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https://hackaday.com/2013/11/03/make-your-own-led-lightbulb/ | Make Your Own LED Lightbulb! | James Hobson | [
"LED Hacks"
] | [
"led light",
"led light bulb",
"led lightbulb"
] | Do you like saving electricity? Who doesn’t!
Do you have a lot of LED light strips lying around, destined for a project that you
never
quite got around to? We’re guilty!
Do you have an old DC power adapter? Of course you do.
Do you love soldering? Duh.
Do you have a dead fluorescent light bulb sitting around? Maybe…
If so, here’s a quick and silly guide to
making your very own LED light bulb!
The result is a bit ghetto we admit, but quite functional. Perhaps it could be improved by adding a glass Christmas bobble to make it look a bit more like a regular light bulb. And if you’re ambitious enough you could throw a microprocessor in there and add wireless control to it as well … but let’s be honest, smart LED light bulbs are getting quite affordable these days. But hey, you’ve got to do something for entertainment! | 43 | 14 | [
{
"comment_id": "1089967",
"author": "nbtmm",
"timestamp": "2013-11-03T08:44:46",
"content": "introducing the DIY light emitting fire hazard",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "1089989",
"author": "StinkySteve",
"timestamp": "2013-11-03T10:2... | 1,760,376,410.557641 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/11/02/assassins-creed-hidden-blade/ | Assassin’s Creed Hidden Blade | Brian Benchoff | [
"Wearable Hacks"
] | [
"assassin's creed",
"knife",
"wearable"
] | The youngins in the crowd may not remember
Taxi Driver
, but [Matt]’s
fully functional hidden blade from Assassin’s Creed
finally does justice to the hidden weapon on a drawer slide idea. It’s got everything you would want – immaculate craftsmanship and a video game reference for that every so necessary blog cred.
[Matt] started his hidden blade build with a drawer slide, mounting an old WWII replica blade to the slider. The blade retraction is spring-loaded, and with a small ring and a bit of wire, the blade gets its automatic draw and retraction.
The arm brace is where this project really shines. [Matt] crafted this out of two pieces of leather, tooled with the Assassin’s insignia and dyed to a deep, jet black
This isn’t the first time we’ve seen
an automatic hidden blade from Assassin’s Creed
, but [Matt]’s effort is really top-notch. He’s got beautiful leather crafting down pat, and we can only hope his Halloween was filled with parkour and stabbing. | 38 | 16 | [
{
"comment_id": "1089863",
"author": "kingofthetrolls",
"timestamp": "2013-11-03T05:18:03",
"content": "Nice job. Although, I wonder if more people will cry over the fact that its a weapon hack, safety, or legality? I have my popcorn ready, lets the crying begin.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth"... | 1,760,376,410.477107 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/11/07/laser-origami/ | Laser Origami! | James Hobson | [
"Laser Hacks"
] | [
"Laser cutting",
"laser origami",
"laserorigami",
"rapid prototyping",
"rapid prototyping laser"
] | One of our tipsters just sent us a link to some fascinating videos on a new style of rapid prototyping —
Laser Origami!
The concept is fairly simple, but beautifully executed in the included videos. A regular laser cutter is used to cut outlines of objects in clear lexan, then, by unfocusing the laser it slowly melts the bend lines, causing the lexan to fold and then solidify into a solid joint. It becomes even more interesting when they add in a servo motor to rotate the workpiece, allowing for bends of angles other than 90 degrees!
Depending on the part you are designing, this method of rapid prototyping far exceeds the speeds of a traditional 3D printer. The part shown in the included image could be printed in about 4 hours, or using the laser, cut and folded in 4 minutes flat!
Stick around after the break to see this awesome demonstration of the technology!
[Thanks Alfredo!] | 39 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "1093486",
"author": "Bernard Kerckenaere",
"timestamp": "2013-11-07T12:22:16",
"content": "Isn’t Lexan a polycarbonate? I’d imagine they would be using acrylic (Plexiglass fi.) instead?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1093557"... | 1,760,376,410.352153 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/11/07/homemade-nixie-tubes/ | Homemade Nixie Tubes | James Hobson | [
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"DIY nixie tube",
"home made nixie tube",
"nixie tube",
"nixie tubes"
] | Do you love Nixie Tubes? Upset that they aren’t really manufactured anymore, and the cost of old ones is rising? Why not
make your own?
That’s exactly what [Dalibor] of the Czech Republic is up to, including blowing the glass tubes himself!
He’s chosen the Z568 nixie tubes to copy, as they are his favorite style of nixie. To create the display he has etched the digits and housing out of 0.3mm stainless steel sheet — which potentially means if he gets the hang of making the tubes, he could actually produce them to sell! To perform the glass blowing, he scored a
Heathway glassblowing lathe off eBay
— but unfortunately he hasn’t documented much of anything on making the glass tubes, which is too bad because we think that would be equally fascinating as the nixie displays themselves. On his first attempt with a properly sealed tube, the nixie worked and he even recorded striking voltage values very similar to industry tubes — not bad for something made in a backyard shed!
He has since then continued refining this art and is entering a glass-art contest called “When Prague Meets Shanghai” with a beautiful entry dubbed the
ShanghaiTime Nixie Clock.
If this post seems vaguely familiar, it’s because this isn’t the first time we’ve posted an
article about homemade nixie tubes
, but we think [Dalibor’s] is by far the most elegant! Stick around after the break to see one of his first test videos — You might even think he’s cheating, the tubes look so professional! | 23 | 13 | [
{
"comment_id": "1093311",
"author": "zaprodk",
"timestamp": "2013-11-07T09:11:55",
"content": "HAD, Please do your homework before writing some Gibberish! – The metal parts are not lasercut! – They are etched out by a company that specialises in that kind of process.",
"parent_id": null,
"d... | 1,760,376,410.26331 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/11/06/guitar-amp-turned-tool-cabinet/ | Guitar Amp Turned Tool Cabinet | James Hobson | [
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"guitar amp toolbox",
"handmade",
"tool cabinet",
"toolbox"
] | While HANDMADE.hackaday was a rather ephemeral experiment, we still come across some mighty fine examples of handmade projects that we think deserve to grace the pages of Hack a Day. As is the case with this beautifully repurposed
guitar amp turned tool cabinet.
After gutting the original amp, [Max] set to bending some 22ga steel plate into drawers. He enjoys using that particular gauge because its fairly easy to cut and bend, while still being rigid enough for most applications. Once content with the bending jobs, he attached ball bearing roller slides to the sides and installed the drawers. Making use of the original amp face for the top drawer he cleaned up all the edges and gave it some new paint — it’s a beautifully crafted example of what you can do with a bit of sweat and elbow grease!
And for the audiophiles, don’t worry — the amp wasn’t functional before it was cannibalized for its casing.
[Via
Reddit
] | 4 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "1093466",
"author": "kaidenshi",
"timestamp": "2013-11-07T11:53:52",
"content": "I think it’s a really awesome job, very nice work. I would have gone a step further and turned the top drawer into a combination cellphone charger and media player. I’d install a power strip with 12v an... | 1,760,376,410.74619 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/11/06/plotterbot-hangs-on-your-wall-to-work/ | Plotterbot Hangs On Your Wall To Work | James Hobson | [
"Arduino Hacks"
] | [
"plotter robot",
"plotterbot",
"printer bot"
] | Looking for a fun and easy to do project to begin your foray into the fun-filled world of Arduinos? How about your very own drawing robot, aptly named, the
Plotterbot!
We first heard word of this project when [Jay] submitted a giant plotted version of the Hack A Day logo for our
Trinket contest
, and we liked the Plotterbot so much we had to give it a featured article!
It’s a very simple design that uses an Arduino, 2 stepper motors, a servo motor (for pen lifting), some fishing line and various odds and ends you can probably find around the house. Realistically it will cost around $100 to build, but if you can salvage some parts from an old printer or scanner, even less!
[Jay] is currently releasing a series of detailed posts on his blog explaining the process of building one, but if you’re excited to start right away, you can always check out his
FAQ
for more juicy details. | 12 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "1093165",
"author": "supershwa",
"timestamp": "2013-11-07T03:45:36",
"content": "So…inkjet?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "1093172",
"author": "MakerBlock",
"timestamp": "2013-11-07T04:03:37",
"content": "Inkjets ar... | 1,760,376,410.206768 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/11/06/augmented-reality-breadboarding/ | Augmented Reality Breadboarding | Adam Fabio | [
"Virtual Reality"
] | [
"augmented reality",
"castAR",
"fritzing"
] | [Scott] sent in this tantalizing view of the what could be
the future of bread boarding
. His day job is at
EquipCodes
, where he’s working on augmented reality systems for the industrial sector. Most of EquipCodes augmented reality demos involve large electric motors and power transmission systems. When someone suggested a breadboard demo, [Scott] was able to create a simple 555 led blinker circuit as a proof of concept. The results are stunning. An AR glyph tells the software what circuit it is currently viewing. The software then shows a layout of the circuit. Each component can be selected to bring up further information.
The system also acts as a tutor for first time circuit builders – showing them where each component and wire should go. We couldn’t help but think of our old Radio Shack 150 in 1 circuit kit while watching [Scott] assemble the 555 blinker. A breadboard would be a lot more fun than all those old springs! The “virtual” layout can even be overlayed on real one. Any misplaced components would show up before power is turned on (and the magic smoke escapes).
Now we realize this is just a technology demonstrator. Any circuit to be built would have to exist in the software’s database. Simple editing software like
Fritzing
could be helpful in this case. We’re also not sure how easy it would be working with a tablet between you and your circuit. A pair of
CastAR glasses
would definitely come in handy here. Even so, we’re excited by this video and hope that some of this augmented reality technology makes its way into our hands. | 31 | 14 | [
{
"comment_id": "1093045",
"author": "Jeremy Cook",
"timestamp": "2013-11-07T00:05:42",
"content": "Wow, that’s a pretty neat idea. Hopefully people won’t forget that they don’t have it on if it became wearable.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id":... | 1,760,376,410.622215 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/11/06/classic-80s-stereo-receiver-enjoys-a-second-life-as-radioduinowrt/ | Classic 80’s Stereo Receiver Enjoys A Second Life As RadioduinoWRT | Adam Fabio | [
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"arduino mega",
"mpc",
"mpd",
"Music Player Daemon",
"Universal Serial Bus",
"usb"
] | [Raffael] had an old Broken Yamaha natural sound receiver lying around. Rather than throw it out,
h
e built himself a slick web radio
. He calls it RadioduinoWRT. [Raffael] started by removing all the internals – though he kept the front panel controls. He then added an Arduino Mega to handle the front panel controls, including a 16×2 character LCD module. The Arduino also takes commands via IR remote. An enc28j60 Ethernet module allows the Arduino to communicate with a the brains of the operation, a TL-WR703N mini router.
A micro USB hub expands the single USB port on the WR703, allowing both a USB sound card and a 4 gig USB stick to be mounted. We’d like to add that the
TL-WR703 is a must
in this application – the amazon link [Rafael] provides brings up the
TL-WR702
as a top link. Only the TL-WR703 has a USB host connection.
The real magic is in [Raffael’s] software setup. The WR703 is running OpenWRT. He added modules for the USB sound card, as well as expanding the file system onto the USB stick. Once that was complete [Raffael] added
Music Player Daemon (MPD)
and MPC, a console app to drive MPD. Lighttpd, a light web server provides an interface for the Arduino as well as a web front end to the entire radio.All this allows [Raffael] to control his radio in several ways. He can log in via any web browser on his network. He can use the front panel controls. He can use an IR remote. Since he is running MPD,
any client
(there are literally hundreds out there) will also drive the radio.
While a low-end USB sound card in a home stereo application does make our inner audiophile cringe a bit, the quality does seem to be pretty good. [Rafael’s] design would make it simple to swap out a higher quality USB sound card if the need arises. | 19 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "1092965",
"author": "heatgap-jimbo",
"timestamp": "2013-11-06T21:31:02",
"content": "I have always wanted to build an HTPC using an old stainless steel style receiver set. This is really funny, the analog electronics that used to take up all that space is reduced to a 2x6in circuit ... | 1,760,376,410.698136 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/11/06/a-cortex-m4-based-platform-with-eth-usb-bt-and-many-on-board-peripherals/ | A Cortex M4 Based Platform With ETH, USB, BT And Many On-board Peripherals | Mathieu Stephan | [
"ARM",
"hardware"
] | [
"arm",
"bluetooth",
"ethernet",
"limpkin",
"linear motor",
"microphone",
"microsd",
"stepper motor",
"usb"
] | Here is a very time consuming project that I worked on during last summer: an
ARM Cortex M4 based platform
with plenty of communication interfaces and on-board peripherals. The particular project for which this board has been developed is not really HaD material (one of my father’s funny ideas) so I’ll only describe the platform itself. The microcontroller used in the project is the ATSAM4E16C from Atmel, which has 1Mbyte of flash and 128Kbytes of SRAM. It integrates an Ethernet MAC, a USB 2.0
Full-speed
controller, a sophisticated Analog to Digital Converter and a Digital to Analog Converter (among others).
Here is a list of the different components present on the board so you can get a better idea of what the platform can do: a microphone with its amplifier, a capacitive touch sensor, two unipolar stepper motors controllers, two mosfets, a microSD card connector, a Bluetooth to serial bridge, a linear motor controller and finally a battery retainer for backup power. You can have a look at a simple demonstration video I made, embedded after the break. The firmware was made in C and uses the Atmel Software Framework. The project is obviously open hardware (Kicad) and open software.
If you’re interested in one platform and don’t want spending many hours soldering it, I even made a
profitless fundraiser
(even though I need a better camera and a better accent!). | 8 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "1092994",
"author": "Joey Bloggs",
"timestamp": "2013-11-06T22:26:41",
"content": "“not really HaD material” – Oh come on, don’t leave us hanging like that! Now I obviously want to know. Especially as I can’t imagine it *not* being a fancy hack.And your accent is just fine, it is th... | 1,760,376,410.052581 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/11/02/video-game-automation-hacks/ | Video Game Automation Hacks | Marsh | [
"Playstation Hacks",
"Tablet Hacks"
] | [
"cheat code",
"controller",
"ps3 controller",
"servo",
"tablet"
] | 3rd party console game controllers sometimes sport a “rapid-fire” button to give gamers an unfair advantage. [Connor’s] project is along the same lines, but his hack had a different goal: automate the input of GTA5 cheat codes. [Connor] admits that this is his first Arduino hack, but aside from a small hiccup, he managed to pull it off. The build connects each button on a PS3 controller via some ribbon cable to its own digital out on an Arduino Uno . After plugging in some pretty straightforward code, [Connor] can simply press one button to automate a lengthy cheat code process.
[Matt’s] hack manages to save him even more user input in this second video game hack, which automates finger clicks in an Android game. [Matt] pieced together a couple of servos plugged into a PICAXE-18M2 microcontroller, which repeats one simple action in [Matt’s] Sims Freeplay game: continuously “freshening” (flushing?) a toilet. To mimic the same capacitive response of two fingers, [Matt] built the two contact surfaces out of some anti-static foam, then grounded them out with a wire to the ground on the board.
Check out a gallery of [Connor’s] controller and a video of [Matt’s] tablet hack after the break, then check out a
rapid fire controller hack
that attacks an XBox360 controller. | 7 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "1089850",
"author": "Frosty",
"timestamp": "2013-11-03T04:52:18",
"content": "Perhaps a software solution (while it wouldn’t look as cool) would have been a better fit? Something like: RepetiTouch Pro?https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.cygery.repetitouch.pro",
"pa... | 1,760,376,410.404484 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/11/02/supercap-based-cell-phone-charger/ | Supercap-Based Cell Phone Charger | Phillip Ryals | [
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"cell phone",
"charger",
"super capacitor"
] | [Barry] sent us a tip about a video from [electronupdate],
describing an experimental cell phone charger
. It’s a familiar issue: Your cell phone battery is low, and you aren’t in a position to plug it in for hours to charge. Some phones, including the one in his video, have swappable batteries, but that isn’t always an option either. As he explains in the video, a wall outlet can deliver the joule capacity of a high-end battery in a matter of seconds, but it is impossible to charge a battery that quickly. Capacitors, on the other hand, charge near-instantly.
[electronupdate] decided to look at the possibility of using super capacitors to power a typical usb plug. It would allow you to charge a secondary power supply in a short period of time, and then get on your way, letting your phone charge slowly from the device.
His experiment wasn’t entirely successful, possibly because he used 2.7V capacitors, which required a boost regulator and limited the useful voltage range. We think he might have had better success using 120V capacitors and a switching power supply, but it would be nice to see the various options compared.
Oh, [electronupdate] describes using this circuit as you are rushing to your airplane. We aren’t convinced carrying a couple super capacitors through a TSA checkpoint would be the best idea… YMMV. | 56 | 17 | [
{
"comment_id": "1089680",
"author": "John",
"timestamp": "2013-11-02T23:32:21",
"content": "Really? 120v Supercaps?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1090291",
"author": "Dax",
"timestamp": "2013-11-03T19:39:00",
"conten... | 1,760,376,410.841066 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/11/02/raspberry-pi-becomes-a-universal-translator/ | Raspberry Pi Becomes A Universal Translator | Brian Benchoff | [
"Raspberry Pi"
] | [
"raspberry pi",
"speech recognition",
"text to speech",
"translation",
"translator"
] | We’re still about 150 years away from the invention of the universal translator by [Lt Cdr Sato] of the Enterprise NX-01, but [Dave] has something that’s almost as good:
a speech recognition, translation, and text to speech setup
for the Raspberry Pi that theoretically allows anyone to speak in sixty different languages.
After setting up all the Linux audio cruft, [Dave] digs in and starts on converting the guttural vocalizations of a meat speaker into something Google’s speech to text service can understand. From there, it’s off to Google again, this time converting text in one language into the writings of another.
[Dave]’s end result is a shell script that works reasonably well for something that won’t be invented for another 150 years. The video below shows the script successfully translating English to spanish, but it should work equally well with other languages such as dutch and latin, as well as less popular language such as esperanto and french.
The season three story arc was an allegory for 9/11 and the lead-up to the invasion of Iraq, people. It was genius. | 59 | 21 | [
{
"comment_id": "1089545",
"author": "TehMeh",
"timestamp": "2013-11-02T20:12:59",
"content": "Did this before, but my app also used google voice to translate/send and recieve/translate SMS messages. Fun to text prank text your friends with foriegn message SMSs :P",
"parent_id": null,
"depth... | 1,760,376,410.939614 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/11/02/adorable-homebrew-waveform-generator/ | Adorable Homebrew Waveform Generator | Brian Benchoff | [
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"AD9833",
"dds",
"test equipment",
"Waveform Generator"
] | For want of new test equipment, or simply a project, [Enzo] decided he would take a shot at
creating his own waveform generator
*. Not only is it a great project, it’s also a decent piece of test equipment, with proper signal conditioning, a nice front panel, and a built-in wall transformer.
The guts of [Enzo]’s waveform generator is an
AD9833 programmable waveform generator
, a neat little chip that can output square and triangle waves fro 0.1 Hz to 3.2 MHz and sine waves from 0.1 Hz to 1.6 MHz. [Enzo] is controlling this chip with a PIC16 microcontroller, with a whole bunch of analog circuitry between the digital domain and the BNC connector on the front panel.
The waveform generator is controlled by a suite of dials and switches on the front panel, giving [Enzo] complete control over his new tool.
*
Here’s a Google translation
, but good luck with that. Just… get Chrome or something. | 25 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "1089460",
"author": "Tom",
"timestamp": "2013-11-02T17:09:25",
"content": "Nice build, very well put together.I always like to see point-to-point matrix-board construction, especially when it’s done well. Lets me carry on, knowing I’m not the only one who is crazy enough to love bui... | 1,760,376,410.999525 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/11/02/trinket-contest-update-6/ | Trinket Contest Update #6 | Mike Szczys | [
"contests"
] | [
"trinket contest"
] | The Trinket Contest has drawn to a close, but we’re still going to show off the entries that were received by the deadline.
The contest
asked you slap the Hackaday logo onto something for a chance at winning one of 20
Trinket dev boards
donated by Adafruit. See a dozen of them shown off after the break.
[Christopher]
used laser tagging
to plaster the logo on an unsuspecting (and closed for the evening) Michael’s store.
A different [Christopher] made theoretical DNA origami of the logo. Apparently this digital design could be ordered and viewed under a microscope — both of which he didn’t have time nor money to do.
This crafty submission comes from [Andres] who used Perler Beads.
This is the first edible entry. [Dan] uses a CNC machine to cut out this Jello. There’s
also a grilled cheese version
.
[Chris] represents the logo with his many-sided dice.
[Nigel’s] entry is a lot of sticky notes on an otherwise boring wall.
Also food themed and festive is this laser-etched pumpkin seed which [John] made at the Xerocraft hackerspace.
This 3D illuminated skull and bones comes from [Branden]
[Aaron] projected his entry on the side of a school.
[Laurens] tells us this is an exchange rate sign from a bank. It was broken and he fixed it up replacing the old driver with an Arduino.
[Saudin’s] entry is a little ASCII art generated using a script on his Raspberry Pi.
[Callum] shows off the logo as part of
his NFC tag ownership webpage
. | 3 | 3 | [
{
"comment_id": "1089509",
"author": "Dave",
"timestamp": "2013-11-02T18:45:30",
"content": "Damned, I was working on a laser projector to portrait the logo on a building… But I didn’t finish it because I wouldn’t make the deadline. :(A very nice project, well done [Christopher].(If that laserprojec... | 1,760,376,411.416054 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/11/02/perfect-pcbs-with-an-inkjet-printer/ | Perfect PCBs With An Inkjet Printer | Brian Benchoff | [
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"inkjet",
"inkjet printer",
"pcb",
"toner",
"toner transfer"
] | Instead of mucking about fabbing PCBs with the toner transfer method, or making masks for photosensitive boards, the holy grail of at-home circuit board manufacturing is a direct inkjet-to-etch method. [Don] isn’t quite there yet, but his method of producing circuit boards at home
is one of the easiest we’ve ever seen
.
[Don]’s boards begin by taking the output from Eagle and printing them with an Epson Artisan 50 inkjet printer. By sticking a piece of cardstock in the printer before the copper board, he’s able to precisely align the traces and pads onto the copper board.
When the board comes out of the printer, it’s only covered in ink. While some specialty inks are enough of an etch resist, [Don] comes up with a clever way to make sure acid doesn’t eat away copper in the needed places – he simply dusts on toner from a copier or laser printer, blows off the excess, and bakes the entire board in a toaster oven.
The result, seen above, are perfect traces on a circuit board without the need for ironing sheets of photo paper onto copper boards.
As far as the, “why didn’t someone think of this sooner” ideas go, this one is at the top. [Don] says the method should work on sheets of aluminum for printing solder paste masks. Impressive work, and now the only thing left to do is getting two-layer boards down pat. For more direct to copper printing check out
the hacks we’ve covered in years past
. | 69 | 26 | [
{
"comment_id": "1089259",
"author": "James",
"timestamp": "2013-11-02T11:45:30",
"content": "Blowing toner around your workplace is really not good for your health, not to mention it gets everywhere and sticks. If you’re going to try this, at least wear a mask, preferably do it in a sealed box, an... | 1,760,376,411.69343 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/11/02/a-nightmare-on-cnc-street/ | A Nightmare On CNC Street | Adam Fabio | [
"cnc hacks"
] | [
"cnc",
"ethernet",
"Machine tool",
"Numerical control",
"stepper motor"
] | [James Dressman] emailed us about his two-year journey of getting a large CNC machine running in his home. He doesn’t currently have a webpage, however his story was so incredible that we just had to feature it. [James] started by doing plenty of research online, and ordering a new CNC. The real fun started when he opened up a wall to fit the 2300 pound monster into his home. [James] found so much insect and water damage that he ended up rebuilding the entire rear half of his home.
Once the CNC was safely set up, the fun still wasn’t over. Not all family members are keen on having an industrial machine tool in the house. In [James’] case it was the smell of way oil that drove his wife nuts. This was all before spindle problems with the tool itself began to rear their ugly head. Illness and family tragedy put everything on hold for several months, however once [James] strength returned, he attacked the problems with renewed vigor. It was a long and winding road, but he now has a fully functional CNC.
But don’t just take our word for it. Continue after the break to see his photo album and to hear James tell the story in his own words.
Hello Hackaday!
Perhaps befitting our proximity to Halloween I offer a nightmarish tale that began in early 2011. With aspirations of design and invention I quickly became discouraged with the lack of resources to inexpensively prototype parts. This frustration mounted and forced me into the direction of trying to figure out how to make things myself. After researching CNC mills and knowing nothing about them or machining in general I took the plunge and bought one brand new fearing my lack of knowledge to build one or buy used. I taught myself everything I could on the internet in the 3 months it took to deliver. Shortly after ordering it I realized I had to tear out a door going from the garage to the basement where it was reside. This act uncovered some dark secrets about the house like termites and rotten supports holding up the floor of the back deck (which was the roof of the garage). This forced me to try and remove the damaged material but the more I uncovered the worse it got until I decided to just completely tear out the existing deck/roof and rebuild it. I also realized that the roof of the house overhanging the garage was in danger of collapse because the garage roof was the load bearing component of the columns holding the house roof up. Essentially what started with moving the machine into the basement resulted in me ripping off the entire backside of the house and rebuilding it. When it got here I had to tear out the wall and the door and later replace them to get it inside. That was a good all nighter just to move it inside (this machine weighs in at around 2300lbs).
Once it was in the basement I began trying to use it. First my wife couldn’t stand the smell of the way oil and I was forced to use it only when she wasn’t home and only with the windows open. The noise also became a major issue as there are air ducts that go from directly over the machine all the way to the top floor right to her side of the bed. I was initially practicing in wood but when I moved on to metal the demon in the machine started to emerge.
I noticed that the spindle seemed to have almost no power and often, strike that, always stalled causing me to break or chip my expensive carbide endmills. I went around and around with the manufacturer. They blamed me, my residential power, the electricians, the soil conductivity for my ground line, the ionosphere, everything but themselves. I had electricians, engineers, CNC repair technicians, everybody you could think of to either come over and look at it, conduct tests, or consult over the phone. I spent hundreds if not thousands just to try and find a fix. They all said the spindle drive electronics were the problem. The manufacturer denied all allegations. Around and around we went for years. There is sat in my basement a barely usable paperweight that was completely unsuitable for cutting metal.
