possible to connect several but-
lers, and possibly other servers
as well, if you use a trick.

This is based on the fact that
an IP address and port can be
accessed from any desired web
browser. As noted in the article,
to do this you have to enter the
IP address assigned by your
provider and instruct your router
to remap port 80 to port 80 of
the IP address of your DigiButler.
However, a specific IP address
and port can be accessed
from any web browser, and
you can take advantage of
this to allow several butlers to
operate on a single network.

An example of how this works
may help clarify this.

The normal situation when only
one Digibutler is connected is
as follows:

IP address assigned by pro-
vider: 86.131.222.120
DigiButler IP address:

192.168.0.2

Access address in the web
browser: 86. 1 3 1 .222. 1 20
Resulting remapping in the
router: external port 80 to
internal IP 192.168.0.2 with
internal port 80

However, it is possible to run
two DigiButlers on the same net-
work, and in particular on two
ports of your ISP, such as ports
1024 and 27888. The first
DigiButler sits on port 1 024,
and the second one on port
27888. In this case you have:

IP address assigned by pro-
vider: 86.131.222.120
DigiButler 1 IP address:

192.168.0. 2
DigiButler 2 IP address:

192.168.0. 3
DigiButler 1 access
address from the browser:
86.131.222.120:1024
DigiButler 2 access
address from the browser:
86.131.222.120:27888
Resulting remapping in the

internal port 80

Now you can log in to two
DigiButlers from any desired
location. Naturally, this .

scheme can also be
expanded if your router allows
it.

Tim Geerts (The
Netherlands)

A really handy trick! It's cer-
tainly worth mentioning here.
The DigiButler project seems to
have gone down well witness
the flurry of activity in our forum
where you can read how read-
ers got DigiButler to be less hot
around the collar (one heatsink)
and better prepared to relocate
to other IP addresses (DHCP
compatibility)! It's exactly the
objective we had in mind for
these articles: cheap hardware
and fun in programming. At the
time of writing, about 750 units
have been sold. Thanks all for
making this a success.

Mai I Box Terms

• Publication of reader's orrespondence
is at the discretion of the Editor.

• Viewpoints expressed by
correspondents are not necessarily

those of the Editor or Publisher.

• Correspondence may be
translated or edited for length, clarity

and style.

• When replying to Mailbox

correspondence,
please quote Issue number.

• Please send your MailBox

correspondence to:

editor@elektor.com or
Elektor, The Editor,
1 000 Great West Road,
Brentford TW8 9HH, England.

11/2008 - elektor

9

INFO & MARKET

NEWS & NEW PRODUCTS

Complete IEEE802.15.4 solution for wireless networking

Microchip announces the
MRF24J40MA FCC-certified Radio-
Frequency (RF) transceiver module
and the MiWi™ Peer-to-Peer (P2P)
Wireless Protocol Stack, based
upon the IEEE 802.15.4™ specifi-
cation. Together the MRF24J40MA
module and MiWi (P2P) stack can
target a variety of wireless network-
ing applications, such as industrial
monitoring and control, home and
building automation, remote con-
trol, low-power wireless sensor net-
works, lighting control and auto-
mated meter reading.

The MRF24J40MA transceiver mod-
ule is surface mountable and can
be used with hundreds of 8-bit, 1 6-
bit, or 32-bit PIC® microcontrollers
(MCUs). It includes discrete biasing
components and an integrated PCB
antenna to be used in sensor and
control network environments. The
module is fully regulatory-agency
certified for the US (FCC), Can-
ada (1C) and Europe (ETSI), and
is expected to save designers time
and money by eliminating the need
to receive FCC certification for their
wireless products.

The MiWi P2P protocol stack sup-

ports star and peer-to-peer wire-
less-network topologies with an
ultra-small code implementation of
3K bytes for Microchip's PIC micro-
controllers (MCUs). As a result, the
stack provides short-range wire-
less customers with hundreds of
possible MCU implementations
for applications that require sim-
ple node-to-node communication.
Additionally, the new MiWi P2P
stack provides sleeping-node, The
MiWi P2P protocol stack supports
star and peer-to-peer wireless-net-
work topologies with an ultra-small
code implementation of 3K bytes
for Microchip's PIC microcontrol-
lers (MCUs). As a result, the stack

provides short-range wireless cus-
tomers with hundreds of possible
MCU implementations for applica-
tions that require simple node-to-
node communication. Additionally,
the new MiWi P2P stack provides
sleeping-node, active-scan, and
energy-detect features that enable
robust operation while supporting
the low-power requirements of bat-
tery-operated devices.

Available as a free download from
Microchip's new online Wireless
Design Centre at www.microchip.
com/wireless, the small-footprint,
proprietary stack complements
the new MRF24J40MA 2.4 GHz
FCC-certified transceiver mod-

LED constant current demo board

V.l Chip, Inc., a subsidiary of Vicor
Corporation has announced a con-
stant current (CC) PRM™ regula-
tor demonstration board for LED
applications such as street & sta-
dium lighting, high-end projectors,
active outdoor advertising and
architectural installations.

The board provides a precisely
regulated current as required for
direct-drive multi-LED applications
where the intensity and bright-

ness are controlled by regulating
the current through the LEDs. The
board can be used to provide
adjustable current up to 240 W
(5 A at 48 V) when employed as
an standalone non-isolated source
or can be combined with the range
of VTM™ transformers to provide
an adjustable isolated current up
to 1 00 A.

A PRM+VTM pair uses less than
1 watt for every 1,000 Lumens

generated by the LEDs for high
performance applications. This
solution is a perfect complement to
using BCM™ bus converters with
low voltage driver ICs for lower
power applications such as LED
TV backlighting.

The constant current board dem-
onstrates the high power density
of the PRM with current accuracy
of 99.7% across the load range.
The board has Kelvin connections

World's highest integration single chip GPS receiver

SkyTraq recently introduced
their Venus634LP GPS receiver,
reportedly the world's high-
est integration single-chip GPS
receiver using its low-power
Venus6T GPS architecture. Meas-
uring 1 Ox 1 Ommx 1 .2 mm, the
Venus634LP integrates LNA, SAW
filter, RF front-end, GPS baseband,
0.5 ppm TCXO, RTC crystal, LDO
regulator, and passive compo-
nents. A complete GPS receiver
requires only an antenna and

Venus634LP.

Featuring highest integration,
1 centimetre squared footprint,
ultra fast TTFF, high sensitivity,
and low current consumption, the
Venus634LP GPS receiver enables
lowest cost of embedding location
awareness into portable applica-
tions without compromising size,
performance, and battery life. It
is compatible with both active and
passive antennas. The receiver con-
sumes 50 mA during signal acqui-

sition and 30 mA during full power
continuous tracking. The dedicated
signal parameter search engine
within the Venus634LP is capable
of performing 8 million time-fre-
quency hypothesis testing per sec-
ond, offering ultra-fast 1 -second
hot start and 29-second cold start
under open sky. The advanced
track engine allows tracking sensi-
tivity of -158 dBm, enabling con-
tinuous navigation in harsh envi-
ronments such as urban, canyon

ule. It represents Microchip's third
free software protocol stack for
IEEE802.15.4 transceivers, join-
ing its ZigBee stack and existing
MiWi stack.

As well as Microchip's free Zig-
Bee, MiWi and new MiWi P2P
software-protocol stacks, the mod-
ule is supported by Microchip's
PICDEM™ Z Demo Kit and the
ZENA™ Wireless Network Ana-
lyser. When combined with these
development tools, the module ena-
bles designers with little or no RF
design experience to design low-
power wireless networking prod-
ucts quickly and inexpensively.
Designers can also use Micro-
chip's PICDEM Z Demonstration Kit
(DM1 63027) with all of the compa-
ny's free stacks and MRF24J40MA
module. The kit includes a pair
of development boards with a
PIC18LF4620 MCU, along with
the ZENA Network Analyser and
wireless network configuration util-
ity (DM183023). The kit and the
ZENA Network Analyser are avail-
able today at the website below.

www.microchipdirect.com

for measuring the efficiency of the
V.l Chip™ components independ-
ent of load connect losses. Oscil-
loscope probe jacks are availa-
ble for measuring output voltage,
including output voltage ripple.
The board has fused PRM inputs,
provision for mounting an optional
V.l Chip pushpin heat sink, and
system enable and disable.
www.vicorpower.com / ccdemo /

(08624-IX)

and under deep foliage.

www.skytraq.com.tw

(080624-XI)

10

elektor - 11/2008

PC Oscilloscopes <& Analyzers

BitGen DSP Waveform & Timing Generator for USB BitScope 100

Powerful waveform generation & mixed signal data capture in one low cost USB test instrument.

Digital Storage Oscilloscope

Dual Channel Digital Scope with industry
standard probes or POD connected analog
inputs. Fully opto-isolated.

Mixed Signal Oscilloscope

Capture and display analog and logic signals
together with sophisticated cross-triggers for
precise analog/logic tinning.

Multi-Band Spectrum Analyzer

Display analog waveforms and their spectra
simultaneously. Base-band or RF displays
with variable bandwidth control.

Direct Digital Synthesis Generator

Arbitrary waveform crystal referenced DDS
frequency synthesis. Microsecond one-shot
timing precision and burst generation.
Independent but sample synchronized with
BitScope capture.

Noise, Dither and Entropy Generator

Pseudo-Random Number noise, dither and
entropy generation. White, pink or binary with
programmable or random seed.

Voltage, Clock and Logic Generator

Programmable voltage, clock and serial logic
generation. Adjustable DC reference and
mark/space clocks to 5MHz. Logic level
shifting and probe calibration signals.

BitGen is a comprehensive DSP based waveform and timing generation
solution available as standard in BS100M or an option for BS100U.

From clocks, sine, square or triangle waves to sophisticated bursts,
chirps, noise or user programmable signals, BitGen supports them all.

www . bitscope . com

r

INFO & MARKET

NEWS & NEW PRODUCTS

Electronworks electronic kits

You don't have to be mad in life....
Second thoughts, yes you do. Elec-
tronworks have taken some of life's
insanity (and lots of their own) and
put it into electronic kits. Electron-
works' aim is to make learning
electronics fun and to bring you a
range of kits that are both practical
and educational.

A whole tonne of kits and ideas
is available for unleashing in the

coming months, so if you are
young or old, new to electronics
or a seasoned veteran you will find
something to suit your needs.

For example, Electronworks' MP3
booster amplifies the output of
your MP3 player, so you can fill
the room with music via your PC
speakers. Also available are a ran-
dom number generator that gener-
ates a completely random number

from 0-99 and an in car power 12V input and many more,
supply, so you can power all your

battery powered electronics from a www.electronworks.co.uk

Ethernet mini module with ARM9 400 MHz microcontroller and Linux

PROPOX from Poland introduce a
new family of modules based on
microcontrollers with the ARM9
core. The modules were designed
to achieve 100% compatibility
with the mmTm socket already
used and promoted by PROPOX
for few months in their EVBmmTm
boards.

Management Unit (MMU) allows
the micro to run operating systems
like Linux and Windows CE. The
External Bus Interface (EBI) gives
connectivity to SDRAM (up to 64
MB on board of modules) and up
to 4 GB of NAND Flash — the
largest amount available for
now.

The MMnetlOOl mini mod-
ule has been equipped with
Atmel's AT9 1 SAM9260
(AT91 SAM9G20) microcon-
troller with an internal
clock of up to 210
MHz (400 MHz).

The Memory

The additional set
of peripheral devices
contain 10/1 00Mbit
PHY Ethernet with a trans-
former and an RJ45 connec-
tor, one USB Device, 2x USB
2.0 Host (i.e. Full Speed) and 5x
RS232 interface. These features

and

a complex
hardware base
allow users to build stan-
dalone systems using an Eth-
ernet interface and an embedded
operating system.

PROPOX went one step further
by offering the 'Linux on board'
solution to customers: all modules
are available with running Linux
and come with a DVD containing
source codes, compilers and sam-
ple software.

A complete eLinux solution called
the MMnetl002 module will be
available soon.

www.propox.com

( 080793 - 1 )

12

elektor - 11/2008

Paltronix Limited, Unit 3 Dolphin Lane, 35 High Street, Southampton, SOM 2DF I Tel: 0845 226 9451 I Fax: 0845 226 9452 I Email: sales@paltronix.com
Product information and secure on-line ordering at www.paltronix.com. Major credit and debit cards accepted. Prices exclude delivery and VAT.

Please see our website at www.paltronix.com for further products including components, microcontroller development tools,

prototyping aids, educational robot kits, test equipment and wireless communications products.

EasyPIC5 C Starter Pack — everything needed to
start developing PIC projects in C for just £189

Get an oscilloscope, logic analyser and much more
with the PoScope USB-based Instrument for only £79

With a PoScope you get:

• Dual-channel oscilloscope

• Spectrum analyser

• Dual-channel chart recorder

• 16-channel logic analyser with
UART, SPI, I2C and 1-wire serial
bus protocol decoding

• 8-channel pattern generator

• Square-wave/PWM generator

This latest version of the popular PoScope is a must-have tool for those developing microcon-
troller-based projects or with a general electronics interest and provides the features of six
instruments in one compact PC-based unit at an incredibly low price.

The PoScope connects to one of your desktop or laptop PC’s USB interfaces (USB 1 .1 or
USB 2.0), is Windows XP and Vista compatible and comes with easy-to-use software.

The PoScope provides two BNC connectors for oscilloscope, spectrum analyser and chart
recorder inputs and a 25-way female D-connector for logic analyser and pattern generator
input/outputs. Supplied with USB connecting cable and software and manual on CD-ROM.

A PoScope Bundle is also available for £119, which additionally includes two high-
quality oscilloscope probes and a logic analyser test lead and clip set.

The dual-channel oscilloscope provides
voltage and frequency measurement,
absolute, differential and external trigger-
ing, adjustable pre-trigger, marker meas-
urements and filtering. Specifications
include a 100Hz ~ 200kHz sampling rate,
1126 samples/channel (1 channel) or 563
samples/channel (2-channel) memory
depth with pipe reading of 64k samples per
channel, 10-bit resolution A/D and input
voltages from -20 ~ +20V.

The spectrum analyser provides Ham-
ming, Hanning, Blackman and Blackman-
Harris window functions.

Dual-channel oscilloscope view

The chart recorder provides dual-channel
recording at sampling rates from 0.01 Hz ~
200kHz with a maximum record time of 24
hours at Fs < 100Hz. A/D resolution and
input voltage range are again 10-bit and
-20 ~ +20V respectively.

Pix-Cell GSM Controller

New product — the Pix-Cell is a
stand-alone controller offering
GSM/GPRS communications,
three digital inputs, three 10-bit
analogue inputs, SPDT relay
output and RS-232 interface
priced at £129.

ZeroPlus Logic Analysers

A range of powerful 16 and 32-channel
logic analysers with advanced serial
bus protocol decoding including CAN,
LIN, USB, UART, SPI, I2C, 1-wire and
more. With prices from only £125,
there’s a logic analyser in this range to
suit all needs and budgets.

Universal Development System

The UNI-DS3 is a versatile micro-
controller development system
supporting PIC, dsPIC, 8051,
AVR, ARM and PSoC devices
with an extensive range of built-in
I/O features and on-board USB
programmer priced from £109.

The EasyPIC5 C Starter Pack contains everything needed to start learning about and devel-
oping with PIC microcontrollers using the C programming language. The package contains
the popular EasyPIC5 development board, a full version of MikroElektronika’s powerful
mikroC compiler, USB and serial cables, blue backlit 16x2 character and 128x64 graphic
LCDs, touch-screen overlay for graphic LCD, DS1820 temperature sensor and a 40-pin
enhanced Flash PIC16F887 microcontroller — all for just £189.

The EasyPIC5 C Starter Pack is well-suited to beginners and experienced developers alike
and comes with high-quality printed documentation and a large number of easy-to-understand
example programs for a number of PIC microcontrollers.

The EasyPIC5 supplied in the starter pack
is a full-featured development board for
PIC10F, 12F, 16F and 18F microcontrollers
in 8, 14, 18, 20, 28 and 40-pin packages.

The EasyPIC5 incorporates an on-board
USB-based PIC programmer and in-circuit
debugger as well as a useful selection of
built-in I/O devices such as LEDs, switches,

7-segment displays, potentiometers, RS-
232 interface, PS/2 and USB connectors
and provision for fitting of the included LCD
displays, touch-screen and DS1820 tem-
perature sensor. What’s more, all of the
PIC’s input/output lines are available for
connection to your own circuits or to any of
our huge range of low-cost optional add-on
boards such as Ethernet, RS-485, CAN, LIN, IrDA and RFid communications, EEPROM, SD/
MMC and Compact Flash storage, 12-bit A/D and D/A, and many useful interfacing and
prototyping boards.

EasyPIC5 BASIC Starter Pack and EasyPIC5 Pascal Starter Pack also available at £149
each. Similar starter packs also available for 8051 , AVR and dsPIC — please see our website
at www.paltronix.com for prices and full details.

The logic analyser provides 16 channels
(eight when pattern generator in use) with
a sampling rate of 1kHz ~ 8MHz, internal
and external clocking, versatile triggering
and an input range of 0 ~ +5V. Memory
depth ranges from 1544 bits/channel (Fs
<= 1MHz) to 128 bits/channel (Fs <=
8MHz). Built-in serial bus protocol
decoding facilitates the decoding of
UART, SPI, I2C and 1-wire serial buses.

The pattern generator allows eight of the
logic analyser’s channels to be used to
provide output waveforms from 1 kHz ~

1 MHz with a memory depth of 1544 bits/
channel and an output voltage of OV for
logic “0” and 3.3V for logic “1”.

The PWM generator provides a
7.8125kHz output with a 1 ~ 100% adjust-
able duty cycle. Square waves can also be
output with a 50% duty cycle and an
adjustable frequency ranging from 3.91kHz
to 1 MHz.

'gjfm h. - ■ 1 ■ . _

■ ” J

- r* . rw » j--

Sixteen-channel logic analyser view

■ —

... ■ ii ■

UART, SPI, I2C and 1-wire decoding view

Supplied in the EasyPIC5 C Starter Pack is a full
version of MikroElektronika’s mikroC, a power-
ful integrated development environment and C
compiler for PIC12, PIC16 and PIC18 microcon-
trollers. With its built-in user-friendly features,
mikroC makes developing code for PICs easier

than ever. When used in conjunction with the ■ i 1

EasyPIC5 development board, mikroC provides

full in-circuit debugging capabilities. mikroC also

provides a library of ready-written routines that
provide support for all of the EasyPIC5’s on-
board I/O devices and optional add-on boards.

This enables programs to be quickly constructed V
even when working with advanced features such
as CAN, Ethernet and USB communications,

character and graphic LCDs and touch-screen, and EEPROM, MMC/SD and Compact Flash
data storage. mikroC also incorporates useful tools such as LCD custom character generator,
GLCD bitmap generator, USART, HID and UDP terminals and 7-segment display decoder.

11/2008 - elektor

13

INFO & MARKET

NEWS & NEW PRODUCTS

New Capacitive Touch Demo Board

Microchip announces
the PICDEM™ Touch
Sense 2 Demo Board
(Part # DM164128)
for capacitive touch-
sensing applica-
tions. The easy-to-use
board comes with the
royalty-free mTouch™

Sensing Solution Soft-
ware Development
Kit (SDK) and is pop-
ulated with a 1 6-bit
PIC24FJ256GB1 1 0
microcontroller
(MCU), which fea-
tures an integrated Charge Time
Measurement Unit (CTMU) periph-

eral for fast capacitive touch sens-
ing. This is also the world's first

1 6-bit MCU family
with USB On-The-
Go (OTG).

The board and sup-
porting materials
provide a complete
platform for imple-
menting capacitive
touch-sensing inter-
faces, without the
need for external
components. Addi-
tionally, with the
PIC24FJ256GB1 1 0
family's rich periph-
eral integration and
256 kBytes of Flash memory, and
Microchip's broad portfolio of free

and low-cost software libraries,
embedded designers can use a sin-
gle MCU to cost effectively imple-
ment a wide variety of additional
user-interface functions, includ-
ing QVGA touch-screen displays,
speech-based audio prompts and
USB connectivity.

The PICDEM Touch Sense 2 demo
board (Part # DM164128) can
be purchased for $ 99.99 from
Microchip. This price includes the
mTouch Sensing Solution SDK and
a USB cable.

www.microchip.com/mtouch

www.microchipdirect.com

(080793-11)

New industry alliance promotes use of IP in networks of 'smart objects'

A group of leading technology
vendors and users have formed
the IP for Smart Objects (IPSO)
Alliance, whose goal is pro-
moting the Internet Protocol (IP)
as the networking technology
best suited for connecting sen-
sor- and actuator-equipped or
'smart' objects and delivering
information gathered by those
objects.

Smart objects are objects in
the physical world that - typi-
cally with the help of embed-
ded devices - transmit infor-
mation about their condition or
environment (e.g., temperature,
light, motion, health status) to
locations where the informa-
tion can be analyzed, corre-
lated with other data and acted
upon. Applications range from

automated and energy-efficient
homes and office buildings, fac-
tory equipment maintenance and
asset tracking to hospital patient
monitoring and safety and compli-
ance assurance.

ics Engineers (IEEE), which develop
and ratify technical standards in
the Internet community, the IPSO
Alliance will perform interoperabil-
ity tests, document the use of new
IP-based technologies, conduct

The alliance seeks to advocate
how networks of objects of all
types have the potential to be
converged onto IP.

Founding members of the IPSO
Alliance are Arch Rock, Atmel,
Cimetrics, Cisco, Duke Energy,
Dust Networks, eka systems,
EDF (Electricite de France) R&D,
Emerson, Freescale, IP Infusion,
Jennie, Kinney Consulting, Nivis,
PicosNet, Proto6, ROAM, SAP,
Sensinode, SICS, Silver Spring
Networks, Sun Microsystems,
Tampere University, Watteco
and Zensys.

IPSO Alliance membership is
open to any organisation advo-
cating an IP-based approach to
connecting smart objects.

www.ipso-alliance.org

(080793-VI)

wetoem io trie i&jrtch oi

KwtmBWETafThlHQS

Intended to complement the efforts
of entities such as the Internet Engi-
neering Task Force (IETF) and the
Institute of Electrical and Electron-

marketing activities and serve as
an information repository for users
seeking to understand the role of
IP in networks of physical objects.

MLX90614 Infrared Thermometer Module

The MLX90614 Infrared Thermome-
ter Module from Parallax is an intelli-
gent non-contact temperature sensor
with a single pin serial interface for
connection to most microcontrollers.
The MDC90614 sensor is designed
for non-contact temperature measu-
rements of objects placed within the
sensor's cone of detection. The sen-
sor is comprised of an integrated
ASIC and infrared sensitive ther-
mopile detector. The sensor com-
municates with an SX20AC/SS-G
coprocessor over a digital SMBus,
which Parallax has programmed

to simplify an otherwise fairly com-
plex communication protocol. With
a temperature range of -70°C to
380°C, auto-baud detection and
a programmable alarm setting, this
module becomes very useful in many
applications such as surface temper-
ature measurement, human/animal
presence detection or HVAC. Up to
1 00 modules can be connected on
the same bus making multi-zone tem-
perature measurement easy.

www.parallax.com (search '28040')

(080793-IX)

14

elektor - 11/2008

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11/2008 - elektor

15

INFO & MARKET

NEWS & NEW PRODUCTS

Thermostats for UPS Battery Back-Up Systems

When a power-cut hits a company,
they need to be sure that their UPS
system performs immediately and

for as long as possible until mains
power is re-established.

The life of a battery back-up system
is partly dependant on its stable
temperature control which is often
achieved using electronic means.
As an alternative to electronic sen-
sors, the Matsuo MQT thermostat
supplied by ATC Semitec Ltd. offers

UPS system installers a simpler and
more cost-effective solution.
Matsuo thermostats have a unique
twin-bimetal system that creates a
control which is capable of switch-
ing over 1 million cycles. Accura-
cies of ±1.5 K and differentials
down to 3 K ±1 K are readily
available, with repeatability as

small as ±0.2 K. Basically they
function on a par with electronic
controllers.

The thermostat's IP64 plastic hous-
ing can be readily fixed to the side
of a battery and so each one can
be safely monitored.

www.atcsemitec.co.uk

(080793-V)

ULP wireless SoC solution

The n RF24LE 1 from Nordic Semi-
conductor integrates a fully-fea-
tured n RF24L0 1 + 2.4GHz trans-
ceiver core including Nordic's
proven Enhanced ShockBurst™
hardware link layer. It delivers
true ULP operation with peak cur-
rents low enough to run on coin
cell batteries.

The nRF24LEl also integrates an
enhanced 8051 mixed signal
MCU core featuring fewer clock
cycles per instruction than legacy
8051 devices. Most instructions
need just one or two clock cycles
leading to an average perform-
ance improvement of 8x using the
MIPS (Million Instructions Per Sec-

ond) benchmark. This high perform-
ance combined with 16 kBytes of
on-chip flash plus 1 kByte of SRAM
ensures the processing platform is
powerful enough to run both the
RF protocol stack and application
layer with ease.

A wide range of peripherals and
power saving modes support the
RF protocol stack. A ULP 32 khlz
crystal oscillator provides high
accuracy timing for low report
rate synchronous protocols and
a 1 6 MHz RC oscillator pro-
vides fast start-up times from idle.
The 32 kHz oscillator can pro-
vide timing accurate enough for

higher report rate protocols with-
out requiring an external crystal.
A security co-processor supports
AES encrypted wireless communi-
cation. The n RF24LE 1 provides a
range of nanoamp and microamp
idle modes specifically designed
for ULP RF protocol stacks. Further
benefits include higher precision
protocol timing, lower power con-
sumption, and improved co-exist-
ence performance.

For the application layer the
nRF24LEl offers a rich set of inter-
faces and peripherals including
an SPI, 2-wire, UART, 12-bit ADC,
PWM and an analogue compara-
tor. As such, the n RF24LE 1 is the

ideal single chip solution for wire-
less applications including mice,
keyboards, remote controls, game
controllers, sports/healthcare sen-
sors, toys, and active RFID tags.
Engineering samples of the
nRF24LEl and development tools
are widely available today.
www.nordicsemi.com

(080793-III

6-channel touch controller with integral LED driver

Atmel® Corporation's
AT42QT1060 is a touch control
chip that integrates 6 channels of
touch sensing with the ability to
drive up to seven low current LEDs
directly through a pulse width mod-
ulated (PWM) output function. The
device operates from 5.5 V down
to 1.8 V and consumes less than
1 pA in standby mode to give
long battery life; it comes in a tiny
4x4 mm MLF28 package, making
it ideal for use in mobile phones
and other handheld devices. The
AT42QT1 060 is the latest addition
to Atmel's comprehensive range of
capacitive touch controllers based
on Quantum Research Group's
charge-transfer technology. These
include QTouch™ and QMatrix™
based controllers for single and
multiple touch buttons, touch slid-
ers and touch wheels.

The AT42QT1060 is designed for
use in portable electronics prod-
ucts. An inbuilt capacitive guard
channel feature helps prevent false

triggering, for example, where
moisture is an issue. This feature
also prevents against erroneous
commands that can occur when
devices such as MP3 players are
carried in a pocket, or in the case
of a cellular phone, when it is
held against the ear. The highly
integrated AT42QT1060 reduces
component count, cutting design
complexity and cost, and enabling
faster product development.

