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https://hackaday.com/2013/07/05/the-best-photo-booth-for-really-small-stuff/ | The Best Photo Booth For Really Small Stuff | Brian Benchoff | [
"digital cameras hacks"
] | [
"digital photography",
"photo booth",
"photography"
] | [Doog] builds plastic models, and like anyone who makes really small stuff, he needed a good photo booth to show off his wares and techniques. He was working with the very common ‘poster board and work light’ setup we’ve all put together, but after photoshopping seam lines one too many times, he decided
to upgrade his booth
to something a little better.
The new setup consists of an aluminum frame with a 40×80 inch sheet of translucent plexiglass forming the bottom and backdrop of the booth. Two lights in diffuser bags illuminate the subject from the top, while the old worklights are attached to the bottom of the table frame to light the subject from beneath.
Compared to the ‘poster board and work light’ technique of the past, [Doog]’s new photo booth is absolutely incredible for taking pictures of very small things. This
model of a Spitfire
looks like it’s floating and
this snap of a Thunderbolt
is good enough to grace magazine covers.
Of course this photobooth isn’t just limited to models, so if you’re looking at taking some pictures of hand-soldered BGA circuits in the future, you may want to think about upgrading your studio setup. | 20 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "1023278",
"author": "sneakypoo",
"timestamp": "2013-07-06T01:18:02",
"content": "Looks like he just bought a factory made table and put it together? Nice results though.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1023279",
"autho... | 1,760,376,516.388553 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/07/05/macbook-pro-retina-display-with-a-normal-computer/ | MacBook Pro Retina Display With A Normal Computer | Brian Benchoff | [
"Video Hacks"
] | [
"display",
"macbook pro",
"retina",
"retina display"
] | If you’ve seen one of the fancy, expensive MacBook Pro laptops with a Retina display, you’ll know how awesome having that much resolution actually is. This incredible resolution comes with a price, though: the MBP with a Retina display is about $500 more expensive than the normal resolution MPB model, and it’s very difficult to find a laptop of comparable resolution without cries of fanboyism being heard.
[Daniel] over at Rozsnyo came up with a neat solution that
connects one of these fancy 15-inch Retina displays
to just about any computer. The build is the beginning of a product that works just like the previous DisplayPort adapter for the
iPad retina display
, but with the possibility of a few added features such as HDMI input and use of the internal webcam and WiFi antennas.
This build isn’t really a finished product anyone can buy and plug into a replacement Retina display just yet. Even if it were, it’s extraordinarily difficult to find a replacement display for the high-end MacBook for under the price of a really good monitor, anyway. In a few years, though, when the old, busted Retina laptops are traded up for a new, shiny model, though, we’ll be the first to try out this mod and get some serious desktop space. | 30 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "1023270",
"author": "rasz",
"timestamp": "2013-07-06T00:32:36",
"content": "Amazing, its almost as if he went back in time 4 months, readhttp://emerythacks.blogspot.com/2013/04/connecting-ipad-retina-lcd-to-pc.htmlcopied it and claimed as his own idea",
"parent_id": null,
"d... | 1,760,376,516.452445 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/07/05/playstation-3-contolled-with-head-movement/ | PlayStation 3 Controlled With Head Movement | Mike Szczys | [
"Playstation Hacks"
] | [
"adaptive technology",
"assistive technology",
"muscular dystrophy",
"ps3"
] | Our excitement just keeps building about how hackers can ply their skills to develop new adaptive technologies. Here’s another great example of custom control technology that helped [Steven] get back into gaming. The effects of muscular dystrophy have left him unable to use the stock PS3 controller. But after being paired up with [John Schimmel] he’s able to game again thanks to
a head motion control system
.
[John] looked at the way [Steven] interacts with the assistive technology at hand. He can drive his wheelchair with one finger, and interacts with his computer by moving his head. The computer detects a marker on the brim of his hat. [John] grabs input from the computer using Java and sends it to an Arduino board connected via USB. The Arduino has a USB Bit Whacker board letting it also connect to the PS3 as a controller. In the image above you can see the computer screen has a GUI for each of the controller’s buttons. [John] moves his head to select a control and clicks a button with his finger to actuate it.
If you like this check out some of the
other assistive gaming hacks
we’ve seen lately.
[via
The Controller Project
] | 5 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "1023227",
"author": "NaN",
"timestamp": "2013-07-05T21:25:56",
"content": "Thanks! Didn’t know of >The Controller Project< yet.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "1023583",
"author": "jerz1101",
"timestamp": "2013-07-06T20:... | 1,760,376,516.028414 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/07/05/simon-says-learn-how-to-program-arm-chips/ | Simon Says Learn How To Program ARM Chips | Mike Szczys | [
"ARM"
] | [
"button",
"led",
"lpc810",
"simon says",
"speaker"
] | This
breadboard version of a Simon Says game
is a great way to try your skills on a new microcontroller platform. The eight-pin chip seen in the center of the board is an LPC810 microcontroller which [Hartmut Wendt] is just getting started with. It’s a rare example of a low-pin count DIP package for an ARM device (Cortext M0). The breadboard friendly footprint makes it easy to work with, but you could pull off the same build with a dev board like one of the STM discovery offerings or the Stellaris Launchpad boards.
Why is this a good way to learn? It involves input, output, and generating waveforms which we’d assume means timers (we didn’t dig through the source code which is available form the page linked above). Each colored button has a matching LED which blinks out the pattern which you must replicate to keep the game going; you know how Simon Says works, right?. At the same time a different pitch is played by the speaker on the right.
Another good exercise would be to take [Hartmut’s] code and port it for a different chip, be it ARM or otherwise. | 8 | 3 | [
{
"comment_id": "1023187",
"author": "GMD",
"timestamp": "2013-07-05T19:12:16",
"content": "It’d be great if this used the DMA for waveform generation. The DMA on these dip ARM chips is one of the more useful features the atmegas lack.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
... | 1,760,376,515.993026 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/07/05/building-a-70-foot-sailboat-in-oklahoma/ | Building A 70-foot Sailboat In Oklahoma | Brian Benchoff | [
"Transportation Hacks"
] | [
"boatbuilding",
"metalwork",
"sailboat"
] | Call it a retirement plan, a hobby, or a beautiful expression of a mental imbalance, but [Doug and Kay Jackson] of Tulsa, OK
are building a seventy-four foot steel sailboat in their backyard
.
For the last few years, the couple has been working on the SV Seeker, a motor sail junk, since late 2011. They have
a wonderful build log
, but they’ve also gone the extra mile and documented the entire build process on video.
Their YouTube channel
is one of the best subscriptions you can have on the site, constantly updated with new portions of the build.
Yes, building an oceangoing ship in a landlocked state may seem like an ill-informed idea, but Tulsa, OK is the home of the
port of Catoosa
, about 400 miles and 20 locks from the Mississippi river, then another 600 miles to the Gulf of Mexico and the open ocean.
Below you can find some of the highlights of [Doug] and [Kay] fabricating the prop for their ship. First, a pattern was created with a CNC machine, then a mold was made to cast each blade in brass. It’s an impressive bit of work putting all these tools together, and you really get a sense of the challenge of building something this big.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWX5KxtRqq0&w=580]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrqMzgk3ffo&w=580]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeaYEvHpKm8&w=580]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKO0XTKbEeo&w=580]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rs4q-QZmNpY&w=580] | 2 | 2 | [
{
"comment_id": "1038281",
"author": "mike",
"timestamp": "2013-07-06T05:49:11",
"content": "Impressive. Can’t wait to see the boat take to water and float around the world. Excellent work.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "1050419",
"autho... | 1,760,376,515.941004 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/07/05/legoduino-for-kid-friendly-microcontrollers/ | LegoDuino For Kid-friendly Microcontrollers | Brian Benchoff | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"Toy Hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"lego",
"mindstorms"
] | [J. Benschop] is teaching his nine-year-old son electronics by giving him a few wires, LEDs, and batteries. Eventually, the son looked over at his dad’s workbench and wondered what the little bug-shaped rectangles did. Microcontrollers and embedded programming are just a bit too advanced for someone who hasn’t hit a double-digit age, but [J] figured he could still have his son experience the awesomeness of programming electronics by
building a custom electronic Lego microcontroller system
.
This isn’t as complex as a Lego Mindstorms system. Really, it’s only an ATMega and a 2.4 GHz wireless transceiver. Still, that’s more than enough to add a few sensors and motor drivers, and an awesome introduction to electronics development. The enclosure for the LegoDuino is, of course, compatible with every Lego brick on the planet. It’s made from a 6×16 plate, three blocks high, with enough room for the electronics, three AA batteries, and the IO headers.
Programming an ATMega, even with the Arduino IDE, is a little beyond the capacity of [J. Benschop]’s nine-year-old son, so he made a few changes to the
Minibloq
programming environment to support the newly created LegoDuino. It’s a graphical programming language that kids of just about any age can pick up quickly, and with the included RF transceiver inside the ‘Duino, it can even be programmed wirelessly.
It’s an amazing piece of work, and much, much simpler than even the noob-friendly Lego Mindstorms. Not as powerful, though, but when you’re just teaching programming and electronics, you really don’t need much. | 12 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "1023141",
"author": "Ren",
"timestamp": "2013-07-05T16:57:38",
"content": "This could be the start of an OpenMindStorm movement!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1023223",
"author": "MikrySoft",
"timestamp": "20... | 1,760,376,516.078317 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/07/05/packing-a-jeep-wrangler-full-of-hacks/ | Packing A Jeep Wrangler Full Of Hacks | Mike Szczys | [
"Transportation Hacks"
] | [
"cb",
"ham",
"Jeep",
"radar",
"radio",
"wrangler"
] | Picking just one image to show off
all of the hacks done on this Jeep
Wrangler is a tough order. We decided to go with this custom ceiling console as it features the most work done in a confined area.
Give the video walk-around a bit of time before you decide it’s not for you. [Eddie Zarick] spends the first moments touting his “Oakley” branding of the vehicle in decals, emblems, embroidered seats, zipper pulls, and more. But after that you’ll get a look at
the pressurized water system
we previously saw. Pull open the back gate and there’s a nice cargo cover he built that includes a cubby hole which stores the soft sides when he wants to take the top off. There are several other interesting touches, like the police radar spoofer that he uses to scare the crap out of speeders. Ha!
The ceiling console we mentioned earlier was completely custom-built. It includes a CB, scanner, HAM, and seven-inch Android tablet. There is also a set of push buttons which control the various bells and whistles; well, spotlights and inverter actually. Just add a commode and he’s ready to live out of his car. | 66 | 21 | [
{
"comment_id": "1023049",
"author": "Augur",
"timestamp": "2013-07-05T13:03:54",
"content": "Drooling..",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1023976",
"author": "lukas",
"timestamp": "2013-07-07T22:52:36",
"content": "same"... | 1,760,376,516.217696 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/07/05/from-maple-and-spruce-to-an-archtop-guitar/ | From Maple And Spruce To An Archtop Guitar | Brian Benchoff | [
"Musical Hacks"
] | [
"archtop",
"guitar",
"lutherie"
] | While the violin maker gets most of the acclaim and prestige for turning lumber into musical instruments, you can’t deny the sheer beauty and grandeur of a jazz-style archtop guitar. Much larger than a violin or viola, the scale of a guitar can still lend itself to the exacting artistry of a master luthier, while adding some interesting engineering challenges not found in smaller stringed instruments.
Last year, [Bert van der Meij]
built an archtop guitar
for his daughter by following the bible written by a modern master,
[Robert Benedetto]
. The build began by sourcing huge blocks of quartersawn maple and spruce, carefully carving the spruce for the top and the maple for the back. The neck is made of three laminated strips of maple, carefully contoured with only hand tools.
In [Bert]’s video, there’s some interesting examples of the tools used in the creation of this fine instrument. Instead of carving the inside and outside of the top independently, [Bert] only carved the top and used a drill press set to a certain depth to rough out the back. With only a minimum of planing, this ensures the top has a constant thickness with a minimum of work.
The end product is a fine enough instrument to find its way onto the stage of any jazz club, as shown
in a demo video
of a few different musicians rocking out. A magnificent piece of work, and a wonderful gift to [Bert]’s daughter. | 0 | 0 | [] | 1,760,376,516.332452 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/07/05/a-custom-starcraft-keyboard/ | A Custom Starcraft Keyboard | Brian Benchoff | [
"hardware",
"Peripherals Hacks"
] | [
"keyboard",
"starcraft",
"Teensy"
] | What do you do if you’re looking for a project, but don’t know what to do? If you’re [gltovar], just look around at your hobbies. He’s been playing Starcraft for a while and finally decided to
build a custom Starcraft keyboard
.
[gltovar] came across an interesting keyboard layout known as
TheCore
. Ostensibly, this layout allows the player faster access to the commands most used when playing Starcraft. [gltovar] decided he needed a keyboard specifically designed for TheCore, and set about making one of his own design.
The keyboard matrix is designed around a 1×5 row of keys, each attached to a Teensy microcontroller acting as a USB device. Each of these rows are a separate circuit board, allowing [gltovar] to move the rows up and down ergonomically in a custom enclosure.
It’s everything [gltovar] wanted in a custom keyboard. Whether it improves his Starcraft game is another story entirely, but we’re sure he’s at least having fun.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G17Czzo81yg&w=580] | 6 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "1023018",
"author": "akismet-58e88a443f3192ed96905c54ed1f6436",
"timestamp": "2013-07-05T11:34:02",
"content": "Thanks!Some more stuff about it heregit hub link is here:https://github.com/gltovar/CoreBoardimage gallery is here:http://imgur.com/a/hdM9XThere is a forum post on geekhac... | 1,760,376,516.119516 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/07/04/is-an-led-bow-tie-ironic-or-awesome/ | Is An LED Bow Tie Ironic Or Awesome? | Mike Szczys | [
"LED Hacks",
"Wearable Hacks"
] | [
"bow tie",
"led strip",
"rgb",
"uno"
] | We’re not exactly trend setters when it comes to wardrobe. And so the recent revival of the bow tie as an accepted dress item confounds us. We’re even more confused by [Arichter’s]
LED bow tie
. Sure, the hobby electronics part of it is a win… but when it comes to fashion is he making fun of the bow tie wearers, or setting a new standard?
