Archive for December 2010

The first law of musical robotics: rock hard. Rock Robots: PAM Can Seriously Shred, Open Source MARIE Could Do Even More article shows you some interesting videos on robotic musical experiments. Here is one of them. →

The European Commission supports industry’s commitment to provide a common charger for mobile telephones. Commission welcomes new EU standards for common mobile phone charger: European Standardisation Bodies CEN-CENELEC and ETSI have now made available the harmonised standards. The industry commits to provide chargers compatibility on the basis of the Micro-USB connector. The technical number for →

Use FPGAs for stunning surveillance camera images is a cool article on image processing performed inside modern surveillance cameras. The “stunning images” are made possible by utilizing the latest in high definition high dynamic range CMOS image sensor technology. The “valuable information” is provided by adding intelligence in the camera that can look for the →

Lego Holiday Ornament page shows how to build a set of fun holiday items with Lego. The first object you will tackle is an ornament for your tree. The project web page contains model file for free Lego Digital Designer 4.0 software. Geek Christmas Ornaments: Part 9 web page shows how to make keyboard circuitry →

Ethernet link speeds of 100 megabits per second or even 1 Gbit/s per second are typical in today’s LANs. When everything is wired to Ethernet LAN very many LAN connections are needed and they consume some power. And the faster the Ethernet connection is, typically more power it consumes. IEEE Spectrum Energy-Efficient Ethernet article tells →

Nokia, once a world leader, is losing popularity to rising stars like Google Android and Apple iOS. Android phones are selling more than Symbian phones. Google activates 300,000 phones every day and Nokia Symbian phones somewhat less. What has happened to the old clear smartphone OS leader Symbian. Why Symbian failed: developers, developers, developers article →

A working robotics prototype involves mechanical, electrical, and software design. Five golden rules for prototyping robotic systems article shares some lessons learned while designing an autonomous robotic helicopter.It shows that a well-thought-out plan for prototyping can significantly pay off in the long run and can be even more important in robotics applications than in other →

Many modern PCs still use the over 20 year old 15 pin analogue VGA connector to connect the display to PC. The VGA connector carries the video signal in RGB format, which is a bit outdated in the world where the graphics card and display devices are all digital. Most Windows PC builders have been →

Tyco Electronics has an interesting application note named Relay Contact Life. The Relay Contact Life document outlines the basics of relay contact selecting, properties of different contact material and strategies for protecting relay contacts. There is no such thing as a universal relay contact. Relay contacts are available in a variety of metals and alloys, →

A new ePanorama.net main index page is now on-line. The new index page tries to fit all the most often needed links in the one web browser screen without need to scroll the page. The new page contains a daily changing picture element. That picture element is often a photograph on more or less electronics →