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https://hackaday.com/2014/10/20/electric-bubblegum-board/ | Electric Bubblegum Board | Marsh | [
"3d Printer hacks",
"Transportation Hacks"
] | [
"brushless motor",
"electric skateboard",
"electric vehicle",
"ev",
"lifepo",
"LiFePO4",
"longboard",
"motorized longboard",
"Outrunner",
"skateboard",
"wii nunchuck"
] | The Mini Maker Faire in Atlanta was packed with exciting builds and devices, but [Andrew’s]
Electric Bubblegum Boards
stood out from the rest, winning the Editor’s Choice Award. His boards first emerged
on Endless Sphere
earlier this summer, with the goal of hitting all the usual e-skateboard offerings of speed, range, and weight while dramatically cutting the cost of materials.
At just over 12 pounds, the boards are lightweight and fairly compact, but have enough LiFePO4’s fitted to the bottom to carry a rider 10 miles on a single charge. A Wii Nunchuck controls throttle, cruise control, and a “boost” setting for bursts of speed. The best feature of this e-skateboard, however, is the use of 3D-printed parts. The ABS components not only help facilitate the prototyping process, but also permit a range of customization options. Riders can reprint parts as necessary, or if they want to just change things up.
[Andrew’s] board is nearing the 11th hour over at his Kickstarter page, so swing by to see a production video made for potential backers, or stick around after the break for some quick progress and demo videos.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zJ8YXxBTzE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4xgInFW4VQ | 17 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "2019478",
"author": "James",
"timestamp": "2014-10-20T12:03:02",
"content": "How on earth do 3D-printed parts of a production part ‘help to keep the cost down’? For these kinds of volumes it would be MUCH cheaper to have them vacuum cast.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
... | 1,760,376,029.987352 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/10/19/high-altitude-balloon-keeps-going/ | High Altitude Balloon Keeps Going | Brian Benchoff | [
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"AMSAT",
"balloon",
"high altitude balloon",
"near space"
] | Here’s a post from the AMSAT-UK high altitude balloon blog
. It’s a great story about a balloon cruising at about 12km above the Earth
completing its sixth circumnavigation of the planet
. That post is from October 4th, and two weeks later the balloon is still going strong. Right now
it’s over the Baltic heading into Russia
with no sign of stopping or popping any time soon.
The balloon was launched July 12, 2014 from Silverstone, UK. In the 100 days since then, this balloon has covered 144168 kilometers and has crossed its launching longitude six times. Even if this balloon weren’t trapped at high latitudes (including coming within 9 km of the pole), this balloon has still travelled more than three times the equatorial circumference of the Earth.
The balloon was built by [Leo Bodnar] a.k.a. [M0XER]
with a self-made plastic foil envelope
. The solar-powered payload weighs only 11 grams. It’s an exceptional accomplishment and one that has smashed all the amateur high altitude balloon distance records we can find. | 51 | 18 | [
{
"comment_id": "2018250",
"author": "arko",
"timestamp": "2014-10-20T05:33:16",
"content": "WOOO!!! B-64!!!Watching the story of the B’s flights unfold since B-1 has been a great demonstration of the engineering process. It’s been a blast watching Leo improve the designs, analyze data, invent, rese... | 1,760,376,030.076483 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/10/19/shocking-idea-prank-stun-baton/ | Shocking Idea: Prank Stun Baton | Rich Bremer | [
"Weapons Hacks"
] | [
"static electricity",
"static shock",
"stun gun",
"taser"
] | [Christopher] has put together a
Prank Stun Baton
to annoy his friends. It delivers a slight shock to the person on the business end of the device. Oddly, it’s powered solely by static electricity, there is no battery here and the resulting
injury
is no worse than touching a door knob after scooting your socks around on some shag carpet.
The design is super simple and is effectively just a rudimentary capacitor. The main housing is a PVC pipe that acts as a dielectric in the ‘cap’ system. Two separate pieces of tin foil are wrapped around the inside and outside of the PVC pipe. These layers of tin foil provide a conductive path up to the a couple of screws stuck in the end of the baton. A ping-pong ball and some foam act as an insulator between the PVC and the screws.
To charge the baton it only has to be brought close to a source of static electricity, a tube TV will do the trick. Rubbing it with a piece of wool will also work. When this is done an electrostatic field is stored in the PVC between the two pieces of tin foil, one side takes on a positive charge and the other a negative charge creating an electric potential between the two screws at the end of the baton. When something (with a low-enough resistance) shorts the screws, the stored energy on the positive screw tries to go to the negative screw, shocking the unsuspecting victim.
Need something a little more powerful? You may want to check out this
other stun baton
. | 16 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "2017464",
"author": "dex drako",
"timestamp": "2014-10-20T02:08:52",
"content": "so hand held Leyden jar neat and for an idea for version two try sanding the screws a little to be less … poky lol",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "... | 1,760,376,030.197311 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/10/19/hackaday-links-october-19-2014/ | Hackaday Links: October 19, 2014 | Brian Benchoff | [
"Hackaday links"
] | [
"edison",
"hackaday store",
"intel",
"keycaps",
"minecraft",
"modem",
"Octoprint",
"scribble"
] | Introducing
the Hayes Smartmodem 1200
. The era of the single station microcomputer….
is over.
The Hayes Smartmodem offers advanced features like auto answer and auto dial. Now if we could only find an ‘RS-232 Computer.’
Have a 3D printer and an old router? How about
controlling your printer with Octoprint
? For some cases, it might be better than using a Raspberry Pi and OctoPi, but you won’t get a camera for streaming pics of your builds to the web.
Last year, [CNLohr]
built a microscope slide Minecraft thing
and in the process created the smallest Minecraft server ever. The record has now been bested
with the Intel Edison
. There’s a bit of work to install Java, but the performance is pretty good for one player. Bonus: Minecraft is a single threaded app, so you have another core for garbage collection.
Remember the
Scribble pen
, that showed just how gullible people are and how crappy tech journalism is?
They’re back with a beta program
. A mere $15 guarantees you a scribble pen for their beta program. I wouldn’t give these guys $15 of someone else’s money, but lucky for us
[ch00f] bit the bullet
. He’ll be updating everyone on the status of his fifteen dollars, I’m sure.
Hey, guess what will eventually be in the Hackaday store?
Keycaps for your mechanical keyboard
. Yes, we actually figured out a way to do this that makes sense and won’t lose money. Pick your favorite, or suggest new ones in the comments:
BSAPEDWLOVKTUB.YBKAB | 26 | 13 | [
{
"comment_id": "2016843",
"author": "r4k",
"timestamp": "2014-10-19T23:23:29",
"content": "Extended Hayes video is even better:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJ8wbFQ6SOU",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "2016881",
"author": "DainBramage1991"... | 1,760,376,030.506262 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/10/19/using-the-wrong-screw-a-painful-lesson-in-iphone-repair/ | Using The Wrong Screw: A Painful Lesson In IPhone Repair | James Hobson | [
"Cellphone Hacks",
"iphone hacks"
] | [
"iphone 5s blue screen",
"iphone 5s boot loop",
"iphone error 14 & 9",
"repairing traces",
"solder traces"
] | If you’ve ever had to repair an iPhone for a friend, you’ll know they have a ridiculous number of screws. Most companies standardize screws in their products, but since Apple doesn’t expect you to fix a phone yourself…
they may have let this one slide.
You see, each of these screws is different.
The red ones are 1.7mm long, the yellow one, 1.3mm, and the orange one, 1.2mm.
Guess what happens if you install either red or yellow screws into the orange spot, since your eyesight isn’t good enough to notice a 0.1mm difference? The screw will cut into the PCB and break several 50 micron traces, as shown in the picture above, causing a blue screen error on the phone.
Fun stuff.
[Sam Schmidt] is the owner of a repair outfit called iRepairNational, and he and his team spent a day trying to figure out the problem – it’s not exactly easy to spot. They’ve managed to repair it by cutting thin strips of copper foil (the width of a human hair) and floating it into place using the surface tension of the flux they were using for soldering. On average it takes them around 2 hours to do the repair, though they’ve done a few in just under an hour.
Since discovering and sharing the problem, they’ve had customers around the world sending in phones for repair – often at the fault of someone else trying to repair something completely different in the phone, and then using the wrong screw as they put it all back together. | 126 | 37 | [
{
"comment_id": "2016365",
"author": "Koen Blank",
"timestamp": "2014-10-19T20:12:42",
"content": "cannot se a 0,1 mm difference, you blind idiot!Props on making it work again, almost every person and company would have binned the Phone. Even when shared this solution is usefull for almost nobody.",... | 1,760,376,030.669767 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/10/22/cassette-tape-hack-turns-scratching-into-sliding/ | Cassette Tape Hack Turns Scratching Into Sliding | Sarah Petkus | [
"Musical Hacks"
] | [
"cassette tape hack",
"dj",
"scratching",
"scrubboard",
"turntable effect"
] | It’s common to see a DJ use a turntable as a musical instrument. Physically manipulating a record while its playing produces its own unique sound, but it takes some finesse and puts strain on the delicate workings of the player when you do it. With this in mind, [Jeremy Bell] has refreshed the notion of appropriating old technology to create new sound with his home-brewed
scrubboard
.
Making use of a cassette tape, [Jeremy] dissected samples from the reel and laid them out in horizontal strips over rails to hold their form. The pickup from the tape player has been hacked into a separate piece that glides smoothly over these rails, giving the user the ease of control. To produce the immediate cutting effect that is less easy to perform with his device than a record player, [Jeremy] created an on and off switch which is simply a close pin covered in foil that teeters over a metal contact (in this case a coin). The end product sounds exactly like scratching a record, but better because he’s doing it with hacker showmanship. One can only image the awesome potential for more elaborate setups having multiple tape samples and the like!
There are a few different videos of the
scrubboard in use
on [Jeremy’s] website. He is also running a
Kickstarter
right now in order to turn the project into a stand alone instrument with improved features.
Thanks Omar, for telling us about this cool re-envisionment! | 37 | 25 | [
{
"comment_id": "2027965",
"author": "Bob",
"timestamp": "2014-10-22T08:23:14",
"content": "“puts strain on the delicate workings of the player when you do it”Whats delicate about a kilogram of steel? They use induction motors so stopping the motion doesn’t affect anything, and slip mats are used an... | 1,760,376,030.265971 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/10/21/ceci-nest-pas-une-clock/ | Ceci N’est Pas Une Clock | Kristina Panos | [
"Android Hacks",
"car hacks"
] | [
"CAN",
"obd-ii",
"OBD-II codes",
"OBD-II UART",
"oled",
"omg"
] | [Justin] tipped us about his
slick custom OBD-II gauge
that could easily pass for an OEM module. He was able to use the clock area of his Subaru BRZ to display a bunch of information including the oil and coolant temperatures and the battery voltage.
The forum post linked above has a good FAQ-based explanation of what he did, but so many people have told him to shut up and take their money that he created
an Instructable for it
. Basically, he’s got a Sparkfun OBD-II UART board communicating with a pro Trinket. The display is an Adafruit OLED, which he found to be an ideal choice for all the various and sundry light conditions inside the average car.
[Justin] was able to reuse the (H)our and (M)inute buttons and reassigned them to (H)igh to show the peak reading and (M)ode to, well, switch between modes. The (:00) now resets the peak readings. He offers suggestions for acquiring the specific CAN codes for your car to make the data more meaningful. [Justin]’s code is safe in the many tentacles of
Octocat
, and you can check out his demo video below. | 16 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "2027544",
"author": "Maxwell",
"timestamp": "2014-10-22T06:02:19",
"content": "Has anyone done a complete DIY electronics replacement yet? It seems like thee are so many cool modding possibilities, but I never see any.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
... | 1,760,376,030.311269 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/10/21/digital-data-from-a-cheap-power-meter/ | Digital Data From A Cheap Power Meter | Ethan Zonca | [
"home hacks"
] | [
"power",
"power meter",
"power monitor",
"spi"
] | Power meters like the Kill-A-Watt are great for keeping track of energy usage, and are also very hackable. The Kill-a-Watt in particular puts out analog signals proportional to current and voltage, which makes it easy to interface with a microcontroller.
Although reading analog voltages is easy enough, [Kalle] found a cheap Chinese power meter
that is even more hackable
. These inexpensive power meters cost about the same as a first-generation Kill-a-Watt, but they directly stream out digital data. The power meter [Kalle] hacked has a non-US plug, but the meter is available from the usual suppliers (eBay, Aliexpress, etc) with a 3-prong US plug and 120v rating.
After breaking out a logic analyzer, [Kalle] discovered that the meter constantly streams voltage, current, and power data from the measurement board to the display board on a SPI-like bus. The ribbon cable inside the meter even has the clock and data bus lines clearly labelled. [Kalle] went on to reverse-engineer the protocol and write an Arduino sketch that parses the stream, making it even easier to integrate this meter into your next power monitoring project. | 46 | 12 | [
{
"comment_id": "2026819",
"author": "Ren",
"timestamp": "2014-10-22T02:14:57",
"content": "I’m impressed with his analysis of the SD1 and SD0 lines, I’ll have to look more into how MIS0 works…",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "2026827",
"auth... | 1,760,376,030.391197 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/10/21/take-your-samples-for-a-spin-with-the-rwxbiofuge/ | Take Your Samples For A Spin With The RWXBioFuge | Theodora Fabio | [
"chemistry hacks",
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"biology",
"brushless",
"centrifuge",
"lab equipment",
"laboratory",
"rotor"
] | We have a confession to make: we love centrifuges. We’ve used all shapes and sizes, for spinning bags of whole blood into separate components to extracting DNA, and everything in between. Unfortunately, these lab staples are too expensive for many DIY-biologists unless they buy them used or build them themselves. [Pieter van Boheemen] was inspired by other DIY centrifuges and decided to make his own, which he named the
RWXBioFuge
.
[Pieter] designed the RWXBioFuge using Sketchup, OpenSCAD, and InkScape. It features a Thermaltake SMART M850W ATX power supply, an R/C helicopter Electronic Speed Controller (ESC), and brushless outrunner motor. For user output it utilizes a 16×2 LCD character display with an I2C interface.The frame is laser-cut from 3mm MDF while the 3D-printed PLA rotor was designed with
OpenSCAD
.
An Arduino handles the processing side of things. [Pieter] used an Arduino Ethernet – allowing a web interface to control the centrifuge’s settings and operation from a distance. We can see this being useful in testing out the centrifuge for any rotor/motor balance issues, especially since [Pieter] states that it can be configured to run >10,000 rpm. We wouldn’t want to be in the room if pieces start flying off any centrifuge at that speed! However, we feel that when everything’s said and done, you should have a centrifuge you can trust by your side when you’re at your lab bench.
While there are similarities to the
Openfuge,
the larger RWXBioFuge has rotor capacities of
eight
to
twenty
1.5-2.0ml microcentrifuge tubes. Due to the power supply, it is not portable and a bit more expensive, but not incredibly so. There are some small touches about this centrifuge that we really like. The open lid detector is always a welcome safety feature. The “Short” button is very handy for quick 5-10 second spins.
A current version of the RWXBioFuge is being used at the
Waag Society’s Open Wetlab.
[Pieter’s] planned upgrades for the next version include a magnetic lid lock, different rotor sizes, an accelerometer to detect an improperly balanced rotor, and optimizing the power supply, ESC, and motor setup. You can never have enough centrifuges in a lab, and we are looking forward to seeing this project’s progress!
Check out a few more pictures of the RWXBioFuge after the break. | 14 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "2026478",
"author": "Staus",
"timestamp": "2014-10-22T00:39:45",
"content": "Nice project. The rotor chamber being made of porous material seems less than ideal. Cut it out of acrylic or something else that wouldn’t mind being covered in ethanol and you’ve got yourself a nice benc... | 1,760,376,030.444851 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/10/21/retrotechtacular-blue-collar-red-nightmare/ | Retrotechtacular: Blue Collar, Red Nightmare | Kristina Panos | [
"Hackaday Columns",
"Retrotechtacular"
] | [
"adam-12",
"bourgeoisie",
"communism",
"DoD",
"dragnet",
"propaganda"
] | This week’s presentation is
a well-cast piece of anti-Communist propaganda
perpetrated by a division of the DoD that you’ve probably never heard of: the Directorate for Armed Forces Information and Education.
It’s narrated by Jack Webb of
Dragnet
and
Adam-12
fame. He tells us of a fake American town located somewhere behind the Iron Curtain. It’s full of young comrades who sock hop and bebop while studying and playacting the bourgeoisie activities of the American economy and way of life. After introducing this, Webb pulls back the cushy, velvet curtain to profile a typical American household led by one [Jerry Donavan].
[Jerry] has it all: a wise-cracking wife played by Jeanne Cooper (most notably of
The Young and the Restless
), a son with a healthy interest in war games, a young daughter with pretty blond hair, and a beautiful older daughter who would go on to fame up the road at
Petticoat Junction
. After some unsettling news from this daughter at the dinner table, Jerry heads up to bed early to catch a few Zs.
Jack Webb denies [Jerry] any visions of sugar plums and instead drops him in the middle of Fakesville, USSR for a vivid nightmare of an America reconstructed by Communism. Watch as he figures out what’s going on and what the new regime means for him and his good-looking family.
Retrotechtacular is a weekly column featuring hacks, technology, and kitsch from ages of yore. Help keep it fresh by
sending in your ideas for future installments
. | 43 | 15 | [
{
"comment_id": "2025775",
"author": "Bob Alexander",
"timestamp": "2014-10-21T20:21:46",
"content": "There’s a Wikipedia article about this film:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Nightmare",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "2025840",
"author": ... | 1,760,376,030.14902 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/10/21/the-hoverboard-you-can-build-at-home/ | The Hoverboard You Can Build At Home | Brian Benchoff | [
"Crowd Funding",
"Featured"
] | [
"Crowd Funding",
"crowdfunding",
"halbach array",
"hoverboard",
"maglev",
"Magnetic levitation",
"magnetics"
] | Press embargoes lifted today, heralding the announcement of the world’s first hoverboard. Yes, the hovering skateboard from
Back to the Future.
It’s called the Hendo hoverboard, it’s apparently real,
and you can buy one for $10,000
. If that’s too rich for your blood, you can spend $900 for a ‘technology demonstrator’ – a remote-controlled hovering box powered by the same technology.
Of course
the world’s first hoverboard is announced to the world as a crowd funding campaign, so before we get to how this thing is supposed to work, we’ll have to do our due diligence. The company behind this campaign, Arx Pax Labs, Inc, exists, as does the founder. All the relevant business registration, biographical information, and experience of the founder and employees of Arx Pax check out to my satisfaction. In fact, at least one employee has work experience with the innards of electric motors. At first glance, the company itself is actually legit.
The campaign is for a
BttF-
style hoverboard, but this is really only a marketing strategy for Arx Pax; the hoverboards themselves are admittedly loss leaders even at $10,000 – the main goal of this Kickstarter is simply to get media attention to the magnetic levitation technology found in the hoverboard. All of this was carefully orchestrated, with a ‘huge event’ to be held exactly one year from today demonstrating a real, working hoverboard. What’s so special about demoing a hoverboard on October 21, 2015?
I defy anyone to come up with a better marketing campaign than this.
The meat of the story comes from what has until now been a scientific curiosity. Everyone reading this has no doubt seen superconductors levitated off a bed of magnets, and demonstrations of eddy currents are really just something cool you can do with a rare earth magnet and a copper pipe. What [Greg Henderson] and Arx Pax have done is take these phenomena and turned them into a platform for magnetic levitation.
According to the patent
, the magnetic levitation system found in the Hendo hoverboard works like this:
One or more electric motors spin a series of rotors consisting of an arrangement of strong permanent magnets.
The magnets are arranged in a
Halbach array
that enhances the magnetic field on one side of the array, and cancels it on the other.
By placing the rotors over a conductive, non-ferrous surface – a sheet of copper or aluminum, for example –
eddy currents
are induced in the conductive surface.
These eddy currents create a magnetic field that opposes the magnetic field that created it, causing the entire device to levitate.
That’s it. That’s how you create a real, working hoverboard. Arx Pax has also developed a method to control a vehicle equipped with a few of these hover disks; the $900 ‘Whitebox’ technology demonstrator includes a smart phone app as a remote control.
If you’re still sitting in a steaming pile of incredulity concerning this invention, you’re in good company. It’s a fine line between being blinded by brilliance and baffled by bullshit, so we’re leaving this one up to you: build one of these devices,
put it up on hackaday.io
, and we’ll make it worth your while. We’re giving away some gift cards to the
Hackaday store
for the first person to build one of these hoverboards, preferably with a cool body kit. The Star Wars landspeeder has already been done, but the snowspeeder hasn’t. Surprise us. | 160 | 50 | [
{
"comment_id": "2024982",
"author": "Default",
"timestamp": "2014-10-21T16:04:58",
"content": "It only works on copper surfaces. Let that sink in.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "2024999",
"author": "Brian Benchoff",
"timestam... | 1,760,376,032.0067 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/10/21/carvey-the-cnc-machine-for-everyone/ | Carvey, The CNC Machine For Everyone | Brian Benchoff | [
"cnc hacks",
"Crowd Funding"
] | [
"Carvey",
"cnc",
"Inventables",
"kickstarter",
"shapeoko"
] | Over the past few years, [Bart Dring] has contributed immensely to the homebrew CNC machine scene, with the creation of MakerSlide linear rail, the
buildlog.net
open source laser cutters and CNC machines, and a host of other builds that have brought the power of digital fabrication to garages and workshops the world over. After a year of work, he, along with Inventables,
is releasing Carvey, the CNC machine for everyone else
.
Carvey is heavily inspired by Inventables other CNC machine,
the Shapeoko
, but built to be the Makerbot to the Shapeoko’s RepRap, without all the baggage that goes along with that analogy, of course. The machine has a 300W spindle capable of cutting wood, plastic, foam, carbon fiber, and linoleum, as well as aluminum and brass. There are a few interesting features like a color-coded bit system, and this time the machine has an enclosure for containing MDF dust.
CAD programs might be a little too foreboding for someone just getting into the world of CNC, so Inventables has created their own design program called
Easel
. It’s a web app that allows you to design all your parts for the Carvey and send them all to the machine without worrying about speeds, feeds and all the other intimidating machinist terminology. You can, of course, output GCode from Easel, so those of us with slightly more complex toolchains can still use the Carvey.
Inventables is Kickstarting their production, with the non-early bird Carveys going for $2400. That’s a bit cheaper than some extremely similar machines we’ve seen on Kickstarter before. | 67 | 23 | [
{
"comment_id": "2024697",
"author": "YourIEEEmom",
"timestamp": "2014-10-21T14:26:40",
"content": ">as well as aluminum and brassLets see some proof. That Step 03 picture of cutting bit stickout is horrible, bound to flex a buttload. I love the machine so far, but I want spindle specs, ma cutting... | 1,760,376,031.291424 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/10/21/thinkpad-701c-reverse-engineering-a-retro-processor-upgrade/ | Thinkpad 701c: Reverse Engineering A Retro Processor Upgrade | Adam Fabio | [
"computer hacks"
] | [
"701",
"701c",
"ibm",
"multitouch trackpad",
"retro",
"retrocomputing",
"thinkpad",
"Thinkpad 701c",
"TrackPoint"
] | [Noq2] has
given his butterfly new wings with a CPU upgrade
. Few laptops are as iconic as the IBM Thinkpad 701 series and its
“butterfly” TrackWrite keyboard
. So iconic in fact, that a 701c is part of the
permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art
in New York.
