Back in October, RGBSaber v1.5 debuted, presenting the first functional iteration of this project. While it worked, there were many improvements to the hardware that could make it better. Those improvements were rolled into the RGBSaber v1.6 boards, which have now been assembled. A couple of photos of the assembled hardware follow:
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As we prepare for Maker Faire North Carolina in a few short weeks, much project work has been happening here at NBitWonder.

• After the tragic death of VoIP32v2, a number of small hardware changes were made and a new PCB ordered. With luck, it will arrive in time to populate before the trip to North Carolina.
• A number of small changes were made to component values on the Class-D Amplifier to improve response at low frequencies and to potentially boost power output.
• Testing continues on the DC motor driver project.
• The very first NBitWonder T-shirt order has been placed.  Watch for the stylish fashion accessory to appear in a few weeks!

Every semester, a new batch of Purdue electrical and computer engineers work their way through ECE477, a project-based senior design course. As the NBitWonder staff are Purdue ECE alums ourselves, we have a strong connection to Purdue and its ECE program. Without further ado, here are the senior design projects from ECE477 this semester.

Quick links:
Team1 Team2 Team3 Team4 Team5 Team6 Team7 Team8 Team9 Team10 Team11 Team12 Team13 Team14 Team15
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Recently, I went on a trip to Germany to visit my brother. I was there for 10 days, and saw many fascinating and exciting things. One of the best days during the trip was when my family and I traveled to Munich. My mother and sister wanted to go shopping, and I was free to go where I liked for the day. On a recommendation from one of my professors, I set out for das Deutsches Museum, a technical museum in downtown Munich.

I came expecting a small science museum, much like the numerous children’s science museums that can be found in many cities in the United States. What I found instead was a vast, comprehensive German Smithsonian, a temple detailing almost any scientific or technological art one could imagine.
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Hey everyone! George here. Most of you were unaware, but I just returned from a 2 week trip to Bavaria (southern Germany) to visit my brother. It was an exciting time, and an excellent opportunity to learn more German and exercise the German I am already able to speak. I have lots more to tell about my time there, which I will share soon (later today or tomorrow).

It’s good to be back : )

The single-supply bridged version of the Class-D amplifier has been assembled, and I am most pleased to report that it works beautifully!

Input side of the amp

Output side of the amp

For those new to the project, a Class-D amplifier is a highly efficient amplifier that operates its output devices as switches instead of as variable resistors.  We posted a highly experimental version of this project last November, and it met with a surprising amount of positive feedback from the DIY community.  Therefore, we developed it as a formal project.

The amplifier has been converted into a single-supply version, which removes quite a bit of complexity from its power supply.  The ideal power supply used to be a custom-built bipolar supply capable of high currents, but now, an old laptop power brick that supplies 20V at a few amps is perfect.

A short demonstration video follows.  For more technical information, be sure to check out the github repository that contains a wealth of information on the development of this project.

Still remaining:  packaging the project.  I wanted to verify that everything worked before taking the time to stuff everything into a box.

UPS delivered a present today… Class-D Amplifier parts!

Shipment tracking indicates the new PCB will get here on Monday, at which point construction can begin.  Be sure to watch for news related to project development here, on the github page, and on the Flickr photostream.

Over at Dangerous Prototypes, [Ian] is designing a simple digital sampling oscilloscope.

…okay, so maybe it’s not so simple.  It features a high-speed (50MHz) ADC and an FPGA to do the actual sampling.  Their site will be detailing a different part of the design each day.  I know I do not speak only for myself when I say I could stand to learn a lot about analog electronics…

Parts for the latest amplifier revision were ordered tonight.  Total parts cost to build one two-channel board was $32.  It should theoretically be possible to get 50W per channel from this amp, so this cost is quite reasonable.

Pictures to follow once the PCBs and components arrive.

We’ve been tracking the progress of Microchip’s new MPLABX IDE since it was first announced last fall. It’s gone from the original version to beta 4 to beta 5. Looks like MPLABX Beta 6 is now available. Via the Microchip forums, beta 6 includes the following new features:

New Features:

Assembly color syntax highlighting
Smart tool selection
Returned Program Button
Programmer to go
PIC18FJ Starter kit.
FRC in debug mode
Graphical Memory usage in environment display
Tool status in environment display
Manual firmware downloads
dsPIC33EP device support
Instrumented trace for PIC32
Limited stimulus capability
Multiple configuration cleaned up
Third party compiler support:

PICBASIC PRO
CCSC (Only in Windows and requires latest beta release from vendor)
SDCC (Linux/Windows, not tested in Mac). No source level debugging. Plugin courtesy of Rodrigo Almeida.

Looks great! Head over to the download page now and get yourself a copy.