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https://hackaday.com/2020/12/31/cupcake-machine-makes-tasty-if-weird-creations/ | Cupcake Machine Makes Tasty, If Weird, Creations | Lewin Day | [
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"baking",
"cupcake",
"cupcakes"
] | Baking cupcakes is a fun pastime, and one which we imagine many people took up in this year of quarantine and lockdown. However, anything a human can do, a machine can certainly make an attempt at, as [Skyentific] shows with
this roboticized cupcake machine
.
The build will be familiar to anyone who has worked with 3D printers or DIY CNC machines before. A series of stepper motors move a carriage carrying a regulation-sized patty pan. This is filled with dough from a tube, squirted out by a modified electric caulking gun. The carriage then transports it to a small microwave chamber of custom construction. After a minute or so of cooking, it’s then removed, and topping is applied from a further two caulking guns. An Arduino is in charge of the operation, running the show with some stepper drivers, limit switches, and a bank of relays.
The final product isn’t the prettiest cupcake we’ve ever seen, but it’s perfectly edible. We can imagine with some small modifications the device could probably cook batches of four at a time without too much trouble.
We’ve seen other baking robots before, too
. Video after the break. | 13 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "6307831",
"author": "macona",
"timestamp": "2020-12-31T21:14:36",
"content": "I think I would build a little convention oven like an air fryer instead of trying to make a microwave oven.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "6307838",... | 1,760,373,236.546181 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2020/12/31/remoticon-video-the-mechanics-of-finite-element-analysis/ | Remoticon Video: The Mechanics Of Finite Element Analysis | Elliot Williams | [
"cons",
"Hackaday Columns",
"how-to"
] | [
"2020 Hackaday Remoticon",
"finite element analysis",
"mechanical engineering",
"primer",
"strain",
"stress"
] | Hardware hacking can be extremely multidisciplinary. If you only know bits and bytes, but not solder and electrons, you’re limited in what you can build. The same is true for mechanical design, where the forces of stress and strain suddenly apply to your project and the pile of code and PCBs comes crashing to the ground.
In the first half of his workshop, Naman Pushp
walks you through some of the important first concepts in mechanical engineering
— how to
think
about the forces in the world that act on physical objects. And he brings along a great range of home-built
Jugaad
props that include a gravity-defying tensegrity string sculpture and some fancy origami that help hammer the topics home.
In the second half of the workshop, Naman takes these concepts into computer simulation, and gives us good insight into the way that
finite-element analysis
simulation packages model these same forces on tiny chunks of your project’s geometry to see if it’ll hold up under real world load. The software he uses isn’t free by any definition — it’s not even cheap unless you have a student license — but it’s nonetheless illuminating to watch him work through the flow of roughly designing an object, putting simulated stresses and strains on it, and interpreting the results. If you’ve never used FEA tools before, or are looking for a compressed introduction to first-semester mechanical engineering, this talk might be right up your alley.
Naman is a hacker and student who is currently working on a ridiculously inexpensive laptop-in-a-box for the Indian market, and a drone delivery startup. We’re sure we’ll be hearing more from him in the future. | 6 | 2 | [
{
"comment_id": "6307823",
"author": "Fosselius",
"timestamp": "2020-12-31T20:55:33",
"content": "If you want to play around with FEM try FreeCAD, its not that hard to set up FEM and newer versions provide example setups out of the box (0.19).https://wiki.freecadweb.org/FEM_Module",
"parent_id":... | 1,760,373,236.646189 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2020/12/31/this-week-in-security-deeper-dive-into-solarwinds-bouncy-castle-and-docker-images/ | This Week In Security: Deeper Dive Into SolarWinds, Bouncy Castle, And Docker Images | Jonathan Bennett | [
"Hackaday Columns",
"Security Hacks"
] | [
"Bouncy Castle",
"Solarwinds",
"This Week in Security"
] | Merry Christmas and happy holidays! I took Christmas day off from writing the security roundup, coming in a day early with this week’s installment, dodging New year’s day. The SolarWinds story has continued to dominate the news, so lets dive into it a bit deeper.
Microsoft has published
their analysis of Solorigate
, and the details are interesting. The added code was carefully written to blend in with the rest of the code, using the name
OrionImprovementBusinessLayer.Initialize
, which sounds like a perfectly boring-yet-legitimate function. The actual backdoor is obfuscated using zip compression and base64 encoding.
Once this bootstrap code begins, it runs a series of checks before actually doing anything malicious. It waits 2 weeks after installation to do anything, and then checks the system domain name for any indication it’s running in a test environment. It then checks for certain security applications, like Wireshark, and refuses to run if they are detected. This series of checks all seem to be an effort to avoid detection, and to only run in a deployed environment. Even the Command and Control URL that the backdoor uses is constructed to appear benign. Beyond this, it seems that the malware simply waited for instructions, and didn’t take any automated actions. All the attacks were performed manually.
One of the side-effects of the sudden attention given to SolarWinds devices is that a whole slew of other problems will be found and fixed, like
CVE-2020-10148
, an authentication bypass. The most surprising finding, however, is
a *second* backdoor in the SolarWinds code, nicknamed Supernova
. It’s possible that this was an earlier backdoor from the same actors as Solarigate, but the current theory is that it’s a backdoor installed by yet another, unrelated attacker.
Pi-hole Logs Vulnerability
If you have a Raspberry Pi running the Pi-hole software, you might want to patch
a newly discovered vulnerability in the administrative interface
. The issue, CVE-2020-35659, is a cross site scripting vulnerability, where viewing the logfile could allow arbitrary JS to run. The payload is JS embedded in a DNS name, which gets triggered by the log view. While it takes user interaction to view the log file, it’s frighteningly easy to get the malicious DNS request in the log. All it takes is a single resource request in any website visited by any device on the network. The PoC hasn’t been published yet, to give everyone time to update. This isn’t a sophisticated attack, so once the rest of the details are released, it should be easy to adapt the sample for real-world attacks. That said, it’s unclear how useful it is to be able to run arbitrary JS in the context of a Pi-hole.
Bouncy Castle Bypass Bug
“Don’t roll your own encryption” is still a worthy principle, but it doesn’t mean that well-known implementations can’t have problems. In this case, Bouncy Castle’s Java implementation has
a coding mistake in the OpenBSDBcrypt routines
.
doCheckPassword
is the vulnerable function, and it has a particular problem. So first, know that this routine compares Unix password hashes, which are base64 encoded, in the form of
$y$j9T$fUtLoMA0qexwXogYTTY0K.$/jkWehjtTOASsLbYP5CVBxIiEY903Mukb7wtjjpIx4A
. Now, take a look at the vulnerable Java code, and see if you see the problem:
boolean isEqual = sLength == newBcryptString.length();
for (int i = 0; i != sLength; i++)
{
isEqual &= (bcryptString.indexOf(i) == newBcryptString.indexOf(i));
}
return isEqual;
Java isn’t my “first” programming language, but this isn’t particularly hard code to understand, so let’s walk through it. The first line declares the boolean variable
isEqual
, which serves as a state storage for the loop. This will always return true, because earlier code, not shown here, already checks for a length of 60. The meat of this snippet is the for loop, which iterates from 0 to 59. The problem is the use of
indexOf(i)
. The programmer apparently thought this method would return the character at index i, comparing the two strings one character at a time. The problem is that
indexOf
actually does a search for the specified character, and returns the location where it was first found, or -1 if it doesn’t exist. When there is a single integer parameter given to this method, it indicates the character to search for — as a unicode value.
So the above snippet is actually comparing the location of unicode 0 (U+0000) in the two strings, and then comparing the location of unicode 1 (U+0001), through Unicode 59 (U+0059). Unicode is a descendent of ASCII, and inherits its first 128 characters directly from ASCII. Hence, characters 0 through 31 are control codes that will never be part of a password hash. Characters 32-35, 37-45, and 58 and 59 are all symbols that will never be part of the string. 36 is the “$” character, and while that character does appear in the compared strings, it will always be in the same position, as Unix password hashes use it as a separator symbol. Thus, the set of characters that this broken implementation actually checks are the period, the slash, and 0-9. And even then, only the first appearance of each are checked. Since “2” is part of the string indicating that the hash is using bcrypt, it’s also effectively ignored, as
indexOf()
only returns the *first* location a character is found. That leaves us only 11 out of 64 characters that are actually checked, and only their first appearance.
Researchers at Synopsys discovered this bug back in October. In their testing, they determined that every password that used Bouncy Castle’s broken bcrypt implementation was vulnerable to attack. They estimate that about 20% of such hashes can be bypassed in under 1000 guesses. Version 1.67 was released in November, addressing the issue. Ironically, the vulnerability was
introduced in a set of changes
adding constant-time comparisons. Not only is the code broken as discussed, it’s also not time-constant. It took almost an entire year for someone to notice the problem, because the function *almost* does the right thing.
This and That
Threatnix reports on a new phishing campaign
, primarily targeting Facebook credentials. This particular story is interesting because it’s the first time I remember GitHub pages being used to host such a campaign. A bit of sleuthing let the researchers download the list of phished credentials, totalling over 600k.
Friends don’t let friends run untrusted Docker images, at least
according to Prevasio
. Researchers there put together a process to test all four million images on Docker Hub for problems. The results shouldn’t be surprising. About half of those images contain known vulnerabilities. Over 6,000 of those images tested were classified as malicious or “potentially harmful”.
Possibly related to Solarigate, The US’s CISA has published
Sparrow
, a tool for detecting compromised Azure infrastructure. Because it was written by government employees, the code is in the public domain. | 13 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "6307800",
"author": "𐂀 𐂅",
"timestamp": "2020-12-31T19:29:08",
"content": "It would seem that the higher the level of abstraction a language offers the greater the probability that it can facilitate a security flaw based on a conceptual error made by the programmer.",
"parent_... | 1,760,373,236.594338 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2020/12/31/amazon-halo-teardown-is-supremely-thorough/ | Amazon Halo Teardown Is Supremely Thorough | Anool Mahidharia | [
"Teardown"
] | [
"amazon",
"Amazon Halo",
"fitness",
"fitness band",
"fitness tracker",
"halo",
"tracker"
] | We rarely see teardowns this detailed. [txyzinfo] wanted to know what hardware was under the hood, and
did an amazing Amazon Halo Teardown
.
Sometime around the middle of 2020, Amazon jumped on to the health and fitness tracker space with the introduction of the Halo — a $100 device with an add on $4 monthly subscription service if you wanted additional features, which Amazon calls “labs”, many of which are third-party services. The device does not have any display at all, and any metrics that need to be displayed (heart rate, steps, calories, etc.) show up on the Halo phone app. Halo’s focus is more on health, rather than fitness. It helps monitor your active and sleep states, keeps track of body fat, and reports your emotional state.
We won’t delve much in to the pros and cons of the device, other than mention two features which have the potential to creep out most folks. The device has a pair of microphones, which listen to the “tone” of your voice and report on your emotional state. The other is its use of your phone via the companion app, to take photos of you, preferably dressed in your undergarments. Your front, back and side photos get uploaded to Amazon servers, get converted to a 3D model, and then downloaded back to your phone. Amazon mentions that the photos are never retained and deleted from their servers once your 3D model is transferred back to the phone. Amazon’s ML algorithms then calculate your body fat percentage. More worryingly, the app offers a slider which you can move to see how you will “look” if you have higher or lower body fat percentages.
Fortunately for us hardware hacker types, [txyzinfo] wanted to unlock all the secrets Amazon poured into this design. Even if the device in particular does not interest you, the techniques he uses are very educational and will prove a useful addition to your skills. The device does not have any external fasteners, with the back cover being held together with glue. [txyzinfo] starts off by applying a solvent around the back cover to soften the glue, then works with his
spudger
to pry it open. The back cover appears to have an antenna with touch-contact terminations without a connector. The main body holds the rest of the electronics, and can be easily removed by unscrewing the four corner screws. Using a combination of solvent to soften the glue at various points, and snips to cut off retaining plastic tabs, he manages to untangle the hybrid rigid-flex PCB assembly from its plastic-metal clam-shell.
He uses a hot-air blower to cleanly separate the flex PCB parts attached to the rigid PCB. With all the flex pieces removed, he is left with the main part of the device — the rigid PCB with most parts potted under a metal shield filled with what appears to be a soft, grey compound. At this point, we are not sure if the potting compound is for heat dissipation, or just to obfuscate reverse engineering. His next action gives us a severe case of the heebie jeebies, as he clamps the PCB to a milling machine, and mills away the sides of the metal shield. Next, he heats the whole assembly with the hot air gun to melt all the solder, applying some generous amounts of flux, using the spudger to pull apart the PCB from the components embedded in the potting compound. Check out the video after the break to see his tear down techniques in action.
His plan was to identify as many parts as he could, but he wasn’t very successful, and managed to identify just a few — the two MEMS microphones, two temperature sensors and the LED driver on the flex PCB, and the photo-diodes, 6-axis IMU, battery charger and flash memory on the main board. The board has an uncommon 5-layer stack up, with the centre layer being ground. PCB de-layering is a time consuming process and requires a lot of patience, but in the end, he was able to get a pretty good result. He found some oddities in the track layout and was able to identify some of the more common connections to the I2C bus and between the micro-controller and its memory. He also located several test points which seem promising for a second round of investigations. Sometime in the future, he plans to get another Halo and have a go at it using the JTAGulator and GoodFET.
Tear downs are a favourite for all hackers, as is evident by the regularity with which we keep seeing them. If this one hasn’t whetted your appetite, then check out this other
Fitness Tracker Teardown which is a lesson in Design for Manufacture
. | 10 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "6307783",
"author": "WorriedLaughter",
"timestamp": "2020-12-31T18:23:12",
"content": "The future of corporate superglued and drowned in epoxy, unfixable tier hardware looks dark.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6307817",
... | 1,760,373,236.905938 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2020/12/31/still-working-after-all-these-years-the-voyager-plasma-wave-subsystem/ | Still Working After All These Years: The Voyager Plasma Wave Subsystem | Dan Maloney | [
"Current Events",
"Engineering",
"News",
"Original Art"
] | [
"coronal mass ejections",
"electron burst",
"nasa",
"Plasma Wave Subsystem",
"PWS",
"voyager",
"Voyager 2"
] | NASA is always keen to highlight the space agency’s many successes, and rightly so — those who pay for these expensive projects have a right to know what they’re getting for their money. And so the news was recently sprinkled with stories of
the discovery of electron bursts beyond the edge of our solar system
, caused by shock waves from coronal mass ejection (CME) from our Sun reflecting and accelerating electrons in interstellar plasmas. It’s a novel mechanism and an exciting discovery that changes a lot of assumptions about what happens out in the lonely space outside of the Sun’s influence.
The recent discovery is impressive in its own right, but it’s even more stunning when you dig into the details of how it was made: by the 43-year-old Voyager spacecraft, each now about 17 light-hours away from Earth, and each carrying an instrument so simple and efficient that they’re still working all after this time — and which very nearly were left out of the mission’s science payload.
Nice Work If You Can Get It
Don Gurnett in 1961 with one of the University of Iowa’s first satellites, Injun-1. Source:
U. of Iowa
.
The instrument that made the discovery, the Plasma Wave Subsystem (PWS), can trace its lineage back at least as far as 1958. That’s when Donald Gurnett, an electrical engineering freshman at the University of Iowa, took a job in the lab of Dr. James Van Allen, who had recently discovered the radiation belts surrounding Earth that now bear his name. Van Allen and his team had used a special Geiger counter on Explorer 1, the first satellite flown by the United States, and the results were both exciting and foreboding. It was clear that Earth was surrounded by high-energy charged particles, which was a truly new discovery, but it also meant traveling in space may well be lethal. Moritz
recently published a deeper dive into that topic
.
More information was needed, so Van Allen set Gurnett to work on instruments for future satellites to explore the environment close to Earth. The team at the University of Iowa came up with innovative digital telemetry systems to replace the simple analog telemetry links used by Explorer 1 and other early satellites. They also devised a series of space radio and plasma wave experiments, in part to explore natural very-low-frequency (VLF) phenomena known as
sferics
, like whistlers and the “dawn chorus”. The experiments flew on satellite Injun-3 in 1962 and beamed back enough data for Gurnett to build his Ph.D. thesis on.
The lessons learned with these early experiments boosted the nascent field of space radio and plasma wave research and informed the construction of better instruments, which were flown on multiple missions through the 1960s and early 1970s. By then, NASA was deep in the planning stages for the Voyager missions, designed to take advantage of a rare alignment of orbits that would allow a probe to visit the previously unexplored outer reaches of the Solar System with a minimum of maneuvering. Gurnett was among a group of physicists who proposed a plasma wave experiment for Voyager, based mainly on the desire to learn more about the intense radiation belts known to surround Jupiter.
The group’s first proposal for a plasma wave experiment for Voyager was rejected by NASA. It was a bitter disappointment, but the plasma wave community kept after NASA to include some kind of instrument to explore Jupiter’s energetic environment. In 1973, as the clock was ticking to finalize the science payload design for Voyager, Gurnett made a compromise proposal for a plasma wave experiment. The instrument would literally piggyback on an experiment that had already been accepted: the Planetary Radio Astronomy (PRA) experiment. It would share the “rabbit ear” antennas that would be built for the PRA, with a compact spectrum analyzer attached to the enclosure holding the PRA receiver. Mainly on the strength of Gurnett’s proposal, plus the fact that the plasma wave experiment would use only 1.6 Watts of Voyager’s limited power and add only 1.4 kg of mass, NASA accepted the proposal. Soon thereafter, the Plasma Wave Subsystem, which was entirely built at the University of Iowa, was on its way to the outer planets and beyond.
Simple by Design
PRA/PWS package and the shared antenna system. Source:
“A Plasma Wave Investigation for the Voyager Mission”, F.L. Scarf and D. A. Gurnett
.
That the design of the PWS is so simple is probably the key to its success, and has a lot to do with why it’s still running on both Voyagers almost 50 years after launch. The antennas were designed for the PRA experiment but are adequate for measuring the electrical fields of plasma waves (the rejected original proposal included a magnetometer to allow study of the magnetic components of plasma waves). Each element of the antenna is 10 meters long when deployed, set 90° apart. For the PRA experiment, the antennas act as a pair of monopoles, but for PWS they are connected as a balanced dipole.
Storing and deploying 10-meter-long antenna elements in space requires some clever thinking. The PRA/PWS antenna used basically the same technique employed on IMP-6, a satellite in the early 70s that needed antennas up to 45 meters in length. The Storable Tubular Extendable Members antenna, or STEM, was used for both IMP-6 and, in considerably shortened form, on Voyager. It consisted of a sheet of beryllium copper rolled onto a spool, a drive motor, and a forming die. The copper sheet had been formed into a tube before being rolled flat on the spool, and when extended through the die, snapped back into a rigid tube.
The STEM antenna from IMP-6, similar to the antenna mechanism used on Voyager. Source:
U. of Iowa
.
The PWS instrument was also simple by design. Each antenna is connected to a preamplifier with a selectable 40 dB attenuator, to prevent the intense Jovian radiation from swamping the electronics. The output of each preamp feeds into a differential amplifier, whose output is proportional to the voltage difference between the two antennas. This signal is passed through a notch filter to remove noise from Voyager’s 2.4-kHz switching power supply before being fed to a 16-channel spectrum analyzer that covers 10 Hz to 56.2 kHz. The 16 filters in the spectrum analyzer generated output signals from 0 to 3 volts, which are sent to the spacecraft’s Flight Data Subsystem for encoding.
PWS block diagram. Source:
“A Plasma Wave Investigation for the Voyager Mission”, F.L. Scarf and D. A. Gurnett
.
The Long Dark
After the long journey past the orbit of Mars and through the asteroid belt, the PWS finally got a chance to prove itself. During the high-speed flybys of each gas giant, calculated to provide a gravitational assist to the next waypoint, the PWS performed a complete scan through all 16 channels every four seconds. The resulting data was stored on the
Data Tape Recorder
, or DTR, and queued for streaming back to Earth.
Once the Voyager twins had completed their survey of the outer planets in 1989, the Voyager Interstellar Mission began. Planning for the exploration of the lonely black void into which both spacecraft now hurtled had been in the works for quite some time, and it was clear that the PWS would play a major role in whatever discoveries lie ahead. The complex and power-hungry polarimeters, spectrometers, and imaging systems, designed to gather data mainly during planetary encounters, were largely switched off, leaving more power available to the simpler particle detectors and magnetometers, as well as the PWS, to continue exploring the depths of space.
The Sun’s heliopause and the current position of the two Voyagers. Source:
NASA/JPL-Caltech
, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Both Voyagers eventually passed through the boundary where the hot, charged particles streaming out from the Sun, or solar wind, is pushed back by the cooler plasmas of the interstellar medium. The transition through the various layers of rarified plasmas at the edge of the solar system were all noted by PWS data, as was the passage of each spacecraft through the heliopause and into interstellar space, which was marked by a 40-fold increase in plasma density. The PWS was also key to the recent electron-burst discovery.
The Plasma Wave Subsystem, included on the Voyager mission at the last minute, has performed admirably for the last 43 years and has provided us with a detailed picture of what lies at the edge of our solar system. Eventually, and soon now, the plutonium in the Voyager twins’ radioisotope thermal generators will decay to the point where there’s not enough power to keep everything running, but with any luck the Plasma Wave Subsystem will be one of the last instruments to enter its long interstellar sleep. | 49 | 16 | [
{
"comment_id": "6307765",
"author": "Ren",
"timestamp": "2020-12-31T17:24:33",
"content": "Yayy!Thanks for writing the article.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6307774",
"author": "Ren",
"timestamp": "2020-12-31T17:44:56",
... | 1,760,373,236.802467 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2020/12/31/a-novel-micro-desktop-display-for-your-raspberry-pi/ | A Novel Micro Desktop Display For Your Raspberry Pi | Jenny List | [
"Raspberry Pi"
] | [
"display",
"raspberry pi display",
"spi",
"tiny screen"
] | Since its debut back in 2012 there have been a variety of inventive displays used with the Raspberry Pi. Perhaps you remember the repurposed Motorola phone docks, or you have one of those little displays that plugs into the expansion port. Inevitably the smaller options become disappointing as desktop displays, because while the advert triumphantly shows them sporting a Raspberry Pi OS desktop the reality is almost unusable. Until now.
Along comes [igbit] with a solution
in the form of a little SPI display with a different approach to displaying a desktop
. Instead of displaying a matchbox-sized desktop over the whole screen it divides into two halves. At the top is a representation of the desktop, while below it is a close-up on the area around the mouse pointer.
Unexpectedly its mode of operation is very accessible to the non-Linux guru, because it works through a Python script that takes screenshots of both areas and passes them as a composite to the display. An area the size of the magnified window is drawn around the mouse pointer, allowing it to be easily located on the tiny desktop. It relies on the main display being pushed to the HDMI output, so if the Pi is otherwise headless then its configuration has to be such that it forces HDMI use. The result isn’t something that would help you with the more demanding desktop tasks, but it provides a neat solution to being able to use a Pi desktop on a tiny screen.
Of course,
in a pinch you can always use your mobile phone
. | 20 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "6307698",
"author": "Xeon",
"timestamp": "2020-12-31T12:03:21",
"content": "i love it.cool.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6307727",
"author": "Ren",
"timestamp": "2020-12-31T14:24:58",
"content": "agr... | 1,760,373,236.855569 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2021/01/01/diy-injection-molding-press/ | DIY Injection Molding Press | Anool Mahidharia | [
"hardware"
] | [
"handmold",
"hydraulic press",
"injection mold",
"injection molding",
"molding",
"plastic"
] | While 3D printing has now become easily accessible and cheap, there are still several use cases where you need the advantages offered by injection molding, even for small batch runs. Professional small-batch injection molding can be pretty expensive, and buying a manual machine can cost quite a bit. Of course, there are a number of DIY injection molding projects to choose from, but they usually involve a fair amount of tools and labour. [Bolzbrain] wanted to bypass all of the heavy cutting, welding and frame assembly work, so he’s built himself a
DIY Injection Molding Press
for cheap using an off the shelf,
six ton hydraulic press
. At final count, he ended up spending about €150 for the machine and another €120 for tools to build the machine. He also managed to locate a cheap, local CNC service that gave him a good deal on machining the Dies. But of course you can’t put a price on the lessons learnt and the satisfaction of having built it by hand.
Choosing the hydraulic press is a great idea as it provides the high pressure needed for the job without the operator having to exert a lot of effort, which is a big drawback with some of the other DIY machines. As a bonus, the structural frame is quite sturdy and well suited for this purpose. The other main part of such a machine is the heated injection block and there are several different ways of doing it. After some amount of studying probable solutions, he decided to build a heated aluminium block through which the plastic granules can be rammed using the hydraulic piston. Heating is provided by a pair of 500W heaters and a type ‘k’ thermocouple does temperature sensing. An industrial PID controller adjusts the block temperature via a solid state relay. Overall, the electrical and mechanical layout cannot get any simpler.
[Bolzbrain] did a great job of documenting his build over a series of videos and more wizened hackers watching them will squirm in their seats spotting the numerous fails. He bought the cheapest pedestal drill machine that he could buy and watching the drill struggle while making a 26mm hole in the aluminium block is quite jarring.
The electrical wiring has a lot of scope for improvement – with 220V AC heaters, exposed wiring and jury rigged panel held up with a pair of clamps. Installing and removing the die is a task and requires a lot of fiddling with several C-clamps — something which needs to be repeated for every shot. Maybe toggle clamps could help him to ease die fixing and removal. Once he figures out
about mold release agents and wall draft angles
, he won’t have to struggle trying to remove the molded article from the die. Then there’s the issue of proper runner design so that the thermo-plastic can quickly fill the mold cavity completely without any pockets.
But in the end, all that matters is that he is getting reasonably good molded parts for his purposes. With more tweaking and incremental improvements, we’re sure he’ll get better results. The video after the break is a short overview of his build, but the project page has a series of detailed videos covering all aspects of the project. And if you’d like to get an introduction to desktop injection molding, check out “
Benchtop Injection Molding for the Home Gamer
” | 24 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "6308035",
"author": "John Walters",
"timestamp": "2021-01-01T23:02:59",
"content": "Great work !",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6308162",
"author": "boltzbrain",
"timestamp": "2021-01-02T17:16:43",
"co... | 1,760,373,236.714615 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2021/01/01/the-internet-of-christmas-tree-watering/ | The Internet Of Christmas Tree Watering | Jenny List | [
"green hacks",
"Holiday Hacks"
] | [
"capacitive sensor",
"christmas tree",
"huzzah",
"watering"
] | There’s nothing quite like a real Christmas tree, but as anyone who’s had one will know there’s also nothing like the quantity of needles that a real tree can shed when it runs short of water. It’s a problem [RK] has tackled, with
a Christmas tree water level monitor
that has integration with Adafruit’s cloud service to give a handy phone notification when more watering is required.
The real interest in this project lies in the sensor development path. There are multiple ways of water level sensing from floats and switches through resistive and light scattering techniques, but he’s taken the brave step of using a capacitive approach. Water can be used as a dielectric between two parallel metal plates, and the level of the water varies the capacitance. Sadly the water from your tap is also a pretty good conductor, so the first attempt at a capacitive sensor was not effective. This was remedied with a polythene “sock” for each electrode constructed with the help of a heat sealer. The measurement circuit was simply a capacitive divider fed with a square wave, from which an Adafruit Huzzah board could easily derive an amplitude reading that was proportional to the water level. The board then sends its readings to Adafruit.io, from which a message can be sent to a Slack channel with the notification enabled. All in all a very handy solution.
Plant care is a long-running theme in Hackaday projects, but
not all of them need a microcontroller
. | 5 | 2 | [
{
"comment_id": "6307998",
"author": "Dude",
"timestamp": "2021-01-01T19:02:08",
"content": "If you can get the input frequency to around 5-10 MHz and measure the output amplitude with a peak detector, you can largely eliminate the effect of dissolved salts. I was once thinking about using the oscil... | 1,760,373,236.441219 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2021/01/01/domino-layer-lets-you-focus-on-toppling/ | Domino Layer Lets You Focus On Toppling | Lewin Day | [
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"domino",
"dominoes",
"dominos"
] | Knocking dominoes down is a fun pastime for a rainy afternoon, but setting them all up can be a drag. Thankfully,
[Lewis] of [DIY Machines] has built a helpful machine to do the job for you
, letting you focus on the fun part instead!
The machine is run by an Arduino Uno, that can be pre-programmed with a layout or controlled over Bluetooth in real time. It uses a geared-down DC motor to drive around a smooth surface, with a servo for steering. A second servo is used to turn a carousel loaded with up to 130 dominoes, allowing the machine to lay long runs without needing a refill. It’s designed to be easy to change so multiple carousels can be printed to quickly run courses of extended lengths.
The build is a great example of a machine capable of doing a tricky task with ease, thanks to 3D printing and smart design. We’re particularly impressed with the simple domino transport mechanism integrated into the drive system without requiring extra motors or servos.
It’s not the first domino layer we’ve seen, either
. Video after the break. | 12 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "6307972",
"author": "mikeselectricstuff",
"timestamp": "2021-01-01T16:24:33",
"content": "I’ve always wanted to build something like this to lay down a line of 1206 resistors from a reel.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "6307974"... | 1,760,373,236.491219 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2021/01/01/number-bases-stretch-the-mind/ | Number Bases Stretch The Mind | Chris Lott | [
"Software Hacks"
] | [
"base",
"number systems",
"radix"
] | Some of us might solve crossword puzzles or Sudoko games to exercise our minds, but [Nathan Nichols] plays with exotic number systems to keep the brain cells in shape. He wrote the
Hanoi C99
library while in high school, implementing several of his favorites.
We have all been using decimal (base 10) and duodecimal (base 12, as in clocks) since before grade school. Us computer geeks are also adept at various computer-friendly systems like binary, octal, and hexadecimal. The true nerds among us will be familiar with systems like vigesimal (base 20 Mayan numerals) and sexagesimal (base 60 Babylonian numbers). We ourselves espoused the
virtues of seximal (base 6)
a couple of years ago. But if you really want to stretch your mind, take a dive into the weird number systems that [Nathan] has been exploring.
Negabinary
(
base -2
)
The lowest level of weirdness in the group, this one is almost normal. Its the same as binary, except the bit weights have alternating signs:
{ 1, -2, 4, -8, ... }
.
Binarions
(
base -1+i
)
Or
base -1+j
if you studied electrical engineering. The use of complex numbers as radices was proposed by Donald Knuth way back in 1955. We find it really hard to imagine this one being helpful.
Fibonacci base
Numbers can also be represented by the summation of a sequence of Fibonacci numbers. Using this system, a number can sometimes be represented more than one way, so watch out.
Stern-Brocot
tree
A number is represented by its path down the Stern-Brocot tree. One feature of this system is that numbers can be exact. For example, the Stern-Brocot tree representation of one-third has a finite number of digits.
While [Nathan]’s library only performs conversion at input or output, we wonder if someone will take this further and implement an arithmetic unit inside an FPGA. Besides being a fun exercise, it would baffle someone casually trying to reverse engineer your secret calculations. Let us know of any strange number systems you have used or encountered. | 22 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "6307943",
"author": "Mike Massen, Perth Western Australia",
"timestamp": "2021-01-01T12:51:04",
"content": "Fascinating, I’d often wondered in my earlier days just how bases could work beyond mere integers, food for thought especially in some aspects of theoretical physics where num... | 1,760,373,236.97154 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2021/01/01/transforming-drone-can-be-a-square-or-a-dragon/ | Transforming Drone Can Be A Square Or A Dragon | Danie Conradie | [
"drone hacks",
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"drone",
"electric ducted fan",
"modular robot",
"shapeshift"
] | When flying drones in and around structures, the size of the drone is generally limited by the openings you want to fit through. Researchers at the University of Tokyo got around this problem by using an
articulating structure for the drone frame,
allowing the drone to transform from a large square to a narrow, elongated form to fit through smaller gaps.
The drone is called DRAGON, which is somehow an acronym for the tongue twisting description “
Dual-Rotor Embedded Multilink Robot with the Ability of Multi-Degree-of-Freedom Aerial Transformation
“. The drone consists of four segments, with a 2-DOF actuated joint between each segment. A pair of ducted fan motors are attached to the middle of each segment with a 2-DOF gimbal that allows it to direct thrust in any direction relative to the segment. For normal flight the segments would be arranged in the square shape, with minimal movement between the segments. When a small gap is encountered, as demonstrated in the video after the break, the segments rearrange into a dragon-like shape, that can pass through a gap in any plane.
Each segment has its own power source and controller, and the control software required to make everything work together is rather complex. The
full research paper
is unfortunately behind a paywall. The small diameter of the propellers, and all the added components would be a severe limiting factor in terms of lifting capacity and flight time, but the concept is to definitely interesting.
