Questions tagged [hardware]

Computer hardware is the collection of physical elements that constitute a computer system

Computer hardware is the collection of physical elements that constitute a computer system. Computer hardware refers to the physical parts or components of a computer such as monitor, keyboard, Computer data storage, hard drive disk, mouse, system unit (graphic cards, sound cards, memory, motherboard and chips), etc. all of which are physical objects that you can actually touch. In contrast, software is untouchable. Software exists as ideas, application, concepts, and symbols, but it has no substance. A combination of hardware and software forms a usable computing system.

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Why does hardware division take much longer than multiplication?

Why does hardware division take so much longer than multiplication on a microcontroller? E.g., on a dsPIC, a division takes 19 cycles, while multiplication takes only one clock cycle. I went through some tutorials, including Division algorithm and…
Marko Gulin
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What's the difference between INPUT and INPUT_PULLUP?

On newer Arduinos, one can set pinMode to one of three states: OUTPUT , INPUT , and INPUT_PULLUP . This page says: The Atmega chip on the Arduino has internal pull-up resistors (resistors that connect to power internally) that you can access. If you…
Manishearth
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Can I use the analog pins on the Arduino for my project as digital?

I am new to using Arduino, and I have an Arduino Uno. For the projects I've done, I've only used the digital pins. I am building a small vehicle that uses stepper motors. I have run out of pins to control the motors for this vehicle. What are the…
bogen
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How do I extend the number of analog (input) pins available to me?

I already know how to extend the number of digital pins on an Arduino using a multiplexer. I want to increase the number of analog input channels that I have. One solution is to add another Arduino as a slave. How would I increase the number of…
Manishearth
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Powering Arduino Nano 12volts

I know that the Arduino Nano can handle 12 volts, and it says it is recommended to power it between 7 and 12 volts. So I am wondering do I just hack together a 12 volt adapter to a Mini-B or is it possible to power it through the ICSP header?
jason
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How do hotswapping computer parts work?

Computers support hotswapping so that a user can replace a harddrive while the system is running. Is that mostly software just powering off the harddrive or is it some special hardware involved? If there were not special hardware then I suppose that…
Niklas Rosencrantz
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What are the 'knuckles' on through-hole LEDs and photodiodes for?

I am using an IR LED and a photo diode, and I have designed the PCB according to the specifications that I found on the datasheet - i.e. hole sizes for the pins being 0.6 mm. However, on these components there are 'knuckles' (see below image) and…
MrPhooky
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What does "Piggy" mean in this Schematic?

What does the word "Piggy" mean in this schematic diagram? I found some sections of a schematic where a part is denoted as "Piggy". What does it mean?
Rajeesh Rarankurissi
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How does the CPU load the BIOS?

Context about me - I never studied electrical engineering/computer science, so this is coming from the shaky foundations of self education. I just wondered how the CPU first loads the BIOS. Should I think of the CPU as a hardware black box that…
Momus
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Need help in identifying and learning to identify this unknown protocol, which has a good chance to be proprietary to the hardware I'm analyzing

I am re-purposing the metal case of old industrial laptop, it would be nice to keep current touchpad, because it's glued to the case AND because I'm having fun trying to convert it to my purpose. Here is a photo of the chip, there are no datasheets…
Wandering
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I burnt a pin. Now, what do I do?

I accidently shorted pins 10 and 11 with 10 set to output HIGH and 11 set to input. The pin 11 is not working. How do I figure out what component I burned? Can the problem be fixed?
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What is a good way for the mcu to determine which hardware version it is running on?

I'm working on a new product design and there will probably be small or large hardware changes/fixes over the life of the product. For future firmware updates in the field I need a way to determine the hardware revision. What is a good strategy? I'm…
morten
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How can I use my SMD Arduino to program a separate DIP ATmega328?

I have an arduino with a surface mounted (SMD) microcontroller: I know how to use a DIP arduino as a programmer for a DIP ATmega328. It's easy --you just pop your microcontroller in the holder. However, with a surface-mount Arduino, there's no…
Manishearth
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Pin 13: Do I need a Resistor?

This question mentioned that pin 13 has a built-in resistor for the LED that comes standard on most Arduino units. A friend of mine told me that because there's already a resistor on the pin, I don't have to put one on when I plug an external LED…
apnorton
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Is it ok to use the PCB as part of the structure of a product?

The industrial and product designers I'm working with keep on coming back to the idea of using the PCB as an integral part of the physical structure of our products. We have wall-mounted products and I am quite uncomfortable with this. My argument…
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