United Kingdom
Engineer | WGM Consulting
Engineer, PhD, lecturer, freelance technical writer, blogger & tweeter interested in robots, AI, planetary explorers and all things electronic. STEM ambassador. Designed, built and programmed my first microcomputer in 1976. Still learning, still building, still coding today.
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Earned 03/01/2018
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3 days ago
Catching a Bus: Basic Serial Communication Part 2, SPI
Most modern peripheral device chips, such as sensors and motor drivers, communicate with a controller via a serial data bus. Microcontrollers usually support one or more of three basic types: UART, SPI and I2C. How do they work and which to choose?
4 weeks ago
Catching a Bus: Basic Serial Communication Part 1, the UART
Most modern peripheral device chips, such as sensors and motor drivers, communicate with a controller via a serial data bus. Microcontrollers usually support one or more of three basic types: UART, SPI and I2C. How do they work and which to choose?
1 month ago
On Whiskers and Dendrites
Many early electronic components had a short lifetime. The cause was identified and fixed, but then the ‘fix’ was banned for health and safety reasons. What happened to the forecast electronic apocalypse?
2 months ago
Getting into Digital Signal Processing Part 4: The DSP
The first three parts of this series on digital signal processing examined the processes involved in converting analogue signals to digital and back again. Now let’s look at the digital hardware in the middle.
3 months ago
Build a ‘real’ Mars rover
Most ‘hobby’ mobile robots on the market are usually of the 2-, 4-, or 6-wheeled variety with no suspension or steering systems. Changes in direction are achieved by varying wheel-speeds – so-called skid or tank steering. Not this one.
Wearables and Technology Lifestyle
4 months ago
How big is your Electronic Tech’s Carbon Footprint?
Everyone knows that gaseous emissions from fossil-fuel burning to bovine flatulence are the cause of global warming, right? Indeed they are, but less obvious causes of a high carbon footprint are becoming apparent. And your ‘Tech’ may be involved.
5 months ago
Clicker 2, FORTHdsPIC and more Bare-Metal
The porting of my FORTHdsPIC code to the fast version of the Microchip dsPIC33 digital signal controller has demonstrated – once again – that bare-metal coding is not for the easily frustrated!
6 months ago
The World of FPGAs and ASICs: Part 2
Programmable Logic devices can replace boards full of simple logic chips and have been at the heart of high-end product development for years. Now they can revolutionise hardware design for artificial intelligence and fault-tolerant applications.
5 months ago
The World of FPGAs and ASICs: Part 1
In Part 1 of this two-part post, I’ll be looking at the origins of programmable hardware which has reduced the chip-count of many PCB designs.
7 months ago
Rocket’s Return: The UK Space Launch Industry Then and Now
In 1971 the UK joined a very select group of countries by sending an artificial satellite into Earth orbit using a UK-built rocket. Then it gave up. Until now. Are we on the brink of starting again, this time launching from home soil?
8 months ago
The Intelligence of a Swarm
The behaviour of swarms of insects and birds has always fascinated scientists because it appears to demonstrate collective intelligence way beyond that of an individual member. Engineers are now trying to exploit this phenomenon using robots.
9 months ago
Ready for Blast-Off!
The Open University students' Rocket-1 is in New Mexico being prepared for the Spaceport America Cup competition this week.