The idea of shape shifting robots has been around for a while, and can become even more interesting when the different segment can detach and reattach themselves to become
modular robots
. The 2016 Hackaday Grand Prize winner
DTTO
is a perfect example of this, although it did lack the ability to fly. | 8 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "6307929",
"author": "irox",
"timestamp": "2021-01-01T10:31:41",
"content": "Welcome to 2021!!!TRANSFORMING FLYING ROBOT SNAKES!Great…..",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "6307932",
"author": "jack324",
"timestamp": "2021-01... | 1,760,373,237.019825 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2020/12/31/diy-8-bit-computer-knows-all-the-tricks/ | DIY 8-Bit Computer Knows All The Tricks | Bryan Cockfield | [
"computer hacks"
] | [
"8 bit",
"ALU",
"clock",
"code",
"computer",
"display",
"diy",
"led",
"programmable",
"schematics",
"seven segment"
] | Some projects are a rite of passage within their respected fields. For computer science, building one’s own computer from scratch is certainly among those projects. Of course, we’re not talking about buying components online and snapping together a modern x86 machine. We mean building something closer to a fully-programmable 8-bit computer from the ground up,
like this one from [Federico] based on 74LS logic chips
.
The computer was designed and built from scratch which is impressive enough, but [Federico] completed this project in about a month as well. It can be programmed manually through DIP switches or via a USB connection to another computer, and also includes an adjustable clock which can perform steps anywhere from 1 Hz to 32 kHz. Complete with a 1024 byte memory, a capable ALU, four seven-segment LEDs and (in the second version of the computer) a 2×16 LCD disply, this 8-bit computer has it all.
Not only is this a capable machine designed by someone who clearly knows his way around a logic chip, but [Federico] has also made the code and schematics available on his GitHub page. It’s worth a read even without building your own, but if you want to go that route without printing an enormous PCB you can always
follow the breadboard route
.
Thanks to [killergeek] for the tip! | 12 | 11 | [
{
"comment_id": "6307902",
"author": "Big Mike",
"timestamp": "2021-01-01T06:28:58",
"content": "Well I see it implements the singular most important instructionFLIFlash Lights Impressively!Well done dude.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "6307909... | 1,760,373,237.065416 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2020/12/31/robotic-melodica-student-is-enthusuastic-but-terrible/ | Robotic Melodica Student Is Enthusiastic But Terrible | Danie Conradie | [
"Musical Hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"max",
"melodica",
"printer"
] | Anyone who has through the process of learning to play a musical instrument for the first time, or listening to someone attempting to do so will know that it can be a rather painful and frustrating experience. [Alessandro Perini] apparently couldn’t get enough of the sound of a first-time musician, so he created
a robot to play the melodica badly
for hours on end, as demonstrated in the video after the break.
The project is appropriately named “AI’ve just started to learn to play”, and attempts to copy every melody it hears in real-time. The robot consists of the cartridge carriage from an old printer, mounted on a wooden frame to hold the melodica. The original carriage used a DC motor with an encoder for accurate movement, but since position accuracy was not desirable, [Alessandro] ditched the encoder. Two small trolley wheels are mounted on the cartridge holder to push down on the melodica’s key. A bistable solenoid valve controls airflow to the melodica from an air compressor. The DC motor and solenoid valve is controlled by an Arduino via a pair of LM298 motor drivers.
A host computer running software written in
Cycling ’74 MAX
listens to the melody it’s trying to imitate, and send serial commands to the Arduino to move the carriage and open the solenoid to try and match the notes. Of course, it keeps hitting a series of wrong notes in the process. The
Arduino code and build instructions have been published
, but the main Max software is only described briefly. [Alessandro] demonstrated the robot at a local festival, where it played YouTube tutorial snippets and jammed with a local band for a full 24 hours. You have to respect that level of endurance.
If listening to less error-prone electronically controlled instruments is more to your taste, listen to this
building-sized pipe organ play MIDI files
. | 9 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "6307887",
"author": "Saabman",
"timestamp": "2021-01-01T04:34:40",
"content": "Is it possible to play the melodica NOT badly ??",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6308037",
"author": "Feinfinger (super villain in nostalgy... | 1,760,373,237.441439 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2020/12/31/augmented-reality-on-the-cheap-with-esp32/ | Augmented Reality On The Cheap With ESP32 | Danie Conradie | [
"Wearable Hacks"
] | [
"3d printed",
"ar",
"augmented reality",
"ESP32",
"lcd"
] | Augmented reality (AR) technology hasn’t enjoyed the same amount of attention as VR, and seriously lags in terms of open source development and accessibility. Frustrated by this, [Arnaud Atchimon] created
CheApR
, an open source, low cost AR headset that anyone can build at home and use as a platform for further development
[Arnaud] was impressed by the
Tilt Five
AR goggles, but the price of this cutting edge hardware simply put it out of reach of most people. Instead, he designed and built his own around a 3D printed frame, ESP32, cheap LCDs, and lenses from a pair of sunglasses. The electronics is packed horizontally in the top of the frame, with the displays pointed down into a pair of angled mirrors, which reflect the image onto the sunglasses lenses and into the user’s eyes. [Arnaud] tested a number of different lenses and found that a thin lens with a slight curve worked best. The ESP32 doesn’t actually run the main software, it just handles displaying the images on the LCDs. The images are sent from a computer running software written in Processing. Besides just displaying images, the software can also integrate inputs from a MPU6050 IMU and ESP32 camera module mounted on the goggles. This allows the images to shift perspective as the goggles move, and recognize faces and AR markers in the environment.
All the design files and software is available on GitHub, and we exited to see where this project goes. We’ve seen another pair of affordable
augmented reality glasses that uses a smartphone as a display
, but it seems the headset that was used are no longer available. | 8 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "6307706",
"author": "vlado",
"timestamp": "2020-12-31T12:57:05",
"content": "Where the eyes do focus with such a setup ? I would think this thing would put a lot of strain on the eyes, and can´t be worn for hours, am I right ?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": ... | 1,760,373,237.728004 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2020/12/30/leds-on-chips-will-give-us-lower-cost-optoelectronics/ | LEDs-On-Chips Will Give Us Lower Cost Optoelectronics | Jenny List | [
"Science"
] | [
"led",
"semiconductor",
"silicon LED"
] | The LED is one of those fundamental building block components in electronics, something that’s been in the parts bin for decades. But while a simple LED costs pennies, that WS2812 or other fancy device is a bit expensive because internally it’s a hybrid of a silicon controller chip and several LEDs made from other semiconductor elements. Incorporating an LED on the same chip as its controller has remained something of a Holy Grail, and now an MIT team appear to have cracked it
by demonstrating a CMOS device that integrates a practical silicon LED
. It may not yet be ready for market but it already displays some interesting properties such as a very fast switching speed. Perhaps more importantly, further integration of what have traditionally been discrete components would have a huge impact on reducing manufacturing costs.
Anyone who has read up on the early history of LEDs will know that the path from the early-20th-century discoveries of semiconductor luminescence through the early commercial devices of the 1960s and up to the bright multi-hued devices of today has been a long one with many stages of the technology reaching the market. Thus these early experimental silicon LEDs produce light in the infrared spectrum often useful in producing sensors. Whether we’ll see an all-silicon Neopixel any time soon remains to be seen, but we can imagine that some sensors using LEDs could be incorporated on the same die as a microcontroller. It seems there’s plenty of potential for this invention.
This research was presented earlier this month
at the IEDM Conference
in a talk entitled
Low Voltage, High Brightness CMOS LEDs
. We were not able to find a published paper, we’d love read deeper so let us know in the comments below if you have info on when this will become available. In the meantime, anyone with any interest in LED technology should read about
Oleg Losev, the inventor of the first practical LEDs
. | 25 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "6307655",
"author": "Greg A",
"timestamp": "2020-12-31T06:22:53",
"content": "From the linked scitechdaily article: “Smartphones, for example, can use an LED proximity sensor to determine if you’re holding the phone next to your face … The LED sends a pulse of light toward your face... | 1,760,373,237.850424 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2020/12/30/magnetocuring-curing-epoxy-with-a-magnetic-field/ | Magnetocuring: Curing Epoxy With A Magnetic Field | Maya Posch | [
"chemistry hacks",
"News",
"Science"
] | [
"curie temperature",
"epoxy",
"epoxy resin",
"nano particles",
"polyepoxide"
] | Who doesn’t love epoxy? Epoxy resins, also known as polyepoxides, are an essential adhesive in many applications, both industrially and at smaller scales. Many polyepoxides however require the application of heat (around 150 °C for most types) in order to cure (harden), which can be complicated when the resin is applied to or inside layers of temperature sensitive materials. Now researchers at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore have found
a way to heat up resins using an alternating magnetic field
(PDF), so-called magnetocuring.
As detailed in the research article by R. Chaudhary et al., they used commercially available epoxy resin and added nano particles of a Mn
x
Zn
1-x
Fe
2
O
4
alloy. This mixture was exposed to an alternating magnetic field to induce currents in the nano particles and subsequently produce heat that served to raise the temperature of the surrounding resin to about 160 °C in five minutes, allowing the resin to cure. There is no risk of overheating, as the nano particles are engineered to reach their
Curie temperature
, at which point the magnetic field no longer affects them. The exact Curie temperature was tweaked by changing the amount of manganese and zinc in the alloy.
After trying out a number of different alloy formulations, they settled on Mn
0.7
Zn
0.3
Fe
2
O
4
as the optimal formulation at which no resin scorching occurred. As with all research it’s hard to tell when (and if) it will make it into commercial applications, but if this type of technology works out we could soon be gluing parts together using epoxy resin and an EM field instead of fumbling with the joys of two-component epoxy.
(Thanks, Qes) | 20 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "6307608",
"author": "Barry Carter",
"timestamp": "2020-12-31T03:26:56",
"content": "replace the filament extruder with a hard drive write head on a stick dipped into a bath of this epoxy. sub mm accurate 3d prints?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
... | 1,760,373,237.579634 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2020/12/30/unbricking-a-segger-j-link-v9-debug-probe/ | Unbricking A SEGGER J-Link V9 Debug Probe | Maya Posch | [
"Microcontrollers",
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"in-circuit debugger",
"j-link",
"segger",
"unbrick"
] | Last year [Emil] found themselves in the situation where a SEGGER J-link debug probe suddenly just stopped working. This was awkward not only because in-circuit debuggers are vital pieces of equipment in embedded firmware development, but also because they’re not that cheap. This led [Emil] to take the device apart
to figure out what was wrong with it
.
After checking voltages on the PCB, nothing obvious seemed wrong. The Tag-Connect style JTAG header on the PCB appeared to be a good second stop, requiring only a bit of work to reverse-engineer the exact pinout and hook up an ST-Link V2 in-circuit debugger to talk with the STM32F205RC MCU on the PCB. This led to the interesting discovery that apparently the MCU’s Flash ROM had seemingly lost the firmware data.
Fortunately [Emil] was able to flash back a version of the firmware which was available on the internet, allowing the J-Link device to work again. This was not the end of the story, however, as after this the SEGGER software was unable to update the firmware on the device, due to a missing bootloader that was not part of the firmware image.
Digging further into this, [Emil] found out a whole host of fascinating details about not only these SEGGER J-Link devices, but also the many clones that are out there, as well as the interesting ways that SEGGER makes people buy new versions of their debug probes.
(Thanks Zelea for the tip) | 23 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "6307571",
"author": "NZSmartie",
"timestamp": "2020-12-31T00:38:46",
"content": "> What I’ve discovered was that the user licenses […] are stored in clear […] and there is one RSA digital signature […]. The signature is derived from the hardware ID of your microcontroller using 6553... | 1,760,373,237.789769 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2020/12/30/alien-inspired-cyberdeck-packs-vintage-atari-800xl/ | AlienInspired Cyberdeck Packs Vintage Atari 800XL | Tom Nardi | [
"Cyberdecks",
"Retrocomputing"
] | [
"alien",
"atari",
"atari 800xl",
"cyberdeck",
"cyberpunk",
"pelican case"
] | Sticking a Raspberry Pi in a Pelican-style case and calling it a cyberdeck has become something of a meme these days, and while we certainly don’t look down on such projects, we recognize they can get a bit repetitive. But we think this one is unique enough to get a pass. Sure [eizen6] mounted a Pi inside of a rugged waterproof case, but it’s simply serving as a display for the real star of the show:
a vintage Atari 800XL computer
.
The overall look of the build, from the stenciled
Nostromo
on the back to the self-destruct warning sticker over the display is a reference to
Alien
. Partly because both the film and the Atari 800 were released in 1979, but also because [eizen6] says this particular aesthetic is simply the way computers should look. The visual style is also meant to signify that the project embraces the old ways despite the sprinkling of modern technology.
A custom cable lets the 800XL run on USB power.
To that end, retro aficionados will be happy to hear that the Atari appears to be completely unmodified, with [eizen6] going as far as nestling the nearly 40 year old computer in foam rather than permanently mounting it to the case. The various cables for power, video, and data have all been terminated with the appropriate connectors as well, so everything can be easily unplugged should the 8-bit machine need to be returned to more pedestrian use.
In the top half of the case, [eizen6] has mounted the Raspberry Pi 3B+, a seven inch touch screen, a USB hub, and a SIO2SD that allows loading Atari disk images from an SD card. Using a USB capture device, video from the Atari can be shown on the Pi’s display with a simple VLC command. With a USB keyboard plugged into the hub, the Pi can be put to more advanced use should the need arise. It’s also worth noting that, thanks to a custom cable, the Atari is running off of a USB power bank. With a second USB power bank dedicated to running the Pi and its LCD display, this retro cyberdeck is fully mobile.
We’ve seen plenty of modern builds that
try and recapture the look and feel of retro computers
, but
very few that actually integrate the genuine article
. While the aesthetic might not be everyone’s cup of tea, we can all appreciate the respect shown for the original hardware in this build. | 21 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "6307523",
"author": "Ren",
"timestamp": "2020-12-30T21:50:19",
"content": "Nice!I do worry that if a random person sees the Self Destruct label, and thinks it is genuine…Well, you know!(No chance of getting that past the TSA!)",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": ... | 1,760,373,238.022513 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2020/12/30/japan-to-launch-wooden-satellite/ | Japan To Launch Wooden Satellites | Chris Lott | [
"News",
"Space"
] | [
"japan",
"Kyoto",
"satellite",
"space debris",
"wood"
] | We may have wooden satellites in just a few years, according to
an announcement this month
by
Kyoto University
and
Sumitomo Forestry
, organizations whose combined roots go back 550 years.
Wood’s place in high-technology has a long track record. During World War 2, wooden boats were used for
minesweepers
, the
Spruce Goose
was designed to circumvent wartime material restrictions, and Britain’s plywood-built
De Havilland Mosquito
had a very low radar cross section. In this century, a man in Bosnia has even built a
Volkswagen Beetle out of oak
.
The newly-announced aerospace project, led by retired astronaut and engineer
Prof Takao Doi
, plans to launch satellites built from wood in order to reduce space debris and hazardous substances resulting from re-entry. We’re somewhat skeptical on the hazardous substances angle (and
we’re not alone in this
), but certainly as a way to help ensure complete burn up upon re-entry, wood is an interesting material. It also achieves a great strength to weight ratio and as a renewable resource it’s easy to source.
Prof Doi has been studying the use of wood in space for several years now. Back in 2017 he began basic research on the
usability of timbers in space (pg 16)
, where his team experimented with coniferous (cedar and cypress) and hardwood (satinwood, magnolia, and zelkova) trees in vacuum environments. Based on successes, they predicted wooden satellite launches in the mid 2020s (their announcement this month said 2023). Sumitomo engineers have not released what kind of wood(s) will finally be used on the satellite.
You might remember Astronaut Doi from an experiment aboard the ISS where he successfully demonstrated flying a boomerang in space (video below), and he’s also discovered two supernovae in his spare time. We wish him good luck. | 48 | 15 | [
{
"comment_id": "6307492",
"author": "macsimski",
"timestamp": "2020-12-30T20:27:45",
"content": "sorry to be a nitpicker.“a man in Bosnia has even built a Volkswagen Beetle out of oak” should be: “a man in Bosnia has even covered a Volkswagen Beetle with oak”and don’t forget the wood gas driven Cit... | 1,760,373,237.527689 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2020/12/30/water-and-molten-aluminium-is-a-dangerous-combination/ | Water And Molten Aluminium Is A Dangerous Combination | Lewin Day | [
"Engineering",
"Hackaday Columns",
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"aluminium",
"aluminium casting",
"die casting",
"foundry",
"industry",
"safety",
"smelting"
] | It is not uncommon for a Hackaday writer to trawl the comments section of a given article, looking for insights or to learn something new. Often, those with experience in various fields will share kernels of knowledge or raise questions on a particular topic. Recently, I happened to be glazing over an article on aluminium casting with interest, given my own experience in the field.
One comment in particular caught my eye
.
And no, the water won’t cause a steam explosion. There’s a guy on youtube (myfordlover, I think) who disproves that myth with molten iron, pouring the iron into water, pouring water into a ladle of molten iron and so on. We’ll be happy to do a video demonstrating this with aluminum if so desired.
Having worked for some time in an aluminium die casting plant, I sincerely hope [John] did not attempt this feat. While there
are
a number of YouTube videos showing that this can be done without calamity, there are many showing the exact opposite. Mixing molten aluminium and water often ends
very
poorly, causing serious injury or even fatalities in the workplace. Let’s dive deeper to see why that is.
The Magic Of Oxide Layers
Many use such demonstrations as a “proof” that aluminium/water explosions are a “myth”. It’s risky, and ignores the very real examples that crop up in industry every year.
One of the reasons aluminium is so prized as a material is for its resistance to corrosion. Raw aluminium readily forms a tough oxide layer when exposed to air, which protects the metal from further corrosion or reactions with many chemicals. This oxide layer can form incredibly quickly, and is one of the reasons why many YouTubers have managed to pour molten aluminium into water without injury. Given the right conditions, the aluminium can form an oxide layer as it travels through the air from a ladle towards a bucket of water. Many use this dangerous, risky demonstration as “proof” that major explosions from aluminium and water are a “myth”.
Of course, get a job at a casting factory and you’ll quickly realise how serious the matter is. It’s not unusual for facilities to entirely ban disposable water containers and soft drinks, for fear a discarded container could end up in a scrap bin and carry moisture into a melt furnace. In my work as a casting engineer, bringing a water bottle or can of soft drink on site carried a warning for the first offence, and instant dismissal for the second. The danger is simply too high to take half-measures where safety is concerned.
Casting operations generally require all employees to watch safety videos that make the risks clear
, prior to working on the casting floor.
Examples of the danger are readily available. Often, incidents can occur
when molten aluminium is poured into a mould containing moisture
. Another risk area is when loading scrap material into a furnace. The scrap aluminium itself can be wet, or bottles containing fluid can be accidentally mixed in with the material. When the scrap is added to the molten metal in the furnace,
huge eruptions can occur
.
Causes of Explosion
The aftermath of a molten metal explosion
in an aluminium furnace. Note the forklift on fire and the molten metal sprayed over a great distance on the floor.
Due to a multitude of factors, intense explosions can happen when molten aluminium and water mix under the right conditions. The first is the most obvious: water coming into contact with molten metal at over 660 °C tends to vaporise into steam nearly instantaneously. The steam rapidly increases in volume, throwing molten metal great distances and this alone can cause serious injury and damage. This also breaks up the molten aluminium, known as fragmentation. This has the effect of causing greater mixing between the molten metal, and the water and steam. This further increases the rate of heat transfer to the fluid, and increases the rate of reaction between the steam and aluminium due to the greater surface area in contact between the two.
The Bonnell aluminium plant was severely damaged, and five workers injured,
by an explosion in 2016.
Additionally, the chemical reaction between water and aluminium only adds to the intensity of the explosion. In this case, aluminium atoms react with water molecules, forming aluminium oxide and hydrogen gas. This is an exothermic reaction which releases a great deal of heat — over 2.5 times the amount generated by a similar amount of nitroglycerin. Naturally, the hydrogen gas generated is then free to combust with oxygen in the surrounding atmosphere. Furthermore, any molten aluminium atomised by the explosion can then go on to rapidly oxidise in the air, too, releasing more heat in the process.
A combination of all these factors can lead to incredibly violent explosions. Little more than a single misplaced water bottle is capable of blowing apart an entire casting factory under the worst conditions.
Characterising Incidents
Categories for classifying molten aluminium explosion incidents.
Of course, not every incident goes down the same way. A wide variety of factors can influence the severity of such an explosion, from minor to catastrophic. The Aluminium Association groups incidents into three categories, depending on the severity of the explosion. Force1 events are minor, often concerning the splashing of molten metal of distances up to 15 feet. Force 2 events are more serious, with metal sprayed up to 50 feet away and with loud explosions and a release of light. Finally, Force 3 events tend be loud enough to be seriously painful, with metal thrown over 50 feet and generally causing major structure damage. Force 3 events are thankfully, rare, but often tend to destroy most of the facility they occur in.
The annual report of the Aluminium Association notes just 1 event in 2019, thankfully with no loss of life.
Overall, the aim of this article is to highlight that anecdotal evidence cannot be used to declare something safe. It pays to do your own research, and get information from professionals before trying something that could possibly injure yourself or others. Happy hacking out there, and keep it safe! | 70 | 27 | [
{
"comment_id": "6307451",
"author": "Andy Pugh",
"timestamp": "2020-12-30T18:12:05",
"content": "I have a small scar on my forearm from when I put a not-quite-dry piece of steel into a salt bath while working as a research metallurgist.And my mother likes to recount how her medical records mention ... | 1,760,373,237.962644 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2020/12/30/boston-dynamics-dancing-bots-beg-for-your-love-a-la-napoleon-dynamite/ | Boston Dynamics’ Dancing Bots Beg For Your Love A La Napoleon Dynamite | Mike Szczys | [
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"atlas",
"atlas robot",
"boston dynamics",
"dance-off",
"dancing robot",
"Napoleon Dynamite",
"spot"
] | How do you get people to love you and sidestep existential fear of robots eclipsing humans as the solar system’s most advanced thinking machines?
You put on a dance routine to the music of Berry Gordy
.
The video published by Boston Dynamics shows off a range of their advanced robots moving as if they were humans, greyhounds, and ostriches made of actual flesh. But of course they aren’t, which explains the safety barriers surrounding the dance floor and that lack of actual audio from the scene. After picking our jaws up off the floor we began to wonder what it sounds like in the room as the whine of motors must certainly be quite impressive —
check out the Handle video from 2017 for an earful of that
. We also wonder how long a dance-off of this magnitude can be maintained between battery swaps.
Anthropomorphism (or would it be canine-pomorphism?) is trending this year. We saw the
Spot robot as part of a dance routine
in an empty baseball stadium back in July. It’s a great marketing move, and this most recent volley from BD shows off some insane stunts like the en pointe work from the dog robot while the Atlas humanoids indulge in some one-footed yoga poses. Seeing this it’s easy to forget that these machines lack the innate compassion and empathy that save humans from injury when bumping into one another. While our robotic future looks bright, we’re not in a rush to share the dance floor anytime soon.
Still, it’s an incredible tribute to
the state of the art in robotics
— congratulations to the roboticists that have brought use here. Looking back eleven and a half years to
the first time we covered these robots
here on Hackaday, this seems more like CGI movie footage than real life. What’s more amazing?
Hobby builds that are keeping up with this level of accomplishment
. | 77 | 21 | [
{
"comment_id": "6307426",
"author": "Mike",
"timestamp": "2020-12-30T16:45:36",
"content": "And thus Skynet comes not with a bang… but with a dance.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6307428",
"author": "abjq",
"timestamp": "202... | 1,760,373,238.210129 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2020/12/30/solar-flares-and-radio-communications-how-precarious-are-our-electronics/ | Solar Flares And Radio Communications — How Precarious Are Our Electronics? | Al Williams | [
"Current Events",
"Featured",
"Interest",
"Original Art",
"Radio Hacks",
"Slider"
] | [
"noaa",
"radio propagation",
"solar flare"
] | On November 8th, 2020 the Sun exploded. Well, that’s a bit dramatic (it explodes a lot) — but a particularly large sunspot named AR2781 produced a C5-class solar flare which is a medium-sized explosion even for the Sun. Flares range from A, B, C, M, and X with a zero to nine scale in each category (or even higher for giant X flares). So a C5 is just about dead center of the scale. You might not have noticed, but if you lived in Australia or around the Indian Ocean and you were using radio frequencies below 10 MHz, you would have noticed since the flare caused
a 20-minute-long radio blackout at those frequencies
.
According to
NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center
, the sunspot has the energy to produce M-class flares which are an order of magnitude more powerful. NOAA also has
a scale for radio disruptions
ranging from R1 (an M1 flare) to R5 (an X20 flare). The sunspot in question is facing Earth for the moment, so any new flares will cause more problems. That led us to ask ourselves: What if there were a major radio disruption?
Sol Versus Ionospheric Propagation
This happens more often than you might think. In October, AR2775 set off two C flares and while plasma from the flare didn’t hit Earth, UV radiation caused a brief radio outage over South America. The X-ray and UV radiation travel at the same speed as light, so by the time we see a flare, it is too late to do anything about it, even if we could.
The effects are mostly related to the propagation of radio waves via the ionosphere. In the 1700s, who would care? In the mid 20th century, though, lots of things relied on this property of high-frequency radio waves. Today, it might not matter nearly as much.
If you own a shortwave radio, you may have noticed there isn’t as much to listen to broadcast-wise as there was decades ago. Broadcasters that want to reach an international audience use the Internet to do that now unless they are targeting a part of the world where Internet is rare or restricted. Even the AM radio band isn’t the mainstay it used to be. Many people listen to FM (which propagates differently), satellite radio, or they stream audio from the Internet. Sure, that uses radio, but not ionosphere propagation.
Intercontinental Transit
Perhaps the biggest commercial users of the radio bands now are transoceanic aviation and ships at sea, but even then, many of those uses are now using satellites and much higher frequencies. Ham radio operators are still there, of course, as are some time and frequency standard stations like WWV. While there were some radio frequency navigation systems like LORAN and Gee, these are nearly all gone in favor of GPS.
Would a disruption of these services be a big deal? Probably not, although if you are on a plane or at sea, you might get a little tense. Then again, it just depends on how important that radio device is to you and how many alternatives you have.
Then again, truly big events — so-called
Carrington events
— can affect a lot of electronics directly. The insurance industry thinks it could run up to $2.6 trillion in damages. Worried? Maybe keep an eye on the
space weather channel
. If you are interested in what the United States government would do if we had another Carrington-level event, they have it
all written out
. Honestly, though, the plan seems to be, in summary, do better forecasts and develop new technology. FEMA has an
info-graphic
that asserts that a solar flare could affect your toilet, although it seems like it would take quite a while for that to happen. It is a bit more interesting to read their excellent but
unreleased memo on the topic
. The maps on page 16 and 17 showing where the power grid is vulnerable to geomagnetic storms is particularly interesting. | 38 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "6307389",
"author": "RW ver 0.0.1",
"timestamp": "2020-12-30T15:26:00",
"content": "I got to wondering recently if dire predictions of EMP events “killing every transistor” are more based in the relative delicacy of 60s germanium, upon which silicon bipolars improved, then upon whic... | 1,760,373,238.098532 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2020/12/30/improve-attiny-timing-accuracy-with-this-clock-calibrator/ | Improve ATtiny Timing Accuracy With This Clock Calibrator | Jenny List | [
"ATtiny Hacks"
] | [
"attiny",
"calibration",
"clock calibration",
"clock frequency"
] | The smaller ATtiny microcontrollers have a limited number of pins, and therefore rely on an internal 9.6 MHz oscillator rather than an external crystal. This oscillator lacks the accuracy of a crystal so individual chips can vary over a significant tolerance from the nominal figure. Happily the resulting timing inaccuracies can be mitigated through a calibration process, and [Stefan Wagner] has incorporated this into his
Tiny Calibrator
. In addition, it also has the required charge pump circuitry to reset the internal fuses to rescue “bricked” ATtinys, thus allowing those little mistakes to be salvaged.
The board has its own larger ATtiny with a crystal oscillator and an OLED screen, allowing it to measure that of the test ATtiny and generate a correction factor which it applies to the chip. This process is repeated until there is the smallest possible difference from the standard. You can find
the files for the hardware on EasyEDA
, and
the software in a GitHub repository
.
It’s important to state that the result will never be as stable as a crystal so you’d be well advised not to put too much trust in those timers, but at least they won’t be as far off the mark as when shipped. All in all this is a handy board to have at hand should you be developing for the smaller ATtiny chips.
Be careful when chasing clock accuracy —
it can lead you down a rabbit hole
. | 13 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "6307350",
"author": "Cyna",
"timestamp": "2020-12-30T12:28:30",
"content": "Or just buy a newer and cheaper MCU with a more precise internal clock…",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6307401",
"author": "Bunsen",
... | 1,760,373,238.258053 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2020/12/30/amiga-now-includes-hdmi-by-way-of-a-raspberry-pi-daughterboard/ | Amiga Now Includes HDMI By Way Of A Raspberry Pi Daughterboard | Jenny List | [
"Raspberry Pi",
"Retrocomputing"
] | [
"amiga",
"hdmi",
"raspberry pi"
] | If you had an Amiga during the 16-bit home computer era it’s possible that alongside the games and a bit of audio sampling you had selected it because of its impressive video capabilities. In its heyday the Amiga produced broadcast-quality graphics that could even be seen on more than a few TV shows from the late 1980s and early 1990s. It’s fair to say though that the world of TV has moved on since the era of Guru Meditation, and an SD video signal just won’t cut it anymore. With HDMI as today’s connectivity standard, [c0pperdragon] is here to help by way of
a handy HDMI upgrade
that taps into the digital signals direct from the Amiga’s Denise chip.
At first thought one might imagine that an FPGA would be involved, however instead the signals are brought out via a daughterboard to the expansion header of a Raspberry Pi Zero. Just remove the DENISE display encoder chip and pop in the board with uses a long-pinned machined DIP socket to make the connections. The Pi runs software from the
RGBtoHDMI
project originally created with the BBC Micro in mind, to render pixel-perfect representations of the Amiga graphics on the Pi’s HDMI output. The caveat is that it runs on the original chipset Amigas and only some models with the enhanced chipset, so it seems Amiga 600 owners are left in the cold. A very low latency is claimed, which should compare favourably with some other solutions to the same problem.
This isn’t the first time we’ve seen an HDMI Amiga conversion
, but it’s one that’s usable on more than simply the big-box machines. | 34 | 13 | [
{
"comment_id": "6307319",
"author": "fanoush",
"timestamp": "2020-12-30T09:31:00",
"content": "Well, FPGA is involved here. There is extra hat with programmed Xilinx CPLD that captures video signals and feeds it into Zero, seehttps://github.com/hoglet67/RGBtoHDMI/wiki/Hardware-Guideand vhdl source ... | 1,760,373,238.433324 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2020/12/29/more-3d-printed-ikea-hacks-make-life-better/ | More 3D Printed IKEA Hacks Make Life Better | Al Williams | [
"3d Printer hacks",
"home hacks"
] | [
"3d printing",
"ikea",
"ikea hacks"
] | There’s an old joke that the CEO of IKEA is running to be Prime Minister of Sweden. He says he’ll be able to put together his cabinet in no time. We don’t speak Swedish, but [Adam Miklosi] tells us that the word “uppgradera” means “upgrade” in Swedish.
His website, uppgradera.co
has several IKEA upgrade designs you can 3D print.
There are currently six designs that all appear to be simple prints that have some real value. These are all meant to attach to some IKEA product and solve some consumer problem.
For example, the KL01 is a cup holder with a clip that snaps into the groove of a KLIPSK bed tray. Without it, apparently, your coffee mug will tend to slide around the surface of the tray. The CH01 adds a ring around a cheese grater. There are drains for a soap dish and a toothbrush holder, shoulder pads for coat hangers, and a lampshade.
We worry a little about the safety of the cheese grater and the toothbrush because you will presumably put the cheese and the toothbrush into your mouth. Food safe 3D printing is
not trivial
. However, the other ones look handy enough, and we know a lot of people feel that PLA is safe enough for things that don’t make a lot of contact with food.
Honestly, none of these are going to change your life, but they are great examples of how simple things you can 3D print can make products better. People new to 3D printing often seem to have unrealistic expectations about what they can print and are disappointed that they can’t easily print a complete robot or whatever. However, these examples show that even simple designs that are easily printed can be quite useful.
If you don’t have a printer, it looks like as though site will also sell you the pieces and they aren’t terribly expensive. We don’t know why IKEA invites
so many hacks
, but even they
provide 3D printer files
to improve the accessibility of some products. | 28 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "6307292",
"author": "Andrew",
"timestamp": "2020-12-30T06:31:13",
"content": "Food safe 3D printing is trivial. It’s the dose that makes the poison.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6307305",
"author": "Donald Drumpf",
... | 1,760,373,238.365827 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2020/12/29/high-tech-photos-capture-snowflakes-like-never-before/ | High Tech Photos Capture Snowflakes Like Never Before | Al Williams | [
"digital cameras hacks"
] | [
"microphotgraphy",
"microscopy",
"snow"
] | Microscopy used to be a rarity in the hobby electronics world. But anyone doing lab work has always needed a microscope and with today’s tiny parts, it is almost a necessity. However, [Nathan Myhrvold] didn’t use an ordinary microscope to capture some
beautiful snowflake pictures
. According to [My Modern Met], the pictures are the highest resolution snowflake pictures ever taken.