The AT42QT1060 functions
through any insulating panel
including glass or plastic up to
3 mm thick. Electrodes can be
made from copper, silver, carbon,
indium tin oxide (ITO) or Orga-
con conductive ink and must be
6x6mm or larger. Widely differ-
ent electrode sizes and shapes
are possible, giving the product
designer great flexibility in tailor-
ing the user interface.

www.qprox.com

(080793-VII)

16

elektor - 11/2008

Universal Display Book

for PIC Microcontrollers

Prom LED to graphical LCD

f ; ; ; ; ; \

The newcomer to Microchip's PIC microcontrollers invariably
gets an LED to flash as their first attempt to master this tech-
nology. You can use just a simple LED indicator in order to
show that your initial attempt is working, which will give you
confidence to move forward. This is how the book begins —
simple programs to flash LEDs, and eventually by stages to
use other display indicators such as the 7-segment display,
alphanumeric liquid crystal displays and eventually
a colour graphic LCD. As the reader progresses through the
book, bigger and upgraded PIC chips are introduced, with
full circuit diagrams and source code, both in assembler and
C. In addition, a small tutorial is included using the MPLAB
programming environment, together with the EAGLE sche-
matic and PCB design package to enable readers to create
their own designs using the book's many case studies as wor-
king examples to work from.

192 pages • ISBN 978-0-905705-73-6 • £23.00 • US$ 46.00

v ~ J

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11/2008 - elektor

17

Thijs Beckers (Elektor Netherlands)

The first step is always the hardest, so we're providing a brief introduction to SMT to help
you out. Here we introduce you to some of the jargon, pitfalls and packaging so you can hold
your own in discussions of this technology, which has become indispensable in the production
of modern electronic equipment.

If you want to work with surface-mount technology (SMT),
you need to have a bit of basic knowledge. This article
explains several terms, discusses some of the things to
watch out for, and gives you some pointers for finding more
information so you can learn to loosely mention the terms
like a pro.

What does it mean?

To start off, let's take two terms that many people tend to
mix up: 'surface mount device' (SMD) and 'surface mount
technology' (SMT). SMT refers to the technology, which
means using components (usually small) that do not have
leads designed to pass through holes in the circuit board,
while SMD refers to the actual component.

Another term you will see is 'SMA'. This stands for 'sur-
face mount assembly', which indicates that a component
is designed for mounting on the circuit board, rather than
with pins that pass through the circuit board. The same
term can also be used as an abbreviation of 'surface mount
adhesive', which is the glue used to attach SMDs to the cir-
cuit board so they don't slide around during soldering.

Jargon

Nowadays SMDs are used in almost all electronic equip-
ment. In fact, there are probably more components avail-
able now in SMD form than in 'through-hole' form (with
individual pins or leads). Naturally, the reason for this is the
extensive miniaturisation of electronic circuitry. SMDs are
also appearing increasingly often in the DIY world.

When you use SMDs, you run into a considerable amount
of insider terms. In order to get your bearings in the SMD
world, you need to know these terms and understand
what they mean. Most likely you have already heard
the term 'ball grid array', but 'flip chip' is probably less
familiar. With the latter technology, the chip is mounted
with its active surface facing downward (Figure 1),
which means that the active surface of the chip can be
used directly for the connections. This makes it possible
to make a large number of connections to the chip, and
they have much lower inductance than with wire bonds
due to the shorter distance.

Another recent development is called 'package on pack-
age' (PoP). This consists of stacking one chip on top of
another one (usually discrete logic and memory), which
saves space and keeps the connections short to minimise
inductance problems.

When boards are assembled automatically, they must have
fiducial marks. A fiducial mark (or simply 'fiducial') is a
symbol that is placed on the circuit board. It can be used
to determine the position of the board with high accuracy,
so that the solder paste can be applied correctly or a pick-
and-place machine can place the components in exactly
the right positions before the board goes into the oven for
soldering.

Incidentally, two standard methods have been developed for
applying solder paste: silk-screening (also called screening
or stencil printing) and direct printing. In the silk-screening
process, a stencil is created with openings exactly aligned
to the copper track layout. A rubber squeegee spreads the
paste over this stencil, with the result that it ends up exactly
where it should be on the circuit board. This method is fea-
sible for series production, but producing a stencil of this
sort is far too expensive for making a single PCB. The direct
printing method is more suitable in the latter case. This
involves using a special 'printer' (similar to an ink-jet printer)
to deposit the solder paste directly on the PCB. However,
these printers are rather costly.

Reflow problems

There are several common problems with soldering SMDs
(including reflow soldering). One of them is called the
'tombstone effect', or 'tombstoning'. Figure 2 shows the
forces acting on an SMD component during soldering. They
can cause the component to stand upright on the circuit
board instead of remaining flat on the board when it is
soldered. Upright SMD resistors resemble miniature tomb-
stones, which is where the term comes from.

The component will rise up if the sum of and F 2 is less
than F 3 , or in mathematical terms:

M g [(D 2 + L 2 )/2] cos(a+(3) + y- Wcos(a/2) < yDsin(oc+<I>),

where M is the mass of the component and g is the force
of gravity.

18

elektor - 11/2008

There are several causes of tombstoning. For instance, light-
weight components are more susceptible to this effect. Rela-
tively long solder pads can also cause this undesired effect,
because the portion of the pad that extends beyond the
component causes an increased torque (larger value of O
in Figure 2).

Tombstoning can also occur if temperature does not rise uni-
formly at both ends of the component. If one end is warmer
than the other one, the solder will melt first at this end, lead-
ing to an undesired upright component. This problem usu-
ally does not occur in modern convection ovens, but design-
related factors such as screening and cooling surfaces can
lead to temperature differences.

Incorrect component placement can also lead to tombston-
ing, but the main cause is a temperature difference between
the two ends of the component, which causes the solder to
melt earlier at one end than at the other end.

/ Popcorning / is another example of what can go wrong
during the soldering process. This refers to a condition that
can occur if moisture-sensitive components remain outside
a moisture-proof package too long before they are soldered
in a reflow oven. The component package can absorb mois-
ture due to its hygroscopic properties. If such a component
is heated relatively quickly, the moisture turns into steam,
which may create so much internal pressure that the pack-
age will crack or burst open.

Another problem is that the component may float on the
molten solder and tip over along its long axis as a result.
This is particularly annoying with LEDs, since it causes the
light to be emitted toward the side instead of straight up.

Standards

Since the 1 st of July 2006, electronic equipment marketed
inside the EU is not allowed to contain certain substances.
This is stipulated by the 'Restriction of Hazardous Sub-
stances' directive, usually abbreviated as 'RoHS'. In col-
loquial language, this is also described by saying that the
equipment and components must be 'lead-free'. The fact
that a component is 'lead-free' or fulfils the RoHS stand-
ard does not necessarily mean that it is suitable for lead-
free processing. It only says something about the chemical
composition of the product, but not that it can withstand
the relatively high temperatures used in lead-free soldering.
Consider yourself warned.

A good reference source for industrial standards related to
components is the Institute for Interconnecting and Packag-
ing Electronic Circuits (IPC - see the web link at the end
of this article. The standards in the IPC-7351 to IPC-7359
series are especially important for PCB design. They pro-
vide information about suitable dimensions, shapes and

Solder ball

Rigid Laminate
Substrate

080667 - 11

Figure 1.

Wire-bond or flip-chip?
Flip-chip technology is
often used in processors
due to high clock rotes.

tolerances of pads for SMDs, so that they provide enough
surface area for soldering but not too much (which would
create a risk of tombstoning).

Packages and packaging

We could fill dozens of pages with information about
SMD packages - it's an almost endless subject. Here we
recommend that you read through the overview of the
most common SMD codes and pin layouts prepared by
R. P. Blackwell [1].

With regard to packaging, we can keep our remarks
quite short: as SMDs are usually processed by automated
machines, it is essential to standardise the containers used

Figure 2.

The tombstone effect is
caused by unbalanced
forces.

11/2008 - elektor

19

INFO & MARKET

SMD

to supply the components to the machines. There are four
common types:

- Tape or reel: the components are located on a tape that
is wound on a reel, just like the tape of an (old-fashioned)
tape recorder.

- Tray or pallet: components with a small pin spacing or
BGA are usually packaged in this sort of container.

- Stick or tube: 1C with edge-mounted pins are often sup-
plied in a plastic tube to prevent accidental bending of
the pins.

- Bulk: a large number of the same type of component,
which are not packaged in an orderly manner. Often used
in the past with large quantities.

Requisites

In the old days, enthusiasts went to an electronics shop
to purchase their components. As there are often a large
number of package options available now for components,
it is simply impossible for an average shop to keep all types
of components in stock. Fortunately they can usually supply
the desired version on request.

Online shops often have a larger selection, but there
is a chance that they do not have the part in inventory
and will have to order it from a distributor. In addition,

there are usually shipping charges. The really big play-
ers, such as Farnell and Conrad Electronics, can usually
deliver from stock.

Finally, you need solder paste if you want to solder PCBs
with a reflow oven. There is large selection of various
pastes, each with its specific properties. The one may have
a higher melting temperature, while the other may have
smaller solder particles, and so on. See reference [2] for
more information on solder pastes.

You can also consult the web links listed below under
'Background information' to learn more about the top-
ics discussed in this article. Once you've digested all this
information, you'll be a lot more knowledgeable, and you
won't be at a loss for words when the subject turns to SMT,
SMD or SMA.

( 080667 - 1 )

Internet Links

[1 ] www.marsport.org.uk/smd/mainframe.htm
[2] www.siliconfareast.com/solder-paste.htm

Background information

www.answers.com/topic/flip-chip

www.ipc.org

www.ami.ac.uk/courses/topics/0229_place/index.html

Advertisement

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Elektor Electronics (Publishing)
are looking for

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elektor - 11/2008

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Design your own

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on a PC

lektor

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This book is not about XI 0, ZigBee, Z-wave or any that's
available commercially. Instead, it covers a do-it-your-self sys-
tem made from recycled components. The main system descri-
bed in this book reuses an old PC, a wireless mains outlet with
three switches and one controller, and a USB webcam. All this
is linked together by Linux - as it can be obtained free of char-
ge. This book will serve up the basics of setting up a Linux
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Webserver, which will be the interface to your very own home
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234 pages • ISBN 978-0-905705-72-9 • £24.00 • US$ 48.00

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11/2008 - elektor

21

E-BLOCKS

Drive wisely!

Gilles Le Maillot (France)

The little module described here lets you detect geographical points
of interest (POIs) using the frames output from a GPS receiver
module. These POIs might be restaurants, petrol stations, or — why
not? — the positions of fixed speed cameras!

Having found it hard to find fully-devel-
oped, ambitious projects every year,
the circuit published online by Chris -
tophe Le Lann [1] seemed to me a good
starting point. So we adapted this Elec-
tronics Design project for the course
taught at our College ( ENSIETA [2]).
We’ve used a PIC microcontroller and
added several new options
like a bigger memory, the pos-
sibility to update the memory
via USB, speed display, etc. In
addition, we produced the pro-
gram under Flowcode using E-
blocks [3].

Flowcode is a high-perform-
ance graphical development
environment for microcon-
trollers (PIC and AVR) that
makes it possible to swiftly
create quite complex electron-
ics systems, and above all, to
simulate them. The program
description is in the form of a stand-
ardized (ISO5807) flowchart using
macros that make it easier to control
complex peripherals, like 7-segment
displays, motor controllers, LCD dis-
plays, Bluetooth, TCP/IR etc. Elektor
has already published numerous arti-
cles about this product. For myself, I
was quite surprised by how power-

ful, user-friendly, and easy to learn
this software is. Of course, it’s not
a magic tool, it does have its limita-
tions — for example, the PIC interrupt
library is not comprehensive enough,
and it only recognizes whole number
values to a maximum of 16 bits — but
these are fairly easy to work around.

In addition, the Flowcode simulation
mode allowed us to test the code for
this project (except for the serial con-
nection interrupt part) before imple-
menting it.

Thanks to Flowcode, we’ve been able
to produce a quite substantial project
in a limited time. The use of a tool like
Flowcode (in an educational context)

was a first for us — most students
appreciated it, and some of them actu-
ally managed to see the project right
through to the end!

Block diagram

As the block diagram (Figure 1) shows,
the system is fairly simple: a
GPS receiver provides the sys-
tem’s geographical position
once a second. This position
is then compared to the POI
locations stored in a database.
If there is a POI within around
500 m of the current position, a
visual and audible warning is
triggered.

The heart of the system is a
16F876A-I/SO microcontroller
from Microchip, which receives
the vehicle’s positions from
the GPS, looks them up in the
database, and drives the man/machine
interface (MMI).

This MMI consists of an LCD display,
a sounder and a bi-colour LED. If there
is no POI in the vicinity, the LCD just
displays the position and the time or
speed. The bi-colour LED flashes green
every time a GPS frame is received. In
the event of a POI nearby, the sounder

r — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — -i

I It's up to you...

The project described in this article may be used
as a warning device for fixed speed cameras,

) which is perfectly legal in France at the time of )
publication of this article. However, this does not
! mean to say that the use of this project is legal \
in other countries, nor that it is going to remain
! legal for use in France. !

22

elektor - 11/2008

sounds, the bi-colour LED lights up
red and steady, and the LCD displays
a warning message. The MMI has
one little unexpected extra: automatic
backlighting that adjusts itself to the
ambient light level.

An I 2 C memory is used to store the
geographical position of the POIs. A
USB interface is available for load-
ing the POIs into the memory from a
computer.

The GPS receiver, which sends its data
via a serial link, shares the microcon-
troller’s serial link with the USB inter-
face. A multiplexer allows the serial
data source to be selected using a sim-
ple switch.

E-blocks

The first platform was achieved using
these E -blocks: an EB006 for the devel-
opment platform (this is directly usa-
ble under Flowcode for programming
the PIC and supports many types of
PIC) and an EB005 for the LCD. For the
rest of the project’s components, we’ve
created our own E -block, connected to
the PIC PORT C. In this DIY E-block
(Figure 2) we find the I 2 C memory,
the FT232BL USB/RS-232 interface,
the bi-colour LED, the sounder, and a

MAX232 to allow us to dispense with
the USB port in the first instance and
be able to simulate the GPS frames on
a PC. Figure 3 shows the prototype in
all its splendour.

The program

The program, developed under Flow-
code, comprises two distinct sections.
The first and most important section
handles the dialogue with the GPS
module, compares the data from the
GPS with the locations stored in the

Figure 1. Block diagram of POI warning device.

11/2008 - elektor

23

E-BLOCKS

v+

©

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r

POI files

There are lots of different types of POI files, but
the ones we're using contain nothing more than a
list of geographical positions in ASCII, hence their
.ASC extension. On one line of this list we find three
comma-separated fields: longitude, latitude, and a
name, often a number:

of POI files (for free). To display
a POI file, all you have to do is
load it into PoiEdit and pick 'Se-
lect All' in the 'Edit' menu. Don't
forget to load, and if necessary
calibrate, a map. Some maps
are also available on the PoiEdit
website.

2.681 1 1 , 44.43686, "Num 40235"

The longitude and latitude are in decimal degrees.

To sort a POI file by longitude (if
you're using the 08061 5-1 1_1
program), all you have to do is
click on the Longitude bar and
save the file in .ASC format.

f r PtiEJacxooe o-iui* sofa*«i« - [itr «.i

The simplest way to obtain a POI file that can be
used by our project is to pay a visit to the PoiEdit
website [5]. PoiEdit is a shareware application that
lets you display and edit the contents of a POI file.

This website also has lots of links to other sites where you can get hold

The POI file thus created or

downloaded can be directly read by the transfert.exe update program,
as described elsewhere in this article.

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24

elektor - 11/2008

I 2 C memory (Figure 4), looks after
displaying the data, and drives the
sounder and bi-colour LED. The sec-
ond section is used for updating the
I 2 C memory with the help of a compu-
ter. A switch determines which section
of the program is run.

Primary loop

Out of the NMEA0183 frames pro-
vided by the GPS, we’re going to use
the RMC frame [4] . This frame contains
all the information we need: latitude,
longitude, time, date, and speed. After
decoding an RMC frame, we then need
to read the I 2 C memory. If we find a
location corresponding to our current
position - minus a certain margin, of
course, otherwise it’s too late! - that
means we are near a POI. In this event,
we leave our read loop and set off the
alarms, i.e. the sounder sounds, the
bi-colour LED light up red, and a mes-
sage is displayed on the LCD warning
of a POI close by.

Next time a GPS frame is received, we
start again and decode, read the PC
memory, compare, etc.

Updating the database

The second section of the program is
used for updating the database via a
serial link. The transfer is initiated by
the PC which sends the character 13h
(19 in decimal) to the PIC, and the trans-
fer starts once the PC receives the same
character back. The PC then sends the
file to the PIC, which acknowledges
each character received by sending
the character 13h. When 128 charac-
ters have been received, the PIC writes
them into the PC memory. To do this,
we’ve used the PC routine available in
Flowcode, which makes it very easy to
use the PC bus. The transfer ends with
a special character FFh, which is the
signal for the PIC to display on the LCD
the number of points stored in memory.
This number is also stored in the PIC
EEPROM, as we need it to be able to
get out of our comparison loop correctly
in the other section of the program.

For updating to be as fast as possi-
ble, it is done at 115,200 baud. But the
component routine is already config-
ured to 4,800 baud for dialogue with
the GPS. We have got round this prob-
lem by inserting a little bit of assem-
bler code into our program.

Another complication concerned the
interrupt used to detect the reception
of a character. The Flowcode library
does not include this interrupt, so we
had to create a user source for it.

Figure 3. The speed camera warning device built using E-blocks. Our own E-block is the one with the sounder.

Automatic backlight

One option that deserves to be men-
tioned here is the automatic adjust-
ment of the display backlight depend-
ing on the ambient light level. This
was easily achieved using the PIC’s
ADC, which measures the voltage
at the terminals of the light depend-
ent resistor (LDR), and a PWM (pulse
width modulation) output to control
the backlighting via a transistor. The
ADC and PWM are component rou-
tines included within Flowcode.

Simulation

Virtually the whole of the program can
be simulated in the Flowcode environ-
ment, except for the reception of the
characters during transfer of the file
containing the POIs, where we have
used some assembler code. Each com-
ponent of the project can be simulated:
the LCD, the PWM output, reading the
I 2 C memory, GPS frame reception, and
even the ADC for use with the LDR.

( BEGIN )

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Beep

Figure 4. The full program is much too long to be shown
complete. So we'll just give the most interesting part: the
detection algorithm.

11/2008 - elektor

25

E-BLOCKS

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080615- 13

Figure 5. The full circuit diagram of the speed camera warning device.

To simulate decoding a GPS frame, we
need to input a GPS frame to the RS-
232 component module. We can then
see the reading of the memory in the
I 2 C routine, byte by byte.

The values of the variables can be
displayed (or changed), and simula-
tion can be performed in step-through
mode.

Circuit

Once our E-block prototype was
operational, we redesigned the cir-
cuit without the actual E -blocks (Fig-
ure 5) - the EB006 E-block has been
replaced by a 16F876A PIC (IC2) run-
ning at 20 MHz and the EB005 E -block
by a standard alphanumeric LCD with
backlight (LCD1) - the contrast can be

adjusted with potentiometer R17. We
have eliminated the components that
are no longer needed, like the MAX232,
replaced the manual multiplexer by a
74HC241, and added photoresistor
R5.

The PIC connects to the I 2 C EEPROM
via its special PC bus inputs SCL and
SDA. The GPS receiver and the USB/
RS-232 interface (IC3) are connected
to the PIC USART by way of the mul-
tiplexer IC4. In normal mode, the mul-
tiplexer connects the PIC RX input to
the GPS TX output to receive the GPS
frames. In PC memory update mode,
the RX input is connected by the mul-
tiplexer to the TX output of the USB/
RS-232 converter. The PIC TX output
is directly connected to the RX input
of the convertor IC3. Switch SI lets you

choose between normal and update
mode, and at the same time controls
the EEPROM write protection at the
same time.

The display is connected to PORT B of
the PIC in 4-bit mode. Input AN0 of the
ADC is connected to a potential divider
made up of R4 and the photoresistor
R5, which enables us to vary the dis-
play backlighting depending on the
ambient light level. The backlight is
adjusted by means of the signal on
one of the PIC’s two PWM outputs.
The other output is used to drive the
sounder. The bi-colour LED D2 uses
another two outputs of PORT A, RA3
and RA5.

EEPROM chip IC6 contains the posi-
tion of the POIs, each listed by lati-
tude and longitude to 6 bits. For our

26

elektor - 11/2008

project, we’ve chosen the 24FC1025
from Microchip, a 1,024 kbit memory
that allows us to store the position of
21,845 POIs.

The most expensive part in the whole
project is the EM406-A GPS receiver
module with built-in antenna from Glo-
balSat, already familiar to regular Ele-
ktor readers [4]. It interfaces directly to
a microcontroller via its ‘almost’ TTL-
level serial port.

The USB/RS-232 interface is taken care
of by an FT232BL IC from FTDI (IC3).
This forms the interface between the
PIC and the PC and requires a driver
to be installed on the PC in order to be
used as a virtual COM port.

And lastly, the project is powered via
a 7805 regulator.

Figure 6. Board component layout.

Construction

It’ll take you just a few hours to build
this project. Refer to Figure 6 for the
board component layout. Note the use
of a ‘wire-wrap’ socket to bring the
display up to the height of the housing,
and the same for the bi-colour LED.
The first step is to solder the SMD
components. The FT232BL IC is the
trickiest, but with a very fine tip and a
bit of patience, it can be done (you can
use solder flux to help). The other SMD
components ought not to present any
real problem. Next, solder the discrete
resistors, non-polarised capacitors,
and then the electrolytic ones (observ-
ing the correct polarity carefully). After
soldering all these components, check
that the supply voltage is reaching the
ICs on the appointed pins.

Two .HEX files are available for pro-
gramming the PIC (see components
list). The executable called 080615-
11_2 can be used with downloaded
POI files directly. The 08061 5- 1 1 1 file
requires a POI file sorted by increas-
ing longitude, which speeds up the
POI detection algorithm.

With the circuit powered and the PIC
programmed, the green LED D1 lights
and the display shows a start-up mes-
sage (depending on the position of SI).
If the display appears blank, adjust the
contrast using R17.

First steps

The first time the circuit is pow-
ered up, the EEPROM has to be pro-
grammed with a POI database. Close
SI and connect the circuit to your com-
puter’s USB port. Never connect the
USB cable and the cigarette lighter
plug at the same time! Now’s the

COMPONENTS LIST

Resistors

(0.25W 5%)

R1 ,R8,R1 2 = lOkQ
R2 / R3 / R7 = 220Q
R4 = 3kD3
R5 = NSL4960 (LDR)

R6 = 1 kQ
R9, R10 = 1I<D8
R1 1 = 470D
R1 3 = 15kD
R1 4 = lkD5
R1 5, R16 = 27Q

R1 7 = 4kf27preset, vertical mounting
R1 8 = 68D

Capacitors

C5,C6,C7,C8 = 22pF
C1,C2 = 22jL/F 50V
C3 / C4 / C8-C1 2 = lOOnF
Cl 3 = 33nF

Semiconductors

D1 = LED, 3mm, green
D2 = LED, 3mm, bi-colour
T1 = BC547
IC1 = 7805

IC2 = PIC1 6F876A-I/SO, programmed,
Elektor SHOP # 08061 5-41
IC3 = FT232BL
IC4 = 74HC241 DW
IC5 = EM406A GPS receiver (Sparkfun,
Lextronic)

IC6 = 24FC1025

Miscellaneous

XI = 20MHz quartz crystal
X2 = 6MHz quartz crystal
LCD1 = LCD, general purpose, 2 lines, 16
characters, with backlight
BZ1 = KPEG1 10 buzzer (Farnell)

K1 = cigarette lighter plug
K2 = USB-B socket
K3,K4 = 6-way SIL socket strip
SI = switch, 1 pole, 2 positions
Enclosure, Hammond type 1591XXCBK
(Farnell)

PCB, Elektor SHOP # 080615-1
Project software: free download from www.
elektor.com/08061 5

11/2008 - elektor

27

E-BLOCKS

* Transfer Positions

[- OR]

About the author

Gilles Le Maillot is an electronics design engineer in the DTN department at the ENSIETA.

He is passionate about electronics and computers.

The ENSIETA (Higher National Engineering College) is a multi-disciplinary engineering col-
lege based in Brest, France. It trains mechanical, electrical, and IT engineers for all sectors of
industry (automotive, naval, aeronautics, and so on). The ENSIETA runs numerous research
and development programs within its four laboratories [DTN, E3I2, MSN, SHI).

is received, the bi-colour LED will flash
green and the display will show the
position, alternating with the time and
speed. It may take a while to receive
the first frame from the GPS; the EM406
module has a red LED that flashes each
time the GPS receives a frame.

And there you have your POI warn-
ing device finished — safe journey,
and above all, remember to obey the
speed limits!

( 080615 - 1 )

Acknowledgements

Dominique Kerjean: design engineer at
ENSIETA.

Pierre Cambon: research lecturer at ENSIETA.

Andre Mininno: design engineer with
Multi power.

Figure 7. The database is updated using the
Transfer.exe program.

moment to install the FTDI drivers, if
needed. Then, in the Windows ‘Device
manager’, set the speed of the vir-
tual COM port to 115,200 bits/s and,
under ‘advanced’ settings, change the
latency to 1 ms, then click OK.

Now run the Transfer.exe program (Fig-
ure 7), available on the web page for
this project. When the program starts,
you need to select the serial port used
by the FTDI IC driver (double-click on
the port, the window should close).
Click the ‘Run’button, then select
the file to be loaded into the EEP-
ROM. Click ‘Open’ to start the trans-
fer. You can follow its progress on the
PC screen. At the end of the update,
the circuit beeps and the display
shows the number of POIs
in memory.

You can now
go over to GPS
mode: open SI
and reset the
circuit by briefly
interrupting the
power supply. As
soon as a GPS frame

Internet Links

[1] www. totofwe b . n et/r o b ots - p ro j et- 5 3 . h t m I

[2] www.ensieta.fr

[3] www.matrixmultimedia.com

[4] Multi-purpose GPS receiver, p.34, Elektor
363, September 2008

[5] www.poiedit.com

Tiim^ifitr si mti:il

POIN1 FT 2486

Latitude

50. B 7 989

Longitude

1.86947

SI OH

28

elektor - 11/2008

The Propeller chip from Parallax

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This high-speed parallel-processing microcontroller has eight
32-bit processors that can perform truly simultaneous tasks,

(L ; independently or cooperatively, with deterministic timing.

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http://www.milinst.com

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0fQ4

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Totally fanlesfe operation

www.bvmltd.co.uk

rswww.com/electronics 08457 201 201

i -

i__

T.r*

d

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* i ■ i ii i

11/2008 - elektor

29

CELLPHONE

Remote Control by
Mobile Phone

Receive back: confirmation
and GPS position data

Florian Schaffer (Germany)

Remote control using mobile phones and SMS (Text Messaging) is in great demand but many systems
on sale suffer from imperfections. The ingenious new design combines powerful capabilities with
low technical overheads. It has programmable AC mains switching outlets plus status reports by text
message and alarm-activated delivery of GPS data.

Mobile phone (GSM/Cellphone) con-
trolled switching devices have been
around for a while now, without earn-

ing a reputation for reliability or afford-
ability. The project featured here cor-
rects this impression, making use of

readily available mobile phones for
the GSM receiver and data output
function (at no cost at all if you use

30

elektor - 11/2008

discarded handsets). Its many capa-
bilities are listed opposite in the inset
under the headings Characteristics
and Applications.