The tie is made of three PCBs, which lets the wings sit on a bit different plane than the center. He populated the boards with about 100 RGB LED modules which he desoldered from a couple of meters of LED strip. They draw a lot of juice and to supply that he uses a boost converter. A standard Arduino UNO board controls the lights.
If you’re still sold on the bow tie form factor we’d like to direct your attention to
this long-tie version
. It doesn’t just show patterns, but plays a wicked game of Tetris with you as the game board.
[via
Reddit
] | 40 | 19 | [
{
"comment_id": "1022859",
"author": "bolke",
"timestamp": "2013-07-04T21:14:14",
"content": "awesome",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "1022861",
"author": "BillP",
"timestamp": "2013-07-04T21:18:03",
"content": "The second link, long ... | 1,760,376,516.295076 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/07/04/showing-off-a-high-performance-brushless-motor-camera-gimbal/ | Showing Off A High-performance Brushless Motor Camera Gimbal | Mike Szczys | [
"digital cameras hacks"
] | [
"brushless motor",
"camera",
"gimbal",
"GoPro",
"stabilization"
] | Here’s [Tom Parker] showing off
a brushless motor gimbal stabilizer for his GoPro camera
. We saw a similar project a couple of weeks back that featured a
3d printed quadcopter mount
. This offering is meant to be held in your hands. It keeps the subject in frame even if the cameraman’s hands pitch and roll (we figured
aeronautical terms
were best here). This image shows him demonstrating a level camera as he quickly rolls the frame from one side to the other. It doesn’t compensate for yaw, which is something he may change in the next iteration. We already like the results he’s getting with it.
About 3:15 into the video demo below we get a very quick description of the build itself. He started it as a project at University. Fabrication included work on a 3D printer, laser cutter, and vacuum forming machine. The grips are bicycle handlebar components. To overcome the stabilization system the operator has access to a joystick. Without this you’d never be able to aim the camera up or down because of auto-leveling.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qA_4hGNlGsk | 30 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "1022828",
"author": "Whatnot",
"timestamp": "2013-07-04T19:17:13",
"content": "Hate sites that are blank when you block scripts, it’s pathetic and dumb in my view.And shockingly there are even professional and even commercial sites that are like that.",
"parent_id": null,
"d... | 1,760,376,516.746229 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/07/04/a-rifle-handmade-circa-1700/ | A Rifle, Handmade Circa 1700 | Brian Benchoff | [
"Weapons Hacks"
] | [] | Today, rifles are made with exacting precision and very complex machine tools for milling, grinding, and boring out the barrel. Long rifles have been around much longer than these modern machine tools, so how exactly did gunsmiths create such exacting works of art in an age before Bridgeport mills and Sherline lathes?
In an amazing 10-part video series, [Wallace Gustler] of colonial Williamsburg
takes us through the process of crafting a flintlock long rifle circa 1700.
All the videos are embedded after the break, by the way.
The first step of making the rifle is fabricating the barrel. This is made from a bar of wrought iron, hammered into a tube around a mandrel, and welded together in the forge. With the help of a primitive hand-cranked lathe, the barrel is then bored out and eventually rifled with the help of a cutting tool that is constructed more out of hickory than tool steel.
With the barrel complete, [Wallace] moves on to the lock. Again, everything is fabricated by hand nearly entirely from materials that could be sourced locally at a new world colony in 1700. Spring steel is one of the exceptions of to this desire for local materials, along with a few bits of brass that were recycled from imported sources.
A gunsmith must be a master of metalwork, of course, but he must also be an excellent wood-carver. The stock of the gun iw made from a huge sugar maple board, carefully carved to accept the barrel, lock, and the custom cast brass pieces.
The result is a masterfully crafted flintlock rifle, capable of picking off a target at a few hundred yards. [Wallace Gustler] manufactured nearly everything in this gun by hand, an impressive display of skill for a master, but an inspiration to anyone who would want to work with their hands.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWormsx8nug&w=580]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMxDOAZPfu0&w=580]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LA91sTOMGu0&w=580]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpM-vZJfaRE&w=580]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QuvW0_8ae18&w=580]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a43O1mI9bg8&w=580]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krMNDBYFhmE&w=580]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vv-RHH-JSJw&w=580]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5Yc5DTBjJw&w=580]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OZSXUIoCOI&w=580] | 7 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "1038274",
"author": "Gorgus",
"timestamp": "2013-07-04T15:42:55",
"content": "OMG! Without using even a 3D-printer!?! Where is this going to end? ;-)",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1038279",
"author": "plasticman01",... | 1,760,376,516.677621 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/07/04/dip-switch-adjusted-voltage-regulator/ | DIP Switch Adjusted Voltage Regulator | Mike Szczys | [
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"LM317",
"power supply"
] | It couldn’t be simpler but you have to admit that
a small adjustable portable power supply
like this one will be really handy.
The main part of the PSU is an LM317 linear voltage regulator
which we’re already familiar with
. The output voltage is adjustable based on a voltage divider between two of the pins. The set of eight DIP switches allows you to tweak that voltage divider. Switch number one connects the 9-volt battery connector to the regulator, serving as a power switch. Each of the other seven switches adjusts the output voltage by 1.5 volts. The output of the regulator connects to your target device using alligator clips which are not in frame above.
[Jason] says he takes this with him when thrift store hunting for cheap electronics. It can mimic most combinations of Alkaline cells letting you power up electronic toys to ensure they work. But we would find it equally useful for getting that early prototype away from the bench supply for testing before finalizing a dedicated portable supply. | 55 | 21 | [
{
"comment_id": "1022723",
"author": "Mystick",
"timestamp": "2013-07-04T13:08:58",
"content": "Simple… elegant.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1022806",
"author": "Panikos",
"timestamp": "2013-07-04T17:06:36",
"conten... | 1,760,376,517.074831 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/07/03/sentrifying-a-nerf-gun/ | Sentrifying A Nerf Gun | Brian Benchoff | [
"Toy Hacks"
] | [
"nerf",
"Nerf vulcan",
"sentry",
"sentry gun"
] | [Brittliv] made the mistake of getting her friends into Nerf weaponry, and so began the race to mutually secured destruction via foam darts. She may have the upper hand in this war, because her
Nerf Vulcan sentry gun
is both incredibly powerful and is able to be operated autonomously with a webcam featuring a friend or foe identification system.
The azimuth and elevation mount for the gun is made out of plywood, with each axis controlled by a single servo attached to an Arduino. Of course a stock Nerf gun would be fairly boring, so [BrittLiv] increased both the voltage going to the gun’s motor and the strength of the gun by replacing a 2kg spring with a 5kg spring.
Targets are tracked with a webcam using Processing and a bit of code from
Project Sentry Gun
. One interesting feature is a friend or foe tracking system; if the gun sees someone wearing a t-shirt with the Instructables logo, the target is identified as a friend and is not brutally mowed down with plastic darts.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C70R7oo4jMc&w=580] | 34 | 14 | [
{
"comment_id": "1022604",
"author": "BrittLiv",
"timestamp": "2013-07-03T23:55:42",
"content": "Thank you for the nice write-up!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1022803",
"author": "Alex Rossie",
"timestamp": "2013-07-04T16:52... | 1,760,376,517.14467 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/07/03/perfect-wall-mounted-tablet-integration/ | Perfect Wall-mounted Tablet Integration | Mike Szczys | [
"home hacks",
"Tablet Hacks"
] | [
"dock",
"home automation",
"inductive charging",
"tablet"
] | There’s a building downtown built about ten years ago that has tablet-sized LCD screens next to the entrance of each large meeting room. They’re never on and we always wonder why they didn’t just use one of those things that holds a sheet of printer paper to label what’s happening in the meeting space? Now this is a similar idea but with much better execution. Instead of just displaying data
the in-wall tablet mount makes your room interactive
.
[Tim’s] been working on it for a couple of years. He started out trying to house an iPod Touch behind a junction box cover plate. There are some pictures of that at the top of
his build album
. That didn’t quite take so keep scrolling to see the path to the finished product shown above. He cut a hole in the drywall and figured out how to mount a tablet dock that includes inductive charging. It holds the tablet in place with the small ledge and a few magnets, keeping its battery charged without a need for wires. Once tested he mudded, sanded, textured, and painted for a perfect finished product. | 21 | 12 | [
{
"comment_id": "1022582",
"author": "Hack Man",
"timestamp": "2013-07-03T21:21:17",
"content": "http://mobilesyrup.com/2012/12/24/make-use-of-nexus-10-bottom-charging-pins-with-this-magnetic-pogo-cable/Maybe something like this and a 3d printed “dock”?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"... | 1,760,376,516.799685 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/07/03/twenty-two-servos-and-an-awesome-clock/ | Twenty Two Servos And An Awesome Clock | Brian Benchoff | [
"clock hacks"
] | [
"arduino mega",
"clock",
"servo"
] | We can never get enough interesting clock builds, and
[ebrithil]’s servo clock
(Deutsche,
Google translation
) is up there with the best of them. There’s twenty-two servos in this clock, moving time forward with the mechanistic precision only an Arduino project can.
The digits in [ebrithil]’s clock are constructed like seven-segment displays, only instead of lighting up LEDs, servos turn small bits of paper that are light on one side and dark on the other. Turing the servo 180 degrees changes each segment from one shade to the other, making for an electromechanical seven-segment display.
The servos are controlled by an Arduino Mega connected to a DS1302 real-time clock. One problem [ebrithil] had with this project is having the segments rotate slightly every time someone turned on a light attached to the same circuit. He solved this problem by running the circuit off a perpetually charging cell phone battery, allowing him to take this clock on the go without losing time.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYjI_1zLZVc&w=580]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95xyD30JG8I&w=580] | 27 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "1022505",
"author": "ColdTurkey",
"timestamp": "2013-07-03T17:09:29",
"content": "The second video doesn’t seem to show any kind of improvement with the alignment of the cards. I think this is a great idea, however I find it quite difficult to read at all.",
"parent_id": null,
... | 1,760,376,517.244203 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/07/03/hand-soldering-bga-wafer-chips/ | Hand Soldering BGA Wafer Chips | Mike Szczys | [
"Parts"
] | [
"bga",
"chip on board",
"epoxy",
"wlcsp"
] | And here we’ve been complaining about Flat Pack No-Lead chips when this guy is
prototyping with Ball Grid Array
in a Wafer-Level Chip Scale Package (WLCSP). Haven’t heard that acronym before? Neither had we. It means you get the silicon wafer without a plastic housing in order to save space in your design. Want to use that on a breadboard. You’re crazy!
Eh, that’s just a knee jerk reaction. The wafer-level isn’t that unorthodox as far as manufacturing goes. It’s something like chip on board electronics which have that black blob of epoxy sealing them after the connections are made. This image shows those connections which use magnet wire on a DIP breakout board. [Jason] used epoxy to glue the wafer down before grabbing his iron. It took 90 minutes to solder the nine connections, but his second attempt cut that process down to just 20. After a round of testing he used more epoxy to completely encase the chip and wires.
It works for parts with low pin-counts. But add one row/column and you’re talking about making sixteen perfect connections instead of just nine. | 22 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "1022470",
"author": "DainBramage1991",
"timestamp": "2013-07-03T15:45:15",
"content": "I guess some people have steadier hands than I do. I would end up with all six wires and the chip encased in a large blob of solder if I tried something like that.",
"parent_id": null,
"de... | 1,760,376,517.771296 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/07/03/deep-woods-cabin-one-man-his-tools-and-a-camera-on-a-tripod/ | Deep Woods Cabin; One Man, His Tools, And A Camera On A Tripod | Mike Szczys | [
"home hacks"
] | [
"cabin",
"hand tools"
] | We remember watching
Alone in the Woods
years ago on Public Television. It’s a story of a self-sufficient man named [Dick Proenneke] who loved the outdoors and decided to live alone in the Alaskan wilderness. It’s a remarkable story made more so by
the film footage he made to document his experience
. That teaser doesn’t do it justice, so check out
the web page summaries
as well and consider picking up a copy of the films for yourself.
The films include hiking, hunting, observing nature, and building this sweet pad which even [
Steve
] would be proud of. The first summer he left his native Iowa and scouted for cabin locations near
Twin Lakes, Alaska
. After finding a suitable location he felled enough trees to build the entire 11′ by 14′ structure and headed back home for the winter.
The next summer he packed in the tools seen above, and got to work. His build includes a stone fire-place as well as a door, windows, and a moss-covered roof. He did return to the continental US one more time, but ended up going back to Alaska to spend another 30 years in the cabin.
[Thanks Tijmen] | 1 | 1 | [
{
"comment_id": "2127774",
"author": "Great Bard",
"timestamp": "2014-11-12T18:10:53",
"content": "It was “Alone in the Wilderness”",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
}
] | 1,760,376,517.181459 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/07/03/the-14th-game-for-the-nintendo-power-pad/ | The 14th Game For The Nintendo Power Pad | Brian Benchoff | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"Nintendo Hacks"
] | [
"nes",
"nintendo",
"power pad",
"unity"
] | [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6x23TWrInpI&w=580]
Released 25 years ago, the Nintendo Power Pad, a plastic mat that plugged into an NES, saw very limited success despite its prevalence in basements and attics. In total, only six games for the Power Pad were released in North America, and only 13 worldwide. The guys over at cyborgDino thought they should celebrate the sliver anniversary of the Power Pad
by creating its 14th game
, using an Arduino and a bit of playing around in Unity 3D.
The first order of business was to read the button inputs on the Power Pad. Like all NES peripherals, the Power Pad stores the state of its buttons in a shift register that can be easily read out with an Arduino. With a bit of help from the
UnoJoy library
, it was a relatively simple matter to make the Power Pad work as intended.
The video game cyborgDino created is called Axis. It’s a bit like a cross between Pong and a tower defense game; plant your feet on the right buttons, and a shield pops up, protecting your square in the middle of the screen from bouncing balls. It’s the 14th game ever created for the Power Pad, so that’s got to count for something.
