Category Archives: Electronics

Electronics

MSP430 Launchpad used as a programmer

In this MSP430 Launchpad used as a programmer tutorial, the MSP430 Launchpad board will be used to program a MSP430G2230 microcontroller.  The MSP430G2230 is an 8 pin microcontroller and comes in a Small Outline Integrated Circuit package (SOIC), so offers the developer the chance to reduce the overall footprint of the project on a budget.  As the MSP430G2230 comes in a SOIC package, for prototyping it’s often easier to increase the package size, which allows more conventional and off the shelf components to be used during the development stage.  Texas Instruments sells a Dual In-Line Package or DIP adaptor PCB, the image below shows the board and it can also be found here.

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Switch Debounce Tutorial Pt/1

In this switch debouncing tutorial part 1 the cause and effect of switch bounce will be explained and demonstrated, then a cost effective hardware debouncing solution will be discussed, with oscilloscope captures to demonstrate the results.  The last section of part 1 will show a simple program based on the MSP430 , this can be used to see the effects of a particular switch connected to the GPIO.  Switch deboucing tutorial part 2 of this tutorial will look at further C code debounce algorithms and their effectiveness.

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C2000 Solar MPPT Tutorial Pt/4

In this fourth and final part of the C2000 Solar MPPT Tutorial, the system set-up and testing will be looked at.  This will involve the overall hardware set-up for testing, ADC calibration, reduction of noise on the ADC sampling, efficiency test and some improvements for future iterations.  The final C2000 solar MPPT tutorial C code is also downloadable at the bottom of the page.

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