Principles

The criterion for activating and control-
ling this remote switch is the number
of incoming calls (not the number of
individual ringing sounds heard!)
received within 90 seconds. One call
within this 90-second time window
switches Output 1, two calls enable
Output 2, three calls operate Output 3,
whilst four calls trigger a status alert
by SMS text.

Since nobody actually answers the
calls, there are no telephone charges
for receiving these control commands.
The only costs are for sending the sta-
tus alert text messages, which are
charged according to the tariff relat-
ing to the SIM card of the mobile used.

Characteristics

• Worldwide remote control from a mobile phone (GSM/Cellphone) without incurring call charges

• Three switched outputs with on-off switching, changeover switching and timed switching,
max. 230 VAC, 6 A

• GPS data transfer indicates location (GPS tracker function)

• Status-SMS reports indicate state of device outputs plus optionally GPS coordinates

• Alarm function by SMS Text alert in case of alarm (optionally with GPS coordinates)

• Filtering of unauthorised callers prevents false operation

Sample applications

• Control of engine-independent air heating system in cars

• Activation of garden watering systems

• Remote control of domestic apparatus (lighting, roller blinds, etc.)

• Heating control in holiday cottage

• Opening garage doors and driveway gates

• Building protection (break-in surveillance)

• Locating stolen objects of value (cars, boats, etc.)

• Tracking (following route taken by vehicle)

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PB2 (SS/OC1B)

PD1 (TXD)

PB3 (MOSI/OC2)

PD0 (RXD)

PB4 (MISO)

PC6 (RESET)

PB5 (SCK)

i i

< i

CD ><

>< CD

C9

22p

XI ?

-tji

8 MHz

X

GND

CIO

22p

5_

6 _

11 _

12 _

13

14

15

16
17_

18_

19

+5V

O

K8

SCK

RESET

MOSI

MISO

ISP

GND

R11
1k5

OUTPUT3 rNn
yellow GND

080324-11

Figure 1. The circuit diagram is remarkably simple since most functions are handled by software in the ATmega8.

11/2008 - elektor

31

CELLPHONE

If this technique has any shortcoming,
then it is the time involved; between
the first call and switching an out-
put or sending an SMS alert a delay
of between 90 and 180 seconds can
occur.

Call recognition

To avoid possible operation caused by
‘false’ calls (wrong numbers, unwanted
sales calls, etc.) we use two different
operating modes for evaluating calls
received (indicated as ‘TelTyp’ in the
software). The choice of Teltyp mode
is set using the switch S2-2, seen on
circuit diagram Figure 1 next to pin 27
(PC4) of the ATmega8, as follows:

1. TelTyp = On (S2-2 closed)

The calling mobile must have caller ID
enabled (in other words the call must
not come up as ‘Number Withheld’).
The remote switch reacts only to calls
from mobiles whose numbers are
stored on the SIM card of the mobile
associated with the remote switch.
Calls from unrecognised numbers are
ignored. The SMS status alert is sent
back to the number that called.

2. TelTyp = Off (S2-2 open)

Every call received in the 90-second
time window is counted. For extra
security, however, the device must be
called one time more often than when
TelTyp=On for the same function. This
is because it’s unlikely that an invalid
caller would ring more than once
within 90 seconds. So to switch Out-
put 1 two calls are required (and so on).
The SMS status alert is sent to the first
number appearing in the phone book
on the SIM card of the mobile attached
to the remote switch device.

Control functions

As already mentioned the switched
outputs (Outputs 1-3 on the sche-
matic in Figure 1) are controlled by
the number of telephone calls received.
The switching functions for the three
outputs are not the same, however:

1 call: Outputl is on each occasion
switched only briefly (relay RE1 oper-
ates for just one second).

2 calls: Output2 can be controlled in
one of two different ways, depend-
ing on how switch S2-1 on Pin 28/PC5
of the ATmega8 is set. If the switch
denoted in the software as ‘Exit2Typ’
is closed (Exit2Typ = On), the output

Table 1 • Typical Status-SMS with a GPS module connected

Status: TelTyprl Exit2Typ:0 Time:15mn Exitl:0 Exit2:l

Exit3 : 1 *GPS OK* 15:50:23 N52Q58.0674 E012Q48.3217

Message

Meaning

TelTyp : 1

Switch TelTyp is On

Exit2Typ : 0

Switch Output2Typ is Off

Time : 15mn

On Output 3 a switching time of 15 minutes has been set

Exitl : 0

Output 1 is enabled

Exit2 : 1

Output 2 is enabled

Exit3 : 1

Output 3 is enabled

*GPS OK*

GPS reception is operational. Data valid
("*GPS INVALID*" if reception is disturbed)

15 : 50 : 23

UTC time

N52Q58 . 0674

GPS coordinates: 52° 58.0674' Northerly latitude ("52 Degrees 58,0674
Minutes")

E0 12*^4 8 .3217

GPS coordinates: 1 2° 48.32 1 7' Easterly longitude

toggles or changes state on each acti-
vation. If switch S2-1 is open (Exit2Typ
= Off) then Exit2 behaves like Outputl
(RE2 then operates for one second).

3 calls: Output3 is switched on and
then off for the period set by the rotary
switch (SI). The following on periods
can be selected: 1, 5, 10, 15, 20, 30, 45,
60, 90 and 120 minutes.

4 calls: SMS status alert is generated
and sent.

Status and alarm reports

The status alert message provides
information about the switching state
of Outputl, 2 and 3 and the setting of
S2-1 and S2-2 (Exit2Typ and TelTyp).
Optionally the report can include infor-
mation about GPS coordinates. The
setting of TelTyp also determines to
whom the text message is sent (see
paragraph above on call recognition).
Connection of a GPS receiver module
is entirely optional. If you decide to
do this, the data sent from the GPS-
module is examined and if reception is
good enough to decode the geographi-
cal coordinates, these are included in
the text message. If the status of the
GPS module means the coordinates
are inexact but available, then these
are sent in the text along with details
on the quality of the coordinates. There
are various ways of converting the GPS
coordinates (see penultimate Web link
at end of article) or else you can enter
them direct into Google Maps to find
their position on the map (for exam-
ple, N51 00.9892 E005 50.3189 gives
the location of Elektor House).

A typical status text including GPS
data is shown and explained in

Table 1.

Sending an SMS text can also be trig-
gered via the alarm input at K2 in Fig-
ure 1. This input is protected by an
optoisolator and reacts to changes in
signal. Every change in signal level
during operation sets of an alarm. In
this situation an alarm alert is sent by
SMS to the first phonebook entry on
the SIM card of the mobile connected
to the remote switch. The text noti-
fies the alarm and if a GPS module is
connected, the location coordinates
as well.

Circuit and printed circuit board

The schematic (Figure 1) is extremely
straightforward since most functions
are handled in software within the
ATmega8. All the same the PCB itself
(Figure 2) is not exactly compact,
partly because we have not used sur-
face-mounted devices (SMDs) and also
because the AC mains (110 V/230 V)
section of the circuitry needs ade-
quate room for the relatively large
relay and interference-suppression
components.

Switches SI and S2 have already been
described. The reset switch S3 plays a
relatively crucial role here; as far as the
microcontroller is concerned, the set-
tings of switches SI and S2 become
valid only following the reset opera-
tion or applying power. Every change
to the settings of SI and S2 requires
a fresh reset to take effect!

LED D5 indicates reception of GPS
data (if a GPS module is connected to

32

elektor - 11/2008

Figure 2. The printed circuit board manages without SMDs. Almost half the surface area is taken up by the mains-voltage section with the relatively large relay and interference suppression components.

Mini-DIN connector K7): flashing light
denotes poor reception (inadequate
signal or interference) but continuous
illumination signals valid coordinates.
After switching-on or reset the LED
flashes rapidly for about two seconds
to indicate that the mobile be con-
nected is making a connection (which
can take up to 30 seconds or so). If the
LED remains unlit, the mobile is not
responding and the remote switch is
not working properly.

Sub-D connector K6 is provided for

making a serial connection to the
mobile, and since we are dealing
with RS-232 signals, the level changer
MAX232 (IC2) must not be omitted.
Test points are provided for the sig-
nals and operating voltages around
the serial interface in the form of solder
pins PI to P8. The programming inter-
face (ISP interface) for the microcon-
troller is taken out to connector pins
K8, although this will be needed only
if you choose to load different firmware
into the microcontroller.

The power supply for the circuitry can
be fed either to connector K1 or from
an external mains plug-in PSU (what
our American friends call a wall wart)
or else you can use the on-board bat-
tery supply of the car, boat, caravan,
etc. Any mains PSU will do (an unsta-
bilised one is fine) so long as it deliv-
ers at least 9 V. Make sure there is suf-
ficient power for other devices con-
nected (mobile and GPS); this means
you must have at least 1 A available.
Voltage regulation is handled by the

COMPONENTS LIST

Resistors

R1 / R3 / R5 / R7 / R9 / R1 1 = 1 kD5
R2,R4 = 1 OkD
R6 / R8 / R1 0 = IkQ
R1 2 = see text

R13 / R14 / R15 = 1 D/volt, 2W (see text)

Capacitors

Cl = 220 a/F 35V
C2, Cl 1 = lOOnF
C3 = 3jL/F3 50V
C4 / C5 / C6 / C7 / C8 = 1/iF 16V
C9,C1 0 = 22pF

Cl 2,C1 3,C1 4 = 0.1jL/F/ampere (see text)

Semiconductors

D1 = P6KE30A, TVS (30V/ 600W)

D2, D3 = SB320 or 1 N5820 (Schottky; 3A
/20V)

D4 = LED, red, low current, 3mm
D5 = LED, green, low current, 3mm
D6-D9 = LED, yellow, low current, 3mm
D1 0,D1 1 ,D1 2= 1N4148

T1,T2,T3 = BC337 (T092 case)

IC1 = L78S05CV (TO220 case)

IC2 = MAX232CPE+ (DIP16 case)

IC3 = ATMEGA8-1 6PU, DIP28 case, pro-
grammed, Elektor SHOP # 080324-41
OC1 = PC81 7X2J000F, optocoupler, DIP4
case

Inductor

LI = 40/iH 2A (e.g. EPCOS)

Miscellaneous

XI = 8-MHz quartz crystal (HC49 case)

RE1 ,RE2,RE3 = HRS4E-S (DC 5V)

K1 = DC adapter socket, PCB mounting
K2 = 2-way PCB screw terminal block, lead
pitch 5mm

K3-K5 = 2-way pinheader, lead pitch
2.54mm

K6 = 9-way sub-D plug (male), PCB mount
K7 = 6-way mini-DIN socket, PCB mount
K8 = 6-way SIL pinheader, lead pitch
2.54mm

JP1,JP2,JP3 = 2-way SIL pinheader, lead
pitch 2.54mm

51 = MCRH2AF-10R 10-way DIP rotary
encoder

52 = MCDS02 2-way DIL switch

53 = FSM4JH single-pole pushbutton, PCB
mount

FI = auto -resetting PTC fuse, 30V, sus-
tain current 1 . 1 A, activation current 2.2A,
e.g. Multifuse MF-R1 10-0-99 (Bourns) or
Polyfuse 30R1 10 (Littlefuse) or Polyswitch
RUEF1 10 (Tyco), ES-LP30-1 10 (ESKA) =
PFRA 1 1 0 (Reichelt.de)

PI -P8 = 1 mm dia. solder pin

1C sockets for IC2 (DILI 6), IC3 (DIL28),
OC1 (DIL6 used as DIL4)

Heatsink for IC1 (U profile, 25x1 5x20 mm,
1 7 K/W, slotted hole)

M3 screw, 1 0 mm, with nut (for securing
heatsink)

Blue transparent enclosure, 1 50x80x50
mm (LxWxH), e.q. Conrad Electronics #
522498

PCB, Elektor Shop # 080324-1 or kit incl.
PCB, # 080324-71

11/2008 - elektor

33

CELLPHONE

Firmware for hardware

The software for the GSM remote-controlled switch was written in
C, for which the free development environment WinAVR (release
200601 25) was used (this includes AVR-GCC, a version specially opti-
mised for Atmel-AVRs). The main task of the processor is to commu-
nicate using a serial interface with the modem in the mobile handset
connected. Basic functions such as recognising incoming calls, man-
aging the address book, etc. make use of a Hayes-compatible com-
mand set composed of AT commands that were formerly used widely
in PC modems. After connecting your mobile phone to the PC using a
serial data cable, controlling the mobile requires only a simple termi-
nal program — something that later on the microcontroller can take
care of.

Individual models of mobile phone may be programmed to recognise
additional commands outside the standard set. However, these are
deliberately not included here, as they are not usable with the majority
of handsets. While we were developing this project we became aware
that telephone manufacturers do not always stick to the rules laid
down. An example is the format in which a caller's telephone number
is displayed (CLIP): the Siemens C55 presents the data in inverted
commas.

Activating the telephone number display by terminal pro-
gram and signalling a call

Understandably it's impossible to look into every possible detail but
during the development process we did manage to verify the software
against several different models of phone.

Another consideration arises if a GPS module is to be connected: cur-
rent AVRs provide only a USART, making it necessary to control an ad-
ditional serial interface in software. In this case it's advantageous that
the GPS module transmits only data and also at a slow rate of 4,800
baud. As the data from the GPS module is repeated continuously
there is no need to buffer the characters received. It suffices to simply
wait until the required data set occurs, as and when it is required. In
this way the code for data reception is much simplified.

Sending an SMS text

A fair amount of effort is involved in sending a text message by mo-
bile telephone. Before the message can be passed to the mobile
for transmission it needs to be coded with the destination telephone

number and various other details as a PDU (Protocol Data Unit). It's
true that a few models of mobile can also accept the information in
plain text format but these are few and far between and their number
is dwindling. Once you have got to grips with PDUs, you can then
send SMS texts with every type of mobile without further restrictions.

To demonstrate how a PDU is formed we shall send the clas-
sic message "Hello World" to the German telephone number
+441 231 234567890. The telephone number is given in internation-
al notation like this: +<country codexarea code without leading
zero> <destination number>. For normal text messages (maximum
1 60 characters) only 7-bit ASCII characters can be used. You can find
details of the character set In the official publication GSM 03.38, which
describes how a PDU is made up. It is assumed that the number of the
messaging centre for texts is already programmed into the mobile. This
is the case if you currently can enter texts into your mobile and send
them without any other formalities. We will now use our terminal pro-
gram and enter two lines in order to send our SMS text message:

AT+CMGW=26

001 1 000F91 9421 1 332547698F00000AA0BC8329BFD065DDF72
3619

PDU for an SMS message

The first line is completed by pressing Return (CR+LF). The telephone
now responds with the symbol ">" to indicate that it is standing by.

You can now send the second line, which is ended with the control
code Ctrl-Z. The telephone then confirms receipt and tells you the
automatically generated reference number of the message if correctly
transmitted. This number would enable you to search the telephone's
memory for the notification, although generally this is not of any
interest.

Note that with this control sequence the mobile does not actually
transmit the text message but merely stores it. This is an advantage
during the test phase, since the order of events is fundamentally iden-
tical to actually transmitting, except that there is no cost involved and
you can read and check the messages on the mobile's display. Only
when you replace the AT command CMGW with CMGS is the mes-
sage sent to the phone immediately upon data entry.

Creating a PDU message

The digit following an AT command indicates the total number of
bytes in the line following. Here the first byte is always 00 if no text

exchange (SMSC: Short Message Service Centre) is indicated (and is
then not counted). The 26 bytes following afterwards are arranged as
follows:

5-V regulator IC1, which can take care
of higher surges from external battery
supplies. Fuse FI protects the circuitry,
assisted by suppressor coil LI, protec-
tion diode D1 and the two Schottky
diodes D2 and D3. FI is a self-healing
PTC fuse that resets itself on power-
down or when the fault is cleared
(manufacturer names: Multifuse, Poly-

fuse, Polyswitch etc.). D1 is a tran-
sient voltage suppressor diode (TVS).
The model used (PK6E30) behaves
like a 30-V zener diode and has the
ability to react extremely rapidly to
high-voltage peaks of short duration.
The two Schottky diodes prevent the
flow of reverse currents either side of
the voltage regulator. The 5 V oper-

ating voltage VRE ‘decoupled’ by D3
supplies the three relay stages. If you
don’t require all three outputs, the cor-
responding components can simply
be omitted from the PCB. The outputs
function like a switch. When the relay
contacts are closed, the two terminal
connections are linked straight through
and make a circuit for the connected

34

elektor - 11/2008

Byte (Hex) Meaning

1 1 Message Flags; contains details of how the message is

coded and how the telephone should react.

00 Reference number. Upon 00 the telephone naturally ap-

points a number for referencing the message and to be
able to respond to this particular number.

OF Number of digits in the target telephone number.

"491 231 234567890" consists of 15 (OFh) digits.

91 Telephone number, arranged in international notation.

94 21 13 32 54 76 98 F0 coded telephone number.

00 Protocol Identifier; always 00

00 Data Coding Scheme; always 00

AA Expiry time; message is valid for four days

0B Number of septets (not bytes) following with the actual

message text. The number corresponds to the total text
characters of the SMS text message. "Hello World" con-
sists of 1 1 (OBh) characters.

C8 32 9B FD 06 5D DF 72 36 19 Method of writing the bytes
of a message coded in septets.

Particular attention must be paid to the coding of the telephone
number and the actual text message. The telephone number is coded
relatively simply: first check whether the number of digits is even. If
not, an "F" is appended to the end of the digit sequence. Following
this every two pairs of digits are switched with one another.

See also http://www.gsm-modem.de/sms-pdu-mode.html and http://
www.developershome.com/sms/operatingMode.asp

Coding a text message involves more effort. In contrast to normal
practice elsewhere only seven (instead of eight) bits are used per
character. The seven bits used for each character are known as a
septet. However, the telephone always expects a byte (8 bits) to be

sent. To achieve this, the eighth bit (HSB) of the first byte is filled with
the LSB of the following byte. In the second byte there are now two
bits free, which are filled with bits from the third byte. This process of
transformation is carried out in a number of steps. These are tedious
but simple to understand, like this:

1 . First we convert individual symbols into their ASCII hex values.

2. These hex values are then transformed into binary digits, in which
the HSB is always 0 and omitted (since only the first 1 27 charac-

ters of the ASCII set are used).

3. The bits of the binary number are then mirrored, i.e. arranged in
reverse order.

Symbol

Hex

Binary (7 Bits)

mirrored

H

48

100 1000

00 01001

e

65

1 10 0101

10 1001 1

1

6C

1 10 1 100

00 1 101 1

1

6C

1 10 1 100

00 1 101 1

o

6F

110 1111

ii non

20

010 0000

00 00010

W

57

101 01 1 1

11 10101

o

6F

110 1111

ii non

r

72

111 0010

01 001 1 1

1

6C

1 10 1 100

oo non

d

64

1 10 0100

00 1001 1

4. The mirrored bits are written one after another as a bit sequence:

000100110100110011011001101 1 1 1 1101100000101 11010
1 1 1 1101101001 110011011001001 1

5. Onto this chain are added, on the right, as many zeros as neces-
sary to make up the total number of bits that can be divided by

8 without any remainder. For the sample text three filler bits are
required:

000100110100110011011001101 1 1 1 1101100000101 11010
1111101101001 1100110110010011000

6. The bit sequence is divided into bytes of 8 bits each.

7. Now each byte is mirrored again.

8. Each byte is represented in the hexadecimal system and
when written in sequence produces the coded information
C8329BFD065DDF72361 9.

Binary (8 bits)

mirrored

Hex

0001 001 1

1100 1000

C8

0100 1100

001 1 0010

32

1101 1001

1001 ion

9B

ion mi

mi noi

FD

onooooo

oooo ono

06

1011 1010

0101 1101

5D

mi ion

noi mi

DF

0100 mo

0111 0010

72

ono noo

ooi i ono

36

1001 1000

0001 1001

19

DC or AC load. As shown in the com-
ponent list, the values of the capaci-
tors and resistors used in the R-C net-
works that protect the relay contacts
from arcing must be matched to the
voltage and current flowing through
the contacts:

For capacitors C12 to C14 you should
allow around 0.1 /jF per amp of load

current. For example 2 A would require
200 nF. The capacitor should be rated
for the maximum voltage to be applied.
Mains voltage of 230 VAC would need
a capacitor rated at around 630 V DC.
If the contacts are to pass 230 V at 2 A
we would choose an MKS-4-630 type
of 220 nF value, for example. Several
solder points are provided for each

capacitor on the printed circuit board,
to enable you to use different form fac-
tors of capacitors.

For resistors R13 to R15 the best ones
to use are 2 -watt metal film types with
a value of about 1 Q per V of load volt-
age. For 230 V we would calculate
230 Q and actually use 220 Q/2 W).
The alarm input on K2 is isolated elec-

11/2008 - elektor

35

CELLPHONE

Figure 3. Sample PCB with components inserted, viewed from above.

trically from the alarm circuitry by
optocoupler OC1. As the LED inside
the optocoupler cannot be seen, we
have provided LED D6 to display the
logic level on the output of the opto-
coupler. An alarm is always triggered
by a change in logic level. If LED D6
lights after a reset (= quiescent state),
the alarm is given until it goes out (and
vice versa). The alarm input must be

switched in such a way that a cur-
rent of around 20 mA flows through
the LED in the optocoupler (in either
alarm or quiescent state). You need to
watch the polarity of the voltage too,
since the internal LED of the optocou-
pler can be damaged otherwise. The
LED in OC1 drops around 1.2 V, mean-
ing that resistor R12 is calculated as
follows:

(U K2 - 1.2 V) / 20 mA

So, if the voltage at K2 is 12 V for
example, you need a value for R12
of 10.8 V/20 mA = 540 Q (in fact you
would use 560 Q).

When inserting components into the
PCB (Figure 2) there are only two
details to note. The EPCOS inductor
(LI) used on our sample board does not
allow the connection leads to be made
too close to the end caps of the coil and
a minimum distance of 3 mm is indi-
cated. The second detail is the socket
for the optocoupler, which is produced
as a 4-pin DIL chip. Because 4-hole
sockets are not available everywhere,
we have used a 6-hole socket. You can
see in the photo (Figure 3) how the IC
is placed in this socket. Of course you
can solder the chip direct into the PCB
if you prefer, without using a socket.

Mobiles, Cellphones

The mobile connected to the PCB
requires an RS-232 interface. Permissi-
ble data rates are 4.8, 9.6, 19.2, 38.4 and

Figure 4. The connections for mobile handset, GPS module and plug-in mains unit are on the forward side of the PCB.

36

elektor - 11/2008

f ooddah
Gps Tracker

Status: TelTyp:0
Exit2Typ:l Time:20mn
Exi 1 1:0 Exit2:0 Fxit3:l
*GPS OK* 07:20:28
N51 a 00.9725
E005Q50.2700

Figure 5. Status acknowledgement by text message
looks like this on the mobile's display.

57.6 kilobaud. For the data format of
SMS Text messages you require some
understanding of the PDU language,
which is used on most mobile phones.
We tested the circuit with the widely
available Siemens models C55 ( +
data cable) and S35. Some other mod-
els might not work with our remote
switch, as inevitably some minor vari-
ants occur in control systems.

The mobile needs to be equipped with
a SIM card, switched on and sub-
scribed to a network. Ringtones are
best dispensed with and the keypad
lock activated. It is important to store
the telephone numbers used to initiate
the switch operation and send a text
not in the mobile’s memory but on the
SIM card itself. These telephone num-
bers must be entered in the interna-
tional notation (not in any other for-
mat), as shown in the inset on how to
create an SMS text message. Further-
more, the telephone numbers must
occupy the memory slots on the SIM
card in ascending order without any
gaps. The first authorised telephone
number (to which alarm and status
alerts may also be sent as required)
is entered in memory slot 1, the next
number then in slot 2 and so on. This
sequence is not the same as how the
numbers are indicated in the mobile’s
Phonebook list (probably sorted in
ascending numerical order). The mem-
ory slots can be checked and amended
either as they are being entered or else
subsequently — please check in the
mobile’s instruction book for details.
The mobile is connected using the
RS-232 protocol. Older models of

phone generally have this interface,
although they do need a suitable data
cable for linking the system connec-
tor on the mobile to the sub-D9 con-
nector K6 on the remote switch board.
If the data cable requires a supply of
volts, this can normally be taken from
the sub-D connector (‘vampire feed’)
with around 9.5 V on pins 4 and 7 (this
will require bridging JP1). Take time
to check the connections of the data
cable against Figure 1 to ensure it is
correct for you.

In some cases using this vampire
feed for the data cable will overload
the MAX232, with the mobile una-
ble to ‘talk’ to the remote switch. You
can confirm this by applying a reset
to pin 14 of IC2; if the signal level
does not reach around ± 10 V but hov-
ers around ±5 V you have problems.
Another indication is if the voltage on
pin 2 of IC2 measures less than about
9.5 V. If this is the case you will have
to supply volts into the data cable in
some other manner. It may also help if
you use 10-jl/F electrolytics for capaci-
tors C4 to C8. Plenty of solutions can
be found on the Web and you may end
up making your own data cable.

GPS connection

Including a GPS module is necessary
only if you actually require GPS data
in the alarm or status alerts (as in Fig-
ures 5 and 6). The module must pro-
vide data in NMEA format at 4,800
baud. The data can be handled at
either TTL or RS-232 level (around
±12 V). Only the data output (TxD) of
the module is used. All these require-
ments are met on most modules. The
set-up was tested by the author with
a GPS-41MLR module and then in the
Elektor labs with a Navilock 303R with
jumper JP2 set for RS-232 level. The
GPS module can be connected using
the standard Mini-DIN connector on
the Navilock to K7 on the switch or
else soldered direct onto the PCB. The
necessary power supply of 5 V (check
the data sheet of your GPS module to
see if it uses 5 V too) can be taken from
the PCB, for example on solder pins PI
or P2 (ground on pins P3 and P4).

If a module using TTL level is con-
nected to K7 then jumper JP3 must
be set (under no circumstances can
both JP2 and JP3 be set at the same
time!). If connecting TxD from the mod-
ule direct to the PCB, either TTL or
RS-232 level can be fed in (but never

Figure 6. This shows an SMS alarm report being received,
with GPS data included.

both simultaneously). The direct con-
nection passes through JP2 (for RS-
232 operation) or JP3 (for TTL level),
and onwards either JP2 to pin 8 of IC2
(designated ‘RS-232’) or else from JP3
to pin 4 of IC3 (labelled ‘TTL’). In each
case the other pin of JP2 or JP3 is then
isolated and out of circuit. The heading
photo shows the remote switch con-
nected to a Siemens mobile and the
Navilock-GPS Mouse. The red wire
of the data cable is for charging the
mobile’s battery ( + 5 V to pin 1 on the
mobile connector).

( 080324 - 1 )

Internet Links (Google

can translate pages for you)

WinAVR:

http://sourceforge.net/projects/winavr

AT command set for GSM/GPRS
telephones:

www.communica.se/multitech/gprs_at.pdf

Technical specification GSM 03.38:

www.mobilecity.cz/doc/GSM_03. 38_5.3-0.pdf

Technical data on mobile handset
models:

www.mikrocontroller.net/articles/Handy
(Hersteller = manufacturer, Systemstecker =
system connector, Ladespannung = charging
voltage, nur = only, Schnittstelle = interface,
Besonderheit = special feature).