Having nowhere to go I would occasionally get the bug and research aggressively for a week or so for some kind of fix but I would soon realize it was way beyond my capabilities to fix and there were no easy answers. I resorted to fix trivial things that were within my grasp like designing and cutting a clear Lexan top enclosure to keep the coolant spray in the machine instead of all over the walls and the computer monitor…in the event I could ever use it.
Time went on, I had a child, then I got sick. I spent 6 miserable months on chemo and finished on Thanksgiving day of last year. A couple of weeks later, still feeling like death warmed over, I got drop kicked in the nuts. We discovered our 12 month old had a rare and aggressive cancer and following a major surgery he spend a few months on chemo. I’m happy to report he is doing just fine now. Shortly after he finished his treatments I was informed that I was being laid off.
So there we were, sick, huge medical bills (even with insurance), and unemployment. This is not a sob story though because I decided I was going to strangle every drop of life out of this machine and make it work.
I refocused my resolve and began researching everything I could about spindle motor technology and soon decided on one. Knowing very little about electronics or how to implement it but yet knowing that others have done it and succeeded I decided to replace all of the spindle drive electronics as well as the motor. Doing so would require knowledge of all the proprietary interfaces to the existing machine electronics, so with no input or communication from the manufacturer I began reverse engineering all of the existing components with a multimeter to determine what signals did what and how. I read everything I could about electricity and circuitry over the past few months, took measurements to see what type and size motor would fit, what drive to control the motor, and what signals each accepted and generated.
I built a circuit on a breadboard I bought from radio shack to test the proof of concept and with each small thing that worked I would realize that “oh hey I also need to do this, and that, and that, and that, and oh yeah that too.” The circuit started growing in capability. At some point I just decided to make the circuit do everything the old set up did to be a seamless transition as well as some added capabilities. The motor drive I chose was a VFD which famously produces huge amount of electrical noise and consequently this blasted my circuit. I had to borrow an oscilloscope from a friend and get some professional consultation to overcome that problem but was ultimately successful. I rebuilt the circuit a number of times when I thought of a way to make it simpler or neater or more elegant. I’m going to use it for awhile in breadboard format to make sure it all all works like it should then I intend to have a circuit board printed so i can offer it to virtually every other user of this machine whose spindle motor and drive are to put it bluntly, crap.
In the meantime; concerned about the noise and smell I originally was going to build a room around it in the basement and soundproof it, but later decided to move it to the garage. This would require installing a garage door, running electricity to it, insulating it, and climate controlling it, all of which I did this past summer then ripped the door out again and moved it back outside.
The new motor required a custom designed and machined motor mount to fit on the machine, which I very gingerly did using the old motor. Just prior to this I also began having axis motion issues and someone had suggested I use an “smoothstepper” which is an external pulse generator that plugs into the ethernet port. I bought one but then realized that the supplied integrated computer on the mill had the ethernet port caulked shut. After carefully picking out the graciously supplied caulk I then hit another snag, the LAN was disabled in the BIOS permanently. Not only did the manufacturer physically disable the ethernet port, they actually hacked the BIOS to deny that it be used ever. Re-flashing the BIOS had no effect. After some late nights online I found a way to “unhack” it in DOS with a bootable thumb drive and re-enable it. I’ve also replaced some of the axis motor drivers, and the lights, which were all failing.
Perhaps this entry is slightly premature because I have encountered some other ghosts in the machine that I am attempting to exercise before everything is installed and working perfectly. I have done everything piecemeal and got it to work exactly as intended it’s just that now I’m in the home stretch and about to put it all together but have run out of time. Monday I leave town to have surgery, and it involves a rather lengthy recovery so it will have to wait. I got so far just to leave in the final hour, but I’m confident it will work and I will be successful in cleansing whatever curse this beast has brought into our lives. This story is 100% true and if anything is waaaaay under embellished for the sake of brevity. This was years of me banging my head against a wall that also happened to be pissing on me with hot flaming malevolence, a ton of hard work, and more than I ever wanted to know about electrons. It has become a near legendary saga amongst those who know me. Almost literally every step forward resulted in 10 steps back, there were times where I was afraid to do anything for what it might unleash. It has solidified my belief that the universe is alive…and it is pissed off. At least I got my reverse engineering degree out of it and the bottom line is that I will now have a reliable and powerful spindle instead of the jokey tool breaker that was in there before.
Here is the forum where I detailed many of my efforts, my name is SWATH:
http://www.cnczone.com/forums/mikinimech/
I’ve also documented many of the issues and fixes on my You tube channel here :
http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGZPaStGbEBZw3QcAgtORVQ | 43 | 30 | [
{
"comment_id": "1089099",
"author": "Zee",
"timestamp": "2013-11-02T08:15:52",
"content": "This really made me realize that CNCs are not for home workshops. I’ll stick with my 3d printer.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1089110",
"aut... | 1,760,376,411.501583 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/11/01/arduino-keypad-door-automation/ | Arduino Keypad Door Automation | James Hobson | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"home hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"arduino keypad lock",
"automated door lock",
"keypad"
] | [Andrea] just sent us this great student hack he made for his room. He’s constructed an
Arduino keypad door lock
— without using any proper fastening hardware!
The entire build is made out of scrap parts he had lying around: some DVD’s, a bit of wood, an allen key, a motor and belt from a broken printer, an old hard drive enclosure, and a few power supplies. As you can see the entire setup is held up rather artistically using good old duct tape.
The system auto-locks after 5 seconds, and just in case, [Andrea] has hard-coded in a few safety codes into the firmware to allow him to forcefully open the door — you know, if it malfunctions or something. Not overly confident in his code, he also has it reset every 5 minutes of idling to safeguard against potential memory leaks — probably a good idea! All in all it’s a very cool build, and we have to give him props for not damaging the door to mount it! Down the road he’s also planning on adding a knock sensor using the small speaker that is already part of the circuit, because,
why not?
Stick around after the break to see this magnificent contraption that would make
Red Green
proud. | 45 | 11 | [
{
"comment_id": "1088995",
"author": "Oscar Martinez",
"timestamp": "2013-11-02T05:17:31",
"content": "“he also has it reset every 5 minutes of idling to safeguard against potential memory leaks — probably a good idea!”This falls under the same category of tricks that beat pieces of code into submis... | 1,760,376,411.582109 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/11/01/deconstructing-apollo-flight-hardware/ | Deconstructing Apollo Flight Hardware | Brian Benchoff | [
"classic hacks",
"Teardown"
] | [
"apollo",
"Apollo Guidance Computer",
"lvdc",
"saturn v"
] | [Fran] has been researching the Saturn V Launch Vehicle Digital Computer – the computer that flew all the Apollo flights into orbit and onwards towards the moon – for a while now. Even though she’s prodded parts of the LVDC with x-rays and multimeters,
this is the first time she’s committed to a little destructive testing
.
After [Fran] took a flight-ready LVDC spare
to the dentist’s office
for x-raying and did
an amazing amount of research
on this artifact from the digital past, there was only so much she could learn without prying apart a few of these small, strange chip packages. Not wanting to destroy her vintage LVDC board, she somehow found another LVDC board for destructive reverse engineering.
This new circuit board was a bit different from the piece in her collection. Instead of the chip leads being soldered, these were welded on, much to the chagrin of [Fran] and her desoldering attempts. After removing one of these chips from the board, she discovered they were potted making any visual inspection a little difficult.
While [Fran]’s attempts at reverse engineering the computer for a Saturn V were a bit unsuccessful, we’ve got to hand it to her for getting this far; it’s very, very likely the tech behind the LVDC was descended from ICBMs and would thus be classified. Documenting the
other
computer used in every Apollo launch is an impressive feat on its own, and reverse engineering it from actual hardware, well, we can’t think of anything cooler. | 17 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "1088960",
"author": "drwho8 (@drwho8)",
"timestamp": "2013-11-02T04:13:31",
"content": "If I remember correctly, the first generation or Block I birds, (Saturn V and its component stages.) had the components soldered in place much as we would with any permanent design. Also I believ... | 1,760,376,411.279867 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/11/01/heatkit-clock-updated-with-a-pic32-and-gps/ | Heathkit Clock Updated With A PIC32 And GPS | Adam Fabio | [
"clock hacks",
"home hacks"
] | [
"alarm clock",
"clock",
"heathkit",
"mm5316",
"National Semiconductor",
"pic"
] | One of [Bob’s] most treasured possessions is a Heathkit alarm clock he put together as a kid. Over the years he’s noticed a few problems with his clock. There isn’t a battery backup, so it resets when the power goes out. Setting the time and alarm is also a forward only affair – so stepping the clock back an hour for daylight savings time means holding down the buttons while the clock scrolls through 23 hours. [Bob] decided to
modify his clock with a few modern parts
. While the easiest method may have been to gut the clock, that wouldn’t preserve all those classic Heathkit parts. What [Bob] did in essence is to add a PIC32 co-processor to the system.
Like many clocks in the 70’s and 80’s, the Heathkit alarm clock was based upon the National Semiconductor MM5316 Digital Alarm Clock chip. The MM5316 operates at 8 – 22 volts, so it couldn’t directly interface with the 3.3V (5V tolerant) PIC32 I/O pins. On PIC’s the input side, [Bob] used a couple of analog multiplexer chips. The PIC can scan the individual elements of the clock’s display. On the PIC’s output side, he used a couple of analog switches to control the ‘Fast’, ‘Slow’, and ‘Display Alarm/Time’ buttons.
The PIC can now read and change the clock’s time and alarm. By pressing all three buttons together, it can reset to a known state of Midnight. The only thing missing was a real time data source. [Bob] added a GPS to the system to accomplish this. The GPS receives the current GMT time from satellites and sends that data to the PIC. The PIC then offsets this by a timezone value stored in NVRAM. Alarm time is also stored in NVRAM.
At power up the PIC first sets the clock’s alarm. Then it waits for the GPS to sync. Once it has GPS time, the PIC sets the clock. The PIC also resets the clock time every night at midnight. The MM5316 is still in control of keeping time hour to hour. This is a great hack, and a really nice way of adding functionality to a classic clock with a beautiful VFD display. | 46 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "1088835",
"author": "Mel Alton",
"timestamp": "2013-11-01T23:09:21",
"content": "Nice and reversible hack! And bonus points for using a Heathkit breadboard to develop the circuit on is a nice touch.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id"... | 1,760,376,411.786573 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/11/01/led-bulb-reviews-evaluations-and-teardowns/ | LED Bulb Reviews, Evaluations And Teardowns | Todd Harrison | [
"LED Hacks",
"Reviews",
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"bulb",
"cri",
"led",
"LED review",
"lightbulb",
"spectrometer",
"webcam"
] | [ElectronUpdate] has posted many great
reviews of commercial LED bulbs
that one can purchase to replace standard E26 incandescent light bulbs. In his reviews he evaluates the light emitting performance and does a thorough and detailed teardown, evaluating and understanding the circuit technologies used. For the light emission evaluation he uses a light meter and some homemade graph paper to plot the lumens at different angles. Flicker is easily evaluated using a solar panel from a discarded solar path light connected to his oscilloscope. Any flicker will show up quite nicely and can be measured. Of course a kill-a-watt meter makes an appearance in most reviews to read watts and power factor.
Recently [ElectronUpdate] wanted to understand the meaning of CRI which is advertised on many of these commercial LED packages. CRI stands for
color rendering index
and deals with how colors appear when compared to a natural light source. After doing some researching he found that a CRI over 80 is probably good for LED lighting. The next dilemma was how to measure CRI without expensive scientific equipment. He found a
website that we have featured before
with free software and instructions on how to build a
spectrometer
. The web instructions include building a meter box from paper but he found it was much more reliable if built out of wood. We’ll let you follow [ElectronUpdate’s]
recommended build
if you like, but you’ll need a few items which he does detail.
After a
short calibration procedure
the final rig will measure power spectral line densities of your light source. [ElectronUpdate] is promising more details on how the colorful measurement data can be related to CRI ratings, but you can get a jump on the details at
Full Spectrum Solutions
. We also recommend you browse through all of [ElectronUpdate’s]
LED bulb reviews on YouTube
if the progressing performance and innards of LED bulbs fascinates you as much as it does us. | 25 | 14 | [
{
"comment_id": "1088731",
"author": "ScottyP",
"timestamp": "2013-11-01T20:46:19",
"content": "Totally great set of articles. Useful information and great tear downs! Thank you.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "1088755",
"author": "Rob",
... | 1,760,376,412.031182 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/11/01/trinket-contest-update-5/ | Trinket Contest Update #5 | Mike Szczys | [
"contests"
] | [
"trinket contest"
] | The Trinket Contest has drawn to a close, but we’re still going to show off the entries that were received by the deadline.
The contest
asked you slap the Hackaday logo onto something for a chance at winning one of 20
Trinket dev boards
donated by Adafruit. See a dozen of them shown off after the break.
We figured we’d see at least one entry that used a stepper-motor enabled Etch-a-Sketch. [Jim] didn’t disappoint, including
a video link
to the drawing process.
This flip-dot display entry is worth a bit of your time. Head on over to [Axel’s] GitHub write-up for
the full details
of acquiring and reverse engineering the display.
[Jay] used PlotterBot, his hanging pen plotter robot, to
trace out the logo
and the filled it with many smaller versions.
This one gets a big image slot for the creativity. [Miha] used real wrenches and possibly a real skull to model the logo, then took a picture using
a hacked overhead camera rig
.
[Andrea] has been working on integrating an OLED display and a Rapsberry Pi in one case. It’s not quite finished but she did manage to make the skull and bones show up.
Here’s a DIY LED projector. [Adam] flattened the dome of an LED, then laser-etched the logo on it. When shined through a lens
it projects a Hackaday logo on the wall
.
We’re kind of surprised more people didn’t pull out
their POV rigs
to make contest entries. [Jacky] sent this one our way.
[Ken] also
displays the logo on a character LCD
. We saw a similar entry the other day but we know this one came in before that was actually published (no plagiarism here!).
Again, we saw something similar the other day but this was sent in before that published. We say similar because the previous offering was a splash-screen, this is
a boot animation
.
This totally sweet entry isn’t Photoshop. It’s a flash projector. There’s a stencil on the camera flash — the observe probably can’t tell what is being shown but the camera captures all. A big thanks to [Aki] for documenting
how it was done
.
[Rodney] got all artistic on us, spending about 12 hours with Blender and Sculptis to create this… thing.
[Chris] put Hackaday on the silver screen. He’s a projectionist and turned the house lights on to get a glimpse at what our logo looks like on a 14×8 meter (45×26 feet) theater screen. | 7 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "1088661",
"author": "Aaron Silber",
"timestamp": "2013-11-01T19:15:19",
"content": "If my submission sent on the 31st isn’t in here, was it received?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1089150",
"author": "Greenaum",
... | 1,760,376,411.842982 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/11/01/copper-electroplating-the-cheap-and-safe-way/ | Copper Electroplating The Cheap And Safe Way | Adam Fabio | [
"chemistry hacks"
] | [
"copper",
"electroplating",
"metal",
"steampunk"
] | [A_Steingrube] has
posted a guide to his favorite method of copper electroplating
. Plating copper onto other metals is popular with the steampunk crowd, but it does have other uses. Copper plate is often used as a prep step for plating other metals, such as nickel and silver. It also (usually) increases the conductivity of the metal to be plated. [A_Steingrube] is using the copper acetate method of plating. What is somewhat novel about his method is that he chose to make his own electrolyte solution from household chemicals. The copper acetate is created by mixing distilled vinegar and household hydrogen peroxide in a 50/50 ratio. The mixture is heated and then a piece of copper scouring pad is placed in. The scouring pad is partially dissolved, providing copper ions, and turning the solution blue.
The next step is to clean the material to be plated. [A_Steingrube] uses Cameo Aluminum and Stainless cleaner for this, though we think any good degreaser will work. The actual electroplating process consists of connecting a piece of copper to the positive terminal of a 6 volt battery. Copper scouring pad is again used for its high surface area. The material to be plated is connected to the negative side of the battery. He warns to keep the solution and the material being plated in constant motion to avoid heavy “burn spots”, which can flake off after the plating process. The results speak for themselves. As with any bare copper material, the electroplated layer will quickly oxidize if not protected. | 56 | 27 | [
{
"comment_id": "1088583",
"author": "Jordan Earls",
"timestamp": "2013-11-01T17:32:53",
"content": "Finally an easy to follow tutorial for electroplating that uses household materials! I tried doing some electroplating some time ago with a hacked up PC power supply, it seemed to kind of work, but i... | 1,760,376,411.93341 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/11/01/hackerspacing-in-europe-hack42-in-arnhem/ | Hackerspacing In Europe: Hack42 In Arnhem! | James Hobson | [
"Hackerspaces"
] | [
"Arnhem",
"arnhem hackerspace",
"hack 42",
"hack42",
"hackerspace",
"hackerspacing in europe"
] | Wow.
That 3-letter word does not even begin to describe the awesomeness that is
Hack42
. Located in a decommissioned German military base in Arnhem, Hack42 is one of the largest, and as far as we’ve seen, the most awesome hackerspace yet.
First, a little backstory into the location. Built in 1942, several of these buildings were put up in Arnhem (The Netherlands), close to the German border. They were disguised as farm houses so they wouldn’t be bombed during the war. Today the entire complex has been turned into a group business area, with studios, the hackerspace, and other businesses residing in the buildings. NATO razor wire still surrounds the facility, and you must enter through a gate.
In fact, despite it being decommissioned — it’s been
blurred out on Google Maps!
How cool is that!
We only had a few hours here, but still managed to take nearly 200 photos. Check out the fully captioned gallery below — otherwise you’ll be scrolling for days. Click any of the images to enter the slideshow mode. Let us know if you like this method of showing tour pictures in the comments.
They told us we would recognize them at the airport. Yep!
Even the car had our sign on it!
This is it. Our excitement was starting to build.
Apparently, some of the members were excited too! We received a royal lab coat welcome from almost a dozen of the key members of Hack42!
A handy fuse chart.
The place is covered in retro phones — and they all work.
What’s a hackerspace without a pinball machine?
They have one of the largest selections of beverages available at any hackerspace — something like 80+ drink varieties if my memory serves me right…
And a vending machine!
This is the Retro Space! Almost all video game consoles live here — hooked up to age appropriate TV sets no less!
They also have a CRT video wall!
We could spend some serious time in this room with all the nostalgia.
If you recognize this, you’ll be impressed.
Old papers!
So many cool relics.
The boiler room
Ladies Room.
Gentlemen’s Room
Club-Mate.
The biological fridge… Guess what they are brewing.
Warnings everywhere!
Full size kitchen for whatever they need!
More Club-Mate.
And more.
Main electrical room — all the sealed boxes are new and added by Hack42.
And more Club-Mate.
They have label makers.
One of the lounges with a projector screen.
Say what you want, but computer design in the 80’s was great. Why buy a desk AND a computer? Why not both together!?
3D printer #1
3D printer #8
3D printer #27… Okay just kidding, but they do have a lot of 3D printers.
They also have a computer museum.
We’re not even going to try and explain all these relics. Enjoy
It’s an impressive collection.
Our favorite: Pickled Mouseballs.
Nixe tube love.
Slick design!
Ribbon punch code to typewriter
Relay computer
Another view
Impressive.
Magnetic tapes anyone?
Classic.
This image is made up of more data than this hard disk can hold.
Portable! … kind of
Oh Pac-man.
Absolutely incredible collection!
480V 3-phase to garden hose adapter.
The storage room
One shelf is junk (anyone can use) other one is labeled. Member’s lockers in the back.
Uniform hard hats.
The “dirty” room!
Nice variety of tools for larger projects.
Soldering lab
Oscilloscopes. All the oscilloscopes!
Work station
This computer works.
Processors anyone?
Working 480V 3-Phase to USB power adapter. I’ve always needed one of those…
The 50kg axe of doom!
In case of zombies.
Not sure anymore…
Door switch
Hours Hack42 has been open.
The photography room!
A museum of it’s own sort.
Complete with a collection of film to use!
How’s this for a mini spy camera!
Check out that lense!
The flash is bigger than the camera.
Classic spy cameras
SLR’s
Film editor
THE BUG ZAPPER! Powered by a microwave.
This microwave. It has a 500W halogen lamp inside.
Some storage
Home built CNC
The specs for it
The controller.
We’re excited already!
Oh boy oh boy oh boy!
Modified chinese laser engraver
Upgraded electronics and cooling system
Ammeter for the laser
More professional but older laser engraver
Key copying machines
They’ve used these to copy keys from images off the internet. Managed to copy Amsterdam’s key once!
The Cookie-Laser
It laser engraves cookies.
Not sure what this is, but there’s a second.
They would be fun to race.
One of the member’s projects is building a display… out of CD-rom drives. We can’t wait to see this one complete!
It even came with a green screen room!
One of the lesser used rooms.
A tidy server rack.
All red outlets have UPS backup.
This one.
Another empty room upstairs.
The awesome stairs
Some burnt documents from an unknown location…
They also have a computer lab sponsored by FOX IT
Not bad! They hold classes here.
An “axed” server”
Still works!
One of their banners used at public events
More storage
Beamers. (Projectors)
Lots of them. They have been used in some pretty cool giant projection hacks.
Even old ones!
Bubblewrap showers!
The dark room!
Film enlargers
The outdoor spiral staircase
Wood to last them a cold winter!
The entrance
A sink-barbecue!
This phone also works. Or it did.
Nice view of the building
NATO razor wire still surrounds the complex
Trees have grown through it!
Another view of the building.
They also have a few ponds!
Entrance to the lounge area
They love their warning labels.
Hacker beer!
Thanks everyone!
Thank you Hack42! We had an amazing time visiting your space — your hospitality was incredible!
We were very sorry to hear you’ll have to move out in a year, but we wish you the best of luck finding a new (bigger) space! It’s going to be hard to top this place though! | 31 | 18 | [
{
"comment_id": "1088373",
"author": "W4RIS",
"timestamp": "2013-11-01T14:18:24",
"content": "The “bike” a Sinclair C5 from the maker of the ZX-81 (or Timex-Sinclair 1000 in the US).http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinclair_C5",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comm... | 1,760,376,412.652242 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/11/01/low-cost-filament-extruder/ | Low Cost Filament Extruder | James Hobson | [
"3d Printer hacks"
] | [
"3d printer filament",
"3dprinting",
"filament extrusion"
] | Here’s a great low cost
filament extruder solution.
It uses basic parts available from any hardware store, and a few 3D printed ones — estimated cost is well under $100.
It’s very similar to the
Lyman Filament Extruder
, but can be built for even less money. By using 200C set-point heaters, his setup requires absolutely no electronics — although a cheap PID controller from China could give him more extrusion capabilities with temperature control… Regardless, the system appears to make good filament and he uses it exclusively for his personal filament consumption in his Delta printer. He’s even hacked up the ABS casing of a refrigerator, ground it down, and turned it into filament using this machine! If you’re hungry for more details, the full build log and discussion can be found on the
RepRap forums.
He also has a
guide on making your own ABS color masterbatch
to make your own filament colors!
[Thanks Liam!] | 27 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "1088263",
"author": "fartface",
"timestamp": "2013-11-01T12:31:04",
"content": "industrial crosscut paper shredders work great at turning sheets of ABS from trash into bits..",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1088273",
"... | 1,760,376,412.096394 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/11/01/making-a-solid-state-relay-with-i2c-interface/ | Making A Solid-state Relay With I2C Interface | Mathieu Stephan | [
"hardware"
] | [
"dimmer",
"i2c",
"TRIAC",
"zero crossing"
] | As [Mic] often got requests to make high-power switching boards, he recently finally gave in and
designed the one shown above
based around a solid-state relay. Some of our readers that already play with mains power know that switching should normally occur when the voltage crosses zero volts. The ‘TRIAC BLOC’ is able to do so, which also allows mains frequency measurement. [Mic] then tuned to the internal oscillator of his ATtiny microcontroller with this 50Hz by adjusting its OSCCAL register value, so the switching command can be sent at the ideal moment. Zero crossing detection is implemented by feeding the mains into an AC optocoupler. [Mic] discovered that the optocoupler diodes are not identical, so he had to adjust his firmware to account for the time differences.
All the resources are available on
github
, we would be interested to hear your detailed analysis of the circuit implemented with the passives R3/C1/L1/R8/C3. | 34 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "1088004",
"author": "rj",
"timestamp": "2013-11-01T08:21:32",
"content": "Nice rigor on all the math!Shouldn’t you expect the off time to be the same as the twice-previous zero crossing? Or when you said “the same length as the previous one” that’s what you meant? (same length as th... | 1,760,376,412.281701 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/10/31/hackaday-logo-projector-from-a-single-led/ | Hackaday Logo Projector From A Single LED | Mike Szczys | [
"LED Hacks"
] | [
"bat signal",
"laser cutter",
"led",
"projector",
"trinket contest"
] | Here’s another Trinket Contest entry that was interesting enough for its own feature. [Adam] made his own Hackaday version of the Bat signal. It’s not nearly as big, but the concept is the same. Using this single modified LED he’s able to project a 12″ image that seems quite well-defined (more pictures below).
The LED is one he pulled from an old flashlight. After sanding the dome flat he made a jig which positioned it inside of his laser cutter. From there he etched the 0.1″ logo and filled the negative space with some ink. The remaining surface was polished to help the light shine through, then positioned in front of a jeweler’s loupe to magnify the image.
There’s just a couple of hours left before the
Trinket Contest
draws to a close. Get your entry in for a chance to win! | 11 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "1087888",
"author": "gelandangan2012",
"timestamp": "2013-11-01T05:55:19",
"content": "Thats AWESOME!!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "1087932",
"author": "CRJEEA",
"timestamp": "2013-11-01T07:06:33",
"content": "Use... | 1,760,376,412.207978 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/10/31/gimball-bounces-off-trees-and-comes-back-for-more/ | GimBall Bounces Off Trees And Comes Back For More | Adam Fabio | [
"drone hacks"
] | [
"École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne",
"EPFL",
"gimbal",
"GimBall",
"Intelligent Systems",
"Laboratory of Intelligent Systems",
"Switzerland"
] | We’ve seen a lot of flying robots over the years, and for many of them, intimate contact with a stationary object would be a very, very bad thing. [The Laboratory of Intelligent Systems], at EPFL in Switzerland
designed GimBall
to not only take impacts in stride, but to actually use them as navigational aids. This is similar to an insect bouncing off an obstacle in nature.
