Gadget Factory

Open Source News

  • 3D Printed eyeglasses, VR lenses

    Google Glass, Oculus Rift, head mounted displays are becoming a reality and the number of their users is on the rise. But have you ever heard of lenses made with a 3D printer? Well, all that was required is: a  CAD model, a 3D printer, and silicone mold material! Are they operational? Yes sir! An iPhone…

  • Altium’s CircuitMaker saves the day for Max & Duane at ESC Minneapolis

    In a very interesting column on embedded.com, Max Maxfield explains the features of Altium’s circuit maker. Making several changes to one of his previous designs, he showcases the capabilities of the CircuitMaker. Those of you who are familiar with CircuitMaker will be happy to learn about the latest news related to the software. Altium proposes the latest and best…

  • Vintage BBC computer gets FPGA buddies

    We still have some retro for the old-school enthusiasts. Many of you knew about the BBC Microcomputer System. It was an innovative machine created during the 1980s. It is possible to link the BBC Micro to an FPGA board, following specific designs, via a tube interface. You can find out more about the BBC Micro in the video,…

  • MYSTERY FPGA CIRCUIT FEELS THE PRESSURE

    In order to interact with an FPGA board, a user usually presses a button. Is that the only way to interact? Not so sure. A video from Clifford Wolf shows us otherwise. It’s quite intriguing! The Verilog implements a simple ring oscillator (basically an inverter with its output tied to its input). Via Hackaday

  • Learning Verilog for FPGAs: Flip Flops

      Creating an adder on Verilog and putting it into an FPGA board can be done in various ways: With or without clocks.  A very detailed and thorough tutorial explains how to use clocked elements to verify whether the adder has ever generated a carry as well as a few counters. Using clocks avoids getting glitches and…

  • Open source FPGA toolchain builds CPU

    Ever wondered if you could run a J1a CPU on an FPGA using only open source hardware? This is possible using these three open source tools: an Open Source Forth kernel, SwapForth running on an Open Source CPU, the J1a built using an entirely Open Source FPGA toolchain, IceStorm When you develop software, you need some…

  • USB PIDs For All – New USB PID Source.

    Making an Open Source Hardware device and need a USB VID/PID but can’t afford $5K? Well now there is a new option for getting your own PID for free! Now, someone has finally done the sensible thing and put an unused USB VID to work. pid.codes obtained the rights to a single VID – 0x1209…

  • ESP8266: Full Arduino support now! Use it like it’s an Arduino!

    Everyone’s favorite WiFi chip now has Arduino IDE support. This means that you can connect an ESP8266 via a serial port and choose it as a board type in the Arduino IDE now. Make a sketch, click upload and you are in business with a less then $5 IoT device. Pretty nifty! What’s supported by…