Online PDU Encoder and Decoder:

http://twit88.

com/home/utility/sms-pdu-encode-decode

Online coordinate conversion:

www. cache-test-dummies,
de/tools/koordinatenumrechnung

Author's own project page:

www.blafusel.de/misc/mc_gsm.html

11/2008 - elektor

37

AUDIO

High-end with remote control

design: Frank Link (Germany)

Many audio enthusiasts still prefer a good potentiometer for adjusting the audio volume. It would be
even nicer if this potentiometer could also be controlled remotely. This is possible with a high-quality
motorised potentiometer from Alps and a handful of electronics, as is described here.

Controlling the volume in high-quality
audio equipment is always a critical
part of the audio path. The potentiom-
eter that is to be used for this has to
be first-rate to give excellent match-
ing between the two channels and at
the same time it needs to function for
a long time without generating any
crackling or other noise. These days
it is more common that electronic
potentiometer-ICs and resistor net-
works with relays are used, but these
solutions are rather involved. Many
audio enthusiasts still swear by a
good ‘old-fashioned’ potentiometer.
Whenever you start looking for a good
specimen you will quickly arrive at the

Alps brand. Alps truly make excellent
potentiometers, both without and with
motor control. The latter is very nice
to enable you to conveniently control
the volume remotely from your listen-
ing position. In this article we present
a small circuit that can control such an
Alps motorised potentiometer using a
standard RC-5 remote control. In addi-
tion to turn the volume up or down the
circuit also has 5 outputs for switching
between different input channels.

One 1C

Not counting the voltage regulator IC,
the entire circuit contains only one IC

that takes care of all the operations: an
ATmega from Atmel, which is respon-
sible for decoding the RC-5 signals
and driving the potentiometer (and
the optional input relays). Apart from
that, there isn’t much to the schematic,
shown in Figure 1 , but we will never-
theless walk through it.

IC1 is the brains in this circuit, an
ATmega8L, which is running here at
a clock frequency of 4 MHz, thanks to
crystal XI. An IR receiver module, type
SFH51 10-36, is connected to port PD7.
This receives the signals from the RC-
5 remote control, polishes them into
‘clean’ digital pulses and then passes

38

elektor - 11/2008

+5V

O

JT

^lOOn

SFH51 10-36

K4

ry

0

7-

0

CM

vcc

AVCC

— AREF

PDO (RXD)
PD1 (TXD)
PD2 (INTO)

IC1

PC6 (RESET)
PC5 (ADC5/SCL)
PC4 (ADC4/SDA)
PC3 (ADC3)
PC2 (ADC2)
PCI (ADC1)
PCO (ADCO)

PD3 (inti) ATmega8L-16PU

+5VO

PD4 (XCK/TO)

PBO (ICP)

PD5 (T1)

CM

-

PB1 (OC1A)

PD6 (AINO)

o

C/3

(_)

C/3

PB2 (SS/OC1B)

PD7 (AIN1)

O

t PB3 (MOSI/OC2)

V X

_i

<

_j

<

PB4 (MISO)

X

X

PB5 (SCK)

GND

1 —

CQ

CL

co

CQ

CL

GND

CO

C5

CD

H

F

CM

CM

C4

K6

22*pF 4MHzT?2p

* T A

28

27

26

25

24

23

14

15

16

17

18

K1

19

+5V

Bi-colour

9VDC

K5

rV

0

0

9VAC

071135-11

Figure 1. The schematic for the remote volume control. An ATmega8 does all the work here.

them on to the controller for further
processing. The software has been
written so that the processor reacts to
RC-5 commands from a remote control
from a tuner/amplifier (receiver), RC-5
system 17 (decimal).

Port pins PD2 through PD6 are made
available externally via connector K3
for switching the pre-amplifier inputs.
Driving the motor of the Alps potenti-
ometer is done from ports PBO through
PB5 and PCO through PC5. Six outputs
from each of the ports B and C are con-
nected in parallel to provide sufficient
drive current for the motor (this also
reduces the number of parts).

The maximum current through the
motor when it is stalled is 150 mA,
according the Alps data sheet (100 mA
when rotating normally). The absolute
maximum current per I/O pin is 40 mA,
according to Atmel. So by connecting 6
pins in parallel more than 200 mA can
be delivered.

To indicate that the motor is turning,
a dual-colour LED (Dl) is connected in
parallel with the motor. Depending on
the direction of rotation the LED will
illuminate red or green. The current
through the LED is about 10 mA, this
is therefore not a problem for the driver
stage in the microcontroller.

You can make an RS232 connection
via K2 (which is connected to PDO and
PD1) for debugging or other purposes
(however, you will have to write the
software routine to do this yourself!).
The power supply consists of a bridge
rectifier, a 5-V regulator (IC3) and a few
capacitors. For the power supply you
can use a transformer, a suitable DC
voltage already present in the ampli-
fier or a mains adapter.

Practical matters

Figure 2 shows the PCB layout for this
circuit.

The board is split into two parts, one
for the processor section and one for
the potentiometer. For the latter, all
the connections for the potentiome-
ter are implemented as a row of pins.
Separate ground connections have also
been added in case you would like to
add additional screening (K7/K8, for
each channel separately). There is also
a separate connection for the screen of
the motor section, implemented as a
separate PCB pin.

For the motorised potentiometer we
assumed the version with the connec-

tions directly on the motor part (solder
eyelets). On the PCB, next to the motor,
are two PCB pins to which the motor
can be connected with two short wires.
Next to that is the actual connection
for the motor (K9), which receives the
drive signal from the microcontroller on
the controller PCB (Kl).

Indicator LED Dl is connected next to
K9 to a pair of connections. The LED
can optionally be connected with two
wires if it is to be mounted behind a
front panel.

On the controller PCB, K5 is the con-
nection for the power supply voltage.
The regulated 5 V is also made avail-

able (K6) as an extra. The five signals
for driving, for example input relays
of a preamplifier, are available at con-
nector K3. For this purpose the con-
troller decodes buttons 1 through 5
and channel/program up/down (com-
mands 32 and 33 decimal, respec-
tively), so that you can either select
an input directly or sequentially step
through the inputs in either direction.
To make things easy, pins 1 through 5
of K3 correspond to buttons 1 through
5 of the remote control.

The connections for the IR receiver
(IC2) that is used here, is via a 3-way
row of connections. So you can either

11/2008 - elektor

39

AUDIO

Figure 2. The circuit is built on two printed circuit boards, one for the electronics and one for the potentiometer.

elect to fit IC2 directly on the PCB or
connect it with a short length of cable
to a connector (but make sure you get
the polarity correct!).

Software

The firmware for this circuit is built
up in modules. The source code for
the various hardware parts can be
found in separate files. So, for exam-
ple, motor. c contains the various func-
tions for switching the motor on and
off. In buttons.c are all the definitions
and functions for the RC-5 codes from
the remote control.

The design of the program is quite sim-
ple. An interrupt routine takes care of
receiving the RC-5 bits. This routine
also checks whether the received code
conforms to the RC-5 standard. If this
is the case, then the received code is
stored so that it can be used for fur-

Code-tangle

Not everyone will have a remote control from a Philips receiver or tu-
ner (or another brand that uses RC-5) handily available to use for this
application. Fortunately there are cheap alternatives in the form of a
pre-programmed universal remote control. The author had a closer
look at a type 'EuroSky 8' which is sold by Conrad, among others, for

about 14 Euro (they call it a 'Universal Remote Control MF-8 Black').
This seems to work well with most devices, although the range could
have been a little greater. However, it turned out that the RC-5 system
address 1 7 (dec.), which can be programmed for device AMP (enter
code 1 1 1 2 on the remote control) did not work entirely according
to the standard. The volume buttons, channel buttons and stand-by
button proved to work correctly. These are very important for us, but
the operation of the other functions of an audio device requires the
number buttons. Unfortunately the code that is transmitted for these
buttons is a complete surprise. While we expected code 1 for button
1 , code 2 for button 2, etc. something completely different was trans-
mitted instead (see the following table).

Button

EuroSky 8 (AMR code 1112)

RC5 (Tuner)

Address (hex.)

Command

Address (hex.)

Command

1

11

3F

11

01

2

OC

3F

11

02

3

17

3F

11

03

4

12

3F

11

04

5

05

3F

11

05

The author noticed this too and he adapted the software in the con-
troller accordingly. However, this results in problems when we use a
remote control which does transmit the correct codes. This is why the
Elektor lab has modified the controller software in such a way that it
only reacts to the correct commands of system address 1 7. For the
tests we used a universal remote control from Philips (type SBC RU
865, code 0001 for TUNER). Using this, the circuit works as expected;
other universal remote controls should also work well with this circuit.
To check whether a remote control transmits the correct codes, you
can use the circuit from the Elektor October 2001 issue (IR Code Ana-
lyser, article number 01 0029). If you would like to make your own
simple remote control (without microcontroller) you can have a look
whether an SAA3010, PT221 1 or HT6230 can be obtained from so-
mewhere. One example for such a circuit is in the December 2003
issue (Small RC5 Transmitter, article number 024034).

40

elektor - 11/2008

ther processing by the main program.
If the code is incorrect the value ‘0’ is
stored. This causes the main program
to ignore this code.

After the initialisation of the vari-
ous peripherals comes the main pro-
gram loop of the firmware. This loop
is repeated indefinitely. Once a valid
RC-5 code has been received it is split
into device code, key code and the
toggle bit. The software subsequently
checks, based on a table stored in
EEPROM, whether an RC-5 code has
been received that is relevant to this
circuit.

By the way, these codes can be freely
selected. For this you need to change
the table in buttons. c and recompile
the firmware and program the control-
ler again. For the latter you will need
AVR-Studio or WinAVR.

When the received code matches one
of the codes in the EEPROM, the micro-
controller will execute the correspond-
ing command.

The software contains also a second

COMPONENTS LIST

Resistors

R1,R3 = lOkQ
R2 = 82Q
R4 = 390Q

PI = Alps 1 0kf2 logarithmic stereo motor
potentiometer (e.g. RK271 1 2MC)

Capacitors

01,07,08 = lOOnF ceramic, lead pitch
5mm

02, 06 = 1 OyL/F 63V, radial, lead pitch
2.5mm

03 = lOOpF, lead pitch 5mm

04, 05 = 22pF, lead pitch 5mm

09 = 220jL/F 25 V radial, lead pitch 2.5mm

C10-C13 = 22nF ceramic, lead pitch 5mm

Semiconductors

D1 = 2-pin dual-LED

IC1 = ATMEGA8-1 6PU, programmed,
Elektor SHOP # 071 135-41
IC2 = SFH51 1 0-36 (possibly via 3-way SIL
pinheader)

IC3 = 7805

Miscellaneous

B1 = B80C1500 (80Vpiv, 1.5A) (round
case)

K1 ,K6,K9 = 2-way SIL pinheader
K2,K7,K8 = 4- way SIL pinheader
K3 = 7- way SIL pinheader
K4,K5 = 2-way PCB screw terminal block,
lead pitch 5mm
XI = 4MHz quartz crystal
PCB, ref. 071 135-1 from www.thepcbshop.
com

Controller software: free download
071 135-1 1 .zip from www.elektor.com

operating mode, where the fifth out-
put is replaced with an on/off function
(standby, command 12 decimal).

( 071135 - 1 )

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11/2008 - elektor

41

PROJECTS MICROCONTROLLERS

Monitoring
infrared sources
with the
Mega88

102

I*

.%» V

■ I

Udo Jiirsz and Wolfgang Rudolph (Germany)

In this instalment, we add a miniature infrared camera with integrated image processing capability to
the ATM1 8 system. This makes it possible to identify the positions of up to four infrared sources, display
the positions on a monitor, and output their coordinates. Assembling a high-tech camera system of this
sort is certainly affordable if you take advantage of mass-produced high-tech toys.

When you hear the term ‘hot spot’, you
probably think of a wireless Internet
access point, but this term also has
other meanings. In a nuclear power
plant it means a tiny, highly radioac-
tive particle; in a database it means a
data element; and in geology it means
a centre of volcanic activity.

However, the hot spots we are have in

mind here are literally hot locations.
Anything that is hot emits infrared
radiation. There are three generally rec-
ognised classes of infrared radiation:

• IR-A covers the range from 0.78 /dm
to 1.4 jL/m;

• IR-B covers the range from 1.4 pm to
3 pm;

• IR-C covers the range from 3 pm to
1 pm.

The terms ‘thermal radiation’ and
‘infrared radiation’ are often confused
with each other. Thermal radiation is
the electromagnetic radiation emit-
ted by a body as a function of its tem-
perature. Infrared radiation occupies

42

elektor - 11/2008

Figure 1. The Nintendo Wii remote control unit.

Figure 2. These screws in the battery compartment must be removed.

only a small portion of the total ther-
mal radiation spectrum. For the pur-
poses of the present project, the IR-A
range is especially interesting because
we intend to use a tiny camera that
is fitted with an optical filter so it can
only see light in the range of 850 nm to
920 nm, and which has integrated sig-
nal processing circuitry Such a compo-
nent can provide the basis for innumer-
able applications, such as a fire alarm,
an intrusion alarm, an object tracker,
a gesture-controlled input device, an
instrument for measuring the speed of
objects, and much more. But how can
you get your hands on this sort of high-
tech camera?

Interesting sensors

By the end of 2007, Nintendo had
already sold more than 15 million Wii

game consoles. As a result, the asso-
ciated remote game controller (Wii
Remote), often referred to as ‘Wii-
mote’ (Figure 1), has become a very
widely used computer input device
[1]. Among other things, it includes
an infrared camera with a resolu-
tion of 1024 x 768 pixels and built-in
hardware blob tracking for up to four
objects at the same time. This CMOS
camera sensor, which is made by Pix-
Art Technologies [2], is in a different
league than your average PC -compat-
ible webcam. The Wiimote also con-
tains a three-axis acceleration sensor
(Analog Devices ADX330 [3]) with a
resolution of 8 bits and a measuring
range of ± 3 g. The remote control unit
is a fascinating piece of technology,
and on top of this it is quite inexpen-
sive. You can pick one up from various

dealers or online auctions for less than
£ 20 (€ 25) or at least you could before
this article was published!

Before you can start properly disman-
tling the unit, you have to expose the
goodies. Start by removing the two tri-
wing screws in the battery compart-
ment (Figure 2). This type of screw
head is sometimes called ‘Y-shaped’,
or you may encounter it under its inter-
national designation: POO-WC45. You
can purchase a suitable screwdriver at
your local home improvement shop, or
you can buy a full set of bits at a dis-
count supermarket. In the Elektor lab,
we discovered that an ordinary cheap
screwdriver with a shaft diameter of
around 2 mm can also do the job if you
file the edges off slightly.

The first two screws are easy to
remove, but the two lower screws,
which are recessed, are more difficult.

Figure 3. PCB ahoy!

Figure 4. Camera sensor and IR filter.

11/2008 - elektor

43

MICROCONTROLLERS

Figure 5. Desoldering the pins is not difficult.

Figure 6. The solder tabs of the sheet-metal screen are a bit more stubborn.

Here it helps to enlarge the holes first
with a drill in order to provide bet-
ter access. You can use a flat-blade
screwdriver to release the two plastic
locks at the upper end of the remote
control, after which the case is open
(Figure 3).

After you tip the board out of the case,
you will see the infrared sensor at the
upper end on the bottom of the board
(Figure 4). The case of the remote con-
trol unit has a filter insert that screens
the sensor against visible light. With
the filter, the maximum sensitiv-
ity lies in the range of approximately
850-920 nm.

With a bit of caution and careful work,
you can unsolder the sensor undamaged.
For this purpose, the authors sawed off
the end of the PCB before unsoldering
the sensor. In the Elektor lab we man-
aged without sawing the board in two,
as you can see from the photos. As the
Wii PCB is assembled using lead-free
solder, you should first apply ‘normal’

(lead-based) solder to all of the sensor
pins and screen tabs before you start
desoldering. Don’t be too stingy with the
solder, but on the other hand don’t ‘bake’
the solder joints, as otherwise you may
overheat the sensor.

After all the pins have been properly
treated with solder, you can begin des-
oldering. Start by using a solder sucker
or solder braid to remove the solder
from all of the sensor’s solder joints.
The eight signal and power pins can
be freed completely in this way. Now
the sensor is only held in place by
the two solder tabs of its sheet-metal
screen (Figure 5). They can also be
desoldered. While heating the solder
joint, use a screwdriver to cautiously
lever up the sensor on the component
side (Figure 6). Then repeat this proc-
ess with the tab on the other side.
With a few back-and-forth repetitions,
you can quickly pull the sensor free
from the board (Figure 7). The screen
(sheet metal enclosure) of the sensor

must be left in place, as otherwise it
will quickly and permanently turn into
‘dead silicon’.

If you leave the rest of the remote con-
trol board undamaged when removing
the sensor, the remainder of the cir-
cuitry will still function normally. What
you have left over then is an interest-
ing Bluetooth device with an accelera-
tion sensor, for which you can probably
think of some useful applications.

PCB

In order to use the IR camera sensor
with the ATM18 board, you need a bit
of simple circuitry (Figure 8), which
can be built on a small PCB (Figure 9).
A 25-MHz crystal oscillator (CGI) pro-
vides the sensor clock signal (CLK).
The crystal oscillator can be powered
directly from the +5-V supply voltage
of the ATM 18 board via PCB connector
K2 (with the voltage decoupled by Cl),
but the camera sensor (IR1) requires an

Figure 7. The unsoldered camera sensor.

Figure 8. The circuit for connecting the camera sensor.

44

elektor - 11/2008

operating voltage of approximately 3.3
V. This is obtained by wiring two sili-
con diodes in series (D1 and D2, type
1N4148) to reduce the +5-V level on Cl
to around 3.3-3. 5 V on C2. The obliga-
tory pull-up resistors for the I 2 C bus are
also located on the PCB. Here this bus
operates with 3.3-V signal levels. This is
compatible with the 5-V operating volt-
age of the Mega88 because the active
signal level on the bus lines is obtained
by pulling them to ground, while the
high level is obtained by switching
the output pins to the high-impedance
state. The 3.3-V level is far enough
above the switching threshold voltage

the pins as Ground (two pins), +3.3 V,
SCL, SDA, and three other unknown
signals. Two of them were quickly
identified as the clock input and the
Reset signal. The function of the third
pin remained unclear. Naturally, after
all this research a colleague sent us the
address of the website at http://kako.
com/neta/2007-001/2007-001.html,
which describes the pin assignment
of the sensor (Figure 10). That’s how
it goes - but at least this information
matched our findings. The rest was
just a matter of routine effort. After
we built a prototype, the ATM18-12C
tester (our next project - stay tuned!)

I 2 C

The nature of the l 2 C bus and how to use will be described in future instalments of the
ATM1 8 series of articles. Here we only want to briefly note that the l 2 C bus is a serial data
transmission bus consisting of two lines: SDA (data) and SCL (clock). Data can be transmit-
ted in both directions: from the microcontroller to the peripheral devices, and from the pe-
ripheral devices to the microcontroller. Several devices can be controlled via the bus. For this
purpose, each l 2 C-device has an address that is sent when a link is established.

(2.5 V) for reliable data transfer.

The optical sensor from the Wiimote
is a ‘system on chip’ (SOC) device
designed by PixArt as an application-
specific IC for tracking multiple objects
(‘multi-object tracking sensor’) that
includes an integrated signal proc-
essor in addition to the CMOS image
sensor. The signal processor con-
stantly searches for the brightest spots
and determines their coordinates. Up
to four bright objects (‘blobs’) can be
recognised and tracked concurrently.
The sensor is also sensitive to visible
light if the filter is not used, but this
capability is not used here.

Communication

The I 2 C interface makes communica-
tion between the sensor and the micro-
controller relatively easy. The camera
generates an (X,Y) coordinate set for
each blob within its field of view of
1024 x 768 pixels and sends this data
via the interface for further process-
ing. The only question now is how
this works, because Nintendo is totally
silent on this subject. We started by
using a logic analyser to record the
data traffic between the master and
slave devices on the I 2 C bus. After
around two hours, we had a clear
understanding of how the module is
initialised and how to read the data
from it. We identified the signals on

once again proved its worth in the first
functional tests. The slave address of
the Wiimote IR sensors is OxBO.

Software

The source code of the software in C
(Code Vision AVR) and Basic (Bas-
com AVR) is available on the Elektor
website. The C project ATM18_Wii_
Remote _IR_Sensor demonstrates the
use of the sensor with the ATM18.
It utilises the internal I 2 C unit of the
Mega88, which means that the pin
assignments are fixed: the data line

(SDA) is on PC4, while the clock line

(SCL) is on PC5. Two additional lines
must be connected for the supply volt-
age. If the LCD module is connected,
it will display the blob coordinates
detected by the sensor.

The ATM 18 also outputs the blob posi-
tions in the form of four pairs of values
(X,Y) on the US ART interface, with the
format

‘X1,Y1,X2,Y2,X3,Y3,X4,Y4<CRLF>’

This string is output repeatedly. The
value of X can range from 0 to 1023,
while the value of Y can range from
0 to 767. If X = 1023 and Y = 1023,
this means that the associated blob
is not active.

The program ‘Wii-Blob-Track’, which is
also available on the Elektor website,

Figure 9. PCB for using the sensor with the ATIVI18.

COMPONENTS LIST

Resistors

R1,R2 = 2kD2
R3 = 22kD

Capacitors

Cl ,C2 = 10/+ 25V
C3 = lOOnF

Semiconductors

Dl, D2 = 1N4148
CGI = 25MHz oscillator module
IR1 = Wii Infrared imaqe sensor (see
text)

Miscellaneous

K1 , K2 = 2-way SIL header
PCB, order code 080358-1 from Elektor
SHOP Free artwork download from
www.elektor.com

Figure 10. Lab prototype of the PCB with the camera sensor.

Figure 11. Sensor pin assignment:
Pin 1 = V cc (+3.3V)

Pins 2 and 3 = GND (ground)
Pin 4 = not used
Pin 5 = SCL (l 2 C)

Pin 6 = SDA (l 2 C)

Pin 7 = CLK (25 MHz)

Pin 8 = Reset

11/2008 - elektor

45

MICROCONTROLLERS

+5V

GND

DATA

CLK

LCD 20x4

□□□□□

□□□□□

□□□□□

□□□□□

080358 - 13

Figure 12. Connecting the sensor and LCD board to the ATJV11 8 board. Here the LCD is connected to PD5 (clock) and PD6 (data).

can be run on a PC under Windows to
display the recognised hot spot posi-
tions. This program receives the X,Y
coordinates from the ATM 18 board and

converts them into graphic form. Any-
one who has ever tried to determine
the position of an object from a camera
image can appreciate the clever sim-

plicity of this Wiimote-based solution,
and especially its excellent cost/per-
formance ratio.

You can test the operation of the unit
by wandering around the room with a
lit cigarette lighter in your hand while
someone logs your travels, or you can
fit an IR LED and battery on the back
of your pet cat and observe the move-
ments of your experimental feline sub-
ject in full darkness.

Bascom example

As usual, we also developed a Bascom
application program that provides func-
tions similar to the basic functions of
the C program. We also wrote a specific
property monitoring application for use
with the sample Bascom program.
Unlike the C program, the Bascom pro-
gram does not use the hardware I 2 C
interface, but instead creates an equiv-
alent function in software. This means
that you can use any desired set of pins
for the I 2 C bus. In our case, we use the
same pins as for the C program.

The microcontroller sends several
bytes to the sensor for initialisation.
After this, date is read out at regular
intervals in sets of 16 bytes. Each blob
requires three bytes. As each coordi-

Listing

Sensor data processing with Bascom

' ATM18 CCD sensor
' I2C : SCL = PC5, SDA = PC4

$regfile = "m88def.dat"

$crystal = 16000000
Baud = 38400

Dim Slave As Byte
Dim Slaverd As Byte
Dim D1 As Byte
Dim D2 As Byte
Dim Din (16) As Byte
Dim N As Byte
Dim XI As Word
Dim Y1 As Word
Dim X2 As Word
Dim Y2 As Word
Dim X3 As Word
Dim Y3 As Word
Dim X4 As Word
Dim Y4 As Word
Dim Xyl As Integer
Dim Xy2 As Integer
Dim Xy3 As Integer

Declare Sub Send2bytes
Declare Sub Sensorinit
Declare Sub Readsensor
Declare Sub Convertdata
Config Portb = Output

Config Scl = Porte. 5
Config Sda = Porte. 4
I2cinit

Config I2cdelay = 15
' I2C sensor address
Slave = &HB0
Slaverd = &HB1

Print "ATM 18 I2C_Wii_IR_Sensor"
Sensorinit

Do

Readsensor

Convertdata

Print

"PI

\\

+ Str

(xl)

+ ",

" +

Str

(yl)

Print

"P2

\\

+ Str

(x2)

+ ",

" +

Str

(y2)

Print

"P3

w

+ Str

(x3 )

+ ",

" +

Str

(y3 )

Print

"P4

\\

+ Str

(x4)

+ ",

" +

Str

(y4 )

Xyl =

XI + ‘

Y1

Xyl =

Xyl

+

X2

Xyl =

Xyl

+

Y2

Xyl =

Xyl

+

X3

Xyl =

Xyl

+

Y3

Xyl =

Xyl

+

X4

Xyl =

Xyl

+

Y4

Print

Xyl

Xy3 =

Xy2

-

Xyl

Xy2 =

Xyl

Xy3 =

Abs (xy3 )

If Xy3 >10 Then
Print "**********"
Portb .0=1
Else

Portb .0=0
End If

46

elektor - 11/2008

Figure 13. Coordinate processing by the PC program. Up to
four 'blobs' can be shown concurrently.

nate is a 10-bit value, the eight lower-
order bits of each value are transmit-
ted in one byte, while the two higher-
order bits of the X and Y coordinates
are stuffed into the third byte. After all
the bits have been rearranged prop-
erly, you have four sets of (X,Y) coor-
dinates. They are transmitted via the
serial interface to a terminal emulator
program at a speed of 38,400 baud.

ATM 18 I2C_Wii_IR_Sensor
PI 66, 67

P2 813, 228
P3 774, 332

P4 722, 113

The ATM18 project at Computenclub 2

ATM18 is a joint project of Elektor and Computenclub 2 ( www.cczwei.de ) in collaboration
with Udo Jursz, the editor in chief of www.microdrones.de. The latest developments and
applications of the ATM1 8 are presented by Computenclub 2 member Wolfgang Rudolph
in the CC 2 -tv programme broadcast on the German NRW-TV channel. The ATM1 8-AVR
board with the IR camera was described in Instalment 23 of CC 2 -tv, which was broad-
cast on 1 8 September 2008.

CC 2 -tv is broadcast live by NRW-TV via the cable television network in North Rhine-Westphalia
and as a LiveStream programme via the Internet ( www.nrw.tv/home/cc2 ). CC 2 -tvis also
available as a podcast from www.cczwei.de and - a few days later - from sevenlood.de.

The program constantly monitors the
‘bright spots’ to see whether they
change. If they do, an alarm signal is
output on PBO, and it can be used to
drive the ULN2003. This could be con-
nected to a siren, a fire extinguisher, or
some sort of pyrotechnical system. If
you want to protect your art collection,
for instance, all you need is four infra-
red LEDs that are constantly observed
by the sensor. A checksum is formed
from the set of eight coordinates. If it
changes from the value of the previ-
ous measurement by more than 10, an
alarm is generated. This can happen if,
for example, a thief passes through one
of the invisible infrared beams or uses

a fishing rod to drop a line through a
skylight and snag one of your Picassos
that is protected by the IR system.
Now that we’ve laid the groundwork,
we look forward with considerable
anticipation to applications developed
by Elektor readers.