Of course, the site is more interested in the visual aspect of it, but they did provide some clues about the tech behind the pictures. According to the site:
Myhrvold used a special camera of his own design. He combined the magnifying power of a microscopic lens.. with a specially designed optical path. This path allowed the lens to channel its image to a medium-format digital sensor… In addition, the camera featured a cooling stage upon which the tiny specimens could rest. With LED short-pulse lights and a shutter speed of less than 500 microseconds, Myhrvold was able to capture multiple images of each snowflake at different focal lengths. These images were then stacked to create the final image.
As you might expect, [Myhrvold] isn’t a weekend photographer. He holds a PhD in Physics and did post doc work with Stephen Hawking at Cambridge. He was Microsoft’s Chief Technology Officer for a time and then founded a
company merging cooking and photography
, where these are available as prints.
According to the post’s interview with [Myhrvold], it took 18 months to design and build the camera. It helped to take the pictures on location where it was quite cold. You’d think colder would be better, but apparently there is a sweet spot where the snowflakes don’t clump together nor do they dry out. Also using the cooling stage and pulsed LEDs help in not melting the snowflake before the picture completes.
We wonder what photograph or microphotograph rigs you’ve built? Most of the microscope hacks we see are a
little less involved
. Hooking up a
camera
is a common affair, but we haven’t seen refrigeration and light modulation before.
Photo Credit: Ice Queen by [Nathan Myhrvold] | 18 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "6307264",
"author": "Paula",
"timestamp": "2020-12-30T04:12:55",
"content": "Amazing what whimsy and an unlimited budget can do. From the same guy who brought you the million dollar laser to shoot down mosquitoes one by one, in respond to Bill Gates’ challenge to fight malaria.But…... | 1,760,373,238.310182 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2020/12/29/federal-aviation-administration-announces-major-drone-rule-changes/ | Federal Aviation Administration Announces Major Drone Rule Changes | Dan Maloney | [
"drone hacks",
"News"
] | [
"drone",
"faa",
"Federal Aviation Administration",
"laws",
"regulations",
"Remote ID",
"rules",
"uav"
] | If
new rules from the FAA regarding unmanned aircraft operations in the US
are any indication, drones are becoming less of a niche hobby and more integrated into everyday life. Of course, the devil is in the details, and what the Federal Aviation Administration appears to give with one hand, it takes away with the other.
The rule changes, announced on December 28, are billed as “advanc[ing] safety and innovation” of the drone industry in the United States. The exciting part, and the aspect that garnered the most attention with headline writers, is the relaxation of rules against night operation and operating above people and moving vehicles. Since 2016, it has been against FAA regulations to operate drones less than 55 pounds (25 kg) at night or over people without a waiver. This rule can be seen as stifling innovations in drone delivery, since any useful delivery service will likely need to overfly populated areas and roadways and probably do so at night. The new rules allow these operations without a waiver for four categories of drones, classified by how much damage they would do if they were to lose control and hit someone. The rules also define the inspection and certification regimes for both aircraft and pilot, as well as stipulating that operators have to have their certificate and ID on their person while flying.
While this seems like great news, the flip side of the coin is perhaps less shiny. The rule changes also impose the requirement for
“Remote ID”
(PDF link), which is said to be “a major step toward full integration of drones into the national airspace system.” Certain drones will be required to carry a system that transmits identification messages directly from the aircraft, including such data as serial number, location and speed of the drone, as well as the location of the operator. The rules speculate that this would likely be done over WiFi or Bluetooth, and would need to be receivable with personal wireless devices. The exact technical implementation of these rules is left as an exercise to manufacturers, who have 30 months from the time the rules go into effect in January to design systems, submit them for certification, and get them built into their aircraft. Drone operators have an additional year to actually start using the Remote ID drones.
For the drone community, these rule changes seem like a mixed bag. To be fair, it’s not exactly unexpected that drones would be radio tagged like this, and the lead time allowed by the FAA for compliance on Remote ID seems generous. The ability to operate in riskier environments will no doubt be welcomed by commercial drone operators. So who knows — maybe the rules will do what they say they will, and this will stimulate a little innovation in the industry. If so, it could make this whole thing a net positive. | 61 | 17 | [
{
"comment_id": "6307220",
"author": "CRJEEA",
"timestamp": "2020-12-30T00:20:17",
"content": "Here’s betting the government will take advantage of this.I wouldn’t mind if we were entitled to shoot them down. (;",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": ... | 1,760,373,239.155166 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2020/12/29/magnetic-motorized-plasma-cutter-track/ | Magnetic Motorized Plasma Cutter Track | Danie Conradie | [
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"metal working",
"plasma cutter",
"workshop from scratch"
] | Affordable plasma cutters are becoming a popular step up from an angle grinder for cutting sheet metal in the home workshop, but cutting long straight lines can be laborious and less than accurate. [Workshop From Scratch] was faced with this problem, so he built a
motorized magnetic track for his plasma cutter
.
Thanks to a pair of repurposed electromagnetic door looks and adjustable base width, the track can be mounted on any piece of magnetic steel. The track itself consists of a pair of linear rods, with the torch mounts sliding along on linear bearings. A lead screw sits between the two linear rods, and is powered by an old cordless drill with the handle cut off. Its trigger switch was replaced by a speed controller and two-way switch for direction control, and a power supply took the place of the battery. The mounting bracket for the plasma torch is adjustable, allowing the edge of the steel to be cut at an angle if required.
While limit switches on the end of the track might be a preferable option to prevent sliding base to hit the ends of the tracks, the clutch in the electric drill should be good enough to prevent damage if the operator is distracted.
[Workshop From Scratch] is really living up to the name of his YouTube channel, having built many of the other tools used in the video himself. Just a few examples are the
XY-table
,
hydraulic adjustable workbench
and
hydraulic shop crane
.
j | 10 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "6307207",
"author": "Dane",
"timestamp": "2020-12-29T23:09:13",
"content": "Nice build! I like the extension-tube thing for the cabling!What plasma cutter is it using?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "6307208",
"author": "Sla... | 1,760,373,238.926148 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2020/12/29/remoticon-video-from-zero-to-asic-how-to-design-in-silicon/ | Remoticon Video: From Zero To ASIC; How To Design In Silicon | Mike Szczys | [
"cons",
"Hackaday Columns"
] | [
"2020 Hackaday Remoticon",
"ASIC",
"silicon design",
"skywater",
"skywater-pdk",
"workshop"
] | Designing your own integrated circuits as a one-person operation from your home workshop sounds like science fiction. But 20 years ago, so did rolling your own circuit boards to host a 600 MHz microcontroller with firmware you wrote yourself. Turns out silicon design isn’t nearly as out of reach as it used to be and
Matt Venn shows us the ropes in his
Zero to ASIC
workshop
.
Held during the 2020 Hackaday Remoticon, this is a guided tour of the tools used in the Skywater PDK — the Process Design Kit that is an open-source ASIC toolkit produced in a partnership between Google and SkyWater Technology. We covered the news
when first announced back in June
, but this the most comprehensive look we’ve seen into the actual design process.
Drawing N-channel MOSFET in silicon
Matt builds up the demo starting from the very simple design of an N-channel MOSFET with click-and-drag tools similar to graphics editing software. The good news it that although you
can
draw your own structures like this, for digital designs you won’t have to. A wide variety of IP has been
contributed to the open source project
allowing basic building blocks to be pulled in using HDL. However, the power of drawing structures will certainly be the playground for those needing analog design as part of their projects.
As with EDA software used for circuit boards, the PDK includes design rule checks to ensure you aren’t violating the limits of the 130 nm chip fab. There’s some other black magic in there too, as Matt specifically mentions an antenna rules check to safeguard your design from being fried by induced current on “large” (microscopically so) metalized runs during the fabrication process.
Part of a massive logic flow chart for an IC counter design
The current workflow involves grinding through a large number of configuration files, something Matt admits took him a long time to wrap his head around. However, what’s available for proofing your design is very impressing. He demonstrates SPICE simulation to calculate timings, and shows numerous examples of verification drawings generated by the compilation process, either in the form of seeing the structures as they will be laid out, or as logical flow charts. This is crucial as a single run will take 2-3 months to come back from fab — you want to get things right before buttoning up the project. Incidentally, that’s know as “tapeout”, a term you’ve likely heard before
and he says it comes from reels of magnetic tape containing the design being removed from the computer and sent to production. Who knew?
(This tidbit in strikethrough appears to be incorrect).
But wait, there’s more to this than just designing the things. Part of the intrigue of the Skywater-PDK project is that Google bought into covering a group run about once per quarter so that open-source designs can be ganged onto a multi-project wafer free of charge to the people submitting them. That’s pretty awesome and we’re giddy to hear news of people getting their wafer-level chip scale devices —
also known as flip chips
— back for testing. Matt is
planning a more in-depth paid course
on the topic. For now, get a taste of what’s involved from this excellent workshop found after the break. | 19 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "6307165",
"author": "Alan Kilian",
"timestamp": "2020-12-29T20:02:52",
"content": "“Incidentally, that’s know as “tapeout”, a term you’ve likely heard before and he says it comes from reels of magnetic tape containing the design being removed from the computer and sent to production... | 1,760,373,239.055466 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2020/12/29/seeking-enlightenment-the-quest-to-restore-vision-in-humans/ | Seeking Enlightenment: The Quest To Restore Vision In Humans | Maya Posch | [
"Hackaday Columns",
"Medical Hacks",
"Science"
] | [
"blindness",
"genetic editing",
"phosphene",
"utah array",
"visual impairment"
] | Visual impairment has been a major issue for humankind for its entire history, but has become more pressing with society’s evolution into a world which revolves around visual acuity. Whether it’s about navigating a busy city or interacting with the countless screens that fill modern life, coping with reduced or no vision is a challenge. For countless individuals, the use of braille and accessibility technology such as screen readers is essential to interact with the world around them.
For refractive visual impairment we currently have a range of solutions, from glasses and contact lenses to more permanent options like
LASIK
and similar which seek to fix the refractive problem by burning away part of the cornea. When the eye’s lens itself has been damaged (e.g. with
cataracts
), it can be replaced with an artificial lens.
But what if the retina or optic nerve has been damaged in some way? For individuals with such (nerve) damage there has for decades been the tempting and seemingly futuristic concept to restore vision, whether through biological or technological means. Quite recently, there have been a number of studies which explore both approaches, with promising results.
Setting the Scene
Schematic diagram of the human eye.
In the developed world, the
leading causes of blindness
are age-related macular degeneration (
AMD
),
diabetic retinopathy
and
glaucoma
. Of note here is that the treatment of cataracts and refractive issues has massively decreased the total number of total blindness cases compared to the developing world, leaving types of visual impairment which are hard to treat.
In the three aforementioned causes of blindness, the retina is damaged due to a variety of causes, destroying either part of the retina (e.g. mostly the macula with macular degeneration) or the entire retina, often in a slow progression of the loss of visual acuity until no functional retinal structure remains. In these cases, as well as in conditions where e.g. the retina becomes detached from the back of the eye (retinal detachment, e.g. due to blunt trauma), the optic nerve and processing centers of the brain remain intact and functional.
As most types of vision loss including those from
childhood blindness
feature an undamaged visual cortex, a lot of the focus on restoring vision has consequently been on this part of the brain. Many studies have focused on developing prostheses that replace the functionality of the eye including the retina and optic nerve. More recently, the possibility of restoring functionality of a damaged retina and optic nerve by having the tissue regrow itself have been examined as well.
The Genetic Time Machine
OSK-induced axon regeneration visualized in optic nerve (mouse).
It’s a poorly kept secret that human cells are essentially immortal. Unfortunately, those the bits that make them immortal and capable of infinite regeneration toggled off once a cell reaches a certain point in its drive towards becoming a specific type of tissue (for example: muscle or liver tissue, or part of the spinal cord or retina). Yuancheng Lu et al. recently studied the
reversal of ageing and injury-induced vision loss
through epigenetic reprogramming (
bioRxiv preprint
version).
In mouse models, they showed that by re-enabling the expression of three genes (
Oct4
,
Sox2
and
Klf4: OSK
) via an adeno-associated viral (AAV) vector (stripped-down adeno virus) in the cells of the eye, the
ectopic expression
of these genes resulted in the regeneration of injured axons, regrowing a damaged optic nerve and recovering from a damaged retina due to glaucoma. In addition, the age of the cells (indicated by
DNA methylation
levels) after 4 weeks of OSK expression had been reset to their youthful state.
OSK along with
c-Myc
(OSKM) are known to be involved in the ability of cells to regenerate tissues, based on data from previous experiments. The reason why OSK and not OSKM was used in this particular experiment is because ectopic
c-Myc
expression has been shown to result in tissue
dysplasia
: basically abnormal cell development with predictably negative results. Yet even though the mice in this study regained a significant amount of their lost vision, it is important to remember that all of these experiments are to fill in the blanks where we still lack understanding.
Key to all this is our understanding of two mechanisms: the regenerative capabilities of cells and the
epigenetic ‘clock’
which underlies the process of ageing. DNA methylation appears to play a major role in both, with its role in the latter causing a gradual change and faltering in biochemical processes. Methyl groups can bind to the DNA molecule, where they serve to alter the expression of genes. The resetting of these methylation patterns is a standard feature in the mammalian reproductive system (
reprogramming
), after fertilization of an ovum by a sperm. Without this mechanism, the resulting embryo would have the same genetic age as the parents, which was a concern with
Dolly
the (cloned) sheep.
Obviously, the goal in this kind of gene therapy to erase the effects of ageing and injuries, but not to turn every cell into a stem cell. If however the damaged tissues, such as nerves and organs, could be reset back to a more youthful state using OSK or similar, it might mean that a person could not only regenerate a damaged optic nerve and retina, but also reverse the effects of ageing, including macular degeneration and so on.
The Age of Cybernetics
The Neuralink prototype implant.
Sadly, regenerating tissues through epigenetic programming as a regular or even experimental treatment in humans is still a long while off at this point. However, the use of implants and human-computer interfaces to restore lost senses is further along, to the point where
retinal implants
like the
Argus II
have already been approved for the treatment of macular degeneration and other conditions which leave the transmitting and possibly processing layers of the retina intact.
When however the retina is too badly damaged and possibly the optic nerve as well, then one quickly ends up at the experimental area of direct-brain stimulation. Here the retinal mapping property of the visual cortex is exploited: the routing of the retinal signals onto the visual cortex forms essentially a 2D map. This makes the job of figuring out which part to trigger to ‘light up’ the target part of a person’s vision significantly easier. The main difficulty is in figuring out ‘how’.
As I touched upon in
the article on Neuralink from last year
, a major issue with the innervating of the brain with electrodes is that neurons in the brain are by all definitions minuscule. This means that the best we can do here is to essentially jam probes into roughly the right area and hope that we hit at least some of the right neurons with an electric pulse in order to cause the intended effect. The sobering conclusion is that ‘high-tech’ for retinal implants is hundreds of pixels, with prospective visual cortex implants presumably in the same ballpark. Not to mention the low visual fidelity one can expect from what would be the optimistic equivalent of a grainy, black and white image.
Since any brain implant using today’s technology stimulates many thousands of neurons simultaneously, the best result one can hope for in the visual cortex is that of the production of a
phosphene
: the experience of ‘seeing’ a bright spot on one’s field of view that was not caused due to light stimulating the retina. Another way to cause a phosphene is through mechanical stimulation, e.g. when pushing (lightly) on one’s eyes or when suffering an impact on the head (‘seeing stars’).
A recent article published in Nature by Chen et al. titled ‘
Shape perception via a high-channel count neuroprosthesis in monkey visual cortex
‘ details an experiment where a 1024-channel prosthesis was implanted in the visual cortex of non-human primates (NHP, in this case macaque monkeys). From similar experiments on human subjects, we know that these perceived dots seem to range in size from a pinpoint to a few centimeters at arm’s length and can differ in perceived color, presumably depending on which neurons in the visual cortex get stimulated more strongly.
Summary of the shape training of the monkeys, along with a simulation of the perceived shape. (Credit: Nature)
Unique in this experiment was the use of intracortical electrodes (
Utah arrays
) where previous experiments would usually use conductors on the surface of the visual cortex. This allowed for lower currents to induce the desired response in the target area (V1) of the visual cortex, the effect of which was measured in a higher cortical area (V2):
Implantation sites (V1, V2) of the Utay arrays and the receptive fields. (Credit: Chen et al.)
The goal of the experiment was to determine whether the monkeys could recognize the shapes that showed up for them as a grouping of phosphenes. If they pointed out the right shape afterwards, they were rewarded. The same was done with the determination of motion: here the monkeys had their eye motions monitored to see which direction the phosphenes were perceived to be moving.
Study results in the letter recognition task. (Credit: Chen et al.)
A major limitation with a study like this one is that it involves human researchers interpreting the actions of monkeys who are interpreting input from said researchers. As noted by Chen et al., the occasional drops in accuracy could very well have been due to a lack of motivation on the side of the monkeys, especially at the end of a recording session.
Despite the relatively promising results of the study — with generally an above-chance result during recording sessions — moving such studies to human subjects in order to turn it into a medical product would be highly complicated. Not only due to the need to cover the full visual cortex surface (25 to 30 cm
2
mean area per hemisphere), but also due to the need to further increase the resolution of the array and to develop a wireless version with electrodes that can stay in place for decades without causing damage to the surrounding tissue.
The End of the Proverbial Tunnel
Seeing these results from different studies following different paths towards accomplishing ultimately the same goal would seem cause for careful optimism. As with all scientific studies, there is no guarantee that a particular approach will turn into a viable therapy within a matter of years. Some will never make it out of the laboratory, but may spawn new ideas and new approaches.
In the case of phosphenes, they were known about since the 1920s and experimented with in the second half of the last century, but the technology to (safely) create brain implants has taken much longer. Similarly, the concept of
epigenetics
in its current definition, along with its reprogramming has been around for a while, but has seen major advances the past years.
Regardless, thanks to the tireless efforts by countless scientists around the globe, it seems that we may actually reach a point in the near future where blindness has become a thing of the past. | 16 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "6307170",
"author": "Danjovic",
"timestamp": "2020-12-29T20:48:12",
"content": "The path from stem cells to tissue cells looks to me like game of life. A small seed that initially diverges to a multitude of patterns that after some time converge again to a more complex pattern. Unfo... | 1,760,373,238.762014 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2020/12/29/reverse-engineering-silicon-from-the-first-pocket-calculator/ | Reverse Engineering Silicon From The First Pocket Calculator | Jenny List | [
"hardware"
] | [
"calculator",
"ken shirriff",
"reverse engineering",
"Sharp EL-8"
] | We’ve seen so many explorations of older semiconductors at the hands of [Ken Shirriff], that we know enough to expect a good read when he releases a new one. His latest doesn’t disappoint, as he delves into the workings of one of the first hand-held electronic calculators. The Sharp EL-8 from 1969 had five MOS ICs at its heart, and among them
the NRD2256 keyboard/display chip
is getting the [Shirriff] treatment with a decapping and thorough reverse engineering.
The basic functions of the chip are explained more easily than might be expected since this is a relatively simple device by later standards. The fascinating part of the dissection comes in the explanation of the technology, first in introducing the reader to PMOS FETs which required a relatively high negative voltage to operate, and then in explaining its use of four-phase logic. We’re used to static logic that holds a state depending upon its inputs, but the technologies of the day all called for an output transistor that would pull unacceptable current for a calculator. Four phase logic solved this by creating dynamic gates using a four-phase clock signal, relying on the an output capacitor in the gate to hold the value. It’s a technology that lose out in the 1970s as later TTL and CMOS variants arrived that did not have the output current drain. Fascinating stuff!
[Ken] gave a talk at the Hackaday Superconference a couple of years ago, if you’ve not seen it then
it’s worth a watch
. | 4 | 1 | [
{
"comment_id": "6307129",
"author": "Ren",
"timestamp": "2020-12-29T18:11:57",
"content": "The TI “Speak n Spell”(?) toys needed a high negative voltage (-22?) to work.I recall an article in Radio-Electronics adapting one for a speech synthesizer. I picked up one of those toys cheap at a garage sal... | 1,760,373,238.690768 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2020/12/29/2020-as-the-hardware-world-turns/ | 2020: As The Hardware World Turns | Tom Nardi | [
"Current Events",
"Featured",
"Interest",
"Original Art",
"Slider"
] | [
"Boston Dynamic",
"Covid-19",
"cyberdeck",
"fpga",
"nasa",
"OpenDog",
"robotics",
"SpaceX",
"ventilator",
"Year in Review"
] | By pretty much any metric you care to use, 2020 has been an unforgettable year. Usually that would be a positive thing, but this time around it’s a bit more complicated. The global pandemic, unprecedented in modern times, impacted the way we work, learn, and gather. Some will look back on their time in lockdown as productive, if a bit lonely. Other’s have had their entire way of life uprooted, with no indication as to when or if things will ever return to normal. Whatever “normal” is at this point.
But even in the face of such adversity, there have been bright spots for our community. With traditional gatherings out of the question, many long-running tech conferences moved over to a virtual format that allowed a larger and more diverse array of presenters and attendees than would have been possible in the past. We also saw hackers and makers all over the planet
devote their skills and tools to the production of personal protective equipment (PPE)
. In a turn of events few could have predicted, the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic helped demonstrate the validity of hyperlocal manufacturing in a way that’s never happened before.
For better or for worse, most of us will associate 2020 with COVID-19 for the rest of our lives. Really, how could we not? But over these last twelve months we’ve borne witness to plenty of stories that are just as deserving of a spot in our collective memories. As we approach the twilight hours of this most ponderous year, let’s take a look back at some of the most interesting themes that touched our little corner of the tech world this year.
RISC-V Comes Alive
Like many of you, we’ve had our eyes on the RISC-V open standard instruction set architecture (ISA) for awhile now. Started in 2010 as a project to create an easy to understand ISA for academic purposes, it wasn’t long until major players in the hardware world came sniffing around. The simplified nature of RISC-V that makes it easy to teach naturally also makes it easy to implement in the real-world. Even better, its free. Manufacturers can build chips using RISC-V without having to pay the exorbitant licensing fees that go along with more traditional architectures, and as everything in our lives gets “smarter” and the demand for various chips gets greater, that’s a very compelling concept.
But up until this point, it’s mainly been a lot of talk. Sure we had a pair of
RISC-V CPUs running inside the FPGA of the 2019 Hackaday Supercon Badge
, but that’s because of an amazing badge team led by [Sprite_tm] who are cool like that. Trying to find commercial hardware running the open ISA has traditionally been quite a bit harder. But in 2020 we’ve finally started to see some substantial movement towards bringing this exciting architecture into the mainstream.
Just last month we brought you word of the ESP32-C3
, a new member in the exceptionally popular WiFi-enabled microcontroller family that ditches the Tensilica core for RISC-V. While the official position of Espressif is that the change to a new core won’t have much impact on the end-user, the widespread adoption of these chips in consumer electronics scene (not to mention the hacker scene) makes this a pretty big deal.
Around the same time, Bouffalo Labs introduced the BL602. This
combination WiFi and Bluetooth chipset is based on a RISC-V core
, and hoping it would pave the way towards blob-free wireless support on their future devices, PINE64 kicked off a community effort to reverse engineer it. It would have been nice if Bouffalo was a bit more forthcoming with the details, but it took awhile before the hacker community was able to fully unlock the ESP8266 and we saw how that turned out.
Hopefully chips like these can become early success stories that inspire other companies to finally get some RISC-V silicon in production. It’s too early to say if 2021 will be “The Year of RISC-V”, but it seems like it might finally be close at hand. Then again,
we thought the same thing in 2018
.
Lots of Legged Bots
Homebrew robotics projects are a good way to get a sense for what’s popular in the world of hobby electronics, as they often represent the state-of-the-art in terms of whats available to the average hacker at the time. A few years ago, driven by the development of cheap MEMS accelerometers, it seemed like everyone was building self balancing robots. So what was big in 2020? This year we noticed a considerable uptick in quadruped walkers, many clearly inspired by the animal-like creations of Boston Dynamics.
“Chop” —
one of the finalists in the 2020 Hackaday Prize
So what’s been the enabling technology that’s led to all of these four legged robots?
From the specimens we’ve seen
, we can identify a few common traits. In almost all cases they make
extensive use of 3D printed structures
, are bristling with servos, dotted with sensors, and feature a relatively beefy onboard computer to figure out all the kinematics. Of course, none of this is particularly
new
. But the relative cost of all of these elements, and the ancillary components to tie them all together, have never been cheaper.
But it’s more than just the hardware.
Incredible projects like OpenDog
really opened up the floodgates, and redefined what was possible on a hobbyist budget. From there, the knowledge started to spread and clever folks figured out how to distill the core concepts into ever cheaper implementations. Thanks to most of these builds being open source, each new one adds a little more to the pool of information available to the next person who wants to take on the challenge.
Naturally these wobbly hacker creations are a far cry from the almost
frighteningly agile robots that Boston Dynamics began selling in 2020
, but these are still early days. Just a few years ago, many would have doubted you could even build such a thing as an individual.
Designing Open Ventilators
Early in the pandemic, many hospitals found ventilators to be in woefully short supply. In the United States alone it was estimated as many as one million of the life-saving devices could be required, but even with the federal government’s emergency stockpile factored in, there were at most 200,000 of them available among the country’s various healthcare facilities. Heavily encumbered by patents and manufactured by only a handful of companies, there were grave concerns about scaling up traditional production to meet the potential demand.
JPL’s VITAL ventilator
In response, we saw a
huge push towards developing an open source ventilator
that was quick and inexpensive to manufacture. Hobbyists and professionals alike started pitching their ideas, ranging from
relatively simple mechanisms for motorizing manually operated resuscitators
to unlocking
advanced functionality in commercially manufactured CPAP machines
.
As the scale of the problem became clear, bigger players started to join the fray. While it wasn’t technically released under an open source license,
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory was willing to give their FDA-approved design out
to any firm that had the means of building them.
Ultimately, the activation of the Defense Production Act allowed companies like General Motors, Ford, and General Electric to start producing either ventilator components or complete units at a phenomenal rate. In addition, less invasive ways to treat patients with COVID-19 were discovered, reducing the number of ventilators hospitals ended up needing.
Things thankfully never got bad enough that hackerspaces had to start churning out ventilators. However, a high point in all of this was seeing the community rally around
PPE production
of things like
face shields
and
masks
— leveraging small-scale manufacturing on a widespread basis until industrial supply chains moved enough to take up the slack. Bravo hackers!
Rise of the Cyberdeck
In his 1984 novel
Neuromancer
, William Gibson provides some exceptionally vague descriptions of customized “decks” that various characters use when they want to log into cyberspace. All he says is that they’re relatively portable, have a few blinking lights, and feature plenty of switches and keys. That’s all it took for readers’ imaginations to run wild, and with time, other artists co-opted the idea and put their own unique spin on it. But it took a couple decades before anyone tried to build one of these cyberdecks of their own.
It’s hard to say when it happened with any certainty. The first time one popped up here on Hackaday was in 2018, and while we wouldn’t say that’s an authoritative date, it seems unlikely such projects could have escaped our notice for too long. What we
do
know is that 2020 is when the idea really took off. In fact, approximately 70% of the cyberdecks we’ve ever written about have been built within the last twelve months.
Part of this uptick is surely due to the fact that many people found themselves with an unusual amount of free time this year. But at least some credit has to be given to Jay Doscher, who’s open source designs
spawned dozens of known variants
. Decks based on his concepts are built into a heavy-duty Pelican case, meaning even if you’re not terribly into the whole cyberpunk genre, it’s still a
great way to put together a rugged mobile computer
.
In truth, it’s still difficult to quantify what makes something a cyberdeck. Purists would demand it have the same virtual reality capabilities of the Gibson’s decks, but the technology simply isn’t there yet. After seeing so many notable examples in 2020, the one thing we can say for sure is that a good cyberdeck should be a reflection of its maker. It’s not enough to just be a funky portable computer, it should exemplify the skills and interests of the person who built it.
Whether it has a painstakingly designed and fabricated frame
, or uses a
mixture of system architectures to maximize the machine’s performance
in different scenarios, it’s the unique traits of these machines that make them special.
Reaching for the Stars
In 2020, there were so many interesting space stories that we started doing a
recurring roundup article that allows us to cover several of them at a time
. If we stopped to give each new mission, spacecraft, or discovery its own article, we’d have to change the name of the site. After years of stagnation, space exploration is once again a booming enterprise. We haven’t seen this sort of rapid progress since the Space Race of the 1960s, and considering many of us weren’t around to experience those days first-hand, it’s understandably a very exciting time.
NASA
has a far-reaching plan to return humans to the Moon
, and has officially started
flying astronauts on commercial vehicles
. Both international and commercial cooperation are a major part of NASA’s Moon ambitions, with companies like Blue Origin and SpaceX
already being awarded contracts to build the various spacecraft
and rockets that would make up the overall Artemis program.
So why has space suddenly become so popular again? Put simply, it’s cheaper than ever. SpaceX has made reusability a cornerstone of their operations, with
almost all of their 2020 missions utilizing previously flown boosters
. Other commercial launch providers are similarly investing in reusability, with
Rocket Lab recently recovering their Electron booster for the first time
. Earlier in the month SpaceX also conducted a dramatic test flight of their next-generation Starship vehicle which the company claims will eventually be even cheaper to fly than the Falcon 9.
This was also a banner year for sample return missions. In October,
OSIRIS-REx became the first NASA spacecraft to collect a surface sample from an asteroid
. On December 6th the Japanese
Hayabusa2
delivered its own payload of soil and rock samples that were collected from the asteroid Ryugu in 2018. Just a few days later China made history by being the third country to successfully return a sample of lunar material to Earth;
an important step towards their long term goals
of landing human explorers on the Moon in the 2030s.
Unfortunately, not all the space news was positive in 2020. The scientific community was rocked by
the heartbreaking collapse of the Arecibo Observatory
. The loss of this unique radio telescope not only
hinders our ability to conduct radar astronomy
, but further limits humanity’s ability to detect potentially hazardous near-Earth objects. As disastrous as the loss of Arecibo was, the fact that
there’s no guarantee it will ever be replaced is even worse
.
Onward to 2021
This time last year we made some predictions for 2020, and while we didn’t anticipate the global pandemic that was about to hit us in a few months, the rest of it panned out pretty much as expected. The demand for electric vehicles has lead companies like
Tesla to start investing in new battery technology
, and though this year did see the
Raspberry Pi 4 take on a few new forms
, ARM SBCs in general seem to have plateaued a bit.
So where do we see things going in 2021? In addition to the new RISC-V hardware we’ve already talked about, expect to see more second-hand FPGAs to hit the market for pennies on the dollar. If you can find an obsolete piece of gear that uses an FPGA, there’s a
good chance you can turn it into a budget development kit
.
Machine learning is likely to get a boost thanks to increasingly cheap hardware from major players such as Google and NVIDIA. It’s hard to imagine 2021 will see
anything cheaper than the $59 Jetson Nano 2 GB
, but the fact that this affordable hardware is now hitting the mainstream should allow for higher adoption in the hacker and maker scene.
Special Thanks
The end of the year is always a good time to reflect on what really matters, but in 2020 it seems more important than ever. Everyone at Hackaday is extremely grateful to our readers and this community for sticking together even when there’s so much uncertainty in the world. We know it’s been tough going for a lot of folks, and the reality is that things may well get worse before they get better. It’s our sincere hope that through these troubled times and whatever lies ahead, that we’re able to inspire you to keep moving forward. | 13 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "6307094",
"author": "Dave",
"timestamp": "2020-12-29T16:40:54",
"content": "A big “thank you” to all Hackaday writers, editors, artists, researchers, and all staff… And all the contributors and commenters… I’ve learned so much from all of you over the years. Best wishes for the yea... | 1,760,373,238.991036 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2020/12/29/new-part-day-sd-nand-are-surface-mount-chips-that-work-like-an-sd-card/ | New Part Day: SD NAND Are Surface Mount Chips That Work Like An SD Card | Lewin Day | [
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"sd card",
"SD NAND",
"SDIO",
"smd",
"XTSD",
"XTX"
] | SD cards have long been a favorite with microcontroller hobbyists. Cheap, readily available, and easily interfaced, they remain a staple for small projects that need to store a lot of data. Now, they’re available in chip form! These are known as SD NAND parts that emulate the SD card interface itself.
[LadyAda] recently gave them a test-drive
after spotting
a tweet from [Greg Davill]
(who we’re familiar with thanks to
his excellent LED cubes
). The devices are manufactured by XTX Technology and
available from LCSC in a range of 1, 2, 4, and 8 GB sizes
. [Ivan Grokhotkov] also illuminated
a similar device from another maker
in a reply to [Greg’s] original tweet, so there may be more sources out there.