Being a 1995 vintage laptop, [Noq2’s] 701c understandably was no speed demon by today’s standards. The fastest factory configuration was an Intel 486-DX4 running at 75 MHz. However, there have long been rumors and online auctions referring to a custom model modified to run an AMD AM-5×86 at 133 MHz. The mods were performed by shops like Hantz + Partner in Germany. With this in mind, [Noq2] set about reverse engineering the modification, and equipping his 701c with a new processor.
The first step was determining which AMD processor variant to use. It turns out that only a few models of AMD’s chips were pin compatible with the 208 pin Small Quad Flat Pack (SQFP) footprint on the 701c’s motherboard. [Noq2] was able to get one from an old Evergreen 486 upgrade module on everyone’s favorite auction site. He carefully de-soldered the AM-5×86 from the module, and the Intel DX4 from the 701c. A bit of soldering later, and the brain transplant was complete.
Some detailed datasheet research helped [noq2] find the how to increase the bus clock on his 5×86 chip, and enable the write-back cache. All he had to do was move a couple of passive components and short a couple pins on the processor.
The final result is a tricked out IBM 701c Thinkpad running an AMD 5×86 at 133 MHz. Still way too slow for today’s software – but absolutely the coolest retro mod we’ve seen in a long time. | 37 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "2024389",
"author": "Paul Kastner",
"timestamp": "2014-10-21T12:38:30",
"content": "After going through all that why not upgrade the onboard RAM as well?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "2024444",
"author": "André Esteves",
... | 1,760,376,031.512461 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/10/21/what-is-this-a-microcontroller-board-for-ants/ | What Is This, A Microcontroller Board For Ants? | Brian Benchoff | [
"ATtiny Hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"attiny",
"attiny85",
"nanite",
"nanite 85",
"smallest arduino",
"Trinket"
] | You youngins probably don’t remember this, but a few years ago there was an arms race on Kickstarter to create the smallest Arduino-compatible microcontroller board. Since then, a few people have realized they can make more money on Kickstarter through fraud or potato salad, and the race to create the smallest ‘duino board petered out.
It’s a shame [Meizhu] wasn’t part of the great miniature Arduinofication of Kickstarter,
because this project would have won
. It’s an Atmel ATtiny85, with USB port, resistors, diodes, reset button, LED, and pin headers,
that is just 72 mils larger than the PDIP package of the ‘tiny85.
Outside of getting a bare die of ‘tiny85s, there isn’t much of a chance of this board becoming any smaller.
[Meizhu] was inspired to create this board from
[Tim]’s Nanite 85
, which up until a few days ago was the current champion of micro microcontroller boards. With a bit of work in KiCAD, the new board layout was created that is just a hair larger than the 0.4″ x 0.4″ footprint of the PDIP ATtiny85. There were a few challenges in getting a working board this small; you’d be surprised how large the plastic bits around pin headers are, but with some very crafty soldering, [Meizhu] was able to get it to work. | 79 | 23 | [
{
"comment_id": "2023635",
"author": "metai",
"timestamp": "2014-10-21T08:09:09",
"content": "Thanks, ants. Thants.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "2023811",
"author": "Z00111111",
"timestamp": "2014-10-21T09:13:00",
"c... | 1,760,376,031.777868 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/10/20/controlling-a-flip-disc-display-using-android/ | Controlling A Flip-Disc Display Using Android | James Hobson | [
"Android Hacks",
"Arduino Hacks"
] | [
"electromagnetic display",
"electromechanical display",
"split-disc display"
] | There’s just something about electro-mechanical displays that enthralls most people when they see them; and while you’ll be hard pressed to find a split-flap display for cheap, you can still easily buy flip-disc displays! That’s what [Scott] did, and he’s been having a blast messing around with his and
building a system to control it via his Android phone.
He picked up the display from a company called
Alfa-Zeta
in Poland, a company that’s been making electromagnetic displays since 1988. No mention of price, but it looks like some pretty awesome hardware. The beauty with electromagnetic displays is they don’t consume any electricity in idle state, making them far more efficient than almost any other display technology – not to mention perfect contrast in any lighting conditions!
They work by using permanent magnets, electromagnets, and a material that can retain magnetization. A short pulse to the electromagnet causes the disc to flip into the second position, which will then hold in place due to the permanent magnet — no more electromagnet needed.
The display comes with all the necessary hardware to drive the electromagnets and interface with a microcontroller. But, it uses the RS-485 standard, which isn’t natively supported by most other microcontrollers. [Scott’s] using an Arduino which does have an RS-485 shield, but he decided he wanted to challenge himself and build a circuit to drive them himself!
All the info is on his blog if you’re looking to try something similar. Once he had it interfaced with the Arduino it was just a simple matter of writing an Android app to transmit controls over Bluetooth for the display. Take a look:
And some slow motion for you:
If split-discs aren’t mechanical enough for you, you can always try
building your own split-flap display… | 14 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "2023144",
"author": "murdock",
"timestamp": "2014-10-21T05:08:26",
"content": "Dang. You could play games on that with a decent framerate.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "2023168",
"author": "FrankenPC",
"times... | 1,760,376,031.188999 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/10/20/solid-state-tesla-coil-plays-music/ | Solid State Tesla Coil Plays Music | Bryan Cockfield | [
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"high voltage",
"power pulse modulator",
"pwm-ocxi",
"solid state",
"Solid State Tesla Coil",
"tesla",
"tesla coil"
] | If you’ve ever wanted to build a Tesla coil but found them to be prohibitively expensive and/or complicated, look no further! [Richard] has built
a solid-state Tesla coil
that has a minimum of parts and is relatively easy to build as well.
This Tesla coil is built around an air-core transformer that steps a low DC voltage up to a very high AC voltage. The core can be hand-wound or purchased as a unit. The drive circuit is where this Tesla coil built is set apart from the others. A Tesla coil generally makes use of a spark gap, but [Richard] is using the Power Pulse Modulator PWM-OCXi v2 which does the switching with transistors instead. The Tesla coil will function with one drive circuit but [Richard] notes that it is more stable with two.
The build doesn’t stop with the solid-state circuitry, though. [Richard] used an Arduino with software normally used to drive a speaker to get his Tesla coil to play music. Be sure to check out the video after the break. If you’re looking for a Tesla coil that is more Halloween-appropriate, you can take a look at
this Tesla coil that shocks pumpkins
! | 10 | 3 | [
{
"comment_id": "2022762",
"author": "echodelta",
"timestamp": "2014-10-21T03:21:27",
"content": "Build-built. Get it right, twice in 2 or 3 days.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "2023398",
"author": "sparkygsx",
"timestamp": "2014-10-21T... | 1,760,376,031.335712 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/10/20/your-new-winter-hat-should-express-your-brain-waves-like-a-neon-sign-just-saying/ | Your New Winter Hat Should Express Your Brain Waves Like A Neon Sign… Just Saying | Sarah Petkus | [
"Wearable Hacks"
] | [
"arduino eeg",
"beanie",
"brain wave hat",
"brain waves",
"eeg",
"eeg hacks",
"illumino",
"neurosky"
] | We’ve seen a few cool hacks for mainstream commercial EEG headsets, but these are all a tad spendy for leisurely play or experimentation. The
illumino
project by [io] however, has a relatively short and affordable list of materials for creating your own EEG sensor. It’s even built into a beanie that maps your mental status to a colorful LED pompom! Now that winter is around the corner, this project is perfect for those of us who want to try on the mad scientist’s hat and look awesome while we’re wearing it.
How does all the neuro-magic happen? At the heart of [io’s] EEG project is a retired Thinkgear ASIC PC board by Neurosky. It comes loaded with fancy algorithms which amplify and process the different types of noise coming from the surface of our brain. A few small electrodes made from sheets of copper and placed in contact with the forehead are responsible for picking up this noise. The bridge between the electrodes and the Thinkgear is an arduino running the illumino project code. For [io’s] tutorial, a Tinylilly Arduino is used to mesh with the wearable medium, since all of these parts are concealed in the folded brim of the beanie.
In addition, a neat processing sketch is included which illustrates the alpha, beta, gamma, and other wave types associated with brain activity as a morphing ball of changing size and color. This offers a nice visual sense of what the Neurosky is actually reading.
If all of your hats lack pompoms and you can’t find one out in the ether that comes equipped, fear not… there is even a side tutorial on how to make a proper puff-ball from yarn. Sporting glowing headwear might be a little ostentatious for some of us, but the circuit in this project by itself is a neat point of departure for those who want to poke around at the EEG technology. Details and code can be found on the
illumino Instructable
.
Thanks Zack, for showing us this neat tutorial!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_0usqJA9A0#t=62 | 6 | 3 | [
{
"comment_id": "2021789",
"author": "David",
"timestamp": "2014-10-20T23:34:40",
"content": "Can we stop with the “just saying” thing already?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "2022698",
"author": "mtlevine0",
"timestamp": "2014... | 1,760,376,031.377828 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/10/20/weightless-thing-for-oct-20-0100/ | The Internet Of Things Chip Gets A New Spectrum | Brian Benchoff | [
"Radio Hacks"
] | [
"internet of things",
"ISM",
"radio",
"tv whitespace",
"weightless"
] | Last year we learned about
Weightless
, an Internet of Things chip that solves all the problems of current wireless solutions. It’s low power and has a 10-year battery life (one AA cell), the hardware should cost around $2 per module, and the range of the Weightless devices range from 5+km in urban environments to 20-30km in rural environments. There haven’t been many public announcements from the Weightless SIG since the specification was announced, but today they’re announcing Weightless will include an additional spectrum, the 868/915 MHz ISM spectrum.
The original plan for Weightless was to use the spectrum left behind by UHF TV – between 470 and 790MHz. Regulatory agencies haven’t been moving as fast as members of the Weightless SIG would have hoped, so now they’re working on a slightly different design that uses the already-allocated ISM bands. They’re not giving up on the TV whitespace spectrum; that’s still part of the plan to put radio modules in
everything.
The new Weightless-N
will be available sooner, though, with the first publicly available base station, module, and SDK arriving sometime next spring.
Weightless has put up a video describing their new Weightless-N hardware; you can check that out below. If you want the TL;DR of how Weightless can claim such a long battery life and huge range from an Internet of Things radio module, here’s an overly simplified explanation: power, range, and bandwidth. Pick any two. | 52 | 18 | [
{
"comment_id": "2021134",
"author": "gertlexhk",
"timestamp": "2014-10-20T20:04:39",
"content": "So is it weighless or weightless? You even have the tag for the article wrong, I think.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "2021154",
"author... | 1,760,376,032.531188 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/10/20/hackaday-munich-speaker-sprite_tm/ | Hackaday Munich Speaker: Sprite_TM | Mike Szczys | [
"Featured",
"The Hackaday Prize"
] | [
"embedded hardware workshop",
"munich",
"sprite_tm",
"TheHackadayPrize"
] | Plans for
Hackaday Munich
are coming along quite nicely. Today we’re happy to announce that [Sprite_TM] will be speaking at the event. Click that link above and make sure you get your tickets for November 13th. You can do some hands-on hacking at the Embedded Hardware Workshop, hear the talks, find out
which of the five finalists will be the grand prize winner
, and enjoy The Hackaday Prize Party along with the Hackaday crew.
You may also know [Sprite_TM] as [Jeroen Domburg], one of the
judges for The Hackaday Prize
. That’s him on the left in the image above (we love a good avatar!). If you follow Hackaday, you should already be thrilled about meeting him and hearing his talk.
The last talk we remember
reading about was an epic hard drive controller hack. Just last month we saw
a well-executed clock radio overhaul
from him. While we’re on the topic,
his micro-bots
were a spectacular project.
[Sprite_TM] has also offered to help out with the reverse engineering workshop. We’re hard at work making sure everything is in place for those afternoon hacking events. As we solidify details we’ll be adding workshop pages (and emailing those already registered for Hackaday Munich) to let everyone know what to expect. We can report that we have shipped [Sprite_TM] a Bus Pirate so that he can be familiar with it. This will be the primary tool provided for this particular workshop.
The entire Hackaday crew is looking forward to it. See you there! | 6 | 2 | [
{
"comment_id": "2020518",
"author": "momche",
"timestamp": "2014-10-20T17:14:25",
"content": "Either there are no tickets left or the site you are using to sell the tickets has some problems",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "2020537",
"... | 1,760,376,031.815634 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/10/19/robot-arm-you-can-build-at-home/ | Robot Arm You Can Build At Home | Rich Bremer | [
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"robot",
"robot arm",
"servo bot"
] | [jjshortcut] has created an easy to make
robot arm
that has 6 degrees of freedom. There is not much to it, the frame is made out of 4mm thick hardboard, hobby servos provide the power and a handful of hardware holds it together. The frame has been successfully cut out on both a laser cutter and a cnc router, making this design even more obtainable for any aspiring roboticist.
To control the robot arms movements [jjshortcut] plans to use a standard Arduino. There are certainly plenty of servo motor shields available but he still decided to
design his own
. In addition to the standard motor power and servo connections, a header for an infrared receiver was added for potential future communication options.
Like any project, there were some hiccups along the way. First, several revisions of the gripper were necessary to get the correct tooth profile that resulted in smooth and tight movement. Also, while making the shield the spacing between banks of headers came out one header too close! On this first board [jjshortcut] just bent the pins so they would fit into the Arduino. You can’t let some minor snafu prevent forward momentum of a project!
[jjshortcut] has done the hard part; the design. He has made all his mechanical and electronic files available… so go and build one! Check out the video after the break. | 33 | 11 | [
{
"comment_id": "2015981",
"author": "tom",
"timestamp": "2014-10-19T17:47:00",
"content": "Yeah, a really easy project to make at home if you have a LASER CUTTER and a CNC in your workshop. GIVE ME A BREAK!!!! And boys and girls, if you have a budget and resources like maybe BEN HECK, we’d all be b... | 1,760,376,032.44501 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/10/19/delving-into-the-design-and-manufacture-of-a-keyboard/ | Delving Into The Design And Manufacture Of A Keyboard | James Hobson | [
"computer hacks"
] | [
"custom keyboard",
"diy keyboard",
"homemade keyboard"
] | A while back [Dave] decided he wanted to build his own keyboard. [Dave] has no experience in design, or dealing with manufacturing companies, or even sourcing materials – he just wanted to see
if he could do it.
That’s the beauty of the DIY world – most of the time, you
can do it
, you just don’t know it yet. The keyboard is made out of laser cut steel and acrylic sheets. The switches and key caps are Cherry MX Browns, supplied by
GONSKeyboards Works
. A Teensy 2.0 lies at the heart of the keyboard acting as an HID device, and the whole thing assembled looks pretty slick – but it wasn’t easy getting to that point.
As [Dave] explains in his article, designing the enclosure from scratch was the hardest part. Seriously, how would you design a keyboard? Do you look at the keyboard you already have? He started researching different DIY keyboards and stumbled upon [Matt3o’s]
Brown Fox Keyboard
– a simple yet elegant design that he would take a few design cues from. He then learned how to use
DraftSight
(Free 2D CAD software from the people who make SolidWorks). He admits the learning curve is pretty steep; if you’ve never used CAD before.
Once he had it all figured out he was able to sketch up the layout, but when he tried sending it off to the manufacturer, they wanted a completely dimensioned drawing – you know, instead of just taking the CAD flat pattern and putting it into the CNC machine…
[Dave] admits “If anyone here is a Draftsman, I apologize for this filth.” However, the company was able to use it! So if it works it works – though they probably used the flat pattern and just had the drawing for reference. But to be fair, working as a mechanical developer, I’ve seen worse drawings.
Much
worse.
But for [Dave’s] reference, and any other designers in training, it could be cleaned up considerably just by dropping a few decimal places, as some manufacturers would see over three zeros as an indication that it has to be accurate down to the micron… which would be incredibly expensive. Oh and keeping the dimensions off of the actual part using leader lines (extended dimension lines) also keeps the drawing neat and tidy. That’s just Drafting 101 – I am by no means an expert.
Anyway, back to the hack. Lucky for [Dave], everything fit perfectly when he put it altogether, saving him from having to modify the design. All that was left was the tedious task of wiring up all the switches to the diodes and then to the Teensy, whose small size is normally a blessing, but in this case becomes
very
fun
to wire.
He’s also done a great job
explaining the entire process
, which is invaluable to anyone interested in jumping into the design world, and for [Dave] this is just the beginning. He’s already planning version 2.0 which will feature his own PCB! | 37 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "2015409",
"author": "Filipe",
"timestamp": "2014-10-19T14:06:36",
"content": "GONSKeyboards Works don’t make Cherry switches, Cherry make Cherry switches.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "2015618",
"author": "BoKu",
... | 1,760,376,032.080833 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/10/19/playing-doom-poorly-on-a-vocore/ | Playing Doom (Poorly) On A VoCore | Brian Benchoff | [
"classic hacks",
"Linux Hacks"
] | [
"doom",
"linux",
"openwrt",
"router",
"VoCore"
] | Last May brought the unastonishing news that companies were taking the Systems on Chip found in $20 wireless routers and making dev boards out of them. The first of these is the VoCore, an Indiegogo campaign for a 360MHz CPU with 8MB of Flash and 32MB or RAM packaged in a square inch PCB for the Internet of Things. Now that the Indiegogo rewards are heading out to workbenches the world over, it was only a matter of time
before someone got
Doom
to run on one of them
.
After fixing some design flaws in the first run of VoCores, [Pyrofer] did the usual things you would do with a tiny system running Linux – webcams for streaming video, USB sound cards to play internet radio, and the normal stuff OpenWrt does.
His curiosity satiated, [Pyrofer] turned to more esoteric builds. WIth a color LCD from Sparkfun,
he got an NES emulator running
. This is all through hardware SPI, mind you. Simple 2D graphics are cool enough, but the standard graphical test for all low powered computers is, of course,
Doom
.
The game runs, but just barely. Still, [Pyrofer] is happy with the VoCore and with a little more work with the SPI and bringing a framebuffer to his tiny system, he might have a neat portable
Doom
machine on his hands. | 14 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "2015188",
"author": "elwing",
"timestamp": "2014-10-19T12:43:48",
"content": "well, game speed seems resonably fast, it seems more realted to the lcd communication… hardware SPI should provite a great boost…",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"... | 1,760,376,032.129702 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/10/19/diy-vacuum-former-on-the-cheap/ | DIY Vacuum Former On The Cheap | Rich Bremer | [
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"vacuum former",
"vacuum forming",
"vacuum thermoformer"
] | Vacuum Forming is a process used to mold plastic into a desired shape. A thin sheet of plastic is heated to a soft state and then air pressure is used to press the plastic down around or into a mold. Vacuum forming can be used to make a variety of items, anything from product packaging to bath tubs.
That being said, a vacuum former is probably one of those things that would be nice to have around but may not get a lot of use. Therefore, spending any significant amount of money on one would result in a low-value situation. For some folks, building one from scratch may be the way to go. [Amalgamized] built his own
low-cost vacuum former
and did a great job documenting the build.
There is a two-pronged attack to keep the costs down on this project. First, the frame is made from readily available materials that you probably have kicking around in your wood scrap bin. The sides of the frame are 3/4″ plywood and the hole-filled top is made from 1/4″ MDF. A piece of PVC pipe connects the chamber below the top piece of MDF to a shopvac. The shopvac pulls the air down through the top’s holes;
think reverse air hockey table
.
Attack prong #2 is that there is no dedicated heater. Binder clips secure the plastic sheets to an aluminum window frame which are then put in the oven for a few minutes between 250 and 300ºF. When the plastic starts to droop, it is quickly removed from the oven and placed over a mold. The shopvac creates a low pressure zone under the plastic and atmospheric pressure pushes the plastic down around the mold. | 26 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "2014519",
"author": "moddedbybacteria",
"timestamp": "2014-10-19T08:16:07",
"content": "What’s the big deal – people have been using these for years, making them for next to free, and there are many tutorials around for making such vacuum forming tables. Surprised this got onto Hack... | 1,760,376,032.596142 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/10/18/replacing-the-lead-in-a-motorcycle-battery-with-supercaps/ | Replacing The Lead In A Motorcycle Battery With Supercaps | Brian Benchoff | [
"Transportation Hacks"
] | [
"battery",
"motorcycle",
"supercap",
"supercapacitor"
] | [Raphael] has a motorcycle he’s constantly working on, and for him that means replacing the battery occasionally. Tired of the lead-acid batteries that have been used for 100 years now, he took a look at some of the alternatives, namely lithium and the much cooler supercapacitor option. A trip to the local electronics distributor, and [Raphael]
had a new supercapacitor battery for his bike
, and hopefully he’ll never need to buy another chunk of lead again.
The battery pack is built from six 2.7V, 350F caps, a few connectors, and a handful of diodes. These are lashed together with rubber bands to form a 16V, 58F capacitor that makes for a great stand-in for a chunk of lead or a potentially puffy lithium battery.
[Raphael]
put up a walkthrough video
of his battery pack where he shows off the enclosure – an old, empty lead acid cell. He also goes through the back current protection and his method of balancing the supercaps with a few diodes. | 99 | 18 | [
{
"comment_id": "2014155",
"author": "steves",
"timestamp": "2014-10-19T05:37:52",
"content": "If his lead acid batteries have been used for 100 years now, then that’s pretty good in my opinion.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "2963133",
... | 1,760,376,032.373321 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/10/18/the-network-of-1-wire-devices/ | The Network Of 1-Wire Devices | Brian Benchoff | [
"Microcontrollers"
] | [
"1-wire",
"digital switch",
"home automation",
"network",
"Teensy",
"Teensy 3.1",
"temperature sensor",
"thermocouple"
] | [jimmayhugh] is a homebrewer and has multiple fermentation chambers and storage coolers scattered around his home. Lucky him. Nevertheless, multiple ways of making and storing beer requires some way to tell the temperature of his coolers and fermenters. There aren’t many temperature controllers that will monitor more than two digital thermometers or thermocouples,
so he came up with his own
. It’s called TeensyNet, and it’s able to monitor and control up to 36 1-wire devices and ties everything into his home network.
Everything in this system uses
the 1-Wire protocol
, a bus designed by Dallas Semiconductor that can connect devices with only two wires; data and ground. (To be a fly on the wall during
that
marketing meeting…) [jimmay] is using
temperature sensors
,
digital switches
,
thermocouples
, and even
a graphic LCD
with his 1-wire system, with everything controlled by a Teensy 3.1 and Ethernet module to push everything up to his network.
With everything connected to the network, [jimmay] can get on his personal TeensyNet webpage and check out the status of all the devices connected to any of his network controllers. This is something the engineers at Dallas probably never dreamed of, and it’s an interesting look at what the future of Home Automation will be, if not for a network connected relay. | 13 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "2013815",
"author": "healthy",
"timestamp": "2014-10-19T03:16:36",
"content": "very nice!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "2013899",
"author": "GotNoTime",
"timestamp": "2014-10-19T03:55:04",
"content": "Nice project ... | 1,760,376,032.647405 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/10/18/this-analog-cambot-plays-outside-the-lines/ | This Analog Cambot Plays Outside The Lines | Sarah Petkus | [
"Microcontrollers"
] | [
"cambot",
"line follower",
"line following",
"line following robot",
"pic",
"robot",
"video camera"
] | There are quite a few flavors of line following robot. No matter how they’re made, most are built for speed and accuracy. The Cambot by [Jorge Fernandez] however makes use of a traditional video camera to read visual input instead of the reflective sensors we’re used to seeing in these types of robots. Because of this it lacks those swift and agile qualities, but scores points with its unique analog design, over-sized tricycle wheels, and stylish RCA jacks poking out on the side.