( 080358 - 1 )

Internet Links

[1 ] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wii_Remote

[2] www.pixart.com.tw

[3] www.analog.com/en/mems-and-sensors/
imems-accelerometers/adxl330/products/
product.html

Waitms 200
Loop

Waitms 30
End Sub

Sub Send2bytes
I2cstart
I2cwbyte Slave
I2cwbyte D1
I2cwbyte D2
I2cstop
End Sub

Sub Sensorinit

D1

= &H3 0

D2

= &H0 1

D1

= &H3 0

D2

= &H0 8

D1

= &H0 6

D2

= &H9 0

D1

= &H0 8

D2

= &HC0

D1

= &H1A

D2

= &H4 0

D1

= &H3 3

D2

= &H3 3

Waitms 100
End Sub

Send2bytes : Waitms 10
Send2bytes : Waitms 10
Send2bytes : Waitms 10
Send2bytes : Waitms 10
Send2bytes : Waitms 10
Send2bytes : Waitms 10

Sub Readsensor
I2cstart
I2cwbyte Slave
D1 = &H3 6
I2cwbyte D1
I2cstop
Waitms 1
I2cstart

I2cwbyte Slaverd
For N = 1 To 15

I2crbyte Din(n) , Ack
Next N

I2crbyte Din (16) , Nack

I2cstop

Sub Convertdata

XI

=

Din (4) And &H30

XI

—

XI * 16

XI

=

XI + Din (2 )

Y1

=

Din (4) And &HC0

Y1

—

Y1 * 4

Y1

=

Y1 + Din ( 3 )

X2

—

Din (7) And &H30

X2

=

X2 * 16

X2

=

X2 + Din ( 5 )

Y2

=

Din (7) And &HC0

Y2

=

Y2 * 4

Y2

=

Y2 + Din (6)

X3

—

Din (10) And

&H3 0

X3

=

X3 * 16

X3

—

X3 + Din ( 8 )

Y3

=

Din (10) And

&HC0

Y3

=

Y3 * 4

Y3

=

Y3 + Din ( 9 )

X4

—

Din (13) And

&H3 0

X4

=

X4 * 16

X4

=

X4 + Din ( 11 )

Y4

=

Din (13) And

&HC0

Y4

—

Y4 * 4

Y4

—

Y4 + Din ( 12 )

End Sub
End

11/2008 - elektor

47

ELECTRIC BICYCLE REVIEW

Lazy on the

'DIY' e-bike

Thijs Beckers (Elektor Netherlands)

We wouldn't be Elektor if we didn't do a little experimenting with e-bikes, which have
become popular in recent times. But an off the shelf contraption is not nearly as much fun as
one which we have to build ourselves. So, on the look-out for DIY kits. And where would you
find one of those? Exactly: eBay!

Electronics is still hot! Witness the Segway and the ever
increasingly frequent appearance on the street of bicycles
with an auxiliary electric motor. A Segway may be a bit
difficult to build yourself, but changing a wheel (because
it is hardly more than that) is not really a big deal for most
people. So, get started with the DIY electric bike kit!

Dear bought and far fetched...

...are dainty for ladies, at least that is how the saying goes.
The kit that we ordered for this review is manufactured in
China. It is a package containing a motor driver/controller
circuit, a set of handbrakes with switch, an accelerator han-
dle, a pedal sensor and a wheel with built-in motor.

The package finally arrived at our lab via a German
importer, where, after having travelled half-way around
the world it is mounted on a second-hand bicycle that was
hurriedly acquired from somewhere for this purpose. The
wheel, with regards to its diameter (24 inch), is not quite
right for this bike, but that won't spoil the fun.

Technology

From the three power cables that leave the controller box
and go to the motor we concluded that we are dealing with
a brushless motor. Although the XLR plug for the connec-
tion to the batteries is of reasonable quality, the plugs that
connect to the motor are unfortunately not the best quality.
There is a not inconsiderable chance that these will burn
out after a while...

Inside the controller enclosure we find an ATmega48Vl 0,
an 8-bit AVR microcontroller with 8 k of in-system-prog ram-
mable Flash ROM. There is a strong indication the header
on the board is suitable for 'updating' (dare we say hack-
ing?) of the controller.

There are also six substantial, N-channel MOSFETs from
STMicroelectronics, type P75NF75, which are rated for as
much as 80 amps.

The enclosure is made from one piece of extruded alumin-
ium and has a cover at both ends. The power MOSFETs are
clamped, with electrical isolation, against one side of the
enclosure so that they can dissipate their heat. During our

The kit contains a wheel
with built-in motor, two
handles with built-in
switch, a sensor for the
movement of the pedals,
an accelerator handle and
a controller.

48

elektor - 11/2008

test rides, for which we put the circuit and batteries in pan-
niers to keep things simple, the controller enclosure became
quite warm. This is therefore not appropriate as a perma-
nent solution and it would be much better if the controller
was exposed to the passing air. We do however question
the water-proofing of the enclosure. The connectors aren't
really suited for our damp climate either. This could easily
become a problem.

Via the phone number on the PCB, we have been able
to trace the manufacturer: the Chinese company Jiaxing
City. There is a strong suspicion that the circuit has not
been extensively tested for use in the EU, evidenced by the
absence of RoHS, CE and other approval marks.

The wheel comes from the company Nine Continent in Wen-
ling, China and does conform to the RoHS standard.

Practice

The first problem we encountered was that the wheel was
too wide. Carefully)!) we spread the front fork a little so we
could fit the wheel in it. And of course, the motor initially

turned the wrong way, so take note which way around the
wheel is supposed to be fitted, before you fasten all the
cables in place.

The wheel turns with more friction than what we are used to
with a normal wheel. When buying the tyre we had to pay
close attention. 24 inch is apparently not always 24 inch...
These come in different sizes so it is best if you bring the
wheel with you. Mounting the accelerator handle was rea-
sonably straightforward. The size of the tubing for the han-
dlebars in China is apparently the same as in Europe.
Once the wheel and the accelerator handle were fitted,
and the controller circuit and batteries in the pannier, it
was time for a test ride (see photos). The handbrake and
pedal sensor should also have been connected (see EU
regulations inset), but the motor also works without them.
The handbrake contains a switch which turns the motor off
the moment you start to brake. An additional 'advantage'
of not installing the pedal sensor is that the accelerator
handle always works. So you do not need to pedal for the
motor to turn on. Note that it is therefore not legal to ride
on the road this way.

11/2008 - elektor

49

ELECTRIC BICYCLE REVIEW

The DIY e-bicycle in action

The advantage of an electric motor over a combustion
engine is emphasised once again: an electric motor pro-
vides immediate torque, while simple combustion engines
first has to get up to speed. The bike soon moved too fast
for laps through our lab, so we moved the test outdoors.
Even though the batteries were brand new and really should
have been 'conditioned' a little, they nevertheless gave very
little trouble. The motor was very capable of propelling the
test bicycle to a speed of about 25 kilometres per hour,
without doing any pedalling at all. We should now try it
without the limiter...

Unfortunately our dilapidated mountain bike was not trans-
formed into a barely controllable speed demon, but it did
go a little faster nonetheless. We got up to about 30 kilo-
metres per hour, provided there is no wind. The torque of
the motor remains the same, so you won't go faster up a
steeper hill compared with the limiter enabled.

The other thing we noticed is that once the 30 km/h mark
was reached, additional pedalling (to help the motor a little)
was pointless. That means, the kilometres in excess of 30
you have to do all yourself. This is nevertheless not a poor
performance from a standard bicycle, considering that you
do not require a permit, insurance or whatever (at least in
The Netherlands), although third-party insurance is recom-
mended, because accidents will happen.

We couldn't find any problems with the front-wheel driven
bike. The bike behaves like normal in all other respects.

A few hints for the batteries. For the application in electric
bicycles it is best to use batteries with fast charge and dis-
charge curves. The company Huijzer Components recom-
mended us to use the EVZ series made by CSB. The bat-
teries are connected in series to obtain the required 36 V.
Note: although this voltage is not lethal, the current that the
batteries can supply can be used to weld!

For those among you who are considering obtaining

such a kit directly from China: take into account the shipping
and import costs. These will likely increase the price by 30
percent, if not more (depending on the shipping costs).

In conclusion we can state that such a kit for about € 200
is a nice 'upgrade' for a bicycle, although the mounting
of the control circuit and the batteries will require a bit of
thought.

( 071128 - 1 )

Our thanks go to Huijzer Components (www.huijzer.com) for making the batteries
available.

Internet Links

www.recumbents.com/wisil/e-bent/default.htm

http://zeept.wordpress.com/

www.elektrischefiets.be/index.html

http://www.electric-bikes.com/bikes/legal.html, http://
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_bicycle_laws

EU regulations

Within the European Union bicycles may be fitted with
an auxiliary electric motor. This is subject to the following
requirements:

- the electric motor may not propel the vehicle on its own but
only assist the pedalling motion

- the maximum power of the motor may not exceed 0.25 kW.

- at a speed of more than 25 km/h the electric motor may
not provide any additional power.

The compact controller
PCB already comes with a
header that can be used to
re-program the controller.

50

elektor - 11/2008

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Computer Controlled / Standalone Unipo-
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Drives any 5-35Vdc 5, 6 or
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Provides speed and direc-
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Kit Order Code: 3179KT - £12.95
Assembled Order Code: AS3179 - £19.95

Computer Controlled Bi-Polar Stepper
Motor Driver

Drive any 5-50Vdc, 5 Amp
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supply: 8-30Vdc. PCB: 75x85mm.

Kit Order Code: 3158KT - £17.95
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Bi-Directional DC Motor Controller (v2)

Controls the speed of
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DC Motor Speed Controller (100V/7.5A)

Control the speed of
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8-Ch Serial Isolated I/O Relay Module

Computer controlled 8-
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Computer Temperature Data Logger

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MICROCONTROLLERS

ATmega meets
Vinculum

Recording data values with a USB stick

Burkhard Kainka (Germany)

When it comes to matters of memory, microcontrollers tend to be rather poorly endowed. An external
USB memory stick is the ideal remedy, offering straightforward data transfer to your PC. Now if bonding
the memory stick to a micro was somewhat problematic until recently, it's now totally stress-free with
the Vinculum chip from FTDI!

The Vinculum chip has been devel-
oped by the FTDI company for adding
not merely an uncluttered USB inter-
face but full USB host functionality to
all conceivable embedded applications
[1]. Boards and devices equipped in
this way can be enhanced further, for
example with a USB memory stick or
‘thumb drive’. The ‘Vinculum’ controls
the FAT file system and relieves devel-

opers of a significant amount of devel-
opment work.

Experi menter-f riend ly

The name ‘Vinculum’ comes from the
Latin and has the meaning of bond, fet-
ter, tie or leash. In that same spirit we
can use this chip to attach a USB stick
to a small 8-bit microcontroller with-

out any problems at all. In this way an
Atmel ATmega88 can now enjoy sev-
eral Gigabytes of external memory.

For developing applications of this kind
the VDIP1 module [2] is well suited, as
all connections from the Vinculum can
be taken to a DIP connector (see head-
ing photo and Figure 1). You can also
carry out initial tests on a breadboard
or stripboard (a.k.a. Veroboard, Vector

A.D6

AD?

AGO

AC1

AC2

GND

AC3

AC4

ACS

RS#

P6S

3V3

ADS

AD4

ADS

AD2

ADI

GMD

ADO

U1M

U1P

LD2

LD1

5V0

Figure 1. Connections of VDIP1 (Source: Data sheet [2]).

Figure 2. First tests with a USB-serial adapter.

52

elektor - 11/2008

Board, perfboard) if you wish. The main
connections are set out in Table 1.

The chip handles a number of serial
and parallel operating modes, which
are selected using J3 and J4. In our
application we need to use the serial
interface of the Vinculum, so we must
plug J3 and J4 up to Vcc (pins 13/14).
Signals are processed at TTL level,
meaning that the microcontroller can
be operated without the need for a
separate interface adapter module.
For a first test we need to talk to Vin-
culum using a PC terminal program
Terminal.exe [3]. Since most computers
are no longer equipped with a serial
interface, a USB-to-serial adapter is
used, for example in the form of the
DIP module UM232R (as shown in Fig-
ure 2). An equally good solution is the

Table 1.

Vital Vinculum connections

Pin 1 : VCC

to +5V

Pin 6: AD2

data output TXD

Pin 7: GND

to ground

Pin 8: ADI

data input RXD

Pin 10: AD4

Handshake line CTS, to
GND

USB -Serial cable supplied by Elektor
[4].

The VDIP1 module needs to be fed
with a 5 V supply. Internally it is in
fact looking for only 3.3 V but it is fully
5 V-tolerant, meaning that it can later
be hooked up without modification to
a microcontroller running on 5 V.
Before we go any further, here’s a
vital warning: always remember to
remove the USB memory stick before

you switch off the Vinculum module.
Painful experience indicates that total
memory loss may occur otherwise
(maybe you need to put some mark-
ing on the stick to remind you). As
soon as you then connect the stick to
a PC, the latter will then attempt to
reformat it...

Terminal test

Vinculum recognises two command
sets. The Extended Command Set is
provided for text-based operations,
whilst there are also byte commands
(the Short Command Set) that can be
used with microcontrollers, for exam-
ple. At switch-on the text mode is
always selected. You can test out both
modes using the Terminal.exe pro-
gram very conveniently, as it’s easy to
switch between byte communication
and text.

Open the Terminal with the settings
‘9600:N,8,1’ (see Figure 3). Do not con-
nect a USB stick at this stage. Now
type DIR <Enter> (it’s immaterial
whether you use small letters or capi-
tals as they are all treated the same).
Vinculum then reports that no data
medium has been detected.

Now plug in a USB memory stick and
‘Vinculum’ proudly announces:

Device Detected P2
No Upgrade D:\>

For a second time type DIR < Enter >,
and the directory of contents appears.
Just as in DOS, only short filenames
are supported in Format 8:3. Long
filenames are displayed in an abbrevi-
ated format.

KAPl DIR SDR DIR TEXT . TXT D:\>

A text file with the content “Hello
<CR>” is indicated as follows:

RD TEXT . TXT <Enter>

Hello
D: \>

As you would expect, the use of subdi-
rectories is equally simple.

Not quite so straightforward is enter-
ing data in a file. The key commands
are Open, Write and Close:

OPW file <Enter>

WRF dword <Enter> data
CLF file <Enter>

When writing data you must indicate
the number of bytes to be stored accu-
rately. The total is entered as a 32-bit
figure (dword). If the file is still open
you can repeat the WRF operation if
you wish to enter data in blocks. An
example is given in our BASCOM
application below.

A faster means of entering data is
achieved by switching to the Short

Figure 3. Communication with the Vinculum using TerminaLexe.

11/2008 - elektor

53

MICROCONTROLLERS

Extended Command Set

Short Command Set

(Hexadecimal Codes)

Function

DIR 4 - 1

0J 00

List files in current directory

DIR’ file*- 1

01 20 file 00

List specified file and size

CD- fi le- 1

02 20 file OD

Change current directory

CD* . . *-*

02 20 2E 2E 0D

Move up one directory level

RD * fi it?— 1

04 20 file 0D

Reads a whole file

OLD -file- 1

Ob 20 file OD

Delete subdirectory from current directory

MKD* fi le- 1

06 20 file 0D

Make a new subdirectory in the current directory

MKD • fi It- 'dater : me*- 1

06 20 file 20
date time 0D

Make a new subdirectory in the current directory

Also specify a file date and time

DLF* file- 1

07 20 file 0D

Delete a file

WRF • dword- 1
dare

00 20 dword OD
data

Write the number of bytes specified in the 1

parameter to the currently open file

OPW • f i lo— 1

09 20 file 0D

Open a file for writing or create a new file

OPW ’file* aid tet i me— 1

09 20 file 20
date time 0D

Open a file for writing or create a new file

Also specify a file date and time

CLF* file- 1

0A 20 file OD

Close the currently open file

RDF * dw ord— 1

08 20 dvord 00

Read the number of bytes specified in the V
parameter from the currently open file

PEN' file- fi le- 1

0C 20 file 20
fi 1 e 0D

Rename a file or directory

OPR* tile- 1

OF. 20 file 0D

Open a file for reading

OPR * file -date- 1

OF 20 file 20
dace 0D

Open a file for reading

Also specify a file access date

SEK * dword- 1

20 20 dwotd 0 d

Seek to the byte position specified by the I 5 '
parameter in the currently open file

FS- 1

12 OD

Returns the free space available on disk if less

than 4GB is free

FSE 4-1

93 OD

Returns the free space available on disk

IDD 4 - 1

OF UD

Display information about the disk if disk is less

than 4GB

Figure 4. The most important file commands (Source: Firmware manual [5]).

Command Set (SCS):

SCS <Enter>

Vinculum responds in like manner
in small Bytes (for example 13 corre-
sponds to CR):

62 13

To return to Extended Command Mode
you use the command ECS. Other com-
mands can be found in the Vinculum
Firmware User Manual [5], as seen in

Figure 4.

Firmware update

It’s always a good idea to use the lat-
est version of the firmware. On the
Vinculum download page [6] you can
always find the most recent ‘VDAP’
firmware file (as we went to press this
was ftrfb_main_03_65VDAPF.ftd).
Loading the new firmware is easy with
the USB memory stick.

Copy it to the root directory of the
medium and rename it as ‘ftrfb.ftd’ [7].
When you connect the stick the follow-
ing reports appear:

Device Detected P2 Found It

Change MAIN Reflasher Active

Rebooting Ver 03.65VDAPF On-Line:

Device Detected P2 No Upgrade
D: \>

Vinculum and ATmega in harmony

That’s enough playing around; now
it’s time for an actual application.
A microcontroller, an ATmega88 in
this case (for instance on the Elektor
ATM18-AVR Board), is connected via
its RXD (PDO) and TXD (PD1) lines to
the VDIP1. These need to be cross-
connected, i.e. TXD to RXD and RXD
to TXD (see Figure 5).

The microcontroller should read the file
‘ToDo.txt’ in order to capture the data
included as instructions for measure-
ment and to write the test data into
a second file ‘Log.txt’. The measure-
ment system is an installation that
has already been set up somewhere.
The user edits a command file on the
PC and saves this onto the USB stick.
Then he plugs the stick into the micro-
controller system and lets the meas-
urement operations take place. At the
appointed time the stick is removed
along with the data collected. These
measurements are then evaluated on
the PC.

This is how the Command File is built
up:

Total number of measurement opera-
tions: (Word) 0 - 65535

Interval between measurements in
ms: (Word) 0 - 65535

Number of measurement channels:
(Word) 1 - 8

For 100 measurements, 1000 ms and
two channels, the file ToDo.txt will
then read:

100

1000

2

This file can be created in Windows
Notepad for instance. It’s important to
close off the final line with < Return >
just like the preceding ones. The end
of each line in the file is made up of
the special symbol CR and LF, which
should be noted when the file is read
in the microcontroller.

54

elektor - 11/2008

Listing 1.

Mini data logger

'Bascom ATmega88, Vinculum

$regfile = "m88def.dat"
$crystal = 16000000
Baud = 9600

Open "coml:" For Binary As #1

Dim Samples As Word
Dim Delayms As Word
Dim Channels As Word
Dim N As Integer
Dim I As Integer
Dim L As Integer
Dim S As String * 20
Dim Ad As Integer

Config Portb = Output
Config Adc = Single , Presca-

ler = Auto , Reference = Off
Start Adc
Echo Off

Do

Input S

Loop Until S = "D:\>"

Portb .0=1
Waitms 1000

Print "rd todo.txt" + Chr(13);
Input Samples
Get #1 , L

Input Channels
Get #1 , L
Input S

Print "OPW Log.txt" + Chr(13);
Input S

For N = 1 To Samples
S = ""

For I = 1 To Channels

Ad = Getadc(i)

S = S + Str(ad)

If I < Channels Then
S = S + Chr ( 9 )

Next I

S = S + Chr (13) + Chr (10)

L = Len(s)

Print "WRF
Put #1 , 0
Put #1 , 0
Put #1 , 0
Put #1 , L
Put #1 , 13
Print S ;

Input S

Waitms Delayms
Next N

Print "CLF log.txt" + Chr(13);
Input S
Portb .0=0
End

Measurement program

Our measurement program is imple-
mented here in Bascom-AVR [8] for an
ATmega88. In principle the only com-

mands necessary to share serial data
with Vinculum are Print and Input, also
Put and Get, for single bytes. A small
devil lies in the detail: in Bascom the
Print command (as in the other BASIC

dialects) at the end of a line is inex-
tricably linked with CR (ASCII 13) and
LF (ASCII 10). Vinculum does not take
kindly to the final LF symbol, how-
ever. It is always treated as the first

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11/2008 - elektor

55

MICROCONTROLLERS

symbol of the following line,
which is then rejected as a
‘Bad Command’. However,
you can suppress the two
end-of-line symbols by follow-
ing the Print command with a
semicolon (print “dir”;). The
required CR must be added
separately. For example:

print "dir" + Chr(13);

The program ‘Vinculum. bas’
can manage quite well with-
out the Short- Command mode
— in other words, using the
‘long’ text commands.

The problem of needing to
enter the length of data lines
in exactly four bytes (dword)
is solved by using the Put
command. The length of a
data line, even when we are
using the maximum possible
of eight channels, is clearly
less than 255 symbols. In fact
we need only one byte, so, for
a line length of, for example,
16 symbols, you can send four
times Put with the bytes 0, 0, 0
and 16. Why send these bytes
with four Put commands and
not as a text string? Well, a
Null byte in a String indicates
its end. For that reason Put is
used only when Nulls need to
be sent.

Problemette solved

C 1.4k rural! T Jdnal M*|! |n- 1

I] t**' SwrfcAi'P Jfrffcht ErtUam E'.trw Patifj l

“■1 »■

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j -3

. _l

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A

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1

1

n

11

2

2 11 n

3

3

31

11

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4

11

31

r.

5

11

31

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7

7

11

11

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31

31

9

5

11

11

10

10

11

11

11

11 11 11

12

12 11 31

TJ

13

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14

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51

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113

471

IS

10

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ift

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140

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yj ; t - J ,J / ugn. *

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Figure 6. Data evaluation using Excel.

Figure 5. Connections between VDIP1 and ATmega88.

A further small problem ari-
ses when reading the Com-
mand File. The BASIC indi-
cator Input Samples reads a
total value into the variable
Samples. The issue is closed
out when a CR appears. In the
file this is followed with a LF,
however. This must now be
trapped with a Get to avoid
upsetting the entry follo-
wing. Likewise in the source
text we find repeatedly an
obviously superfluous ‘Input
S’. It is entered at locations
where Vinculum quits a com-
pleted action with D:\>t. In
this manner we ensure on the
one hand that the ATmega
does not new data until the old has
first been processed, and on the other
hand that no junk is left to remain in
the data buffer of the microcontroller.
The end result can be seen at the end
of Listing 1.

Now we shall try out everything

Figure 7. Mini measurement circuit.

stick should not be removed.
The LEDs on the VDIP mod-
ule indicate that data is being
written regularly once a sec-
ond. After a total of 100 sec-
onds the measurement proc-
ess is complete and PBO
drops to zero volts. Now you
can remove the stick and plug
it into the PC. The newly cre-
ated file Log.txt now contains
the measurement data that
has been captured.

Measurement data:

n n

n n

n n

54 1023

91 698

113 471

And so on.

Using the Tab symbol
(ASCII 9) as separator bet-
ween the individual channels
renders this data easy to pro-
cess in Excel.

The Excel chart in Figure 6
shows the measurements
taken using the small cir-
cuit in Figure 7 — we are
comparing the charge on
two different capacitors that
are linked by a resistor. The
smaller of the two is 100 jl/F
and is charged repeatedly
with +5 V via the press-but-
ton switch. Prize question:
what is the capacitance of
the larger electrolytic?

( 071152 - 1 )

together and plug the USB stick into
the microcontroller system. After about
a second the stick is recognised and
the command file is read. The ATmega
sets its pin PBO high and (for example)
lights up an LED, to show that meas-
urement is now in progress and the

Internet Links

[1] www.vinculum.com/documents.
html

[2] www.vinculum.com/documents/
datasheets/DS_VDIPl .pdf

[3] www.elektor.com/071 152

[4] www.elektor.com/0802 1 3

[5] www.vinculum.com/documents/
fwspecs/UM_VinculumFirmware_
V205.pdf

[6] www.vinculum.com/downloa-
ds.html

[7] http://staff.ltam.lu/feljc/electronics/bas-
com/vinculum 1 .pdf (if you don't read German
you can still understand the pictures and use
the Google translation engine at http://www.
google.co.uk/language_tools?hl = en )

[8] www. mcselec.com

56

elektor - 11/2008

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Or use the subscription order form near the end of the magazine.

MICROCONTROLLERS

Timers and Interrupts

Burkhard Kainka (Germany)

Many practical tasks can only be solved by using accurate timing. The ATmega controllers are
well equipped in this respect; the Mega8 to Mega32 controllers all have three timers. Timer
0 and 2 are 8-bit while Timer 1 is a full 16 bit wide.

The ATmega controller's timer/counter section looks a lit-
tle daunting at first sight (Figure 1). They are highly con-
figurable and require a certain amount of care to ensure
they are set up correctly for your application. For those
programming in Assembler this configuration procedure
is quite involved but as you will see BASCOM simplifies
things a lot.

The first thing to decide is the source of the timer/counter
clock signal. It can come from the internal clock (directly or
via a prescaler) or from an external source (e.g. connect to
pin PI for Timer 1 ). The counters can count on either the ris-
ing or falling clock edge and the counter value can be read
or changed at any time via the TCNT1 register. When an
overflow occurs it can generate an interrupt. The counters
are commonly used for generating Pulse Width Modulated
(PWM) signals. This is just a brief outline of some of the
more basic properties of the timer/counters, as you become
more familiar with the controller you will begin to get a bet-
ter appreciation of their versatility.

Reading the timer

For the first exercise we are using the 16-bit timer driven
by the system clock crystal and divided by 256 in the pres-
caler. In BASCOM all this information can be written on
one line: Config Timerl = Timer , Prescale = 256. The
timer also begins counting so it is not necessary to use
Start Timerl .

Listing 1 is the first test, as before we are using a Goto to
reduce 'compilation clutter'. The listing as printed will only
ever go to the first example, you will need to change fifth
line to Goto Test2 and recompile for the next exercise.

In Testl timer/counterl just runs continuously and the coun-
ter value is displayed five times per second. The values are

in the range from 0 to 65535, and we can see that after
roughly one second an overflow occurs:

088

17864

30706

43547

56389

3695

16471

We know the clock frequency and the counter size so it is
possible to work out the exact time between overflows: the
counter clock is 1 6 MHz divided by 256 which gives 62.5
kHz. The counter overflows after 65536 clocks so the inter-
val between each overflow is 1 .049 s.

In this application the counter produces a precise time ref-
erence. We can now use this information to test how long
the program takes to complete the two instructions: "Print
Timerl" and "Waitms 200". Using for example the con-
secutive readings 43547 and 30706 the interval is 43547
- 30706 = 1 2841 clock periods. One clock period equals
1 / 62.5 kHz = 15.267 pis.

The time between the two readings will therefore be 1 2841
* 1 5.267 pis = 196 ms and not 200 ms. We can see that
the Waitms instruction should not be used if it is necessary
to make accurate time measurements.

Timer Interrupt

This exercise programs the controller to generate an accu-
rate 1 second clock. The 1 6-bit Timer 1 is not necessary for
this application; we can use 8-bit Timer 0. The timer will
be programmed to overflow every 1000 ps and generate
an interrupt.

