Category Archive: Embedded Systems

Jun
05

These are not the bits you’re looking for

I’ve noticed recently that the number of bits available in an ADC is slowly creeping up.  That makes me excited… until I look at the system accuracy. 

Permanent link to this article: http://blog.curioussystem.com/2013/06/these-are-not-the-bits-youre-looking-for/

Jun
05

Two wrongs make a working prototype

I had an interesting problem show up when I was working on a project at the beginning of the year.  It involved an Analog Devices Blackfin 51x series processor.  We went to transition to their new IDE and that’s when we started noticing problems with the Flash RAM.

Permanent link to this article: http://blog.curioussystem.com/2013/06/two-wrongs-make-a-working-prototype/

Jun
05

Freescale KL25 Peripheral Selection Guide

I previously wrote my review of the Freescale KL25.  Since then I’ve finished my first design with the KL25. The second spin of the board will see several of the peripherals and pins rearranged.  Most of this has to do with things that I glossed over in the documentation desire to get the product to …

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Permanent link to this article: http://blog.curioussystem.com/2013/06/freescale-kl25-peripheral-selection-guide/

Feb
09

Freescale KL25 Cortex M-0+ Review

One of the projects I’m working on I chose to use one of the new Freescale KL25 MCUs.  They have an ARM Cortex-M0+ core and lots of peripherals to boot, including ones specifically designed for low power usage.  Below are some of the reasons why I chose it, and what my experiences with it have …

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Permanent link to this article: http://blog.curioussystem.com/2013/02/freescale-kl25-cortex-m-0-review/

Dec
11

Editing PIC .hex files

… or how to edit a .hex file instead of recompiling it for every option. I had a product a while back where the customer needed to program it, but we didn’t want them to have to hassle with compiling it for every (10,000+) permutation.  I had a whole build system set up when this …

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Permanent link to this article: http://blog.curioussystem.com/2012/12/editing-pic-hex-files/

May
19

The Case of the Random Lockup

We had a bug that just wouldn’t go away. Sometimes it would show up quickly, sometimes it would show up after the code had been running for a few days… but it would show up. What’s the programmer to do?

Permanent link to this article: http://blog.curioussystem.com/2012/05/the-case-of-the-random-lockup/

Feb
06

Two clicks to program a PIC

Sometimes you end up having to program a device with many different types of firmware. For a project I’ve used PICs on, this was the case. Here’s how to setup things so that all it requires is two clicks to load the firmware from windows explorer.

Permanent link to this article: http://blog.curioussystem.com/2012/02/two-clicks-to-program-a-pic/

Jan
07

Of embedded black boxes

Over the last few months I’ve been working on projects using PIC microcontrollers. At first I had a rather negative view of the PIC processors. Since I started coding on them, I have come to realize that it is the compiler that I have issues with much more than the hardware. The compiler we’ve been …

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Permanent link to this article: http://blog.curioussystem.com/2012/01/of-embedded-black-boxes/

Jun
14

Capacitive Touch Sensing on the MSP430

One of the projects I’m working on involves using capacitive touch sensing (CTS) on the TI MSP430.  TI has been pushing their touch sensing capabilities recently and has even released a library that helps in implementing touch sensing on the MSP430.  I decided to give it a try.  The short story is that there is …

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Permanent link to this article: http://blog.curioussystem.com/2011/06/capacitive-touch-sensing-on-the-msp430/

Feb
14

A Valentine Example for Blinking Lights

For Valentine’s Day my son needed to make a “mailbox” for his kindergarten class. He & his mother made a rocket out of an old oat container. Since this was a family project, I decided that my contribution would be lighting it up. My son was quite excited when I told him that I was …

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Permanent link to this article: http://blog.curioussystem.com/2011/02/a-valentine-example-for-blinking-lights/

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