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https://hackaday.com/2022/10/05/fixing-a-30-year-old-roland-bug/ | Fixing A 30-year Old Roland Bug | Matthew Carlson | [
"Musical Hacks",
"Repair Hacks",
"Reverse Engineering"
] | [
"digital synth",
"repair",
"reverse engineer",
"roland"
] | The Roland CM-500 is a digital synthesizer sound module released in 1991 that combines two incredibly powerful engines into one unit. However, in 2005 enthusiasts of the Roland MT-25 (one of the engines that went into the CM-500) noticed a difference between the vibrato rate on the MT-25 and the CM-500, rendering it less useful as now midi files would need to be adjusted before they sounded correct. Now thirty-something years later, there is
a fix through the efforts of [Sergey Mikayev] and a fantastic writeup by [Cloudschatze]
.
They reached out to Roland Japan, who decided that since the device’s lifecycle had ended, no investigation was warranted. That led the community to start comparing the differences between the two systems. One noticeable difference was the change from an Intel 8098 to an 80C198. In theory, the latter is a superset of the former, but there are a few differences. First, the crystal frequency is divided by three rather than two, which means the period of the LFO would change even if the crystal stayed the same. Changing the 12 MHz crystal out for 8 MHz gave the LFO the correct period, but it broke the timings on the MIDI connection. However, this is just setting the serial baud rate divisor, which requires changing a few bytes.
Replace the ROM chip with a socket so you can slot your newly flashed PDIP-28 64kx8 ROM into a quick desoldering. Then swap the crystal, and you’ll have a machine that matches the MT-25 perfectly. The forum post has comparison audio files for your enjoyment. Finally, if you’re curious about other fixes requiring an inspiring amount of effort and dedication,
here’s a game installer that was brought back from the dead
by a determined hacker. | 12 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "6519000",
"author": "martin909@ziggo.nl",
"timestamp": "2022-10-06T07:00:14",
"content": "*MT-32",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "6519006",
"author": "Cricri",
"timestamp": "2022-10-06T08:07:57",
"content": "Thumb up,... | 1,760,372,542.105332 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/10/05/ugliest-airplane-ever-built-predicted-the-future/ | Ugliest Airplane Ever Built Predicted The Future | Al Williams | [
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"aircraft",
"history"
] | The airplane that many called “the flying barrel” is also widely considered the ugliest plane ever built. However, [Dark Skies]
in the video you can see below
argues that the Stipa-Caproni was the direct predecessor of the turbofan engine. Either way, it is an interesting and unique part of aviation history.
The plane was built in the days when inventors were experimenting with many different ways to improve aircraft utility and performance. In this case, the inventor built an “intubated propellor” which used a prop to draw air through a venturi tube in an effort to improve engine efficiency. The 570kg vehicle had a wingspan of just over 14 meters and was a bit more than 6 meters long. It could reach about 72 knots and climb to over 3 km.
Caproni was known for making odd planes, including one with nine wings. We couldn’t help but think that the Stipa-Caproni looks like something you’d see in a cartoon, perhaps flown by an animal character. It had both positive and negative features.
The plane was quiet and stable. But it was difficult to take off and land and suffered from drag problems. While there was great interest in the design, but no more planes using the principles in the aircraft were built. However, the
Kort nozzle
, is a very similar idea used in some maritime applications. Stipa also believed that turbofan jet engines were stolen from his invention, a position that isn’t totally far-fetched.
We’d love to see an RC version of the plane with modern flight controls. | 31 | 14 | [
{
"comment_id": "6518956",
"author": "The Commenter Formerly Known As Ren",
"timestamp": "2022-10-06T02:31:57",
"content": "“We’d love to see an RC version of the plane with modern flight controls.”Well, the first RC “jet” models used ducted fans to hide the propellers. (~40 years ago)",
"parent... | 1,760,372,541.742221 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/10/05/60-laser-makes-the-cut-with-new-controller/ | $60 Laser Makes The Cut With New Controller | Al Williams | [
"Laser Hacks",
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"grbl",
"laser cutter",
"laser engraver"
] | If you are reading the Lightburn forums, you probably already have a laser cutter of some kind. But, if you are like most of us, you can always be tempted into another “deal.” [Dkj4linux] has a post where he bought a $79
laser engraver
(now selling for between $59 and $65, we noticed). Like most of these cheap engravers, the machine takes a proprietary controller with Windows-only software. No surprise that [Dkj4linux] would want to use…um… Linux. The answer? Rip the board out and replace it with an old spare.
The machine looks well constructed, as you can see in the video below. For that price, you get a 3-watt laser head (that is likely way less than that in terms of optical power), and a build area of 220x290mm. The controller was in a small metal enclosure, and it was easy to simply unplug the two axis and the laser control cable.
This would be a great use for an old 3D printer controller you’ve had in your junk box since the last upgrade. It turns out, the board, a JL1, does have standard GRBL firmware available
if you ask for it
. It looks as though the firmware isn’t perfect, but there are workarounds. We’d probably just ditch the cheap controller and use one of our own, anyway.
Honestly, calling these cutters is a bit of a stretch since at this power level, you’ll have trouble cutting anything very thick. But it looks like it does a credible job of engraving and it probably can cut some materials with some patience.
Of course, you can also
make your own frame, add a few stepper motors
and just buy a laser module. Or do
a more advanced build
. But if you wanted to try a laser without a big investment, something like this could be just the ticket. | 32 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "6518916",
"author": "Grawp",
"timestamp": "2022-10-05T23:11:53",
"content": "Laser cutter without proper enclosure and redundant intrusion detection?Also where is air filtering?Absolutely bonkers… *shaking head*.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
... | 1,760,372,541.50625 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/10/05/power-tool-hack-takes-a-new-angle-on-rc-power-plants/ | Power Tool Hack Takes A New Angle On RC Power Plants | Ryan Flowers | [
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"angle grinder",
"peter sripo",
"RC airplane",
"tooling around"
] | For eons, hacker minded people have looked at various items their pile of stuff, came up with an outlandish idea and thought “I wonder if it would work?” Some of us stop there, convincing ourselves that it’s a bad idea that could never work. Others of us such as [Peter Sripol] are well known for not just having those thoughts, but for having the grit to explore them to their impractical limit, such as is shown in the
video below the break
.
Peter begins by adapting a model airplane propeller to his 9500 RPM battery powered grinder, and then checks thrust with different propellers to see which seemed most efficient. Then [Peter] did what any aerospace engineer out of their right mind would do: He had his brother design the resulting aircraft, which was inspired by an obscure German WWII asymmetric aircraft design.
Did it fly? It did, and you can see a couple of iterations of it tooling around in the video. But what happened next was equally interesting: First, a grinder powered single bladed helicopter and its subsequent hilarious failure, and its slightly more successful successor.
We’ve of course covered many angle grinder hacks, such as
this fixture for perfect cuts
(something notoriously difficult to do with a handheld grinder), but this is the first time we’ve seen an angle grinder fly out of more than frustration. Do you have your own angle grinder hack to spin our way? Be sure to let the
Tip Line
know! | 25 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "6518876",
"author": "1 more kb of data in the cloud tentively",
"timestamp": "2022-10-05T20:42:56",
"content": "I dont get it. Why did they not have 4 angle grinders set up in conventional drone config and two angle grinders for a conventional twin prop plane?",
"parent_id": nul... | 1,760,372,541.839392 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/10/05/retro-speaker-becomes-the-perfect-micro-pc/ | Retro Speaker Becomes The Perfect Micro PC | Jenny List | [
"Cyberdecks",
"Raspberry Pi"
] | [
"bluetooth speaker",
"cyberdeck",
"mini pc"
] | We’ve seen many cyberdecks and home built computers in our time here at Hackaday, but we’ve not seen many so tiny and so neatly built as this one from [Carter Hurd]. It takes the form of
a tiny retro PC with a working display and keyboard
, and we like it a lot.
The diminutive computer started life as
a neat little retro themed Bluetooth speaker
that a company bravely sent him for a project when he declined the chance to review it. Out came the speaker and electronics, and in went a USB Blackberry keyboard with a custom made bezel where the speaker’s keys had been.
The display is a 4″ LCD designed for a Raspberry Pi, and somewhat incredibly, he trimmed its corners to fit into the case. Making the curved CRT-style display front was achieved with vacuum form plastic, and a new display bezel was 3D printed.
A full-size Raspberry Pi fits in the base of the unit, and here he admits that it’s not the tidiest job. Perhaps a Pi Zero would have been more unobtrusive, but either way from the top and front it’s a really cute little machine.
It may not be the only tiny cyberdeck we’ve seen
, but it’s certainly a well-built one. | 6 | 2 | [
{
"comment_id": "6518856",
"author": "Doug Leppard",
"timestamp": "2022-10-05T19:28:33",
"content": "Amazing love it, you have great talents.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6519188",
"author": "Carter",
"timestamp": "2022-10-... | 1,760,372,541.437178 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/10/05/leading-edge-erosion-when-precipitation-destroys-wind-turbine-blades/ | Leading Edge Erosion: When Precipitation Destroys Wind Turbine Blades | Maya Posch | [
"Featured",
"Original Art",
"Science",
"Slider"
] | [
"leading edge erosion",
"Wind turbine",
"wind turbine blade"
] | Erosion is all around us, from the meandering course of rivers and other waterways, to the gradual carving out of channels in even the toughest mountains, and the softening of features in statues. Yet generally we expect erosion from precipitation to be gradual and gentle, taking decades to make a noticeable difference. This of course takes into account gentle flows and the soft pitter-patter of rain on stone, not turbine blades passing through the air at many times the terminal velocity of rain drops of up to 9 m/s.
As wind turbines have increased in size and diameter of their blades, this has noticeably increased the speed of especially the blade tips. With more and more wind turbine blade tips now exceeding speeds of 100 m/s, this has also meant a significant increase in the impact of rain drops, hail and other particulates on the lifespan of these turbine blades. As comparison, 100 m/s is 360 km/h (224 mph), which is only slightly slower than the top speed of a Formula 1 car.
The effect of turbine blade leading edge erosion (LEE) not only decreases aerodynamic efficiency, but also invites premature failure. Over the past years, special coatings and leading edge tapes have been developed that act as sacrificial surfaces, but as wind turbines only keep getting larger, so does the effect of LEE. Beyond simply replacing LE tape every year on every turbine, what other options are there?
A Growing Problem
Examples of leading edge erosion in the field across a range of years in service. (Credit: 3M)
Although LEE is not a unique problem with wind turbine blades, they are in a rather unique position in that unlike propeller blades and turbine blades in industrial equipment or jet engines, they are exposed constantly to the elements. In addition, their sheer size is beyond that of these other blades, which complicates inspection and maintenance.
In a review by
Keegan et al.
(2013,
PDF
), a number of causes of LEE are identified. These can be broadly grouped into the following categories:
Rain drops.
Hail.
Sea spray.
Sand and dust.
Which of these a specific wind turbine is exposed to depends on the location where it is installed. For some off-shore wind turbines all four of these may be a factor, while for other only sand or rain may be relevant. Regardless, the result remains largely the same. With the impact of a rain drop or solid particulate, the leading edge of the blade will experience a transfer of kinetic energy that over time will weaken and erode its structure. In the case of a rain shower and a modern wind turbine, this involves constant strikes by 0.5 mm – 5 mm diameter droplets at around 100 m/s.
Rayleigh surface stress contour plot at leading edge coating system at various stages of contact force history by a droplet. (Credit: Verma et al., 2020)
In a study by
Verma et al.
(2020) in
Composite Structures
, the force distribution of rain droplets for offshore wind turbine blades was examined. Using a range of modeling techniques, it was found that by reducing the blade tip speed from over 100 m/s to around 80 m/s, much of the impact damage can be avoided during heavy precipitation. As comparison, with a blade tip velocity of 140 m/s, the maximum impact force was found to be 181 Newton, whereas at 80 m/s this was reduced to below 70 N, making for an approximately 70% reduction.
As wind turbines keep growing in hub height and corresponding turbine blade length, such extreme blade tip velocities may become increasingly common, especially for offshore wind turbines which tend to be significantly larger than their onshore brethren. Reducing the blade velocity during heavy precipitation or storms with severe sea spray by partially feathering the blades, or employing the brake system, at least part of the LEE damage may be avoidable.
Unavoidable Maintenance
Calculated effects of varying levels of leading edge erosion
on the Annual Energy Production of a 1.5MW wind turbine. (Credit: 3M)
In concrete terms, the effect of LEE is such that it can reduce the output of a wind turbine by a few percent after as little as a year, with even mild pitting affecting the efficiency of the turbine blades by disrupting the airflow over its surface. The general model for LEE as it pertains to turbine blades and propellers was created by G.S. Springer in 1976 in
Erosion by Liquid Impact
. This model uses the waterhammer principle, and is critically examined with improvements suggested by
Hoksbergen et al.
(2022) in
Materials
.
In a study by
Law et al.
(2020) the data from wind farms across the United Kingdom was analyzed. It was found that an average loss of output by each wind turbine per year of about 1.8% was to be expected, with the worst affected wind turbine experiencing losses of 4.9%.
Most interestingly about the study by Law et al. was the finding that the application of leading edge repair tape (leading edge protection, or LEP) to repair LEE damage to a turbine’s 3-year old blades resulted in an additional 1.29% drop in output. This shows just how important the shape of the turbine blades is in order to get the best possible performance, and exemplifies the issue with field repairs using LEP tape.
Although there’s an argument to be made that leaving the LEE to continue unchecked would lead to even worse performance over time, there should not be the expectation that applying tape to the leading edge of a damaged turbine blade will return it to its former glory.
Major et al.
(2020) also report a 2%-3% drop in Annual Energy Production (AEP) from the use of LEP tape.
A 2019 article in Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews by
Herring et al.
further expands on the complexity of turbine blade field maintenance. Unless such tape is properly applied, it may peel off, have wrinkles or air pockets. This article also addresses the option of applying a metal anti-erosion shield to the leading edge. This would provide good protection against erosion, but adds the complication of a hybrid composite and metal blade structure with different stiffness.
Finally, there is ongoing research (
McGugan et al.
, 2020) on adding sensors to wind turbine blades in order to monitor vibrations and other parameters that can indicate damage to the blade, including LEE damage.
Tiny Droplets, Big Consequences
In the end, reducing LEE is a double win in terms of less blade maintenance required and higher efficiency, but the solution is by no means simple. Even small changes such as the thickness of LEP tape can matter when they’re scaled up to the size of a giant wind turbine blade, with significant financial implications from lower efficiency. As blade tip speed increases with ever larger wind turbine blades, so does the importance of developing better ways to protect the blade’s surface. | 85 | 20 | [
{
"comment_id": "6518834",
"author": "Foldi-One",
"timestamp": "2022-10-05T18:01:29",
"content": "Love to know how big that 1,2,10,10+ years blade is, as it seems from my reading to be that sort of age its can’t be even close to the giant monsters getting put up everywhere today. Are we at a stage n... | 1,760,372,542.062071 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/10/05/hackaday-wants-you-be-a-supercon-volunteer/ | Hackaday Wants You: Be A Supercon Volunteer | Elliot Williams | [
"cons",
"News"
] | [
"2022 Hackaday Supercon",
"Supercon",
"volunteers"
] | Spot the volunteers! (Hint: red shirts. And you know what happens to the red shirts…)
The Supercon approaches! If you are thinking of attending, but the cost of admission is too steep, one way to get in
for free
is to volunteer. That’s three wonderful days of events, two nights of partying, lunch, dinner, and of course Supercon. All you have to do is help us run the show.
Volunteers help out all around, giving out schwag bags, hustling speakers here and there, and just generally working behind the scenes to make Supercon super. We’re looking for three four-hour shifts over the whole long weekend,
So if you’re interested in helping out, and you’d like to get in free and get super volunteer-only gear to boot,
put in your application now
. We’ll be accepting volunteers until October 20th and getting in touch by email on October 24th.
Of course, we just
announced the first round of speakers
, we’ve got the badge reveal coming up, and much, much more. Follow along here, or at
Hackaday.io/superconference
for more info. | 4 | 2 | [
{
"comment_id": "6518879",
"author": "Rumble_in_the_Jungle",
"timestamp": "2022-10-05T20:48:43",
"content": "It is not for free.Yes, it is a low entry level and flexible, but still, a job. Please raise and spread this awareness thru young generation, thanks!(sorry if it sounded a bit passive aggress... | 1,760,372,541.397127 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/10/05/ratpack-is-a-wearable-fit-for-a-rodent/ | RatPack Is A Wearable Fit For A Rodent | Lewin Day | [
"Machine Learning",
"Wearable Hacks"
] | [
"ESP32",
"ESP32-CAM",
"landmine",
"landmines",
"rat",
"unexploded ordnance"
] | Rats are often seen as pests and vermin, but they can also do useful jobs for us, like hunting for landmines. To aid in their work, [kjwu] designed the RatPack, a wearable device
that lets these valiant rats communicate with their handlers.
The heart of the build is an ESP32-CAM board, which combines the capable wireless-enabled microcontroller with a small lightweight camera. It’s paired with a TinyML machine learning board, and it’s all wrapped up in a 3D printed enclosure that serves as a backpack to fit African Giant Pouched rats.
The RatPack can provide a live video feed. However, its main purpose is to track the rat’s movements through the use of an accelerometer. This data is then fed to the machine learning subsystem, which analyzes it to detect certain gestures the rats have been trained to make. The idea is that when the rat identifies an object of interest, such as a landmine, it will perform a predetermined gesture. The RatPack would then detect this, and transmit a signal to the rat’s handlers. Given a rat’s limbs are all on the bottom of its body, this approach is useful. It’s kind of hard to ask a rat to press a button on its own back, after all.
Finding and carefully disposing of unexploded ordnance
is a problem facing many societies around the world. We’re lucky in many cases that the rats are helping out with this difficult and dangerous job. | 6 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "6518795",
"author": "Rog Fanther",
"timestamp": "2022-10-05T15:50:20",
"content": "This worked very well on those old Lucas Arts classic, Full Throttle…",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "6518892",
"author": "BrightBlueJim",
... | 1,760,372,541.779214 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/10/05/the-state-of-the-sbc-interface-ecosystem-is-it-time-to-design-a-standard/ | The State Of The SBC Interface Ecosystem, Is It Time To Design A Standard? | Jenny List | [
"Hackaday Columns",
"Interest",
"Microcontrollers",
"Rants",
"Slider"
] | [
"SBC",
"SBC interface",
"single board computer"
] | We are spoiled for choice when it comes to single board computers, whether they be based around a microcontroller or a more capable SoC capable of running an operating system such as GNU/Linux. They can be had from well-established brands such as Arduino, Adafruit, or Raspberry Pi, or from a Wild West of cheaper Far Eastern modules carrying a plethora of different architectures.
Everyone has their own favourite among them, and along with that comes an ecosystem of operating systems and software development environments. There’s another aspect to these boards which has evolved; certain among them have become
de facto
interface connector standards for hardware peripherals. Do these standards make any sense? Let’s talk about that.
How Do De Facto Standards Come About?
In most cases, an interface standard is the result of an effort specifically to create it. Consider for example the USB-C port, instead of merely happening because a manufacturer decided to put a reversible high-speed data port with power capabilities on a machine, it was the result of many years experience and work on the part of an industry consortium.
How on earth did this become a power standard?
Sometimes though, an interface standard comes around by chance. The car accessory socket is by any standard a pretty awful power connector system, originating decades ago as the receptacle for an electric cigarette lighter. Because there was no other handy way to access a 12 V power supply in a car it became the power source for the few electronic in-car accessories that were available, and has since evolved into the standard automotive power socket. Oddly, many car accessory sockets are now unsuitable for their original purpose, being no longer designed to withstand the heat of a cigarette lighter element.
And so we come to the connectors on single board computers. Almost all of them have an expansion connector, which serves the purpose of bringing out as many of the available interfaces in one place as possible. Some are well designed and others not so much, but none of them are designed in the same way as the USB socket to be independent of specific hardware and with convenience for the desired application in mind. Instead they’re left to the designer of the board who may not expect the device to become a widely adopted standard and thus may not think ahead as to how their creation might be used.
None Of These Are Like The Others
If we were asked to name some boards whose interfaces have become unintended
de facto
standards, those we’d end up with wouldn’t surprise most of you. The original Arduino, the Raspberry PI, the Adafruit Feather and maybe the Raspberry Pi Pico, perhaps the BeagleBone, and one we’re seeing more and more, the BBC micro:bit. It’s worth taking a look at these individually for a minute to work out what we like about them, and what we don’t.
The familiar Arduino Uno with its two rows of shield connectors.
The granddaddy of them all has to be the Arduino. We don’t know whether it was the first board to give us the idea of shields, but it was certainly the one that popularised them. Before the Arduino it was more usual for a board to come with a prototyping area alongside a header with the I/O lines to which a daughter board might have been attached, the Arduino gave root to the idea of a family of add-on boards within a defined ecosystem.
We like the
Arduino expansion pinout
for its organisation of the different types of interface next to each other and in numerical order and we like its use of inexpensive 0.1″ pin headers, but the size of the thing and the need for two sets of headers so far apart looks distinctly unwieldy and old-fashioned. Don’t get us started on
the odd row offset
. Still, it’ll probably be a long time before we’re free of the classic Arduino shield because there are so many still available, but would it be a reasonable choice for a new design here in 2022? We don’t think so.
The boards may be worlds apart, but the 2012 original lives on in today’s expansion connector.
The Raspberry Pi 40-pin header and HAT form factor seems to have become a
de facto
standard for more powerful boards, typically those that run Linux. It’s a nod to the success of the little board from Cambridge, but for all the good things the Pi has brought us we’d say the expansion connector isn’t one of them. It’s a victim of the Pi’s genesis back in 2012 from a then-tiny organisation producing what they thought would be a relatively small run of a board that was at the time barely out of prototype status.
The first Raspberry Pi boards had component and routing choices based upon expediency and the resources available to them, so that the lines were brought out to a header at all was the most important, and not arranging them nicely for a mass market board that would dominate the sector a decade later. Thus the original 26-pin interface and the 40-pin extension that followed
have the various interfaces scattered haphazardly around them
, and we’re certain that were they to do the same job today they would bring some order to it. We like the use of a single 0.1″ header, but even though we understand why it’s that way, we can’t say the same for the arrangement of pins.
The dual-in-line boards such as the Feather, the Pi Pico, and the various smaller Arduinos, have a very convenient approach to expansion, following the same path as the larger DIP ICs of the past. Thus an Arduino Nano will often be found mounted on a piece of stripboard or a PCB, or plugged into a breadboard. The Feather and the Pico take this further, with both sorting add-on boards that piggy-back upon them. We like them for their
well-thought-out pinouts
, but we think a single connector gives more flexibility.
Nice board, expensive connector.
Finally in our list of boards is one that takes a completely different tack. The BBC micro:bit is an educational microcontroller board originally designed for British schools, and its expansion connector is a PCB edge connector with five large pads for crocodile clips and 4 mm plugs to make life easy for kids,
interspersed with finer pitch connections carrying other interfaces
. It’s well designed and an attractive enough choice that it’s appeared on quite a few competing boards, but it relies upon a more expensive specialised edge connector receptacle. We like edge connectors, but not ones which need an expensive connector.
It Could All Be So Much Better
XKCD’s take on standards proliferation. (
CC BY-NC 2.5
)
So having surveyed the field, we have a range of what are essentially proprietary standards which have been adopted by others. None of them are the perfect solution to SBC interfacing, so our next question is: what would be the qualities we’d look for in something better? It’s a conversation we think the industry should be addressing, but how do we think they should address it?
Perhaps the best place to start is with the connector itself. Here the Raspberry Pi gets it right with standard two-row headers, they’re cheap and readily available without forcing a board form factor as the Arduino or DIP format boards do or requiring a special connector as the micro:bit ecosystem does. Then the next area to consider is the pinout. There is no reason that digital GPIO, analogue lines, and interfaces such as SPI or I2C can not be arranged on sequentially numbered pins for easy interfacing.
Here’s Shitty Interface, version 3.11 for Workgroups. We defy you, nay we beg you, to do something better.
We think that microcontroller and SoC interfaces are all similar enough that this could be achieved. We also don’t think there’s a particular commercial advantage to manufacturers in having their own proprietary pinout, because in this context there’s little value in exclusivity. A common pinout across multiple boards shouldn’t take a multi-million-dollar industry consortium as it does with USB, instead a simple set of I/O lines have to be wired to a set of headers.
The reason it hasn’t happened yet is probably that there’s been no immediate sales incentive for them to do so, but we think there’s an angle there which might prove persuasive. Hardware manufacturers should imagine a world in which aside from all SBCs having the same interface, all expansion cards, shields, HATs, or wings, have it too. Suddenly the potential market for a card becomes much more lucrative, and since all the major SBC makers also sell cards we hope that they too can see the potential.
We’d be interested to hear from our readers on this subject, what do you think? | 132 | 50 | [
{
"comment_id": "6518763",
"author": "zoobab",
"timestamp": "2022-10-05T14:22:12",
"content": "2.54mm pin spacing for the win.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6518840",
"author": "Gravis",
"timestamp": "2022-10-05T18:46:35",
... | 1,760,372,541.677924 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/10/05/east-coast-reprap-festival-returns-this-weekend/ | East Coast RepRap Festival Returns This Weekend | Tom Nardi | [
"cons",
"News"
] | [
"East Coast RepRap Festival",
"ERRF",
"ERRF 22"
] | After laying low during the height of the pandemic, the
East Coast RepRap Festival (ERRF)
is just days away from making its triumphant return to Bel Air, Maryland. This two-day celebration of all things extruded is packed with talks, exhibits, and demonstrations that you won’t want to miss if you’ve got even a passing interest in 3D printing.
You can purchase advance tickets now
— adult admission for both days (Oct 8 & 9) will set you back just $10 USD, while anyone under 17 gets in for free.
ERRF 22 will honor
Sanjay Mortimer
with a
bust printed by the community
.
When we visited in 2019,
ERRF was only in its second year
, but it was already obvious that it was becoming a major event in the 3D printing world. The schedule included talks from 3D printing luminaries such as Adrian Bowyer, Josef Průša was on hand to
personally unveil the Prusa Mini
, and it seemed everyone who ever squirted out a bit of hot plastic on YouTube was there to stream live from the show floor. But then COVID-19 came around and jammed the extruder, as it were.
We’re glad to see that an event as young as ERRF managed to weather the pandemic and return to an in-person show. There was naturally a risk of loosing momentum, especially as the organizers opted not to go the virtual route these last two years — but with palpable online buzz about the event and a stacked lineup of speakers, vendors, and exhibitors, it seems like even a global pandemic couldn’t hold these hackers and makers down for long.
If you make the trip to Maryland this weekend and happen to run into a roving Hackaday writer, there just might be some special edition swag in it for you. But for those who can’t make it to ERRF in person, don’t worry. As always, we’ll make sure to bring you plenty of pictures and details from the show. | 3 | 3 | [
{
"comment_id": "6518865",
"author": "chris",
"timestamp": "2022-10-05T20:02:10",
"content": "UUG i would like to go but traveling 150 miles thru DC & Baltimore just to get there could take half a day. Maybe one day.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id... | 1,760,372,541.354996 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/10/05/custom-macro-pad-helps-deliver-winning-formulas/ | Custom Macro Pad Helps Deliver Winning Formulas | Navarre Bartz | [
"contests",
"Peripherals Hacks"
] | [
"equations",
"keyboard",
"macropad",
"odd inputs",
"unicode",
"usb"
] | For those of us with science and engineering backgrounds, opening the character map or memorizing the Unicode shortcuts for various symbols is a tedious but familiar part of writing reports or presentations. [
Magne Lauritzen
] thought there had to be a better way and developed
the Mathboard
.
With more than 80 “of the most commonly used mathematical operators” and the entire Greek alphabet, the Mathboard could prove very useful to a wide number of disciplines. Hardware-wise, the Mathboard is a 4×4 macro pad, but the special sauce is in the key set implementation firmware. While the most straightforward approach would be to pick 16 or 32 symbols for the board, [Magne] felt that didn’t do the wide range of Unicode symbols justice. By implementing a system of columns and layers, he was able to get 6+ symbols per key, giving a much greater breadth of symbols than just 16 keys and a shift layer. The symbols with a dot next to them unlock variants of that symbol by double or triple-tapping the key. For instance, a lower or capital case of a Greek letter.
The Mathboard currently works in Microsoft Office’s equation editor and as a plain-text Unicode board. [Magne] is currently working on LaTeX support and hopes to add Open Office support in the future. This device was an
honorable mention
in our Odd Inputs and Peculiar Peripherals Contest. If you’d like to see another interesting math-themed board, check out the one on the
MCM/70
from 1974. | 18 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "6518705",
"author": "John Little",
"timestamp": "2022-10-05T10:05:10",
"content": "Lilac and lavender coloured modifier keys… Straight HP48GX vibes!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "6518716",
"author": "mip",
"timestamp":... | 1,760,372,542.158081 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/10/03/hackaday-prize-2022-an-easy-to-build-fermenter-for-tempeh/ | Hackaday Prize 2022: An Easy-To-Build Fermenter For Tempeh | Arya Voronova | [
"cooking hacks",
"green hacks",
"The Hackaday Prize"
] | [
"2022 Hackaday Prize",
"fermentation",
"fermenter",
"fermenting",
"tempeh"
] | [Maud Bausier] and [Antoine Jaunard] believe we should all know about tempeh — a traditional Indonesian food made out of legumes fermented with fungi. To simplify the process a bit: you get some soybeans, add a tempeh starter fungi culture to them, ferment them a while, and out comes the tempeh. It’s a great source of proteins that’s relatively easy to grow on your own. One catch, though — you do need a certain kind of climate to have it develop properly. This is why [Maud] and [Antoine] are bringing a
tempeh fermenter design
to this year’s Hackaday Prize.
This fermenter’s controller drives a heating element, which adheres to a pre-programmed fermentation cycle. It also has a fan for airflow and keeping the heat uniform.
The fermenter itself is a small desktop machine with a laser-cut case helped by some CNC-cut and 3D-printed parts, electronics being a simple custom PCB coupling a Pi Pico with widely-available modules. This is clearly a project for someone with access to hackerspace or fab lab resources, but of course, all of the files are on GitHub.
Once built, this design allows you to grow tempeh disks in home conditions on a small scale. It seems the design is mostly finalized, but if you’d like to hear news about this project, they have
a blog
and
a Mastodon feed
with some recent updates.
We’ve covered a whole lot of
fermentation-related hacks
over these years. Most of them have been alcohol-related, but every now and then we see people building fermentation equipment for other food materials, like
vinegar
,
yogurt
and
sourdough
. Now, having seen this fermenter, we’ve learned of one more food hacking direction to explore. This project is
one of 10 finalists
for our latest Hackaday Prize round, Climate-Resilient Communities. It’s a well-deserved win, and we can’t wait to see where it goes! | 18 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "6518334",
"author": "Bobby Barnacles",
"timestamp": "2022-10-03T18:58:47",
"content": "It’s great as an engineering project, for folks who would rather just do the fermentation, turn your oven light on and put in your beans with your starter (easy way to figure out moisture with sar... | 1,760,372,542.214258 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/10/03/big-brother-or-dumb-brother-bus-drivers-in-beijing-are-forced-to-wear-emotional-monitors/ | Big Brother Or Dumb Brother? Bus Drivers In Beijing Are Forced To Wear “Emotional Monitors” | Lewin Day | [
"Hackaday Columns",
"Rants",
"Slider"
] | [
"emotion monitor",
"emotional monitor",
"Monitoring",
"smart watch",
"smartwatch",
"wearable",
"wristband"
] | Humans aren’t always great at respecting each other’s privacy. However, common sense says there’s a clear boundary when it comes to the thoughts in one’s own head and the feelings in one’s heart.