58

elektor - 11/2008

m

4 JH

s b i e

An interrupt causes a forced interruption of the main pro-
gram and directs the controller to execute a sub routine
(Interrupt Service Routine or ISR) to service the interrupt.
Different events can be programmed to generate an inter-
rupt and an ISR is required to respond to each type of inter-
rupt. Here TimO_isr would be the subroutine name but in
this example we have just used TimOjsr: as a label which
indicates where the program jumps to on interrupt. The last
instruction of the interrupt routine must be a RETURN. In
this example further interrupts will not be serviced until the
return is executed.

Test 2 configures timer 0 with a prescaler of 64, which gives
it a clock frequency of 250 kHz. The counter is 8-bits wide
so without further programming it will generate an overflow
interrupt every 256 clock cycles. We need the counter to
interrupt every 250 clocks for an accurate 1 ms timebase
so it is necessary to load the counter with the value 6 each
time it overflows. A word variable called Ticks is incre-
mented every time the counter overflows. When this vari-
able reaches 1 000 it indicates that one second has elapsed
and the variable called Seconds is incremented. The value
of either variable can be read by the main program. In this
example the program sends the value of seconds to the ter-
minal every second starting from zero at program start.

It is necessary to allow the interrupts to occur by enabling
the global interrupt (Enable Interrupts) and also allow the
timer 0 overflow condition to generate an interrupt (Enable
TimerO). The display shows the value of seconds:

0

1

2

3

All interrupt sources can be disabled by using Disable
Interrupts.

Averaged measurements

Measurements made of analogue signal levels are often
affected by a 50 Hz mains signal superimposed on the volt-
age level. The unwanted 50 Hz component can effectively
be cancelled out by sampling the analogue voltage level
several times during a complete cycle of the mains voltage
(20 ms) and then averaging all the measurements.

c n
z>
00

I

O

U u u

Timer/Counter

TCNTn

I

OCRnA

£

J

OCRnB

f

ICRn

Count

Clear

Direction

Control Logic

TOP

\

clk T

BOTTOM

= 0

TT t

Fixed

TOP

Values

/I

TOVn

(Int.Req.)

Clock Select

Edge

Detector

^ 1

From Prescaler )

Tn

OCnA

'(Int.Req.)

Waveform

Generation

OCnA

OCnB

'(Int.Req.)

Waveform

Generation

OCnB

( From Analog
Comparator Ouput ]

-ICFn (Int.Req.)

Edge

Noise

Detector

Canceler

ICPn

N

TCCRnA

1

jP

080672 - 1 1

Figure 1. Block diagram of the timers.

Listing 1

Reading the timer registers

'Bascom ATmega88, Timer
$regfile = "m88def.dat"

$crystal = 16000000
Baud = 9600
Goto Testl

Testl :

Config Timerl = Timer , Prescale = 256
'Start Timerl
Do

Print Timerl
Waitms 200
Loop

11/2008 - elektor

59

MICROCONTROLLERS

Figure 2.
Measuring an ac voltage.

50Hz ^

[)0 — i iok \

ADCO

1

i

i

i

i

i

i

i

i

i

i

i

i

080672 - 12

For this exercise we will use a timer interrupt again to gen-
erate an accurate timebase. The average value is achieved
by sampling the analogue signal 25 times in a 20 ms time
window. The sampling interval is therefore 800 ps. Timer 2
will be used with a prescale value of 64. Each time it over-
flows Timer2 is loaded with the value 56 so that the next
overflow occurs 200 clocks later.

800 |js is more than enough time to make the analogue
measurement and calculate the sum and mean value. The
variable Ticks is incremented each time a measurement
is taken every interrupt. After 25 measurements the sum
stored in ADO is transferred to the variable AD0_mean.
The main program averages the value and then sends it
to the screen.

Averaging in this way gives such good suppression of the
50 Hz components that by using half wave rectification the
system can be used to measure ac signals. The low volt-
age AC signal is connected to the ADCO input via a 10 k

Listing 2

Exact seconds using interrupts

Test2 :

Dim Ticks As Word

Dim Seconds As Word

Dim Seconds_old As Word

Config TimerO = Timer , Prescale = 64

On OvfO Tim0_isr

Enable TimerO

Enable Interrupts

Do

If Seconds <> Seconds_old Then
Print Seconds
Seconds_old = Seconds
End If
Loop

Tim0_isr :

'1000 p.s
TimerO = 6
Ticks = Ticks + 1
If Ticks = 1000 Then
Ticks = 0

Seconds = Seconds + 1
End If
Return

Listing 3

Measuring averages

Test3 :

Dim AdO As Word
Dim Ad0_mean As Word

Config Adc = Single , Prescaler = 64 , Re-
ference = Off

Config Timer2 = Timer , Prescale = 64
On Ovf2 Tim2_isr
Enable Timer2
Enable Interrupts

Do

Ad0_mean = Ad0_mean / 25
Print Ad0_mean
Waitms 100
Loop

Tim2_isr :

'800 ps
Timer2 = 56
Ticks = Ticks + 1
AdO = AdO + Getadc(0)

If Ticks > 24 Then
Ticks = 0
Ad0_mean = AdO
AdO = 0
End If
Return

protection resistor (Figure 2). The program now finds the
average value of the positive half wave which is equal to
half of the absolute average value of the sine wave. A typi-
cal sequence of measurements would be:

226

227

226

226

226

Although there is some variation the measured average
value is mostly 226. This can be converted into a real volt-
age level: 5 V * 226 / 1 023 = 1 .1 0 V. The measured alter-
nating voltage therefore has an absolute average value of
2.20 V. For a sine wave this equates to an RMS value of
2.44 V and a peak to peak value of 3.46 V p _ p . The rela-
tionship between the peak and RMS value of a sine wave
is V2 = 1 .414. For arithmetic averaging the relationship of
the peak value to the average value is 7t/2=l .571 , so the
absolute average value is 90.03 % of the RMS.

( 080672 - 1 )

Downloads and
further information:

The programming examples and more information for this
course can be downloaded from the project page at www.elek-
tor.com. As always we look forward to your feedback in the Elek-
tor forum.

60

elektor - 11/2008

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TECHNOLOGY

SHAFT ENCODERS

E*i#llAM IfAA

I I l%IIVII llvv

Angle Measure|ient

a magnetic shaft
encoder
using the
Hall effect

Josef Warta

(with the assistance of Andreas Riedenauer)

Measuring angles has until now involved a choice between potentiometers and optical encoders.
Potentiometers are inexpensive, but have the disadvantages that they require calibration and create
friction; optical solutions, although offering high accuracy and long-term stability, are mechanically
more complicated and considerably dearer. In this article we describe a modern semiconductor-based
solution: a magnetic shaft encoder using Hall effect sensors.

A potentiometer can measure a vary-
ing angle by converting it into a vary-
ing resistance. This has the advantage
that an absolute angle reading is avail-
able immediately when the circuit of
which it forms a part is turned on. The
disadvantage is the friction created
when the shaft is turned, and further-
more poor tolerance means that cali-
bration is a necessity. The optical ap-
proach offers much greater precision,

service life and long-term stability, but
on the other hand an absolute angle
reading can only be obtained using a
complicated optical system, increasing
overall costs.

It is possible to construct an angle sen-
sor by exploiting the Hall effect, offer-
ing high precision and low cost. There
is a mechanical separation between
the moving and fixed parts of the de-

vice, which means that it is possible
to make units sealed against moisture
and dust for use in robotics, industrial
machinery, medicine, aerospace and
many other application areas.

The basics

Hall effect sensors for measuring mag-
netic fields are already in widespread
use, for example to determine the ro-

62

elektor - 11/2008

tor position in brushless DC motors.
In these applications the sensors are
simply used as switches to replace
slow, unreliable mechanical contacts.
The Hall effect is exhibited to some de-
gree by any electrical conductor; the
strength of the effect depends on the
material and using modern semicon-
ductor technology we can build highly
sensitive Hall elements into integrated
circuits at low cost.

The principle of operation of a Hall ele-
ment is illustrated in Figure 1. A volt-
age proportional to the magnetic field
strength is developed across the sen-
sor when a current flows through it. A
rotating bar magnet or bipolar magnet
will therefore give rise to a sinusoidal
voltage, just as a coil does in a rotat-
ing magnetic field. In contrast to this
induced voltage, however, the output
signal of the Hall sensor can be meas-
ured statically, since a stationary mag-
netic field gives rise to a constant Hall
voltage.

A single Hall sensor can be used as
an angle measuring device as shown
in Figure 2. We are restricted to the
quasi-linear region of operation of the
sensor between -45 ° and +45 °. High
precision of mechanical construction
and alignment between magnet and
sensor is required. Temperature varia-
tions can affect the magnet and hence
the amplitude of the output voltage of
the sensor, reducing accuracy unless
temperature compensation is used. Ex-
ternal magnetic fields directly affect
the amplitude and phase of the output
voltage, and so magnetic screening is
essential.

Take four

These obstacles to the accurate meas-
urement of angles can be solved el-
egantly using a circular arrangement
of four (or even more) sensors. The ro-
tational axis of the magnet should go
through the middle of the circle. Each
pair of diametrically opposite sensors
is connected to a differential amplifier
(Figure 3), and the difference voltage
gives the gradient of the Z component
of the magnetic field. These gradients
vary sinusoidally with angle, and, if
the sensors are accurately aligned, the
two gradients will be 90 ° out of phase
with one another, giving a sine and a
cosine signal. These two signals are
digitised, and a low-pass filter reduces
jitter and noise. A DSP device imple-
menting the CORDIC algorithm can be
used to perform the coordinate trans-

Figure 1. Principle of operation of a Hall element. In contrast to electromagnetic induction, the Hall element produces a voltage in a

stationary magnetic field.

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070480-12

Figure 2. When a single Hall sensor is used the measurement range is limited to between -45 0 and +45 °.

Figure 3. Measurement independent of stray fields using four Hall sensors.

formation from the sine and cosine sig-
nals to give amplitude and phase in-
formation. The amplitude output can
be used to control the current source
feeding the Hall sensors so that the
device’s sensitivity is independent of
the magnetic field strength, as well as
to give an indication of the distance
between the magnet and the sensor
circuit. If a sensor IC includes this out-
put, it is simple to add a contactless
pushbutton feature to a contactless ro-
tary switch.

Shaft encoder ICs

Austriamicrosystems (AMS), based in
Unterpremstaetten near Graz in Aus-
tria [1], has developed a family of mag-
netic shaft encoder ICs along the lines
illustrated in Figure 3. The AS50xx se-
ries of shaft encoders offers resolu-
tions from 8 bits to 12 bits and a range
of output interfaces: serial, PWM, ana-
logue, incremental, or combinations of
these. As well as high accuracy and
wide operating temperature range the
sensors also feature rapid processing,

11/2008 - elektor

63

TECHNOLOGY

SHAFT ENCODERS

Accuracy of a shaft encoder system

There are two parameters of a shaft encoder that are often confused: resolution and accuracy.
The two are not necessarily related to one another.

Resolution is the size of the smallest step, or the number of equal steps per revolution, that the
encoder can distinguish. A 1 2-bit encoder therefore has a resolution of 2 1 2 = 4096 steps per
revolution, or 0.08789 ° per step. The resolution is chiefly determined by the analogue-to-dig-
ital converters (ADCs) and by the precision of arithmetic used in the CORDIC calculation.

Accuracy is a measure of the deviation from the reported angle value from the true angle.
Many factors affect the accuracy of a magnetic shaft encoder, jointly determining the overall
quality of the device. The most important factors are as follows.

Phase error of the Hall signals

This error would be expected to be small, since the Hall elements are arranged exactly at right
angles to one another. However, a problem can arise with a rapidly rotating magnet if there is
a differential delay in the paths taken by the sine and cosine signals. This can happen if a sin-
gle analogue-to-digital converter is used to sample the signals alternately. The AS5030 uses
parallel converters, keeping the phase error negligibly small even at high rotation speeds.

Matching error between Hall sensors or amplifiers

This error is minimised by a carefully-optimised 1C layout and advanced semiconductor manu-
facturing technology.

Offset errors in the signal path

An offset error will add a DC component to the sine or cosine signal. Such errors generally
originate in the Hall sensors themselves or in poor matching between transistors in the ana-
logue signal path, and can be minimised by design techniques such as spinning current com-
pensation in the Hall element, chopper amplifiers and on-chip trimming adjustments.

Non-linearity of the ADC

Non-linearity in the ADCs can only be compensated for by a tedious calibration process, and
so the linearity requirement on these components is correspondingly demanding.

Non-linearity of the magnet

If we consider the vertical component
of the magnetic field (to which the
Hall elements are sensitive) parallel
to the rotational axis, the maxima
are at the poles. In between the
poles the behaviour is broadly linear
(see illustration).

As long as all the Hall elements are
in this linear region the differential
signal will be of constant amplitude,
independent of the horizontal posi-
tion of the magnet.

Larger diameter magnets therefore
allow for greater horizontal offsets
than smaller ones. On the other
hand, the graph of field intensity
against displacement is also flatter, which means that the amplitude of the differential signal
is reduced. This in turn requires greater amplification, resulting in poorer signal-to-noise ratio.
The best compromise is found using magnets with a diameter of approximately 6 mm: experi-
ence indicates that the maximum error induced by an imperfectly-centred magnet is well un-
der 1 °; with a centred magnet the maximum error is under 0.5 °.

I

i

i

i

! 070480-16

Sin / Sinn / Cos / Cosn

070480-14

allowing position measurements at ro-
tational speeds of up to 30000 revolu-
tions per minute.

We shall take the AS5030 [2] as an ex-
ample device. This costs around five
pounds bought individually, falling to
just over three pounds each for fifty or
more devices, and is therefore an eco-
nomical solution in simple angle meas-
urement applications. The Hall sensors
are fabricated using a CMOS process
and operate from a 5 V supply. The sig-
nal processing logic is integrated onto
the device (see block diagram in Fig-
ure 4). Internal compensation assures
reliable performance from -40 °C to
+ 125 °C, with parts for automotive ap-
plications specified for operation up to
+ 150 °C. The differential measurement
technique inherently compensates for
external magnetic fields, ageing of the
magnet and variations in temperature.
The devices offers eight-bit resolution,
distinguishing 256 angles over a 360 °
revolution: this corresponds to an an-
gular resolution of 1.4 °. In addition to
angle, the device also measures the
overall field strength, which it reports
using a six-bit code. This allows the
distance to a rotating magnet to be
estimated, or the implementation of a
contactless pushbutton feature as de-
scribed above.

The position value can be output over
a serial digital interface (two-wire or
three- wire) or using a PWM (‘one- wire’)
output. A zero position can be pro-
grammed into the device’s OTP (one-
time programmable) memory to sim-
plify assembly by obviating the need
to align the magnet precisely. A low
power sleep mode with rapid wake-
up allows the device to be used in bat-
tery-powered applications.

The device can be used with hard-
wired logic rather than a microcon-
troller for fail-safe operation, ideal for
safety-critical applications employing
redundant systems. A diagnostic fa-
cility provides a warning if the mag-
net works loose or is not present. A
basic accuracy of +/-0.5 ° means that
in many applications calibration is
unnecessary.

A complete position measurement
system can be made using just an
AS5030 (see pinout in Figure 5), a de-
coupling capacitor, and a bipolar mag-
net mounted perpendicular to the ro-
tation axis.

Sources for the AS5030 and two kinds
of magnet can be found at [2], while

Figure 4. Block diagram of the AS5030 angle encoder 1C.

64

elektor - 11/2008

data sheets and other downloads can
be found at [3].

Magnets

The magnet can be press-fitted or glued
directly to a non-magnetic axle. Rare
earth magnets are recommended be-
cause of the higher field strengths ob-
tainable: neodymium-iron-boron mag-
nets are cheaper than samarium- cob alt
magnets, but have a higher temperature
coefficient and lower maximum work-
ing temperature. The main parameters
when selecting a magnet are:

• temperature coefficient;

• dependence of field strength on ma-
gnetic field strength (automatically
compensated for by AS5000 series
encoders);

• Curie temperature;

• maximum working temperature;

• field strength, measured in Tesla or
kilogauss.

In addition to the sample magnets
available at [2], a wide selection is
available at [4] and [5]. Software for si-
mulation of magnetic fields is availa-
ble at [6].

Demonstration board

AMS produces demonstration boards
for all its encoder ICs to help designers
gain practical familiarity with the de-

Figure 5. Pinout of the AS5030. The output signal is available
on a serial digital output and as a PWM signal.

vices. The boards consist of a small
printed circuit board which carries the
sensor IC, a microcontroller, a four-digit
seven-segment display, a USB socket
for connection to a PC, and a header for
connecting an expansion board. A hole
in the Perspex cover accepts a rotary
button fitted with a magnet. Figure 6
shows the AS5030 DB demonstrati-
on board for the AS5030 device, again
available at [2]. An external angle sen-
sor can be connected using the hea-
der, for example on an AS50xx adapter
board, available as an optional extra.
This external sensor can then conve-
niently be configured or permanently
programmed using the demonstrati-
on board software, available for free
download at [3]. More details about

the demonstration board and adapter
board can be found in the PDF manuals
available for download at [7]. A free en-
coder software development kit (SDK)
is also available for download, inclu-
ding a DLL and example programs for
dedicated applications based on the
demonstration board. Further informa-
tion can also be obtained from AMS’
distributors [8].

( 070480 - 1 )

Web Links

[1 ] http://www.austriamicrosystems.com

[2] http://www.austriamicrosystems.com/
03products/products_detail/AS5030/descrip-
tion_AS5030.htm

[3] http://www.austriamicrosystems.com/
03products/products_detail/AS5030/down-
load_AS5030.htm

[4] http://www.bomatec.ch/index_e.php

[5] http://www.arnoldmagnetics.com

[6] http://www.invensense.com

[7] http://www.austriamicrosystems.com/
03products/products_detail/AS5040/down-
load_AS5040.htm

[8] http://www.austriamicrosystems.com/
06contactcenter/distributors_start.htm

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Figure 6. An AS50xx demonstration board provides a development environment for dedicated applications using its accompanying free software.

11/2008 - elektor

65

MODDING & TWEAKING

Colourful Computer Light

Controlling the Living Colors lamp with USB

Jeroen Domburg

We live in a colourful
environment these days.

Everything is in colour:

TV, advertising billboards,
mobile phone displays and
LEDs. Philips added a further
dimension to all this with their
Ambilight, Wake-up Light and
Living Colors lamp. We will
work with the latter in this M&T article. The wireless remote control offers interesting possibilities
once the protocol has been cracked...

In the February 2008 issue the editors
disassembled a Living Colors lamp
from Philips. In this article we will
once again do something with this
lamp. One of the disadvantages of the
lamp is that it can only be controlled
with the supplied remote control. Nice
enough perhaps, if all you want to do
is use it as a glorified table lamp. But
controlling it with a PC offers many
other possibilities. Turn the room red

In the remote control we find two printed circuit
boards that are interconnected with a ribbon cable.

when you’ve received mail, let the col-
our of the wall follow the movie you’re
watching, illuminate the room when
it’s time to get up, you mention it!

Lively colours

For those who missed the article men-
tioned earlier: a Living Colors lamp is
an appliance made by Philips that with
a few bright, coloured LEDs can illumi-

This is how we reverse engineer the protocol. It may
not look like it, but apart from the wires the remote
control is still completely intact.

nate a room in just about any conceiv-
able colour. In this way you can create
or enhance a particular mood. The Liv-
ing Colors lamp comprises the lamp it-
self and a remote control. The two are
linked via a CC2500, a little IC from
Texas Instruments, which can send
data over a 2.4 GHz radio link.

To be able to control the lamp we will
first have to figure out how the data
is sent. Measuring this without open-

The all-important CC2500 chip. They don't come any
bigger than this, unfortunately...

66

elektor - 11/2008

D1 D2

Figure 1. It can't be much simpler than this: we do the control of the CC2500 with an ATmega88 via USB.

ing the device is difficult. Firstly, be-
cause the CC2500 has several methods
available for sending the data (MSK,
FSK, OOK, with or without data whit-
ening, Manchester-encoded, etc.) so
it is a lousy job trying to dig out the
transmitted data from the actual ra-
dio signal transmitted. Secondly, the
author, in contrast to the RF people at
the editorial offices, does not have SHF
measuring equipment at his disposal,
something that’s crucial with this ap-
proach. We will therefore have to de-
code the information using some other
method...

Eavesdropping

Taking a look at the datasheet for the
CC2500, we read that the chip gets its
data from the host-processor via a 4-
wire serial connection, with the option
of two more wires for status informa-
tion. If we eavesdrop on the traffic on
this 4-wire bus we should be able to
learn a whole lot more about what is
being transmitted.

Although there are two CC2500s,
namely one in the remote control and
one in the lamp itself, we decided to
listen only to the one in the remote
control. The reason for this is less phil-
osophical than you may think: it proved
to be impossible to open the lamp
without damaging it, but it turned out
that opening the remote control was a
lot easier. The remote control consists
of two printed circuit boards. The PCB
for the touch sensitive ‘push buttons’
plus the controller for these, a QT1106
is connected with a ribbon cable to the
smaller main PCB that contains the
MSP430 processor and the CC2500.
Tapping into the bus is rather difficult,
but with the aid of thin wire and some
instant glue it was eventually possible
to make a mechanically strong tap.
Because interpreting the protocol us-
ing only and oscilloscope is rather tedi-

In comparison with the ATmega88 the latter is in-
deed quite 'mega'.

ous, we use an AVR with hardware SPI
support for the actual ‘sniffing’. This
AVR then sends the eavesdropped sig-
nal via a serial port to the PC where
the actual decoding can begin.

When we push a few buttons on the
remote control, it is immediately clear
that the protocol is more complicat-
ed than we had initially anticipat-
ed. When the remote control is first
turned on, The CC2500 is initialised
with data regarding the frequency, the
type of modulation and the data rate.
The actual communication is based on
packets. A packet is loaded into the
CC2500 and transmitted by the chip
in RF form. Reception is done in the
same way. The CC2500 is set to re-
ceive mode and as soon as a packed
has been received a particular pin

The size does not make it impossible to solder.
A steady hand, a magnifier and thin wire
go a long way.

goes high and the packet can be read
by the microcontroller.

Data format

The packets consist of a number of
fields. The first thing that emerges is
that both the remote control and the
lamp have a, probably unique, ad-
dress. Therefore, the packets for set-
ting the colour, for example, start with
the address of the lamp followed by
the command.

The commands correspond with the
buttons on the remote control. There
is, among others, a command to turn
the lamp on, to turn it off again, to set
the colour and to set the lamp in demo
mode.

The command is followed by a se-

L

This is how the transmitter is mounted on the USB
PCB. The thing with black tape around it is a 25-
MHz SMD crystal.

11/2008 - elektor

67

MODDING & TWEAKING

quence number. This is a number that
increments by one after each com-
mand is sent. When the lamp sends a
response, this same sequence number
is sent back so that the remote control
can determine which response goes
with which command.

It gets more interesting after the se-
quence number byte. There now follow
three bytes with colour information.
The fact that colour information is be-
ing sent is somewhat remarkable, since
the average remote control only passes
on which button is being pushed. The
decision to store the selected colour
in the remote control makes sense. In
this way Philips ensures that if you use
the remote control with multiple lamps
they will all be set to the same colour.
For our purposes this is also very prac-
tical: it is, after all, much easier to sent
the desired colour than to emulate all
sorts of button pushing.

To send the colour, Philips decided to
use the HSV system. The Hue gives
the colour, the Saturation the intensi-
ty of that colour and Value the amount
of light the lamp has to generate. By
giving the appropriate command with
certain HSV-values the desired colour
can be set immediately. And because
the wireless connection operates at a
speed of 500 kbaud, this is relatively
quick as well.

Control

Okay, we have the protocol, we have
the initialisation data and we know
how we can set the colour of the lamp.
What are we now going to do with that
knowledge? The author decided that
an Ambilight-ish functionality would
be nice to do. The plan therefore, was
to build a device that could be con-
nected to the PC and control several
lamps.

For the control we can use existing
software: on the internet there is a
community of people who make their
own PC controlled Ambilight clones.
This has resulted in a few nice Linux
and Windows applications that are
very useful for this project. The most

common protocol used in this software
is the MoMoLight protocol, which is
actually nothing more than sending
the RGB values for three different light
sources directly to the serial port.

To be compatible with the software we
need a few things. Firstly we’ll have to
emulate a serial port over the USB bus
and secondly we’ll have to convert the
incoming RGB data to the HSV format
that’s expected by the lamps.

The first requirement is easily met
with one of several ready-made solu-
tions: a number of companies make
USB-to-RS232 converter ICs that can
be directly connected to the bus. For
this project however, we chose a differ-
ent approach. The heart of the circuit
consists of an ATmega88 which is con-
nected directly to the USB port. If we
look at the datasheet for this AVR we
will however not find any mention of
hardware to support USB. So how does
this work then?

The solution is to be found in a trick:
with some clever programming most
of the AVRs can be made to ‘mimic’
a low-speed USB device. There even
exist special libraries for this purpose
[1]. Several projects have been made
around these libraries: USB -program-
mers, bootloaders, display controller,
just name it. One of these projects is
called AVR-CDC and its purpose is to
implement a USB to serial converter in
software. That’s just what we need!
The software is licensed under the
GPL, which means that if you build a
device using it, you also have to supply
the source code. That is not a problem
for this project.

An RGB to HSV converter is also eas-
ily picked from the Internet. There are
multiple solutions on various websites,
but they are often based on floating
point, which means that the already
busy AVR has to do even more. After
an extensive search we fortunately
also found an integer version, which
costs far fewer clock ticks. This soft-
ware is released under the MIT license,
which, after a little searching, appears
to be compatible with the GPL. So after
a copy-paste operation we’ve already

gathered half of the required code.

The code to control the wireless chip
is all that remains. Because this chip
has a comprehensive datasheet and
we have a good example obtained by
eavesdropping on the data from the re-
mote control, this is not a big deal.

Hardware

Because we’ve solved a number of
requirements in software, the circuit
that remains is not tricky at all (Fig-
ure 1). On the left is the USB connec-
tion, which is connected with a few,
and according to the USB specification,
mandatory resistors to the AVR. The
CS2500 and the USB data lines require
a power supply voltage of 3.3 to 3.6 V.
This is obtained in a simple way from
the 5 V on the USB connector. Connect
two diodes in series with this 5 V and
the voltage drops to about 3.5 V.

On the right of the schematic is the
CC2500, in a configuration which is
nearly entirely a direct copy from the
datasheet. The loop between RP_P and
RP_N is the antenna. Although there
are quite specific requirements for this
antenna in the datasheet, a wire about
1 1 cm long and bent into the shape in-
dicated suffices in practice and works
well over a short distance.

The schematic looks quite simple, but
the assembly of the circuit is much
trickier than it looks. This is because
the CC2500 chip, which deals with the
necessary RF communication, is only
available in a QFN package. For those
that are not familiar with SMD pack-

And the end result: the Living Colors lamps

68

elektor - 11/2008

ages: the five pins on each side of this
tiny chip all fit between two pins of a
normal DIP package. As if that is not
bad enough, most of the 20 connec-
tions to the IC have to be actually con-
nected as well. How do we solve this
as hobbyist without access to an ex-
pensive SMD equipped workshop?