Video of the game below.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vn9moRgzrNo&w=580] | 7 | 2 | [
{
"comment_id": "1022490",
"author": "Some dude",
"timestamp": "2013-07-03T16:26:00",
"content": "How many times did he say the word “Power”? The one to answer correctly wins a Power Pad",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1022544",
"autho... | 1,760,376,517.338534 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/07/03/super-precise-light-painting-from-a-delta-robot/ | Super-precise Light Painting From A Delta Robot | Mike Szczys | [
"cnc hacks",
"LED Hacks"
] | [
"delta robot",
"light painting",
"long exposure"
] | The points of those geometric shapes line up perfectly thanks to
the delta robot arm controlling the light source
. The source is a simple LED that can be switched on and off as it moves. A camera is set up in a dark room to keep the shutter open while the arm moves. We’re assuming that all of the light for the stationary objects in this image comes from the LED as well.
[Sick Sad] built the delta bot for just for this purpose. Check out the video below to see, and perhaps more importantly hear, the thing in motion. Seriously, the whine of the stepper motors is pretty awesome on this one.
The delta concept uses a central head on three arms angled down from above. If the LED is also pointed down it won’t light up the hardware and that’s why it doesn’t show up in the image. We’ve seen similar accuracy when
using this style of machine for 3D printing
. But if you don’t want to build a complicated machine you can
try this out with a simple string plotter
. | 13 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "1022408",
"author": "CJ",
"timestamp": "2013-07-03T13:20:49",
"content": "OMG… that thing sounds BEAUTIFUL! I think I broke the replay button…",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1022441",
"author": "SickSad",
"ti... | 1,760,376,517.295543 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/07/03/seeing-plant-health-in-infrared/ | Seeing Plant Health In Infrared | Brian Benchoff | [
"digital cameras hacks"
] | [
"infrared",
"ir",
"landsat",
"NDVI",
"Near Infrared",
"photography"
] | Since the 70s, NASA, NOAA, and the USGS have been operating a series of satellites designed to look at vegetation health around the world. These satellites, going under the name Landsat, use specialized camera filters that look at light reflecting off chlorophyll to gauge the health of forests, plains, oceans, and even farms. It’s all very interesting technology, and a few very cool people
want to put one of these near infrared cameras
in the hands of everyone.
The basic idea behind gauging the health of plants from orbit, or the
Normalized Difference Vegetation Index
, is actually pretty simple: absorb red and blue light (thus our verdant forests), and reflect nearly all infrared light. By removing the IR filter from a digital camera and adding a ‘superblue’ filter, the NDVI can be calculated with just a little bit of image processing.
The folks behind this have
put up a Kickstarter
with rewards including a modified webcam, a custom point and shoot camera, and a very low-cost source of one of these superblue filters. Just the thing to see how your garden grows or how efficiently you can kill a houseplant. | 13 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "1022365",
"author": "XOIIO",
"timestamp": "2013-07-03T11:12:26",
"content": "You can also just use some processed film and pretty much do the same thing, from what I can tell.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1022372",
... | 1,760,376,517.392259 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/07/02/raspberry-pi-now-in-a-mini-itx-form-factor/ | Raspberry Pi, Now In A Mini-ITX Form Factor | Brian Benchoff | [
"Raspberry Pi"
] | [
"mini-itx",
"raspberry pi"
] | Shown above is a fairly simple Raspberry Pi setup. There’s the Raspi itself, a 2.5″ hard drive, a USB hub, GPIO expansion, and wireless and Bluetooth adapters. Throw in the power supplies for all these devices, and you’ve got a real mess on your hands. There is a solution to this problem of a Gordian knot of USB and power cables:
the Fairywren
, a board that turns your Raspberry Pi into a Mini-ITX computer.
The basic idea behind the Fairywren is to take the basic outline of a Mini-ITX motherboard and add goodies like a real-time clock serial port, and USB hub while providing a secure mounting place for a Raspberry Pi. It turns a Raspberry Pi into a proper computer, with all the ports in the rear, and is compatible with a whole slew of Mini-ITX cases.
At £40, the Fairywren isn’t exactly cheap. In fact, it’s more expensive than the Raspberry Pi itself. That being said, you do get a whole lot of hardware for the price, and if you already have a small Mini-ITX case lying around, it may be just the thing to clean up the mess on your electronics bench. | 35 | 14 | [
{
"comment_id": "1022234",
"author": "lee",
"timestamp": "2013-07-02T23:20:01",
"content": "wait, so this makes the rapsberry pi into an ordinary mini-itx computer that is more expensive but less powerful than an intel atom? I guess it does have GPIO, but we used to call that a parallel port…",
... | 1,760,376,517.465783 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/07/02/family-pulls-together-to-build-dads-casket/ | Family Pulls Together To Build Dad’s Casket | Mike Szczys | [
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"casket",
"woodworking"
] | In these modern times we don’t often hear about families building their own caskets. But this project log documenting the deceased’s brother and sons
fabricating a top of the line casket
is really heartwarming. You may be thinking that they wouldn’t be able to include all the features you’d find on a commercially produced model. However, we remember seeing an episode of
How It’s Made
about caskets and there’s not much more than carpentry and simple upholstery involved.
The build starts with a plywood box lined with thin wooden ribs for added strength. The group then wrapped it with thin strips of dimensional lumber (maybe flooring?) which look great after a coat of stain. We’re not sure where the metal brackets for the two side rails came from. If you recognize them we’d love to hear about it in the comments.
The bottom line here is that for families used to working with their hands this is a great tribute and a way to commune with each other after the recent loss.
[via
Reddit
] | 29 | 15 | [
{
"comment_id": "1022186",
"author": "geneb",
"timestamp": "2013-07-02T21:04:30",
"content": "Rockler sells casket hardware. (plans as well)",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "1022187",
"author": "Johnathan",
"timestamp": "2013-07-02T21:05:... | 1,760,376,517.531544 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/07/02/salvaging-lithium-cells-and-circuits/ | Salvaging Lithium Cells And Circuits | Mike Szczys | [
"Parts"
] | [
"charging",
"lithium",
"rechargeable",
"salvage",
"scavenge"
] | Lithium cells outperform Nickel Cadmium and Nickel Metal Hydride in almost every way. But they also need a little bit more babysitting to get the most out of them. That comes in the form of control circuitry that charges them correctly and won’t let them get below a certain voltage threshold during discharge. We enjoyed reading about [Carlos’]
Lithium cell salvage efforts
as it discusses these concerns.
He wanted to salvage a Lithium power source for his projects. He had the three cell pack from a dead Macbook Pro seen in the upper left, as well as the single blown cell from a digital picture frame shown on the right. The three-pack didn’t monitor each cell individually, so the death of one borked the entire battery. He desoldered them and probed their voltage level to find one that was still usable. To prevent his project from draining the source below the 2.7V mark he scavenged that circuit board from the digital picture frame. A bit of testing and the system is up and running in a different piece of hardware.
Don’t be afraid of this stuff. If you learn the basics it’ll be easy to use these powerful batteries in your projects. For more background
check out this charging tutorial
. | 29 | 15 | [
{
"comment_id": "1022137",
"author": "A Bryant",
"timestamp": "2013-07-02T19:14:20",
"content": "I managed to do this too some PSP cells ages ago. Mind you, it didn’t help that the official batteries were so badly soldered to the control board.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies":... | 1,760,376,517.694357 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/07/02/unlocking-a-rigol-scope-once-again/ | Unlocking A Rigol Scope Once Again | Brian Benchoff | [
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"DS2072",
"oscilliscope",
"rigol"
] | Rigol scopes are finding their way onto the workbenches of makers the world over. There’s a reason for that – they’re so easily upgraded. With a simple software update, you can turn the 50 MHz Rigol o’scope into a model with 100 MHz of bandwidth. Design decisions in one model are sometimes carried over to different product lines, so eventually someone would figure out how to
turn the 70 MHz DS2072 scope into the 200 MHz DS2202
. A great mod that turns an $800 oscilloscope into one with the features of a $1600 scope.
There’s no internal modifications necessary for this mod; it works simply by sending a few engineering unlock codes to the scope over USB, a simple task that [Blair] implemented with a Raspberry Pi and a bit of Python code. The only fault of the hack is the scope resetting each time it’s powered off. This can, in fact, be accomplished with just about any microcontroller with a Python interpreter.
A fairly uninformative demo video is available below, or you could check out the EEVBlog thread where this mod was conceived
here
.
We here at Hackaday expect a small, cheap USB/microcontroller dongle thingy that automagically updates the DS2072 to show up in our inbox any day now. We thank whoever sends that in.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnOGmsP-iVQ&w=520] | 34 | 17 | [
{
"comment_id": "1022100",
"author": "polytechnick",
"timestamp": "2013-07-02T17:25:11",
"content": "I think these “unlocks” are a clever PR ploy by Rigol. A $800 oscilloscope is still A LOT of dough for a ‘scope these days, but with Rigol you are kinda sorta having this sense of buying “more” than ... | 1,760,376,518.239653 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/07/02/custom-handmade-boxes-made-with-steam/ | Custom Handmade Boxes, Made With Steam | Brian Benchoff | [
"Uncategorized"
] | [] | From tea sets to CD box sets, you’ll see the work of the Phillips Brothers mill on shelves all across the country. They make wooden boxes for just about any product imaginable. Interestingly,
they do it the old-school way
, with the entire factory powered by steam.
T
he wood for the boxes comes from the on-site mill, resawn and planed to the proper dimensions. These thin boards are then cut to size for each of the sides.
Most of the clients like to put their logo on their boxes, and the Phillips Brothers mill is more than happy to oblige. They brand one side of the box with a custom-made iron, permanently marking the box for the client.
The boxes are assembled with either staples or nails, enough to last for many, many years. No, there aren’t finger joints on these boxes, but with generations worth of experience in this factory, we’ll assume they know what they’re doing. | 2 | 2 | [
{
"comment_id": "1038271",
"author": "wretch",
"timestamp": "2013-07-02T21:20:25",
"content": "The dog looks like it’s been around since 1897. (c:Nice. Not a fan of Louis L’Amour, but now I’m tempted to buy a boxed set just for the box. (c;",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [... | 1,760,376,517.893703 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/06/30/air-powered-gripper-design-makes-them-easy-to-produce/ | Air-powered Gripper Design Makes Them Easy To Produce | Mike Szczys | [
"3d Printer hacks"
] | [
"gripper",
"mold",
"silicone"
] | This invertebrate gripper uses air pressure to grab onto objects. The secret is all in the design. But you don’t have to reinvent the wheel. If you’ve got a 3D printer you can
follow this guide to make your own
.
The gripper is made of silicone. The trick is in designing an inner structure that deforms in one direction when pressurized. To make one or one hundred, simply download
the design files
and 3D print a mold. The process from there is much like
the silicone band prototyping process
we looked at back in March. The two-part silicone is mixed and poured in the mold. You also need to pour some on a flat surface. We were under the impression that uncured silicone would not stick to cured silicone but we were wrong. The two parts are glued together with a fresh batch of the mix. After everything has set up you can pierce the bladder with a hose in order to inject air.
Below you can see the star-shaped version being tested. There’s also a Harvard research video which shows a similar design lifting an egg. | 7 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "1021201",
"author": "cyberzerocool",
"timestamp": "2013-06-30T19:27:22",
"content": "So cool. I want that❕",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "1021202",
"author": "Bluewraith",
"timestamp": "2013-06-30T19:39:17",
"conten... | 1,760,376,518.644217 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/06/30/retrotechtacular-bell-labs-introduces-a-thing-called-unix/ | Retrotechtacular: Bell Labs Introduces A Thing Called ‘UNIX’ | Brian Benchoff | [
"Software Development",
"Software Hacks"
] | [
"*nix",
"att",
"bell labs",
"unix"
] | Modern operating systems may seem baroque in their complexity, but nearly every one of them – except for Windows, natch – are based on the idea of simplicity and modularity. This is the lesson that UNIX taught us, explained perfectly
in a little film from Bell Labs in 1982
starring giants of computation, [Dennis Ritchie], [Ken Thompson], [Brian Kernighan], and others.
At the time this film was made, UNIX had been around for about 10 years. In that time, it had moved far from an OS cloistered in giant mainframes attached to teletypes to slightly smaller minicomputers wired up to video terminals. Yes, smallish computers like the Apple II and the VIC-20 were around by this time, but they were toys compared to the hulking racks inside Bell Labs.
The film explains the core concept of UNIX by demonstrating modularity
with a great example
by [Brian Kernighan]. He took a short passage from a paper he wrote and found spelling errors by piping his paper though different commands from the shell. First the words in the paper were separated line by line, made lowercase, and sorted alphabetically. All the unique words were extracted from this list, and compared to a dictionary. A spell checker in one line of code, brought to you by the power of UNIX. | 49 | 15 | [
{
"comment_id": "1021134",
"author": "Gravis",
"timestamp": "2013-06-30T15:58:19",
"content": "this is awesome! how can i get a UNIX of my own? ;)",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1021142",
"author": "buricco",
"timestamp": "20... | 1,760,376,518.034583 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/06/30/google-science-fair-finalist-explains-squid-inspired-underwater-propulsion/ | Google Science Fair Finalist Explains Squid-inspired Underwater Propulsion | Mike Szczys | [
"Transportation Hacks"
] | [
"google",
"propulsion",
"science fair",
"squid"
] | Meet [Alex Spiride]. He’s one of the fifteen finalists of the 2013 Google Science Fair. A native of Plano, Texas, [Alex] entered
his squid-inspired underwater propulsion system
in the 13-14 year old category.
The red cylinder shown in the image inlay is his test rig. It is covered well on his project site linked above. You just need to click around the different pages using the navigation tiles in the upper right to get the whole picture. The propulsion module uses water sprayed out the nozzle to push the enclosure forward. The hull is made of PVC, with a bladder inside which is connected to the nozzle. The bladder is full of water, but the cavity between it and the hull is full of air. Notice the plastic hose which is used to inject pressurized air, squeezing the bladder to propel the water out the nozzle. Pretty neat huh?