GimBall’s design is a bit of a departure from the norm as well. Contra-rotating airplane propellers provide thrust while countering torque. It appears that the propellers are driven by two separate brushless outrunner motors, which would allow for yaw control via mismatched torque. Directional control is provided by a 4 articulated vanes on the bottom of the craft. Standard RC servos move the vanes. While not as common as quadcopters today, this “tail sitting” design has been around for decades. The
Convair XFY “Pogo”
is a good example of an early tail sitter design.
What makes GimBall so novel is its exoskeleton. A carbon fiber gimbal encircles the entire craft. Around the gimbal is a geodesic sphere made up of carbon fiber rods and plastic joints. The sphere acts like a shock absorber, allowing GimBall to harmlessly bounce off objects. The gimbal ensures that impacts won’t upset the craft’s attitude. Check out the video after the break to see how these two systems form an impressive shell which completely separates GimBall’s chassis from the outside world. GimBall can actually use its shell to “rotate” around obstacles.
During a recent test, GimBall was unleashed in a forest with only a compass heading as guidance. It was able to travel several hundred meters, bouncing off trees and plants along the way. [The Laboratory of Intelligent Systems] members hope that GimBall will one day be helpful in unstructured situations, such as searching for victims of building collapses.
[Thanks Jayson!] | 22 | 15 | [
{
"comment_id": "1087792",
"author": "ekoelle",
"timestamp": "2013-11-01T02:16:23",
"content": "I believe Chris Knight made one of these back in the 80’s…https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfbqJpn8fN8&feature=youtube_gdata_player",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"... | 1,760,376,412.715315 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/10/31/halloween-links-october-30th-2013/ | Halloween Links: October 30th, 2013 | Mike Szczys | [
"Hackaday links",
"Holiday Hacks"
] | [
"comparator",
"costume",
"halloween",
"joker",
"robot",
"skeleton"
] | Happy Halloween from everyone at Hackaday! To help you enjoy the holiday here are a few festive links:
[Mike Kohn] whipped up
a set of motion tracking eyeballs
to make his decor extra creepy.
There’s not much to
this jet-pack costume
but the results are pretty amusing.
The eyes on [Tim Butler’s] skeleton prop don’t follow you around the room, but they do
use a PIR sensor to light up the skull
.
Speaking of skulls, [Tom] is using some real skulls as decorations. He also added lights where the eyeballs should be, but he is
using a photoresistor and comparator
to turn on some LEDs.
[Clark] built a Mecha Robot Warrior costume for his son. With
all of those LED strips
we think he’ll be pretty safe when crossing the street!
And finally, [Jesse] added a lot to his prop in order to produce
a Sinister Joker
. That’s Joker-as-in-cards and not as in Batman. It’s got an IR distance sensor as a trigger, with a motor to move the wrist, lights for the eyes, and a sound shield to give it a disturbing voice. | 4 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "1087750",
"author": "adcurtin",
"timestamp": "2013-11-01T00:00:00",
"content": "October 30th? hahaha, perfect.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "1087753",
"author": "Hirudinea",
"timestamp": "2013-11-01T00:15:03",
"con... | 1,760,376,412.758589 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/10/31/light-controller-goes-overboard-for-halloween/ | Light Controller Goes Overboard For Halloween | Mike Szczys | [
"Holiday Hacks",
"LED Hacks"
] | [
"christmas light controller",
"halloween",
"RGB Flood Light",
"xmega"
] | Yep, we said it. This Halloween decoration goes way overboard… and we love it! Not only does [Shelby Merrick] put on an incredible sound and light show for the neighborhood, but he keeps us happy by posting all the details for
the lighting controller he designed
. He calls the creation FloodBrain as it’s switching a set of flood lights to achieve the effects seen above. But for the full experience you’ll want to watch the demo videos below as well.
He needed a way to switch twelve RGB flood lights which pull 10 Watts. His controller was designed to communicate with them via RS485, with an AVR Xmega8E5 controlling the system. We like it that he included some images of the manufacturing process, using a stencil for solder paste before placing components for reflow.
The floodlights themselves are also an interesting hack. To get what he wanted at the best price he picked up 10W white LED flood lights for about eight bucks a piece, then swapped out the LED itself for an RGB version (same wattage) using the same heat sink and case.
More often that not we see this type of system
controlling Christmas lights
. [Shelby] mentions that he did get help from Christmas light controller forum We also think he should have no problem repurposing the controller for that type of application. | 15 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "1087667",
"author": "joe",
"timestamp": "2013-10-31T20:42:39",
"content": "amazing, great job.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "1087692",
"author": "Dave",
"timestamp": "2013-10-31T21:22:41",
"content": "Really cool. ... | 1,760,376,412.818582 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/10/31/trinket-contest-update-4/ | Trinket Contest Update #4 | Mike Szczys | [
"contests"
] | [
"trinket contest"
] | Today is the last day to get your Trinket Contest entries into us! After the break you’ll find another dozen that were sent in. If you’re waiting to see your own appear here please be patient as we’ve got a lot to wade through.
The contest
asks you slap the Hackaday logo onto something for a chance at winning one of 20
Trinket dev boards
donated by Adafruit for this contest.
We never realized how popular milling coins actually is. [David] follows the dime entry from the last update with his own logo on a penny. He apologizes for not having a microscope handy for taking a picture of his work.
[Chris] etched the logo into the back of his Portable PS2 project. It may look familiar because we recently
featured the hack by itself
.
This entry is from [Ronny]. He used a two-axis laser rig to trace out the
skull and bones on a phosphorescent surface
.
We don’t really understand how this one was done. [Jonathan] is doing his graduate work in computational modeling problems in geophysics using the Finite Element Method. He writes: “My submission is a numerical solution to a simple differential equation in a domain shaped like the Hackaday logo.”. If you want to know more, ask in the comments and hopefully he’ll chime in with answers.
Here’s a long-exposure shot of the logo being light-painted with an LED. Learn more about [Mark’s] rig from
his blog post
.
[Joseph’s] entry is drawn on a character LCD. He posted info on
how he went from vector graphic to custom characters
.
You can join the secret club by
printing and wearing your own Hackaday ring
. This was designed and shared by [Rich].
At his summer internship [Chase] used a vinyl cutter to make a bunch of stickers. You should recognize the ATX bench supply hack which he plastered with the HaD logo.
[Bob] used the logo as
his Galaxy SIII splashscreen
.
Let’s be honest, every needs a dedicated keyboard key for loading up Hackaday, right? [Joshua] used SolidWorks and CorelDraw to design the key for his Logitech G11 keyboard.
[Anool] slapped the logo on the ePaper display of his Open Hardware Summit badge. If you haven’t heard about this hardware check out
our post detailing the OHS badge
.
And rounding up this post, [Hasan’s] diy Arduino LCD shield is perfect for displaying his trinket contest entry. | 8 | 3 | [
{
"comment_id": "1087633",
"author": "Alan",
"timestamp": "2013-10-31T19:32:55",
"content": "I’m pretty amazed with the penny. What did you use to do that? Is that even legal? Lol! I can think of some things I’d like to put on coins.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
... | 1,760,376,412.878792 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/10/31/fail-of-the-week-27-face-jack-o-lantern/ | Fail Of The Week: 27 Face Jack-o’-Lantern | Mike Szczys | [
"Fail of the Week",
"Hackaday Columns",
"Holiday Hacks"
] | [
"fail of the week",
"halloween",
"jack-o-lanterns"
] | Sheer luck brings a Halloween themed project for this Fail of the Week post. [Stryker] wrote in to the tips line to share a link to what is an extremely awesome hack. He carved
four
three different faces on the sides of his pumpkin, then sliced the eyes, nose, and mouth into different sections. Couple this with an internal skeleton made of wood and PVC and he’s got himself a nice hack which lets trick-or-treaters
spin the sections to select one of up to 27 different faces
.
The sections do spin rather well and the finished project looks fantastic. So what is it that failed? We’ll cover that after the break.
Check out the support structure on the right. Did you already notice that each of the sections has a hobby servo motor attached to it? These were meant to mechanize the jack-o’-lantern. Each uses a belt to interface with the PVC fittings, and an Arduino is used to control the motors. [Stryker] shows this off in
his video description
. He says his “servo pulleys broke”. We assume this means either the plastic wheels themselves or the belts and hopefully not the motors. He plans to try again next year.
Can we help brain-storm an easy improvement? There was mention of gears and chain-drive. Is that the easiest way to salvage the concept and where should he source the gears and chains? Leave your helpful ideas in the comments section.
Fail of the Week is a Hackaday column which runs every Wednesday. Help keep the fun rolling by writing about your past failures and
sending us a link to the story
— or sending in links to fail write ups you find in your Internet travels. | 22 | 13 | [
{
"comment_id": "1087540",
"author": "Dante",
"timestamp": "2013-10-31T17:06:23",
"content": "Why not use a friction drive with a rubber wheel instead of a belt or a chain?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "1087541",
"author": "dave",
"tim... | 1,760,376,412.940356 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/10/31/a-killer-arcade-cabinet-for-halloween/ | A Killer Arcade Cabinet For Halloween | Marsh | [
"Holiday Hacks",
"Microcontrollers"
] | [
"3d print",
"arcade",
"arcade cabinet",
"atmega 165",
"halloween",
"leds"
] | It’s already pretty cool that [Clay] co-owns an Arcade, but he’s really impressed us with his
custom-made
Splatterhouse
cabinet
built to get his patrons in the Halloween spirit! A Namco brawler title from 1988,
Splatterhouse
came in an unadorned and otherwise forgettable cabinet. [Clay] salvaged an old Williams
Defender,
coating the sides with a cocktail of drywall compound, sand, and paint to achieve a stone texture. He then carved up some pink insulation foam into a tattered “wooden” frame and used it as a monitor bezel. For accents, he fashioned strips of latex to resemble torn flesh and placed them among the boards. The control panel is yet another work of art: [Clay] 3D printed a life-size human femur for the game’s joystick, and converted the buttons to look like eyeballs.
[Clay] decided to go beyond the stunning cosmetics, though, and tapped into the game’s CPU with a custom daughterboard that detects different in-game events and state changes such as player health. An ATMega165 uses four PWM outputs connected to a number of LEDs inside the cabinet and around the monitor bezel to react to the different events. If a player takes damage, red lights flash around the monitor. Inserting a coin or dying in the game causes a different set of LEDs behind the marquee to go nuts.
Check out his detailed project page for more information and see a video overview below. If building a full-scale arcade machine is out of your budget, you can always
make a tiny one
. | 4 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "1087452",
"author": "jero32",
"timestamp": "2013-10-31T14:52:06",
"content": "That is one neat looking cabinet! Better than the original I say. I especially like how he rusted the coinbox. And the way it reacts to things happening in game. I always kind of wanted a splatterhouse cab... | 1,760,376,412.986218 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/10/31/spark-up-your-halloween-party-with-this-double-helix-jacobs-ladder/ | Spark-Up Your Halloween Party With This Double Helix Jacob’s Ladder | Todd Harrison | [
"Holiday Hacks"
] | [
"Halloweee",
"helix",
"jacob's ladder",
"neon transformer"
] | Dr. Frankenstein’s laboratory wouldn’t be complete without some electrical sparks. So for [Rick’s] final Halloween DIY hack this year he gives us just that, but with a twist. This time it’s a
double helix Jacob’s ladder
. The sparks are flying as they twist and turn their way up this unique design, powered by a standard neon sign transformer. If you can get your hands on a 15,000 V 30 mA transformer, you might have just enough time to build one for Halloween.
The build is quite simple. Other than the transformer, you will need a few feet of ¼ inch flexible copper tubing and a piece of ¾ inch PVC pipe. After twisting the copper tubing around the PVC pipe to form the double helix, [Rick] mounts the tubing to a block of wood and removes the PVC form. In his video, which you can watch after the break, [Rick] demonstrates a standard Jacob’s ladder, as well as his double helix design. The double helix version has a much nicer and slower traveling arc even stopping at times.
You don’t want to set this up anyplace someone might touch it as it can be quite deadly or cause burns. [Rick] mentions not to use wood to mount your ladder because the wood will burn as it did during his testing. And do not operate unattended. Otherwise, it adds some spark to your great Halloween fun. | 35 | 14 | [
{
"comment_id": "1087398",
"author": "noouch",
"timestamp": "2013-10-31T12:40:00",
"content": "That is insanely cool. Think of how much better it would look though if you could do a super-clean helix, maybe with CNC bending or something.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
... | 1,760,376,413.058143 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/10/31/hackerspacing-in-europe-stratum%e2%88%85-in-braunschweig/ | Hackerspacing In Europe: Stratum 0 In Braunschweig | James Hobson | [
"Hackerspaces"
] | [
"braunschweig hackerspace",
"brunswick hackerspace",
"hackerspacing in europe",
"Stratum 0",
"Stratum0",
"Stratum∅"
] | Welcome to
Stratum 0
in Braunschweig, Germany!
We had a bit of trouble finding this place — it’s around the side of a fairly large building that was once a piano factory. The main door was ajar, and it was pitch black inside. Do we enter? Do we call? We walked in a bit, and were met with more darkness. A bit too spooky for our tastes. Our wits got the better of us and we decided to call and make sure we had the right place and not the lair of some homicidal maniac… It turns out if you just ring the doorbell the lights come on. Whoops.
Up to the top floor we go!
The small display shows the status of the space — although you could just knock! We’re not too sure if the My Little Pony is a joke…
Here you can see a lovely array of wires controlling various things. You can spot the edge of an old Nokia phone on the right side of the door. It was originally used to unlock the door by vibrating and hitting a button! They’ve since upgraded the system though…
This space is equipped with a full kitchen, and Club-Mate — Obviously!
It also has a full bathroom with shower!
This wooden shelf serves as their temporary appliance repository — I don’t think we can call it a server rack just yet. They’re moving soon though so forgive the mess!
The first room is the main lounge with several couches, a nice projector and is a general hang out area.
The next room is where the magic happens. 3D printers, boxes of components, and soldering irons galore!
They admit the space is a bit too computer based, and are planning a much larger “dirty” workshop for bigger tools for hardware projects when they move.
More Ponies!
This switch powers the entire room. DO NOT TURN IT OFF IF THE 3D PRINTER IS PRINTING!
Otherwise you’ll end up with this. Half a Yoda head. Not to worry though, they quickly rectified the problem with the other half of an Android head.
These are super handy —
3D printed bottle labels
. Snap them to the neck of your drink of choice and always know where it is!
It’s a bit hard to see here, but that is an LED score board from one of the local schools — they haven’t gotten it working just quite yet, but it’ll be pretty awesome when it’s done!
A close up of one of the juicey-LED-ridden-panels.
As it turns out, there’s another space twice as large available for rent just downstairs. It’s unfinished and the landlord is willing to give it to them for the same rent — awesome! These are the blueprints they are working on — when it’s done the space will be 160 square meters, including a nice workshop area for laser cutters, power tools, and other fun stuff that just doesn’t fit in the current space.
We really enjoyed our visit to Stratum0 — great people and a great outlook for the future. We can’t wait to see their new space! Thanks for the tour guys! | 4 | 3 | [
{
"comment_id": "1087328",
"author": "larsan",
"timestamp": "2013-10-31T10:05:05",
"content": "Hi,thanks for your visit! I think you described our space quite accurate.We irregulary post building progress pics of the new space tohttps://twitter.com/stratum0so if you’re interested in it, feel free to... | 1,760,376,413.143353 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/10/30/another-reflow-soldering-solution/ | Another Reflow Soldering Solution | James Hobson | [
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"arduino reflow soldering",
"reflow soldering",
"soldering reflow station"
] | Still looking for a good way to reflow solder at home? Look no further! [Don] has a very handy and
inexpensive solution that looks great.
It makes use of a cheap hot plate, a solid state relay, an IR temperature sensor, and an arduino.
[Don] started by modifying the hotplate by reversing the handle mount — this provides a useful location to mount the IR temperature sensor. The control circuit uses PWM to adjust the temperature of the hot plate using the solid state relay. Because the IR temperature sensor has a cone of visibility it ends up reading an average area temperature as opposed to an individual point — for reflow soldering this is perfect. [Don] notes that some calibration is required, as depending on the emissivity of the object being measured the readout can differ — shiney objects will read a lower temperature than dark objects. He recommends doing the calibration with a scrap PCB and your chosen solder paste to get a general baseline for your project.
Need more info on the actual reflow process? We posted a
handy guide
a few months ago. | 3 | 3 | [
{
"comment_id": "1087207",
"author": "pcf11",
"timestamp": "2013-10-31T05:52:41",
"content": "I can’t say that I am. I only use through hole components.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "1087220",
"author": "hemalchevli",
"timestamp": "201... | 1,760,376,413.095663 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/10/30/use-your-smartphone-as-a-microscope-for-less-than-10/ | Use Your Smartphone As A Microscope For Less Than $10 | Phillip Ryals | [
"Android Hacks",
"iphone hacks"
] | [
"microscope",
"smartphone"
] | [Yoshinok] recently posted an Instructable on doing a
$10 smartphone-to-microscope conversion
. The hack isn’t so much a conversion as just a handy jig, but it’s still interesting. The basic idea is to set up a platform for the slides, and to mount the smartphone directly above. The trick, and the reason this can be called a microscope, is that [Yoshinok] embeds the lens from a cheap laser pointer into the smartphone holder. He is able to get 40x optical magnification with the lens, and even though it sacrifices quality, he uses the built-in digital zoom to get up to 175x magnification.
By itself, you could use this with a light source to magnify 3D objects. [Yoshinok] demonstrates this with a dime. But since the slide holder is made of clear acrylic, he mounted a cheap LED flashlight in the base to serve as through-sample lighting. Using this setup, he was able to observe the process of
plasmolysis
.
If you have kids, this is certainly a project to do with them, but we can’t help but think it will be useful for non-parents alike. This sort of magnification is good enough for simple lab experiments, and given that most Hack-a-Day readers have these parts lying around, we figure the cost is closer to $0. If you give it a try, let us know your results in the comments! | 22 | 14 | [
{
"comment_id": "1087063",
"author": "Aron",
"timestamp": "2013-10-31T02:28:07",
"content": "Simple & Easy… with Great Results !",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1087484",
"author": "Whatnot",
"timestamp": "2013-10-31T15:48:17",... | 1,760,376,413.286272 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/10/30/hackerspacing-in-europe-madspace-in-eindhoven/ | Hackerspacing In Europe: MadSpace In Eindhoven! | James Hobson | [
"Hackerspaces"
] | [
"Dutch Design Week",
"eindhoven",
"hackerspacing in europe",
"MadSpace",
"philips"
] | Welcome to Eindhoven! We came to visit a few hackers from
MadSpace
(
translated
) but unfortunately they are in the process of moving, and there was not much to see at the space. Lucky for us, our visit corresponded with the
Dutch Design Week
(
translated
)! So we still had some cool things to see!
Eindhoven has a very interesting history.
Phillips
was founded here back in the late 1800’s, with a single factory, but in the past century it grew into what could almost be called Philip’s City. A stretch of a few kilometers of Phillips buildings dominated Eindhoven and almost everyone worked for them. Fast forward to the present and most of the buildings have been sold and turned into other businesses.
The funny thing is, not much renovating was done! Wandering through the city is exactly like wandering through a factory. It has a really cool vibe to it, although the word hipster comes to mind…
Most of the buildings have been left in their original condition, so there are catwalks and pipes sprawling across the buildings while local businesses, designers and artists have set up shop within them.
This was a rather interesting display — they used fermenting fruits to inflate a balloon, then if you open the valve, the flute on the back plays a tune!
We spoke to a local student who has taken up blacksmithing, with a home-built forge!
Our guide from MadSpace, [Joris], inspects a hand forged axe.
He also worked on some more serious design projects, like this 230kg industrial styled steel stove. Nice to see something that would last forever!
This project discovered the easiest way of mass-producing small circuit boards — get the public to make them for you!
Naturally our growing posse of hackers from several different spaces could not resist having a soldering race.
[Anthony] from Open Garage took the lead though! 9 LEDs, 9 resistors and 1 power connector soldered successfully in a few minutes flat.
The repurposed power supply for testing the boards. Hack a Day was here!
Continuing on, there was this was pretty cool interactive display. A conveyor belt brought different trays of food around, and if you took the tray and placed it in the slot…
The monitor would then play a video telling the history of the food!
It most likely uses RFID tags, but we couldn’t see much from underneath.
More examples of the history of these buildings — they just left these catwalks up.
We ran into [Deepak] again from Void Warranties — anything 3D printing in the area and you’ll find him! He’s a mountain of information, and we had some great discussions about the future of 3D printing.
My coworker [Jacob] inspects the new Ultimaker.
Looks pretty nice!
Sadly we just missed the actual 3D printing presentation and event, so there wasn’t too much to see.
Another view of the catwalks that connect the buildings, all locked off now.
An art exhibit showing off a few steps towards the creation of a statue. These are giant foam blocks that were milled by a re-purposed 6-axis industrial welding robot!
If this takes off it means you could easily have a full statue of yourself in the backyard for pretty cheap! Or maybe we could get a
giant Hack a Day logo…
This young lady was showing off the combining of old technology, with new materials.
This fabric was woven using plastic fibers, recycled from plastic bags! It has an interesting texture to it, but is quite strong!
Remind us why we don’t have lego block buildings?
We also were told to try the raw herring — a delicacy in the Netherlands. It was actually pretty good despite my facial expression in the third frame…
Before we left we had the opportunity to see [Ben]’s lab at the university. He’s a PhD of microsystems and is currently working on a very interesting project that involves laser etching micro features into glass. We won’t try explaining it any further than that so here’s his
website describing the project.
He did however tell us playing with these lasers and setups is kind of like LEGO for adults. They have a large library of parts and everything bolts together! A true dream job for [Ben]!
We probably could have spent days wandering around the Dutch Design week, but unfortunately only had a few hours. There was a lot of cool hacker stuff to be seen, and we suspect there was much more that we missed. Special thank you to [Ben] and [Joris] of MadSpace who toured us around the city. We wish you the best of luck with the move into your new hackerspace location!
Photo credit goes to [Ben] for several of the photos — we suspect you can tell which ones based on who is in the frame… | 10 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "1087099",
"author": "Adam",
"timestamp": "2013-10-31T03:17:13",
"content": "Hehe… you can always find something fun of dubious safety on old catwalks…But seriously, what would you do with that? I would either build a 50ft tall 3D printer (between two sets of catwalks) or a giant LED... | 1,760,376,413.441332 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/10/30/hackaday-interview-with-amal-graafstra-creator-of-xnt-implant-chip/ | Hackaday Interview With Amal Graafstra, Creator Of XNT Implant Chip | Mathieu Stephan | [
"Crowd Funding",
"hardware",
"Interviews",
"Wearable Hacks"
] | [
"access control",
"cyborg",
"Microchip implant (human)",
"near field communication",
"NFC",
"Radio-frequency identification"
] | Near Field Communication (NFC) enabled devices are starting to appear in our everyday lives. Shown in the picture above is the
xNT
(
fundraiser warning
), a 2mm x 12mm fully NFC Type 2 compliant 13.56MHz RFID tag encased in a cylindrical Schott 8625 bioglass ampule. It was created by [Amal Graafstra], who therefore aims to produce the world’s first NFC compliant RFID implant. The chip used is the NTAG203, which is (for the sake of simplicity) a 144bytes EEPROM with different protection features.
We can only start thinking of the different possibilities this chip will create in the near future, but also wonder which precedent this may set for future NFC enabled humans. Embedded after the break is the presentation video of xNT but also an interview I conducted with [Amal Graafstra], who has already been living for 8 years with RFID tags in each hand.
[Mathieu]
First, we’d like to wish you all the best for your campaign, and it seems you’re already on the right path as you’ve just gotten $2k5 of your $8k goal on your first day.
[Amal] Thanks! We’re quite open about most of our R&D projects, and I know several people have been waiting for the xNT. They certainly came through at launch time. The tough part now will be to gather the remaining necessary backers, many of whom may be new to the entire concept of an implant.
[Mathieu]
As mentioned in your video, you’ve been living with NFC chips in your left hand for 8 years now. Is it something you often ‘show’ to people, and what are their reactions?
[Amal] The chips I implanted back in 2005 are RFID technologies, but they are not NFC compliant, meaning they do not conform to NFC Forum standards. The xNT is the first NFC compliant implant available, which is why we’re so excited to see the campaign succeed! To answer your question though, most people don’t even know I have any RFID implants, and I don’t bother showing them off anymore. Most people find out when I use them to get into my home, or to access my datacenter or unlock my car. If they are paying attention, they will notice I don’t have anything in my hand and they will ask “hey, what just happened there” and I’ll show them and explain. When introduced to the concept in that way, seeing a useful application of it before contemplating the implant itself, most people are receptive and can see the usefulness. If I tell someone about it first, their reaction is usually a squeamish look on their face and sometimes a negative comment.
[Mathieu]
Many of our geek friends at Hackaday are very interested by this technology, but are afraid to put it under their skin. What in your opinion could make them take this step?
[Amal] Back in 2005 I had several doctors as clients, and I consulted with both a cosmetic surgeon and my family general practice doctor about the device and the location I wanted to implant it. Both agreed it was a very safe place to install one of these devices, and both performed the procedure for me without hesitation. Since getting my implants, I’ve worked with hundreds of people also interested in getting an implant. I started Dangerous Things in order to control the materials processes involved to ensure the tags we sell are made with biocompatible glass and internal resins, and all components are bio-safe. Of all the people I’ve helped or sold implants to, I’ve never heard of any tags that have been implanted in the correct location (webbing of the hand) and in the proper orientation (parallel with the metacarpal) ever breaking or causing a problem. I’ve worked with doctors and body piercers to place these tags under the skin, and we’re building a partner network of professional body piercers to increase access to a clean studio environment and professional installation services. We offer procedure guides and phone consultations for piercing professionals who are installing for a Dangerous Things customer. Additionally, the implants are MRI safe, so getting one will not exclude you from medical imaging procedures.
[Mathieu]
In your experience, are technical people less reluctant to try this chip than non-informed persons?
