USB: Virtual COM ports under different (Windows) operating systems and the driver problem

If you want to develop your own embedded hardware, you often need a communication interface to a host, usually a PC. In times where the classic but easy-to-handle RS232 interfaces are no longer standard components in modern computers, you basically have two options when it comes to wire-bound connections: Use a USB to UART converter… Continue reading USB: Virtual COM ports under different (Windows) operating systems and the driver problem

Project: Active load with microcontroller – Part 5: PC software

This is a follow-up post to my previous project page Part 4 (Firmware). One way to interface with the active load device is to use a terminal program and query the state of the device or send commands to it manually. But this is of course very cumbersome and not very user-friendly. That’s why I… Continue reading Project: Active load with microcontroller – Part 5: PC software

Project: Active load with microcontroller – Part 4: Firmware

This is a follow-up post to my previous project page Part 3 (Schematic, layout and pictures). At this point the hardware development is finished and fortunately nothing blew up as I had plugged in a voltage source for the first time. 😉 But of course there is no functionality yet. The load sinks (nearly) no… Continue reading Project: Active load with microcontroller – Part 4: Firmware

RFM69 C++ driver library for STM32 (and other controllers)

I recently developed a protocol agnostic driver library for HopeRF’s RFM69 modules. Protocol agnostic means that you get full control over the module and the data packets that you want to send or receive. You can use this library for receiving packets from existing commercial devices like temperature sensors, or you can set up your… Continue reading RFM69 C++ driver library for STM32 (and other controllers)