MCU

Digital trainers integrate a breadboard with simple I/O and they are a great tool to learn digital circuits. DIGILAB-R is a vintage style digital trainer designed to be compatible with the Scuola Radio Elettra DIGILAB. It can be used to perform all the experiments in the Digital Electronics distance learning course that was popular in the 80's.

Like many other hobbyist we have always been fascinated by radioactivity and the sensors to detect it. Geiger-Müller tubes are a common and relatively inexpensive way to measure radiation. GRAD is a complete solution for radiation counting in an Arduino shield form factor. Its main features are dual tube support to increase sensitivity and very low power consumption.

Like many other hobbyist we have always been fascinated by radioactivity and the sensors to detect it. Geiger-Müller tubes are a common and relatively inexpensive way to measure radiation. GRAD is a complete solution for radiation counting in an Arduino shield form factor. Its main features are dual tube support to increase sensitivity and very low power consumption.

RS232 are still very popular to control legacy equipment. In industrial settings with long cable runs, interference and different ground references it is necessary to have galvanic isolation. ISO232 is a simple implementation using the FTDI FT230X and opto isolators that can reach speeds up to 115200baud.

Schematics

The schematics is divided in four main portions.

A good random numbers generator is fundamental to ensure the security of many modern data encryption algorithms. Depending on the workload, the entropy collected automatically by the kernel might not be sufficient to generate the random numbers at the requested rate. In these cases an external entropy source can greatly improve performance. GRAND is a USB TRNG (True Random Number Generator) based on the ST Microelectronics STM32.

Many MCU applications are portable and need a mean to provide power on the go. There are many solution based on Li-ION and Li-Polymer batteries. However Lithium chemistries need sophisticated charging and protection circuits to avoid dangerous situations. For lower power projects NiMH batteries provide a simpler and safer alternative. NUPS (NiMH UPS) can provide 3.3V and 5V using 1 to 3 AA or AAA NiMH cells.