These chips come in standard LGA8 surface mount package and can be easily soldered to a board, offering mechanical and manufacturing benefits versus using a normal SD or microSD card in a slot-type connector. Also, unlike other SMD flash memory parts, they handle all the file system details and wear levelling for you! With the inflation of SD card sizes, it’s also difficult to find these on the shelf in normal cards these days.
[Adafruit] plan to have a breakout for these parts out soon with a level shifter included for ease of use. We can imagine these chips finding their way into all manner of datalogger projects, since they can be ordered with other parts and permanently soldered into a design. If you’ve got a particularly good idea where these chips would prove useful, sound off in the comments. Video after the break. | 71 | 23 | [
{
"comment_id": "6307020",
"author": "vt",
"timestamp": "2020-12-29T12:10:20",
"content": "How are they different from eMMC, other than the simplified pinout?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6307086",
"author": "tekkieneet",
"t... | 1,760,373,239.261792 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2020/12/29/the-black-magic-of-a-disappearing-linear-actuator/ | The Black Magic Of A Disappearing Linear Actuator | Ben James | [
"hardware"
] | [
"chain",
"kataka",
"linear actuator",
"segmented spindle"
] | Many of the projects we serve up on Hackaday are freshly minted, hot off the press endeavors. But sometimes, just sometimes, we stumble across ideas from the past that are simply too neat to be passed over. This is one of those times — and the contraption in question is
the “Kataka”, invented by [Jens Sorensen] and publicised on the cover of the Eureka magazine around 2003
.
The device, trademarked as the Kataka but generically referred to as a
Segmented Spindle
, is a compact form of linear actuator that uses a novel belt arrangement to create a device that can reduce to a very small thickness, while crowing to seemingly impossible dimensions when fully extended. This is the key advantage over conventional actuators, which usually retract into a housing of at least the length of the piston.
It’s somewhat magical to watch the device in action, seeing the piston appear “out of nowhere”.
Kataka’s youtube channel
is now sadly inactive, but contains many videos of the device used in various scenarios, such as lifting chairs and cupboards. We’re impressed with the amount of load the device can support. When used in scissor lifts, it also offers the unique advantage of a
flat force/torque curve
.
Most records of the device online are roughly a decade old. Though numerous prototypes were made, and a patent was issued, it seems the mechanism never took off or saw mainstream use. We wonder if, with more recognition and the advent of 3D printing, we might see the design crop up in the odd maker project.
That’s right, 3D printed linear actuators aren’t as bad as you might imagine. They’re
easy to make
, with numerous designs available, and can
carry more load than you might think
. That said, if you’re building, say, your own flight simulator, you might have to
cook up something more hefty
.
Many thanks to [Keith] for the tip, we loved reading about this one! | 29 | 17 | [
{
"comment_id": "6306979",
"author": "robthebrew",
"timestamp": "2020-12-29T09:25:25",
"content": "I think it grows, rather than crows!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "6306981",
"author": "Truth",
"timestamp": "2020-12-29T09:45:56",
... | 1,760,373,239.431271 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2020/12/28/think-your-laptop-is-anemic-try-an-msdos-one/ | Think Your Laptop Is Anemic? Try An MSDOS One | Al Williams | [
"Repair Hacks",
"Retrocomputing",
"Teardown"
] | [
"Amstrad",
"laptop",
"luggable",
"msdos",
"NEC V30",
"ppc512",
"retrocomputing",
"teardown"
] | If someone gifted you a cheap laptop this holiday season, you might be a little put out by the 2GB of RAM and the 400 MHz CPU. However, you might appreciate it more once you look at [Noel’s Retro Lab’s] 4.8 Kg Amstrad
PPC512
He shows it off inside and out in the video below.
Unlike a modern laptop, this oldie but goodie has a full keyboard that swings out of the main body. The space below the keyboard contains the LCD screen, which [Noel] is going to have to replace with an LCD from another unit that was in worse shape but had a good-looking screen. In this video, he gets as far as getting video output to an external monitor, but neither LCD shows any sign of life. But he’s planning more videos soon.
The MS-DOS 3.3 computer’s LCD could emulate a CGA or MDA screen but had no backlight. The 8 MHz NEC V30 processor had 512K of memory, hence the part number. There was also a similar model with 640K of memory and a (gasp) 2400 baud modem.
The power options for this laptop were a bit odd by today’s standards. The computer could use an AC adapter or a car adapter. It could also run on ten C-size batteries. There were also matching external monitors that were able to power the machine.
We’ve seen
LCD transplants
on this class of machine before, although that one went from monochrome to color. These may not seem very portable, but compared to the earlier “
luggable
” computers, they were great. | 51 | 14 | [
{
"comment_id": "6306953",
"author": "Erik Johnson",
"timestamp": "2020-12-29T06:53:34",
"content": "Is there a story beyond “this is a broken computer” here?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6307167",
"author": "KenC",
"timesta... | 1,760,373,239.360457 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2020/12/28/twenty-seconds-at-100-megakelvins/ | Twenty Seconds At 100 Megakelvins | Chris Lott | [
"Science"
] | [
"ITER",
"Korea",
"kstar",
"nuclear fusion",
"tokamak"
] | The Korea Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research (KSTAR) magnetic fusion reactor
claimed a new record last month
— containing hydrogen plasma at 100 megakelvins for 20 seconds. For reference, the core temperature of the Earth’s Sun is a mere 15 megakelvins, although to be fair, it has been in operation quite a bit longer than 20 seconds.
South Korea is a member of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (
ITER
) team, a worldwide project researching the science and engineering of nuclear fusion. One of their contributions to the effort is the
KSTAR
facility, located in the city of Daejeon in the middle of the country (about 150 km south of Seoul).
It is a
tokamak-style
fusion research reactor using superconducting magnets to generate a magnetic flux density of 3.5 teslas and a plasma current of 2 megaamperes. These conditions are used to confine and maintain the plasma in what’s called the high-confinement mode, the conditions currently favored for fusion reactor designs. Since it went into operation in 2008, it has been creating increasingly longer and hotter “pulses” of plasma.
For all the impressive numbers, the toroidal reactor itself is not that huge. Its major diameter is only 3.6 meters with a minor diameter of 1 meter. What makes the facility so large is all the supporting equipment. Check out the video below — we really like the techniques they use in this virtual tour to highlight key components of the installation. | 50 | 14 | [
{
"comment_id": "6306924",
"author": "ian 42",
"timestamp": "2020-12-29T03:34:00",
"content": "20 seconds is pretty impressive…",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6307007",
"author": "Dude",
"timestamp": "2020-12-29T11:19:49",
... | 1,760,373,239.515916 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2020/12/28/co41d-2020-midi-theremin-sounds-pretty-sick/ | Co41D 2020 MIDI Theremin Sounds Pretty Sick | Kristina Panos | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"Musical Hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"Arduino Uno",
"CdS cell",
"midi",
"photoresistor",
"theremin"
] | As the pandemic rages on, so does the desire to spend the idle hours tinkering. [knaylor1] spent the second UK lockdown making
a sweet Theremin-inspired noise machine with a low parts count
that looks like a ton of fun.
It works like this: either shine some light on the photocells, cover them up, or find some middle ground between the two. No matter what you do, you’re going to get cool sounds out of this thing.
The photocells behave like potentiometers that are set up in a voltage divider. An Arduino UNO takes readings in from the photocells, does some MIDI math, and sends the serial data to a program called Hairless MIDI, which in turn sends it to Ableton live.
[knaylor1] is using a plugin called TAL Noisemaker on top of that to produce the dulcet acid house tones that you can hear in the video after the break.
If you’ve never played with light-dependent resistors before, do yourself a favor and spend a little bit of that Christmas cash on a variety pack of these things. You don’t even need an Arduino to make noise, you can use them as the pots in an
Atari Punk console
or make farty square waves with a hex inverting oscillator chip like the
CD40106
.
Our own [Elliot Williams] once devoted an entire column to making chiptunes
. | 4 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "6306937",
"author": "echodelta",
"timestamp": "2020-12-29T05:04:25",
"content": "The in between comes by having the right light above. A area of light above not all over nor a spot.Unfortunately those Cadmium, photo ohms are RoHS, so save them.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": ... | 1,760,373,239.56072 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2020/12/28/build-your-own-custom-elevator/ | Build Your Own Custom Elevator | Bryan Cockfield | [
"Transportation Hacks"
] | [
"Attic",
"elevator",
"garage",
"hoist",
"ladder",
"loft",
"winch"
] | There are a lot of things in our everyday life that are holdovers from an earlier time that we continue to use simply because of inertia even if they don’t make a lot of sense in modern times. Examples include a 60 Hz power grid, the spacing between railroad tracks, and of course the self-contained attic ladder which is made to fit in between standard spaced ceiling joists. It’s not wide enough to get big or heavy stuff into an attic, and building standards won’t change just for this one inconvenience, so if you want to turn that space into something more usable
you’re going to need to build a custom elevator
.
This attic elevator comes to us from [Brian] who recently moved into a home with about half the square footage as his previous home, but still needed to hold all of his stuff. That means clever ways of using the available space. For the elevator he constructed a platform out of 2x lumber held together with bolts and steel supports. The carriage runs up and down on a track made out 1 5/8″ super strut and is hoisted by a winch motor rated for 550 pounds, which is more than enough to hoist up most household items including a large toolbox.
The only thing that we would have liked to have seen in the video is how the opening was made. Presumably this would have involved cutting into a ceiling joist to make the opening wider than the standard attic ladder, and care would have needed to be taken to ensure the ceiling/floor wasn’t weakened. Either way, this is a great solution to a common problem, and could perhaps be
made to work on more than two levels with a custom controller
.
Thanks to [Jake] for the tip! | 67 | 15 | [
{
"comment_id": "6306835",
"author": "Greg A",
"timestamp": "2020-12-28T21:11:44",
"content": "haha i thought i believed that unistrut is infinitely strong but this article forced me to acknowledge that there are limits to my faith! i just see that kind of triangle loading as being too much for the... | 1,760,373,239.663738 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2020/12/28/netscape-communicator-and-sha-1-written-into-brexit-agreement/ | Netscape Communicator And SHA-1 Written Into Brexit Agreement | Jenny List | [
"News",
"Security Hacks"
] | [
"eu",
"netscape",
"RSA encryption",
"sha-1",
"treaty"
] | We pity the civil servants involved in the negotiations between the European Union and the United Kingdom, because after tense meetings until almost the Eleventh Hour, they’ve had to cobble together the text of a post-Brexit trade agreement in next-to-no time. In the usual manner of such international agreements both sides are claiming some kind of victory over fish, but the really interesting parts of the document lie in the small print. In particular it was left to eagle-eyed security researchers to spot that
Netscape Communicator 4, SHA-1, and RSA encryption with a 1024-bit key length
are recommended to secure the transfer of DNA data between states. The paragraphs in question can be found on page 932 of
the 1256-page agreement
.
It’s likely that some readers under 30 years old will never have used a Netscape product even though they will be familiar with Firefox, the descendant Mozilla software. Netscape were a pioneer of early web browsers, and Communicator 4 was the company’s all-in-one browser and email offering from the late 1990s. It and its successors steadily lost ground against Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, and ultimately faded away along with the company under AOL ownership in the late 2000s. Meanwhile
the SHA-1 hashing algorithm has been demonstrated to be vulnerable to collision attacks
, and computing power has advanced such that 1024-bit RSA encryption can be broken in a sensible time frame by anyone with sufficient GPU power to give it a try. It’s clear that something is amiss in the drafting of this treaty, and we’d go so far as to venture the opinion that a tired civil servant simply cut-and-pasted from a late-1990s security document.
So will the lawmakers of Europe now have to dig for ancient software as mandated by treaty? We hope not, as from our reading they are given as examples rather than as directives. We worry however that their agencies might turn out to be as clueless on digital security as evidently the civil servants are, so maybe Verizon Communications, current owners of the Netscape brand, could be in for a few support calls. | 36 | 15 | [
{
"comment_id": "6306810",
"author": "scott",
"timestamp": "2020-12-28T19:44:17",
"content": "As pointed out in many places elsewhere, this is direct transposition from the 2008 EU agreement on DNA data sharing, which forms part of the Brexit agreement. It’s not a simple case of plagiarism. Bad repo... | 1,760,373,239.887001 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2020/12/28/teardown-creality-wifi-box/ | Teardown: Creality Wi-Fi Box | Tom Nardi | [
"Featured",
"Linux Hacks",
"Teardown"
] | [
"Creality",
"Embedded Linux",
"firmware hacking",
"Octoprint",
"openwrt",
"serial port",
"wireless router"
] | Creality, makers of the Ender series of 3D printers, have
released a product called Wi-Fi Box
meant to cheaply add network control to your printer. Naturally I had to order one so we could take a peek, but this is certainly not a product review. If you’re looking to control your 3D printer over the network, get yourself a Raspberry Pi and
install Gina Häußge’s phenomenal OctoPrint
on it. Despite what Creality might want you to believe, their product is little more than a poor imitation of this incredible open source project.
Even if you manage to get it working with your printer,
which judging by early indications is a pretty big if
, it won’t give you anywhere near the same experience. At best it’ll save you a few dollars compared to going the DIY route, but at the cost of missing out on the vibrant community of plugin developers that have helped establish OctoPrint as the defacto remote 3D printing solution.
That being said, the hardware itself seems pretty interesting. For just $20 USD you get a palm-sized Linux computer with WiFi, Ethernet, a micro SD slot, and a pair of USB ports; all wrapped up in a fairly rugged enclosure. There’s no video output, but that will hardly scare off the veteran penguin wrangler. Tucked in a corner and sipping down only a few watts, one can imagine plenty of tasks this little gadget would be well suited to. Perhaps it could act as a small MQTT broker for all your smart home devices, or a low-power remote weather station. The possibilities are nearly limitless, assuming we can get into the thing anyway.
So what’s inside the Creality Wi-Fi Box, and how hard will it be to bend it to our will? Let’s take one apart and find out.
Surprisingly Elegant
It probably won’t come as a huge surprise given the low purchase price, but there’s not a whole lot to the Wi-Fi Box. Creality wanted to produce this product as cheaply as possible, and it shows. The package doesn’t even include a power supply or the required micro SD card, though oddly enough they did pack in two USB cables. It seems clear that the company didn’t want to invest more than was necessary into what’s ultimately an experimental product. Some users have even reported receiving a Wi-Fi Box for free when purchasing a 3D printer from Creality; with that kind of business model, cost reduction is certainly the name of the game.
The WiFi antenna is glued to the case, and must be disconnected to remove the PCB.
Even so, the device itself doesn’t feel cheap. In fact, quite the opposite. The plastic enclosure is surprisingly thick and rigid, and feels more like the injection molded case for a power tool. It’s probably overkill for a little blinking box that will live an easy life perched next to a 3D printer, but I’m certainly not complaining. It’s also interesting to note that the case is one solid piece of plastic, and not a clamshell. To remove the PCB, you have to pry off the front panel and slide it out.
Note traces connecting the LEDs to the SoC GPIO pins.
With the board out of the case and the metal RF shields removed, we can see just how little it takes to get the Creality Wi-Fi Box going. The
MediaTek MT7688AN SoC
features a 580 MHz MIPS CPU as well as integrated controllers for USB, SD, Ethernet, and WiFi, while the Winbond W971GG6SB provides 128 MB of DDR2 SDRAM. The SoC also has a few GPIO pins, which we can clearly see have been broken out to the four status LEDs on the front of the board. Add in magnetics for the Ethernet port and some filtering on the micro USB power supply, and you’ve got yourself a fairly capable Linux system in a compact, energy efficient, and cost effective platform.
Of course, it’s not exactly a speed demon. Even the Raspberry Pi Zero could run circles around this little box. Which ultimately is our first clue as to why Creality didn’t use a customized version of OctoPrint for this product. Hardware that can run it effectively is simply too expensive; to hit their desired price point, they had to come up with their own simplified take on the concept.
Digging In
So at this point we know it’s a 580 MHz Linux box with 128 MB of RAM. Not terribly exciting in 2020, but not exactly a paperweight either. But of course it doesn’t matter how powerful the hardware is if we can’t get access to the OS. The next step is figuring out how badly Creality want to keep us out.
Our first break comes from the fairly conspicuous serial port header on the bottom of the PCB. After hooking up a USB-to-serial adapter and stumbling upon the correct speed of 57,600 baud, we can see the U-Boot and Linux kernel messages go by, and eventually we find ourselves at a login prompt. Unfortunately, we don’t know the password.
Now anyone who’s familiar with embedded Linux hacking knows this is where you bring out the modified U-boot environment variables to start the system in single user mode. But try as I might, I could never get into the U-Boot command line. After a solid 30 or 40 attempts to interrupt the bootloader before it loads the kernel, I’ve come to the conclusion that either my timing is exceptionally poor or access to U-Boot has been disabled.
Where does that leave us? Well, right next to the serial port you’ll find the 16 MB Boyamicro 25Q128 SPI flash chip that holds the firmware. You could pull the chip, read its contents, modify the filesystem, and flash it back. If you plan on doing a lot of firmware fiddling,
you could even install a socket for the chip
to keep the good times rolling.
Luckily, there’s an easier way in. A peek into an official firmware update file from Creality shows the gadget will look for an
install.sh
Bash script on the micro SD card and run it during startup. Any commands we put into this file will be executed as root, which allows us to easily change the password without breaking out the soldering iron:
#!/bin/sh
echo 'root:hacked' > /tmp/pass
cat /tmp/pass | chpasswd
With this file on the SD card, we’re now able to log into the root account over the serial port and start exploring.
It’s a Router, Jim
When I first heard about this device, I had high hopes that it might actually be running OpenWRT. Unfortunately, what we actually have is a very minimal BusyBox environment that was clearly designed for a wireless router. I know this because it seems all of the router functionality is still intact, it’s just been commented out wherever necessary to keep it from being visible in the web interface or starting automatically.
The commented out pages are still available, they just don’t show in the menu.
Similarly there are many programs and scripts on the system that are totally unnecessary for controlling a 3D printer. From emulating an iTunes server and streaming MP3s to negotiating with 3G modems, the Creality Wi-Fi Box has plenty of hidden features that are locked behind an intentionally limited web interface.
Software Freedom
In summary, we’ve got a fairly well documented SoC, a functioning serial port, an official firmware update file to study, and an easy way to get root access. There’s even an existing MT7688 subtarget for OpenWRT. All the pieces are here, they just need to be put together.
Luckily, we aren’t the ones that have to do it. A developer by the name of George Brooke, AKA [figgyc], has already done the work for us. Even before I was able to finish writing this post about the hardware, he’d identified and fixed a few issues (such as adding support for that Boyamicro 25Q128 flash chip) that were preventing OpenWRT from booting on this board. Utilizing the stock firmware update mechanism,
you can install his fork of the popular embedded Linux distribution on the Creality Wi-Fi Box
without making any hardware modifications. He hasn’t figured out how to go back to the stock firmware yet, but frankly, who cares?
With OpenWRT installed, the Creality Wi-Fi Box becomes a true general-purpose computer. Thanks to a vast array of packages and an active development community, this simple firmware swap turns a $20 gimmick into a useful tool.
Escaping the Walled Garden
After spending some quality time with the Creality Wi-Fi Box, I can’t help but be reminded of
the Recon Sentinel we took a look at a few months back
. Both Linux-based devices offer us an easily reusable hardware platform, as little to no attempt was made to limit the user’s ability to install more capable software on them. Even if it’s more likely attributed to happenstance than any genuinely altruistic goals on the part of the developers, we should be so lucky to have more commercial devices that can be easily modified by the end user.
But I wonder if the similarities might ultimately go a bit deeper. The Sentinel was designed to lock the consumer into an expensive service contract, thereby generating far more revenue than the sticker price of the gadget itself did. Could Creality be planning something similar with the Wi-Fi Box? Admittedly we haven’t seen any indication of that yet, but it stands to reason that you don’t give away hardware at or below cost unless you’ve got a plan to make that money back in the future.
A clue may be found in the product announcement for the Wi-Fi Box. It describes the “Creality Cloud”, a service that “offers an energetic and creative community where users can download unlimited STL files for free, share their models, and the most important feature, online slice & print”. While the models offered on the service are free
now
, it’s not hard to imagine that paid models could be introduced down the line. By using the Wi-Fi Box, Creality may hope customers become dependent on their unique software ecosystem. This could allow the company to create a monetized 3D model repository, something their rivals in the marketplace have thus far largely failed to accomplish. Only time will tell.
In the meantime, any hacker or maker looking for a new project would do well to pick up one of these cheap devices. Just make sure to immediately replace its proprietary firmware with an open source alternative that puts you back in control of the hardware you paid for. | 57 | 20 | [
{
"comment_id": "6306786",
"author": "RW ver 0.0.1",
"timestamp": "2020-12-28T18:23:52",
"content": "Ah yes, Mediatek how could we forget thee, beloved motivator of cheap Walmart eBook devices that weren’t quite android back in the day. I might still have one of those… oh heyyyyy did you dump the RO... | 1,760,373,240.061003 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2020/12/28/a-pull-chain-to-end-your-zoom-pain/ | A Pull Chain To End Your Zoom Pain | Kristina Panos | [
"Lifehacks"
] | [
"Adafruit Feather",
"Feather",
"google meet",
"hardware controls",
"nRF52840",
"pull chain",
"videoconference",
"zoom"
] | Yay! Another videoconference call is in the books, so that must mean that it’s time to fumble around awkwardly for the hang-up button with a fading smile.
[lanewinfield] knew there had to be a better way, and looked to the pull chain switch for salvation
. Sure, this could just as easily be a button, but what’s the fun in that? Besides, few buttons would be as satisfying as pulling a chain to a Zoom call.
The pull chain switch is connected to an Adafruit Feather nRF52840 Express that’s emulating a Bluetooth keyboard. Firmware-wise it sends command + F6, which triggers an AppleScript that manually exits and and all Zoom calls and kills Chrome tabs pointed to meet.google.com. He’s using Apple’s hotkey wizard Alfred, but this could be handled just as easily with something like AutoHotKey.
Pull chain switches are neat little mechanisms. The chain is connected to a cam that engages a wheel with copper contacts on half the outside. When you pull the chain, the wheel moves 90° and the wheel contacts connect up with the fixed contacts inside the housing to make a connection. Pulling the chain again moves the wheel which slides to the half without the contacts. Check it out in the video below.
Via
adafruit | 14 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "6306766",
"author": "RW ver 0.0.1",
"timestamp": "2020-12-28T17:17:30",
"content": "Some youtube weirdness there, showing a length of 4:38 but it’s only 1:48 long.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "6306770",
"author": "bluecat... | 1,760,373,239.71654 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2020/12/27/put-a-hardened-edge-on-mild-steel-with-just-a-drill-bit-sort-of/ | Put A Hardened Edge On Mild Steel With Just A Drill Bit. Sort Of. | Dan Maloney | [
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"drill",
"edge",
"hard-facing",
"hardened",
"tig",
"welding"
] | People have been working metal for so long that the list of tips and tricks is now nearly infinite. So it’s always a joy to pick up a new trick, especially one as simple as
putting a hardened edge on mild steel using a drill bit as a filler rod
.
This tip comes to us by way of [Jody], aka “The Weldmonger” on YouTube. Subscribing to his channel is a sure way to keep your welding ego in check; you may be good, but [Jody] is better, and he’s willing to share as much of his experience in video format as possible. For this tip, he starts with a cheap chipping hammer, the universal welder’s tool that helps remove the glass-like slag that forms during shielded-metal arc welding, or what’s commonly known as stick welding. The mild steel of the hammer makes it hard to keep an edge, so [Jody] pulled out his TIG welder and laid down a bead on the cutting edge using an old drill bit as a fill rod. The video below shows the process in all its simplicity.
The tool steel of the drill bit is far harder than the mild steel of the hammer, but still soft enough to take an edge, and the resulting tool is much improved. We’ve seen something similar to this before, when hard-facing filler rod was built up on the edge of a mild steel slug to make
a cutter for internal weld seams
. We liked that hack, but knowing the same thing can be done with something we’ve all likely got in abundance in the shop is a neat trick. Thanks, [Jody]! | 31 | 11 | [
{
"comment_id": "6306484",
"author": "Reg",
"timestamp": "2020-12-27T19:02:15",
"content": "Case hardening as demonstrated by Chris,of clickspringprojects.com would serve as well and suspect is used on better quality chipping hammers.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
... | 1,760,373,239.954617 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2020/12/27/76-bit-trombones-led-by-the-big-midi-file/ | 76-bit Trombones Led By The Big MIDI File | Matthew Carlson | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"Musical Hacks"
] | [
"firmata",
"midi",
"pneumatic",
"trombone"
] | Inspired by the creative genius of Martin Molin of Wintergatan fame, [iSax] set out to
create a robotic MIDI-controlled trombone
. It takes years for humans to develop the control and technique required to play the trombone well as the tone produced into the mouthpiece (embouchure) is a tricky combination of air pressure, lip tension, airflow, resonance in the mouth, and other sources of complex pressure.
[iSax] gives
a thorough walkthrough of the machine
, which is powered by two separate sources of air, one for the position of the slide and the other for producing sound. A potentiometer provides feedback on the position of the slide and a servo controls the flow rate into the silicone resonance chamber. The chamber can be tuned via a stepper motor that applies pressure, slightly altering the chamber’s frequency and pressure. An Arduino with Firmata allows the device to controlled easily from any host computer. A detailed writeup in PDF form is on the Hackday.io project page.
As you can imagine, simulating a human mouth is a daunting task and the number of variables meant that [iSax] ended up with something only vaguely trombone-like. While ultimately it didn’t turn out to be the astounding music machine that [iSax] hoped, it did end up being a fun feat of engineering we can appreciate and admire. Progress towards automatic brass instruments seems to be coming slowly as we saw similar results with
this robotic trumpet
. Maybe someday we’ll have robot brass sections, but not today.
Thanks [iSax] for sending this one in! | 30 | 16 | [
{
"comment_id": "6306439",
"author": "Joe",
"timestamp": "2020-12-27T15:24:26",
"content": "TerribleGreat post HaD",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6306448",
"author": "PWalsh",
"timestamp": "2020-12-27T16:04:43",
"conte... | 1,760,373,240.37286 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2020/12/27/custom-powerbank-in-compact-form-factor/ | Custom Powerbank In Compact Form Factor | Danie Conradie | [
"drone hacks",
"Tech Hacks"
] | [
"18650",
"battery charging",
"fpv goggles",
"power bank"
] | The wide availability and power density of 18650 lithium-ion cells have made them a good option for everything from electric cars to flashlights. [Theo] needed a new power source for his FPV drone goggles, so he designed his own
power bank with a very compact charge controller
.
While [Theo] could charge the batteries with an RC battery charger, he preferred the convenience of one with a standard 5V micro USB input, and wanted battery level indication to avoid having the FPV goggles die unexpectedly mid-flight. When four 18650 cells are held in a cube arrangement, a 8x8x65 mm gap is formed between the cells. In this space [Theo] was able to fit a custom PCB with a micro USB jack, 1.3 mm power jack, BQ25606 charge controller, TPS61085 boost converter, and ATtiny MCU with LED for battery level feedback. The charge controller also allows 5V devices to be charged via USB, while the boost converter outputs 9V via the 1.3mm jack for [Theo]’s FPV goggles. Everything fits inside a nice compact 3D printed enclosure.
The project was not without hiccups. After ordering and building the PCB he discovered some minor PCB layout mistakes, and realized the boost converted could only output 600mA at 9V, which was not enough for his more power-hungry googles. He plans to fix this in the next version.
We’ve seen custom power banks in quite a few shapes and sizes, including one that runs on
power tool batteries
(which probably also have 18650s inside) and one that has just about
every output you could want
, including AC and wireless QI charging. | 28 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "6306414",
"author": "wizardpc",
"timestamp": "2020-12-27T12:49:00",
"content": "Honest question, from a place of complete ignorance:Is it safe to have the charger enclosed in the battery pack like that? I saw that the chip he picked has battery charge and thermal protection so maybe... | 1,760,373,240.304179 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2020/12/27/a-tracker-for-radio-sondes/ | A Tracker For Radio Sondes | Anool Mahidharia | [
"Radio Hacks"
] | [
"ESP32",
"radiosonde",
"sounding balloon",
"tracker",
"TTGO",
"TTGO T-BEAM",
"weather balloon"
] | Radiosondes – the telemetry packages carried aloft by sounding balloons for atmospheric weather data measurements – are regularly used by weather bureaus around the world to collect data, and there are quite a number of launches daily. Most of them are in Europe, but they also happen at many locations in North and South America, Japan, and Australia. The balloons burst when they reach a high enough altitude, the radiosonde falls back, and most often there is no effort made to recover them since they are deemed “expendable”. So it’s Finders Keepers, and rich pickings for any hacker who is fortunate enough to grab the fallen radiosondes. For successful recovery, you need to first be able to track those radiosondes, and that’s why leet guy [Robert Stefanowicz aka p1337] built his
Weather ballon tracker
(sic) project.
The hardware is all off-the-shelf, packaged in a pretty cool
3D printed package
designed to make it look like the hand held radio that it is. At its heart is the ESP32 based TTGO T-BEAM V1.0 which has almost everything needed for this project. Add an OLED display, 18650 Li-Po cells, antenna and connectors and you can put it all together in an evening over your favourite beverage.
[DL9RDZ] wrote the software which runs on the T-Beam, available at the
RDZ-Sonde repo
on Github, that allows hunting these balloons. Setup is straightforward, and you need to fiddle with just a couple of well-explained config parameters. Once connected to your WiFi, config and settings can be accessed via convenient web URL’s and the single user action button on the TTGO offers quick access to different functional modes. At the moment, the software is written to decode signals from the widely used Vaisala RS41, Graw DFM06 and Graw DFM09 radiosondes. This
LINK
provides details for some of the popular radiosonde models.
Once you’re done building this piece of hunting gear, you’ll need some additional help finding out when and where the launches are taking place. If you’re in Europe, you luck out – there is a
live radiosonde tracker map
, thanks to the great work done by [Michał Lewiński – SQ6KXY]. If you live else where and know of similar resources, let us know in the comments. As a side note, Wikipedia tells us there are about 1300 launch sites worldwide and twice a day missions, so there’s quite a number of fallen pieces of hardware lying around just waiting to be picked up. At the very least, each will have a GPS module and temperature and humidity sensors that you can recover.
So, what do you do with the recovered radiosondes ? Here’s a tip on a “
Fallen Radiosonde reborn as active L-band antenna
“. And If you’d like to get the skinny on radiosondes, check out “
Radiosondes: getting data from upstairs
”
Thanks for the tip, [Alex aka MD23F3]. | 12 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "6306385",
"author": "Mark Jessop",
"timestamp": "2020-12-27T09:33:38",
"content": "The link to re-using a sonde as a L-band antenna isn’t going to be that useful anymore – the RS92 sondes mentioned in my article are well and truly obsolete now, having been replaced by the Vaisala RS... | 1,760,373,240.418949 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2020/12/26/3d-printed-server-case-holds-14-raspberry-pis/ | 3D Printed Server Case Holds 14 Raspberry Pis | Al Williams | [
"3d Printer hacks",
"Raspberry Pi"
] | [
"rackmount",
"raspberry pi",
"raspberry pi cluster"
] | If you ever need to cluster up to 14 Raspberry Pis and an equal number of 2.5 inch hard drives, you might want to look at the
Raspberry Pi Server Mark III case
from [Ivan Kuleshov]. The original Mark I design came from Thingiverse, but the Mark III is a complete redesign.
The redesign allows for more boards along with a reduction in the number of parts. That takes less plastic and less time to print. The design is also modular, so there should be new components in the future.
In addition to the 3D printed parts and the electronics, you also need five fans and some miscellaneous hardware and cables. The setup is made to accommodate a power over Ethernet HAT, but apparently you can also get it to work without it. You also need a power supply for the fans, so we aren’t sure the Ethernet power matters that much. We have to wonder what [Ivan]’s up to with all these computers and hard drives in a rack mount.
The 10 STL files and some other data is in one downloadable ZIP file. Of course, some of these you print multiple times, so expect to keep your printer busy for awhile.
With 14 boards, you’ll be well on your way to Raspberry Pi clustering, but you’ll still have a ways to go to
match Oracle
. But it is plenty compared to
some builds
we’ve seen. | 26 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "6306372",
"author": "kse",
"timestamp": "2020-12-27T06:29:54",
"content": "To bad that there is no swich board behind the PI’s and no integrated patchpanel.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6306390",
"author": "Ivan Kul... | 1,760,373,240.149347 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2020/12/26/analyzing-the-source-code-of-the-covid-19-vaccine/ | Analyzing The “Source Code” Of The COVID-19 Vaccine | Lewin Day | [
"Medical Hacks"
] | [
"COVID",
"Covid-19",
"Tozinameran",
"vaccine"
] | Computer programs are written in code, which comes in many forms. At the lowest level, there’s machine code and assembly, while higher-level languages like C and Python aim to be more human-readable. However, the natural world has source code too, in the form of DNA and RNA strings that contain the code for the building blocks of life.