We think [Alex’s] work stands on its own. But we can’t help thinking what the next iteration could look like. We wonder what would happen if you wrapped that bladder in muscle wire? Would it be strong enough to squeeze the bladder?
You can see all fifteen finalists at
the GSF announcement page
. Just don’t be surprised if you see some of those other projects on our front page in the coming days.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVI_lz5aMfc | 15 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "1021123",
"author": "Haku",
"timestamp": "2013-06-30T14:17:24",
"content": "Hey on the subject of Google science fair entrants, I take it you’ve seen the peltier powered torch?http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/story/2013/06/27/technology-google-science-fair-finals-ann-makosinski.htm... | 1,760,376,517.947489 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/06/29/easily-3d-print-mesh-screens/ | Easily 3D Print Mesh Screens | Mike Szczys | [
"3d Printer hacks"
] | [
"3d printer",
"enclosure",
"mesh",
"screen"
] | If you need a way to make openings in your project enclosures look nice just head on over to the 3D printer. In the image above [Alfred] is showing off the result of
his Slic3r hack for printing mesh grills
.
It’s important to note that you need to make sure you’re using Slic3r version 0.9.8. This won’t work with newer versions because starting with 0.9.9 the software will add a raft to the bottom of your design.
The grill can be in any shape you desire. It starts by modelling this outline, then extruding the edges downward the same distance as your desired mesh thickness. After importing the design file into Slic3r [Alfred] uses the support material settings to choose this honeycomb design. He then sets the fill density to zero. This means the design will not be printed at all, only the fill material, resulting in these honeycomb screens.
Slic3r’s a fantastic piece of software. Check out
this interview with Slic3r’s lead developer
. | 22 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "1021020",
"author": "krazeecain",
"timestamp": "2013-06-29T21:28:16",
"content": "Isn’t there somewhere you could just buy material like this? I would think that the cost of filament would make this rather cost-prohibitive if there was a place where you could just buy this type of m... | 1,760,376,518.175815 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/06/29/build-a-light-following-bristlebot-as-a-way-to-teach-science/ | Build A Light Following Bristlebot As A Way To Teach Science | Mike Szczys | [
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"battery",
"bristlebot",
"mosfet",
"toothbrush",
"vibration motor"
] | [Ben Finio] designed this project as a way to get kids interested in learning about science and engineering. Is it bad that we just want to build one of our own? It’s
a light following bristlebot
which in itself is quite simple to build and understand. We think the platform has a lot of potential for leading to other things, like learning about microcontrollers and wireless modules to give it wireless control.
Right now it’s basically two bristlebots combined into one package. The screen capture seen above makes it hard to pick out the two toothbrush heads on either side of a battery pack. The chassis of the build is a blue mini-breadboard. The circuit that makes it follow light is the definition of simple. [Ben] uses two MOSFETs to control two vibration motors mounted on the rear corners of the chassis. The gate of each MOSFET is driven by a voltage divider which includes a photoresistor. When light on one is brighter than the other it causes the bot to turn towards to the brighter sensor. When viewing the project log above make sure to click on the tabs to see all of the available info.
This directional control seems quite good. We’ve also seen other versions which
shift the weight of the bot
to change direction. | 13 | 3 | [
{
"comment_id": "1020982",
"author": "Doug",
"timestamp": "2013-06-29T16:57:01",
"content": "Granted that I haven’t had a chance to read the article yet, but I seem to be missing from the write up where the science comes into this project. If someone could fill me in that would be excellent.",
"... | 1,760,376,518.287347 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/06/28/car-stereo-aux-input-taps-into-cd-ribbon-cable/ | Car Stereo AUX Input Taps Into CD Ribbon Cable | Mike Szczys | [
"digital audio hacks"
] | [
"auxiliary input",
"car stereo"
] | [Gezepi] wanted to add an auxiliary input to the stereo in his 1994 Camry. At first look there wasn’t an easy way to patch into the system. But a bit of probing with an oscilloscope and figured out that he could inject audio through the CD ribbon cable shown above. The CD reader is a self-contained unit that receives commands through the cable, and passes analog stereo audio back to the receiver portion of the head unit. We’re not sure how he figured out which pins to tap into, but it may have been as easy as probing with some headphones while a CD is playing.
The extent of his hack is documented in the image below. He cut the two audio leads on the CD side of the ribbon cable, then soldered his auxiliary jack on the receiver side of the cable connector. This ensures that two audio signals aren’t being piped into the receiver at the same time. Unfortunately it also means that he won’t be able to use the CD player. We have seen other methods that use a special audio jack as a pass-through which cuts the connection when a jack is inserted. That’s
the method used in this Subaru hack
. | 50 | 29 | [
{
"comment_id": "1020790",
"author": "ejonesss",
"timestamp": "2013-06-28T21:25:38",
"content": "you can also tap into the amplifier chip or the back of the volume control",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1020963",
"author": "saw0",
... | 1,760,376,518.377069 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/06/28/an-xbmc-controller-built-for-grandma/ | An XBMC Controller Built For Grandma | Mike Szczys | [
"Peripherals Hacks"
] | [
"accessibility",
"controller",
"keyboard",
"wireless",
"xbmc"
] | Is your grandmother cool enough to use XBMC? Maybe it’s a testament to the functionality of the wildly popular home entertainment suite rather than the hipness of your elders. But indeed, [Brian’s] grandmother is an XBMC user who needed a controller with larger buttons to accommodate her. This is what he built. He sent us a set of photos and a description of the build, both of which you can see below. He was inspired to get in touch after reading about
the custom controller
which [Caleb] has been working on for [Thomas].
[Brian] didn’t get bogged down with electronics. He went with the simple, cheap, and
popular solution of gutting a wireless keyboard
. After tracing out the keys he needed he got rid of everything except the PCB. A wiring harness was crafted by soldering jumper wires to the PCB traces and terminating them with crimping slide connectors. The arcade buttons he used have terminals for the connectors which will make it simple to mate the electronics with the mechanics.
The enclosure is a little wooden hobby box. It originally had a lid with a mirror. [Brian] broke open the lid’s frame to replace it with a thin piece of plywood which hosts the buttons. Inside you’ll find a battery power source. These keyboards last a long time on one set of batteries so he just needs to remember to preemptively replace them from time to time. The finishing touch was to add decals so that granny can figure out what each button does.
The donor keyboard
Cracking open the wireless keyboard
Soldering to the key matrix on the keyboard PCB
All wiring soldered to the keyboard PCB
Staining the enclosure
Arcade buttons ready for use
Replacing the box top with a plate for the buttons
Buttons in place
All internal wiring done and battery pack added
Completed controller includes decals for the buttons. | 6 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "1020741",
"author": "Annoymous",
"timestamp": "2013-06-28T19:04:09",
"content": "Awe How Sweet!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "1020745",
"author": "Hirudinea",
"timestamp": "2013-06-28T19:13:11",
"content": "Hope Gr... | 1,760,376,518.426542 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/07/02/bullet-time-with-a-ceiling-fan/ | Bullet Time With A Ceiling Fan | Brian Benchoff | [
"digital cameras hacks"
] | [
"bullet time",
"ceiling fan",
"GoPro"
] | Bullet time has been around since at least the first
Matrix
movie (actually there was a Gap ad before that), and despite it being an oft-used cinematic technique, it still hasn’t gotten old. [Jeremiah] wanted to tap into the awesomeness of bullet time, and
managed to come up with a great camera rig
using only a GoPro and a ceiling fan.
The build really relies on only two components: a GoPro camera and a ceiling fan. In [Jeremiah]’s videos, a ceiling fan is mounted between two trees on a sturdy piece of lumber. The GoPro is suspended from one of the fan blades with the help of a piece of wood, a hinge, and a short bit of cable. After [Jeremiah] wired up the fan to a dimmer switch he could control the speed of the fan and Bob’s your uncle.
This isn’t the first time a GoPro has been used for a bullet time rig. In fact, our buddy [Caleb] did a similar build by
spinning the camera around on a lazy suzan
. Gotta love the high frame rate available on the GoPro, huh?
Vidias after the break.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvghDGlrbUo&w=580]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTQjIZR6xHA&w=580] | 29 | 12 | [
{
"comment_id": "1022072",
"author": "twchambers",
"timestamp": "2013-07-02T16:04:34",
"content": "Looks nice. Has anyone attempted a multi camera bullet time setup?I had a play around with my single gopro and some frame interpolation software (slowmovideo.gronjow.net) to see what you could stretch... | 1,760,376,518.492466 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/07/02/usb-sniffing-with-the-beagleboard-xm/ | USB Sniffing With The BeagleBoard-xM | Mike Szczys | [
"Peripherals Hacks"
] | [
"beagleboard",
"gsoc",
"sniffer",
"sniffing",
"usb",
"wireshark"
] | [Matlo] wrote in to share his
USB sniffing project using the BeagleBoard-xM
. It builds on the Google Summer of Code project from 2010 that used the non-xM version of the hardware to
build a pass through USB sniffer
. [Matlo] couldn’t get it to work back then, but recently revisited the project. He’s cleaned up some scripts and generally made it a bit easier for others to pull off as well.
The ARM-based BeagleBoard seen above acts as man-in-the-middle. You connect your target USB device to the board and the board to a computer. The board emulates the target device, passing packets in either direction while also logging them. The captured data is in the correct format for display using
WireShark
, the de facto standard for making sense of captured communication packets.
This is great for figuring out how to use USB devices on non-standard systems, or vice versa. | 21 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "1021999",
"author": "rasz",
"timestamp": "2013-07-02T14:01:44",
"content": "yay its like OpenVizslaexcept it works and is not a SCAM",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1022041",
"author": "Jonas",
"timestamp": "20... | 1,760,376,518.546791 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/07/02/the-definitive-guide-to-solder-stencils/ | The Definitive Guide To Solder Stencils | Brian Benchoff | [
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"etching",
"solder stencil",
"stencil",
"toner transfer"
] | Yes, we’ve seen our share of tutorials for making solder paste stencils, but [Felix]
hit it out of the park with this one
. It’s the definitive guide to making solder stencils at home, with quality as good as you would find in any professionally made stencil.
The material for the stencils comes from the same source as so many other DIY solder stencils – aluminium cans. The interior plastic coating and the exterior paint job are both removed with heat, acetone, and patience. After laying out the cream layer of his board in a PDF file, [Felix] used a fairly interesting transfer medium to get the toner onto the aluminum; cheap vinyl shelving paper attached to a piece of paper apparently makes for an ideal surface to transfer toner.
After transfer, the board is etched with HCl and peroxide. [Felix] is getting some very good results with his method, including a few very fine pitch IC footprints. It’s just as good as a professionally made, laser cut stainless stencil, and you probably already have all the necessary ingredients lying around your house. That’s a win anytime. | 18 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "1021949",
"author": "Colin Cameron",
"timestamp": "2013-07-02T12:08:26",
"content": "That’s an interesting idea with the adhesive vinyl for toner transfer. I’ve been using photo paper for etching PCBs but it’s not the best.Is it the same stuff as used for covering paperback book cov... | 1,760,376,518.597973 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/07/01/turning-grandpas-o-scope-into-a-clock/ | Turning Grandpa’s O-scope Into A Clock | Brian Benchoff | [
"clock hacks",
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"heathkit",
"oscilloclock",
"oscilloscope"
] | Around 1960, [Aaron]’s grandfather decided to try his hand at a new career in electronics repair. It didn’t pan out, but before he gave up he built a beautiful Heathkit oscilloscope, a model OR-1. Grandpa’s electronics career never took off, but years later it would serve as the impetus for [Aaron]’s own career in electronics. Now [Aaron] has too many oscilloscopes, but still wanted a way to preserve his grandfather’s legacy.
An oscilloclock
was just the project to do that.
Of course to turn an oscilloscope into a clock requires some interesting control circuitry, and [Aaron] didn’t skimp on his build. He created
a custom control board
that is able to draw any shape on the CRT screen using just circles; squashing circles to draw a line, and cutting the beam entirely to slice a circle in half.
This isn’t [Aaron]’s first oscilloclock by a long shot. He previously created
this amazing clock
completely from scratch. Still, using Grandpa’s old tools is a great way to make this oscilloscope useful again, even if [Aaron] is already up to his gills in test equipment. | 28 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "1021711",
"author": "Haneef Mubarak",
"timestamp": "2013-07-01T23:02:57",
"content": "First!jkjkAnyways, it would be cool if it could be used as a TTY display, possibly with the addition of a keyboard.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"commen... | 1,760,376,518.711361 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/07/01/hackaday-looking-for-a-good-home/ | Hackaday Looking For A Good Home | Caleb Kraft | [
"Featured",
"News"
] | [
"hackaday for sale"
] | Below is a statement from [Jason Calacanis], the owner of hackaday ———————-
HackADay.com
, an awesome maker community, is looking for a new home
——–
tl;dr: HackADay is a passionate community of hackers doing awesome stuff. It deserves more attention than I can give it right now, as I’m ultra-focused on the launch of Inside.com. So, we’re looking for a caring new owner with a stellar track record of not f@#$ing up brands to take it over.
——–
We created HackADay back in 2004 because one of Engadget’s awesome bloggers,
Phil Torrone
, wanted to do super-geeky projects every day and the Engadget audience wasn’t exactly into that frequency.
In a phone call with PT I said, “So you want to do a hack a day?”
He was like, “Yeah, a hack a day.”
And I was like, “OK, let’s do
hackaday.com
.”
When we sold Weblogs Inc. to AOL, we took HackADay out of the deal because it was doing stuff that a corporate parent’s legal arm might not feel comfortable with (e.g., hacking cable boxes!).
So, I bought it and kept it safe and warm inside of Mahalo.com for the past couple of years. However, since I’m super focused on the Inside.com launch, I need to find a new home for it.
It’s doing over $14k a month in advertising without a sales force (just AdSense mainly), and it’s got an amazing stable of bloggers. Given its 6m pageviews a month and with an advertising sales force doing a modest $15 RPM, Hackaday could do $90k a month.
