Oh!pEnions: BSG O2 Sensor Part I

BSG O2 Sensor Part I

A friend have asked me if I could do some electronics for him as it was urgently needed in two or three weeks. After asking a few questions, I told him, it could be done but I needed time. He was willing to pay me for my time and all but in the end, I just prefer him to pay for the costs of the materials.

Now, this is where the boo-boo part comes in. My Notebook is being repaired. Usually it takes about two days but now, its more than a week. Yeah, after eight years of service, I think its time to get a new one. But until then, I just hope the tech boys can save it for one last (or more) time.

The project looked a bit daunting at first because of the requirement of using a set of five red and green LEDs in one spot. You can find these LEDs easily but for this project, it must have three legs to switch between them. A normal two legged is more difficult to do. Its possible but difficult. And another thing, from the video, the lights from the LEDs are very bright and so, the normal dual-colour (red and green) LEDs are out of the question since their lens are frosted. And so, I have to resort to using the more expensive RGB LEDs (Red, Green and Blue LEDs in one). Also, it is a first for me as I have never ever connect these LEDs to a microcontroller due to the way they are connected. Oh well, a promise is a promise.

Since I am using the company's Notebook at the moment, the next problem is the absence of the SERIAL port for the microcontroller programmer (which my Notebook has. Yeah it shows how old the Notebook is). So, I would have to source for a USB version of the programmer. Luckily, I have one, which was from the software package I bought years ago. But if all else fails, I would have to get a new one, which again costs money in hundreds of ringgit.