For bus drivers in Beijing though, it seems that’s no longer the case. These professional drivers are now being asked to wear emotional monitors while on the job,
raising concerns from both legal and privacy advocates.
But the devices aren’t really anything more than workout monitors, and whether they can actually make good on their Orwellian promise remains to be seen.
In Your Head, In Your Head!
The monitoring wristbands have been rolled out to some of Beijing’s long-distance bus drivers. Credit: Cypp0847,
CC-BY-SA-4.0
When George Orwell wrote
1984
, it was only 1949. However, he was able to foresee a world in which surveillance was omnipresent and inescapable. He also envsioned the concept of
thoughtcrime,
where simply contemplating the wrong things could get you in serious trouble with the authorities.
As we all know, Orwell was way off – these predictions didn’t become reality until well into the 2000s. In the latest horrifying development, technologies now exist that claim to be able to monitor one’s emotional state. Now, China’s transportation sector is rushing to push them on their workforces.
Long-distance bus drivers in Beijing are now being told to wear electronic wristbands
when on the job
. These wristbands claim to be able to capture the wearer’s emotional state, monitoring it on behalf of the employer. The scheme was the idea of the Beijing Public Transport Holding Group. The state-run organization claims the technology is intended for the safety of the public, and a trial of the wristbands began in July this year.
The technology is relatively crude. It doesn’t scan brainwaves or interface directly with the individual on a conscious level. Instead, it monitors the driver’s vital signs much like a common smartwatch. The wristbands capture body temperature, heart rate, blood oxygen levels, and respiratory data. They also reportedly measure blood pressure, exercise levels, and the user’s sleep patterns.
All that data is then processed to generate an idea of the wearer’s emotional state. The wristbands can be monitored in real-time by the organization to keep track of its employees on a live basis.
Legal experts have questioned the value of the monitoring scheme. Issues concern the validity of the conclusions drawn by the wristbands, and the impact this could have on employees. Those that routinely get rated as “angry” or “upset” by the wristbands could be discriminated against or lose their jobs, whether or not their emotional state was accurately assessed or even impacting their work. With something as subjective and malleable as emotional states, it’s also difficult to see how a machine could reliably draw conclusions.
As for the data, it’s also unclear how it would actually be used in practice. If a crash occurs and an employee’s wristband reports they were “agitated” or “sad,” how does that feed into what happens next? Many of us may grow annoyed and frustrated in bad traffic, after all, and that means absolutely nothing if another driver happens to cause an accident with our vehicle. It’s hard to imagine the technology being used in anything but a punitive manner.
A Worrying Trend
Whether or not the scheme makes any sense doesn’t seem to matter in the broader scheme of things. The wristbands fit an overwhelming theme in modern Chinese society – that of overwhelming, all-pervasive surveillance. The country already runs
“social credit” systems
that rate citizens based on their criminal history, economic activity, and public behaviour. Fall afoul of these, and you might suddenly find it hard to apply for government permits or even travel via rail, sea, or air. These monitoring wristbands are just another expansion of the surveillance that already takes place in China.
Other countries should hardly consider themselves free of such concerns, however. Warehouse employees around the world are routinely monitored for their behavior, and can be penalized for working too slowly or taking too many bathroom breaks. Workers on apps like Uber and Doordash similarly have their every action monitored, ranked and critically analyzed. Again, penalties are swift for poor performance or behaviour. Indeed, examples are too numerous to mention, but that doesn’t make it acceptable.
Corporations and governments are often eager to implement such technologies as soon as they become available. In the absence of robust privacy protections for the individual, there’s always a great risk of these technologies infringing on one’s personal liberties. In most countries, these simply don’t exist. Of course, sometimes compliance is enforced not with threats to one’s job or liberty, but in softer ways, too. It’s all too common that our access to social media, streaming services, or web searches is contingent on allowing corporations to collect great dossiers of information on our daily activities.
In the case of these wristbands, the threat isn’t even from new advanced technology. The system is only capable of collecting the same data as something like a typical smartwatch, and it’s paired with a emotion-matching algorithm that’s sophisticated or silly depending on your point of view.
The real threat is the fact that people’s livelihoods are being put at risk based on spurious measurements and maths from a wristband they have little choice in wearing. It’s sets a poor precedent for those who appreciate that one’s own body, mind and soul should be a private place.
Banner photo: “
Female Beijing bus driver
” by Ole Bendik Kvisberg.
Thumbnail image: “
Beijing bus
” by Michael Wood | 64 | 18 | [
{
"comment_id": "6518308",
"author": "rclark",
"timestamp": "2022-10-03T17:33:40",
"content": "“Whether or not the scheme makes any sense…” Doesn’t have to make sense in places like China. All about control. Very sad that a society like this even could take root and the people can’t do anything ... | 1,760,372,542.315106 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/10/03/ancient-nuclear-plant-computer-finds-new-home-in-bletchley-museum/ | Ancient Nuclear Plant Computer Finds New Home In Bletchley Museum | Robin Kearey | [
"classic hacks"
] | [
"argus 500",
"Ferranti",
"National Museum of Computing",
"nuclear power station",
"restoration"
] | Although technology keeps advancing every year, safety-critical systems in factories and power plants typically stay with the technology that was available when they were built, in the spirit of “don’t fix it if it ain’t broke”. When it comes to safety, there are probably few systems more critical than nuclear power plants, and as a result one power station in Dungeness, in the south-east of England, was controlled by the same Ferranti Argus 500 computer from the early 1970s until the reactor was shut down in 2018.
The national Museum of Computing in Bletchley was lucky enough to be allowed to scavenge the old computer from the decommissioned plant, and volunteers at the museum have managed
to get it running again in its new home
. They describe the process in the video embedded below, and demonstrate a few features of this rather unique piece of 1970s technology.
The computer consists of several large cabinets that house enormous PCBs full of diode-transistor logic (DTL) chips, made by Ferranti itself. It comes with 32 kilo-words, or 96 kilobytes, of
magnetic core memory
, and was designed to run programs stored on punched tape. However, the paper tape reader was removed at some point in the computer’s life and replaced with a PC-based system that emulates the tape reader’s output through its parallel port. This was probably sometime during the 1990s, judging from the fact that the
https://hackaday.com/tag/magnetic-core-memory/PC
runs OS/2.
Setting up the computer in its new home was complicated by the fact that hundred of cables had to be disconnected in order to move the system out of the power plant. With the help of decades-old documentation, and the experience of one volunteer who used to be a Ferranti engineer, they eventually got it into a state where it could run programs again.
Ultimately, the Argus 500 will be turned into a live exhibit that will simulate a power station alongside another computer that was rescued from a different nuclear plant. Depending on the availability of some parts that are still missing, this might happen later this year, or perhaps next year. In any case, the museum already has
a collection that’s well worth visiting
if you’re in the area. The story of
how they rescued a neglected IBM 360
also makes for fascinating reading.
Thanks for the tip, [Dunryc]! | 20 | 11 | [
{
"comment_id": "6518270",
"author": "Dissy",
"timestamp": "2022-10-03T15:44:57",
"content": "“Ultimately, the Argus 500 will be turned into a live exhibit that will simulate a power station”Please select a disaster to simulate from the menu options below",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
... | 1,760,372,542.525312 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/10/03/lithium-ion-batteries-are-easy-to-find/ | Lithium-Ion Batteries Are Easy To Find | Arya Voronova | [
"Battery Hacks",
"Featured",
"Interest",
"Skills",
"Slider"
] | [
"18650",
"batteries",
"battery",
"how-to",
"lithium ion"
] | In
the first article,
I’ve given you an overview of Lithium-Ion batteries and cells as building blocks for our projects, and described how hackers should treat their Lithium-Ion cells. But what if you don’t have any LiIon cells yet? Where do you get LiIon cells for your project?
Taking laptop batteries apart, whether the regular 18650 or the modern pouch cell-based ones,
remains a good avenue
– many hackers take this road and the topic is extensively covered by a number of people. However, a 18650 cell might not fit your project size-wise, and thin batteries haven’t quite flooded the market yet. Let’s see what your options are beyond laptops.
Smartphone Batteries A Viable Source
A
radio rebuild project
using a Nokia battery
First underappreciated source of LiIon cells, specifically pouch cells, are smartphone batteries. Of course, we’ve all seen a phone battery die earlier than the phone did, and in many modern phones, the cell is glued-in and harder to extract. However, shopping for smartphone batteries in your local stores is still worthwhile if you need a small cell to power your device.
For instance, user-replaceable batteries are still manufactured and sold for numpad phones from manufacturers like Nokia, with cells typically around 1000 mAh, more than enough for a small ESP32 or Pi Pico project that spends lots of time asleep. If you’d like to make your device repeatable by others and make battery sourcing simple, perhaps work around
LiIon shipping restrictions,
or if you’re a garage startup itching to get a small prototype batch out of the door, smartphone batteries are a good bet.
Even more, there’s not much preventing you from putting the same contacts used by phones onto your PCB. You can source these contacts from online repair shops, LCSC, Aliexpress and probably more. With a smartphone cell, you get a protection circuit, usually a built-in thermistor and often a one-wire or I2C fuel gauge. Most importantly, you get a battery with an active supply chain, which means you can design it into your project mechanically and electrically, and not fear a redesign a few months in when all local stock of a very specific cell suddenly runs out. One small thing to keep in mind – while older Nokia batteries have a third pin, it’s not a thermistor pin – instead, it’s a
fixed-value cell identification resistor.
We’ve seen this done
with iPhone batteries,
and we’ve also seen things like
makeshift pin header-based holders for smartphone cells.
I first encountered it when I saw pictures of a Chinese radio using Nokia format batteries, and I’ve been designing them into small-scale stuff ever since. You don’t have to look for “genuine” cells, third-party cells with good reviews are a decent source and tend to provide more value per dollar, but bottom-of-the-barrel cells are likely to disappoint.
Vaping has helped make LiIon cells a bit more accessible. First off,
disposable vapes provide us with small cells
that are nicely reusable – remember to use protection. However, vape shops are also a decent source of high-current-capable 18650 cells, and if you’re a hobbyist designing a device with an 18650 holder in it, you don’t have to worry about battery shipping restrictions unfairly impacting small-scale producers when you can ask your recipient to go to a vape shop and buy a 18650 for a modest markup.
There are also specialized stores that sell LiIon cells and batteries, 18650 and pouch alike, with good prices and inexpensive ground shipping. Quad and other remote-controlled vehicles eat them up, so a shop like Hobby King often has good deals. In Europe, Nkon is one of the go-tos, and I’ve had great success getting 3.5 Ah cells from there with prices comparable to Aliexpress fake “6.5 Ah cell” listings. Speaking of that, I can’t say I recommend Aliexpress – to this day, they seem to need to resort for tricks when airmailing you cells, which sometimes still get randomly seized by customs screening, and cells of subpar quality have a non-negligible market share there.
Mind The Mechanics
Once you got hold of some cells, how do you connect them into your circuit? If they’re 18650s, it’s good to have a holder – Thingiverse has no shortage of printable ones, and commercially made holders tend to be less frustrating to use. Leaf contact holders are better than spring-based ones when it comes to higher-current applications; otherwise, you might never notice a difference. In a pinch, if you have four disk magnets, you can clamp two wires between two magnet and snap them onto your 18650s for a holder – I’ve done that for a hackathon once, when we badly needed to power a Raspberry Pi 3 inside a wearable device and there was no a suitable powerbank around.
With a pouch cell, if it has wires that terminate in a plug, it’s good to have a receptacle for it – desolder it from the original device if needed. Otherwise, you can fashion a plug out of pin headers, even if it’s going to be non-polarized – you’ll want to add your own polarity mechanism, i.e. color-coding. Remember, female header on the power source, male header on the power input – shorting the battery is worse than shorting a non-connected power input by accident.
If your pouch cell doesn’t have a connector and just has tabs, you’ll want to solder to those tabs – but a good practice is that you clamp a crocodile clip between the solder point and the battery before soldering, for heatsinking purposes. These tabs are wired up directly to the polymer layers inside the cell, and overheating that might shorten the battery life.
You’ll also want to make sure that pouch cells are not at risk of being punctured or squished, and that this doesn’t happen if the cell starts to puff up, either. This means not gluing it to the bottom of your board if you also have through-hole pins sticking out on that side, for a start. Having a 3D-printed holder with at least one wall being bendy and thin (if not open) will be helpful – and make sure that the cell doesn’t end up being stuck inside this holder in the not-unlikely case that it decides to puff up. Smartphone batteries of the swappable kind tend to be a bit sturdier, but you still would benefit from extra mechanical protection.
Standardized Connector, But Not Quite
KiCad symbol: Conn_01x02_MountingPin; footprint: JST_PH_S2B-PH-SM4-TB_1x02-1MP_P2.00mm_Horizontal
A good connector for LiIon pouch cells is a two-pin JST-PH – it’s the one you will see most often on random boards out in the wild, and therefore the one that it makes sense you stock up on connectors and cables for. When it comes to the PCB side connectors, you should get the SMD version, JST part number being
S2B-PH-SM4-TB
and alternatives searchable using “1x2P PH 2mm”. Sadly, the through-hole version of this connector is flimsy, lacking shell mounting pins – the metal pins break off relatively quickly, whereas the SMD version is quite sturdy and stays on the board.
As you get into the groove of adding battery power to your projects, it will help a lot if you stock up on some JST-PH leads in advance, from places like Adafruit, Aliexpress or other stores – I got a 50-pack from the Lilygo store. Crimping your own, while technically possible, might result in wires that pull out of the crimp easily, which is a giant pain and tends to happen at the most inopportune moment. We’ve
covered the subject of crimping extensively;
the gist is, if you don’t have access to a proper crimping tool, it’s way better to buy a bouquet of pre-crimped wires. When unplugging a JST-PH connector, it’s best to grab it by its wings with flush cutters or tin snips.
Careful – even though JST-PH connectors are used on boards from a large variety of different hobbyist manufacturers,
there are two different pinouts
for JST-PH 2-pin battery plugs. Places like Adafruit, Sparkfun, HobbyKing and others use a pinout where the positive (red) is pin 1 and negative (black) is pin 2, whereas many Chinese sellers have it the other way around – negative being pin 1 and positive being pin 2. This divide, thankfully, doesn’t extend to microcontroller boards – Wemos and Lolin boards seem to use the same pinout as Adafruit and Sparkfun.
Plugging a battery in reverse is basically guaranteed to kill your board – to be exact, at least its power management components. With JST-PH 2-pin, this means you should always check your pinouts. If you design your own board, you should place pinout markings on the silkscreen next to the connector – a practice that more PCB designers ought to adhere to when they add JST-PH battery connectors to their boards. Thankfully, you can
easily rewire JST-PH plugs
to whichever standard you desire to stick with – and take care not to short-circuit the cell as you pull its contacts out of their shell while rewiring the plug.
Taking Flight
If you carry a battery-powered DIY device, going to an airport might sound intimidating, yet it’s more viable than it might sound – if you want to take your device with you as you embark on a flight, you can. Keep in mind – LiIon cells and devices with LiIon batteries in them have to be in your carry-on, and they’ll have to go through the security scanners just like your laptop and phone. Making your device more presentable to some extent will help, and keeping the batteries separate from the device is a great idea if you want your airport security queue experience to be seamless. Again, both pouch cells and 18650s are best stored in some kind of hard case when transporting them. With a bit of presentability and precautions combined, your creations can travel with you.
Next time, let’s talk about the electronics nitty-gritty – charging cells in 1s configuration, converting LiIon voltage to more friendly 3.3 V, protection and power paths, with ready-to-use examples you can put on your boards. | 43 | 13 | [
{
"comment_id": "6518268",
"author": "Dave",
"timestamp": "2022-10-03T15:38:49",
"content": "Other sources for cells/packs:Power tool batteriesUSB phone charger batteries (can find at discount stores)Rechargeable flashlights",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"... | 1,760,372,542.653989 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/10/03/an-automated-digitizer-for-35mm-slides/ | An Automated Digitizer For 35mm Slides | Lewin Day | [
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"camera",
"photography",
"slide digitizer",
"slide projector",
"slides"
] | Slides make for great old-timey fun, but it’s awesome to have a digital backup of your old photos, too. An automatic digitizer can make quick work of your collection,
and this build from [rbwood53] will do just that.
The digitizizer is based on a Kodak carousel slide projector. It’s fitted with LED strips instead of the original light source, which are used to illuminate the slides themselves. An Arduino Nano is used to command a camera to take photos, via a hacked-up shutter release remote. The camera is set up with a zoom lens and relies on auto-focus to get crisp, clear images of the slides. The Arduino is also charged with telling the carousel system to advance to the next slide as required. It keeps count as the slides go by, so it stops when the entire carousel has been imaged.
Overall, it’s a straightforward build that automatically imaged over 40 boxes of slides for [rbwood53] without issue. If you’ve got a smaller collection to digitize,
you might find this simple 3D-printed adapter to be useful, too! | 12 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "6518225",
"author": "Chaosbc",
"timestamp": "2022-10-03T11:23:01",
"content": "Message in a bottle: if someone knows a flat bed scanner large enough to digitize vinyl record cover (and let’s be crazy even gatefold ones) I am interrested. I dont want these sort of “overhead cameras” ... | 1,760,372,542.571026 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/10/03/homebrew-led-strips-that-are-homekit-compatible/ | Homebrew LED Strips That Are HomeKit-Compatible | Lewin Day | [
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"Apple Homekit",
"HomeKit",
"led light strips",
"light strips",
"smart home"
] | Google, Amazon and Apple are all duking it out for supremacy in the smart home space. As you’ve probably noticed, cheaper smart lights and the like typically don’t offer connectivity with Apple’s HomeKit system. However, if you want some smart lighting that works in that ecosystem without breaking the bank, you can always build your own!
This simple build
uses an ESP8266-01S as the brains of the operation. It’s a cut-down board that only has two GPIO pins available, but for this job, that’s enough. It’s paired with a simple relay for switching a single-color LED strip on and off, and an MP2307 buck converter for power. The code loaded onto the ESP8266 is simple, and allows it to connect to Wi-Fi and link up with Apple HomeKit for control.
Let’s say you’re a real fancy-pants, though, and you want RGB-addressable LEDs for your HomeKit setup. No problem,
you can do that too!
It’s as straightforward as hooking up an ESP8266 to some WS2812B LED strip and flashing the right firmware that emulates an Elgato EVE LED strip. You can even activate special lighting effects on the via the EVE app if you so desire, to take advantage of the fully-addressable nature of the strip.
There are plenty of off-the-shelf solutions in this space, but many of them are quite expensive for what you actually get in the box. Sometimes building your own is more fun, too. Alternatively, if you don’t like Apple’s smart home solutions, you can always try a more open alternative. Video after the break. | 6 | 3 | [
{
"comment_id": "6518215",
"author": "Ian",
"timestamp": "2022-10-03T10:30:36",
"content": "I got my LEDs on HomeKit by using Homebridge with the Homebridge-mqtt plugin. Whilst not a self-contained solution, it does allow the ESP to speak simple MQTT and have devices appear in HomeKit with no propri... | 1,760,372,542.385219 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/10/02/making-a-handheld-nes-by-turning-dip-chips-into-qfn/ | Making A Handheld NES By Turning DIP Chips Into…QFN? | Arya Voronova | [
"Nintendo Hacks",
"Parts"
] | [
"chip",
"die",
"dip",
"dremel",
"lead frame",
"mod",
"nes",
"RP2A03",
"trimming"
] | You can achieve a lot with a Dremel. For instance, apparently you can slim the original NES down into the hand-held form-factor. Both the CPU and the PPU (Picture Processing Unit) are 40-pin DIP chips, which makes NES minification a bit tricky. [Redherring32] wasn’t one to be stopped by this, however, and
turned these DIP chips into QFN-style-mounted dies
(
Nitter
) using little more than a Dremel cutting wheel. Why? To bring his TinyTendo handheld game console project to fruition, of course.
DIP chip contacts go out from the die using a web of metal pins called the leadframe. [Redherring32] cuts into that leadframe and leaves only the useful part of the chip on, with the leadframe pieces remaining as QFN-like contact pads. Then, the chip is mounted onto a tailored footprint on
the TinyTendo PCB,
connected to all the other components that are, thankfully, possible to acquire in SMD form nowadays.
This trick works consistently, and we’re no doubt going to see the TinyTendo being released as a standalone project soon. Just a year ago, we saw [Redherring32]
cut into these chips,
and wondered what the purpose could’ve been. Now, we know: it’s a logical continuation of his
OpenTendo project,
a mainboard reverse-engineering and redesign of the original NES, an effort no doubt appreciated by many a NES enthusiast out there. Usually, people don’t cut the actual chips down to a small size – instead, they cut into the mainboards in a practice called
‘trimming’,
and this practice has brought us many miniature original-hardware-based game console builds over these years.
After cutting them to rough size, and carefully sanding the edges to get the chips to the final dimensions, they will look like this:
pic.twitter.com/MTbYyHrvZ5
— Redherring32 (@redherring32)
September 26, 2022 | 51 | 12 | [
{
"comment_id": "6518161",
"author": "NiHaoMike",
"timestamp": "2022-10-03T05:23:09",
"content": "Wouldn’t it make more sense to just emulate all the logic on a FPGA? Would use less power thanks to the FPGA being built on a much more modern process even after accounting for the FPGA overhead.",
... | 1,760,372,542.471805 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/10/04/you-cant-be-too-rich-or-too-thin-a-2mm-thick-computer/ | You Can’t Be Too Rich Or Too Thin — A 2mm Thick Computer | Al Williams | [
"Microcontrollers"
] | [
"microcontroller",
"pic18"
] | We’ve seen credit card-sized computers before, but [Kn/vD] shows us a PIC18-based computer with 9 components that is
only 2 mm thick
! With 13 K of RAM and 128 K of flash, you can’t do much with it, but a built-in BASIC interpreter can use half the flash like a disk drive and operate with the 20×4 LCD display and the PCB touch-panel keyboard.
The whole thing only has eleven parts, but that’s only because it needed ancillary components like decoupling capacitors and the battery along with a physical reset switch. All the real functions are in the CPU and the LCD display. The schematic is online, but we didn’t see the files for the PCB or the interpreter yet, but it sounds like they are forthcoming. Meanwhile, we wonder if anyone is up to the challenge of going even thinner.
[Kn/Vd] loves small computers. There are plans for a few other versions of the board with AVR and PIC24 processors. The
last time we saw a tiny module
from [Kn/vD] it ran C. If you check out other Hackaday.io projects on the account, there are several tiny computers there. If you want a business card that can run Linux, you might need to
go a little bit thicker
. | 19 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "6518688",
"author": "Jack Hudler",
"timestamp": "2022-10-05T08:10:05",
"content": "13k and can’t do much with it…. jeez, you can put 8k basic in flash. I’m sure there’s a CP/M archive somewhere.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": ... | 1,760,372,542.754313 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/10/04/surface-mount-soldering-practice-for-budding-electrical-engineers/ | Surface Mount Soldering Practice For Budding Electrical Engineers | Abe Connelly | [
"how-to"
] | [
"555 timer",
"hand soldering",
"smd",
"smd soldering",
"smt",
"smt led"
] | Electronics components are steadily moving away from through hole parts to using surface mount technology (SMT) exclusively. While the small size of the SMT components can be intimidating, with a little practice, soldering can come pretty naturally. To help folks get over their fear of soldering small parts, [Alpenglow Industries] have created a
charming board
to practice SMT soldering skills on.
[Alpenglow Industries] board, called the “SMT Garden”, combines a variety of SMT sizes ranging from 0402 to 1206 with beautiful PCB artwork to highlight the variety of LEDs on board. [Alpenglow Industries] provides detailed instructions on the various aspects of SMT soldering including what the terminology is and providing various techniques to help in soldering. The boards have practice “stalks” of surface mount component pads, so that folks can practice on columns of similarly sized SMT components to perfect their technique. The training stalks themselves aren’t functional but are there to provide practice for when folks feel comfortable soldering the LEDs, 555 timer and inverter chips to make the board functional.
[Alpenglow Industries] have provided all the KiCAD project files, gerbers and schematics
available online
. SMT soldering is more accessible than ever and when you can even use your
phone as a microscope
, it’s a good excuse to try it out, if you haven’t already. | 10 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "6518649",
"author": "The Commenter Formerly Known As Ren",
"timestamp": "2022-10-05T02:36:14",
"content": "Nice idea, especially with the practice pads, so the skill can be developed without fear of destroying the more expensive components.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
... | 1,760,372,542.802447 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/10/04/reverse-engineering-an-isa-card-to-revive-an-ancient-cd-rom-drive/ | Reverse-Engineering An ISA Card To Revive An Ancient CD-ROM Drive | Robin Kearey | [
"classic hacks",
"Retrocomputing"
] | [
"CD-ROM",
"CM100",
"CM153",
"ISA cards",
"reverse engineering"
] | Being an early adopter is great if you enjoy showing off new gadgets to your friends. But any new technology also brings the risk of ending up at the wrong side of a format war: just ask anyone who committed to HD-DVD fifteen years ago. If, on the other hand, you were among the few who invested in CD-ROM when it was first released in the mid-1980s, you definitely made the right choice when it came to storage media. However, it was a bit of a different story for the interface that hooks up the CD drive to your computer, as [Tech Tangents]
found out when he managed to get his hands on a first-generation CM100 drive
. (Video, embedded below.)
That wonderful piece of 1985 technology is not much smaller than the IBM PC it was designed to connect to, and it originally came with its own CM153 ISA interface card. But while most eBay sellers recognized the historic value of a pioneering CD-ROM drive, the accompanying PC was typically a dime-a-dozen model and was thrown out with the rare interface card still inside. Even after searching high and low for over a year, the only information [Tech Tangents] could find about the card was a nine year old YouTube video that showed what the thing looked like.
Luckily, the maker of that video was willing to take high-resolution pictures of the card, which allowed [Tech Tangents] to figure out how it worked. As it turned out, the card was entirely made from standard 7400 series logic chips as well as an 8251 USART, which meant that it should be possible to design a replacement simply by following all the traces on the board. [Tech Tangents] set to work, and after a few weeks of reverse-engineering he had a complete schematic and layout ready in KiCAD.
After the PCBs were manufactured and populated with components, it was time to test the new card with the old drive. This wasn’t a simple process either: as anyone who’s tried to get obscure hardware to work in MS-DOS will tell you, it involves countless hours of trying different driver versions and setting poorly documented switches in CONFIG.SYS. Eventually however, the driver loaded correctly and the ancient CD-ROM drive duly transferred the files stored on a Wolfenstein 3D disk.
If you’re lucky enough to own a CM100 or a similar drive from that era, you’ll be happy to know that all design files for the CM153 clone
are available on GitHub
. This isn’t the first time someone has had to re-create an interface board from pictures alone: we’ve seen a similar project involving
a SCSI card for a synthesizer
. Thanks for the tip, [hackbyte]! | 22 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "6518627",
"author": "drwho8 (@drwho8)",
"timestamp": "2022-10-04T23:09:55",
"content": "Interesting. Someone offered the VCFed group an IOMEGA drive, no not a Zip-drive, the other one. Also a batch of drives for it. I pointed out on the mail list that it normally worked with a speci... | 1,760,372,543.146812 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/10/04/home-brew-sandblaster-is-a-junk-bin-delight/ | Home Brew Sandblaster Is A Junk Bin Delight | Dan Maloney | [
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"abrasive",
"air tool",
"compressor",
"grit",
"sandblaster",
"spark plug",
"valve"
] | Opinions vary as to what actually constitutes a “complete” shop, but one thing is for sure: the more tools, the better. That doesn’t mean running out to buy a tool every time you have a need, of course. Sometimes you can throw together what you need from scrap, as with
this ad hoc sandblaster
. (Video, embedded below.)
Fans of junk builds — and we mean that with the highest respect — will want to pay special attention to [GARAGEUA]’s video below. It looks like pretty much everything he uses to make this sandblaster comes from the junk pile — bits of old plumbing fixtures, a blow gun that’s seen much better days, some old nuts and bolts, and even a deceased spark plug all make an appearance. That last one is perhaps the most interesting, since with some clever dissection the spark plug’s body and its ceramic insulator were used for the nozzle of the sandblaster. And best of all, no lathe was needed for this job — everything was done with a hand drill and an angle grinder. Check out the build details in the video below; you might pick up some useful tips.
We’ve featured
even junkier sandblaster builds
before, but this one is a clever way to save a few bucks and flex a bit on your mechanical ingenuity. If you need a sandblaster and it’s something you’re going to use again and again, by all means go out and buy one — we won’t judge. But rolling your own is cool too. | 17 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "6518610",
"author": "Ostracus",
"timestamp": "2022-10-04T20:43:59",
"content": "I could see this coming in handy when getting rid of rust on outdoor furniture. And now there’s the cleanup. Maybe a magnet to separate the two.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []... | 1,760,372,542.913827 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/10/04/2022-cyberdeck-contest-ip00-minus-a-daring-wearable/ | 2022 Cyberdeck Contest: IP00-Minus, A Daring Wearable | Arya Voronova | [
"Cyberdecks",
"Wearable Hacks"
] | [
"2022 Cyberdeck Contest",
"wristwatch"
] | [Rob]’s
IP00-Minus watch
stands out on
the Cyberdeck Contest project list page
; it’s clear he decided to go a different path than most other hackers, and we can certainly see the advantages. For example, if there’s no case, there’s no need to redesign it each time you want to add a module — and [Rob] has added many, many modules to this watch.
Picking between regular LCD, memory LCD, and OLED displays can be a tricky decision to make when planning out your gadget, so he just added all three. The CircuitPython firmware initially attempted to resist the trio, but was eventually defeated through patching. Jokes aside, we can almost feel the joy that [Rob] must have felt after having put this watch on for the first time, and this project has some serious creative potential for a hacker.
[Rob] has been focusing on day-to-day usability first and foremost, with pleasantly clicky encoders, impeccable performance of its watch duty, unparalleled expandability, and comfortable wrist fit — it provides a feeling no commercial wearable could bring.
Out of the myriad of sensors, the air quality sensor has been the most useful so far, letting him know when to open a window or leave a particularly crowded place. The ESP32-S3 powered watch has been quite a playground for [Rob]’s software experiments, and given the sheer variety of hardware attached, we’re sure it will bring unexpected synergy-driven ideas. Plus, it’s no doubt a great conversation starter in nerd and non-nerd circles alike.
Good things happen when you give hackers a wrist-worn watch full of sensors,
whether it’s a particularly impressive event badge
, a
modified firmware for an open source smartwatch
, or a
custom piece that pushes the envelope of DIY hardware
. | 10 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "6518585",
"author": "Narquito",
"timestamp": "2022-10-04T18:42:18",
"content": "That’s some aestheticc with two C’s",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "6518589",
"author": "Atltvhead",
"timestamp": "2022-10-04T18:49:57",
... | 1,760,372,542.863728 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/10/04/2022-hackaday-supercon-speakers-will-inspire-you/ | 2022 Hackaday Supercon Speakers Will Inspire You | Elliot Williams | [
"cons",
"Hackaday Columns",
"News",
"Slider"
] | [
"2022 Hackaday Supercon",
"announcement",
"Hackaday Supercon",
"speakers"
] | The return of Supercon is taking place in just a month. We’ve got 45 fantastic talks and workshops planned for the three-day weekend, and they are as varied and inspiring as the Hackaday community itself. From molecules to military connectors, here’s an even dozen talks to whet your appetite.
Supercon is the Ultimate Hardware Conference and you need to be there! We’ll continue to announce speakers and workshops over the next couple weeks. Supercon
will
sell out so
get your tickets now
before it’s too late. And stay tuned for the next round of talk reveals next week!
Ben Krasnow
Counting molecules: chemical identification at parts-per-trillion levels
An overview of laboratory techniques that can measure ultra-low concentrations. This talk will also cover important applications such as lead in drinking water (or wine!) and how to build your own detector.