[Amal] Most of the time, people without a technical background will have misconceptions about the technology which lead them to believe that it is capable of doing something that it can’t. The most common misconception is that it can be tracked in real time by a 3rd party, like a GPS enabled device might be. Another common reason non-technical people are reluctant to entertain the idea of an implant is the lack of cheap, simple commercial products that work with the implant. When I got my first EM4102 based 125khz implant, the NFC standard was not published and there were no devices. This lack of standards meant you’d have to buy an expensive commercial access control system or you’d have to build solutions yourself. I ended up building my own solutions, as did many other hacker/hobbyists. The good news is, with NFC standards growing in popularity, commercial devices and systems based on NFC are now becoming available and a non-technical person can easily begin to integrate NFC into their daily lives without needing to solder it together themselves.
[Mathieu]
The chip that you offer to put under the skin can be reprogrammed at will but has a unique 7 byte serial number, which may arise privacy concerns. What will you do with this information? Can we trust you? Do you think you’re setting a precedent in the history of NFC enabled humans?
[Amal] The 7 byte UID programmed into each NTAG203 chip could be a privacy concern if people used their tags with systems that are outside of their control. For example, if a person enrolled their implant with an access control system at their work or school, then every time they entered the premises by using their implant, that access even would be logged. But, the reality is, this is always the case when you use an access card, so there really is no difference having that access card under your skin instead of in your pocket.
The real question being asked about privacy revolves around consent – can someone read it, from a distance, without your consent. While it is technically possible someone could build a large, high powered antenna loop to pick up tags from a distance of a few feet, it’s not practical and not at all likely. Magnetically coupled data transmissions from passive tags don’t work like typical electric field radio emissions, and it becomes very difficult to generate a stable magnetic field that is large enough to envelope tags at a distance while maintaining the integrity and sensitivity required to communicate with those tags. Furthermore, the context in which you use your tag matters. If someone were to set up a large antenna loop somewhere and skim tag IDs of people walking by, in order to do anything with that information they would have to figure out who you were, how you used that tag ID, and plan an attack on you specifically. Unless a person were to use their implant to gain access to a bank vault or another target that an attacker would want to get into, it’s just not very likely. On the other hand, attackers who set up skim points to pull credit card data from RF enabled cards don’t need to know anything about their victims in order to go use that skimmed data to make purchases. Context matters.
[Mathieu]
Did you try different antennas to see how far you could read the chip from?
[Amal] I’ve tried various antenna configurations with my 125KHz tag because low frequency works better than 13.56MHz high frequency tags when implanted into the body. The best range I could get using a high powered antenna loop coil that was 2 feet (~60cm) in diameter was about 1 foot (30cm). Typical read range of a 2mm x 12mm 125KHz tag using conventional readers is between 1mm and 2cm, depending on the reader and antenna configuration.
[Mathieu]
In your opinion, can this chip be used to implement simple authentication on everyday devices?
[Amal] The xNT is well suited for simple authentication systems. The user memory space can also be used for NFC by storing an NDEF record, the latter portion of the user memory could also be used to store rotating one-time keys to help secure custom security systems. In a typical skim attack, an attacker that is able to read a tag’s UID bits and memory contents without consent would be able to emulate that UID and memory contents to the target reader device. In this scenario, the attacker gains entry and the victim has no idea anything is wrong. The attacker could come and go as they pleased without detection. By using a rotating key, each time the potential victim uses their tag the reader updates the key. This means two things; 1) the attacker has a very limited amount of time to utilize their attack. If the user were to return and use their tag before the attacker had time to execute an attack, the attack would fail. 2) the victim of a successful attack would not be allowed access due to a bad key on the tag. This would alert both the victim and the system administrator to a potential attack situation, which could bring up surveillance video of the current attempt and the last system access made by the attacker. Detecting an attack after it has happened is just as important as preventing one. Of course, there is no such thing as absolute security, and there are attacks which could be executed against a rotating key system, but again context is what matters. Typical users are going to be using the xNT for residential home access type projects, and I think if someone wants into your home that badly, they are much more likely to break a window or use some other, more conventional method. | 111 | 34 | [
{
"comment_id": "1086897",
"author": "elecaddict",
"timestamp": "2013-10-30T21:38:51",
"content": "I see Big Brother coming closer to his goal……",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1086937",
"author": "Greenaum",
"timestamp": "2013... | 1,760,376,413.639917 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/10/30/impressive-laser-harp/ | Impressive Laser Harp | James Hobson | [
"Laser Hacks"
] | [
"eric goodchild",
"laser harp",
"laser harp music"
] | We stumbled onto this
impressive laser harp setup
after browsing random YouTube videos late at night. Besides making an awesome laser harp, [Eric] can even
play it too!
If you’ve never seen one of these before you’re in for a treat! A laser harp is a digital instrument that requires a synthesizer to create music. There are two main varieties, framed and open. The framed type use light sensors at the end of the beams to create the digital signal to be converted to the various tones. The open kind is a lot more complex, but much cooler — it relies on the laser light being reflected back from the player’s hand to create the signal. This allows for varying tones depending on the distance to the sensor.
Stick around after the break to see it in action as [Eric] breaks it down, laser style. | 15 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "1086858",
"author": "A Bryant",
"timestamp": "2013-10-30T20:37:36",
"content": "And pundits claim Jean Michael Jarre faked his!Always good to see laser harps.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1087432",
"author": "murian... | 1,760,376,413.498305 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/10/30/bicycle-generator-for-emergency-electricity/ | Bicycle Generator For Emergency Electricity | Marsh | [
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"battery",
"battery backup",
"battery charger",
"bicycle",
"deep cycle",
"generator"
] | [Hackett’s] back at it, this time with some practical advice for the next power outage to hit your city: why not prepare for the worst by
building your own bike generator?
You’ll no doubt recall that hurricane Sandy devastated New York City’s grid, even flooding substations and
causing massive explosions
. [Hackett] experienced the Sandy outages first-hand, and knows the value of having this simple build ready to roll.
The project uses a permanent magnet DC motor (around 250 watts), which you can find in electric wheelchairs or other mobility scooters. His setup’s gear reduction spins the motor 50 times for each revolution of the bike wheel. The apparatus [Hackett] built to press-fit the wheel to the motor’s spindle is particularly clever: a threaded rod adjusts the position of the motor, which is bolted onto a hinged platform, with the other part of the hinge welded to a larger frame that supports the bike wheel.
The motor is connected to a home-built charge controller based on
Mike Davis’s design
, which monitors the deep-cycle batteries and both kills the charge when it’s full as well as turns charging back on after it’s reached a set level of discharge. The rest is gravy: with the deep cycle battery connected to a power inverter, [Hackett] can plug in and keep phones charged, music playing, and even (some of) the lights on. If you’re a fan of [Hackett’s] straightforward, practical presentation style, check out
his tripod build
and his demonstration of
stripping pipes of their galvanization
.
[Thanks Becky!] | 77 | 24 | [
{
"comment_id": "1086665",
"author": "hue",
"timestamp": "2013-10-30T14:22:17",
"content": "I love his tongue in cheek critique of preppers here. So funny. :)The generator design is also pretty neat, and his presentation is simple and effective. I like it.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
... | 1,760,376,414.035368 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/10/30/ask-hackaday-does-project-ara-solve-the-phonebloks-problems/ | Ask Hackaday: Does Project Ara Solve The Phonebloks’ Problems? | Marsh | [
"Ask Hackaday",
"Cellphone Hacks"
] | [
"cell phone",
"design",
"design ideas",
"motorola",
"phonebloks",
"Project Ara"
] | Our tips line is blowing up again, this time directing us to
Motorola’s Project Ara
: a phone with modular components that plug into a base “endoskeleton.” If you missed the news coverage strewn across the web and you are doing a double-take, that’s because Project Ara is frighteningly similar to the (presumed vaporware)
Phonebloks concept
from a few weeks ago. Phonebloks was the subject of our
last “Ask Hackaday” article
, generating hundreds of comments ranging from those defending the concept to those furiously opposed to it.
There’s a conspiracy theory circulating that suggests Motorola released the Phonebloks concept as a viral marketing scheme to generate hype before revealing the official product line. We suspect it’s a bit less conniving. As [jorde]
explained on Hacker News
, an Israeli startup, Modu, had developed a similar modular cell phone several years ago, and Google bought the patents in May of 2011. A few months later, Google bought something else: Motorola. It seems likely that Project Ara is merely a resurrected and revised Modu, and Motorola conveniently announced it in the wake of Phonebloks’ popularity. Regardless, Motorola has announced that they have partnered with Phonebloks’ creator Dave Hakkens .
So what’s different? Phonebloks was met with cries of “vaporware!” and fervent arguments raising concerns about unavoidable hardware limitations. Motorola claims their goal is:
to do for hardware what the Android platform has done for software: create a vibrant third-party developer ecosystem, lower the barriers to entry, increase the pace of innovation, and substantially compress development timelines.
Unlike Project Ara, Phonebloks
didn’t consider open-source hardware
(Wayback Machine link), and Motorola makes an interesting argument here: that advances in 3D printing indicate an evolving “open hardware ecosystem,” and the next era of phone development may rest in the hands of your average hacker or a small startup company.
Some speculate
that the Ara will be similar to the relationship between a PC and its peripherals: Motorola provides the essential guts while giving you some slots for attaching additional components. Let us know in the comments what you think about Project Ara: is it just more vaporware, or a watered-down but plausible alternative to Phonebloks? And, perhaps most important: do you, as a hacker, want a phone that supports open hardware and lets you plug in “peripherals?” The Phonebloks website has since changed to reflect the partnership with Motorola, and includes a new video that you can watch below. | 86 | 34 | [
{
"comment_id": "1086578",
"author": "juno",
"timestamp": "2013-10-30T11:12:28",
"content": "Unrelated: Anyone seeing the Bad Cert warning for Hacker News?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1086580",
"author": "juno",
"timestamp"... | 1,760,376,414.153581 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/10/30/propvario-a-talking-variometeraltimeter-for-rc-sailplanes/ | PropVario, A Talking Variometer/Altimeter For RC Sailplanes | Adam Fabio | [
"drone hacks"
] | [
"altitude",
"barometric pressure",
"Fixed-wing aircraft",
"glider",
"radio controlled",
"variometer"
] | Lift. For a sailplane pilot it means the difference between a nice relaxing flight, or searching for an open area to land. Finding lift isn’t always easy though. This is especially true when the sailplane is hundreds of meters above a pilot whose feet are planted firmly on the ground. That’s why [Tharkun] created PropVario.
PropVario is a combination variometer and altimeter for Radio Controlled sailplanes.
We’ve
seen a few
variometers
in the past,
most often for full-scale sailplane or hang glider pilots. Almost every full-scale plane has a
variometer
as part of its suite of gauges – usually called a rate of climb or vertical speed indicator.
R/C pilots don’t have the luxury of looking at a gauge while flying though. At altitude even large 2 meter gliders can appear to the naked eye as no more than a dot. It would be somewhat embarrassing to lose sight of your glider because you were checking gauges. The solution is actually simple. A varying audio tone indicates the rate of climb of the plane. Higher pitched tones mean the plane is going up. Lower pitched tones mean the plane is descending. This system, coupled with a simple radio transmitter, has been in use by R/C sailplane pilots for years.
[Tharkun] decided to take things to the next level – adding voice output for altitude. He started with a Parallax Propeller and an MS5611 pressure sensor. The pressure sensor was a good choice for determining altitude. Even in today’s world of GPS, barometric pressure is still the gold standard for altitude measurement all the way up to commercial jetliners. A microSD card provides samples for voice output, making it easy to adapt the altimeter portion of the project to any language. Finally, a standard family radio service radio was hacked to create the down link. Using the PropVaro is as easy as listening to the tones and voice readout. Great job [Tharkun]! We hope all your flights are filled with plenty of
thermals
! | 23 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "1086506",
"author": "Austin Spafford",
"timestamp": "2013-10-30T08:13:54",
"content": "Interesting idea!Especially listening to the beeps though, it makes me wonder if using intuitive musical indicators could be easier on the ear. For example, using ascending or descending note sequ... | 1,760,376,413.857425 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/10/29/led-magic-staff-just-in-time-for-halloween/ | LED Magic Staff Just In Time For Halloween! | James Hobson | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"Holiday Hacks",
"LED Hacks"
] | [
"Arduino Uno",
"LED staff"
] | [Dave]’s been working pretty hard on his Arduino driven, LED-lit, magical staff for the past few months, and now
it’s finally coming together.
He’s using 6 LED strips that contain 55 LEDs each — at full brightness the staff can suck up an impressive 20A @ 5V! To power it, he’s equipped the staff with 8 NiMH C size batteries (5000mAh @ 1.5V). This works out to about 15-20 minutes of runtime at full power (255, 255, 255, LED values) — to counter this he usually runs a sparkly LED algorithm that lasts much longer. Besides, at full power it’s really quite blinding.
The staff is controlled by an Arduino Uno and currently only has two different modes: random and full brightness. Not to worry though, he’s planning on adding a sound sensor to turn it into an equalizer, a shock sensor to give it a cool ripple effect while walking, and maybe a few other interesting patterns!
Stick around after the break to see the first test video! | 10 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "1086446",
"author": "haxorlakes",
"timestamp": "2013-10-30T05:14:00",
"content": "would be interested to know how much he spent on all of that. looking through the build details on his website doesnt offer much by the way of how much he has spent total.would also like to see the ar... | 1,760,376,413.798027 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/10/29/infiniteye-hmd-brings-210-degree-fov-to-the-party/ | InfinitEye HMD Brings 210 Degree FOV To The Party | Adam Fabio | [
"Virtual Reality"
] | [
"castAR",
"Field of view",
"head mounted display",
"InfinitEye",
"oculus rift",
"optics",
"virtual reality"
] | Head mounted displays are coming in hot and heavy this year. InfinitEye doesn’t have an official web page yet, so we’re linking to
a review done by TheRoadToVR
. Note that this is the second version of the display. InfinitEye
released plans for their V1 HMD back in February
. The InfinitEye prototype looks strikingly like the early
Oculus Rift
prototypes. Gaffers tape and what appears to be the frame from a face shield hold together the optical system. It’s this optical system which is interesting. InfinitEye has decided to go with head mounted LCD screens, similar to the rift, and unlike
castAR’s projection system
.
The InfinitEye team decided to go with two screens, giving them a whopping 1280×800 resolution per eye. The optics are also simple –
fresnel lenses
. This is all similar to the first version of the goggles, however the InfinitEye team claims that this new edition provides a 210 degree field of view. What we don’t know is exactly what they changed. We’re curious if the wider field of view will reduce the
Sim Sickness
some of us have felt with the rift – though to be fair, almost any head mounted display requires some time to adjust. What we are sure of is that the future is bright for virtual (and augmented) reality.
[Via
RoadToVR
] | 19 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "1086408",
"author": "TheAtheistLucario",
"timestamp": "2013-10-30T02:36:47",
"content": "This is good, but it would be better with a flexible OLED display curved instead of arrow angled displays.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "... | 1,760,376,413.915171 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/10/29/compass-guided-kayak-autopilot/ | Compass Guided Kayak Autopilot | Brian Benchoff | [
"Transportation Hacks"
] | [
"Autopilot",
"compass",
"kayak",
"sea kayak",
"trinket contest"
] | Last July, [Louis] bought a kayak off of Craigslist. It was a pedal-powered device with a hand-operated rudder, and he ended up enjoying his time on the water. [Louis] fishes, though, and it was a bit of a challenge to manage hands free fishing while maintaining a steady course. His solution was
an Arduino-powered autopilot
that allows him to troll for salmon and Arduino haters with just the push of a button.
In [Louis]’ system, a motor is attached to the steering lever along with a few limit switches. This motor is powered by an Arduino controlled with
an LSM303 compass module from Sparkfun
.
When the autopilot module is started up, it first checks to see if the compass module is enabled. If not, the system relies on two tact switches to change the position of the rudder. Enabling the compass requires a short calibration of spinning the kayak around in a circle, but after that the steering is dead on.
There are a few things [Louis] would like to add such as a heading display and a bluetooth module for remote control. This setup already landed him a 13 lb salmon, so we’re going to say it’s good enough to catch some dinner. | 15 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "1086355",
"author": "James Scott (@TooJawsome)",
"timestamp": "2013-10-29T23:48:31",
"content": "Put the LSM303 board on top of a servo and have it calibrate it self instead of spin the entire kayak around. :D Needs more laziness.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replie... | 1,760,376,414.208452 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/10/29/retrotechtacular-automata/ | Retrotechtacular: Automata | Marsh | [
"Hackaday Columns",
"Retrotechtacular"
] | [
"automata",
"automaton",
"cams",
"clockwork",
"magic",
"magician",
"retrotectacular"
] | For a moment, suspend your worldview and adopt Descartes’s mechanistic interpretation that living beings are essentially complex machines: a collection of inherently unrelated parts that move and collide. Automata, then, represented the pinnacle of accomplishment in a mechanistic universe, requiring considerable skill to construct. Most of their inventors, such as Pierre Jaquet-Droz, were clockmakers or watchmakers, and automata like
the 240-year-old boy writer
are packed with moving parts to automate motion.
Jaquet-Droz’s writer is particularly impressive considering all its moving parts—nearly six thousand of them—fit entirely within the boy’s body, and that one can “program” the text that the boy composes. It may sound like a bit of a stretch to claim that these clockwork amusements were precursors to the computer, but they influenced inventors and engineers for centuries.
You’ve likely heard of the other famous automaton:
The Turk
, (which was actually a hoax, housing an operator inside its base). The Turk, however, managed to
inspire Charles Babbage
to pursue building a mechanical device capable of performing mathematical functions: the
Difference Engine
.
Watch some of Jaquet-Droz’s other clockwork masterpieces in a video after the break. Magicians like Robert-Houdin were responsible for building a number of automata, so we recommend you keep the mystical atmosphere flowing by checking out
another magician’s performance oddities
.
Video Link:
http://www.chonday.com/Videos/the-writer-automaton
[Via
Chonday
, thanks Mark] | 18 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "1086287",
"author": "Peter",
"timestamp": "2013-10-29T20:15:41",
"content": "There was a piece on NPR a month ago that described the clockwork monk. It was commissioned by King Phillip II in appreciation for God curing his ailing son. It is >400 years old and it still works! More ab... | 1,760,376,414.266829 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/10/29/can-hacking-protocols/ | CAN Hacking: Protocols | Eric Evenchick | [
"Featured",
"Network Hacks"
] | [
"automotive",
"CAN",
"CAN Hacking",
"ford",
"obd-ii",
"OpenXC",
"unified diagnostic services"
] | We’ve gone over the basics of CAN and looked into how CAN databases work. Now we will look at a few protocols that are commonly used over CAN.
In the
last article
we looked at CAN databases, where each bit of a message is mapped to a specific meaning. For example, bit 1 of a CAN message with ID 0x400 might represent whether the engine is currently running or not.
However, for more complex communications we need to use protocols. These can map many meanings to a single CAN ID by agreeing on a structure for sending and receiving data.
OBD-II
The standard OBD-II connector
Next time you’re in the drivers seat, look around your left knee. You’ll find a connector like the one above. This is the OBD-II connector.
The OBD-II protocol is not CAN specific, and can be implemented over UART and PWM channels as well as CAN. OBD-II became present in cars when the California Air Resources Board demanded a diagnostic protocol for all vehicles sold in California in 1991. Since it’s always done over CAN in newer vehicles, this connector gives you access to at least one vehicle CAN bus.
OBD-II is used for reading vehicle parameters and reading fault codes. By using the various OBD-II modes, you can read parameter IDs (PIDs) containing information about the state of the vehicle. Wikipedia has a great article on the
OBD-II modes and PIDs
.
There’s a wealth of information out there about OBD-II, and you can buy a tool for under 20 bucks to read fault codes and clear the pesky check engine light in your car. Instead of going into detail about OBD-II, lets talk about its big brother.
Unified Diagnostic Services
While many car enthusiasts are familiar with OBD-II, many haven’t heard of Unified Diagnostic Services (UDS). This is unfortunate, since OBD-II is just a subset of UDS. While OBD-II only allows a limited set of services, UDS is the diagnostic protocol that manufacturers and technicians use. It provides all the services needed for diagnostics, calibration, and flashing firmware.
UDS has various services, such as ReadDataByIdentifier and TransferData, which are identified with a one byte Service ID (SID). The first 0x0F SIDs are reserved for OBD-II. The rest are defined either by standards, or by the manufacturer. Here’s a list of the standard UDS services, and their hex identifiers.
DiagnosticSessionControl – 10 hex
ECUReset – 11 hex
SecurityAccess – 27 hex
CommunicationControl – 28 hex
TesterPresent – 3E hex
AccessTimingParameter – 83 hex
SecuredDataTransmission – 84 hex
ControlDTCSetting – 85 hex
ResponseOnEvent – 86 hex
LinkControl – 87 hex
ReadDataByIdentifier – 22 hex
ReadMemoryByAddress – 23 hex
ReadScalingDataByIdentifier – 24 hex
ReadDataByPeriodicIdentifier – 2A hex
DynamicallyDefineDataIdentifier – 2C hex
WriteDataByIdentifier – 2E hex
WriteMemoryByAddress – 3D hex
ClearDiagnosticInformation – 14 hex
ReadDTCInformation – 19 hex
InputOutputControlByIdentifier – 2F hex
RoutineControl – 31 hex
RequestDownload – 34 hex
RequestUpload – 35 hex
TransferData – 36 hex
RequestTransferExit – 37 hex
UDS uses a frame structure to send data to controllers. Single Frames (SF) are for short messages, where all the data can fit into six bytes. If the data is longer, a FirstFrame (FF) is sent to start the transaction, then Consecutive Frames (CF) are sent with data. Here’s a layout of how the frames are structured.
The structure of SF, FF, and CF messages
OBD-II only uses the first frame structure, but the others are useful for longer data such as a firmware download.
To get into how all the services work, you’ll need a copy of ISO 14229. Unfortunately, it’ll cost you about $250 USD just for the PDF. Tools that can talk UDS are very expensive. However, with this basic knowledge you can get a grasp of what’s happening on the bus.
OpenXC
While UDS is a closed protocol, researchers at Ford have been working on creating an open platform for interfacing with vehicles. The result is the
OpenXC Platform
. OpenXC provides a protocol to read data from Ford vehicles over CAN.
To use it, you’ll need a vehicle interface. A chipKIT can be used with Ford’s
open source firmware
. Alternatively, you can buy a prebuilt solution from
CrossChasm
. Once the vehicle interface is up and running, you can access data from the Android and Python APIs. We’ve featured a few
OpenXC hacks on Hackaday
in the past.
It’s great to see an automotive manufacturer embracing open source, and hopefully Ford continues to work on the platform. That being said, the OpenXC protocol is read only, and limited to a fairly small set of messages.
Now that we’ve heard all about protocols, it’s time to get into building CAN hardware. Next week we’ll look at what hardware you need to start using CAN in your own projects.
CAN Hacking
Introductions
The In-vehicle Network
CAN Protocols
Building CAN Hardware | 44 | 21 | [
{
"comment_id": "1086192",
"author": "icanhazadd",
"timestamp": "2013-10-29T17:23:16",
"content": "You forgot the break.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1086217",
"author": "Steveo",
"timestamp": "2013-10-29T18:01:21",
... | 1,760,376,414.355209 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/10/29/an-overly-complicated-logic-chip-clock/ | An Overly-Complicated Logic Chip Clock | Brian Benchoff | [
"classic hacks",
"clock hacks"
] | [
"4000",
"7400",
"alarm clock",
"logic",
"logic chips"
] | When a normal alarm clock just won’t do, the only option is to build your own,
entirely out of discrete logic chips
. [jvok] built this alarm clock for last year’s
7400 Logic Competition
. In a desire to go against the grain a little bit, [jvok] decided to use 4000-series logic chips. It was allowed under the rules, and the result is a wonderful example of what can be done without a microcontroller.
Most clock projects we’ve seen use a single button to increase each digit. [jvok] wanted to do something unique, so he is able to set his clock with a ‘mode’ button that allows him to independently set the hours, minutes, and seconds. He’s only ever seen this method of setting a clock’s time used with microcontroller-based projects, and translating even that simple code into pure circuitry is quite impressive.
This clock also includes an alarm function, set by a bunch of DIP switches in binary coded decimal. It’s a great piece of work, and deserving of much more attention than it received during the Open Logic Competition. | 27 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "1086132",
"author": "Pietro",
"timestamp": "2013-10-29T15:04:01",
"content": "I was thinking about doing a clock like this, but with bare transistors.Now, the modes and alarm functions though? Kudos.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_... | 1,760,376,414.420179 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/10/29/hackerspacing-in-europe-a-childrens-hackerspace-in-eindhoven/ | Hackerspacing In Europe: A Children’s Hackerspace In Eindhoven! | James Hobson | [
"Hackerspaces"
] | [
"children's hackerspace",
"Dutch Design Week",
"eindhoven",
"hackerspace",
"hackerspacing in europe"
] | De Ontdekfabriek
(
translated
) is best described as a children’s makerspace. This is what society needs everywhere! Public workshops for children to learn about making, fixing, and hacking things — what a society we would live in if every young person was taught how to repair things instead of just replacing them! We really hope to see places like this adopted around the world!
The space is filled with regular children’s things, large toys and statues.
Perhaps this was done to encourage what is possible, if only you try!
It has a full green screen set up for children to learn about video production and editing!
A small studio box for making movies of smaller toys and projects
And a live output display!
They have many work benches and a small selection of relatively safe tools to use on projects.
And big bins of broken toys to be hacked!
Or for the more advanced children, old electronics and appliances!
Tons of stuff to be used in projects!
We don’t know how much one of these kits would cost, but aluminium extrusion building blocks? Awesome! It’s like Meccano on steroids!
You can even build small vehicles out of it!
The space also has a veritable army of Ultimakers — they have a system set up with an existing library of parts in a catalog and children can pick the SD card they need, then load the file for the part they want to print. The example they had running was the alphabet so children could label their projects, in 3D!
They also have a big desk of hot wire cutters for forming Styrofoam for projects!
And some finger-proof drill presses!
You can simply slide your part in and drill away!
[Anthony] from
Open Garage
looks for project ideas because they want to run children programs back home in Antwerp at Open Garage and
Void Warranties
!
They have about 7 Ultimakers running, great for mass production!
This is a dolphin(?) with motion sensors attached to a game on the television. We were tempted to try it but didn’t want to break it! You actually lean around to control the game!
