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https://hackaday.com/2014/06/10/stuff-wireless-charging-into-a-nooks-crannies/ | Stuff Wireless Charging Into A Nook’s Crannies | Kristina Panos | [
"Wireless Hacks"
] | [
"crannies",
"Nook",
"qi charger",
"wireless charging"
] | Many technologies that come about for one type of product make us want to extend it to other things. For instance, we’d like the ability to remotely unlock our front door when it’s raining or our hands are full. Once [MS3FGX] experienced Qi wireless charging with his Nexus 5, he wanted the ability to wirelessly charge all the things. The first gadget on the list was his Nook Simple Touch eReader, which
he successfully retrofit with a Qi receiver
.
Space is at a premium inside of most modern technology. As it turns out, there is a burgeoning market for shoving inductive charging receivers into things. [MS3FGX] decided to try a Qi receiver meant for a Samsung S3, and it actually fits very well behind the battery. He glued it down and then cut a channel in the battery tray for the wires.
[MS3FGX] went full hack with this one and wired it to the Nook’s USB port on the inside. He would have preferred a thinner wire, but used some from a 40-pin IDE cable with little trouble. After the operation was complete, he put it on the Qi pad and it started charging right away. To his delight, the battery increased 20% after an hour. And yes, he can still charge the Nook the traditional way without any issues.
If you want to
add wireless charging to any phone cheaply and easily
, we’ve got you covered. | 21 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "1562706",
"author": "mklimuszka",
"timestamp": "2014-06-10T20:46:31",
"content": "I thought this was going to include a model of Nook’s Crannies shop from Animal Crossing. A little disappointing, I have to say. Other than that, very cool.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
... | 1,760,376,173.807968 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/06/10/mechanical-clock-designed-for-a-cnc-router-gets-new-life-using-a-3d-printer/ | Mechanical Clock Designed For A CNC Router Gets New Life Using A 3D Printer | James Hobson | [
"3d Printer hacks",
"clock hacks"
] | [
"3D printed clock"
] | [Madis Kaasik] designed a clock a while back using Solid Edge (3D CAD) — but never got a chance to build it — until he became an exchange student at a university in Norway
with access to a big industrial 3D printer!
He had originally intended for it to be cut out using a CNC router or with a laser cutter, but when discovered he could use the university’s 3D printer he decided to give it a shot — it’s actually the very first thing he’s ever printed! The designs had to be modified a little bit for 3D printing, but now that it’s done he’s also
uploaded them to Thingiverse
for anyone to use.
It took quite a bit of fine tuning with the pendulum, weights, and gears to get it ticking properly, but what [Madis] enjoyed most about this project was the realization of just how vast the possibilities of 3D printing are — he’s excited to begin his next big 3D printing endeavor!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9vP6JB-MyM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9MQvk-PGiI
3D printed clocks are nothing new, but they are pretty tricky to get just right — [Christoph] managed to get
his accurate to 1/4 of a second per hour! | 4 | 2 | [
{
"comment_id": "1562521",
"author": "bthy",
"timestamp": "2014-06-10T18:39:45",
"content": "i just remembered i had a toy mechanical clock, that was meant to be assembled/disassembled, as a kid.. I almost forgot about it, but it was one of my favorite toys. I should go look for it and try to replic... | 1,760,376,174.250603 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/06/10/judge-spotlight-jack-ganssle/ | Judge Spotlight: Jack Ganssle | Mike Szczys | [
"Featured",
"Interviews",
"The Hackaday Prize"
] | [
"embedded systems",
"jack ganssle",
"judge",
"TheHackadayPrize"
] | This week we’re getting to know
The Hackaday Prize Judge
[Jack Ganssle] a little better. His depth of experience with embedded systems is formidable, and recently I was very interested to learn about his mission to improve the quality of the product in the embedded code universe. We’ll get to that in a little bit, but I wanted to start off with [Jack’s] answer to my final question.
Is there anything else you’d like our audience to know about you?
My entry into this field was when the first 8 bit processor (the 8008) came out, and still find it endlessly fascinating. I write a lot about embedded topics, and give talks and seminars, on all of the continents except Antarctica (so far!). We live in heavily-wooded Finksburg, MD, which is just stunning this time of year, and, since my office is in the house, the commute is pretty tolerable. Other passions include sailing; I wrote an on-line book (www.ganssle.com/jack) about racing alone across the Atlantic. Great trip, other than losing the boat.
You’ve been on the forefront of firmware for many years. How have you seen connected devices change?
No wires! It used to be that most connections were RS-232 or RS-485. Then we got GP-IB, latter codified into IEEE-488. Now there are so many near- and not-so-near-field wireless interfaces. The complexity of the protocols has skyrocketed, too.
A new(ish) shift is the availability of really inexpensive ARM Cortex-M series MCUs. Some are tens of cents in volume. Many will run on milliamps. These will make the connected device industry really take off.
I’ve long been a fan of
your research on button debounce
where you mention software solutions are more common than hardware ones. Do you have a preference between the two?
I much prefer a hardware solution because you can get a perfect debounce. However, that’s generally the wrong business decision as it is much more expensive than using software. So, the reason I did all of that research was to see how switches really behave. Turns out that engineers have their own favorite amount of time to debounce for (10 ms, 20 ms, whatever), but with no real basis for the number. That’s engineering by divine intervention. As Deming said “In God we trust; all others bring data.”
You’ll likely be interested in the code of entries in The Hackaday Prize. How do you usually advise people to produce easy-to-read code?
A friend once told me he thought C was for people who hate to type. There’s some truth to that. Clean code means plenty of white space, use of descriptive and well-thought-out names, and plenty of appropriate comments. Whenever I see a function without a well-commented header block I gag. In fact, the right way to write code is to write all of the comments first. That’s the hard part, that’s the design. Then anyone can fill in the code.
Editorial Note:
Check out [Jack’s]
Guide to Commenting Code
I recently heard
your interview on the Making Embedded Systems podcast
. It seems you are an advocate of overhauling what has become an accepted practice of developing firmware quickly and spending a long time debugging it. For people just starting out in firmware, is there a resource you would recommend for learning better practices from the start. (great place to mention your seminar)
The average embedded project spends 50% of the schedule in debugging, so I guess the other 50% is bugging.
I work with engineers all over the world, and have observed that too many are too anxious to start coding ASAP. The pattern is to write a lot of code and spend gobs of time debugging it. The average embedded project spends 50% of the schedule in debugging, so I guess the other 50% is bugging. We need to cut down on the bugging to get a well-designed product to market faster. I push this concept in my Better Firmware Faster seminar and have written a lot about this (see
http://www.ganssle.com
). Check out the Personal Software Process for some good resources. Google on Ada, as well – even if you don’t use the language, its philosophy is spot on. And everything written by Capers Jones is great.
In that interview you also mentioned code review being paramount. How can this virtue be applied well in a project that has just one code developer? Any advice for small teams of 2-3 developers?
Code review is meant to do two things: bring many eyeballs to the code, and to break the dysfunctional “write a lot of code fast without thinking too hard and start debugging” cycle. Small teams still benefit from an extra pair or two of eyes reading the code. A one-person shop makes this harder, so I recommend writing the stuff and then putting it on a metaphorical shelf for a week. Then review it yourself. Do this before doing any testing. Keep metrics – how many problems you find – and set a goal to reduce this over time. We want to do the work up front: get it right, and then use tests not so much to find bugs, but to show that it is, indeed, correct.
You often write about the hassles of project management and dealing with time crunch. We have a deadline for The Hackaday Prize. How do you normally ensure a project gets done on time?
As Douglass Adams said “I love deadlines; I like the sound of them swooshing by!” First, they have to be realistic. That means real care taken in preparing them, and no capricious changes made by the boss. It also means managing changes: change always happens, but it also has a cost (in money and/or time) and we have to account for that. And, the schedule must be managed; we need quantitative and proactive management guiding the project from day one, instead of a week before the deadline when management by shouting begins.
Though you now write and speak about the science of software engineering, you have been part of the tech communities for many years. What was the coolest hack you saw to get something done on time?
Apollo 14
. Remember that 13 was the one where the command module exploded. 14 really had to work. In lunar orbit the LM’s abort switch shorted out (probably due to a floating solder ball). Mission rules said they had 4 hours in which they could start to land, or would have to abort the mission. The folks at MIT came up with a smart but really fast software workaround, which saved the mission. Talk about cool!
There are a lot of people out there with a software background interested in embedded development. Can you speak a little about where they should target their hardware studies and how deeply they should go in order to round out their skill sets on the path to becoming firmware engineers?
I’m hearing from a lot of managers in recent years that they can’t find firmware people with a good grounding in electronics, yet it is that hardware that really defines embedded systems, and which differentiates firmware from normal, boring (in my opinion!) IT software. Every firmware person should have some knowledge of electronics. You don’t need to be an ASIC designer, but you do need to be decent with a scope and logic analyzer. The more you know about electronics, the easier it’ll be to get a job.
My
Embedded Muse newsletter
covers this. I published
a number of resources about getting started
(as I get asked about this a lot). Get a board, like Freescale’s FRDM-KL25Z ($13) and make stuff. Digilent’s
Analog Parts Kit
is a great resource to learn about analog electronics. I’m a big fan of The Radio Amateur’s Handbook as a resource to learn about electronics in general.
Photo Credit:
8008
by Konstantin Lanzet – CPU Collection Konstantin Lanzet
CC BY-SA 3.0
ARM chip
by Viswesr
CC BY-SA 3.0
RC Debounce
via The Ganssle Group
Egg Timer
by Hustvedt
CC BY-SA 3.0
Apollo 14 Insignia
The Hackaday Prize
challenges you to build the future of connected devices. Build the best and claim a trip into space or one of hundreds of other prizes. | 11 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "1562154",
"author": "Sheldon",
"timestamp": "2014-06-10T14:35:38",
"content": "“In fact, the right way to write code is to write all of the comments first.”So many times in life I’ve almost smashed keyboards over other engineer’s heads because of the quality (or typically, lack) of ... | 1,760,376,173.94208 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/06/10/diy-embroidery-machine-sews-your-name-in-your-undies/ | DIY Embroidery Machine Sews Your Name In Your Undies | Rich Bremer | [
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"embroidery",
"sewing machine",
"sewing machine hack"
] | If you were in the market for a sewing machine with embroidery capabilities, you’d either be spending a bunch of money or settling for a lower-cost machine that can only do a handful of pre-programmed designs. A DIYer by the name of [SausagePaws] came up with a 3rd option, he would
build one himself
. He was also highly motivated, [Mrs SausagePaws] wanted one!
An off the shelf embroidery machine is similar to a standard sewing machine except the movement of the fabric is done automatically rather than by hand. Not only does the work move, but it has to move in time with the needle traveling up and down. [SausagePaws] took a no-nonsense approach and decided the simplest way to go about the task was to mount an
embroidery hoop
to the end of an XY drive system.
The X and Y axes consist of NEMA 17 stepper motors, timing belts and v-wheels that ride on aluminum extrusion. There isn’t a lot of information available on how the needle position detection was accomplished. There is, however, mention of spring steel being used… maybe when the needle travels up it contacts the spring steel, closing a circuit and effectively becoming a switch.
A custom written app communicates with a PIC Microcontroller which provides the stepper motor control based on the design file and needle position. Unfortunately, no information is provided regarding the PIC code or controller app. Even so, this is a neat project and shows that it can be done.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6JFxtSsWpw | 32 | 15 | [
{
"comment_id": "1561946",
"author": "kaushleshchandel",
"timestamp": "2014-06-10T12:02:55",
"content": "One of the best work!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "1561963",
"author": "Stefan_z",
"timestamp": "2014-06-10T12:08:09",
"conte... | 1,760,376,173.883288 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/06/10/measuring-car-engine-rpm-via-the-cigarette-lighter/ | Measuring Car Engine RPM Via The Cigarette Lighter | Mathieu Stephan | [
"car hacks"
] | [
"DeLorean",
"engine",
"fft",
"oscilloscope",
"rpm"
] | Sometimes we forget how many things we can do with a simple oscilloscope. In
this video
[Ben] uses one that Tektronix lent him to measure his DeLorean engine RPM. By checking the car main ~12V voltage one may notice that the voltage spikes occurring are directly related to the engine speed, as they are created by the inductive kicks from the ignition coils. Obviously the multiplication you have to do to get the RPMs from the number of spikes per second depends on your engine configuration (flat 4, v6…).
The method that [Ben] used was to search for high amplitude spikes on the (AC coupled) car 12V Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) to get a reliable measurement given the many electrical noise sources present in his car. At the end of his video, he however mentioned that it could still be possible to get a good measurement with a simple voltage comparator and a high enough voltage reference. | 57 | 21 | [
{
"comment_id": "1561562",
"author": "Phrewfuf",
"timestamp": "2014-06-10T08:03:07",
"content": "> The method that [Ben] used was to search for high amplitude spikes on the (AC coupled) car 12V Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) to get a reliable measurement given the many electrical noise sources present... | 1,760,376,174.207808 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/06/09/hacking-a-magsafe-connector-for-your-iphone/ | Hacking A MagSafe Connector For Your IPhone | James Hobson | [
"Cellphone Hacks"
] | [
"iphone 5",
"magsafe",
"magsafe iphone"
] | The MagSafe power connector for Apple MacBooks is probably one of the handiest features they developed — we’re not too sure why it hasn’t been integrated onto iPhones yet. [Tony Hoang] isn’t sure either, but that didn’t stop him
making his very own!
Due to the size of the MagSafe adapter, it’s simply not possible to integrate it directly into an iPhone, so [Tony] took his trusty Otter-box case and modified it instead. He’s using a Qi wireless charging receiver on the inside of the case, because it has a very slim ribbon cable to the USB. Modifying that he was able to solder on the MagSafe adapter directly to the ribbon cable. In order for it to fit nicely through the case, he
3D printed an adapter bracket
for it to stay nice and secure.
From there it was just a matter of soldering the MagSafe power cable onto a 5V USB power brick, and boom-bada-bing, he’s got a MagSafe compatible iPhone. Previously he’s done
this mod to a Samsung Note II
, and plenty of other people have added it to laptops and
ultrabooks! | 23 | 11 | [
{
"comment_id": "1561333",
"author": "...",
"timestamp": "2014-06-10T05:12:16",
"content": "Why not simply use the wireless charging? This seems like a waste of a wireless charger and magsafe charger…",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1561370",
... | 1,760,376,174.090604 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/06/09/a-head-unit-docking-station/ | A Head Unit Docking Station | Brian Benchoff | [
"Android Hacks",
"Transportation Hacks"
] | [
"cell phone dock",
"charging",
"USB host mode"
] | [Ivan] had a simple idea: being able to control his Android device from the small keypad on his car’s steering column. This would allow him to cycle through apps, navigation, and audio tracks while never taking his hands off the wheel. Feature creep then set in and [Ivan] asked himself how he could charge his phone through the same interface. What he ended up with is
a head unit that’s also a dock
.
While [Ivan]’s steering wheel doesn’t have the nice integrated remote control buttons found in newer cars, he does have a Blaupunkt remote, a small, clip-on controller that has a an IR transmitter on it. The IR receiver was connected to a PIC microcontroller, sending commands to the phone for up, down, left, right, menu, and home. Audio output from the phone is handled by a small USB sound card connected to a USB hub, sending the audio signals directly into the head unit’s amplifier.
Having the phone charge while it’s still in USB host mode is the crucial part of this build; not being able to charge on a long car ride would quickly drain the battery and make a car dock kind of pointless. To accomplish this, [Ivan] simulated a Galaxy S4 dock with a few resistors in the USB port, allowing the phone to control the USB sound card, listen to the emulated keyboard and mouse, and charge at the same time.
It’s not a pretty build, but it is extraordinarily useful. In the videos you can see that [Ivan] pretty much pulled this build together from stuff he had sitting around – a great reuse of junk, and a great addition to his car at the same time. | 22 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "1561066",
"author": "Robert",
"timestamp": "2014-06-10T02:52:25",
"content": "I do this type of work all day, we use Crestron Systems to link and control everything from small touchscreen as well iPads and iPhone. We build custom luxury tour buses and motor homes.",
"parent_id":... | 1,760,376,174.691453 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/06/09/thp-entry-an-affordable-metal-3d-printer-2/ | THP Entry: An Affordable Metal 3D Printer | Brian Benchoff | [
"The Hackaday Prize"
] | [
"3D metal printer",
"3d printer",
"reprap",
"The"
] | For years now, people have been trying to develop an affordable, RepRap-derived 3D printer that will create objects in metal. There has been a lot of work with crazy devices like high-powered lasers, and electron beams, but so far no one has yet developed a machine that can print metal objects easily, cheaply and safely. For The Hackaday Prize,
[Sagar] is taking a different tack for his metal 3D printer
: he’s extruding low temperature alloys just like a normal 3D printer would extrude plastic.
[Sagar]’s printer is pretty much a carbon copy of one of the many ‘plastic-only’ 3D printers out there, the only change being in the extruder and hot end. As a material, he’s using an alloy of 95.8% tin, 4% copper, and 0.2% silver in a 3mm diameter spool. This alloy melts at 235° C, about the same temperature as the ABS plastic these printers normally use.
The only real problems with this build are the extruder and nozzle. [Sagar] is milling his own nozzle and hot end out of stainless steel; a challenging bit of machining, but still within the realm of a hobbyist. He has some doubts about the RepRap derived plastic geared extruder being able to handle metal, so he’s also looking at designing a new version and milling that out of stainless as well.
It’s an awesome project, and we hope we’ll be seeing some updates to the project shortly. While a 3D printer that produces objects out of a low temperature alloy won’t be building rocket engines any time soon, it could be a great way to fabricate some reasonably high-strength parts at home.
The project featured in this post is an entry in
The Hackaday Prize
. Build something awesome and win a trip to space or hundreds of other prizes. | 41 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "1560696",
"author": "Hirudinea",
"timestamp": "2014-06-09T23:04:46",
"content": "Just how strong is this metal anyway?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1560745",
"author": "Thomas Shaddack",
"timestamp": "2014-0... | 1,760,376,174.025265 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/06/09/ask-hackaday-program-passes-turing-test-but-is-it-intelligent/ | Ask Hackaday: Program Passes Turing Test, But Is It Intelligent? | Will Sweatman | [
"Ask Hackaday",
"Hackaday Columns"
] | [
"artificial intelligence",
"turing"
] | A team based in Russia has developed a program that has
passed the iconic Turing Test
. The test was carried out at the Royal Society in London, and was able to convince 33 percent of the judges that it was a 13-year-old Ukrainian boy named Eugene Goostman.
The
Turing Test
was developed by [Alan Turing] in 1950 as an existence proof for intelligence: if a computer can fool a human operator into thinking it’s human, then by definition the computer must be intelligent. It should be noted that [Turing] did not address what intelligence
was
, but only tried to identify human like behavior in a machine.
Thirty years later, a philosopher by the name of [
John Searle
] pointed out that even a machine that could pass the Turing Test would still not be intelligent. He did this through a fascinating thought experiment called “
The Chinese Room
“.
Consider an English speaking man sitting at a desk in a small room with a slot in one of the walls. At his desk is a book with instructions, written in English, on how to manipulate, sort and compare Chinese characters. Also at his desk are pencils and scratch paper. Someone from the outside pushes a piece of paper through the slot. On the paper is a story and a series of questions, all written in Chinese. The man is completely ignorant of the Chinese language, and has no understanding whatsoever of what the paper means.
So he toils with the book and the paper, carrying out the instructions from the book. After much scribbling and erasing, he completes the instructions from the book, with the last instruction telling him to push the paper back out of the slot.
Outside the room, a Chinese speaker reads the paper. The answers to the questions about the story are all correct, even insightful. She comes to the conclusion that the mind in the room is intelligent. But is she right? Who understood the story? Certainly not the man in the room, he was just following instructions. So where did the understanding occur? Searle argues that indeed, no understanding did occur. The man is the CPU, mindlessly executing instructions. The book is the software, the scratch paper memory. Thus no matter the design of a computer to simulate intelligence by producing the same behavior as a human, it can not be considered truly intelligent.
Let us know you thoughts about this below. Do you think the Eugene Goostman program is intelligent? Why/why not? | 119 | 45 | [
{
"comment_id": "1560393",
"author": "Fred",
"timestamp": "2014-06-09T20:08:48",
"content": "What if the Chinese then writes another series of questions and passes it through the slot ? The man would not be able to answer and he would fail the test. The (chinese speaking) computer could be able to... | 1,760,376,174.517546 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/06/09/a-closer-look-at-newmatters-mod-t-3d-printer/ | A Closer Look At New Matter’s MOD-t 3d Printer | Ben Delarre | [
"News"
] | [
"3d printer"
] | So last week the SupplyFrame office Prusa i3 finally gave up the ghost — the z-axis threaded rods unwound themselves from their couplers and the whole thing fell apart. So we needed to get some better couplers as our tubing wasn’t going to cut the mustard anymore. Thankfully Pasadena is full of 3d printer people! Within a few blocks of our office we have New Matter, DeezMaker, and a soon to be announced 3d printer from ToyBuilderLabs.
The one everyone is talking about right now is
New Matter
who recently announced
an already successful fundraising campaign
for the first run of their $250 3d printer, the MOD-t. This has been making the rounds recently due to its low price and stated aim of bringing 3d printing into the home of the masses (a tale as old as time, right?). It’s a lovely goal for sure, but they will definitely have their work cut out for them, but perhaps this is the team to make it happen? We decided to head over to their lab since it’s just around the corner from our office and see if we could get them to print some new couplers and maybe take a look at their printer while we were at it, videos and pictures after the break!
The mechanics
They have been working with
frog
to design a 3d printer that people will be comfortable to have in their homes, and we think they’ve done a pretty good job on that front. It certainly looks pretty, but we’re hackers so we wanted to see under the hood. While they don’t have a working version of the final model yet, we did get to see one of their prototypes up close and personal. We honestly haven’t seen a 3d printer built with fewer components than this, they’ve really managed to boil it down to the bare essentials, while still keeping it functional. Take a look at the pictures…
Front of the New Matter production model.
Side shot of the New Matter production model
The first MOD-t prototype
That’s the entire Y axis mechanism, simple huh?
Even the extruder is simple
The New Matter MOD-t prototype
Their key mechanical design breakthrough is their rack and pinion driven XY bed, they’ve managed to do away with all the bearings, smooth rods, and threaded rod screws and replaced them with a simple mechanism of two pinions that the bed sits upon. The bed itself is a simple block of plastic with the racks attached underneath, this sits on the pinions and is then driven around the XY axes as they turn. This really is quite ingenious, but we had to wonder if this would have any negative issues, for instance could dirt and other crud get stuck in the gear system? Was there any backlash in the gears? Does the build plate bounce around at high speeds?
We asked [Steve Schell], New Matter’s CTO about this:
Any small debris that finds its way onto the pinion rods tends to get swept out of the way as the table slides along the length of the rod (remember the rack & pinion interface both meshes and slides). Large debris could cause an issue, but we just haven’t seen any real source for this type of debris in our testing to date.
We also took a close look at the gear system as it was moving around and there is very little backlash (if any) in the system at all, [Steve] says they were very careful to select the right rack and pinions and ensure their assembly process works to tight tolerances and it seems to have done the job. Finally the build plate is apparently heavy enough to keep it down on the pins even at higher speeds. They get 80mm/s print and 200mm/s maximum slew speed out of the printer which is fairly respectable given the design and they say that they haven’t had any issues with the bed at this speed. Check the video out below for a closer look at the bed during printing.
The removable bed really is a great benefit of the rack and pinion design, no more struggling with the printer to remove a part, just pop the bed off, set it aside to cool and pop another bed in to get started printing again straight away. We asked [Steve] if they planned on selling replacement beds, but they weren’t yet sure on the price or when they would be available.
We do plan to sell spare / replacement beds, but haven’t set a price. It’s not a very expensive component, but we’ll need to factor in packaging, handling, shipping, etc. in order to determine a retail price.
We were also very concerned that we saw no mechanism to level the bed, here’s what Steve had to say:
Since the bed is moving in both of the horizontal axes relative to a stationary extruder, there’s absolutely no need for bed leveling. Our testing confirms this, as we’ve done nothing in the construction or calibration of our prototypes to correct for any sort of bed leveling. All that is required for good consistent adhesion of the first layer is (a) straight pinion rods, which we control with the vendor and our manufacturing process and (b) tight tolerances on the build plate and its molded-in gear racks, which we also control in our manufacturing process.
This brings us round to their manufacturing process. We all prefer open source designs here, and sadly the MOD-t is not open source. But it appears this is largely to due with the manufacturing processes they will be using to produce the machine. While they could open source it, who is realistically going to spin up a fab house with custom boards, injection molded parts, and machined assemblies to reproduce the design? They have also been working hard to find the right suppliers that will allow them to hit their $250 price point and not go broke doing it. For instance, they’re using optical encoders with their DC motors for accurate positioning, this is usually quite expensive on small runs but since they are planning for tens of thousands they can start getting to scales that make it cost efficient over stepper motors.
The software
The software side of things is still in heavy development, they plan ultimately to have a single ‘push button print’ approach from their store in the browser. This really is a necessity for the device to reach the mass market as we really don’t think you can get a wider consumer market to use Slic3r or Skeinforge! So they are keeping the store very tightly controlled, everything on the store should print perfectly out of the box, no calibration, no messing with settings etc. As such the store is essentially DRM controlled, more out of necessity than anything else.
That’s not to say that the machine itself is though, we’ve been assured it takes standard GCode and standard PLA 1.75mm filament. Any controlling software you would usually use on your reprap or similar device will work. Of course, you’ll then be stuck tweaking settings as you are with all 3d printers, but that’s the trade off.
The prints!
New Matter were kind enough to print us 2 new sets of
Whosawhatsis’ Buko Z coupler v2
for our printer, these came out fairly nice and were not too difficult to install in-place on our machine without disassembling everything. Of course we screwed up and these couplers don’t fit with our X axis parts meaning we need to raise the bed and spend yet more time fiddling with the printer rather than actually — you know — printing stuff.
