RSS Daily tech news
  • Stanford discovers an extraordinary crystal that could transform quantum tech
    Stanford scientists found that strontium titanate improves its performance when frozen to near absolute zero, showing extraordinary optical and mechanical behavior. Its nonlinear and piezoelectric properties make it ideal for cryogenic quantum technologies. Once overlooked, this cheap, accessible material now promises to advance lasers, computing, and space exploration alike.
  • MIT quantum breakthrough edges toward room-temp superconductors
    MIT scientists uncovered direct evidence of unconventional superconductivity in magic-angle graphene by observing a distinctive V-shaped energy gap. The discovery hints that electron pairing in this material may arise from strong electronic interactions instead of lattice vibrations.
  • Physicists uncover hidden “doorways” that let electrons escape
    Scientists at TU Wien found that electrons need specific “doorway states” to escape solids, not just energy. The insight explains long-standing anomalies in experiments and unlocks new ways to engineer layered materials.
  • This artificial leaf turns pollution into power
    Cambridge researchers have engineered a solar-powered “artificial leaf” that mimics photosynthesis to make valuable chemicals sustainably. Their biohybrid device combines organic semiconductors and enzymes to convert CO₂ and sunlight into formate with high efficiency. It’s durable, non-toxic, and runs without fossil fuels—paving the way for a greener chemical industry.
  • Scientists just found a way to grow diamonds without heat or pressure
    A University of Tokyo team has turned organic molecules into nanodiamonds using electron beams, overturning decades of assumptions about beam damage. Their discovery could transform materials science and deepen understanding of cosmic diamond formation.
  • MIT physicists just found a way to see inside atoms
    MIT researchers have devised a new molecular technique that lets electrons probe inside atomic nuclei, replacing massive particle accelerators with a tabletop setup. By studying radium monofluoride, they detected energy shifts showing electrons interacting within the nucleus. This breakthrough could help reveal why matter dominates over antimatter in the universe.

Category

Understanding Energy Transfer in DC and AC Circuits
Most people think electrical energy flows through wires, but it actually travels in the electromagnetic fields around them. This article explains how AC and DC...
A pair of custom-made printed circuit board business cards displayed side by side. Each card shows traces of an NFC coil antenna, component footprints, and decorative silkscreen artwork. One card is flipped to expose the back side. The boards have rounded corners and appear to use standard PCB substrate with green solder mask and white legends.
Creating a PCB business card with NFC and QR
Why settle for a plain business card when you can hand over a working PCB? This NFC-enabled design functions as both business card and technical...
Photo of a metal rotary encoder with a cylindrical shaft and green base, set against a light gray background. The background includes faint technical graphics: a gear diagram, binary code, square-wave patterns labeled CLK and DT, and a push-button symbol.
Getting Started with Rotary Encoders
This rotary encoder guide explains how these devices translate shaft movement into digital signals. It covers encoder types, wiring, decoding, and debouncing techniques so you...
Photo showing a 20x4 character LCD screen displaying real-time bus arrival information, powered by an ESP32 microcontroller. The setup likely fetches data from an API to display bus numbers, destinations, and estimated arrival times for a public transit system.
Live Bus Tracker with ESP32
Combine an ESP32 NodeMCU, I2C LCD, and WiFiManager to craft a standalone public-transport notifier. Tutorial covers wiring, HTTPS, NTP sync, LCD UI updating every minute....
Illustration of a futuristic battle scene between two armored warriors symbolizing MOSFET and IGBT. The MOSFET side features a sleek, agile figure wielding a glowing sword in a tech-blue environment, while the IGBT side shows a bulky, powerful mech-like figure firing from a heavy arm cannon in an industrial orange setting. The image represents the comparison between MOSFETs and IGBTs in power electronics.
IGBT vs MOSFET: How to Choose the Right Power Switch
This article compares IGBTs and MOSFETs for power electronics applications It covers efficiency trade-offs, conduction and switching losses, voltage/current guidelines, structural differences (such as body...
Featured image of analog layout design rules
Analog layout design rules
Matching transistor layouts is crucial for minimizing electrical variations, especially in analog and mixed-signal circuits like differential amplifiers. Proper design ensures symmetry, precision, and low...

Prerequisits

To make it easier, I assume you have a basic knowledge of the following:

  • Basic circuitry knowledge; such as resistors, transistors, diodes, relays.
  • Basic programming knowledge in C; understand what are functions, operators, data types, and more.
  • Digital electronics, such as logic gates.

On some occasions I will explain it from scratch, but to understand everything, it is best to brush up on the basics so that you can follow the tutorials.

Required Software

For these tutorials we use Microchip’s own software package that includes:

  • MPLAB X IDE
  • XC8 Compiler
  • PICKIT3 programmer/debugger

All the tools can be downloaded at the official website of Microchip Technology

Required Hardware

The full tutorial consists of many different types of electrical components, sensors and actuators. It depends completely on your own project what you need. However, in all cases you will need a Pickit3 tool to install the software and you need at least 1 PIC16F877A microcontroller to install it on.