Michael Whiteley
There’s No Rev 2: When Badgelife Goes Wrong
What happens when you make thousands of badges and then you find a problem? There’s no time or budget to remake them so what do you do? Come hear tales from the #badgelife trenches and learn from my mistakes.
Liz McFarland
Fandom and Fabrication: How I Made Electronically Actuated Cosplay Wings
In this talk, I’ll explain how I designed and fabricated electronically-articulated wings for my Golden Eagle Wonder Woman cosplay. I’ll cover the restraints I faced: budget, weight, and battery consumption. I’ll also talk about the challenge of creating real-life versions of fictional costumes and props.
Nick Poole
DIY Vacuum Tubes: How Hard Could It Be?
We’ve all dealt with the pandemic differently. Nick got really… really into vacuum tubes. So far, in fact, that he’s now assembling the tools to make his own. Ever wonder what it takes to revive a century-old technology in your home lab? Hopefully, this talk will give you some idea.
Dr. Irak V. Mayer
Building Self-Sustainable Outdoor IoT Devices
Operational outdoor IOT devices are limited by battery life. We present a self-power-sustained irrigation monitor system that charges the LiPo battery through wind, water, or solar power. Result shows the potential of using natural resources as source of power.
Stephen Hawes
It Takes a Village: Lessons Learned Starting an Open Source Hardware Company
In this talk, I’ll share some of the inherent challenges I’ve faced starting an Open Source hardware company, and why they are absolutely worth solving. Keeping your source open is not only overwhelmingly beneficial, but it also enables users to better accomplish their goal. And that’s really the whole point, isn’t it?
Jac Goudsmit and Ralf “Dr. DCC” Porankiewicz
Reverse-Engineering the Digital Compact Cassette
DCC was a short-lived digital audio tape format with many features that never made it into the world. The presentation reveals the secrets of DCC, and will show that DCC was and is more than just a better-sounding but less user-friendly competitor of MiniDisc.
Sherry Chen
To (un)muddy the water: how we built S.S.MAPR, an autonomous boat for water quality monitoring
Building an autonomous hardware system is hard, and it’s even harder if it’s designed for muddy waters. We built an autonomous boat from the ground up in 5 months to help water departments collect multi-depth water quality data and won the Cornell Cup Grand Prize. Here’s what we learned.
Sam Mulvey
Trash on the Radio: Post-Consumer Broadcast Engineering
At KTQA we’ve built a functioning radio station from free software, actual garbage, donated equipment, spit, sweat, and good will. I will discuss the process of building and operating the radio station as an invitation into community radio — a place more lively than you might expect.
Mooneer Salem
Miniaturizing HF Digital Voice Using the ESP32 Microcontroller
FreeDV is an up and coming digital voice mode designed for amateur radio use which has traditionally needed a computer. This talk will describe how I designed a board using the ESP32 microcontroller that modulates and demodulates that mode and learned some hardware design in the process.
Joshua Wright
Going Battery Free – Applications Guide For Indoor Photovoltaics
What would you do with a microwatt?
We are in a time of high power density photovoltaics, efficient energy harvesting and extremely low power electronics. This talk will cover typical residential illumination, indoor PV, energy harvesting, energy storage and serve as a guide to making your application battery free.
Joseph Marlin
Let’s Connect – A Maker’s Introduction to the Wide Overwhelming World of Military and Industrial Connectors
Beyond the USB and electrical plugs we all use daily is an expansive world of connectors with every shape and size imaginable. Here, we’ll see how these humble devices have been the downfall of some of the world’s most complex systems, discuss available options, and talk considerations when selecting connectors for your project.
[If you read this far, you probably
want tickets.
Just sayin’.] | 10 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "6518587",
"author": "Mike Szczys",
"timestamp": "2022-10-04T18:45:34",
"content": "Oooh, this gets me excited for Supercon. See you in all in month!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "6518607",
"author": "JanW",
"timestamp"... | 1,760,372,542.971087 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/10/04/ttp223-brings-simple-touch-controls-to-a-led-lamp/ | TTP223 Brings Simple Touch Controls To A LED Lamp | Arya Voronova | [
"LED Hacks",
"Parts"
] | [
"capacitive sensing",
"capacitive touch",
"hackaday.io",
"TTP 223",
"TTP223"
] | You can buy small modules with capacitive touch detection ICs — most often it’s the TTP223, a single-button capacitive model with configurable output modes. These are designed to pair with a microcontroller or some simple logic-level input, but [Alain Mauer] wanted was to bring touch control to a simple LED strip. Not to be set deterred, he’s put together a simple
TTP223-based switch board.
Initially, he made a prototype using one of the regular TTP223 boards as a module, but then transferred the full schematic onto a single PCB. The final board uses an NPN transistor capable of handling up to 3 amps to do the switching job, and Zener-based regulation to provide 5 V for the TTP223 itself from the 12 V input. [Alain] shares the schematic, as well as
BOM together with Gerber files
for a 2×3 panel in case you’re interested in adding a few of these handy boards to your parts bin.
The TTP223 is a ubiquitous and quite capable chip – we’ve seen it used for building
a mouse with low actuation force buttons,
a
soft power switch,
and even a
UV-sensing talisman
that’s equal parts miniature electronics and fascinating metalwork. | 7 | 3 | [
{
"comment_id": "6518613",
"author": "Chris Combs",
"timestamp": "2022-10-04T21:02:32",
"content": "Are there advantages to using a zener here? Lower noise for the captouch than a regulator?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6518661",
"a... | 1,760,372,543.188023 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/10/02/in-a-way-3d-scanning-is-over-a-century-old/ | In A Way, 3D Scanning Is Over A Century Old | Donald Papp | [
"Art"
] | [
"1800s",
"3d scanning",
"art",
"photography",
"photosculpture",
"sculpture"
] | In France during the mid-to-late 1800s, one could go into François Willème’s studio, sit for a photo session consisting of 24 cameras arranged in a circle around the subject, and in a matter of days obtain a
photosculpture.
A photosculpture was essentially a sculpture representing, with a high degree of exactitude, the photographed subject. The kicker was that it was both much faster and far cheaper than traditional sculpting, and the process was remarkably similar in principle to 3D scanning. Not bad for well over a century ago.
This article takes a look at François’ method for using the technology and materials of the time to create 3D reproductions of photographed subjects
. The article draws a connection between photosculpture and 3D printing, but we think the commonality with 3D scanning is much clearer.
Unfinished photosculpture work in progress.
Here is how it worked: François would take multiple photos of the subject, each from a different (but regular) angle. For example, a subject could pose in the center of a large room and be photographed by a surrounding ring of cameras, each showing the subject from a different angle.
Then, one at a time, the photos would be traced with a pantograph. At this stage, only the
profile
of the subject was of interest. Each profile was then cut from thin slices of wood, and these wood slices were then assembled into a radial pattern matching the positions from which the original photos were taken. That probably sounds a bit confusing, but the image shown here should make clear what was happening.
Once the wood model was finished, more traditional methods took over. Clay and other materials provided gap-filling, and details were added by hand as necessary, again with a pantograph, using photos as reference. But the bulk of the work could be done by persons of modest skill, and the process took only a few days.
The central concept — that a 3D figure can be adequately represented by a series of structured 2D representations — is remarkably
similar in principle to laser-line 3D scanning
(and shares the drawback that not all details can be captured by stacking profiles.) Fittingly,
a 3D scan of one of François Willème’s self-portrait photosculptures
is available online.
If you think finding the roots of 3D scanning in 1800s technology is neat, hold onto your hats, because we covered how
the 1800s actually had everything one would need to create a laser
.
[images: The Patrick Montgomery Collection] | 23 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "6518145",
"author": "The Commenter Formerly Known As Ren",
"timestamp": "2022-10-03T02:37:22",
"content": "Looking at the nose and mouth of the unfinished sculpture, I think it would take more than modest skill levels to spackle those gaps.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
... | 1,760,372,543.252248 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/10/02/hackaday-links-october-2-2022/ | Hackaday Links: October 2, 2022 | Dan Maloney | [
"Hackaday Columns",
"Hackaday links",
"Slider"
] | [
"automation",
"autonomous vehicle",
"DALL-E 2",
"eyes",
"googly eyes",
"hackaday links",
"Jabberwocky",
"Midjourney",
"pedsetrian",
"powershell",
"Space Force",
"stable diffusion",
"telecommuting",
"work from home"
] | “Necessity is the mother of invention,” or so the saying goes. We’ve never held to that, finding that laziness is a much more powerful creative lubricant. And
this story about someone who automated their job with a script
is one of the best examples of sloth-driven invention since the TV remote was introduced. If we take the story at face value — and it’s the Internet, so why wouldn’t we? — this is a little scary, as the anonymous employee was in charge of curating digital evidence submissions for a law firm. The job was to watch for new files in a local folder, manually copy them to a cloud server, and verify the file with a hash to prove it hasn’t been tampered with and support the chain of custody. The OP says this was literally the only task to perform, so we can’t really blame them for automating it with a script once COVID shutdowns and working from home provided the necessary cover. But still — when your entire job can be done by a Windows batch file and some PowerShell commands while you play video games, we’re going to go out on a limb and say you’re probably underemployed.
People have been bagging on the US Space Force ever since its inception in 2019, which we think is a little sad. It has to be hard being the newest military service, especially since it branched off of the previously newest military service, and no matter how important its mission may be, there’s still always going to be the double stigmas of being both the new kid on the block and the one with a reputation for digging science fiction. And now they’ve given the naysayers yet more to dunk on, with the unveiling of
the official US Space Force service song
. Every service branch has a song — yes, even
the Army
, and no, not
that one
— and they all sound appropriately martial. So does the Space Force song, but apparently
people have a problem with it
, which we really don’t get at all — it sounds fine to us.
When you’re a pedestrian trying to cross a street in traffic, one of the best pieces of advice is to make eye contact with drivers. Making sure an approaching driver sees you and processes the information is only possible by a serious look in their eyes, and it may be the only thing that prevents you from becoming a hood ornament. But what happens to that rule when cars no longer have drivers? Easy — stick
huge motorized googly eyes on their front grills
. Researchers at the University of Tokyo and Kyoto University did just that, using an autonomous golf cart with comically large robotic eyes to gauge whether it helps reduce pedestrian accidents. The eyes swivel towards a pedestrian to show that the car is going to yield the right of way, or look away if the car is planning to blitz right through the crosswalk. It seems to work, with pedestrians less likely to attempt a crossing if they don’t get eye contact from the car. Interesting results, but we seriously doubt anyone is going to be slapping googly eyes on autonomous vehicles anytime soon.
And finally, we’ve grown quite fond of all these AI-generated videos that base their images on song lyrics. There were a couple of
Led Zeppelin songs done by AI Midjourney
recently that were interesting, but we really like this comparison of three different AI takes on Lewis Carroll’s “Jabberwocky.” The images were done by DALL-E 2, Stable Diffusion, and Midjourney, and the difference in results is remarkable — especially given the nonsensical nature of the poem. DALL-E 2 seemed to have the most trouble with the poem, and tended to use more photorealistic images than the other two. Personally, we’d give Midjourney the edge here for creativity and general coolness of the images, but all three were most frabjous and quite mimsy — not the least bit slithy. | 22 | 11 | [
{
"comment_id": "6518134",
"author": "Raukk",
"timestamp": "2022-10-02T23:47:27",
"content": "It really looks like Dall-E is just pulling weird images from a Google search randomly.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "6518135",
"author": "echode... | 1,760,372,543.458098 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/10/02/a-compressor-of-compressors-breaks-the-noise-barrier/ | A Compressor Of Compressors Breaks The Noise Barrier | Jenny List | [
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"compressed air",
"compressor",
"fridge compressor"
] | Having compressed air available in a workshop can be extremely useful. Having a compressor isn’t such a pleasure though, because unless it’s a very expensive model, it will be one of the noisier devices you own. Other than putting your compressor outside, is there a solution to the noisy side of having an air line? [
Dominik Meffert
] may have found one for his CNC plasma cutter in the shape of
a rack of much quieter fridge compressors arranged in parallel
with an air tank.
Of course, there’s nothing new about using a fridge compressor in the workshop. Indeed, such units are even commercially available as compressors for low-capacity tasks such as airbrushing. But we’ve never seen so many at once. It’s not entirely apparent how he’s handling the replacement of any lubricating oil that’s being caught in his filters, and we hope the refrigerant was disposed of safely, but we can see he’s on to something.
Fridge compressors have appeared here many times over the years, for more than compressing, we’ve even seen one
as an engine
. They aren’t always
as strongly built as they should be though
. | 48 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "6518119",
"author": "Does it also quietly compress safely?",
"timestamp": "2022-10-02T20:50:50",
"content": "You can technically just buy these off the shelf with no refrigerant in them, typically marketed as replacement units or even buy them used for that matter. Do note that they... | 1,760,372,543.402153 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/10/02/winged-drone-gets-forward-flight-capability/ | Winged Drone Gets Forward Flight Capability | Bryan Cockfield | [
"drone hacks"
] | [
"airfoil",
"drone",
"efficiency",
"experimental",
"hover",
"level flight",
"multi rotor",
"multimodal",
"spinning",
"tri-mode",
"tri-rotor",
"vtol",
"wing"
] | Drones are pretty common in the electoronics landscape today, and are more than just a fun hobby. They’ve enabled a wide array of realtors, YouTubers, surveyors, emergency responders, and other professionals to have an extremely powerful tool at their disposal. One downside to these tools is that the power consumption tends to be quite high. You can either stick larger batteries on them, or,
as [Nicholas] demonstrates
, just spin them really fast during flight.
We featured
his first tests with this multi-modal drone flight style
a while back, but here’s a quick summary: by attaching airfoils to the arms of each of the propellers and then spinning the entire drone, the power requirements for level flight can be dramatically reduced. This time, he’s back to demonstrate another benefit to this unique design, which is its ability to turn on its side and fly in level flight like an airplane. It’s a little bizarre to see it in the video, as it looks somewhat like a stationary propeller meandering around the sky, but the power requirements for this mode of flight are also dramatically reduced thanks to those wings on the arms.
There are a few downsides to this design, namely that the vertical wing only adds drag in level flight, so it’s not as efficient as some bi-wing designs, but it compromises for that loss with much more effective hover capabilities. He also plans to demonstrate the use of a camera during spin-hover mode as well in future builds. It’s an impressive experiment pushing the envelope of what a multi-rotor craft can do, and [Nicholas] still has plans to improve the design, especially when it comes to adding better control when it is in spin-hover mode. We’d expect plenty of other drones to pick up some of these efficiency gains too,
except for perhaps this one
. | 17 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "6518089",
"author": "MmmDee",
"timestamp": "2022-10-02T17:43:53",
"content": "I have zero experience/expertise in this area, but to me, the effort and documentation appear amazing. I will be interested to see how he solves the station-keeping problem during rotational hover. The rot... | 1,760,372,543.318401 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/10/02/camera-mounted-stereo-mic-is-fluffy-and-capable/ | Camera-Mounted Stereo Mic Is Fluffy And Capable | Lewin Day | [
"digital audio hacks"
] | [
"audio",
"mic",
"microphone"
] | Typically, the audio coming out of your camera is not of the greatest quality. An external mic is generally a great upgrade,
and this build from [DJJules] aims to be just that.
It’s a stereo mic setup based on the work of the Office de Radiodiffusion Télévision Française, or ORTF. The ORTF stereo technique defines using two cardioid mics pointing left and right at a seperation of 110 degrees and 17 cm apart, which captures a quality stereo field that also sounds good when presented as a mono mixdown.
The build uses a simple wooden frame to hold two electret mic capsules in the required orientation. They’re wired up to a 3.5mm jack so they can be plugged straight into a mic input on a DSLR or other similarly-equipped camera. Hair curlers covered in faux fur are used as a wind shield for the mics, and gives the build a properly professional look. The frame is also given a mount so it can easily sit on a camera’s cold shoe fitting. Alternatively, a screw mount can also be used.
Good audio is absolutely key to making good content, and having quality mics is definitely what you need to achieve that.
We’ve featured some other great DIY mic builds over the years, too.
Video after the break. | 10 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "6518066",
"author": "Dan",
"timestamp": "2022-10-02T14:30:27",
"content": "Nice and low profile, and looks solid. My shotgun mount is way too high over the camera, gets in the way.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6518068",
... | 1,760,372,543.503165 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/10/02/connectednes-brings-twitter-into-super-mario-bros-world/ | ConnectedNES Brings Twitter IntoSuper Mario BrosWorld | Arya Voronova | [
"Games",
"Nintendo Hacks"
] | [
"nes",
"particle photon",
"twitter"
] | Back in 2016, artist and video game historian [Rachel Weil (HXLNT)] was hanging out with her friend and hacking on console stuff, as friends do. [Rachel] was galvanized by the idea of having an iconic game like Super Mario Bros be interrupted by push notifications, and set out to bring a Twitter feed to her NES gaming experience. What she ended up with is
ConnectedNES
— a charming combination of a custom Twitter modem and a hacked
Super Mario Bros
ROM, creating a social media experience you have to see for yourself.
The technical side is as immaculate as the visuals. Data is transferred to the NES through the controller port using a Particle Photon that’s emulating a NES controller, and everything is encased in an adorable shell made out of yarn needlework.
The Photon currently taps into the Twitter feed through a proxy server run locally, and listens for tweets with specific keywords, relaying them to the ROM through mimicking controller port inputs. The ROM, now bearing the name Social Media Bros, went through some careful assembly trimming work. In particular, [Rachel] had to sacrifice Green Mario to the bit bucket gods.
Playing this game has to be quite the experience. Thankfully, source code for everything — the proxy server, the Photon firmware and the NES ROM — is on GitHub for all of us NES enthusiasts to hack at. If simply reading the feed is not enough, you can
send tweets
from your NES as well. | 6 | 2 | [
{
"comment_id": "6518058",
"author": "Gravis",
"timestamp": "2022-10-02T12:31:09",
"content": "This project is seven years old. I’m not sure if that’s a record for HaD but it’s certainly up there.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6518065",
... | 1,760,372,543.547363 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/10/02/building-a-poketch-powered-by-an-apple-watch/ | Building A Poketch Powered By An Apple Watch | Lewin Day | [
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"apple watch",
"pokemon",
"poketch"
] | In
Pokemon Diamond and Pearl
and the ensuing modern re-releases, the player is given a computer called a
Poketch
to assist on their journey.
[DistressedOwl] decided to build one for real.
The build starts with an Apple Watch, which provides a capable smartwatch platform and a quality display. It’s then given a snap-on case that’s 3D printed in PLA. [DistressedOwl] decided to use model painting techniques to give the build a worn-in, distressed look, which feels fitting for a watch belonging to a rough-and-tumble Pokemon trainer.
The Apple Watch runs a custom app via Test Flight which mimics the appearance of the in-game Poketch. It includes various screens like a basic map and Pikachu looking melancholy next to a digital watch. Sadly, the dowsing app in the Poketch won’t help you find hidden items on the ground.
It’s a build that reminds us of
some great Pip-Boy builds over the years
. It would make the perfect addition to a Pokemon cosplay, too. Just don’t forget to take
some Pokeballs along too! | 2 | 1 | [
{
"comment_id": "6518138",
"author": "Idrees Hassan",
"timestamp": "2022-10-03T00:35:43",
"content": "Love seeing more builds of the Pokétch! Here are some links for reference if you want to build your own:Pokétch source code:https://github.com/IdreesInc/Apple-Watch-PoketchPokétch case:https://www.t... | 1,760,372,543.585462 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/10/01/rib-cage-lamp-kicks-it-up-a-notch-with-party-mode/ | Rib Cage Lamp Kicks It Up A Notch With Party Mode | Donald Papp | [
"Art",
"LED Hacks"
] | [
"anatomical",
"art",
"ESP32",
"fastLED",
"INMP44I",
"led strip",
"microphone",
"rib cage",
"sound reactive"
] | We think [Michelle]’s
sound-reactive rib cage lamp
turned out great, and the photos and details around how it was made are equally fantastic. The lamp is made of carved and waxed wood, and inside is a bundle of LED lighting capable of a variety of different color palettes and patterns, including the ability to react to sound. Every rib cage should have a party mode, after all.
The LED strip is fashioned into an atom-like structure.
Turns out that designing good rib cage pieces is a bigger challenge than one might think. [Michelle]’s method was to use an anatomical 3D model as reference, tracing each piece so that it could be cut from a flat sheet of wood.
The resulting flat pieces then get assembled into a stack, with each rib pointed downward at a roughly 20 degree angle. This process is a neat hack in itself: instead of drilling holes all at exactly the same angle, [Michelle] simply made the holes twice the diameter of the steel rod they stack on. The result? The pieces angle downward on their own.
The LED lighting is itself a nice piece of work. The basic structure comes from soldered solid-core wire. The RGB LED strip gets wound around that, then reinforced with garden wire. The result is an atomic-looking structure that sits inside the rib cage. An ESP32 development board drives everything with the
FastLED
library.
Code for everything, including the sound-reactive worky bits, which rely on an INMP441 I
2
C microphone module is
all available on GitHub
. And if you want to make your own sound-reactive art,
make sure to check out these arms
as well.
Want to see the rib cage in action? A short demo video is embedded below that demonstrates the sound reactivity. Equally applicable to either party or relaxation modes, we think. | 8 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "6518020",
"author": "Gregg Eshelman",
"timestamp": "2022-10-02T07:12:44",
"content": "But there’s no sternum… other than that, it’s cool.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6518024",
"author": "TG",
"timestamp": "... | 1,760,372,543.630295 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/10/01/dreemwork-lets-you-code-morse-from-inside-your-dream/ | DREEMWORK Lets You Code Morse From Inside Your Dream | Arya Voronova | [
"Medical Hacks",
"Wearable Hacks"
] | [
"dreem",
"lucid dream",
"lucid dreaming",
"morse",
"morse code"
] | Lucid dreaming fascinates hackers. Every few years for over a decade now, we’ve seen a serious project dedicated to studying or taking advantage of this phenomenon, and the interest in this topic hasn’t faded still. [Michael] has contacted us to tell about a small and unconventional breakthrough that a few lucid dream hackers have accomplished —
communicating in Morse code from their dream
using eye movements.
These hackers are using Dreem 2 and 3 headbands, which include clinical-grade polysomnography features like EEG measurements, which is instrumental for decoding eye movements. [Michael] tells us that one of the participants, [Sebastiii], was able to transfer the letter F by looking twice to the left, then right and left again –
..-.
in Morse. With an off-the-shelf headband, this information transmission method is quite accessible to anyone willing to learn Morse, and [Michael] himself is now working on an automated decoding solution. We might forget what happens in our dreams fairly quickly, but this unexpected side channel could be a good counter.
[Michael] has tipped us off to many of the projects we’ve covered, and himself has quite a history in the field. His own research into
using Morse to communicate out of lucid dreams
dates back as far as 2012. If your ham exam preparations have you dream in Morse, perhaps this is the perfect project to join. A lot of
projects we’ve seen
focus on gaining enough awareness to achieve lucidity first, like the
variety
of
lucid dream-invoking
masks
we’ve
covered
over the years. This part being thoroughly explored, it makes sense that communication is the next frontier to be tackled. | 27 | 11 | [
{
"comment_id": "6518009",
"author": "Ken de AC3DH",
"timestamp": "2022-10-02T03:24:14",
"content": "I have to much trouble doing morse code when awake!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "6518011",
"author": "David",
"timestamp": "2022-10-0... | 1,760,372,543.873818 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/10/01/building-a-tessellated-neopixel-clock/ | Building A Tessellated NeoPixel Clock | Lewin Day | [
"clock hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"clock",
"neopixel"
] | Anyone can buy a clock, but building your own lets you express your creative flair along the way. [Edison Science Corner] did just that
with this neat sci-fi looking design.
The build relies on an Arduino Pro Mini to run the show, paired with a DS3231 real-time clock module. The latter part is of great importance, as without it, the Arduino would not keep accurate time. The 3D printed enclosure looks nondescript from the outside. However, inside, it’s got a neat triangular structure which allows the time to be displayed in that attractive tessellated triangular fashion. There’s a black plastic separator between all the segments which stop unattractive bleed-through and really help with the final effect. The individual triangles are each lit by a NeoPixel LED, which are both addressable and capable of lighting up in RGB colors. It makes for an attractive and colorful display.
If you want to try something more traditional yet challenging,
consider whipping up your own 7-segment displays
. Video after the break. | 6 | 3 | [
{
"comment_id": "6517999",
"author": "The Commenter Formerly Known As Ren",
"timestamp": "2022-10-02T00:33:07",
"content": "Inre: Title PhotoWhat time is “IB59”?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6518004",
"author": "PinheadBE",
... | 1,760,372,543.766552 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/10/01/2022-cyberdeck-contest-a-chorded-keyboard-wearable-cyberdeck/ | 2022 Cyberdeck Contest: A Chorded-Keyboard Wearable Cyberdeck | Dan Maloney | [
"Cyberdecks"
] | [
"2022 Cyberdeck Contest",
"chorded",
"pipboy",
"wearable"
] | Those of us who are unreformed hunt-and-peck typists are often baffled by the keyboard skills of those with more formal training. Home row? Specific fingers for specific keys? The mind boggles. And chorded keyboards? That’s straight-up witchcraft!
But, there are times when only a chorded keyboard will do, such as when you want to build
a wrist-wearable cyberdeck like this one
. It’s called the ComputeDeck-B3, and it comes to us from [Nate Damen], better known as
someone who goes around with a TV on their head
, which sort of fits with the total device immersion this cyberdeck enables.
The deck is designed to fit on the forearm in the position of function — basically, the posture your arm, wrist, and hand take on naturally when everything is relaxed. There’s a small display mounted at a good angle for viewing, but the star of the show is the keyboard. The fingers slip inside a slot to find three mechanical key switches positioned for each finger. It looks like the idea is to use the finger pad, fingertip, and fingernail to press each key, and then to press different combinations of keys to make specific characters. The thumb isn’t left out of the action; there’s a five-position “hat switch” located right where the thumb naturally falls, to add to the input possibilities. The short video below gives a tour and some background on design goals, and why this isn’t
really
a PipBoy
.
For as much as chording isn’t our thing, we can see how this could work for input on the fly. And we have to compliment [Nate] on paying attention to ergonomics here, even though extending the fingers to press the nail buttons seems like a somewhat unnatural movement. We’d love a follow-up on this after he’s had some time to put it through its paces. | 10 | 3 | [
{
"comment_id": "6517989",
"author": "Ian",
"timestamp": "2022-10-01T21:58:50",
"content": "You can’t have a wearable cyberdeck. Those concepts are mutually exclusive.A cyberdeck is a portable computer, with 2 or more pieces, that must be set up at the location of use.Laptops are not cyberdecks beca... | 1,760,372,543.816111 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/10/01/diy-wind-tunnel-aims-to-educate-the-youth/ | DIY Wind Tunnel Aims To Educate The Youth | Lewin Day | [
"classic hacks",
"Science"
] | [
"design & technology",
"education",
"educational",
"high school",
"wind tunnel"
] | Typically, when we talk about wind tunnels, we think of the big facilities in use by the aerospace and motorsports industries. However, there’s nothing stopping you building a wind tunnel of your very own, and it may even be easier than you think!
[Jude Pullen] has whipped up just such a design with DIY in mind.
Intended for high school Design & Technology (D&T) classes, it uses relatively simple materials construction techniques. The airflow straightener is built out of PVC pipes, and the end boxes built out of cardboard. The transparent walls for observation are created out of acrylic, while a simple fan provides the necessary flow. The desk-sized wind tunnel can then be instrumented with a manometer, tachometer, and anemometer to measure pressure, fan speed, and wind speed. [Jude] also explores experiments that can be run in the wind tunnel, such as working with a small balsa wood glider and measuring the lift it generates with a scale.
[Jude] has a very pragmatic and real-world understanding of such projects, too. He notes the difference between making things to measure, and making them to fit, and highlights the values of both approaches. It’s a much more holistic approach than simply berating students to “do it right” or “do it better” when making things in a D&T class.
Use of a basic wind tunnel is often not taught to engineering students until at least the second or third year of an engineering degree, after all the boring math and static analysis has been dealt with. However, there’s no reason high school physics students can’t understand the physics involved, and they’re more than capable of undertaking such a build. Starting such education early often nets huge benefits for individuals and their eventual careers.
Once you’ve got yourself a wind tunnel, you might want to start thinking about some flow visualization,
which gets really exciting
. | 20 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "6517970",
"author": "Myself",
"timestamp": "2022-10-01T18:05:22",
"content": "I’m surprised to see the fan at the intake end, where all its turbulence has to be dealt with by the straightener. I thought it was standard practice to put the fan sucking from the other end, so the strai... | 1,760,372,544.282567 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/10/01/unintentional-emissions/ | Unintentional Emissions | Elliot Williams | [
"Hackaday Columns",
"Rants",
"Slider"
] | [
"433 mhz",
"newsletter",
"pulldown resistor",
"Rant"
] | First, it was the WiFi router:
my ancient WRT54G
that had given me nearly two decades service. Something finally gave out in the 2.4 GHz circuitry, and it would WiFi no more. Before my tears could dry, our thermometer went on the fritz. It’s one of those outdoor jobbies that transmits the temperature to an indoor receiver. After that, the remote for our office lights stopped working, but it was long overdue for a battery change.
Meanwhile, my wife had ordered a new outdoor thermometer, and it too was having trouble keeping a link. Quality control these days! Then, my DIY coffee roaster fired up once without any provocation. This thing has worked quasi-reliably for ten years, and I know the hardware and firmware
as if I had built them myself
– there was no way one of my own tremendously sophisticated creations would be faulty. (That’s a joke, folks.) And then the last straw: the batteries in the office light remote tested good.
We definitely had a poltergeist, a radio poltergeist. And the root cause would turn out to be one of those old chestnuts from the early days of CMOS ICs – never leave an input floating that should have a defined logic level. Let me explain.
The WRT54G was the hub of my own home automation system,
an accretion of ESP8266 and other devices that all happily speak MQTT to each other
. When it went down, none of the little WiFi nodes could boot up right. One of them,
described by yours truly in this video
, is an ESP8266 connected to a 433 MHz radio transmitter. Now it gets interesting – the thermometers
and
the coffee roaster
and
the office lights all run on 433 MHz.
Here’s how it went down. The WiFi-to-433 bridge failed to connect to the WiFi and errored out before the part of the code where it initialized GPIO pins. The 433 MHz transmitter was powered, but its digital input was left flopping in the breeze, causing it to spit out random data all the time, with a pretty decent antenna. This jammed everything in the house, and apparently even once came up with the command to turn on the coffee roaster, entirely by chance. Anyway, unplugging the bridge fixed everything.
This was a fun one to troubleshoot, if only because it crossed so many different devices at different times, some homebrew and some commercial, and all on different control systems. Until I put it together that
everything on 433 MHz
was failing, I hadn’t even thought of it as one event. And then it turns out to be a digital electronics classic – the dangling input!
Anyway, hope you enjoyed the ride. And spill some copper for the humble pull-down resistor.
This article is part of the Hackaday.com newsletter, delivered every seven days for each of the last 200+ weeks. It also includes our favorite articles from the last seven days that you can see on
the web version of the newsletter
.
Want this type of article to hit your inbox every Friday morning?
You should sign up
! | 40 | 18 | [
{
"comment_id": "6517931",
"author": "The Commenter Formerly Known As Ren",
"timestamp": "2022-10-01T14:14:27",
"content": "Interesting…Thanks!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6517937",
"author": "The Commenter Formerly Known As Ren",
... | 1,760,372,544.099163 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/10/01/lamp-flashing-module-is-perfect-for-automotive-use/ | Lamp Flashing Module Is Perfect For Automotive Use | Lewin Day | [
"car hacks",
"classic hacks"
] | [
"car",
"car hacks",
"cars",
"flasher",
"flasher circuit",
"oscillator"
] | Modern cars tend to have quite advanced lighting systems, all integrated under the control of the car’s computer. Back in the day, though, things like brake lights and indicators were all done with analog electronics. If your classic car needs a good old-fashioned flasher module,
you might find this build from [DIY Guy Chris] useful.