Catch the video below for some up close action shots of the MOD-t prototype and let us know what you think of the mechanical design in the comments!
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtYBNwyAIR8&w=580]
New Matter engineers explaining the print bed mechanism
MOD-t printing a phone case
The Hackaday sticker makes the laptop go faster.
New Matter’s workbench is as simple as their printer!
Prototype electronics, this will all be optimized and shrunk for production.
Calibrating!
Some sample prints out of the MOD-t prototype | 51 | 19 | [
{
"comment_id": "1560133",
"author": "repkid",
"timestamp": "2014-06-09T17:13:07",
"content": "I thought it was a hoax due to lack of info but it seems they’re legit. Nice piece of kit!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "1560150",
"author": "sl... | 1,760,376,174.34876 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/06/09/video-the-lowly-diode-umpteen-functions-with-only-two-pins/ | Video: The Lowly Diode — Umpteen Functions With Only Two Pins | Bil Herd | [
"Featured",
"hardware"
] | [
"cat's whisker diode",
"diode",
"schottky",
"zener"
] | The lowly diode, a device with only two leads, can nonetheless do many things. Diodes can detect, rectify, suppress, emit light, detect light, change capacitance, emit microwaves and more. This wide range of use means diodes are included in almost every design and it’s well worth
learning more about the inner workings of all kinds of diodes
.
My introduction to diodes started like many of my generation with a homemade crystal radio set. My first diode was a piece of pencil graphite in contact with an old fashion safety razor with the joint of the two dissimilar materials — graphite and steel — creating the diode. In this configuration the diode is said to be “detecting” which is the act of turning a weak radio signal into a weak audio signal. At least in my home town of Marion Indiana, one radio station was stronger than the other so that I didn’t have to listen to two stations at once.
The venerable 1N34A Germanium Signal Diode.
I eventually learned about “real” diodes and the 1N34A Germanium diode was my “goto” diode into my teens. Nowadays looking into a modern version of the 1N34A you can still see the semblance of the old “
cat’s whisker
” by looking carefully into the diode.
A quick and somewhat inaccurate semblance of the way a diode works can be demonstrated with marbles and jacks representing negative electrons and positive “holes”. Holes are basically an atom missing an electron due to the combination of elements, a process known as doping. Join me after the break for the explanation.
Demonstrating a PN Junction with marbles and Jacks.
At rest some of the electrons and holes combine to produce an electrically neutral atom that acts as an insulator since electrons cannot readily jump to and from the atom now that it’s locked up.
If we apply a voltage in a reverse direction, holes and electrons pull away from the center and no current flows, the central zone, known as the depletion zone, gets larger. Connecting a voltage in a way that makes more electrons, (more “potential”) available to the N material starts to push electrons across neutral barrier a process known as breakdown. In the video I show the electrons (marbles) pushing the depletion off one end, in real life there is a crystal lattice and holes are flowing in one direction while electrons are flowing in the other, the goal was to show a simple difference about why a reverse connected diode works different that a forward biased diode.
Schottky and Zener Diodes
A standard Silicon Diode shown in an AC and DC circuits.
Schottky Diodes are available that offer a lower Forward Voltage Drop than silicon which also means less power dissipation. As a quick visual of the difference between a silicon diode and a Schottky diode we subjected the devices to a 1 volt ramp signal and visually demonstrate the differences as shown below.
Demonstrating a Schottky diode in an AC and DC circuit.
It should be noted that this isn’t a common way to use these devices, this was mostly to show the proportion of a 1 volt signal that the diode selection can affect. In the older days we mostly saw Schottky in RF applications as the low capacitance and fast recovery time worked well at high frequencies.
Another piece of information that I picked up while young was that a good number of Zener Diodes were not really true Zener Diodes they were in fact avalanche diodes. With that said they did pretty act much like their Zener cousins and so the lack of visible differences allowed users to indiscriminately use either.
Alas, back then in the
before time
, there was no Internet to look up or verify facts like this, so one pretty much had to commit brains cells for storing the semi-useful facts on the off chance it would make be needed some day. Also I must admit that I was curious if I could tell the difference between the two so out came the 5 digit Keithly VOM and a heat gun.
Voltage change with heat: Avalanche diode on top, Zener on bottom.
As it turns out the identification between a Zener and Avalanche diode can be ascertained by checking whether it has a positive or negative coefficient (reaction to heat). Shown are two different voltage diodes after the meter has been zeroed and the diodes heated. An interesting fact is that at around 5.6V the breakdown voltage is due to roughly half from the Zener effect and half from the Avalanche which results in the temperature characteristics tending to cancel out.
If this discussion got you thinking about the effects of temperature change, make sure you watched
my video about calculating component heat
.
Crude Voltage Regulation
Common Base voltage regulator.
A very common voltage regulator was made back then with a power transistor in a Common Base configuration with the base voltage set by the 5.6v Zener. The circuit shown here is a somewhat crude regulator and didn’t have the kind of load regulation and other qualities we assume that we get with our 3 terminal regulators.
Whether the diode is a Zener or Avalanche (or both) isn’t real important if the part is specified correctly, with the exception that transient voltage suppression diodes tend to be Avalanche style.
Finally when working with analog circuits where the forward voltage drop is significant, an OpAmp can be used to overcome the drop while still providing a directional conduction. In this case the diode is included in a negative feedback loop where most of the undesirable effects are canceled out. Shown working here as a simple rectifier, variations of this circuit find their ways into peak and hold circuits and audio detectors.
Oscilliscope showing diode in an opamp feedback loop
Low voltage drop Diode: Diode contained within an Op Amp feedback loop.
Op Amp with Diode in negative feedback loop. | 28 | 12 | [
{
"comment_id": "1559986",
"author": "Jerrry Cook",
"timestamp": "2014-06-09T15:00:48",
"content": "Stopped watching after 3:00Is this a troll video or something? WTF?!?!?!?!!!!!!!!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1560067",
"author": "... | 1,760,376,174.771164 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/06/08/the-development-of-a-hardware-random-number-generator/ | The Development Of A Hardware Random Number Generator | Brian Benchoff | [
"hardware"
] | [
"avalanche",
"random number generator",
"rng"
] | [Ian] had a need for a lot of random numbers. There are dozens of commercial offerings when it comes to RNGs, but there are also hundreds of different ways for an electronics hobbyist to shoot random bits at a serial port. One of these methods is an RNG based on the avalanche breakdown noise in a PN junction. As with any circuit in hobbyist electronics, there are dozens of prototypes floating out there on the web, but not too many finished projects. [Ian] decided he would build one of these RNGs as a prototype and
bring it to something resembling a finished project
.
An avalanche noise RNG takes advantage of the fact that a strongly reverse-biased PN junction, like one found in a transistor, will create a condition where one electron knocks another electron out of place, leading to a sustained chain reaction. It’s quantum, it’s chaotic, it makes for a great source for a random number generator, and there are already dozens of prototype circuits around the Internet.
[Ian] took
one of these circuit designs
by [Will Ware] and started the iterations that would lead to a finished design. Round one was a simple PCB with the basic circuit and a power supply. Just a few transistors, resistors, and a DC/DC boost converter. Confirming the circuit was generating noise, the next iteration brought in an ADC and an ARM micro with a USB interface. Iterating over this again with an improved ADC – 20 megasamples per second – the design finally reached a point where a final PCB could be designed.
In the end, [Ian] turned a simple circuit that could have been built on a breadboard into a USB device that throws 9kB/s of random data into a computer. The data are actually good, too: the project
passed most of the Dieharder test suite
, making it very useful for whatever crypto or gaming application [Ian] has in mind. | 22 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "1557893",
"author": "Dajgoro",
"timestamp": "2014-06-08T16:12:28",
"content": "I built a random number generator in a different way using only discrete logic gates, take a look:http://hackaday.io/project/384-CMOS-random-generator",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies... | 1,760,376,174.837554 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/06/08/isee-3-on-track-to-come-home/ | ISEE-3: On Track To Come Home | Brian Benchoff | [
"Featured"
] | [
"Arecibo",
"be sure not to warp through the soi transition",
"ISEE-3",
"sdr",
"software-defined radio"
] | Intended trajectory from ICE team in 1986 (blue), 2001 ephemeris of ISEE-3 (white) and current ephemeris (red/green). Click to embiggen.
When last we heard
of the progress of commanding the derelict ISEE-3 satellite into stable orbit between the Earth and the sun, the team had just made contact with the probe using the giant dish in Arecibo, sent a few commands, and started gathering data to plot where the spacecraft is and where it will be. A lot has happened in a week, and the team is now happy to report
the spacecraft is alive and well
, and much, much closer to the intended trajectory than initially believed.
Before last week, the best data on where ISEE-3 was heading was from a 13-year-old data set, leaving the project coordinators to believe a maneuver of about 50-60 m/s was necessary to put the spacecraft into the correct orbit between the Earth and the sun.
With new data from Arecibo
, that figure has been reduced to about 5.8 m/s, putting it extremely close to where the original ICE navigation team intended it to go, all the way back in 1986. This also gives the team a bit of breathing room; the original planned maneuver to capture the spacecraft required nearly a third of the available fuel on board. The new plan only requires the spacecraft expend about 5% of its fuel stores. This, of course, brings up the idea of continuing the planned mission of the rebooted ISEE-3 beyond the Earth-Sun L1 point, but that is very much putting the cart before the horse.
Of course, getting ranging data of the spacecraft is only a small part of what has happened with the ISEE-3 part this week. Thanks to the ‘away team’ sent to Arecibo to install hardware and attempt to make contact with the satellite,
both transceivers are working
, telemetry is being downloaded from the probe, and work has begun on refining the exact position of ISEE-3 to compute where and when the spacecraft needs to make its maneuver.
Regular Hackaday feature and software defined radio god [Balint] was on hand with the away team at Arecibo to install his company’s SDR unit on the largest dish on the planet.
His happy dance
of the first data from ISEE-3 made the blog rounds, but
the presentation
(PDF)
and photo gallery
tell the story of working on the largest dish on the planet much better.
There’s still a lot of work to be done by the ISEE-3 team as they figure out how best to capture the spacecraft and prepare for the burn in the following week. They should have the exact orbit of ISEE-3 nailed down early this week, and after that, ISEE-3 could on a path back home in less than two weeks. | 15 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "1557556",
"author": "Galane",
"timestamp": "2014-06-08T11:34:03",
"content": "Like dragging an old car out of a barn, pouring a bit of gasoline down the carb then turning the key and having it fire up before even turning over one revolution.Won’t be happening with that recently aban... | 1,760,376,175.088573 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/06/08/attiny-pwm-generator-and-servo-tester/ | Attiny PWM Generator And Servo Tester | Nick Conn | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"attiny",
"instructable",
"pulse-width modulation",
"pwm",
"servo",
"servo motor",
"tool"
] | Having the right tool for the job makes all the difference, especially for the types of projects we feature here at Hackaday. [Jana Marie] must agree with this sentiment, one of her latest projects involves building a tool to
generate a PWM signal and test servos
using an Attiny25/45/85.
Tools come in all
kinds
of
different
shapes and
sizes
. Even if it might not be as widely used as [Jana’s] earlier work that
combines an oscilloscope and signal generator
, having a tool that you can rely upon to test servos and generate a PWM can be very useful. This well written Instructable provides all the details you need to build your own, including the schematic and the necessary code (
available on GitHub
). The final PWM generator looks great. For simple projects, sometimes a protoboard is all you need. It would be very cool to see a custom PCB made for this project in the future.
What tools have you build recently? Indeed, there is a tool for every problem. Think outside the (tool) box and
let us know
what you have made! | 21 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "1557258",
"author": "Tony",
"timestamp": "2014-06-08T08:02:59",
"content": "Speed reading tool?Only tools think that works,",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1557411",
"author": "Sven",
"timestamp": "2014-06-08T0... | 1,760,376,175.030178 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/06/07/printable-lamp-assembles-itself/ | Printable Lamp Assembles Itself | James Hobson | [
"3d Printer hacks",
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"self assembling devices"
] | With the advent of 3D printers, printable circuits, and other “one-machine-to-rule-them-all” automated systems, printing fully functional items is fast becoming a reality. The
lamp seen above
starts out as a flat piece of cardboard with circuits printed onto it — apply some electricity and it will fold itself up, creating a lamp — it even has a capacitive touch sensor for turning it on!
This ingenuity comes straight from Harvard researchers who presented the project “Self-assembling Sensors for Printable Machines” at the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) just last Tuesday in Hong Kong. It’s not fully printable (wires and the LED had to be soldered in by hand) but it’s an amazing proof of concept — there’s also an Arduino off-screen taking care of controlling it.
The cardboard is a sandwich of shape-memory polymers which are triggered by heat, generated by running electricity through thin layers of copper trace. It takes a long time to assemble so the following video has been sped up 32x speed.
Fascinating stuff!
[Via
Hacked Gadgets
] | 14 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "1557256",
"author": "arjo129",
"timestamp": "2014-06-08T08:01:11",
"content": "Im gonna clone one of these when I get the time…. seems pretty awesome. Just wonder how much current this contraption draws…",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"commen... | 1,760,376,174.898019 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/06/07/customized-ipad-lcd-screen-clips-onto-macbook-as-a-slick-second-screen/ | Customized IPad LCD Screen Clips Onto Macbook As A Slick Second Screen | Rick Osgood | [
"Tablet Hacks"
] | [
"3d printer",
"apple",
"display port",
"ipad",
"laser cutter",
"lcd",
"macbook",
"milling machine",
"screen"
] | Last year, [Ben] found a good deal on iPad 3 LCD screens. He couldn’t resist buying a couple to play around with. It didn’t take him long to figure out that it’s actually quite simple to
use these LCD screens with any computer
. This is because the LCD panels have built-in Apple Display port interfaces. This means that you can add your own Display Port connector to the end of the LCD’s ribbon connector and just plug it into a computer. You’ll also need to hook up a back light driver, which [Ben] was able to find pre-made for around $35.
The hack doesn’t stop there, though. [Ben] wanted to have a
nice, finished product
. He laser cut an acrylic bezel for the LCD screen that was a perfect fit. He then milled out a space for the LCD to fit into. The acrylic was thick enough to accommodate the screen and all of the cables. To cover up the back, [Ben] chose to use the side panel of a PowerMac G5 computer case. He chose this mainly for aesthetics. He just couldn’t resist the nice brushed aluminum look with the giant Apple logo. It would be a perfect match to his Macbook.
Once the LCD panel was looking nice, [Ben] still needed a way to securely fasten it in the right place. He knew he’d want it next to his Macbook, so why not attach it directly to the Macbook? [Ben] got to work with his 3D printer and printed up some small plastic clips. The clips are glued to the iPad screen’s acrylic bezel and can be easily clipped on and off of the Macbook screen in seconds. This way his laptop is still portable, but he has the extra screen real estate when he needs it. [Ben] also printed up a plastic clip that turns the iPad’s USB power connector and the Display Port connector into one single connector. While this is obviously not required, it does effectively turn two separate plugs into one and makes the whole project that much more slick. | 20 | 11 | [
{
"comment_id": "1556863",
"author": "Hirudinea",
"timestamp": "2014-06-08T02:39:50",
"content": "Sweet, but it strikes me that if he had bought a cheap iPad 1 he could have the same outboard screen and a touch screen to boot. (I assume I don’t know exactly what that hack would involve.)",
"pare... | 1,760,376,174.964958 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/06/07/three-phase-submersible-thruster-is-open-source-and-awesome/ | Three-Phase Submersible Thruster Is Open Source And Awesome | James Hobson | [
"3d Printer hacks",
"Transportation Hacks"
] | [
"submersible",
"submersible thruster"
] | Have you ever considered building some kind of underwater vehicle? It’s rather ambitious but [Dane] of Transistor-Man has designed and built a working
submersible 3-phase electric thruster
— and he’s released the plans online for all to share!
He decided to make this for his 3D printed canoe (another awesome project) which is possible due to his
massive SCARA robot 3D printer
. The thruster makes use of readily available off the shelf components, but with 3D printed cones for decreased water resistance and other manufactured parts. The housing is water-jet cut, and the poly-carbonate tube had grooves for seals made using a lathe. The amount of detail in his build logs is incredible — he’s fully modeled all parts in what looks like SolidWorks and uploaded detailed images and designs of all the parts.
The trickiest part of the build was making it water-tight. His first test was to submerge it in a water bath for 8 minutes, and once that was proven, he filled the inside with 5W-20 oil to make sure it wouldn’t leak the other way as well. One of his project goals is for this thruster to work 1 meter underwater without losing more than 10ml of the coolant (oil) per hour.
It’s a seriously impressive project — just take a look at the following videos! | 25 | 14 | [
{
"comment_id": "1556521",
"author": "Tyler",
"timestamp": "2014-06-07T23:05:50",
"content": "While it is indeed a three phase motor, they usually aren’t ever called as such. It’s a BLDC motor, which all have at least three phases, but usually just get called “BLDC”. I am disappointed to see that th... | 1,760,376,175.1542 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/06/07/track-your-dog-with-this-diy-gps-harness/ | Track Your Dog With This DIY GPS Harness | Rick Osgood | [
"gps hacks",
"Wearable Hacks"
] | [
"adafruit",
"arduino",
"dog",
"FLORA",
"gps",
"harness",
"pet",
"tracking"
] | Have you ever wondered how far your dog actually runs when you take it to the park? You could be a standard consumer and purchase a GPS tracking collar for $100 or more, or you could follow [Becky Stern’s] lead and build your own simple but effective
GPS tracking harness
.
[Becky] used two FLORA modules for this project; The FLORA main board, and the FLORA GPS module. The FLORA main board is essentially a small, sewable Arduino board. The GPS module obviously provides the tracking capabilities, but also has built-in data logging functionality. This means that [Becky] didn’t need to add complexity with any special logging circuit. The GPS coordinates are logged in a raw format, but they can easily be pasted into Google Maps for viewing as demonstrated by [Becky] in the video after the break. The system uses the built-in LED on the FLORA main board to notify the user when the GPS has received a lock and that the program is running.
The whole system runs off of three AAA batteries which, according to [Becky], can provide several hours of tracking. She also installed a small coin cell battery for the GPS module. This provides reserve power for the GPS module so it can remember its previous location. This is not necessary, but it provides a benefit in that the GPS module can remember it’s most recent location and therefore discover its location much faster. | 22 | 12 | [
{
"comment_id": "1556274",
"author": "joe1",
"timestamp": "2014-06-07T20:17:07",
"content": "you could also attach an old cellphone to the dog",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1556505",
"author": "Hirudinea",
"timestamp": "2014-... | 1,760,376,175.608146 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/06/09/beating-simon/ | Beating Simon | Brian Benchoff | [
"Arduino Hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"lego",
"memory game",
"simon"
] | Virtually everyone has played Simon, that electronic memory game from the 70s, but who among us has actually beaten it? That was the goal of [Ben] and his 7-year-old daughter, and after a year of work, an Arduino, some servos, and a few Lego bricks,
they’ve finally done it
.
Instead of the large original Simon, [Ben] is using a key chain version of the game: much smaller, and much easier to build a device to sense the lights and push the buttons. The arms are made from Lego bricks, held up with rubber bands and actuated with two servos mounted on a cutting board.
To detect Simon’s lights, [Ben] connected four phototransistors to an Arduino. The Arduino records the pattern of lights on the Simon, and activates the Lego arms in response to that pattern. [Ben]’s version of Simon has only a maximum of 32 steps in the final sequence, but that still means each game takes 528 button presses – and a lot of annoying beeps – to complete.
Videos below. | 28 | 19 | [
{
"comment_id": "1559625",
"author": "bluewraith",
"timestamp": "2014-06-09T11:13:11",
"content": "Been thinking of doing something like this for that “Don’t Tap the White Tile” app..",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1560300",
"author":... | 1,760,376,175.411039 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/06/09/afrotechs-guide-to-class-d-amplifiers/ | [Afrotech]’s Guide To Class D Amplifiers | Brian Benchoff | [
"hardware"
] | [
"amplifier",
"amplifiers",
"class d amplifiers",
"class-d",
"TPA3122"
] | Hang around in any of the many guitar or audiophile forums or discussion boards for long enough, and eventually you’ll come across the arguments over amplifier topologies. One of the more interesting and useful of these classes of amplifier is class d – they’re extremely efficient and when well designed can sound pretty good.
[Afrotech] is here to show you how they work
, and how to build a 15 Watt amp using a $3 class d amplifier chip.
The very definition of an amplifier is taking a low power signal and transforming it into a high power signal. A great way to modulate a high power signal very quickly is by modulating a square wave with pulse width modulation. A class d amplifier takes a low power input signal, uses it to modulate the duty cycle of a high power square wave, and with a little filtering, amplifies the low power input.
To demo this, [Afrotech] used
TI’s TPA3122 class d amplifier chip
. It’s a pretty cheap chip for being a 15 Watt stereo amplifier, and the circuit is simple enough to build on a breadboard. With a few caps, resistors, and a pair of inductors, [Afrotech] built this one-chip amplifier that’s capable of powering some pretty big speakers. It’s also very efficient – no heat sink required.
Although class d amps are extremely efficient. there are a few people out there that say because the amplifier is basically a filtered square wave, you’ll be able to hear a difference in the audio over class a or class ab amplifiers. This led to the development of
class t amplifiers
, basically a class d amp with a higher switching speed (Megahertz for class t, a few hundred kilohertz for class d). Still, if you need a cheap amplifier for a DIY boombox or any other high power application, you could do a lot worse than a simple class d amp. | 29 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "1559297",
"author": "Tiago Dias",
"timestamp": "2014-06-09T08:11:58",
"content": "Afrotechmods is back? nice.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1559923",
"author": "phuzz",
"timestamp": "2014-06-09T14:13:39",
... | 1,760,376,175.688166 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/06/08/bluetooth-headphones-for-hearing-aids/ | Bluetooth Headphones For Hearing Aids | Brian Benchoff | [
"Medical Hacks"
] | [
"bluetooth",
"hearing aid"
] | Cyborgs walk among us, but for the time being, it’s really only people with glasses, contact lenses, the occasional hearing aid and the infrequent prosthesis. As with all technology, these devices can be expanded into something they were not originally designed to do – in [Gertlex]’ case,
the superpower of listening to music through his hearing aids
. he gets a few strange looks from wearing a Bluetooth headset around his neck, but the power to turn his hearing aids ito what are effectively in-ear monitors is a great application of modified electronics.
[Gertlex] began with a Bluetooth headset, his hearing aid, a few resistors, some wire, a 3.5mm audio connector, and an absurdly expensive DAI cable. The DAI cable – Direct Audio Input – is a pseudo-standardized feature on many hearing aids. as its name implies, it allows the wearer of a hearing aid to pipe audio directly into their ear.
By cutting up one of these $50+ DAI cables, [Gertlex] was able to construct a DAI to 3.5mm adapter cable. From there, it was simply a matter of installing a 3.5mm socket on a Bluetooth headset.
It’s a brilliant build, with the most expensive component being the DAI connector itself. [Gertlex] has a few ideas for making these connectors himself – they’re really only three pins and some plastic – and we’re hoping he gets around to that soon. | 32 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "1559059",
"author": "Z00111111",
"timestamp": "2014-06-09T05:47:42",
"content": "That’s cool. On Adam Savage’s podcast, he was complaining about a lack of bluetooth hearing aids. While some parts of the technology are really advanced, they do seem to lack in the value adding feature... | 1,760,376,175.482787 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/06/08/the-in-circuit-sd-card-switch/ | The In-Circuit SD Card Switch | Brian Benchoff | [
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"microsd",
"sd",
"sd card",
"switch",
"switcher"
] | For nearly every problem, it’s possible to engineer a solution, even if you’re dealing with an extraordinarily niche problem that might only apply to yourself. [Joel] wanted to be able to program the microSD card in his BeagleBone with a new bootloader or file system without removing the SD card from the target board. This is a peculiar requirement, and it’s highly doubtful a product or even a circuit exists for such a function. This meant [Joel]
would need to roll his own board
to accomplish the task.
The board is remarkably simple, housing a single microSD socket, two expansion headers for
a microSD sniffer
for a computer and an embedded board, an FTDI header, and a pair of
4-bit multiplexer/demultiplexers
. The operation of the device is fairly straightforward: send a signal down the FTDI cable, and the board switches the onboard SD card from one device to another.
[Joel] has a video of his screen that shows him pulling off in-circuit SD card reading and writing. You can check that out below. | 20 | 14 | [
{
"comment_id": "1558691",
"author": "swirlycurly",
"timestamp": "2014-06-09T02:06:16",
"content": "Totally did this the exact same way. Same USB-SD converter too.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "1558697",
"author": "james",
"timestamp"... | 1,760,376,175.546018 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/06/08/hackaday-links-june-8-2014/ | Hackaday Links: June 8, 2014 | Brian Benchoff | [
"Hackaday Columns",
"Hackaday links"
] | [
"555",
"component storage",
"esd",
"home automation",
"kickstarter",
"lego",
"motor driver",
"rc",
"remote control",
"stepper motor"
] | Yes, dogfighting with RC planes is cool. You know what’s even cooler?
RC jousting
. Considering these eight foot long planes are probably made of foam board or Depron, they’ll probably hold up for a fairly long time. The perfect application of RC FPV.
Home automation is the next big thing, apparently, but it’s been around for much longer than iPhones and Bluetooth controllable outlets and smart thermostats.
Here’s a home automation system from 1985
. Monochrome CRT display panel (with an awesome infrared touch screen setup), a rat’s nest of wiring, and a floor plan drawn in ASCII characters. It’s also Y2K compliant.
Here’s an idea for mobile component storage:
bags
. Instead of tackle and tool boxes for moving resistors and other components around, [Darcy] is using custom bags made from polyethylene sheets, folded and sealed with an impulse sealer. It’s not ESD safe, but accidentally zapping a LED with an ESD would be impressive.
Need a stepper motor test circuit? Easy, just grab one of those Polulu motor drivers, an ATtiny85, wire it up, and you’re done. Of course then you’re troubled with people on the Internet saying you could have done it with a 555 timer.