Of course, there are conversion PCBs
available, but they are generally quite
expensive and certainly the versions
for QFN are not readily available. The
author therefore chose for the ‘dead
bug’ method: the chip is glued upside
down with a drop of instant glue to a
small piece of prototyping board. The
connections are now made with thin
wire to the copper tracks of the proto-
typing board. This type of wire is sold
with the name Kynar- or wirewrap
wire, but a cheaper alternative is sal-
vaging an 80-way IDE cable; the indi-
vidual wires are about the same size.
Once the module with the CC2500 is
done, the remainder is not too much
trouble. That is because these are all
through-hole parts. In the end the dili-
gent effort results in a little PCB about
the size of a match box, with the USB
connector as its only connection.

Compatibility problems

All that is left to do is plugging in the
connector and testing of the assem-
bly. The first tests appear to go real-
ly well, but several colours look abso-
lutely nothing like those on the screen.
How can this be? A quick test with a
graphics program that can generate

in use as an Ambilight clone.

HSV colours indicates that the HSV-
to-RGB conversion in the lamps does
not follow the official standard entirely.
Although the saturation and value are
correct, there is a certain non-linearity
in the hue curve. Fortunately this can
be fixed. After a few observations of
the differences in colour, a table can be
constructed which converts ‘real’ hue-
values to their equivalent Living Colors
hue values. The table is not really an
ideal solution, but if you notice the col-
our differences when watching a movie
you will have to ask yourself whether
that movie is really worth your time...
Because there is little chance that oth-
er lamps have the same addresses as
the lamp we used, there is a learning
routine in the AVR. This works as fol-
lows. First make sure that all lamps
that have to be controlled can be oper-
ated with one remote control. You can
‘add’ a lamp to a remote control by
holding the remote against the Philips
logo on the front and pushing the ‘1’-
button on the remote. Do this for all the
lamps and if all is well, all lamps will
now react to that remote control.

Once the remote control knows all the
lamps it is possible to transfer the ad-
dresses to the AVR: push button SI
and press the ‘O’ button on the remote
control until the LED on the PCB (Dl)
turns off. What is happening? The re-
mote control attempts to turn off all the
lamps by sending each lamp the ‘off’
command. The AVR also listens on this
channel and stores every passing ad-
dress. These addresses are saved in
EEPROM. ‘Acquired’ addresses remain
in the AVR until replaced by other ones
after the learn-button is pressed again.
The addresses are also retained when
the power supply voltage is removed.

The last mile

How does all this work on the PC
side? As already mentioned, the AVR
presents itself as a serial port that un-
derstands the so-called MoMoLight
protocol. This means that any program
that supports this protocol can control
the Living Colors lamps. A few exam-

ples of these are, just like the firmware
for the Atmel, on the website of the
author [2] and on the project page at
www. elektor. com .

For programmers who would like to
write their own software: the MoMo-
Light protocol supports up to three
RGB light sources. To set the lamps to
the desired colour the emulated seri-
al port needs to be opened at a baud
rate of 4800, no parity and 8 data bits.
The RGB values for the lamps can now
be sent in nine bytes in the order of
R1,R2,R3,G1,G2,G3,B1,B2,B3.

A final remark: it has come to the au-
thor’s attention that the software USB
stack is not quite as compatible with
all computers as it should have been.
Should there be a problem with a par-
ticular PC, you can try to connect the
device via a USB2.0 hub to the PC. If
this is all to no avail then there is also
a serial version available on the au-
thor’s website.

( 070850 - 1 )

Web Links

[1] : www.obdev.at/products/avrusb/index.html

[2] : http://meuk.spritesserver.nl/projects/livcol

About the author:

Jeroen Domburg is a student at the Sax-
ion Technical University in Enschede, the
Netherlands.

He is an enthusiastic hobbyist, with inter-
ests in microcontrollers, electronics and
computers.

In this column he showcases his personal
handiwork, modifications and other in-
teresting circuits, which do not necessar-
ily have to be useful. In most cases they
are not likely to win a beauty contest and
safety is generally taken with a pinch of
salt. But that doesn't concern the author
at all. As long as the circuit does what it
was intended for then all is well. You have
been warned!

11/2008 - elektor

69

MAILBOX

The Universal Remote Switch Box is a universal remote control receiver, fitted with 16 open-collector
outputs. Each of these can be configured either as a momentary or a toggle output. In addition there is
also a master/slave function built in.

This Universal Remote Switch Box was
inspired by the ‘Easy Home Remote
Control’ circuit in the 2006 July/ August
issue (page 72).

This circuit has only 4 outputs, howe-
ver, and accepts only RC5 codes. To
eliminate the latter limitation, the
firmware of the circuit described here
is based on the ‘Universal Infrared
Receiver’ (UIR, see sidebar), which
makes it suitable for all types of remote
control.

How it began

A few years ago I wanted to build an
IR-receiver for my PC. First I built the
receiver by Holger Klabunde [1], but I
was really disappointed with the soft-
ware that comes with it. After much
looking around I came across UIR on
the website of Srdan Milostic (now
no longer on-line). The hardware was
practically identical, but UIR could
handle all kinds of remote control. After
replacing the PIC I had a good remote
control for my PC.

Later on, I had the idea of using UIR
with a second microcontroller for a
remote switch box that doesn’t require
a PC. But two microcontrollers, that is
just a little bit extravagant. Because
only the HEX-code was available, I
converted the original code into assem-
bler. Around this assembler code I sub-
sequently built a additional shell. And
with this the Universal Remote Switch
Box was born.

The schematic

The hardware is straightforward:

• a TSOP1736 receives and demodu-
lates the IR-signals;

• with a dip-switch and three push
buttons the circuit can learn different
codes;

• three (bi-colour) LEDs are used as
status indicators;

• there are two ULN2803 output buf-
fers for driving the outputs;

• an LTC485 (or similar) is used for the
RS485 port;

• the brain of the whole thing is the
PIC16F877.

There is not much else to say about
the schematic, except that the output
buffers are capable of driving relays
directly. The ‘learning’ of the different
IR-signals and the RS485 connection
are described a little bit later on.

To make the PCB compact, a number
of SMD components are used. These
are standard parts however. The PCB
is single-sided, although this results in
the need for two wire links.

The Firmware

When the circuit receives a signal
from the remote control it is decoded
with the aid of the UIR software into a
48 bit code. This is compared, via the
RECEIVED_CMD subroutine, which
checks whether a valid command was
received, with the codes that are sto-
red in the EEPROM. When a valid code

is found, the corresponding output is
set appropriately. At the same time
Timerl is set to zero. This generates
an interrupt after about 262 ms, which
turns off the pulse-output(s) and clears
a blocking flag.

There is a peculiarity in the firmware,
which is caused by the hardware: the
last four outputs are not connected in
order to the microcontroller. In addition
the other outputs are wired in reverse.
This is corrected in the software using
a look-up table (PORT_CONV). The
four configuration bytes for the type
of output (TOGGLE 1/2 and MASTER
1/2) therefore have to be also in this
same order. This is taken into account
in the PC software. As a result of these
adjustments the outputs nevertheless
appear to be in order.

The size of the EEPROM is 256 bytes.
Of this, 192 bytes are used for the
codes (two codes can be program-
med for each output) plus four bytes
are for the output configuration. The
output number is also transmitted via
the RS485 port. To be more accurate,
this port, in fact, passes on each of the
32 individual codes that are possible.
In addition of this serial connection,
the configuration can also be sent to
a PC, which makes the programming
somewhat easier (for more details look
under the heading ‘PC software’).

Figure 1 . At the centre is the PIC1 6 microcontroller, which is
supported by the buffer ICs and the RS485-interface chip.

70

elektor - 11/2008

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11/2008 - elektor

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Figure 2. The component layout for the top of the board shows the neatly arranged design of the PCB

Figure 3. On the bottom of the board we recognise the SMD parts.

The serial connection operates with the
settings 9600 Baud, no parity, 8 data
bits, 1 stop bit (9600-N-8-1). The pro-
tocol is as follows:

- OxFF (start byte)

- 0x40 -I- output number

- OxFE (stop byte)

Universal IR receiver

UIR stands for Universal Infrared Receiver. This is a PIC12C508 connected to the COM-port of
a PC, which can be used (in conjunction with the appropriate software) to operate multimedia
programs. Originally, this was probably made by Srdan Milostic, although there is no further
information because his website has been gone for years. More information about UIR can be
found on the author's website [2].

The RS485 driver is always active,
except in edit-mode. This is therefore
effectively only an output. For future
possibilities the RX- and TX-pins are
already connected to RC6 and RC7 of
the microcontroller.

The programming mode
Normally the outer two LEDs are illu-
minated green. When receiving a valid
code the middle LED briefly (5 ms) fla-
shes red. With a invalid code the outer
two LEDs turn off briefly, but this is
barely visible (1 ms); these times were
deliberately chosen to be this short
because of the receive routine.

The programming (or ‘learning’) is ini-
tiated by pressing the left push button,
the left LED will turn red. On recep-
tion the middle LED briefly flashes
green. When the same code has been
received twice in a row, the two LEDs
on the left turn green and no further
codes are received. With the right but-
ton the code can be stored in RAM,
with the left button a new attempt can
be made.

With an incorrect reception (not the
same code twice), the second LED
briefly flashes green and the third LED
briefly red.

Two UIR codes can be stored for each
output. Each code is represented as
a 12-digit hexadecimal number (6
bytes).

When storing the code with the right
button, the dip-switch is used as the
output number. This dip-switch could
also be replaced with a rotary version
(see photo), so that it is easy to change
from one output to the next. The fifth
switch on the DIP block (a jumper in
the photo) selects the second block of
16 codes.

Leaving programming mode is done
with the middle push button. Only

then are all the codes stored in the
EEPROM.

The Edit mode

With a press of the right push button
we enter edit mode. This is indicated
by the right LED turning red. In this
mode it is possible to remove a code.
This is done by simultaneously press-
ing the left and right buttons. The mid-
dle LED briefly flashes red as confirma-
tion. The output number is again deter-
mined by the dip-switch.

Leaving edit mode is also done by
pressing the middle button. In this

Protocol

Uploading:

OxAA

start byte

output 0, code A

binary coded, 6 bytes

output 0, code B ... output F, code B

total 192 bytes

4 bytes output configuration

0x40 - 0x5 F

1 byte checksum

modulo 2 - XOR, not including start byte

Ack (0x06) or Nak (0x15) as confirmation

Downloading:

OxAB

download command

Response from the circuit is the same as when u

ploading (including start byte and checksum).

72

elektor - 11/2008

Figure 4. The prototype uses a rotary encoder, but a DIP switch works just as well.

Figure 5. As can be seen here, the SMD parts save quite a bit of space.

mode too, the changes are only saved
to the EEPROM when leaving the
mode.

PC software

In edit mode the microcontroller also
listens to the RS485 port (normally this
is only an output, as previously men-
tioned). In this mode it is possible to
read the configuration and to modify
it. This configuration is stored as an
ini-file. A ‘back-up’ file in such a format
can also be loaded.

When the PC program first starts, it
checks whether any of the ports COM1
through COM16 exist. The result is
shown in a combobox after which the
first available port is opened. With

‘Download’ you can retrieve the con-
figuration and with ‘Upload’ you can
load a configuration into the PIC.
Using the software you can also set the
type of output. There are four options:

• Toggle: press once — > on; press again
— > off.

• Pulse: output active for about
262 ms.

• Master: the same as Toggle, but
when switching off all slaves turn off
as well.

• Slave: when switching on, the mas-
ters also turn on, switching off is not
possible.

Multiple masters is possible, but
whether this is useful is questionable.
There is also a function for the middle
button when in the idle state. Press-

ing this button results in the code
‘OxEEEEEEEEEEEE’. When this button
is programmed using the PC program
(normal programming is not possible
with this button), it can be used as the
local control for an output.

The table shows the protocol that has
been used. For connecting the RS485
port to a PC the ‘Low-cost RS232-to-
RS485 Converter’ in the January 2005
issue, page 69 is eminently suitable.

( 080063 - 1 )

Note: This circuit has not been tested the Elektor Laboratory.

Internet Links

[1] www.holger-klabunde.de

[2] www.hdelectronics.nl

11/2008 - elektor

73

MINI PROJECT

Water is vital for humans, but too much of it has an undesirable effect, particularly when it turns up in
the wrong places. This is what two Elektor designers discovered after a blocked drain of a combination
boiler and a leaking filter of an aquarium. This will quickly suggest the idea of designing a small circuit
that will give a clear signal when this type of flooding occurs, in this case with a loud alarm.

It is not always possible to prevent a
water leak, of course. But in this case
it is essential to discover it as quickly
as possible. That is the purpose of this
circuit: a clear warning when water
appears somewhere where it doesn’t
belong.

What are the most important design
criteria to keep in mind when design-
ing a flood alarm? Seeing that it could
be years, or hopefully never, before
there is a leak, the circuit has to be al-
ways ready and should not rely on the
mains voltage. If the circuit is powered
from batteries it is very important that
the circuit has very low or no power
consumption when everything is dry.
To detect the water we make use the
fact that (non distilled) water is con-
ductive to an extent.

The Design

Water is a poor conductor then and
consequently we should be able to
measure a relatively large resistance
between the two electrodes. The best
way to do this is to make the gate of
a MOSFET the input of our circuit.
We prefer to measure with respect to
ground, so we use a P-channel version
for Tl, in the form of a BS250. This FET
switches the oscillator that follows.
When it is dry, Tl has to stay off. This
is achieved with Rl. Cl prevents the
circuit reacting to noise. With a value

of 10 MQ the circuit is sensitive enough
and the current that flows is less than
one micro-ampere (1 /jA ). R2 protects
the gate from high voltages (when the
electrode it touched, for example) and
forms in combination with Cl a low-
pass filter, so that any AC (noise) volt-
ages are filtered out and the oscillator
that follows is switched cleanly. R3 en-
sures that this oscillator is completely
off (no current consumption at all).

To minimise the power consumption
when water is detected the (active)
buzzer is intermittently turned on.
The buzzer is activated for about 1 to
1.5 seconds every 10 seconds. The os-
cillator that makes this happen is im-
plemented with discrete parts. For
this we chose an astable multivibrator
with two transistors. The advantage of
this is that one of these two transistors
(T3) switches the buzzer and the buzz-
er also functions as the collector resis-
tor. C4 is necessary because most ac-
tive buzzers (the version with a built-in
oscillator that generates the bleeping
noise) are a very noisy load. The buzzer
that is used here, without a parallel ca-
pacitor, prevented the operation of the
oscillator (the buzzer remained on).
The component values of the circuit
around T2 and T3 have been designed
with the specific requirements of this
application in mind (highly asymmetric
square wave) so that these values are

quite different from the standard im-
plementation. This is also why the off-
time deviates from the value resulting
from the standard formula that is nor-
mally used to calculate the component
values for this AMV.

T3 is a Darlington device so that the
base resistor R6 can be as large as
possible. This ensures that C3 has a
reasonable value. When the buzzer
is not activated the collector resistor
of T2 determines the largest share of
the current consumption. During the
time when the buzzer is activated,
C3 has to be charged again. Since the
time (R4XC3) required to recharge C3
is longer than the time set by R5XC2,
the expected time of R6xC3 is there-
fore shorter. The theoretical times in an
optimal case may be calculated from

In 2XR5XC2

and

In 2XR6XC3.

The expected time would have been
15 seconds, but has been reduced to
10 seconds by the combination of val-
ues chosen for these components. In-
creasing the value of C3 to lengthen
the off-time does not work. R4 would
have to be reduced by the same ratio
and that would increase the current
consumption.

74

elektor - 11/2008

Figure 1. The circuit comprises a detector section with a MOSFET and an astable multivibrator with two transistors.

You could experiment with the value of
R6, but make sure that T3 still switch-
es on properly. The voltage drop will
be around 0.8 V.

For the ‘sensor’ for this water alarm
you can use two short wires with the
insulation stripped off. The circuit is
sensitive enough to sense a drop of tap
water on a table with the ends of the
sensor wires.

To prevent the circuit from drowning
in a large pool of water and therefore
won’t work properly any more, you can
build it into an enclosure that floats.
Alternatively you could mount the
PCB, buzzer and battery on a block of
polystyrene. The wires for the sensor
can be pushed through the block and
bent over on the underside. The block
of polystyrene has to be big enough
to carry the weight of the circuit, of
course. A third possibility is to mount
the circuit sufficiently high up in the
room. The sensor can be connected to
the circuit with twisted wires, prevent-
ing them from picking up noise.

Current consumption

For the buzzer we used a type that can
be found at Digi-Key, the CEP-2260A.
This buzzer, at a power supply volt-
age of 9 V, uses less than 5 mA. The
actual buzzer that we have, used even
less, only 4 mA. There are however 12-
V buzzers that use 20 mA or more. Us-
ing one of these would considerably
reduce the amount of time that the
alarm can remain active.

The current consumption of our pro-
totype averaged less than 0.5 mA, so
with a standard 9-V PP3 battery rated
at 500 mAh it will run continuously for
1,000 hours. If nobody has taken any
action after the alarm has been going
for 40 days, well then...

Since the current consumption in the
idle state is negligible (<1 ijA), there
is a risk that the battery may leak after
a few years. So keep an eye on the life
expectancy of the battery and make

sure it is mounted in the separate com-
partment or a plastic bag, so should
the battery leak, it cannot cause any
damage.

( 071094 - 1 )

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75

INFOTAINMENT

PUZZLE

M AY A Half'll

I I vAOvJUr\L4 electronics touch

This time of the year, a Hexadoku puzzle like the one printed here should provide low-cost mental
entertainment for an evening or two. So go for it and try to enter the right hex numbers in the boxes. Send us
your solution and enter a prize draw for an E-blocks Starter Kit Professional and three Elektor Shop vouchers.

The instructions for this puzzle are straightforward.

In the diagram composed of 1 6 x 1 6 boxes, enter numbers such
that all hexadecimal numbers 0 through F (that's 0-9 and A-F)
occur once only in each row, once in each column and in each
of the 4x4 boxes (marked by the thicker black lines).

A number of clues are given in the puzzle and these determine
the start situation.

All correct entries received for each month's puzzle go into a
draw for a main prize and three lesser prizes. All you need to
do is send us the numbers in the grey boxes. The puzzle is also
available as a free download from our website.

SOLVE HEXADOKU AND WIN!

Correct solutions received enter a prize draw for an

E-blocks
Starter Kit
Professional

worth £249

and three

Elektor SHOP
Vouchers worth
£40.00 each.

We believe these prizes should encourage

all our readers to participate!

The competition is not open to employees of Elektor International Media,
its business partners and/or associated publishing houses.

PARTICIPATE!

Please send your solution (the numbers in the grey boxes) by email to:

editor@elektor.com - Subject: hexadoku 11-2008 (please copy exactly).

Include with your solution: full name and street address.

Alternatively, by fax or post to: Elektor Hexadoku

Regus Brentford - 1 000 Great West Road - Brentford TW8 9HH

United Kingdom - Fax (+44) 208 2614447

The closing date is 1 December 2008.

PRIZE WINNERS

The solution of the September 2008 Hexadoku is: 7A0FE.

The E-blocks Starter Kit Professional goes to:

Simon Williams (UK).

An Elektor SHOP voucher worth £40.00 goes to:

Colin Wilson (UK); Hannu von Essen (FIN); Jeff Debooy (AUS).

Congratulations everybody!

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76

elektor - 11/2008

INFOTAINMENT

RETRONICS

Tektronix 7D01 Logic Analyser (1978)

Martin Cooke (United Kingdom)

Back in the 7 0's when engi-
neers were bread-boarding
their designs using the new fan-
gled microprocessors they soon
found that the traditional diag-
nostic tools were falling a lit-
tle short of the job. Many found
themselves in the
equipment store
rummaging in vain
for an eight-chan-
nel storage scope.

In 1 973 Hewlett
Packard announced
their HP5000A logic
analyser (US: ana-
lyzer) which was a
basic two-channel
machine designed
for use with combi-
national logic and
using LEDs to rep-
resent digital levels.

Tektronix had for a
long time been using
a modular approach
to their oscilloscope
designs; a scope
chassis housed the
CRT together with
its high and low ten-
sion supplies and
a number of bays
which accommodate
plug-ins to amplify
the input signal and
generate the time-
base. If you wanted
more bandwidth or
channels it was a
simple job to swap
the plug-ins.

knob scrolls through the captured
data. Storage options allow pre,
post or centre trigger and a varia-
ble data filter (up to 300 ns) helps
to prevent false triggering when
sampling in asynchronous mode.
Voltage threshold for the logic
under test is adjustable between

ing aspect of this and most other
early analysers; the test clips
supplied have a habit of pinging
off the 1C lead or shorting adja-
cent pins. A much better solution
is the spring peg type of 1C test
clip which fits over the 1C body or

With modern desk-
top PCs clocking
at several GHz you
may wonder if there
is still a place on the
workbench for an
analyser that can
only manage a maximum asyn-
chronous clock of 1 00 MHz, but
for the majority of microcontrol-
ler designs the unit has proved to
be more than adequate.

( 080644 - 1 )

or as a map. It contains mem-
ory to store data captured by the
7D01 as a reference which can
then be compared with succes-
sive captures to detect errors.

Connecting to the circuit under
test was always the most frustrat-

Around 1976 Tek-
tronix announced
the type 7D01 logic
analyser plug-in for
their 7000 series
oscilloscope chassis.

The 7D01 can dis-
play and store up to
1 6 channels of dig-
ital data. Triggering
options include a
16-bit word recogniser which is
set up from a row of three-way
switches (hi/lo/don't care) on the
front panel. The word recogniser
also has a BNC output on the
front panel useful for triggering
other test equipment. A cursor

plus and minus 1 2 V.

The DF2 display formatter in the
left hand bay displays the cap-
tured data as a 16-channel tim-
ing diagram or as a state table
in either binary, hex, octal (there
is also an ASCII display option)

better still is to design the PCB to
include pin headers specifically
for analyser connection.

Lifting the side panels on this unit
is something of a revelation; all
of the gold plated connectors still
retain their original lustre and
the use of perforated
aluminium panels
allow optimum air
circulation while pro-
viding EMI shielding.
A closer look shows
a liberal use of the
high speed Motorola
MECL 10000 fam-
ily of chips (includ-
ing the 4Kxl data
storage RAM) and
reveals that all ICs
and transistors from
T092 up to T03 out-
line are mounted on
sockets. The build
quality and atten-
tion to detail verges
on the obsessive
and explains partly
why Tektronix has
such a good reputa-
tion amongst repair
and calibration
engineers. With this
build quality comes
a price; in 1 979 the
cost of the 7D01 and
DF2 alone would
have set you back
over 1 1 ,000 US dol-
lars, the price of a
very nice car. All the
operator manuals
are famously com-
prehensive and can
be found on the
Internet.

Retronics is a monthly column covering vintage electronics including legendary Elektor designs. Contributions, suggestions and requests are
welcomed; please send an email to editor@elektor.com

11/2008 - elektor

77

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www.easydaq.biz

• USB powered, 4 relays + 4 DIO channels

• Will switch 240VAC @ 10 amps

• Screw terminal access

• LabVIEW, VB, VC

• Free shipping

• From £38

Design & supply of USB, USB Wireless,

Ethernet & Serial, DAQ, Relay & DIO card
products. info@easydaq.biz

EASYSYNC

http://www.easysync.co.uk

EasySync Ltd sells a wide
range of single and multi-
port USB to RS232/RS422
and RS485 converters at competitive prices.

ELNEC

www.elnec.com

• device programmer
manufacturer

• selling through contracted
distributors all over the world

• universal and dedicated device programmers

• excellent support and after sale support

• free SW updates

• reliable HW

• once a months new SW release

• three years warranty for most programmers

FIRST TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER LTD.

http://www.ftt.co.uk/PICProTrng.html

and Assembly SXiwftw

Programming Courses, Trttmfw Ud.

The future is embedded.

Microchip Consultant /Training Partner developed
courses:

• Distance learning / instructor led

• Assembly / C-Programming of PIC1 6, PIC1 8,
PIC24, dsPIC microcontrollers

• Foundation / Intermediate

FLEXIPANEL LTD

www.flexipanel.com

TEAclippers - the smallest
PIC programmers in the world,
from £20 each:

• Per-copy firmware sales

• Firmware programming & archiving

• In-the-field firmware updates

• Protection from design theft by subcontractors

FUTURE TECHNOLOGY DEVICES

http://www.ftdichip.com

FTDI designs and sells
USB-UART and USB-FIFO
interface i.c.’s.

Complete with PC drivers,
these devices simplify the task of designing or
upgrading peripherals to USB

ILP ELECTRONICS LTD

www.ilpelectronics.com

Tel +441233750481
Fax +441 233750578

ILP have been manufacturing audio modules since
1 971 and apart from our standard range we also
offer a custom design service for the OEM market.

YOUR ELECTRONICS OPEN SOURCE

http://dev.emcelettronica.com

Website full of Projects and Resources for
Electronics Engineers and DIY.

• Tutorial

• Flardware (Schematic - ~

& Gerber) ™

• Firmware (Asm & C)

• Reference Design

Everyone can submit a story as a useful source!
'Share for life'

LONDON ELECTRONICS COLLEGE

http://www.lec.org.uk

Vocational training and education
for national qualifications in
Electronics Engineering and
Information Technology (BTEC First National,
Higher National NVQs, GCSEs and GCEs). Also
Technical Management and Languages.

[EC

78

elektor - 11/2008

products and services directory

MQP ELECTRONICS

www.mqp.com

• Low cost USB Bus Analysers

• High, Full or Low speed captures

• Graphical analysis and filtering

• Automatic speed detection

• Bus powered from high speed PC

• Capture buttons and feature connector

• Optional analysis classes

OBD2CABLES.COM

http://www.obd2cables.com

• Thousands of OBD cables and connectors in
stock

• Custom cable design and manufacturing

• OBD breakout boxes and simulators

• Guaranteed lowest prices

• Single quantity orders OK

• Convenient online ordering

• Fast shipping

Visit our website, or email us at:
sales@obd2cables.com

ROBOT ELECTRONICS

http://www.robot-electronics.co.uk

Advanced Sensors and Electronics for Robotics

• Ultrasonic Range Finders

• Compass modules

• Infra-Red Thermal sensors

• Motor Controllers

• Vision Systems

• Wireless Telemetry Links

• Embedded Controllers

ROBOTIQ

http://www.robotiq.co.uk

Build your own Robot!

Fun for the whole family!

• MeccanoTM Compatible

• Computer Control

• Radio Control

• Tank Treads

• Hydraulics

Internet Technical Bookshop,

1-3 Fairlands House, North Street, Carshalton,
Surrey SM5 2HW

email: sales@robotiq.co.uk Tel: 020 8669 0769

m

1

pi

f

RADIOMETRIX

www.radiometrix.com

The leading global developer
of ISM band, low power radio
modules for wireless data transmission:

• Transmitters • Receivers • Transceivers

• RF modems • Evaluation Kits

WWW.

elektor.

com

SCANTOOL.NET

http://www.scantool.net

ScanTool.net offers a complete line
of PC-based scan tools for under £50.

• 1 year unconditional warranty

• 90 day money back guarantee

• For use with EOBD compliant vehicles

• Fast shipping

• Compatible with a wide range
of diagnostic software

Visit our website, or email us at:
sales@scantool.net

USB INSTRUMENTS

http://www.usb-instruments.com

USB Instruments specialises
in PC based instrumentation
products and software such
as Oscilloscopes, Data
Loggers, Logic Analaysers
which interface to your PC via USB.

VIRTINS TECHNOLOGY

www.virtins.com

PC and Pocket PC based
virtual instrument such
as sound card real time
oscilloscope, spectrum
analyzer, signal generator,
multimeter, sound meter,
distortion analyzer, LCR meter.
Free to download and try.