It’s an all-analog build, with no need for microcontrollers or other advanced modern contrivances. Instead, a little bipolar PNP transistor and a beefier NPN MOSFET as an oscillator, charging and discharging a capacitor to create the desired flashing behavior. Changing the size of the main capacitor changes the flash rate. The MOSFET is chosen as running 12 volt bulbs requires a decent amount of current. The design as drawn is intended to run up to eight typical automotive bulbs, such as you might find in indicator lamps. However, [Chris] demonstrates the circuit with just four.
Flasher circuits were in regular use well into the 1990s. The original
Mazda Miata
has a very similar circuit tucked up under the dashboard to run the turn signals. These circuits can be hard to find for old cars, so building your own may be a useful workaround if you’re finding parts hard to come by. Video after the break. | 17 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "6517915",
"author": "Dan",
"timestamp": "2022-10-01T12:10:45",
"content": "Tsk tsk Could have used a bi-metallic strip (my attempt at a 555 joke).",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6517921",
"author": "Ø",
"times... | 1,760,372,544.153283 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/10/04/thank-magnesium-for-water-activated-batteries/ | Thank Magnesium For Water-Activated Batteries | Lewin Day | [
"Battery Hacks",
"Featured",
"Interest",
"Slider"
] | [
"batteries",
"battery",
"magnesium battery",
"radiosonde",
"torpedo",
"water-activated battery"
] | Most of the batteries we use these days, whether rechargeable or not, are generally self-contained affairs. They come in a sealed package, with the anode, cathode, and electrolyte all wrapped up inside a stout plastic or metal casing. All the reactive chemicals stay inside.
However, a certain class of magnesium batteries are manufactured in a dry, unreactive state. To switch these batteries on, all you need to do is add water! Let’s take a look at these useful devices, and explore some of their applications.
Just Add Water
Stored in a sealed package with an appropriate dessicant, water-activated batteries can last for years on the shelf without losing any appreciable capacity. Credit:
JonathanLamb
, public domain
Magnesium water-activated batteries come in a variety of types and formats, but the various styles available all share some common attributes. They all use a magnesium anode, and rely on aqueous solutions as the electrolyte. Typical selections involve fresh water or seawater, though custom preparations can be used to vary the battery’s performance characteristics.
The main benefit of these batteries is that they can be produced in an entirely “dry” fashion. The magnesium anode and the various salt cathodes used are all solid-state materials. Without the water electrolyte in place, they can happily sit on the shelf for years without degrading. That’s a big benefit over the traditional batteries we use every day, which start the self-discharge process as soon as they’re manufactured. Magnesium batteries inherently have high self-discharge, too, but without the electrolyte in place, the battery isn’t complete, and it simply doesn’t happen. However, this does mean they’re single-use batteries that typically run for minutes to hours at the most.
The batteries are available in a range of chemistries, with magnesium-silver chloride batteries the best choice for performance applications. In practice, they typically offer power densities of up to 100 to 150 Wh/kg, on a par with lithium ion batteries, which can deliver 100 to 265 Wh/kg. Alternative chemistries are often chosen for their lower cost, with copper chloride and lead chloride among the more commonly used. Cells built with these cathode materials are much cheaper thanks to the lack of silver content, but can’t deliver the same power. Typically, they come in around 50 to 80 Wh/kg, and can’t deliver the same current as silver chloride-based cells. Depending on the chemistry, open-circuit voltages range from approximately 1.0 to 1.7 V, with higher voltages achieved by stacking many cells together.
Different Configurations
A water-activated battery as used in radiosondes. Credit:
JonathanLamb
, public domain
Water can be added to the battery in a variety of ways, depending on the desired application. So-called “dunk” batteries have the anodes and cathodes separated by porous, absorbent membranes. They can simply be dunked in a bucket of water to activate them, or filled with water manually, and typically run for several hours. Dunk batteries are often used on radiosondes and other equipment that benefits from a battery design with great shelf life and no heavy metal content, as they often end up left in the environment.
They’re generally stored in hermetically-sealed packs with a dessicant for good measure. When needed, the pack can be opened, and the battery juiced up, and it’s ready to go. They’ll run as long as the electrolyte is present or the cathode and andoe have ions left to give.
When used in extreme conditions, the electrolyte can boil off or freeze, and the battery will cease to deliver electricity. However, the heat generated from the battery’s own chemical reaction can sometimes provide enough heat to stave off freezing, making these batteries capable in low temperature conditions.
Immersion batteries are intended for use fully-submerged, as their name implies. Applications typically involve equipment for maritime emergencies. In these roles, the long stable shelf-life pays off, and there’s typically abundant water around to serve as an electrolyte. They’re commonly used to power emergency lights on life jackets carried in airliners, with a small quantity of salt often included in the battery to enable good performance even if the wearer lands in a freshwater lake. Other uses include power for radios and beacons on lifeboats, as well as sonobuoys, which spend their working life underwater.
The Mark 44 torpedo used a magnesium-silver chloride battery to power its propulsion and seeker systems. Credit:
Megapixie
, public domain
The highest-performance water-activated batteries are of the forced-flow type, primarily used to power propulsion and electronics in torpedos. These take advantage of the fact that the torpedo’s forward motion can force fresh salt water through the battery, continually replenishing the electrolyte. This also serves to cool the battery, keeping it at a stable temperature for best performance.
Forced-flow magnesium-silver chloride batteries have been built in configurations of hundreds of cells in series, delivering tens to hundreds of kilowatts of power. Run times are typically on the order of 5-15 minutes, which is usually more than long enough for a torpedo to find its target and explode. These batteries took off in earnest in the wake of World War II, though have slowly been phased out by other solutions in more modern hardware.
Other obscure uses exist for these batteries, too.
Smart pills exist
that feature a tiny magnesium-copper cell inside. Upon coming into contact with stomach acid, the cell begins to provide electricity to a tiny circuit that sends a radio message indicating the pill has begun digestion. The cell itself is digested like any other minerals in the stomach, and the transmitter circuit is passed out of the body as waste.
Fit For Purpose
These batteries aren’t something that most of us would use on a daily basis. Their method of activation is comparatively messy compared to conventional batteries, and most of us don’t need a battery to maintain peak performance after sitting on a shelf for five or ten years. However, in a wide range of scientific, military, and industrial contexts, they’re incredibly useful. In these contexts, where it’s important to have a battery that’s ready to go at the drop of a hat after sitting for a long time, it’s hard to argue with the capability of magnesium water-activated batteries.
Headline photo: “
Close-up Photo of Batteries
” by Hilary Halliwell. Thumbnail image: “
dead batteries
” by John Seb Barber | 16 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "6518547",
"author": "Kaliin",
"timestamp": "2022-10-04T14:54:51",
"content": "It’s a long time since chemistry class, but would it be interesting to store power at home from solar?Not as a day to day battery but rather store the huge excess of energy in summer to compensate for the ... | 1,760,372,544.421763 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/10/04/doomba-purifying-your-floors-with-fire/ | Doomba: Purifying Your Floors With Fire | Navarre Bartz | [
"Robots Hacks",
"Weapons Hacks"
] | [
"fire",
"flamethrower",
"radio control",
"robot",
"roomba"
] | If you’ve ever thought that your floor cleaning robot eating the fringe on your rug wasn’t destructive enough, [
Kyle Brinkerhoff
] is working on a solution —
Doomba
.
This blazingly fast RC vehicle has a tank of butane/propane gas nestled snugly amid its electronics and drive system to fuel a (not yet implemented) flamethrower. Watching how quickly this little bot can move in the video below certainly made our hearts race with anticipation for the inevitable
fireworks
glory of completed build. Dual motors and a tank-style drive ensure that this firebug will be able to maneuver around any obstacle.
As of writing, the flamethrower and an updated carriage for the drivetrain are underway. Apparently, spinning very quickly in circles can be just as disorienting for robots as it is for us biological beings. During the test shown below, the robot kicked out one of its drive motors. [
Kyle
] says the final touch will be putting the whole assembly inside an actual Roomba shell for that authentic look.
With spooky season upon us, it’s always good to have the cleansing power of fire at hand in case you find more than you bargained for with your
Ghost-Hunting PKE Meter
. While there’s no indication whether Doomba can actually run
DOOM
, you might be interested in this other
Doomba Project
that uses Roomba’s maps of your house to generate levels for the iconic shooter. | 8 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "6518516",
"author": "GenTooMan",
"timestamp": "2022-10-04T12:10:30",
"content": "From the video, that sound of squealing and obvious slippage might not be a good thing. Perhaps the use of an interstitial control to reduce wear and tear on the device as well as get the same fast acce... | 1,760,372,544.63756 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/10/04/nintendo-switch-stock-dock-imperfect-mill-your-own/ | Nintendo Switch Stock Dock Imperfect? Mill Your Own! | Arya Voronova | [
"cnc hacks",
"Nintendo Hacks"
] | [
"case modding",
"CNC milling",
"docking station",
"Nintendo Switch",
"nintendo switch dock"
] | Despite the seat of honor it enjoys in literally millions of households, the official Nintendo Switch Dock is certainly far from perfect. For one, it’s not milled out of a hefty block of aluminum. A less apparent but no less important issue is that the ports are positioned kind of awkward – [Kevin] from
Modified
believes that the USB ports should be facing the front side, while the HDMI, Ethernet, and charging inputs should be on the backside — a reasonable position. He set out to fix both of these problems at the same time, and tells us the
CNC-heavy rebuild story
in a short but captivating video.
The original dock consists of two PCBs, and these two boards are the only thing [Kevin] didn’t redesign from scratch. As they’re connected with a flexible cable, he could freely rotate and thus completely reposition the ports-equipped board without soldering. He added some standoffs to secure this board to the case, and after 3D printing a few iterations for test-fitting, the milling went on for all of us to marvel at.
The resulting dock is pretty, functional, and even has some extra features — for instance, the “i” in the embossed Nintendo logo lights up when the dock is in use. In no small part due to the Nintendo logo, we don’t expect this one to grace store shelves, but we hope that it provides inspiration to other makers to do their builds. If you like this rebuild and crave more, whether you’re looking for inspiration, CNC work insights, or pretty milling videos, [Kevin]’s
milled Xbox case project
is an excellent “Watch next” choice. | 3 | 2 | [
{
"comment_id": "6518506",
"author": "elwing",
"timestamp": "2022-10-04T10:44:11",
"content": "sounds like a perfect way to scratch your swith… it does look great, but the same in plastic?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6518530",
"aut... | 1,760,372,544.319137 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/10/03/mouse-finds-new-home-in-pinball-machine/ | Mouse Finds New Home In Pinball Machine | Bryan Cockfield | [
"Games"
] | [
"analog",
"digital",
"mechanical",
"mouse",
"pinball",
"plunger",
"spring"
] | Restoring pinball machines is an excellent hobby, and can even be more than that as we see businesses like bars and museums focusing on them as a main attraction. There’s all kinds of intrigue to be found, from esoteric mechanical systems to classic electronics and unique artwork. For those building new pinball machines, though, one way to bypass a lot of the hassle of finding antiquated parts is to build a digital machine with an analog feel,
like this machine which repurposes a computer mouse in an interesting way
.
One of the important design considerations with a more modern system like this is to preserve the mechanical components that the player interacts with, in this case the plunger. This pinball machine is really just a large screen driven by a computer, but the plunger is a spring-loaded one from an old analog machine. Attached to the end of the plunger inside the cabinet is a cloth strap which passes underneath an old optical mouse. When the plunger is pulled and released, the mouse registers the position of the plunger and sends that information to the computer controlling the pinball display.
We really appreciate a KISS-style design like this in general. Mice are a proven, reliable technology and the metal components of the plunger are unlikely to ever wear out, which means that at least this part of the new pinball machine is unlikely to need much maintenance over the lifespan of the cabinet itself. For other ways of preserving the original feel of old machines, take a look at
this build which incorporates all kinds of tricks within a MAME cabinet
. | 14 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "6518477",
"author": "macsimski",
"timestamp": "2022-10-04T07:08:04",
"content": "old analog machine?? you probably mean normal real life pinball machine.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6518655",
"author": "echodelta",... | 1,760,372,544.366424 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/10/03/subverting-ps4-and-ps5-through-the-ps2-emulator/ | Subverting PS4 And PS5 Through The PS2 Emulator | Arya Voronova | [
"Playstation Hacks",
"Reverse Engineering"
] | [
"exploit",
"playstation 2",
"playstation 4",
"PlayStation 5",
"Sony Playstation"
] | Game console hacking remains a fascinating area, and we’re glad when someone brings the spoils of exploration for us to marvel at. This time, we’re looking at
the [mast1c0re] hack story
by [cturt] – an effort to find bugs in PS2 emulation toolkit present on Sony PlayStation 4 and 5 consoles, proving fruitful in the end. What’s more, this exploit seems unpatchable – not technically, but under the Sony’s security practices, this emulator falls under the category of things they refuse to patch when identified.
In this story, we’re taken on a journey through the PS2 emulator internals, going through known-exploitable PS2 games and learning about a prospective entry point. Circling around it, collecting primitives and gadgets, bypassing ASLR on the way there, the emulator is eventually escaped, with a trove of insights shared along the way. As a demonstration, [cturt] successfully loaded a different PS2 game from outside the PS2 emulator, transferring it to the PS4 over WiFi!
We’re waiting impatiently for
Part 2,
404 for now – exploring arbitrary native code writing possibilities from this point, as well as describing how Sony reacted to it – this having been disclosed to them over a year ago by now. Such hacks tend to bring plenty of homebrew and emulation capabilities to us, and it’s nice to have something that could work on the PS5. And if neither homebrew nor emulation is your fancy, you can always look into having your perhaps underutilized PS4
run Linux instead,
perhaps, even
turn it into a Linux server!
We thank [DoZe] for sharing this with us! | 7 | 1 | [
{
"comment_id": "6518511",
"author": "Jonathan Wilson",
"timestamp": "2022-10-04T11:36:35",
"content": "I am surprised that Sony would have a policy that prevents them from fixing a bug like this.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6518523",
... | 1,760,372,544.462168 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/10/03/laser-zaps-cockroaches-over-one-meter/ | Laser Zaps Cockroaches Over One Meter | Chris Lott | [
"Laser Hacks"
] | [
"ai",
"cockroach",
"Jetson Nano",
"laser",
"machine learning",
"YOLO"
] | You may have missed this month’s issue of Oriental Insects, in which a project by [Ildar Rakhmatulin] Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh caught our attention. [Ildar] led a team of researchers in the development of an
AI-controlled laser that neutralizes moving cockroaches
at distances of up to 1.2 meters. Noting the various problems using chemical pesticides for pest control, his team sought out a non-conventional approach.
The heart of the pest controller is a Jetson Nano, which uses OpenCV and Yolo object detection to find the cockroaches and galvanometers to steer the laser beam. Three different lasers were used for testing, allowing the team to evaluate a range of wavelengths, power levels, and spot sizes. Unsurprisingly, the higher power 1.6 W laser was most efficient and quicker.
The project is on GitHub (
here
) and the cockroach machine learning image set is available
here
. But [Ildar] points out in the conclusion of the report, this is dangerous. It’s suitable for academic research, but it’s not quite ready for general use, lacking any safety features. This report is full of cockroach trivia, such as the average speed of a cockroach is 4.8 km/h, and they run much faster when being zapped. If you want to experiment with cockroaches yourself, a link is provided to a pet store that sells the German
Blattela germanica
that was the target of this report.
If this project sounds familiar, it is because it is an improvement of a previous project we
wrote about last year
which used similar techniques to zap mosquitoes. | 40 | 19 | [
{
"comment_id": "6518418",
"author": "Roger",
"timestamp": "2022-10-04T00:29:12",
"content": "I don’t fancy coming across a 1 metre cockroach.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6518419",
"author": "That kid",
"timestamp": "2022-1... | 1,760,372,544.598392 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/10/03/your-own-home-ir-cloner/ | Your Own Home IR Cloner | Abe Connelly | [
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"infrared",
"infrared receiver",
"ir control",
"oshw"
] | Many devices use infrared (IR) as a signalling medium like, for example, RGB LED strip controllers
modules and some TV controllers. Often times these signals aren’t meant for secure applications which means the functionality can be reproduced by simply replaying back the received signal verbatim. Sometimes, enterprising hackers want to reverse engineer the IR signals, perhaps to automate some tasks or just to get a better understanding of the electronics we use in our everyday life. To help in this effort, [dilshan] creates an open source hardware
IR cloner
device, capable of snooping IR signals and retransmitting them.
The IR cloner is a sweet little IR tool that can be used to investigate all sorts of IR signals.
In addition to the
source code and design files
, [dilshan] has also taken care to create detailed
documentation
as an addendum to the video on assembly and usage.
The IR cloner itself is a board that’s just over 41mm by 31mm with mixed surface mount and through hole components. The device has an LD271 IR LED that can transmit in the 880nm to 950nm range with a TSOP181 IR receiver that can receive in the same range. The STM8S003F3 microcontroller sits at the heart of the device. Depending on jumpers, wiring and battery connections, the device can take an external battery pack ranging from 3V or 5V to 9V. The board has an eight pin DIP that is meant to seat a 24LC32 32kbit EEPROM. Header pins are available to attach to an 4×4 pushbutton matrix that is meant to control the unit.
The main workflow looks to be setting the functional mode with the 4×4 pushbutton matrix with the EEPROM acting as storage. The signals can be replayed directly after receipt or can be analyzed more in depth by removing the EEPROM and downloading the saved signal data. [dilshan] recommends using something like an CH341A based programmer to read stored values from the EEPROM.
Having the IR cloner around would be the perfect tool to not only help reverse engineer something like a
PixMob wearable LED wristband
or an
IKEA LED lamp
but to use and hack on them yourself. | 22 | 12 | [
{
"comment_id": "6518358",
"author": "Ostracus",
"timestamp": "2022-10-03T20:15:49",
"content": "It is, although I have an IR blaster that plugs into USB, for back in the day when everything communicated with IR (HP and their portable printer). I imagine it’s all been supplanted by Bluetooth.",
... | 1,760,372,544.524903 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/10/01/dvd-drives-turned-into-microscopes/ | DVD Drives Turned Into Microscopes | Bryan Cockfield | [
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"dvd",
"laser",
"microscope",
"pickup",
"resolution"
] | With the advent of streaming services, plenty of people are opting to forego the collection of physical media. In turn, there are now a lot of optical drives sitting unused in parts bins and old computers. If you’d like something useful to do with this now-obsolete technology,
you can have a try at turning one into a laser microscope
.
This build requires two DVD pickups. By scanning once horizontally and once vertically and measuring the returning light from the DVD laser, an image can be created. For this build, the second pickup is used to move the object itself. The entire device is controlled by an Analog Discovery 2, although this principle could be ported to other microcontroller platforms. Thanks to the extremely fine laser in a DVD and the precise movements of the motors found in the control machinery, the images obtained using this method have the potential to be more detailed than comparable visible light microscopes.
While this isn’t quite scanning electron microscope territory, it’s good enough to clearly image the internal workings of a de-capped integrated circuit. Something like this could be indispensable for reverse-engineering ICs or troubleshooting other comparably small electronics, with resolutions higher than can typically be obtained with visible light microscopes. We’ve even seen similar builds in the past
which build microscopes like this as dedicated lab equipment
. | 24 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "6517885",
"author": "jpa",
"timestamp": "2022-10-01T08:06:52",
"content": "Potentially one could use the focusing mechanism to get a 3D scan of the surface.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6518111",
"author": "Edwin Hw... | 1,760,372,544.695348 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/09/30/a-high-powered-vacuum-cleaner-for-tough-jobs/ | A High-Powered Vacuum Cleaner For Tough Jobs | Lewin Day | [
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"dust extraction",
"dust extractor",
"vacuum",
"vacuum cleaner",
"workshop"
] | Vacuum cleaners are great for tidying up the home, but they typically can’t deal with the bulky, gross messes of a proper workshop. [CraftAndu] is currently building a sailing vessel, and has found that there’s simply too much sawdust for a regular vacuum to take on. Thus, he built
a mighty vacuum of his own that’s able to deal with such conditions.
The core of the build is a giant
3.8 kW dust collector
that’s used as part of a workshop dust extraction system. It’s of the type you’d normally use to suck up dust from machine tools. It’s then fitted with a long flexible hose that goes to the vacuum handle itself. The handle is made up of lengths of sewage pipe and several adaptors to fit it all together and hook up to the flexible tube. It’s also fitted with a set of wheels to allow it to be easily skated about the floor of the shop.
It’s a neat way to suck up all the lightweight sawdust that collects around the workshop. However, [CraftAndu] notes that even with the 3.8 kW extraction system powering it, it’s still quicker to use a broom for bigger detritus like wood chips and the like.
A lot of people think that vacuum projects suck,
but we’ve always had a soft spot for them.
Pun intended, and you’ll find the video after the break! | 5 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "6517867",
"author": "TG",
"timestamp": "2022-10-01T05:21:46",
"content": "If only Billy Mays was still around to do a bombastic infomercial about this.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "6517883",
"author": "me",
"timestamp... | 1,760,372,544.863558 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/09/30/make-your-own-color-gradient-3d-printing-filament/ | Make Your Own Color Gradient 3D Printing Filament | Lewin Day | [
"3d Printer hacks"
] | [
"3d printer",
"3d printing",
"filament",
"gradient filament"
] | Color gradient filament is fun stuff to play with. It lets you make 3D prints that slowly fade from one color to another along the Z-axis. [David Gozzard] wanted to do some printing with this effect,
and learned how to make his own filament to do the job.
[David] intended to 3D print a spectrogram of a gravity wave, and wanted the graph to go from blue to yellow. Only having a single-color printer, he needed color shift filament, but couldn’t find any blue-to-yellow filament online.
The resulting color-shifting print looks great, demonstrating the value of the technique.
Thus, he elected to create it himself. He started by creating a spiral model in Fusion 360, with a hexagonal cross-section and slowly tapering off to a point. Slicing and printing this in blue results in a filament that slowly fades down to a point. The opposite shape can then be printed in yellow, tapering from a point up to a full-sized filament. The trick is to print one shape, then the other, by mashing the G-code together and changing the filament from blue to yellow along the way. The result is the blue and yellow plastic gets printed together into a single filament that gradually changes from one to the other.
Notably, the filament is smaller than the original filaments used to create it, so it’s necessary to run slightly different settings when using it. [David] has shared the models
on Thingiverse
for those eager to recreate the technique at home. His resulting gravity wave print is impressive, demonstrating that this technique works well!
We’ve seen similar different techniques
used for creating multi-color filaments before
, too. Video after the break. | 1 | 1 | [
{
"comment_id": "6518074",
"author": "Terry Snyder",
"timestamp": "2022-10-02T16:08:36",
"content": "I learned a lot from this video. The author is clear in his explanations and is much more familiar than I am with Fusion 360. This is an ingenious way to print multicolor filaments, though most peo... | 1,760,372,545.057051 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/09/30/controller-for-946c-hotplate-adds-reflow-profile-upload-over-ble/ | Controller For 946C Hotplate Adds Reflow Profile Upload Over BLE | Arya Voronova | [
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"hotplate",
"reflow",
"soldering"
] | Reflow hotplates are a wonderful tool for PCB assembly if you can keep your designs single-sided. The 946C hotplate in particular has been on hackers’ radar for a while – a 200x200mm working surface hotplate available for under $100 is a decent investment. As with other reflow tools, it was a matter of time until someone made a replacement controller for it. This one, you’ll want to keep in mind – it’s
a replacement controller project
by [Arnaud Durand] and [Elias Rodriguez Martin], called Reflow946.
Keeping to best practices, the board is a drop-in replacement for the stock controller – swap cables over and go. The host processor is an ESP32, and it lets you can program reflow profiles in using BLE, with a Python application to help.
The whole design is open-source and on GitHub,
of course – keeping with best 3D printing traditions, you can already order the parts and PCBs, and then assemble them using the hotplate you’re about to upgrade. As far as aftermarket controllers go, here’s no doubt this board gives you way more control in reflow and lets you compensate for any possible subpar calibration while at it.
Since the casing of the hotplate is metal, [Arnaud] recommends an ESP32 module which has an external antenna connector. You also need to watch out for compatibility – turns out, only some hotplates sold as 946C will fit this board, so talk to your seller if you’re about to buy a hotplate capable of this upgrade. Almost makes us wish that these ovens had revision numbers, maybe a letter at the end of the model number or something!
Hotplate reflow has been one of our favourite PCB assembly methods for a while, and hacker ingenuity has given us different ways to do it –
frying pans full of sand
,
PTC heaters with flat surfaces,
and even
PCBs designed to reflow PCBs.
Not yet familiar with what reflow means?
Let’s get you up to speed!
We thank [Abe Connelly] for sharing this with us!
Open-source
#Bluetooth
reflow controller for the 946C hot plate using
#ESP32
. This controller replaces the original board.
https://t.co/zbGDrLhWYW
pic.twitter.com/iHjVU38IiW
— Arnaud Durand (@DurandA23)
September 20, 2022 | 7 | 3 | [
{
"comment_id": "6517868",
"author": "mh",
"timestamp": "2022-10-01T05:28:40",
"content": "200x200cm would be one large bed :)",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6517877",
"author": "Arya Voronova",
"timestamp": "2022-10-01T07:01:... | 1,760,372,545.103102 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/09/30/2022-cyberdeck-contest-the-oscilloscope-deck/ | 2022 Cyberdeck Contest: The Oscilloscope Deck | Jonathan Bennett | [
"Cyberdecks"
] | [
"2022 Cyberdeck Contest",
"oscilloscope",
"raspberry pi 400"
] | When [Jak_o_Shadows] Siglent Oscilloscope died, he didn’t just mourn the loss, he saw an opportunity. See,
he had a Raspberry Pi 400 already set aside for a cyberdeck build, and he just scored a novel case.
Most of the insides of the old scope came out, but the screen and control knobs live on in the new build. An HDMI-to-LVDS adapter brought the screen back to life, and the control knobs are a work-in-progress. Added to the case are some fun goodies, like a LimeSDR, connected to the old scope inputs. A PL2303 is wired to the serial port, making that functional, too. It’s a very nice touch that the build retains the original scope’s functions this way.
There’s plenty of 3d-printed goodness, like some internal brackets to hold things in place. The real star of the show is a 3d-printed hinge, holding the scope and Pi 400 together and making the whole package portable. There’s a neat tip, too, in that the Pi 400 has a huge integrated heat sync under the keyboard. It’s just a sheet of metal, so you can drill and tap it as mounting points. Cool!
This is a nifty build, and certainly a worthy deck for jacking-in to whatever you’re working on. And re-purposing an oscilloscope is a nice aesthetic. If [Jak_o_Shadows] can just get the front array of buttons and knobs working with his STM32, this will be a killer deck, the envy of console cowboys everywhere. | 27 | 15 | [
{
"comment_id": "6517813",
"author": "BrightBlueJim",
"timestamp": "2022-09-30T20:20:12",
"content": "That is one slick build.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "6517815",
"author": "RW ver 0.0.3",
"timestamp": "2022-09-30T20:30:52",
"c... | 1,760,372,547.029741 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/09/30/peer-reviewed-continuity-tester/ | Peer-Reviewed Continuity Tester | Bryan Cockfield | [
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"3d printing",
"continuity",
"meter",
"multimeter",
"Peer Review",
"recreation",
"testing",
"tools"
] | One of the core features of the scientific community is the concept of “peer review” where any claims made by a scientist are open to be analyzed and reproduced by others in the community for independent verification. This leads to either rejection of ideas which can’t be reproduced, or strengthening of those ideas when they are. In this community we typically only feature the first step of this process, the original projects from various builders, but we don’t often see someone taking those instructions and “peer reviewing” someone’s build.
This is one of those rare cases
.
[oxullo] came across [Leo]’s original build for the ultimate continuity tester. This design is much more sensitive than the function which is built in to most multi-meters, and when building this tool specifically some other refinements can be built in as well. [oxullo] began by starting with the original designs, but made several small modifications. Most of these were changing to surface-mount parts, and switching some components for ones already available. Even then, there was still a mistake in the PCB which was eventually corrected. The case for this build is also 3D printed instead of being made out of metal, and with the original video to work from the rest fell into place easily.
[oxullo] is getting comparable results with this continuity tester, so we can officially say that this design is peer reviewed and tested to the highest of standards. If you’re in need of a more sensitive continuity sensor, or just don’t want to shell out for a Fluke meter when you don’t need the rest of its capabilities, this is the way to go. And don’t forget to check out
our original write-up for this tester
if you missed it the first time around. | 10 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "6517825",
"author": "radzioF",
"timestamp": "2022-09-30T21:58:37",
"content": "Sounds like some big innovation but we’ve been doing stuff like that on Elektroda forums, Elektronika Praktyczna and Elektronika dla Wszystkich newspapers for decades. Oh snap I must be getting old despit... | 1,760,372,547.177372 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/09/30/matthew-wrongbaud-alt-is-fighting-the-good-fight/ | Matthew [wrongbaud] Alt Is Fighting The Good Fight | Tom Nardi | [
"Hackaday Columns",
"Slider"
] | [
"Ghidra",
"Hack Chat",
"reverse engineering",
"wrongbaud"
] | In a perfect world, all of our electronic devices would come with complete documentation, and there’d be open source libraries available for interfacing them with whatever we wanted. There’d never be arbitrary lockouts preventing us from using a piece of hardware in a way the manufacturer didn’t approve of, and the “cloud” wouldn’t be a black-box server in some data center on the other side of the planet, but a transparent and flexible infrastructure for securely storing and sharing information.
Unfortunately, that’s not the world we live in. What’s worse, rather than moving
towards
that electronic utopia, the industry appears to be heading in the opposite direction. It seems like every month we hear about another service shutting down and leaving viable hardware to twist in the wind. Just yesterday Google announced they’d be retiring their Stadia game streaming service early next year — leaving users with unique Internet-connected controllers that will no longer have a back-end to communicate with.
Matthew Alt
Luckily for us, there’s folks like Matthew [wrongbaud] Alt out there. This prolific hacker specializes in reverse engineering, and has a knack not just for figuring out how things work, but in communicating those findings with others. His conquests have graced these pages many times, and we were fortunate enough to have him helm the
Introduction to Reverse Engineering with Ghidra
class for HackadayU back in 2020. This week, he stopped by the Hack Chat to talk about the
past, present, and future of reverse engineering
.
Matthew got his start in reverse engineering during college, when he was working in a shop that specialized in tuning engine control units (ECUs). He was responsible for figuring out how the ECUs functioned, which ultimately would allow them to be modified to improve engine performance beyond the vehicle’s stock configuration. Sometimes that involved uploading modified calibration data, or disabling functions that were detrimental to engine performance. These software changes could potentially increase engine output by as much as 50 HP, though he says that sometimes the goal was to simply increase throttle response so the vehicle would feel more aggressive on the road.
Moving on to the tools of the trade, Matthew explained why he prefers using Ghidra for embedded targets over classic reverse engineering tools like IDA Pro. As an example he points to a recent project where he used Ghidra’s API and intermediary language PCode to
crack passwords in Game Boy Advance games
. Though he does mention that IDA still has its place if you’re looking to peek into some Windows C++ software.
Matthew also pointed to new techniques and tools for working with fault injection which have opened up a lot of exciting possibilities over the last few years. In fact, he says tools like
ChipWhisperer
will become invaluable as newer devices adopt advanced security features. When gadgets are using secure boot and encrypted firmware, gaining access is going to take a bit more than just finding an unleaded serial port on the board. Glitching attacks will become more commonplace, so you might as well get up to speed now.