Does this children’s makerspace give you ideas to start one in your city? We hope so! | 22 | 13 | [
{
"comment_id": "1085996",
"author": "Jarek",
"timestamp": "2013-10-29T11:22:42",
"content": "this tricycle looks awesome! I want one! is it kit or custom build?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1086541",
"author": "Spencer",
"t... | 1,760,376,414.48355 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/10/29/1sheeld-uses-your-smartphone-as-an-arduino-accessory/ | 1Sheeld Uses Your SmartPhone As An Arduino Accessory | Adam Fabio | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"Crowd Funding"
] | [
"android",
"arduino",
"bluetooth",
"Input/output"
] | The Arduino can be a bit of a gateway board. You start with an Uno, then a shield, then another. Before you know it, you have an entire collection of shields. This is the
problem 1Sheeld wants to solve
. 1Sheeld allows a you to use your cell phone as a sensor and I/O suite for your Arduino, replacing many existing shields. We think this will be a great idea, especially with all the older phones coming off contract these days. The sensor capabilities of the average smartphone, as well as the LCD and touchscreen I/O capabilities could make for an interesting pairing.
Currently the 1Sheeld page is just a sign up for an upcoming kickstarter
, which leaves many details to the imagination. It appears that the 1Sheeld will be a bluetooth based board. A few questions do remain to be answered though – will the 1Sheeld use the
Android ADK
? The software is what we’re waiting to see. The software running in the 1Sheeld module bluetooth chip will be important, but the software running phone side will be the real make or break of this module. We would love to see more smartphones being used for hardware hacking rather than collecting dust once they’ve been replaced.
[Via
TechCrunch
] | 34 | 12 | [
{
"comment_id": "1085961",
"author": "Damian",
"timestamp": "2013-10-29T09:11:03",
"content": "I can already connect my phone to Arduino via BlueTooth using $6 BT module. Not sure what this is about ???",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1085964"... | 1,760,376,414.723447 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/10/28/building-a-dc-constant-currentpower-electric-load/ | Building A DC Constant Current/Power Electric Load | Mathieu Stephan | [
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"constant current",
"constant power",
"electronic load",
"load",
"mosfet"
] | By just looking at the picture above, we’re pretty sure that most Hackaday readers will have guessed by now that much power can be dissipated by this
electric load
. For those who don’t know, an electric load (or dummy load) is a device used to simulate a load on a system for testing purposes. This is quite handy when measuring battery capacities or testing power supplies.
The heart of the device that [Kerry] designed is based on 6 power MOSFETs, a few operational amplifiers and an Arduino compatible ATmega328p microcontroller. Sense resistors are used to measure how much current is passing through the MOSFETs (and therefore the load), the MCP4921 Digital to Analog Converter (DAC) from microchip is used to set the current command, and the load’s voltage is measured by the ATmega ADC. Measuring the latter allows a constant power load mode (as power = current * voltage). In his article, [Kerry] shows that he can simulate a load of up to 200W. | 47 | 11 | [
{
"comment_id": "1085809",
"author": "Sven",
"timestamp": "2013-10-29T03:48:48",
"content": "“Arduino compatible ATmega328p microcontroller”As opposed to the other kind of ATmega328 that isn’t Arduino compatible? Stop throwing Arduino in everywhere!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"repl... | 1,760,376,416.850215 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/10/27/microslice-the-tiny-arduino-laser-cutter/ | Microslice: The Tiny Arduino Laser Cutter | Marsh | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"Laser Hacks"
] | [
"Arduino Uno",
"laser cutter",
"laser engraver",
"motor controller",
"relay",
"stepper motor"
] | [SilverJimmy] already had a full-sized 50 watt laser cutter, but he decided to try his hand at putting together something smaller and microcontroller-driven. The result is this
adorable little engraver: the MicroSlice
.
To keep the design simple, [SilverJimmy] opted for a fixed cutting table, which meant moving the cutting head and the X-Axis as a unit along the Y-Axis. The solution was to take inspiration from
gantry cranes
. He snagged a couple of stepper motors with threaded shafts, designed the parts in
Inkscape
, then fired up his full-size cutter to carve out the pieces. An Arduino Uno and the relays for the laser and fans sit on the MicroSlice’s bottom platform, and two EasyDriver motor controllers sit above them on the next layer.
Swing by the Instructables for more details including the source code, and to see a video of the engraver below. [SilverJimmy] sourced his laser from eBay, but check out the
engraver from earlier this year that used a DVD diode
. | 37 | 13 | [
{
"comment_id": "1084958",
"author": "cde",
"timestamp": "2013-10-28T02:06:41",
"content": "Better Video, also portal musichttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dpLOXeR7bk&feature=player_embedded",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1084966",
"a... | 1,760,376,417.038252 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/10/27/hackaday-links-october-27-2013/ | Hackaday Links: October 27, 2013 | Mike Szczys | [
"Hackaday Columns",
"Hackaday links"
] | [
"3d scanner",
"canbus",
"fft",
"floppy disc",
"grooveshark",
"planetarium",
"vice"
] | [Kyle] came across a project which he thinks is “simply elegant”. If you don’t already have a PCB vice, here’s
an easy way to build one of your own
.
This one’s so good but alas it’s not a hack. Check out the
slideshow tour at UC Boulder’s Fiske Planetarium
. You get a really cool look at the hardware that makes the dome and projector such a great experience. [via
Reddit
]
Here’s a schematic and a couple of snapshots of [Trax’s]
CAN bus hacking rig
. He plans on doing a tutorial but decided to share this link after reading the first part of
our own CAN hacking series
.
These
strings of LEDs bump to the tunes
. [Alex] is using GrooveShark as a frequency analyzer, then
pushing commands via Node.js to the Arduino
controlling the lights. It’s all planned for the back porch during his Halloween party.
We remember drilling holes in the 3.5″ floppy discs (we even made a wood jig for this) to double their capacity. A similar blast from the past was to
punch a notch in the larger 5.25″ versions
to make them double-sided.
If you’re trying to learn about FFT [Ronald]
highly recommends this website
. We didn’t do too much poking around because it’s kind of strange. But if you do get sucked in and have fun with it leave a comment to let others know it’s worth their attention.
We suppose that using 39 Raspberry Pi boards and their camera modules isn’t the worst way to
build a huge 3D model capture rig
. The results certainly are impressive. [Thanks Wouter] | 12 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "1084882",
"author": "Michael",
"timestamp": "2013-10-28T00:07:02",
"content": "Oh boy, if they only gave us the FFT site instead of several signal processing courses at university…",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "1084939",
"... | 1,760,376,416.394406 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/10/27/diy-pellet-fed-boiler-is-hot-stuff/ | DIY Pellet Fed Boiler Is Hot Stuff | Adam Fabio | [
"home hacks"
] | [
"AVR",
"Boiler",
"Pellet stove",
"thermostat",
"wood"
] | [Firewalker] has designed
a great pellet burning boiler
(
translated
). Wood and biomass pellets have gained popularity over the last few years. While freestanding stoves are the most popular method of burning the pellets, [Firewalker] went a different route. He’s converted a boiler from what we assume was oil to pellet power. An Arduino controls the show, but don’t hold it against him. [Firewalker] is just using the Arduino as an AVR carrier board.The software is all written in C using AVR studio. The controller’s user interface is pretty simple. A two-line character based LCD provides status information, while input is via buttons. Once the system is all set up, thermostats are the final human/machine interface.
Burning pellets requires a bit of prep. A cleanup of the burn chamber must be performed before each burn. The AVR is programmed to handle this. Once the chamber is clean, new pellets are fed in via an auger system. The burner is monitored with a standard flame sensor. When the fire is up the pellets feed in until the boiler gets up to temp. Then the system enters a standby mode where it feeds in just enough pellets to maintain the flame. When the thermostats stop calling for heat, the whole system shuts down, ready for the next burn. | 33 | 14 | [
{
"comment_id": "1084784",
"author": "steve",
"timestamp": "2013-10-27T20:09:42",
"content": "Wow!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "1084792",
"author": "firewalker",
"timestamp": "2013-10-27T20:20:11",
"content": "Thanks you guys!You ... | 1,760,376,416.97077 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/10/27/hackerspacing-in-europe-technologia-incognita-in-amsterdam/ | Hackerspacing In Europe: Technologia Incognita In Amsterdam | James Hobson | [
"Hackerspaces"
] | [
"amsterdam hackerspace",
"hackerspacing in europe",
"technologia incognita"
] | Welcome to
Technologia Incognita!
This is Amsterdam’s hackerspace. In Latin it means “Undiscovered Technology” — quite fitting for a hackerspace! It’s been around for about 2 years and has grown to a solid 50+ members, in fact, they are running out of room on the ever popular social nights!
They typically have a policy of no cameras but made an exception for us provided we didn’t photograph any projects or persons without permission, so while the gallery below may look like the space was empty… there was a good 20-30 people hanging out since it was the social night.
Before entering the hackerspace they have a geeky t-shirt quilt hanging on the wall entitled the 50 Shirts of Gray. The space itself is in an old industrial building that has been sectioned off for art studios and workshops. It’s on one of the outer rings of the city and is about a 30 minute tram ride from the central station of Amsterdam.
Beware indeed!
The space is one large room with a few smaller walk-in closet sized rooms for storage and more heavy-duty tools. Shelves cover most of the walls and are filled with projects, members belongings and other random hackerspace goodies.
This is their arcade machine that was brought back to life. It features a new LCD monitor and computer running all the original games via emulator.
The joysticks are all good old limit switches — easy to fix if anything ever breaks!
A bit messy but you can see the hacked together PS2 connectors that the joysticks utilize. The key stroke configuration and keyboard is saved as an external joystick on the system so that the regular keyboard can still be used for debugging/programming.
This tool label made us giggle.
A mandatory server photo.
They also have a bar code scanner inventory system, but most members prefer just paying into the tip bowl.
And what’s a hackerspace without a roaring LED fireplace? In the original location each LED array was mounted to glass cubes for a much larger and more impressive display — but for now it’s retired to the fireplace.
This space has several 3D printers, and one of the members is actually one of the original designers for the Prusa i3! This is a shot of one of their delta printers though — printing another delta.
More delta parts on the way!
One of the storage rooms — nothing too exciting to see here.
The workshop, complete with ventilation.
A key copying machine. Funny story about this. They once posted a picture of their hackerspace key online, and Hack42 (we’re visiting them tomorrow) was able to manipulate the image and extract the key pattern from it to make their own key copy. A prank in good fun, Hack42 gave them new keys after all the fun was had.
Another fun feature of this space is the member’s storage boxes. Look familiar? Yeah, those are safety deposit boxes! The space used to reside in an empty bank, and well, inherited quite a few boxes!
Did you know Serbian money has Nikola Tesla on it?
If you’re ever in Amsterdam, check out this hackerspace | 23 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "1084684",
"author": "DDevine",
"timestamp": "2013-10-27T17:09:50",
"content": "Cool place… And it definitely seems like a Hackerspace, none of this namby-pamby Maker business.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "1084736",
"autho... | 1,760,376,417.100455 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/10/27/charless-epic-total-recap-gokart-post/ | [Charles’s] Epic “Total-Recap” GoKart Post | Marsh | [
"green hacks",
"Transportation Hacks"
] | [
"brushless",
"brushless motor",
"electric",
"electric vehicle",
"ev",
"go-kart",
"MITERS"
] | If you’ve built an electric vehicle in the past few years, you probably owe [Charles] a couple of beers. Now you can feel more indebted to him after you read his 17,500-word, 10-part
post covering everything you need to know about electric go-kart design
. You’ll want to grab a sandwich to keep you company.
You probably recall the Chibikart from
posts earlier this summer
, which is one of an endless list of EV projects [Charles] has up his sleeve. He’s been teaching MIT students how to build EV karts for a while now, and this total-recap “2.00gokart” novel is [Charles’s] way of sharing the wealth. This is more than a simple how-to guide, though. Instead, it reads like a teacher’s edition of
GoKarting 101
, with a few brief and important histories, walk-throughs of how the class evolved, exhaustive links to vendors, graphs, videos, and plenty of reference and documentation.
If you have even the slightest interest in electric vehicles, do yourself a favor and give it a browse. There are a couple of videos after the break, and if you need some more motivation, check out the
EV skateboard
that uses a lot of the same parts.
Thanks [Charles] | 11 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "1084621",
"author": "Adam Munich",
"timestamp": "2013-10-27T14:08:58",
"content": "Segway racing, I really am challenging you.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "1084627",
"author": "dALE",
"timestamp": "2013-10-27T14:26:58... | 1,760,376,416.652016 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/10/27/electrochemical-etching-with-a-microcontroller/ | Electrochemical Etching With A Microcontroller | Brian Benchoff | [
"chemistry hacks",
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"aluminum",
"electrochemical",
"engraving",
"etching",
"steel"
] | While most of the time the name of the game is to remove a lot of metal, etching is an entirely other process. If you just want to put a logo on a piece of steel, or etch some labels in a piece of aluminum, You need to think small. Mills and CNC routers will do, but they’re expensive and certainly not as easy to work with as
a small, homebrew electrochemical etcher
.
This etchinator is the brainchild of [Gelandangan], and gives the techniques of expensive commercial etchers to anyone who can put together a simple circuit. This etcher can etch with both AC and DC thanks to a H bridge circuit, and can be fabbed up by anyone who can make their own circuit board.
To actually etch a design in a piece of metal, simply place the piece on a metal plate, put the stencil down, and hold a felt-covered electrode moistened with electrolyte down over the stencil. Press a button, and in about 30 seconds, you have a wonderfully etched piece of metal.
[Gelandagan] has some templates that will allow you to make your own electro etcher, provided you can etch your own boards and can program the PIC16F1828 microcontroller. All this info is over on the
Australian blade forum
post he put up, along with a demo video below. | 31 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "1084574",
"author": "Yarr",
"timestamp": "2013-10-27T11:57:20",
"content": "Very, very cool! I’ve linked this article to a friend of mine who does metalworking and makes custom knives, he’ll be very keen on it!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
... | 1,760,376,416.601048 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/10/27/aluminum-unibody-nintendo64/ | Aluminum Unibody Nintendo 64 | Brian Benchoff | [
"handhelds hacks",
"Nintendo Hacks"
] | [
"n64",
"nintendo",
"nintendo 64",
"portable"
] | [Travis] wanted us to take a look at his N64 portable to see if it could be featured on Hackaday.
By the looks of it, we’re going to say hell yeah
. Everything on this portable N64, down to the buttons, is milled from aluminum. It’s an amazing build that raises the bar of what a portabalized game system can be.
Inside this anodized enclosure is the circuit board from an original N64. To cut down on the size, [Travis] milled a new heat sink for the CPU and GPU. All the games – quite possibly
all
the games ever released for the N64 – are stored on an SD card and accessed through an EverDrive 64. Two 5000 mAh Lipo batteries provide three hours of play time on a beautiful high-res screen.
What’s even more amazing is that [Travis] machined all the parts on an exceedingly small,
manual
mini-mill. Truly a portabalized console for the ages.
You can check out a gallery of pics [Travis] sent in and his demo video below. | 33 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "1084481",
"author": "schobi",
"timestamp": "2013-10-27T08:18:25",
"content": "Nothing to see here – video is blocked in Germany … :-(",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1084486",
"author": "fgmniq",
"timestamp": "... | 1,760,376,416.770403 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/10/28/hackerspace-tour-milwaukee-makerspace/ | Hackerspace Tour: Milwaukee Makerspace | Mike Szczys | [
"Hackerspaces"
] | [
"hackerspace tours",
"milwaukee makerspace"
] | I had the opportunity last Thursday to visit
the Milwaukee Makerspace
. I took along a video camera and had a great time on
a tour guided by [Brant], [Matt], and [Vishal]
. We’ve actually seen quite a number of reputable hacks come from this group already. A couple that come to mind include
beer dispenser security
and
a bottle-free water cooler
. This tour shows off a lot of the cool stuff going on at the space. Don’t miss the video after the break, but we’ll also give you the gist of it if you’re looking for a quick rundown:
We start off looking at their craft area, wall of fame (including all their Power Racing Series medals) and laser cutter room. From there we take a peek at one of the big rooms that serves as for-rent floor space and pallet storage. This part of the tour includes a look at
Red Lotus
and
Big Jake-stein
, two of
the PRS cars used this season
. The storage tour rounds up with a look at their set of 19 vaults — these are like deep self-storage closets for members. The space spices things up with awards for best vault of the month.
Moving on to the next large space we encounter
this huge Kuka KR 30 industrial robot arm
that they acquired for free! A room has been built around the 2500 pound beast for safety and they are working on building their own controller for it. Right now it’s got a jig that holds a spindle motor making it a CNC router. This enclosure is in a larger space that makes up the machine shop and welding area. Through a door is a woodshop that includes a big panel saw which they pick up on Craig’s List. The tour wraps up with a walk-through of the electronics den and a tour of the 3D Printer hangout. | 12 | 12 | [
{
"comment_id": "1085677",
"author": "Peter Malcolm",
"timestamp": "2013-10-28T23:20:36",
"content": "A couple of Saturdays ago Milwaukee Makerspace hosted Milwaukee Makerfest. I went down there and had a great time. Their space, tools, and equipment were just awesome but even more awesome were the ... | 1,760,376,416.899638 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/10/28/trinket-contest-update-3/ | Trinket Contest Update #3 | Mike Szczys | [
"contests"
] | [
"trinket contest"
] | We’re still receiving tons of Trinket contest entries (here’s a link to
the last update
). After the break you’ll find another dozen that were sent in. If you’re waiting to see your own appear here please be patient as we’ve got a lot to wade through. If you haven’t sent in an offering yet you’ve got to get it in before Friday!
The contest
asks you slap the Hackaday logo onto something for a chance at winning one of 20
Trinket dev boards
donated by Adafruit for this contest.
WE haven’t seen a ton of large-format entries which is why we wanted to share [Tobbe’s] submission. He put the Skull and Wrenches up on a 6m by 3m (about 20’x10′) screen at a night club in Stockholm.
[Mark] turned the logo into the
bat
hack signal by 3D printing a stencil which fits over a Maglite
Here’s another LCD hack entry. [Harold] swapped out the controller on this old screen. He didn’t use one of the LVDS replacement controllers which would have been the easy route. Instead
he hacked his own driver for the panel
. We’d actually be quite interested in hearing all the gritty details. Hopefully he’ll write up the entire project and send us a link!
Here’s a diy LED matrix which [Mike] soldered up. It’s 16×24 and uses three HT16K33 breakout boards to address the LEDs. If he’s a winner [Mike] wants to drive the display using a Trinket board. Here’s a better look
at the front
and
back of the project
.
This is a mesh of tiny logos laser etched by [Chris] into his leather wallet. He morbidly comments that burning leather smells exactly like burning flesh.
[David] etched the winning T-shirt design from many years ago
into a small scrap of mirror
. He uses a 1 Watt blue laser, coating the mirror with Sharpie before etching and cleaning it with alcohol afterwards.
Yep, that’s the logo engraved onto a dime. Wow! [Scott] has problems with backlash and to get the best results possible he set the CNC up to use scan lines. This way the slop is all in the same direction.
Zoom out
.
Further
.
[Leandro] etched the logo using toner transfer. This specimen is about 10mm square.
And finally, [Kevin] printed the logo on transparent sticker paper at his local copy shop. Here it is proudly displayed on the front fender of his hoopty.
[Martin], you’ve won a Trinket! He used equipment in his lab to make this unfathomably small offering. It was done with
a focused ion beam
. Of the many sizes he included in his submission the smallest was 1um wide. But we picked this one because it’s so well-defined.
[Bobby] is getting ready for Halloween and is using a projector as part of his setup. He heard about the contest and didn’t have the side of a building to use as a projection surface. Instead he used the side of a hill.
We really like the keychain which [Rohit] etched. It’s the T-shirt design (like the mirror etching above) and he gets three tones by having bare copper, bare substrate, and solder-covered copper. For those warning of lead and corrosion you just need a few clear coast of spray epoxy and you’ll be set! | 6 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "1085621",
"author": "six677",
"timestamp": "2013-10-28T21:46:28",
"content": "got a nice little package from amazon, intended for something else but kinda gives me an idea for this competition now",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": ... | 1,760,376,416.69766 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/10/28/the-nickelphone/ | The Nickelphone | Marsh | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"Musical Hacks"
] | [
"atmega644",
"capacitive",
"capacitive touch",
"coins",
"midi"
] | [Tyler Bletsch] sent us a tip about his new build:
a keyboard that redefines “coin-operated.”
The Nickelphone can emit square wave tones via a piezo buzzer, but [Tyler] made this 25-key piano as a MIDI keyboard capable of driving a full synthesizer.
He chose an ATMega644 as the brain because it’s Arduino-friendly but has more data pins—32—than the usual ATMega328 chip, which allows him to provide each key with its own pin. Each coin was soldered to its own wire and connects up to a 1MΩ resistor array. Coin-presses are recognized by the simple capacitive sensing technique
outlined here
, but [Tyler] needed to take advantage of a workaround to accurately detect multiple presses.
Check out [Tyler’s] detailed project guide for more information as well as the source code. Check out the video of the Nickelphone after the break, then browse through some other capacitive touch hacks, like the
Capacitive Touch Business Card
or the
Capacitive Touch Game Controller
. | 14 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "1085567",
"author": "echodelta",
"timestamp": "2013-10-28T20:14:19",
"content": "Larger coins on the floor. A pedal board for bare feet.How much lag?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1085604",
"author": "X41",
"... | 1,760,376,417.148726 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/10/28/hacking-and-philosophy-an-introduction/ | Hacking And Philosophy: An Introduction | Marsh | [
"Hackaday Columns"
] | [
"hacking and philosophy",
"philosophy"
] | This fall marks my third (and Flying Spaghetti Monster willing, final) year as a PhD student, and although I’m no longer taking courses, I often wonder how my seminars might have differed if other hacker-types were in the classroom contributing to the discussion.
Hacking and Philosophy
is a new column that explores scholarly research about hacking, and does so with a community that lives the hacking experience. It’s a chance to discuss how researchers and deep thinkers handle our culture, its image, its philosophy, etc. Put simply, think of it as a weekly book club meeting. I’ll choose the text and proceed one chapter at a time, giving you my complete response to that week’s reading while engaging your replies in the comments as well as including your important or insightful contributions in future posts. Further, I promise never to venture into
Ivory Tower territory
: I hate being talked down to as much as the next person.
Hacking and Philosophy
only works if it’s a conversation, so I encourage contributions, corrections, respectful disagreements, and as much hypertext (obviously literally, but philosophically
a la Landow
) that you can manage. Think of me not as an instructor but as a fellow participant who will occasionally guide us through obscure concepts and terminology.
Keep reading after the break for a tentative book list and the reading for next week!
I propose the following reading list (sorted alphabetically, by author) because I consider these texts canonical and they provide a crucial foundation for future discussions. These are works
that I have read
; I’ll refrain from including those on my shelf that I’ve merely skimmed or not yet opened. I also prefer to limit the texts to rigorous scholarship and exclude books targeted for popular audiences, with few exceptions. Keep in mind that the goal here is to discuss philosophy.
Blankenship, Loyd. “The Conscience of a Hacker.”
Phrack Magazine 7, no. 3 of 10 (1986),
http://www.phrack.org/issues.html?issue=7&id=3
Himanen, Pekka.
The Hacker Ethic: A Radical Approach to the Philosophy of Business.
Random House, 2010.
Jargon File (too many authors and versions to cite, not convinced
Raymond’s print version
is a better alternative, either, though I am a fan of
Cathedral & Bazaar
)
Levy, Steven.
Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution
. New York: Penguin Books, 2001.
Sterling, Bruce.
The Hacker Crackdown: Law and Disorder on the Electronic Frontier
. New York: Bantam Books, 1992.
Thomas, Douglas.
Hacker Culture.
Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2002.
Wark, McKenzie.
A Hacker Manifesto.
Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2004.
I suggest these merely as a starting point, and working through each chapter one week at a time amounts to at least one month per book. That’ll keep us busy. From there we could explore a Deleuzian, high-theory route, or get lost in a sea of books about the surveillance state, but let’s worry about that later.
The reading for next week
: Blankenship’s (The Mentor) “Conscience of a Hacker,” also known as “The Hacker’s Manifesto.” (Not to be confused with Wark’s). Full text
on Phrack’s website
.
Give it a read and scribble down some notes if you like, but
save your comments about the article for next week’s post
: that way they are all grouped together under the correct heading. In this week’s comments, let me know which of the above books you want to tackle next (I’m going to wait on the Jargon File for now, but you can help convince me which is the best version to use). I also welcome your suggestions for other works to include, or even arguments against any of the ones I have chosen, as long as you provide a compelling argument.
Hacking & Philosophy is an ongoing column with several sections:
October 28th: Hacking & Philosophy: An Introduction
November 4th: The Mentor’s Manifesto
November 11th: Sterling’s Hacker Crackdown: Intro & Part I
November 18th: Sterling’s Hacker Crackdown: Part II
November 25th:
Sterling’s Hacker Crackdown: Part III
December 2nd: Sterling’s Hacker Crackdown: Part IV | 61 | 21 | [
{
"comment_id": "1085463",
"author": "Kevin",
"timestamp": "2013-10-28T17:07:33",
"content": "Awesome idea. Looking forward to some light hearted debating!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1085985",
"author": "John U",
"timestam... | 1,760,376,417.850775 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/10/28/making-a-power-inductor-checker/ | Making A Power Inductor Checker | Mathieu Stephan | [
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"coil",
"inductance",
"inductor",
"mosfet"
] | Back to the basics: there are three kinds of passive electronic components: Inductors, Capacitors and Resistors. An inductor can be easily built and many types of core and bobbin kits are available. However, characterizing one hypothetical coil you just made is quite tricky as its inductance will depend on the measurement frequency and DC bias current. That’s why [ChaN]
designed the circuit shown above
.
As you may guess, RF enthusiasts are more interested in the inductance vs frequency curve while power circuit designers prefer inductance vs load current (for a given frequency). The basic principle behind the circuit shown above is to load an inductor for repetitive short periods and visualizing the current curve with an oscilloscope connected to a sense resistor. When loading the inductor, the current curve will be composed of two consecutive slopes as at a given moment the coil’s core will be saturated. Measuring the slope coefficient then allows us to compute the corresponding inductance.