SHOWCASE YOUR COMPANY HERE

Elektor Electronics has a feature to help
customers promote their business,

Showcase - a permanent feature of the
magazine where you will be able to showcase
your products and services.

For just £220 + VAT (£20 per issue for
eleven issues) Elektor will publish your
company name, website address and a
30-word description
For £330 + VAT for the year (£30 per
issue for eleven issues) we will publish
the above plus run a 3cm deep full colour

image - e.g. a product shot, a screen shot
from your site, a company logo - your
choice

Places are limited and spaces will go on
a strictly first come, first served basis.
So-please fax back your order today!

_ n

I wish to promote my company, please book my space:

• Text insertion only for £220 + VAT • Text and photo for £330 + VAT

NAME: ORGANISATION:

JOB TITLE:

ADDRESS:

TEL:

PLEASE COMPLETE COUPON BELOW AND FAX BACK TO 00-44-(0)1932 564998

COMPANY NAME

WEB ADDRESS

30- WORD DESCRIPTION

11/2008 - elektor

79

BOOKS, CD-ROMs, KITS & MODULES

A world of electronics
from a single shop!

Communicating with CAN

(October 2008)

The CAN (Controller Area Network) protocol was originally developed for use in the automotive
sector. It is now over 20 years old, but is still frequently used these days. It was specially designed
for use in environments where you have a lot of electromagnetic interference. Despite the fact that
the CAN protocol is a serial protocol, it can't just be connected to (the serial port of) a computer.
The all-round USB-CAN adapter described in last month's Elektor is a compact and simple solu-
tion. With the help of the accompanying software you can follow all data communications taking
place and carry out operations such as filtering and storage at the flick of a (mouse) switch.

PCB, portly populated

Art. #071 120-71 • £54.90 • US$ 109.80

Elektor SMT Reflow Oven

(October 2008)

The Elektor SMT reflow oven will faithfully
handle most if not all your soldering of
projects using surface mount devices
(SMDs). The oven is particularly suited for
use not just in Colleges, workshops, clubs
and R&D laboratories, but also by the ad-
vanced electronics enthusiast. This pre-
cious workbench tool is at home where
SMD boards have to be produced to a
variety of requirements on size, compo-
nents and soldering materials.

Size: 4 1 8x372x250 mm
(16.5xl4.6x 10 inch)

Art. # 080663-91 • £882.00 • US$ 1525.00
Reduced price till 1 November 2008:

£799.00 • US$ 1450.00

DCC Command Station

(September 2008)

Electronics is making more and more in-
roads into the domain of model trains.
Trains are now controlled with digital
codes, and in many cases the entire sys-
tem can be operated from a computer.
Elektor presents a design for the device
that forms the heart of a digitally control-
led model railway: the DCC Command
Station. The computing power in this de-
sign is provided by a highperformance
ARM 7 processor.

Kit of ports incl. programmed ARM
module

Art. # 070989-71 • £88.50 • US$ 177.00

Prices and item descriptions subject to change. E. & O.E

80

elektor - 11/2008

SAPS-400

(May 2008)

With the SAPS-400 we offer a powerful,
adjustable symmetrical supply that's ide-
al for lightweight audio power amplifiers
and happily sits in less than a quarter of
the space taken by a comparable supply
of conventional design.

PCB, populated and tested , ready-
mounted in aluminium U profile

Art. # 070688-91 • £159.00 • US$318.00

DigiButler

(May & April 2008)

A low-cost home automation server
based on a Freescale Coldfire 32-bit mi-
crocontroller. The project has been de-
signed with open source in mind and
doubles as a powerful Coldfire develop-
ment system using free CodeWarrior soft-
ware from Freescale. DigiButler activates
electrical appliances in and around the
home, accepting on/off commands from
a WAP phone, through an Ethernet net-
work or via a webpage at an allocated IP
address and with full access security.

Kit of parts including SMD-stuffed PCB ,
programmed microcontroller , all leaded
parts and CD-ROM containing both
Elektor articles , TBLCF documentation ,
datasheets , application notes and source
code files.

Design your awn

EMBEDDED UNUX
CONTROL CENTRE

A DIY system made from recycled components

Design your own

Embedded Linux

control centre on a PC

This book covers a do-it-your-self system
made from recycled components. The
main system described in this book re-
uses an old PC, a wireless mains outlet
with three switches and one controller,
and a USB webcam. All this is linked to-
gether by Linux. This book will serve up
the basics of setting up a Linux environ-
ment - including a software develop-
ment environment - so it can be used as
a control centre. The book will also guide
you through the necessary setup and
configuration of a Webserver, which will
be the interface to your very own home
control centre. All software needed will
be available for downloading from the
Elektor website.

234 pages • ISBN 978-0-905705-72-9
£24.00 • US$ 48.00

More information on the
Elektor Website:

www.elektor.com

Elektor

Regus Brentford
1 000 Great West Road
Brentford
TW8 9HH
United Kingdom
Tel.: +44 20 8261 4509
Fax: +44 20 8261 4447
Email: sales@elektor.com

Universal

Display Book

!ii P C .MiiLi-SK l -L c (ri-

"\

From LED to graphical LCD

Universal Display Book

for PIC Microcontrollers

This book begins with simple programs to
flash LEDs, and eventually by stages to use
other display indicators such as the 7-seg-
ment and alphanumeric liquid crystal dis-
plays. As the reader progresses through the
book, bigger and upgraded PIC chips are
introduced, with full circuit diagrams and
source code, both in assembler and C. A
tutorial is included using the MPLAB progra-
mming environment, together with the PCB
design package and EAGLE schematic to
enable readers to create their own designs.

192 pages* ISBN 978-0-905705-73-6
£23.00 • US$ 46.00

PIC Mi tro controllers

ti m . r Urv^nrn

Silent alarm, poetry box, night buzzer and more

PIC Microcontrollers

This hands-on book covers a series of
exciting and fun projects with PIC micro-
controllers. You can built more than 50
projects for your own use. The clear expla-
nations, schematics, and pictures of each
project on a breadboard make this a fun
activity. The technical background infor-
mation in each project explains why the
project is set up the way it is, including the
use of datasheets. Even after you've built
all the projects it will still be a valuable
reference guide to keep next to your PC.

446 pages • ISBN 978-0-905705-70-5
£27.95 • US$ 55.90

11/2008 - elektor

81

PRODUCT SHORTLIST, BESTSELLERS

Computer Vision

Principlm and tfV tactile

Principles and Practice

Computer Vision

Computer vision is probably the most ex-
citing branch of image processing, and the
number of applications in robotics, auto-
mation technology and quality control is
constantly increasing. Unfortunately enter-
ing this research area is, as yet, not simple.
Those who are interested must first go
through a lot of books, publications and
software libraries. With this book, howev-
er, the first step is easy. The theoretically
founded content is understandable and is
supplemented by many examples.

320 pages • ISBN 978-0-905705-71-2
£32.00 • US$ 64.00

lor

Electronics
Engineer!:! i!
mi plications

5.0, 6.0, VBA, .NET, 2005

Visual Basic for Electronics
Engineering Applications

This book is targeted towards those
people that want to control existing or
self-built hardware from their com-
puter. After familiarizing yourself with
Visual Basic, its development environment
and the toolset it offers are discussed in
detail. Each topic is accompanied by
clear, ready to run code, and where nec-
essary, schematics are provided that will
get your projects up to speed in no time.

476 pages • ISBN 978-0-905705-68-2
£29.95 • US$ 59.90

Modern technology for everyone

FPGA Course

FPGAs have established a firm position in
the modern electronics designer's toolkit.
Until recently, these 'super components'
were practically reserved for specialists in
high-tech companies. The nine lessons
on this courseware CD-ROM are a step
by step guide to the world of Field Pro-
grammable Gate Array technology. Sub-
jects covered include not just digital logic
and bus systems but also building an
FPGA Webserver, a 4-channel multimeter
and a USB controller. The CD also con-
tains PCB layout files in pdf format, a
Quartus manual, project software and
various supplementary instructions.

ISBN 978-90-5381 -225-9 • £14.50 • US$ 29.00

Software Tools & Hardware Tips

Ethernet Toolbox

All articles published in 2007

Elektor 2007

This CD-ROM contains all articles pub-
lished in Elektor Volume 2007. Using the
supplied Adobe Reader program, articles
are presented in the same layout as
originally found in the magazine. An
extensive search machine is available to
locate keywords in any article. The instal-
lation program now allows Elektor year
volume CD-ROMs you have available to
be copied to hard disk, so you do not
have to eject and insert your CDs when
searching in another year volume. With
this CD-ROM you can produce hard copy
of PCB layouts at printer resolution, adapt
PCB layouts using your favourite graphics
program, zoom in / out on selected PCB
areas and export circuit diagrams and
illustrations to other programs.

ISBN 978-90-5381-218-1 • £17.50 • US$35.00

More than 68,000 components

ECD 4

This CD-ROM contains all essential in-
formation regarding Ethernet interfaces!
Ethernet Toolbox includes a collection of
datasheets for dedicated Ethernet inter-
face ICs from many different manufac-
turers. It provides a wealth of information
about connectors and components for the
physical layer (PHY) and specific software
tools for use with the Ethernet (Software).
To help you learn about the Ethernet in-
terfaces, we have compiled a collection
of all articles on this topic that have ap-
peared in Elektor and complemented
them with additional documentation and
links to introductory articles on Ethernet
interfaces. The documents are PDF files.

ISBN 978-90-5381-214-3 • £19.50 • US$ 39.00

The program package consists of eight
databanks covering ICs, germanium and
silicon transistors, FETs, diodes, thyristors,
triacs and optocouplers. A further eleven
applications cover the calculation of,
for example, LED series droppers, zener
diode series resistors, voltage regulators
and AMVs. A colour band decoder is in-
cluded for determining resistor and in-
ductor values. ECD 4 gives instant access
to data on more than 68,000 compo-
nents. All databank applications are fully
interactive, allowing the user to add, edit
and complete component data. This CD-
ROM is a must-have for all electronics
enthusiasts.

ISBN 978-90-5381-159-7 • £17.50 • US$35.00

v / v

Prices and item descriptions subject to change. E. & O.E

82

elektor - 11/2008

November 2008 (No. 383)

£

USS

Motorised Volume Pot

071135-41 ....Programmed controller ATMEGA8-16PU

5.90...

11.80

Speed Camera Warning Device

08061 5-1 Printed circuit board

15.50...

31.00

080615-41 ....Programmed controller PIC1 6F876A-I/SO

11.80...

23.60

Remote Control by Mobile Phone

080324-1 Printed circuit board

17.80...

35.60

080324-41 ....Programmed controller ATMEGA8-16PU

5.90...

11.80

080324-71 ....Kit of parts

see www.elektor.com

Tracking Hot Spots

080358-1 Printed circuit board

9.10...

18.20

ATmega meets Vinculum

071152-91 ....VDIP1 module

22.5...

45.00

October 2008 (No. 382)

Communicating with CAN

071 1 20-71 .... PCB, partly populated

54.90...

...109.80

Elektor SMT Precision Reflow Oven

080663-91 .... Ready to use oven (230VAC only)

882.00 ...

.1525.00

Multi-purpose GPS Receiver

070309-41 .... Programmed controller PIC1 8F2520

11.60...

23.20

ATM18 Relay Board and Port Expander

071 035-72 .... Relay PCB with all components and relays

36.90...

73.80

071 035-95 .... Port Extension PCB, populated with SMD

13.40...

26.80

RF Sweep Frequency Generator / Spectrum Analyser

040360-41 ....Programmed controller ATmega8535

21.80 ...

43.60

September 2008 (No. 381)

DCC Command Station

070989-71 .... Kit of parts incl. programmed ARM module 88.50 177.00

July/August 2008 (No. 379/380)

Solar-powered Automatic Lighting

080228-41 .... Programmed controller PIC1 2C671 9.00 1 8.00

Battery Discharge Meter

070821 -41 .... Programmed controller PIC1 6F676-20I/P 5.90 1 1 .80

070821 -42 .... Programmed controller PIC1 6F628-20/P 9.00 1 8.00

Operating Hour Counter

070349-41 .... Programmed controller PIC1 2F683 5.90 1 1 .80

Energy-efficient Backlight

080250-41 ....Programmed controller ATmega32 22.50 45.00

Deluxe '123' Game

080132-41 ....Programmed controller ATmega8-PU 9.00 18.00

Reaction Race using ATtinyl 3

0801 1 8-41 .... Programmed controller ATtinyl 3 4.90 9.80

Underwater Magic

071037-41 ....Programmed controller AT90S8515P 14.90 29.80

Flowcode for Garden Lighting

0801 1 3-41 .... Programmed controller PIC1 6F88 1 1 .90 23.80

Tent Alarm

080135-41 ....Programmed controller ATtinyl 3V 4.90 9.80

Programmable Servo Driver

080323-41 .... Programmed controller PIC1 2F675 5.90 1 1 .80

Simple USB AYR-ISP Compatible Programmer

0801 61 -41 .... Programmed controller ATmega8-l 6AU 1 1 .90 23.80

Intelligent Presence Simulator

080231 -41 .... Programmed controller PIC1 2C508 5.90 1 1 .80

LiPo Manager

080053-41 .... Programmed controller PIC1 6F84 1 1 .90 23.80

GPS Receiver

080238-41 .... Programmed controller PIC1 6F876A 23.00 46.00

Universal Thermostat

080090-41 ....Programmed controller PIC16F628 9.00 18.00

DTMF-controlled Home Appliance Switcher

080037-41 ....Programmed controller ATmega8-l 6PC 9.00 18.00

Solar-powered Battery Charger

080225-41 .... Programmed controller PIC1 2C671 9.00 1 8.00

Bestsellers

F_„l IJ_J I! \

od

1

3

5

3

2

4

1

2

3

4

5

Embedded Linux Control Centre

ISBN 978-0-905705-72-9 £24.00. US$ 48.00

PIC Microcontrollers

ISBN 978-0-905705-70-5 £27.95. USS 55.90

Universal Display Book

ISBN 978-0-905705-73-6 £23.00..... USS 46.00

Computer Vision

ISBN 978-0-905705-71 -2 £32.00 .....USS 64.00

Visual Basic for Electronics Engineering Applications

ISBN 978-0-905705-68-2 £29.95 .....USS 59.90

FPGA Course

ISBN 978-90-5381-225-9 £14.50. US$ 29.00

ECD 4

ISBN 978-90-5381-159-7 £17.50. US$ 35.00

Elektor 2007

ISBN 978-90-538 1-218-1 £1 7.50 .....USS 35.00

Home Automation

ISBN 978-90-5381-195-5 £13.90. USS 27.80

Ethernet Toolbox

ISBN 978-90-538 1 -2 1 4-3 £1 9.50 .....USS 39.00

DigiButler

Art. # 071102-71 £29.00 .....USS 58.00

SpYder Discovery Kit

Art. # 060296-91 £9.00.... USS 18.00

DCC Command Station

Art. # 070989-71 £88.50.. USS 1 77.00

Communicating with CAN

Art. #071 120-71 E54.90...USS 109.80

SAPS-400

Art. # 070688-9 1 £ 1 59.00 ... USS 3 1 8.00

Order quickly and safe through

www.elektor.com/shop

or use the Order Form near the end
of the magazine!

Elektor

Regus Brentford
1 000 Great West Road
Brentford TW8 9HH * United Kingdom
Tel. +44 20 8261 4509
Fax +44 20 8261 4447
Email: sales@elektor.com

11/2008 - elektor

83

INFO & MARKET

SNEAK PREVIEW

Free Supplement: the i-TRIXX Collection

If you hate those complex projects, rejoice! This year too, the December issue of Elektor comes with a 24-page supplement called i-TRIXX Collection. These free pages
contain about 20 circuits supplied by the Elektor lab and selected free-lance contributing authors. This year's collection is again aimed at those of you starting out in electronics or on
a modest budget. If you like scavenging components from the junk box, the circuits presented are just the ticket to making something quickly in an afternoon or so.

Wireless HiFi

Until recently, radio links were rare birds in the audio hi-fi scene, probably because of issues
with the transmission quality. Some manufacturers did manage to bite the bullet however
and now supply surround sound sets incorporating remote speakers on a wireless link. If it
looked like high-quality audio transmission over RF is outside the realm of home construc-
tion, new modules from Aurel make it all possible and Elektor (who else) is the first to come
up with a tried and tested DIY project.

Electronic Spinning Top

A really impressive gadget, this electronic spinning top capable of displaying a text if you make it spin at
good speed. A round circuit board with a diameter of about 70 mm accommodates a microcontroller, 2
button cells, 2 LED bars and a number of components. The earth's magnetic field is detected in an inge-
nious way to enable the LEDs to be driven such that the toy actually produces legible text!

Article titles and magazine contents subject to change, please check 'Magazine' on www.elektor.com

The December 2008 issue comes on sale on Thursday 20 November 2008 (UK distribution only).
UK mainland subscribers will receive the issue between 15 and 18 November 2008.

w.elektor.com www.elektor.com www.elektor.com www.elektor.com www.elektor.

Elektor on the web

All magazine articles back to volume 2000 are available online in pdf format. The article summary and parts list (if applicable) can be instantly viewed to help you positively identify
an article. Article related items are also shown, including software downloads, circuit boards, programmed ICs and corrections and updates if applicable. Complete magazine issues
may also be downloaded.

In the Elektor Shop you'll find all other products sold by the publishers, like CD-
ROMs, kits and books. A powerful search function allows you to search for items
and references across the entire website.

Also on the Elektor website:

• Electronics news and Elektor announcements

• Readers Forum

• PCB, software and e-magazine downloads

• Surveys and polls

• FAQ, Author Guidelines and Contact

- Choc* »n wim Z

M Inform. live #rtide*
w h-eject*

Unlcyde-rlding robot

Elektor SMT Renow Oven demo on YouTube

Ren<»»: Low eo»t tew pin cow* n.**.
microcontroller

NLX9C614 rtrored thermometer

v Books

CIcMor October 2008

Go with th« Reflow

22

V CD-ROM*

v Kits l Module*
M Clocks
wKh
v Controller.

V M^oono.

V Offer.

V f lektcrr Credit*
W tubierrpuon*

Elektor'* 2008 October Issue can
be downloaded! The downloadable
ver*«n not oner *evo* you time
or* money but alto offer* lull lot
search options

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for reflow soldering

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before subm.i*.-.} guestrons,
please review our
fAQ section’

84

elektor - 11/2008

Description Price each Qty. Total Order Code

Universal Display Book
for PIC Microcontrollers
Design your own Embedded
Linux Control Centre on a PC

CD-ROM FPGA Course £14.50

Computer Vision £32.00

PIC Microcontrollers £27.95

(323

(323

£23.00

£24.00

Free Elektor Catalogue 2008

Prices and item descriptions subject to change.

The publishers reserve the right to change prices
without prior notification. Prices and item descriptions
shown here supersede those in previous issues. E. & O.E.

Sub-total

P&P

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subscriptions@elektor.com

ORDERING INSTRUCTIONS, P&P CHARGES

Except in the USA and Canada, all orders, except for subscriptions (for which see below), must be sent BY POST or FAX to our Brentford address
using the Order Form overleaf. Online ordering: www.elektor.com/shop

Readers in the USA and Canada may (but are not obliged to) send orders, except for subscriptions (for which see below), to the USA address
given on the order form. Please apply to Old Colony Sound for applicable P&P charges. Please allow 4-6 weeks for delivery.

Orders placed on our Brentford office must include P&P charges (Priority or Standard) as follows: Europe: £6.00 (Standard) or £7.00
(Priority) Outside Europe: £9.00 (Standard) or £11.00 (Priority)

HOWTO PAY

All orders must be accompanied by the full payment, including postage and packing charges as stated above or advised by Customer Services staff.

Bank transfer into account no. 40209520 held by Elektor Electronics with ABN-AMRO Bank, London. IBAN: GB35 ABNA 4050 3040 2095 20.

BIC: ABNAGB2L. Currency: sterling (UKP). Please ensure your full name and address gets communicated to us.

Cheque sent by post, made payable to Elektor Electronics. We can only accept sterling cheques and bank drafts from UK-resident customers or
subscribers. We regret that no cheques can be accepted from customers or subscribers in any other country.

Giro transfer into account no. 34-152-3801, held by Elektor Electronics. Please do not send giro transfer/deposit forms directly to us, but instead
use the National Giro postage paid envelope and send it to your National Giro Centre.

Credit card VISA and MasterCard can be processed by mail, email, web, fax and telephone. Online ordering through our website is
SSL-protected for your security.

COMPONENTS

Components for projects appearing in Elektor are usually available from certain advertisers in this magazine. If difficulties in the supply
of components are envisaged, a source will normally be advised in the article. Note, however, that the source(s) given is (are) not exclusive.

TERMS OF BUSINESS

Delivery Although every effort will be made to dispatch your order within 2-3 weeks from receipt of your instructions, we can not guarantee this
time scale for all orders. Returns Faulty goods or goods sent in error may be returned for replacement or refund, but not before obtaining our
consent. All goods returned should be packed securely in a padded bag or box, enclosing a covering letter stating the dispatch note number.

If the goods are returned because of a mistake on our part, we will refund the return postage. Damaged goods Claims for damaged goods
must be received at our Brentford office within 10-days (UK); 14-days (Europe) or 21 -days (all other countries). Cancelled orders All cancelled
orders will be subject to a 10% handling charge with a minimum charge of £5.00. Patents Patent protection may exist in respect of circuits,
devices, components, and so on, described in our books and magazines. Elektor does not accept responsibility or liability for failing to identify
such patent or other protection. Copyright All drawings, photographs, articles, printed circuit boards, programmed integrated circuits, diskettes
and software carriers published in our books and magazines (other than in third-party advertisements) are copyright and may not be reproduced
or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying and recording, in whole or in part, without the prior permission of Elektor
in writing. Such written permission must also be obtained before any part of these publications is stored in a retrieval system of any nature.
Notwithstanding the above, printed-circuit boards may be produced for private and personal use without prior permission. Limitation of liability
Elektor shall not be liable in contract, tort, or otherwise, for any loss or damage suffered by the purchaser whatsoever or howsoever arising out of, or in
connexion with, the supply of goods or services by Elektor other than to supply goods as described or, at the option of Elektor, to refund the purchaser
any money paid in respect of the goods. Law Any question relating to the supply of goods and services
by Elektor shall be determined in all respects by the laws of England.

September 2007

SUBSCRIPTION RATES FOR ANNUAL
SUBSCRIPTION

Standard

Plus

United Kingdom

£42.00

£49.00

Surface Mail

Rest of the World

£56.00

£63.00

Airmail

Rest of the World

£71 .00

£78.00

USA & Canada

For US$-p rices please check www.elektor.com

HOWTO PAY

Bank transfer into account no. 40209520 held by Elektor Electronics,
with ABN-AMRO Bank, London. IBAN: GB35 ABNA 4050 3040 2095 20.
BIC: ABNAGB2L. Currency: sterling (UKP). Please ensure your full name
and address gets communicated to us.

Cheque sent by post, made payable to Elektor Electronics. We can only
accept sterling cheques and bank drafts from UK-resident customers or
subscribers. We regret that no cheques can be accepted from customers
or subscribers in any other country.

Giro transfer into account no. 34-152-3801, held by Elektor Electronics
Please do not send giro transfer/deposit forms directly to us, but instead
use the National Giro postage paid envelope and send it to your National
Giro Centre.

Credit card VISA and MasterCard can be processed by mail, email,
web, fax and telephone. Online ordering through our website is SSL-
protected for your security.

SUBSCRIPTION CONDITIONS

The standard subscription order period is twelve months. If a perma-
nent change of address during the subscription period means that
copies have to be despatched by a more expensive service, no extra
charge will be made. Conversely, no refund will be made, nor expiry
date extended, if a change of address allows the use of a cheaper
service.

Student applications, which qualify for a 20% (twenty per cent)
reduction in current rates, must be supported by evidence of student-
ship signed by the head of the college, school or university faculty.

A standard Student Subscription costs £33.60, a Student Subscription-
Plus costs £39.20 (UK only).

Please note that new subscriptions take about four weeks from receipt
of order to become effective.

Cancelled subscriptions will be subject to a charge of 25% (twenty-
five per cent) of the full subscription price or £7.50, whichever is the
higher, plus the cost of any issues already dispatched. Subsciptions
cannot be cancelled after they have run for six months or more.

January 2008

Suppliers uf PGB Soldering Bguipment & Rework Stations

L-XZ— I

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Index of Advertisers

Allendale Electronics Ltd www.pcb-soldering.co.uk 87

Antex Electronics Ltd www.antex.co.uk.

15

ATC Semitec Ltd, Showcase www.atcsemitec.co.uk 78

Avit Research, Showcase www.avitresearch.co.uk 78

Axxess Identification Ltd www.axxessid.com 21

Beijing Draco

i/iww.ezpcAcom 41

Beta Layout, Showcase www.pcb-pool.com 15, 78

Bitscope Designs www.bitscope.com 11

BVM www.bvmltd.co.uk

29

C S Technology Ltd, Showcase i/iwi/i/.cstecAco.y/c 78

Decibit Co. Ltd, Showcase i/iwwdec/M.com 78

Designer Systems, Showcase www.designersystems.co.uk 78

EasyDAQ, Showcase www.easydag.biz

78

Easysync, Showcase www.easysync.co.uk.

78

Elnec, Showcase www.einec.com

78

EMCelettronica Sri, Showcase www.emcelettronica.com 78

Eurocircuits www.eurocircuits.com

75

First Technology Transfer Ltd, Showcase . . www.ftt.co.uk 78

FlexiPanel Ltd, Showcase www.flexipanel.com 78

Future Technology Devices, Showcase. . . . www.ftdichip.com 78

ILP Electronics Ltd, Showcase www.ilpelectronics.com 78

Labcenter www.labcenter.com.

88

London Electronics College, Showcase . . . www.lec.org.uk 79

MikroElektronika

MQP Electronics, Showcase. .

Newbury Electronics

Nurve Networks

Paltronix

Parallax

Peak Electronic Design

Pico

Propox Sp

Quasar Electronics

Radiometrix, Showcase

Robot Electronics, Showcase.

Robotiq, Showcase

RS Components

ScanTool, Showcase

Showcase

USB Instruments, Showcase .
Virtins Technology, Showcase

www.mikroe.com 3

www.mqp.com 78

www. newburyelectronics. co.uk 21

www.xgamestation.com 21

www.paltronix.com 13

www.parallax.com 29

www.peakelec.co.uk 15

www.picotech.com 2

i/i/i/i/i/i/.propox.com 17

www.quasarelectronics.com 51

www.radiometrix.com 79

www.robot-electronics.co.uk 79

www.robotiq.co.uk 79

www.rswww.com/electronics 17, 29, 41

www.obd2cables.com, www.scantool.net . . . .79

78, 79

www.usb-instruments.com 79

www.virtins.com 79

Advertising space for the issue of 15 December 2008
may be reserved not later than 18 November 2008

with Huson International Media - Cambridge House - Gogmore Lane -
Chertsey, Surrey KT 1 6 9AP - England - Telephone 01 932 564 999 -
Fax 01932 564998 - e-mail: p.brady@husonmedia.com to whom all
correspondence, copy instructions and artwork should be addressed.

11/2008 - elektor

87

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Labcenter Electronics Ltd. 53-55 Main Street, Grassington, North Yorks. BD23 5AA.
Registered in England 4692454 Tel: +44 (0)1756 753440, Email: info@labcenter.com

exc. VAT & delivery