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Protofusion Arch Linux ARM Mirror
Protofusion now hosts an official mirror of Arch Linux ARM! The mirror is hosted on Protofusion’s main server, which is colocated in Dearborn, MI. Mirror selection is geoip-based, so if you use Arch...
View ArticleNext-Generation Luma Nodes – Build Timelapse
The next iteration of the Luma node has been fabricated and assembled! The new node incorporates 3 10W RGBW LEDs, controlled with constant-current buck drivers and an ATTINY2313 microcontroller. Like...
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SSD1306 and Python with the BeagleBone Black
The SSD1306 is an OLED display made with SPI and I2C interfaces. With a simple Python library I adapted (a modified version of py-gaugette), it is easy to render text, images (from bitmaps of pretty...
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Maker Faire Detroit
Thanks to everyone who came to check out our booth at Maker Faire Detroit this year! We will have some new posts on the blog about our new Luma lighting nodes, the Therm PID controller, and our...
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DIY Vacuum Tube Amplifier
This past winter I designed and constructed a stereo vacuum tube amplifier based off of the TubeLab SimpleSE design. Since many people asked about it at Maker Faire Detroit, I thought I would post a...
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BeagleBone Black Soft Power-Off
The BeagleBone Black is an ARM-based device and doesn’t have ACPI support like most x86 systems. ACPI generally handles triggering shutdown and other power management events on x86 systems, so this...
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Luma Controller Development
The Luma Controller takes any audio input, calculates and analyzes a FFT of the spectrum, and sends commands out to a network of Luma nodes. This board duplicates the functionality of our music...
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Immersion Heating with a Vacuum Tube
Recently I was doing some woodworking and wanted to try fuming a small test piece of oak with ammonia. The fuming process darkens the wood and gives it a nice aged, gray look. To speed the process up,...
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The CANable: a small USB to CAN adapter
The CANable is a hardware clone of Eric Evenchick’s CANtact project, an open-hardware USB to CAN adapter compatible with socketcan. I took his design and reworked the hardware to be a bit more suitable...
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Therm: a Tiny PID Controller
Therm is a very small PID controller with an OLED display, thermocouple interface, and USB port. It can switch an external solid-state relay for driving large loads, or a transistor for driving small...
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FeatherHAB: 2-gram High Altitude Balloon Tracker
FeatherHAB is a lightweight, small, and inexpensive balloon tracker. It tracks the location of a balloon with GPS and broadcasts the balloon’s position to the APRS network on 144.390MHz. The tracker is...
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Tenergy LiFePO4 CR123 Cell Test
I stumbled upon Tenergy’s lithium iron phosphate CR123 cells when looking for a fairly compact cylindrical rechargeable battery. The Tenergy RCR123A LiFePO4 cell, as listed on Tenergy’s website,...
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CANable now available for purchase!
The CANable USB to CAN adapter is now available for purchase on the Protofusion Tindie store! The CANable is an open-source USB to CAN adapter that works on Linux, Mac and Windows. The CANable shows...
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Open-Source SWD Programming Adapter
After making the switch from AVR to STM32 microcontrollers, I redesigned my old 6-pin ICSP pogo-programming adapter for SWD. The new design allows programming with pogo pins or a small pin header...
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FeatherHAB Source Code Released!
FeatherHAB hardware and software source code are now available for download! The hardware is released under the Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International license and the firmware is released under the...
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The CANable USB to CAN adapter is now cheaper and back in stock!
The CANable open-hardware USB to CAN adapter is now back in stock! You can order directly from the Protofusion Tindie store. I dropped the price to $25, making the CANable an even more affordable way...
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Tracking Balloons with WSPR
What is WSPR? WSPR is a low data rate digital protocol intended for measuring RF propagation, typically on LF and HF bands and at very low powers (often 1W to as little as 20mW). WSPR messages are...
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New Product: CANable Pro – Isolated USB to CAN Adapter
The CANable Pro is a low-cost fully isolated USB to CAN adapter. Connect to any CAN2.0A/B network without worrying about common mode offset, ground noise, or damaging your computer! The CANable Pro is...
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