This one is for them
. It’s a 555, some wire, and some solder. Could have done it with discrete transistors, though.
Someone figured out Lego Minifigs
can hold iDevice charge cables
. +1 for the 1980s spaceman.
Remember that “electronic, color sensing, multicolor pen” idea that went around the Internet a year or so ago?
It’s soon to be a Kickstarter
, and
man, is this thing full of fail.
They’re putting an ARM 9 CPU
in a pen.
A pen with a diameter of 15mm. Does anyone know if an ARM 9 is made in that small of a package? We’ll have a full, “this is a totally unrealistic Kickstarter and you’re all sheep for backing it” post when it finally launches. Also,
this
. | 29 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "1558440",
"author": "macegr",
"timestamp": "2014-06-08T23:15:09",
"content": "You can get ARM9 Thumb processors in a 10mm square BGA, so maybe that’s what it really is. But it’s still shoehorning a pretty big microcontroller into a small space, and it certainly does NOT need that mu... | 1,760,376,175.766026 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/06/08/the-open-hardware-driver-for-crts/ | The Open Hardware Driver For CRTs | Brian Benchoff | [
"classic hacks",
"Video Hacks"
] | [
"crt",
"eletrostatic CRT",
"vector display"
] | CRTs are the king of displays for any homebrew project. They have everything – high voltages, high vacuums, X-rays, and the potential for a vector display – that makes a project exude cool. Getting an old CRT up and running, though, that’s another story. Never rear, because now
there’s an Open Hardware eletrostatic CRT
driver for your next display.
[Eric] designed a driver circuit that should be able to send a picture to most 2″, 3″ and some 5″ electrostatic CRTs, the kind found in ancient TVs and oscilloscopes. The 1kV power supply uses a transformer usually found in a CCFL bulb, and is able to produce several milliamps. You’ll want to keep one hand behind your back when working on this.
The driver circuit takes a 0-3.3V analog signal for deflecting the beam along the X and Y axis. The amplifier has enough bandwidth to handle NTSC video, so displaying video along with vector letters and shapes is also a possibility with this circuit. Most of the files are available
on the git
, with three boards available to be ordered from OSHPark.
Thanks [Mike] for the tip. | 23 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "1558158",
"author": "onebiozz",
"timestamp": "2014-06-08T20:18:24",
"content": "i have not read the full article but CCFL transformers are generally not designed to run at full voltage continuously but start in a few KV then drop to a few hundred volts, but i mean if it works it wor... | 1,760,376,175.967044 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/06/08/converting-the-wacom-intuos-into-a-cintiq/ | Converting The Wacom Intuos Into A Cintiq | Brian Benchoff | [
"hardware"
] | [
"cintiq",
"intuos",
"pen tablet",
"retina display",
"tablet",
"wacom"
] | Wacom, purveyors of fine pen tablets for digital artists, basically have two product lines of pen tablets. The first, Intuos, is a great pen tablet that give an artist the ability to turn a computer into a virtual dead tree notebook. The second product line, the Cintiq, takes the same technology and adds an LCD to the mix, effectively turning a drawing tablet into a second display. [Bumhee] wanted a Cintiq, but didn’t want to pay the Cintiq price,
leading him to install a display in his old Intuos tablet
. It’s an amazingly simple build, making us think we’ll be seeing a few derivatives of his work in the future.
The display [Bumhee] used for this modification is a Retina display from an iPad. With the right adapter, you can easily
connect one of these displays to a computer
, giving you a very thin 2048×1536 9.7″ display. The initial tests to see if this mod would work on his tablet – removing the metal shield on the display, placing it on the tablet, and drawing – were a success, giving [Bumhee] the confidence to irreparably modify his tablet.
From there, the modification was a simple matter of cutting up the enclosure of the tablet, installing the display with a few screws, and installing a piece of glass over the display. Very easy, and it’s just about the only way you’re going to get a pen tablet with a small, high-resolution display for less than a thousand dollars.
Thanks [David] for sending this one in. | 22 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "1557967",
"author": "Aaron Kafton (@ClovenLife)",
"timestamp": "2014-06-08T17:23:18",
"content": "Wish I would of saw that $2500 ago",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1557979",
"author": "John Smith",
"timestamp"... | 1,760,376,176.103426 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/06/06/thp-entry-openmv/ | THP Entry: OpenMV | Brian Benchoff | [
"The Hackaday Prize"
] | [
"camera",
"color detection",
"Face detection",
"serial camer",
"STM32F4"
] | The future is a scary place, full of robots, drones, and smart appliances with cameras and vision systems that will follow your dog, your child, or your face around, dutifully logging everything they see, reporting back to servers, and compiling huge datasets that can be sold to marketing companies. We’re not too keen on this view of the future, but the tech behind it – cheap cameras in
everything
– is very cool. [Ibrahim] is doing his part to bring about the age of cheap cameras that are easy to interface with his entry to The Hackaday Prize,
the OpenMV
.
The idea of a digital camera that is easy to interface with microcontrollers and single board computers isn’t new. There are
serial JPEG cameras
and the
CMUcam5 Pixy
, but they cost somewhere around $70. It’s not something you would design a product around. [Ibrahim]’s OpenMV costs about $15, and offers some interesting features like on-board image processing, a huge amount of RAM, and even a wireless expansion thanks to TI’s CC3000 WiFi module.
Currently, the OpenMV is capable of doing face detection at 25fps, color detection at better than 30fps, all thanks to the STM32F4 ARM micro running at 180MHz. There’s support for up to 64MB of RAM on board, with IO available through serial, SPI, I2C, USB 2.0, and WiFi.
It’s an interesting project on its own, but the really cool thing about this build is the price: if [Ibrahim] can actually produce these things for $15 a pop, he has an actual product on his hands, one that could easily be stuffed inside a drone or refrigerator for whatever cool – or nefarious – purposes you can imagine.
The project featured in this post is an entry in
The Hackaday Prize
. Build something awesome and win a trip to space or hundreds of other prizes. | 22 | 15 | [
{
"comment_id": "1553895",
"author": "Lutan",
"timestamp": "2014-06-06T20:03:54",
"content": "Oh my god. I love it. 15 bucks each makes it really affordable for a student like me.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "1553946",
"author": "Matthew ... | 1,760,376,176.037077 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/06/06/droning-on-flight-controller-round-up/ | Droning On: Choosing A Flight Controller | Adam Fabio | [
"Hackaday Columns"
] | [
"3DRobotics",
"drone",
"Droning On",
"KK Multicopter",
"MultiWii",
"OpenPilot",
"quadcopter"
] | The flight controller is the nerve center of a drone. Drone flight control systems are many and varied. From GPS enabled autopilot systems flown via two way telemetry links to basic stabilization systems using hobby grade radio control hardware, there is an open source project for you.
Modern drone flight controllers can trace their roots back to R/C helicopters. Historically, R/C planes were controlled directly by the pilot’s radio. Helicopters added a new wrinkle to the mix: tail rotors. Helicopters use their tail (or anti-torque) rotor to counteract the torque of the main rotor attempting to spin the entire helicopter’s body. It all works great when the helicopter is hovering, but what about when the pilot throttles up to fly out? As the pilot throttles up, the torque increases, which causes the entire helicopter to do a pirouette or two, until the torque levels out again. The effect has caused more than one beginner pilot to come nose to nose with their R/C heli.
The solution to this problem was gyroscopes, heavy brass spinning weights that tilted in response to the helicopter’s motion. A hall effect sensor would detect that tilt and command the tail rotor to counteract the helicopter’s rotation. As the years wore on, mechanical gyros were replaced by solid state MEMS gyros. Microcontrollers entered the picture and brought with them advanced processing techniques. Heading hold gyros were then introduced. Whereas older “rate only” gyros would drift, weathervane, and wiggle, heading hold gyros would lock down the helicopter’s nose until the pilot commanded a turn. These single axis flight controllers were quickly adopted by the R/C helicopter community.
Today’s flight control systems have many sensors available to them – GPS, barometric pressure sensors, airspeed sensors, the list goes on. The major contributors to the flight calculations are still the gyros, coupled with accelerometers. As the name implies, accelerometers measure acceleration – be it due to gravity, a high G turn, or stopping force. Accelerometers aren’t enough though – An accelerometer in free fall will measure 0 G’s. Turning forces will confuse a system trying to operate solely on accelerometer data. That’s where gyros come in. Gyros measure rate of rotation about an axis. Just as our helicopter example above covered yaw, gyros can be used to measure pitch and roll of an aircraft. A great comparison of gyros and accelerometers is presented in this
video from InvenSense
.
Stay with us after the break for a tour of available flight controllers and what each adds to the mix.
Inertial Measurement Units (IMU)
are devices which read these sensors and execute
sensor fusion
algorithms to determine current position and attitude. Just about every full scale aircraft produced today has some form of IMU inside it. Even your smartphone can act as an IMU. Give an IMU the ability the control the platform it’s riding on, and you have a flight controller. So how does a flight controller take data from gyros, accelerometers, and other sensors, convert it into a stable flight platform? The answer is in some clever mathematics and software. The core of most flight controllers is a software algorithm called a
Proportional Integral Derivative
(PID) control loop. PID loops and their tuning is such an important topic that I’m going to dedicate an entire column to it, so if you’re having trouble getting your aircraft stabilized, sit tight, help is on the way!
Choosing a flight controller
There are a number of popular flight controllers used today. Deciding which one is right for your needs can be a tough choice. We’re covering open source flight controllers here, but I would be lax if I didn’t mention the commercial offerings. The
DJI Naza
controller is the preeminent commercial control system available. Many professional and hobbyist pilots use this system on a daily basis. Naza gives basic flight control, attitude hold, and return home functionality with a simple interface. Naza isn’t perfect, though. One issue is GPS based flight rejection – DJI autopilot systems will not allow flights over the Forbidden City in China. Undoubtedly this is due to requests by the Chinese government. However, the closed source nature of the system makes one wonder what other “features” might be hiding in the code. The “Big Four” in flight control systems seem to be The KKmulticopter, The Multiwiicopter, The Pixhawk, and the OpenPilot.
KK Multicopter
The KK board was designed by Rolf R. Bakke, aka KapteinKuk. The most popular form of the KK board seems to be the HobbyKing KK multicopter board, currently at version 2.1.5 if you can find it in stock. The KK2.1 boards are based upon an Atmel ATmega644PA processor and an InvenSense MPU-6050.The 6050 is an interesting chip in that it not only includes 3 gyros and 3 accelerometers, but also a microcontroller dedicated to handling the sensor output. This takes some of the load off the Atmel chip. There is still quite a bit of work to be done for an 8 bit micro, and Rolf speeds up the process by writing the entire firmware in assembly code. The double edged sword here is that the assembly code limits the number of developers in the project. The interface side of KK board is simple. A small graphical LCD and 4 buttons allow the user to program parameters. KK’s flight control algorithms only use P and I, there is no D on the KK board. There doesn’t appear to be an official website for the KK board, but information (and the latest source) can be found on the
RCgroups megathread.
The KK board can be thought of as a bit of a gateway drug. It’s low cost, easy to set up, and it gets the job done. You don’t need a computer to set it up, everything is on the board mounted LCD. The KK board isn’t a standout performer for any of the common drone types, but if you just want to get out there and have a good flight, it’s plenty good.
MultiWii Pro
Next up is the
MultiWii
. MultiWii’s name comes from its original sensors. The first revision of the MultiWii was designed to use the Nintendo Wii Nunchuck gyros and accelerometers, as they were cheap and easily available worldwide. Things have changed quite a bit since then. The current MultiWii board, MultiWii Pro (MWP) sports a host of sensor upgrades. The MWP board is based upon the Arduino and utilizes an ATmega2560 processor. Software is written in Arduino’s native wiring language, using everyone’s favorite processing based IDE. The board’s current sensor suite is extensive. In addition to the usual gyros and accelerometers, it has a barometer, magnetometer (compass), and an optional GPS. MultiWii also allows for a number of configuration methods. Off board LCD and OLED displays can be connected for field configuration. A full GUI config program is available via the on-board USB port or a Bluetooth daughterboard. MultiWii’s source is hosted on their
Google Code page
, though there is a
Github mirror
for you git fans. MultiWii is quite capable of stabilizing an R/C style airplane, helicopter, or multicopter. The board is on the cusp of being a full-fledged autopilot. It’s not as slick as the APM, partly due to the fact that there isn’t a well funded corporate entity driving development in one direction or another. The core developers are active though, which makes this a good board to watch.
Mega 2 (APM2)
The APM is an open source project from 3DRobotics. It began life as the Ardupilot, a fixed wing flight control system based on the Arduino. The project quickly grew to include rovers, helicopters, and multicopters. While the project is still compatible with the Arduino IDE, the dev site gives tutorials for using Visual Studio on Windows, as well as the ‘make’ command in a Linux environment. The current hardware is the APM2.6, which utilizes an ATmega2560 for the main processor. An ATmega32u4 handles USB functionality. The InvenSense MPU-6000 handles gyro and accelerometer duties. The APM2 has an onboard barometric sensor. Interfaces for off-board GPS and magnetometer/compass modules are provided. APM and Pixhawk use similar software builds, so check the Pixhawk below for more information.
Pixhawk
APM2 codebase has grown in complexity so much that they’re running out of memory and processing horsepower on their 8 bit ATmega2560. 3DRobotics obviously needed a newer platform with room for further growth. They chose to build upon the hardware platform of the
PX4 project
. PX4 started in 2009, and current development is based at Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. 3DRobotics ported the APM code to the Px4, and rolled their own version of the hardware called Pixhawk. Pixhawk uses the STM32F427 processor, which is a 32 bit ARM Cortex M4 core with onboard FPU. 3Drobotics also uses a real-time operating system.
NuttX
is a free open source RTOS. Designed from the ground up as an RTOS, NuttX is much lighter than Linux or other operating systems. It could be compared to VxWorks or other industrial/aerospace RTOS’s. The Pixhawk includes gyros, accelerometers, barometer, GPS, magnetometer/compass, and telemetry. It also has a MicroSD card slot for data logs, which can make things much easier when looking for help online. PixHawk and APM2 both use GUI based Mission software for configuration. They can also operate as full autopilots, with waypoint based missions. On the source side, Pixhawk has a large active developer community behind it. The source is available on the
DIYdrones Github.
3DRobotics definitely has a feature advantage here. They have the resources to implement lots of software features, build molded cases, and complete products. Their
IRIS drone
is possibly the first fully autonomous drone on the commercial market.
OpenPilot CC3D/Revolution
OpenPilot
is another long time flight controller project. Currently supporting two platforms, the CopterControl 3D (CC3D), and their new flagship board, the Revolution (Revo). The CC3D uses a STM32F103 Arm Cortex M3, and a suite of both gyros and accelerometers. Thanks in part to the current mini FPV craze, the CC3D board is still seeing quite a bit of popularity. This has caused quite a few derivative boards to pop up, such as the Lumenier edition
and the Acro Naze32
. These boards seem to be very good in the “turn and burn” flight style of small FPV multicopters. The Openpilot project is moving to their new board, the Revolution. The Revo uses a STM32F405RGT6 32bit ARM Cortex M4 processor. Revo uses the InvenSense MPU6000 accelerometer/ gyro chip, along with a barometric pressure sensor, and magnetometer. Revo also supports telemetry and GPS. Both CC3D and Revo are configured using GUI based Ground control software. Source code is available on the
OpenPilot’s git server
. OpenPilot has had some team turnover issues, but they’re making great progress now. The Revo includes some advanced features, like an onboard telemetry radio. Coupled with the current codebase’s ability to handle high speed maneuvers on small, agile multicopters, this board has a bright future.
Advice When Choosing a Controller
All these flight controllers are quite capable. Deciding which to use in your drone depends on the flight characteristics, and the style of flying you’re looking for. Being open source projects, there are derivative boards and low-cost clones available for all of them. Beware of the lowest cost clones. Some of them are great, but others are sub-par to say the least. Sometimes saving a few dollars means lower quality components and assembly. Nothing is worse than seeing hundreds of dollars and hours of effort fall out of the sky because of a cracked solder joint or a bad capacitor.
Hackaday Testbed Update
The parts are finally here and the build has begun! If you want to follow my progress on the Hackaday Drone Testbed, a quadcopter which will be used to test some of these flight controllers, head on over to the
Hackaday.io project page
! That’s about it for this edition. Until next time, keep Droning On! [Title image by
Joergens.mi/Wikipedia
] | 60 | 27 | [
{
"comment_id": "1553575",
"author": "replic8tor",
"timestamp": "2014-06-06T17:03:55",
"content": "Ever tested out the Naze / Acro Naze 32 FC? These are pretty nice, and its a shame more people do not know about them as viable options.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
... | 1,760,376,176.214572 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/06/06/the-hovering-holographic-star-wars-display/ | The Hovering, Holographic, Star Wars Display | Brian Benchoff | [
"Video Hacks"
] | [
"display",
"fog machine",
"hologram",
"ultrasonic",
"ultrasonic atomizer"
] | While we’re still a long way off from the Star Wars telepresence holographic displays,
this build over on the Projects site
is the closest we’ve seen yet. Even better, it can be built in a garage for not much money.
Inside the Hoverlay are a few fans and a pair of ultrasonic atomizers that turn water into an extremely fine mist. The fans pull this vapor up through the base of the display and through simple drinking straws to create a laminar sheet of water vapor. Put a projector behind this thin sheet of vapor, and you have a display, seemingly floating in mid-air.
The base of the display can be scaled up, simply by putting several units together in a line. It’s still just a prototype – future versions will improve the stability and reduce the thickness of the fog layer – but it’s still a very cool build for a custom holographic display.
BTW, yes, we know this isn’t a hologram. You’re still welcome to point out the fact that language changes in the comments. | 36 | 19 | [
{
"comment_id": "1553248",
"author": "Koen Blank",
"timestamp": "2014-06-06T14:07:58",
"content": "I Always thought the starwars displays were extremely bad quality. Ihis image seems too stable… make it worse :P",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": ... | 1,760,376,176.39347 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/06/06/diy-newtons-cradle-uses-parts-designed-on-a-smart-phone/ | DIY Newton’s Cradle Uses Parts Designed On A Smart Phone | Rick Osgood | [
"cnc hacks"
] | [
"android",
"applenewton",
"cnc",
"injection molding",
"meshcam",
"openscad",
"scorchcad"
] | As far as physics demonstrations go, the Newton’s Cradle is probably one of the most recognizable. Named after Sir Isaac Newton, the Newton’s Cradle demonstrates the law of conservation of momentum using swinging ball bearings.
[Scorchworks] decided he wanted to
build his own
Newton’s Cradle. The frame appears to be cut from MDF or particle board and then screwed together. That material is really easy to obtain and also to work with using inexpensive tools. The tricky part was the ball bearings. Most of the time when you see a Newton’s Cradle, the ball bearings have a small hole drilled in the top with an eye hook attached. The string is then attached to the eye hook.
[Scorchworks] decided to do something different. His plan was to make custom injection molded plastic rings that would fit perfectly around the ball bearings. The most interesting thing is that he designed the injection molding plates entirely on his smart phone while at his child’s baseball practice. To do this, [Scorchworks] used his own Android app,
ScorchCAD
. ScorchCAD is a free clone of OpenSCAD that is designed to run on Android devices. Most of the functionality of OpenSCAD has been implemented in ScorchCAD, though not all functions work yet. You can find a list of all the supported functions on the
project’s website
or in the
Google Play store
.
Once the plates were designed within ScorchCAD, [Scorchworks] exported the STL file and then used
Meshcam
to generate the gcode for his CNC milling machine. Once he had the plates machined, he just placed the ball bearing into the mold and injected the molten plastic around it. The plastic formed a perfectly shaped ring around the bearing with small loops for the string. [Scorchworks] repeated the process several times to get all of the ball bearings finished.
Finally, the bearings were strung up using some fishing line. A Newton’s Cradle is very sensitive to the positioning of the ball bearings. To account for this, [Scorchworks] tied each end of the fishing line to two different screws on top of the cradle. This way, each screw can be tightened or loosened to adjust the position of each ball bearing. | 13 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "1553098",
"author": "NotArduino",
"timestamp": "2014-06-06T12:35:06",
"content": "Why didn’t his injection mold include the holes for the string to pass through?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1553148",
"author": "Ada... | 1,760,376,177.326227 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/06/06/how-a-maker-proposes/ | How A Maker Proposes | James Hobson | [
"drone hacks",
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"engagement",
"engagement ring",
"light painting",
"lost wax",
"maker proposal"
] | [Sefi Attias] just sent us a heartwarming little video of how he proposed to his girlfriend [Tania] — using
a little help from technology and other makers.
As a maker, [Sefi] was always building things which impressed [Tania], so he thought it was only fitting to make the proposal a one-of-a-kind maker experience.
He started by designing the engagement ring himself, to be 3D printed. It’s an amazingly complex little thing made up of the repeating words of the quote “I will betroth you to me forever”. It was almost too complex in order to print — but they managed to do it in wax, which allowed them to create a mold and then cast the final part in white gold. Once complete, they set a diamond in place to cap it all off.
The second step was the proposal, which was made possible using a quadrotor, a strip of RGB LEDs, and a long camera exposure. To show it off in real-time to [Tania] they setup a projector and screen on the side of the street, providing a surreal window into the park behind them. It was all made possible with the help from over 20 people from the
XLN Makerspace
and SkyLens (the quadrotor people).
Oh yeah, and she said yes.
The video isn’t in English, but if you turn closed captions on there are subtitles that actually make sense — unlike most of YouTube’s attempts! | 30 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "1552659",
"author": "justice099",
"timestamp": "2014-06-06T08:59:58",
"content": "I, for one, am a bit of a romantic. I love these stories. Good job!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "1552835",
"author": "aoeuidhtns-",
"ti... | 1,760,376,176.61382 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/06/05/designing-and-printing-a-custom-enclosure/ | Designing And Printing A Custom Enclosure | Brian Benchoff | [
"3d Printer hacks"
] | [
"3D printed enclosure",
"case",
"custom enclosure",
"enclosure",
"sketchup"
] | So you know how to design a circuit board, assemble the parts, and have a functional device at the end of a soldering session. Great, but if you want to use that device in the real world, you’re probably going to want an enclosure, and Tupperware hacked with an Exacto knife just won’t cut it. It’s actually not that hard to design a custom enclosure for you board, as
[Glen] demonstrates with a custom 3D printed project box
.
[Glen]’s board, a quad RS-422 transmitter with a PMOD connector, was designed in Eagle. There are a vast array of scripts and plugins for this kind of mechanical design work, including the
EagleUP plugins
that turn an Eagle PCB into a 3D object that can be imported into SketchUp.
Taking measurements from Eagle, [Glen] designed a small project box that fits the PCB. A few standoffs were added, and the board itself was imported into SketchUp. From there, all he needed to do was to subtract the outline of the connectors from the walls of then enclosure for a custom-fit case. Much better than Tupperware, and much easier than designing a laser cut enclosure.
Once the enclosure was complete, [Glen] exported the design as an STL, ready for 3D printing or in his case, sending off to Shapeways. Either way, the result is a custom enclosure with a perfect fit. | 19 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "1552167",
"author": "Tom P.",
"timestamp": "2014-06-06T05:06:04",
"content": "Tupperware hacked with an Xacto knife will hack it. We are hackers.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1553466",
"author": "Joseph",
"t... | 1,760,376,176.537103 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/06/05/industrial-light-painting-steps-it-up-a-few/ | Industrial Light Painting Steps It Up A Few | James Hobson | [
"LED Hacks",
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"industrial light painting"
] | What would you do if you had access to an industrial ABB IRB 6640 robot? We’d probably make a giant 3D printer, but if you’re [Jeff Crossman] and [Kevyn McPhail], you’d make one of
the most advanced light painting setups we’ve ever seen.
The setup itself is really quite simple — a single RGB LED is connected to a Teensy microcontroller on a tool-head for the robot — controlling the robot is the hard (fun?) part. To create the images, [Jeff] had several students come in to have their photographs taken using a Microsoft Kinect. This allowed him to create an RGB point cloud for the robot to recreate.
Using Rhino he created the tool paths required for the robot to build up a floating 3D image of the students for the camera taking the long exposure. Each demonstration made use of ~5000 points, which takes the robot arm about 25 minutes to place.
It’s a fascinating video, and yes it does seem like a bit of overkill, but hey — why not?
ABB robots have also been used to make metal-based 3D printers like the
MX3D-Metal project… | 4 | 3 | [
{
"comment_id": "1551711",
"author": "Andrew",
"timestamp": "2014-06-06T02:36:27",
"content": "That is a really novel idea. I like it!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "1551943",
"author": "RunnerPack",
"timestamp": "2014-06-06T03:51:07",
... | 1,760,376,176.666088 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/06/07/how-to-upgrade-jaspers-voice-recognition-with-atts-speech-to-text-api/ | How To Upgrade Jasper’s Voice Recognition With AT&T’s Speech-to-Text API | Rick Osgood | [
"Software Hacks"
] | [
"att",
"jasper",
"python",
"raspberry pi",
"Raspi",
"speech to text"
] | Jasper is an open-source platform for developing always-on voice-controlled applications — you talk and your electronics listen! It’s designed to run on a Raspberry Pi. [Zach] has been playing around with it and wasn’t satisfied with Jasper’s built-in speech-to-text recognition system. He decided to take the advice of the Jasper development team and
modify the system to use AT&T’s speech-to-text engine
.
The built-in system works, but it has limitations. Mainly, you have to specify exactly which keywords you want Jasper to look out for. This can be problematic if you aren’t sure what the user is going to say. It can also cause problems when there are many possibilities of what the user might say. For example if the user is going to say a number between one and one hundred, you don’t want to have to type out all one hundred numbers into the voice recognition system in order to make it work.
The
Jasper FAQ
does recommend using the AT&T’s speech-to-text engine in this situation but this has its own downsides. You are limited to only one request per second and it’s also slower to recognize the speech. [Zach] was just fine with these restrictions but he couldn’t find much information online about how to modify Jasper to make the AT&T engine work. Now that he’s gotten it functional, he shared his work to make it easier for others.