We’ve got 5,674 members of our email list after just five months (should have started it 10 years ago, would have been at 100k+ by now!).
We’ve started doing some epic videos on YouTube. Collectively the videos have over 5m views and 31k subscribers:
www.youtube.com/hackaday
This awesome video broke 1m views:
http://youtu.be/LZkApleQQpk
Our
Twitter handle
has 29k followers.
We’re hoping someone like Maker, DemandMedia, InternetBrands, AOL (without Time Warner involved!), Gawker or another publisher can carry on this awesome, profitable and limitless brand.
If you’re interested, send a note to jason@inside.com.
Also, HackADay is looking for a new editor-in-chief. Please send sample projects, posts and whatever else you got to neweditor@hackaday.com.
Thanks for allowing me this and for your help with any new home ideas.
best @jason | 195 | 50 | [
{
"comment_id": "1021665",
"author": "just another reader",
"timestamp": "2013-07-01T21:48:08",
"content": "props for making the process so open, I seriously appreciate this.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "1021666",
"author": "Gizmos",
... | 1,760,376,519.384476 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/07/01/briefcase-mill/ | Briefcase Mill | Mike Szczys | [
"cnc hacks"
] | [
"cnc",
"mill",
"portable",
"router"
] | Take the machine shop with you; that’s the mantra which drove [Ryan] to build
this CNC mill in a briefcase
. That album will give you a taste of the final product. But you’ll want to dig through two pages of his forum thread
starting with this post
in order to behold the build process.
The image above is only part way through the fabrication, but we thought it gave the best overall view of his work. It’s missing the cables which connect to the control circuitry in the lid. The bed has also not been installed and this was before he fabricated the protective case for the PCBs.
Getting everything to fit inside of a folding case was quite a trick. Of course he used CAD to make sure it was possible. There are several places where the clearance when closed is about 2mm. We’re shocked by the build quality of the mill itself. It’s a novel idea to make it portable, but the accuracy and reliability of the machine didn’t suffer for the concept.
If you need a desktop mill that’s not quite as portable
here’s a project
which will dish out some inspiration. | 8 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "1021668",
"author": "kid",
"timestamp": "2013-07-01T21:50:38",
"content": "wow this is quit nice built !",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "1021756",
"author": "XOIIO",
"timestamp": "2013-07-02T00:41:11",
"content": "Da... | 1,760,376,518.825674 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/07/01/raspberry-pi-automates-your-tomato-farm/ | Raspberry Pi Automates Your Tomato Farm | Mike Szczys | [
"green hacks",
"Raspberry Pi"
] | [
"grow controller",
"light sensor",
"moisture sensor",
"pump",
"Tomato"
] | Check out the tomato plants [Devon] grew using
a monitoring system he built himself
. It’s based around a Raspberry Pi. As far as grow controllers go it falls a bit short of full automation. That’s because the only thing it can actuate is the black water line seen hovering above the plants. But [Devon’s] work on monitoring and collecting sensor data should make it easy to add features in the future.
The moisture sensors pictured above monitor the soil in which the plants are growing. But he also has temperature and light sensors. These are very important when growing from seed and could be used in conjunction with a heating mat for plants that require higher soil temperatures (like pepper plants). The tomatoes are also pretty
leggy
. Now that he’s monitoring light levels it would be good to augment the setup with a grow light. A long term goal could even be a motorized bed which could raise the plants right up to the bulbs so they don’t reach for the light.
Don’t let the stars in our eyes distract you though. He’s done a ton of work on the project both with the physical build, and in plotting the data collected by the system. Great job! | 15 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "1021615",
"author": "ballronkarin",
"timestamp": "2013-07-01T19:59:12",
"content": "Närrrpes!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1021638",
"author": "Mike Collum",
"timestamp": "2013-07-01T20:32:12",
"cont... | 1,760,376,518.875596 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/07/01/goodbye-hackaday-ill-miss-you/ | Goodbye Hackaday, I’ll Miss You. | Caleb Kraft | [
"Featured",
"News"
] | [
"announcement",
"retiring"
] | Farewell Hackaday, the time has come for me to move on. Don’t worry,
hackaday will keep going
, just like it did when [Eliot] moved on, and [Phil] before him.
I wrote my first post on
July 9th, 2008.
Since then I’ve had so much fun, and written a total of 1,552 posts (including this one). In my opinion, there is simply no other site like Hackaday.com, our readers are passionate and knowledgeable and it shows, even if some of you are incredibly rude to each other(that’s a sign of passion right?).
While some projects stand out in my mind, it is the
people
I have enjoyed the most. The people I met when I went to all the different hackerspaces, my co-writers[Mike Szczys] and[Brian Benchoff], past hackaday employees, our commenters, and even my boss [Jason Calacanis].
If you want to find me, I’ll be at
calebkraft.com
or on
facebook
or
G+
. I have a
twitter too
, that I guess I’ll start using today.
Join me after the break just one more time while a take a trip down memory lane with a few of my favorite moments from the last few years. Oh, and yes, I think saying “after the break” is stupid. What else do you say though?
I built some really fun things.
and some things I feel I can be proud of
This controller didn’t help [Thomas] that much, but it gave me the idea for
Thecontrollerproject.com
which I’m proud to say has already begun helping people.
I drove almost all the way across the country visiting hackerspaces.
I can’t describe how amazing this was for me. I met people from Arizona all the way to South Carolina. I saw hackerspaces that were 110 degrees inside and hackerspaces that were old masonic temples. The people I met were always enthusiastic, helpful and pleasant.
I jammed stuff up my nose for April fools
I made this thing a long time ago and was waiting for a reason to do something ridiculous. I thought it was a great chance to
make fun of the kickstarter emails we get all the time
. Yes, I did actually shove that thing into my nasal passage.The links actually went to my personal paypal account too. I think I actually got about $3 in donations off that form!
I got tazed.
We thought maybe you guys would like some coverage of the Consumer Electronics show in Las Vegas back in January of 2010. Turns out we didn’t see a whole lot there that we thought you’d be interested in. I stepped up to the plate to take the blame and the punishment.
I had a bunch of other posts in mind, but as I started adding I couldn’t stop. Maybe I should just leave it here.
I’d like to thank the readers again. If it weren’t for your projects happening in your homes, businesses, and hackerspaces, this site wouldn’t exist. You guys are freaking awesome. | 139 | 50 | [
{
"comment_id": "1021527",
"author": "Mike",
"timestamp": "2013-07-01T18:15:16",
"content": "I guess I’ll kinda miss you….",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1021528",
"author": "okowsc",
"timestamp": "2013-07-01T18:16:06",
... | 1,760,376,519.114866 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/07/01/working-with-very-cool-lcd-modules-from-sharp/ | Working With Very Cool LCD Modules From Sharp | Brian Benchoff | [
"hardware"
] | [
"hardware",
"lcd display",
"Memory LCD",
"sharp LCD"
] | Here’s some interesting hardware for you: Sharp came out with a very cool series of LCD displays, gong by the name
Sharp Memory LCD
. Not only are these displays very low power – on the order of about 5 microAmps to keep the display alive – but some of the smaller displays are
reflective,
making them eminently readable even in daylight. [Mike] decided he’d take a look at these displays
and liked what he found
.
While these displays are still pretty new, there are a few breakout boards available to make them accessible to desktop tinkerers. The folks at MakerDyne
have a breakout board available
and there’s one by kuzyatech
over on Tindie
.
While these displays are readable in daylight and are extremely low power, don’t expect to display LCD video on them anytime soon. The refresh rate is still fairly slow, but you might be able to get away with simple animations with interlacing and so forth. Still, outside of eink, you’re not going to find a better display in terms of power consumption and daylight readability.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAoC818Mxy4&w=520] | 11 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "1021497",
"author": "biozz",
"timestamp": "2013-07-01T17:11:59",
"content": "i got a demo board using these LCDs for a project making a watch … there extremely interesting and on par with eink with power consumption vs cost!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []... | 1,760,376,519.011831 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/07/01/designing-a-marble-track-from-scratch/ | Designing A Marble Track From Scratch | Brian Benchoff | [
"Toy Hacks"
] | [
"marble",
"marble toy",
"woodgears",
"woodworking"
] | Woodworker extraordinaire [Matthais] was approached by a toy company to create a ‘marble run’ toy. [Matthais]’ jig-building skills are beyond reproach, so
whipping up a prototype for this toy
was pretty easy for him.
The basic unit of construction for this marble run is a simple ramp block with inputs and outputs at either end. These were crafted from blocks of wood, with the ramp carved out with a slot mortising machine. To make the side cuts on each block, [Matthais] used his
pantograph router
and a jig that cuts the wood for marble inputs on either side.
After taking his creation to a hackerspace for some very large kids to play with, [Matthais] found a few problems with his initial design. The blocks didn’t want to stay aligned when marbles were moving down the ramps, so a small mortise and tenon – looking very much like a piece of Lego – were added in several locations on the underside of each block.
Making
one
of something is relatively easy, but [Matthais] is making hundreds of pieces for his marble run prototype, each interchangeable with another. That’s impressive for something crafted by hand, but when you’re a master at making jigs like [Matthais], everything goes by pretty easily. | 1 | 1 | [
{
"comment_id": "1038270",
"author": "t-bone",
"timestamp": "2013-07-07T03:26:39",
"content": "That’s the woodgears.ca guy. His name is actually ‘Matthias’. He does great things with wood.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
}
] | 1,760,376,519.419372 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/07/01/3d-printed-pip-boy-geiger-counter-not-included/ | 3D Printed Pip-Boy, Geiger Counter Not Included | Brian Benchoff | [
"3d Printer hacks"
] | [
"pipboy 3000"
] | Yes, we all love portal guns and crowbars, but there’s one piece of video game paraphernalia that could conceivably be a useful piece of hardware for the modern technologist. It’s the Pip-Boy 3000, the wrist-wearable computer from
Fallout
, and
now you can print on on your 3D printer.
All the pieces for this Pip-Boy are available
over on Thingiverse
. Included in those files are a dozen plastic parts that, when assembled, come together to form a wrist-mounted computer. You could, of course, print out a static image of a Pip-Boy screen for this build, but [dragonator] made a little addition to his model – he put in a space for a smartphone, so all your environmental sensors and inventory management also work with this 3D printed model.
This is far from
the first wearable Pip-Boy we’ve seen
, but it is the first that’s able to be fabricated on a 3D printer, and comes with the nice bonus of being the best phone case ever. It’s still a lot of work to put this together, but we’re going to say the results are fantastic.
You can check out the demo video of the Pip-Boy below.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DZEGLmWa2A&w=520] | 27 | 16 | [
{
"comment_id": "1021448",
"author": "ColdTurkey",
"timestamp": "2013-07-01T15:07:39",
"content": "LOVE THIS!!I always imagined the Pip-Boy to be a bit more black than gold but as it seems to almost match the table in hue possibly looks more gold due to lighting?Awesome build!",
"parent_id": nul... | 1,760,376,519.482612 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/07/01/build-your-own-steel-reinforced-storm-shelter/ | Build Your Own Steel Reinforced Storm Shelter | Mike Szczys | [
"home hacks"
] | [
"cage",
"shelter",
"steel",
"storm shelter",
"tornado",
"welding"
] | The last few years have seen a lot of dangerous storms rip through middle section of the United States. We’re surprised to hear that many residents in that part of the country don’t have basements to take refuge in when in imminent danger. But a resourceful hacker will always be able to find a way to improve their own situation. This example is particularly useful. It’s
a steel storm shelter
which opens into the garage.
It all starts with a cage made of square tube. With the skeleton fully assembled it is wrapped in steel plate, adding weld joints running nearly the entire length of each of the cage’s ribs. The image at the left shows the steel door frame clamped in position. Check out the finished version on the right after the shelter has been slid into place and bolted to the concrete slab.
The
Reddit discussion
includes a debate on whether the door should swing in or out. Swinging out means you could be trapped if the opening is blocked by debris. But there may be scientific research that proves this is a better orientation. Either way, we hope the three dead bolts, door latch, and heavy-duty hinges will stand up to the pressure if this is ever used. | 58 | 28 | [
{
"comment_id": "1021388",
"author": "Jakob",
"timestamp": "2013-07-01T13:12:05",
"content": "“Obviously” he door should be pretty small, and also protected by a cage, so debris can not come in the way of it opening.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_... | 1,760,376,519.640672 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/07/01/reverse-engineering-a-wireless-protocol/ | Reverse Engineering A Wireless Protocol | Brian Benchoff | [
"Wireless Hacks"
] | [
"radio",
"reverse engineering",
"security",
"security system",
"wireless"
] | Like all good tinkerers, [Andrew] decided to figure out how his wireless security system worked. Yes, it’s
an exercise in reverse engineering
, and one of the best we’ve seen to date.
After breaking out the
handheld spectrum analyzer and TV tuner SDR
, [Andrew] cracked open a few devices and had a gander at the circuit boards. The keypad, PIR sensor, and base station all used a TI radio chip – the CC11xx series – that uses SPI to communicate with a microcontroller.
Attaching a logic analyzer directly to the radio chip and reading the bits directly, [Andrew] started getting some very good, if hard to understand data. From the security system specs, he knew it used a ’20-bit code’, but the packets he was reading off the SPI bus were 48 bits long. The part of this code was probably the system’s address, but how exactly does the system read its sensors?
The easiest way to figure this out was to toggle a few of the sensors and look at the data being transmitted. With a good bit of reasoning, [Andrew] figured out
how the alarm system’s code worked
. This theory was tested by connecting one of the radios
up to an Arduino
and having his suspicions confirmed.
While [Andrew]’s adventure in reverse engineering is only a benefit for people with this model of security system, it’s a wonderful insight into how to tear things apart and understand them. | 31 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "1021386",
"author": "Kemp",
"timestamp": "2013-07-01T12:59:43",
"content": "I was considering buying one of these (not exactly the same, but from the same range). All useful information, particularly if he picks up any vulnerabilities.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"r... | 1,760,376,519.550477 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/06/30/hackaday-links-sunday-june-30th-2013/ | Hackaday Links: Sunday, June 30th, 2013 | Mike Szczys | [
"Hackaday links"
] | [
"3d printing",
"aquarium",
"Ouya",
"RPi",
"tweezers",
"voice control",
"ws2811"
] | The race is on to squeeze cycles out of an 8MHz AVR chip in order to better
drive the WS2811 LED protocol
.