Coupled with a PIC 16F84A microcontroller, [Fernandez] divides the video input from the camera into 625 lines. The PIC is responsible for scanning horizontally across these lines and translating the proportions of black and white into PWM pulses. The duration these proportions are seen by the camera determines the PWM frequency fed to the left and right servo motors driving the robot.
As far as line-followers go, this is a refreshing retro approach to the concept. [Hernandez] outlines the finesse about driving his
cambot
on his blog (an English translation can be read
here
) and provides a complete schematic for those who are interested in whipping up their own quirky little machine. | 12 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "2013152",
"author": "Santiago Villafuerte",
"timestamp": "2014-10-18T23:04:04",
"content": "An old project, but still a good news. Buen trabajo omega! :D",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "2013225",
"author": "alex555",
"ti... | 1,760,376,032.689967 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/10/18/the-economics-of-fuzz-testing-with-the-intel-edison/ | The Economics Of Fuzz Testing With The Intel Edison | Brian Benchoff | [
"computer hacks"
] | [
"edison",
"fuzz",
"fuzz testing",
"fuzzing",
"Intel Edison",
"server"
] | The Intel Edison is an incredibly small and cheap x86 computing platform, and with that comes the obvious applications for robotics and wearable computing. [mz] had another idea: what if the Edison could do work that is usually done by workstations? Would it make economic sense to buy a handful of Edisons over a single quad-core Xeon system?
[mz] thought the Edison
would be an ideal platform for fuzz testing
, or sending random, automated data at a program or system to figure out if they’ll misbehave in interesting ways. After figuring out where to solder power and ground wires to boot an Edison without a breakout board, [mz] got to work benchmarking his fuzz testing setup.
Comparing the benchmarks of a fuzzing job running on the Edison and a few servers and workstations, calculations of cost-efficiency worked out well for this tiny x86 system on module. For parallelizable tasks, the Edison is about 8x less powerful than a reasonably modern server, but it’s also about 5-8x cheaper than a comparable desktop machine. Although renting a server is by far the more economic solution for getting a lot of computing power easily, there are a few use cases where a cluster of Edisons in your pocket would make sense. | 16 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "2012687",
"author": "soobvious",
"timestamp": "2014-10-18T20:20:41",
"content": "FTA – “I first had to solder the DF40 connector – I’m pretty sure that’s what it feels to be a brain surgeon”",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "201... | 1,760,376,032.740225 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/10/18/dont-you-just-love-comic-sans-2/ | Don’t You Just Love Comic Sans? | James Hobson | [
"Laser Hacks",
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"comic sans",
"laser cut font types",
"typewriter"
] | Trick question! Of course you do, everyone loves Comic Sans! It’s only like the best font in the history of the internet! Why would you ever use anything else?
Oh! Is it because you feel like writing your novella on a computer is cheating? You wish you could use Comic Sans on your classic Sears-branded Brother Charger 11 typewriter from the 70’s? Don’t worry,
we’ve got you covered.
Jokes aside, this is actually a pretty clever hack. He’s modified a typewriter to use custom letters which he has laser cut out of acrylic and super glued to the strikers of the typewriter.
He calls it the Sincerity Machine.
It’s my wish that a classic, functioning typewriter altered to write in the most popular
ly despised
font of modern times will provoke thoughts about such media concerns.
In addition to modifying the strikers, he’s also made new key covers with a vinyl cutter with their respective, and delightful fonts for all to see.
[Thanks Anonymous!] | 29 | 16 | [
{
"comment_id": "2012276",
"author": "Orion",
"timestamp": "2014-10-18T18:04:52",
"content": "What?! people actually hate Comic Sans?! but why?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "2012346",
"author": "Brian Benchoff",
"timestamp": ... | 1,760,376,032.802681 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/10/18/this-message-will-self-destruct-in-5-seconds/ | This Message Will Self-Destruct In 5 Seconds | James Hobson | [
"Security Hacks"
] | [
"mission impossible hack",
"self-destructing message"
] | Good morning, Mr. Hunt. Your mission, should you choose to accept it… blah blah blah… This post will
self-destruct in five seconds.
This is [Diego Trujillo Pisanty’s] latest project dubbed “
This Tape Will Self-Destruct
“, and it’s a fully functional small scale printer, whose media catches on fire immediately after printing. Beyond the obvious Mission Impossible connection, you could also think of it as real-life snapchat — just throw a webcam on there and some faxing capabilities…
Apparently [Diego] was inspired to build this machine after the
BBC reported
that a Kremlin security agency was upgrading the office with typewriters in attempt to reduce privacy leaks from computer hardware, in fear of
WikiLeaks
and [Edward Snowden].
It is an art piece (the horror!) but is actually quite the piece of hardware. So unfortunately, like most art pieces, the artist doesn’t give much detail on how it works, because that would ruin the illusion of the project… or something. Still, it’s an amusing project. Video below.
[via
Reddit
] | 22 | 14 | [
{
"comment_id": "2011568",
"author": "Christopher",
"timestamp": "2014-10-18T14:27:14",
"content": "Ah that BBC report. They took a requisition for a couple typewriters and all of sudden thought that the Russians were replacing their computers to prevent them from getting hacked. The truth was tha... | 1,760,376,032.856585 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/10/18/creating-a-2d-film-with-3d-printed-frames/ | Creating A 2D Film With 3D Printed Frames | Sarah Petkus | [
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"3d printed film",
"3d printed frames",
"art technology",
"relief",
"relief cinema",
"stereo lithography"
] | In the early days of film, there was a time when French 3D Cinema was called “Relief Cinema”. The word,
Relief,
however brings the idea of something physical to mind when we hear it, which is why the name was later tweaked to include the more intangible term,
3D
. Playing on this fact, French Artist [Julien Maire] has designed and built an over-sized projector for his installation titled “
Relief
“, that creates an animation by passing light through a series of individual 3D vignettes.
[Julien’s] intricately built projection reel in itself is an impressive mechanical feat, arguably out-staging the image it exists to produce on the wall of the gallery space. The eighty-five individual frames that create the short clip of a man digging a hole in the ground, consist of small figurines made with a stereo lithography printer. The semi-transparent nature of the resin used by the SLA printer gives the shadow cast by the projector a series of foggy-values that create a three dimensional appearance instead of merely casting a silhouette of the shape. This installation blends new and old technologies together to produce something we’re familiar with, but leaves us admiring an object that we’ve never seen before.
[Julien’s] “Relief” is currently being exhibited at iMAL (interactive Media Art Laboratory in Brussels) which will run throughout the month of October. If you happen to find yourself on a long stay in Europe before the
Hardware Workshop in Munich
, you could make a pitstop and check it out! | 11 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "2011037",
"author": "Edgar Vice",
"timestamp": "2014-10-18T11:23:27",
"content": "I think he wants to tell us something!http://www.imal.org/sites/default/files/slideshows/14/09/reliefmaire05.jpg",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": ... | 1,760,376,033.257273 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/10/18/reverse-engineering-a-bathroom-scale-for-automated-weight-tracking/ | Reverse Engineering A Bathroom Scale For Automated Weight Tracking | Rick Osgood | [
"Raspberry Pi"
] | [
"bathroom",
"infrared",
"ir",
"linux",
"logic analyzer",
"raspberry pi",
"raspbi",
"reverse",
"reverse engineering",
"scale"
] | [Darell] recently purchased a fancy new bathroom scale. Unlike an average bathroom scale, this one came with a wireless digital display. The user stands on the scale and the base unit transmits the weight measurement to the display using infrared signals. The idea is that you can place the display in front of your face instead of having to look down at your feet. [Darell] realized that his experience with infrared communication would likely enable him to
hack this bathroom scale
to automatically track his weight to a spreadsheet stored online.
[Darell] started by hooking up a 38khz infrared receiver unit to a logic analyzer. Then he recorded the one-way communication from the scale to the display. His experience told him that the scale was likely using pulse distance coding to encode the data. The scale would start each bit with a 500ms pulse. Then it would follow-up with either another 500ms pulse, or a 1000ms pulse. Each combination represented either a 1 or a 0. The problem was, [Darell] didn’t know which was which. He also wasn’t sure in which order the bits were being transmitted. He modified a software plugin for his logic analyzer to display 1’s and 0’s on top of the waveform. He then made several configurable options so he could try the various representations of the data.
Next it was time to generate some known data. He put increasing amounts of weight on the scale and recorded the resulting data along with the actual reading on the display. Then he tried various combinations of display settings until he got what appeared to be hexadecimal numbers increasing in size. Then by comparing values, he was able to determine what each of the five bytes represented. He was even able to reconstruct the checksum function used to generate the checksum byte.
Finally, [Darell] used a Raspberry Pi to hook the scale up to the cloud. He wrote a Python script to monitor an infrared receiver for the appropriate data. The script also verifies the checksum to ensure the data is not corrupted. [Darell] added a small LED light to indicate when the reading has been saved to the Google Docs spreadsheet, so he can be sure his weight is being recorded properly. | 16 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "2010452",
"author": "mats",
"timestamp": "2014-10-18T08:17:51",
"content": "s/ms/us/g",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "2010477",
"author": "Ted",
"timestamp": "2014-10-18T08:25:02",
"content": "Any *bathroom* scale th... | 1,760,376,033.30705 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/10/17/3d-printing-goes-hand-in-hand-with-iron-man-inspired-prosthetic/ | 3D Printing Goes Hand In Hand With Iron Man Inspired Prosthetic | Sarah Petkus | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"Wearable Hacks"
] | [
"3d printed hand",
"3d printed prosthetic",
"3d printing",
"arduino",
"child prosthetic",
"iron man",
"iron man hand",
"prosthetics"
] | It’s exciting how much 3D printing has enabled us to produce pretty much any shape for any purpose on the fly. Among the most thoughtful uses for the technology that we’ve seen are the many functioning and often beautiful prosthetics that not only succeed in restoring the use of a limb, but also deliver an air of style and self-expression to the wearer. The immediate nature of the technology allows for models to be designed and produced rapidly at a low-cost, which works excellently for growing children. [Pat Starace’s]
Iron Man inspired 3D printed hand and forearm
are a perfect example of such personality and expert engineering… with an added dash of hacker flair.
With over twenty years of experience in animatronics behind him, [Starace] expertly concealed all of the mechanical ligaments within the design of his arm, producing a streamline limb with all the nuance of lifelike gesture. It was important that the piece not only work, but give the wearer that appropriate super hero-like feeling while wearing it. He achieves this with all the bells and whistles hidden within the negative space of the forearm, which give the wearer an armory of tricks up their sleeve. Concealed in the plating, [Starace] uses an Arduino and accelerometer to animate different sets of LEDs as triggered by the hand’s position coupled with specific voice commands. Depending on what angle the wrist is bent at, the fingers will either curl into a fist and reveal hidden ‘lasers’ on the back of the hand, or spread open around a pulsing circle of light on the palm when thrust outward.
The project took [Starace] quite a bit of time to print all the individual parts; around two days worth of time. This however is still considered quick in comparison to the custom outfitting and production of traditional prosthetics… not to mention, the traditional stuff wouldn’t have LEDs. This piece has a noble cause, and is an exciting example of how 3D printing is adding a level of heroism to everyday life.
Thank you Julius for pointing out this awesome project to us! | 10 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "2010059",
"author": "Galane",
"timestamp": "2014-10-18T05:50:15",
"content": "Very nifty and *finally* is a 3D printed hand that at least partially attempts to replicate the natural different positions and angles of the metacarpo-phalangeal joints and doesn’t have the carpometacarpa... | 1,760,376,033.352363 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/10/17/open-source-water-quality-tester/ | Open-Source Water Quality Tester | Ethan Zonca | [
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"openscad",
"TSL235R",
"water purification"
] | Contaminated water is a huge problem in many third-world countries. Impure water leads to many serious health problems, especially in children. Installing a water purification system seems like a simple solution to this problem, but choosing the right purification system depends on the level of contaminants in the water.
Water turbidity testers are often used to measure the severity of water contamination. Unfortunately most commercial water turbidity testers are very expensive, so [Wijnen, Anzalone, and Pearce] set out to develop a
much more affordable open-source tester
. Their tester performs just as well as commercial units, but costs 7-15 times less.
The open-source water tester was designed in OpenSCAD and 3d printed. It houses an Arduino with a custom shield that measures the frequency from several TSL235R light-to-frequency converters. An LED illuminates the water and the sensors measure how much light is diffused and reflected off of particles in the water. Another sensor measures the brightness of the LED as a baseline reference. The turbidity of the water is calculated from the brightness values, and is displayed on a character LCD. More details about the tester are included in
a fairly extensive paper
.
[Thanks Andrew] | 12 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "2009535",
"author": "vonskippy",
"timestamp": "2014-10-18T02:59:01",
"content": "“Contaminated water is a huge problem in many third-world countries.”So let’s make sure we provide them with a device that is sooooooooo very much over designed that none of those third-world countries ... | 1,760,376,033.204942 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/10/17/guitar-pedal-hack-via-manufacturers-shortcut/ | Guitar Pedal Hack Via Manufacturer’s Shortcut | Bryan Cockfield | [
"Musical Hacks"
] | [
"Electro Harmonix",
"guitar",
"guitar pedal",
"pcb"
] | There seems to be no shortage of manufacturers that cut costs by using similar components across a wide range of products. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing though, since it makes it easier for someone with some know-how to quickly open up the product and figure out how to get more use out of it. [Lewin] noticed some peculiarities on the PCB of his EHX Screaming Bird guitar pedal, and
used a manufacturer’s shortcut to turn this treble-boosting pedal into a flat booster
.
Once [Lewin] removed the case, he noticed that there were some unpopulated pads on the PCB. Additionally, the potentiometer was labelled as 10k, but a 100k was actually installed. These were indications that something was awry, so after poking around on the internet, [Lewin] now believes that the same PCB was used to make at least three different effects pedals with similar internal structures.
The Screaming Bird pedal was a little harsh for [Lewin]’s taste, so he changed out some capacitors on the board to get it closer to the flat booster. There are some other things that could be changed, but now he has a pedal that suits his needs much more appropriately, thanks to the manufacturer making only minor changes across a range of similar products. Historically,
guitar pedals are pretty easy to modify
, but it’s nice that the manufacturer of these has made it so much simpler! | 11 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "2008933",
"author": "Troutmask",
"timestamp": "2014-10-17T23:34:31",
"content": "Why did you frame it in a way that makes it look like Electro Harmonix is being cheap here? This is a mod from a treble boost to a linear boost. Of course the only things are will be different are diffe... | 1,760,376,033.402037 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/10/17/anonabox-how-to-fail-horribly-at-kickstarter/ | Anonabox: How To Fail Horribly At Kickstarter | Brian Benchoff | [
"Crowd Funding"
] | [
"kickstarter",
"openwrt",
"router",
"tor"
] | Late last week,
Anonabox
hit Kickstarter, glomming on to concerns over security, privacy, and censorship. The project was picked up on the usual tech blogs, lauding this project as the pinnacle of the Open Source, Open Hardware movement and a great investment for the privacy-minded technocrat in a post-Snowden world.
Then, the creator of Anonabox
did an AMA on reddit
. It was quickly discovered that the entire project was an off the shelf router
found on AliExpress
with reflashed firmware. The router sells for $20 in quantity one, and the Anonabox Kickstarter is giving them away with a minimum $51 pledge. The new firmware is basically a standard OpenWrt installation with a few changes to the config files. The project claims to solve the problem of hardware backdoors, but ships with a backdoor root password (the password is ‘developer!’), open WiFi, and ssh open by default. The Anonabox also claims to be a plug and play solution to security and privacy on the Internet, meaning
if
this project ever ships, there will be a
lot
of people who won’t change the default configuration. That’s rather hilarious in its implications.
According to the Kickstarter campaign, the Anonabox has gone through four years of development and four generations of hardware. [August] even has a great graphic demonstrating that each successive generation has reduced the size in half and doubled the system resources:
Image taken from Kickstarter campaign
Anyone with the slightest eye for detail will quickly realize that components, like Ethernet jacks, SD cards, and CF cards are always the same size. I wonder what this graphic would look like if all the boards were scaled so they were in proportion to each other?
Image rescaled so all boards are proportional to each other
Oh. That’s not fishy at all.
As with most Kickstarters that have seen this much negative attention,
the project was suspended just a few hours ago
, but not before gathering more than $600,000 in pledges at its peak.
Although the Anonabox failed, there is a market for a Tor-enabled router, and luckily
we have one on hackaday.io
. It’s so great that some of the copy for the Kickstarter campaign was lifted directly from this project. With a wealth of market research available, we can only hope that [CaptainStouf] runs his own campaign for the UnJailPi. | 93 | 19 | [
{
"comment_id": "2008365",
"author": "Matt",
"timestamp": "2014-10-17T20:22:11",
"content": "The positive thing about this project is that we found out about the existence of those cheap, miniaturised and quite powerful routers :)",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
... | 1,760,376,033.733272 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/10/17/hacklet-19-ham-radio/ | Hacklet 19 – Ham Radio | Adam Fabio | [
"Hackaday Columns",
"Radio Hacks"
] | [
"amateur radio",
"antenna",
"hacklet",
"ham radio",
"RTL-SDR",
"sdr"
] | Amateur, or ham radio operators have always been hackers. For much of the early 1900’s, buying a radio was expensive or impossible. Hams would build their own rigs, learning electronics and radio theory along the way. Time moves on, but hams keep hacking. Today we’re highlighting some of the best ham radio projects on
Hackaday.io
!
We start with [DainBramage1991] and his very practical
RTL-SDR With Upconverter and Case
. [DainBramage1991] fell in love with his low-cost RTL software defined radio dongle. He even added a Ham-It-Up upconverter to cover HF bands. The only problem was RF noise. the Realtek USB sticks tend to have little or no filtering, which means they are very susceptible to noise. [DainBramage1991] used the time-honored technique of insulating with copper clad board. Bits of PCB hold the RTL-SDR and upconverter in place. More PCB separates the two boards. Everything goes into a steel enclosure which keeps that unwanted RF at bay.
Next up is [Ryan Miller’s aka KG7HZQ]’s
ham radio fox hunt attenuator
. Ham radio fox hunt’s don’t involve baying dogs or horses. In this case a fox hunt is a contest to find hidden low power transmitters. If you’ve never tried one, it’s a heck of a lot of fun. One of the challenges with a fox hunt is to find the direction to the transmitter when you’re very close. Even with directional antennas, reflections and swamped receivers make it hard to figure out just where the transmitter is. The solution is an attenuator, which simply reduces the signal to a more reasonable value. [Ryan] also used copper clad PCB for his circuit. Since the attenuator parts are soldered directly to the PCB, this is more of a Manhattan style design. Two ceramic 1k pots help him achieve his goal of near perfect linear attenuation. We’re betting this attenuator will help [Ryan] win some contests!
Who says amateur radio won’t take you places? It may well be taking [Michael R Colton] to space! [Michael’s] project
PortableSDR
is one of the five finalists in
The Hackaday Prize
. We
covered Michael
earlier in the contest. PortableSDR started as a ham radio project: a radio system which would be easy for hams to take with them on backpacking trips. It’s grown into so much more now, with software defined radio reception and transmission, vector network analysis, antenna analysis, GPS, and a host of other features. We seriously love how [Michael] optimized a small LCD for waterfall display, tuning, and bandpass filter adjustment.
[W5VO] is working on an
Ethernet to Radio Adapter
. Every foot of coax in a radio system loses signal. Connections are even worse. It can all add up to several dB loss. [W5VO] wants to put an SDR at the antenna feed-point. With the signal path minimized, more watts make it out when transmitting, and more signal gets back to the receiver when listening. The interface between the SDR and host computer will be all digital; Ethernet to be precise. [W5VO] isn’t the first person to do something like this, microwave systems have had the transmitter and LNB at the antenna for years. That doesn’t take away from [W5VO’s] design at all He’s been quiet for a while, but we’re hoping he continues on his design!
Where is everyone else? We’re a bit light on projects this week, but we have a good reason. There just aren’t enough ham radio projects on
Hackaday.io
! We’re hoping to change that though. Are you an amateur radio enthusiast? Document your project on the site. Get input from other hams and push the envelope! You might even find yourself on the
Ham Radio List
!
That’s all for this episode of The Hacklet. As always,
QRX
is next week. Same hack time, same hack channel, bringing you the best of
Hackaday.io
!
73’s! | 20 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "2007805",
"author": "Josh",
"timestamp": "2014-10-17T17:22:08",
"content": "Magical electrical wizards",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "2007849",
"author": "tekkieneet",
"timestamp": "2014-10-17T17:36:56",
"content": ... | 1,760,376,033.606979 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/10/17/introducing-the-fwatch-a-fully-open-electronic-watch/ | Introducing The F*Watch, A Fully Open Electronic Watch | Mathieu Stephan | [
"3d Printer hacks",
"ARM",
"hardware",
"Wearable Hacks"
] | [
"accelerometer",
"barometer",
"compass",
"cortex-m3",
"gps",
"open source",
"Sharp Memory LCD",
"smart watch"
] | As one of their colleagues was retiring, several CERN engineers got together after hours during 4 months to develop his gift: a
fully open electronic watch
. It is called the F*Watch and is packed with sensors: GPS, barometer, compass, accelerometer and light sensor. The microcontroller used is a 32-bit ARM Cortex-M3 SiLabs Giant Gecko which contains 128KB of RAM and 1MB of Flash. In the above picture you’ll notice a 1.28″ 128×128 pixels Sharp Memory LCD but the main board also contains a micro-USB connector for battery charging and connectivity, a micro-SD card slot, a buzzer and a vibration motor.
The watch is powered by a 500mA LiPo battery.
All
the tools that were used to build it are open source (FreeCAD, KiCad, GCC, openOCD, GDB) and our readers may make one by downloading all the source files located in
their repository
. After the break is embedded a video showing their adventure. | 24 | 13 | [
{
"comment_id": "2007369",
"author": "Waterjet",
"timestamp": "2014-10-17T14:33:22",
"content": "Looks fairly solid. Water resistant?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "2007429",
"author": "Liam Jackson",
"timestamp": "2014-10-17T14:58:11",... | 1,760,376,033.788774 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/10/17/detect-cosmic-rays-with-your-smartphone-using-crayfis/ | Detect Cosmic Rays With Your Smartphone Using CRAYFIS | Theodora Fabio | [
"Phone Hacks"
] | [
"app",
"cosmic ray",
"cosmic ray observatory",
"CRAYFIS",
"muon",
"photon",
"smartphone",
"UHECR"
] | [Daniel Whiteson and Michael Mulhearn], researchers at the University of California, have come up with a novel method of
detecting ultra-high energy cosmic rays (UHECR) using smartphones
. UHECR are defined as having energy greater than 10
18
eV. They are rare and very difficult to detect with current arrays. In order to examine enough air showers to detect UHECR, more surface area is needed. Current arrays, like the
Pierre Auger Observatory
and
AGASA
, cannot get much larger without dramatically increasing cost. A similar
THP Quarterfinalist
project is the construction of a low-cost cosmic ray observatory, where it was mentioned that
more detection area
is needed in order to obtain enough data to be useful.