Colin O’Flynn’s ChipWhisperer makes side-channel power analysis and glitching attacks far more accessible.
To that end, Matthew pointed out a
number of instructional courses that he
and other
hardware hackers such as Joe Grand
have put together for those who want to get started with practical reverse engineering and have some disposable income. For those who’d rather work though it on their own, he dropped links to several
Capture-the-Flag (CTF) events
and
wargames you can use to hone your skills
.
We’d like to thank Matthew Alt for not just stopping by the Hack Chat, but for being such a good friend to the Hackaday community. His work has been inspirational for all of us here, and it’s always exciting
when he’s penned a new blog post
detailing another challenge bested. The next time your favorite MegaCorp releases some anti-consumer gadget, you can take some comfort in knowing he’s still out there bending hardware to his will.
The Hack Chat is a weekly online chat session hosted by leading experts from all corners of the hardware hacking universe. It’s a great way for hackers connect in a fun and informal way, but if you can’t make it live, these overview posts as well as the
transcripts posted to Hackaday.io
make sure you don’t miss out. | 6 | 3 | [
{
"comment_id": "6517878",
"author": "Henrik",
"timestamp": "2022-10-01T07:01:32",
"content": "In the company, I work for, we have an API for using/extending our produkt. However, seeing the issues being handled, i can easily understand one of the reasons, why companies lock down their systems to o... | 1,760,372,546.64995 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/09/30/hackaday-podcast-187-the-sound-of-gleeful-gerbils-the-song-of-the-hard-drive-and-a-lipstick-pickup-lullaby/ | Hackaday Podcast 187: The Sound Of Gleeful Gerbils, The Song Of The Hard Drive, And A Lipstick Pickup Lullaby | Kristina Panos | [
"Hackaday Columns",
"Podcasts",
"Slider"
] | [
"Hackaday Podcast"
] | This week, Editor-in-Chief Elliot Williams and Assignments Editor Kristina Panos gushed about NASA’s live obliteration of minor planet Dimorphos using a probe outfitted with a camera. Spoiler alert: the probe reaches its rock-dappled rocky target just fine, and the final transmitted image has a decidedly human tinge.
Kristina brought the mystery sound again this week, much to Elliot’s sonic delight. Did he get it? Did he figure it out? Well, no. The important thing is one of you is bound to get it.
We kick off the hacks with a really neat 3D printed linkage that acts as an elevator for a marble run, and then we discuss a mid-century hack that helps you decide whether it’s time to emerge from the fallout shelter using the contents of your typical 1950s pockets. We spent a few minutes comparing our recent radiation exposure levels — Kristina wins with about a dozen x-rays so far this year, but no full-body CT scans. Then we talk guitars for a bit, remember a forgotten CPU from TI, and spend a few cycles talking about a tone-wheel organ that sounds like a chorus of gleeful gerbils.
Finally, we talk toner transfer for 3D prints, argue in defense of small teams versus large committees, and get all tangled up in cursive.
Direct download.
Check out the links below if you want to follow along, and as always, tell us what you think about this episode in the comments!
Where to Follow Hackaday Podcast
Places to follow Hackaday podcasts:
iTunes
Spotify
Stitcher
RSS
YouTube
Check
out our Libsyn landing page
Episode 187 Show Notes:
News:
Watch NASA Crash A Probe Into An Asteroid Tonight
What’s that Sound?
Kristina stumps Elliot. If you can do better,
fill out this form
and you stand to win a Podcast t-shirt!
Interesting Hacks of the Week:
Pi Pico W Does PCMCIA, Gets This IBM PC110 Online
GitHub – polpo/picogus: Emulation of the Gravis Ultrasound ISA card on a Raspberry Pi Pico
A 3D Printed Marble Run Features Neat Elevator Linkage
thang010146 – YouTube
Probably The Simplest Radiation Detector You Already Own
Calculate Your Radiation Dose
Donald Fagen – New Frontier – YouTube
Building An Old Guitar From A New One
Exploring Texas Instrument’s Forgotten CPU
This Found-Sound Organ Was Made With Python And A Laser Cutter
Quick Hacks:
Elliot’s Picks:
Trojans Can Lurk Inside AVR Bootloaders
Tiny Dongle Brings The Hard Drive’s Song Back To Updated Retrocomputers
This Scratch-Built X-Ray Tube Really Shines
Kristina’s Picks:
Add Full-Color Images To Your 3D Prints With Toner Transfer
TRS-80 Model 100 Gets Arduino Heart Transplant
The Sensory Bridge Is Your Path To A Desktop Rave
Can’t-Miss Articles:
A Love Letter To Small Design Teams, And The B-52
Cursing The Curse Of Cursive
The Caves of Altimira – YouTube | 2 | 1 | [
{
"comment_id": "6517795",
"author": "Michael Gladu",
"timestamp": "2022-09-30T18:20:06",
"content": "Direct download link 404 error.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6518245",
"author": "Elliot Williams",
"timestamp": "2022-10-... | 1,760,372,546.693579 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/09/30/microsoft-wants-you-to-help-with-assistive-tech/ | Microsoft Wants You (To Help With Assistive Tech) | Jonathan Bennett | [
"Medical Hacks",
"News"
] | [
"adaptive technology",
"funding",
"microsoft"
] | In college I had an exceptional piano teacher that was entirely blind. One day he noticed I had brought in my new-ish laptop, and his unexpected request — “can I look at your laptop?” — temporarily flabbergasted me. Naturally there wasn’t much he could do with it, so he gave it a once over with his fingers to understand the keyboard layout, and that was that. I still think about this experience from time to time, and the most obvious lesson is that my paradigm for using a computer didn’t map well to his abilities and disability.
The folks at Microsoft are thinking about this problem
, too, and they’re doing a lot of work to make technology work for more users, like the excellent Xbox Adaptive Controller pictured above. Now, if you have some experience helping folks overcome the challenges of disability, or have a killer idea for an assistive technology solution, Microsoft is looking for projects to fund. Did you rig up a Raspberry Pi and webcam to automatically read text aloud? Maybe you pulled that old Kinect out, and are working on sign-language reader using 3D data points.
Make a pitch of your project or solid idea by the November 4th deadline, and just maybe you can get some help to make it a reality. Just make sure you come back and tell us about it! After all, some of
the coolest hacks we’ve ever covered
have been
adaptive tech projects.
Thanks to [MauroPichiliani] for sending in this tip. | 12 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "6517776",
"author": "SparkyGSX",
"timestamp": "2022-09-30T16:01:41",
"content": "Quite a few years ago, I did a quick-and-easy project for a friend of a friend, who, after an accident, had very little control over his fingers, but reasonable control over his arms and wrists. He love... | 1,760,372,546.830007 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/09/30/this-week-in-security-exchange-0-day-doppelgangers-and-python-gets-bit-in-the-tar/ | This Week In Security: Exchange 0-day, Doppelgangers, And Python Gets Bit In The TAR | Jonathan Bennett | [
"Hackaday Columns",
"News",
"Security Hacks",
"Slider"
] | [
"0-day",
"Doppelganger",
"exchange"
] | According to researchers at GTSC,
there’s an unpatched 0-day being used in-the-wild to exploit fully patched Microsoft Exchange servers
. When they found one compromised server, they made the report to Microsoft through ZDI, but upon finding multiple Exchange servers compromised, they’re sounding the alarm for everyone. It looks like it’s an attack similar to
ProxyShell
, in that it uses the auto-discover endpoint as a starting point. They suspect it’s a Chinese group that’s using the exploit, based on some of the indicators found in the webshell that gets installed.
There is a temporary mitigation, adding a URL-based request block on the string
.*autodiscover\.json.*\@.*Powershell.
. The exact details are available in the post. If you’re running Exchange with IIS, this should probably get added to your system right now. Next, use either the
automated tool
, or run the PowerShell one-liner to detect compromise:
Get-ChildItem -Recurse -Path -Filter "*.log" | Select-String -Pattern 'powershell.*autodiscover\.json.*\@.*200
. This one has the potential to be another really nasty problem, and may be wormable. As of the time of writing, this is an outstanding, unpatched problem in Microsoft Exchange. Come back and finish the rest of this article after you’ve safed up your systems.
Digital Dopplegangers
[Connor Tumbleson] got a weird surprise a couple weeks ago, via an email from another developer, [Andrew],
who had been hired to pretend to be [Connor] for a job interview
. Say what? This scam is a new one on us, and seems to go like this: Scammer picks a GitHub account with a professional picture and impressive activity, and then goes and creates an Upwork account in that senior developer’s name. This includes a deep dive into the publicly available data on the target developer. Next, our scammer contacts another GitHub account holder, with less impressive credentials — a junior developer, and makes a job offer: work with a development team that doesn’t speak English, doing some development work and working as a face of the team when working with North American clients. The only iffy part of the job is that the new hire will conduct interviews using the name of teammates.
This brings us to [Andrew], who was the “junior dev” in this scenario. It all seemed legitimate, until he realized that the team member he was supposed to be representing wasn’t actually part of the team, and reached out to the real [Connor], who started digging.
It boils down to an employment scam, trying to use the name and reputation of a skilled developer to land a contract. Keep an eye out for fake profiles on Upwork or similar employment sites. And if you get an offer that sounds similar to the one that bit [Andrew], be wary. And finally, if you hired a developer through Upwork, maybe consider whether you really confirmed that your new dev is who they claimed to be.
Changing Times Byte Python in the TAR
For this bug, what we’re gonna do right here is go back, way back, back in time. CVE-2001-1267 was the original
tar
directory traversal vulnerability. You could include
../
as part of the file path in tarballs, and
tar
would happily follow the directory path wherever it pointed. Want to overwrite
/etc/passwd
? No problem. Well, the developers at GNU realized that was a vulnerability, and fixed GNU with version 1.13.20. Fast forward to 2007, and
[Jan Matejek] noticed that Python’s tar unpacker had the same problem
. After some debate, the issue was
decided to be notabug, and closed with documentation updates
.
The issue was raised *again* in 2017
, and never acted upon.
And now, we come to
the recent findings by Trellix
. Researchers there first thought they had discovered a 0-day in Python, only to realize it was good old CVE-2007-4559, still lurking. Even though the danger was documented, had some Python developers mistakenly introduced vulnerable code into their projects by using the Python tarfile module insecurely? On GitHub, searching for
"Import tarfile" language:Python
returns 300,000 hits. Checking a subset of those projects
returned a 61% vulnerability rate
. Yikes!
Chrome Root
Google Chrome is doing
something new, that’s potentially controversial, that just might break things
— so just another Friday. This one is a bit special, though. Google Chrome is going to begin shipping its own root store. That’s essentially the master list of what HTTPS certificates are considered valid by the browser. The big advantage here is this means that Chrome will behave the same across all platforms, no longer depending on the list of certificates provided by the OS. Of course, this also means that Google controls who gets to use HTTPS. If there is a certificate that has been manually added on the OS side, Chrome will pick it up and also honor it. We’ll see.
Intermittent Encryption, and Other Byte-Sized Stories
Ransomware campaigns have a new trick up their collective sleeves —
intermittent encryption
. It’s the observation that not every byte in a target file needs to be encrypted, in order to make it unusable for the owner. Encrypting every other 16 bytes makes for faster encryption and slower detection. There are other trends Sentinel One have discovered, like ransomware written in Rust and Go, and even more variations in Ransomware as a Service.
WhatsApp
just published an update for iOS and Android
that fixes a pair of remote code execution vulnerabilities, both relating to the handling of video. In one case it was an integer overflow reachable through a live video call, and the other was an integer underflow in handling a video file.
Twitter had a really nasty issue, where a password reset
didn’t actually invalidate app tokens
. So if someone took over an account and logged in on the mobile app, changing the password didn’t terminate access. The problem has been fixed, and anyone affected has been notified.
HP
has issued firmware updates for many of their printers
, fixing a pair of vulnerabilities that can enable RCE on many of their network printers. There’s not a lot of information about the problem available, but an attacker with persistent network access in an oft-overlooked device is scary enough. Just wait for the inevitable wave of driver vulnerabilities where a malicious printer can trigger arbitrary code execution on a machine trying to print to it. | 13 | 3 | [
{
"comment_id": "6517757",
"author": "Comedicles",
"timestamp": "2022-09-30T14:30:49",
"content": "Sometimes (often) the all-caps headlines are a pain in the TAR. Who can blame the python?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "6517758",
"author": ... | 1,760,372,546.748247 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/09/30/slap-this-big-red-button-for-an-instant-social-media-detox/ | Slap This Big Red Button For An Instant Social Media Detox | Dan Maloney | [
"internet hacks"
] | [
"blocker",
"detox",
"dns over https",
"doh",
"IoT",
"Social Media",
"spi",
"vpn",
"Wemos d1"
] | Dangerous machines, like ones that can quickly reduce you to a fine red mist or a smoking cinder, tend to have a Big Red Button™ to immediately stop whatever the threat is. Well, if a more dangerous machine than social media has ever been invented, we’re not sure what it would be, which is why we’re glad
this social media kill switch
exists.
The idea behind [Gunter Froman]’s creation is to provide a physical interface to
SocialsDetox
, a service that blocks or throttles connectivity to certain apps and websites. SocialDetox blocks access using either DNS over HTTPS (DoH) or, for particularly pesky and addictive apps, a service-specific VPN. The service does require a subscription, the cost of which varies by the number of devices you want to protect, but the charges honestly seem pretty reasonable.
While SocialsDetox can be set up to block access on a regular schedule, say if you want to make the family dinner a social-free time, there may be occasions where killing social access needs to happen right now. This is where the Big Red Button comes into it, which is attached to a Wemos D1 Mini. Pressing the kill switch sends
an API request
to either enable or disable the service, giving you a likely much-needed break from the swirling vortex of hate and envy that we all can’t seem to live without. Except for Hackaday, of course — it’s totally not like that here.
The irony of using an IoT appliance to restrict access to social media is not lost on us, but you work with the tools you’ve got. And besides, we like the physical interface here, which sort of reminds us
this fitting enclosure for a PiHole
. | 8 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "6517725",
"author": "Ansgar",
"timestamp": "2022-09-30T11:52:36",
"content": "I think it is more ironic that you are now spending money for a paid service that blocks your access to free-of-charge services, that you *voluntarily* subscribed to…",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": ... | 1,760,372,547.132867 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/09/30/this-computer-is-definitely-not-a-toy/ | This Computer Is Definitely Not A Toy | Jenny List | [
"Cyberdecks",
"Toy Hacks"
] | [
"cyberdeck",
"kids PC",
"toy computer"
] | If you’ve ever eyed up a kids laptop and wondered whether it could take an upgrade with a single board computer, you’re not alone. [Labz] have taken a couple of Brazilian
Max Steel
toy computers from a decade or more ago,
and made them into usable if unconventional portable computers
(Brazilian Portuguese, but YouTube’s subtitle translation is your friend).
The computers are similar to the ones you may be familiar with from the likes of VTech, a QWERTY keyboard and fairly conventional form factor but with a tiny monochrome LCD and a few built-in games. In the video below the break we see both the laptop and desktop variants butchered with a rotary tool to receive new larger screens, with the laptop getting a Raspberry Pi and the desktop getting a small form factor PC. The laptop needed a 3D printed extension to make extra space, while the desktop received a PCI Express extension cable for a video card. Finally, an Arduino took care of the keyboard.
The cherry on the cake for this video comes at the end, when they find the now-grown-up kid from
the original advert
. Meanwhile,
kids computers have featured here before a few times
. | 6 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "6517694",
"author": "Gregg Eshelman",
"timestamp": "2022-09-30T08:47:04",
"content": "Some of those toy computers have a Z80 CPU. I’d like to see one hacked to run CP/M and WordStar.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6518189",
... | 1,760,372,546.784994 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/09/29/building-a-replica-of-an-obscure-romanian-computer/ | Building A Replica Of An Obscure Romanian Computer | Lewin Day | [
"Retrocomputing"
] | [
"cobra",
"computer",
"retrocomputer",
"retrocomputing",
"romania",
"spectrum",
"ZX Spectrum"
] | We’ve all seen emulated Apple II and Commodore 64 boards about the place. Few of us have heard of the Romanian ZX Spectrum clone known as the Cobra, let alone any efforts to replicate one. However, [Thomas Sowell] has achieved just that,
and has shared the tale with us online.
The Cobra was named for its origins in the city of Brasov – hence,
CO
mputer
BR
asov. The replica project was spawned for a simple reason. Given that sourcing an original Romanian Cobra would be difficult, [Thomas] realized that he could instead build his own, just as many Romanians did in the 1980s. He set about studying
the best online resources about the Cobra
, and got down to work.
The build started with board images sourced from
Cobrasov.com
, and these were used to get a PCB made. [Thomas] decided to only use vintage ICs sourced from the Eastern Bloc for authenticity’s sake, too. Most came from the former USSR, though some parts were of East German, Romanian, or Czechoslovakian manufacture. The project took place prior to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, so there weren’t any hassles shipping across borders.
With everything hooked up and the EEPROMs given a real Cobra ROM image, the computer burst into life. There were some hiccups, with an overheating video IC and some memory glitches. However, with some nifty tweaks and replacements subbed in, the computer came good. Other work involved adding a custom keyboard and modifying 3.5″ floppy drives to work with the system.
Overall, the build is a faithful tribute to what was an impressive piece of engineering from behind the Iron Curtain. [Thomas]’s work also embodies the DIY ethos behind many homebrew Cobra computers built back in the day.
If all this talk has got you curious about the full history of the Cobra and Romania’s underground computer movement,
we have everything you’re looking for right here! | 5 | 3 | [
{
"comment_id": "6517674",
"author": "HaHa",
"timestamp": "2022-09-30T05:47:26",
"content": "‘we have everything you’re looking for right here!’Link has no Romanian early 80s ASCII porn.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "6517683",
"author": "T... | 1,760,372,546.866132 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/09/29/urine-flow-measurement-made-accessible-with-uroflow/ | Urine Flow Measurement Made Accessible With UroFlow | Arya Voronova | [
"how-to",
"Medical Hacks"
] | [
"flow",
"flowmeter",
"hx711",
"load cell",
"MKR1010",
"strain gauge",
"urine",
"wheatstone bridge"
] | If you’re dealing with a chronic illness, the ability to continuously monitor your symptoms is indispensable, helping you gain valuable insights into what makes your body tick – or, rather, mis-tick. However, for many illnesses, you need specialized equipment to monitor them, and it tends to be that you can only visit your doctor every so often. Thankfully, we hackers can figure out ways to monitor our conditions on our own. With a condition called BPH (Benign Prostate Hyperplasia), one of the ways to monitor it is taking measurements of urinary flow rate. Being able to take these measurements at home provides better insights, and, having found flow rate measurement devices to be prohibitively expensive to even rent, [Jerry Smith]
set out to build his own.
This build is truly designed to be reproducible for anyone who needs such a device. Jerry has intricately documented the project and its inner workings –
the 31-page document
contains full build instructions, BOM for ordering, PCB description and pinout diagrams, calibration and validation instructions, and even software flowcharts;
the GitHub repo
has everything else you might need. We’re pleasantly surprised – this amount of documentation isn’t typically seen in hacker projects, and is even more valuable considering that this is a medical device that other hackers in need will want to reproduce.
For the hardware, [Jerry] took a small digital scale of a certain model and reused its load cell-based weighing mechanism using an HX711 amplifier, replacing the screen and adding an extra box for control electronics. With an Arduino MKR1010 as brains of the operation, the hardware’s there to log flow data, initially recorded onto the SD card, with WiFi connectivity to transfer the data to a computer for plotting; a DS3234 RTC breakout helps keep track of the time, and a custom PCB ties all of these together. All of these things are easy to put together, in no small part due to the extensive instructions provided.
If the topic feels familiar, it’s because we’ve covered
a different device with the same purpose
a few years ago. Seeing hackers take matters into their own hands when it comes to medical devices is endearing. It’s not just about the price and often, quality – there’s entire countries where medical tech availability is a problem, and
open-source technology can have an outsized impact in such places.
Even in technologically advanced countries, there’s big gaps when it comes to personal-use medical technology – for instance, we’ve seen
effort
upon
effort
by hackers building artificial pancreas solutions for diabetes management, a problem long
overdue to be addressed
by companies in the field. For those of us without chronic conditions, there’s still benefits to monitoring our health –
hacking existing fitness trackers
or
building our own
to learn more about how our bodies function. | 21 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "6517640",
"author": "Michael Black",
"timestamp": "2022-09-30T02:11:54",
"content": "They just collected it in the hospital, and measure it, I think by inch.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "6517643",
"author": "NiHaoMike",
... | 1,760,372,547.092122 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/09/29/casting-metal-with-a-microwave-and-vacuum-cleaner/ | Casting Metal With A Microwave And Vacuum Cleaner | Bryan Cockfield | [
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"3d printed",
"aluminum",
"forming",
"graphite",
"kiln",
"metal",
"microwave",
"mold",
"pencil",
"plaster of paris",
"plastic",
"vacuum"
] | Metalworking might conjure images of large furnaces powered by coal, wood, or electricity, with molten metal sloshing around and visible in its crucible. But metalworking from home doesn’t need to use anything more fancy than a microwave, at least according to [Denny] a.k.a. [Shake the Future]. He has a number of metalworking tools designed to melt metal using a microwave, and in this video
he uses them to make a usable aluminum pencil with a graphite core
.
Before getting to the microwave kiln, the pencil mold needs to be prepared. A 3D-printed pencil is first created with the graphite core, and then [Denny] uses a plaster of Paris mixture to create the mold for the pencil. The 3D printed plastic is left inside the mold and placed in the first microwave kiln, which is turned on just enough to melt the plastic out of the mold, leaving behind the graphite core. From there a second kiln goes into the microwave to melt the aluminum.
Once the molten aluminum is ready, it is removed from the kiln and poured in the still-warm pencil mold. This is where [Denny] has another trick up his sleeve. He’s using a household vacuum cleaner to suck the metal into place before it cools, creating a rudimentary but effective vacuum forming machine. The result is a working pencil, at least after he wears down a few razor blades attempting to sharpen the metal pencil. For more information about how [Denny] makes these microwave kilns,
take a look at some of his earlier projects
. | 38 | 12 | [
{
"comment_id": "6517621",
"author": "TG",
"timestamp": "2022-09-29T23:34:01",
"content": "The aluminum pencil looks pretty neat. Kinda want one",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "6517625",
"author": "HaHa",
"timestamp": "2022-09-30T00:08:3... | 1,760,372,547.297323 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/09/29/teensy-becomes-tiny-handheld-computer-plays-emulators/ | Teensy Becomes Tiny Handheld Computer, Plays Emulators | Lewin Day | [
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"handheld",
"handheld computer",
"Teensy",
"Teensy 4.1"
] | Science fiction predicted that we would one day all carry around tiny computers of great power. While smartphones are great, those predictions were more based on cuter systems that more closely approximated existing computers, with keyboards and screens.
[Jean-Marc Harvengt] has built something along those very lines
, and it’s called the T-COMPUTER.
This build centers around the mighty Teensy 4.1. That means it’s got an 800 MHz Cortex-M7 processor, 1 MB of RAM, and 8 MB of flash – eclipsing the specs of many retrocomputers of yesteryear. [Jean-MarcHarvengt] has paired the Teensy with a 42-key keyboard and a TFT screen, making a compact handheld computer platform. It’s also got VGA out for display on a bigger screen, along with USB and an old-school Atari joystick port! Power is via a small rechargeable lithium cell on the back, and 16-bit stereo audio is available via a standard 3.5mm jack. There’s also a little GPIO available if you need to interface with something.
It’s capable of emulating the Commodore 64 and Super Nintendo, as well as more obscure systems like the Atari Lynx. And before you ask –
yes, it can run
DOOM.
It’s a fun little platform that would be enjoyable for retrogaming and hacking on the go. If you want to build your own, files are readily available
on Github
to recreate the system.
Handheld computer builds
are always growing in popularity now that so much computing power can be had in a tiny devboard formats. If you’ve built your own neat little rig,
be sure to let us know
! Video after the break.
[Thanks to Alex for the tip!] | 13 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "6517580",
"author": "Michael Black",
"timestamp": "2022-09-29T20:16:00",
"content": "Now that looks more like an AIM-65.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "6517597",
"author": "Joshua",
"timestamp": "2022-09-29T21:19:37",
... | 1,760,372,547.682024 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/09/29/hackaday-prize-2022-an-old-and-distinguished-camera-learns-new-tricks/ | Hackaday Prize 2022: An Old (and Distinguished) Camera Learns New Tricks | Jenny List | [
"Repair Hacks",
"The Hackaday Prize"
] | [
"2022 Hackaday Prize",
"camera",
"movie camera",
"VistaVision"
] | In the 1950s the major Hollywood studios needed impressive cinematic technologies for their epic movies, to both see off the threat from television, and to differentiate themselves from their competitors. For most of them this meant larger screens and thus larger frame film, and for Paramount, this meant VistaVision. [
Steve Switaj
] is working on one of the original VistaVision cameras made for the studio in the 1950s, and shares with us some of the history
and the work required to update its electronics for the 2020s
.
VistaVision itself had a relatively short life, but the cameras were retrieved from storage in the 1980s because their properties made them suitable for special effects work. This mostly analog upgrade hardware on this one had died, so he set to and designed a PIC based replacement. Unexpectedly it uses through-hole components for ease of replacement using sockets, and it replaces a mechanical brake fitted to the 1980s upgrade with an electronic pull back on the appropriate reel motor.
The whole thing makes for an interesting delve into some movie history, and also a chance to see some tech most of us will never encounter
even if we have a thing for movie cameras
.
The
Hackaday
Prize2022
is Sponsored by: | 4 | 2 | [
{
"comment_id": "6517564",
"author": "Gregg Eshelman",
"timestamp": "2022-09-29T19:22:02",
"content": "There’s a limited number of studio film cameras that were made decades ago. Over the years as new technologies were developed for lenses, film, control etc, those old camera bodies have been repeat... | 1,760,372,547.530665 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/09/29/intranasal-vaccines-a-potential-off-ramp-for-coronavirus-pandemics/ | Intranasal Vaccines: A Potential Off-Ramp For Coronavirus Pandemics | Maya Posch | [
"Hackaday Columns",
"Science",
"Slider"
] | [
"intranasal vaccine",
"nasal vaccine",
"SARS-CoV-2"
] | An interesting and also annoying aspect about the human immune system is that it is not a neat, centralized system where you input an antigen pattern in one spot and suddenly every T and B lymphocyte in the body knows how to target an intruder. Generally, immunity stays confined to specific areas, such as the vascular and lymph system, as well as the intestinal and mucosal (nasal) parts of the body.
The result of this is that specific types of vaccines have a different effect, as is demonstrated quite succinctly with the
polio vaccines
. The main difference between the oral polio vaccine (OPV) and inactivated vaccine (injected polio vaccine, or IPV) is that the former uses a weakened virus that induces strong immunity in the intestines, something that the latter does not. The effect of this is that while both protect the individual, it does not affect the fecal-oral infection route of the polio virus and thus the community spread.
The best outcome for a vaccine is when it both protects the individual, while also preventing further infections as part of so-called sterilizing immunity. This latter property is what makes the OPV vaccine so attractive, as it prevents community spread, while IPV is sufficient later on, as part of routine vaccinations. The decision to use a vaccine like the OPV versus the IPV is one of the ways doctors can tune a population’s protection against a disease.
This is where the current batch of commonly used SARS-CoV-2 vaccines are showing a major issue, as they do not provide significant immunity in the nasal passage’s mucosal tissues, even though this is where the virus initially infects a host, as well as where it replicates and infects others from. Here intranasal vaccines may achieve what OPV did for polio.
Going For The Gut Punch
Logically, targeting intranasal (IN) vaccines to address a coronavirus makes a lot of sense, since coronaviruses are among a group of viruses implicated in e.g. the common cold. Like rhino- and adenoviruses, they are viruses which are strongly adapted to the respiratory system, much like how the polio virus prefers the intestinal tract. Because of this knowledge, multiple intranasal vaccines have been developed and approved, most
recently in India and China
.
The Chinese vaccine is developed by CanSino Biologics, and it is essentially the same as the regular viral vector-based intramuscular (IM) vaccine, except in a form that allows it to be inhaled in a nebulizer. It is approved for use as a booster after a primary IM-based vaccination course.
The Indian vaccine (
BBV154
), produced by Bharat Biotech, is intended as a two-dose IN vaccination, rather than only as a booster. Both the CanSino and Bharat vaccines are based on a non-replicating adenovirus vector, which means that no special vaccine formulation is needed for the nebulized form. Upon inhalation of the nebulized vaccine, the adenovirus vector will simply do what it naturally does: get into mucosal cells to deposit its genetic payload.
These IN vaccines join the Iranian
Razi Cov Pars
vaccine (three-dose recombinant protein subunit-based with IN booster), which received emergency use authorization in Iran on October 31st of 2021. While large-scale efficacy data is not available yet for any of these vaccines, a recent
US study
in mice has confirmed that a viral vector-based vaccine can induce robust immunity. In a 2021 study by
Van Doremalen et al.
using the
ChAdOx1
nCoV-19/AZD1222 (
AstraZeneca
) viral vector it was found that IN vaccination of hamsters and macaques prevented large-scale infection and significantly reduced the mucosal viral load.
These findings are essentially why scientists in the West are pushing for IN vaccines to be made available, with some US scientists, including Scripps Research’s
Eric Topol
,
calling for
an IN equivalent of the Operation Warp Speed (OWS) which originally produced the IM vaccines that have been in use in Europe and North America since late 2020. The hope is that an approved IN vaccine in the West may counteract the continued spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus amidst waning efficacy of the IM vaccines against new virus variants.
The Long Haul
Viral infection with and without nasal mucosal immunity. (Credit: Wellford et al., 2022)
An aspect of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that is becoming ever more pertinent is the collection of chronic conditions referred to as ‘Long COVID’, which includes blood clots (
Knight et al.
, 2022) and negative neurologic outcomes (
Xu et al.
, 2022). Notable with such Long COVID cases is that it was not necessary for the patient to exhibit severe COVID-19 symptoms, nor to have been hospitalized.
The reason for this is likely that although the IM vaccines induce an immune response in the vascular system which often efficiently protects the body’s organs, this does not seem to provide protection for the olfactory epithelium, nor the brain, both of which can be infected directly from the mucosal tissues of the nasal passages (
Wellford et al.
, 2022).
Although an infection with SARS-CoV-2 provides convalescent immunity (i.e. from fighting off an infection) within the mucosal tissues, this immunity fades over time, much like the immunity provided by SARS-CoV-2 vaccination. Since each infection comes with the risk of permanent damage (and death), the ideal way forward would seem to be to have an IN booster twice a year (matching the ~6 month fall-off in efficacy), that may provide sterilizing immunity.
Essentially this is why IN vaccines are increasingly being looked at as a possible way to effectively deal with such respiratory viruses, as they should provide much better protection for the individual, while also limiting community spread.
Making IN Vaccines Work
Despite what one may think with already three IN vaccines in use with (emergency) authorization, IN vaccines are not very common. Perhaps the most well-known attempt dates from before the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, in the form of the FluMist vaccine (
LAIV
) which to this date is the only FDA-approved IN vaccine. This flu vaccine is notable for using attenuated influenza virus, rather than the inactivated virus of IM flu vaccines, and provides efficacy comparable to IM flu vaccines. Its main attractiveness is that it avoids the use of needles, and does not require trained personnel to administer the vaccine.
What is challenging with testing IN vaccines is the
lack of standardized tests
for mucosal immunity. This is largely due to IN not having received much attention, which makes running large-scale trials of such vaccines and assessing their efficacy largely unexplored territory for many regulators. Even so, AstraZeneca and other pharmaceutical companies are currently running trials for IN SARS-CoV-2 vaccines.