The modification first requires that you have at AT&T developer account. Once that’s setup, you need to make some changes to Jasper’s mic.py module. That’s the only part of Jasper’s core that must be changed, and it’s only a few lines of code. Outside of that, there are a couple of other Python scripts that need to be added. We won’t go into the finer details here since [Zach] goes into great detail on his own page, including the complete scripts. If you are interested in using the AT&T module with your Jasper installation, be sure to
check out [Zach’s] work
. He will likely save you a lot of time. | 9 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "1556086",
"author": "rasz_pl",
"timestamp": "2014-06-07T18:21:02",
"content": "next step is using this:http://honnibal.wordpress.com/2013/12/18/a-simple-fast-algorithm-for-natural-language-dependency-parsing/to expand capabilities even further, this python syntactic parser should be... | 1,760,376,176.719746 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/06/07/not-having-the-room-isnt-a-good-reason-to-not-have-a-cnc-router-anymore/ | Not Having The Room Isn’t A Good Reason To Not Have A CNC Router Anymore | Rich Bremer | [
"cnc hacks"
] | [
"cnc",
"CNC router",
"diy foam cutter",
"foam cutter"
] | Typically, CNC Machines take up a larger footprint than that of the raw material it is cutting. The size of such a machine may have prevented interested makers/hackers from buying or building one for themselves. If you are one of those people then you’d be interested in [Fly3DMon’s] series of CNC Router projects called
PhlatPrinter
.
A typical CNC Router has a bed that the work piece is mounted to and that work piece stays stationary. The tool then moves in 3 axes, removing material, leaving behind a finished part. The PhlatPrinter works more like a large format plotter, where the work piece is moved back and forth via rollers while the tool only moves in 2 directions. What this allows is a CNC Machine that takes up very little floor space when not in use that can handle any length of material!
It appears that the first PhlatPrinter was intended to cut foam for RC Airplanes but a quick ‘net search shows a couple newer iterations, some of which cut wood and MDF. If you are interested in building one, the parts list, SKP and DXF files are available at the above link. | 35 | 13 | [
{
"comment_id": "1555742",
"author": "Sebastian",
"timestamp": "2014-06-07T14:44:00",
"content": "I love the design although i would add two folding tables on either side for support.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1556416",
"author":... | 1,760,376,176.992496 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/06/07/micro-robots-made-at-home-who-needs-darpa-funding/ | Micro-Robots Made At Home, Who Needs DARPA Funding? | James Hobson | [
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"micro-robots",
"spritesmods"
] | We love it when this happens. Sometimes we post about cool technology that companies are developing which might start an outcry of “not a hack” — but then, just sometimes, it still inspires a few readers. [Jeroen Domburg] — who everyone knows as [Sprite_TM] and
is a judge for The Hackaday Prize]
— saw a recent video about micro robots, a project funded by DARPA, and decided to try
making his own.
We shared the original story a few months ago about these
replicator like micro-robots
, which can quite literally swarm over surfaces, use tools, and manufacture micro-sized parts. The robots themselves are actually just dumb little magnets — the magic is in the surface underneath them.
This sparked an interest in several people, and [Mike] made
a very simple version of it
, capable of 1-dimensional movement. This inspired [Sprite_TM] to step it up a notch, with his own 2-dimensional version. He’s designed his own PCB that allows him to run current in various directions through the traces of the board — this effectively allows him to control a small neodymium magnet to go whichever way he wants.
It’s a fascinating experiment and he has well documented it on his site, as well as posting a few videos of the various prototypes along the way:
Impressive work [Sprite_TM]! | 39 | 14 | [
{
"comment_id": "1555468",
"author": "arachnidster",
"timestamp": "2014-06-07T11:25:40",
"content": "Nice hack! He’s done the hard work for us finding out several things that don’t work. :)It’s a pity the original app uses fancy diamagnetic material. Anyone know where we can get some?",
"parent_... | 1,760,376,176.920258 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/06/07/diy-coffee-maker-filters-out-manufacturer-specificity/ | DIY Coffee Maker Filters Out Manufacturer Specificity | Kristina Panos | [
"green hacks",
"home hacks",
"Lifehacks"
] | [
"aluminum casting",
"coffee maker",
"exotic bird",
"filabot"
] | This
DIY electric coffeemaker
prototype uses an assemblage of 3D-printed parts and cast aluminium. [siemenc]’s main goal with this project was to utilize and demonstrate recycling and re-usability. He used Filabot filament exclusively and melted down scrap aluminium such as cans, foil, and CNC mill waste in an oven he fashioned from an old fire extinguisher. He also cast the aluminium parts himself from 3D-printed positives.
Of course, he had to buy the things that make this a coffeemaker such as the hoses, the fuse, and the heating element. If you’re wondering why he didn’t salvage these parts from yard sale machinery, it’s because he wanted to be able to replace any part of it and have it last as long as he needs it to last. The innards he used are not specific to any model, so he should be able to easily find a replacement.
Just like a pour over set up, [siemenc] has fine control over the strength and quantity of the brew. We particularly like this machine’s exotic bird looks as well; it may be a prototype, but it’s quite stylish. If you’re looking to go all the way with DIY coffee, why not
grow your own beans
and then
roast
the
beans
yourself
? | 12 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "1555426",
"author": "Jack",
"timestamp": "2014-06-07T10:58:22",
"content": "I love this! (Despite being a big tea drinker haha)A great use for a 3d printer! Often people forget that you can print molds and positives for casting, obviously it may not be perfect but its an easy way to... | 1,760,376,176.847195 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/06/06/lathe-cnc-upgrade-is-nothing-to-shake-a-turned-stick-at/ | Lathe CNC Upgrade Is Nothing To Shake A Turned Stick At | Rich Bremer | [
"cnc hacks"
] | [
"cnc",
"lathe"
] | We see a lot of CNC Machines here on Hackaday but not too many of them are lathe-based. [Jim] sent us an email letting us know his dissatisfaction regarding the lack of CNC Lathes and included a link to one of his recent projects, converting a small manual lathe to computer control. This isn’t some ‘
slap on some steppers
‘ type of project, it’s a
full-fledged build
capable of tight tolerances and threading.
The project is based on a 7×12 Mini Lathe. There are several brands to choose from and they are almost identical. Check out this
comparison
. [Jim] started with Homier brand.
The first thing to get upgraded was not related to the CNC conversion. The 3″ chuck was replaced with a 5″. Changing it over was easy using an adapter plate made for the task. For the X Axis, the stock ways and lead screw were removed and replaced by a THK linear slide. This slide only has 2.5″ of travel and is perfect for this application. The travel being so short allowed the final eBay auction price to be under $40.
Just like the X Axis stock hardware, all of the Z Axis parts were also ditched in favor of another eBay find, a 10mm ball screw and nut. [Jim] had to make his own brackets to mount the motor to the bed and the ball nut to the carriage. The new brackets bolt up to the machine in the same manner the stock parts did making the install a little easier.
The lathe is controlled by an old Pentium 4 computer running Mach3. The step and direction signals exit the computer via parallel port and make their way to a pair of Gecko stepper motor drives. A home-made power supply provides 36vdc for the NEMA23 stepper motors. A Hall Effect sensor is mounted to the spindle and provides spindle speed information back to Mach3 so that it can time the step commands while cutting threads. The end result is a sweet and capable Lathe we are happy to add to the list of CNC Machines featured on Hackaday. | 30 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "1554985",
"author": "macona",
"timestamp": "2014-06-07T06:31:08",
"content": "I used to have one of these little lathes and a 5″ chuck is more than I would ever want to spin on that spindly of a spindle. Those THK linears are nice but he should have mounted it upside down so he does... | 1,760,376,177.490355 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/06/06/a-bicycle-built-for-one/ | A Bicycle Built For One | Adam Fabio | [
"Transportation Hacks"
] | [
"bicycle",
"cnc",
"DIY bicycle",
"Time Trials"
] | [Bcmanucd] must have been vying for husband of the year when he set out to build his wife a
custom time trials bicycle
. We’re not just talking about bolting together a few parts either – he designed, cut, welded, and painted the entire frame from scratch.
Time trial racing
is a very specific form of bicycle racing. Bikes are built for speed, but
drafting
is not allowed, so aerodynamics of the bike and rider become key. Custom bikes cost many thousands of dollars, but as poor college students, neither [Bcmanucd] nor his wife could afford a proper bike. Thus the bicycle project was born.
[Bcmanucd] created the basic geometry on a fit assessment provided by his wife’s cycling coach. He designed the entire bike in Autodesk Inventor. Once the design was complete, it was time to order materials. 7005 aluminum alloy was chosen because it wouldn’t require
solution heat treating
, just a trip to the oven to relieve welding stresses. Every tube utilized a unique cross section to reduce drag, so [Bcmanucd] had to order his raw material from specialty bike suppliers.
Once all the material was in, [Bcmanucd] put his mechanical engineering degree aside and put on his work gloves. Like all students, he had access to the UC Davis machine shop. He used the shop’s CNC modified Bridgeport mill to cut the head tube and dropouts.
The most delicate part of the process is aligning all the parts and welding. Not a problem for [Bcmanucd], as he used a laser table and his own jigs to keep everything lined up perfectly. Any welder will tell you that working with aluminum takes some experience. Since this was [Bcmanucd’s] first major aluminum project, he ran several tests on scrap metal to ensure he had the right setup on his TIG welder. The welds cleaned up nicely and proved to be strong.
The entire build took about 3 months, which was just in time for the first race of the season. In fact, during the first few races the bike wasn’t even painted yet. [Bcmanucd’s] wife didn’t seem to mind though, as she rode it to win the woman’s team time trial national championships that year. The bike went on to become a “rolling resume” for [Bcmanucd], and helped him land his dream job in the bicycle industry.
Echoing the top comment over on [Bcmanucd’s]
Reddit thread
, we’d like to say awesome job — but slow down, you’re making all us lazy spouses look bad! | 16 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "1554510",
"author": "Waterjet",
"timestamp": "2014-06-07T02:11:33",
"content": "Welding, aluminum of all things, on a laser table = slaggy laser table?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1554635",
"author": "David Gray",
... | 1,760,376,177.052348 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/06/06/a-tweeting-litter-box/ | A Tweeting Litter Box | Nick Conn | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"Raspberry Pi",
"Wireless Hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"bluetooth",
"cat",
"HC-06",
"hx711",
"litter box",
"litterbox",
"load cell",
"poop",
"raspberry pi",
"strain gauge"
] | How can you not be interested in a project that uses load cells, Bluetooth, a Raspberry Pi, and Twitter. Even for those of our readers without a cat, [Scott’s]
tweeting litter box
is worth the read.
Each aspect of this project can be re-purposed for almost any application. The inexpensive load cells, which available from eBay and other retailers, is used to sense when a cat is inside the
litter box
. Typically sensors like the load cell (that contain a strain gauge) this use a
Wheatstone
bridge, which is very important for maximizing the sensitivity of resistive sensor. The output then goes to a HX711, which is an ADC specifically built for load cells. A simple alternative would be using an instrumentation amplifier and the built-in ADC of the Arduino. Now, the magic happens. The weight reading is transmitted via an HC-06 Bluetooth module to a Raspberry Pi. Using a simple Perl script, the excreted weight, duration, and the cat’s resulting body weight is then tweeted!
Very nice work! This is a well thought out project that we could see being expanded to recognize the difference between multiple cats (or any other animal that goes inside). | 44 | 21 | [
{
"comment_id": "1554211",
"author": "pcf11",
"timestamp": "2014-06-06T23:17:38",
"content": "When my cat drops a load you know it. No one has to tweet about the event.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1554284",
"author": "Rob",
... | 1,760,376,177.412342 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/06/04/cheap-thermocam-gets-an-impressive-rehaul/ | Cheap-Thermocam Gets An Impressive Rehaul | James Hobson | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"digital cameras hacks"
] | [
"cheap-thermocam",
"diy flir camera",
"flir",
"thermal imaging",
"thermal imaging camera"
] | [Max Ritter] is a 21 year old student of information technology at the University of Applied Science at Weingarten, Germany. Three years ago he brought us the DIY Cheap-Thermocam, a tool for thermal imaging that cost <$100. Since then
he’s made a few upgrades.
The
original Cheap-Thermocam
made use of an Arduino, the sensor from a thermometer gun and a few XY servos. In about 2 minutes the XY servos can scan and measure 1344 points using the thermometer’s sensor, creating a heat-vision map of 42 x 32 pixels — not amazing, but it worked — and it was cheap!
The new version (V3) has its own ARM Cortex M3 processor, it measures 3072 points in 2 minutes from -70
°
C to 380
°
C with an accuracy of 0.5
°
C, and it exports its images at a resolution of 640 x 480 –close to commercial offerings! It’s not capable of real-time scanning, but for the majority of purposes you need one of these for — it’s really not that necessary.
Here’s a video from the first generation, which you can get
the plans for free from his website.
It’s really cool seeing the development of something that we covered years ago come to market — we wish [Max] the best of luck continuing to advance the Cheap-Thermocam! | 17 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "1549098",
"author": "Lars",
"timestamp": "2014-06-05T06:22:43",
"content": "Nice!I almost started something like this, but then I got a FLIR E4, hacked into a E8 (320×240) so my thermal camera need is satisfied for now…",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},... | 1,760,376,177.615136 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/06/04/the-autopilot-shield-for-the-raspberry-pi/ | The Autopilot Shield For The Raspberry Pi | Brian Benchoff | [
"drone hacks"
] | [
"Autopilot",
"controller board",
"drone",
"raspberry pi",
"uav"
] | In the world of drones, quadcopters, and unmanned aerial vehicles, the community has pretty much settled on AVR microcontrollers for the low end, and ARM for the high performance boards. If the FAA doesn’t screw things up, there will soon be another market that requires even more computational power, and
Navio, the autopilot shield for the Pi
, is just the thing for it.
Where high end multicopter and autopilot boards like the
OpenPilot Revolution
use ARM micros, there’s a small but demanding segment of the hobby that needs even more processing power. Think of something like the
Outback Challenge
, where fixed-wing drones search the desert for a lost mannequin autonomously. You’re going to need OpenCV for that, and that means Linux.
Navio is a shield for the Raspberry Pi, complete with a barometric pressure sensor, gyros, accelerometer, and compass, and GPS. It’s designed to run a
more real-time version of Linux
, and has the ability to do some interesting telemetry configurations – putting a 3G modem on the Navio isn’t much of a problem, and since it’s a Raspi, doing image processing of a downward facing camera is just a matter of writing the code.
The Navio team
is currently running an Indiegogo campaign
, with the baseline version available for $145. That’s pretty close to the price of the OpenPilot Revolution. There’s also a version upgraded with the U-blox NEO-6T that allows for on-board processing of raw GPS data. | 29 | 13 | [
{
"comment_id": "1548261",
"author": "tom brusehaver",
"timestamp": "2014-06-05T02:28:14",
"content": "The FAA has a huge challenge, they need to get it right the first time. If they screw it up, and a UAS and a passenger aircraft have an issue, where people get hurt, there will be no more UAS allow... | 1,760,376,177.563623 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/06/04/helix-turning-tool-born-from-necessity/ | Helix Turning Tool Born From Necessity | Rich Bremer | [
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"bending",
"helix",
"tool",
"wire bender",
"wire bending"
] | Sometimes while working on a project there comes a point where a specialized tool is needed. That necessary tool may or may not even exist. While [Fabien] was working on his DNA Lamp project he needed to bend a copper wire into a helical shape. Every one of us has wrapped a wire around a pencil and made a little springy thing at some point. While the diameter may have been constant, the turn spacing certainly was not. [Fabien] came up with a
simple gizmo
to solve that problem.
The tool utilizes an 8mm rod that will ensure the ID of the helix is indeed 8mm. We’ve already discussed that was the easy part. To make certain the turn spacing is not only consistent but also of the correct amount, a wooden frame is used. The frame has holes in it to allow the 8mm rod to pass through. Adjacent to those rod holes are much smaller holes just a bit larger than the copper wire that will become the helix. These holes are drilled at an angle to produce the correct turn spacing. [Fabien] figured out the correct angle by taking the desired turn spacing distance, helix diameter and wire diameter and plopping it in this formula:
asin((helixDiameter+wireDiameter)/(turnSpacing+wireDiameter))
asin(8+1.5/24+1.5) = 21.87°….. 22° is close enough…
At this point the rod is inserted into the wooded frame and the wire is passed through the 22° hole. The wire is then held to the rod and when the wooded frame is twisted, a perfectly spaced helix is left in the wake. The measured variation of the 24mm spaced helix was only 0.2mm. [Fabien] is not done with his lamp yet but he expects it to be completed in a couple weeks. We are looking forward to it. | 16 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "1547802",
"author": "Z00111111",
"timestamp": "2014-06-04T23:43:14",
"content": "That’s clever. Could potentially see that method being used for home turning nichrome wire to make a hot, even, heating element.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
... | 1,760,376,177.674378 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/06/04/thp-entry-a-300-pick-place-3d-printer/ | THP Entry: A $300 Pick & Place 3D Printer | Brian Benchoff | [
"The Hackaday Prize"
] | [
"delta bot",
"pick and place",
"the hackaday prize"
] | With the advent of cheap PCB fabrication, (relatively) easy to use layout tools, and a whole host of prototypes for nearly any device imaginable, the age of custom circuits is upon us. The tools to
make
these custom circuits, though, are usually hilariously expensive or simply unavailable to all but the most resourceful hackerspace. It would be great if every workshop in the country had a pick and place machine, and
the $300 Pick and Place / 3D printer
would be a great way to introduce this tech to millions of electronic tinkerers around the world. It also makes for a great entry to The Hackaday Prize.
The basic design of this machine is a delta bot. This is a wonderful choice over a Cartesian bot; deltas are faster and can have higher acceleration, a great thing to have if you want to throw together a few boards quickly. Although the configuration looks a little inverted as compared to other 3D printer delta bots, there’s a reason for this: the design was simulated with evolutionary algorithms and statistical tests to find the best geometry for the machine. The completed machine should be able to place 0201 components; anything smaller would be called dust.
The software hits all the marks, using OpenCV for image processing, ARM boards for motor control and computational tasks, and a good bit of mechanical and pneumatic work to suck up the parts. They’re even working on a 3D printed tape feeders. Now a component often overlooked when looking at the total cost of pick and place equipment is essentially free.
It’s awesome work, and even if they don’t win The Hackaday Prize, it’s still something every hackerspace should have. Now if someone would only crack the through-hole plating problem…
The project featured in this post is an entry in
The Hackaday Prize
. Build something awesome and win a trip to space or hundreds of other prizes. | 24 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "1547446",
"author": "syntroniks",
"timestamp": "2014-06-04T20:48:31",
"content": "Homemade PCBS? I can have a pro do it for under $100, soldermask silkscreen and all. A single board machine assembled? Hard pressed to find it under 1000. This should be a really neat project.",
"p... | 1,760,376,177.741473 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/06/04/thp-entry-is-easy/ | Entry Is Easy: The Hackaday Prize | Mike Szczys | [
"Featured",
"The Hackaday Prize"
] | [
"the hackaday prize"
] | [youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1N5oM4hmw8&w=580]
Failing to submit an entry for The Hackaday Prize is a big mistake. The worst you can do is make an awesome contribution to Open Hardware, but you could win a trip to space or hundreds of other prizes. It’s simple to get started:
Sign up for an account on
Hackaday.io
Start documenting your project with the tag
#TheHackadayPrize
Click the “Submit project to…” button to make it official
Not simple enough? We even made some screenshots to prove how easy it is. Check them out after the break.
Make it connected, make it open, make it awesome, and you could win!
Make it an official entry
Don’t wait until the project is finished. You need to make it official if you want to be in on community voting for shirts, stickers, patches, etc.
Click the submit button on the left column of a project you have created.
Choose “Official Hackaday Prize Entry” from the drop-down box
Fill out the entry form and click “Submit my project” to officially enter your project | 15 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "1547073",
"author": "jaromirs",
"timestamp": "2014-06-04T17:46:25",
"content": "Just curious, can one person submit more than one project for HaD prize?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1547080",
"author": "Brian Bencho... | 1,760,376,177.800929 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/06/04/keep-those-filaments-lit-design-your-own-vacuum-tube-audio-equipment/ | Keep Those Filaments Lit, Design Your Own Vacuum Tube Audio Equipment | Gregory L. Charvat | [
"digital audio hacks",
"Featured"
] | [
"amp",
"amplifier",
"tube"
] | It was a cold January Saturday night in Chicago and we had big plans. Buddy Guy’s Legends bar was packed. We setup directly under one of the PA speakers less than 15′ from the stage. Time to celebrate. Skip the glass, one pitcher each and keep them coming. We’re about to make bootleg recording history. Conversation evolved into bloviation on what our cover art would look like, certainly it would be a photo of our battery powered tube mic pre-amp recently created in my basement lab. We had four hours to kill before Buddy’s appearance. Our rate of Goose Island and Guinness consumption would put us at three-sheets to the wind by 11. Must focus. It’s time, Buddy was on. Much fumbling about and forgetting how to turn on the Japanese-made 24 bit digital recorder with its nested LCD menus, cryptic buttons, and late 90’s firmware.
Make it work.
We did, just in time for the bouncers to notice the boom mike and battery packs. Wait, wait… maybe we should talk about why tube amps are worth this kind of trouble first.
Yes, vacuum tubes do sound better than transistors (before you hate in the comments
check out this scholarly article on the topic
). The difficulty is cost; tube gear is very expensive because it uses lots of copper, iron, often point-to-point wired by hand, and requires a heavy metal chassis to support all of these parts. But with this high cost comes good economic justification for building your own gear.
This is one of the last frontiers of do-it-yourself that is actually worth doing.
Vacuum tubes work by thermionic emission
, meaning that electrons are emitted by something really hot under vacuum. In this case a lightbulb filament or a lightbulb filament that heats up a cathode metal plate encircling the filament. These electrons are accelerated from the cathode to the plate, thereby flowing current from the cathode to the plate. This current is controlled by a control grid, literally a small wire mesh between the cathode and the plate that looks like window screen. For practical purposes the grid is similar to the gate of a field effect transistor although the physics are completely different. There are some enthusiasts who actually
make their own tubes from scratch
.
It is easy to get sound out of vacuum tube audio circuitry. Tube circuits lend themselves to self biasing and simple first-order approximations. Buy parts today and listen to Jimmy Hendrix by Sunday evening.
How a simple single-stage tube preamplifier works
Preamplifier. An example of a 20 dB audio gain stage.
The audio input is fed directly into the grid of V1, which is also shunted with resistor R1. R1’s job is to both pull the grid of V1 to 0V potential and also provide a termination impedance to the audio input (in most cases 50K or 100K). R2 and R3 set the gain and bias point. A simple approximation for voltage gain is R2/R3 assuming the tube has a ‘high mu.’ mu is a measure of transconductance or the tube’s ability to amplify, in other words current output/voltage input. Current flowing through the tube sinks a current across R3. This voltage across R3 while this circuit is idling (or not amplifying) is equal to the bias voltage. This configuration is known as ‘self biasing.’ Old-salt engineers will tell you that designing with tubes is easier than transistors. They’re right.
The output is AC coupled with C1 to block the plate voltage from feeding into whatever this circuit is wired to. Like a single-stage transistor amplifier the output is inverted
,
a rising voltage at the grid results in a falling voltage at the plate.
Power it
Schematic of 120 VDC power supply with regulation.
You will need 50-150V of B+ (or plate voltage, because it is connected to the plate of the tube via R2) and about 1 mA to power this preamplifier. You can achieve this with the following circuit that supplies a regulated 120 VDC using zener diodes.
With two pre-amps you can make a stereo preamp or ‘hybrid’ power amplifier.
It is important to note that tubes are high voltage low current and from a conventional/modern circuit design perspective the resistors seem very high, caps low, and current regulation approaches amateur at best. This power supply works because we only need 1 mA.
Make two
Connect the inputs to your audio source and the outputs to your favorite solid state amplifier. We now have a ‘hybrid amplifier,’ containing a tube front-end and a solid-state back end. Professional versions of this amplifier are for sale by
a large consumer electronics manufacturer
.
Take it on the road, a true story from my college experience
Battery operated portable tube preamp.
So back to the story I started before. My bootleg conspirators and I were well lubricated and about to get the best recording of a live concert to date when we were stopped by the bouncers. After a short interrogation we were booted out, back onto the cold streets but with a feeling of satisfaction that, although we did not record the show, we had the best audio gear in town:
Schematic of battery operated tube preamp.
In this design, two pre-amplifiers described above are used with a battery powered high voltage supply. The high voltage supply works by creating a square wave with a 555 timer. This square wave is above audible frequency, around 40 Khz. The square wave is fed into a small audio power op-amp. The output of this op-amp is back-fed into the secondary of an audio output transformer, generating high voltage AC 170V at 40 Khz. This signal is rectified, filtered, and regulated in a conventional sense. The entire system runs on 8 AA batteries and should operate for approximately 4 hours continuously. Everything you need to
make your own is here in this PDF
.
Power Amplifiers
Eventually you may want to create a power amplifier. There are a number of classes and variants of tube audio power amplifiers:
Class B are push-pull amplifiers, similar to conventional solid state amplifiers, where there is a pushing tube and a pulling tube being driven 180 deg out of phase.
The class AB is biased so that the output devices are on all the time, thereby reducing or eliminating cross-over distortion which occurs when one tube hands the load off to the other.
Class A amplifiers are basically a high power version of our pre-amp above, where instead of resistor R2 we have an audio output transformer. Lots more power is burned needlessly in Class A amplifiers because they are always on, they either let go of the load or pull it closer to 0 potential. When not doing anything they sit half-mast, burning lots of power. Many prefer class A because there is no cross over distortion and they are very simple to design.
More obscure types of amplifiers include transformer-less, where lots of tubes are in parallel in a Class A configuration to directly drive a 4-8 ohm loudspeaker load.
Almost all tube amplifiers require a transformer to match the high impedance of the tubes (3K or so) to the low impedance of modern loudspeakers (4-8 ohms).
