Have you ever used a grid-dip meter? The manual for a Kenwood DM-81 meter lists resonant-frequency measurements, use of a capacitive probe, antenna measurements, signal generation, crystal tester, absorption frequency meter, field-strength indicator and market generator.This versatile instrument might find a place on your lab bench. Learn more...

The new GOPHER software, which helps you select the best MCUs, now includes an "Application Search Configurator." Type in, for example, "Motor control of a brushless 3-phase DC motor using BEMF for control with optimal MCU op amps."  The new software finds the MCUs that meet the stated requirements. I doubt you can beat that.

While at the Embedded Systems Conference two handy tools caught my eye. First, the Mobidapter, an SD-to-USB adapter from Saelig and second the Micro Computer Control i2cStick that gives you a connection between a USB port and an I2C bus.

The addition of a floating-point math unit to a processor or microcontroller can greatly simplify programming and keeping track of values.