Whether or not an IM vaccine can be adapted to work as an IN vaccine mostly depends on the type. The sub-unit type of vaccine (e.g. Razi Cov Pars) likely requires an
adjuvant
in order to create a strong enough response, while adenovirus-based IM vaccines can basically be used as-is, since as noted earlier, adenoviruses naturally infect mucosal tissue. For e.g. the AstraZeneca IN vaccine trials that are currently ongoing, the challenge would seem to be mostly in defining the efficacy, in the absence of clear protocols and techniques.
Effect of nasal vaccines on the upper and lower respiratory tract for the generation of mucosal and systemic immunity. (a) Protective immune responses in the nasopharynx-associated lymphoid tissue (NALT), with the pathogen-mediated reaction resulting mainly from by secretory IgA antibodies generated by mucosal epithelial cells. (b) Humoral immune response in the lower respiratory tract with bronchus-associated lymphoid tissue (BALT) having humoral as well as mucosal/local immune responses. Abbreviations: CTL, cytotoxic T lymphocyte; DC, dendritic cell; NK, natural killer; TCR, T cell receptor. (Credit: Chavda et al. 2021)
Another challenge with IN vaccines is that the nasal mucosal surface provides innate protection against infections by forming a sticky trap that captures potential pathogens (
Chavda et al.
, 2021). This is also why mRNA-filled liquid nanoparticles as used in IM mRNA vaccines do not seem to be a good match for IN vaccines. As these rely on having the body’s cells produce the target antibody from the mRNA, the lack of an effective way to get the mRNA into cells is a major hurdle, something which viral vectors by their basic design do not have to deal with.
Wait And See
With potentially billions of people across the world now having access to IN SARS-CoV-2 vaccines, there is the hope that this may do for the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic what the OPV did for polio in the 1950s and 1960s. Depending on the efficacy of these authorized IN vaccines, some regions and perhaps even nations may find themselves able to declare an end to community spread within a few years, if not less.
Meanwhile, Western pharmacological companies are still running their own IN vaccine trials that may deliver positive results by next year. All of which means that in the absence of an OWS-like push, Iran, India and China may provide us with the first glimpses of what a future with IN vaccines against respiratory viruses could look like as early as next year.
With some luck it may not only offer that much sought after off-ramp for the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, but also provide IN vaccines with a much needed R&D boost. Who after all wouldn’t want a twice-yearly nasal spray that protects against even the common cold, or a more effective IN influenza vaccine?
Headline image:
Untitled
by Lauren Bishop for the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention | 54 | 13 | [
{
"comment_id": "6517526",
"author": "Michael Black",
"timestamp": "2022-09-29T17:07:26",
"content": "Standard comment. How if at all does it work on the immunocompromised? We have little immune system and the vaccine certainly doesn’t do much for me. But we are always left out.",
"parent_id"... | 1,760,372,547.774581 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/09/29/a-drone-for-the-rest-of-us/ | A Drone For The Rest Of Us | Bryan Cockfield | [
"drone hacks"
] | [
"drone",
"pistol",
"quadrotor",
"speeder",
"steering",
"yaw"
] | As anyone who’s spent Christmas morning trying to shake a quadcopter out of a tree can attest, controlling these fast moving RC vehicles can be tricky and require a bit of practice to master. [Erik] wanted to simplify this a little bit so his children and friends could race with him, and the end result is a
drone that only needs two inputs to fly
.
The results of his experimentation with simplifying the controls resulted in a “speeder” type drone which attempts to keep a certain distance off of the ground on its own thanks to an extremely fast time-of-flight sensor. The pilot is then left to control the throttle and the steering only, meaning that [Erik] can use pistol-style RC controllers for these machines. They have some similarities to a quadcopter, but since they need to stay level in flight they also have a fifth propeller on the back, similar to an airboat. This allows for a totally separate thrust control than would normally be available on a quadcopter.
The resulting vehicle is immediately intuitive to fly, behaving more like an RC car than a quadcopter. This also required quite a bit of processing power to compute the proper roll and yaw from a single steering input, but after many prototypes the result is impressive, especially since it was also built to use FPV as a means of control. One of the videos below demonstrates this video, and looks extremely fun to fly, and we wouldn’t mind seeing a race with these types of speeders much like we saw in the past
with a group of pod-racing quadrotors
. | 23 | 18 | [
{
"comment_id": "6517505",
"author": "Dave Walker",
"timestamp": "2022-09-29T15:39:13",
"content": "This is great! Flying cars look like so much fun. Just enough hover to keep off the ground while you just concentrate on the steering.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},... | 1,760,372,547.582818 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/09/29/self-driving-laboratories-do-research-on-autopilot/ | Self-Driving Laboratories Do Research On Autopilot | Lewin Day | [
"Featured",
"Interest",
"Science",
"Slider"
] | [
"ai",
"artificial intelligence",
"machine learning",
"robot",
"robots",
"science"
] | Scientific research is a messy business. The road to learning new things and making discoveries is paved with hard labor, tough thinking, and plenty of dead ends. It’s a time-consuming, expensive endeavor, and for every success, there are thousands upon thousands of failures.
It’s a process so inefficient, you would think someone would have automated it already. The concept of the self-driving laboratory aims to do exactly that, and could revolutionize materials research in particular.
Leave It To The Auto-Lab
Materials research is a complex field and a challenging one to work in. Much of the work involves finding improvements on existing materials to make them harder, better, faster, or stronger. There’s also the scope to discover entirely new materials with unique properties and capabilities beyond those already known to us.
In the modern world, it’s not enough to just go outside and dig up a new kind of rock or find a new kind of tree. All the low-hanging fruit are already gone. Materials research now requires a sound understanding of physics and chemistry. It’s all about figuring out how to exploit those principles to make something better than what we’ve seen before.
This is where artificial intelligence and computers come in. Rules we’ve discovered in chemistry and physics can be programmed into an intelligent system. It’s then a straightforward leap to have that system apply those rules in varying ways to optimize desired outcomes. For example, an AI system can be asked to synthesize a given chemical in the most efficient way possible given a certain set of precursor chemicals. It’s then possible for the AI to run through all the possibilities and determine the best course of action.
Where the concept gets most compelling, though, is where an AI system is given the capacity to run its own experiments in the real world. Laboratory automation is advanced to the point where robots can readily run experiments far quicker and more efficiently than human scientists can do by hand. Give the AI the hardware to do experiments and to measure the results of its work, and it can then use the results to guide further experiments towards its given research goals. Congratulations – you’ve built a self-driving laboratory!
In Practice
Far from a mere theory, researchers around the world are already building self-driving laboratory systems. One of the most well-known is the so-called
Artificial Chemist
, developed by researchers at the University of Buffalo and North Carolina State University. The project’s goal was to develop an automated system to perform chemistry research for the research and development of commercially-desirable materials.
It’s designed to perform chemical research into materials that can be made using liquid solutions. The system is tasked with finding a way to synthesize a material that meets a set of desired parameters, and performs experiments on its own to determine how to achieve that. In testing the system was tasked with synthesizing quantum dots with various desired parameters. Through experimentation, Artificial Chemist was able to figure out ideal techniques on how to make the dots, including the identification of the correct chemical precursors.
Far from a simple computer simulation, Artificial Chemist does real chemistry on its own, and measures the results. The system was outfitted with chemical reactors that are entirely autonomous. They’re also designed to remain clean without picking up chemical residues that would throw off the experiments. The system can mix chemicals and run an entire chemical synthesis all on its own.
The system was developed with an eye to both research and manufacturing. It can be tasked to produce quantum dots for a given wavelength of light, and will first spend time doing research experiments to determine the best way to make them. Once that process is complete, usually after 1-10 hours, the system can then begin producing the dots en masse.
Research+
Overall, though, the basic principle can be applied to all kinds of research processes. One need only give a suitable AI system the means to experiment and the means to examine the results of its work. It can then take the logical steps to further its work in the direction of its given research goals.
The benefits of such systems are manifold. Where parts of experiments may have been automated by robots before, self-driving laboratories go further. They enable scientists to set a goal and the automated lab works its way to a solution entirely indepdently. This enables research to be carried out with less labor and human effort, with progress made far faster and far cheaper than before. Plus, the ability for quick calculation and experimentation may allow an AI to quickly run tests on combining regular ingredients in unexpected ways, netting surprise unconventional results. Some researchers expect these systems to provide a tenfold benefit to costs and time, where goals that once took ten years and $10 million dollars completed in one year and for just $1 million.
Of course, such systems won’t make human researchers obsolete. Creativity is of huge importance in science and engineering disciplines, and has led to some of our biggest advances. For example, an AI could be tasked to make stronger and more lightweight metal alloys. However, given those human-spawned preconceptions, it would never come up with the brilliance of composite materials like carbon fiber.
A great corollary is the image synthesis AIs which have skyrocketed in popularity this year. Initially, hyperbole stated that artists and photographers would be out of a job and human endeavour in this field was over. Then, weeks later, it turned out that these were just a new kind of tool that could be guided and put to work by humans best experienced in exploiting them.
These “self-driving laboratories” will likely become major tools in industrial R&D labs, doing everything from developing new materials to uncovering new molecules of potential medical interest. Talented research scientists will work to best employ the robotic resources they have, ensuring they’re put to work in the most effective manner for their broader research goals in general. With much of the research drudgery handed off to the robots, that will leave human scientists more time to think about the bigger picture.
Banner image: © xiaolangge /
Adobe Stock
. | 16 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "6517492",
"author": "Ostracus",
"timestamp": "2022-09-29T14:40:18",
"content": "Programmed to deal with the occasional BOOM!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6517527",
"author": "Rudranand Sahu",
"timestamp": "2... | 1,760,372,547.635338 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/09/29/open-book-abridged-oshw-e-reader-now-simplified-pico-driven/ | Open Book Abridged: OSHW E-Reader Now Simplified, Pico-Driven | Arya Voronova | [
"handhelds hacks",
"Microcontrollers"
] | [
"ebook",
"ereader",
"Open Book Project",
"open hardware",
"Raspberry Pi Pico"
] | If you ever looked for open-source e-readers, you’ve no doubt seen [Joey Castillo]’s Open Book reader, but you might not yet have seen the Abridged version he’s
building around a Raspberry Pi Pico.
The
Open Book project
pairs a 4.2″ E-Ink screen with microprocessors we all know and love, building a hacker-friendly e-reader platform. Two years ago, this project
won first place
in our Adafruit Feather contest — the Feather footprint making the Open Book compatible with a wide range of MCUs, giving hackers choice on which CPU their hackable e-reader would run. Now, it’s time for a RP2040-based reboot.
This project is designed so that you can assemble it on your own after sourcing parts and PCBs. To help you in the process, the PCB itself resembles a book page – on the silkscreen, there is explanations of what each component is for, as well as information that would be useful for you while hacking on it, conveying the hardware backstory to the hacker about to dive into assembly with a soldering iron in hand. There’s simple but quite functional software to accompany this hardware, too – and, as fully open-source devices go, any missing features can be added.
Joey has recorded
a 30-minute video
of the Pi Pico version for us, assembling and testing the newly ordered boards, then showing the software successfully booting and operational. The Pi Pico-based revision has been greatly simplified, with a number of self-assembly aspects improved compared to previous versions – the whole process really does take less than half an hour, and he gets it done with a pretty basic soldering iron, too!
If you’re looking for updates on this revision as development goes on,
following [Joey] on Twitter
is your best bet. He’s no stranger to making devices around us more free and then sharing the secret sauce with all of us! During the 2021 Remoticon he showed off a drop-in replacement mainboard for the Casio F-91W wristwatch, and told us
all about reverse-engineering its controller-less segment LCD
— worth a listen for any hacker who’s ever wanted to bend these LCDs to their will.
UPDATE: that could not have gone better. Assembled and fully functional in 30 minutes flat, including the automatic flashing of the language chip at first boot (which took all of 60 seconds). Full video at the link!
https://t.co/J9vXF2HYwA
pic.twitter.com/z9TsVPcBix
— @joeycastillo@mastodon.social (@josecastillo)
September 18, 2022 | 17 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "6517468",
"author": "Guy",
"timestamp": "2022-09-29T12:20:45",
"content": "This thing rules. Such a thoughtful design – I’m definitely borrowing that castellated daughterboard idea.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "6517469",
... | 1,760,372,547.83075 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/09/29/ibm-made-a-mips-laptop-will-it-make-you-wince/ | IBM Made A MIPS Laptop. Will It Make You WinCE? | Jenny List | [
"Retrocomputing"
] | [
"ibm",
"IBM WorkPad",
"mips",
"WinCE",
"Windows CE"
] | We’re used to our laptop computers here in 2022 being ultra-portable, super-powerful, and with impressively long battery lives. It’s easy to forget then that there was a time when from those three features the laptop user could usually expect only one of them in their device. Powerful laptops were the size of paving slabs and had battery lives measured in minutes, while anything small usually had disappointing performance or yet again a minuscule power budget.
In the late 1990s manufacturers saw a way out of this in Microsoft’s Windows CE, which would run on modest hardware without drinking power. Several devices made it to market, among them one from IBM
which [OldVCR] has taken a look at
. It makes for an interesting trip down one of those dead-end side roads in computing history.
In the box bought through an online auction is a tiny laptop that screams IBM, we’d identify it as a ThinkPad immediately if it wasn’t for that brand being absent. This is an IBM WorkPad, a baby sibling of the ThinkPad line intended as a companion device. This one has a reduced spec screen and an NEC MIPS processor, with Windows CE on a ROM SODIMM accessible through a cover on the underside. For us in 2022 MIPS processors based on the open-sourced MIPS ISA are found in low-end webcams and routers, but back then it was a real contender. The article goes into some detail on the various families of chips from that time, which is worth a read in itself.
We remember these laptops, and while the IBM one was unaffordable there was a COMPAQ competitor which did seem tempting for on-the-road work. They failed to make an impact due to being marketed as a high-end executive’s toy rather than a mass-market computer, and they were seen off as “real” laptops became more affordable. A second-hand HP Omnibook 800 did the ultra-portable job on this bench instead.
The industry had various attempts at cracking this market, most notably with the netbooks which appeared a few years after the WorkPad was produced. It was left to Google to reinvent the ultra-portable non-Intel laptop as an internet appliance with their Chromebooks before they would become a mass-market device, but the WorkPad remains a tantalizing glimpse of what might have been.
Windows CE occasionally makes an appearance here, and yes,
it runs
DOOM
. | 26 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "6517435",
"author": "Marvin",
"timestamp": "2022-09-29T08:46:38",
"content": "nice oddball, there :)I have a Laptop with a microSPARC CPU. Another oddball :)",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6517452",
"author": "Alphate... | 1,760,372,547.992596 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/09/28/the-nes-gets-its-own-os/ | The NES Gets Its Own OS | Bryan Cockfield | [
"Nintendo Hacks",
"Software Hacks"
] | [
"console",
"gaming",
"memory",
"nes",
"nes-os",
"nintendo",
"operating system",
"word processor"
] | Until recently, most video game systems didn’t need their own operating systems in order to play games. Especially in the cartridge era — the games themselves simply ran directly on the hardware and didn’t require the middleman of an operating system for any of the functionality of the consoles. There were exceptions for computers that doubled as home computers such as the Commodore, but systems like the NES never had their own dedicated OS. At least,
until [Inkbox] designed and built the NES-OS
.
The operating system does not have any command line, instead going directly for a graphical user interface. There are two programs that make up the operating system. The first is a settings application which allows the user to make various changes to the appearance and behavior of the OS, and the second is a word processor with support for the Japanese “Family Keyboard” accessory. The memory on the NES is limited, and since the OS loads entirely into RAM there’s only enough leftover space for eight total files. Those files themselves are limited to 832 bytes, which is one screen’s worth of text without scrolling.
While it might seem limited to those of us living in the modern era, the OS makes nearly complete use of the available processing power and memory of this 1980s system that was best known for
Super Mario Bros.
and
Duck Hunt
. It’s an impressive build for such a small package, and really dives into a lot of the hardware and limitations when building software for these systems. If you need more functionality than that, we’d recommend
installing Linux on the NES Classic instead
. | 20 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "6517414",
"author": "DAT",
"timestamp": "2022-09-29T06:04:00",
"content": "By that definition, mario paint was some OS for the SNES.It actually wasn’t, because there was no way to install other software or exchange data.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
... | 1,760,372,547.926809 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/09/28/the-1337-png-hashquine/ | The 1337 PNG Hashquine | Jonathan Bennett | [
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"David Buchanan",
"Hashquine",
"png"
] | A hashquine is a fun way to show off your crypto-tricks — It’s a file that contains its own hash. In some file types it’s trivial, you just pick the hash to hit, and then put random data in a comment or other invisible field till you get a collision. A Python script that prints its own hash would be easy. But not every file type is so easy. Take PNG for instance. these files are split into chunks of data, and each chunk is both CRC-32 and adler32 checksummed. Make one change, and everything changes, in three places at once. Good luck finding that collision. So
how exactly did [David Buchanan] generate that beautiful PNG, which does in fact md5sum to the value in the image
? Very cleverly.
Thankfully
[David] shared some of his tricks
, and they’re pretty neat. The technique he details is a meet-in-the-middle hack, where 36 pairs of MD5 collision blocks are found, with the understanding that these 36 blocks will get added to the file. For each block, either A or B of the pair will get plugged in at that location, and the md5sum won’t change. It’s a total of 2^36 possible combinations of these blocks, which is more computation than was practical for this particular hack. The solution is to pre-compute the results of every possible combination of the first 18 blocks, and store the results in a lookup table. The second half of the collisions are run backwards from a target CRC value, and the result checked against the lookup table. Find a hit, and you just found a series of blocks that matches both your target md5sum and CRC32 results.
Thanks to [Julian] for the tip! And as he described it, this hack is one that gets more impressive the more you think about it. Enjoy! | 7 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "6517391",
"author": "Redhatter (VK4MSL)",
"timestamp": "2022-09-29T02:15:49",
"content": "If that fellow manages to pull the same feat with SHA-256, we’re screwed.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "6517427",
"author": "JHB",
... | 1,760,372,547.873622 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/09/28/a-look-inside-an-old-school-synchroscope/ | A Look Inside An Old-School Synchroscope | Dan Maloney | [
"Teardown"
] | [
"grid",
"induction",
"moving coil. meter",
"phase",
"power",
"sync",
"synchroscope"
] | There’s nothing quite like old-school electrical gear, especially the stuff associated with power distribution. There’s something about the chunky, heavy construction, the thick bakelite cases, and the dials you can read from across the room. Double points for something that started life behind the Iron Curtain, as
this delightful synchroscope
appears to have.
So what exactly is a synchroscope, you ask? As [DiodeGoneWild] explains (in the best accent a human being has ever had), synchroscopes are used to indicate when two AC power sources are in phase with each other. This is important in power generation and distribution, where it just wouldn’t be a good idea to just connect a freshly started generator to a stable power grid. This synchroscope has a wonderfully robust mechanism inside, with four drive coils located 90° apart on a circular stator. Inside that is a moving coil attached to the meter’s needle, which makes this an induction motor that stops turning when the two input currents are in phase with each other.
The meter is chock full of engineering goodies, like the magnetic brake that damps the needle, and the neat inductive coupling method used to provide current to the moving coil. [DiodeGoneWild] does a great job explaining how the meter works, and does a few basic tests that show us the 60-odd years since this thing was made haven’t caused any major damage. We’re eager to see it put to the full test soon.
This is just the latest in a series of cool teardowns by [DiodeGoneWild]. He recently treated us to a glimpse inside
an old-ish wattmeter
, and took a look at
friggin’ laser-powered headlights
, too. | 7 | 3 | [
{
"comment_id": "6517405",
"author": "NOC monkey",
"timestamp": "2022-09-29T04:51:38",
"content": "I worked at a decent sized data center in operations and had to learn how to manually transfer from generator, battery, or grid feed. Our automatic transfer switch never had a hickup but overnight guys... | 1,760,372,548.031239 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/09/28/recycling-junk-e-tags-into-a-lorawan-aqi-sensor/ | Recycling Junk E-tags Into A LoRaWAN AQI Sensor | Dave Rowntree | [
"Microcontrollers"
] | [
"Air quality sensors",
"AQI",
"BME860",
"BMI270",
"display",
"e-paper",
"environmental monitor",
"gas sensor",
"LoRa",
"The Things Network",
"VOC detection"
] | Interfacing to E-paper displays is nothing to be scared of
[Aduecho] had seen those cheap eBay deals of e-paper-based pricing tags, and was wondering if they could be hacked to perform some other tasks. After splitting the case open, the controller chip was discovered to be a SEM9110, with some NFC hardware support but little else. [aduecho] was hoping to build some
IoT-connected air quality indicator (AQI) units
but the lack of a datasheet for SEM9110 plus no sensors in place meant the only real course of action was to junk the PCB and just keep the E-paper display and the batteries. These units appeared to be ‘new old’ stock, so there was a good chance that both would be fresh and ripe for picking.
The PCB [aduecho] came up with is mechanically the same as the original unit, but now sports a Seeed studio
Wio-E5 LoRa module
, which uses the STM32WLE5 from ST for the heavy lifting. This has what looks like a Semtech SX126x integrated on-die (we can’t think of a sane way an actual SX126x die could be flip-chip mounted, but you never know). Using this module is a snap, needing only very minimal antenna-matching components and a spot of decoupling to function. On the sensing side of things, a
Bosch BME680 gas sensor
handling the AQI measurements, and a
Bosch BMI270 6-axis IMU
, provides a gyro and accelerometer, for all those planned user interaction features. As can be seen from the
schematic
, interfacing the EPD is pretty straightforward, just a handful of parts are needed to generate the necessary bipolar gate voltages via a simple SMPS circuit. The display controller handles it all internally, programmed via an SPI interface.
One area we’re quite fond of in this project are the neat hand-drawn icons, and variable width font, giving the display a kind of note-like quality when drawn on the low-ish contrast e-paper display.
Air quality measurement projects grace these pages from time to time, like this
hacked Ikea Vindriktning
, and this very similar
Wio-E5-based project
we covered last month. | 6 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "6517329",
"author": "chango",
"timestamp": "2022-09-28T20:25:58",
"content": "Putting two dice in a package without a substrate is pretty common. The ESP8285 and ESP32-PICO-D4 each have a SPI flash die glued on top of the ESP SoC, and since the flash is physically smaller than the S... | 1,760,372,548.174243 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/09/28/ai-dreaming-of-time-travel/ | AI Dreaming Of Time Travel | Matthew Carlson | [
"Art",
"Artificial Intelligence"
] | [
"art",
"artifical intelligence",
"image generator",
"stable diffusion"
] | We love the intersection between art and technology, and a video made by an AI (Stable Diffusion)
imagining a journey through time
(
Nitter
) is a lovely example. The project is relatively straightforward, but as with most art projects, there were endless hours of [Xander Steenbrugge] tweaking and playing with different parts of the process until it was just how he liked it. He mentions trying thousands of different prompts and seeds — an example of one of the prompts is “a small tribal village with huts.” In the video, each prompt got 72 frames, slowly increasing in strength and then decreasing as the following prompt came along.
There are other AI videos on YouTube, often
putting the lyrics of a song into AI-generated form
. But if you’ve worked with AI systems, you’ll notice that the background stays remarkably stable in [Xander]’s video as it goes through dozens of feedback loops. This is difficult to do as you want to change the image’s content without changing the look. So he had to write a decent amount of code to try and maintain visual temporal cohesion over time. Hopefully, we’ll see an open-source version of some of his improvements, as he mentioned on Twitter.
In the meantime, we get to sit back and enjoy something beautiful. If you still aren’t convinced that Stable Diffusion isn’t a big deal, perhaps we can do
a little more to persuade your viewpoint
. | 20 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "6517305",
"author": "1 more kb of data in the cloud tentively",
"timestamp": "2022-09-28T19:06:50",
"content": "He forgot to include the bit where the world was destroyed in a nuclear armegedon.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": ... | 1,760,372,548.225072 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/09/28/2022-hackaday-prize-congratulations-to-the-winners-of-the-climate-resilient-communities-challenge/ | 2022 Hackaday Prize: Congratulations To The Winners Of The Climate-Resilient Communities Challenge | Kristina Panos | [
"contests",
"Hackaday Columns",
"Slider"
] | [
"2022 Hackaday Prize",
"finalists",
"winners"
] | Holy humanitarian hacking, Batman! We asked you to come up with your best climate-forward ideas, and you knocked it out of the ionosphere! Once again, the judges had a hard time narrowing down the field to just ten winners, but they ultimately pulled it off — and here are the prize-winning projects without much further ado.
In the Climate-Resilient Challenge, we asked you to design devices that help build communities’ resilience to severe weather and the increasing frequency of natural disasters due to climate change, and/or devices that collect environmental data that serves as hard evidence in the fight for changes in local infrastructure. While several people focused on air quality, which is something we tend to think of as a human need, plenty others thought of the flora and fauna with which we share this planet.
Breathe In the Air
A handful of hacks had to do with air quality, both within our private homes and our public spaces. [Ovidu]’s
solar-powered air quality monitoring station
addresses the former, using IoT notifications to let you know when the pollution of rush hour is mucking up the molecules in your man cave (and elsewhere in your castle).
While it’s great to make sure you’ve secured good air quality at home, some hackers took it a step further and monitored problems at the neighborhood scale — and beyond. Imagine you live near a factory — a circumstance that looks to be on the rise in the US.
Wouldn’t you want that factory to have good environmental practices? And if they didn’t, you’d want to have hard evidence of that to show the court, right? That’s what [Guillermo Perez Guillen]’s project is all about —
it’s an environmental tool kit for an entire ecological area
.
While that factory example might be exclusive of many people, plenty of regular, singular human beings litter everywhere, all the time — even in otherwise beautiful, serene settings like the shores natural lakes and rivers. While this device will not police the people, it will relay all the data it can about the air and water quality over LoRaWAN.
Somewhere between the city lights and wherever we spend the night, there are public places to consider. [Avye]’s lovely
Air Quality Pavilion
aims to be a pop-up solution wherever the environment calls for one. As more of the social world comes back online, concern for indoor air quality monitoring is through the roof. The Pavilion as-built is a scaled-down version of [Avye]’s vision for a temporary structure that provides shelter for all kinds of activities while monitoring the environment for changes. Too many bodies breathing on the dance floor? First, the green-lit windows turn red to warn everyone. Then the pavilion pivots, opening shutters in the walls and skylights in the ceiling to keep the party going safely.
Don’t Be Afraid to Care (About Trees, Bees, and Crops)
The effects of climate change don’t just stress out the humans — drought effects everything that needs water to live and flourish, and that includes our carbon dioxide-eating friends the trees. [John Opsahl] knows what a lot of us didn’t — that trees change diameter throughout the day in small but detectable fashion, and that
these changes can be indicative of water stress
.
On the plus side, these deviations also make it possible to track the progress of a fruit tree through to harvest the same way, by using a digital tire tread depth gauge like a one-armed caliper. The measurements are level-shifted and processed by a microcontroller, which gives them a timestamp and stores them on an SD card.
Similarly, [Florian
Ellsäßer
]’s
Crop Water Stress Sensor
does what it says on the tin — it measures the stress of drought conditions on plants and logs the data to an SD card, though the next version is going wireless in order to share with sensor networks.
[
Gouttebroze
] lives in France, where there are approximately one million beehives, all of which are in relative danger in the grand scheme of things. With the help of a temperature sensor, an Arduino Nano, and a load cell bar, [Gouttebroze]’s
Beehive Monitoring and Tracking
project aims to do a number of things, including monitoring the weight of the hive to determine the bees’ health, honey production, and more.
Congratulations!
Our ten Climate-Resilient Communities finalists more than deserve their $500 prizes, and will all be eligible to win even bigger when we announce the Hackaday Prize winners at Supercon in November. Until then, Hackaday Prize has
moved on to the Wildcard Challenge
, and everyone is just trying to save the planet in whatever way they can, because it sure is bleeding from many places.
Roll up your sleeves and get wild
!
Many thanks again to our sponsors, Digi-Key and Hackaday’s parent company, Supplyframe, for sponsoring the 2022 Hackaday Prize.
The Climate-Resilient Communities Finalists
Solar Powered Air Quality Monitoring Station (IoT)
Environmental Toolkit for an Ecological Area
Project Boondock Echo
Green Detect
Crop Water Stress Sensor
OpenDendrometer
An open-source fermenter
Long Range Machine Control System
Air Quality Pavilion: Rethinking Shared Spaces
Beehive Monitoring and Tracking
The
Hackaday
Prize2022
is Sponsored by: | 1 | 1 | [
{
"comment_id": "6517372",
"author": "Guillermo",
"timestamp": "2022-09-28T23:45:58",
"content": "Thanks to the sponsors of the Hackaday Prize 2022 … I’m so excited to be a finalist, and to compete with all these good projects from my colleagues.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies... | 1,760,372,548.40633 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/09/28/the-first-microcomputer-the-q1/ | The First Microcomputer: The Q1 | Jonathan Bennett | [
"Retrocomputing",
"Teardown"
] | [
"microcomputer",
"Q1",
"retro computer",
"retrocomputing"
] | Quiz time, what was the first commercially available microcomputer? The Altair 8800? Something obscure like the SCELBI? The Mark-8 kit?
According to [The Byte Attic], it was actually the Q1
, based on the Intel 8008 processor. The first Q1 microcomputer was delivered in December of 1972, making it the first, as far as he can tell. Later revisions used the Z80 processor, which is the model pictured above that [The Byte Attic] has in his possession. It’s a beautiful little machine, with a striking orange plasma display.
The irony is that this machine is almost entirely forgotten about. The original unit may have looked more like a typewriter, pictured here. If you have any first hand knowledge, or especially software, documentation, or surviving hardware bits, make sure to check in to add to the knowledge pool about this amazing little machine.
It’s an important milestone, and
the development of the Q1 may have been a direct cause of Intel developing the more powerful 8080 microprocessor
. It seems that Daniel Alroy’s work on this machine literally kicked off the microcomputer revolution, and it’s been missing from our computer lore for too many years. We’re very hopeful to see more of this story come together, and the history of the Q1 fully recovered.
And if retro hardware is your jam,
we’ve got you covered
, including among others,
the parallel story about the first microprocessor
. | 53 | 18 | [
{
"comment_id": "6517234",
"author": "Ostracus",
"timestamp": "2022-09-28T15:35:03",
"content": "Had a clock that looked like that front panel sans the keyboard.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6517295",
"author": "Joshua",
"ti... | 1,760,372,548.49363 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/09/28/mining-and-refining-sulfur/ | Mining And Refining: Sulfur | Dan Maloney | [
"Featured",
"Interest",
"Original Art",
"Science",
"Slider"
] | [
"acid",
"amine",
"Mining and Refining",
"natural gas",
"sulfur",
"sulfuric acid",
"sulphur"
] | When you think of the periodic table, some elements just have a vibe to them that’s completely unscientific, but nonetheless undeniable. Precious metals like gold and silver are obvious examples, associated as they always have been with the wealth of kings. Copper and iron are sturdy working-class metals, each worthy of having entire ages of human industry named after them, with silicon now forming the backbone of our current Information Age. Carbon builds up the chemistry of life itself and fuels almost all human endeavors, and none of us would get very far without oxygen.
But what about sulfur? Nobody seems to think much about poor sulfur, and when they do it tends to be derogatory. Sulfur puts the stink in rotten eggs, threatens us when it spews from the mouths of volcanoes, and can become a deadly threat when used to make gunpowder. Sulfur seems like something more associated with the noxious processes and bleak factories of the early Industrial Revolution, not a component of our modern, high-technology world.