Block diagram of a typical tube power amplifier.
Feedback can be applied to all amplifier types, where just like an op-amp circuit some of the output signal is fed back to the input, allowing the amplifier to compensate for non-linearities. Feedback provides a much cleaner signal and improved performance. This is not always desirable depending on your goal. Without feedback expect on the order of 7% total harmonic distortion. With feedback and high gain expect 0.5% total harmonic distortion.
Schematic of a class AB tube power amplifier with negative feedback.
A typical tube power amplifier is a class AB with feedback. In this, there is a gain stage that also functions as the differential amplifier when feedback loop is closed. This is followed by what is known as a ‘phase splitter,’ which is basically a buffer or small amount of gain using two triodes providing both in-phase and out-of-phase output. The two outputs drive the output power tubes at 0 and 180 deg phase respectively. The output tubes push and pull on the output transformer. Tubes can only pull, so the output transformer is powered from a center tap on its primary winding. Finally, the output is fed both to a loudspeaker and through a feedback network to the first stage.
A working example of this is shown in the schematic with
details on its implementation
(PDF).
Tube home theater
With these pre-amplifier and power amplifier circuits you can scale your design to a complete home theater system with 5.1 sound. For technical details of its implementation,
check out this PDF
. You can also check out
my project which was featured early last year
.
Photo of vacuum tube home theater system.
Let them shine
Four-channel power amplifier located at bottom of home theater system, this is simply four of the class AB power amplifiers described previously.
Just like the reality TV shows where skilled craftsman make motorcycles or hot rods you too can customize the look of your tube amplifier.
Place the tubes on the top of the chassis so you can watch them glow
. Co-locate the output, power, and chokes on top as well. It’s fun to watch them glow in the dark while playing ‘Dark Side of the Moon.’
Where to find parts
Audio tubes are easy to find and continue to be manufactured in Eastern Europe, Russia, China, and others. Transformers of all types including audio output and power are readily available through Hammond Manufacturing and other sources. A new movement in the tube audio community is to find obscure pairs of output transformers and make single-ended non-feedback amplifiers. Recently, manufacturers have started to remanufacture high voltage axial leaded caps and other old-school parts. You can find this stuff at
Antique Electronics Supply
,
Just radios
, and even Mouser and Digi-Key (less expensive for same stuff but requires a lot of filtering and digging through the catalog).
Learn fast
There’s a lot of material on tube design, but these are my personal favorites:
Radiotron Designers Handbook.
Principles of Power.
Where some of the tube audio community gathers,
audioXpress Magazine.
Try vacuum tubes in your next audio project. Keep those filaments lit.
Gregory L. Charvat
, Ph.D is author of
Small and Short-Range Radar Systems
, visiting research scientist at Camera Culture Group Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Lab, co-founder of Hyperfine Research Inc. and Butterfly Network Inc., editor of the Gregory L. Charvat Series on Practical Approaches to Electrical Engineering, and
guest commentator on CNN, CBS, Sky News, and others
. He was a technical staff member at MIT Lincoln Laboratory from September 2007 to November 2011, where his work on through-wall radar won best paper at the 2010 MSS Tri-Services Radar Symposium and is an MIT Office of the Provost 2011 research highlight. He has taught short radar courses at MIT, where his Build a Small Radar course was the top-ranked MIT professional education course in 2011 and has become widely adopted by other universities, laboratories, and private organizations. Starting at an early age, Greg developed numerous radar systems, rail SAR imaging sensors, phased array radar systems; holds several patents; and has developed many other sensors and radio and audio equipment. He has authored numerous publications and received a great deal of press for his work. Greg earned a Ph.D in electrical engineering in 2007, MSEE in 2003, and BSEE in 2002 from Michigan State University, and is a senior member of the IEEE, where he served on the steering committee for the 2010, 2013, and 2016 IEEE International Symposium on Phased Array Systems and Technology and chaired the IEEE AP-S Boston Chapter from 2010-2011. | 120 | 35 | [
{
"comment_id": "1546681",
"author": "dave",
"timestamp": "2014-06-04T14:37:05",
"content": "tube amps don’t have to be expensive. there are transformer companies that make very inexpensive transformers such as Edcor and if you stay away from the boutique tubes you can get workable tubes for a coupl... | 1,760,376,178.03263 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/06/04/jeep-power-wheels-upgrade-only-reuses-body/ | Jeep Power Wheels Upgrade Only Reuses Body | Rich Bremer | [
"Transportation Hacks"
] | [
"power racing series",
"Power Wheels",
"powerwheels"
] | It is debatable whether [Jamie] upgraded his Power Wheels Jeep or built a beast of a mini vehicle and only added a Power Wheels Jeep body. Either way, this
Racing Power Wheels Jeep
is awesome. The goal of the project is to race in the
Power Racing Series
races held at Maker Faires.
This vehicle is no joke. It is still electric but runs on 24volts DC. It has pneumatic rubber tires for traction and disk brakes for stopping. The ‘gas’ gauge is a volt meter mounted into the dash next to the motor temperature gauge. As if that was not enough, the headlights and tail lights work. Take note of that sweet custom frame, it was mostly made from an old bed frame.
To move an adult around at a good clip [Jamie] is using two 12v batteries in series to reach his 24v goal. The DC drive motor is only rated at 12v, hence needing the temperature gauge, it gets hot. In between the batteries and motor resides an Electronic Speed Control that was removed from a pallet mover. The speed control allows a variable throttle which results in smooth and controlled acceleration. The motors rotational energy is then transferred through an old electric wheelchair differential before reaching the wheels. All said and done this little rig can get up to 25-30mph.
The custom Army Jeep paint job adds some show to this projects’ go! If you have your young offspring in mind, this may not be the best project. For a more kid-friendly approach check
this
out. | 14 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "1546320",
"author": "Imichua",
"timestamp": "2014-06-04T11:42:30",
"content": "The look on his face at the end :)Nice build!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1577241",
"author": "foxxpup",
"timestamp": "2014-06-... | 1,760,376,177.853772 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/06/05/android-based-wireless-ecg/ | Android Based Wireless ECG | Nick Conn | [
"Medical Hacks"
] | [
"android",
"ecg",
"electrocardiogram",
"INA",
"instrumentation amplifier",
"launchpad",
"Stellaris Launchpad"
] | The title of [Nuclearrambo’s] post says it all, “
Android based wireless ECG monitoring
(Temperature sensor and glucometer included).” Wow! What a project!
The project is built around the
HC-06 bluetooth module
and the
Stellaris LaunchPad from TI
, an inexpensive ARM developer kit.
Building an ECG
is a great way to learn about
instrumentation amplifiers
, a type of differential amplifier used for its extremely high common mode rejection ratio (CMRR). Please be sure to keep in mind that there are a myriad of safety issues and regulation concerns for medical device, and there is no doubt that an ECG is considered a medical device. Sadly, [Nuclearrambo’s] post does not include all of the code and design files you need to build the system, which is understandable considering this is a medical device. That being said, he provides a lot of information about building high-quality ECG instrumentation and the web interface.
It would be great if [Nuclearrambo] could post the Android application code and Stellaris LaunchPad code. Even with these omissions, this post is still worth reading. Designing medical devices requires a lot of know-how, but who knows, maybe your next project can save your life! | 10 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "1551319",
"author": "Thomas Shaddack",
"timestamp": "2014-06-05T23:46:47",
"content": "“Medical device” my ass. So it interfaces with a human body. Big deal in that, just two pieces of hardware connected together. Safety – just feed it from batteries (or from battery-operating lapto... | 1,760,376,178.091594 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/06/05/friday-twitterchief-for-a-day-chris_gammell/ | Right Now: #TwitterChief @Chris_Gammell | Mike Szczys | [
"Major Tom"
] | [] | We’re doing something new. We’ve asked [Chris Gammell] to take over our Twitter account (
@Hackaday
) on Friday, June 6th. Be sure to check in when he’s most active between noon and 5pm EDT. You should also follow
@Chris_Gammell
because his Twitter-fu is perpetually entertaining. | 1 | 1 | [
{
"comment_id": "1553610",
"author": "0b1",
"timestamp": "2014-06-06T17:20:57",
"content": "Yay Chris! Good on ya.. Now get back on #TheAmpHour IRC!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
}
] | 1,760,376,178.409679 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/06/05/developed-on-hackaday-we-have-final-prototypes/ | Developed On Hackaday: We Have Final Prototypes! | Mathieu Stephan | [
"Featured",
"hardware"
] | [
"abs",
"aluminium",
"case design",
"developed on hackaday",
"mooltipass",
"password",
"smart card"
] | The last few weeks have been quite tense for the
Mooltipass
team as we were impatiently waiting for our
smart cards
,
cases
and
front panels
to come back from production. Today we received a package from China, so we knew it was the hour of truth. Follow us after the break if you have a good internet connection and want to see more pictures of the
final product
…
We never mentioned this on Hackaday before, but we actually produced two different versions of Olivier’s case: a slim one and a thick one. The slim one isn’t Arduino compatible and is only intended for our dear contributors as it is made of aluminium and therefore very costly :
The thick Arduino-compatible case is only 1.9mm thicker (13.9mm instead of 12mm) and is made of black ABS. You can notice the connector grooves :
As you may have guessed all the prototypes were CNC machined and then anodized or painted. We’ll obviously go for injection molded cases for bigger quantities, which will be one of our main challenges in the coming months…
It was quite a relief when we saw that our PCBs could tightly fit inside the cases, especially given that several of them were produced and shipped to our contributors around the world :
In our
last developed on Hackaday series article
we stated that we had decided to switch our transparent front panel for a tinted one. The new one we just received perfectly fits on top of our assembled prototype and give it a clean professional look when the screen is off :
Rest assured that our capacitive touch interface performs remarkably well even with this 1mm thick acrylic panel on top of it. We’re using a 0.11mm thick double-sided tape between our top PCB and our panel to maintain good contact.
Finally, we also received the smart cards that our dear Hackaday reader selected. Unfortunately they were printed in the wrong direction, leaving the wrong part sticking out of the Mooltipass.
So what’s next for the Mooltipass project?
Now that we know that our hardware is final we are going to select beta testers and have a small Mooltipass production run shipped to them. In the meantime our contributors will be hard at work and hopefully in a few months we may start our crowdfunding campaign!
Want to stay informed? You can join the official
Mooltipass Google Group
or follow us on
Hackaday Projects
. | 47 | 17 | [
{
"comment_id": "1550911",
"author": "Leo",
"timestamp": "2014-06-05T20:03:38",
"content": "How can I become a beta tester?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1550922",
"author": "Mathieu Stephan",
"timestamp": "2014-06-05T20:10:0... | 1,760,376,178.634012 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/06/05/the-megascroller-for-video-games-in-the-round/ | The Megascroller, For Video Games In The Round | Brian Benchoff | [
"LED Hacks"
] | [
"circular display",
"led matrix",
"LEDscape",
"RGB LED",
"RGB LED matrix"
] | The folks at NYC Resistor have a thing for circular displays, it seems. Their earlier Hexascroller was a ceiling mounted display with six 30×7 displays – good enough to display the time and a few textual message in six directions. The Octoscroller bumped up the display capability with eight 16×32 RGB LED panels.
Now the Megascroller, a 32-sided 512×64 display
is hanging in the hackerspace, complete with 360° Mario and Pong.
The Megascroller is one of [Trammell Hudson]’s projects, constructed out of sixty-four 32×16 RGB LED matrices. That’s an impressive amount of controllable LEDs, that required a lot of processing power: namely, the BeagleBone-powered LEDscape board used in
their earlier Octoscroller
As far as applications go, they naturally have Pong, but a more interesting application is the side-scrolling Mario that requires you to move around the display as you play. You can check out a video of that below.
If you’d like to see the Megascroller in person, as well as a whole bunch of other crazy blinking interactive projects,
NYC Resistor is holding a an interactive show this weekend
, beer provided.
[flickr video=http://www.flickr.com/photos/osr/14341271044/] | 23 | 12 | [
{
"comment_id": "1550578",
"author": "kommune78",
"timestamp": "2014-06-05T17:09:00",
"content": "Wow, first Magic Lantern and now this. Amazing.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "1550712",
"author": "Scott_Tx",
"timestamp": "2014-06-05T18... | 1,760,376,179.092127 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/06/05/thp-hacker-bio-flc/ | THP Hacker Bio: Fl@C@ | Mike Szczys | [
"Hackaday Columns",
"Interviews",
"The Hackaday Prize"
] | [
"3d printing",
"hacker",
"raman spectrometer",
"raspberry pi",
"TheHackadayPrize"
] | Now that we’re starting to get serious about The Hackaday Prize we thought we’d take a look at the lives of some of the hackers who have submitted entries. Meet
fl@C@
, who is
working on a Raman Spectrometer
which is largely 3D printed and uses a Raspberry Pi. He was kind enough to answer all of our questions, some serious and some not so.
Image:
OldComputers.net
Creating. It’s probably no surprise that I have many hobbies…but hardware hacking is my life. I got my first taste with my dads Imsai 8080 (showing my age, but I was fairly young!)..Then it was an Apple][.. I really dove into that. I built my own from a bare pcb to a working machine when I was around 11 or 12. Just moved up from there.. Really went nuts when I got a job at a surplus electronics store in the silicon valley.. I rarely took home a paycheck.. I have a few other hobbies, I’m a private pilot…love flying. I built a pretty cool device that allowed me to datalog my flights, my heartrate, keep track of the fuel, it speaks and connects to the comm to remind me when to switch tanks, etc.. I’ll have to put that up on the project page.
Well…For my day job, I am a Network Engineer.. I can’t really say for which company, but it’s big.
My Passion is Going Big
I would say my passion is going big..if it’s worth doing…..it’s worth overdoing. I love coming up with ideas that would make a difference. The spectrometer I am working on is actually only a small part of a larger project I am working toward. There are never enough hours, or dollars to cover all of my ideas…but I always work as hard as I can to get there.. TLDR- I’m excited every day to wake up and make another step towards changing the world.
I work from home, but in the office… it’s definitely the snack machine. Seriously? We can’t build a machine that dispenses snacks without getting them stuck?
I’d say linux. I’ve been a fan of ubuntu for a while.. lately
I’ve been playing with xubuntu
. I don’t care for messing with computers..lol.
I love electronics, hardware, software and all that.. but I do not geek out over PC hardware..I consider them another tool…they need to work when I need them to work. lol
Not sure if you want a breakdown of what gear I have….I have quite a bit and a pretty elaborate lab setup..but I’m really a bit of a minimalist when it comes to day to day use.. I use my scope when it’s appropriate..my logic analyzer (saelae logic rocks) pretty often.. but I’d say my go to device is usually my DMM since it’s what I tend to use most often…I have a few, but I like to use the one that connects up to my PC so I can make screenshots, and/or see it from a distance..
I would have to default to the mBed
for this one..for general purpose. I started out like most people probably with the basic stamp waaaay back…and went through a few others..and settled on the mBed when there was just one device, but now they have so many platforms that you can fit to whatever need..and some of them are dirt cheap. I’m using the ST Nucleo041RE for the spectrometer project, and it’s only $10 at mouser. I have just started peering into FPGA stuff, I hope to get some more time to work with them very soon, I see lots of potential.. I never really used Arduino’s until the past year or two when I got into quadcopters..they have a purpose..and are ok for quick and dirty stuff since you can source a pro mini on ebay for like 3 bucks..
Python has become my best friend. C++ is great and all, I’ve been forced to use VB6 for work…where they even use winbatch……. But python works.. and it’s easy to crank something out quickly, and you can build some pretty robust stuff with it..
Well, I have a couple that come to mind immediately that I honestly would love to share with the world…but won’t just yet.. =) So, I’ll go with what is left…hopefully it’s plenty for now..
I’d love to build a fusor. I built my first tesla coil when I was 17.. I’d love to take the hobby fusor to the next step..
A Moon Rover. Seriously. And the vehicle to get it there. I think we all agree rockets and gasoline both need to go away. Mankind needs to reach out beyond what we’re confortable with.
A fully autonomous multirotor. I actually started this project..have it all layed out..but it’s not high enough on my priority list to make it the rest of the way..I have probably 80% of the parts new in a box..I’ve started doing a writeup on it..and hope to get it up soon.
Learn the Value of Knowing Where and How to Find the Information [You] need
I wish that everyone would learn the value of knowing where and how to find the information they need to accomplish a goal. Schools typically force you to memorize facts and information that is often worthless. I would like for people to learn instead how to be adaptive in their approach to problems, and understand that there is always more than one answer.. and there is a huge resource out there that will enable you to make educated decisions and reach grander goals. We live in a great time with that…and in that way, the internet is underutilized…
The timing was right…I thought this was an interesting and unique project..I had promised myself to try to be more open and share..this project was perfect since it has 3d parts people can print themselves, a raspberryPi, a sorta arduino and a cool laser…plus I figured there are several people out there that could either benefit from a low cost raman spectrometer, or at least benefit from some part of it..be it the parts I designed or just the understanding of how it works and what they’re used for…
I always keep an open mind, and consider any advice given.. There have been many aspects of this project that created a challenge.. This is my first serious venture into 3d printing this much stuff…I’ve never really worked with lasers and optics in such a way.. Avoiding spending thousands on optics was a major challenge. I have been doing all the research I can to understand the best approach to imaging…My first idea was to modify a webcam to take long exposures since the light reaching the camera will be fairly faint..after looking into that, it’s not just a lot of work and difficult to reproduce…but the cameras that others have modified are ancient and next to impossible to find. I wanted to go with a camera that anyone could find…
the raspiCam
kept surfacing as the best choice…so, the next challenge was how to get the long exposure…the raspiCam driver doesn’t really allow for 10-30 second exposures… so the next idea was to take several shots, and stack them to build a usable image.. so my latest approach is to take a 90fps video for a couple seconds, split that into individual frames, and stack those.. If anyone has suggestions in this area, I’d love to hear them.. I planned on using either
mathematica
or
qtoctave
from python, etc..
A Moon Rover. =) It’d probably most definately be a team effort.. But I think as a community, the skills are out there. And the google XPrize shouldn’t be the only game in town.. I think things are building up to this kind of stuff anyway, but someone’s got to be first.
Live Out Loud Every Day
I’d just like to say…putting this project on this site was a major debate for me. I grew up with parents that had secret clearances, and privacy was central. I’ve been trying to build up the courage to share my work and ideas with the world because I think it benefits everyone. This project is my first to share, and for it to be featured here, and for me to be honored with being the first the be featured is really amazing. I appreciate this whole community, I’ve learned a lot from it over the years and I hope to be able to give back and contribute more soon! | 61 | 16 | [
{
"comment_id": "1550339",
"author": "J Jinglehiemer",
"timestamp": "2014-06-05T14:52:12",
"content": "For anyone searching the mbed board, I think he meant ST Nucleo 401RE…",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "1550446",
"author": "saidone",
... | 1,760,376,182.012917 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/06/05/the-game-boy-pocket-rapi-mod-puts-all-others-to-shame/ | The Game Boy Pocket Raspi Mod Puts All Others To Shame | Brian Benchoff | [
"Nintendo Game Boy Hacks",
"Raspberry Pi"
] | [
"game boy",
"Game Boy pocket",
"raspberry pi",
"RetroPi"
] | There are hundreds – perhaps thousands – of builds out there on the Internet that put a Raspberry Pi in an enclosure with buttons meant solely for running emulators for old games.
This one is unlike any other
. Yes, it’s still basically a RetroPi emulator, but this Game Boy Pocket casemod goes beyond any remotely comparable build.
The Game Boy Pocket is incredibly small, but after sanding down the bosses on the inside of the case, gluing the battery door shut, and installing a bit of plastic over the cartridge slot, [WarriorRocker] was able to fit a Raspi inside. The buttons use the same PCB as the stock Game Boy, connected to a Teensy 2.0 board that simulates a USB keyboard.
With the two largest components taken care of, [Warrior] turned his attention to the sound, video and power. The display is a 2.5″ composite LCD that actually fits quite nicely behind the screen bezel. Audio is taken care of by a $3 audio amplifier, a new, smaller speaker, and a side-mounted pot stolen from the original Game Boy guts. There’s no chance on running this with the same 2xAAA cells the original Game Boy Pocket had, so [Warrior] somehow found space for a 2600mAh Li-Poly battery, a step-up regulator, and a charge circuit.
The result is a full-color RetroPi build capable of running for three hours before needing a recharge. All the classic Game Boy games are loaded onto the SD card along with select titles for other systems. The result is one of the best portabalized Raspi builds we’ve ever seen. Video below. | 45 | 16 | [
{
"comment_id": "1549838",
"author": "Yarr",
"timestamp": "2014-06-05T11:15:06",
"content": "Christ, talk about overkill. Why not hook up the existing buttons via GPIO pins and actually drive the original LCD? Oh, right, because that would involve more technical expertise than just recompiling an em... | 1,760,376,181.189803 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/06/05/fight-the-google-glass-cyborgs-with-glasshole-sh/ | Fight The Google Glass Cyborgs With Glasshole.sh | Rick Osgood | [
"Linux Hacks"
] | [
"air-scan",
"aireplay-ng",
"bash",
"beaglebone black",
"google glass",
"linux",
"raspberry pi",
"script",
"Wearable computer"
] | We live in a connected world where social media is ubiquitous and many people feel compelled to share every waking moment with anyone who will listen. In this type of world, wearable computers like Google Glass allow us to share experiences like never before. A Glass user can take photos, record video and audio, or potentially even stream video live on the Internet with the greatest of ease. That might be great for the Glass user, but what about the rest of us? As wearable computing becomes more and more mainstream, people are naturally going to become divided on the issue of privacy. Is it a good thing to have “cyborgs” with wearable computers and cameras constantly at the ready, or is it a privacy nightmare? The cyborg war is coming, and [Julian] has already chosen his side.
It would seem that [Julian] lands on the side of the privacy advocates, based on his “
glasshole
” script. Glasshole is a relatively simple bash script that relies on some other common network security tools to take care of the heavy lifting. The basic premise relies on the fact that every manufacturer of network interface devices is assigned their own MAC prefix. This is a piece of the MAC address that is unique to that manufacturer.
[Julian’s] script uses a utility called
arp-scan
to obtain a list of all MAC addresses on a given wireless network. It then loops through each address and compares it to the known Google Glass MAC prefix. If it finds a match, it will make an audible beeping noise to alert the script user. The script then launches
aireplay-ng
in de-authentication mode. This will send spoofed disassociate packets to the client (in this case the Google Glass device), hopefully forcing them to disconnect from the access point. The script runs continuously, ensuring that once the device reconnects to the network it will get booted off once again. The script is designed to be run on a small Linux computer such as a Raspberry Pi or a BeagleBone black. This way, the user can carry it around with them as a sort of portable defense mechanism.
How do you fit into the cyborg war? Will you stand proudly with your computer on your face for all to see? If so, what kind of countermeasures would you deploy to prevent this type of attack from working on you? If not, what other types of interesting attacks can you think of to keep the cyborgs at bay?
[Thanks Syed] | 285 | 50 | [
{
"comment_id": "1549324",
"author": "Roger (@OkGoDoIt)",
"timestamp": "2014-06-05T08:06:41",
"content": "Generally I have my Glass using Bluetooth through my phone, unless I’m at home. And since it can’t get on any wifi that uses a captive portal (most public coffee shop wifi, etc), there’s not ma... | 1,760,376,181.90779 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/06/03/solar-energy-provides-an-outlet-for-hurricane-related-woes/ | Solar Energy Provides An Outlet For Hurricane-Related Woes | Kristina Panos | [
"Solar Hacks"
] | [
"hurricane season",
"solar power",
"uses for landline jacks"
] | Hurricane season in the US Atlantic region officially began on June 1st. While [mikesoniat] is hoping for a mild one in his Gulf Coast town, he’d like to be as prepared as possible in the event of a power outage. He’s been experimenting with solar power lately, and while he’d love to go all out with some hefty system that could keep all his appliances running,
he’s not quite ready for that kind of investment. While thinking about this dream system, he noticed all the phone jacks around his house that he hasn’t used for several years. After consulting the phone company and researching the capabilities of 22-26AWG POTS copper lines,
he devised a solar-powered system
to provide enough power to run lights, fans, and a couple of phone chargers.
At the heart of this hack are two 12V solar panels, two 12V batteries in a weatherproof junction box, and a 100W solar charge controller. He started by re-wiring Ma Bell’s junction box up to the panels with thermostat wire. After prying out the RJ11 jack panels all over his house, he wired in regular outlets and marked them as 12V solar to avoid confusing his house guests. He was able to find 12V LED bulbs with standard bases, so all he has to do is screw in these bulbs and plug the lamps into his solar outlets. He also installed a floodlight outside and ran all of the wiring through the floodlight box.
To soak up more sun for this or any other solar hack, try a
2-axis solar tracker
. | 96 | 37 | [
{
"comment_id": "1542890",
"author": "denis",
"timestamp": "2014-06-03T11:05:28",
"content": "if he was replacing the face plates he should have used a different connector imho (hate to be *that* guy) what happens if someone else plugs a 12v appliance into a normal socket?",
"parent_id": null,
... | 1,760,376,181.448281 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/06/03/retropie-portable-build-uses-no-fancy-tools/ | RetroPie Portable Build Uses No Fancy Tools! | James Hobson | [
"Raspberry Pi"
] | [
"retropie",
"retropie gaming"
] | RetroPie Portable builds are great fun, but lots of them make use of expensive tools like 3D printers and laser cutters, which tends to dismay — [Kaushlesh]
proves you don’t need any of that!
To build his unit he’s using a Raspberry Pi, a USB controller, a 6 x 4″ project box, a cheap LCD screen, a hot glue gun, and various electrical components — you will still need some soldering skill to complete this project!
By modifying the case he assembled the control boards by taking apart the USB controller. Protoboard made for an easy way to mount his new buttons, with it simply hot glued in place. Quite a bit of soldering later and everything is connected. He notes you’d better make sure everything works as you go otherwise it will be hard to find out what’s wrong when it is assembled!
