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The Amazing $1 Microcontroller (2017)

jaycarlson.net

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Re: The Amazing $1 Microcontroller (2017)

#101

Post by setquk »

I'm playing with the PIC10F320 at the moment. Minimalism is fun. $0.50 in 1 off quantities. 6-pin SOT-23 package. 16MHz. 0.5K of program space. 64 bytes of RAM. Waveform generator. ADC. Timers. PWM and the coolest thing a configurable logic cell which works while the CPU is asleep.

I've got a semi-working morse iambic keyer in that and it uses 40uA of current running flat out. I'm working on sleeps now. I reckon I can get it down to 100nA average based on the wake time and 20nA sleep current. I can't actually measure down that low even with my 5.5 digit HP 3478A

Re: The Amazing $1 Microcontroller (2017)

#102

Post by vvanders »

aaroninsf wrote: post #98
foobarian wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would be terrified of any kind of relay there. I had a few relays fail on my furnace such that they burned a 1" diameter hole in the PCB.

watermelon0 has the correct answer: [most] hobbyists should stick 100% to low-voltage low-current applications and use off the shelf certified hardware whene interfacing with high-voltage (i.e. mains) power. MEE hobbyists, disregard.

Even with a MEE your Homeowner's policy may deny a claim due to non-UL listed components installed along the mains.

I won't touch electrical on my house and will happily contract it out to a license+bonded electrician for the exact same reason.

That said really cool project and Kudos for tacking it, just make sure your smoke detector is working :).

Re: The Amazing $1 Microcontroller (2017)

#103

Post by blhack »

Taniwha wrote: post #72
blhack wrote: post #47

I feel obligated to mention in every one of these threads the wemos D1. I actually have a tough time explaining just how incredible this board is. You can program it in the Arduino environment, meaning if you are doing any hobby electronics, you're probably already really familiar with the programming modalities. It comes with a programmer, and power regulator. No fussing with anything like you might have to with a b…

I give these away to local kids - on aliexpress $5 buys you a baggy containing a D1, a proto board, wires, resistors, LEDs, temp/light sensors, switches .... Great value - program them as if they were an arduino

Same!

Re: The Amazing $1 Microcontroller (2017)

#104

Post by Gibbon1 »

lstodd wrote: post #85
simonbh wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I went with a IotaWatt for measuring my home energy usage. It is based on the ESP8266 and is completely opensource hardware and software. You retain control of your data or you send to an external server. https://iotawatt.com/

It doesn't measure voltage and thus can't measure true energy consumption = power, only currents. It then must estimate power based on some preset voltage. Not to mention those clamps can't have precision or time resolution for truly interesting stuff. A toy, in other words. It might be good enough to get a rough idea what eats more or less and when, but it'll never match the utility power meter which is what you're…

> Not to mention those clamps can't have precision or time resolution for truly interesting stuff.

That's actually not correct. Clamps / current transformers are totally fine.

Re: The Amazing $1 Microcontroller (2017)

#105

Post by scrape_it »

is it possible to somehow buy this off-line in person in mass quantities? seems like it takes ages to ship from alibaba, also I'm afraid of the Chinese government tapping my phone (as I suspect happened on WeChat I foolishly installed, literally seduced by this Chinese chick who claims she's in Vancouver but then doesn't know where Surrey is???? red flags) potentially, so I want to tinker with these interesting DIY projects and get started with soldering and PCB etc., but I always can't be at complete comfort (I am well aware and conscious of the fact that my privacy standards are in the extremes), knowing what I read on HN all the time, maybe it's a good time to take a break.

So I would really love it if somebody could sell me large bulk of various stuff like this that you could literally get from Alibaba in some vain hope that some wholesale buyer/middle man can make a premium off this paranoia, I'd gladly pay $3~$4 for this if it meant that somebody bought like a million of these for $10,000, and then sold me a chunk of that (at a markup of course which I'm more than happy to pay for the same reason people use VPN and Incognito or Tor), why not for electronics?

tl;dr: Looking for somebody to start a wholesale brick and mortar business based on DIY electronic parts like this so I can pay with cash to escape suspected foreign state surveillance.

