Circuit Cellar Ink 143
June 2002

Table of Contents

6 Jennifer Huber	Task Manager Summer Fun
8 John Gorsky	New Product News MPLAB ICD 2 debugger/programmer for PIC16Fxx/18Fxx from Microchip Technology, Inc. Dual-E dual-port Ethernet controller from JKmicrosystems, Inc. RT12-4204 wireless sensor transceiver from Advanced Embedded Systems, Inc. CoreModule 4Gn '486-based PC/104 SBC from Ampro Computers, Inc.
11 David Tweed	HTML Test Your EQ
12 Thomas Black	BatMon to the Rescue A Battery Monitor for RC Applications For years, hobbyists have relied on voltmeters and guesswork to monitor the storage capacity of battery packs for RC models. Now, Thomas introduces a more precise high-tech battery monitor that is small enough to be mounted in the cockpit of an RC model helicopter. Download: black143.zip
Robotics Corner 20 Sonny Lloyd	Extreme OSMC Part 1: Open Source Motor Control Project Whether you're a Formula One racer or commuter weaving through rush-hour traffic, speed control is a concern. Brakes alone won't suffice, so you need a motor that pitches in. With this step-by-step guide, you can tailor Sonny's OSMC project for RC cars, boats, or robots.
24 Jennifer Huber	Ultra-Low Power Flash MCU MSP430 Design Contest
Robotics Corner 28 Daniel Ramirez	Behind the Scenes Part 2: Software Control Last month, Daniel described the design of his DIY animatronics project, which involved a controller board, motors, controllers, sensors, and a host robot. In this article, he demonstrates how his system works and how you can use it in your own animation project. Download: ramirez143.zip
40 Olaf Pfeiffer	Selecting the Best CAN Controller Selecting the right CAN controller for your specific application can be a daunting task when you consider the numerous options on the market today. Fortunately, Olaf has some great advice that can help you minimize cost and maximize performance.
44 Jim Turley	Starting Down the Pipeline Part 1: Hyper-, Super-, Whatever-Pipelines The best way to approach a project is with as much knowledge as possible. Do you know everything there is to know about microcontrollers? In Part 1 of Jim's two-part article, he teaches us a lesson about pipelines, the key ingredient in microcontrollers.
50 Joseph Jones Ben Wirz	RoCK Specifications Part 3: Behavior-Based Programming It's easy to see why Joseph and Ben's Robot Conversion Kit was successful in the 2001 Design Contest. So far, they've covered the specifications and circuitry, and now it's time to describe the fundamentals of the module's behavior-based programming scheme.
Embedded PC 58 Fred Eady	HTML, HTML Applied PCs Still Swimming With the STK500, Onto the JTAG ICE Last month, Fred introduced us to Atmel's STK500, which is the starter kit for the company's AVR flash memory microcontrollers. This month, he tackles coding and debugging with Atmel's JTAG ICE. He's thrilled with the result, so don't miss this follow-up.
66 Ed Nisley	HTML, HTML Above the Ground Plane Invisible Components What you can't see can hurt you -- at least in the analog domain. In this article, Ed flags all of the hidden obstacles you're likely to encounter on the road to building a trouble-free bicycle headlight. This project goes nicely with Ed's earlier instruction on building a taillight.
70 Jeff Bachiochi	From the Bench SmartMedia File Storage, Part 1: A Windows/DOS-Compatible File System Jeff has showed us how a small PIC processor reads and writes portions of a SmartMedia memory device. This month, he shows us a project that will help you to exchange embedded data with your PC applications.
76 Tom Cantrell	Silicon Update FPGA Power Play Xilinx deserves an award. Why? Well, they turned Virtex-II parts into pros. This month, Tom takes a look at the new Xilinx Virtex-II Pro FPGAs and compares it to the Virtex-II and other "super-duper" chips.
94	Advertiser's Index / July Preview
96 Steve Ciarcia	HTML, HTML Priority Interrupt Broadband -- A Report Card

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