For an introduction to binary and hexadecimal notation, read this post. In the Arduino IDE, representing numbers in binary or hexadecimal notation often comes in handy. For example, since the ATmega328’s registers are eight bits, I often set the bits of a register by assigning the register an eight-bit binary number. To assign a variable

Consider the following scenario. You are driving your friend home from a coffee shop. Your friend momentarily places her coffee on the dashboard so she can riffle through her backpack to look for her cell phone. At that instant, a squirrel darts in front of your car. You slam on the breaks and your friend’s

A relatively easy way to same a few milliamp hours of battery energy is to disable features of the ATmega328 your Arduino project isn’t using. Below are some examples of code you can use in your setup function to do this. void setup(void) { // The following saves some extra power by disabling some //

Click the image at left or any of the images below to be redirected to my CafePress store to purchase individual or a complete set of electrical warning signs. These signs are appropriate for an Enphase microinverter-based grid-tie PV solar system. The signs are printed on UV and weather resistant 4-mil vinyl stickers. The complete

The voltage regulator built onto the Arduino Uno is a linear-type regulator and is horribly inefficient. If you are running the ATmega238 at 5V using a 9 V battery, approximately half of the battery’s energy will be dissipated as heat by the regulator. This post demonstrates a DC/DC switching-type voltage regulator circuit that can be