And yet despite its malodorous and low-tech reputation, there are actually few industrial processes that don’t depend on massive amounts of sulfur in some way. Sulfur is a critical ingredient in processes that form the foundation of almost all industry, so its production is usually a matter of national and economic security, which is odd considering that nearly all the sulfur we use is recovered from the waste of other industrial processes.
It’s Always Oil
Sulfur is one of those elements that’s remarkably abundant in the universe and while it does occur in its elemental state, it’s more typically found as a compound with something else. This is thanks to sulfur’s ability to form more than 30 allotropes, or different forms in the same physical state, and to the wide range of chemical reactions it participates in — there’s a sulfide or sulfate of almost every other element on the periodic table, except for those snooty Noble gases.
On Earth, sulfur is usually found in sulfide minerals, where an atom with a positive charge binds with one or more negatively charged sulfur atoms. Examples include chalcocite (copper sulfide), galena (lead sulfide), cinnabar (mercury sulfide), and pyrite (iron sulfide). Sulfates, where sulfur and oxygen bind with a cation, are also common; the gypsum used to make drywall boards and PVC pipes is calcium sulfate, for example.
The abundance of sulfide and sulfate minerals, and the fact that generally whatever the sulfur is bound to in these minerals is valuable in its own right, means that sulfur can be recovered as a byproduct of smelting operations, particularly from smelting of lead, copper, and zinc ores. We’ve covered
copper smelting
in some depth; the basic process is the same for most sulfide mineral smelting, and uses heat to drive off the sulfides. In less environmentally aware times, and when there were other, cheaper sources of sulfur, the sulfur-laden flue gases were just vented off, leading to a series of reactions in the atmosphere that culminated in sulfuric acid falling from the sky — acid rain.
Recovery of sulfur from smelter flue gas is just a small fraction of current sulfur production, though — only about 7% in the USA right now. The majority of sulfur production worldwide comes from either petroleum refining or natural gas production, where sulfides are contaminants that need to be removed. Cleaning up sulfides from “sour” gases — so-called because they are both acidic and smelly thanks to hydrogen sulfide (H
2
S) — is the job of an amine treater, or sweetener. Amine treaters are used in all sorts of industrial processes; we ran into them back when we discussed
how helium is refined from natural gas
. Amine treatment relies on the ability of amine solutions, like monoethanolamine (MEA) and diethanolamine (DEA) to react with the acid gases, like H
2
S and CO
2
, and make them more soluble in the scrubbing solution than in the process gas. The sulfide-rich amine solution is then boiled to strip the sulfides off and regenerate the amine for reuse. The process renders the incoming sour gas clean enough to release into the atmosphere, as well as a supply of H
2
S, which can then be processed into elemental sulfur.
Sour to Sweet
The hydrogen sulfide that’s stripped out of the sour gas is very toxic to humans, and is particularly dangerous because at sufficiently high concentrations, it paralyzes olfactory nerves; people exposed to it for just a few minutes think that the gas has dispersed and the danger is gone because they can’t smell the rotten-egg stink anymore. Although it has some industrial uses, most hydrogen sulfide is converted to elemental sulfur, which is much easier to store and transport. The main process used to convert H
2
S to elemental sulfur is the Claus process, named after German chemist Carl Friedrich Claus, who invented it in 1883.
The Claus process is a two-part process: a thermal step, where hydrogen sulfide is burned in an oxygen atmosphere, and a catalytic step that boosts sulfur yield. The thermal step is extremely exothermic and takes place inside what’s known as a Claus furnace, which is a strong chamber lined with refractory material to withstand temperatures in excess of 1,050°C, which are needed to burn off unwanted products that will clog up the downstream catalyst bed. The overall reaction of the thermal step looks like this:
Because of the high temperatures inside the Claus furnace, the sulfur produced by the thermal step is a vapor. The thermal step is responsible for the bulk of sulfur production, about 60-70%. To increase the yield, the sulfur-rich vapor from the thermal step is fed into a series of reheaters and catalytic converters. The reheaters are used to make sure the sulfur vapor doesn’t condense into a liquid, while the remaining hydrogen sulfide and sulfur dioxide from the thermal step react on mixed beds of alumina and titania catalyst to produce more sulfur vapor, along with water, basically by repeating the second step of the reaction above to wring the last little bit of sulfur out of the feedstock. The tail gas from the sulfur recovery unit (SRU), as the Claus process equipment is collectively known, still needs scrubbing before being released, but in general, about 95 to 99.9% of the sulfur in the feedstock is recovered as elemental sulfur.
Forbidden Lemon Drops
Up to this point, all the processes used have been at high enough temperatures that the elemental sulfur has been in the gaseous phase. But at this point, condensing the vapor out into a liquid makes it easier to handle. Sulfur is a viscous, dark red-orange liquid at 125°C, a temperature that’s easy to reach and maintain industrially, meaning that liquid sulfur can be pumped around plants in heated, insulated pipes. Liquid sulfur can even be shipped short distances in insulated tankers, but to store and transport a lot of sulfur, it has to be converted back into a solid.
Solid sulfur is quite easy to make. Hot liquid sulfur is pumped into a machine called a rotoformer, which is basically a big perforated cylinder. The liquid sulfur flows out of the holes as the cylinder rotates and gets extruded out onto a steel conveyor belt as little liquid dots. Water sprayed on the underside of the belt cools the sulfur, which solidifies into little yellow bits that look like lemon drops. In fact, these little nubbins of sulfur are called “pastilles,” in a nod to their confectionary look. A rotoformer line can make many tons of pastilles a day, and the sulfur is piled up into mountains before being loaded onto bulk cargo ships or trains for shipment.
The King of Chemicals
But what’s the use of all this stuff? Elemental sulfur has a lot of industrial uses — vulcanization of rubber for tires comes to mind — but the majority of sulfur is turned into a single, immensely useful product: sulfuric acid. About 256 million tonnes of sulfuric acid were made in 2020; some estimates put future demand at 400 million tonnes annually. Most sulfuric acid goes directly into fertilizer manufacturing, where it is used to dissolve phosphate minerals into phosphoric acid, the feedstock for phosphate fertilizers. Sulfuric acid is also used to make dyes, pharmaceuticals, plastics, inks, explosives, and, of course, car batteries. It’s known as “The King of Chemicals” for very good reasons.
Sulfuric acid is made in a process that resembles a reverse version of the reactions used to remove it from natural gas and crude oil. There are two main processes, the contact process and the wet sulfuric acid process. Both are very similar and start with burning elemental sulfur in an oxygen atmosphere to create sulfur dioxide (SO
2
), and then continuing the oxidation of the products by passing it over a catalyst of vanadium(V) oxide. This adds another oxygen and makes sulfur trioxide (SO
3
), which is then converted to sulfuric acid, or H
2
SO
4
:
Sulfur Sans Carbon?
Sulfuric acid’s royal status in the chemical world is not just an honorific — it really is an indication of the industrial might of a nation. Without sulfuric acid, most of the industrial processes in the world would quickly grind to a halt, leaving humanity hungry, naked, sick, and without any clean water. So a continued supply of it, and therefore of sulfur, is critical to keeping life as we’ve come to know it running smoothly.
But, because sulfur production has become so tightly meshed into fossil fuel production, we’re potentially facing a future where sulfur becomes scarce thanks to decarbonization. There were methods for extracting sulfur before the oil industry made sulfur essentially a free byproduct; the Frasch method used high-pressure steam injected into boreholes dug into natural formations where ancient microbes reduced environmental sulfur and left huge deposits of elemental sulfur. But this method is much more expensive than current sulfur recovery methods are, and has a high environmental cost that might be hard to swallow.
One thing is for sure, though: for modern industrial society to continue, the sulfur must flow. How it gets extracted safely and cheaply in a decarbonized world will be an interesting engineering challenge. | 23 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "6517218",
"author": "shrad",
"timestamp": "2022-09-28T14:21:40",
"content": "And Nitrogen? What about Nitrogen?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6517250",
"author": "Gravis",
"timestamp": "2022-09-28T16:12:29",
... | 1,760,372,548.360762 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/09/28/arduino-ide-2-0-is-here/ | Arduino IDE 2.0 Is Here | Dave Walker | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"Software Development"
] | [
"arduino",
"coding",
"development",
"ide",
"software",
"v2.0"
] | Arduino have released the latest version of their Integrated Development Environment (IDE),
Version 2.0
and it is a big step up from the previous release, boasting plenty of new features to help you to develop your code more easily.
As the de-facto way for beginners to get into programming hardware, more experienced users have sometimes complained about what they see as the over-simplistic IDE — even lacking relatively basic features such as autocomplete. The new version provides this, and much more besides.
The press-release from Arduino offers a few clues to the main features, but the real detail is tucked away in a range of
new tutorials
, designed to get you up to speed with the new look.
The main screen is organised differently, to show off the new capabilities and to make development faster and easier. The new “Remote Sketchbook” has been integrated closely with the
Arduino Cloud
, to allow for easy switching between computers during development. V2.0 will pick up any Cloud sketches automatically, while computers using the previous versions of the IDE can still access the sketches via the
Web Editor
as before.
The Serial Plotter can now be used at the same time as the text Serial Monitor, rather than having to choose one or the other. In addition, there is a host of new Debug functionality for those devices that support it. This works with the usual In-Circuit Emulators (such as the
Atmel ICE
), but also natively with newer Arduino boards like the
Arduino Zero
without any additional hardware. The debugger gives you access to powerful features like Breakpoints, Step-Into and Step-Over to really understand what your code is doing.
Installation is straightforward, and will automatically pull in any libraries and sketches that you created in previous versions of the Arduino software to ease the transition.
There’s a lot to like in the new IDE, but we expect it will take a little while to discover and use all the new features effectively. Some of them are carry-overs from the “
Arduino Pro IDE
” that we covered a few years ago, but it’s great to see the software evolve and improve over time.
Have you tried new new IDE yet? What are your thoughts on how it compares to the older version, or other development environments? Let us know in the comments.
Update: Thanks to [Alessandro Ranellucci] in the comments for pointing out that one of the major advantages of the new release is the command-line tool
arduino-cli
that allows users to edit code in their favourite editor and call “arduino-cli compile -u” on the terminal to build the project.
Thanks to [cardboardBaron] for the tip. | 84 | 23 | [
{
"comment_id": "6517150",
"author": "Operator",
"timestamp": "2022-09-28T11:47:34",
"content": "all the bells and whistles are useless, without portable mode 🤷♂️",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6517373",
"author": "Fik of the borg",... | 1,760,372,548.805791 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/09/28/your-mug-will-like-this-glowy-coaster/ | Your Mug Will Like This Glowy Coaster | Abe Connelly | [
"Art",
"LED Hacks"
] | [
"acrylic",
"art",
"coaster",
"laser cutter projects",
"led",
"neopixel",
"Trinket",
"trinket m0"
] | [Charlyn] wanted to highlight their friends beautiful mug collection, so the
Glowy Coaster
was born.
The coaster is made up of six layers of laser cut acrylic. The top and bottom layer are cut out of clear acrylic, providing a flat surface for the coaster. A top pattern layer made of pearl acrylic has a thin piece of vellum put underneath it to provide diffusion for the LED strip sandwiched inside. The middle layers are made of peach acrylic and have their centers hollowed out to provide room for the electronics inside. The top pearl acrylic layer gives the coaster, as [Charlyn] writes, a “subtle touch of elegance”. The coaster itself is screwed together by an M3 screw at each point of the hexagon that feed through to
heat-set inserts
.
The electronics consist of a short NeoPixel strip, cut to include 12 LEDs pointed in towards the center of the coaster. The LEDs are driven by a Trinket M0 microcontroller with a LiPo “backpack” to provide power, attachment points for the exposed power switch and recharging capability to the 110 mAh 3.7 V battery. The code is a slightly modified NeoPixel “rainbow” wheel loop (source available as a
gist
). The design files are available through
Thingiverse
.
Creations like these highlight how much care and work goes into a project with minimal beauty, where decisions, like the opacity and thickness of the acrylic or countersinking the M3 screws, can have huge consequences for the overall aesthetic. [Charlyn] has an attention to detail that brings an extra touch of professionalism and polish to the project.
Coasters are a favorite for laser cutting and we’ve covered many different types, including
coaster bots
,
coaster engravers
and even a color changing, drink sensing
coasters
. | 2 | 2 | [
{
"comment_id": "6517193",
"author": "-jeffB",
"timestamp": "2022-09-28T13:13:39",
"content": "“Minimalist” beauty. Definitely NOT “minimal”, at least in my opinion…!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "6517438",
"author": "Nathaniel Poate",
... | 1,760,372,548.535177 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/09/27/24-hours-of-le-airplanes/ | 24 Hours Of Le Airplanes | Bryan Cockfield | [
"drone hacks"
] | [
"airplane",
"autonomous",
"battery",
"charge controller",
"endurance",
"flight",
"rc",
"remote control",
"solar"
] | There’s no more famous road endurance race than the 24 Hours of Le Mans, where teams compete to see how far they can drive in a single 24-hour window. The race presents unique challenges not found in other types of racing. While RC airplanes may not have a similar race, [Daniel] a.k.a. [rctestflight] created a similar challenge for himself by
attempting to fly an RC airplane non-stop for as long as he could
, and a whole host of interesting situations cropped up before and during flight.
In order for an RC plane to fly for an entire day, it essentially needs to be solar powered. A large amount of strategy goes into a design of this sort. For one, the wing shape needs to be efficient in flight but not reduce the amount of area available for solar panels. For another, the start time of the flight needs to be balanced against the position of the sun in the sky. With these variables more or less fixed, [Daniel] began his flight.
It started off well enough, with the plane in an autonomous “return to home” mode which allowed it to continually circle overhead without direct human control. But after taking a break to fly it in FPV mode, [Daniel] noticed that the voltage on his battery was extremely high. It turned out that the solar charge controller wasn’t operating as expected and was shunting a large amount of solar energy directly into the battery. He landed and immediately removed the “
spicy pillow
” to avoid any sort of nonlinear event. With a new battery in the plane he began the flight again.
Even after all of that, [Daniel] still had some issues stemming from the aerodynamic nature of this plane specifically. There were some issues with wind, and with the flight controller not recognizing the correct “home” position, but all in all it seems like a fun day of flying a plane. If your idea of “fun” is sitting around and occasionally looking up for eight and a half hours. For more of [Daniel]’s long-term autonomous piloting, be sure to take a look at his
solar tugboat
as well.
Thanks to [timrb] for the tip! | 22 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "6517158",
"author": "Bman",
"timestamp": "2022-09-28T12:07:49",
"content": "Cool! A 2 year old video.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6517302",
"author": "Chris Muncy",
"timestamp": "2022-09-28T18:59:22",
... | 1,760,372,548.688789 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/09/27/trombone-controls-virtual-trombone/ | Trombone Controls Virtual Trombone | Bryan Cockfield | [
"Musical Hacks"
] | [
"air pressure",
"bluetooth",
"Click",
"controller",
"ESP32",
"mouse",
"position",
"sensor",
"trombone",
"trombone champ"
] | Guitar Hero was a cultural phenomenon a little over a decade ago, and showed that there was a real fun time to be had playing a virtual instrument on a controller. There are several other similar games available now for different instruments, including one called Trombone Champ that [Hung Truong] is a fan of which replaces the traditional guitar with a trombone. The sliding action of a trombone is significantly different than the frets of a guitar, making it a unique challenge in a video game. But an extra challenge is
building a controller for the game that works by playing a real trombone
.
Unlike a guitar which can easily map finger positions to buttons, mapping a more analog instrument like a trombone with its continuous slide to a digital space is a little harder. The approach here was to use an ESP32 and program it to send mouse inputs to a computer. First, an air pressure sensor was added to the bell of the trombone, so that when air is passing through it a mouse click is registered, which tells the computer that a note is currently being played. Second, a mouse position is generated by the position of the slide by using a time-of-flight sensor, also mounted to the bell. The ESP32 sends these mouse signals to the computer which are then used as inputs for the game.
While [Hung Truong] found that his sensors were not of the highest quality, he did find the latency of the control interface, and the control interface itself, to be relatively successful. With some tuning of the sensors he figures that this could be a much more effective device than the current prototype. If you’re wondering if the guitar hero equivalent exists or not,
take a look at this classic hack from ’09
. | 5 | 3 | [
{
"comment_id": "6517083",
"author": "TG",
"timestamp": "2022-09-28T04:08:24",
"content": "Could’ve clipped a mic on it and run that through a DAC registering a certain amplitude threshold as the mouse click and a pitch range as the slide position? Might get interference from the game’s ambient soun... | 1,760,372,548.576274 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/09/27/a-solar-powered-point-and-shoot-circa-1961/ | A Solar-Powered Point-and-Shoot, Circa 1961 | Dan Maloney | [
"Teardown"
] | [
"35 mm",
"analog",
"aperture",
"camera",
"exposure",
"f-stop",
"film",
"moving coil",
"point and shoot",
"Selenium",
"shutter"
] | Try to put yourself in the place of an engineer tasked with building a camera in 1961. Your specs include making it easy to operate, giving it automatic exposure control, and, oh yeah — you can’t use batteries. How on Earth do you accomplish that? With a
very clever mechanism powered by light
, as it turns out.
This one comes to us from [Alec Watson] over at
Technology Connections
on YouTube, which is a channel you really need to check out if you enjoy diving into the minutiae of the mundane. The camera in question is an Olympus Pen EES-2, which was the Japanese company’s attempt at making a mass-market 35-mm camera. To say that the camera is “solar-powered” is a bit of a stretch, as [Alec] admits — the film advance and shutter mechanism are strictly mechanical, relying on springs and things to power them. It’s all pretty standard camera stuff.
But the exposure controls are where this camera gets interesting. The lens is surrounded by a ring-shaped selenium photocell, the voltage output of which depends on the amount of light in the scene you’re photographing. That voltage drives a moving-coil meter, which waggles a needle back and forth. A series of levers and cams reads the position of the needle, which determines how far the lens aperture is allowed to open. A clever two-step cam allows the camera to use two different shutter speeds, and there’s even a mechanism to prevent exposure if there’s just not enough light. And what about that cool split-frame exposure system?
For a camera with no electronics per se, it does an impressive job of automating nearly everything. And [Alec] does a great job of making it interesting, too, as he has in the past with
a deep-dive into toasters
,
copy protection circa 1980
, and his take on
jukebox heroics
.
Thanks to tipping stalwart [Keith Olson] for this one! | 23 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "6517048",
"author": "Pernicious Snit",
"timestamp": "2022-09-27T23:31:39",
"content": "“And what about that cool split-frame exposure system?”https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rangefinder_camera",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "651... | 1,760,372,548.633127 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/09/25/hackaday-links-september-25-2022/ | Hackaday Links: September 25, 2022 | Dan Maloney | [
"Hackaday Columns",
"Hackaday links",
"Slider"
] | [
"3D printer fire",
"aggregator",
"anomaly",
"book",
"components",
"cross-section",
"Eric Schlaepfer",
"extinguisher",
"friction",
"hackaday links",
"jwst",
"MIRI",
"quantum fields",
"taxi",
"tubetime",
"webb",
"Yandex"
] | Looks like there’s trouble out at L2, where
the James Webb Space Telescope suffered a mechanical anomaly
back in August. The issue, which was just announced this week, involves only one of the six imaging instruments at the heart of the space observatory, known as MIRI, the Mid-Infrared Instrument. MIRI is the instrument on Webb that needs the coldest temperatures to work correctly, down to six Kelvins — we’ve talked about
the cryocooler needed to do this
in some detail. The problem has to do with unexpectedly high friction during the rotation of a wheel holding different diffraction gratings. These gratings are rotated into the optical path for different measurements, but apparently the motor started drawing excessive current during its move, and was shut down. NASA says that this only affects one of the four observation modes of MIRI, and the rest of the instruments are just fine at this time. So they’ve got some troubleshooting to do before Webb returns to a full program of scientific observations.
There’s an old saying that, “To err is human, but to really screw things up takes a computer.” But in Russia, to really screw things up it takes a computer and a human with a really poor grasp on just how delicately balanced most infrastructure systems are. The story comes from Moscow, where someone allegedly
spoofed a massive number of fake orders for taxi rides
(story in Russian, Google Translate works pretty well) through the aggregator Yandex.Taxi on the morning of September 1. The taxi drivers all dutifully converged on the designated spot, but instead of finding their fares, they just found a bunch of other taxis milling about and mucking up traffic. Yandex reports it has already added protection against such attacks to its algorithm, so there’s that at least. It’s all fun and games until someone causes a traffic jam.
It may be hard for the normies out there to imagine a coffee table book of electronic components, but if you’ve followed along here much, you’ll no doubt have seen some of the beautiful cross-sections that Eric Schlaepfer, aka TubeTime, has come up with. Eric has teamed up with Windell Oskay from the
Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories
blog and created
“Open Circuits: The Inner Beauty of Electronic Components.”
You’ll definitely want to check out
the first chapter
, which is available as a PDF for download.
Bunnie also did a glowing review,
which you’ll want to check out at least for the coupon code — Christmas is coming, after all. Windell and Eric talked about the book on
the Embedded.fm podcast
too, if you’d rather hear them talk about the book.
We’ve all likely heard the horror stories of 3D printers catching fire in the middle of the night, and while the relative risk is probably small — it’s definitely non-zero. So a little prudence is probably indicated, which for most of us has some practical limitations. It’s just not easy to organize your day around babysitting a print, especially one that goes 24 hours or more. Utilities like OctoPrint can help, but at the end of the day, if you’re minutes away when seconds count, all a camera is going to do is document the destruction. But
here’s an idea that might actually do something about a fire
. It uses a product we’d never seen before, which is an automatic fire extinguisher for car interiors. They apparently self-activate above a preset temperature, spewing out some sort of dry chemical to put out the fire. We’ve got our doubts about how well this would work in a car, but inside a 3D printer enclosure, it might actually work. If anyone has experience with these things, sound off in the comments.
And finally, if like us you’re always feeling behind the curve on understanding quantum mechanics, you could be in the market for our friend
Jeroen Vleggaar’s latest video on quantum fields
. It’s pretty clever — he uses his recent bathroom remodeling project as a launching board for the discussion, which honestly we only got about halfway through before zoning out. That’s a consistent problem for us when dipping a toe into the quantum pool, and honestly getting that far is doing better than average. So hats off to Jeroen for attempting to explain things, and for the sweet bathroom upgrade. Oh, and on a related note, Sabine Hossenfelder just dropped a video on the
“Nine Levels of Nothing,”
which you might want to check out once your mind is in the proper quantum state. | 15 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "6516414",
"author": "Needleroozer",
"timestamp": "2022-09-26T00:30:55",
"content": "The first link to “Open Circuits” appears to be malformed; it is instead Bunnie’s blog post link with the No Starch link appended.“https://www.bunniestudios.com/blog/?p=6558https://nostarch.com/open... | 1,760,372,548.854987 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/09/25/2022-cyberdeck-challenge-cyberpack-vr/ | 2022 Cyberdeck Contest: Cyberpack VR | Navarre Bartz | [
"Cyberdecks",
"Raspberry Pi",
"Virtual Reality",
"Wearable Hacks",
"Wireless Hacks"
] | [
"2022 Cyberdeck Contest",
"backpack",
"cyborg",
"networking",
"Oculus",
"virtual reality",
"wifi",
"wireless networking"
] | Feeling confined by the “traditional” cyberdeck form factor, [adam] decided to build something a little bigger with his
Cyberpack VR
. If you’ve ever dreamed of being a WiFi-equipped porcupine, then this is the cyberdeck you’ve been waiting for.
Craving the upgradability and utility of a desktop in a more portable format, [adam] took an old commuter backpack and squeezed in a Windows 11 PC, Raspberry Pi, multiple wifi networks, an ergonomic keyboard, a Quest VR headset, and enough antennas to attract the attention of the FCC. The abundance of network hardware is due to [adam]’s “new interest: a deeper understanding of wifi, and control of my own home network even if my teenage kids become hackers.”
The Quest is setup to run multiple virtual displays via
Immersed
, and you can relax on the couch while leaving the bag on the floor nearby with the extra long umbilical. One of the neat details of this build is repurposing the bag’s external helmet mount to attach the terminal unit when not in use. Other details we love are the toggle switches and really integrated look of the antenna connectors and USB ports. The way these elements are integrated into the bag makes it feel borderline organic – all the better for your cyborg chic.
For more WiFi backpacking goodness you may be interested in the
Pwnton Pack
. We’ve also covered other non-traditional cyberdecks including the
Steampunk Cyberdeck
and the
Galdeano
. If you have your own cyberdeck, you have until September 30th to submit it to our
2022 Cyberdeck Contest
! | 4 | 2 | [
{
"comment_id": "6516365",
"author": "Wibble",
"timestamp": "2022-09-25T20:12:46",
"content": "Nreal glasses might have been a better choice? Much lower profile than occulus googles, and I guess this is not going to be doing hard-core vr?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
... | 1,760,372,548.891672 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/09/25/giving-environmental-readouts-some-personality/ | Giving Environmental Readouts Some Personality | Donald Papp | [
"green hacks",
"Raspberry Pi"
] | [
"air quality index",
"api",
"AQI",
"e-paper",
"environmental sensor",
"raspberry pi"
] | Air Quality Index for one’s region can be a handy thing to know, but it’s such a dry and humorless number, isn’t it? Well, all that changes with [Andrew Kleindolph]’s
AQI Funnies
: a visual representation of live AQI data presented by a friendly ghost character in a comic panel presentation. The background, mood, and messaging are all generated to match the current conditions, providing some variety (and random adjectives) to spruce things up.
We love the attention paid to the super clean presentation, and the e-paper screen looks fantastic. Inside the unit is a Raspberry Pi using Python to talk to the
AirNow.gov API
to get local conditions and update every four hours (AirNow also has
a number of useful-looking widgets
, for those interested.)
The enclosure is 3D printed, and [Andrew] uses a
Witty Pi
for power management and battery conservation. The display is a color e-paper display that not only looks great, but has the advantage of not needing power unless the display is updating. The Pi can be woken up to update the screen with new info when needed, but otherwise can spend its time asleep.
[Andrew] has a knack for friendly presentations of information with an underlying seriousness, as we saw with
his friendly reminders about nasty product recalls
. | 4 | 3 | [
{
"comment_id": "6516383",
"author": "macsimski",
"timestamp": "2022-09-25T21:38:07",
"content": "screens are out of stock right now. :-(",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "6516522",
"author": "elwing",
"timestamp": "2022-09-26T12:49:18",
... | 1,760,372,548.947167 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/09/25/pi-pico-w-does-pcmcia-gets-this-ibm-pc110-online/ | Pi Pico W Does PCMCIA, Gets This IBM PC110 Online | Arya Voronova | [
"computer hacks",
"Netbook Hacks",
"Raspberry Pi",
"Retrocomputing",
"Wireless Hacks"
] | [
"ibm pc110",
"isa bus",
"PCMCIA",
"Pi Pico W",
"Raspberry Pi Pico",
"rp2040"
] | Bringing modern connectivity to retro computers is an endearing field- with the simplicity of last-century hardware and software being a double-edged sword, often, you bring a powerful and tiny computer of modern age to help its great-grandparent interface with networks of today. [yyzkevin] shows us
a PCMCIA WiFi card built using a Pi Pico W,
talking
PCI
ISA. This card brings modern-day WiFi connectivity to his IBM PC110, without requiring a separate router set up for outdated standards that the typical PCMCIA WiFi cards are limited by.
The RP2040 is made to talk
PCI
ISA using, of course, the PIO engine. A CPLD helps with
PCI
ISA address decoding, some multiplexing, and level shifting between RP2040’s 3.3V and the PCI 5 V levels. The RP2040 software emulates a
NE2000
network card, which means driver support is guaranteed on most OSes of old times, and the software integration seems seamless. The card already works for getting the PC110 online, and [yyzkevin] says he’d like to improve on it – shrink the design so that it resembles a typical PCMCIA WiFi card, tie some useful function into the Pico’s USB port, and perhaps integrate his
PCMCIA SoundBlaster project
into the whole package while at it.
This is a delightful project in how it achieves its goal, and a pleasant surprise for everyone who’s been observing RP2040’s PIO engine conquer interfaces typically unreachable for run-of-the-mill microcontrollers. We’ve seen
Ethernet
,
CAN
and
DVI
, along many others, and there’s undoubtedly more to come.
We thank [Misel] and [Arti] for sharing this with us! | 37 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "6516299",
"author": "Jonathan Pallant",
"timestamp": "2022-09-25T14:16:15",
"content": "PCMCIA is based on the ISA bus, which is why this is able to build on the PiGUS project.CardBus cards are based on PCI and they came later. An RP2040 can’t do PCI (32-bit, 33 MHz) – it doesn’t ha... | 1,760,372,549.222976 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/09/25/epoxy-blob-excised-out-of-broken-multimeter-replaced-with-a-qfp/ | Epoxy Blob Excised Out Of Broken Multimeter, Replaced With A QFP | Arya Voronova | [
"how-to",
"Repair Hacks",
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"chip on board",
"COB",
"ICL7106"
] | The black blobs on cheap PCBs haunt those of us with a habit of taking things apart when they fail. There’s no part number to look up, no pinout to probe, and if magic smoke is released from the epoxy-buried silicon, the entire PCB is toast. That’s why it matters that [Throbscottle] shared his
journey of repairing a vintage multimeter
whose epoxy-covered single-chip-multimeter ICL7106 heart developed an internal reference fault. When a multimeter’s internal voltage reference goes, the meter naturally becomes useless. Cheaper multimeters, we bin, but this one arguably was worth reviving.
[Throbscottle] doesn’t just show what he accomplished, he also demonstrates exactly how he went through the process, in a way that we can learn to repeat it if ever needed. Instructions on removing the epoxy coating, isolating IC pins from shorting to newly uncovered tracks, matching pinouts between the COB (Chip On Board, the epoxy-covered silicon) and the QFP packages, carefully attaching wires to the board from the QFP’s legs, then checking the connections – he went out of his way to make the trick of this repair accessible to us. The Instructables UI doesn’t make it obvious, but there’s a large number of high-quality pictures for each step, too.
The multimeter measures once again and is back in [Throbscottle]’s arsenal. He’s got a prolific history of sharing his methods with hackers – as far back as 2011, we’ve covered his
guide on reverse-engineering PCBs,
a skillset that no doubt made this repair possible. This hack, in turn proves to us that, even when facing the void of an epoxy blob, we have a shot at repairing the thing. If you wonder why these black blobs plague all the cheap devices,
here’s an intro.
We thank [electronoob] for sharing this with us! | 17 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "6516273",
"author": "hartl",
"timestamp": "2022-09-25T12:33:36",
"content": "Why is a cheap multimeter made in this century “vintage”?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6516284",
"author": "Gravis",
"timestamp": ... | 1,760,372,549.033142 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/09/25/3d-printable-sculpture-shows-off-unpredictable-order-of-chains/ | 3D-Printable Sculpture Shows Off Unpredictable Order Of Chains | Donald Papp | [
"3d Printer hacks",
"Art"
] | [
"3d printed",
"chain",
"kinetic sculpture",
"sculpture"
] | [davemoneysign] designed this
fascinating roller chain kinetic sculpture
, which creates tumbling and unpredictable patterns and shapes as long as the handle is turned; a surprisingly organic behavior considering the simplicity and rigidity of the parts.
3D-printed, with a satisfying assembly process.
The inspiration for this came from [Arthur Ganson]’s
Machine With Roller Chain
sculpture (video, embeded below). The original uses a metal chain and is motor-driven, but [davemoneysign] was inspired to create a desktop and hand-cranked manual version. This new version is entirely 3D-printed, and each of the pieces prints without supports.
According to [davemoneysign], the model works well with a chain of 36 links, but one could easily experiment with more or fewer and see how that changes the results. Perhaps with the addition of a motor this design could be adapted into
something like this chains-and-sprockets clock
?
