Super DIY Projects

 Temperature Sensor Thermocouple API for MCU like Arduino This library added a few API for Arduino and similar MCU to easily work on a common temperature sensor - thermocouple. K type in this library but can be easily add support for other type like JType thermocouple. In this test, I use the KType thermocouple from a multimeter, which seems works well on a few different brands of multiple. Theory of operation Thermocouple produce a tiny voltage when it has temperature different than the environment or cold end, the tiny voltage can not be detected by arduino ADC directly, we must add a opAmp to amplify it a hundred times, so arduino ADC can correctly read it. Any opamp works, I am using MCP6002 here. (The popular and cheapest LM358 works too, however need to pay attention LM358 doesn't work well in 3.3V system. ) D3 is optional, to limit the input. Software and Algorithm: There are a few ways to work on the opAmp output voltage. The easiest but not accurate:  using voltage pe...

Super DIY 2020 Desktop CNC for milling PCB Project objective: Make a low cost desktop CNC to mill PCB, using standard aluminum 2020 extrusion as frame, and brushless motor as spindle. Since we need to mill PCB, some component's footprint is tiny, so the CNC has to be precise enough to mill trace and clearance of 0.2mm. The Finished Product: Back Ground: I always want to make a desktop CNC to mill custom PCB for rapid prototyping, this project was inspired by some other creative people's CNC designs, specially the ANT team ( https://www.youtube.com/c/TheAntPCBMaker ), however I do have a lot different opinions for some design choices. So after one year's work, I designed, rework, redesigned, reprint, rework again...for many times, finally this Super 2020 desktop CNC is sort of finished. Design consideration: It has to be small enough, as a desktop CNC, it's not for milling large piece of wood, it's made for PCB, the most common PCB size is 10cmX15cm, so the CNC is d...

DIY Weller Soldering Controller for desoldering tweezer Project Objectives: Make a low cost soldering station for Weller solder tweezers.  Finished product: Background: I so happen to have a used Weller desoldering tweezers, obviously I can't use it by itself, so I thought about buying a weller soldering station, oh, the price is surprisingly high, a few hundred dollars to one thousand dollars....so, buying is not an option, not to me.    So I did some investigation, and realized that making our own DIY weller soldering controller is really not that difficult. There are already some people did that, and there are some useful information about the handle schematics and thermocouple info. However some of their design choices could be better. Anyway, let me make one, with some awesome features. Feature List: A nice display of LCD screen1602 (16 characters , 2 lines). It's just about $3 dollars, use I2C to communicate to host MCU. It should show target temperature, current te...