Imagine a younger, ambitious, slightly politically sensitive you from the past, expressed a common consensus held by a specific group of like minded peers who believed that a certain country Brad Pitt made famous in the 90s should be free to exercise their political, religious and cultural will against an aggressor state, those things suddenly attract the wrath of peers from that said aggressor state, who think very differently from us, things escalated and I'm still to this day freaked out and feel tense when I hear people speaking the official language of said aggressor state. Call me disturbed, paranoid, I don't care, you weren't there man, you weren't there when the Charlies flanked us and got embassy involved. What is this...People's Republic of Vancouver?

Re: The Amazing $1 Microcontroller (2017)

#106

Post by cm2187 »

magicalhippo wrote: post #64
neya wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure. Power monitoring is tricky. Rest are simple. Power monitoring involves converting the mains voltage to DC that is almost proportional to the mains voltage. Then you would rectify it and downsize it and get it to a voltage level that whatever power management IC you use can accept. You also need to include fuses and other safety circuitry to ensure it doesn't exceed that threshold your microcontroller can accept…

> You also need to include fuses and other safety circuitry to ensure it doesn't exceed that threshold your microcontroller can accept. I'd say you need to include other safety circuitry, as well as proper PCB design, to make sure it doesn't start a fire. If you don't know what you're doing, don't rely on random stuff from AliExpress etc to be grid safe, and don't try to make stuff that connects to the grid yourself.…

There are also cheap-ish USB devices that can do that [1] that you can stick in a raspberry pi and control with pretty much any language including python. For someone who shouldn’t be trusted with high voltage like me that’s the right level of tinkering.

[1] https://www.yoctopuce.com/EN/products/category/usb-electrica...

Re: The Amazing $1 Microcontroller (2017)

#108

Post by ChuckMcM »

This was well done.

As I have mentioned in the past, my discussions with people at Microchip and Motorola have conceded that with modern process technology the cost of the silicon is insignificant compared to the cost of packaging and testing. As a result you get to about $1/chip in singles as the low price cut-off but you can put an 8 bit, 16 bit, or 32 bit processor in there and it doesn't change the cost. It can cost more if you add a lot more FLASH or RAM. That takes up silicon real estate and is longer to test so it can reach the point where the dice is once again a meaningful contributor to the cost.

Re: The Amazing $1 Microcontroller (2017)

#109

Post by wrycoder »

merpnderp wrote: post #63
neya wrote: post #8

My favorite is the ATTINY 85. It's so cheap and yet, it can do almost most of the things you can do an Arduino. And yes, you can program it using the Arduino IDE as well. Last year, I started out to digitalize my entire house with these tiny ATTINY 85 chips and with some nrF wireless chips. It has worked really well for me and I'm able to control and monitor any power port in my house as well as my mains. The overall…

How are you switching mains power safely? I looked into it, but gave up when I realized I'd have to install a rectifier in the wall which just seemed like a fire waiting to happen.

I use these blocks from Sparkfun: Solid State Relay - 40A (3-32V DC Input)

They have four screw terminals - two for 3VDC to control and two for 24V - 380V AC for the load. They have the CE certification.

I bolt them down inside a NEMA enclosure and use standard residential wiring techniques (buy a book or two!) to wire them to standard outlets, where I plug in the load.

The controller (Arduino etc.) is typically mounted in a small plastic box outside the NEMA enclosure with a terminal strip to attach sensors and so forth. It's powered by a wall wart.

This approach meets code and is perfectly safe. For level of competence needed - you should be capable of doing residential electrical wiring. That's a useful skill to learn.

Re: The Amazing $1 Microcontroller (2017)

#110

Post by GeorgeTirebiter »

asteli wrote: post #84
mylons wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

does insurance feel the same way about a Nest and other commercial devices that are already available?

A homebrew device with some IGBTs controlling main voltages, controlled by an Arduino, is vastly different from a commercial product that has to pass UL/Intertek/TUV certification (not to mention FCC EMC compliance). Those certifications exist specifically to protect consumers from devices that will burn their house down. This isn't to say that I would discourage a hobbyist from building their home automation control…

Here's a recent example where a guy designed an RF system (at 315 MHz) and it prevented garage doors opening in his neighborhood. He's described as an "electronics enthusiast". Thankfully, no one was hurt with this electronics misadventure. http://www.arrl.org/news/view/hams-help-trace-mystery-signal...
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