[Bert] decided to take a look at the mRNA source code of Tozinameran, the COVID-19 vaccine developed by BioNTech and Pfizer.
The analysis is simple enough for the general reader, while nonetheless explaining some highly complex concepts at the cutting edge of biology. From codon substitutions for efficiency and the Ψ-base substitution to avoid the vaccine being destroyed by the immune system, to the complex initialisation string required at the start of the RNA sequence, [Bert] clearly explains the clever coding hacks that made the vaccine possible. Particularly interesting to note is the Prolase substitution,
a technique developed in 2017.
This allows the production of coronavirus spike proteins in isolation of the whole virus, in order to safely prime the immune system.
It’s a great primer and we can imagine it might inspire some to delve further into the rich world of genetics and biology. We’ve featured other cutting edge stories on COVID-19 too;
[Dan Maloney] took a look at how CRISPR techniques are helping with the testing effort
. If there’s one thing the 2020 pandemic has shown, it’s humanity’s ability to rapidly develop new technology in the face of a crisis. | 54 | 19 | [
{
"comment_id": "6306346",
"author": "Pritchard",
"timestamp": "2020-12-27T03:22:36",
"content": "Wonder how many comments are gonna get “moderated” here.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6306350",
"author": "Ren",
"timestamp": ... | 1,760,373,240.238232 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2020/12/26/squeezing-every-bit-from-an-atmega/ | Squeezing Every Bit From An ATMega | Bryan Cockfield | [
"Microcontrollers"
] | [
"atmega328",
"Atmel",
"audio",
"battleship",
"display",
"led",
"limits",
"memory",
"microcontroller",
"nyan cat",
"stress"
] | While the ATMega328 is “mega” for a microcontroller, it’s still a fairly limited platform. It has plenty of I/O and working memory for most tasks, but this Battleship game that [thorlancaster328] has put together really stretches the capabilities of this tiny chip. Normally a Battleship game wouldn’t be that complicated, but this one has audio, an LED display, and can also play a fine rendition of Nyan Cat to boot,
which really puts the Atmel chip through its paces
.
The audio is played through a 512-byte buffer and an interrupt triggers the microcontroller when to fill the buffer while it works on the other processes. The 12×12 LED display is also fed through a shift register triggered by the same interrupt as the audio, and since the build uses so many shift registers the microcontroller can actually output four separate displays (two players, each with a dispaly for shots and one for ships). It will also eventually support a player-vs-computer mode for the battleship game, and also has a mode where it plays Nyan cat just to demonstrate its own capabilities.
We’re pretty impressed with the amount of work this small microcontroller is doing, largely thanks to code optimization from its creator [thorlancaster328]. If there’s enough interest he also says he will provide the source code too. Until then, be sure to check out this other way of
pushing a small microcontroller to its limits
.
Thanks to [Thinkerer] for the tip! | 16 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "6306344",
"author": "ian 42",
"timestamp": "2020-12-27T03:08:54",
"content": "I agree, I’m also surprised what a 328 can do (I use it it projects a lot as it is cheap and capable) – though the very first thing you need to is dump the ardunio libraries (and bootloader) in their entir... | 1,760,373,240.474376 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2020/12/28/the-high-tech-valor-glass-vials-used-to-deliver-the-coronavirus-vaccine/ | The High-Tech Valor Glass Vials Used To Deliver The Coronavirus Vaccine | Kristina Panos | [
"chemistry hacks",
"Current Events",
"Engineering",
"Featured",
"Original Art",
"Slider"
] | [
"aluminosilicate glass",
"borosilicate glass",
"Covid-19",
"glass",
"pyrex",
"vaccines",
"vials"
] | As the world waits for COVID-19 vaccines, some pharmaceutical companies stand armed and ready with an exciting improvement: better vials to hold the doses. Vials haven’t changed much in the last 100 years, but in 2011, Corning decided to do something about that. They started developing an alternative glass that is able to resist damage and prevent cracks.
It’s called Valor glass, and it’s amazingly strong stuff
. Think Gorilla glass for the medical industry.
Traditionally, pharmaceutical vials have been made from borosilicate glass, which is the same laboratory-safe material as Corning’s Pyrex. Borosilicate glass gets its strength from the addition of boron. Although borosilicate glass is pretty tough, it comes with some issues. Any type of glass is only as strong as its flaws, and borosilicate glasses are prone to some particularly strength-limiting flaws. Pharmaceutical glass must stand up to extreme temperatures, from the high heat of the vial-making process to
the bitterly cold freeze-drying process and storing temperature required by the fragile viral RNA of some COVID-19 vaccines
. Let’s take a look at how Valor glass vials tackle these challenges.
Eliminating Damage and Delamination
Borosilicate glass flakes float in the vial. Image via
Corning Incorporated
The biggest problem with borosilicate vials beyond breakage is that
they are prone to delaminating internally
, meaning that little pieces of glass flake off inside of the vials and contaminate the medicine. During the converting phase, where long glass tubing is separated and the ends sealed off into vials, boron evaporates from the glass network and leaves sodium borate deposits on the inside of the tube. When the vial is filled with medicine, elements like sodium, silicon, and potassium leach from the glass and into the solution.
Corning spent millions of dollars to do an in-depth study and determined that boron itself was the root cause of delamination. So after combing through the periodic table and mixing various elements with silica, they came up with a boron-free alternative that uses aluminium oxide for strength.
Vials go through several stages of production from raw glass to ready dose, and every stage presents an opportunity for damage. Batches of intravenous drugs are created during a process called lyophilization, which is a three-stage freeze-drying process. Drugs expand at different rates during the lyophilization process, and these expansions generate additional stresses within the vials.
Another problem with borosilicate glass is the dust generated on the production line. All of those vials standing shoulder to shoulder will rub together as they move down the line, generating particulates that can ruin entire batches. Valor glass has a special coating with a low coefficient of friction that reduces dust to almost nothing.
Valor vials can withstand around 1,000 pounds of force. Image provided by
Corning
Strong Stuff
The most impressive thing about Valor glass is its strength. In this video, a regular borosilicate vial breaks under a mere 20 kg of force. But this aptly-named super glass can withstand around 1,000 pounds force, which makes it fifty times stronger than borosilicate glass.
After the converting process that cuts and shapes the glass tubes into vials, the vials are submerged in a molten salt bath for toughness. During this process, potassium atoms in the brine swap with sodium atoms in the glass, and this fortification process is what gives Valor its strength. Corning originally developed this process for Gorilla glass — made famous through its use in scratch and shatter-resistant smartphone screens — a material which is similarly Herculean. The vials are then rinsed and coated with a polymer that greatly reduces glass dust when the bottles knock together.
To gauge the strength of the Valor vials, Corning did extensive freeze-thaw testing where they cooled vials from room temperature down to -100 °C in the span of about a minute, then allowed the vials to thaw back to room temperature over the next twelve hours. They processed and filled the vials with mannitol, a drug which expands rather aggressively during the freeze-thaw process. When mannitol crystallizes, it produces high
hoop tensile stress
within the vials and makes them susceptible to cracking and breakage. Valor vials are “
at least 40x less likely to break than borosilicate vials under freeze-thaw conditions
” (PDF) because their composition and molten salt bath help them maintain their strength throughout the lyophilization process.
Valor glass has tension layers and compression layers, and cracks that occur in the tension layer don’t propagate to the rest of the vial as they tend to do in borosilicate glasses. Valor glass will still break with enough force, so what the composition and annealing process really do is prevent cracks from growing and turning into breaks.
Over the summer,
Corning received a $204M grant from the US government to expand manufacturing of Valor vials under the Operation Warp Speed initiative
. And they’re not the only ones seeking new packaging solutions. Another company called SiO2 Materials Science are also producing an alternative to borosilicate that is a hybrid container — plastic lined with a thin glass-like coating that “
eliminates the major concerns of glass and plastic when these materials are used alone
.” Well, we need all the vials we can get. | 70 | 19 | [
{
"comment_id": "6306736",
"author": "Thinkerer",
"timestamp": "2020-12-28T15:23:02",
"content": "Aluminosilicate glass is interesting stuff – developed in 1936 but it took years to get very good fabrication (eg. screen surfaces) going with it. Used for high temperature lamps/electronics/ignition t... | 1,760,373,240.587703 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2020/12/28/the-wichinsky-bagelmatic/ | The Wichinsky Bagelmatic | Chris Lott | [
"Biography"
] | [
"bagel",
"biofuel",
"hemp",
"Inventor",
"vegetableoil"
] | Reader [Eric Mockler] brought
Louis “Lebel” Wichinsky
to our attention, a colorful inventor he ran into some years back in the Borscht Belt of Upstate New York. Described as a Mel Brooks doppelgänger, Lebel was born the son of a baker in Hurleyville NY. During WW2 he served in England where he lodged with two brothers who also owned a bakery. When his British friends suggested he should build a bagel machine because “you Yanks can do anything”, he accepted their challenge and began working on a design. Despite taking a detour through Israel as an aircraft mechanic on his journey home, he finally succeeded in 1964 after 20-some years of tinkering.
A patent followed in 1968
, despite discovering that someone else had independently invented similar device.
Chuting bagels at 120 rounds per minute from the Bagelmatic wasn’t enough for Lebel, who pursued a variety of other endeavors — building his own airplane, bar-coded bullets, and vending machine locks. Perhaps most notable was his tireless promotion of bio-fueled cars in the 1980s. Not deterred by a vegetable oil mishap that burned out the interior of a modified Mercedes 220D, Lebel turned to a less expensive Volkswagen Rabbit. He made headlines driving this aromatic vehicle around the country, promoting alternate fuels like vegetable and hemp seed oil. Powered by whatever cooking oil he could scrounge up from restaurants and bakeries, his Rabbit could be easily identified by the smell of French fries and the DEEP FRY license plate as it drove by.
Lebel passed away in 2000, leaving behind quite a legend. His original bagel machine is on
exhibit at the local museum
, an annual
Bagel Festival
(cancelled this year due to the Coronavirus) sprung up in his honor, and the state government officially decreed the area as “The Bagel Capital”. Lebel left us with some folk wisdom, too — “If General Custer had one of my machines at Little Big Horn shooting raw bagels, nobody would have ever heard of Sitting Bull. A rifle don’t fire that fast.”
Let us know in the comments if you ever ran into Louis Wichinsky or his Bagelmatic machine. | 40 | 16 | [
{
"comment_id": "6306698",
"author": "Eric R Mockler",
"timestamp": "2020-12-28T12:19:00",
"content": "If it says “lebel lebel lebel” on the label label label, you will like it, like it, like it on your table, table, table.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"c... | 1,760,373,240.670952 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2020/12/28/big-time-character-lcd-clock/ | Big Time Character LCD Clock | Sven Gregori | [
"clock hacks"
] | [
"16x2 LCD",
"arduino",
"character display",
"character lcd",
"digital clock",
"hd44780",
"i2c"
] | While the SSD1306 OLED has somewhat become the go-to display for up-to-date projects, the good old character displays with their Hitachi HD44780 controller don’t seem to be disappearing just yet either. And why would they, especially if you want to show just text, having a built-in font has certainly its perk compared to worrying about integrating your own characters — which you can still do on top as well. Or perhaps you can combine both worlds, which is what [oldmaninSC] did
with his digital clock that takes an entire 16×2 LCD to show each single digit
.
The whole clock uses 16 individual, upright rotated 16×2 LCDs that are arranged in two rows of eight LCDs each, turning the entire construct sort of into a giant 8×2 display itself. For some additional information such as the date, there’s also a smaller font available that uses only half the height, allowing up to four total rows of information. To communicate with each LCD via I2C, two TCA9548A I2C multiplexers are connected to an Arduino, along with an RTC to keep track of the time and date itself.
As the TCA9548A has three pins dedicated to define its own address, the entire clock could be scaled up to a total of 64 LCDs — so how about a 16×4 display made out of 16×4 displays? Sure,
adding smooth scrolling
might become a bit tricky at some point, but imagine
playing Tetris
on that one! | 9 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "6306717",
"author": "tekkieneet",
"timestamp": "2020-12-28T13:51:23",
"content": "I wired up a character LCD to replace the guts of a old $10 digtal clock. I found out how limited the viewing angle was and have to make do with 7 segment LED. The viewing angle when you rotate it by 1... | 1,760,373,242.237211 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2020/12/27/retrocomputing-with-modern-hardware-no-emulation-required/ | Retrocomputing With Modern Hardware, No Emulation Required | Bryan Cockfield | [
"Retrocomputing"
] | [
"486",
"custom",
"gaming",
"mini",
"pc/104",
"retrocomputing",
"sound blaster",
"x86"
] | The x86 processor family is for the time being, the most ubiquitous type of processor in the PC world, and has been since the 1980s when the IBM PC came on the scene. Emulating these older devices is easy enough if you want to play an old LucasArts game or experience Windows 3.1 again, but the true experience is found on original hardware. And, thanks to industrial equipment compatibility needs, you can build a
brand new 486 machine with new hardware that will run this retro software as though it was new itself
.
[The Rasteri] masterminded this build which is reminiscent of the NES classic and other nostalgic console re-releases. It’s based on the PC/104 standard which was introduced in the early 90s, mostly for industrial controls applications. The platform is remarkably small, and the board chosen for this build hosts a 486 processor running at 300 MHz. It has on-board VGA-compatible graphics but no Sound Blaster card, so he designed and built his own ISA-compatible sound card that fits in the PC/104’s available expansion port.
After adding some more tiny peripherals to the build and installing it in a custom case, [The Rasteri] has a working DOS machine on new, bare-metal 486 hardware which can play DOOM as it was originally intended. It can also run early versions of Windows to play games from the Microsoft Entertainment Pack if you feel like being eaten by a snow monster while skiing. [The Rasteri] is no stranger to intense retro computing like this either, as he was the one who
got DOOM to run on original NES hardware
. | 38 | 13 | [
{
"comment_id": "6306673",
"author": "Jaokb",
"timestamp": "2020-12-28T08:58:48",
"content": "486 at 300MHz? What black magic is this?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "6306675",
"author": "dst",
"timestamp": "2020-12-28T09:13:11",
"co... | 1,760,373,242.740191 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2020/12/27/rheoscopic-holiday-ornaments/ | Rheoscopic Holiday Ornaments | Anool Mahidharia | [
"Holiday Hacks"
] | [
"Artist Paul Matisse",
"bauble",
"christmas lights",
"christmas ornament",
"Kalliroscope",
"rheoscopic",
"turbulence"
] | We had to look it up on Wikipedia – “Rheoscopic fluid means ‘current showing’ fluid. Such fluids are effective in visualizing dynamic currents in fluids, such as convection and laminar flow. They have microscopic crystalline platelets such as mica, metallic flakes, or fish scales, in suspension in a fluid such as water or glycol stearate.” And so it seems [Will Donaldson] has figured out a great way to
Animate Christmas Ornaments using Rheoscopic Fluid
, just in time for the holiday season.
Making the fluid is pretty simple, and uses just a few readily available materials – distilled water, rheoscopic fluid concentrate and your choice of food colouring. The hardware is dead simple too – clear, spherical baubles with lids and core-less DC motors such as used in mini and nano drones, to agitate the fluid. You can use cell phone vibration motors too, but [Will]’s experimentation suggests that the level of agitation is not a lot.
To make a bauble, you fill it with the fluid, hot glue the motor to the lid, close the lid such that the motor and its agitator are dunked in the fluid, and dab a generous amount of hot melt glue to seal it all shut. Then, hook it up to a suitable power supply and get enchanted by the mesmerising movements of the rheoscopic fluid in the bauble. The agitator is just a plain ol’ drone propeller forced in to a shape that is narrow enough to be pushed through the neck of the bauble. It’s a seasonal ornament, so don’t expect the motors to last long being submerged in the rheoscopic fluid. [Will]’s contraptions have not yet failed after a couple of days, and it may be safe to estimate that the motors may last about a week or two at most. Of course, YMMV depending on if you used distilled water or plain tap water and other factors.
As [Will] suggests, if you prefer slower swirls, or random agitation, then it’s best to hook up a micro-controller and motor driver for fancy effects. At this point, it may be tempting to think of embedding LED’s inside the baubles, but doing so reduces the rheoscopic effect since it relies on reflecting light shining on it from the outside. The video embedded after the break has all the build details.
It’s a great way to teach some science to the kids during the holidays and maybe even get them to help with the project. And don’t assume this is just a cheap Christmas trick.
Artist Paul Matisse
has invented an art device/technique based on rheoscopic fluids which he calls “Kalliroscope©”. He patented it in 1968, and has sold Kalliroscope artworks throughout the world since then. From his website “A Kalliroscope is a device for viewing fluid currents. Kalliroscopes are both works of art and intuitively educational displays of the scientific principles of fluid dynamics. They are glass and steel constructions containing a current-visualizing fluid.” We’re not sure how priceless those works of art are, but it’s safe to assume you need deep pockets to buy one. So go ahead, turn your Christmas Tree in to a work of Art ! | 20 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "6306634",
"author": "Jerzee",
"timestamp": "2020-12-28T03:33:42",
"content": "This looks interesting for a sensory bottle also.I also wonder how a fluorescing dye, or a LED would look….. Ideas.Really cool btw.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"... | 1,760,373,242.49195 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2020/12/27/hackaday-links-december-27-2020/ | Hackaday Links: December 27, 2020 | Dan Maloney | [
"Hackaday Columns",
"Hackaday links"
] | [
"cpu",
"economy",
"ez430",
"hackaday links",
"hackaday.io",
"market",
"MCM",
"prize",
"System/390",
"teardown",
"terrestrial radio",
"ti"
] | We’re always pleased to see one of our community’s projects succeed, and we celebrate that success in whatever what it comes. But seeing a company launched to commercialize an idea that started as
a Hackaday.io project
and
a Hackaday Prize entry
is especially gratifying. So we were pleased as punch to see that
MAKESafe Tools
has managed to bring the idea of add-on machine tool braking to market. We’d love to add this to several tools in our shop. Honestly, of all the terrifying ways machine tools can slice, dice, and shred human flesh asunder, we always considered the lowly bench grinder fairly low-risk — and then we had a chance to “
Shake Hands with Danger
.”
Another great thing about the Hackaday community is the way we all try to keep each other up to speed on changes and news that affects even our smallest niches. Just last week Tom Nardi covered a project using the venerable TI eZ430-Chronos smartwatch as a makeshift medical alert bracelet for a family member. It’s a great application for the proto-smartwatch, but one eagle-eyed commenter helpfully pointed out that
TI is shutting down their processors wiki
in just a couple of weeks. The banner at the top of each page warns that the wiki is not read-only and that any files needed should be downloaded by January 15. Also helpfully, subsequent comments include instructions to download the entire wiki and a torrent link to the archive. It’s always sad to see a platform lose support, especially one that has gained a nice following, but it’s heartening to see the community pull together to continue to support each other like this.
We came across an interesting article this week that’s was a fascinating glimpse into how economic forces shape and drive technological process, and vice versa. It turns out that some of the hottest real estate commodities these days are
the plots of land occupied by AM radio stations serving metropolitan markets
. It’s no secret that terrestrial radio in general, and AM radio in particular, are growing increasingly moribund, and the infrastructure needed to keep them on the air is getting harder and harder to justify. Chief among these are the large tracts of land devoted to antenna farms, which are often located in suburban and exurban areas near major cities. They’re tempting targets for developers looking to plunk down the physical infrastructure needed to support “New Economy” players like Amazon, which continue to build vast automated warehouses in areas that are handy to large customer bases. It’s a bit sad to watch a once mighty industry unravel and be sold off like this, but such is the nature of progress.
And finally, you may recall a Links article mention a few weeks back about
a teardown of a super-sized IBM processor module
. A quarter-million dollar relic of the 1990s, the huge System/390 module was an engineering masterpiece that met an unfortunate end at the hands of EEVblog’s Dave Jones. As a follow-up, Dave teamed up with fellow YouTuber CPU Galaxy to take
a less-destructive tour of the module using X-ray analysis
. The level of engineering needed for a 64-layer ceramic backplane is astonishing, and Dave’s play-by-play is pretty entertaining too. As a bonus, CPU Galaxy has some really interesting stuff; his place is basically
a museum of vintage tech
, and he just earned a new sub. | 26 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "6306575",
"author": "Saabman",
"timestamp": "2020-12-28T00:15:36",
"content": "I have to say I’m not sad to see the death of commercial AM radio. The audio quality is atrocious the majority of tuners commonly available are even worse – drifting all over the place.Possibly though a b... | 1,760,373,242.927939 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2020/12/27/mechanical-edge-avoiding-robot/ | A Mechanical Edge-Avoiding Robot | Danie Conradie | [
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"3d printed",
"gzumwalt",
"mechanical design",
"obstacle avoidance",
"rover"
] | In the age of cheap sensors and microcontrollers, it’s easy to forget that there might be very simple mechanical solutions to a problem.
[gzumwalt]’s 3D printed mechanical edge avoiding
robot is a beautifully elegant example of this.
The only electric components on this robot is a small geared DC motor and a LiPo battery. The motor drives a shaft fixed to a wheel on one side, while the opposite wheel is free-spinning. A third wheel is mounted perpendicular to the other two in the center of the robot, and is driven from the shaft by a bevel gear. The third wheel is lifted off the surface by a pair of conical wheels on a pivoting axle. When one of these conical wheels go over the edge of whatever surface it’s driving on, it lowers front and brings the third wheel into contact with the surface, spinning the robot around until both front wheels are back on the surface.
Mechanical alternatives for electronic systems are easily overlooked, but are often more reliable and rugged in hostile environments. NASA is looking at sending a
rover to Venus
, but with surface temperatures in excess of 450 °C and atmospheric pressure 92 times that of Earth, conventional electronics won’t survive. Earlier in the year NASA ran a design competition for a
completely mechanical obstacle detection system
for use on Venus.
[gzumwalt] is a very prolific designer on ingenious 3D printed mechanical devices. This mechanism could also be integrated in his
walking fridge rover
to explore the front of your fridge without falling off. | 19 | 11 | [
{
"comment_id": "6306528",
"author": "drew d",
"timestamp": "2020-12-27T21:50:09",
"content": "gzumwalt’s work is always fireeee. From his desktop illusions to illusions to the fact that he’s posting alot of his projects here on hackaday.io, he’s a treasure trove of inspiration!",
"parent_id": n... | 1,760,373,242.550171 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2020/12/26/fox-hunting-with-software-defined-radio/ | Fox Hunting With Software-Defined Radio | Bryan Cockfield | [
"Radio Hacks"
] | [
"df-aggregator",
"direction finding",
"dragonos",
"fox hunt",
"ham",
"radio",
"raspberry pi",
"sdr",
"software-defined radio"
] | Fox hunting, or direction finding, is a favorite pastime in the ham radio community where radio operators attempt to triangulate the position of a radio transmission. While it may have required a large amount of expensive equipment in the past, like most ham radio operations the advent of software-defined radio (SDR) has helped revolutionize this aspect of the hobby as well. [Aaron] shows us how to make use of SDR for direction finding using his custom SDR-based Linux distribution called DragonOS.
We have mentioned DragonOS before
, but every iteration seems to add new features. This time it includes implementation of a software package called DF-Aggregator. The software (from [ckoval7]), along with the rest of DragonOS, is loaded onto a set of (typically at least three) networked Raspberry Pis. The networked computers can communicate information about the radio waves they receive, and make direction finding another capable feature found in this distribution.
[Aaron] has a few videos showing the process of setting this up and using it, and all of the software is available for attempting something like this on your own. While the future of ham radio as a hobby
does remain in doubt
, projects like this which bring classic ham activities to the SDR realm really go a long way to reviving it. | 7 | 3 | [
{
"comment_id": "6306305",
"author": "Michael Black",
"timestamp": "2020-12-26T22:03:34",
"content": "Yes, some hams get intrigued by building really small transmitters to be found , and a few are interested in building new things to do direction finding.But I suspect it’s mostly non-technical typ... | 1,760,373,242.648536 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2020/12/26/indoor-antennas-worthy-of-007/ | Indoor Antennas Worthy Of 007 | Al Williams | [
"Radio Hacks"
] | [
"antenna",
"cold war",
"doublet antenna",
"ham radio",
"indoor antenna",
"loop antenna",
"portland spy ring",
"radio",
"spy"
] | Many ham radio operators now live where installing an outdoor antenna is all but impossible. It seems that homeowner’s associations are on the lookout for the non-conformity of the dreaded ham radio antenna. [Peter] can sympathize, and
has a solution based on lessons of spycraft from the cold war
.
[Peter] points out that spies like the
[Krogers]
needed to report British Navy secrets like the plans for a nuclear boomer sub to Russia but didn’t want to attract the attention of their neighbors. In this case, the transmitter itself was so well-hidden that it took MI5 nine days to find the first of them. Clearly, then, there wasn’t a giant antenna on the roof. If there had been, the authorities could simply follow the feedline to find the radio. A concealed spy antenna might be just the ticket for a deed-restricted ham radio station.
The antenna the [Kroger’s] used was a 22-meter wire in the attic of their home. Keep in mind, the old tube transmitters were less finicky about SWR and by adjusting the loading circuits, you could transmit into almost anything. Paradoxically, older houses work better with indoor antennas because they lack things like solar cell panels, radiant barriers, and metallic insulation.
Like many people, [Peter] likes loop antennas for indoor use. He also shows other types of indoor antennas. They probably won’t do as much good as a proper outdoor antenna, but you can make quite a few contacts with some skill, some luck, and good propagation. [Peter] has some period spy radios, which are always interesting to see. By today’s standards, they aren’t especially small, but for their day they are positively tiny. Video after the break.
If you think spy radios were small then, you should see what
you can do now
. Then again, some of the most
famous cold war spy radios
didn’t have any obvious antenna or even required power. | 21 | 11 | [
{
"comment_id": "6306273",
"author": "Ken",
"timestamp": "2020-12-26T18:22:36",
"content": "Loop antennas are great, and many hams have installed loop antennas around the outside edge of their roof (since many homes have radiant barriers lining the inside of their roof).One issue with loop antennas ... | 1,760,373,242.846954 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2020/12/26/legged-robots-put-on-wheels-and-skate-away/ | Legged Robots Put On Wheels And Skate Away | Roger Cheng | [
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"autonomous",
"autonomous robot",
"ETH Zurich",
"Legged Locomotion",
"robotics",
"tachikoma",
"wheeled robot",
"wheeled-legged"
] | We don’t know how much time passed between the invention of the wheel and someone putting wheels on their feet, but we expect that was a great moment of discovery: combining the ability to roll off at speed and our leg’s ability to quickly adapt to changing terrain. Now that we have a wide assortment of recreational wheeled footwear, what’s next? How about teaching robots to skate, too? An
IEEE Spectrum interview with [Marko Bjelonic] of ETH Zürich
describes progress by one of many research teams working on the problem.
For many of us, the first robot we saw rolling on powered wheels at the end of actively articulated legs was when footage of the Boston Dynamics ‘Handle’ project
surfaced a few years ago
. Rolling up and down a wide variety of terrain and performing an occasional jump, its athleticism caused quite a stir in robotics circles. But when Handle was introduced as a commercial product, its job was…
stacking boxes in a warehouse
? That was disappointing. Warehouse floors are quite flat, leaving Handle’s agility under-utilized.
Boston Dynamic has typically been pretty tight-lipped on details of their robotics development, so we may never know the full story behind Handle. But what they have definitely accomplished is getting a lot more people thinking about the control problems involved. Even for humans, we face a nontrivial learning curve paved with bruised and occasionally broken body parts, and that’s even before we start applying power to the wheels. So there are plenty of problems to solve, generating a steady stream of research papers describing how robots might master this mode of locomotion.
Adding to the excitement is the fact this is becoming an area where reality is catching up to fiction, as wheeled-legged robots have been imagined in forms like Tachikoma of
Ghost in the Shell
. While those fictional robots have inspired projects ranging from
LEGO creations
to
28-servo beasts
, their wheel and leg motions have not been autonomously coordinated as they are in this generation of research robots.
As control algorithms mature in robot research labs around the world, we’re confident we’ll see wheeled-legged robots finding applications in other fields. This concept is far too cool to be left stacking boxes in a warehouse. | 6 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "6306281",
"author": "John",
"timestamp": "2020-12-26T19:45:19",
"content": "Why not have the option of both feet and wheels? Depending on terrain the robot could switch between each option.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6306... | 1,760,373,242.601268 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2020/12/26/casting-skateboard-wheels-with-a-3d-printed-mold/ | Casting Skateboard Wheels With A 3D Printed Mold | Tom Nardi | [
"Parts",
"Transportation Hacks"
] | [
"casting",
"skateboard",
"urethane resin",
"vacuum degassing"
] | We’ll admit that most of the Hackaday staff wouldn’t get too far on a skateboard, but that doesn’t mean we can’t appreciate the
impressive DIY wheels that [Chris McCann] has managed to cast using 3D printed molds
. From unique color combinations to experimental materials, the process certainly opens up some interesting possibilities for those looking to truly customize their rides. Though it’s worth noting there’s a certain element of risk involved; should a set of homemade wheels fail at speed, it could go rather poorly for the rider.
Both the STL and STEP files for the mold have been released under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license, meaning anyone with a 3D printer can follow along at home. Unfortunately, it’s not quite as simple as clicking print and coming back to a usable mold. Because of the layer lines inherent to FDM 3D printing, the inside of the mold needs to be thoroughly sanded and polished. [Chris] mentions that
printing the mold in ABS and using vapor smoothing
might be a workable alternative to elbow grease and PLA, but he hasn’t personally tried it yet.
Once you’ve got the three part mold printed, smoothed, and coated with an appropriate release agent like petroleum jelly, it’s time to make some wheels. The core of each wheel is actually 3D printed from PETG, which should give it pretty reasonable impact resistance. If you have access to a lathe, producing aluminum cores shouldn’t be too difficult either. With the core loaded into the mold, urethane resin is poured in through the top until all the empty space is filled.
But you’re not done yet. All those little air bubbles in the resin need to be dealt with before it cures.
[Chris] puts his filled molds into a pressure chamber
, though he mentions that vacuum degassing might also be a possibility depending on the urethane mixture used. After everything is solidified, the mold can easily be taken apart to reveal the newly cast wheel.
While there’s often some trial and error involved
, 3D printing and resin casting are an undeniably powerful combination. If you can master the techniques involved,
you can produce some very impressive parts
that otherwise would be exceptionally difficult to produce on a hacker’s budget. Especially when
you’re ready to start casting molten metal
. | 7 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "6306355",
"author": "Stephen",
"timestamp": "2020-12-27T04:43:50",
"content": "I don’t skateboard but that’s a great project! Best part? Open source files :)",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "6306377",
"author": "Gregg Eshelma... | 1,760,373,242.292516 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2020/12/26/no-doorknobs-needed-for-this-nitrogen-laser-build/ | No Doorknobs Needed For This Nitrogen Laser Build | Dan Maloney | [
"Laser Hacks"
] | [
"capacitor",
"ceramic",
"doorknob",
"laser",
"nitrogen",
"parasitic inductance",
"tea",
"transversely excited atmospheric"
] | Sometimes the decision to tackle a project or not can boil down to sourcing parts. Not everything is as close as a Digi-Key or Mouser order, and relying on the availability of surplus parts from eBay or other such markets can be difficult. Knowing if and when a substitute will work for an exotic part can sometimes be a project all on its own.
Building lasers is a great example of this, and [Les Wright] recently looked at
substitutes for hard-to-find “doorknob” capacitors
for his transversely excited atmospheric lasers. We took at
his homebrew TEA lasers recently
, which rely on a high voltage supply and very rapid switching to get nitrogen gas to lase. His design uses surplus doorknob caps, big chunky parts rated for very high voltages but also with very low parasitic inductance, which makes them perfect for the triggering circuit.
[Les] tried to substitute cheaper and easier-to-find ceramic power caps with radial wire leads rather than threaded lugs. With a nominal 40-kV rating, one would expect these chunky blue caps to tolerate the 17-kV power supply, but as he suspected, the distance between the leads was short enough to result in flashover arcing. Turning down the pressure in the spark gap chamber helped reduce the flashover and prove that these caps won’t spoil the carefully engineered inductive properties of the trigger. Check out the video below for more details.
Thanks to [Les] for following up on this and making sure everyone can replicate his designs. That’s one of the things we love about this community — true hackers always try to find a way around problems, even when it’s just finding alternates for unobtanium parts. | 15 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "6306200",
"author": "Alex Rossie",
"timestamp": "2020-12-26T11:19:44",
"content": "Wonder how far you’d get with simple hotglue and heatshrink. Or is that pointless at 40kV?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "6306204",
"author"... | 1,760,373,242.793638 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2020/12/25/webcam-heart-rate-monitor-brings-photoplethysmography-to-your-pc/ | Webcam Heart Rate Monitor Brings Photoplethysmography To Your PC | Adam Zeloof | [
"Medical Hacks"
] | [
"biology",
"heart rate",
"opencv",
"webcam"
] | It seems like within the last ten years, every other gadget to be released has some sort of heart rate monitoring capability. Most modern smartwatches can report your BPMs, and we’ve even seen some headphones with the same ability hitting the market. Most of these devices use an optical measurement method in which skin is illuminated (usually by an LED) and a sensor records changes in skin color and light absorption. This method is called Photoplethysmography (PPG), and has even been implemented (in a simple form) in smartphone apps in which the data is generated by video of your finger covering the phone camera.