[Daniel Whiteson and Michael Mulhearn] and colleagues noted that smartphone cameras with CMOS sensors can detect ionizing radiation, which means they also will pick up muons and high-energy photons from cosmic rays. The ubiquitous presence of smartphones makes their collective detection of air showers and UHECR an intriguing possibility. To make all this happen, [Whiteson and Mulhearn] created a smartphone app called CRAYFIS, short for Cosmic RAYs Found In Smartphones. The app turns an idle smartphone into a cosmic ray detector. When the screen goes to sleep and the camera is face-down, CRAYFIS starts taking data from the camera. If a cosmic ray hits the CMOS sensor, the image data is stored on the smartphone along with the arrival time and the phone’s geolocation. This information is uploaded to a central server via the phone’s WiFi. The user does not have to interact with the app beyond installing it. It’s worth noting that CRAYFIS will only capture when the phone is plugged in, so no worries about dead batteries.
The goal of CRAYFIS is to have a minimum of one million smartphones running the app, with a density of 1000 smartphones per square kilometer. As an incentive, anyone whose smartphone data is used in a future scientific paper will be listed as an author. There are CRAYFIS app versions for Android and iOS platforms
according to the site.
CRAYFIS is still in beta, so the apps aren’t publicly available. Head over to the site to
join
up!
[via
Science
] | 6 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "2006775",
"author": "Sam",
"timestamp": "2014-10-17T11:18:06",
"content": "Maybe they could just analyze the data the NSA already took, rather than taking more…",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "2007133",
"author": "Truth",
... | 1,760,376,033.443757 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/10/17/electronic-dice-replaces-human-influence/ | Electronic Dice Replaces Human Influence | Rich Bremer | [
"Microcontrollers"
] | [
"board game",
"chipkit",
"dice",
"electronic dice"
] | [Will] likes his board games but can’t seem to keep from loosing the dice. He’s been using a dice-rolling smartphone app for a while now and decided that it was time to make a dedicated
microcontroller dice roller
.
The brain behind the dice roller is a chipKIT uC32 microcontroller. Seven output pins are connected to 7 appropriately-arragned LEDs in the top of the dice. There is only one more electrical component, a momentary switch, that is used to re-roll. When the button is pushed, a random number between 1 and 6 is generated and then displayed via the LEDs in true dice fashion. [Will] wrote his own code for this project and makes it available for anyone to download. The case is 3D printed and was designed in
Tinkercad
, the files of which are also available. The chipKIT is attached to the 3D printed base by a pair of zUNO clips. Find a short video of this thing in action after the break….
Digging the randomness of the roll but miss the realness of the dice? Check out this
real dice roller
. Need two electronic dice? Check
these
.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3jnwRO5Rt4 | 44 | 18 | [
{
"comment_id": "2006183",
"author": "kylehbrinkerhoff",
"timestamp": "2014-10-17T08:01:55",
"content": "lets evaluate how random those roles really are…..",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "2006227",
"author": "John U",
"timestamp": "2014-... | 1,760,376,033.862511 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/10/16/the-diy-open-crank-engine-moped/ | The DIY Open Crank Engine Moped | Adam Fabio | [
"Engine Hacks",
"Transportation Hacks"
] | [
"bicycle",
"Briggs and Stratton",
"engine",
"four stroke",
"moped",
"motorized bicycle",
"Open crank",
"volkswagen"
] | Anyone can strap a two-stroke engine on a bicycle to create a moped. But [robinhooodvsyou] has created something infinitely more awesome.
He’s built an inverted open crank engine on a 10 speed bicycle.
(YouTube link) As the name implies, the engine has no crankcase. The crankshaft, camshaft, and just about everything not in the combustion chamber hangs out in the open where it can be seen and appreciated.
[robinhooodvsyou] started with an air-cooled Volkswagen cylinder. He filled the jug with a piston from a diesel car. Camshaft, flywheel, valves, and magneto are courtesy of an old Briggs and Stratton engine. The cylinder head, crankshaft, pushrods, and the engine frame itself are all homemade.
Being an open crank engine, lubrication is an issue. The crankshaft’s ball bearing is lubricated by some thick oil in a gravity fed cup. Even though the engine is a four-stroke,[robinhooodvsyou] adds some oil to the gas to keep the rings happy. The camshaft and connecting rod use
Babbit bearings
. While they don’t have an automatic oiling system, they do look pretty well lubricated in the video.
Starting the engine is a breeze. [robinhooodvsyou] created a lever which holds the exhaust valve open. This acts as a compression release. He also has a lever which lifts the entire engine and friction drive off the rear wheel. All one has to do is pedal up to cruising speed, engage the friction drive, then disengage the compression release.
We seriously love this hack. Sure, it’s not a practical vehicle, but it works – and from the looks of the video, it works rather well. The unmuffled pops of that low 4:1 compression engine reminds us of old stationary engines. The only thing we can think to add to [robinhooodvsyou’s] creation is a good set of brakes! | 50 | 20 | [
{
"comment_id": "2005664",
"author": "Waterjet",
"timestamp": "2014-10-17T05:26:56",
"content": "*raises eyebrow*[W]here it can be seen and appreciated and snag your clothing and physically hurt you?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "2005704",
... | 1,760,376,034.074951 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/10/15/goldilocks-climate-box-keeps-lager-fermentation-environment-just-right/ | Goldilocks Climate Box Keeps Lager Fermentation Environment Just Right | Kristina Panos | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"Beer Hacks"
] | [
"beer",
"brewing",
"fermentation",
"lager",
"maltbolche",
"mondo spider",
"peltier"
] | September was warmish in many places around the world including [Ole]’s native Denmark. But that did not stop him from
brewing lager flavored with plums from his own garden
, and neither did his indifference to lagers in general.
Lager fermentation requires a consistent, low temperature. While many homebrewers might modify an electric refrigerator, [Ole] wasn’t interested in the cost of running a second one just for brewing beer. Instead, he built a climate box to work with the cool temperature in his garage. Starting with scrap wood from other projects, he lined the walls with polystyrene and put a layer of wood on the floor to help support the fermentation bucket.
Maintaining a consistent temperature in the box called for both heating and cooling. He pulled the Peltier from a 12V cooler meant to run off a car’s cigarette lighter, and used a spare ceramic heater that was lying around in case his primary reptile warmer went on the fritz.
An Arduino and a custom shield drive separate PID controllers for the Peltier and the heater. The shield has a temperature probe, and he extended the USB outside the climate box so the PIDs can be adjusted without disturbing the inside temperature. The schematic, board file, and code are all available in a zip you can get from his post.
The Peltier couldn’t quite compensate for the overly warm weather and the heat caused by the fermentation, but it was stable enough to produce a nice, plum-flavored lager he has dubbed Lektor Blommes maltbolche, which is a triple Danish pun he explains in the write-up. | 8 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "2002038",
"author": "Matt Clarke",
"timestamp": "2014-10-16T05:36:30",
"content": "Nice! But (and someone please tell me if this is not feasible) couldn’t he have used the peltier to cool and heat? I was under the impression they can do both.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,... | 1,760,376,033.964517 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/10/15/palatable-pallet-procurement-procedures/ | Palatable Pallet Procurement Procedures | Kristina Panos | [
"how-to",
"Parts"
] | [
"how to pallet",
"IPPC",
"pallet",
"pallets",
"PSA",
"safety"
] | Wooden pallets are a versatile and widely-available starting point for a multitude of projects. Best of all, they can usually be acquired free of charge. But choose the wrong kind of pallet and you could end up paying dearly. [Eric] has compiled
a great deal of useful information
about pallets that will help you find ideal candidates and prepare them for whatever project you have in mind, be it a coffee table or a
backyard roller coaster
.
Pallets come in several styles and loader configurations. Some are made with space between the boards, and others are closed. If you take nothing else away from his article, just remember to look for plain, untinted pallets with no markings and you’ll be fine.
No markings means the pallet was used domestically, so markings aren’t required. Marked pallets from abroad should feature the
IPPC
logo as well as a treatment code indicating the method used on the material. Debarked (DB), heat treated (HT), and pallets with the European Pallet Association logo (EPAL) are all safe choices. Pallets labeled (MB) were treated with methyl bromide, which is a poisonous fungicide. Colored pallets should be avoided as well. If you find one in a cool color, take a picture of it and find some paint in a similar hue.
Safe pallets can be had from many places ranging from hardware stores to feed and tack supply stores. Find someone you can ask for permission to take pallets—they might even help you load them. Keep some gloves in your trunk to avoid splinters. | 14 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "2001447",
"author": "Waterjet",
"timestamp": "2014-10-16T02:13:55",
"content": "I don’t really understand how simply heat treating wood makes it resistant to rotting in the future compared to wood that isn’t heat treated? They are both wood and as soon as they touch the ground they ... | 1,760,376,033.92024 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/10/15/the-joys-of-shipping-from-china/ | The Joys Of Shipping From China | Brian Benchoff | [
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"china",
"dangerous prototypes",
"dirtyPCB",
"hong kong",
"Ian",
"pcb",
"shenzhen",
"shipping"
] | A few months ago, news of a new PCB fab service headed up by [Ian] over at Dangerous Prototypes
leaked onto the Internet
. It’s extremely cheap – $14 USD for a 5cm square board with free worldwide shipping. [Ian] admits the boards aren’t the greatest quality, that’s not the point; the site’s motto is simply, ‘No bull, just crappy PCBs.’
What began as an internal website to handle all of DP’s PCB orders was now on the Internet, and orders were flying in. At first, shipping a few dozen PCBs around the globe every week was easy, but since Dirty PCBs hit the big time, customers rightfully or not, started freaking out because of
the oddities of Chinese shipping and logistics companies
.
[Ian] is using Espeed Post for all their shipping, and if you’ve ever ordered anything from China off of Ebay, it’s possible you’ve had something shipped through Espeed before. Because of the oddities of shipping, and the fact that Shenzhen and Hong Kong are right next to each other, even the people at Dangerous Prototypes don’t know which countries your PCBs will go through on the trip from the fab house to your front door. This has caused much consternation with DirtyPCB customers that don’t seem to realize they’re getting custom PCBs for under two dollars a board, shipped to them across the world in a week
for free.
Some people’s children, huh?
Things get significantly, ahem, dirtier, when Chinese holidays are taken into account. China has a
lot
of them, and they’re long. They’re just wrapping up the National Day holiday, 10 days in the first week of October. Everyone is backlogged, and the China/Hong Kong border is the mess of trucks seen above.
If a holiday isn’t bad enough, the new President of China is cracking down on corruption. 500 officials were fired at the largest land border with Hong Kong, due in no small part to vans full of meth and tons of counterfeit currency. Every package leaving China is inspected individually, and shipping times have exploded.
To deal with this, Dangerous Prototypes has posted a
big red warning
on the dirtypcb site, but experience in dealing with people on the Internet tells them this won’t be a viable solution. They’re now dealing directly with DHL, and are apparently getting priority clearance through customs. It’s not fun, as DP will now have to figure out how to work with DHL’s API. It’s a lot of work and a lot of trouble, but DP still has a few tricks up their sleeve – they’re working on an online schematic entry and PCB layout site and the extremely interesting DirtyCables – custom cables shipped to your door. | 45 | 16 | [
{
"comment_id": "2000931",
"author": "tz",
"timestamp": "2014-10-15T23:13:04",
"content": "Fuzzy Logistics?Chinese Merchant Outsourced Shipping (CMOS) Logistics?Illogistics?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "2000946",
"author": "Anne_EE",
... | 1,760,376,034.322021 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/10/15/remote-control-for-an-elevator/ | Remote Control For An Elevator | Bryan Cockfield | [
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"Electric Imp",
"elevator",
"office",
"unlock"
] | The elevator at [Alex]’s office building has some quirks which make it very inconvenient to everyone in the building. The major problem was that the doors of the elevator at each floor stay locked until someone walks down the hall to hit a button. Obviously this was a hassle, so [Alex] built a controller that can remotely
call and unlock the elevator
. (
Part 2 of the project
is located on a separate page.)
The first step was to source the hardware and figure out exactly how the controls for the elevator worked. [Alex] decided to use an Electric Imp for this project, and after getting it connected to the Internet, he realized that he could power it directly off of the elevator’s 10V supply. From there, he used relays to interface the Electric Imp with the “elevator call” and “elevator unlock” buttons inside the elevator’s control panel.
Once the hardware side was completed, it was time to move on to the software side. [Alex] wrote a mobile app for a user interface that can be accessed from anywhere, and also wrote the code for the Electric Imp agent and the code that runs on the Electric Imp itself. Now, a simple tap of a button on a mobile device is enough to call the elevator or unlock it, rather than in the past where someone had to run down a hall to hit the button.
We hope there is some security on the mobile app, otherwise anyone in the world will be able to call the elevator and turn it into a
passenger-less useless machine
! | 32 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "2000472",
"author": "Daniel",
"timestamp": "2014-10-15T20:19:09",
"content": "Beware of code violations… Rules are different depending where you are. There are a *&%t-ton of safeties in place to make sure everyone that gets on is safe from harm. You may be altering one of those safe... | 1,760,376,034.23918 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/10/15/ask-hackaday-what-are-invariant-representations/ | Ask Hackaday: What Are Invariant Representations? | Will Sweatman | [
"Ask Hackaday",
"Hackaday Columns"
] | [
"artificial intelligence",
"invariant representation",
"PalmPilot"
] | Your job is to make a circuit that will illuminate a light bulb when it hears the song “Mary Had a Little Lamb”. So you breadboard a mic, op amp, your favorite microcontroller (and an ADC if needed) and get to work. You will sample the incoming data and compare it to a known template. When you get a match, you light the light. The first step is to make the template. But what to make the template of?
“Hey boss, what style of the song do you want to trigger the light? Is it children singing, piano, what?”
Your boss responds:
“I want the light to shine whenever any version of the song occurs. It could be singing, keyboard, guitar, any musical instrument or voice in any key. And I want it to work even if there’s a lot of ambient noise in the background.”
Uh oh. Your job just got a lot harder. Is it even possible? How do you make templates of every possible version of the song? Stumped, you talk to your friend about your dilemma over lunch, who just so happens to be [Jeff Hawkins] – a guy whose already put a great deal of thought into this very problem.
“Well, the brain solves your puzzle easily.” [Hawkins] says coolly. “Your brain can recall the memory of that song no matter if it’s vocal, instrumental in any key or pitch. And it can pick it out from a lot of noise.”
“Yea, but how does it do that though!” you ask. “The pattern’s of electrical signals entering the brain have to be completely different for different versions of the song, just like the patterns from my ADC. How does the brain store the countless number of templates required to ID the song?”
“Well…” [Hawkins] chuckles. “The brain does not store templates like that”. The brain only remembers the parts of the song that doesn’t change, or are invariant. The brain forms what we call invariant representations of real world data.”
Eureka! Your riddle has been solved. You need to construct an algorithm that stores only the parts of the song that doesn’t change. These parts will be the same in all versions – vocal or instrumental in any key. It will be these invariant, unchanging parts of the song that you will look for to trigger the light. But how do you implement this in silicon?
Some organizations have taken Hawkins’ ideas and stealthily run with them, with schemes already underway at companies like IBM and federal organizations like DARPA to implement his ideas in silicon…
Indeed, companies are
already working
to implement [Jeff Hawkin’s] theory of intelligence into their own systems. It’s a complicated theory, which is laid out in his book –
On Intelligence
. Forming invariant representations (IR) is only the beginning, and we will discuss other parts of the theory in later articles. But for now, we will concentrate on how one would go about forming IR’s of real world data in silicon. We simply cannot move forward with the theory until this core component is understood. The problem is nobody seems to know how to do this. Or if they do, they’re not talking This is where you come in!
Consider
this image
. Let us pretend these are serial signals coming off multiple ADCs. On the other end of the circuit would be different versions of our song, with A – E representing those different versions. Because the data is constantly changing, we sample 4 signals at the same time for each version, which are numbered 1 – 4.
Immediately, we see a common pattern in all versions at times T4, T5 and T6. If we can somehow set our microcontroller to listen to the these times, we can detect all versions of the song. Further, we can see another pattern between the versions at times T1, T2 and T3. This type of analysis can be used to distinguish between the different versions. Both patterns are invariant representations of the song – a common, unchanging pattern hidden in the mist of a constantly changing environment.
This is a hypothetical example of course. In the real world, the signals would vary wildly. The key is to find the part that does not. Can you do it? How would you create an invariant representation of a real world event? | 63 | 30 | [
{
"comment_id": "1999900",
"author": "NotArduino",
"timestamp": "2014-10-15T17:08:20",
"content": "Umm, this is not a hack Will.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1999924",
"author": "Brian Benchoff",
"timestamp": "2014-10-15T17:... | 1,760,376,034.168073 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/10/15/new-to-the-store-teensy-3-1/ | New To The Store: Teensy 3.1 | Mike Szczys | [
"Hackaday Store",
"Microcontrollers"
] | [
"audio library",
"new product",
"paul stoffregen",
"store",
"Teensy 3.1"
] | New today
in the Hackaday Store is the Teensy 3.1
. This development board blows away most others in its class. The board plays nicely with the Arduino IDE, but embedded developers who are hardcore enough have the option of
bare metal programming for the Coretex-M4 chip
.
Why would we say this blows most others away? In our minds, the 64k of RAM and 72 MHz clock speed place this far outside of what you would normally see hanging out in the Arduino ecosystem. That may be changing with new players like
the Edison
, but the Teensy 3.1 doesn’t require a host board and comes in just under $20 compared to the Edison’s $50 price tag.
[Paul Stoffregen], the developer of the Teensy, is a hacker’s hacker and is known to be found round these parts. All year [Paul] has been developing an Audio Library that takes advantage of the Teensy 3.1’s powerful processor (including its DMA features; we’ve been pestering him to write an article for us on that topic).
We covered the library back in September
and are stocking the audio add-on board in the store as well. Quite frankly, the quality of sound that this puts out is astonishing. If you’re working on a project that calls for playback of recorded sound this is one of the least-complicated ways to get there. | 57 | 16 | [
{
"comment_id": "1999598",
"author": "Alp_X",
"timestamp": "2014-10-15T15:45:28",
"content": "Edison have Wifi+BLE. In addition to 1gb ddr3 and 4gb eMMC onboard. So comparing their price and functionality is wrong.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id... | 1,760,376,034.407807 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/10/15/reverse-engineering-altium-files/ | Reverse Engineering Altium Files | Brian Benchoff | [
"Software Development"
] | [
"altium",
"binary file",
"eda",
"file",
"file format",
"json",
"reverse engineering"
] | Several times in the last few weeks, I’ve heard people say, ‘this will be the last PCB I design in Eagle.’ That’s bad news for CadSoft, but if there’s one thing Eagle has done right, its their switch to an XML file format. Now anyone can write their own design tools for Eagle without mucking about with binary files.
Not all EDA softwares are created equally, and a lot of vendors use binary file formats as a way to keep their market share. Altium is one of the worst offenders,
but by diving into the binary files
it’s possible to reverse engineer these proprietary file formats into something nearly human-readable.
[dstanko.au]’s first step towards using an Altium file with his own tools was opening it up with a hex editor. Yeah, this is as raw as it can possibly get, but simply by scrolling through the file, he was able to find some interesting bits hanging around the file. It turns out, Altium uses something called a Compound Document File, similar to what Office uses for Word and PowerPoint files, to store all the information. Looking through the lens of this file format, [dstanko.au] found all the content was held in a stream called ‘FileHeader’, everything was an array of strings (yeah, everything is in text), and lines of text are separated by ‘|’ in name=value pairs.
With a little bit of code, [dstanko] managed to dump all these text records into a pseudo plain text format, then convert everything into JSON. You can check out
all the code here
. | 71 | 14 | [
{
"comment_id": "1999291",
"author": "tomajabvs",
"timestamp": "2014-10-15T14:11:11",
"content": "Hey, can anyone explain why are people saying: “this will be the last PCB I design in Eagle.”? Is there any other freeware solution that can match Eagle?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"re... | 1,760,376,034.816767 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/10/14/a-clever-cardboard-computer/ | A Clever Cardboard Computer | Ethan Zonca | [
"computer hacks"
] | [
"cardboard",
"computer",
"mechanical computer",
"teaching"
] | Back in the 70’s when computers were fairly expensive and out of reach for most people, [David Hagelbarger] of Bell Laboratories designed CARDIAC:
CARDboard Illustrative Aid to Computation
. CARDIAC was designed as an educational tool to give people without access to computers the ability to learn how computers work.
The CARDIAC computer is a single-accumulator single-address machine, which means that instructions operate on the accumulator alone, or on the accumulator and a memory location. The machine implements 10 instructions, each of which is assigned a 3-digit decimal opcode. The instruction set architecture includes instructions common to simple
Von Neumann
processors, such as load, store, add/subtract, and conditional branch.
Operating the computer is fairly simple–the cardboard slides guide you through the operation of the ALU and instruction decoder, and the flow chart shows you which stage to go to next. The program counter is represented by a cardboard ladybug which is manually moved through the program memory after each instruction completes.
Even though the CARDIAC is dated and very simplistic, it is still a useful tool to teach how microprocessors work. Although modern processors include multi-stage pipelines, finely-tuned branch predictors, and numerous other improvements, the basic principles of operation remain the same.
Feeling adventurous?
Print out your own CARDIAC clone
and try writing your first cardboard computer program.
[via
Reddit
] | 18 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "1995210",
"author": "Me",
"timestamp": "2014-10-14T14:07:39",
"content": "How long till someone here writes an emulator. Or is it too late already?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1995245",
"author": "Chris Chung",
... | 1,760,376,034.921677 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/10/14/new-brain-for-an-old-washing-machine/ | New Brain For An Old Washing Machine | Bryan Cockfield | [
"home hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"lcd",
"relay block",
"sainsmart",
"washer",
"washing machine"
] | When the washing machine at [hydronucleus]’s place went on the fritz, he went straight to the toolbox to try to repair it. The problem was with the old mechanical control unit, so [hydronucleus] got an Arduino out of the parts bin to create a
brand new electronic controller for his washing machine
. (Imgur Link)
The old mechanical controller functioned like a player piano. A rotating drum with ridges actuate different cycles in the washing machine. Some of the cycles weren’t working properly so [hydronucleus] ripped them out. With the help of a schematic posted on the washing machine itself, the cycles were able to be programmed into the Arduino.
The other obstacle in this repair was getting enough relays together to switch everything in the washing machine. This was solved with a Sainsmart 16 relay block, which has more than enough relays for the job. [hydronucleus] wired up an LCD and a pushbutton to control it and his washing machine is as good as new! The cost of the repair certainly beats a new machine, too. Although if it finally gives up the ghost completely, he could always
turn it into a windmill
.
Want to read more about [hydronucleus]’s washing machine hack? Check out his
Reddit thread! | 65 | 21 | [
{
"comment_id": "1994724",
"author": "Andrew",
"timestamp": "2014-10-14T11:15:49",
"content": "Mains voltage wiring in a cardboard box mounted to the metal frame in an environment that has lots of splashing water…. awesome safety.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
... | 1,760,376,034.711893 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/10/14/introducing-usb-armory-a-flash-drive-sized-computer/ | Introducing USB Armory, A Flash Drive Sized Computer | Mathieu Stephan | [
"hardware"
] | [
"arm",
"Cortex-A8",
"usb"
] | [Andrea] tipped us about
USB armory
, a tiny embedded platform meant for security projects. It is based on the 800MHz ARM Cortex-A8 Freescale i.MX53 together with 512MB of DDR3 SDRAM, includes a microSD card slot, a 5-pin breakout header with GPIOs/UART, a customizable LED and is powered through USB.
