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.
DS Level
94
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Earned 03/01/2018
Community spirit 50
Earned 11/11/2019
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Earned 03/01/2018
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Earned 25/01/2018
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Earned 21/02/2018
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Earned 21/04/2020
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Published Content
1 day ago
Robot navigation with Sonar
Rangefinders based on the principles of ultrasonic sonar allow small mobile robots to measure short distances to objects with reasonable precision. Although far from perfect, they are still pretty good at preventing collisions.
3 weeks ago
Machine Maintenance: If only they could talk
An essential feature of any automated factory based on the concepts of Industry 4.0 is the ability to predict mechanical failure of the machines and if not fix faults automatically, at least provide a timely warning to the guys with the spanners.
1 month ago
A Forth-based Embedded Controller Development System
Having been a fan of the computer language Forth for many years, I began a project some time ago to create a version for embedded control based on the Microchip dsPIC33. DS blog posts have covered my progress to this version for the Clicker 2 board.
2 months ago
Catching a Bus: Basic Serial Communication Part 6, Wireless
After five articles covering the protocols and practical implementations of wired serial bus systems: UART, SPI and I2C, I’m finishing up with a serial wireless (radio) link for a remote-control mobile robot.
3 months ago
Covid-19: Biosensors, BioFETs and Labs-on-a-Chip
Crucial to monitoring and forecasting the spread of a virus during a pandemic is the acquisition of accurate infection data. Traditional manual laboratory techniques have proved to be inadequate during Covid-19. Can new technology help?
4 months ago
Catching a Bus: Prototyping a wireless robot with MikroElektronika Click Boards
The penultimate part of my series on serial communication: Catching a Bus. The subject is a practical project which uses UART, I2C and SPI serial busses to link various OTS modules together, forming the ‘brains’ of a wireless/autonomous mobile robot.
5 months ago
Catching a Bus: Basic Serial Communication Part 4, I2C
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 four basic types: UART, SPI and I2C. How do they work and which to choose?
5 months ago
Covid-19: Testing, Testing
In the middle of a pandemic and no one has any idea how many people are infected and how fast it’s spread. Modern epidemic forecasting seems to be about as accurate as nineteenth century weather forecasting, but why?
6 months ago
Catching a Bus: Prototyping a wireless robot control box with MikroElektronika Click Boards
After the first two articles on serial communication, here is a practical project using UART and SPI busses to link MikroElektronika Click modules together, forming a battery-powered wireless mobile robot controller.
6 months 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?
7 months 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?
8 months 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?