The basic theory of operation here has its roots in an experiment you probably undertook as a child. Did you ever hold a flashlight up to your hand to see the light, filtered red by your blood, shine through? That’s exactly what’s happening here. One key detail that is hard to perceive when a flashlight is illuminating your entire hand, however, is that deoxygenated blood is darker in color than oxygenated blood. By observing the frequency of the light-dark color change, we can back out the heart rate.
This is exactly how [Andy Kong] approached two methods of measuring heart rate from a webcam.
Method 1: The Cover-Up
The first detection scheme [Andy] tried is what he refers to as the “phone flashlight trick”
. Essentially, you cover the webcam lens entirely with your finger. Ambient light shines through your skin and produces a video stream that looks like a dark red rectangle. Though it may be imperceptible to us, the color changes ever-so-slightly as your heart beats. An FFT of the raw data gives us a heart rate that’s surprisingly accurate.
[Andy] even has a live demo up that you can try for yourself
(just remember to clean the smudges off your webcam afterwards).
Method 2: Remote Sensing
Now things are getting a bit more advanced. What if you don’t want to clean your webcam after each time you measure your heart rate? Well thankfully there’s a remote sensing option as well.
For this method, [Andy] is actually
using OpenCV to measure the cyclical swelling and shrinking of blood vessels in your skin by measuring the color change in your face
. It’s absolutely mind-blowing that this works, considering the resolution of a standard webcam. He found the most success by focusing on fleshy patches of skin right below the eyes, though he says others recommend taking a look at the forehead.
Every now and then we see something that works even though it really seems like it shouldn’t. How is a webcam sensitive enough to measure these minute changes in facial color? Why isn’t the signal uselessly noisy? This project is in good company with other
neat heart rate measurement tricks
we’ve seen. It’s amazing that this works at all, and even more incredible that it works so well. | 31 | 17 | [
{
"comment_id": "6306171",
"author": "Gregg Eshelman",
"timestamp": "2020-12-26T07:38:33",
"content": "Pretty much all the technologies have been developed to create a Star Trek style medical bed where a person just has to lie down and all their vitals can be sensed without any direct contact.",
... | 1,760,373,243.010598 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2020/12/25/better-security-harry-potter-style/ | Better Security, Harry Potter Style | Al Williams | [
"Security Hacks"
] | [
"harry potter",
"horcrux",
"horcruxing",
"password",
"password manager",
"voldemort"
] | We all know we shouldn’t use 1234 as our password. But we often don’t do the absolute best practice when it comes to passwords. After all, you should have some obscure strange password that is unique for every site. But we all have lots of passwords, so most of us use
$pock2020
or something like that. If you know I’m a Star Trek fan, that wouldn’t be super hard to guess. [Phani]
writes about a technique called Horcruxing
— a term taken from the literary realm of Harry Potter that allowed Voldemort to preserve life by splitting it into multiple parts, all of which were required to bring an end to his villany. [Phani’s] process promises to offer better security than using a single password, without the problems associated with having hundreds of random passwords.
Most people these days use some form of password manager. That’s great because the manager can create 48 character passwords of random words or symbols and even you don’t know the password. Of course, you do know the master password or, at least, you better. So if anyone ever compromised that password, they’d have all your passwords at their fingers. Horcruxing makes sure that the password manager doesn’t know the entire password, just the hard parts of it.
Here’s how it works. Suppose you decide your personal horcrux string will be
HamNCheese
. That’s easy to remember and spell. It isn’t a great password all by itself. However, the idea is to never store that string in your password manager. Instead, you store a unique prefix and you have to add the horcrux.
If the password manager, for example, creates a password of
4337feeb90210
, then you’d set the actual password to be
4337feeb90210HamNCheese
. This means you’d have to set the password manager to not auto-submit the login form, of course. Once it filled in its part, you’ll have to add the extra string. Now if someone compromises your password manager, it doesn’t help them unless they also know your horcrux which, obviously, you should keep super secret.
This doesn’t help if someone phishes your password from you or otherwise intercepts it using, say, a keystroke logger. But it does seem like it has some value of preventing your password database from being a useful target. You’ll probably have to figure the best way to configure not only to prevent automatic submission but also to stop the password manager from helpfully trying to update your password every time you enter the horcrux, but that’s a small thing.
[Phani] doesn’t mention it, but it reminded us of the problem with security questions, too. It is reasonably easy to research people and find things like their mother’s maiden name or where they went to high school. The best solution is to have a made-up identity that you use to answer those questions. So your mother’s maiden name might be
Pfffft
and your older brother’s middle name might be
MiddleName
. The problem, of course, is keeping all that straight. Maybe you can store it in your password manager.
We’ve talked about odd ways to
generate passwords
before. If you can not lose
a hardware device,
that’s another solution. | 27 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "6306134",
"author": "Ostracus",
"timestamp": "2020-12-26T03:08:50",
"content": "“This means you’d have to set the password manager to not auto-submit the login form, of course.”But fill in it’s part of the blank which it will warn you about since it has no understanding of horcruxin... | 1,760,373,243.393573 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2020/12/25/making-smart-bulbs-smarter-with-the-power-of-mqtt/ | Making Smart Bulbs Smarter With The Power Of MQTT | Erin Pinheiro | [
"home hacks",
"Wireless Hacks"
] | [
"home automation",
"ikea",
"internet of things",
"mqtt",
"raspberry pi",
"smart light bulb",
"tasmota",
"zigbee",
"zigbee light link"
] | What’s the point of smart home automation? To make every day tasks easier, of course! According to [Tomasz Cybulski], that wasn’t the case when he installed IKEA smart lights in his closet. It’s handy to have them in a common switch, in this case a remote control, but having to look for it every time he needed the lights could use some improvement. Enter
his project to make smart bulbs smarter
, through the use of a simple ESP8266.
While hooking a door switch to the lights’ power supply could provide a quick solution, [Tomasz]’s wife wanted to keep the functionality of the remote control, so he had to look elsewhere. These light bulbs use the simple Zigbee protocol, so arranging for other devices was rather trivial. A USB dongle to interface with the protocol was configured for his existing Raspberry Pi automation controller, while an ESP8266 served as the real-world sensor by connecting it to reed switches installed in the closet doors.
With all the hardware sorted out, it’s a simple matter of making it all talk to each other. The ESP8266, using the Tasmota firmware, sends a signal to an MQTT server running on the Raspberry Pi, which in turn translates it to a remote trigger on the Zigbee frequency with the dongle. The lights turn on when the door opens, and off again once it closes. And since there were no further modifications to the lights themselves, the original IKEA controller still works as expected, which we’re sure [Tomasz]’s wife appreciates!
MQTT can be an interesting piece of software that goes beyond just home automation though, and if you already have a server in your home you can
use it to transfer your clipboard’s contents to another device
. If you are using it for home automation though,
here’s an inspiration for a rather unusual dashboard
to keep things interesting. Check out this hack in action after the break. | 14 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "6306119",
"author": "Olaf",
"timestamp": "2020-12-26T01:21:32",
"content": "“…use the simple ZigBee protocol…” Ahem, which one? These are using the ZigBee LightLink application layer (if they haven’t been updated to the new application layer), that’s slightly different from an Ardui... | 1,760,373,243.202727 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2020/12/25/modified-yost-tames-pinout-plethora/ | Modified Yost Tames Pinout Plethora | Chris Lott | [
"hardware"
] | [
"adaptor",
"Dave Yost",
"pinout",
"serial",
"USB to serial"
] | Every hacker has an assortment of USB to TTL-serial adapters kicking around in their lab, and we have all been annoyed that each one has a different pinout. You layout a PCB or breadboard for the Sparkfun flavor (GND, CTS, VCC, TXD, RXD, DTR), but when you begin troubleshooting all you can find is a CH340 board (GND, +5V, TXD, RXD, DTR, +3.3V). You have to jumper everything, and it becomes a mess. It wasn’t much better back in the days of RS-232 level signaling, either. While the pinouts were consistent, there were other headaches. Did the connection need a NULL modem adaptor? And if you were unlucky, you might need a DB-25 to DE-9 adaptor, and the
really
unlucky might need one or more gender changers. Surely there’s a better way.
It turns out there was a better way, although it didn’t seem to have become as popular as one might expect. Back in 1987 [Dave Yost] formalized
an interconnection scheme using RJ45
plugs and jacks while at Berkeley. The signals were arranged in a mirrored fashion so that each cable is always a crossover — just plug two cables back-to-back if you really need a straight thru connection.
Even though he was dealing with RS-232 serial, nothing prevents us from using this scheme for logic level signaling. For example, consider the following 1×10 header pinout, where the original 8-pins are expanded to 10 to allow for power:
Yost Original Pinout
Example of Modified Yost Pinout
This is an extreme example, and can obviously be shrunk depending on how much handshaking, if any, or power is desired. Such a pinout lets you switch between DCE and DTE by simply flipping the connector around. And if a Dupont-style header slips off too easily in your applications, you could always use an RJ connector. This still doesn’t solve the Tower of Babel pinout problem with the USB-TTL adaptors. But standardizing on a serial pinout such as this for your projects and making cables or kludging your TTL adaptors will make serial debugging less painful.
Yost to Sparkfun Adaptor Cable
Back when he released this scheme in 1987, [Dave] pontificated:
“Maybe one day before the year 2,000, the world will have a new, simple, high-speed, flow-controlled, standard type of connection for point-to-point applications currently using RS-232, with an adaptor available to talk to old, RS-232 equipment.”
Let us know your thoughts in the comments below. | 27 | 11 | [
{
"comment_id": "6306085",
"author": "huntdesigns",
"timestamp": "2020-12-25T21:40:49",
"content": "unfortunate the clones were not a more syandard copy. i believe usb replaced rs232 but you see they change that every couple years, at least mini, micro and c…",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,... | 1,760,373,243.329002 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2020/12/25/ten-robot-mechanisms-for-your-design-toolbox/ | Ten Robot Mechanisms For Your Design Toolbox | Danie Conradie | [
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"3d printed",
"brushless motor",
"Mechanisms",
"robotic joint",
"skycam",
"stepper motor"
] | The convergence of mechanics and electronics in robotics brings with it a lot of challenges. Thanks to 3D printing and low cost components, it’s possible to quickly and easily experiment with a variety of robotics mechanism for various use cases. [Paul Gould] has been doing exactly this, and is giving us a taste of
ten designs he will be open sourcing in the near future
. Video after the break.
Three of the designs are capstan mechanisms, with different motors and layouts, tested for [Paul]’s latest
quadruped robot
. Capstan mechanisms are a few centuries old, and were originally used on sailing ships to give the required mechanical advantage to tension large sails and hoist cargo.
Two of the mechanisms employ GUS Simpson Drives, which use a combination of belts and a rolling joint. These were inspired by the
LIMS2-AMBIDEX
developed at the University of Korea. The ever-popular
cycloidal gearbox
also makes and appearance in the form of a high torque d
ual disk linked, two stage, NEMA17 driven gearbox.
[Paul] also built a room sized
skycam-like
claw robot for his daughter, suspended by four ball chain strings reeled in by four brushless motors with ESP32 powered motor controllers. We are looking forward to having a close look at these designs when [Paul] releases them, and to see how his quadruped robot will turn out.
[Thanks TTN for the tip!] | 10 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "6306078",
"author": "Robert",
"timestamp": "2020-12-25T20:21:25",
"content": "Tensioned cables are underappreciated as an actuation system IMHO",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6306097",
"author": "BrightBlueJim",
... | 1,760,373,243.254238 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2020/12/25/the-x-pc-a-stylish-re-imagining-of-an-old-laptop/ | The X-PC, A Stylish Re-Imagining Of An Old Laptop | Jenny List | [
"computer hacks"
] | [
"laser cut",
"pc",
"recycling"
] | There’s one certainty wherever schoolchildren come into contact with computers: the hardware will inevitably emerge worse for the encounter. The school laptops managed by [Neil Lambert] certainly suffered, losing keys and power supplies aplenty. Faced with a pile of broken machines, he came up with
the X-PC, a stylish all-in-one desktop computer built around the innards of a laptop
.
Inside a modern laptop there is surprisingly little in the way of parts, now that removable media drives are largely a thing of the past and once the battery has been removed from the equation. When the keyboard and trackpad are subtracted and replaced with USB equivalents the inner workings are reduced to a relatively compact motherboard and hard drive alongside the screen.
The screen is encased in a lasercut frame that also mounts the motherboard. It includes a lasercut cover that folds over the top in a living hinge to create an A-frame case that also holds the power supply. As an extra bonus the centre of the A provides handy storage for a keyboard.
Most of us will have encountered enough older laptops with broken parts to recognise the value in this build, seeing how it can transform junk into a useful machine.
This certainly isn’t the first time we’ve seen someone try a similar build
. | 24 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "6306057",
"author": "Steven-X",
"timestamp": "2020-12-25T17:09:28",
"content": "Awesome! I have two or three older laptops that could use a similar treatment.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "6306076",
"author": "Hirudinea",
... | 1,760,373,243.464306 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2020/12/25/is-this-the-worlds-smallest-nintendo-64/ | Is This The World’s Smallest Nintendo 64? | Jenny List | [
"Nintendo Hacks"
] | [
"n64",
"nintendo 64",
"portable game system"
] | A niche activity in console fandom is the shrinking of full-size consoles to smaller formats, taking what could once only be played on the family TV into portable formats that fit in the pocket. In a particularly impressive example of the art, [GmanModz] has made
what he claims is the world’s smallest portable Nintendo 64
. What makes it particularly noteworthy is that he’s done it not with an emulator or a custom PCB, instead there is a real Nintendo 64 motherboard in there having undergone a significant quantity of trimming.
The video below the break goes into detail on the state of the art in these mods, and shows how he has eschewed the latest tech and instead restricted himself to only using commercially available breakout PCBs and off the shelf modules. The N64 board trimmed down particularly aggressively, requiring a lot of fine magnet wire soldering for the various PCBs replacing the parts removed. The cartridge slot is brought out to the back of the board at a right angle, jutting out from the rear of the 3D printed case above a space for an 18650 cell and allowing an original game cartridge to be played. There is a microcontroller to facilitate a few compromises on lesser uses of the Nintendo control pads, but the result is a fully playable mini handheld console. He does admit that “
The battery life sucks, it’s uncomfortable to hold […]
But hey — it fits in my pocket. Does your N64?”
We can’t fault him on that.
This isn’t the first portable N64 we’ve seen
, but will it hold the title of smallest for long? Only time will tell.
Thanks [Matthew Carlson] for the tip. | 8 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "6306031",
"author": "magsk",
"timestamp": "2020-12-25T12:17:08",
"content": "You could make it way smaller by dumping the rom and using an emulator.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6306093",
"author": "Quiche",
... | 1,760,373,243.509515 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2020/12/25/tank-track-skateboard/ | Tank Track Skateboard | Danie Conradie | [
"Transportation Hacks"
] | [
"electric skateboard",
"half-track",
"machining",
"Tank Tracks",
"the practical engineer"
] | As electric skateboards kits and components become more commonly available, you really need to do something different to make your custom board stand out. [Emiel] [The Practical Engineer] has managed to do this by
building a half-track skateboard
. (Video, embedded below.)
Except for the front trucks, fasteners and bearings, all the mechanical components on the board were custom-made. The sturdy rear chassis and the track sections were machined from aluminum plate, and the wheels and track linkages were machined from POM/Delrin. The large
carbon fiber deck
and the
polyurethane pads
on the tracks were custom molded, which [Emiel] covered in detail in separate videos, also below. Two beefy brushless motors drive the tracks and are powered by LiPos in enclosed in the sheet metal electronics box. The final product looks very well-built and refined, especially considering most of the work happened in a tiny 2 m x 3 m workshop.
It looks like the board handles gravel paths well, but we would really like to see how it performs on soft surfaces like sand, where even off-road skateboards can struggle. It struggled a bit with low RPM torque, so a slight gearing change is in this board’s future.
Everything is cooler with tank tracks. If you’re willing to live with plastic tracks, 3D printing is a viable option, as demonstrated by
[rctestflight]’s tracked rover
and
[Ivan Miranda]’s tank skateboard
. | 8 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "6306047",
"author": "Cbob",
"timestamp": "2020-12-25T15:03:56",
"content": "The half track lives!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "6306075",
"author": "Hirudinea",
"timestamp": "2020-12-25T19:59:13",
"content": "That ... | 1,760,373,243.64086 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2020/12/24/discrete-leds-make-a-micro-display/ | Discrete LEDs Make A Micro Display | Kerry Scharfglass | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"LED Hacks"
] | [
"addressable led",
"daisy chain",
"led",
"matrix",
"osh park",
"oshpark",
"reflow",
"smt led",
"tiny led matrix"
] | Few things excite a Hackaday staff member more than a glowing LED, so it should be no surprise that combining them together into a matrix really gets us going. Make that matrix tiny, addressable, and chainable and you know it’ll be a hit at the virtual water cooler. We’ve seen [tinyledmatrix]’s work before but he’s back with the
COPXIE, a pair of tiny addressable displays
on one PCBA.
The sample boards seen at top are a particularly eye catching combination of OSH Park After Dark PCB and mysterious purple SMT LEDs that really explain the entire premise. Each PCBA holds two groups of discrete LEDs each arranged into a 5×7 display. There’s enough density here for a full Latin character set and simple icons and graphics, so there should be enough flexibility for all the NTP-synced desk clocks and train timetables a temporally obsessed hacker could want.
But a display is only as good as it’s SDK, right? The COPXIE is actually designed to be a drop in replacement for a different series of tiny LED matrices, the
PIXIE by [
Lixie Labs
]
. To complete the effect the COPXIE runs the
same firmware
and so has the same feature set. Each module (with two displays) can be controlled with just two pins (data and clock), and chains of more than 12 modules (24 displays) can be strung together. Plus there is a convenient Arduino friendly library which makes control a snap.
To build a COPXIE of your own, check out the
schematic linked on the Hackaday.io page
, and the
layout at the OSH Park share link
. Note that it seems like [tinyledmatrix] may not have completely validated these boards, but given there are plenty of photos of them working they seem like a safe bet. | 5 | 2 | [
{
"comment_id": "6306011",
"author": "derger",
"timestamp": "2020-12-25T09:46:57",
"content": "too small but..if this device will be bigest and add ccd and monocular for example 10km outside, this will be transfer internet trought light.simple show pattern and read it simple looking trought monocula... | 1,760,373,243.77559 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2020/12/24/control-theory-spellcasting-banishes-the-3d-printing-ghosts/ | Control Theory Spellcasting Banishes The 3D Printing Ghosts | Sonya Vasquez | [
"3d Printer hacks"
] | [
"3d printing",
"control theory",
"input shaping"
] | It seems as though we still can’t hit the ceiling on better control schemes for 3D Printers. Input Shaping is the latest technique to land on our radar, a form of resonance compensation that all but eliminates the ghosting (aka: vertical ringing) artifacts we see on the walls of printed parts. While the technique has been around for decades, only recently did [Dmitry Butyugin] both
apply it to 3D printer control
and merge their hard work into the open source firmware package
Klipper
. Once tuned, the results are simply astonishing–especially since this scheme can augment the print quality of even the most budget printer.
A Split A/B Test with and without Klipper’s Input Shaping feature courtesy of [@LukesLaboratory]
Assuming your 3D printer isn’t infinitely stiff, when your nozzle moves from point to point or changes direction, it vibrates in response to having its speed altered. The result is that the nozzle wobbles along the ideal path it’s trying to track. The result is
ghosting
, an aesthetic blemish that looks like vertical waves on the sides of your printed part.
Input Shaping is a
feed-forward
controls technique for cancelling the mechanical vibrations that create ghosting. The idea is that, if we wanted to move the machine from point to point, we send it two impulses. The first impulse kicks the machine into moving and the second impulse follows up at a precise time to cancel the vibrations we would see when the machine comes to a stop. Albeit, moving any machine by sending it two impulses is pretty crude, so we take these impulses, adjust their amplitudes so that they sum to 1, and convolve them with a control input signal that we’d actually like to send it. The result is that the resonance cancellation part of the signal seamlessly “mixes” into the control input signal, and the machine moves from point to point with significantly less vibration at the end of the travel move. For more info on the maths behind this process, have a look at the first four pages of
this paper
from [Singh and Singhose].
The only hiccup is that you need to do some up-front system characterization of your 3D Printer running Klipper before you can take advantage of this technique. Thankfully the Klipper update comes with
a set of step-by-step instructions
for characterizing your machine up-front. After a couple test prints to measure the periodicity of your ringing, you can simply apply your measurement results to your config file, and you’re set.
Input Shaping is a prime example of “
just wrap a computer around it!
“–fixing hardware by characterizing and cancelling unwanted behaviors with software. If you’re hungry for more clever, characterized hardware control schemes, look no further than this
Anti-Cogging algorithm for BLDC Motors
. And for a video walkthrough of the Klipper implementation, have a look at [eddietheengineer]’s breakdown after the break.
Does your 3D Printer run Klipper? We’d love to see some of your Input Shaping results in the comments. | 43 | 12 | [
{
"comment_id": "6305971",
"author": "Mhajicek",
"timestamp": "2020-12-25T03:19:28",
"content": "This is old hat in the CNC world. Professional level machines have had high feed lookahead options for decades.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6... | 1,760,373,243.729128 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2020/12/24/fully-backlit-alphasmart-neo2-lights-up-the-night/ | Fully Backlit AlphaSmart NEO2 Lights Up The Night | Kristina Panos | [
"LED Hacks",
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"AlphaSmart",
"AlphaSmart NEO",
"backlight",
"NEO2"
] | The AlphaSmart NEO and NEO2 are great little word processors for distraction-free writing anywhere you want to go, but they lack the backlight of the later Dana model.
Well, [starboyk] has done what many thought impossible and added a backlight to a NEO2
. Experience gained from a ton of console mods and repairs led to the question of whether the NEO2’s LCD is similar to a Game Boy’s.
[starboyk] started with a fresh NEO2 from ebay, then swapped out the reflective polarizer for a translucent polarizer and added a trio of LED backlights meant for the original Game Boy across the back of the screen. The best part is that the backlight has its own power switch and a brightness control pot. It sounds easy enough, but this mod is not for the faint of heart as it sounds like a really tight fit in the end. Apparently we only need 500 orders to get a custom backlight manufactured, but barring that does anyone know of a backlight that’s 157mm x 44mm?
You can always stick with the mod where you power the USB-A port and use a USB reading light
like I did with my NEO
. | 5 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "6305986",
"author": "LordNothing",
"timestamp": "2020-12-25T05:03:56",
"content": "now if you could only use it as an ssh terminal.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "6306339",
"author": "j s",
"timestamp": "2020-12-27T02:3... | 1,760,373,243.820514 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2020/12/24/pir-sensor-in-a-jar-helps-you-keep-your-concentration/ | PIR Sensor In A Jar Helps You Keep Your Concentration | Erin Pinheiro | [
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"ESP8266",
"IFTTT",
"instructable",
"PIR sensor",
"Procrastination"
] | While there are loads of impressive and complex projects here on Hackaday, sometimes it’s the simple ones that really speak to us. In this case we were presented with [Isabell Park]’s easy-to-follow instructable on
how to build an anti-procrastination device
.
On the hardware side there are no surprises, it consists of a PIR sensor connected to a NodeMCU microcontroller. It checks for a signal from the sensor, and if it’s triggered, it sends a command through the Adafruit IO libraries to IFTTT. On its own it could make for a decent movement alarm, but the part that makes the project interesting is how it’s applied to become a device to help with procrastination instead.
First, you put your phone in a jar along with the electronics and close it. Then, with everything configured, the circuit is powered on and stays vigilant for any movement inside the jar. Should you try to take your phone out of it for a quick social media break (which, if you’re like us, can turn into a few hours), IFTTT will be alerted and run through whatever script you have in place. In [Isabell]’s case, she suggests sending an SMS to a trusted contact to keep you in check.
If you’re looking to keep track of how much time you’ve spent procrastinating,
have we got a clock for you
. But if you’re looking for more projects involving PIR sensors, we have
one that alerts you when your cat is back home
. Meanwhile, check out this one in action after the break. | 16 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "6305916",
"author": "JWhitten",
"timestamp": "2020-12-24T22:58:03",
"content": "If it was me, I’d do better putting myself in the jar!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "6305927",
"author": "DougL",
"timestamp": "2020-12-25... | 1,760,373,243.87307 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2020/12/24/xchange-promises-inexpensive-tool-changes-for-3d-printers/ | XChange Promises Inexpensive Tool Changes For 3D Printers | Al Williams | [
"3d Printer hacks"
] | [
"crowdfunding",
"kickstarter",
"tool changer",
"xchange"
] | [Teaching Tech] has been interested in adding a tool changer to his 3D printer. E3D offers a system that allows you to switch print heads or even change out a hot end for a laser or a (probably) light-duty CNC head. The price of the entire device, though, is about $2,500, which put him off. But now he’s excited about a product from PrinterMods called XChange. This is a kit that will allow rapid tool changes on many existing printers and costs quite a bit less. Preorder on KickStarter is about $150, but that probably won’t be the final price.
Not all printers are compatible. It appears the unit attaches to printers that have linear rails and there is an adapter for printers that have V rollers in extrusions. Supposedly, there is an adapter in the works for printers that use rods and bearings.
It looks like the installation wouldn’t be very difficult and once you have the main part attached, the tools attach to a plate that simply snaps in and out. There is a sturdy mechanical attachment and also an electrical attachment.
This can cause the head position to change which could affect your print area, your center position, and generally require changes in your production G code or maybe your firmware. Still, you probably expect anything like this to require a little fiddling to get working. Apparently, there will be some prebuilt firmware for popular machines available by the time the units actually ship.
Switching hot ends is certainly attractive. But the real value, it seems, would be adding other things. Lasers and pen plotters seem to be a good idea. We aren’t sure a common printer is stiff enough to do anything serious with mechanical CNC, though. The video also mentions the possibility of having a pick and place system in the future.
This seems like a good idea and we’ve seen
quick-change carriage designs for some time
. The real issue is if the system requires recalibration on each tool change each time. If so, the value of any system like this is limited. We also wondered if there shouldn’t be an option of a serial EEPROM on the tool plates so the firmware could interrogate the tool head for its identity and even store configuration data on the plate itself. Maybe that’ll be version two. Our own [Joshua Vasquez] released his toolchanging platform,
Jubilee
, late last year that’s worth checking out, too. | 11 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "6305875",
"author": "Cyna",
"timestamp": "2020-12-24T19:39:43",
"content": "No, cheap printers are far from stiff enough for routing/milling. Only lasers or plotters are eligible. And you might as well print a much cheaper version yourself in that case.",
"parent_id": null,
... | 1,760,373,244.150352 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2020/12/24/circuit-vr-some-op-amps/ | Circuit VR: Some Op Amps | Al Williams | [
"Hackaday Columns",
"Skills"
] | [
"falstad",
"op amps",
"op-amp",
"opamp",
"Operational amplifier",
"simulation",
"simulator"
] | Circuit simulations are great because you can experiment with circuits and make changes with almost no effort. In Circuit VR, we look at circuits using a simulator to do experiments without having to heat up a soldering iron or turn on a bench supply. This time, we are going to take a bite of a big topic: op amps.
The op amp — short for operational amplifier — is a packaged differential amplifier. The ideal op amp — which we can’t get — has infinite gain and infinite input impedance. While we can’t get that in real life, modern devices are good enough that we can pretend like it is true most of the time.
a very simple op amp circuit with some detail omitted
If you
open this circuit in the Falstad simulator
, you’ll see two sliders to the right where you can tweak the input voltage. If you make the voltages the same, the output will be zero volts. You might think that a difference amplifier would take inputs of 1.6V and 2.4V and either produce 0.8V or -0.8V, but that’s not true. Try it. Depending on which input you set to 2.4V, you’ll get either 15V or -15V on the output. That’s the infinite gain. Any positive or negative output voltage will quickly “hit the rail” or the supply voltage which, in this case, is +/-15V.
Practical Concerns
The biggest omitted detail in the schematic symbol above is that there’s no power supply here, but you can guess that it is +/- 15V. Op amps usually have two supplies, a positive and a negative and while they don’t have to be the same magnitude, they often are. Some op amps are specifically made to work with a single-ended supply so their negative supply can connect to ground. Of course, that presupposes that you don’t need a negative voltage output.
The amount of time it takes the output to switch is the slew rate and you’ll usually find this number on the device datasheet. Obviously, for high-speed applications, a fast slew rate is important, particularly if you want to use the circuit as a comparator as we are here.
Other practical problems arise because the op amp isn’t really perfect. A real op amp would not hit the 15V rail exactly. It will get close depending on how much current you draw from the output. The higher the current, the further away from the rails you get. Op amps will also have some offset that will prevent it from hitting zero when the inputs are equal, although on modern devices that can be very low. Some older devices or those used in high-precision designs will have a terminal to allow you to trim the zero point exactly using an external resistor.
Op Amps Can Provide Steady Voltage Under Variable Load
Rather than dig through a lot of math, you can deal with nearly all op amp circuits if you remember two simple rules:
The inputs of the op amp don’t connect to anything internally.
The output mysteriously will do what it can to make the inputs equal, as far as it is physically possible.
1x amplifier
That second rule will make more sense in a minute, but we already see it in action. Set the simulator so the – input (the inverting input) is at 0V and the noninverting input (+) is at 4V. The output should be 15V. The output is trying to make the inverting input match the noninverting one, but it can’t because there is no connection. The output would like to provide an infinite amount of voltage, but it can only go up to the rail which is 15V.
We can exploit this to make a pretty good
x1 amplifier
by simply shorting the output to the – terminal. Remember, our rules say the input terminals appear to not connect to anything, so it can’t hurt. Now the amplifier will output whatever voltage we put into it:
You might wonder why this would be interesting. Well, we will learn how to increase the gain, but you actually see this circuit often enough because the input impedance is very high (infinite in theory, but not practice). And the output impedance is very low which means you can draw more current without disturbing the output voltage much.
Comparing voltage divider performance with and without a 1x amplifier
This circuit demonstrates the power of a 1x amplifier
. Both voltage dividers produce 2.5V with no load. However, with a 100 ohm load at the output, the voltage divider can only provide around 400mV. You’d have to account for the loading in the voltage divider design and if the load was variable, it wouldn’t be possible to pick a single resistor that worked in all cases. However, the top divider feeds the high impedance input of the op amp which then provides a “stiff” 2.5V to whatever load you provide. As an example, try changing the load resistors from 100 ohms to different values. The bottom load voltage will swing wildly, but the top one will stay at 2.5V.
Don’t forget there are practical limits that won’t hold up in real life. For example, you could set the load resistance to 0.1 ohms. The simulator will dutifully show the op amp sourcing 25A of current through the load. Your garden-variety op amp won’t be able to do that, nor are you likely to have the power supply to support it if it did.
What’s Being Amplified?
This is an amplifier even though the voltage stayed the same. You are amplifying current and, thus, power. Disconnect the bottom voltage divider (just delete the long wire) and you’ll see that the 5V supply is providing 12.5 mW of power. The output power is 62.5 mW and, of course, varies with the load resistor.
Notice how this circuit fits the second rule, though. When the input changes, the op amp makes its output equal because that’s what makes the + and – terminals stay at the same voltage.
Of course, we usually want a higher voltage when we amplify. We can do that by building a voltage divider in the feedback loop. If we put a
1:2 voltage divider
in the loop, the output will have to double to match the input and, as long as that’s physically possible, that’s what it will do. Obviously, if you put in 12V it won’t be able to produce 24V on a 15V supply, so be reasonable.
Non-inverting amplifier example
This type of configuration
is called a non-inverting amplifier because, unlike an inverting amplifier, an increase in the input voltage causes an increase in the output voltage and a decrease in input causes the output to follow.
Note that the feedback voltage divider isn’t drawn like a divider, but that’s just moving symbols on paper. It is still a voltage divider just like in the earlier example. Can you figure the voltage gain of the stage? The voltage divider ratio is 1:3 and, sure enough, a 5V peak on input turns into a 15V peak on the output, so the gain is 3. Try changing the divider to different ratios.
What’s Next?
While it isn’t mathematically rigorous, thinking of the op amp as a machine that makes its inputs equal is surprisingly effective. It certainly made the analysis of these simple circuits, the comparator, the buffer amplifier, and a general non-inverting amplifier simple.
