Hardware ← ABrandão.com

Microchip magic, the amazing science behind ASML EUV lithography machine

Dec

29

2023

Came across a series of videos explaining the intracacies of modern silicon chip fabricaion (Fab) , and was fascinated by the sheer complexity of making tiny transistors and circuits. In the heart of the silicon revolution, where chips smaller than snowflakes power our world, lies a Dutch titan: ASML. Their claim to fame? Lithography machines, ...

How to turn on your iPhone’s hotspot automatically when getting into your car .

Oct

20

2023

A common thing in most of today’s autos is to have a Internet connected head unit (dashboard display screen) so you can stream music or use Google Maps or Waze to navigate. But in.order for this to work you need an internet source, There are. a couple of ways to do this.. Using your Phone ...

Review Ford Fusion ( Mondeo) Android Car Radio infotainment with Navigation 27

Dec

10

2019

2014 Ford Fusion car Android radio upgrade… Having purchased my 2014 Ford Fusion , I quickly realized that the crappy stock Ford Sync (powered by Microsoft== “Microcrap“) was not going to cut it. The stock radio Ford Sync leaves a lot to be desired, overzealous use of buttons, dated voice recognition via Sync, dated ...

Easy battery powered Mailbox Door IoT sensor using ESP32 36

Apr

16

2018

This post is how I took my rusty (literally) old mailbox and made it into a battery powered smart mailbox (an IoT device) , that sends you an SMS (text messagE) or MQTT alerts, and in the process how I learned about Arduino and particularly the ESP32 chip which lets us relatively easily setup with minimal ...

Raspberry Pi Zero W LED matrix stock ticker code and demo 4

Feb

28

2018

So I was recently intrigued by Raspberry Pi Zero W, it’s small ARM-based Linux PC with integrated WiFi and ability to connect shields (known as Hats or pHats in Raspberry lingo) , got me thinking what kinds of interesting applications could I use it for. After coming across the Scroll Phat HD in my electronics ...

Honest Review : Trackimo GPS dot live tracker

Dec

26

2017

Do you need near real-time GPS tracking for persons or property such as drones, baggage or other valuables in transit or anything that moves and you need to keep an eye-on? The Trackimo GPS tracker can be purchased as low as $99 /for 1-year free tracking or $139 new from their website. The device allows you to view it’s ...

new hobby drone photography – drones and aerial photography (aka Quad copters)

Mar

9

2017

So I have had my eye on getting a drones (formally known as a quad copter) or UAV in FAA parlance ) for a while. I had started seeing the DJI Phantom series of drones pop-up here and there and had always been curious and intrigued by the flying camera. But I could never rationalize ...

Android Auto / Carplay after market car radio 2016 8

Jan

11

2016

While I wrote a while back about my experience with an aftermarket Chinese Android Car radio , I had expected by this point in 2016 we would have a flood of more mainstream vendor’s aftermarket units with more polished interfaces… February 16 Update! : It appears a new aftermarket entrant is coming into the market. The ...

Review: Android TV Boxes from Keedox with Kodi.TV 27

Nov

22

2014

Android TV Box(es) with Kodi.tv This year I recently received two newer Android TV Boxes from Keedox (4kSmartBox and TV quad-core MXIII)(www.keedox.com) that support 4k video (UHD), H.265 ,recent versions of Kodi.tv (still branded as XBMC 13.2,), and supporting NetFlix, youtube and other Android Apps. Both boxes are feature packed and for the cost really bring a modern smartTV ...