[Via
Dangerous Prototypes
] | 7 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "1085377",
"author": "Bogdan",
"timestamp": "2013-10-28T15:00:00",
"content": "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memristor",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1085878",
"author": "Rob",
"timestamp": "2013-10-29T05:24:20"... | 1,760,376,417.502417 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/10/28/portable-ps2-courtesy-of-cross-plane/ | Portable PS2, Courtesy Of Cross Plane | Brian Benchoff | [
"Playstation Hacks"
] | [
"console mod",
"playstation",
"playstation 2",
"ps2"
] | It’s not exactly a portable, but [Downing]’s PS2 advance
puts all the power of a Playstation 2 in the palm of your hands
, all while being more popular that the Vita.
For the audio and video, the project uses
a Cross Plane
, a project from a slightly unsuccessful Kickstarter [Downing] pulled the plug on last month. When the handheld is plugged in to the Cross Plane, all the audio, video, and controller wires are transferred through a pair of cables, with the possible addition of wireless transmission should [Downing] ever want to revisit this project.
In deciding on what to use for a case, [Downing] had bought a few
AG cases from Polycase
but found the ergonomics severely lacking. Putting two of the case backs together, he found the resulting structure was actually very comfortable, and with a few simple modifications to add some holes for acorn nuts,
It’s a great looking project that really highlights [Downing]’s talents as a console modder. He’s also
thrown his hat into the Hackaday Trinket contest
by engraving the Jolly Wrencher into the back of his project, which unfortunately isn’t seen in the video below. | 11 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "1085324",
"author": "chris",
"timestamp": "2013-10-28T13:53:34",
"content": "Good, but this is only a controller with video capabilities, not the full playstation made portable.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1085440",
... | 1,760,376,417.452894 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/10/28/diy-mini-quadcopter-frame-is-light-and-strong/ | DIY Mini Quadcopter Frame Is Light And Strong | Adam Fabio | [
"drone hacks"
] | [
"hobbyking",
"quadcopter",
"quadrotor"
] | [Oscar] has been busy lately building DIY
mini quadcopters
. We saw
his controller design
earlier in the month. Back then he was using it with his walking robot designs. Now [Oscar] has posted up some information on his quadcopter work. Even though [Oscar] is new to mini quads, he began by designing his own frame. He started his frame design by using a cut down version of the well-known 949 frame. [Oscar] chose polystyrene for his motor mounts, which turned out to be the downfall of the frame. Polystyrene proved to be much too flimsy to handle the vibrations of the motors and props. The vibrations were transmitted to the accelerometers, which resulted in a model that was very hard to control. You can see this in the first video after the break.
For his second attempt, [Oscar] started with a proven design from HobbyKing.
HobbyKing’s fiberglass mini quadcopter frame
is sturdy, but heavy, and expensive to replace (If the parts are even in stock). The frame did work though, so he used it as a starting point for his second DIY frame. The new frame is based upon fiberglass shafts. [Oscar] used hot glue to join the shafts to the motor mounts. Each joint was wrapped in string, which was then coated with hot glue. We’d suggest thin cyanoacrylate glue in the future for these types of joints. Only a few drops of CA soaks up into the string, creating an extremely light and strong joint. [Oscar’s] frame ended up at about half the weight of the HobbyKing frame, but was stiff enough for a successful flight test, as can be seen in the second video after the break. | 7 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "1085243",
"author": "Jim",
"timestamp": "2013-10-28T12:34:03",
"content": "Is this also an entry for the Trinket contest? :PAnyway, nice work :)",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "1085258",
"author": "Rusty",
"timestamp": "... | 1,760,376,417.54807 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/10/25/fire-breathing-jack-o-lantern-of-death/ | Fire Breathing Jack-O-Lantern Of Death | Todd Harrison | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"Holiday Hacks"
] | [
"fire",
"halloween",
"jack o lantern",
"parallax",
"ping",
"pumpkin"
] | [Rick] is at it again, this week he has conjured up an even more dangerous Halloween hack. Thankfully [Rick] has included a warning of just how dangerous this hack can be, especially if children are around. Don’t do this hack unless you know what you’re doing and you can do it safely.
For [Rick]’s number four hack of the month he gives us the
Fire Breathing Jack-O-Lantern
of death! This isn’t a new idea but it is a very unique and simple implementation. We always love seeing the ingenuity of hackers to repurpose existing commercial products. In this case, [Rick] uses an automated air freshener which dispenses a flammable spray for the pumpkins breath if you dare get too close, but not so close as to get burned. The trigger distance is controlled by an Arduino and a Parallax Ping))) sensor so as to fire only when people are farther than 3 feet but closer than 5 feet. You can get a copy of the Arduino sketch from his blog posting.
A small candle is used to ignite the flammable spray, which shoots out 5 to 10 inches from the pumpkin’s mouth when triggered by the ultrasonic sensor. It couldn’t be simpler. The most challenging part was getting the large air freshener dispenser in the pumpkin with the flames coming out the mouth. A little extra whacking at the pumpkin fixed the fit, but planning for a larger pumpkin would be advised.
Theoretically the Arduino shouldn’t trigger and throw flames if people are too close, but when kids are running around they may come right into the target area unexpectedly. If this hack is used in the right place it would make for a great Halloween display item and could be used safely.
After the break you can watch [Rick’s] flame breathing Jack-o-Lantern build tutorial.
If you would like to see a voice controlled dragon pumpkin that throws flames whenever somebody says “trick or treat” then checkout this
Microsoft Kinect voice recognition hack
. | 25 | 15 | [
{
"comment_id": "1082975",
"author": "Josh Martin",
"timestamp": "2013-10-25T08:12:52",
"content": "I’d put it in some sort of display that makes you look at it briefly but not stare at it. You know have a skeleton near it, and a few other things. Nothing different at all, until you walk PAST it, an... | 1,760,376,417.75152 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/10/24/a-very-professional-homemade-cnc-router/ | A Very Professional Homemade CNC Router | Mathieu Stephan | [
"cnc hacks"
] | [
"ball screw",
"cnc",
"CNC router",
"Numerical control",
"stepper motor"
] | [Benne] has a small workshop at home so he decided to make a very
versatile CNC router
for his final project at school. It took him around 6 months to arrive at the result you can see in the image above and what is even more impressive is that he was only 17 years old at the time.
[Benne] used the free cad program Google Sketchup to draw the different parts he needed around the linear rails and ball screws he already had lying around. The CNC’s travel is 730x650x150mm, uses Nema 23 (3Nm) steppers, 15mm thick aluminum plates and 30x60mm aluminum extrusions. In his article, [Benne] gives great advice to those who would like to design their CNC like his, providing very useful links to manufacturers. He estimated the cost of his CNC to be around 1500 euros (about $2000). We’ll let you browse the many lines of his very detailed build log, which makes us wish to be as talented as him even at our age… | 26 | 18 | [
{
"comment_id": "1083070",
"author": "Rich",
"timestamp": "2013-10-25T10:16:38",
"content": "No, this is indeed impressive and overall cool. Although, it may not be as nice as the CNC Machine that you didn’t build.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id... | 1,760,376,417.606477 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/10/24/old-fax-machine-shows-signs-of-life/ | Old Fax Machine Shows Signs Of Life | Adam Fabio | [
"LED Hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"cellular automata",
"Cellular automaton",
"conway",
"conways game of life",
"fax",
"moscow"
] | [Dmitry] is a Moscow based artist. He’s also a an avid circuit bender and hardware hacker.
His latest project is entitled “signes de vie”
or signs of life. [Dmitry] started with an Arduino and an old thermal fax machine. He removed the thermal print head and replaced it with a row of 10 LEDs. These old fax machines would use rolls of paper, cutting each sheet of as it was printed. [Dmitry] kept the roll system, but treated his paper with fluorescent dye. As the paper passes under the LEDs, it pauses for a moment and the LEDs are flashed. This causes a ghostly glow to remain on the paper for several minutes as the next rows are printed.
While [Dmitry] could have made this the world’s biggest tweet printer, he chose to go a more mathematical route. Each printed row of dots represents a generation of
one-dimensional cellular automata
. Cellular automation is a mathematical model of generations of cells. All cells exist on a grid, and can be alive or dead. The number of neighboring live cells determines if any given cell will live on to the next generation. One common implementation of cellular automation is
Conway’s Game of Life
. In [Dmitry’s] implementation, a bank of switches select which of the
256 common cellular automata rules
controls the colony. A second bank selects how long each generation lasts – from 1 to 18 seconds.
We really like how the paper becomes a printed, yet temporary history of the colony. [Dmitry] doesn’t say if he’s using a single long strip of paper, or if he created a loop. We’re hoping for the latter. Finally a useful implementation of the old
black fax loop prank
. | 5 | 3 | [
{
"comment_id": "1082862",
"author": "vpoko",
"timestamp": "2013-10-25T02:14:01",
"content": "Very cool project!It’s interesting that of the 256 possible rules for elementary 1D cellular automata, only one of them (rule 110) is provably universal (Turing complete).",
"parent_id": null,
"dept... | 1,760,376,417.894907 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/10/24/a-much-more-dyi-air-gap-flash-unit/ | A Much More DYI Air Gap Flash Unit | Mathieu Stephan | [
"digital cameras hacks"
] | [
"capacitor",
"electronics",
"flash",
"Flashtube",
"high voltage"
] | In reaction to the other air gap flash unit we featured a few days ago, [Eirik] sent us a tip about another one
he recently made
. In his setup, the duration of the flash peak intensity is around 300ns (1/3,333,333 of a second). As a reminder, an air flash unit consists of a circuit charging a high voltage capacitor, a circuit triggering a discharge on demand, a high voltage capacitor and the air flash tube itself. The flash tube contains two wires which are separated just enough to not spark over at max potential. Isolated from the other two, a third wire is placed in the tube. This wire is connected to a trigger/pulse transformer, which will ionize the gap between the two capacitor leads. This causes the gap to breakdown and a spark to form, thereby creating a flash of light.
[Eirik] constructed his flash tube using an olive jar and a glass test tube. As you can see from the (very nice) picture above, the spark travels along the glass test tube, making the quenching much faster than in an open air spark. [Eirik] built his own high voltage capacitor, using seven rolled capacitors of roughly 2nF each made with duct-tape, tin foil and overhead transparencies. For ‘safety’ they are stored in a PP-pipe. A look at the schematics and overall circuit shown on the website reveals how skilled [Eirik] is, making us think that this is more a nice creation than a hack.
Disclaimer: As with
the previous airgap flash
, high voltages are used here, so don’t do this at home. | 39 | 12 | [
{
"comment_id": "1082775",
"author": "Snikrepmada",
"timestamp": "2013-10-24T23:11:39",
"content": "Should the title be DIY?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1082969",
"author": "Eirinn",
"timestamp": "2013-10-25T08:02:47",
... | 1,760,376,418.06797 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/10/24/hackerspacing-in-europe-whitespace-in-gent/ | Hackerspacing In Europe: WhiteSpace In Gent | James Hobson | [
"Hackerspaces"
] | [
"0x20",
"gent",
"ghent",
"hackerspace in gent",
"hackerspace passport",
"hackerspacing",
"hackerspacing in europe",
"whitespace"
] | Welcome to the
White Space
, or as it is more fondly known, 0x20.
We’re glad we made it out to this one — it wasn’t even planned, but
after visiting HSBXL
, one of the members got us in touch and so we took a chance and got on a train to Gent, Belgium — just in case someone could show us around. We were in luck, and two members showed up to give us the grand tour!
After wandering around Gent like a pair of lost tourists, we managed to find the complex that WhiteSpace is a part of. Similar to
Garage Lab
but the building is enclosed, and it seems to house more studios in the space.
The mailbox is a bit confusing — #13 does not mean they are in studio #13. Nope — they are actually on the 2nd floor in 1.21.
The ever popular Club-Mate is here as well — it’s everywhere! But in these packets is an interesting blend of caffeine, guarana, and who knows what else. One of the members, [Bart], warned us that they aren’t very tasty…
This is the main area of the space, on the left we have the bar (with an automated cash/inventory system), couches, desks, and all the outlets you could ever need.
They also have an old arcade machine with about 8 games — that run off the original tapes. Very fun.
View of the lounge, projector screen in the back. Great spot to sit back and relax.
This is cool — in case you didn’t know, Belgium has
free Wi-Fi everywhere
(
translated
). What started out as a hobby by a few enthusiasts in Antwerp over 10 years ago is now a national Wi-Fi network that is free to use for everyone. In essence, everyone shares their network connection and this creates a giant mesh — the beauty of it all? Everyone in Belgium has the same IP address — take that NSA! For more information check the links above.
Another view of the lounge from the other side. The space isn’t huge, but it’s definitely cosy.
Beside the entrance to the workshop we have the member storage shelf, where people can keep all their unfinished projects.
This is the back workshop.
Lots of space for messy projects, and there is even proper ventilation!
There’s an old potato canon hanging out on one of the cross-beam shelves.
This is pretty cool — the roof opens up and WhiteSpace hacked the mechanism to include a fan to help ventilate. It’s all controlled by a 3-position switch by the door.
More storage space…
One of the lounge couches and the sticker repository.
One of the members made a giant array of split-flap displays — 140 characters to be exact. Can you guess what it was for? Four of the characters stay here, and it’s still fully functional!
WhiteSpace also happened to have a supply of Hackerspace Passports! If you weren’t aware,
these exist!
We’re a few stamps behind now, but not all spaces even have a stamp yet. Can you spot the Hack A Day logo?
And finally a view of the kitchen and bar area. The small monitor on the left is powered by a Raspberry Pi which controls the food and beverage accounting system.
All in all, WhiteSpace is a really cool hackerspace with a lot of character and a great atmosphere. If you happen to be in or nearby Gent, Belgium — check it out! | 31 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "1082697",
"author": "bill.french",
"timestamp": "2013-10-24T20:13:39",
"content": "Wow, certainly not a name that would fly in the US.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1082704",
"author": "DougR",
"timestamp": "... | 1,760,376,418.139117 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/10/24/fail-of-the-week-flaming-brushless-motor-controller/ | Fail Of The Week: Flaming Brushless Motor Controller | Mike Szczys | [
"Fail of the Week",
"Hackaday Columns"
] | [
"BLDC",
"brushless motor",
"fail of the week",
"mosfet"
] | Yep, smoke and flames are usually a sign that your electronics aren’t functioning as expected. This is actually
the second failure encountered while learning about brushless motor controllers
.
[Michael Kohn] purchase the motor while working on a different project and it went unused for quite some time. When he came across it again he decided he should learn the not-so-dark art of BLDC control.
The first hurdle was to figure out how to drive the three-wire motor when he had been expecting only two. The answer required him to come up with switching mechanism that allows three states for each wire: positive, negative, and not connected. His solution was to use MOSFETs. It’s a good idea, but unfortunately during the first iteration they were under-spec’d and he scared the crap out of himself when one of them blew up during testing (clip #1 below). After sourcing a more robust set of MOSFETs [Micheal] went back to testing which is when this little fire broke out. The 22 gauge wires connecting the Lithium battery to the driver just couldn’t cut it. See for yourself in the second clip.
It’s been awhile since we’ve said it: Please remember the Fail of the Week is not about ridiculing the hacker who was gracious enough to document his or her failure. It’s about learning from the mistake and discussing alternatives that can help others in the future. For instance, in this case some advice in determining MOSFET specs and wire gauge for any type of motor would be quite helpful. Have at it in the comments.
Fail of the Week is a Hackaday column which runs every Wednesday. Help keep the fun rolling by writing about your past failures and
sending us a link to the story
— or sending in links to fail write ups you find in your Internet travels. | 41 | 19 | [
{
"comment_id": "1082590",
"author": "Trui",
"timestamp": "2013-10-24T17:24:10",
"content": "What you need is real gate drivers, and much smaller gate resistors. The idea is that the MOSFET needs to quickly switch from ‘off’ to ‘on’ state, and back. The more time it spends in the halfway territory, ... | 1,760,376,417.992758 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/10/24/trinket-contest-update-1/ | Trinket Contest Update #1 | Mike Szczys | [
"contests"
] | [
"trinket contest"
] | Entries for
the Trinket contest
are starting to roll in. The challenge was to slap the Hackaday logo onto something, with 20 of
Trinket dev boards
which Adafruit put up for grabs. Here’s five of the early entries, which we’ll describe in more detail after the jump. Get your entry in by Friday, November 1st for a chance at a prize.
This blurry image depicts a 1″ button which [Ken] used to test out the settings on his laser cutter. Not knowing what to do with the etched baubles he handed them off to his hackerspace in hopes that they’d find a good home.
This laser-cut sign is the handy work of [Ben]. The 1/4″ plywood backlit with LEDs warns visitors who are approaching his man cave.
Throwing the skull and wrenches up on his array of nine 32″ screens was the easiest way [Chad] could figure out to go large for the contest.
[Joshua] went the opposite route, milling a tiny logo into a Corian puck. He thinks the logo actually looks a bit better than shown, but he had to paint the black logo by hand with a Sharpie and didn’t have fine enough magnification to do a better job. We think it’s looks pretty fantastic and it sure is small!
Here’s an E-ink display which [Petteri] picked up rather inexpensively (somewhere in the $30 range) because they’re made as replacements for broken eBook readers. He’s been working through the particulars of driving the display, and designed the green STM32-based controller board himself. Very impressive and we’re happy
he actually posted quite a bit of info on the build
. | 13 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "1082556",
"author": "Eirinn",
"timestamp": "2013-10-24T16:01:09",
"content": "I do love trinkets :oSome of them seems a bit…uh… half arsed though, i apologize if this offends anyone. Popping an image onto an already existing 9 screen array seems…too easy. Some of them are cool. I es... | 1,760,376,418.190632 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/10/25/hhh-sniffing-proprietary-cnc-to-hack-in-g-code-support/ | HHH: Sniffing Proprietary CNC To Hack In G-Code Support | Mike Szczys | [
"cnc hacks",
"Hackerspaces"
] | [
"cnc",
"g-code",
"hackaday hackerspace henchmen",
"mill",
"python"
] | Here’s a beautiful desktop CNC mill which had one big drawback: it used a proprietary interface for driving it. To increase the flexibility of the tool
it was hacked to work with G-Code
.
The project is a Hackaday Hackerspace Henchmen submission from
rLab, the Reading Hackspace
in the UK. [Barnaby] explains the entire project after the break. The machine itself wasn’t altered, but a translator script was written in Python after capturing a bunch of packets and working out the protocol. This script listens for G-Code and does the translation into the type of commands the machine is expecting to receive.
If you know of a CNC hack from your own hackerspace
send us the story for a chance to win some loot
.
One of the first tools Reading Hackspace received was a small but sturdy 3-axis CnC Mill. It was designed for school use so was fully enclosed with lots of interlocks; ideal for training. Despite its limited work area the mechanics are nice with strong bearings, NEMA23 motors, and a 1/2 horsepower spindle. As you can see from the second picture the drive electronics are particularly neatly wired.
Denford also supplied some closed-source software to control the mill. This software is serviceable but we wanted something we could adapt to our needs. We now have several other machines running g-code (the Mill itself shares a bench with two RepRaps) so it seemed a pity it was stuck with a proprietary protocol.
One option was to simply replace the controller on the Mill. However as the current controller was working this seemed unnecessary. Another interesting option was that part of the firmware can be uploaded from the host software as a Mint Basic source file. This would have allowed us to change the meaning of some messages, but the actual structure of the communication messages is handled elsewhere so we could not have added G-Code support. In the end we fired up the official software in Wine and logged all the communication going though the serial port to disk.
As it turned out the protocol was relatively simple, small packets with a simple XOR checksum and often an acknowledgement back from the Mill. Once we realized there was a firmware interlock that you couldn’t move an axis until it had been homed it was fairly quick to get some basic motion out of the mill.
Next we wrote a simple Python program that created a virtual serial port where it listens for G-Code and in turn sends the messages the mill expects to the real serial port. This allows us to drive the Mill with
the same interface we use on the RepRaps
, and use
PyCAM
to generate the G-code.
Lucky PyCAM and most modern CAM programs actually only output a very simple sub-set of G-code. Rather then specifying tool offsets etc. it precomputes everything down to a simple list of co-ordinates to move to. This ensures that our G-code interpretor could be very simple yet still cope with anything PyCAM produces.
The only other thing that nearly caught us out (so far), is that some commands (e.g. spindle stop) aren’t buffered, so you have to poll the mill to ensure it has finished the proceeding cuts before you can send them.
Thank you,
Barnaby | 19 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "1083726",
"author": "ian",
"timestamp": "2013-10-26T02:48:46",
"content": "finally some info on this type of cnc machine, we have had one at my loocal school that we got donated and lost the software for it finally we can use it without paying hundred of dollars",
"parent_id": n... | 1,760,376,418.302514 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/10/25/learn-wireless-sensor-networks-with-nanode/ | Learn Wireless Sensor Networks With Nanode | Adam Fabio | [
"Wireless Hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"Data Communications",
"nanode",
"sensor",
"wireless"
] | Getting a device on the internet is great – but what if you want to monitor multiple wireless sensors? The [WickedDevice] crew have been publishing a
tutorial series focusing on just that
. Their
weapon of choice is the Nanode
, an Arduino based wireless sensor system
we’ve seen a few times in the past
. So far the first and second parts have been posted up. Part one starts with an explanation of the Arduino and Nanode platform, and takes us through connecting the Nanode to a wireless temperature sensor. Part two walks through the hardware and code changes to add multiple wireless sensors to the system. Part three will focus on getting the entire network up on the internet, and piping data onto the
Xively data hosting site
.
This tutorial does begin a bit on the basic side, covering the installation of the Arduino software environment. This may seem a bit simplistic for some of our readers, but we think this type of tutorial is necessary. It helps ‘newbies’ get started down what could otherwise be a difficult path. For more advanced readers, it’s easier to skip past steps you already know than it is to try to hunt down information that isn’t there. | 3 | 2 | [
{
"comment_id": "1084026",
"author": "Jeroen",
"timestamp": "2013-10-26T13:24:22",
"content": "It’s a shame the people behind the Nanode decided to move away from the through-hole component based design they started out with. I have a few of those devices, and there is something decidedly satisfying... | 1,760,376,418.241746 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/10/25/making-128mb-simms-from-junk/ | Making 128MB SIMMs From Junk | Brian Benchoff | [
"classic hacks"
] | [
"72 pin simm",
"ram",
"SIMM"
] | Working for a tech repair/recycling center, [Jax] has access to a ton of cool hardware. Most of it is junk, but that’s just the way he likes it. Among his better finds in the depths of a tech treasure trove is a huge antistatic bag of 64 MB 72 pin SIMMs. These were the standard RAM form factor for just about everything in the 90s, and while 64 MB is a huge amount of RAM for the time, they’re still a bit away from the 72 pin max of 128 MB.
After inspecting these sticks, [Jax] noticed something odd. Each side had pads for memory chips, but only one side was populated. Given the rarity of 128 MB sticks of RAM, [Jax] decided he would have a go at
adding 64 Megs of RAM
to these chips by desoldering one stick and sticking it on the back of another.
These new 128 MB SIMMs made their way into a Macintosh Quadra 605 for testing. While the 64 MB chips worked fine, the new 128 MB chips threw a
chime of death
. Something was terribly wrong.
While investigating, [Jax] couldn’t find any bridged solder joints, and everything looked okay. Heat is a wonderful test of what went wrong, and with the SIMM connected to a power source, he found all of the newly transplanted chips were hot. Because the chips on back side of the SIMMs were meant to be installed upside down, [Jax] had inadvertently connected the ground to power and power to ground.
Fixing his mistake on a new SIMM, [Jax] popped it in his old Mac and tried booting with these SIMMs again. There wasn’t a chime of death, but booting with these chips took a very long time. This was actually just the Mac checking all the RAM, which was successfully addressed once [Jax] finally booted his OS. | 25 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "1083471",
"author": "tekkieneet",
"timestamp": "2013-10-25T20:11:48",
"content": "I have done half a dozen or so DIMM upgrades. Most of the older memoryPC133 128MB have double sided footprints for 256MB, but only have thetop side installed. It is a matter of carefully desoldering SD... | 1,760,376,418.430849 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/10/25/mills-and-lathes-apparently-illegal-in-the-uk/ | UK Cops Fear Gun; Pointlessly Seize 3D Printer | Brian Benchoff | [
"3d Printer hacks",
"News"
] | [
"3d printed gun",
"3d printer",
"gun"
] | Above, according to the greater Manchester Police force,
is a 3D printed gun
. Well, the rozzers say it’s merely a trigger for a gun. In part they’re actually correct; it is a trigger.
For a spring-loaded extruder for the Makerbot Replicator
.
For the past few days, the media
has
been
abuzz
about the first seizure of a 3D printer (a Makerbot Replicator 2) in Manchester, UK during a raid on suspected gang members. Despite numerous complaints and comments by makers across the UK (thanks, guys), Assistant Chief Constable [Steve Heywood] says,
“We need to be absolutely clear that at that this stage, we cannot categorically say we have recovered the component parts for a 3D gun.”
The seized 3D printer parts are being sent to ballistics experts to determine if a random piece of plastic can be used in the manufacture of handguns.
Alright kiddos, editorial time. We’re quite aware that the UK is a little…. different… than the US when it comes to firearms regulation. Nevertheless, we feel the need to defend anyone with a 3D printer, in a handy Q&A format:
What this has also done is open up a wider debate about the emerging threat these next generation of weapons might pose.
No, it doesn’t. I don’t know what the British equivalent of a Home Depot is, but I could go to that store, buy some stuff, and build a zip gun. Of course I wouldn’t, because that’s not safe. I could also use a mill and lathe to make a proper gun.
But it’s made of plastic and thus undetectable
Bullets aren’t. Also, I could machine some Delrin. You should really watch
In the Line of Fire
.
But plans for 3D printed guns are available, making it easy for anyone to fabricate their own gun
Yeah, and
Hackaday made one
. There were a lot of problems with those 3D printer files. The spring wouldn’t slice, the hammer wouldn’t print, every part was out of scale, and you’d need a lot of experience in 3D modeling and design to turn those ‘plans available on the Internet’ into something you can send to a printer.
Your posting this article further sensationalizes the role of 3D printers in gun control.
You’re right. Here’s what you do: every time someone mentions 3D printed guns, say, “You can build an even better gun with a combo mill/lathe that costs the same as a 3D printer. Equal skill is required to operate both machines. Do you intend to ban the sale or use of machine tools?”
But UK gun laws are weird.