Future upgrades include a rechargeable li-ion pack and built in speakers (he’s currently using headphones). Take a look after the break!
Retropie consoles are great — why not
put one into your coffee table? | 19 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "1542540",
"author": "onebiozz",
"timestamp": "2014-06-03T08:41:31",
"content": "Why dont people use the DSI connector?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1542658",
"author": "Kaushlesh Chandel",
"timestamp": "2014... | 1,760,376,181.509761 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/06/03/velociraptor-robot-ready-to-run-with-the-big-dogs/ | Velociraptor Robot Ready To Run With The Big Dogs | Adam Fabio | [
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"biped",
"KAIST",
"Raptor",
"robots",
"south korea"
] | [Jongwon Park] and his team of students at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology have created
a fast biped robot
based upon the Velociraptor. Raptor weighs in at just 3Kg, and stands only 470mm tall, yet it is capable of running at 46 km/h. That’s almost as fast as
Boston Dynamic’s Cheetah
.
Raptor uses carbon fiber composite legs to absorb and release energy while running. The system is similar to that used in high performance prosthetic legs. A rotating tail assembly further helps to balance Raptor on rough terrain. We have to admit, the tail system does look a bit dangerous for any humans who might need to interact with the robot. It does work though, as evidenced by Raptor bounding over Styrofoam blocks.
The Raptor robot is quite impressive when running at full speed. Considering this project’s budget was nowhere near the resources of Boston Dynamics, it’s an amazing accomplishment. The video reminds us of Boston Dynamics founder
[Marc Raibert’s] early robots
at the MIT Leg Lab. We can’t wait to see what this team produces in the future.
[Via Engadget] | 19 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "1542525",
"author": "Als Taxi",
"timestamp": "2014-06-03T08:32:48",
"content": "Can’t wait to see it in my nightmare.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "1542552",
"author": "k",
"timestamp": "2014-06-03T08:44:46",
"cont... | 1,760,376,181.247778 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/06/02/the-laser-cutter-attachment-for-a-3d-printer/ | The Laser Cutter Attachment For A 3D Printer | Brian Benchoff | [
"3d Printer hacks",
"Crowd Funding",
"Laser Hacks"
] | [
"3d printer",
"laser",
"laser cutter",
"laser diode"
] | If you already have a 3D printer, you already have a machine that will trace out gears, cogs, and enclosures over an XY plane. How about strapping a laser to your extruder and turning your printer into a laser cutter?
That’s what [Spiritplumber] did
, and he’s actually cutting 3/16″ wood and 1/4″ acrylic with his 3D printer.
[Spiritplumber] is using a 445nm laser diode attached directly to his extruder mount to turn his 3D printer into a laser cutter. The great thing about putting a laser diode on an extruder is that no additional power supplies are needed; after installing a few connectors near the hot end, [Spiritplumber] is able to switch from extruding to lasing by just swapping a few wires. The software isn’t a problem either: it’s all just Gcode and DXFs, anyway.
There’s an Indiegogo for this
, with the laser available for $200. Compare that to the Chinese laser cutters on eBay, and you can see why this is called the L-CHEAPO laser cutter. | 80 | 21 | [
{
"comment_id": "1542004",
"author": "Clint LeClair, MD",
"timestamp": "2014-06-03T05:07:56",
"content": "glad to see this up!…everyone would do well to look at [spiritplumber]’s website…there’s other cool stuff on there too…I personally am going to try my hand at the broom device per the last discu... | 1,760,376,181.050896 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/06/02/turning-a-laser-cutter-into-a-3d-printer-with-opensls/ | Turning A Laser Cutter Into A 3D Printer With OpenSLS | Brian Benchoff | [
"3d Printer hacks"
] | [
"OpenSLS",
"selective laser sintering",
"sls"
] | [Andreas Bastian] has been working on a device that turns an off-the-shelf laser cutter into something capable of selective laser sintering of powdered plastics into 3D objects. He’s put in a lot of work, but now he gets to see the fruits of his labor:
he’s successfully printed a few objects out of wax and powdered nylon
.
Unlike just about every other inexpensive 3D printer, [Andreas]’ design doesn’t rely on either squirting plastic onto a bed or curing liquid resin with UV light. Instead, a fine layer of powder is spread over a build platform and melted with a laser. The melted layer drops down, another layer of powder is applied, and the cycle repeats until the part is finished. It’s a challenge to build one of these machines, but [Andreas] had the great idea of retrofitting an off-the-shelf laser cutter, allowing him to focus on the difficult task of
designing the powder and piston system
.
It’s an extremely interesting project, and most of the custom parts are made from laser cut acrylic: easily cut to size on whatever laser cutter you’re retrofitting with 3D printing capability. There’s a lot of info
over on the Wiki
, and a few videos showing the sintering process and powder distribution below.
Oh. One last note. [Andreas] developed this while at [Jordan Miller]’s amazing lab at Rice University. There’s a lot of interesting things happening at this Advanced Manufacturing Research Institute, including bioprinting, DLP resin printers, and using inkjets for cell cultures.
Check out this post
for a great talk at the Midwest RepRap Festival. | 15 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "1541677",
"author": "Alex Hatch",
"timestamp": "2014-06-03T02:37:51",
"content": "Now this, is pretty awesome! So many spaces already have half a printer for engaging ;) Especially with the usage of Taulman nylon. usable parts! Though, the speed is expectedly slow.",
"parent_id... | 1,760,376,181.109105 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/06/02/automatic-laser-level-made-from-hard-drive-components/ | Automatic Laser Level Made From Hard Drive Components? | James Hobson | [
"Laser Hacks"
] | [
"hard drive",
"hard drive platter",
"laser",
"laser level",
"level"
] | [Crispndry] found he needed a laser level, but didn’t want to spend a few hundred dollars on a tool he might only get a few uses out of… So he decided to
build one himself.
If you’re not familiar, a laser level projects a laser beam, level to wherever you put it — it works by having a very precise gimbal assembly that keeps the laser perpendicular to the force of gravity. To build his, [Crispndry] needed a highly precise bearing assembly in order to build his gimbal — what better to use one out of a hard drive?
He used the main bearing from the platter for one axis, and the bearing from the read and write arm for the second axis. A square tube of aluminum filled with MDF is then mounted to the bearings, creating a weighted pendulum. The laser pointer is then attached to this with an adjustment screw for calibration.
Calibration is the tricky part. His new gimbal assembly is guaranteed to be perpendicular to gravity, but the laser pointer mount isn’t. Using a long tube filled with water he shone his laser pointer across his garden and adjusted it until it was parallel to his water-tube level. Clever!
We’ve actually seen
a similar build
a few years ago, with its own merits — though [Crispndry’s] is a bit more refined. | 15 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "1541270",
"author": "Anne Nomymous",
"timestamp": "2014-06-02T23:22:58",
"content": "Nice, but what about Flip-Flops, latches, memories, etc. Ternary logic is really nothing new, MLC flash drives essentially use a similar technology , using different logic levels to encode data.",
... | 1,760,376,181.300718 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/06/02/the-hackaday-prize-a-ternary-computer/ | The Hackaday Prize: A Ternary Computer | Brian Benchoff | [
"The Hackaday Prize"
] | [
"ternary",
"ternary computer",
"the hackaday prize"
] | Bender
: Ahhh, what an awful dream. Ones and zeroes everywhere… and I thought I saw a two.
Fry
: It was just a dream, Bender. There’s no such thing as two.
– Futurama: A Head In The Polls, S02E07
The computer you’re using right now is simply just a highly organized state of electrons, commonly expressed in states of zero and one. Two? What is two? A ternary, or base-3, computer would be odd, disturbing, but nevertheless extremely interesting,
making it a great candidate for The Hackaday Prize
.
A base-3 computer isn’t a new thing, despite how odd it sounds. Moscow State University built a
few dozen ternary computers named
Setun
back in the late 50s, and some research is being done using quantum computers and ternary arithmetic. Still, building a ternary computer from first principles – gates, truth tables, and transistors – isn’t something that’s done nowadays.
[ThunderSqueak] has been hard at work over the last few months working out the basic building blocks of her ternary computer project. She’s already figured out the basic NAND, NOR, and inverter structure that could be easily translated into assemblies made of discrete components or an IC mask.
A iDevice app, iCircuit, is being used to test out some larger circuits, using +5, -5, and 0 Volts to represent 1, -1, and 0. Going further, there are a few academic resources for
constructing a ternary ALU
and even
ternary SRAM
. While a homebrew ternary computer has little practical use, it’s an awesome example of the, ‘because it’s there’ engineering we’re looking for in a great Hackaday Prize entry.
The project featured in this post is an entry in
The Hackaday Prize
. Build something awesome and win a trip to space or hundreds of other prizes. | 32 | 14 | [
{
"comment_id": "1541012",
"author": "Everett",
"timestamp": "2014-06-02T20:38:01",
"content": "Relevanthttp://thedailywtf.com/Articles/What_Is_Truth_0x3f_.aspx",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "3231952",
"author": "mo",
"timesta... | 1,760,376,180.921692 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/06/04/plater-makes-it-easy-to-fill-your-bed-plate/ | Plater Makes It Easy To Fill Your Bed Plate | James Hobson | [
"3d Printer hacks"
] | [
"3d printing",
"plater"
] | If you’re a 3D printing power user, you probably try to fit as many parts onto a single print job as possible. Most printing software has this built in to let you do that, but [Grégoire Passault] and his team thought they could do it better with their program
Plater
— it’s open source too.
They decided to make Plater after designing
Spidey
: an open-source 4-legged robot that makes use of 22 3D printed parts. The
first few times they printed this
took a long time because they had to manually arrange the parts — there had to be a better way!
Plater is a fairly simple program that lets you take in a bunch of STL files, set your print bed size and part spacing and then it creates an STL with as many parts in it as it can, organized on your print bed. Then you just have to load it up into your favorite slicing program and you’re good to go.
Seems like an excellent tool to add to your metaphorical 3D printing tool-belt! | 35 | 12 | [
{
"comment_id": "1545943",
"author": "iamalion",
"timestamp": "2014-06-04T08:35:47",
"content": "More compressed would have put 2 of the flat rectangles inside each pair of long things.Even better would be that in addition to the flat rectangles between each u shaped piece.Seems like it would take u... | 1,760,376,182.151096 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/06/03/the-un-digital-robotic-arm/ | The Un-Digital Robotic Arm | Brian Benchoff | [
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"555",
"556",
"pwm",
"robot",
"robotic arm",
"servo",
"timer",
"waldo"
] | When you think of a robotic arm, you’re probably thinking about digital control, microcontrollers, motor drivers, and possibly a feedback loop. Anyone who was lucky enough to have an
Armatron
knows this isn’t the case, but you’d still be surprised
at how minimal a robotic arm can be
.
[viswesh713] built a servo-powered robotic arm without a microcontroller, and with some interpretations, no digital control at all. Servos are controlled by PWM signals, with a 1 ms pulse rotating the shaft one way and a 2 ms pulse rotating the shaft the other way. What’s a cheap, popular chip that can easily be configured as a timer? Yep, the venerable 555.
The robotic arm is actually configured more like a Waldo with a master slave configuration. [viswesh] built a second arm with pots at the hinges, with the resistance of the pots controlling the signal output from a 556 dual timer chip. It’s extremely clever, at least until you realize this is how very early robotic actuators were controlled. Still, an impressive display of what can be done with a simple 555. Videos below.
Thanks for the tip, [Ladvien]. | 23 | 14 | [
{
"comment_id": "1545606",
"author": "gjoas",
"timestamp": "2014-06-04T06:19:09",
"content": "Not a robot, just a teleoperator. Build quality is amazing, India at it’s best.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "1545834",
"author": "Tom",
"tim... | 1,760,376,182.078451 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/06/03/chocolate-quadrotor-proves-you-can-make-anything-fly/ | Chocolate Quadrotor Proves You Can Make Anything Fly | James Hobson | [
"drone hacks"
] | [
"chocolate",
"quadcopter",
"quadrotor"
] | With the advancements in quadrotor parts and technology over the years, it’s become possible to make just about anything fly if you can strap some high-speed rotors to it. Introducing
the first edible quadrotor!
[Michael] enjoys building and flying quadrotors. His girlfriend enjoys baking and making chocolates. One day she had a crazy idea — what if they made a quadrotor together, combining their unique skill sets? [Michael] was a bit skeptical at first. After all, chocolate doesn’t really compare to aluminum or carbon for a frame material… and chocolate melts at room temperature. Regardless — they were curious enough to try it out and see for sure.
First they built a wooden prototype and then created a silicone mold from it. Using Styrofoam and metal spacers for the electronics mounts they filled the mold with chocolate and let it set. A bit of assembly later and they had a chocolate quadrotor. It flies too. | 31 | 16 | [
{
"comment_id": "1545053",
"author": "FrankenPC",
"timestamp": "2014-06-04T02:08:44",
"content": "On the upside, the next time I’m tuning the controller and a crosswind destroys my quad, I can literally eat the devastation.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"com... | 1,760,376,182.399257 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/06/03/raspberry-pi-coin-dozer-wont-make-you-rich/ | Raspberry Pi Coin Dozer Won’t Make You Rich | Will Sweatman | [
"Raspberry Pi"
] | [
"coin slot",
"gambling",
"raspberry pi"
] | [SoggyBunz] lucked up and scored an Ultimate Raspberry Pi Bundle from Element 14. His idea was to use a Raspberry Pi to make a retro-mechanical arcade Coin Dozer game, and decided to
build his first prototype
inside a vacant Macintosh Plus shell.
The game is based on a Raspberry Pi running a small Python script. The Raspi operates a small servo that moves a piece of acrylic back and forth in a somewhat random fashion. The coins are inserted into slots cut into the Macintosh shell and eventually pile up. The moving acrylic lever pushes your winnings out of the machine and deposits them on whatever it’s sitting on, unlike this
coin dispensing machine.
[SoggyBunz] concedes that the build is a bit rough and a servo is not the best choice of an actuator. But he aims to build a much improved version, and we can only hope he puts it on
Hackaday.io
and tips us in! Stick around after the break for a video of the Pi Dozer in action.
[youtube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYKVylG97Oo&w=560&h=315%5D | 13 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "1544715",
"author": "Fabian",
"timestamp": "2014-06-03T23:54:42",
"content": "just why would you use an raspberry pi?take a cheap gear motor and this works much better",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1544787",
"author"... | 1,760,376,182.451407 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/06/03/controlling-rc-toys-with-the-raspi/ | Controlling RC Toys With The Raspi | Brian Benchoff | [
"Radio Hacks",
"Raspberry Pi"
] | [
"dma",
"fm",
"gpio",
"radio",
"raspberry pi",
"Raspi",
"remote control"
] | An interesting trick you can do with a a fast CPU and a GPIO pin mapped directly to memory is an FM transmitter. Just toggle a pin on and off fast enough, and you have a crude and kludgy transmitter. [Brandon] saw a few builds that turned a Raspberry Pi into an FM radio transmitter and realized a lot of toy remote control cars use a frequency in the same range a Pi can transmit at. It’s not much of a leap to realize
the Pi can control these remote control cars
using only a length of wire attached to a GPIO pin.
The original hack
that turned a Pi GPIO pin into an FM transmitter mapped a GPIO pin to memory, cycled through that memory at about 100 MHz, and added a fractional divider to slightly adjust the frequency, turning it into an FM transmitter. Cheap RC cars usually listen for radio signals at 27 and 49 MHz. It doesn’t take much to realize commanding RC cars with a Pi is possible.
The only problem with this idea is that most RC cars use pulse modulation. For an RC transmitter to send the command for ‘forward’, a synchronization pulse is sent, then a series of pulses and pauses. The frequency doesn’t change at all, something the originally FM code doesn’t do. [Brandon] realized that if he just moved the frequency up to something the RC car wasn’t listening to, that would register as a zero.
All that was left was to figure out the command codes for his RC truck. For this, [Brandon] decided brute force would be the best option. Armed with a script and a webcam, he cycled through all possible combinations until the webcam detected a moving truck. Subtlety brilliant, if you ask us. Of course more complex commands required an oscilloscope, but now [Brandon]
has a git full of all the code
to control a cheap RC car with a Pi. | 18 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "1544286",
"author": "NotArduino",
"timestamp": "2014-06-03T20:49:08",
"content": "Will a neckbeard please step up and say how you can do this using only components and zero fancy schmancy programming?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment... | 1,760,376,182.255653 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/06/03/the-race-is-on-to-build-a-raspi-kinect-3d-scanner/ | The Race Is On To Build A Raspi Kinect 3D Scanner | Brian Benchoff | [
"Kinect hacks"
] | [
"3d",
"3d scanner",
"driver",
"Kinect"
] | The old gen 1 Kinect has seen a fair bit of use in the field of making 3D scans out of real world scenes. Now that Xbox 360 Kinects are winding up at yard sales and your local Goodwill, you might even have a chance to pick one up for pocket change. Until now, though, scanning objects in 3D has only been practical in a studio or workshop setting; for a mobile, portable scanner, you’d need to lug around a computer, a power supply, and it’s not really something you can fit in a back pack.
Now, finally, that may be changing. [xxorde]
can now get depth data from a Kinect sensor with a Raspberry Pi
. And with just about every other ARM board out there as well. It’s a kernel driver that’s small, fast, and does just one thing: turns the Kinect into a webcam that displays depth data.
Of course, a portabalized
Kinect 3D scanner has been done before
, but that was with an absurdly expensive Gumstix board. With a Raspi or BeagleBone Black, this driver has the beginnings of a very cheap 3D scanner that would be much more useful than the current commercial or DIY desktop scanners. | 29 | 12 | [
{
"comment_id": "1543816",
"author": "Henryk Plötz",
"timestamp": "2014-06-03T17:11:41",
"content": "Hmm, can someone point out what the difference between this driver is and the one that has been in the Linux kernel for more than two years (see for example:http://blog.jozilla.net/2012/03/29/getting... | 1,760,376,182.32728 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/06/03/thp-judge-ian-from-dangerous-prototypes/ | THP Judge: Ian From Dangerous Prototypes | Mike Szczys | [
"Featured",
"Interviews",
"The Hackaday Prize"
] | [
"bus pirate",
"dangerous prototypes",
"ian lesnet",
"judge",
"the hackaday prize"
] | As we start to get into the swing of
The Hackaday Prize
we want to take some time to talk to the judges.
[Ian Lesnet] is an accomplished hardware developer. He is, of course, near and dear to our hearts as a Hackaday writer emeritus.
During his time here he came up with an idea for an amazing tool that would let you work with components using a multitude of protocols before heading off to write your firmware. The tool was called the Bus Pirate and [Ian] built an formidable Open Hardware community up around this and several other tools and unique ideas.
[Hackaday]
Why do you think people should put together an entry for The Hackaday Prize?
[Ian]
There’s never a bad time to hack something together, but with an incentive like SPACE!!! how can you refuse?
[Hackaday]
If you could enter, what style of project would you build and where would you try to go with the idea?
[Ian]
We like to make electronics hardware that helps debug stuff, but lately we’re rocking more potentially deadly machines that do things. I’d finish up our death chomp robot that slices and dices reels of components into handy kit-sized lengths, while printing values and part numbers on the back paper. Definitely not a winner, but it looks great when it’s chewing parts!
[Hackaday]
Is there anything that participants can do with their project write-ups to make your life easier as an adjudicator?
[Ian]
Writing and English classes are a special hell for me, but there are some good tips for clear communication. I always start with an overview – “tell them what you’re going to tell them”. This usually means a description of the hack, the major components used, and how they work together. The introduction should have enough info that another hacker can piece everything together without digging through the whole writeup. An overview illustration or hand drawing explaining the methodology is really helpful for visualizing a complex hack.
[Hackaday]
You have vast experience with Open Hardware projects. I think one of the tough things for beginners is navigating the Open Hardware licenses available. Do you have any advice for noobs to learn more about licenses and perhaps on narrowing them down?
[Ian]
If you want the world to be a better place put all your work in the Public Domain (Creative Commons Zero) for anyone to use however they want. That’s the license with the least bullshit attached. If you have a billion dollar secret idea by all means keep it in your closet and show it to no one, because that’s about the only thing that will protect it from innovators and imitators. Other licenses fall somewhere in the middle, but for our stuff we’ve decided to go Public Domain wherever possible.
[Hackaday]
We’ve seen a lot of collaborative projects come out of DP. Do you have any advice you can share for finding collaborators for a hardware project?
[Ian]
The best advise I’ve heard (not mine) is to wait until a project is done to decide ownership share. Hackers are quick to settle on equal ownership, but during the project (or the long haul support period) collaborators may loose interest or be unable to continue as planned. With equal ownership remaining team members must finish the whole project just get a portion of the future gains. It demotivates the remaining team members and kills momentum. By waiting to see how things play out you’ll have a much better idea how to divide ownership for a successful long term collaboration.
[Hackaday]
Can you name a favorite piece of bench equipment and tell us why it is at the top of your list?
[Ian]
For years I used $10 “fire starter” soldering irons, even for surface mount soldering. An adjustable iron is a nice thing to have though, along with a bright light and head magnifier. A hot air rework station is the tool I can’t live without. It’s for fixing mistakes, which I make constantly, and when it dies everything crashes to a halt.
[Hackaday]
What do you think of the evolution of the kit and small-run electronics industry over the last decade? Where would you like to see it go, and do you have any insights about what will get it there, or possible barriers that stand in the way?
[Ian]
It’s huge now. Crowd source funding sites alone have become home to how many cool hacks, designs, and projects? Local, short-run assembly houses using a fairly standard set of components would make it a lot easier to get into hardware without 1337 soldering skillz.
The Hackaday Prize
challenges you to build the future of connected devices. Build the best and claim a trip into space or one of hundreds of other prizes. | 3 | 2 | [
{
"comment_id": "1546044",
"author": "Chendy",
"timestamp": "2014-06-04T09:19:56",
"content": "“short-run assembly houses”Can any recommend any? I’m in the UK, but good value international options would also be good to know",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"c... | 1,760,376,182.195761 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/06/02/follow-up-of-hacker-meet-up-at-heatsync-labs/ | Follow Up Of Hacker Meet Up At Heatsync Labs | Todd Harrison | [
"Hackerspaces",
"The Hackaday Prize"
] | [
"Gathering",
"heatsync labs",
"meetup",
"tymkrs"
] | [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGsmNLdjPUk&w=580]
The hacker meet up at Heatsync Labs in Mesa, AZ on May 15th was an amazing success. I got to meet lots of new people at the gathering but more importantly I was able to interview several hackers who shared a lot of details on their current projects. I put together the short overview video above that has clips of each hacker presenting their project. If you like what you see in the teaser please watch the full 30 minute video with all the presentation footage after the break along with project page links. Also, if you’re not yet up to speed on
The Hackaday Prize
, the full length video starts with a short overview.
Relevant links and presenters’ links:
Share your projects on
Hackaday’s project sharing site
More details on
The Hackaday Prize
The meet up was held at
Heatsync Labs
Jasmine’s wiki
sharing key-fob, radio controls, camera mount for quad copter and ring flash
Addie from
Tymkrs
sharing
Heart Me and Drink Me projects
Moheeb Zara sharing some details on his 3D scanner project,
3D prints
and haptic feedback drum sticks
Jac shared a software defined computer named
propeddle
.
Eric shared his perfboard laser cut project, his blog is
Robot Ambassador
.
Full length video of meet up and project presentations:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_duHW_oH38A&w=580] | 10 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "1540649",
"author": "Sheldon",
"timestamp": "2014-06-02T17:12:40",
"content": "*prod* *prod*“This video is private”*F5* *prod* *prod*“This video is private”*walks off sulking*",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "1540726",
"autho... | 1,760,376,183.089119 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/06/02/diy-calligraphy-nibs-get-down-to-brass-tacks/ | DIY Calligraphy Nibs Get Down To Brass Tacks | Kristina Panos | [
"how-to"
] | [
"brass",
"brass tubing",
"calligraphy"
] | Calligraphy is a rewarding hobby that is fairly inexpensive to get in to. For someone just starting out, poster nibs are a great way to practice making letterforms without worrying about applying the proper pressure required to use nibs that split. With a few tools, you can even
make your own poster nibs like [advicevice] does in this Instructable
.
Poster nibs are typically made with a single piece of brass that’s folded at the point where the nib touches the paper. The backside forms a reservoir that holds the ink. The other end is formed into a semicircular shank that is inserted into a nib holder. The nibs that [advicevice] made consist of two pieces of flat brass stock plus a section of brass tubing for the shank of the nib. One side of the nib is slightly thinner than the other to act as a reservoir. This keeps ink clinging to the nib through the magic of surface tension.
Nib construction is fairly simple. [advicevice] cut the brass stock to the desired length and width, cut notches with a jeweler’s saw to allow the ink to flow, and cut a piece of tubing that holds the nib snugly. He recommends using three grades of sandpaper on the edges of the brass stock and tubing. After soldering the nib to the shank, he beveled the business end by rubbing it on 150-grit sandpaper. He followed this with 350- and 600-grit papers to avoid injury and tearing the paper when writing.
If you simply must spend more money, build
a machine that writes calligraphy for you
. | 8 | 3 | [
{
"comment_id": "1540492",
"author": "mister resistor",
"timestamp": "2014-06-02T15:38:42",
"content": "Well, its always nice to build something yourself; but I would not spend so much work and money on something that costs 50cents in any good art store. Still its a nice project, and at least this w... | 1,760,376,182.622612 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/06/02/firing-blanks-with-laser-tag/ | Firing Blanks With Laser Tag | Brian Benchoff | [
"Weapons Hacks"
] | [
"gun",
"hall effect",
"hall effect sensor",
"handgun",
"laser tag",
"lasertag"
] | Last year, [Tony] was asked to develop a lasertag system with ultimate realism. This meant a system that used a blank firing replica gun, and a system to detect blank rounds being fired. Very cool,
and the way he went about it
includes some interesting electronics.