[Asher] doesn’t want to buy charcoal aquarium filters if he can just build them himself. He filled a couple of plastic drink bottles with charcoal, cut slots in the sides, and hooked them up to his pump system. A gallery of his work is available after the break.
Is the best way to make microscopic sized batteries to 3d print them?
Harvard researchers think so
. [Thanks Jonathan and Itay]
The Ouya gaming console is now available for the general public. [Hunter Davis] reports that
the Retrode works with Ouya out-of-the-box
. If you don’t remember hearing about it,
Retrode reads your original cartridge ROMs
for use with emulators.
Making a cluster computer out of 300 Raspberry Pi boards sounds like a nightmare. Organization is
the key to this project
.
Hackaday alum [Jeremy Cook] is working on an animatronic cigar box. Here he’s
demonstrating it’s ability to listen for voice commands
.
A Kelvin clips is a type of crocodile clip that has the two jaws insulated from each other. [Kaushlesh] came up with a way to
turn them into tweezer probes
. | 17 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "1021235",
"author": "Tyler",
"timestamp": "2013-06-30T21:57:20",
"content": "Kelvin clips into tweezer probes?“I’m going to take a clip that has two conductors, and use it as a clip with two conductors.” These look like eBay-direct-from-China kelvin clips (often kelvin clips are unu... | 1,760,376,519.697027 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/06/25/signmaking-in-glass-and-gold/ | Signmaking In Glass And Gold | Brian Benchoff | [
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"cut glass",
"glass",
"signmaking"
] | Signmaking today isn’t what it once was. Where today a few vinyl letters stuck to a piece of plate glass is good enough for any storefront, there was a time when the signs in front of businesses were works of art involving many skills and dozens of tradesmen to create. [David Smith] is one of the last remaining old-school signmakers, and his creations
are just as beautiful
as the finely crafted signs of a century ago.
The techniques [David] uses to create his signs are as varied as the finished products are elegant. He cuts patterned grooves into glass with wheels made of diamond or ceramic and bends shaped glass over forms in a very large kiln.
Aside from cutting, shaping, and grinding glass, [David] also paints his signs – on the back side in reverse, building up his design layer by layer. The very first layer in some of his designs are gold leaf, a difficult material but [David] invented his own leaf applicator that makes the job much easier.
Truly amazing works of art, and certainly much more elegant than whatever plastic nonsense goes as proper signmaking these days.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cPJO9njZBs&w=580] | 6 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "1038263",
"author": "Michael Cassell",
"timestamp": "2013-06-25T12:56:13",
"content": "I’ve watched my father, growing up, hand lettering racecars and signs, and as a second generation sign maker myself, I am always intrigued by the skill and craftsmanship that goes into making a wo... | 1,760,376,519.733553 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/06/24/build-a-waterproof-music-controller-on-the-cheap/ | Build A Waterproof Music Controller On The Cheap | Mike Szczys | [
"Peripherals Hacks"
] | [
"beach",
"controller",
"keyboard",
"pool",
"shower",
"wireless"
] | [Aaron] wrote in to show off
the waterproof music controller
(
translated
) he just finished building. He uses it in the shower — which makes us wonder how long he’s spending in there. We could also see it being useful by the pool, on the beach, or anywhere else that you need a cheap and easy control system.
His computer plays tunes while he’s getting ready for the day. This means he was able to use an inexpensive wireless keyboard for control. The donor keyboard has dedicated music control keys which he carefully traced to the PCB before removing the flexible sheets that detect key presses. Next he found a water tight food container and sized his protoboard to fit. You can see his button layout above. Holes were cut in the lid of the container, with a plastic membrane glued on the underside. This will keep the water out while still allowing him to actuate the momentary push switches.
Most mobile devices will work with wireless keyboards. If your car is nearby just hook your phone to the stereo and control it with this rather than
building a dedicated beach stereo system
. | 8 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "1019375",
"author": "defaultex",
"timestamp": "2013-06-25T02:02:11",
"content": "Might have to build something like it to replace my ghetto zip lock container solution I got going on. No idea what Aaron does in the shower (nor am I sure I want to know). Once I get that water tempera... | 1,760,376,519.778801 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/06/24/how-to-build-a-tron-bar-that-daft-punk-would-hang-out-at/ | How To Build A Tron Bar That Daft Punk Would Hang Out At | Mike Szczys | [
"home hacks"
] | [
"bar",
"daft punk",
"el wire",
"electroluminescent",
"liquor"
] | Sure, the bar in this image looks pretty neat. But the video showing off its synchronization with the music brings it to the next level. The flashing lights and EL wire put on a quite a show that may make the bartenders feel like they’ve already had a few too many.
The most amusing part of
the project
is that it all started from that half bookcase mounted on the wall. [Alexander Givens] and his roommate decided to augment its usefulness as a liquor cabinet by building a bar around it. But why stop there? LED Strips and 120 feet of elecroluminescent wire give the bar its inner glow. The illuminated lines are obvious, but the LED strip locations may not be. Several of them light the shelves hosting liquor and glass wear. The bartop itself is made of glass, filled with 75 pounds of marbles, and lit from underneath by the rest of the strips.
An Arduino Mega with an EL shield drives the system. The guys built a rudimentary control interface that looks partially spill tolerant. It’s located just under the inside lip of the bar.
Their costumes came out pretty well too. But with a built-in centerpiece like this they may want to upgrade to
a more accurate replica
. | 24 | 15 | [
{
"comment_id": "1019312",
"author": "JayDubzy",
"timestamp": "2013-06-24T21:16:31",
"content": "That’s sick, I wonder how I can get an invite to one of their house parties…",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "1019314",
"author": "John",
"ti... | 1,760,376,519.839438 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/06/24/tis-cc3000-wifi-chip-gets-a-library/ | TI’s CC3000 WiFi Chip Gets A Library | Brian Benchoff | [
"hardware",
"Wireless Hacks"
] | [
"CC3000",
"texas instruments",
"ti",
"wifi"
] | About six months ago, Texas Instruments released a
simple, cheap, single-chip WiFi module
. At $10 a piece in quantities of 1000, the CC3000 is a much better solution to the problem of an ‘Internet of Things’ than a $50 Arduino Ethernet modules, or even the $30 Electric Imp. All indications, especially the frequent out of stock status for the dev board on TI’s web site, show the CC3000 will be a popular chip, but until now we haven’t seen a CC3000 library for the Arduino or other microcontrollers.
[Chris]
just solved that problem for us
with a CC3000 WiFi library for the Arduino. He ported TI’s MSP430 CC3000 library to the Arduino, allowing even the bare-bones Arduino Uno to connect to a WiFi network with just a handful of parts. The code itself takes about 12k of Flash and 350 bytes of RAM, giving anyone using the CC3000 enough room left over to do some really interesting stuff. There’s even a slimmed down library that uses somewhere between 2k and 6k of Flash, making an ATtiny-powered web server a reality.
There are a few caveats in using the CC3000 with an Arduino; it’s a 3.3 Volt part, so you’ll need a level shifter or some resistors. Also, the chip draws about 250 mA when it’s being used, so you’ll need a beefy battery if you want your project to last an entire day of use.
Now that the library is out of the way, be on the lookout for a CC3000 breakout board.
Here’s one
, but expect some more on the market soon. | 43 | 17 | [
{
"comment_id": "1019278",
"author": "Erick",
"timestamp": "2013-06-24T19:13:22",
"content": "Spark Core is also providing an Arduino + CC3000 dev board from their already funded Kickstarter.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1019544",
"... | 1,760,376,521.845596 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/06/24/lots-of-seven-segment-displays-with-a-single-attiny/ | Lots Of Seven Segment Displays With A Single ATtiny | Brian Benchoff | [
"ATtiny Hacks",
"LED Hacks"
] | [
"7 segment",
"attiny",
"attiny13",
"led",
"seven segment",
"shift register"
] | These days they’ve been replaced with character LCD displays or even brightly colored graphical displays, but if you’re trying to display data on one of your projects, there’s nothing like the classic red glow of a red seven segment display. [five volts] got his hands on a few ancient segmented displays, but controlling even one took up more microcontroller pins than he was ready to spare. The solution to this problem
was to use a shift register
and control multiple segment displays with an 8 pin microcontroller.
[volts] is using an ATtiny13 to control six seven segment displays. Each display is mounted on a hand-etched board, with a shift register and a handful of resistors soldered to the back. By having the microcontroller shift bits down the line, [volts] created an extremely easy to interface 6-digit segment display, and the entire device can be expanded even more.
The board files and schematics are available on [volt]’s project page. A great project if you’re just starting out to etch your own boards. | 22 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "1019237",
"author": "Arlet",
"timestamp": "2013-06-24T17:32:13",
"content": "With a plain shift register, you’ll get unwanted segments flashing up when the display changes. A better device would be the 74595 which is a shift register with an extra output latch that allows you to cle... | 1,760,376,522.152337 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/06/24/16-core-computer-made-of-atmegas/ | 16 Core Computer Made Of ATMegas | Brian Benchoff | [
"Microcontrollers"
] | [
"atmega",
"atmega328",
"computer",
"homebrew",
"multicore"
] | Your desktop has two, four, or even eight cores, but when’s the last time you’ve seen a multicore homebrew computer? [Jack]
did just that
, constructing the DUO Mega, a 16 core computer out of a handful of ATMega microcontrollers.
From
[Jack]’s description
, there are 15 ‘worker’ cores, each with their own 16MHz crystal and connection to an 8-bit data bus. When the machine is turned on, the single ‘manager’ core – also an ATMega328 – polls all the workers and loads a program written in a custom bytecode onto each core. The cores themselves have access to a shared pool of RAM (32k), a bit of Flash, a VGA out port, and an Ethernet controller attached to the the master core.
Since [Jack]’s DUO Mega computer has multiple cores, it excels at multitasking. In the video below, you can see the computer moving between a calculator app, a weird Tetris-like game, and a notepad app. The 16 cores in the DUO Mega also makes difficult calculations a lot faster; he can generate Mandelbrot patterns faster than any 8-bit microcontroller can alone, and also generates prime numbers at a good click.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_zfjmukIGM&w=580] | 25 | 17 | [
{
"comment_id": "1019189",
"author": "Redion",
"timestamp": "2013-06-24T15:05:39",
"content": "amazing!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "1019190",
"author": "Hack Man",
"timestamp": "2013-06-24T15:09:53",
"content": "I’d be more inter... | 1,760,376,521.447176 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/06/24/whats-happening-at-life-hackaday-lateley/ | What’s Happening At LIFE.hackaday Lateley | Caleb Kraft | [
"Lifehacks"
] | [
"lifehacks",
"tips",
"tricks"
] | If you haven’t been over to
LIFE.hackaday
lately, maybe you should check it out.
You could be learning how to
be a hero with a wine cork
, or how to
easily break string
without scissors(or your teeth). Need new ways to
mount your tablet
? We’ve got you covered. However, the story that is probably most important right now is how to
keep your ice cream from getting that freezer burnt section on the top
. | 4 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "1019206",
"author": "westernlabs",
"timestamp": "2013-06-24T16:09:27",
"content": "When did this happen?I agree with these developments entirely.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "1019281",
"author": "Tom",
"timestamp": "2... | 1,760,376,522.012867 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/06/24/transformer-built-from-mit-admissions-mailing-tube/ | Transformer Built From MIT Admissions Mailing Tube | Mike Szczys | [
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"mailing tube",
"mit"
] | It’s not quite on the scale of [Michael Bay], but that’s probably a good thing. We do think that
this robot built from a mailing tube
by [Will Jack] would be right at home in a
Transformers
movie.
The bot starts out looking like a normal cardboard mailing tube. But the seam at the middle splits to reveal the electronics inside. An Arduino Uno drives the device, monitoring that infrared rangefinder which is facing forward. Each half of the tube acts as a wheel, pushing against the at-rest mass of the internals to create motion. It can even pull off a tank-like pivot to turn in place by spinning he halves in opposite directions.
We were intrigued to hear that the admissions department at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology sent a single page acceptance letter in these silver tubes to those students accepted into the class of 2017. The letter invites the incoming class to hack the tube and send in their results. We’re going to have to
dig through the submissions
and see if there are any other noteworthy projects. | 21 | 15 | [
{
"comment_id": "1019160",
"author": "Myself",
"timestamp": "2013-06-24T13:10:05",
"content": "Oh, THAT kind of transformer. Here I was looking for the secondary windings.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1019161",
"author": "Grovenstie... | 1,760,376,522.071217 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/06/23/a-555-player-piano/ | A 555 Player Piano | Brian Benchoff | [
"classic hacks"
] | [
"555",
"555 timer",
"atari punk console"
] | From simple buzzers to an Atari Punk Console, the simple 555 timer chip is the foundation of a whole lot of interesting lo-fi synth projects perfect for beginners. [Steven] put together a great tutorial for
using the 555 timer in a rudimentary synth
, and even went so far as to build a simple electronic player piano able to play a song from a sheet of paper with punched holes.
The basic 555 oscillator circuit is very simple – just a few caps and resistors and powered by a few batteries. [Steven] built the simplest 555 circuit, but used a line of graphite drawn on a piece of paper for the resistor controlling the frequency. It’s basically
a drawdio
built on a breadboard, and easy enough to build for even the most neophyte electronic tinkerer.
Going one step further, [Stephen] drew a long thick line of pencil graphite on a piece of paper and mounted eleven wire loops attached to the circuit over his improvised resistor. After cutting a few holes in a piece of paper, he was able to create a simple player piano with his 555 synth. It worked well enough to play Greensleeves, and is the perfect project for the budding electronics hacker.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTmlR8B-u5c&w=580]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSQ6AqqhSgo&w=580] | 10 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "1018998",
"author": "JayWalker",
"timestamp": "2013-06-24T00:54:34",
"content": "Awesome and simple.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "1018999",
"author": "Hirudinea",
"timestamp": "2013-06-24T00:54:48",
"content": "So... | 1,760,376,521.632717 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/06/23/hackaday-links-sunday-june-23rd-2013/ | Hackaday Links: Sunday, June 23rd, 2013 | Mike Szczys | [
"Hackaday links"
] | [
"assembly",
"atanua",
"laser",
"minecraft"
] | Need to connect a male pinheader to male jumper wires? [Scoops] came up with
a brilliant method using jumpers
meant for dual-pin headers like on motherboards.