Then print a knife
.
via
reddit | 204 | 44 | [
{
"comment_id": "1083372",
"author": "Matt Joyce",
"timestamp": "2013-10-25T18:07:10",
"content": "http://thebrigade.thechive.com/2012/12/06/diy-shovel-to-ak-47-50-photos/I prefer to just show people the AK-47 made out of a shovel.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
... | 1,760,376,419.043719 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/10/25/converting-a-mill-to-cnc-2/ | Converting A Mill To CNC | Phillip Ryals | [
"3d Printer hacks",
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"cnc",
"mill",
"stepper"
] | Have a mill that you’d like to automate? Perhaps you can gets some ideas from the work [James] recently finished. Using familiar NEMA 23 stepper motors (the same motors used in the RepRap), he
hacked his Proxxon MF-70 mill
for CNC control. Adding a Sanguino and the stepper controllers from other projects, [James] got a working machine for minimal investment. You can tell that [James] is a fan of Polymorph, because he uses it liberally for most of the project, even using it to create some
Oldham couplings
(
Google cache
).
After completing the build initially, he managed to burn out the spindle motor by milling steel too quickly. We found it interesting that he was able to use a TURNIGY 2217 860kv 22A Outrunner (for R/C airplanes) as a new spindle motor. Not only is it a low-cost solution, but pairing it with a traditional brushless ESC can give your CNC software direct control over the motor speed.
The image above is an example of what [James’] machine is capable of. Overall, it’s a very accessible project for most of us. Not every mill needs to be
capable of 10 mil traces
. If you’ve got the urge, you can probably put one together yourself. Of course, if you do, please let us know! | 22 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "1083300",
"author": "Graham Bicknell",
"timestamp": "2013-10-25T17:05:38",
"content": "The oldham couplings link is broken, just FYI",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1083348",
"author": "Mike Szczys",
"timestamp... | 1,760,376,418.56276 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/10/25/weightless-the-internet-of-things-chip-becomes-less-vaporware/ | Weightless, The Internet Of Things Chip, Becomes Less Vaporware | Brian Benchoff | [
"hardware",
"Radio Hacks"
] | [
"internet of things",
"radio",
"uhf",
"VHF",
"weightless"
] | Several months ago,
we caught wind of Weightless
, a $2 chip that will run for 10 years on a AA battery and communicate to a Weightless base station 10 Km away. Yes, this is the fabled Internet of Things chip that will allow sensors of every type to communicate with servers around the world. It looks like Weightless is becoming less and less vaporware, as evidenced by the
Weightless SIG hardware roadmap
; Weightless modules might be in the hands of makers and designers in just a few short months.
Weightless is an extremely low-cost wireless module that operates in the radio spectrum previously occupied by analog broadcast television. This is a great place for the Internet of Things, as signals in this spectrum have a lot of range and the ability to go through walls. These signals are sent to a Weightless base station where they are then sent over the Internet to servers around the world.
The Weightless SIG has been hard at work producing new silicon, with the third generation of chips heading for volume production next month. The only thing this chip requires is a battery and an antenna, making Weightless integration for new designs and projects a snap.
There’s one thing Weightless is
not,
and that’s a free, high-speed connection to the Internet with a $2 adapter. Weightless is designed for sensors that only transmit a kilobyte or so a day – medical sensors, irrigation control, and other relatively boring things. There’s a summary video from the recent 2013 Weightless SIG Summit going over all this information below. | 40 | 25 | [
{
"comment_id": "1083212",
"author": "Caleb",
"timestamp": "2013-10-25T14:38:29",
"content": "-BEGIN RANTIsn’t this the definition of vapor ware? They are showing a proposed road map of a theoretical chip with amazing possibilities. Show me a field test with a prototype unit not a 3D rendering or so... | 1,760,376,418.639195 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/10/25/hackerspacing-in-europe-void-warranties-in-antwerp/ | Hackerspacing In Europe: Void Warranties In Antwerp | James Hobson | [
"Hackerspaces"
] | [
"Antwerp",
"Belgium",
"hackerspace",
"hackerspacing in europe",
"Void Warranties"
] | Welcome to
Void Warranties
in Antwerp, Belgium!
I think this quote from their site really sums up the space nicely:
Whatever code we hack, be it programming language, poetic language, art, math or music, curves or colourings, nuons or electrons we create the possibility of new things entering our world.
That’s a cool way of putting it!
Immediately inside is a patch panel key rack — we first saw it done like this
at ACKspace
, and it’s definitely a nice way to organize keys! Now what if they added some AI to the rack…
They also have a nice food and beverage tracking system, first one we’ve seen with a touch screen! But wait, isn’t that a CRT monitor? Hacked. The happy little guy is the pull cord to open the cash drawer. Again, its an honor system, but it works.
When we arrived, one of the members was working on his Nixie tube system – pretty cool setup!
This is the main lounge, kitchen, and hackspace. Void Warranties is in the basement of a youth home in a nice quiet neighborhood. If our memory serves us right, the house is well over 100 years old.
Past the main area is one of the tool closets, fully equipped with pretty much any hand tool you could want…
This is looking back towards the main lounge space — notice the Club-Mates on the left?
The next series of rooms are dedicated to more electronics hacking. The building itself has a really nice old basement feel to it, nice and clean though!
The other side has 3D printers, more work benches, and some structural supports keeping the ceiling in place…
These are the garden gnomes. Just this summer Void Warranties participated at
OHM2013
a Dutch hacker camp that brought out over 3000 hackers to a field in the middle of no where for nearly a week of hacking! Anyway, they needed something to decorate their camp area with — they chose garden gnomes. Add a few red LEDs and you have a creepy guardian to put outside in the dark. The cool thing was, other hackerspaces borrowed the gnomes and some of them even hacked them to add motion. Most of the gnomes made it back to Void Warranties — some with extra creepy functionality!
Here is their small server room in the back of the hackerspace…
And a small administration and testing bench opposite the servers.
They have a big box of ancient tech magazines that were fascinated to look through! The shelf seen behind is the last place a project sees — to conserve space and not become a dump, items end up on this shelf and must either be claimed by members, or thrown out. They are hoping to empty it completely so they can put a new work bench in, but you know how stuff piles up.
Closer to the main entrance is one of the member storage areas — they use big black boxes to keep things packed up nicely.
While we were at Void Warranties, [
Deepak
] stopped by with his 3Doodler and we all had a go — it’s a lot harder than it looks.
Finally we have an excellent piece of artwork framed above the stairs — they added the space invaders in the same color tones as the original portrait and it looks awesome.
All in all, Void Warranties is a really cool space with a nice home feel to it. If you’re ever in the area, definitely check it out and meet some amazing people! | 6 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "1083140",
"author": "Eirinn",
"timestamp": "2013-10-25T12:07:15",
"content": "Reminds me a bit of Labitat in Copenhagen Denmark. :)",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "1083246",
"author": "Wretch",
"timestamp": "2013-10-25T1... | 1,760,376,418.691122 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/10/23/hhh-pcb-mill-from-connecticut-hackerspace/ | HHH: PCB Mill From Connecticut Hackerspace | Mike Szczys | [
"cnc hacks",
"Hackerspaces"
] | [
"hackaday hackerspace henchmen",
"mill",
"pcb"
] | The latest Hackaday Hackerspace Henchmen entry comes from [Bremster] and the Connecticut Hackerspace. He mentions that he’s been meaning to write
about the PCB/engraving mill used at the hackerspace
for some time, but it was
the HHH program
which motivated him to do so. Yay! That’s exactly what we envisioned with this and we hope there are more submissions which will encourage us to continue and expand the program.
We think this is a perfect CNC project for any hackerspace whose members are into electronics. It’s compact, and we find milling PCBs to be more desirable than chemically etching them; the tool should get quite a bit of use. This particular build uses x, y, and z axis hardware which was pulled separately from unknown machinery. Like any good hacking project, the fabrication process was so addictive that [Bremster] stayed at the space all night, breaking at 5am to shower and eat before heading to work.
It originally used a Dremel rotary tool but had too much play in the mounting mechanism. When they replaced it with the motor shown above they also machined an aluminum bracket that dramatically stabilizes the cutting bit. This results in clean PCBs, and they’ve even used it to make stamps for their hackerspace passports. There is an enclosure attached, which has been hinged to the right for the two images above.
Check out the demo video below, and get your own CNC submission in for the HHH program before the October 31st deadline. | 15 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "1082131",
"author": "pcf11",
"timestamp": "2013-10-23T23:41:12",
"content": "Man that’s dumb. Why don’t they just etch boards?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "1082144",
"author": "mikemac",
"timestamp": "2013-10-24T00:23... | 1,760,376,419.273133 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/10/23/3d-printering-a-call-for-an-open-source-automated-build-platform/ | 3D Printering: A Call For An Open Source Automated Build Platform | Brian Benchoff | [
"3d Printer hacks",
"Hackaday Columns"
] | [
"3D Printering",
"Automated build platform",
"makerbot",
"patent"
] | I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again: if you’re using a 3D printer to make a few hundred identical plastic parts, you’re doing it wrong. That’s the place for traditional manufacturing methods such as injection molding or resin casting. If, however, you’re looking at printing a few dozen identical plastic parts, or even running a script to optimize your machine time, the current open source 3D printer world leaves one thing to be desired.
An Automated Build Platform
An Automated Build Platform is a fairly simple idea: put a conveyor belt on your heated bed, and when the print is done, send a command to drive a motor, dumping the newly printed part into a bin, The printer then begins the next part with a clean bed, and the days of doting over a 3D printer soon fade into the past.
For such a simple and useful idea, it’s surprising there hasn’t been much done with this idea in open source circles. There are, of course, problems both technical and legal, but hopefully nothing that should indefinitely derail anyone who would want to create the first open source automated build platform.
The Problem Space
For anyone who has been following 3D printers for a while now, the idea of an automated build platform will sound very familiar. Makerbot sold one for their first generation 3D printer, the Cupcake. Since then it’s been taken off the Makerbot store, and apparently expunged from all Makerbot literature; even the
Makerbot Wiki page for the automated build plate
has been removed. That doesn’t mean you still can’t
buy the parts for an ABP
, you’re just not getting any support or documentation from Makerbot.
“But Makerbot is terribly horrible and other ad hominem attacks!”
you say, but let’s not forget that early Makerbot stuff was actually pretty innovative. They came up with
a great pastestruder
before anyone else, and created the ABP
to fabricate their own printed parts
. Just because there’s a Makerbot logo on a machine doesn’t mean it’s automatically bad….
It just means it’s automatically patented
Yep, there are two patents for the Automated Build Platform, apparently
one for the apparatus
and
one for the method
. Call it what you will, but an inventor deserves to profit off their inventions. The ABP is a great idea and we’d prefer to see it out in the wild by now. There is, however, one problem with this train of thought: no one is profiting off the Makerbot Automated Build Plate. It’s not being sold by Makerbot. That leaves us with one other option.
We’ll make our own ABP. With blackjack.
Here’s a challenge for you, oh Hackaday reader. The world of 3D printers has pretty much settled on a
single build plate
. There is, if I’m reading the suggestions for this 3D Printering column correctly, a demand for an open source automated build plate. Let’s make this happen.
There are a few things to consider before attempting to build your own ABP. The most important of which is the flexible bed material. The Makerbot ABP uses – according to the patents – a mylar or kapton material in the range of three to seven thousandths of an inch thick. Next is a way to remove the finished part from the bed. This can be done with a conveyor or by dispensing a single sheet of material that is consumed with each build. All this is in the patents, it’s amazing that they thought of just about everything..
Yes, the Makerbot ABP is locked down under a few patents, but think of this as just another interesting engineering challenge. Just as
Converse All Stars aren’t taxed as sneakers
, the goal of an open source automated build plate is to create something that doesn’t infringe on the Makerbot patents. Design something, put it up on Thingiverse, and send it in to the Hackaday tips line. We’ll put it up. | 79 | 39 | [
{
"comment_id": "1081909",
"author": "Joel Crane (@FuelCell250)",
"timestamp": "2013-10-23T17:07:36",
"content": "Cool idea for sure, but I’d much rather see a call for automatic bed leveling, because it’s going to require firmware, hardware, and host software collaboration. That’s the REAL pain poi... | 1,760,376,419.218043 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/10/23/hackerspacing-in-europe-hsbxl-in-brussels/ | Hackerspacing In Europe: HSBXL In Brussels | James Hobson | [
"Hackerspaces"
] | [
"hackerspace brussels",
"hackerspacing",
"hackerspacing in europe",
"hsbxl"
] | Welcome to
Hackerspace Brussels
.
This place is cool. It’s a 4 story house with a lot of character… and characters! It was one of the first hackerspaces in Belgium and spawned many of the other ones very quickly. We’re on the
right
left, rocking their
cool dude
shirts!
Walking along a quiet street you will come upon house number 40. There’s an old Macintosh mouse on the door. Choose the button wisely…
Directly inside is the main work bench with a few tools — nothing too impressive but more than enough for most projects.
Opposite the bench is an old cigarette machine that they are converting to a component dispenser! Above that is the cheque they won from Microsoft for a competition
A nice library collection of slightly outdated texts…
Like
ACKspace,
they also have an automated bar inventory system, also written in Bash.
Simply scan your chosen product, and leave the cash!
This is the main lounge area on the first floor. Lots of couches, a projector, and even a hacked together touch screen table!
The space also has an automated hydroponics set-up, one inside, and one outside.
They actually have one of the largest backyards on the street, so they have a very nice home-made barbeque set-up and a large garden for hanging out in.
Lots of green space!
View back into the first floor, the black tarp on the left is the outdoor hydroponics tank that is filled with fish.
The second floor is the main electronics lab, and it contains many, many components. All the components! This space lucks out when it comes to donations and dumpster diving. Need a special capacitor? No problem. A high wattage resistor? How high? A speciality LED? Yup.
This is the main electronics bench, plenty of space, soldering irons, and light. A nice open space which is surprisingly neat and free of clutter!
On the desk to the left you can just make out one of the test control circuits for the hydroponics set-up outside.
On the next floor is a floor plan! As you can see the floors get progressively smaller as they go up.
The third floor is the kitchen, nothing too exciting, but very functional.
The top floor contains a Hacker Hostel — Unfortunately we weren’t aware of it until after we booked a hostel in Brussels! It would be super handy though for those late nights though!
Another lounge area, an extra bed, and some more cool projects…
This is one of the coolest — it’s called the HSBXL ScanBot and it can scan books to PDF fast, easily, and without damaging the original book. Of course they would never abuse this copying ability…
On the balcony this is the view of the city — there’s a few roofs in the way, but it’s a very nice look out.
This is the antenna that connects to Belgium’s giant mesh network — more on that in my next post.
More Club-Mate. It’s a staple in hackerspace drinks — haven’t you noticed?
Hackerspace Brussels has been one of the biggest spaces we have visited so far. Lots of space, lots of members, and lots of hacking. Great people, great times. They also let us know of another hackerspace nearby in Gent that we weren’t aware of, it’s called
WhiteSpace
and we might go check it out tomorrow! | 15 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "1081882",
"author": "jegeva",
"timestamp": "2013-10-23T16:13:11",
"content": "There we go guys !",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "1081896",
"author": "Sheldon",
"timestamp": "2013-10-23T16:39:56",
"content": "“We’re o... | 1,760,376,419.102408 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/10/23/arduino-controlled-single-leaf-shutter/ | Arduino-Controlled Single-Leaf Shutter | Phillip Ryals | [
"Arduino Hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"camera",
"shutter",
"solenoid"
] | [Kevin] has
made an interesting camera shutter
mechanism using an Arduino and a solenoid. To keep it extremely simple, he is only controlling a single leaf. In the linked video, you can see him take it through its paces from 1/125 seconds up to infinite. This is, of course, a proof of concept, and [Kevin] mentions using smaller components to make everything fit easily inside a Holga-like body. As he points out in the video’s comments, digitally controlling the flash would be a simple matter as well.
A basic camera is incredibly simple to make, and [Kevin’s] design certainly isn’t complicated. That said, if you look at the big picture, [Kevin] is demonstrating how feasible it could be to build an entirely custom camera with a standard microcontroller as the brain. We can’t help but think of all of the possibilities when you are able to control the entire photo taking process.
Interestingly, [Kevin] is also behind
this twin lens reflex Kickstarter project
from earlier in the year. It will be interesting to see what other camera-related hacks we will see from him. | 4 | 2 | [
{
"comment_id": "1081836",
"author": "Wretch",
"timestamp": "2013-10-23T14:53:42",
"content": "That’s neat!My only question would it make a difference, especially at higher speeds, that the top part of the film gets a longer exposure because of the way the shutter opens and closes?",
"parent_id"... | 1,760,376,419.319408 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/10/23/5-year-mission-continues-after-45-year-hiatus/ | 5 Year Mission Continues After 45 Year Hiatus | Todd Harrison | [
"Crowd Funding"
] | [
"kickstarter",
"star trek"
] | There have been many iterations of the Star Trek franchise since the original Star Trek 5 year mission series aired in 1966 including a cartoon series in 73, a new television series in 87 and many movies on the big screen. Those series and movies inspired many youngsters to pursue a career in the fields of science, engineering, technology and cinema. Now the franchise is coming full circle with a
fan based Kickstarter
funded web series. Those inspired fans are attempting to complete the original 5 year mission “to boldly go where no man has gone before”, which ended after only three seasons on the air. The fan based and fan supported reincarnation is cleverly titled “
Star Trek Continues
” and has CBS’s consent.
The production company behind this effort, [Far From Home, LLC], is owned and operated by [Vic Mignogna], who also plays Kirk in this web series. They have already finished the first amazing 51 minute web-isode titled “
Pilgrim of Eternity
“. The film may seem campy, but it’s not. They are sticking to the original format and using the sets that were used in the sixties, rightfully so being this is the continuation of the mission. This new web series has some very interesting actors. One is the well-known Mythbuster [Grant Imahara], who plays the role of Mr. Sulu. The actor playing Mr. Scott is [Chris Doohan] the son of [James Doohan], who played Mr. Scott in the original Star Trek series.
There are more details and episode 1 after the break.
Those not old enough to experience the original television series may not fully understand or appreciate how important sticking to the exact studio sets, simple props, sound tracks and cheesy video effects is to the completion of this passionate project. Truly “less is more” when making such a perfect reenactment of a vintage TV production. If only we had some tin trays with tinfoil covered meals it would be perfection!
This may be a project of passion but it also costs real dollars to produce and keep the mission on Trek. The Kickstarter linked above seeks to help fund the next three episodes. If they are as good as the first, they will be worth every bit of scratch you can part with. One reward level was a Blu-ray of episode 1 for $50, that would have been a great stocking stuffer. Unfortunately this reward was pulled, but there is some chatter in the comments about bringing it back. At the time of writing this article, they aren’t quite halfway to their $100,000 goal. Maybe they will bring back the Blu-ray reward and we can push them across the finish line. | 80 | 26 | [
{
"comment_id": "1081714",
"author": "Analog",
"timestamp": "2013-10-23T11:09:17",
"content": "couldn’t get past the terrible voice acting. The visuals looked about right and most of the sounds seemed authentic, buy my god- those voices couldn’t be more unfitting.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth... | 1,760,376,419.42817 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/10/23/table-saw-kickback-video-ends-badly/ | Table Saw Kickback Video Ends Badly | Adam Fabio | [
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"kickback",
"saw",
"sawstop",
"table saw",
"tools",
"youtube"
] | Our comments section has been pretty busy lately with talk of table saws and safety, so we decided to feature this sobering video about table saw kickback. [Tom] is a popular YouTube woodworker. He decided to do a
safety video by demonstrating table saw kickback
. If you haven’t guessed, [Tom] is an idiot – and he’ll tell you that himself before the video is over. There are two hacks here. One is [Tom’s] careful analysis and preparation for demonstrating kickback (which should be fail of the week fodder). The other “hack” here is the one that came breathtakingly close to happening – [Tom’s] fingers.
Kickback is one of the most common table saw accidents. The type of kickback [Tom] was attempting to demonstrate is when a board turns and catches the blade past the axle. On a table saw kickback is extremely dangerous for two reasons. First, the piece of wood being cut becomes a missile launched right back at the saw operator. We’ve seen internal injuries caused by people being hit by pieces of wood like this. Second, the saw operator’s hand, which had just been pushing the wood, is now free to slid right into the blade. This is where a
SawStop style system
, while expensive, can save the day.
The average 10 inch table saw blade has an edge traveling at around 103 mph, or 166 kmh. As [Tom] demonstrates in his video, it’s just not possible for a person to react fast enough to avoid injury. Please, both personal users and hackerspaces, understand general safety with all the tools you’re using, and use proper safety equipment. As for [Tom],
he’s learned his lesson, and is now using a SawStop Table
. | 85 | 35 | [
{
"comment_id": "1081642",
"author": "Anonymous",
"timestamp": "2013-10-23T08:32:45",
"content": "Remember Norm’s advice, kids: Knowing how to use your power tools properly will greatly reduce the risk of personal injury.(Or was it “YOU CAN’T CUT BACK ON FUNDING YOU WILL REGRET THIS!”, I forget.)",
... | 1,760,376,419.543931 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/10/22/3d-printed-cutaway-jet-engine-sounds-great/ | 3D Printed Cutaway Jet Engine Sounds Great | Adam Fabio | [
"3d Printer hacks",
"Engine Hacks"
] | [
"3d printer",
"high bypass",
"jet engine",
"turbofan"
] | Thanks to the wonders of 3D printing, you can now
have a 3D printed a jet engine
of your very own.
Unlike jet engines we’ve seen before
, this one comes with no chance of the operator getting burned to a crisp. [Gerry] is a self-proclaimed “broken down motor mechanic” from New Zealand. He’s designed a rather awesome jet engine in 3D Software, and printed it on his UP Plus printer. The engine itself is a cutaway model of a
high-bypass turbofan engine
. While we’re not sure which make and model of jet engine this cutaway represents, we’re still very impressed.
This isn’t just a static display model – the engine will actually spin up with the help of compressed air. Separate start and run tubes send air to the turbine and main fain respectively. It even has that distinctive turbofan “buzz saw” sound. While this model is relatively safe, [Gerry] does warn to keep the pressure down, or it could come apart. To that end we’d recommend adding a regulator before the quick disconnect.
The
Thingiverse project
is a bit light on instructions. However this situation is remedied by [hacksaw],
who posted a pictorial and build log up on pp3d
. [Hacksaw] did run into a few problems with the build, but nothing a little bit of superglue couldn’t fix. It may have fewer moving parts, but this definitely puts our old
Visible V8 Engine kit
to shame.
[Via
Adafruit
] | 12 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "1081573",
"author": "nybbler905",
"timestamp": "2013-10-23T05:18:33",
"content": "just AMAZING!!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "1081574",
"author": "hpux735",
"timestamp": "2013-10-23T05:26:27",
"content": "I want t... | 1,760,376,419.586236 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/10/24/building-a-ball-balancing-robot/ | Building A Ball-Balancing Robot | Marsh | [
"ARM",
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"control system",
"dc motor",
"feedback",
"inverted pendulum",
"Self Balancing Robot",
"stm32"
] | If you want a different kind of feedback systems challenge, ditch the Segway-style robots and
build one that can balance on a ball.
UFactory is a startup in Shenzhen, and this impressive little guy is a way of showing their skills applied to the classic inverted pendulum. At nearly 18 inches tall and weighing just over six pounds, the robot boasts a number of features beyond an accelerometer and gyroscope: it has both a WiFi module and a camera, and can be controlled via a homemade remote control or a Kinect.
The build uses plastic omni-directional wheels attached to 3 brushed dc motors, which attach to the base of the robot with custom-made aluminum brackets. The UFactory gang constructed the robot’s body out of three acrylic discs, which hold the electronics directly above the wheels. The brain seems to be an STM32 microcontroller that connects up to the motors and to the sensors.
You won’t find the code on their Instructable yet, but according to the comments they have plans to make the entire project open source. If you’re desperate for more details, the UFactory team seems willing to provide source code and other information via email. Make sure you see the video after the break, particularly the end where they demonstrate interference and carrying loads. This isn’t the first ball pendulum we’ve seen; take a trip down memory lane with the
BallP ball balancing robot
from 2010. | 16 | 11 | [
{
"comment_id": "1082511",
"author": "Indyaner",
"timestamp": "2013-10-24T14:31:13",
"content": "FINALLY! I drool every time I see a self balancing robot on a ball, but intil this day it was only a thing universities did. I’m so glad that its now available in a tutorial version. Well… I better start... | 1,760,376,419.638483 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/10/24/hacking-a-streetlight-with-lasers/ | Hacking A Streetlight With Lasers | Marsh | [
"home hacks",
"Laser Hacks"
] | [
"laser",
"light pollution",
"remote control",
"streetlamp",
"streetlight"
] | $20, some spare parts and a bit of mischief was a small price for [Chris] to pay for a reprieve from light pollution with this
remote control laser hack
. The streetlight in front of his house has a sensor that faces westward, and flips the lamp on once the sun has disappeared over the horizon. As it turns out, [Chris’s] third floor window is due west of this particular lamp, meaning he takes the brunt of its illumination but also conveniently places him in a prime location for tricking the sensor.
According to [Chris], the lamp’s sensor requires two minutes of input before it will switch off and stay off for around 30 seconds before cycling on again. The lamp does not zap straight to full brightness, though; it takes at least a minute to ramp up. [Chris] recalled a
hack from a few years ago
that essentially used
LED throwies
tacked onto the sensors with putty to shut off lamps for a guerrilla drive-in movie, but the sensors on those lamps were at the base and easily accessed. [Chris] needed to reach a sensor across the block and nearly three stories tall, so he dug around his hackerspace, found a 5V 20mA laser diode, and got to work building a solution.
[Chris] 3D printed a holder for the laser and affixed it via a mounting bracket to the wall near his third floor window, pointing it directly at the street lamp’s sensor. He plugged the laser’s power supply into an inexpensive
remote control outlet
, which allowed him to darken the street lamp at a touch of a button. This is certainly a clever and impressive hack, but—as always—use at your own risk. Check out a quick demo video after the break.
http://www.hive76.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/IMG_1844.mp4 | 109 | 35 | [
{
"comment_id": "1082403",
"author": "aztraph",
"timestamp": "2013-10-24T11:41:35",
"content": "video doesn’t work",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1082501",
"author": "hans",
"timestamp": "2013-10-24T14:25:03",
"content... | 1,760,376,419.877149 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/10/24/backseat-usb-charger/ | Backseat USB Charger | Marsh | [
"Misc Hacks",
"Transportation Hacks"
] | [
"car charger",
"usb",
"usb charger"
] | Whether you’re relegated to the backseat of your ride or just strapped for access to power, you may benefit from
adding your own backseat USB charger
. While this is a fairly straightforward hack, we’re surprised at how clean it turned out and at the convenience it provides.
