Over the years, readers have often commented that microcontrollers (or more specifically, the Arduino) are overkill for many of the projects they get used in. The admonition that the creator “Should ...

Sometimes the best inspiration is limitation. The 555 timer does “one thing” — compares a voltage to a couple thresholds and outputs a signal accordingly. It’s two comparators, a voltage ladder, and a ...

This article is part of the 2022 April 1st series in the Humor topic within our Series Library. The ubiquitous 1971 digital miracle—the 555 Timer—is important, replete with 25 transistors, 15 ...