Category Archives: Hardware

Using USART1 on the STM32F4Discovery

Posted on May 5, 2013 by Peter Harrison

While it was very good of ST to make the fantastically inexpensive and versatile STM32F4Discovery board, they have made things a little difficult in the choice of peripherals in places. Incoming search terms:connect mouse to stm32f4discovery (1)stm32f4 project (1)stm32f4-discovery basics … Continue reading →

Posted in Hardware, STM32 | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Quadrature encoders with the STM32F4

Posted on February 16, 2013 by Peter Harrison

Most commonly, the speed and direction of the motors in a micromouse or other small robot will be read from quadrature encoders connected to the drive train. One of the great things about the STM32F4 processor is that it can … Continue reading →

Posted in Hardware, Micromouse, STM32 | Tagged , | 11 Comments

Micromouse sensors aligned the easy way

Posted on February 3, 2013 by Peter Harrison

An essential part of setting up a new mouse is the proper alignment of the sensors.  You micromouse sensors must have the emitters pointing exactly where you want them to and the detectors have to be aligned to get the … Continue reading →

Posted in Hardware, Micromouse, sensor | 2 Comments

Flexible shields for micromouse sensors

Posted on January 23, 2013 by Peter Harrison

Micromouse sensors need shielding to work at their best. Here we are going to show you how to make a simple, flexible light shield for your micromouse sensors that will cut down the effect of ambient light and reduce leakage … Continue reading →

Posted in Hardware, Micromouse, sensor | 4 Comments

Great Online Circuit Simulator Site

Posted on January 14, 2013 by Peter Harrison

Designing electronic circuits takes knowledge and experience. Sooner or later, you have to put your idea to the test. Generally, this means building a prototype. Even with the best circuit simulator software, you ended up with unfriendly or expensive products. … Continue reading →

Posted in Hardware, Software | Tagged | 3 Comments

GCC ARM Embedded Toolset

Posted on January 5, 2013 by Peter Harrison

If you are taking the DIY approach to coding for the ARM processors, you probably use the GCC ARM embedded toolset. This is available from a number of places. I just came across another distribution of this ARM toolset. One … Continue reading →

Posted in ARM, Hardware, STM32 | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Temperature and Voltage Variation of Ceramic Capacitors

Posted on January 3, 2013 by Peter Harrison

You almost ceratainly have ceramic capacitors in your micromouse or other project. Are you sure you have them properly specified? Are they actually providing the value that you think they should be? Incoming search terms:ceramic capacitor variation with voltage (1)

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PCB Grounding Tutorial

Posted on January 1, 2013 by Peter Harrison

Maxim Integrated have a bunch of really good tutorial information on their website. This one, on PCB grounding in mixed signal designs caught my eye. Concerns over the performance of the ADC in my new micromouse, D4, have made me … Continue reading →

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Centre of Mass for Decimus4

Posted on June 26, 2012 by Peter Harrison

A while ago, I posted a way to calculate the position of the centre of mass of your micromouse. One or two people wondered why I might care so much. A couple of calculations with Decimus 4 illustrated why it … Continue reading →

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Stub Axles and Superglue

Posted on June 25, 2012 by Peter Harrison

Good, free running wheels are an essential part of the drive train on your micromouse. Not only is there little point in wasting power driving inefficient wheels but it is important to make both sides as similar as possible to … Continue reading →

Posted in Hardware, Micromouse | 4 Comments