There are, of course, many other types of amplifiers, as well as other reasons to use op amps such as oscillators, filters, and other even more exotic circuits. We’ll talk about some of them next time and the idea of a virtual ground, which is another helpful analysis rule of thumb. | 19 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "6305877",
"author": "msat",
"timestamp": "2020-12-24T19:56:06",
"content": "Op amps are pretty dang cool, with a lot of neat circuits you could build using them. I actually just put the finishing touches on my first actual op amp design and sent the design files over to one of the b... | 1,760,373,243.948544 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2020/12/24/hackaday-podcast-099-our-hundredth-episode-denture-synth-oled-keycaps-and-snes-raytracing/ | Hackaday Podcast 099: Our Hundredth Episode! Denture Synth, OLED Keycaps, And SNES Raytracing | Mike Szczys | [
"Hackaday Columns",
"Podcasts"
] | [
"Hackaday Podcast"
] | Hackaday editors Mike Szczys and Elliot Williams celebrate the 100th episode! It’s been a pleasure to marvel each week at the achievements of awesome people and this is no different. This week there’s a spinning POV display that solves pixel density and clock speed in very interesting ways. A macro keyboard made of OLED screens gives us a “do want” moment. And you can run a Raspberry Pi photo frame by sipping power from ambient light if you use the right power-tending setup. We wrap up the last episode of 2020 with a dive into ballpoint pens and solar racers.
Take a look at the links below if you want to follow along, and as always, tell us what you think about this episode in the comments!
Direct download
(~65 MB)
Places to follow Hackaday podcasts:
Google Podcasts
iTunes
Spotify
Stitcher
RSS
Episode 099 Show Notes:
New This Week:
We zero indexed by starting the podcast with the 2018 Year in Review… so this is our 100th episode!
Remoticon Video:
Getting Started with Max
Interesting Hacks of the Week:
Over-Engineered Bottle Opener Takes The Drudgery Out Of Drinking
Solar Pi Zero E-Paper Photo Frame Waits For The Right Moment
PiJuice: Resources for PiJuice HAT for Raspberry Pi – use your Pi Anywhere
Bringing Full Colour PCB Art To Production
Successful Experiments In Multicolor Circuit Boards
Hackaday Superconference: Pushing The Boundaries Of PCB Artwork With Brian Benchoff
U
sing Pad Printers To Add Color To Artistic PCBs
Little Bird full-color PCBs:
Hackaday Links: July 21, 2019
Adaptive Macro-Pad Uses Tiny OLED Screens As Keycaps
Low Power ESP32 Handheld
ZeroBot – Raspberry Pi Zero FPV Robot
Retro Calculator Design Has Creative Tactile Touchscreen
Edge-Mounted LEDs Make This Spherical POV Look Fantastic
A SNES, Ray Tracing
POV-ray
is Elliot’s favorite ray tracer.
Quick Hacks:
Mike’s Picks:
We Bet You’ve Never Seen A Pink Denture Synth
RC Lawn Mower Cuts With Impunity
Heavy Raspberry Pi User? Keep An HDMI-to-USB Capture Device Around
Elliot’s Picks:
Remoticon Video: Making Glowy Origami With Charlyn Gonda
A Synth Of Your Own, For Not A Lot
A Camera Slider With A Twist
Can’t-Miss Articles:
Tech Hidden In Plain Sight: The Ballpoint Pen
World Solar Challenge: How Far In A Solar Car? | 5 | 2 | [
{
"comment_id": "6305893",
"author": "tyjty7j",
"timestamp": "2020-12-24T20:49:34",
"content": "Merry Christmas",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "6306570",
"author": "Dude",
"timestamp": "2020-12-27T23:53:34",
"content": "It’s not that... | 1,760,373,244.042888 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2020/12/24/ringing-in-the-holidays-with-self-playing-chimes/ | Ringing In The Holidays With Self-Playing Chimes | Adam Zeloof | [
"Musical Hacks"
] | [
"ESP32",
"holidays",
"micropython"
] | The holiday season is here, and along with it comes Christmas music. Love them or hate them, Yuletide tunes are a simple fact of life each December. This year, [Derek Anderson] put a modern spin on a few classic melodies and listened to them via his
set of self-playing chimes
.
Inspired by [Derek]’s childhood
Ye Merry Minstrel Caroling Christmas Bells
(video), these chimes really bring the old-school Christmas decoration into the 21st century. Each chime is struck by a dedicated electromagnetically-actuated mallet, which is in turn controlled by an ESP32 running
MicroPython
.
Winding the electromagnets
The chimes play MIDI files, so you could, of course, play music unrelated to Christmas if you wanted to. And they even feature an OLED screen that displays what song is being played. For added flair, the entire thing is beautifully framed in black walnut, not to mention the custom-wound solenoids.
This project incorporated mechanical and electrical design, woodworking, 3D printing, programming, and song arrangement. It’s a wonder that [Derek] was able to create the entire product in the 40-80 hour time frame he estimated. (Though it looks like he had a bit of help.)
We always love to see projects like this, ones in which several disciplines get rolled together to create a beautiful finished piece. | 4 | 3 | [
{
"comment_id": "6305852",
"author": "jacques1956",
"timestamp": "2020-12-24T18:24:45",
"content": "It is why I have abandonned my tubular door-bell project. The sound is too low.https://hackaday.io/project/174576-tubular-door-bell",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
... | 1,760,373,244.104052 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2020/12/24/how-the-gates-almost-stole-christmas/ | How The Gates (Almost) Stole Christmas | Al Williams | [
"Featured",
"Fiction",
"Linux Hacks",
"Original Art"
] | [
"christmas",
"geek poetry",
"open source",
"poem",
"poetry"
] | ‘Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house
Blue screens were everywhere; no response from the mouse
Windows, it seems, had decided to die
Because it had updated; we didn’t know why
But Santa had a plan while we were all in bed
He reformatted our server and installed Linux instead
In the morning we rushed in and what did we see?
Programs were running, and most of them free!
There was Chrome and Open Office and emacs for me
Not a penny was going to Mr. Gates’ fee
Now we have no more blue screens, ever, of course
Because Santa turned us on to that sweet open source | 150 | 37 | [
{
"comment_id": "6305802",
"author": "Mike",
"timestamp": "2020-12-24T15:23:52",
"content": "Blue screen… Please. That’s because you’re to cheap to move onto Win10, and still stuck on 7",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6305818",
"autho... | 1,760,373,244.444115 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2020/12/24/we-would-not-want-to-be-stormtroopers-right-now/ | We Would Not Want To Be Stormtroopers Right Now | Brian McEvoy | [
"Weapons Hacks"
] | [
"4000",
"cut",
"elegant weapon",
"lightsaber",
"plasma",
"real lightsaber",
"stormtrooper",
"torch",
"working lightsaber"
] | Humanity is another step closer to a fantasy-accurate lightsaber thanks to Hackaday alumnus [James Hobson] at Hacksmith. Their proto-saber cuts through (cosplay) stormtrooper armor, (foam) walls, and a (legit!) 1/4″ (6.35mm) steel plate. For so many reasons, we want to
focus on the blade and handle
. (Video, embedded below.)
The blade is a plasma stream designed for glassworking and burns a propane/oxygen mix with almost no residue, but the “blade” stays in a tight cylinder shape. With a custom PCB hosting a mixing controller, the blade extends and retracts like in the movies. The handle is not a technical marvel; it is an artistic wonder and if you want to see some machining eye-candy, check out the first video after the break. The second video demonstrates just
how much damage you can do
with a 4000° Fahrenheit tube of portable plasma.
You won’t be dueling anyone just yet, since there is no magnetic field shaping the blade like the ones [Lucas] envisioned. Unfortunately, you can’t block anything more substantial than a balloon sword since solid material will pass right through it, but it will suffer a mighty burn in the process. Lightsabers are a fantasy weapon, but the collective passion of nerds have made it as real as ever, and the
Guinness folks
give credibility to this build.
Thank you for the tip, [cyberlass]. | 20 | 11 | [
{
"comment_id": "6305774",
"author": "Megol",
"timestamp": "2020-12-24T12:33:02",
"content": "That handle is ugly and not that practical though? Impressive achievement thought.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "6305799",
"author": "Mike Szczys... | 1,760,373,244.547196 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2020/12/24/hello-holograms/ | Hello, Holograms | Brian McEvoy | [
"Science"
] | [
"3d",
"Help me Obi Wan",
"hologram",
"light",
"photo",
"the thought emporium",
"[Justin Atkin]"
] | Holograms are tricky to describe because science-fiction gives the name to any three-dimensional image. The science-fact versions are not as flashy, but they are still darn cool. Legitimate holograms are images stored on a photographic medium, and they retain a picture of the subject from certain angles. In other words, when
[Justin Atkin] makes a hologram of a model building,
(video, embedded below) you can see the east side of the belfry, but when you reorient, you see the west side, or the roof if you point down. Holography is different from stereoscopy, which shows you a 3D image using two cameras. With a stereoscopic image, you cannot tilt it and see a new part of the subject, so there is a niche for each method.
There are a couple of different methods for making a hologram at home. First, you probably want a DIY hologram kit since it will come with the exposure plate and a known-good light source. Far be it for us to tell you you can’t buy plates and a laser pointer to take the path less traveled. Next, you need something that will not move, so we’re afraid you cannot immortalize your rambunctious kitty. The last necessity is a stable platform since you will perform a long-exposure shot, and even breathing on the setup can ruin the image. Different colors come from the coherent light source, so getting the “Rainbow Holograms” advertised in the video is a matter of mixing lights. Since you can buy red, green, and blue laser pointers for a pittance, you can do color remixes to your content.
Another type of hologram appears on things like trading cards as those wildly off-color (chromatic, not distasteful) images of super-heroes or abstract shapes. They’re a different variety, which can be printed en-masse, unlike the one-off [Justin] shows us how to make.
If you’re yearning for volumetric displays, we are happy to point you to this beauty capable of showing a
jaw-dropping
3D model or this
full-color blocky duck
. | 8 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "6305757",
"author": "Nathan",
"timestamp": "2020-12-24T09:17:34",
"content": "Having nearly got through a mass production of some holograms, 2 years in the making, I’m not so sure the hologram Justin mastered couldn’t be taken to high volume manufacture.",
"parent_id": null,
... | 1,760,373,244.631802 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2020/12/23/4-bit-retrocomputer-emulator-gets-custom-pcb/ | 4-bit Retrocomputer Emulator Gets Custom PCB | Moritz v. Sivers | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"Retrocomputing"
] | [
"Atmega 2560",
"educational toy",
"microtronic",
"retrocomputer"
] | It might be fair to suspect that most people who are considered digital natives have very little to no clue about what is actually going on inside their smartphones, tablets, and computers. To be fair, it is not easy to understand how modern CPUs work but this was different at the beginning of the 80s when personal computers just started to become popular. People who grew up back then might have a much better understanding of computer basics thanks to computer education systems. The Busch 2090 Microtronic Computer System released in 1981 in Germany was one of these devices teaching people the basics of programming and machine language. It was also [Michael Wessel]’s first computer and even though he is still in proud possession of the original he just recently
recreated it using an Arduino
.
The original Microtronic was sold under the catchy slogan “Hobby of the future which has already begun!” Of course, the specs of the 4-bit, 500 kHz TMS 1600 inside the Microtronic seem laughable compared to modern microcontrollers, but it did run a virtual environment that taught more than the native assembly. He points out though that the instruction manual was exceptionally well written and is still highly effective in teaching students the basics of computer programming.
Already, a couple of years back he wrote an
Arduino-based Microtronic emulator.
In his new project, he got around to extending the functionality and creating a custom PCB for the device. The whole thing is based on ATMega 2560 Pro Mini including an SD card module for file storage, an LCD display, and a whole bunch of pushbuttons. He also added an RTC module and a speaker to recreate some of the original functions like programming a digital clock or composing melodies. The device can also serve as an emulator of the cassette interface of the original Microtronic that allowed to save programs with a whopping data rate of 14 baud.
He has certainly done a great job of preserving this beautiful piece of retro-tech for the future. Instead of an Arduino, retro computers can also be
emulated on an FPGA
or just take the original hardware and
extend it with a Raspberry Pi
. | 4 | 2 | [
{
"comment_id": "6305759",
"author": "kołtun",
"timestamp": "2020-12-24T09:36:04",
"content": "Many nice processor need screen, enclosure, keyboard , power (solar?)Meybe good idea are make a mobile terminal for everyone?Look at fomu, qomu etc. tomu.im/ look at fpgahttps://hackaday.io/projects?tag=FP... | 1,760,373,244.487187 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2020/12/23/spaceausscope-team-listens-to-the-galaxy/ | SpaceAusScope Team Listens To The Galaxy | Al Williams | [
"Radio Hacks",
"Space"
] | [
"Australia",
"Radio Astronomy",
"Radio Telescope"
] | Australia has always had a reputation for astronomy. It is a great site low in the Southern hemisphere and there are lots of sparsely inhabited areas free from light and radio interference. Some of the first video from the Apollo 11 landing, for example, came in from “the dish” — a very large radio telescope down under. Australian hobbyists have formed a group,
SpaceAusScope
, where teams across Australia are building radio telescopes with the plan — which has been delayed by the pandemic — of collecting data and providing it for public analysis.
A secondary goal of the group is to provide better documentation for amateur radio telescope builders. So even if you don’t live in Australia, you might want to check out their website. It looks as thoughthe documentation will arrive in the future, but there is a very informative blog post from one team member about the
helical antenna design
most of the teams are using to eavesdrop on the hydrogen line.
[Geoff] had access to high dollar simulation tools and some test equipment, so he managed to build an antenna that has good performance and is easier to build than some other common antenna types. Receiving gear that would have been astronomically priced — no pun intended — a few years ago is now commonplace. If you ever thought about building a radio telescope, this might be the time to do it.
Because of the availability of software-defined radios, we’ve seen quite a few
radio telescopes
lately. Some are reusing
old TV dishes
. Others use
Wi-Fi gear
. | 2 | 2 | [
{
"comment_id": "6305729",
"author": "Stephen Walters",
"timestamp": "2020-12-24T03:44:49",
"content": "Has anyone seen, Sputnik, Beeps and Mr Perry.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59s_d7YVC6ohttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDmF7bYCZyohttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlG1XYZqjukhttps://www.youtube.co... | 1,760,373,244.670372 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2020/12/23/racing-the-old-clock/ | Racing The Old Clock | Matthew Carlson | [
"clock hacks"
] | [
"big clock",
"bluetooth",
"chronoix",
"ESP32",
"mechanical clock",
"racing clock"
] | [Keenan Rebera] recently found himself with an old racing clock (a chronoix cc3000) left behind by a roommate. How the roommate obtained such a clock seems murky at best, but undeterred [Keenan] set to work
bringing the clock to life with Bluetooth functionality
. The mechanical nature of the digits provided a satisfying auditory click, making it a good candidate for some upgrading. The new brain transplant is the venerable ESP32 with an RTC for good measure. He created a custom PCB with QWIC connectors to daisy chain together the driver boards together. Each PCB has four TBD62083 for driving the digits, two MCP expanders to increase the address space. This allows the ESP32 to address all the various segments over I2C. By soldering different pads together, he can change the address of each MCP, giving a maximum of 16 digits (9 possible MCP’s each driving 2 digits).
A handsomely designed app accompanies the clock, making updating the RTC and setting the timezone a breeze. Currently, it is displaying a count down to the time when 2020 is officially over. While 2020 will certainly go down in the books as a tumultuous year, it was a great year for DIY clocks at Hackaday. Just in the past few weeks, we’ve seen
big LED workshop clocks
,
esoteric domino clocks
, and
beautiful clocks that double as works of art
. Come 2021, we’re quite confident that [Keenan] will still have a gorgeous clock on his wall ticking and clicking away.
Thanks [Keenan] for sending this in! | 6 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "6305758",
"author": "Per Jensen",
"timestamp": "2020-12-24T09:35:17",
"content": "The connector standard, coined by Sparkfun, is called QWIIC, not QWIC.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "6305791",
"author": "Hopo28",
"time... | 1,760,373,244.584645 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2020/12/23/magic-8-ball-gets-a-modern-makeover/ | Magic 8-Ball Gets A Modern Makeover | Tom Nardi | [
"classic hacks",
"Microcontrollers"
] | [
"3D printed enclosure",
"Magic 8-ball",
"oled",
"revision"
] | Back in 2012, [sjm4306] was surprised when his breadboard rendition of the classic “Magic 8-Ball” popped up on Hackaday. If he had known the project was going to be enshrined on these hallowed pages, he might have tidied things up a bit. Now with nearly a decade of additional electronics experience, he’s back and ready to
show off a new and improved version of the project
.
The 3D printed case helps sell the look.
Conceptually, not much has changed from the original version. Press a button, get a random response. But on the whole the project is more refined, and not just because it’s moved over to a custom PCB.
The original version used a PIC16F886 with a charge controller and experimental RTC, but this time around [sjm4306] has consolidated all the functionality into the ATmega328P and is powering the whole thing with a simple CR2032 coin cell. As you can see in the video after the break, assembly is about as quick and straight-forward as it gets.
As with the original, there’s no accelerometer onboard. If you want to see a new message from your mystic companion, you’ve got to hold the button to “shake” the ball. A timer counts how long the button is held down, which in turn seeds the pseudorandom number generator that picks the response. Since each person will naturally hold the button for a slightly different amount of time, this keeps things from getting repetitive.
We don’t often see
creators revisit their projects from the olden days
, but we’d certainly like to. Consider this an open invitation to any hacker who wants to show off how much they’ve refined their skills; do-overs are always welcome here at Hackaday. | 13 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "6305684",
"author": "hartl",
"timestamp": "2020-12-23T21:31:25",
"content": "“Magic 8 Ball says: Outlook Good” … software bug or project sponsored by M$?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6305686",
"author": "Andrew",
... | 1,760,373,244.83183 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2020/12/22/adding-space-music-to-the-astronomy-toolbox/ | Adding Space Music To The Astronomy Toolbox | Roger Cheng | [
"Science",
"Space"
] | [
"astronomy",
"data",
"data analysis",
"nasa",
"nasa image",
"sonification",
"space telescope"
] | Astronomy fans were recently treated to the Great Conjunction, where Jupiter and Saturn appear close together from the perspective of our planet Earth. Astronomy has given us this and many other magnificent sights, but we can get other senses involved. Science News tells of explorations into
adapting our sense of hearing into tools of astronomical data analysis
.
Data
visualization
has long been a part of astronomy, but they’re not restricted to charts and graphs that require a trained background to interpret. Every “image” generated using data from radio telescopes (like the
recently-lost Arecibo facility
) are a visualization of data from outside the visible spectrum. Visualizations also include crowd pleasing false-color images such as
The Pillars of Creation
published by NASA
where interstellar emissions captured by science instruments are
remapped to colors in the visible spectrum
. The results are equal parts art and science, and can be appreciated from either perspective.
Data
sonification
is a whole other toolset with different strengths. Our visual system evolved ability to pick out edges and patterns in spatial plots, which we exploit for data visualization. In contrast our aural system evolved ability to process data in the frequency domain, and the challenge is to figure out how to use those abilities to gain scientifically relevant data insight. For now this field of work is more art than science, but it does open another venue for the visually impaired. Some of whom are already active contributors in astronomy and interested in applying their well-developed sense of hearing to their work.
Of course there’s no reason this has to be restricted to astronomy. A few months ago we covered a project for
sonification of DNA data
. It doesn’t take much to get started, as shown in
this student sonification project
. We certainly have no shortage of projects that make interesting sounds on this site, perhaps one of them will be the key. | 4 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "6305504",
"author": "Space Music",
"timestamp": "2020-12-23T04:04:17",
"content": "Speaking of literal space music, here is some. Not exactly space analysis music but it might still be appreciated by some of the readers here.https://somafm.com/deepspaceone/https://somafm.com/spacest... | 1,760,373,244.872541 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2020/12/22/v12-corvette-gets-electronic-gauge-mod/ | V12 Corvette Gets Electronic Gauge Mod | Lewin Day | [
"car hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"gauge",
"gauges",
"gps"
] | [Wesley Kagan] is building a Corvette with a V12 engine swap. Much of the driveline will be entirely replaced, which means the components to drive the mechanical speedometer and tachometer will no longer be present in the final car. Instead,
[Wesley] came up with his own electronic gauge conversion to do the job.
It’s a build that respects the original aesthetic of the car, reusing the original gauges but driving them differently. In place of the original mechanical drives from the transmission and distributor respectively, the speedometer and tach instead get servos installed in the back with a 3D printed gear train. The odometer gets its own continuous rotation servo, too. An Arduino Nano is used to drive the servos, using data from a GPS module and the car’s ignition system.
Files are available for anyone wishing to 3D print parts to modify their own gauges.
We can’t wait to see how the gauges look when finally installed. We can imagine some teething problems with slew rate or update speed, but we’re sure it’s nothing [Wesley] can’t engineer out with a few revisions. Custom gauges are something we’ve seen a few times around these parts;
this digital setup is particularly useful for engine data
. Video after the break. | 21 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "6305475",
"author": "CityZen",
"timestamp": "2020-12-23T00:33:31",
"content": "The odometer servo is very noisy. Using a small stepper motor with a quiet driver would solve that.What happens to the gauges when the GPS looses signal? With extra sensors, you can do a bit of dead rec... | 1,760,373,244.982921 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2020/12/22/watch-this-scaly-gauntlets-hypnotizing-rippling-waves/ | Watch This Scaly Gauntlet’s Hypnotizing, Rippling Waves | Donald Papp | [
"3d Printer hacks",
"Wearable Hacks"
] | [
"cosplay",
"experimental",
"gauntlet",
"makyu",
"ripple",
"scale armor",
"vacuum forming"
] | [Will Cogley]’s
mechanized gauntlet concept
sure has a hypnotizing look to it, and it uses only a single motor. Underneath the scales is a rod with several cams, each of which moves a lever up and down in a rippling wave as it rotates. Add a painted scale to each, and the result is mesmerizing. This is only a proof of concept prototype, and [Will] learned quite a few lessons when making it, but the end result is a real winner of a visual effect.
The gauntlet uses one motor, 3D printed hardware, and a mechanical linkage between the wrist and the rest of the forearm. Each of the scales is magnetically attached to the lever underneath, which provides some forgiveness for when one inevitably bumps into something. You can see the gauntlet without the scales in the video, embedded below the break, which should make clear how the prototype works.
The scales were created with the help of a Mayku desktop vacuum former by making lightweight copies of 3D printed scales. Interestingly, 3D printing each scale with full supports made for a useful mold; there was no need to remove supports from underneath the prints, because they are actually a benefit to the vacuum forming process. When vacuum forming, the presence of overhangs can lead to plastic wrapped around the master, trapping it, but the presence of the supports helps prevent this. 3D prints don’t hold up very well to the heat involved in vacuum forming, but they do well enough for a short run like this. Watch it in action and listen to [Will] explain the design in the video, embedded below.
Vacuum forming has been around for almost 70 years, but it’s still seeing updates. For example,
combining hydrographic printing techniques with vacuum forming to create full-color objects
. | 0 | 0 | [] | 1,760,373,244.918607 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2020/12/22/diy-esp32-video-doorbell-locks-out-big-brother/ | DIY ESP32 Video Doorbell Locks Out Big Brother | Tom Nardi | [
"home hacks"
] | [
"door bell",
"ESP32",
"esphome",
"home automation",
"home-assistant",
"smart home",
"video doorbell"
] | There’s no question that being able to see who’s at your front door from your computer or mobile device is convenient, which is why the market is currently flooded with video doorbells. Unfortunately, it’s not always clear who else has access to the images these devices capture. Organizations such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation have argued that by installing one of these Internet-connected cameras on their front door, consumers are unwittingly contributing to a mass surveillance system that could easily be turned against them.
Luckily, there’s a solution. As [Sebastian] shows in his latest project, you can
build your own video doorbell that replicates the features of the commercial offerings
while ensuring you’re the only one who has access to the data by leveraging open source, community developed projects such as ESPHome and Home Assistant. At the same time, modern manufacturing techniques like desktop 3D printing and low-cost PCB fabrication mean your DIY doorbell doesn’t have to
look
like you made it yourself.
The project starts with a custom PCB that combines the ESP32, a camera module, a capacitive touch sensor, a relay to optionally trigger an electronic door lock, and a DC-DC converter that will let you power the device from a wide range of input voltages. The board even has a spot where you can solder on an additional 8 MB of external PSRAM for the ESP32, which will enable the chip to capture higher resolution video.
The electronics are housed in a minimalistic 3D printed enclosure that would fit right in alongside similar gadgets from the likes of Ring and Arlo; especially if you have access to a CNC and can cut the front panel out of acrylic. The lighted touch sensor looks phenomenal, and really gives the device a professional feel. That said, it doesn’t look like the case would last very long if exposed to harsh weather and there are some obvious physical security issues with this approach. But to be fair,
we’ve seen the same problem with commercial hardware
.
Naturally with a project like this, the hardware is only half of the story. It takes a considerable amount of software poking and prodding to get things like mobile device notifications working, and as a special added annoyance, the process is different depending on which MegaCorp produced the OS your gadget is running. [Sebastian] has documented the bulk of the process in the video after the break, but the finer points will likely need some adjustment depending on how you want to set things up.
This is an exceptionally impressive project for sure, but if the whole slick futuristic look isn’t your style, you could always opt to go with the
DIY video door bell that looks like it came from an alternate reality version of 1986
. | 17 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "6305362",
"author": "mh",
"timestamp": "2020-12-22T19:41:06",
"content": "Nice project!But I think “a relay to optionally trigger an electronic door lock” should not be placed on the outside of the door.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comm... | 1,760,373,245.048481 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2020/12/22/new-part-day-hackboard-2-an-x86-single-board-computer/ | New Part Day: Hackboard 2, An X86 Single-Board Computer | Tom Nardi | [
"Hackaday Columns",
"hardware",
"Slider"
] | [
"Hackboard",
"New Part Day",
"SBC",
"single board computer",
"x86"
] | From the old Gumstix boards to everyone’s favorite Raspberry Pi, common single-board computers (SBCs) have traditionally had at least one thing in common: an ARM processor. But that’s not to say hackers and makers haven’t been interested in an SBC with a proper x86 processor. Which is why
the $99 Hackboard 2 is so exciting
. With a modern x86 chip at the core it’s akin to a small footprint desktop motherboard, but with all the extra features that we’ve come to expect in a hacker-friendly SBC.
So what’s the big deal? In a word, compatibility. The fact that these diminutive computing devices shied away from the x86 architecture that most of us have been using on our desktops and laptops since the 1980s originally introduced software compatibility issues, but this was largely outweighed by the advantages of ARM.
The latest NVIDIA Jetson
is running on an ARM chip for the same reason the smartphone in your pocket is: they’re smaller, cheaper, and more energy efficient than x86.
However they’re rarely more powerful. Even the latest and greatest Raspberry Pi 4, often touted as a viable desktop replacement thanks to its quad core Cortex-A72, will get absolutely trounced by the pokiest of Intel’s Celeron CPUs. The performance gap is just too great. While the Pi can admirably handle most of the tasks the hacker community asks of it, there will always be a call for a board that puts raw processing power before anything else.
Sucking down nearly 40 watts at full tilt, the Hackboard 2 isn’t the SBC you’d want to use for a solar powered weather station. But if you’re putting together a set top box to play back video and run the occasional emulator, its Celeron N4020 processor and Intel UHD 600 GPU represent the most powerful combination available for a device of this size.
The Total Package
That Celeron processor also means the Hackboard 2 can run Windows, if you’re into that sort of thing. While hacker types are usually more than happy with running Linux or potentially BSD on their ARM boards, there’s unquestionably a subset of the community that feels more comfortable with Clippy looking over their shoulder. Or maybe they’ve got some project that requires a piece of Windows software that doesn’t play well with WINE. Either way, getting a proprietary OS preinstalled on your SBC is going to cost you: it’s an extra $40 to get your Hackboard 2 with a copy of Windows 10 Pro on its 64 GB eMMC.
While we can’t complain about the CPU and GPU given what the competition is packing, the fact that there’s only 4 GB of RAM onboard is something of a disappointment. Especially when the cheaper Raspberry Pi 4 includes up to 8 GB. It’s certainly enough for most Linux distributions, but pretty skimpy for a Windows box. Depending on what software you’re hoping to install, it might even be a non-starter. If you’re looking for a cheap machine to run Photoshop on, you’ll want to look elsewhere.
On the plus side, the Hackboard 2 has no shortage of expandability options. Storage certainly won’t be a problem with the dual NVMe M.2 slots, and there’s three USB 3.0 ports to connect whatever high-speed gadgets you might need. There’s also a Pi-compatible 40 pin GPIO header, as well as connectors for a camera, touch screen, and eDP display. When you want to reach out and touch someone, the board has dual-band WiFi, Bluetooth 5.1, and Gigabit Ethernet. One of those NVMe slots can even be fitted with a cellular modem.
All told, the Hackboard 2 is a very impressive SBC at a more than reasonable price. Not offering a version with more RAM seems a pretty serious oversight, but of course it
took awhile before the 8 GB variant of the Pi 4 hit the market
as well. We’d certainly welcome some similar post-release SKU shuffling for the Hackboard, but at a hundred bucks, it’s pretty hard to complain.
Prototype Impressions
If you’re wondering how the release of the original Hackboard 1 somehow passed you by; it didn’t. There was indeed an earlier version of the Hackboard, but it was considered more of a pathfinder prototype. While never released commercially, we were sent one of these prototype boards by Crowd Supply to give us a taste of what the team had in mind for the final hardware.
While we naturally appreciate getting a hands-on with the hardware, this put us in somewhat of an unusual situation. For one thing, there’s no point in doing any benchmarks on the prototype Hackboard since it has a different CPU than the commercial version. Several notable hardware changes have also been made, perhaps chief among them the removal of the prototype’s micro SD slot in favor of a second NVMe M.2 slot. In short, the prototype is different enough from the hardware that paying customers will receive in 2021 that doing a proper review just doesn’t seem appropriate.
So what
can
we say about the prototype Hackboard? Well, it exists. That should come as a comfort to anyone who’s worried about the team’s ability to deliver the goods. While they’ve still got work ahead of them to make the changes necessary for the Hackboard 2, it’s not as if they have to start from scratch.
More practically, it’s nice to have an SBC that’s essentially just a tiny PC. It has a traditional BIOS menu that allows you to easily configure all the hardware and change around the boot order. Enabling USB booting allowed me to start up the Arch and Mint installers without a problem, and everything worked out of the box.
Compared to ARM boards that generally need to run a custom build of your favorite Linux distribution, the Hackboard will be happy with whatever you throw at it. Naturally that means you can buy the $99 version and install your own copy of Windows after the fact as well.
Again, this isn’t the final hardware and things will absolutely change between now and when the Hackboard 2 starts shipping out to customers. But the prototype is undoubtedly impressive, and there’s arguably nothing on the market that can compete with it at this price. We hope to bring you a full review in the future, but until then, this is certainly a product to keep a close eye on. | 121 | 33 | [
{
"comment_id": "6305315",
"author": "justsayin",
"timestamp": "2020-12-22T18:07:56",
"content": "Seems like it would run the snot out of FreeDOS or FreeRTOS. And if you’re going in that direction, even 1G of RAM would be fine, especially if it could hit a $50 or $35 price point",
"parent_id": n... | 1,760,373,245.584311 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2020/12/22/a-charmander-lamp-to-light-up-the-garden/ | A Charmander Lamp To Light Up The Garden | Kristina Panos | [
"LED Hacks",
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"Charmander",
"garden light",
"pokemon",
"solar lamp"
] | [BrittLiv] loves Pokémon and has always wanted to make giant versions of them. Now that they’ve moved out of that apartment, it’s time to make those childhood dreams come true and fill the garden with Pokémon.
First up is Charmander, one of [BrittLiv]’s absolute favorites and a perfect candidate for a flame tail that uses the guts of a solar garden lamp
. The flame comes on automatically when it gets dark and has three modes: steady on, fade in and out, or flame emulation mode.
[BrittLiv] started with an open-source Charmander model and added a thread to the flame and the corresponding end of the tail. We love that [BrittLiv] was able to use up a bunch of old filament to print this — a total of 5kg worth over 280+ hours of print time.
[BrittLiv] added lead ballast in the feet for weight while gluing the pieces together and sealed it off at the ankles with epoxy. The entire outside surface was sanded and smoothed with clay and Bondo before getting epoxy, primer, black primer, and then a copper automotive paint that turned out to be too bright. Charmander ended up with copper paint that patinas, which is why it looks so much like a real statue. Check out the build video after the break.
There’s no word on whether there’s a future where Charmander’s flame steams when it rains, but [BrittLiv] does have plans to expand the garden with a Squirtle fountain and a Bulbasaur planter.
Want to add tangibility to Pokémon Go?
