Canada & Independence Day

Unlike Sparkfun, who actually manage to find fake Atmel ICs, we just get strange batches. The Atmel ATMega328 is the power behind the Arduino/Freeduino/*duino, and we have to set up a programming system to burn the venerable Arduino Bootloader into these chips. We normally use an AVR STK500 in HVSP (high voltage serial programming) mode, […]

We love SparkFun. Great group of people. Excellent products. It's just that they're... well... twisted and cruel. You see their RoboJoust event? We didn't take them serious when they said it was to be performed 4' off a concrete floor. But here's the proof. They're actually building the table that high off the ground. Next […]

This circuit is used to create a simple "edgebot" sumo robot. Being an edgebot refers that it will repeat the same backup/turn/go forward action when it's single edge sensor detects the edge of the ring. This version of the circuit is quite simple, and always turns the same way.

FINALLY, after several phone calls, our shipment of Maxim 8212 configurable voltage detectors has shown up on our doorstep. All BEP customers who ordered with the accessory package can expect a small package from us in the next little while with your missing 8212's. We'll be putting them on regular sale in the next little […]