This particular processor supports a few advanced security features such as secure boot and ARM TrustZone. The secure boot feature allow users to fuse verification keys that ensure only trusted firmware can be executed on the board, while the ARM TrustZone enforces domain separation between a “secure” and a “normal” world down to a memory and peripheral level. This enables many projects such as electronic wallets, authentication tokens and password managers.
The complete design is open hardware and all its files may be downloaded from the official
GitHub repository
. The target price for the final design of the first revision is around €100. | 22 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "1994366",
"author": "Graafvaag",
"timestamp": "2014-10-14T09:11:32",
"content": "Impressive build! That’s some serious PCB design.I’m pretty sure this device uses (S)DRAM, and not SRAM as the article says.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"co... | 1,760,376,034.869809 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/10/13/your-halloween-costume-may-be-cool-but-its-not-laser-cut-cardboard-vintage-airplane-cool/ | Your Halloween Costume May Be Cool, But It’s Not Laser-Cut Cardboard Vintage Airplane Cool | Kristina Panos | [
"Wearable Hacks"
] | [
"airplane",
"airplane costume",
"cardboard",
"costume",
"father of the year",
"Grumman F4F-4 Wildcat",
"ponoko",
"propeller",
"sketchup",
"Wii steering wheel"
] | While others are absorbed in baseball playoffs, [Aidan] has spent his recent Octobers planning incredible Halloween costumes for his son. We don’t know what he did last year, but there’s no way it’s better than this
laser-cut cardboard airplane costume
.
He had a few specs in mind and started with a model of a
Grumman F4F-4 Wildcat
from 3D Warehouse. Using SketchUp, he simplified the model and removed the landing gear and the propeller. [Aidan] created a simpler model on top of that, and set to work changing the proportions to make it adorable and toddler-sized.
To build around his son’s proportions, he inserted a 10-inch diameter scaled tube vertically into the model and squished down the fuselage in SketchUp. The plan was to have it laser-cut by Ponoko, which meant turning the design into flat pieces for them to cut. He ended up with 58 parts, many of them mirror images due to the symmetry of his design.
When the box from Ponoko arrived, [Aidan] was giddy. He was astonished at the quality of the pieces and found the plane very satisfying to build. But, he didn’t stop there. Using LayOut, he created a custom instrument cluster with reflections and shadows. The plane also has a Wii steering wheel, a motorized propeller, and of course, decals. | 33 | 12 | [
{
"comment_id": "1994003",
"author": "r4k",
"timestamp": "2014-10-14T06:53:24",
"content": "I fail to see how using a $1000+ laser cutter instead of a $1 x-acto blade is either a hack or particularly cool",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "199402... | 1,760,376,036.873817 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/10/13/writing-a-message-in-hypnotizing-style/ | Writing A Message In Hypnotizing Style | Sarah Petkus | [
"hardware",
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"airport sign",
"analog sign",
"scrolling alphabet",
"split flap",
"vintage sign"
] | If you’ve ever encountered a rapidly spinning split-flap displays at an airport terminal, it’s hard not to stop and marvel at them in action for a few extra seconds. Because of this same fascination, [M1k3y] began
restoring an old one-hundred and twenty character sign
, which he outlines the process of on his blog.
Finding documentation on this old relic turned out to be an impossibility; the producers of the model themselves didn’t even keep it off-hand any longer. In spite of that, [M1k3y] was able to determine the function of the small amount of circuitry driving the sign through process of elimination by studying the components. After nearly a year of poking at it, he happened across a video by the Trollhöhle Compute Club, demonstrating the successful use of the same display model. Luckily, they were kind enough to share their working source code. By reverse engineering the serial protocol in their example, he was able to write his own software to get the sign moving at last.
Once up and running, [M1k3y] learned that only eighty of the sign’s characters were still operable, but that is plenty to make a mesmerizing statement! Here is a video of the cycling letters in action: | 19 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "1993176",
"author": "Uri",
"timestamp": "2014-10-14T02:12:44",
"content": "I am almost positive that flip displays are why God created rust ! Never liked them, especially as alarm clocks, click, pop. Try to sleep . . .",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
... | 1,760,376,036.690229 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/10/13/3d-printing-models-from-computer-games/ | 3D Printing Models From Computer Games | James Hobson | [
"3d Printer hacks"
] | [
"Chivalry Medieval Warfare",
"mesh Mixer",
"milkshape 3D",
"netfabb",
"umodel"
] | Wouldn’t it be cool to extract 3D models from your favorite video games and then 3D print them? As it turns out,
it’s pretty easy to do!
In the following video tutorial he shows us how to extract the 3D meshes from a video game called Chivalry, Medieval Warfare. The game is based on the unreal engine which makes it super easy to get the files.
Quick note on legality: If you choose to rip 3D models from your video games and print them, make sure you’re just printing them for yourself, not to sell.
To start, you’ll need a few pieces of software to help you out. First up is something called
Umodel
, which is an Unreal Engine Resource Viewer, which allows you to view and extract files from any game that uses the Unreal Engine. Once you find your model in the game directory, you can open it up in Umodel and save it as a .PSK file. From there you can open .PSK files with another program called
Milkshape 3D
, and then export in .OBJ file. Finally you can use
MeshMixer
to import .OBJ files, repair the mesh by removing the extra shells (you can use the
cloud NetFabb service
to help repair files for 3D printing as well), and then finally save as .STL ready to print.
Easy right?
[Angus Deveson] is an industrial designer at 3D Printing Studios in Perth, Australia. His goal is to make all kinds of tools for 3D printing easy and accessible for everyone to use, which is why he’s started the YouTube channel
Maker’s Muse
, creating tutorials like this one. | 22 | 14 | [
{
"comment_id": "1992540",
"author": "atomsoft",
"timestamp": "2014-10-13T23:20:28",
"content": "Cool! Wish i thought of this a while back :)",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "1992575",
"author": "Generic Human",
"timestamp": "2014-10-13T2... | 1,760,376,036.629602 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/10/13/uc-davis-researchers-use-light-to-erase-memories-in-genetically-altered-mice/ | UC Davis Researchers Use Light To Erase Memories In Genetically Altered Mice | Theodora Fabio | [
"Medical Hacks"
] | [
"mice",
"neuroscience",
"optogenetics"
] | Much like using UV light to erase data from an EPROM, researchers from UC Davis have used
light to erase specific memories in mice
. [Kazumasa Tanaka,
Brian Wiltgen
and colleagues] used optogenetic techniques to test current ideas about memory retrieval.
Optogenetics
has been
featured on Hackaday
before. It is the use of light to control specific neurons (nerve cells) that have been genetically sensitized to light. By doing so, the effects can be seen in real-time.
For their research, [Kazumasa Tanaka,
Brian Wiltgen
and colleagues] created genetically altered mice whose activated neurons expressed
GFP
, a protein that fluoresces green. This allowed neurons to be easily located and track which ones responded to learning and memory stimuli. The neurons produced an additional protein that made it possible to “switch them off” in response to light. This enabled the researchers to determine which specific neurons are involved in the learning and memory pathways as well as study the behavior of the mouse when certain neurons were active or not.
Animal lovers may want to refrain from the following paragraph. The mice were subjected to mild electric shocks after being placed in a cage. They were trained so that when they were put in the cage again, they remembered the previous shock and would freeze in fear. However, when specific neurons in the
hippocampus
(a structure in the brain) were exposed to light transmitted through fiber optics (likely through a hole in each mouse’s skull), the mice happily scampered around the cage, no memory of the earlier shock to terrify them. The neurons that stored the memory of the shock had been “turned off” after the light exposure.
The researchers could see from this study that the mouse brain’s cortex, hippocampus, and amygdala are all connected and involved in learning, creating, and retrieving memories. Thus was long suspected but took optogenetics to clearly illustrate. We did not see any clear information on whether the “off” neurons were ever turned “on” again for the purposes of this study; it would have interesting to conclusively see if any of the fear response returned in the mice when this occurred.
As exciting as this research is, we’re still a long way off from scenarios like
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
, the advent of
neuralyzers
, or treatment of memory disorders in humans using optogenetics. Still, we are impressed with the results and hope to see more studies about the science of memory in the future.
Here is a video explaining optogenetics:
[via
Techodrom
] | 23 | 14 | [
{
"comment_id": "1992032",
"author": "Mike",
"timestamp": "2014-10-13T20:32:42",
"content": "I know when I am exposed to a combination of UV light, and salinated H2O modulated with low frequency waves….I tend to forget all about work….",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
... | 1,760,376,036.746037 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/10/16/controlling-a-quadcopter-with-gestures/ | Controlling A Quadcopter With Gestures | Rick Osgood | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"drone hacks"
] | [
"accelerometer",
"arduino",
"arduino pro mini",
"drone",
"gesture",
"gestures",
"quadcopter",
"rc",
"remote",
"ultrasonic"
] | [grassjelly] has been hard at work building a
wearable device
that uses gestures to control quadcopter motion. The goal of the project is to design a controller that allows the user to intuitively control the motion of a quadcopter. Based on the demonstration video below, we’d say they hit the nail on the head. The controller runs off an Arduino Pro Mini-5v powered by two small coin cell batteries. It contains an accelerometer and an ultrasonic distance sensor.
The controller allows the quadcopter to mimic the orientation of the user’s hand. The user holds their hand out in front of them, parallel to the floor. When the hand is tilted in any direction, the quadcopter copies the motion and will tilt the same way. The amount of pitch and roll is limited by software, likely preventing the user from over-correcting and crashing the machine. The user can also raise or lower their hand to control the altitude of the copter.
[grassjelly] has made all of the code and schematics available via
github
. | 16 | 11 | [
{
"comment_id": "2005168",
"author": "YourIEEEmom",
"timestamp": "2014-10-17T02:28:20",
"content": "what happens when yaw is rotated ?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "2033010",
"author": "CK",
"timestamp": "2014-10-23T10:17:17"... | 1,760,376,036.524494 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/10/16/kickstarter-monitor-will-brighten-your-day/ | Kickstarter Monitor Will Brighten Your Day | Bryan Cockfield | [
"Arduino Hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"Arduino Yun",
"kickstarter",
"led marquee",
"piezo",
"traffic signal",
"USB to serial"
] | Keeping up with a kickstarter campaign can be quite a task, especially if your project is real (looking at you, Scribble Pen!) and you’re trying to keep up with product fabrication and all the other logistics involved in bringing a product to market. [macetech] are currently in the middle of a campaign themselves and built
a loud, bright alert system to notify them of any new kickstarter backers
.
The project uses a LED marquee to display the current number of backers, but every time a new backer contributes to the project, a blindingly bright green arrow traffic signal is illuminated and a piezo speaker plays a celebration tune. All of these devices are controlled by an Arduino Yun which, with its built-in Atheros chipset, easily connects to the network and monitors the kickstarter page for changes.
[macetech] used some interesting hardware to get everything to work together. They used a USB-to-RS232 cable with and FTDI chip to drive the LED marquee and a PowerSwitchTail 2 from Adafruit to drive the power-hungry traffic signal. Everything was put together in a presentable way for their workshop and works great! All of the source code is available on their project page, and you can check out their
RGB LED Shades
kickstarter campaign too. | 16 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "2004761",
"author": "Matthew DeRousse",
"timestamp": "2014-10-17T00:11:17",
"content": "Maybe a kickstarter page can be made to make the kickstarter monitor for the people that create kickstarter projects.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"co... | 1,760,376,036.576793 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/10/16/microbial-fuel-cell-with-a-side-of-betta-fish/ | Microbial Fuel Cell With A Side Of Betta Fish | Theodora Fabio | [
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"aquarium",
"betta fish",
"fighting fish",
"fish",
"fish tank",
"MFC",
"microbial fuel cells"
] | Move over, potato batteries: DIY microbial fuel cells are here to stay! A microbial fuel cell (MFC) is a device that uses bacteria in an anaerobic (oxygen-poor) environment to convert chemical energy into electricity. [drdan152] posted steps on how to make
a soil-based MFC
with a neat twist: it’s also a fishbowl for a betta fish.
[drdan152] used soil from the wetlands, referred to as “muck.” This nutrient-rich soil provided a hearty supply of bacteria, especially
Geobacter
species, known for their uncanny ability to transport electrons outside their cells using bacterial nanowires. The proton exchange membrane (PEM) was made up of salt, water, and agar. After some initial runs, [drdan152] determined that flat char cloth made the best anode, while red copper wire served as the cathode. Assembling the MFC was as simple as surrounding the anode with a thick layer of muck on all sides, adding the PEM on top, followed by water. The cathode was situated halfway out of the water.
After a couple of days, the voltage increased in proportion to the amount of bacteria growing on the anode. The betta fish can happily live in this habitat for a short period of time(it still has to be fed, of course), and the bacteria certainly won’t mind – the fish’s excrement provides an additional food supply. As a bonus, the water is kept clean. However, like any aquarium, the water will need to be changed periodically
as carbon dioxide byproduct accumulates from the fish’s respiration and the MFC (high carbon dioxide levels = dead betta fish)
.
The MFC generates 725 mV. [drdan152] is not satisfied with that number, and is testing out charge pump circuits to generate as much as 3V. We are looking forward to seeing the results.
We also wonder if a small aquatic plant could help make it a more self-sustaining environment for the fish.
In the meantime, [drdan152] is encouraging others to try larger-scale versions of this MFC. Perhaps
MFC-powered
carnivorous robots
doubling as
mobile aquariums
are in our near future. | 35 | 16 | [
{
"comment_id": "2004142",
"author": "Telek",
"timestamp": "2014-10-16T20:09:37",
"content": "That’s really neat. Any idea about the amount of current we can actually expect from there?CO2 exchange should be fine without water changes due to the surface area and exchange with the atmosphere. I sus... | 1,760,376,036.811627 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/10/16/game-tin-handheld-games-with-no-batteries/ | Game Tin: Handheld Games With No Batteries | Eric Evenchick | [
"handhelds hacks"
] | [
"arm",
"bq25570",
"efm32",
"game boy",
"KiCAD",
"solar",
"ultracapacitor"
] | Anyone who grew up with a Game Boy knows how well they sucked through AA batteries. [Nick]’s
Game Tin console
solves this problem by running of an ultracapacitor charged by solar power.
The console is based on a
EFM32
microcontroller: an ARM device designed for low power applications. The 128×128 pixel monochrome memory display provides low-fi graphics while maintaining low power consumption.
There’s two solar cells and a
BQ25570
energy harvesting IC to charge the ultracap. This chip takes care of
maximum power point tracking
to get the most out of the solar cells. If it’s dark out, the device can be charged in about 30 seconds by connecting USB power.
The 10 F Maxwell ultracapacitor can run a game on the device for 1.5 hours without sunlight, and the device runs indefinitely in the sun. Thanks to the memory display, applications that have lower refresh rates will have much lower power consumption.
The Game Tin is open source, and is being developed using KiCad. You can grab all the EDA files
from Bitbucket
. [Nick] is also gauging interest in the Game Tin, and hopes to release it as a kit. | 54 | 16 | [
{
"comment_id": "2003671",
"author": "atomsoft",
"timestamp": "2014-10-16T17:10:02",
"content": "$200 WOW thats nuts. Its awesome but thats nuts!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "2003764",
"author": "ShiftHack (@ShiftHack)",
"ti... | 1,760,376,036.956631 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/10/16/fail-of-the-week-chris-vs-the-gorn/ | Fail Of The Week: [Chris] Vs. The Gorn | Kristina Panos | [
"Fail of the Week",
"Hackaday Columns"
] | [
"bb",
"cannon",
"gorn",
"inherent vise",
"manliness",
"napalm",
"propellant",
"pyrodex",
"pyrotechnics",
"redi-rod",
"sparklers",
"threaded rod"
] | This week, [Chris] tips the scales but ultimately fails. He’s on the road, hacking through the Great White North and improvising from a poorly-lit echo chamber that happens to have a vise.
Knowing nothing about firearms (do you believe that?),
he decided to build a BB cannon
out of pure scrap. Several kinds of sparks fly, starting with a Hitachi drill-as-lathe and ending with a tiny cupcake sparkler. [Chris] proceeds to bore out some redi-rod by eyeballing it and offers helpful tips for course correction should you attempt same. Having centered the cavity, he drills out a tiny hole for a fuse.
His first fuse is of the crushed up match head paste variety. It burns kind of slowly and does not launch the BB. Naturally, Plan B is to make napalm glue to adhere Pyrodex pistol powder to paper. As you might imagine, it worked quite well. The wadding was singed, but still no joy. After packing her full of propellant, it still didn’t explode and merely burned out the blowhole. So, what gives? Insufficient barrel length? Should have used bamboo instead of redi-rod? Didn’t want it badly enough? Give us your fodder below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7yFDS6h7vE
Fail of the Week is a Hackaday column which runs every Thursday. Help keep the fun rolling by writing about your past failures and
sending us a link to the story
— or sending in links to fail write ups you find in your Internet travels. | 30 | 16 | [
{
"comment_id": "2003251",
"author": "Waterjet",
"timestamp": "2014-10-16T14:03:38",
"content": "Have centered the cavity, ?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "2003307",
"author": "Kristina Panos",
"timestamp": "2014-10-16T14:22:4... | 1,760,376,037.191962 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/10/16/hackaday-munich-get-your-ticket-now/ | Hackaday Munich — Get Your Ticket Now! | Mike Szczys | [
"cons",
"Featured",
"The Hackaday Prize"
] | [
"munich",
"the hackaday prize",
"workshop"
] | If you’re anywhere remotely near Munich in November you’re not going to want to miss this.
Hackaday is throwing our first European event
! The fun runs from 12:30-23:30 on Thursday, November 13th, 2014.
Take the afternoon off of work
Tell your boss this is professional development, then grab all your hacking gear and head on down to Technikum at the Munich Kultfabrik.
Our set of workshops will test your embedded skills whether you’re a beginner or seasoned veteran. These include controlling small robots, working with audio processing from a Moog synth, reverse engineering some mystery hardware, and trying your hand at machine vision.
Try win the afternoon’s challenges. Implement the fastest and most reliable robot brain, design the best Moog synth add-on circuit. Or prove your logic skills by coding a perfect Computer Vision game solver. We’ll bring some prizes for those that show the most clever and impressive skill.
Take in the talks and learn the winner of The Hackaday Prize
Beginning at 19:00 we present a couple of talks about embedded hardware sure to impress the most discerning of hackers. Immediately following we will announce the Grand Prize winner of the 2014 Hackaday Prize. This Open Hardware build is the project that made it through more than 800 entries to secure a trip into space and eternal recognition from the Hackaday community.
Finish the day with a party
Finally, we’ll dim the lights and turn up the music for The Hackaday Prize Party. Enjoy some food and beverages, get yourself 3D scanned, try your hand at some vintage video games, and enjoy the company of the Hackaday Community. In attendance will be [Mike Szczys], [Brian Benchoff], [Aleksandar Bradic], [Jasmine Brackett], and [Ben Delarre].
We’ll see you there! | 24 | 13 | [
{
"comment_id": "2002870",
"author": "eccentricelectron",
"timestamp": "2014-10-16T11:07:55",
"content": "Nice to see Europe being treated as a first class citizen! Good luck with the event.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "2002912",
"author"... | 1,760,376,037.129049 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/10/16/robotic-terminator-teddy-will-protect-you-while-you-sleep/ | Robotic Terminator Teddy Will Protect You While You Sleep | Sarah Petkus | [
"Kinect hacks"
] | [
"animatronics",
"Kinect",
"puppet",
"robotic teddy",
"Teddy Bear"
] | This animatronic teddy bear is the stuff of nightmares… or dreams if you’re into mutant robot toys. In either case, this project by [Erwin Ried] is charming and creepy, as he gives life to an
unassuming stuffed animal
by implanting it with motorized parts.
[Erwin] achieves several degrees of motion throughout the bear’s body by filling the skin with a series of 3D printed bones, conjoined by servo motors at its shoulders, elbows and neck. The motors are controlled via an Arduino running slave to a custom application written in C#. This application uses the motion tracking and facial recognition features of the Xbox Kinect, mapping the input from the puppeteer’s movement to the motors of the doll’s skeleton. Additionally, two red LEDs illuminate under the bear’s cheeks in response to the facial expression of the person controlling it, as an additional reminder that teddy feels what you feel.
In [Erwin’s] video, he demonstrates what his application sees through the Kinect’s camera side-by-side with the mechanical skeleton its controlling. The finished product isn’t something I’d soon cuddle up to at night, but looks amazing and is fun to watch in action : | 13 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "2002454",
"author": "Nasri",
"timestamp": "2014-10-16T08:27:55",
"content": "ARK Project:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OldDIgi1eNQ",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "2002463",
"author": "lastchancename",
"timestamp": "201... | 1,760,376,037.414502 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/10/15/peter-and-the-amazing-technicolor-phone-wire-bracelet/ | [Peter] And The Amazing Technicolor Phone Wire Bracelet | Adam Fabio | [
"Wearable Hacks"
] | [
"bracelet",
"lathe",
"sanding",
"wearable"
] | When a job left him with some extra phone wire, [Peter] didn’t toss it in the scrap pile. He broke out the casting resin and
made an awesome bracelet
(Imgur link). [Peter] is becoming quite an accomplished jeweler! When we last checked in on him, he was
making rings out of colored pencils
.
Casting the wire in resin was as simple as building a square form, placing the wires, then filling the form with appropriate amounts of epoxy and hardener. Once the epoxy cured, [Peter] drilled out the center with a sharp
Forstner bit
. A band saw brought the corners of the block closer to a cylinder.
From there it was over to the lathe, where [Peter] used a jam chuck to hold the bracelet in place. Once he shaped the bracelet [Peter] started wet sanding. It took Lots and lots of sanding both inside and out to finish the bracelet. The result is a mirror smooth finish, with bits of insulation bright copper just popping out of the resin.
One might think that the bracelet would be rough with all that copper, but [Peter] mentions on his
Reddit Thread
that it feels like plastic, though the bits of copper were “very pokey” before sanding. We’d recommend tossing on a clear coating to protect the exposed copper. Worn on a wrist, all that exposed metal would start oxidizing in no time.
This hack gives us lots of ideas for casting wearable circuits. Some WS2812’s and a teensy would make for a pretty flashy setup! Got an idea for a project? Tell us about in the comments, or post it up on
Hackaday.io! | 31 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "1998844",
"author": "Mark",
"timestamp": "2014-10-15T11:29:07",
"content": "Surely this is more craft than hack?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1999073",
"author": "yetihehe",
"timestamp": "2014-10-15T12:45:38... | 1,760,376,037.363616 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/10/15/digital-crystal-breathes-new-life-into-old-radio/ | Digital “Crystal” Breathes New Life Into Old Radio | Elliot Williams | [
"Radio Hacks"
] | [
"amateur radio",
"crystal",
"dds",
"soldersmoke"
] | [Bill Meara] of the Soldersmoke Podcast has a nice old Drake 2B radio, and wanted to use it for the 12 meter amateur band. These old radios normally make switching tuning bands easy — you just swap out one frequency crystal for another and you’re set.