You can see [Arthur Ganson]’s original in action in the video embedded below. It demonstrates very well the piece’s chaotic and unpredictable — yet oddly orderly — movement and shapes. Small wonder [davemoneysign] found inspiration in it. | 7 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "6516275",
"author": "davi",
"timestamp": "2022-09-25T12:40:21",
"content": "maybe I’m still half asleep here but watching that makes me think about folding and un folding proteins in biology",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "65162... | 1,760,372,549.265652 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/09/24/adding-a-third-wheel-and-speed-boost-to-an-electric-scooter/ | Adding A Third Wheel (And Speed Boost) To An Electric Scooter | Donald Papp | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"hardware",
"Transportation Hacks"
] | [
"brushless motor",
"e-bike",
"electric",
"mountain board",
"scooter",
"throttle"
] | The story of how [Tony]’s three-wheeled electric scooter came to be has a beginning that may sound familiar. One day, he was browsing overseas resellers and came across a new part, followed immediately by a visit from the Good Ideas Fairy. That’s what led him to
upgrade his DIY electric scooter to three wheels
last year, giving it a nice speed boost in the process!
The part [Tony] ran across was a dual brushless drive unit for motorizing a mountain board. Mountain boards are a type of off-road skateboard, and this unit provided two powered wheels in a single handy package. [Tony] ended up removing the rear wheel from his electric scooter and replacing it with the powered mountain board assembly.
He also made his own Arduino-based interface to the controller that provides separate throttle and braking inputs, because the traditional twist-throttle of a scooter wasn’t really keeping up with what the new (and more powerful) scooter could do. After wiring everything up with a battery, the three-wheeled electric scooter was born. It’s even got headlights!
[Tony]’s no stranger to making his own electric scooters
, and the fact that parts are easily available puts this kind of vehicular experimentation into nearly anybody’s hands. So if you’re finding yourself inspired, why not order some stuff, bolt that stuff together, and go for a ride where
the only limitation is personal courage
? | 7 | 2 | [
{
"comment_id": "6516283",
"author": "Gravis",
"timestamp": "2022-09-25T12:59:21",
"content": "I would very much discourage anyone from making a three-wheeler with a single wheel in front. Reducing the ability to lean into a turn means you now have to turn harder. This drastically increase the cha... | 1,760,372,549.326549 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/09/24/animated-led-arrows-point-the-way/ | Animated LED Arrows Point The Way | Jonathan Bennett | [
"LED Hacks",
"News"
] | [
"ESP8266",
"LED Pixels"
] | Visitors at the Garden D’Lights in Bellevue, Washington had a problem. While touring the holiday lights show, they kept straying off the path. The event organizers tried some simple LED arrows, but they were just more points of light among a sea filled with them. This is when [Eric Gunnerson] was asked to help out. He’s apparently had some experience with LED animations, even
cooking up a simple descriptor language
for writing animations driven by an ESP32. To make the intended path obvious, he turned to a PVC board with 50 embedded WS2812 pixels –RGB controllable LEDs. The control box was a USB power adapter and an ESP8266, very carefully waterproofed and connected to the string of pixels. The backer board is painted black, to complete the hardware. Stick around after the inevitable break, to get a look at the final
The description of the build process is detailed and contains some great tips, but without a clever LED animation, it’s still of questionable utility. The pattern chosen is great, with the LEDs being blue most of the time, and a flame-like gradient chasing through the arrow every couple seconds. It’s obviously different from the lights of the show, and seems to be a real winner. [Eric]
has published his code
, with the sheepish caveat that he had to reinvent the wheel once again, and couldn’t reuse any of his previous LED animation work on this one. It’s a simple hack, but a great build log, and an effective solution to a subtle problem. And if addressable LEDs are your thing,
check out our other hacks
!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ViJaHS8k9U | 11 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "6516192",
"author": "The Commenter Formerly Known As Ren",
"timestamp": "2022-09-25T03:29:40",
"content": "Maybe they could use a lighted pathway?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6516205",
"author": "BrightBlueJim",
... | 1,760,372,549.370768 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/09/24/cmos-oscillator-circuit-gets-an-eatable-input/ | CMOS Oscillator Circuit Gets An Eatable Input | Lee Wilkins | [
"Art",
"hardware",
"Musical Hacks"
] | [
"art",
"food",
"oscillators"
] | In interaction designer [Leonardo Amico]’s work
Processing Decay
, lettuce is used as an input to produce sound as an element within a CMOS circuit.
We’ve all seen lemons and potatoes doubling in science-fairs as edible batteries, but lettuce is something else. [Leandro]’s circuit uses alligator clips to insert lettuce into oscillators in this audio generating circuit — we think they’re behaving like resistors. Without refrigeration, the resistance of the lettuce changes, and so does the oscillation in the circuit. In a matter of hours, days, and weeks the cells degrades slowly, modulating the system and its sonic output. What a way to make music!
This hack isn’t the freshest — the video dates from nine years ago — but this is the first lettuce circuit we’ve seen. Of course, we love other food hacks like these
multi-wavelength lasers used to cook 3D-printed chicken
, or maybe the circuit can make use of
this neural net detecting fruit ripeness
. | 9 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "6516151",
"author": "YGDES",
"timestamp": "2022-09-24T23:06:19",
"content": "Did you already forget about the carrot filter ?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "6516156",
"author": "Reg",
"timestamp": "2022-09-24T23:51:03",... | 1,760,372,549.415838 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/09/24/minimal-tic-tac-toe-business-card/ | Minimal Tic Tac Toe Business Card | Stephen Ogier | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"Games",
"hardware"
] | [
"atmega328p",
"business card",
"Electronic games"
] | The PCB business card has long been a way for the aspiring electronics engineer to set themself apart from their peers. Handing out a card that is also a two player game is a great way to secure a couple minutes of a recruiter’s time, so
[Ryan Chan] designed a business card that, in addition to his contact information, also has a complete Tic-Tac-Toe game built in.
[Ryan] decided that an OLED display was too expensive for something to hand out and an LED matrix too thick, so he decided to keep it simple and use an array of 18 LEDs—9 in each of two colors laid out in a familiar 3×3 grid. An ATmega328p running the Arduino bootloader serves as the brains of the operation. To achieve a truly minimal design [Ryan] uses a single SMD pushbutton for control: a short press moves your selection, a longer press finalizes your move, and a several-second press switches the game to a single-player mode, complete with AI.
If you’d like to design a Tic-Tac-Toe business card for yourself, [Ryan] was kind enough to upload the schematics and code for his card. If you’re still pondering what kind of PCB business card best represents you, it’s worth checking out cards with an
updatable ePaper display
or a
tiny Tetris game
.
Thanks to [Abe] for the tip! | 38 | 12 | [
{
"comment_id": "6516104",
"author": "The Commenter Formerly Known As Ren",
"timestamp": "2022-09-24T20:14:41",
"content": "I see he has his finger bandaged in the video.I hope it wasn’t an injury caused by sharp edges somewhere on the card.(Something you don’t want to happen to a potential employer... | 1,760,372,549.485422 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/09/24/trs-80-gains-multiple-monitor-support-and-high-resolution-graphics/ | TRS-80 Gains Multiple Monitor Support, And High-Resolution Graphics | Donald Papp | [
"Retrocomputing",
"Video Hacks"
] | [
"70s",
"basic",
"radioshack",
"tandy",
"trs-80",
"vga",
"vintage"
] | To call [Glen Kleinschmidt] a vintage computing
enthusiast
would be an understatement. Who else would add
the ability to control and address multiple VGA monitors to a rack-mounted TRS-80 Model 1
? Multiple 64-color 640×480 monitors might not be considered particularly amazing by today’s standards, but for 70s-era computing, it’s a different story.
Drawing this sin(x)/x ripple surface can be done in only 17 lines of BASIC.
How does a TRS-80 even manage to output anything useful to these monitors? [Glen] wrote his own low-level driver in machine code to handle that. The driver even has useful routines that are callable from within BASIC, meaning that programs written on the TRS-80 are granted powerful drawing abilities. Oh, and did we mention that
the VGA graphics cards themselves were designed and made by [Glen]
?
Interested in making your own? [Glen] provides all the resources you’ll need to re-create his work, including machine code drivers and demonstration BASIC programs as downloadable audio files, just as they would have been on original cassette tapes.
Watch things in action in the videos embedded below. The first draws a Land Rover, and the second plots a simple Moiré pattern star. Not bad for 70s-era hardware and 74xx logic! | 25 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "6516079",
"author": "Michael Black",
"timestamp": "2022-09-24T17:28:38",
"content": "This makes me think there were graphic upgrades back then. I can’t think if anything specific, but it feels like something that existed. There were lots of small 3rd party companies. Just look at... | 1,760,372,549.547383 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/09/24/honor-your-hacker-heroes/ | Honor Your Hacker Heroes | Elliot Williams | [
"Hackaday Columns",
"Rants"
] | [
"inspiration",
"newsletter",
"why we hack"
] | We recently ran an article on
a sweet percussion device
made by minimal-hardware-synth-madman [Gijs Gieskes]. Basically, it amplifies up an analog meter movement and plays it by slamming it into the end stops. Rhythmically, and in stereo. It’s got that lovely thud, plus the ringing of the springs. It takes what is normally a sign that something’s horribly wrong and makes a soundtrack out of it. I love it.
[Gijs] has been making electro-mechanical musical hacks for about as long as I’ve been reading Hackaday, if not longer. We’ve written up no fewer than
22 of his projects
, and
the first one on record is from 2005
: an LSDJ-based hardware sequencer. All of his projects are simple, but each one has a tremendously clever idea at its core that comes from a deep appreciation of everything going on around us. Have you noticed that VU meters make a particular twang when they hit the walls? Sure you have. Have you built a percussion instrument out of it? [Gijs] has!
Maybe it’s a small realization, and it’s not going to change the world by itself, but I’ve rebuilt more than a couple projects from [Gijs]’ repertoire, and each one has made my life more fun. And if you’re a regular Hackaday reader, you’ve probably seen hundreds or thousands of similar little awesome ideas played out, and maybe even taken some of them on as your own as well. When they accumulate up, I believe they
can
change the world, at least in the sense of filling up a geek’s life. I hope that feeling comes across when we write up a project. Those of you out there hacking, we salute you!
This article is part of the Hackaday.com newsletter, delivered every seven days for each of the last 200+ weeks. It also includes our favorite articles from the last seven days that you can see on
the web version of the newsletter
.
Want this type of article to hit your inbox every Friday morning?
You should sign up
! | 3 | 2 | [
{
"comment_id": "6516081",
"author": "Danjovic",
"timestamp": "2022-09-24T17:40:44",
"content": "“…I’ve rebuilt more than a couple projects from [Gijs]’ repertoire…”That’s the best way of honoring !!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6516531",
... | 1,760,372,549.583049 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/09/24/this-scratch-built-x-ray-tube-really-shines/ | This Scratch-Built X-Ray Tube Really Shines | Dan Maloney | [
"High Voltage",
"Parts"
] | [
"borosilicate",
"copper",
"getter",
"glass",
"titanium",
"tungsten",
"vacuum tube",
"x-ray"
] | On no planet is
making your own X-ray tube
a good idea. But that doesn’t mean we’re not going to talk about it, because it’s pretty darn cool.
And when we say making an X-ray tube, we mean it — [atominik] worked from raw materials, like glass test tubes, tungsten welding electrodes, and bits of scrap metal, to make this dangerously delightful tube. His tool setup was minimalistic as well– where we might expect to see a glassblower’s lathe like the ones used by [Dalibor Farny] to make
his custom Nixie tubes
, [atominik] only had a small oxy-propane hand torch to work with. The only other specialized tools, besides the obvious vacuum pump, was a homebrew spot welder, which was used to bond metal components to the tungsten wires used for the glass-to-metal seals.
Although [atominik] made several versions, the best tube is a hot cathode design, with a thoriated tungsten cathode inside a copper focusing cup. Across from that is the anode, a copper slug target with an angled face to direct the X-rays perpendicular to the long axis of the tube. He also included a titanium electrode to create a getter to scavenge oxygen and nitrogen and improve the vacuum inside the tube. All in all, it looks pretty similar to a commercial dental X-ray tube.
The demonstration in the video below is both convincing and terrifying. He doesn’t mention the voltage he’s using across the anode, but from the cracking sound we’d guess somewhere around 25- to 30 kilovolts. The tube really gets his Geiger counter clicking.
Here’s hoping [atominik] is taking the proper precautions during these experiments, and that you do too if you decide to replicate this. You’ll also probably want to check out our look at
the engineering inside commercial medical X-ray tubes
. | 25 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "6516022",
"author": "Al Williams",
"timestamp": "2022-09-24T12:01:59",
"content": "One of my favorite books as a kid was the collection of Scientific American’s Amateur Scientists columns. Two of my favorite projects I never made were the particle accelerator and the X-ray tube. Tha... | 1,760,372,549.64336 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/09/24/chandelier-mimics-the-solar-analemma/ | Chandelier Mimics The Solar Analemma | Lewin Day | [
"home hacks",
"LED Hacks"
] | [
"analemma",
"home lighting",
"plywood",
"sun"
] | The solar analemma is the shape the sun traces out when photographed each day at the same time and same location for a whole year – but you probably knew that already. [makendo] decided to use this skewed figure-eight shape as the inspiration for a chandelier,
and the results are stunning
.
A laser cutter was used to cut out segments of the analemma shape in plywood, such that they could slot together into the full form. These were then glued together on to a plywood sheet as a template to cut out the full-size form in a single piece. Some laminate edging was then added and the entire thing was given a coat of black gloss paint. String lights were cut up to provide the many globe fittings required, and installed on the back of the chandelier.
[makendo] notes that with a full 51 bulbs in the chandelier, it’s way too bright for most dining room settings. A dimmer is thus used to tone down the output to reduce eyestrain at mealtimes. It’s a fun build, and we’ve always loved light fixtures that are inspired by astronomy. If you like the moon more than the sun, though,
there’s a build for you too! | 14 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "6515997",
"author": "steelman",
"timestamp": "2022-09-24T08:28:01",
"content": "[feature request]: ad circuitry that turns on a single bulb and smoothly transitions between two adjacent two dependng on time of year to reflect actual position of the Sun.",
"parent_id": null,
... | 1,760,372,549.691973 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/09/27/infinite-axis-printing-on-the-ender-3/ | Infinite Axis Printing On The Ender 3 | Tom Nardi | [
"3d Printer hacks"
] | [
"conveyor belt printer",
"infinite bed",
"infinite build volume",
"infinite build volume printer"
] | It’s taken years to perfect them, but desktop 3D printers that uses a conveyor belt instead of a traditional build plate to provide a theoretically infinite build volume are now finally on the market. Unfortunately, they command a considerable premium. Even the offering from Creality, a company known best for their budget printers, costs $1,000 USD.
But if you’re willing to put in the effort,
[Adam Fasnacht] thinks he might have the solution
. His open source modification for the Ender 3 Pro turns the affordable printer into a angular workhorse. We wouldn’t necessarily call it cheap; in addition to the printer’s base price of $240 you’ll need to source $200 to $300 of components, plus the cost of the plastic to print out the 24 components necessary to complete the conversion. But it’s still pretty competitive with what’s on the market.
[Adam] is keeping details of the belt to himself for now.
If there’s a catch, it’s that the only source for the conveyor belt and the modified nozzles used in this design is
[Adam]’s website, PowerBelt3D
. The argument could be made that this is a bit like giving away the razor and selling the blades, but to be fair, it doesn’t seem like there’s anything here that would prevent you from coming up with substitute parts.
We imagine the elongated nozzles (which are necessary to get close to the angled bed) wouldn’t be too bad to make yourself if you’ve got the right equipment. But [Adam] says it
took over two years to develop his Formula32 belt
, so you might have your work cut out for you if you’re looking to produce something similar in-house.
We had
high hopes for early contenders like the Printrbelt
, but perhaps those early attempts were simply ahead of their time. With so many
cheap 3D printers on the market these days to build off of
, we may be on the cusp of a belt-printer renaissance. | 29 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "6517006",
"author": "Nombre",
"timestamp": "2022-09-27T20:21:35",
"content": "Cool. Anyone got an Ali search query for the belt?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6517065",
"author": "totus",
"timestamp": "2022-0... | 1,760,372,549.882437 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/09/27/3d-printing-the-key-to-a-bass-clarinet/ | 3D Printing The Key To A Bass Clarinet | Bryan Cockfield | [
"Musical Hacks"
] | [
"3d printer",
"bass",
"clarinet",
"key",
"levers",
"orchestra"
] | Playing music as part of a group typically requires that not only are all of the instruments tuned to each other, but also that the musicians play in a specific key. For some musicians, like pianists and percussionists, this is not terribly difficult as their instruments are easy to play in any key. At the other end of the spectrum would be the diatonic harmonica, which is physically capable of playing in a single key only. Other orchestral instruments, on the other hand, are typically made for a specific key but can transpose into other keys with some effort. But, if you have
3D printed your instrument like this bass clarinet
from [Jared], then you can build it to be in whichever key you’d like.
The bass clarinet is typically an instrument that comes in the key of B flat, but [Jered] wanted one that was a minor third lower. Building a traditional clarinet is not exactly the easiest process, so he turned to his 3D printer. In order to get the instrument working with the plastic parts, he had to make a lot of the levers and keys much larger than the metal versions on a standard instrument, and he made a number of design changes to some of the ways the keys are pressed. Most of his changes simply revert back to clarinet designs from the past, and it’s interesting to see how simpler designs from earlier time periods lend themselves to additive manufacturing.
While [Jared] claims that the two instruments have slightly different tones, our amateur ears have a hard time discerning the difference. He does use a standard clarinet bell but other than that it’s impressive how similar the 3D printed version sounds to the genuine article. As to why it’s keyed differently than the standard, [Jared] points out that it’s just interesting to try new things, and his 3D printer lets him do that. We’d be happy to
have another instrument in our 3D printed orchestra
, too. | 8 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "6516977",
"author": "James Davidson",
"timestamp": "2022-09-27T19:02:00",
"content": "Diatonic harmonicas can in fact be played in many keys through the use of bends and overblows.https://www.harmonicalessons.com/overview_chart.html",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"repl... | 1,760,372,549.814204 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/09/27/japan-wants-to-decarbonize-with-the-help-of-ammonia/ | Japan Wants To Decarbonize With The Help Of Ammonia | Lewin Day | [
"Hackaday Columns",
"News",
"Slider"
] | [
"ammonia",
"coal power",
"japan",
"power generation",
"power grid",
"power plant",
"power plants",
"shipping"
] | With climate change concerns front of mind, the world is desperate to get to net-zero carbon output as soon as possible. While direct electrification is becoming popular for regular passenger cars, it’s not yet practical for more energy-intensive applications like aircraft or intercontinental shipping. Thus, the hunt has been on for cleaner replacements for conventional fossil fuels.
Hydrogen is the most commonly cited, desirable for the fact that it burns very cleanly. Its only main combustion product is water, though its combustion can generate some nitrogen oxides when burned with air. However, hydrogen is yet to catch on en-masse, due largely to issues around transport, storage, and production.
This could all change, however, with the help of one garden-variety chemical: ammonia. Ammonia is now coming to the fore as an alternative solution. It’s often been cited as a potential way to store and transport hydrogen in an alternative chemical form, since its formula consists of one nitrogen atom and three hydrogen atoms.However, more recently,
ammonia is being considered as a fuel in its own right
.
Let’s take a look at how this common cleaning product could be part of a new energy revolution.
A Clean Burn
Like hydrogen, ammonia is flammable. It also contains no carbon, so it doesn’t produce carbon dioxide during combustion. It has much better energy content by volume, almost double that of hydrogen, though only a third as much as diesel. It’s also much easier to store than hydrogen; it is liquid at just -33°C, compared to liquid hydrogen that must be stored at -253°C. Plus, ammonia doesn’t have the same storage problem as hydrogen, which can creep out through tiny gaps in almost any material,
often damaging them in the process.
Schematic of the Haber-Bosch process. The steam reforming stage is where the major carbon emissions come from. Source: by
Palma
et al
, CC-BY
The concern is around getting this fuel cleanly. Currently, ammonia is made using the
Haber-Bosch process
, which combines hydrogen and nitrogen to make ammonia. Fossil fuels are typically used as a source of hydrogen. In a process called steam reformation, methane from natural gas is turned into hydrogen, but the process comes with significant carbon dioxide emissions. In fact, ammonia production currently makes up about 1% of global carbon emissions.
Green ammonia is the solution, where the hydrogen is instead supplied in a cleaner fashion. This typically involves using hydrogen that is generated by splitting water with renewable energy sources like wind power or solar power. This allows the production of ammonia with far less carbon dioxide emitted, which would otherwise ruin its potential as a cleaner fuel.
For Shipping
The shipping industry is responsible for 2.5% of global carbon dioxide emissions. Efforts have long been trying to reduce the emissions footprint of shipping
across the board
, and ammonia could be the latest tool in that fight.
“
Container Ship
” by Daniel Ramirez
Unfortunately, ammonia’s unique combustion properties mean that it’s not a drop-in replacement for existing marine fuels. These typically include diesels and heavy fuel oils used to run giant, low-speed reciprocating engines, though liquified natural gas is becoming popular as a slightly greener alternative.
Thus, efforts are being made to develop marine engines that can use ammonia as a fuel. MAN has developed
a two-stroke marine engine that runs on ammonia,
and plans are already in place to use the engine to power
tankers
as well
as bulk carriers and container ships.
The company is working on a retrofit package to allow older ships to run on ammonia, too.
Ammonia does present some unique challenges outside of the engine itself, too. Thanks to its lower energy density compared to diesel, a ship that would conventionally use a 1,000 m
3
fuel tank would instead need 2,755 m
3
to go as far using ammonia instead. However, it still beats out hydrogen or batteries as potential options, which would require 4,117 m
3
and 14,000 m
3
to store the same energy respectively.
As with most new fuels, there’s also the problem of infrastructure. Few to no ports currently offer bulk ammonia as fuel, and it’s not really practical to send your ship’s mate down to the local supermarket to pick up thousands of bottles of cleaning product to run the engine. However, if ammonia engines work well in practice, there’s every chance it will catch on, and for the shipping industry to begin a push towards mainstream use of the cleaner fuel.
For Power Plants
Japan has a sophisticated road map for adopting ammonia as a fuel. Credit:
Ammoniaenergy.org
Japan is exploring the use of ammonia
as a co-burning fuel for coal power plants.
The intention is to add 20% ammonia content by calorific value to fuel in these plants in order to reduce carbon emissions. As with many other
cleaner fuel projects
, starting with a blend is less technologically challenging, and also eases the pressure on supply chains. The technology will go into testing in 2023, and it’s hoped the 20% blended fuel will be ready for practical use by 2025. In the longer term, it’s hoped 100% ammonia combustion could be used for power generation, but that goal is set for 2040 or beyond.
A zero-carbon fuel for power generation would be a useful tool to back up renewable sources of energy that aren’t available around the clock. However, ammonia combustion does still create nitrogen oxides, and thus it’s not as clean as options like solar and wind power.
Using ammonia for power generation will increase Japan’s demand for the chemical significantly. Japan only used 1.1 million tons of ammonia in 2019. To meet the goal of 20% co-combustion with ammonia, set for the mid-2030s, Japan would need 20 million tons of ammonia a year. That’s approximately the total amount of ammonia currently traded on the global market, so simply buying more isn’t an option.
Plans are in place to scale up to 3 million tons in the domestic supply chain by 2030. Intentions are to push that up further to 30 million tons by 2050. Much will likely be
imported from overseas
, with industry exploring options to build new terminals to ship in hundreds of thousands of tons a year by sea.
Looking To The Future
If ammonia is to catch on as a cleaner fuel for the future, several dominoes must fall in its favor. Massive production facilities must be rolled out to produce ammonia cleanly and from renewable energy sources. Storage and shipping infrastructure must follow, and the fuel’s performance must be borne out in the real world. It would also need to be cost competitive with
renewable energy options like direct electric from solar and wind,
which is a difficult call in the grid power space.
However, humans feel familiar and safe when it comes to burning fuels for energy, and there are great practicalities to liquid fuels that alternative solutions are still yet to match. Ammonia could thus turn out to be a star in humanity’s march to a cleaner energy future.
Banner photo: “
Osaka Japan
” by Pedro Szekely | 59 | 18 | [
{
"comment_id": "6516938",
"author": "macona",
"timestamp": "2022-09-27T17:12:50",
"content": "I have worked on anhydrous ammonia refrigeration systems, i dont envy the guys that would have to work on these systems.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_i... | 1,760,372,550.129736 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/09/27/current-loop-extends-wired-microphones-past-1-km/ | Current Loop Extends Wired Microphones Past 1 Km | Jenny List | [
"Tech Hacks"
] | [
"cat5",
"current loop",
"microphone"
] | A problem which beset early telephone engineers was that as the length of their lines increased, so did the distortion of whatever signal they wanted to transmit. This was corrected once they had gained an understanding of the capacitance and inductance of a long cable. The same effects hamper attempts to place microphones on long lines, and [Leo’s Bag of Tricks] has
a solution for doing that using Cat5 cable
. The application is audio surveillance, but we think the technique is useful enough to have application elsewhere.
The solution which you can see in the video below the break will be familiar to teletype aficionados who have encountered current loops, in that it creates an analogue current loop. There is a standing DC current in the tens of miliamperes, and this has the audio imposed upon it by an amplifier and shunt transistor. The audio can be easily retrieved using a pair of small transformers, leading to efficient transfer over as much of a kilometer of Cat5 cable. We’re guessing it’s not quite audiophile quality, but it’s useful to know that a current loop can be just as useful in the analogue domain as in the digital. If the subject interests you,
we did a feature on them a few years ago
. | 22 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "6516914",
"author": "k-ww",
"timestamp": "2022-09-27T16:06:28",
"content": "ANd to those that bemoan that the lowly 4-20mA current loop is limited to one device or only one channel of information, I suggest you google the HART protocol, which allows you to parallel multiple devices ... | 1,760,372,550.035357 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/09/27/cursing-the-curse-of-cursive/ | Cursing The Curse Of Cursive | Kristina Panos | [
"Featured",
"Interest",
"Original Art",
"Rants",
"Slider"
] | [
"cursive",
"D'Nealian",
"handwriting",
"ocr",
"Palmer method",
"Spencerian",
"Zaner-Bloser"
] | Unlike probably most people, I enjoy the act of writing by hand — but I’ve always disliked signing my name. Why is that? I think it’s because signatures are supposed to be in
cursive
, or else they don’t count. At least, that’s what I was taught growing up. (And I’m really not that old, I swear!)
Having the exact same name as my mother meant that it was important to adolescent me to be different, and that included making sure our signatures looked nothing alike. Whereas her gentle, looping hand spoke to her sensitive and friendly nature, my heavy-handed block print was just another way of letting out my teen angst. Sometime in the last couple of decades, my signature became
K-squiggle P-squiggle
, which is really just a sped-up, screw-you version of my modern handwriting, which is a combination of print and cursive.
D’Nealian print. Notice the ‘monkey tails’ on every possible lowercase letter.
D’Nealian cursive. Notice the stroke order and the ridiculous capital Q.
But let’s back up a bit. I started learning to write in kindergarten, but that of course was in script, with separate letters. Me and my fellow
Xennial
zeigeistians learned a specific printing method called
D’Nealian
, which was designed to ease the transition from printing to cursive with its curly tails on every letter.
We practiced our D’Nealian (So fancy! So grown-up!) on something called
Zaner-Bloser
paper, which is still used today, and by probably second grade were making that transition from easy Zorro-like lowercase Zs to the quite mature-looking double-squiggle of the cursive version. It was as though our handwriting was moving from day to night, changing and moving as fast as we were. You’d think we would have appreciated learning a way of writing that was more like us — a blur of activity, everything connected, an oddly-modular alphabet that was supposed to serve us well in adulthood. But we didn’t. We hated it. And you probably did, too.
A Fountain of Reinforcement
Was it the rote memorization of these hieroglyphs? The excruciating attention to detail that our teachers seemed to pay to our handwriting when it came to grading literally anything? Maybe it was the fact that in the States, there’s no real rite of passage attached to learning to write in either script or cursive, except that you escaped the bad marks in the penmanship department. Or maybe it was that regardless, eventually you got to use a pen instead of a pencil. I remember being stoked to write in thin lines of indelible blue ink instead of fuzzy, erasable graphite.
Thomas’ first fountain pen. Image via
Lamy
In other countries,
kids are forced at some point to use fountain pens
. According to Editor-in-Chief Elliot, the German kids all go to the store at some point and pick out their first fountain pen, which gave me an a-ha moment. Is this all that’s missing from the Stateside cursive debate? A little
bribery
positive reinforcement? Yeah, maybe. If there’s one thing that’s easier with a fountain pen than a ballpoint, it’s the ability to make more creative letterforms.
Fountain pens
are all about dancing with different pressures to form thick and thin lines in proper balance, whereas hard-pressed
ballpoints
only produce darker, monoline letters.
The Connected History of Cursive
Believe it or not, cursive has gotten easier over time. From 1850 to 1925, the time of widespread adoption of the typewriter, everyone in the US learned
Spencerian script
, which is a wispy, high-contrast hand developed by one Platt Rogers Spencer.
The Palmer method
was meant to simplify Spencerian script, as was the competing
Zaner-Bloser
script, which was developed around 1900. Zaner-Bloser took over with its two distinct alphabets for print and cursive, but the wide differences between the two in the letterforms led to the development of D’Nealian in 1978. By adding ‘monkey tails’ to each print letter, children grew accustomed to the idea that letters could easily be connected together — and start to believe that cursive is much faster than print.
Spencerian script sample. Image via
Wikipedia
The Palmer Method’s alphabets. Image via
Wikipedia
A little bit of Zaner-Bloser. Image via
Wikipedia
A Language More Private Than Pig Latin (or: Cursive Is Subversive)
Believe it or not, each squiggle represents an entire word. Image via
Pinterest
One could certainly argue that it’s 2022 — we’re used to using keyboards of all stripes at this point, which is itself a skill whether you use ten fingers or two thumbs. We don’t leave notes for each other anymore so much as we send texts or even DMs from across the room. If we do handwrite something, it tends to be hasty and scrawled; a product of the time we’re living in. Writing by hand takes patience, even if you’re fast at it. Just one more thing in shortage these days.
So why bother to learn cursive instead of just a nice-looking print hand? Simply put, once you know what’s going on in cursive, you know what to look for, so you get good at reading all kinds of handwriting, cursive or otherwise. (It’s never too late to learn.) And generally speaking, writing in cursive is faster than writing in print.
And like the Boomers say, cursive looks like a foreign or secret language to many people under 25, so feel free to try to use it as one. (But if you really want to weed readers out, learn
Gregg shorthand
— it’s like cursive calculus, or advanced algebra, at least.) My mother most of her working life as a legal secretary, and she could probably keep up with a court reporter’s speed while taking dictation on her steno pad, at least until her hand cramped.
Print In a Digital World
Okay, forget cursive. Why even write by hand anymore when you could takes notes this or that way with your phone or laptop? If you really want to learn or remember something, you just can’t beat writing it down.
We haven’t even begun to talk about the analog-to-digital conversion aspect of merging historically handwritten documents within the world of OCR, talked about the irony of handwriting fonts, or even argued that hard in defense of having nice handwriting. So join me for part two, won’t you?
Main and thumbnail images via
Unsplash | 114 | 45 | [
{
"comment_id": "6516881",
"author": "cliff claven",
"timestamp": "2022-09-27T14:11:05",
"content": "Learned Z-B in grammar school, never any good (they forced me to use my right hand, so I have no idea what other outcome there could have been), and went back to block print as soon as I could. Then,... | 1,760,372,550.38843 |
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