Atanua, a real-time logic simulator,
was just upgraded
for the first time in a few years. We’ve liked this one
since way back
. The changes mostly involve performance improvements.
You can
see what’s inside of Google Glass
without shelling out $1500 for your own hardware. [Thanks Itay]
Coding
a Minecraft clone in x86 assembly
is pretty impressive. We had to install nasm and qemu to get it to compile but it does work. If you don’t want to build the project just
check out the demo video
. There’s no sign of creepers but dig too deep and you’ll fall out of the world. [Thanks Dmitry]
Here’s a way to use
multiple Google Drive accounts as a RAID array
.
[Sick Sad] produced some really trippy photographs using
long exposures with a laser line on a servo
. The result is a photorealistic image of the subject (faces in this example) that looks like it was melted à la [Salvador Dalí]. If you’re just interested in using the laser for light painting check out Hackaday alum [Jeremy Cook’s]
work in that area
.
And finally, two monitors are better than one. [Bryan] put his both together in portrait orientation using
a laser-cut mounting bracket
of his own design. | 14 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "1018954",
"author": "macegr",
"timestamp": "2013-06-23T21:08:46",
"content": "The jumper trick is freaking genius and makes me feel like an idiot :) This is what keeps me coming back to Hackaday",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": ... | 1,760,376,522.211764 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/06/23/adding-rgb-backlight-to-arcade-buttons/ | Adding RGB Backlight To Arcade Buttons | Mike Szczys | [
"LED Hacks"
] | [
"arcade button",
"led"
] | These arcade buttons started out as illuminated buttons. But they were bulb-based which only allowed for one color. [Jon] and his friends at the Leeds Hackspace wanted to find a way to
retro fit them with RGB LEDs
, without changing the buttons themselves. The hack lets them replace the bulb with an addressable circuit board. The really interesting thing about it is that there is no separate interface for addressing. The communications happen on the voltage bus itself.
After deciding to include a microcontroller inside the button they built a test version using some protoboard to see if it would fit. Indeed there was enough room and the proof-of-concept led to the factory spun board which you see above. It has pads for two of the four LED module feet on either side, with the opposite end of the board fitting into the bulb receptacle. The voltage line is pulsed to send commands to the microcontroller. We’re interested in finding out exactly how that works but we’ll have to
dig through the code
before unlocking the secret. | 15 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "1018926",
"author": "Phill A",
"timestamp": "2013-06-23T19:19:23",
"content": "These are sick! How do I build the PCB? Also do you guys sell these as full kits?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "1018936",
"author": "biozz",
... | 1,760,376,521.568821 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/06/23/turning-the-raspberry-pi-into-a-bitcoin-miner/ | Raspberry Pi Bitcoin Miner | Brian Benchoff | [
"Raspberry Pi"
] | [
"bitcoin",
"bitcoin mining",
"raspberry pi"
] | Mining bitcoins is becoming a fool’s errand, but there’s always some new piece of hardware coming out that allows those hard-core miners to keep ahead of the curve. One such piece of hardware are new custom ASIC devices that are just as fast as an FPGA while being much less expensive. A lot of these ASIC devices come in interesting packages that look just like a large USB thumb drive. Of course this is the perfect opportunity to show off what the Raspberry Pi can do by
mining Bitcoins
at rates comparable to the best graphics used in mining today.
The Raspberry Pi simply doesn’t have enough horsepower to mine bitcoins at any worthwhile rate. There are, however,
USB ASIC devices
that will mine for you at about the same speed as a high-end graphics card. Since multiple ASIC devices can be controlled through a USB hub, it’s simply a matter of plugging a USB hub into a Raspberry Pi, loading up
CGminer
, and letting your new PiMiner loose on a mining pool.
The Adafruit Pi Miner uses one of their really cool
LCD character displays and keypad
to display the current mining rate, accepted shares, and enough information for you to calculate how long it will take to break even with your Pi powered mining rig. How long that will be for this four device rig we’ll leave to the comments section. | 85 | 20 | [
{
"comment_id": "1018888",
"author": "Bojan",
"timestamp": "2013-06-23T17:30:15",
"content": "So its $35 for Raspberry Pi and only $2.399 for 4 Block Erupter USB’s. :)",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1018910",
"author": "lhh",
... | 1,760,376,521.965119 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/06/23/turning-a-phone-into-a-geiger-counter/ | Turning A Phone Into A Geiger Counter | Brian Benchoff | [
"Android Hacks"
] | [
"android",
"geiger",
"radiation"
] | We’re no stranger to radiation detector builds, but [Dmytry]’s
MicroGeiger prototype
is one of the smallest and most useful we’ve seen.
The idea behind the MicroGeiger comes from the observation that just about every modern smartphone can provide a small bit of power through the microphone jack. Usually this is used for a microphone, but with the right circuit it can be stepped up enough to power a Geiger tube.
[Dmytry]’s circuit uses a hand-wound transformer but keeps the part count low; there’s only a few dozen caps, resistors, and diodes in this build, making the circuit much smaller than the Geiger tube itself.
Since [Dmytry] is powering a Geiger tube with a phone, it only makes sense that he should also record clicks from the tube with an Android app. Right now, the entire project is still in the prototype stage, but everything works and his app can detect radiation from one of [Dmytry]’s sources.
The code and schematics for the MicroGeiger are available
on GitHub
, with a video of the project in action below.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWRbWX35RIo&w=580] | 10 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "1018881",
"author": "ino",
"timestamp": "2013-06-23T17:02:02",
"content": "The right title should have been ; ” Powering a Geiger tube with a phone”This is false advertising …",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1018885",
... | 1,760,376,521.506915 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/06/23/kinect-full-body-scanner/ | Kinect Full Body Scanner | Mike Szczys | [
"Kinect hacks"
] | [
"3d printer",
"body scanner",
"Kinect",
"turntable"
] | Why let the TSA have all the fun when it comes to full body scanning? Not only can you get a digital model of yourself, but you can print it out to scale.
[Moheeb Zara] is still in development with
a Kinect based full body scanner
. But he took a bit of time to show off the first working prototype. The parts that went into the build were either cut on a bandsaw, laser cut, or 3D printed. The scanning part of the rig uses a free-standing vertical rail which allows the Kinect to move along the Z axis. The sled is held in place by gravity and moved up the rail using a winch with some steel cable looped over a pulley at the top.
The subject stands on a rotating platform which [Moheeb] designed and assembled. Beneath the platform you’ll find a laser cut hoop with teeth on the inside. A motor mounted in a 3D printed bracket uses these teeth to rotate the platform. He’s still got some work to do in order to automate the platform. For this demo he move each step in the scanning process using manual switches. Captured data is assembled into a virtual module using
ReconstructMe
.
The Kinect has been used as a 3D scanner like this before. But that time it was
scanning salable goods
rather than people. | 8 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "1018854",
"author": "ejonesss",
"timestamp": "2013-06-23T13:18:03",
"content": "museums watch out!!!! now someone can copy statues much easier.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "1018855",
"author": "barry99705",
"timestam... | 1,760,376,522.258466 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/06/27/measuring-ketosis-with-an-arduino/ | Measuring Ketosis With An Arduino | Brian Benchoff | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"Medical Hacks"
] | [
"gas sensor",
"keto",
"ketosis",
"TGS822"
] | A bit of biology and nutrition before we roll into this: Ketosis is when your body runs on fat reserves instead of carbohydrates. This is the basis of diets such as Atkins, and despite the connotations of eating hamburger patties and butter, you can actually lose weight on these diets. One problem with a keto diet is the difficulty of measure how many ketones your liver is processing; this can be done with a urine sample, but being able to measure small amounts of acetone in your breath would be the ideal way to measure ketosis. [Jens] came up with a device that does just that. It’s
called Ketosense
, and it will tell you how well your keto diet is doing by just having you blow into a sensor.
[Jens]’ device consists of an Arduino, LCD display, and two sensors – one for acetone, and another for temperature and humidity. By
carefully calibrating a TGS822 sensor
, [Jens] was able to measure the acetone content of an exhaled breath along with temperature and pressure. This gave him a reading in parts per million, and with a short bit of math was able to convert that into something that made sense when talking about ketosis, mmol/l.
Without access to a lab that can measure blood ketone levels, it’s difficult to say if [Jens] device really works as intended. If he were to find his way into a lab, though, it would be possible to correlate his sensor’s values with blood ketone results and improve the accuracy of his sensor. | 19 | 12 | [
{
"comment_id": "1020165",
"author": "sonicdude10",
"timestamp": "2013-06-27T15:19:10",
"content": "I could use this being a type 1 diabetic with really finicky blood sugar levels.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1020217",
"author": "A... | 1,760,376,522.564722 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/06/27/astrosmash-style-video-game-as-sony-smartwatch-firmware/ | Astrosmash Style Video Game As Sony SmartWatch Firmware | Mike Szczys | [
"Arduino Hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"astrosmash",
"smartwatch",
"sony"
] | Here’s a firmware hack that
brings a video game to the Sony SmartWatch
. It’s pretty impressive considering the limited screen real estate and the fact that it has to be shared with the touch input. But we find it equally impressive that a game of this quality followed so quickly on the heels of Sony announcing
the ability to make your own firmware
for the watch. The speedy development is thanks partly to the community driven effort to
hack the Arduino IDE to load sketches on the watch
.
The advent of this IDE hack means that taking your Arduino sketch writing abilities to this hardware now has a fairly low learning curve. And reading through [Asier Arranz’s] game code will make it even easier. He calls his game Star Wars but it reminds us more of
Astrosmash
. There’s a little green semicircle which is your ground-based defense vehicle. You need to fire the laser to shoot falling items out of the star-strewn night sky while also collecting power-ups that fall to the ground. Game play video is below.
Just remember, if you come up with a cool firmware app for the SmartWatch
we want to hear about it
. | 7 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "1020118",
"author": "Hugh",
"timestamp": "2013-06-27T13:05:37",
"content": "Playing with two hands for a watch device?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1020179",
"author": "Hirudinea",
"timestamp": "2013-06-27T1... | 1,760,376,522.478542 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/06/26/atari-2600-has-a-raspberry-pi-hiding-under-the-hood/ | Atari 2600 Has A Raspberry Pi Hiding Under The Hood | Mike Szczys | [
"Raspberry Pi"
] | [
"atari 2600",
"case",
"emulator",
"portable",
"RPi"
] | Seriously, the drawer pull on this Atari 2600 is not stock. Don’t they know this voids the warranty? The thing is, you won’t actually find any of the original internals anyway. When building this
portable emulator housed in a 2600 case
[Linear Nova] was careful to ensure that everything could be restored to its original condition (except for two hinges mounted on the back) sometime down the road. That’s a good goal to set for yourself. We think the build is the fun part of most projects and often wonder what to do with them when they’re done and our interest has waned.
A seven-inch LCD screen was attached to the underside of the lid using Velcro. When tilted up it’s at a nice viewing angle for the player. [Linear] prefers to use a Wii remote as the control this portable video game emulator. It connects to the Raspberry Pi over Bluetooth using a USB dongle. The advantage of this is that you just throw the remote inside the case too. For now there are two power cords, one for the RPi and the other for the LCD screen but he plans to add a power hub in the future to narrow this down to one. We wonder it that would also be a good time to add his own rechargeable battery pack option? There should be enough room for
an RC style pack
. | 19 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "1019947",
"author": "koplsopl",
"timestamp": "2013-06-26T23:44:17",
"content": "Where is joystick???",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "1019996",
"author": "Funkdat",
"timestamp": "2013-06-27T03:23:36",
"content": "Each... | 1,760,376,522.620266 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/06/26/building-an-ir-mouse-interface-for-the-disabled/ | Building An IR Mouse Interface For The Disabled | Caleb Kraft | [
"Lifehacks",
"Medical Hacks"
] | [
"accessibility",
"disability"
] | [Chris Young] has a physical disability that means he can’t use a mouse very well. He typically uses Dragon Naturally Speaking for moving his mouse using voice commands but has found that it lacks some features he needs and can crash at times.
His solution to this problem was to create a device that will
translate IR signals from a simple remote into mouse actions and movements
. He is using an Arduino micro for this task, and as you can see in the video it seems to have worked out well for him. He has code and schematics available on his site if you would like to recreate this yourself.
[Chris] has actually built several accessibility devices for himself and others. You should
check out his blog
for more, including his thoughts on the
cost of commercial accessibility equipment vs DIY
. If you think you would like to try making a device to help someone with a physical disability access a computer, hop on over to
thecontrollerproject.com
and join up on the forums.
via
thecontrollerproject.com | 9 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "1019955",
"author": "aztraph",
"timestamp": "2013-06-27T00:36:02",
"content": "Props",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "1020015",
"author": "Caleb",
"timestamp": "2013-06-27T04:10:57",
"content": "I was thinking “that’s... | 1,760,376,522.660405 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/06/26/shapeoko-build-log-its-a-cnc-mill-in-a-box/ | ShapeOko Build Log — It’s A CNC Mill In A Box | Mike Szczys | [
"cnc hacks"
] | [
"mill",
"pcb",
"ring light",
"router",
"shapeoko"
] | We’re not blatantly trying to promo this product. It’s just that
the build log covering a ShapeOko assembly process
taken on by [Anool] is like crack for those of us who have yet to acquire our own desktop CNC mills.
Like the title says, this thing is basically a mill in a box. But [Anool] decided to order the version of the kit that doesn’t come with any motors or control electronics. He also planned for future upgrades by ordering additional extruded rail to
increase the size of the ShapeOko
. After assembling the frame his decision to source stepper motors locally bit him as they were out of stock. But there was still plenty to do preparing control electronics during the wait. He based his system on a Raspberry Pi which talks to an Arduino to address the motors and monitor the sensors.