Only [Bill] didn’t have the 21 MHz crystal that he needed. No problem, because he had a junk crystal, a hacksaw, and a modern direct-digital synthesis (DDS) chip sitting around. So he takes the donor crystal, cuts it open, and solders the two wires directly from the DDS to the crystal’s pins. Now he’s got a plug-in replacement digital oscillator that doesn’t require modifying the nice old Drake receiver at all. A sweet little trick.
The
video’s
a little bit long, but the money shot comes in around 5:00.
Now, one might worry about simply plugging a powered circuit (the DDS) in place of a passive element (the crystal), but it seems to work and the proof of the pudding is in the tasting. We wonder how far this digitally-controlled-analog-receiver idea could be extended. | 11 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "1998567",
"author": "tadpole",
"timestamp": "2014-10-15T10:09:09",
"content": "Did he really refer to, “the Money shot”?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1999780",
"author": "Rob",
"timestamp": "2014-10-15T16:36... | 1,760,376,037.464336 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/10/14/margarita-drip-infuser-ensures-a-perfect-mix/ | Margarita Drip Infuser Ensures A Perfect Mix | James Hobson | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"Beer Hacks",
"chemistry hacks"
] | [
"barbot",
"drip infuser"
] | In order to get a margarita just right, the various ingredients need to be mixed together quite vigorously to over-come the different viscosity of the fluids. Looking to create his own barbot of sorts, [TVMiller] decided to make a
Margarita Drip Infuser
to help make margaritas a bit easier.
Using various chem lab supplies, [TVMiller] has cobbled together something pretty awesome. The Infuser can take up to 8 different ingredients into its test tube reserves, and after the drink ingredients are programmed on the computer, the magic begins.
An Arduino Uno controls a bank of 8 relays which control small fluid solenoids, with each control pulse releasing just a single droplet of fluid. An LED for each valve is run in parallel adding a bit of a light show to the mixing experience. If that’s not enough, he’s also created a copper cooling coil to chill the drink as it is poured.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kL6DJpK3X6k
For a slightly more advanced build, check out the
Inebriatior. | 13 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "1997604",
"author": "Z00111111",
"timestamp": "2014-10-15T05:20:40",
"content": "Is there a reason it couldn’t get the ingredients from larger reservoirs, such as bottles? Figure out how much comes out from each squirt and you could just enter a desired volume and it would do the re... | 1,760,376,037.511146 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/10/14/homer-robot-ensures-you-dont-miss-an-episode/ | Homer Robot Ensures You Don’t Miss An Episode | Rich Bremer | [
"Microcontrollers"
] | [
"IR remote",
"tv",
"TV remote"
] | With our busy lives, who has time to pay attention to TV show schedules? [Tamberg] certainly didn’t and that is why he came up with the web-enabled TV remove he calls the
Smart Homer
. This miraculous device knows when ‘The Simpsons’ is being broadcast, turns on the TV and switches to the appropriate channel.
Like the real Homer, not too much is going on up in this toy’s noggin. A couple of IR emitters are mounted in place of pupils and the associated wires are run down into his body. Right between a pink donut and a Krusty burger resides an Arduino and ethernet shield. This electronic duo acts as a web server and looks out to the ‘net for an online script. The script polls an online TV Program Guide and if ‘The Simpsons’ are on at that time, it sends a signal back to the Arduino to turn the TV on. | 16 | 11 | [
{
"comment_id": "1997135",
"author": "James",
"timestamp": "2014-10-15T02:16:52",
"content": "¡Brilliant!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "1997275",
"author": "Dalton",
"timestamp": "2014-10-15T03:01:41",
"content": "So awesome! Now t... | 1,760,376,037.628666 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/10/14/diy-auto-fish-feeder-feeds-fish-automatically/ | DIY Auto Fish Feeder Feeds Fish Automatically | Rich Bremer | [
"home hacks"
] | [
"aquarium",
"feeder",
"fish",
"pet feeder"
] | [Brian] has a fairly large 400 liter aquarium and loves the fish that call it home. Unfortunately, sometimes life gets in the way of keeping those fish fed on a regular basis. There are automatic fish feeders out there on the market and [Brian] gave one a try. Although it worked, it dropped one huge clump of food in at a time (rather than sprinkling it in), the food hopper held a very small amount of food and the unit drained a new set of batteries in less than a week. Fifty euros were spent on purchasing that auto feeder and in the end it wasn’t any more convenient than just feeding the fish.
Faced with a tough decision on whether or not to buy another product he may not be happy with, [Brian] decided to make his own
automatic fish feeder system
out of parts anyone can find lying around the house. The main housing is a small Tupperware bin, inside of which 3 pieces of plastic were glued together to make a v-shaped hopper. The fish food is loaded into the hopper and as it falls to the bottom it meets a reverse-spinning drill bit that acts like an auger, pushing the food out of the container. The drill bit is powered by a small stepper motor connected to the drill bit by an improvised coupling made from a silicone sealant cap!
The control system is an Arduino and a stepper motor driver chip. Through trial and error [Brian] figured out that 100,000 half steps of the motor dumped a good amount of food into the tank. The drill bit delivery method even sprinkles the food nicely for total fish enjoyment. To keep the food flowing at regular intervals, an AC timer unit controls how often the Arduino is powered on and subsequently feeds the fish. | 28 | 12 | [
{
"comment_id": "1996563",
"author": "Louis Charles Bruckner",
"timestamp": "2014-10-14T23:13:28",
"content": "Quite nice!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "1996629",
"author": "lastchancename",
"timestamp": "2014-10-14T23:41:27",
"con... | 1,760,376,037.574441 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/10/14/twobitcircus-the-business-of-building-interactive-entertainment/ | TwoBitCircus: The Business Of Building Interactive Entertainment | Ben Delarre | [
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"arcade games",
"carnival",
"carnival games",
"entertainment",
"games",
"two bit circus"
] | The Hackaday 10th anniversary was an awful lot of fun, and part of what made it awesome was all the cool things that the community brought to the event. We hadn’t really had a chance to get down to meet the guys from TwoBitCircus before now but they were more than happy to bring along their excellent
Hexacade
machine. The 6-player custom built arcade game that was an absolute blast!
After the party TwoBitCircus’ fearless leaders [Brent Bushnell] and [Eric Gradman] invited us over to their space for a quick look at their workshop, and to give us a personal invite to the Hacker Preview day for their upcoming
STEAM Carnival
. No this isn’t Steam as in Steam-punk, but STEAM as in Science Technology Engineering Art and Mathematics.
Their space is really quite amazing, part of
The Brewery Art Colony
near downton Los Angeles. The building is actually an old steam power plant with incredibly high ceilings. The TwoBitCircus crew is now about 30 people all building interactive games and art pieces for events. They call themselves a digital circus and a lot of their work harkens back to old carnival games of yore with a new digital twist.
[Eric] and [Brent] spared a few minutes to give us a quick run down of what sort of games to expect at the STEAM Carnival. There will be a wide array of entertainment: giant marble runs controlled by see-saws, whack-a-mole/twister mashups on huge glowing button walls, laser based foosball, and the more extreme immolation dunk tank! It will be a most entertaining and educational event. The main public days are on the weekend of 25th – 26th of October, but there is an invite only
hacker preview
for the local community on Thursday October 23rd which we will be attending. If you’d like to go to the
main event
, use the code HACKADAY for $5 off the
ticket price of $25
.
What was most interesting about TwoBitCircus for me as a maker of things was how these guys have turned their hobby into a thriving events business. Brent tells us that they’ve been at this for 8 years now and the company has been around for 3. They’re doing pretty well too, making incredible things for some of the biggest companies around. This really is the best possible job for any inventive hacker sort, building crazy stuff all day for people to play with! I left the place feeling incredibly envious.
Check out the photos below for some impression of the sort of craziness you might see at the carnival!
Hanging above the entry to the TwoBitCircus workshop.
Hexaball ready to roll!
A musical treadmill, uses OpenCV to track the dots
We love the style of their workstations
An auto piano being modified to do something….?
Button based twister slash whackamole
The guts of the twister mashup
Fashionable welding masks?
Marble maze, controlled by seesaw!
Obviously the see-saw needs some work.
Just 2 weeks to go and they’re still inventing new things!
The giant clown is pretty freaky
The mouth looks like its going to eat someone.
This 7 seater quad car contraption makes it out to Burning Man regularly
Prius rims hacked together for effect!
This little guy looks like something out of Doctor Who.
Giant Wacky Wire!
The workshop is in full build mode.
Kids xylophone hacked.
Now thats a hackers workstation!
Keeping to the Carnival roots with a giant bear?
Zap zap….
Artists hard at work.
Really love the lighting rig
Tools of the trade.
Giant sidewalk Spirograph
What sort of workshop would it be without a lazer cutter?
Another button based game in mid-build.
Lathe!
Crunch time.
Hackaday stickers represent!
Can I have giant shelves please?
Is this a failure from the immolation dunk tank testing?
I’m not sure I want to know wht they’re doing with this.
The space really is beautiful
Arcade simulator?
Raspberry Pis for a giant Makey Makey installation
Each Pi gets a router, a power supply and a hub.
Laser foosball!
Thats a lot of pi.
Upstairs hacker lounge | 0 | 0 | [] | 1,760,376,037.689752 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/10/14/retrotechtacular-core-competencies/ | Retrotechtacular: Core Competencies | Kristina Panos | [
"Hackaday Columns",
"Retrotechtacular"
] | [
"Ferrite core",
"hysteresis",
"logic diagram",
"magnetic core",
"shift winding",
"single-diode transfer loop"
] | As the dashing officer shown above will tell you, early data processing machines and ADP systems employed two types of magnetic cores for memory and other purposes. This 1961 U.S. Army training film is
an introduction to the properties of ferrite cores
, which are commonly made from nickel alloy and other magnetic materials. As this is only part one of a series, the metallic ribbon type of magnetic core is covered in some other segment we have yet to locate.
The use of magnetic cores for random access memory was built upon transformer theory and provided a rugged and low-power solution until the semiconductor came into vogue. Before that time, the humble ferrite core served many uses and did so very well. The
Apollo Guidance Computer
had erasable magnetic core memory, and much of its software was stored in core rope memory.
The film covers a lot of theory and does so clearly and concisely. It begins by explaining what a magnetic core is and why it’s used, and then moves on to describe how the cores are used to store bits and the method by which they can transfer information to other cores. Along the way, it provides background on bi-stable devices and provides explanation of magnetization behavior in terms of magnetizing force and flux density.
Essentially, a core can be magnetized in two directions based on the winding’s direction and the end of the conductor at which a current is introduced. The magnetizing force exerted is proportional to the amount of current flowing through it multiplied by the number of turns on the winding. As the magnetic force upon a core increases, the graphed curve showing the relationship between the magnetizing force H and the flux density B eventually flattens out as the saturation point is reached. When the flow of current stops or is reduced, the core material retains most of its magnetism, and this is known as its residual magnetism.
In order to overcome the residual magnetism of a core, a certain amount of magnetic force referred to as coercive force is needed. Once this force has brought the flux density back to zero, the curve can move toward the opposite saturation limit. Between these limits, the hysteresis loop can be determined.
In order to influence a second core, the output winding of the first core is linked to the input winding of the second core. A shift winding is introduced on each core to prevent the binary state from switching back to its original value. In closing, the dashing officer will explain the simplified logic diagram representing what you’ve just learned.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0WnddW5gZI
[Thank you to Martin for sending this in]
Retrotechtacular is a weekly column featuring hacks, technology, and kitsch from ages of yore. Help keep it fresh by
sending in your ideas for future installments
. | 48 | 13 | [
{
"comment_id": "1995725",
"author": "Anathae",
"timestamp": "2014-10-14T17:05:34",
"content": "He’s not an officer, he’s a Sargent, he works for his living",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1995734",
"author": "tom",
"timestamp"... | 1,760,376,038.057564 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/10/13/announcing-the-five-finalists-for-the-hackaday-prize/ | Announcing The Five Finalists For The Hackaday Prize | Mike Szczys | [
"Featured",
"The Hackaday Prize"
] | [
"finalists",
"open design",
"open hard",
"open source",
"open source software",
"the hackaday prize"
] | Six months ago we challenged you to realize the future of open, connected devices. Today we see the five finalists vying for The Hackaday Prize.
These five were chosen by our panel of
Launch Judges
from a pool of fifty semifinalists. All of them are tools which leverage Open Design in order to break down the barriers of entry for a wide range of interests. They will have a few more weeks to polish and refine their devices before [Chris Anderson]
joins the judging panel
to name the winner.
Starting on the top left and moving clockwise:
ChipWhisperer
, an embedded hardware security research device goes deep into the world of hardware penetration testing. The versatile tool occupies an area in which all-in-one, wide-ranging test gear had been previously non-existant or was prohibitively expensive to small-shop hardware development which is so common today.
SatNOGS
, a global network of satellite ground stations. The design demonstrates an affordable node which can be built and linked into a public network to leverage the benefits of satellites (even amateur ones) to a greater extent and for a wider portion of humanity.
PortableSDR
, is a compact Software Defined Radio module that was originally designed for Ham Radio operators. The very nature of SDR makes this project a universal solution for long-range communications and data transfer especially where more ubiquitous forms of connectivity (Cell or WiFi) are not available.
ramanPi
, a 3D printed Raman Spectrometer built around a RaspberryPi with some 3D printed and some off-the-shelf parts. The design even manages to account for variances in the type of optics used by anyone building their own version.
Open Source Science Tricorder
, a realization of science fiction technology made possible by today’s electronics hardware advances. The handheld is a collection of sensor modules paired with a full-featured user interface all in one handheld package.
From Many, Five
The nature of a contest like the Hackaday Prize means narrowing down a set of entries to just a few, and finally to one. But this is a function of the contest and not of the initiative itself.
The Hackaday Prize
stands for Open Design
, a virtue that runs far and deep in the Hackaday community.
The 50 semifinalists
, and over
800 quarterfinalists
shared their work openly and by doing so provide a learning platform, an idea engine, and are indeed the giants on whose shoulders the next evolution of hackers, designers, and engineers will stand.
Whether you submitted an entry or not, make your designs open source, interact with the growing community of hardware engineers and enthusiasts, and help spread the idea and benefits of Open Design. | 79 | 23 | [
{
"comment_id": "1991384",
"author": "John Schuch @JohnS_AZ",
"timestamp": "2014-10-13T17:20:51",
"content": "Well, a little bummed I didn’t make the top five but …Huge Congratulations to the five who did!!And thanks Mike, HaD, and all the judges. It’s been a fun ride! :-)",
"parent_id": null,... | 1,760,376,038.269429 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/10/13/borat-bathroom-monitor-for-the-future/ | BORAT: Bathroom Monitor For The Future | Adam Fabio | [
"Arduino Hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"Bathroom Monitor",
"Borat",
"nRF24L01+"
] | A recent company move has left [kigster] and his 35 coworkers in a frustrating situation. Their new building only has two single occupancy bathrooms. To make matters worse, the bathrooms are located on two different floors. Heading to one bathroom, finding it occupied, then running upstairs to find the second bathroom also occupied became an all to common and frustrating occurrence at the office.
It was obvious the office needed some sort of bathroom occupancy monitoring system – much like those available on commercial aircraft. [kigster] asked for a budget of about $200 to build such a system. His request was quickly granted it by office management. They must have been on their way to the bathroom at the time.
[kigster] began work on BORAT: Bathroom Occupancy Remote Awareness Technology. The initial problem was detecting bathroom occupancy. The easiest method would be to use door locks with embedded switches, much those used in aircraft. Unfortunately, modifying or changing the locks in a rented office space is a big no-no. Several other human detection systems were suggested and rejected. The final solution was a hybrid. Sonar, Passive Infrared (PIR), and light sensors work in concert to detect if a person is in the bathroom. While we think the final “observer unit” is rather cool looking, we’re sure unsuspecting visitors to the office may be wondering why a two eyed robot is staring at them on the throne.
The display side of the system was easy. The entire system communicates with the venerable nRF24L01+ radio modules, so the display just needed a radio module, an arduino, and a way of displaying bathroom status. Two LED matrices took care of that issue.
We really like this hack. Not only is it a great use of technology to solve a common problem, but it’s also an open source system. BORAT’s source code is available on
[kigster’s] github
.
Want to know more about BORAT? Kigster is answering questions over on his
thread in the Arduino subreddit
. | 32 | 17 | [
{
"comment_id": "1990828",
"author": "Norbin Dragnaev",
"timestamp": "2014-10-13T14:03:16",
"content": "THAT’SA VERY NICE",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1990940",
"author": "steve.eh",
"timestamp": "2014-10-13T14:43:46",
... | 1,760,376,037.973895 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/10/13/mooltipass-installation-process-is-now-dead-simple/ | Mooltipass Installation Process Is Now Dead Simple | Mathieu Stephan | [
"Hackaday Columns"
] | [
"chrome",
"developed on hackaday",
"limpkin",
"mooltipass",
"password",
"password keeper"
] | In a few weeks the Hackaday community
offline password keeper
will reach a crowdfunding platform. This is a necessary step as only a high production volume will allow our $80 early bird perk target. We’ll therefore need
you
to spread the word.
Thanks to the Chromium development team, a few days ago the Mooltipass installation process became as simple as installing our app & extension. As you may remember, our device is enumerated as composite HID proprietary / HID standard keyboard. This makes it completely driverless for
all
operating systems and enables standalone operation as the Mooltipass can type logins and passwords selected through its user interface. Management communications are therefore done through the Mooltipass HID proprietary interface, which Chrome 38 now natively supports through its
chrome.hid
API. The simpler our installation process is, the more likely the final users will appreciate the fruit of our hard labor.
As our
last post
mentioned there’s still plenty of space for future contributors to implement new functionalities. Our future crowdfunding campaign will allow us to find javascript developers for the
remaining app & extensions tasks
and also implement other browsers support. Want to stay tuned of the Mooltipass launch date? Subscribe to our
official Google Group
! | 62 | 11 | [
{
"comment_id": "1990313",
"author": "ERROR_user_unknown",
"timestamp": "2014-10-13T11:13:14",
"content": "$80 for a piece of acrylic and a atmega ??????? WTF ???",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1990347",
"author": "bob",
"time... | 1,760,376,038.155989 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/10/13/robotic-farms-invade-urban-landscapes/ | Robotic Farms Invade Urban Landscapes | Rich Bremer | [
"green hacks"
] | [
"farming",
"growing",
"hydroponics",
"RUFS"
] | Now there is no excuse to not have a garden, even if you are located in an urban area. The
Robotic Urban Farm System
(RUFS for short) solves the problems of growing many plants in a small area. The system’s high plant density is attributed to its vertical orientation. The entire system is even made from easy to find parts from your local hardware store. The water usage is kept to a minimum thanks to the closed loop watering system. Instead of flowing down into the ground, any excess water is collected and saved for use later.
Plants are placed in holes made in the side of a standard plastic downspout that hangs from a PVC frame, each hole several inches apart from its neighbor. A standard plastic plant pot is place inside each hole and is filled with hydroponic media. That’s right, there is no dirt in this system. Plants will grow happily in the hydroponic media providing they get all the nutrients and water they need.
The potential urban farmer may not be super excited about tending to his crops. This is where the robot portion of the RUFS system comes into play. There are two control systems that work independently of each other. The first is for indoor applications and controls light cycles and circulation fans. The second is a little more complex and controls the watering portion of the system. Not only does it water the plants at pre-determined intervals but it also monitors the pH, nutrient and water levels inside the reservoir. Both these systems are Arduino-based. For extreme control freaks, there is one more add-on available. It’s Raspberry Pi based and has an accompanying mobile app. The Pi records and logs sensor data from the Arduinos and also allows remote updating of the watering and light schedules. The mobile app lets you not only look at current conditions of the system but also displays the historical data in a nice visual graph. | 24 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "1990442",
"author": "NotArduino",
"timestamp": "2014-10-13T11:46:10",
"content": "I do believe this water would be gettin real FUNKY!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1990481",
"author": "Ren",
"timestamp": "201... | 1,760,376,038.548629 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/10/12/mechanical-bird-actually-flies-by-flapping-its-wings/ | Mechanical Bird Actually Flies By Flapping Its Wings | James Hobson | [
"3d Printer hacks"
] | [
"bird",
"castle in the sky",
"flying",
"ornithopter",
"rc",
"remote control"
] | Turns out you don’t have to be a multi-million dollar corporation like Festo to create a remote controlled, flapping bird robot. [Kazuhiko Kakuta] is a medical Doctor of Allergy, and in his free time he likes
to build flying mechanical birds with his son.
It has just over a meter wingspan, weighs 193 grams, and it flies by flapping its wings. The majority of its components are 3D printed. If that’s not impressive enough for you as is, consider this. It it has no sensors, no gyroscopes or anything — it’s all manually controlled by [Kazuhiko].
And this isn’t even the only ornithopter he’s done. He’s also
created something
out of an anime film,
Castle in the Sky
. He even
sells the designs
for one of them, to be printed via Shapeways.
Previously we’ve only seen an ornithopter this large like
this one done by Festo
, which makes [Kazuhiko’s] work even more impressive.
[Thanks Nickson!] | 38 | 20 | [
{
"comment_id": "1989260",
"author": "garym53",
"timestamp": "2014-10-13T05:16:24",
"content": "Hmmm, how else would a mechanical bird fly?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1989291",
"author": "TacticalNinja",
"timestamp": "2014... | 1,760,376,038.620066 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/10/12/custom-video-streaming-box/ | Custom Video Streaming Box | Bryan Cockfield | [
"Video Hacks"
] | [
"mini-itx",
"streaming",
"streaming tv",
"tv",
"tv tuner",
"WinTV"
] | There are a lot of options out today for streaming video to your Internet-connected devices. Whether it’s Hulu, Netflix, Slingbox, or the late Aereo, there is no shortage of ways to get your TV fix. However, [Jaruzel] wasn’t happy with any of these services and wanted a more custom solution, so he built
his own TV-streaming box
out of hardware he had lying around.
[Jaruzel] gets TV from a service called SkyTV, but wanted to be able to stream it to his tablet, laptop, and XBMC. While rummaging through his parts bin, he came up with a WinTV tuner card for capturing TV and a Mini-ITX board to process everything and stream it out over his network.
Once the computer was put in a custom enclosure, [Jaruzel] got to work installing Puppy Linux. He wrote a boot script that configures the WinTV card and then starts VLC to handle the streaming service which allows him to view the TV stream over HTTP on the network. This is a great hack that would presumably work for any TV stream you can find, even if it’s just an
over-the-air source
. | 25 | 12 | [
{
"comment_id": "1988786",
"author": "starhawk",
"timestamp": "2014-10-13T02:20:15",
"content": "Guy built a computer from parts lying around, tacked on Linux, XMBC. and a shell script to make them work together…I’m sorry, maybe I’m just overdue for new glasses, but I’m not seeing the hack here.On t... | 1,760,376,038.486835 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/10/12/hackaday-links-october-12-2014/ | Hackaday Links: October 12, 2014 | Brian Benchoff | [
"Hackaday links"
] | [
"aluminum",
"Blue LEDs",
"EWM3162",
"lego",
"lego mindstorms",
"lulzbot",
"milling",
"mindstorms",
"Nobel",
"speeder bike",
"speederbike",
"titanium"
] | Remember in the late 90s and early 2000s when
everything
had blue LEDs in them? Blinding blue LEDs that lit up a dark room like a Christmas tree?
Nobel prize
. There’s
a good /r/askscience thread
on why this is so important. The TL;DR is that it’s tough to put a p-type layer on gallium nitride.
Have a Segway and you’re a member of the 501st?
