The USB Performance monitor is a PIC18F2550 based device which shows the performance of your computer using two analogue meters and a RGB LED. The design is based around a stock Hi-Fi VU-meter which is controlled using PWM from the PIC18F microcontroller. This project was inspired by a friend of mine who wanted a way to move his computer`s HDD LED
Click here to download the full size of the above Circuit.
onto the desktop. After toying around with sending Windows performance counters over USB via the Generic HID protocol I came up with the idea of using a VU meter I had lying around to build a full USB Performance Monitor. Even the HDD LED itself is `improved` in this project. Instead of a single-colour flashing LED this project uses a RGB LED which varies its intensity based on the level of utilisation and its colour based on reading, writing or both. Lastly a single hardware button was added to allow you to quickly enable and disable the device without having to grab the mouse. The PIC18F2550 firmware is written in Hi-Tech C and the Windows host software is written in C# using my Open Source Framework for USB Generic HID devices based on the PIC18F and Windows. As always, the software is GPL open source and can be downloaded from the section at the end of this article. The hardware is based around the PIC18F2550 microcontroller which has on-board USB. A minimal component count was used to connect the device to the USB port as well as to the switch, meters and RGB LED. The overall circuit schematic can be seen in the following diagram: Two potentiometers are included in the design to allow quick calibration of the full-deflection power required by the VU-meter (as this can vary from meter to meter). Other than that the design is fairly straight-forward; the RGB LED resistors were chosen according to the data-sheet to allow...
This project fits more for custom made battery casing that can have more space to hide things inside. This switch with few alterations can be used for any other project as well but is designed based on e-bike needs! This project use a clever functionality of....
The circuit described here uses ultrasonic oscillations and operates based on the propagation velocity of these oscillations in the air. Thus, we can easily determine the distance of two points if the time within which the wave travels this distance is....
Sometimes the precious metals are hidden too deep and are not detected except with complicated devices. In many cases, however, small pieces of precious metal buried near the surface can be detected by relatively simple means. Everyone is very attractive to....
Many times for various reasons we forget or can not water the plants that we have in our homes. And many humidity sensors units just notify us with a beeping sound or with a flashing light, that the pot needs watering. But what if we are away from home? This....
The principle behind a metal detector is really very simple. Proof of this is the circuit that follows, in which it proves that the construction of a metal detector can be done in the minute, with few components that we find very easily everywhere. With the....
The sub-harmonic bass generator is a sound producing unit for guitars. The sound it produces looks very much like that of the bass guitar. The octave generator is sometimes quite unusual since it does not produce any of the usual ways of coloring the sound,....
In the past the sounding (sea bottom measurement) was done with the "bullet", that is, with a heavy lead object that the seamen plucked into the sea hung from a calibrated rope. As soon as the "bullet" reached the bottom, the depth appeared directly from the....
This Amplifier was designed to have the following specifications: Distortion less than 0.1% at full power of 100W even at 20KHz. Power has to be attributed to an extended bandwidth. The output transistors must be protected against short circuits. The power....
A series of LEDs serve to alert the gardener when plants need water. Using two conventional digital integrated LEDs and a series of LEDs, we make a very useful device for gardening. The device detects the amount of water in the pot and alerts the grower.....
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