VoltJots | Electronics and IoT

NEWS & ARTICLES

New solar cell breakthrough

A new type of solar cell has reached a record 34.58% efficiency, thanks to improved control over ultra-thin layers of molecules. This breakthrough could lead to cheaper and more powerful solar energy.

Smart implant delivers emergency meds

This implantable device sends glucagon wirelessly to diabetes patients, helping manage low blood sugar without manual injections, all while being about the size of a coin and made from 3D-printed materials.

Debugging is getting harder than ever

Debugging today’s designs is tougher because of complicated circuits, dense layouts, and the lack of detailed documentation.

Boost your IoT security

The Microchip ATECC608A is a crypto-authentication device that enhances security for IoT devices, with features like elliptic curve cryptography, SHA-256 authentication, secure boot, encrypted communication, and unique hardware IDs.

Is the future of home robots getting closer?

Prototypes like Alfred show how robots are evolving into general-purpose helpers—learning to understand and handle everyday chores without needing specific programming, even in messy, unpredictable homes.

Revolutionary recycling method for lithium-ion batteries

Researchers at WPI have created a new battery recycling method that recovers over 92% of key metals from lithium-ion batteries. It also makes high-quality cathode material, uses 8.6% less energy, and cuts carbon emissions by 13.9%.

PROJECTS & TUTORIALS

Secure password manager with TRNG

This standalone hardware password manager uses a ring-oscillator TRNG for entropy, encrypts passwords on-device, stores ciphertext in external EEPROM, and streams it via UART to a PC script for easy autofill, ensuring portability and security.

LED ring animations with Raspberry Pi Pico 2

Create stunning animations on a 24 pixel LED ring using the Raspberry Pi Pico 2 for some eye-catching effects.

Build your own Arduino web server

Learn to set up a simple Arduino web server, use Ajax for updates, and display data from connected devices with basic HTML knowledge.

Getting started with the GT-U16 RTK module

Learn how to set up the GT-U16 RTK module with Arduino and parse raw NMEA data for easy access to position and signal strength info.

Generate PWM with zero CPU use

This project uses the PIC16F13145’s Configurable Logic Block to create a 2 MHz PWM waveform with 4-bit duty cycle resolution, all done in hardware without needing any CPU intervention after setup.

Water quality monitoring made easy

This project uses a TDS sensor, DS18B20 temperature sensor, and ESP32 WiFi module to measure TDS, electrical conductivity, and temperature, displaying the data on a 0.96″ OLED and allowing real-time monitoring on Arduino IoT Cloud.

PRODUCTS

Retro handheld gaming in a tin

This project packs a Raspberry Pi Zero W 2, Li-Po battery, custom controller PCB, and a 2.8" LCD into an Altoids tin, letting you emulate classic games like SNES and PS1 on the go.

New 3D magnetic sensors

These new sensors measure magnetic fields in three dimensions, offering high accuracy, low power consumption, and configurable options, with a wide temperature range and multiple measurement options.

Powerful development kit for RISC-V

Microchip’s Curiosity PIC64GX1000 Kit features a 64-bit RISC-V quad-core processor, 1GB DDR4 memory, and supports Linux, with various interfaces for expansion and debugging, making it ideal for intelligent edge compute applications.

Compact power board for robotics

The EPC91118 reference design packs power, sensing, and control into a small circular PCB, driving a three-phase BLDC inverter with up to 15 A RMS, perfect for humanoid robots and drones.

Waveshare RA4M1-Zero board details

The RA4M1-Zero is a compact development board featuring a 48MHz ARM Cortex-M4 MCU, secure boot, FPU, CAN bus, and various interfaces.