Here’s your Halloween costume
. It’s a model of the Aratech 74-Z speeder bike, most famously seen careening into the side of trees on the forest moon of Endor.
[Andrew] needed something to do and
machined an iPhone 5 out of a block of aluminum
. Here’s the
video of icon labels being engraved
. The machine is a Denford Triac with a six station auto tool changer. He’s running Mach3, and according to him everything – including the correct tooling – cost far too much money.
Another [Andrew] was working the LEGO booth at Maker Faire New York and has finally gotten his
LEGO Mindstorms Minecraft Creeper build written up
. Yes, it’s probably smarter than your average Minecraft Creeper, and this one also blows up. He also had a physical version of
the classic video game from 1979,
Lunar Lander
. Both are extremely awesome builds, and a
great
way to attract kids of all ages to a booth.
[Wilfred] was testing a titanium 3D printer at work and was looking for something to print. The skull ‘n wrenches was a suitable candidate, and the results are fantastic. From [Wilfred]: “Just out of the printer the logo looks amazing because it isn’t oxidized yet (inside the printer is an Argon atmosphere) Then the logo moves to an oven to anneal the stress made by the laser. But then it gets brown and ugly. After sandblasting we get a lovely bluish color as you can see in the last picture.”
The folks at Lulzbot/Aleph Objects are experimenting with their yet-to-be-released printer, codenamed ‘Begonia’. They’re 2D printing, strangely enough, and for only using a standard Bic pen,
the results look great
.
Everyone is going crazy over the ESP8266 UART to WiFi module. There’s another module that came up on Seeed recently, the
EMW3162
. It’s an ARM Cortex M3 with plenty of Flash, has 802.11 b/g/n, and it’s $8.50 USD. Out of stock, of course. | 17 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "1988352",
"author": "sharealikelicence",
"timestamp": "2014-10-13T00:03:43",
"content": "Where is the rest of Wilfreds pictures?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1988480",
"author": "CJ",
"timestamp": "2014-10-1... | 1,760,376,038.426948 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/10/12/pcb-toner-transfer-method-now-without-the-transfer/ | PCB Toner Transfer Method, Now Without The Transfer | Rich Bremer | [
"Peripherals Hacks",
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"circuit board",
"diy pcb",
"etched PCB",
"laserpcb"
] | A common way to create a custom PCB at home is to do what is called the Toner Transfer Method. In this process, the trace layout of the board is printed out on a piece of special toner transfer paper that allows the ink to come off in the following step. The toner transfer paper is then put print-side-down on a copper clad PCB blank, heated and pressed with an iron. The heat and pressure from the iron transfers the toner from the paper to the copper. The exposed copper then is chemically removed, the previously applied toner protects the copper in the pad and trace areas. The toner is then removed using paint thinner.
That is a long process with many critical steps. [mlerman] wondered why no one was printing the toner directly to the PCB. He has been tinkering with printing directly on PCB blanks for 4 years now. He’s made hundreds of boards over that time and can now make a
PCB in under 15 minutes
.
The obvious route to take would be to modify a current laser printer to accept the much-thicker-than-paper PCB boards. A few printer models were tried but [mlerman] feels the Lexmark E260 works the best due to the cost, internal mechanical components and an easily modifiable manual feed system. There is also a Local Printer Utility that allows the majority of the printer parameters to be adjusted.
As you would expect, there are several portions of the printer that have to be modified. The first is the internal paper platform which has to be clearanced so the PCB won’t run into the toner cartridge. The next part needing a change is the feeder assembly. The rubber rollers were made to grab thin paper, not thick material. To ensure a firm grip of the PCB, a second aluminum idler roller was added. It is pulled against the stock rubber roller by a spring and is essential for slip-less printing. Check out [mlerman’s] Instructable for extreme detail of all the changes he had to make to the printer.
The PCB blank is not passed through the printer by itself, it is attached to an aluminum carrier. The aluminum carrier acts as a consistently-sized delivery method when using different sized PCB blanks. [mlerman] has had some great results with this setup, being able to make trace widths all the way down to 0.005 inches. Although he has made some simple two-sided boards, he wants to come up with reliable a process for fabricating more complex designs.
Thanks [Laimonas] | 47 | 20 | [
{
"comment_id": "1987881",
"author": "Hassi",
"timestamp": "2014-10-12T20:45:28",
"content": "WHY is there not such a commercial product? I want one, now! :D",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1987915",
"author": "rasz_pl",
"times... | 1,760,376,038.700185 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/10/12/ghost-gunner-machines-your-ar-15/ | Ghost Gunner Machines Your AR-15 | Adam Fabio | [
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"Defense Distributed",
"Ghost Gunner",
"gun",
"Serial Number"
] | Defense Distributed and founder [Cody Wilson] have released
Ghost Gunner
. Defense Distributed entered the public eye a couple of years ago with
The Liberator
, the world’s first 3D printed gun. Since anyone with a 3D printer can print a Liberator, it is effectively untraceable. This raised a lot of questions in the media and public eye.
Ghost Gunner is a variation on the untraceable theme. Essentially, Ghost Gunner is a CNC designed for one purpose: final drilling and milling steps for
AR-15
lower receivers. The reason for this has to do with federal gun laws in the United States. According to US law, the lower receiver is the actual firearm, and is regulated. But when does a block of aluminum become a lower receiver? Here, US law states that the metal becomes a regulated receiver when the machining operations are more than 80% complete.
Anyone can legally buy a barrel, trigger, stock, upper receiver, and various other parts to build an AR-15. To complete the weapon, they only need to buy an 80% lower receiver and perform the last 20% of the metal work. This work can be performed with everything from a drill press to a milling machine to hand tools. Ghost Gunner partially automates this process, making it easier and faster to complete lower receivers and build weapons.
Defense Distributed calls Ghost Gunner an open source hardware project, though we were unable to find the files available for download at this time. It appears that the slides are made up of MakerSlide or a similar aluminum extrusion. The steppers appear to be standard Nema 17 size.
Defense Distributed says that they’ve been having a hard time keeping up with the Ghost Gunner pre-orders. At $1300 each though, we think a general purpose mill or small CNC would be a better deal.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwRtll3jjU4 | 193 | 29 | [
{
"comment_id": "1987354",
"author": "bkubicek",
"timestamp": "2014-10-12T17:12:56",
"content": "i really do not get the point of this.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1987373",
"author": "Brian",
"timestamp": "2014-10-12T17:19... | 1,760,376,038.921704 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/10/12/bench-top-drill-press-converted-to-milling-machine-mounted-to-lathe/ | Bench Top Drill Press Converted To Milling Machine, Mounted To Lathe | Rich Bremer | [
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"diy mill",
"drill press"
] | Milling machines are nice to have around for precisely drilling holes or removing unwanted material from a part. However, they can be expensive and may not get a lot of use, two reasons why a mill purchase may not make sense for a home shop. [David] didn’t need a mill, he wanted one and he didn’t want to spend a lot of money. He did have an old bench top drill press and a lathe in his shop and thought it would be a good idea to combine them them into a
DIY Milling Machine
.
The problem with just throwing a milling bit in a drill press and trying to mill metal is that the drill press spindle ball bearings are not made for radial loading. [David] knew this and replaced the stock ball bearings with angular roller bearings. These new bearings would require an axial preload applied to keep the spindle in place. This was done by machining threads into the spindle’s shaft and adding a nut to secure and preload the new angular roller bearings.
[David] did not have an XY Table to donate to the project so he decided to mount the drill press to his lathe and use the lathe axes to move the work piece around underneath the mill. Thick plate steel was welded together to form a hefty bracket that bolted to both the lathe bed and drill press column. And yes, the lathe is still functional and the changeover process is simple. To go from Mill to Lathe; the work piece is removed from the lathe’s cross slide and replaced with the lathe tool holder. That’s it!
Overall, [David] is happy with his conversion. He doesn’t expect his project to be as precise or rigid as a proper milling machine but says he has no problem cutting 1mm deep passes in steel when using a 6mm diameter mill bit. | 22 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "1987505",
"author": "Leithoa",
"timestamp": "2014-10-12T18:11:26",
"content": "Wouldn’t it be easier and more accurate to use the lathe as a mill?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1987624",
"author": "Albert",
"... | 1,760,376,038.972363 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/10/12/a-simple-floppy-music-controller/ | A Simple Floppy Music Controller | Ethan Zonca | [
"Musical Hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"floppy",
"floppy drive",
"library",
"midi",
"music"
] | While playing music with floppy drives has been done many times over, making any device with a stepper motor play music still appeals to the hacker in all of us. [Tyler]
designed an Arduino shield
and a library which lets you get up and running in no time. [Tyler]’s shield includes pin headers to connect 4 floppy drives, which plug directly into the shield. The drives don’t need any modification before being used.
While you could simply wire a few floppy drives up to an Arduino with some jumpers, this breakout shield makes connecting your drives trivial. In addition to designing the shield, [Tyler] released an Arduino library to make things even easier. The library lets you simply set the frequency you want each drive to play, which saves a bit of legwork.
The floppy-controlling Arduino library is
available on GitHub
and a video of the controller is included after the break. | 12 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "1987134",
"author": "Waterjet",
"timestamp": "2014-10-12T15:45:22",
"content": "“First, the floppy cable needs to NOT have a twist in it between the shield and the drive. Basically, floppy cables usually have three connectors: motherboard, floppy B, and floppy A. There’s a twist in ... | 1,760,376,039.017782 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/10/12/college-dorm-transforms-into-high-tech-office/ | College Dorm Transforms Into High Tech Office | James Hobson | [
"home hacks"
] | [
"bed",
"desk",
"murphy bed",
"pneumatic bed",
"pneumatic desk"
] | College dorms are notoriously tiny; which either forces most students into a life of minimalism, or for [Thomas Hopmans],
innovation
to overcome the lack of square-footage.
His first step was getting a Murphy bed, which saves tons of space. But he wanted to add a few extra features to his, so instead he decided to make his own! He designed the entire thing in SolidWorks, which might seem like overkill, but he’s an Industrial Design student, and has become quite proficient in the software from his various work internships.
The bed uses pneumatic struts to make lifting and lowering the bed frame easy — the cool part is the mechanism he designed which causes his dual 28″ monitors to pop up from the desk. They’re directly coupled to the bed with a linkage which ensures they’ll never get accidentally crushed by the bed.
He admits he could have just mounted the monitors to the bottom of the bed, but that wouldn’t have been nearly as fun as this. He estimates the total cost was around $350 for whole thing, which isn’t half bad for a bed… and a desk!
For more information on the project check out the
Reddit thread.
One thing’s for sure though, it’s certainly a better use of pneumatics compared to this
pneumatic bed alarm clock…
[Thanks Matt!] | 24 | 12 | [
{
"comment_id": "1986197",
"author": "John",
"timestamp": "2014-10-12T09:26:11",
"content": "That is ultra sweet.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "1986203",
"author": "brad",
"timestamp": "2014-10-12T09:27:36",
"content": "this is coo... | 1,760,376,039.074139 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/10/11/build-your-own-stand-alone-web-radio/ | Build Your Own Stand Alone Web Radio | Sarah Petkus | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"Radio Hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"internet radio",
"web radio channel",
"web radio player"
] | If you’re the type who enjoys passing idle time by keeping up with podcasts or listening to web stations but don’t always want to occupy your laptop or tablet, this Arduino based radio player will provide a base station for tunes.
The
Web Radio
project by [Vassilis Serasidis] outlines in a pleasing amount of detail exactly how to wire up a short list of four modules. These including an Ethernet shield, LCD screen, MP3 decoder, and USB serial converter, with an Arduino Mini in order to bookmark and play fourteen of your favorite channels. His hand-soldered board couples everything into one neatly stacked package. The
instructional video
shows this off and he even explains how to locate your favorite stations on
internet-radio.com
and copy their port and IP number directly into an example sketch which is provided for use. If you’ve been wanting to build a self contained radio node for your desk free of extra baggage, this is a no-sweat project for both the hardware savvy and those more oriented with code writing.
If you’re going to build your own radio, it’s always cool to disguise your high-tech creation as something more rustic. Check out
this project
by [Dominic Buchstaller] for a great example of a vintage radio given a second calling. | 11 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "1985715",
"author": "rossmarsden",
"timestamp": "2014-10-12T06:06:41",
"content": "Pretty darned good.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "1986374",
"author": "Still_impressed_none_the_less",
"timestamp": "2014-10-12T10:41:0... | 1,760,376,039.115216 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/10/11/mutant-kitchen-tv-computer/ | Mutant Kitchen TV Computer | Mike Szczys | [
"home entertainment hacks"
] | [
"igorplug",
"ir",
"kitchen computer",
"remote control",
"tv tuner",
"usb"
] | In need of a kitchen entertainment system, [BoaSoft] headed to the parts bin and produced a project that can easily be called a mutant. That being said, we love the results!
Here’s the
link to the original Russian language post
. If your Russian is a bit rusty here’s
a really awful machine translation
. So let’s see if we can decipher this hack.
Sounds like [BoaSoft] had a broken Acer laptop on hand. Problem was the laptop can’t play over-the-air television (and similarly, a television can’t surf the net). The solution was to figure out how to utilized a TV tuner of unknown origin, combine that with the laptop and a computer monitor, then add back all the user interface you’d expect from an entertainment device.
The board shown in the first post of the thread is familiar to us. It seems to be based on the IgorPlug board which is
a hack that goes waaaay back
. This allows for the use of an IR media center remote and those input signals are easy to map to functions. The computer runs Windows Media Center which is already optimized for remote control but can use a wireless keyboard and mouse when more computer-centric functions are necessary.
With all on track the rest of the hack deals with hacking together a case. The laptop’s original body was ditched for some extended sides for the back of the monitor. [BoaSoft] did a great job of installing all the necessary ports in these extensions. Once in the kitchen everything is nice and neat and should stand the test of time.
[Thanks Dmitry] | 9 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "1985086",
"author": "DC (@dragonnetworks)",
"timestamp": "2014-10-12T02:16:38",
"content": "Looks like the TV tuner’s a FlyTV Platinum Mini miniPCI card.Are there any other good reliable works-anywhere TV tuners out there for a more modernized hardware version of this?",
"parent... | 1,760,376,039.571847 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/10/11/keep-an-eye-on-your-fermenting-beer-with-brewmonitor/ | Keep An Eye On Your Fermenting Beer With BrewMonitor | Theodora Fabio | [
"Beer Hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"brewpi",
"cloud storage",
"DS18B20",
"ESP8266",
"fermentation",
"RESTful"
] | The art of brewing beer is as old as civilization itself. Many people enjoy brewing their own beer at home. Numerous steps must be taken before you can take a swig, but fermentation is one of the most critical. [Martin Kennedy] took up the hobby with his friends, and wanted a convenient way to monitor the fermentation temperature remotely. He started working on the
BrewMonitor
, a cloud-based homebrewing controller powered by an Arduino clone.
His goal was to create something cheap, convenient, and easy to set up. Traditional fermentation monitoring equipment is very expensive. The typical open-source alternative will set you back 80 euros (roughly $101), using the Arduino-sensor with a Raspberry Pi gateway via the
BrewPi
webserver. [Martin] did not want to go through the hassle of viewing BrewPi remotely, since it requires a home network and all of the configuration that would entail. Instead, he coupled an
Arduino clone
with a
DS18B20 temperature sensor
while using an
ESP8266 module
for wireless communication, all for less than 18 euros ($23). This connects to a simple webpage based on Scotch.io with a PHP backend (Laravel with RESTful API), a MySQL database, and an AngularJS frontend to display the graph. Once the sensor is placed into the fermenter bucket’s
thermowell
, the temperature is transmitted once a minute to the REST API.
You can see the temperature over time
(in Celsius). The design files are available on
GitHub
.
[Martin] would like to expand the functionality of BrewMonitor, such as adding the ability to adjust the temperature remotely by controlling a heater or fridge, and lowering its cost by single boarding it. Since the information is stored on the cloud, upgrading the system is much easier than using a separate gateway device. He doesn’t rule out crowdfunding campaigns for the future. We would like to see this developed further, since different yeast species and beer styles require very stringent conditions, especially during the weeks-long fermentation process; a
5-degree Celsius difference can ruin an entire brew
! Cloud-based temperature adjustment seems like the next big goal for BrewMonitor. DIY brewers salute you, [Martin]!
[via
Dangerous Prototypes
] | 6 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "1984681",
"author": "healthy",
"timestamp": "2014-10-12T00:15:30",
"content": "“[Martin] did not want to go through the hassle of viewing BrewPi remotely, since it requires a home network and all of the configuration that would entail” begat “connects to a simple webpage based on Sc... | 1,760,376,039.530122 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/10/11/toaster-oven-reflow-controllers/ | Toaster Oven Reflow Controllers | Brian Benchoff | [
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"reflow",
"reflow controller",
"reflow oven",
"solder",
"toaster oven"
] | With a lot of people who are suddenly too cool for through hole and of course the a few generations of components that are only available in SMD packages, it’s no surprise the humble toaster oven has become one of the mainstays of electronic prototyping. You’re gonna need a controller to ramp up those temperatures, so here are two that do the job quite nicely.
[Nathan]’s
Zallus Oven Controller
is a bit different than other reflow controllers we’ve seen on Kickstarter. He’s offering three versions, two with different sized touch screen displays, and one that is controlled with a PC and push buttons. The display for these is beautiful, and of course you can program your own temperature profiles.
If Kickstarter isn’t your thing, [Dirk]
created his own reflow controller
. Like the Zallus, this has a graphical display, but its homebrew lineage means it should be simpler to maintain. It uses a K-type thermocouple, and unlike every other reflow controller we’ve ever seen, [Dirk]
is actually checking the accuracy of his temperature probe
.
No, reflow oven controllers aren’t new, and they aren’t very exciting. They are, however, tools to build much cooler stuff, and a great addition to any lab. | 13 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "1984131",
"author": "Waterjet",
"timestamp": "2014-10-11T20:59:27",
"content": "“and of course the a few generations of components that are only available in”the a?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "1984300",
"author": "tekkie... | 1,760,376,039.625163 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/10/11/pcb-drill-press-gets-a-microscopic-upgrade/ | PCB Drill Press Gets A Microscopic Upgrade | James Hobson | [
"how-to",
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"pcb drill",
"pcb drill press",
"PCB microscope"
] | If you get into more complicated PCB design, you’ll find the need to drill tiny and accurate holes much more often. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a precise way of doing that? Maybe even something
as simple as strapping a $10 USB digital microscope to it?
That was [mlerman’s] thought anyway, and from the looks of it, it seems to work quite well! If you already have a PCB drill press then it’s just a matter of installing the microscope opposite the drill — align it to the center point with some cross hairs and boom you’re in business.
But if you don’t yet have a PCB drill, [mlerman’s] got you covered there too, as he explains in great detail how to modify a cheap drill press into an inverted PCB drill press.
Wait, why is it inverted? Besides making more room for the USB microscope to sit, it also ensures the microscope lens doesn’t get covered in the PCB fairy dust that would fall on it if it were in a normal orientation.
[via
Embedded-Lab
] | 13 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "1983371",
"author": "mis",
"timestamp": "2014-10-11T17:25:20",
"content": "The source material states “USB Microscope – I am using a Digimicro unit purchased on eBay for $28.00 USD, but any similar one should work. “. So the $10 figure used in this article is misleading. It isn’t wr... | 1,760,376,039.373889 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/10/11/hackaday-10th-anniversary-wrap-up/ | Hackaday 10th Anniversary: Wrap-up | Brian Benchoff | [
"Featured",
"News"
] | [
"10th anniversary",
"caleb kraft",
"eliot phillips",
"hackaday",
"Hackaday 10th Anniversary",
"phillip torrone"
] | A little more than a month ago we saw the 10 year anniversary
of the first Hackaday post ever
, and last week we had a little get together in Pasadena to celebrate the occasion. Everyone had a great time, building tiny line-following robots and LiPo chargers, listening to some great talks, and in the evening we all had a lot of fun emptying some kegs. We couldn’t ask for a better crowd, and we thank everyone who came (and those of you who watched everything on the livestream) for participating.
As far as specific people go, we need to thank [charliex], [arko] and everyone else from Null Space Labs for helping out with the weird rotary encoder two-player version of Duck Hunt. The folks from Crashspace were also there, helping out and lending a steady hand and hot soldering iron during the workshops. Shoutouts also go to [datagram] and [jon king] for running the lockpicking workshop, and [Todd Black] deserves a mention for his lithium battery charger workshop. All the speakers deserve to be mentioned again, and you can check out a playlist of their talks below:
Also of note were the previous editors of Hackaday who made a virtual appearance via Youtube. [Phil Torrone] (now of Adafruit) was busy in New York, but he did send us a video with a very interesting announcement. Adafruit
built a few limited edition Trinket Pro boards
emblazoned with the Jolly Wrencher. There will only ever be a few hundred of these things, so
grab one at the store
while they last. Hackaday’s second editor in chief, [Elliot], also showed up, as did [Caleb Kraft], our third head honcho. That only leaves [Mike Szczys] the current lord of Hackaday, but he was there in person. One of these days I’ll get them all to write down a few hundred words about their experience:
We’d like to thank everyone who showed up and made our little anniversary party possible, but limiting the congratulations to only those who could show up to the party isn’t enough. Hackaday wouldn’t exist without you. Yes, you. We simply wouldn’t be here without the millions of Hackaday readers across the globe and on every continent (yes, McMurdo. Haven’t seen one from the pole yet, but I don’t check very often).
Hackaday has been around for 10 years now, but we’re just getting started. We’re having
our first European event in a few weeks
, Our project hosting site,
hackaday.io
, is going gangbusters, and there will be some very, very cool stuff
in the Hackaday store
soon. We couldn’t have done this without you. Thank you all.
Tip ‘o the hat to [
an0va
] for the music in the timelapse.
Here’s the bandcamp
. Tell us if you like it, we’re still trying to figure out the best way to do video. | 3 | 2 | [
{
"comment_id": "1983348",
"author": "charliex",
"timestamp": "2014-10-11T17:20:07",
"content": "A fun time was HAD by all..i’m not even sorry",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1986419",
"author": "Quinn Dunki",
"timestamp": "201... | 1,760,376,039.323774 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/10/11/timelapse-photography-on-an-android-powered-dolly/ | Timelapse Photography On An Android-Powered Dolly | Bryan Cockfield | [
"Android Hacks",
"digital cameras hacks"
] | [
"android",
"camera",
"ioio",
"photography",
"stepper motor",
"time-lapse"
] | If you’re heading off on a trip to Alaska, you need to make sure you have plenty of supplies on hand for the wilderness that awaits. If you’re [Bryce], that supply list includes some interesting photography equipment,
including a camera dolly that he made to take time-lapse video
of the fantastic scenery.
On the hardware side, the dolly carries the camera on a rail that is set up on a slant. The camera starts on one side and moves up and towards the otherside which creates a unique effect in the time-lapse. The rig is driven by a stepper motor, and rides on some pretty fancy bearings. The two cameras [Bryce] plans to use are a Canon T2i and a EOS-M which sit on the top from a tripod.