Because the system requires a blank to be fired before shooting a laser at a target, the entire system must be able to detect a blank being fired. [Tony]’s first attempt used a piezo sensor to detect the shock from being fired. This system had a lot of noise and was ditched for a much better solution: a magnet mounted to the slide, and a hall effect sensor mounted to a 3D printed frame that turns this replica into a carbine.
A little bit of tweaking in software was required to inhibit the laser when the operator cocks the gun, but it looks – and sounds – really good. It’s also very, very realistic: the only way to shoot an opponent is to physically reload. Video below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfVdCKdKVbQ | 37 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "1540134",
"author": "Sven",
"timestamp": "2014-06-02T11:51:32",
"content": "There are commercial versions of this, the Swedish military uses one of them, a laser package that clips onto the barrel of the carbines and rifles used. These use a proprietary sound sensor to detect a blan... | 1,760,376,182.828588 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/06/02/mini-ms-pacman/ | Mini Ms. Pacman | Brian Benchoff | [
"classic hacks"
] | [
"arcade",
"arcade cabinet",
"beaglebone",
"beaglebone black",
"mame",
"Ms. Pacman"
] | The bragging rights of owning a vintage arcade machine are awesome, but the practicality of it – restoring what is likely a very abused machine, and the sheer physical space one requires – doesn’t appeal to a lot of people. [Jason] has a much better solution to anyone who wants a vintage arcade machine, but doesn’t want the buyer’s remorse that comes with the phrase, “now where do we put it?”
It’s a miniaturized Ms. Pacman
, mostly scale in every detail.
The cabinet is constructed out of 1/8″ plywood, decorated with printed out graphics properly scaled down from the full-size machine. Inside is a BeagleBone Black with a 4.3″ touchscreen, USB speakers, and a battery-backed power supply.
The control system is rather interesting. Although [Jason] is using an analog joystick, the resistive touch screen monopolizes the ADC on the BeagleBone. The solution to this problem would be to write a driver, or if you’re [Jason], crack the joystick open and scratch away the resistive contact until you have a digital joystick. A nice solution, considering Ms. Pacman doesn’t use an analog joystick anyway.
Pictures over on [Jason]’s
G+ page
, along with a vertical video that G+ displays properly. Thanks, Google. | 5 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "1540405",
"author": "blarsblarson",
"timestamp": "2014-06-02T14:51:54",
"content": "Where do you find the minature quarters to put in the machine?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1540700",
"author": "Shawn",
"t... | 1,760,376,183.03878 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/06/01/automated-home-manufacturing-combining-3d-printing-with-robotics/ | Automated Home Manufacturing Combining 3D Printing With Robotics | James Hobson | [
"3d Printer hacks",
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"home manufacturing",
"robotic 3d printer"
] | [Florian] has been hard at work creating this automated setup to queue jobs for his 3D printer in order for it to run while he’s not around. It’s not quite finished but the concept is there and
he’s started doing some tests!
He’s using the
uArm
, which was a highly successful
kickstarter earlier this year
— it’s an Arduino-compatible microcontroller driven 4-axis parallel-mechanism robot arm, based off of the industrial
ABB PalletPack robot.
As soon as he got all the parts he setup a quick test to replace the build platforms using the uArm.
Only problem we see now is that the 3D print will probably be in the middle! Replacing the bed is all fine and dandy, but it also needs to be secured. Normally [Florian] uses binder clips but those are way too finicky for a robot to try playing with, so instead he’s working on a magnetic clamping system that is both strong enough to hold the bed in place… and easy enough for the uArm to remove by itself:
We’re super excited to see the continued progress of this. Couple it with a dedicated computer with a webcam and some kind of remote desktop (the free version of
TeamViewer
works quite well) and you’ve got complete control of your setup on the road! | 37 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "1539414",
"author": "Waterjet",
"timestamp": "2014-06-02T05:06:56",
"content": "There’s got to be an easier way of preparing a new build platform?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1540297",
"author": "Riley August",
... | 1,760,376,183.358784 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/06/01/building-a-cnc-milling-machine-for-less-than-1300/ | Building A CNC Milling Machine For Less Than $1300 | Mathieu Stephan | [
"cnc hacks"
] | [
"aliminium structure",
"CNC milling"
] | [Mynasru] tipped us about a
homemade CNC milling machine
that his friend [trochilidesign] recently made. We have to admit it may be one of the best ones we’ve featured so far on Hackaday, mainly due to its elegant design (see picture above) and its all metal structure with linear guide rails. In the very well detailed write-up, we can gather that the CNC machine was designed using SolidWorks.
The main frame is built around 2 Maytec 40x80mm profiles and 2 endplates made from 10mm thick aluminum. 3 Nema 23 stepper motors and their drivers power the build, all of them bought on ebay. Finally, the Mach3 CNC software was chosen to interpret the G code and send the appropriate control signals.
Due to licensing restrictions the original author can only provide us with PDF files detailing each part of the machine, but we’re sure this should already be enough for interested persons out there. | 34 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "1539148",
"author": "Waterjet",
"timestamp": "2014-06-02T02:33:37",
"content": "Looks pretty sweet, being aluminum framed. Could use coolant and a bit of guarding around the ways to keep debris out?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_i... | 1,760,376,183.165157 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/06/01/video-links-hunting-for-hacks-at-maker-faire/ | Video Links: Hunting For Hacks At Maker Faire | Mike Szczys | [
"Hackaday Columns",
"Hackaday links"
] | [
"Arduboy",
"Bay Area Maker Faire 2014",
"ble",
"Femtoduino",
"fpga",
"roy the robot",
"Teensy 3.0"
] | [youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v80VvQLj4Xc&w=580]
Why not round out our two-week Bay Area Maker Faire coverage with a Links post? This time around it’s video links. We mixed together a bunch of interesting clips that didn’t get their own video, as well as a dose of what it feels like to walk around the Faire all weekend. Join us after the break for the links.
We don’t think the free form clock has been documented, but
SparkysWidgets
is the place to look for it.
Unfortunately we didn’t get any audio of
the Femtoduino with BLE built in
. The best we could do is show you how they are carried around in a tiny canister.
The
Mojo FPGA board
was driving a nice color tracking hexapod.
[Paul Stoffregen] showed off
the audio library for Teensy 3
that he’s been working on for many months.
A glimpse of
the Arduboy
; a PCB-thin handheld gaming system.
PicassoBot
takes your picture via webcam and uses a simple robot arm to draw a portrait in pen.
Compete with a laser robot turret in [Alvaro’s]
laser shooting gallery
.
Roy the Robot
stretched his arms for the crowd.
That’s it for our
Bay Area Maker Faire 2014 coverage
. | 3 | 2 | [
{
"comment_id": "1538876",
"author": "Kris Lee",
"timestamp": "2014-06-02T00:01:09",
"content": "Does this hexapod have its own webpage?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1541011",
"author": "Mike Szczys",
"timestamp": "2014-06-0... | 1,760,376,182.993997 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/06/01/propeddle-the-software-defined-6502/ | Propeddle, The Software Defined 6502 | Brian Benchoff | [
"classic hacks"
] | [
"6502",
"Parallax Propeller",
"propeller",
"retrocomputer"
] | When it comes to building retrocomputers, there are two schools of thought. The first is emulation, that allows for greater compatibility and ease of use, and much easier to find parts. The second requires real, vintage hardware with all the bugs and idiosyncrasies found in vintage chips. Reconciling these two ideas is hard,
but the software defined Propeddle manages to do it
, all while using a real 6502 CPU.
The trick here is using a Parallax Propeller for the heavy lifting of loading the ROM into RAM with an extremely clever technique using the Reset and NMI pins, generating the clock and other signals required by the 6502, and hosting the keyboard, serial, and video I/O. Already [Jac] has the Propeddle running as an Apple 1 emulator (video below), making it possible to write programs for the Propeddle in BASIC or assembly.
It’s a great design that allows for emulation of a lot of the classic 6502 computers with a real CPU, all while doing away with the cruft of expensive ACIAs and video generation hardware. Awesome work, and we can’t wait for the next version
that will be dedicated to [Bill Mensch]
. | 19 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "1538438",
"author": "Jake",
"timestamp": "2014-06-01T20:31:30",
"content": "And getting it onto the retro site?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1538683",
"author": "Jac Goudsmit",
"timestamp": "2014-06-01T22:27... | 1,760,376,183.417933 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/06/01/cnc-3020-router-gets-a-power-supply-upgrade/ | CNC 3020 Router Gets A Power Supply Upgrade | Rich Bremer | [
"cnc hacks"
] | [
"cnc",
"CNC router",
"PowerSupply"
] | We’ve covered these CNC 3020’s in the past. They are physically solid machines but the electronics offer some room for improvement. [Peter] is certainly no novice at working on these machines. He’s already fixed a failed power supply and he’s back at the upgrades, again focused on the power supply. This time he’s replacing the transformer-based one with a
couple switching power supplies
.
The stepper controllers and spindle speed circuit need both 48 and 24 VDC. [Peter] purchased two separate power supplies, one for each voltage required. Before installing the new supplies, the stock one had to be removed, along with the transformer. Even with the old parts removed, there was still not enough room for both new supplies to be installed inside the stock case. [Peter] decided that mounting them to the top of the case would be appropriate.
This current setup has been in use for several months now. [Peter] reports that it has been working well and does not get hot even during long-running programs. If you are interested in [Peter’s] previous power supply repair or his PWM spindle speed control, check
this
out. | 32 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "1538135",
"author": "Json",
"timestamp": "2014-06-01T17:38:42",
"content": "This should be titled, replaced power supply.Would be nice if he re boxed the whole thing.Am I hating, nope, I would do the same in a pinch, but I would not stand proud as a hack, because it’s not. Can we po... | 1,760,376,183.236682 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/06/01/koch-lamp-is-3d-printed-with-a-twist/ | Koch Lamp Is 3D Printed With A Twist | Marsh | [
"3d Printer hacks",
"LED Hacks",
"Microcontrollers"
] | [
"3d print",
"3d printed",
"acrylic",
"fractal",
"ikea",
"koch fractal",
"koch snowflake",
"lamp",
"PIC microcontroller",
"rgb",
"RGB LED"
] | [repkid] didn’t set out to build a lamp, but that’s what he ended up with, and
what a lamp he built
. If the above-pictured shapes look familiar, it’s because you can’t visit Thingiverse without tripping over
one
of
several
designs
, all based on a fractal better known as the
Koch snowflake
. Typically, however, these models are intended as vases, but [repkid] saw an opportunity to bring a couple of them together as a housing for his lighting fixture.
Tinkering with an old
IKEA dioder
wasn’t enough of a challenge, so [repkid] fired up his 3D printer and churned out three smaller Koch vases to serve as “bulbs” for the lamp. Inside, he affixed each LED strip to a laser-cut acrylic housing with clear tape. The three bulbs attach around a wooden base, which also holds a larger, central Koch print at its center. The base also contains a PICAXE 14M2 controller to run the dioder while collecting input from an attached wireless receiver. The final component is a custom control box—comprised of both 3D-printed and laser-cut parts—to provide a 3-dial remote. A simple spin communicates the red, green, and blue values through another PICAXE controller to the transmitter. Swing by his site for a detailed build log and an assortment of progress pictures. | 11 | 3 | [
{
"comment_id": "1537820",
"author": "Waterjet",
"timestamp": "2014-06-01T14:23:58",
"content": "*insert phallic joke here*",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1537955",
"author": "ItsThatIdiotAgain",
"timestamp": "2014-06-01T15:39... | 1,760,376,183.285591 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/06/01/soda-can-theremin-made-in-minutes/ | Soda Can Theremin Made In Minutes | James Hobson | [
"Musical Hacks"
] | [
"diy theremin",
"leon theremin",
"theremin"
] | Looking for a fun weekend project? How about
building your very own sci-fi Theremin
using just a soda can and a few simple components you probably already have.
Not familiar with
Theremins
? It’s an electronic instrument that can be played without any physical contact. Essentially, the antenna (soda can) acts as half of a capacitor — your hand acts as the other. By varying the distance of your hand to the soda can, you change the capacitance, which can then be used to modulate a sound. It was invented in 1928 by the Russian inventor [Leon Theremin], and you can actually see a video of
him playing it on YouTube
— we’ve never seen this before, but we must say it’s actually quite impressive!
Anyway, back to the hack. All you need are some op-amps, a few capacitors, some resistors, a diode, a breadboard, and of course — a speaker. [Will’s] gone into great detail in how each circuit works with both schematics and diagrams of the breadboard configuration — it’s a great little project even kids can follow along.
Take a listen after the break.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-dr_Z80qWU
Need more
cowbell
Theremin? Check out this
IR based setup
that puts a twist on the normal design, with multiple ways to control the volume and pitch. Or if you’re feeling extra steam punky —
Theremin goggles?
Finally we also have the very unique
Theremincello! | 18 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "1537524",
"author": "Gerwin",
"timestamp": "2014-06-01T11:52:23",
"content": "$340 for a theremin. Look like an Analog Devices commercial to me.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1537528",
"author": "Gerwin",
"ti... | 1,760,376,183.479922 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/06/01/original-nes-guts-upgraded-with-retropie/ | Original NES Guts Upgraded With RetroPie | Rick Osgood | [
"Raspberry Pi"
] | [
"mod",
"nes",
"nintendo",
"raspberry pi",
"Raspi",
"retropie"
] | If you have an old broken NES lying around and have no idea what to do with it, you may want to check out [snoius’s]
latest project
. He replaced the guts of his old NES with a Raspberry Pi. [snoius] started out by removing most of the electronics from his original NES to make room for the Pi. He left the original control panel board so he would be able to use the original power button and power LED. The NES power switch is an on/off toggle switch. [snoius] decided to just route the 5V USB power input directly through this switch. The result is a hard power switch for the tiny computer. The original power LED is wired up to the Pi’s 3.3V GPIO header through a 330 ohm resistor. Now when the Pi has power, the LED lights up.
The next step was controllers. It looks like [snoius] is using some USB SNES controller clones. He wanted to use the original NES controller ports but obviously the NES did not utilize USB. [snoius] used a saw to cut the backs off of the controller ports, leaving a flat surface. He then used a utility knife to carve out a hole in the shape of a female USB port. He mounted some ports in place and then wired the inside up to some short USB cables with male ends. These were plugged into a USB hub that is hidden inside of the NES case.
The Pi is also hooked up to a short HDMI cable and a short power cable. The loose ends of the cables are mounted to a small block of wood. Notches are cut out of the wood to better fit the cable ends. The rear of the NES has two holes cut out where the original connectors used to be in order to accommodate the new connectors.
With all of the hardware taken care of, [snoius] still needed a way to actually play his games. That’s where
RetroPie
saved the day. RetroPie is a Linux distribution for the Raspberry Pi that is specifically created to make it easy to play old video games. It includes emulators for many old systems including NES, SNES, SEGA Genesis, Gameboy, etc. [snoius] installed RetroPie onto an 8GB SD card and copied over all of the ROMs he could find. The end result is what appears to be an original NES at a glance, but is in fact multiple retro gaming systems in one. It also contains hundreds of video games in on board memory instead of requiring a large library of physical cartridges.
[via
reddit
] | 21 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "1537188",
"author": "Gamer89",
"timestamp": "2014-06-01T08:35:20",
"content": "I don’t get all that retro-gaming hype. What the hell? 90s have passed, it’s time to move on. Buy a Play Station, play some GTA, have fun. Why waste your life on some pixelated crap with ridiculous diffic... | 1,760,376,183.535281 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/05/31/poor-mans-3d-printer-looks-rough-prints-great/ | Poor Man’s 3D Printer Looks Rough, Prints Great! | James Hobson | [
"3d Printer hacks"
] | [
"dvd drive printer"
] | In this Instructable, [Gelstronic] proves anyone can afford a 3D printer. Why? Because you can literally
build one out of computer e-waste
— specifically, DVD/CD drives.
His goal was to build a printer for less than a hundred euros. And he darn well did it. The most expensive part was the hot-end coming in at 20 euros. He managed to find a Chinese Arduino MEGA 2560 for only 10 euros, and everything else was basically pocket change.
The hot end features a geared NEMA 17 look-a-like stepper motor he found in a printer, and the XYZ axis all make use of the DVD drive trays. The only downside to this massive reusing of e-waste is the bed size. Due to the limited range of motion on the DVD trays, his build area is only 40 x 40 x 40 mm, which in the world of 3D printing is pretty tiny. On the plus side, he’s even thrown in a heated bed making use of two 7W resistors which can get it all the way up to 110°C!
After a bit of tweaking he was able to get some surprisingly good prints, with a 10mm cube coming out at 10.06mm! He must have a pretty good caliper Anyway, check out the following demo!
[Thanks repkid!] | 39 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "1536824",
"author": "Waterjet",
"timestamp": "2014-06-01T05:02:37",
"content": "100 Euros and how much time?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1536894",
"author": "rasz_pl",
"timestamp": "2014-06-01T05:47:58",
... | 1,760,376,184.668253 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/05/31/wiimote-controlled-extermination-dalek-style/ | Wiimote Controlled Extermination: Dalek-Style | Marsh | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"Raspberry Pi"
] | [
"bluetooth",
"dalek",
"Doctor Who",
"Raspi",
"Shrimp",
"wii",
"wiimote"
] | Convention-goers have likely strolled past a number of Daleks: the aliens drive around the event space, spouting threats of extermination and occasionally slapping folks with a rotating eyestalk. [James Bruton] has been hard at work
building this Wii-remote-controlled Dalek
with his fellow hackers at the
SoMakeIt Hackerspace
(you may remember
our write-up
from earlier this year).
Most Dalek builds seat a driver inside the body at the helm of a salvaged electric wheelchair, where they plunk around using a joystick control and simmer in an increasingly potent aroma. This version started like most, with a wooden structure from plans sourced at
Project Dalek
. Inside, however, [James] and his crew have tapped into the wheelchair’s motor controller to feed it a PWM signal from an
Arduino Shrimp
, which is linked to a Raspi. The Pi receives a Bluetooth signal from a Wiimote, and, through their
custom Python script
, directs the Dalek with ease.
They’re still working on finishing the Dalek’s body, but they’re using some clever tactics to push onward: using a 3D-printer to solve some of the nuanced styling choices. They’ve uploaded a gallery with additional photos
on Facebook
, and you can watch them goofing around with their creation (losing their balance and nearly exterminating themselves) in a video after the break. | 11 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "1536576",
"author": "ejonesss",
"timestamp": "2014-06-01T02:28:36",
"content": "almost looks like a badonkadonk (NOT to be confused with the porn term)http://www.seriouswheels.com/2005/2005-NAO-Design-JL421-Badonkadonk-Rider-1600×1200.htma badonkadonk is a single person motorized t... | 1,760,376,183.662983 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/05/31/hal-is-duct-tape-for-home-automation/ | HAL Is Duct Tape For Home Automation | Rick Osgood | [
"home hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"door lock",
"flask",
"home automation",
"middleware",
"ouimeaux",
"pyserial",
"python",
"raspberry pi",
"Raspi",
"sparkcore"
] | When it comes to home automation, there are a lot of different products out there that all do different things. Many of them are made by different companies, and they don’t often play very well together. This frustration ultimately led [Daniel] to develop his own Python based middleware solution to get these various components to work as a single
cohesive system
. What exactly did [Daniel] want to control?
First up was the door lock. [Daniel] lives in an apartment building, so there are actually two locks. First, a visitor must be allowed into the building by pressing a button on the intercom system in the apartment. Second, the apartment door has its own dead bolt lock that needs to be opened and closed. [Daniel] was able to control the building’s front door using just a transistor hooked up to an Arduino to simulate the press of the physical button. The original button remains in tact so [Daniel] can still easily “buzz” in a visitor.
The apartment’s dead bolt was a bit trickier. There are off-the-shelf solutions to control a dead bolt, but they are often expensive. [Daniel] built his own solution using a simple servo motor bolted to the door. The servo is controlled by the Arduino which is in turn controlled via two broken intercom buttons that already existed within the apartment. The buttons were originally used to either speak to or listen to a visitor before buzzing them into the building. They had never worked for [Daniel] so he re-purposed them for his own project. The whole DIY door locker is enclosed in a custom-made laser cut wooden box.
Click past the break for the rest of [Daniel’s] story.
When it comes to lighting, [Daniel] has a couple of different brands of automated light bulbs in his apartment. One brand has bulbs that are controlled by a radio frequency signal. That brand comes with a converter box that can accept lighting commands via WiFi. It also uses a simple API that allowed [Daniel] to easily control all of the bulbs from his Python code. The second brand of light bulb did not have a simple API. After some searching around, [Daniel] found an open source project called
ouimeaux
. Ouimeaux is a Python library that allows you to control this particular brand of automated light bulbs. This was perfect for [Daniel] since he was already using Python in his project. With this library it was trivial for him to control the lights from his web interface.
As a proof of concept, [Daniel] also built a custom WiFi enabled power outlet using a
SparkCore
module. He has an entire
separate post
dedicated to that project.
For the brain of the system, [Daniel] chose to use a Raspberry Pi. The Pi runs a web server with a Flask based back-end system. Flask allows him to code the website in Python, which meant he could easily write a website that can interact with the various automation components. The Pi can directly communicate with all of the off-the-shelf components using the various Python libraries. For the door lock, the Pi communicates with the Arduino via
pySerial
. [Daniel] also used
Flask OAuth
to limit access to the system to only authorized users. Now whenever [Daniel] wants to turn the lights on or unlock the door for a visitor, all he has to do is press a button on a web page.
[via
Reddit
] | 17 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "1536222",
"author": "justice099",
"timestamp": "2014-05-31T23:46:31",
"content": "Interesting project, but I am more interested in how [Daniel] is getting away with bolting things to the door and modifying the wiring in his apartment without getting thrown out!I hope he got permissi... | 1,760,376,183.981041 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/05/31/the-50-dmx-tester/ | The $50 DMX Tester | Brian Benchoff | [
"Microcontrollers"
] | [
"dmx",
"dmx512",
"light controller",
"lighting",
"stage lighting"
] | Despite being around for about as long as MIDI, DMX, the industry standard for controlling stage lighting and smoke machines, is still an astonishing expensive protocol to work with. Where MIDI can be banged out with a simple microcontroller – with odd bit rate requirements, no less, DMX testers cost hundreds of dollars. Of course this means the market is wide open for a DIY DMX tester, and over on the projects site [Tony]
has just the thing
.
For the hardware, [Tony] is using few 4×4 matrix keypads for user input, and a character LCD for the display. With this, he can set any of the 512 lighting channels in a DMX setup to any one of the 256 intensity values. Setting a range of channels to any intensity is a snap, with an extremely cut down command protocol. All the processing is handled by an Arduino, which seems more than capable of handling the DMX protocol thanks to the
Conceptionetics DMX library
.
While it’s not a full-blown lighting console you’d find in the back of a theatre, it’s more than sufficient to test a lighting rig. It also seems pretty simple to use, just the thing if you’re trying to wrap your brain around some theatrical lighting. | 7 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "1536002",
"author": "enebk",
"timestamp": "2014-05-31T21:50:58",
"content": "Reminds me of this page:http://www.hoelscher-hi.de/hendrik/english/analyzer.htm",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "1536009",
"author": "da_shroom66",
... | 1,760,376,184.413815 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/05/31/cnc-zen-garden/ | CNC Zen Garden | Mike Szczys | [
"cnc hacks",
"Featured"
] | [
"Bay Area Maker Faire 2014",
"bbb",
"beaglebone black",
"cnc",
"sand",
"zen garden"
] | [youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ge4H4Uw630o&w=580]
Meet the second version of [David’s]
sand manicuring CNC machine
. We saw
version one about six months ago
which he built for a science museum in Canada. This offering is much the same, except for the controller. The initial version demanded a full-blow computer to drive it but now that has been swapped out in favor of a Beaglebone Black.
The software has no feedback on the position of the plotter, which is an aluminum slug that [David] machined at
Calgary Protospace
. It needs to be in a specific position when the machine starts out, and from there patterns are traced by calculating how much spooling or unspooling of the four strings will move the slug.
There’s a bunch of other
really neat art installations and projects
on [David’s] webpage, it’s worth clicking through! | 31 | 13 | [
{
"comment_id": "1535454",
"author": "afefgea",
"timestamp": "2014-05-31T17:12:56",
"content": "Plotting in sand is just about as useful as shaving with shit.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1535479",
"author": "ArchimedesPi",
... | 1,760,376,184.544262 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/05/31/developing-the-grillino-in-24-hours/ | Developing The Grillino In 24 Hours | Marsh | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"Microcontrollers"
] | [
"attiny",
"attiny85",
"piezo",
"shenzhen"
] | [Mastro Gippo] hit Shenzhen back in April and organized a challenge for himself: could he develop an electronic device from idea to product in only 24 hours? The result is
the Grillino, a simple clone of the Annoy-a-Tron
: a small, concealable device that makes chirping sounds at random intervals. It’s name was derived from a mix of the Italian word for a cricket—”grillo”—and, of course, “Arduino.”
Shenzhen was the perfect setting for his experiment, especially because [Mastro Gippo] was in town for
the Hacker Camp we mentioned a few months ago
. The build is pretty simple, requiring only a microcontroller, a battery, and a piezo speaker. What follows is a detailed journey of dizzying speed through the production process, from bags stuffed full of components, to 3D-printing a test jig, to searching for a PCB manufacturer that could fulfill his order overnight. Video and more below.