[wongman2001] started by grabbing a socket wrench and unbolting his seat from the rails in the floor. He then disconnected the electrical plugs for the chair’s heating and power seat adjustment. With the chair disconnected and removed from the car, [wongman2001] further dissected its components, removing its back panel and test fitting a female cigarette adapter. Though this seat had plenty of room near the headrest, you may need to carve out some foam for a snug fit in your vehicle. To source the needed 12V, [wongman2001] tapped into the wiring for the seat’s motor, then soldered and insulated the connections to the cigarette lighter jack.
Check out some other clean-looking car hacks like the
hidden MP3/USB Aux hack
or the
Nexus 7 double-DIN dashboard
hack. | 19 | 12 | [
{
"comment_id": "1082334",
"author": "Concerned",
"timestamp": "2013-10-24T08:58:49",
"content": "Heads up if you have a car with an airbag in the seat (My Jetta has one) you will trip the airbag fault light (as I did) if you completely remove the seat/plugs at the bottom.",
"parent_id": null,
... | 1,760,376,419.933358 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/10/23/towards-a-low-cost-desktop-ct-scanner/ | Towards A Low Cost, Desktop CT Scanner | Brian Benchoff | [
"chemistry hacks",
"Medical Hacks"
] | [
"ct scanner",
"radioactive",
"Tomography"
] | For [Peter Jansen], the most interesting course in grad school was Advanced Brain Imaging; each class was a lecture followed by a trip to the imaging lab where grad students would take turns being holed up in a MRI machine. A few years into his doctorate, [Peter] found himself in a very opportune situation – his local hackerspace just acquired a shiny new laser cutter, he had some free time on his hands, and the dream of creating a medical imaging device was still in the back of his mind. A few weeks later,
the beginnings of an open source CT scanner began to take shape
.
This isn’t an MRI machine that [Peter] so fondly remembered from grad school. A good thing, that, as superconducting magnets chilled with liquid helium is a little excessive for a desktop unit. Instead, [Peter] is building a
CT scanner
, a device that takes multiple x-ray ‘slices’ around an axis of rotation. These slices can then be recompiled into a 3D visualization of the inside of any object.
The mechanics of the build are a Stargate-like torus with stepper motor moving back and forth inside the disk. This, combined with the rotation of the disk and moving the bed back and forth allow the imager to position itself anywhere along an object.
For the radioactive detector, [Peter] is using
a CCD marketed as a high-energy particle detector
by Radiation Watch. Not only does this allow for an easy interface with a microcontroller, it’s also much smaller than big, heavy photomultiplier tubes found in old CT scanners. As for the source, [Peter] is going for very low intensity sources, most likely Barium or Cadmium that will take many minutes to capture a single slice.
The machine operates just above normal background radiation, so while being extremely safe for a desktop CT scanner, it is, however, very slow. This doesn’t bother [Peter], as ‘free’ time on a CT scanner allows for some very interesting, not seen before visualizations, such as a plant growing from a seed, spreading its roots, and breaking the surface as a seedling.
[Peter] still has some work to do on his desktop CT scanner, but once the stepper motor and sensor board are complete, he should be well on his way towards scanning carrots, apples, and just about everything else around his house. | 44 | 15 | [
{
"comment_id": "1082250",
"author": "Adam",
"timestamp": "2013-10-24T05:49:01",
"content": "Very cool. I approve.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "1082255",
"author": "bkubicek",
"timestamp": "2013-10-24T05:55:31",
"content": "This ... | 1,760,376,420.182501 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/10/23/hackerspacing-in-europe-ackspace-in-heerlen/ | Hackerspacing In Europe: ACKspace In Heerlen | James Hobson | [
"Hackerspaces"
] | [
"ackspace",
"hackerspace",
"hackerspacing in europe",
"hackspace",
"Heerlen",
"slackspace",
"stackspace"
] | Welcome to the
ACKspace
in Heerlen. So far this has been one of the coolest hackerspaces we have visited — and super hospitable! What makes this space really neat is the location. It’s on the first floor of a mostly empty office building. They have three official rooms on the first floor. The Hackspace, the Slackspace, and the Stackspace — quite self-explanatory.
We were greeted at the train station by [Patrick] who very conveniently offered to pick us up and take us directly to the ACKspace! Thanks [Patrick]!
This is the 10 storey office building that ACKspace resides in. They take up most of the first floor and (somewhat) have free reign of the rest of it.
This is the Slackspace, where members relax, watch movies and play games. It might be a bit too comfy!
They also have a food and beverage accounting system which makes use of a bar-code scanner. Seems to be a common theme among hackerspaces as the first and most important project for any space. The software was written Bash, because, why not!
Recognize these tables? They are the cheap
“LACK” IKEA ones
, which just so happen to be the perfect width for a server.
…They also make great projector supports from the ceiling!
They also have an old Coke machine they are planning on hacking — it’s still a work in progress but they like to call their projects processes instead, because a project implies an end date.
A very cool portable telephone box one of the members is working on — we’ll cover it soon!
While that may look like an old Macintosh, it’s actually just the case.
On the inside is an array of RGB LEDs. It looks great!
One of their resident 3D printers, a Utilimaker
A great key organizer using Ethernet jacks. Potential hacks could have the keys detected!
The large switch on the right is the main “power” switch that changes the status of the space — Members and guests alike can then check the website to see if anybody is home.
They also have a nice wall of components, in addition the Stackspace which was not shown since it is a bit messy.
The LED wall clock changes the display every 20 seconds. First the date, then the time…
…and then again in Unix time.
Leaving the ACKspace we began to tour the rest of the building. There is a large empty cafeteria on the first floor as well, which can be used by anyone in the building.
Or not?
This is perhaps one of the coolest features of ACKspace. Two floors of empty parking garage below ground. Can anyone say laser tag?
This is an example of one of the many empty spaces on the floors above. Only about 20-25% of the building is occupied. The rent is very cheap (around 250 euros a month for 3 large rooms), but you need to bring a portable shower if you plan on living in one of these spaces.
They originally wanted the 10th floor, but the landlords didn’t want a lab on the top — so there is a dance studio there instead. They also would of had to run new Ethernet lines to it, as it was never wired up. Did we mention ACKspace runs the IT for the building? They also maintain the magical server room that doesn’t exist.
Great view from the top! From the roof it is said you can see the Germany and Belgium — great for new years and watching fireworks from every side.
The building next to theirs wasn’t so lucky — it’s been taken over by squatters. Gotta love Dutch law!
On the roof you can find a few server cases…
And a antenna.
Turns out it’s a T-Mobile station!
Even though the building is mostly empty, it is sometimes difficult to use the elevator. Only one still works because it costs a lot of money to recertify them every year — so the owners of the building only do one.
Laser tag pistols.
Here’s a fun silly hack, the spring hinge on the waste bin broke — so they added a counterweight!
Club-Mate as usual. If you haven’t noticed yet, every hackerspace drinks Club-Mate (pronounced Club Mat-ay). Only problem is, it’s only sold in Germany, so almost all hackerspaces also go on Club-Mate runs and buy many cases in Germany to bring back home.
A few of the members enjoy lock picking but the thing we liked about this is the label — it tells you whose it is, who can use it, and other important things. Most hackerspaces use this system and it is quite effective in keeping things organized.
We really enjoyed our time at ACKspace and hope to come back soon! If you live anywhere in Europe, it is definitely worth of a visit! | 11 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "1082195",
"author": "kittenmiser",
"timestamp": "2013-10-24T02:40:42",
"content": "That thing called a server appears to be a Dell fast ethernet switch with a couple lonely gigabit ports. They have VoIP phones, RJ-45 drop cable panels. No wonder why they are called ACKspace. Does th... | 1,760,376,420.039864 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/10/23/inexpensive-robot-tracking-system-is-swarm-ready/ | Inexpensive Robot Tracking System Is Swarm Ready | Adam Fabio | [
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"opencv",
"research",
"robot",
"Vicon",
"Vision System"
] | [Ladvien] has figured an inexpensive way to
control a robot from a remote PC with a static webcam
. Inspired by swarming robot videos such as those from the
UPENN Grasp lab
, [Ladvien] wanted to build his own static camera based system. He’s also managed to create one of the more eclectic Instructables we’ve seen. You don’t often find
pseudo code for robot suicide
mixed in with the project instructions.
Fixed cameras are used in many motion capture systems, such as the
Vicon
system used by numerous film, game, and animation studios. Vicon and similar systems cost tens of thousands of dollars. This was a bit outside [Ladvien’s] budget. He set about building his own system from scratch. The first step was the hardest – obtaining permission from his wife to screw a webcam into the ceiling. With that problem overcome, [Ladvien] brought openCV and python to bear. He created
Overlord
, his webcam vision and control system. A vision system with nothing to control would be rather boring, so [Ladvien] created
DotMuncher
, Overlord’s radio controlled robot slave.
The basic processing system is rather simple. DotMuncher carries a magnetometer on board, which it uses to send heading information to Overlord. Overlord is pre-calibrated with an offset from magnetic north to “video game north” (toward the top of the screen). Overlord then uses openCV’s color detection to find DotMuncher in the current scene.
Overlord finally generates a virtual “Dot” on screen, and directs DotMuncher to drive over to it. When the robot gets to the dot, it is considered munched, and a new dot is generated.
The whole system is a proof of concept for future swarm projects [Ladvien] has planned. He’s hoping to have
autonomous robot tag
working before the end of the year. We can’t wait to see that one. | 4 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "1082301",
"author": "Erik Johansson",
"timestamp": "2013-10-24T07:33:16",
"content": "Wow that’s some progress, I like how he analyze on how toget your child to hack with you.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "1082586",
"autho... | 1,760,376,419.976949 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/10/23/serial-usb-for-any-avr-microcontroller/ | Serial USB For Any AVR Microcontroller | Brian Benchoff | [
"Microcontrollers"
] | [
"hid",
"serial",
"usb",
"usb hid",
"V-USB"
] | If you’re using an AVR microcontroller and you’d like to add USB to a project, there are a lot of options out there for you. Both LUFA and V-USB add some USB functionality to just about every AVR micro, but if you’d like a native serial port, your only options are to look towards the USB-compatible Atmel micros.
[Ray] looked at the options for adding a USB serial port and didn’t like what he saw; seemingly, this was an impossible task without a second, more capable microcontroller.
Then he had an idea
: if the goal is only to transfer data back and forth between a computer and a microcontroller, why not write an HID-class USB serial port?
[Ray] based his project on
The V-USB library
and created a new HID descriptor to transfer data between a micro and a computer. While it won’t work with a proper terminal such as Putty, [Ray] managed to whip up a serial monitor program in Processing that’s compatible with Windows, Linux and OS X.
In the video below, you can see [Ray] using an ATmega328p with a standard V-USB setup. He’s transferring analog values from a photoresistor as a proof of concept, but just about everything that would work with a normal serial port will work with [Ray]’s library. | 30 | 14 | [
{
"comment_id": "1082053",
"author": "Krinkleneck",
"timestamp": "2013-10-23T20:43:58",
"content": "Well, that save me time on building a serial usb interface for friends to use",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "1082054",
"author": "Steve",
... | 1,760,376,420.10373 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/10/22/making-an-airgap-flash/ | Making An Airgap Flash | Mathieu Stephan | [
"digital cameras hacks"
] | [
"Flashtube",
"high speed photography",
"photography"
] | [Maurice] and his team just finished the
airgap flash
they’ve been working on for a year now. This kind of flash is useful for very high speed photography such as photographing shooting bullets. With a duration of about a millionth of a second it is 30 times faster the normal flashes at their fastest settings. In the video embedded after the break, [Maurice] first explains the differences between his flash and a conventional one which normally uses a xenon flash tube, then shows off different photos he made with his build.
Even though this video is a bit commercially oriented, [Maurice] will make another one detailing the insides. In the mean time, you can checkout the schematics in the
user manual
(PDF) and also have a look at an other write up he made
which we covered in the past
. We should also mention that trying to make this kind of flash in home is very dangerous as very high voltages are used (in this case, 16kV). | 20 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "1081513",
"author": "Matthew",
"timestamp": "2013-10-23T02:30:55",
"content": "It’ll also make you exceptionally unpopular with any radio hams in your area.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1082825",
"author": "Greenaum... | 1,760,376,420.242194 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/10/22/hackerspacing-in-europe-garage-space-in-antwerp/ | Hackerspacing In Europe: Open Garage In Antwerp | James Hobson | [
"Hackerspaces"
] | [
"anthony liekens",
"Antwerp",
"Belgium",
"Deepak",
"Dutch Design Week",
"hackerspace",
"hackerspacing in europe",
"liekens",
"open space"
] | Welcome to Europe’s smallest(?) hackerspace, whose owner, [Anthony Liekens] might just have the biggest heart! This is the
Open Garage!
You might remember the recent post about the
3Doodler in the wild.
That was done by [Anthony] and his close friend [Deepak]. After we shared his project he contacted us by email, opening an invitation to visit the Open Garage — as it turned out, we were going to be in close proximity to it in Antwerp, Belgium! After visiting Void Warranties, [Anthony] invited us over for a beer and tour of his unique hackerspace…
So what makes this Europe’s most unique and perhaps smallest hackerspace?
Well, it’s just [Anthony’s] garage for starters. He loves hackerspaces and is a very active member of
Void Warranties
— but also likes his own tools — of which he has a lot. So he’s decided to open up his personal garage to the community once a week on Thursday evenings. There are no member fees to pay, and everyone is welcome. It has been running for almost 2 years, and in all that time, there was only one Thursday that [Anthony] was by himself! His wife holds crafting groups in the basement of the house — so it works out well that they each have their own little community of makers.
He does have a donation jar, but the main method of contributing to the space is by drinking. People need to bring their own beer (it’s a part of life in Belgium), and it just so happens the bottles have a deposit on them. Members of Open Garage leave their empties, and the bottles pay for [Anthony] to replenish the components drawers containing basic electronic parts.
He has a very nice CNC mill that was donated by a local school — It was the one seen in the 3Doodler post. They have had to rewire it and install new drivers to make it work, but the group was more than up to the challenge.
Here are some of the test prints from the 3Doodler hooked up to the CNC machine — it was really cool to come and see one of our featured projects in person!
This is the main workbench. On the far left you can make out a 3D printer, the component drawers, and many tools along the wall.
Here’s a close up of the resident 3D printer of the Printrbot variety.
A view of the other bench — there’s also a CNC lathe hiding under the table that hasn’t been
hacked
fixed yet.
It’s a small space, but works great. On average about 10 people come out on a weekly basis, but he has more than 100 members registered through MeetUp.com
And finally, here’s me. Writing this post from his guest bedroom — which doubles as the kid’s playroom. I think this picture sums up [Anthony’s] generosity and community spirit when it comes to all things hacker. Oh did we mention he’s driving us to Eindhoven tomorrow to see MadSpace and the Dutch Design Week?
If you’re ever in Antwerp — you have to come check out the Open Garage, and Void Warranties for that matter. The people here are just great! Oh and if you need a skilled maker, code monkey, or bioinformatician — please check out his site at
#AnthonyNeedsAJob
— He’s participating in an exciting start-up soon, but in the meantime would love to do some short contract work! We recommend this guy 1000%.
Thank you [Anthony]! | 11 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "1081486",
"author": "Downing",
"timestamp": "2013-10-23T00:45:03",
"content": "I was in Antwerp about 3 years ago and it’s a remarkable place. I only wish I were more into this kind of thing back then and could have found these guys and shared in the European maker scene.",
"par... | 1,760,376,420.464797 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/10/22/heartbeat-boombox-creates-bio-beats/ | HeartBeat Boombox Creates Bio Beats | Adam Fabio | [
"Musical Hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"AVR",
"HeartBeat BoomBox",
"light emitting diode",
"pulse oximeter",
"Pulse oximetry"
] | If you happened to be wandering the hall of science during MakerFaire NY, you may have noticed a woman walking around with a rather odd boombox strapped around her neck. That was
[Sophi Kravitz] with her HeartBeat Boombox
. Thankfully [Sophi] lives within driving distance of Makerfaire, and didn’t attempt to get through airport security with her hardware. She started with three medical grade pulse oximeters. These oximeters output a “beep” for every beat of your heart. [Sophi] rolled her own AVR board running Arduino firmware to capture pulses on their way to the oximeter audio transducer. The AVR uses a sound board to convert the pulses into various percussion sounds. The pulse indicators also activate one of three LED strips.
[Sophi’s] biggest frustrations with the hack were the JST connectors on the LIPO batteries powering the entire system. She found that they fell apart rather easily. We’ve used JST connectors in the past with no problem, so we’re guessing she ended up with one of the many knock off connectors out there. [Sophi] tied the entire system together with a custom milled acrylic plate mounted to the front of the boombox.
The final result was very slick. With three people connected to the finger inputs of the pulse oximeters, some complex beats could be formed. We thought we were listening to dubstep when she first walked by. One feature we would like to see implemented would be the ability to record and play back some of the beats created by the boombox. | 3 | 2 | [
{
"comment_id": "1081477",
"author": "0utsider",
"timestamp": "2013-10-23T00:26:00",
"content": "Where’s is the video of it working…",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "1081585",
"author": "Daniel",
"timestamp": "2013-10-23T06:16:25",
"c... | 1,760,376,420.595847 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/10/22/can-hacking-the-in-vehicle-network/ | CAN Hacking: The In-vehicle Network | Eric Evenchick | [
"Featured",
"Network Hacks",
"News"
] | [
"automotive",
"CAN",
"CAN Hacking"
] | Last time
, we discussed how in-vehicle networks work over CAN. Now we’ll look into the protocol and how it’s used in the automotive industry.
The Bus
On the hardware side, there’s two types of CAN: differential (or high-speed) and single wire. Differential uses two wires and can operate up to 1 Mbps. Single wire runs on a single wire, and at lower speeds, but is cheaper to implement. Differential is used in more critical applications, such as engine control, and single wire is used for less important things, such as HVAC and window control.
Many controllers can connect to the same bus in a multi-master configuration. All messages are broadcast to every controller on the bus.
An oversimplified in-vehicle network
The structure of a CAN message
From a software perspective CAN message consists of 3 parts: an identifier, a data length code, and up to eight bytes of data.
The identifier (ID) is used to specify what the message means, and who’s sending it. Typically standard IDs are 11 bits, but there are also 29 bit extended type IDs. The ID also defines the priority: the lower the ID, the higher the message’s priority.
The data length code (DLC) is 4 bits, and specifies how many bytes of data will be in the message. In some applications, a DLC of 8 is always used, and unused data bytes are padded with zeros.
Finally, the 8 bytes of data contain the actual information. The meaning of the information is inferred from the message ID, and the length is specified by the DLC.
Decoding & Databases
To make sense of the 8 data bytes, the controller will decode the data into signal such as engine RPM, fuel level, or brake pedal position. Each signal has a start bit and end bit, which are used to select the correct bits out of the 8 bytes. No signal information is transmitted over the bus. Instead all controllers must agree on the layout of messages and signals beforehand. Below is the table of signals, and the graphical layout of a sample message.
A table of CAN signals that make up a message
A sample CAN message layout
To help program controllers that agree on messages and signals, a CAN database is used. This database contains definitions of all messages and signals. The most popular format is DBC, which is a proprietary (but ASCII based) format by Vector. The DBC editing tool,
CANDB++
, is free (as in beer). The databases are used to auto-generate code that can interpret the messages.
With a database file in hand, you can easily sniff the CAN bus and interpret all kinds of data. One example is a hack we featured that
sniffed the bus for steering wheel button presses
. You can also pretend to be controllers by sending spoofed data onto the bus. For example, you could send a fake engine RPM to the instrument cluster.
No, this car wasn’t actually doing 8000 RPM.
The majority of the communications during normal operation work by decoding a database. However, for diagnostic applications, there are special protocols that are used. Next time, we’ll look at how these protocols work, and what fun can be had with them.
CAN Hacking
Introductions
The In-vehicle Network
CAN Protocols
Building CAN Hardware | 90 | 35 | [
{
"comment_id": "1081325",
"author": "matt",
"timestamp": "2013-10-22T20:07:19",
"content": "So where exactly do you get the DBC databases? I assume the manufacturers dont supply them.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1081353",
"author"... | 1,760,376,420.959997 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/10/22/retrotechtacular-steam-locomotive-contruction-in-the-1930s/ | Retrotechtacular: Steam Locomotive Construction In The 1930’s | Mike Szczys | [
"Hackaday Columns",
"Retrotechtacular"
] | [
"retrotechtacular"
] | Here’s a fascinating look at high-tech manufacturing in the 1930’s. This week’s Retrotechtacular features
the building of a steam-powered locomotive
. The quality of the black and white footage, and the audio accompanying it are almost as impressive as the subject material — which is nothing short of a machinist’s wet-dream but also includes much forging and smithing. Digging through the video for a suitable still image was a tough task, as every step in the process was interesting to us. But this image showing some of the 2700 feet of tubing used in the locomotive seems most appropriate.
The build covers all aspects of the build. Huge sheets of steel make up two side plates between which the cast engine block is mounted. The mold for casting was huge, required twelve hours dry time before the pour, and took a day or two to cool before breaking the mold. That yielded a rough block which then headed off for machining.
We were delighted by the crane used to transport steel sheets from the oven to a stamping machine. The counterweight is workers (and lots of them) on the other side of the fulcrum. After a glimpse of the ancillary part fabrication you begin to get a look at the complexity of the machine as it is assembled.
Does anyone feel a deep appreciation for the pedagogy that went into making something like this? What we mean is that the teams building No. 6207 don’t seem to be using skills learned in a book or from a class, but rather those passed down from the masters that have been on the job most of their lives. Watching them all work is nothing short of astounding!
[Thanks Erkka]
Retrotechtacular is a weekly column featuring hacks, technology, and kitsch from ages of yore. Help keep it fresh by
sending in your ideas for future installments
. | 52 | 17 | [
{
"comment_id": "1081246",
"author": "RafMan",
"timestamp": "2013-10-22T17:46:43",
"content": "I never get tired of watching these videos, they are truly amazing and inspiring.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1081297",
"author": "Mats ... | 1,760,376,420.554439 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/10/22/easy-phi-an-open-source-platform-for-experimenters/ | Easy-phi: An Open Source Platform For Experimenters | Mathieu Stephan | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"ARM",
"hardware"
] | [
"arduino",
"Cubieboard",
"Easy-phi",
"KiCAD",
"open source"
] | As a few of Hackaday readers may already know, my day job involves working with high speed electronics. For the last few months, my team at [Université de Genève] in Switzerland has been working on an open source platform (mostly) targeted for experimenters: the
easy-phi project
. The main idea is to build a simple, cheap but intelligent open hardware/software platform consisting of a 19″ frame (or smaller), which can house a big variety of electronic modules. Hobbyist would therefore only make/buy the modules that would suit their needs and control them through a web page / standalone application / Labview module.
I detailed in more depth on my website the
technical aspects of the project
. To give you a quick and simple overview,
the rack
is essentially a USB hub that connects all the modules to a Cubieboard. It also integrates a few synchronization signals, a clock and a monitoring system for voltages, temperatures, power consumption. The
modules
are made of template + module specific electronics. The template electronics are part of the ‘easy-phi standard’, they consist of the Arduino compatible SAM3X8E microcontroller and of a few other power related components. This ensures electrical and firmware compatibility between the rack and modules that you guys may develop. It is important to note that the modules are enumerated on the USB bus as composite CDC (communication device) and MSC (mass storage). The CDC is used to configure the module while the MSC allows you to grab its documentation, resources, and standalone application in case you use the module without the rack.
The chosen schematics / layout software is Kicad, and all current files can be found on our
github
. Others will be uploaded once we have tested the other modules currently in the pipe. As the ones we’re developing are physics oriented, we hope that enthusiasts will bring easy-phi to other domains. Don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any question or if you’d like to contribute. | 32 | 15 | [
{
"comment_id": "1081156",
"author": "natsfr",
"timestamp": "2013-10-22T15:32:47",
"content": "Eurocard revival ? :D",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1081157",
"author": "Mathieu Stephan",
"timestamp": "2013-10-22T15:34:50",
... | 1,760,376,420.725611 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/10/22/pseudo-random-flickering-jack-o-lantern-led-using-attiny13/ | Pseudo-Random Flickering Jack-O-Lantern LED Using ATtiny13 | Todd Harrison | [
"ATtiny Hacks",
"Holiday Hacks",
"LED Hacks"
] | [
"halloween",
"jack-o-lanterns",
"LCG",
"linear congruential generator",
"pseudo-random",
"pumpkin",
"random"
] | It’s time to get those jack-o-lanterns twinkling for Halloween. If you don’t want to use candles or buy a jack-o-lantern light this Halloween you can do like [Johannes Bauer] and code your own
pseudo-random flickering super bright LED
. His wife wanted their pumpkin to be illuminated this year and he knew it would be easy to do with an Arduino, but that would be overkill for such a simple project. Plus, he doesn’t have an arduino. [Johannes] used very few components; 4 slightly depleted AA batteries, a super bright LED, 680 ohm resistor and a little custom code on an 8 pin ATtiny13. The circuit does work great for a pumpkin lantern but his video is more of a tutorial on coding
linear congruential generator
(LCG) for the 8 bit pseudo-random LED flickering.
The code is short and can be gleaned from the YouTube video. [Johannes] used avr-gcc to compile and has
packaged his code and build scripts for download
. The hex file can be flashed over to the chip using avrdude or AVR Studio. If you have any ATtiny13s lying around you should cobble this hack together just in time to emulate that real look of a pumpkin candle without the hassles and hazards of real flames.
If you want something with a lot more light that still has that candle like flicker then checkout “
Flickering Pumpkin Lanterns
” that used the signal from LED tea lights to power some 12 V lamps.
Follow along after the break to watch [Johannes Bauer’s] video. | 17 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "1081088",
"author": "Georg",
"timestamp": "2013-10-22T14:16:07",
"content": "This isn’t a hack. It’s an LED randomly going on and off.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1081324",
"author": "Blue Footed Booby",
"t... | 1,760,376,420.652371 |
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