The software and electronics side is interesting as well. Instead of the usual Arduino, [Bryce] opted for controlling the rig through Android and a IOIO board. This gives the project a lot of options for communications, including Bluetooth. The whole thing is powered by a 19V battery pack. If you’re looking for something a little simpler, you might want to check out the
egg timer for time lapse
! Check out the video of [Bryce]’s rig in action after the break. | 3 | 1 | [
{
"comment_id": "1983473",
"author": "pff",
"timestamp": "2014-10-11T17:53:01",
"content": "an ethernet breakout board.now i truly have seen everything",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1984233",
"author": "Bogdan",
"timestamp": ... | 1,760,376,039.703256 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/10/11/home-automation-with-a-custom-wireless-sensor-network/ | Home Automation With A Custom Wireless Sensor Network | Rick Osgood | [
"home hacks"
] | [
"arduimu",
"arduino",
"home",
"home automation",
"java",
"school",
"web server"
] | We’re no strangers to home automation projects around here, but it’s not often that you see one described in this much detail. [Paul] designed a
custom home automation system
with four teammates for an undergraduate thesis project.
The system is broken into two main components; the server and the peripherals. The team designed their peripherals from early prototypes of an upcoming ArduIMU v4 measurement unit. They removed all of the default sensors to keep costs down and reduce assembly time. The units can them be hooked up to various peripherals such as temperature sensors, mains relays, RGB color strips, etc.
The central management of the system is performed using a web-based user interface. The web server runs on Java, and interacts with the peripherals wirelessly. Basic messages can be sent back and forth to either read the state of the peripherals or to change the state. As far as the user is concerned, these messages appear as simple triggers and actions. This makes it very simple to program the peripherals using if, then, else logic.
The main project page is a very brief summary of what appears to be a very well documented project. The team has made available their
182 page final report
(pdf), which goes into the nitty-gritty details of the project. Also, be sure to watch the demonstration video below. | 5 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "1982041",
"author": "Stu",
"timestamp": "2014-10-11T09:32:56",
"content": "Interesting, but the pdf describes how it takes on the order of tens of seconds to turn things on and off, citing the slowness of the raspberry pi as the reason, only suggesting their own lack of ‘optimisatio... | 1,760,376,039.668841 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/10/10/macgyvered-optoisolator-is-a-great-introduction/ | MacGyvered Optoisolator Is A Great Introduction | Rick Osgood | [
"Arduino Hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"crash course",
"electronics",
"led",
"noise",
"optocoupler",
"optoisolator",
"photo cell",
"signal",
"tutorial"
] | Sometimes the best way to learn about a technology is to just build something yourself. That’s what [Dan] did with his
DIY optoisolator
. The purpose of an optoisolator is to allow two electrical systems to communicate with each other without being electrically connected. Many times this is done to prevent noise from one circuit from bleeding over into another.
[Dan] built his incredibly simple optoisolator using just a toilet paper tube, some aluminum foil, an LED, and a photo cell. The electrical components are mounted inside of the tube and the ends of the tube are sealed with foil. That’s all there is to it. To test the circuit, he configured an Arduino to send PWM signals to the LED inside the tube at various pulse widths. He then measured the resistance on the other side and graphed the resulting data. The result is a curve that shows the LED affects the sensor pretty drastically at first, but then gets less and less effective as the frequency of the signal increases.
[Dan] then had some more fun with his project by testing it on a simple
temperature controller circuit
. An Arduino reads a temperature sensor and if the temperature rises above a certain value, it turns on a fan to cool the sensor off again. [Dan] first graphed the sensor data with no fan hooked up. He only used ambient air to cool things down. The resulting graph is a pretty smooth curve. Next he hooked the fan up and tried again. This time the graph went all kinds of crazy. Every time the fan turned on, it created a bunch of electrical noise that prevented the Arduino from getting an accurate analog reading of the temperature sensor.
The third test was to remove the motor circuit and move it to its own bread board. The only thing connecting the Arduino circuit to the fan was a wire for the PWM signal and also a common ground. This smoothed out the graph but it was still a bit… lumpy. The final test was to isolate the fan circuit from the temperature sensor and see if it helped the situation. [Dan] hooked up his optoisolator and tried again. This time the graph was nice and smooth, just like the original graph.
While this technology is certainly not new or exciting, it’s always great to see someone learning by doing. What’s more is [Dan] has made all of his schematics and code readily available so others can try the same experiment and learn it for themselves. | 17 | 11 | [
{
"comment_id": "1981367",
"author": "TacticalNinja",
"timestamp": "2014-10-11T05:07:32",
"content": "Why not use a black heat-shrink tube? Would be neater, and without the risk of shorting with the exposed foil.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id":... | 1,760,376,039.752602 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/10/09/the-cassette-mp3-player/ | The Cassette MP3 Player | Brian Benchoff | [
"classic hacks",
"digital audio hacks"
] | [
"cassette",
"cassette tape",
"digital audio",
"mp3 player"
] | 1994 was twenty years ago. There are people eligible to vote who vaguely remember only one Bush presidency. You can have a conversation with someone born after the millennium, and they think a 3.5 inch disk is called a save icon. Starting to feel old? Don’t worry, all the trinkets of your youth have now become shells for MP3 players,
the cassette tape included
.
[Britt] is aware you can pick up one of these cassette tape MP3 players through the usual channels, but she wanted her build to be a little different. She’s using ar real, vintage cassette tape for starters, and from the outside, looks pretty much like any other cassette tape: there’s a thin strip of tape at the bottom, and the clear plastic window shows the tape is at the beginning of side A.
Outside appearances are just that; inside, there is a small, repurposed MP3 player, with tact switches wired up to the old buttons, actuated by moving the spools back and forth. Yes, you actually play, pause, rewind and fast forward by sticking a pencil in the spool and moving it back and forth. Amazing.
It’s a great build, and considering both cassette tapes and cheap MP3 players can be found in the trash these days, it’s something that should be hard to replicate. | 34 | 17 | [
{
"comment_id": "1977122",
"author": "Default",
"timestamp": "2014-10-10T05:08:44",
"content": "Shouldn’t be or should be hard to replicate? Neat GotG prop look.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "1977316",
"author": "Ryan Flowers",
"timest... | 1,760,376,039.867282 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/10/09/toddler-jukebox-requires-no-quarters-or-button-mashing/ | Toddler Jukebox Requires No Quarters Or Button Mashing | Kristina Panos | [
"Raspberry Pi"
] | [
"jukebox",
"magnets",
"NFC",
"NFC tag",
"song blocks",
"sonos",
"toddlers",
"walnut"
] | Ahh, toddlers. They’re as ham-fisted as they are curious. It’s difficult to have to say no when they want to touch and engage with the things that we love and want them to play with. [Shawn] feels this way about his son’s interest in the family Sonos system and engineered an elegant solution he calls
Song Blocks
.
The Sonos sits on a dresser that hides a RasPi B+. Using bare walnut blocks numbered 1-12, his son can use the Sonos without actually touching it. Each block has a magnet and an NFC tag. When his son sticks a block on the face of the right drawer containing embedded magnets and an NFC controller board, the B+ reads the tag and plays the song. It also tweets the song selection and artist.
The blocks themselves are quite beautiful. [Shawn] numbered them with what look like Courier New stamps and then burned the numbers in with a soldering iron. His
Python script
is on the git, and he has links to the libraries used on his build page. The Song Blocks demo video is waiting for you after the jump. | 18 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "1976776",
"author": "johnson",
"timestamp": "2014-10-10T02:58:31",
"content": "that’s awesome! what a great dad",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "1977447",
"author": "Think of the children!",
"timestamp": "2014-10-10T07:00... | 1,760,376,039.804302 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/10/09/the-triple-delta-robot-arm-and-leg/ | The Triple Delta Robot Arm (and Leg) | Brian Benchoff | [
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"3d printer",
"delta",
"delta robot",
"double delta",
"legs",
"palletizer",
"robot",
"robot arm",
"robot leg",
"triple delta"
] | By now you’d think we’ve seen just about every means of robotic actuator possible. We have Cartesian bots, Stewart platforms, SCARA bots, Delta bots, and even
some exceedingly bizarre linkages
from [Nicholas Seward]. We’re not done with odd robotic arms, it seems, and now we have
Delta-ish robots that can move outside their minimum enclosed volume
. They’re fresh from the workshop of [Aad van der Geest], and he’s calling them double and triple Deltas.
Previous Delta robots have used three universal joints to move the end effector up and down, and side to side. They’re extremely fast and are a great design for 3D printers and pick and place machines, but they do have a limitation: the tip of a single Delta can not move much further than the base of the robot.
By adding more parallelograms to a Delta, [Aad] greatly increases working volume of a his robots. One of the suggested uses for this style of bot is for palletizers, demonstrated in the video below by stacking Jenga blocks. There is another very interesting application: legs. There’s footage of a small, simple triple Delta scooting around the floor, supported by wire training wheels below. It makes a good cat toy, but we’d love to see a bipedal robot with this style of legs. | 17 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "1975978",
"author": "Gryd3",
"timestamp": "2014-10-09T23:21:54",
"content": "I’d like to know how the positional accuracy decreases with every additional linkage.Every additional linkage would also increase the amount of force the motor needs to exert.Very cool though, kudos",
"... | 1,760,376,039.955921 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/10/09/paper-plane-folding-machine-gun-is-a-mechanical-marvel/ | Paper Plane Folding Machine Gun Is A Mechanical Marvel | James Hobson | [
"3d Printer hacks"
] | [
"automated paper plane gun",
"paper plane automation"
] | A German man has just finished a very impressive Paper Airplane Machine Gun, or a
Papierflieger-Maschinenpistole,
which just sounds so much cooler. It actually takes a stack of paper, folds it into paper air planes and
shoots them.
The device takes a stack of what looks like post-card size paper in the “clip”, forms them into paper air planes by a series of rollers and folding edges and then launches them out of the end. A cheap electric screwdriver powers the entire drive train, which allows him to shoot around 20 planes per minute (PPM?).
Sadly there’s really not too much information on how it works, nor the files to reproduce it. [Papierfliegerei], as he goes by on
YouTube
, decided to build this awesome contraption to show off just what 3D printers are capable of these days. He designed the whole thing in 3D CAD and had many of the parts printed off at a 3D printing company called
fabberhouse.de
, while the rest of the components are off the shelf.
Let’s see him upgrade that electric screwdriver with a Dremel….
[via
r/videos
] | 44 | 22 | [
{
"comment_id": "1975117",
"author": "echodelta",
"timestamp": "2014-10-09T20:06:52",
"content": "Maybe he works in container line design or maintenance.Next: print motors battery controller etc in the same pass!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "... | 1,760,376,040.268277 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/10/09/hackaday-10th-anniversary-hacking-your-way-to-nasa/ | Hackaday 10th Anniversary: Hacking Your Way To NASA | Brian Benchoff | [
"Featured",
"The Hackaday Prize"
] | [
"asteroid",
"comet",
"jpl",
"Juno",
"Jupiter",
"mars",
"mars rover",
"nasa",
"space",
"space core"
] | [Steve] drives spacecraft for a living. As an engineer at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, he’s guided probes to
comets
,
asteroids
,
Mars
, and
Jupiter
, figured out what happens when telemetry from these probes starts looking weird, and fills the role of the Space Hippy whenever NASA needs some unofficial PR.
Like most people who are impossibly cool, [Steve]’s career isn’t something he actively pursued since childhood. Rather, it’s something that fell in his lap. With qualifications like building a robotic computer to typewriter interface, a custom in-car navigation system in the late 80s, and a
lot
of work with an Amiga, we can see where [Steve] got his skills.
The earliest ‘hack’ [Steve] can remember was just that – an ugly, poorly welded sidecar for his bicycle made in his early teens. From there, he graduated to Lasertag landmines, Tesla coils, and building camera rigs, including a little bit of work on
Octopussy
, and a rig for a Miata. It helps when your dad is a cinematographer, it seems.
In college, [Steve] used his experience with 6502 assembler to create one of the first computerized lighting controllers (pre-DMX). After reading a biography on [Buzz Aldrin], [Steve] realized doing his thesis on orbital rendezvous would at least be interesting, if not an exceptionally good way to get the attention of NASA.
Around this time, [Steve] ran into an engineering firm that was developing, ‘something like
Mathematica’
for the Apple II, and knowing 6502 assembly got him in the door. This company was also working to get the GPS constellation up and running, and [Steve]’s thesis on orbital mechanics eventually got him a job at JPL.
There’s several lifetimes worth of hacks and builds [Steve] went over at the end of his talk. The highlights include a C64 navigation system for a VW bug, a water drop high voltage machine, and a video editing system built from a few optical encoders. This experience with hacking and modding has served him well at work, too: when the star sensor for
Deep Space 1 failed
, [Steve] and his coworkers used the science camera as a stand in navigation aid.
One final note: Yes, I asked [Steve] if he played Kerbal Space Program. He’s heard of it, but hasn’t spent much time in it. He was impressed with it, though, and we’ll get a video of him flying around the Jool system
eventually
. | 2 | 2 | [
{
"comment_id": "1974939",
"author": "wretch",
"timestamp": "2014-10-09T19:12:45",
"content": "Good presentation, nice to see kids in the audience. I hope they will follow his example.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "1975079",
"author": "To... | 1,760,376,040.516841 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/10/09/fail-of-the-week-transparent-circuit-design-is-clearly-a-challenge/ | Fail Of The Week: Transparent Circuit Design Is Clearly A Challenge | Kristina Panos | [
"Hackaday Columns"
] | [
"acrylic",
"conductive ink",
"etching",
"laser cutter",
"plastic"
] | [Frank Zhao] wanted to try his hand at
making a transparent circuit board
. His plan was to etch the paths with a laser cutter and fill in the troughs with conductive ink. The grooves are ~0.1mm deep x ~0.8mm wide.
He used nickel ink, which is slightly cheaper than silver ink. The ink was among the least of his problems, though. At a measured resistance of several hundred ohms per inch, it was already a deal breaker since his circuit can’t function with a voltage drop above 0.3V. To make matters worse, the valleys are rough due to the motion of the laser cutter and don’t play well with the push-to-dispense nature of the pen’s tip. This caused some overflow that he couldn’t deal with elegantly since the ink also happens to melt acrylic.
[Frank] is going to have another go at it with copper foil and wider tracks. Do you think he would have fared better with silver ink and a different delivery method, like a transfer pipette? How about deeper grooves?
Fail of the Week is a Hackaday column which runs every Thursday. Help keep the fun rolling by writing about your past failures and
sending us a link to the story
— or sending in links to fail write ups you find in your Internet travels. | 76 | 36 | [
{
"comment_id": "1973995",
"author": "0xfred",
"timestamp": "2014-10-09T14:06:49",
"content": "Can copper foil be bonded to the transparent substrate and then etched in the usual way?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1974091",
"author":... | 1,760,376,040.377134 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/10/09/delta-coffee-brewing-bot/ | Delta Coffee-Brewing Bot | Ethan Zonca | [
"home hacks"
] | [
"beaglebone black",
"coffee",
"lcd display"
] | Pour-over coffee brewing is a simple and cheap hands-on alternative to using an automatic coffee maker. Although coffee aficionados often choose pour-over just for the manual brewing experience, this didn’t stop [Elias] from automating his pour-over coffee setup with an elaborate delta-robot:
the DeBrew
.
The coffee-brewing robot is built around a delta assembly from a 3d printer controlled by a BeagleBone Black. The BeagleBone drives stepper motors, displays information on a small open-source hardware
HDMI LCD display
, and serves up a web interface to control the machine. The radius of the pouring pattern, water temperature, and grind coarseness of the
DeBrew
can all be customized though its web interface.
For those who want to build their own pour-over robot, [Elias] has made a SketchUp drawing of the design and all of his Python source code
available as open-source
. Check out the video after the break where [Elias] explains how his delta pour-over bot works. | 8 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "1973567",
"author": "aztraph",
"timestamp": "2014-10-09T11:36:22",
"content": "Ok, so props for the build, saw it move, that’s good, but how does the coffee taste? never saw it brew. now if he Frankenstein’d a kurig in there, that might have been cool, put a camera so he could just... | 1,760,376,040.417252 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/10/10/ask-hackaday-who-is-going-to-build-this-pneumatic-transmission-thing/ | Ask Hackaday: Who Is Going To Build This Pneumatic Transmission Thing? | Brian Benchoff | [
"Ask Hackaday",
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"animatronic",
"disney",
"hydraulic",
"pneumatic",
"robot"
] | Disney research is doing what they do best, building really cool stuff
for Disney
and telling the rest of the world how cool they are. This time, it’s a very low friction fluid transmission device
designed for animatronics
.
From testing a few toy robotic arms, we can say without a doubt that servos and motors are not the way to go if you’re designing robots and animatronics that need lifelike motion. To fix this, a few researchers at Disney Pittsburgh have turned to pneumatics and hydraulics, where one joint is controlled by two sets of pistons. It’s extremely similar to the pneumatic LEGO, but more precise and much more lifelike.
The system uses a pair of cylinders on each joint of a robot. Disney is using a rolling diaphragm to seal the working fluid in its tubes and cylinders. This is an extremely low-friction device without any shakiness or jitters found with simple o-ring pneumatics and hydraulics.
The system is backdriveable, meaning one robotic arm can control another,
and the other way around
. Since we’re dealing with hydraulics, the cylinders (and robotic/animatronic devices) don’t need to be the same size; a small device could easily control a larger copy of itself, and vice versa.
The devices are fairly simple, with gears, toothed belts, and bits of plastic between them. The only unique part of these robots is the rolling diaphragm, and we have no idea where to source this. It looks like it would be great for some robotics or an Iron Man-esque mech suit, but being able to source the components will be a challenge.
You can check out the videos of these devices below, and if you have any idea on how to build your own, leave a note in the comments. | 59 | 28 | [
{
"comment_id": "1980980",
"author": "GuruBuckaroo",
"timestamp": "2014-10-11T02:40:16",
"content": "I realize this is a little bit of a .. well, a hack, but seems like a condom would make a good rolling diaphragm at least for proof of concept. Wear would be an issue, of course, but as long as the g... | 1,760,376,040.767091 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/10/10/10th-anniversary-trinket-pro-now-in-the-hackaday-store/ | 10th Anniversary Trinket Pro Now In The Hackaday Store | Mike Szczys | [
"News"
] | [
"10th anniversary",
"arduino compatable",
"atmega328",
"bootloader",
"Hackaday 10th Anniversary",
"trinket pro"
] | Black solder mask
and
proudly sporting the Jolly Wrencher? The
10th Anniversary Trinket Pro boards
just hit the Hackaday Store.
These were actually the suggestion of [Phil Torrone]. He founded Hackaday way back in 2004 and is now CEO of Adafruit Industries. Shortly after I asked him to record a remembrance of his time at Hackaday for the anniversary party he suggested these boards (normally blue and missing our logo) as a limited-edition for the event. It took just two weeks for them to crank out 585 of them.
I’m most likely biased for many reasons. Obviously I like putting the skull and wrenches on everything, and black solder mask is just cool. I also adore the ATmega328 (my 8-bit go-to chip for prototyping) and am especially fond of this form factor as it makes for super simple on-the-go firmware coding.
Once we sell 560 of them they will never return. We’re betting that Adafruit will have an even better minuscule breakout board for our 25th Anniversary. Do you think quantum computing will have trickled down to the single-chip prototyping stage by then?
Update:
We’ve updated shipping rates on the store. Orders over $25 in the USA now have free shipping. International shipping is free for orders over $50. We will continue to try and reduce shipping rates as much as possible. We’re new to this so stay tuned! | 32 | 12 | [
{
"comment_id": "1980453",
"author": "Lucas",
"timestamp": "2014-10-10T23:19:45",
"content": "I believe you mean black solder mask, not silk screen.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1980538",
"author": "Mike Szczys",
"timestamp"... | 1,760,376,040.480566 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/10/10/a-mobile-radio-power-controller/ | A Mobile Radio Power Controller | Brian Benchoff | [
"car hacks",
"Radio Hacks"
] | [
"amateur radio",
"automotive",
"battery power",
"car",
"mobile radio",
"yaesu"
] | [Pete], a.k.a. [KD8TBW] wanted to install his Yaesu radio in his car. From experience, he knew that having a radio in a car inevitable led to leaving it on once in a while, and this time, he wanted a device that would turn his rig on and off when the key was in the ignition. He ended up
building a mobile radio power converter
. It takes the 12V from the car when the alternator is running, and shuts everything off when the engine has stopped.
The Yaesu radio in question – an FT-8800 does have an automatic power off feature, but this is a terrible way of doing things. There is no way to turn the radio back on, and the radio must be left in a non-scanning mode.
In what he hopes to be his last design in EagleCAD, [Pete] whipped up a board featuring an ATtiny85 that measures the voltage in the car; when it’s ~14V, the alternator is working, and the radio can be switched on. When it drops to ~12V, it’s time to turn the radio off. It’s a great project, and with the 3D printed case, it can easily be shoved inside the console. Video below. | 24 | 12 | [
{
"comment_id": "1979923",
"author": "Trip",
"timestamp": "2014-10-10T20:02:36",
"content": "Was a relay and a wire to the “acc” fuse too simple?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1979964",
"author": "kajer",
"timestamp": "2014-1... | 1,760,376,040.569197 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/10/10/hackaday-10th-anniversary-jon-mcphalen-and-the-propeller/ | Hackaday 10th Anniversary: Jon McPhalen And The Propeller | Brian Benchoff | [
"Featured",
"Microcontrollers",
"The Hackaday Prize"
] | [
"10th anniversary",
"c++",
"Hackaday 10th Anniversary",
"microcontrollers",
"multicore",
"Parallax Propeller",
"propeller",
"spin"
] | [Jon] came out to our 10th anniversary mini-con to talk about the Propeller, and judging from his short introduction, his hacker cred is through the roof.
He has a page on IMDb
, and his first computer was a
COSMAC
. Around 1993, he heard of a small company introducing the BASIC Stamp, and like us with most new technology was incredulous this device could perform as advertised. He tried it, though, and for a few years after that, he was programming the BASIC Stamp every single day.
Having a lot of blinky light project under his belt, [Jon] was always struggling with interrupts, figuring out a way to blink an LED
exactly
when he wanted it to blink. A lot has changed over at Parallax since 1993, and now they’re spending time with the Propeller, an 8-core microcontroller where interrupts are a thing of the past. He showed off a huge, 10-foot tall bear from
League of Legends,
all controlled with a single Propeller, using 1000 LEDs to look like fire and flames.
[Jon] shared the architecture of the Propeller, and the inside of this tiny plastic-encapsulated piece of silicon is wild; it’s eight 32-bit microcontrollers, all sharing some ROM and RAM, controlled by something called a Cog that gives each micro access to the address, data, and IO pins.
When the Propeller was first released, there were a few questions of how the chip would be programmed. C isn’t great for multicore work, so Parallax came up with a language called Spin. It’s written for multicore microcontrollers, and from [Jon]’s little session in demo hell, it’s not that much harder to pick up than Python. Remember that hour or two where you learned the syntax of Python? Yeah, learning Spin isn’t a huge time investment.
Even though
you can program the Propeller in C and C++
, there’s a reason for Spin being the official language of the Propeller. It isn’t even that hard, and if you want to dip your toes in multicore microcontroller programming, the Propeller is the way to do it.
It’s an open source chip as well
so you can give it a try with an FPGA board. | 62 | 19 | [
{
"comment_id": "1979513",
"author": "scuffles",
"timestamp": "2014-10-10T17:50:38",
"content": "I was never a huge fan of Parallax back in the day. The Basic Stamp was competent but always struck me as too expensive for what it did. Which is probably why I gravitated towards ARM chips when I starte... | 1,760,376,040.860185 |
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