In his haste to arrive at a finished product, [Mastro Gippo] chose a faint-sounding buzzer, which turned out not to be piezo buzzers at all, but small speakers. Though this and other problems prevented him from completing the final version in under 24 hours, we’re impressed with [Mastro Gippo’s] enthusiastic sprint through this build and with his stories of the Shenzhen environment. Check out his blog for the rest of the project details and some fond memories of his trip abroad. | 13 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "1535113",
"author": "JRDM",
"timestamp": "2014-05-31T14:38:39",
"content": "OK, so it’s not a circuit to help barbecuing.It would be nice if there was more creativity in naming Arduino compatible circuits. Everything -duino -ino is getting old.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": ... | 1,760,376,184.268758 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/05/31/custom-electronics-and-led-panels-brighten-up-a-nightclub/ | Custom Electronics And LED Panels Brighten Up A Nightclub | Rick Osgood | [
"LED Hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"attiny",
"dmx",
"hackerspace",
"led",
"nightclub",
"panel",
"shackspace",
"sn75176",
"Teensy",
"teensy3"
] | When [Robert] is presented with a challenge, he
doesn’t back down
. His friend dreamed of reusing some old LED panels by mounting them to the ceiling of the friend’s night club. Each panel consists of a grid of five by five red, green, and blue LEDs for a total of 75 LEDs per panel. It sounded like a relatively simple task but there were a few caveats. First, the controller box that came with the panels could only handle 16 panels and the friend wanted to control 24 of them. Second, the only input device for the controller was an infrared remote. The friend wanted an easy way for DJ’s to control the color of the panels and the infrared remote was not going to cut it. Oh yea, he also gave [Robert] just three weeks to make this happen.
[Robert] started out by building a circuit that could be duplicated to control each panel. The brain of this circuit is an ATtiny2313. For communication between panels, [Robert] chose to go with the
DMX protocol
. This was a good choice considering DMX is commonly used to control stage lighting effects. The
SN75176 IC
was chosen to handle this communication. In his haste to get this PCB manufactured [Robert] failed to realize that the LED panels were designed common cathode, as opposed to his 25 shiny new PCB’s which were designed to work with a common anode design. To remedy this, he switched out all of the n-channel MOSFET with p-channel MOSFET. He also spent a couple of hours manually cutting through traces and rewiring the board. After all of this, he discovered yet another problem. The LED’s were being powered from the same 5V source as the microcontroller. This lead to power supply issues resulting in the ATtiny constantly resetting. The solution was to add some capacitors.
Click past the break for more on [Robert’s] LED panels.
As for software, [Robert] completely filled the ATtiny’s memory. He used three channels to control red, green, and blue. He added a fourth channel to control pre-designed animation effects such as fading, strobe, and random color. The DIP switches are normally used to set the address of the panel, but there is a second option to put the panel into standalone mode. In this mode, the switches are used to program the panel to perform specific effects with no DMX controller required.
Now that the panels were all designed and functioning, [Robert] still needed a way to control them. He used the laser cutter at
Shackspace
hackerspace to design the actual panel face and then mounted a bunch of buttons, switches, and potentiometers to it. All of those things were connected to a
Teensy3
using perfboard and a hand wired circuit. Another SN75176 IC was used for the DMX communication from the control panel. The control panel allows the DJ to change between different pre-built animation effects, color effects, and also change the speed of the animations to match the speed of the music. | 8 | 3 | [
{
"comment_id": "1534723",
"author": "matseng",
"timestamp": "2014-05-31T11:21:08",
"content": "After reading about first mistaking the CC panels to be CA, and then failing to properly separate the VCC for the panels from the microcontroller I had to look at the caption one extra time to this this ... | 1,760,376,184.120766 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/05/31/piratebox-for-all-your-wireless-dead-drop-needs/ | PirateBox, For All Your Wireless Dead Drop Needs | Brian Benchoff | [
"Wireless Hacks"
] | [
"openwrt",
"Pirate Box",
"wireless"
] | Here’s an interesting idea: get a router, Android device, or Raspberry Pi, put it on its own wireless network, and allow anyone to upload and download files.
That’s a PirateBox
, a small node in the web of digital culture and also a really great way to distribute files at a LAN party.
We’ve seen
these type of things before
, but now, thanks to [David] and [Matthias], and a bunch of other people, there’s now an easy way to turn a Raspi, Android, or anything that runs OpenWrt into a wireless dead drop. Also included in the software is an image board (think chan) a chat room, UPnP media server, and a browser-based file sharing system. Want to share a “linux distro”? Just upload it to the box over WiFi and it’s available to anyone in range.
Installers are available for devices you probably have sitting around in a junk drawer. Great for that Pi you’re trying to find a use for, and figuring out how to run one of these completely off the grid is an interesting challenge, to boot. | 13 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "1535201",
"author": "JustSearchFirst",
"timestamp": "2014-05-31T15:25:58",
"content": "http://hackaday.com/2011/01/27/the-pirate-box/Stop recycling old new! This is from January 27, 2011",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1535460... | 1,760,376,184.175683 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/05/30/furze-sets-fire-to-everything-with-pyro-gloves/ | [Furze] Sets Fire To Everything With Pyro Gloves | Marsh | [
"Weapons Hacks",
"Wearable Hacks"
] | [
"fire",
"piezo",
"propane",
"propane accessories"
] | Crazyman [Colin Furze] is back, and this time he’s
setting everything on fire with his Pyro gloves
. Though Hackaday readers are already a discerning bunch, this is a build we get submissions for all the time and feature
fairly often
. It would take an exceedingly impressive build to outshine the other fire hazards. But, as with his
pneumatic Wolverine claws
and his
electromagnetic boots
, [Furze] knows how to build the insane and then put on a good show.
The Pyro build is part of [Furze’s]
3-part celebratory X-Men extravaganza,
a nod to the realm of superheroes coinciding with the release of the new X-Men film. [Furze] began with a custom reservoir cylinder that fitted with two solenoid valves: one for a pilot light and another for the big blasts. He’s also affixed a Piezo element and a AA battery, which sits in a cozy little container. The bulkier bits of the assembly sit in a backpack, hooking up, as expected, to the wrist-mounted devices. This flame cannon, however, is unique among the ones we’ve encountered here.
The builds we’ve featured here at Hackaday typically combine the pilot light and fuel dump on the same wrist. Dangerous, yes. Stupid? Probably. [Furze] has separated them in his version, however, with the pilot light on one wrist, and the fuel on the other. Flick back one wrist to ignite the pilot light, then aim the second wrist to unleash a fiery woosh.
This setup probably isn’t any safer, however, especially if you can’t aim. Needless to say, don’t try this at home. Do, however, watch the videos below including the behind-the-scenes build breakdown.
[Thanks James & Chris] | 25 | 12 | [
{
"comment_id": "1533897",
"author": "Galane",
"timestamp": "2014-05-31T05:32:52",
"content": "I’d like to have all the $ that goes into Colin Furze’s lunacy. ;-)",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1533930",
"author": "snow",
"tim... | 1,760,376,184.479005 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/05/30/analog-shield-and-pcb-quadcopter/ | Analog Shield And PCB Quadcopter | Mike Szczys | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"drone hacks"
] | [
"analog",
"analog shield",
"Bay Area Maker Faire 2014",
"drv8312",
"fft",
"quadcopter"
] | [youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXW76ESIv6k&w=580]
We spent a little bit of time at the TI booth at Maker Faire to film
a pair of interviews
. The first is with [Bill Esposito] who is grinding away on his PhD. at Stanford. He’s showing off an Analog Shield for Arduino. He describes it as “an attempt to bring the analog bench to an Arduino shield”. We think this is a fantastic idea as most who are learning digital electronics through Arduino have little or no experience with analog circuitry. This is a nice gateway drug for the concepts.
The analog shield
has a supply good for +/- 7.5 volts, 4-channel ADC, 4-channel DAC, and gets 100k samples at 16-bits. He showed us a spectrum analyzer using Fast Fourier Transform on the incoming signal from a microphone. He also built a function generator around the shield. And finally a synthesizer which plays MIDI files.
In the second half of the video we take a look at [Trey German’s] work on a PCB-based quadcopter. His goal is to reduce the power consumption which will equate to longer flying times. To this end he chose the DRV8312 and a Piccolo to control each sensorless, brushless DC motor. The result should be 10% lower power consumption that his previous version. | 2 | 2 | [
{
"comment_id": "1533792",
"author": "Bill",
"timestamp": "2014-05-31T04:37:46",
"content": "For anyone who’s looking, the library for the analog shield can be found athttp://github.com/wespo, since the website currently redirects to the digilent page.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"r... | 1,760,376,184.211826 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/05/30/bare-bones-arduino-ir-receiver/ | Bare Bones Arduino IR Receiver | Nick Conn | [
"Arduino Hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"infrared",
"ir",
"IR emitter",
"remote",
"remote control",
"TV remote"
] | Old infrared remote controls can be a great way to interface with your projects. One of [AnalysIR’s] latest blog posts goes over the simplest way to create an
Arduino based IR receiver
, making it easier than ever to put that old remote to
good use
.
Due to the popularity of their first IR receiver post,
the silver bullet IR receiver
, [AnalysIR] decided to write a quick post about using IR on the Arduino. The part list consists of one Arduino, two resistors, and one IR emitter. That’s right, an emitter. When an LED (IR or otherwise) is reverse biased it can act as a light sensor. The main difference when using this method is that the IR signal is not inverted as it would normally be when using a more common modulated IR receiver module. All of the Arduino code you need to get up and running is also provided. The main limitation when using this configuration, is that the remote control needs to be very close to the IR emitter in order for it to receive the signal.
What will you
control
with your old
TV remote
? It would be interesting to see this circuit hooked up so that a single IR emitter can act both as a transmitter and a receiver. Go ahead and give it a try, then
let us know
how it went! | 7 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "1533035",
"author": "Gdogg",
"timestamp": "2014-05-30T23:08:30",
"content": "Reminds me of thishttp://spritesmods.com/?art=minimalism&f=yt",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "1533039",
"author": "Erik Johnson",
"timestamp": ... | 1,760,376,184.594659 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/05/30/using-pulleys-and-weights-to-explain-binary-logic-gates/ | Using Pulleys And Weights To Explain Binary Logic Gates | James Hobson | [
"computer hacks"
] | [
"diy computer"
] | To demonstrate how computers work, [Alex Gorischek] has made a
physical example
of how binary logic gates work using pulleys and weights.
For anyone who doesn’t know much about
logic gates
(Wikipedia), it’s a great lesson in one of the fundamentals of circuitry. Using an old chessboard, eyelets, rings, weights, and string, [Alex] has designed a system that can show off all of the logic gates. This includes: NOT, BUFFER, NAND, AND, OR, NOR, XOR, XNOR. He’s also included a
gallery of all his examples here.
The neat thing about this demonstration is it is shown in a way that anyone can understand, heck, it’s also something anyone can play with in order to learn! Stick around after the break and see for yourself.
Understand everything about logic gates now? Are you ready for the test? Do you think you’re ready to
make some using live crabs?
[via
Adafruit
] | 14 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "1532755",
"author": "Hirudinea",
"timestamp": "2014-05-30T20:55:32",
"content": "Oh wow, that is so cool! This would be a great kit for schools or just kid at home, they could even build their own gates (well maybe not the X gates) to get a good handle on logic gates. Again this is ... | 1,760,376,184.855418 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/05/30/robot-army-irl-plus-a-massive-build-log/ | Robot-Army IRL Plus A Massive Build Log | Mike Szczys | [
"Featured",
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"Bay Area Maker Faire 2014",
"kickstarter",
"Kinect",
"Robot Army"
] | We went to “the dark room” at Maker Faire once more for an interview with [Sarah] of Robot-Army. She and [Mark], who handles software development for the project, were showing off 30 delta robots who know how to dance. Specifically they’re dancing in unison to the movements of another faire-goer. A Kinect sensor monitors those movements and translates them to matching motions from the deltabots.
You should remember
seeing this project back in November
. Now that the standards for this model have been worked out it was just a matter of sinking about three-weeks into assembling the army. We’re happy to see that
the Kickstarter made it
to 250% of the goal at the beginning of March, and with that there are even bigger plans. [Sarah] says the goal remains to fill a room with the robots and a we may even see a much larger version some day.
The interview is a bit short since the Robot-Army booth was right next to Arc Attack (hence the noise-cancelling headphones) and we had to try to get in and out between their ear-drum-shattering interruptions. But you can see a ton more about the project in
this huge build log post over on Hackaday.io
. Also check out
the Robot-Army webpage
. There’s a nice illustration of their adventures at MFBA and
the foam Jolly Wrencher
made it into the piece! | 8 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "1532391",
"author": "syntroniks",
"timestamp": "2014-05-30T18:10:53",
"content": "Good to hear this project is really taking off!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "1532417",
"author": "surfingtheether",
"timestamp": "2014-... | 1,760,376,184.798632 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/05/30/the-i2c-programmable-nfc-tag/ | The I2C Programmable NFC Tag | Brian Benchoff | [
"Wireless Hacks"
] | [
"DNFC",
"i2c",
"NFC",
"NFC tag"
] | NFC tags are cool, but programming them to do your bidding – whether unlocking your computer, making an Arduino vending machine, or a smart home application – requires using an NFC device to program the tag over the air. An NFC tag programmable with any ‘ol microcontroller would certainly have some interesting applications, and
Elecfreaks’ DNFC
tag is just the thing to test out these ideas.
While NFC tags are reprogrammable, reprogramming them requires an NFC controller, be that through a dedicated hardware, a phone, or an Arduino shield. The DNFC tag is reprogrammable with a microcontroller with an I2C interface thanks to
TI’s RF430CL330H
dynamic NFC transponder IC. It still does everything you would expect from a NFC tag – MIFARE compatible. NDEF reading and writing, and everything else – but you can program it through an Arduino, Pi, or any other board with an I2C interface.
TI has an app note on using the chip inside the DNFC for automatic Bluetooth pairing, and Elecfreaks themselves have a few use cases in mind that include putting WiFi credentials on an Arduino board without putting the SSID in code and other Internet of Things™ applications. We’re thinking this is one of those devices that is eminently useful, but for something we just can’t think of off the top of your head. If you’ve got an idea for how to use an I2C programmable NFC tag, drop a note in the comments.
Elecfreaks is doing
an Indiegogo campaign
for the DNFC, $13 for one. I picked one up, but it’s flexible funding, so buy it or don’t. I don’t care. | 22 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "1531917",
"author": "Mathieu Stephan",
"timestamp": "2014-05-30T14:05:37",
"content": "Nice project!I just launched into production a very similar project… but much smaller and designed for the xNT implant and NFC rings (any backers here?).Current PCB size is 35x45mm.",
"parent_... | 1,760,376,185.131723 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/05/30/art-o-matic-is-spirographs-young-hip-offspring/ | Art-O-Matic Is Spirograph’s Young Hip Offspring | Rich Bremer | [
"Arduino Hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"art",
"drawing",
"drawing bot",
"spirograph"
] | Some of our more
senior
experienced
readers may remember a toy called the
Spirograph
. In case you don’t, it’s a geometric shape drawing toy. The way it works is a plastic disc with gear teeth around the perimeter and various holes on its face is spun around a plastic ring with gear teeth on the inside. A pencil is inserted in one of the holes in the disc and, when spun around the inside of the ring, draws different complex shapes called hypotrochoids.
This was fun enough to keep a kid entertained for a few minutes. It took a while to make a complete shape and sometimes it was easy to mess up (especially if the hole chosen for the pencil was near the outside of the disc). [Darcy] thought it would be neat to combine the Spirograph’s drawing style with modern technology. The result is called the
Art-O-Matic
and it draws some pretty wild art, you guessed it, automatically.
Click past the break for more!
[Darcy] started the project by drawing all the gears and linkages in Sketchup. A CNC Router was used to cut out the parts, after that just a few bolts and nuts got the mechanics together. In the video below there are 2 geared discs that move the linkage arms. Both arms move independently, one quickly and the other slowly. Each disc is controlled by its own stepper motor. The speed of each stepper motor is controlled by an Arduino. Different patterns are drawn depending on the speeds of the two motors. Switching pen colors along the way adds to the coolness. | 23 | 13 | [
{
"comment_id": "1531743",
"author": "LouLou",
"timestamp": "2014-05-30T12:48:12",
"content": "I’m glad you put the picture of the Spirograph for reference, or we would have had a bad time.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1531832",
"au... | 1,760,376,184.92173 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/05/30/homemade-alarm-system-doesnt-lack-features/ | Homemade Alarm System Doesn’t Lack Features | James Hobson | [
"Microcontrollers"
] | [
"alarm system",
"burglar alarm",
"mcp23008",
"Parallax Propeller"
] | To many of us, our garage (or workshop) is probably one of the most important parts of the house. If a burglar broke in, we’d likely be more worried about our tools! [Ron Czapala] decided he needed an alarm system in his garage to keep his stuff safe, so he decided to
build one from scratch.
The system makes use of a Parallax 4×4 keypad membrane, a MCP23008 port expander, a Parallax Propeller, a LCD screen, and a few switches to represent future magnetic reed switches located in the door and window.
Using circular buffers, the propeller has several states for monitoring the garage.
Not armed — ignore all sensors
Armed — system will react to changes in the sensors
Exit delay — system has been armed, 45 second countdown has begun to allow you to exit the garage
Window trigger — if the window is opened, the alarm will go off immediately (siren and strobe light)
Door trigger — alarm will go off in 60 seconds if correct code has not been entered on the keypad
For a complete demonstration, check out the following video where [Ron] explains it all!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plLQFZlsKHA
Do you know what’s even cooler for your home alarm system? Lasers. Check out this
laser trip wire alarm!
[Thanks Andrew!] | 15 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "1531139",
"author": "Bigdeal",
"timestamp": "2014-05-30T08:21:03",
"content": "Using a circular buffer for the code is a bad idea, it helps bruteforcing it",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1531180",
"author": "eldorel",... | 1,760,376,184.979218 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/05/29/kindle-paperwhite-gets-downgraded-to-an-expensive-thermostat/ | Kindle Gets Downgraded To An Expensive Thermostat | James Hobson | [
"Kindle hacks"
] | [
"kindle thermometer",
"outdoor thermostat"
] | E-readers are awesome, don’t get us wrong — but if you have an old one collecting dust, why not use it for something? [John] decided to hack his old Kindle to
act like a thermometer!
The Kindle’s Linux OS is re-purposed to use the Freescale CPU’s internal temperature sensor as a thermometer — since it’s not doing anything most the time, it should be relatively accurate of the ambient temperature.
Unlike some of [John’s] earlier hacks, this one is completely self-contained and reversible. In fact, it’s just a few scripts that check the temperature every minute and then display it in large digits on the screen. The buttons allow you to convert units or reverse boot to the original Kindle software. It can even graph the recent temperature! It makes for a very easy to read outdoor thermometer.
And not to waste all of its hardware features, [John] also set it up to act as a web server, sending the temperature data via port 8014.
You could also take it a step further and have a
full weather station
, in a nice wooden frame. | 14 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "1530853",
"author": "franklyn",
"timestamp": "2014-05-30T06:33:43",
"content": "How did he program the damned thing ?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1532944",
"author": "john",
"timestamp": "2014-05-30T22:24:3... | 1,760,376,185.240499 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/05/29/papilio-duo-fpga-logic-analyzer-debugger-and-arduino-compatible/ | Papilio Duo: FPGA, Logic Analyzer, Debugger, And Arduino Compatible | Brian Benchoff | [
"Crowd Funding",
"FPGA"
] | [
"arduino",
"fpga",
"papilio",
"Papilio duo"
] | It’s been a while since we’ve seen some new boards that combine an FPGA and an Arduino, so naturally the state of the art is a little bit behind. The latest from [Jack Gassett],
the Papilio Duo
, aims to change that by addressing all the complaints of the original Papilio and adding some neat, modern features that you would expect on a board designed in 2014.
On board the Duo is an ATMega32u4, the same chip used in the Arduino Leonardo, allowing for easy integration with your standard Arduino projects. The top of the board is where the real money is. There’s a Spartan 6 FPGA with 9k logic cells, enough to run emulate some of the classic computers of yore, including the famous SID chip, Yamaha YM2149, and the Atari POKEY (!). With host and device USB, 512k or 2M of SRAM, and an ADC on the FPGA inputs, this board should be able to handle just about everything you would want to throw at it. There’s even a breakout for HDMI on the bottom.
There are a few interesting software features of the Duo, including a full debugger for the ATMega chip, thanks to an emulated Atmel JTAG ICE MKII. Yes, an Arduino-compatible board finally has a real debugger. The FPGA can also implement a 32 channel logic analyzer, making this not only an extremely powerful dev board, but also a useful tool to keep around the workbench. | 22 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "1530128",
"author": "Waterjet",
"timestamp": "2014-05-30T02:07:22",
"content": "This seems like a pretty great board. But doesn’t it seem like we should be able to do more with a microcontroller than simply emulate a game console from almost 40 years ago? Am I being unreasonable?",
... | 1,760,376,185.360303 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/05/29/talking-to-isee-3/ | Talking To ISEE-3 | Brian Benchoff | [
"Featured",
"Radio Hacks"
] | [
"Arecibo",
"Deep Space Network",
"ISEE-3"
] | ISEE-3, the plucky interplanetary spacecraft fueled by the dreams of thousands of crowdfunding backers and hydrazine
is now transmitting data to Earth
.
Where all radio contact with ISEE-3 this year has only been a carrier frequency, the folks at the reboot project have successfully commanded ISSE via the huge Arecibo telescope to transmit data back to Earth. Usable data are now being received at 512 bits/second at ground stations in Germany, Kentucky, and California, surely being looked over by the ISEE reboot project engineers.
Simply transmitting the commands to put the data multiplexers into their engineering telemetry mode was no small task; a power amplifier needed to be built, shipped to Arecibo, and installed in the giant dome hanging over the Arecibo dish. The amplifier was only installed in the last day,
during an earthquake, no less
.
There’s still a lot of work to be done before the project can go any further; the team will need to check the status of the spacecraft from the data received, more systems will be checked out, and eventually the spacecraft will be commanded to perform a 17-hour long burn with its small thrusters, putting it on course to be captured by Earth some time in August.
It’s an amazing achievement to do any sort of communication on this scale, and now events in the ISEE-3 mission timeline will be coming rather quickly. We’re trying to organize a video/blog/cast thing with the team from NASA Ames or Morehead State, but the team is, understandably, a little busy right now. | 18 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "1530084",
"author": "Adam Fabio",
"timestamp": "2014-05-30T01:51:46",
"content": "Woohoo! This is freaking awesome! Best “Hello world” I’ve seen in a long time!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "1530179",
"author": "Kent",
... | 1,760,376,185.29909 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/05/29/tiq-probe-is-more-logical-than-most/ | TIQ Probe Is More Logical Than Most | Mike Szczys | [
"Featured",
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"Bay Area Maker Faire 2014",
"cypress",
"logic probe",
"PSoC",
"tiq"
] | [youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZz1W-LurlU&w=580]
We had [Mark] on our “dance card” for people to find at Maker Faire. But before we could track him down
he bumped into us holding the TIQ Probe
in one hand and a testing box in the other. TIQ is conceived in the form factor of a traditional logic probe but thanks to the Cypress PSoC 5LP inside it’s much, much smarter than the decades-old bench tools. Sure, it can tell you if that uC pin is a 1 or a 0, but it can also detect what type of signal it’s probing and has built-in protection for over-voltage.
The point of the tool is to bridge the gap between things which would be measured with a DMM and those measured with a proper Oscilloscope. We think he did a pretty good job of including the things that someone just starting out without expensive bench equipment might want. For instance, you can set it to trigger on common data protocols like i2c, and use the probe itself as a rudimentary pulse generator.
The bulk of the details on the probe
can be found on its Kickstarter page
(which has just a few days left). You may also be interested in
his company page
. We’re curious about the insides of the test rig he was hauling around. [Mark] is a regular reader so hopefully he’ll leave a comment below with the details of that black box. | 11 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "1529659",
"author": "arachnidster",
"timestamp": "2014-05-29T23:16:50",
"content": "I love PSoC based designs – but a project like this would be far, far more useful if I could hack the firmware to make it do what I want.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
... | 1,760,376,185.406969 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2014/05/29/meet-jimmy-an-open-source-biped-robot-from-intel/ | Meet Jimmy: An Open Source Biped Robot From Intel | Adam Fabio | [
"News",
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"21st Century Robot",
"Dynamixel",
"intel",
"Jimmy",
"trossen",
"Trossen Robotics"
] | Intel’s CEO [Brian Krzanich] stopped by the Re/Code conference to announce Jimmy, the first robot from the
21st Century Robot project
. The project is the brainchild of [Brian David Johnson], Intel’s resident futurist. We love the project’s manifesto:
Robot Is: Imagined first. Easy to build. Completely open source. Fiercely social. Intentionally iterative. Filled with humanity and dreams. Thinking for her/him/itself.
Jimmy may not be all those things yet, but he definitely is exciting. For starters, he wasn’t built in some secret lab at Intel HQ. Much of Jimmy’s construction took place at
Trossen Robotics
, a name well known to Hackaday. [Matt] and [Andrew] at Trossen describe all the details in their video down past the break.
This version of Jimmy is a research robot, which mean’s he’s not going to come cheap. Jimmy sports an Intel i5 NUC motherboard, 20 Dynamixel servos, a 5052 aluminum frame and a host of sensors. A 4S 14.8v 4000mAh LiPo battery will power Jimmy for 30 to 60 minutes between charges, so be sure to budget for a few spare packs. The most striking aspect of Jimmy is his 3D printed shell. The 21st Century Robot Project gave him large, friendly eyes and features, which will definitely help with the social aspect of their goals.
Jimmy is all about open source. He can run two flavors of Linux: Ubuntu 14.04 LTS or a custom version of Yocto Pokey. There is a lot to be said for running and developing on the same hardware. No specialized toolchains for cross compiling, no NFS shares to move binaries around. If you need to make a change, you can plug a monitor (or launch an VNC session) and do everything with Jimmy’s on-board computer. Jimmy’s software stack is based upon the
DARwIn OP
platform, and a ROS port is in the works.
We’re excited about Jimmy, but at
$16,000 USD
, he’s a bit outside our budget. Thankfully a smaller consumer version of Jimmy will soon be available for around 1/10th the cost.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRZn7_lpD2U
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCd4glKBCxM | 36 | 14 | [
{
"comment_id": "1529268",
"author": "lionxl",
"timestamp": "2014-05-29T20:46:02",
"content": "We’re excited about Jimmy, but at $16,000 USD, he’s a bit outside our budget. Thankfully a smaller consumer version of Jimmy will soon be available for around 1/10th the cost. ….1/10th is still $1600, alth... | 1,760,376,185.558698 |
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