Just add real pokéballs
. | 6 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "6305301",
"author": "stbarbebaker",
"timestamp": "2020-12-22T17:04:38",
"content": "Very cute",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "6305331",
"author": "Hirudinea",
"timestamp": "2020-12-22T18:28:30",
"content": "Beats the... | 1,760,373,245.272587 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2020/12/22/uber-traded-away-its-in-house-self-driving-effort/ | Uber Traded Away Its In-House Self-Driving Effort | Lewin Day | [
"Hackaday Columns",
"News",
"Slider"
] | [
"aurora",
"self-driving",
"self-driving car",
"self-driving cars",
"self-driving vehicle",
"uber"
] | Perhaps the best-known ridesharing service, Uber has grown rapidly over the last decade. Since its founding in 2009, it has expanded into markets around the globe, and entered the world of food delivery and even helicopter transport.
One of the main headline research areas for the company was the development of autonomous cars, which would revolutionize the company’s business model by eliminating the need to pay human drivers. However, as of December,
the company has announced that it it spinning off its driverless car division in a deal reportedly worth $4 billion,
though that’s all on paper — Uber is trading its autonomous driving division, and a promise to invest a further $400 million, in return for a 26% share in the self-driving tech company Aurora Innovation.
Playing A Long Game
Uber’s self-driving efforts have been undertaken in close partnership with Volvo in recent years.
Uber’s driverless car research was handled by the internal Advanced Technologies Group, made up of 1,200 employees dedicated to working on the new technology. The push to eliminate human drivers from the ride-sharing business model was a major consideration
for investors of Uber’s Initial Public Offering on the NYSE in 2019.
The company is yet to post a profit, and reducing the amount of fares going to human drivers would make it much easier for the company to achieve that crucial goal.
However, Uber’s efforts have not been without incident. Tragically, in 2018,
a development vehicle running in autonomous mode hit and killed a pedestrian in Tempe, Arizona
. This marked the first pedestrian fatality caused by an autonomous car, and led to the suspension of on-road testing by the company. The incident revealed shortcomings in the company’s technology and processes, and was a black mark on the company moving forward.
The Advanced Technology Group (ATG) has been purchased by a Mountain View startup by the name of Aurora Innovation, Inc.
The company counts several self-driving luminaries amongst its cofounders. Chris Urmson, now CEO, was a technical leader during his time at Google’s self-driving research group. Drew Bagnell worked on autonomous driving at Uber, and Sterling Anderson came to the startup from Tesla’s Autopilot program. The company was founded in 2017, and counts Hyundai and Amazon among its venture capital investors.
Aurora could also have links with Toyota, which also invested in ATG under Uber’s ownership in 2019. Unlike Uber, which solely focused on building viable robotaxis for use in limited geographical locations,
the Aurora Driver
, the core of the company’s technology, aims to be adaptable to everything from “passenger sedans to class-8 trucks”.
Aurora has been developing self-driving technology to handle real-world situations since its founding in 2017. Being able to master the challenges of a crowded city will be key to succeeding in the marketplace.
Getting rid of ATG certainly spells the end of Uber’s in-house autonomous driving effort, but it doesn’t mean they’re getting out of the game. Holding a stake in Aurora, Uber still stands to profit from early investment, and will retain access to the technology as it develops. At the same time, trading ATG off to an outside firm puts daylight between the rideshare company and any negative press from future testing incidents.
Even if Aurora only
retains 75% of ATG’s 1,200 employees
, it’s doubling in size, and will be worth keeping an eye on in the future. | 44 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "6305300",
"author": "RW ver 0.0.1",
"timestamp": "2020-12-22T16:52:56",
"content": "Judging by the capchas I’ve been getting where it insists I identify a bicycle shaped sculpture as a bicycle, a distant crosswalk as not one, and ignore a traffic light partially obscured by a tree… ... | 1,760,373,245.414364 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2020/12/23/remoticon-video-kicad-to-blender-pcb-renders/ | Remoticon Video: KiCad To Blender PCB Renders | Elliot Williams | [
"cons",
"how-to"
] | [
"2020 Hackaday Remoticon",
"3D modelling",
"blender",
"KiCAD",
"pcb",
"Raytracing",
"VRML"
] | We seem to want our PCB design software to do everything these days, and it
almost
delivers. You can not only lay it all out, check electrical and design rules, and even spit out a bill of materials, but many PCB tools produce 3D models that are good enough to check parts clearance or are useful in designing enclosures. But when it comes to producing photorealistic output, whether for advertising or just for eye-candy, you might want to turn to 3D design tools.
In this workshop,
Anool Mahidharia takes the output of KiCad’s VRML export, gets it rendering in Blender
, and then starts tweaking the result until you’re almost not sure if it’s the real thing or a 3D model. He starts off with a board in KiCad, included in the
project’s GitHub repo
, and you can follow along through the basic import, or go all the way to copying the graphics off the top of an ATtiny85 and making sure that the insides of the through-plated holes match the tops.
If you don’t know Blender, maybe you don’t know how comprehensive a 3D modelling and animation tool it is. And with the incredible power comes a notoriously steep learning curve up a high mountain. Anool doesn’t even try to turn you into a Blender expert, but focuses on the tweaks and tricks that you’ll need to make good looking PCB renders. You’ll find general purpose Blender tutorials everywhere on the net, but if you want something PCB-specific, you’ve come to the right place.
Anool is an electrical engineer by day and a Hackaday contributor by night. He has written a bunch of articles on KiCad, including this classic on
managing component libraries
that we
still
refer to, and this
introduction to the cool things you can do with action plugins
. He also practices what he preaches, and has designed a number of cool open-source hardware projects and even
the badge for the Open-Source Hardware Summit
. | 8 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "6305678",
"author": "Ostracus",
"timestamp": "2020-12-23T20:55:38",
"content": "“We seem to want our PCB design software to do everything these days, and it almost delivers. You can not only lay it all out, check electrical and design rules, and even spit out a bill of materials, bu... | 1,760,373,245.318821 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2020/12/23/bare-metal-stm32-exploring-memory-mapped-i-o-and-linker-scripts/ | Bare-Metal STM32: Exploring Memory-Mapped I/O And Linker Scripts | Maya Posch | [
"Hackaday Columns",
"Microcontrollers",
"Software Development"
] | [
"stm32"
] | In the first installment of this series we had a brief look at the steps needed to get a bare-metal application running on an STM32 microcontroller. While this allowed us to quickly get to the juicy stuff, there are two essential elements which make an MCU so easy to use. One is found on the hardware side, in the form of so-called memory-mapped I/O (input/output), the other is the information contained in the files that are passed to the linker when we build a firmware image.
Memory-mapping of hardware peripheral registers is a straightforward way to make them accessible to the processor core, as each register is accessible as a memory address. This is both convenient when writing the firmware code, as well as for testing, as we can use a memory mapping specific for unit or integration testing.
We will take an in-depth look at this way of testing, as well as how these linker script files are connected to the memory layout.
It’s Memory All the Way Down
Akin to UNIX’s ‘everything is a file’ philosophy, for Cortex-M MCUs it is fair to say that ‘everything is a memory address’. Mapping devices onto a flat memory space is actually a common approach for computer systems. Even Intel x86 systems used this approach, with ISA, PCI, SMBus, AGP and PCIe devices detected at boot time and mapped into the flat addressing space.
As an aside, this property also led to the odd situation on 32-bit x86 systems where the ~4 GB memory address space limit could not support 4 GB RAM, because the video card’s RAM would also be mapped into the addressing space. This got problematic as the VRAM on GPUs increased beyond 512 MB, and all of this had to be mapped into the same addressing space.
But back to microcontrollers. Cortex-M MCUs also have a 32-bit address space, from 0x0000 0000 to 0xFFFF FFFF:
STM32F051 memory map from its datasheet.
By default, the Flash memory on STM32F0 MCUs starts at 0x0800 0000, and the starting with 0x0000 0000 is used to map to the boot medium. This is Flash by default, but can be switched to map to external or internal RAM as well using the BOOT0/1 configuration bits:
Boot mode configuration for STM32F0xx (RM0091, chapter 2.5).
This shows how flexible memory mapping is: without having to change the first-stage bootloader, the same address can always be loaded on boot, with the boot area’s contents easily switched to a different source.
It’s linking time
Before the compiled code can be assembled into the final firmware image, the linker tool has to know how to lay out the data as well as a few other details, such as the entry point. This information is described in a
linker script
, which uses a syntax the linker tool (usually ld) understands. Let’s run through the
linker script for the STM32F042
target as an example:
ENTRY
(Reset_Handler)
This specifies the symbol of the section (function) that will be put in the resulting binary file as the beginning of the
.text
(code) section. When the MCU boots, this is the first code that will be executed when booting from Flash memory. Here we target the
Reset_Handler
function.
_estack
= 0x20001800;
This sets the address of the end of the stack (estack). The stack starts at 0x2000 0000 (SRAM start) and grows upwards to the indicated limit. With 6 kB SRAM (0x1800) on the STM32F042 MCU, this means that the stack is allowed to grow to the size of the entire SRAM. Obviously, this would leave no space for a dynamic allocation heap.
MEMORY
This section sets the different memory regions, along with their permissions, start and length. For the STM32F042 we only have two regions, FLASH (read/execute) and RAM (read/execute/write), of 32K and 6K byte length, respectively.
SECTIONS
This defines properties of the individual output sections. This also determines the order in which the sections end up in the Flash memory, which for our MCU means that the vector table and similar start-up code in
.isr_vector
goes first, followed by the firmware code in
.text
and constants in
.rodata
.
Next are the initialized data (
.data
) and uninitialized data (
.bss
) sections as well as a few more specialized sections. Finally, the
._user_heap_stack
part, which is provided with some information that allows the linker to check that there is enough RAM and FLASH on the device for our code.
When we then add the link-time flag
--print-memory-usage
to
ld
, we can see something like this output when the objects are assembled into the final ELF image:
Memory region Used Size Region Size %age Used
FLASH: 9956 B 32 KB 30.38%
RAM: 4008 B 6 KB 65.23%
Memory Mapping Unit Tests
So far we have gained a pretty good picture of the memory architecture of the STM32 MCUs and how our code fits on them. As anyone who has ever had to write register-level code on an MCU can probably attest, it can be rather frustrating to go through countless write-flash-broken-tweak-reflash-still-broken cycles, even when one can sling a debugger run or a dozen at the problem.
One approach which I have found rather useful here is to test my code first against a local test to see whether my code correctly writes the appropriate registers. This also allows for the integration into CI/CD systems, where a unit test can be run and afterwards the values of all registers compared automatically.
As an example, consider the
GPIO peripheral test
in my
Nodate
framework. It uses the GPIO class as one would normally in an STM32 firmware project, after which the registers of the GPIO peripheral are inspected. Since these tests do not run on an STM32 MCU, it’s obviously not using remote GDB magic on real hardware.
All Nodate classes include a common header (
common.h
) which normally includes the
device-specific headers
. Instead a
different header
in the same tests folder is included, which defines the peripheral structures and preprocessor statements which the Nodate code uses. For example the GPIO peripheral on STM32F0:
struct GPIO_TypeDef {
__IO uint32_t MODER; //!< GPIO port mode register, Address offset: 0x00
__IO uint32_t OTYPER; //!< GPIO port output type register, Address offset: 0x04
__IO uint32_t OSPEEDR; //!< GPIO port output speed register, Address offset: 0x08
__IO uint32_t PUPDR; //!< GPIO port pull-up/pull-down register, Address offset: 0x0C
__IO uint32_t IDR; //!< GPIO port input data register, Address offset: 0x10
__IO uint32_t ODR; //!< GPIO port output data register, Address offset: 0x14
__IO uint32_t BSRR; //!< GPIO port bit set/reset register, Address offset: 0x1A
__IO uint32_t LCKR; //!< GPIO port configuration lock register, Address offset: 0x1C
__IO uint32_t AFR[2]; //!< GPIO alternate function low register, Address offset: 0x20-0x24
__IO uint32_t BRR; //!< GPIO bit reset register, Address offset: 0x28
};
In the associated
common.cpp
source file, instances of this type are created on the stack, with a pointer reference (e.g.
GPIOA
) being made available globally, as would happen otherwise by the preprocessor statements in the ST-provided device headers. Those would place these peripheral instances at specific offsets in RAM, of course, to match the peripheral registers. For our purposes that is not relevant, however, and simplifies our code significantly.
GPIO_TypeDef tGpioA;
GPIO_TypeDef* GPIOA = &tGpioA;
With this in place, the framework’s code will happily use these global variables as if they’re offsets into an MCU’s addressing space, enabling us to read out our GPIO registers and see how the code which we are testing did after each run.
Defining Success
Generally, each register is a 32-bit field. The simplest way to validate the test result is by using the MCU’s reference manual to determine beforehand what value we are expecting to read back there from the unsigned integer field. A simple integer comparison will then allow our validation system to spit out a ‘false’ or ‘correct’ response. While effective, this would also be fairly useless.
While a ‘pass’ is nice, one risks the Grand Canyon-sized trap for young players that is often summarized as ‘all tests green, exploded in production’. Which is to say that it’s impossible to say with certainty that a specific (unit) test is flawless, only that an issue has not been found
yet
. This is where manual verification is very useful, especially when test cases become larger and more convoluted.
In addition, it’s also essential to be able to get a printout of just what test result got rejected, with which input parameters. For most of the tests that I ran so far, I have used simple printouts of register values in the terminal, which I could then put alongside the registers in the reference manual for easy comparison. As shown in the above linked GPIO test file, this is done using the
<bitset>
STL header:
std::cout << "GPIOA" << std::endl;
std::cout << "MODER: \t" << std::bitset<32>(GPIOA->MODER) << std::endl;
std::cout << "PUPDR: \t" << std::bitset<32>(GPIOA->PUPDR) << std::endl;
std::cout << "OTYPER: \t" << std::bitset<32>(GPIOA->OTYPER) << std::endl;
std::cout << "OSPEEDR:\t" << std::bitset<32>(GPIOA->OSPEEDR) << std::endl;
std::cout << "IDR: \t" << std::bitset<32>(GPIOA->IDR) << std::endl;
std::cout << "ODR: \t" << std::bitset<32>(GPIOA->ODR) << std::endl;
This converts the
uint32_t
type to a bit field which is then printed like this:
GPIOA
MODER: 00000000000000000000000001000000
PUPDR: 00000000000000000000000001000100
OTYPER: 00000000000000000000000000000000
OSPEEDR: 00000000000000000000000000000000
IDR: 00000000000000000000000000000000
ODR: 00000000000000000000000000001000
One could make this somewhat more convenient to read by splitting it up into
nibbles
, but this will be left as an exercise for the reader here.
Wrapping up
There is a reason why this article focused mostly on the STM32F0 family of STM32 MCUs: their uncomplicated memory hierarchy. The F4, F7 and H7 families of MCUs have more complicated memory maps. The basics which were covered in this article still apply, however.
The flexibility of memory mapped I/O should be quite clear at this point, as well as how easy it is to integrate it into testing and validation systems. If you have any tips or pointers of your own on this or other topics covered in the article, feel free to leave them in the comments. | 19 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "6305652",
"author": "asiaface",
"timestamp": "2020-12-23T18:16:24",
"content": "thank you for this",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6305769",
"author": "Rafael",
"timestamp": "2020-12-24T11:42:49",
"cont... | 1,760,373,245.222599 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2020/12/23/for-your-holiday-relaxation-the-clickspring-sundial-build-megacut/ | For Your Holiday Relaxation: The Clickspring Sundial Build Megacut | Dan Maloney | [
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"brass",
"calendar",
"Clickspring",
"horology",
"machining",
"mechanism",
"metalwork",
"steel"
] | The fortunate among us may very well have a bit of time off from work coming up, and while most of that time will likely be filled with family obligations and festivities, there’s probably going to be some downtime. And if you should happen to find yourself with a half hour free, you might want to check out
the Clickspring Byzantine Calendar-Sundial mega edit
. And we’ll gladly accept your gratitude in advance.
Fans of machining videos will no doubt already be familiar with Clickspring, aka [Chris], the amateur horologist who, through a combination of amazing craftsmanship and top-notch production values, managed to make clockmaking a spectator sport. We first caught the Clickspring bug with
his open-frame clock build
, which ended up as a legitimate work of art. [Chris] then undertook two builds at once:
a reproduction of the famous Antikythera mechanism
, and the calendar-sundial seen in the video below.
The cut condenses 1,000 hours of machining, turning, casting, heat-treating, and even hand-engraving of brass and steel into an incredibly relaxing video. There’s no narration, no exposition — nothing but the sounds of metal being shaped into dozens of parts that eventually fit perfectly together into an instrument worthy of a prince of Byzantium. This video really whets our appetite for more Antikythera build details, but we understand that
[Chris] has been busy lately
, so we’ll be patient. | 7 | 2 | [
{
"comment_id": "6305639",
"author": "Glen",
"timestamp": "2020-12-23T17:41:16",
"content": "Absolutely stunning work.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "6305685",
"author": "Folkert",
"timestamp": "2020-12-23T21:58:48",
"content": "Bea... | 1,760,373,245.739725 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2020/12/23/the-mouth-watering-world-of-nist-standard-foods/ | The Mouth-Watering World Of NIST Standard Foods | Lewin Day | [
"Featured",
"Interest",
"Original Art",
"Science",
"Slider"
] | [
"beverage",
"food",
"food safety",
"nist",
"standards"
] | The National Institute Of Standards and Technology was founded on March 3, 1901 as the National Bureau of Standards, taking on its current moniker in 1988. The organisation is charged by the government with ensuring the uniformity of weights and measures across the United States, and generally helping out industry, academia and other users wherever some kind of overarching standard is required.
One of the primary jobs of NIST is the production and sale of Standard Reference Materials, or SRMs. These cover a huge variety of applications, from steel samples to concrete and geological materials like clay. However, there are also edible SRMS, too. Yes, you can purchase yourself a jar of NIST Standard Peanut Butter, though you might find the price uncompetitive with the varieties at your local supermarket. Let’s dive into why these “standard” foods exist, and see what’s available from the shelves of our favourite national standards institute.
Know Thine Measurements
NIST produce approximately 1300 different Standard Reference Materials, with
45 of those being in the Food and Beverage category
. They’re most famous for their peanut butter, which got attention online when a photo of
Dr. Carolyn Burdette testing samples of the material went viral.
The range of standards available is vast, though largely unpalatable, with such items as Meat Homogenate and Infant/Adult Nutritional Powder available.
A selection of various NIST Standard Reference Materials from the Food and Beverage category.
It’s fun to think about a government organisation creating a “standard” peanut butter to rule them all, one neither better nor worse than one could expect a peanut butter to be. However, these standards are not intended to be a guide on how manufacturers should craft their foods. Instead, the materials are intended for use as calibration standards.
Manufacturers need to verify the nutritional content of their foods, and also need to verify that they’re safe and free of dangerous contaminants. This requires the use of a variety of complex tests. In order to verify that the results of these tests are valid, it’s necessary to have a known standard material on hand to check with. For example, if you run a test on NIST’s standard apple juice, and your measured levels for arsenic match the documented values, you can be relatively certain that when you measure your own company’s product, the numbers you get are valid.
Some of the standards are more familiar than others. Baby Food Composite is fairly straightforward; Typical Diet is a material with broader testing applications.
While the NIST standards could technically be considered edible, they’re not intended to be ingested, and prices are orders of magnitude higher than what you’d pay at your local store. A 3-pack of standard peanut butter will set you back $881 before shipping, while five bars of baking chocolate will cost you the same. Suffice to say, NIST aren’t known for handing out holiday promo codes, either. If we
had
to cater a picnic with nothing but SRMs, we’d lean on the milk & egg powders along with flour samples to bake a nice standard loaf of bread, topped with either oyster tissue (a steal at
$672 for 25 grams
), bovine liver, or perhaps the slurried spinach for those wanting a vegetarian option.
Overall, these reference materials serve an important role in ensuring the quality of the foods and beverages we consume every day. Combined with the formal, bleak aesthetic of their label designs, they also make an excellent gag prop for your refrigerator, albeit at great cost. NIST’s work makes life easier for manufacturers, and helps produce better products for consumers. Thus, the enigmatic Standard Reference Materials play an highly important role in the food and beverage industry. | 48 | 17 | [
{
"comment_id": "6305613",
"author": "RW ver 0.0.1",
"timestamp": "2020-12-23T15:41:05",
"content": "How did you miss mentioning the ANSI standard pizza and the ISO cup of tea ?Though I’m intrigued about how these are prepared now, whether they have to have someone with a pair of tweezers counting o... | 1,760,373,245.922369 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2020/12/23/hyundai-mini-45-ev-is-a-small-car-with-grand-ambitions/ | Hyundai Mini 45 EV Is A Small Car With Grand Ambitions | Roger Cheng | [
"car hacks",
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"breathing control",
"bubble blower",
"electric vehicle",
"emotional response",
"emotions",
"heartrate",
"hospital",
"medical robot",
"stress"
] | One of Hyundai’s recent concept cars was an electric vehicle named “45” in honor of its inspiration, another concept car from 45 years ago. When footage of a child-sized “Mini 45” surfaced, it was easy to conclude the car was a motorized toy for children. But
Jalopnik got more information from Hyundai about this project
, where we learned that was not nearly the whole picture.
The video (embedded below) explained this little vehicle is a concept car in its own right, and most of the video is a scripted performance illustrating their concept: using technology to help calm young patients in a hospital, reducing their anxiety as they faced treatment procedures. Mini 45 packs a lot more equipment than the toy cars available at our local store. The little driver’s heartbeat and breathing rate are monitored, and a camera analyzes facial expressions to gauge emotional stress. The onboard computer has an animated avatar who will try to connect with the patient, armed with tools like colorful animations, happy music, candy scent dispenser, and a bubble-blowing machine.
After watching the video masterfully edited to tug at our heartstrings (go blow your nose if you need to) we have many questions. If this was just Hyundai we would have dismissed it as a puff piece and moved on. But a children’s hospital in Barcelona was named as participant in this research project, lending some credibility to the claims. However, it’s not clear how many features shown were actually functional during hospital trial. For example, the UI on the adult-held tablet looks suspiciously like glitzy Hollywood fantasy UI instead of a real tablet app. The video ended with a few clips from the hospital trial, and children’s faces ranged from ecstatic to indifference. Not a surprise since different kids have different personalities.
While some were obviously thrilled to ride in an electric chariot of the future, others might have been better comforted by a trusted adult human instead of a robot. What was the metric for measuring success rate of calming young patients? Has the trial proved this to be a cost-effective solution to a problem that actually exists, or is this the result of a bunch of automotive engineers doing what they do best (build cars) to solve a non-existing problem?
Unsurprisingly, answers to such questions are not found in this Hyundai public relations exercise. But even in the absence of rigorous documentation, this project prompts us to ask if we want robots to monitor our body this closely. Is it a good idea to have computers know our moods? Do we want them to manipulate our emotions? As technology becomes ever more pervasive in our lives, these are not merely academic questions. Hyundai’s Mini 45 might be a cute little thing, but its ambitions raise questions that give us pause. | 20 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "6305576",
"author": "otwngab",
"timestamp": "2020-12-23T12:54:12",
"content": "Children should be taught to loathe private ownership of cars (doesn’t matter electric or ICE). They must be made to embrace communal cycling and other public transport solutions. This is the only way to ... | 1,760,373,245.69639 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2020/12/23/a-tiny-led-matrix-is-better-with-friends/ | A Tiny LED Matrix Is Better With Friends | Kerry Scharfglass | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"LED Hacks"
] | [
"addressable",
"addressable led",
"arduino",
"attiny",
"chainable",
"daisy chain",
"dot matrix",
"ESP32",
"ESP8266",
"led",
"led matrix",
"tiny led matrix"
] | When we last heard from [
lixielabs
] he was building Nixie tube replacements out of etched acrylic and LEDs. Well he’s moved forward a few decades to bring us
the Pixie
, a chainable, addressable backpack for tiny LED matrix displays.
Each Pixie module is designed to host two gorgeous little
Lite-On LTP-305G/HR
5×7 LED dot matrix displays, which we suspect have been impulse purchases in many a shopping cart. Along with the displays there is a small matrix controller and an ATTINY45 to expose a friendly electrical interface. Each module is designed to be mounted edge to edge and daisy chained out to 12 or more (with two displays each) for a flexible display any size you need. But to address the entire array only two control pins are required (data and clock).
[lixielabs] has done the legwork to make using those pins as easy as possible. He is careful to point out the importance of a good SDK and provides handy
Arduino libraries
for common microcontrollers and a reference
implementation for the Raspberry Pi
that should be easy to crib from to support new platforms. To go with that library support is superb documentation in the form of a
datasheet
(complete with
dimensions
and
schematic
!) and well stocked
GitHub repo
with examples and more.
To get a sense of their graphical capabilities, check out a video of 6 Pixie’s acting as a VU meter after the break. The Pixie looks like what you get when a hacker gets frustrated at reinventing LED dot matrix control for every project and decided to solve it once and for all. The design is clean, well documented, and extremely functional. We’re excited to see what comes next!
ESP32 with an I2S mic running FFT with 1024 cells, with each octave overlaid to make a 12-note chromagram, being rendered live by Pixies!
https://t.co/0nWQfX0W6W
pic.twitter.com/UZgh5ymWAw
— Lixie Labs (@lixielabs)
September 22, 2020 | 8 | 2 | [
{
"comment_id": "6305551",
"author": "zombie",
"timestamp": "2020-12-23T09:24:03",
"content": "I want a VT220 made from these and a sponsor for the power bill!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6305560",
"author": "HKEB",
"timest... | 1,760,373,245.636327 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2020/12/22/the-world-is-your-green-screen/ | The World Is Your Green Screen | Al Williams | [
"Video Hacks"
] | [
"chroma key",
"green screen",
"video",
"zoom"
] | This year has been the year of home video conferencing. If you are really on the ball, you’ve managed to put some kind of green screen up so you can hide your mess and look as though you are in your posh upper east side office space. However, most of the consumer video conferencing now has some way to try to guess what your background is and replace it even without a green screen. The results, though, often leave something to be desired. A recent University of Washington
paper
outlines a new
background matting procedure
using machine learning and, as you can see in the video below, the results are quite good. There’s code on
GitHub
and even a Linux-based
WebCam
filter.
The algorithm does require a shot of the background without you in it, which we imagine needs to be relatively static. From watching the video, it appears the acid test for this kind of software is spiky hair. There are several comparisons of definitely not bald people flipping their hair around using this method and other background replacers such as the one in Zoom.
The quality of the results depends somewhat on how many pixels the filter can work with, so 4K video seemed to do better than lower resolutions. Even then, it isn’t perfect, but it does seem like it did a better job than some of the existing tools. If you try it yourself, we did read that you want to avoid blocking bright light, especially during background capture, and try to keep lighting constant. For prolonged use, it may be helpful to re-take the background image as light conditions drift.
As you might expect, you are going to need a big video card to do this in real-time. This is especially true since the algorithm seems to work better with 4K input. However, if you are doing video production in post, you can probably trade hardware for time.
We’ve seen a similar effort with
DeepBackSub
. Once you have this working, you can build a
mirror
to improve your video conference eye contact. | 9 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "6305534",
"author": "missed it?",
"timestamp": "2020-12-23T07:15:26",
"content": "So, if it is using a background only frame, it is working exactly like many other systems have done for decades, it’s not even chroma keying, then, I’m wondering where is the novelty",
"parent_id":... | 1,760,373,245.966253 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2020/12/22/implementing-sent-sensors-on-the-raspberry-pi/ | Implementing SENT Sensors On The Raspberry Pi | Lewin Day | [
"car hacks",
"Raspberry Pi"
] | [
"python",
"raspberry pi",
"sensor",
"sent protocol"
] | The SENT protocol, standing for Single Edge Nibble Transmission, is used for sensors that need to send high-resolution data while keeping system costs low. It’s most typically used in the automotive world, where it can be found in such parts as throttle-by-wire pedals and temperature sensors.
[Mark Smith] set out to see if he could get the Pi Zero to read such sensors without the use of an intermediate microcontroller.
[Mark]’s initial attempts relied on Python and the RPI.GPIO library. Unfortunately, the overheads introduced made decoding SENT traffic impossible. Undeterred, [Mark] pressed on, leveraging the
pigpio
library and its callback function which allowed sampling at up to one microsecond. This was fast enough to read the messages from a LX3302A inductive position sensor that uses the protocol.
It’s a project that could prove useful for those trying to work with certain sensors who want to avoid adding complexity to a Raspberry Pi project.
Files are available on Github for the curious
. We’ve seen other direct sensor builds with the Pi, before too –
like this power monitoring system
. Video after the break. | 12 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "6305239",
"author": "Lasse_Bierstrom",
"timestamp": "2020-12-22T13:01:59",
"content": "I think the article misses the point of SENT.It is NOT low-cost! By far not. It’s expensive, and special, the interface on the controller side takes either up a lot of active time in the mcu, or a... | 1,760,373,246.016968 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2020/12/22/ti-ez430-chronos-turned-medical-alert-wearable/ | TI EZ430-Chronos Turned Medical Alert Wearable | Tom Nardi | [
"Medical Hacks",
"Wearable Hacks"
] | [
"CC1101",
"ez430",
"smart watch"
] | Long before the current smartwatch craze, Texas Instruments released the eZ430-Chronos. Even by 2010s standards, it was pretty clunky. Its simple LCD display and handful of buttons also limited what kind of “smart” tasks it could realistically perform. But it did have one thing going for it: its SDK allowed users to create a custom firmware tailored to their exact specifications.
It’s been nearly a decade since we’ve seen anyone dust off the eZ430-Chronos, but that
didn’t stop [ogdento] from turning one into a custom alert device for a sick family member
. A simple two-button procedure on the watch will fire off emails and text messages to a pre-defined list of contacts, all without involving a third party or have to pay for a service contract. Perhaps most importantly, the relatively energy efficient eZ430 doesn’t need to be recharged weekly or even daily as would be the case for a modern smartwatch.
To make the device as simple as possible, [ogdento] went through the source code for the stock firmware and commented out every function beyond the ability to show the time. With the watch’s menu stripped down to the minimum, a new alert function was introduced that can send out a message using the device’s 915 MHz CC1101 radio.
Messages and recipients can easily be modified.
The display even shows “HELP” next to the appropriate button so there’s no confusion. A second button press is required to send the alert, and there’s even a provision for canceling it should the button be pressed accidentally.
On the receiving side, [ogdento] is using a Raspberry Pi with its own CC1101 radio plugged into the USB port. When the Python scripts running on the Pi picks up the transmission coming from the eZ430 it starts working through a list of recipients to send messages to. A quick look at the source code shows it would be easy to provide your own contact list should you want to put together your own version of this system.
We’ve seen custom alert hardware before
, but like [ogdento] points out, using the eZ430-Chronos provides a considerable advantage in that its a turn-key platform. It’s comfortable to wear, reliable, and fairly rugged. While some would argue against
trusting independently developed code for such a vital task
, at least the hardware is a solved problem. | 29 | 12 | [
{
"comment_id": "6305232",
"author": "benchly",
"timestamp": "2020-12-22T12:24:52",
"content": "I was gifted one of these a few years ago by a friend who knew I had a love for old tech, but I never really played with it. This project has me wondering what else it can do…",
"parent_id": null,
... | 1,760,373,246.097528 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2020/12/21/heavy-raspberry-pi-user-keep-an-hdmi-to-usb-capture-device-around/ | Heavy Raspberry Pi User? Keep An HDMI-to-USB Capture Device Around | Donald Papp | [
"Raspberry Pi"
] | [
"hdmi",
"HDMI capture device",
"Pi",
"raspberry pi display",
"usb"
] | Here’s a simple tip from [Andy], whose Raspberry Pi projects often travel with him outside the workshop: he suggests
adding a small HDMI-to-USB video capture device to one’s Raspberry Pi utility belt
. As long as there is a computer around, it provides a simple and configuration-free way to view a Raspberry Pi’s display that doesn’t involve the local network, nor does it require carrying around a spare HDMI display and power supply.
Raspberry Pi’s display, viewed on a Mac as if it were a USB webcam. No configuration required.
The usual way to see a Pi’s screen is to either plug in an HDMI display or to connect remotely, but [Andy] found that he didn’t always have details about the network where he was working (assuming a network was even available) and configuring the Pi with a location’s network details was a hassle in any case. Carrying around an HMDI display and power supply was also something he felt he could do without. Throwing a small HDMI-to-USB adapter into his toolkit, on the other hand, has paid off for him big time.
The way it works is simple: the device turns an HDMI video source into something that acts just like a USB webcam’s video stream, which is trivial to view on just about any desktop or laptop. As long as [Andy] has access to some kind of computer, he can be viewing the Pi’s display in no time.
Many of his projects (like
this automated cloud camera timelapse
) use the Pi camera modules, so a quick way to see the screen is useful to check focus, preview video, and so on. Doing it this way hit a real sweet spot for him. We can’t help but think that one of these little boards could be a tempting thing to embed into
a custom cyberdeck build
. | 101 | 32 | [
{
"comment_id": "6305163",
"author": "Matt",
"timestamp": "2020-12-22T06:04:50",
"content": "That’s a neat little tip. Will have to get one to throw in my bag. I’m sure it’ll come in handy in more than that situation. Thanks!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
... | 1,760,373,246.242225 |
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