Once all the parts were finally accounted for he tested the rig as a pen plotter. The pen was eventually replaced with the router motor and that ring light PCB seen above was the first thing he milled with it.
[Thanks Justin] | 27 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "1019891",
"author": "Phil",
"timestamp": "2013-06-26T19:05:24",
"content": "I’d class it as a CNC router. There’s nowhere near enough stability in that design to be classed as a mill.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1019929",... | 1,760,376,523.039633 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/06/26/wall-o-tron-the-interactive-rock-climbing-wall/ | WALL-O-TRON, The Interactive Rock Climbing Wall | Brian Benchoff | [
"LED Hacks"
] | [
"climbing wall",
"led",
"rock climbing"
] | Last April, hackerspaces around the country received a gift from
RedBull for their creation challenge
. The hackerspace teams were charged with creating, ‘something with LEDs’ and let loose in their workshop for a chance to
win a trip to NYC
and build some cool stuff. Of course, RedBull couldn’t bring all the teams to the big apple and a few incredible projects were left by the wayside in their home hackerspace.
One such project was
the WALL-O-TRON
from Team Rabbit-Hole and home base for the
Tymkrs
. It’s a huge wall embedded with LEDs that turn an ordinary rock climbing wall into a game called WallSweeper – climb a path to the illuminated hold, but don’t touch the ‘hot rock’ or your game is over.
The hand holds are illuminated by over 300 of LEDs connected to a Linux PC. The sign above the wall is controlled by RedBull’s TurBULL Encabulator, and the giant ‘WALL-O-TRON’ letters are huge pieces of foam with five meters of RGB LEDs embedded inside.
A great project with the possibility of being upgraded in the future with more games. Perfect for the rock climbing playground it’s situated in. | 11 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "1019842",
"author": "Jonas Andersson",
"timestamp": "2013-06-26T15:23:18",
"content": "So, yes it’s cool, but has also been done before, way before, like seven or eight years ago…https://www.tii.se/projects/digiwallIt has even been on NextFest!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": ... | 1,760,376,522.868301 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/06/26/thundercats-ho/ | Thundercats, HO! | Brian Benchoff | [
"Weapons Hacks"
] | [
"blacksmithing",
"sword",
"thundercats"
] | [Tony Swatton], blacksmith, armorer, and prop maker, has built hundreds of custom swords for hundreds of movies and TV shows. He’s also the maker behind Man at Arms, the YouTube series where weapons from your favorite shows and movies are recreated, be they improbable weapons from a James Bond movie or a sword from a cartoon. This time,
he recreated the Sword of Omens from Thundercats
. It’s a work of art in its own right, and amazingly practical for a cartoon sword.
The Sword of Omens is one of [Tony]’s more complex sword making endeavors he’s done. The grip is made of seven different pieces cast in bronze, while the hilt of the sword is over a dozen of different pieces of steel welded together. The jewel in the sword was cut from a piece of glass, carefully ground on a lapidary wheel to a perfect dome.
Of course, this isn’t the only weapon from popular media that [Tony] has crafted. He’s also done
Oddjob’s hat from James Bond
and
Finn’s golden sword of battle from Adventure Time
. | 1 | 1 | [
{
"comment_id": "1038269",
"author": "Charlotte",
"timestamp": "2013-06-29T00:15:00",
"content": "Wow thats awesome would you ever sell it?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
}
] | 1,760,376,522.823472 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/06/26/prototyping-a-maglev-train-using-lego/ | Prototyping A Maglev Train Using LEGO | Mike Szczys | [
"Transportation Hacks"
] | [
"electromagnet",
"lego",
"maglev"
] | Serious research using not-so-serious equipment? We don’t know about that. What’s wrong with
using LEGO as a research platform for a Maglev
? This team has been doing so for quite some time and with great results.
A
Maglev
is a vehicle based on the principles of magnetic levitation. Similar poles of magnets repel each other and this concept can be used to create a friction-less track system. But this raises the problems of braking and locomotion. The build log linked above covers the conception in what is the eighth iteration of the research project. But the video below offers the most concise explanation of their approach to these issues.
The researchers are using magnets positioned in trench of the track as a kind of magnetic gear to push against. A series of electromagnets on the Lego vehicle ride in that track. The can be energized, working as a linear motor to push against those permanent magnets. But how do you know which direction of travel this will cause? That problem was solved by adding a hall effect sensor between each electromagnet. Before switching on the coil the hall effect sensors are polled and a timing scheme is selected based on their value. This is used to push the train up to speed, as well as slow it down for braking.
[via
Reddit
] | 20 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "1019821",
"author": "Elektronika",
"timestamp": "2013-06-26T13:51:23",
"content": "Really nice project… would look much better without Legos though.And please, use Acetone.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1019908",
"au... | 1,760,376,523.101852 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/06/25/the-ondes-martenot-better-than-a-theremin/ | The Ondes Martenot; Better Than A Theremin | Brian Benchoff | [
"Musical Hacks"
] | [
"korg",
"korg monotron",
"ondes",
"ondes martenot",
"theremin"
] | [Ville] loves the sound of an ondes martenot and
decided to build his own
. No, it’s not made of vacuum tubes like a 1920s original, this one is made out of a cheap, off-the-shelf analog synth and just a few extra parts.
The ondes martenot is a theremin-like musical instrument; instead of waving your hands around aerials on the theremin, the ondes uses a small ring attached to the player’s finger on a wire loop and a volume lever. The ondes isn’t a common instrument by any means, but
Radiohead uses
one
several
in any event.
[Ville] began his build by taking a small, cheap, and new
Korg Monotron
analog ribbon synth, cracking it open, and reading the schematics. A 100k multiturn pot was wired into the monotron and fastened to a printed paper keyboard with a system of pulleys and a small metal ring. With the multiturn pot wired into the pitch input on the monotron, [Ville] had a semi-accurate and very functional ondes martenot replica.
You can hear [Ville]’s ondes in action after the break. It’s a little rough starting out, but by the time he’s looping multiple phrases it really does sound wonderful.
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpDvUq1EvDY&w=580] | 12 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "1019676",
"author": "Gomez Addams",
"timestamp": "2013-06-26T00:30:53",
"content": "That certainly was beautiful!!! What kind of looper pedal did you use?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "1019719",
"author": "maxster",
"... | 1,760,376,522.784927 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/06/25/chest-freezer-kegerator-conversion-has-six-beers-on-tap/ | Chest Freezer Kegerator Conversion Has Six Beers On Tap | Mike Szczys | [
"Beer Hacks"
] | [
"chest freezer",
"cornelius",
"kegerator"
] | Drawing a pitcher of frosty cold beer out of your own keg fridge is a liberating feeling which [Danodemano2] can enjoy all the time since he pulled off
this 6-tap chest freezer conversion
. You won’t have to kill yourself to get it done, this image shows the custom cuff sitting between the chest freezer body and lid which is where all the added hardware is anchored.
Chest freezers are popular because they’re efficient. And let’s face it, if you’re going to devote an appliance to storing cold beer you better make certain it doesn’t drive up utility bills. That’s the reason for the rigid foam insulation around the ring, with the spray foam to ensure energy isn’t lost around the openings in the wooden frame.
This design goes above and beyond the functionality from
the last offering we looked at
. That one had a pretty nice tile job, but the finished wood contrasts the black freezer very nicely on this one. It’s the PC fan used for circulation and the properly terminated wiring that we really like. The one thing we wonder about is the feasibility of fitting all six corneilus kegs
and
the carbon dioxide tank into this beast.
[via
Reddit
] | 17 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "1019633",
"author": "AllThatJazz",
"timestamp": "2013-06-25T21:35:40",
"content": "Do you really want to put the CO2 inside the cooler? Won’t that reduce the available pressure? Or does this somehow make carbing the kegs easier or better? Maybe a brewmeister can chime in here, ’c... | 1,760,376,523.167327 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/06/25/life-sized-katamari-damacy-ball-controls-game-but-isnt-sticky/ | Life Sized Katamari Damacy Ball Controls Game But Isn’t Sticky | Mike Szczys | [
"Playstation Hacks"
] | [
"controller",
"katamari damacy"
] | If you haven’t ever heard of
Katamari Damacy
we highly recommend you unite a copy of the game with that PlayStation 2 console that’s been collecting dust and then kiss the rest of your summer goodbye. The quirky game, driven by remarkably catchy background music (Na Naaaaah na na…), revolves around a ball that attracts objects of every kind to it. As you accumulate more stuff the ball goes from the size of a mouse to that of a house and then some. Perhaps the biggest appeal of the game is playing it with groups of people and that’s where this hack hits the mark. It brings the game outdoors to a festival in London with video projected on a wall and
this life-sized ball as the controller
.
The project uses the same electronics laid out by
the original work coming out of NYC Resistor
back in 2009. That project originally wanted to use a 36″ yoga ball but they couldn’t quite hit the mark. This attempt did make it happen. The ball was decorated in the style of the game (also note the presenters are in costume). Guts from an optical mouse detect the motion. This is processed by an Arduino board which then uses a digital potentiometer to mimic the joystick movements on a PS2 controller. | 9 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "1019586",
"author": "puzzud",
"timestamp": "2013-06-25T19:07:25",
"content": "I enjoy the C64 monitor in the lower left corner of the still image.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "1019608",
"author": "Nathan Piper",
"time... | 1,760,376,523.224353 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/06/25/tearing-apart-an-organ-and-making-a-midi-keyboard/ | Tearing Apart An Organ And Making A MIDI Keyboard | Brian Benchoff | [
"Musical Hacks"
] | [
"foot pedal",
"midi",
"midi controller",
"organ"
] | What do you do if you’re in a band and have an old, dead organ lying around?
Build a MIDI foot controller
, of course.
After dispensing of the old organ guts, [Mark] mounted the pedals in a handsome road case and started working on the electronics. His first inclination was to mount an Arduino Pro Mini on a piece of stripboard, but after that failed decided to learn Eagle and fabricate a PCB. each key of the organ pedals are connected to a switch read by the Arduino which sends data to a Korg Microsampler over MIDI.
The swell pedal from the organ was also reused, but because the old incandescent light in the pedal was toast, this was replaced with an LED. It still works, allowing [Mark] to do volume swells on his new, fancy, MIDI foot controller.
You can check out a video of the controller below.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehf451c4AAk&w=580] | 5 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "1019601",
"author": "echodelta",
"timestamp": "2013-06-25T19:54:17",
"content": "Waiting for a cheap 2 octave mini keyboard-controller to come my way, because I have a compact 2 octave pedalboard to wire it up to. I will have to pass at the whole code and ‘duino thing.",
"parent... | 1,760,376,523.333001 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/06/25/led-tie-plays-tetris/ | LED Tie Plays Tetris | Brian Benchoff | [
"LED Hacks",
"Wearable Hacks"
] | [
"Digispark",
"led",
"tie",
"ws2811"
] | [Bill] has been working with a gaggle of 8th graders this summer at a STEM camp, impressing them with his geeky attire such as an 8-bit and PCB ties, and an LED illuminated lab coat. The adolescent tinkerers asked him what he would be wearing on the last day. Not wanting to let the kids down, he whipped up an
LED Tetris tie
in an evening.
The Tetris board is a 20 x 4 grid of WS2811 based RGB LED strips, controlled by a Digispark dev board. Structurally, the tie is just two bits of card stock with the electronic bits sandwiched in between. and taped to a cheap clip-on. In the video below, the tie doesn’t have any sort of input to control the movement and rotation of blocks. [Bill] plans to update his tie with some rudimentary AI so it can play itself.
All the code is over on
[Bill]’s git
. It’s still a work in progress, but from the STEM student’s reaction, there’s a lot of potential in this tie.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNLJZY2Oivs&w=580] | 10 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "1019513",
"author": "Alex Umrysh",
"timestamp": "2013-06-25T15:25:02",
"content": "You could use this algorithm to print images:http://meatfighter.com/tetrisprinteralgorithm/",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1019816",
"... | 1,760,376,523.277872 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/06/25/solder-trick-to-make-your-own-surface-mount-breakout-boards/ | Solder Trick To Make Your Own Surface Mount Breakout Boards | Mike Szczys | [
"Microcontrollers"
] | [
"breadboard",
"breakout board",
"protoboard",
"solder"
] | We think you’re really going to enjoy
this trick for making surface mount breakout boards
. It’s common to use magnet wire to connect individual pins of a surface mount part to breadboard friendly protoboard with pin headers. What’s new here (at least to us) is that [Raul] solders one wire to both pins directly across from one another.
The image at the left shows an eight pin part with four wires soldered in place. To get to this point he first taped the wires down to a work surface being careful to space them to match the pitch on the chip’s leads. He then tapes the chip in place and solders all of the legs to the wires. This seems to kill two birds with one stone as aligning one wire to one leg is tough. From there he flips the chip over and cuts the wire spanning under it. This leaves an easy job of soldering the trailing side of the wire to a hunk of protoboard.
It’s perfect for chips with a small number of pins. Of course you may still want
an etched breakout board
for something with a ton of leads. | 41 | 23 | [
{
"comment_id": "1019478",
"author": "Allan Stirling",
"timestamp": "2013-06-25T13:10:32",
"content": "Like many people, I’m quite sure I thought “now why didn’t I think of that”. Nice, thanks!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1019488",
... | 1,760,376,523.42127 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/06/28/bringing-elua-to-the-mbed/ | Bringing ELua To The Mbed | Brian Benchoff | [
"ARM"
] | [
"arm",
"elua",
"lua",
"mbed"
] | [Karl] loved his mbed – a tiny little ARM-powered microcontroller platform – but he wanted an interactive programming environment. BASIC just wasn’t cutting it, so
he decided to bring eLua
to his mbed.
When choosing an interactive development environment for microcontrollers, you generally have two choices: old or huge. Sure, there is a middle ground with
Python on an ARM
, but why not use something explicitly designed for microcontrollers?
To get
eLua
running on his mbed, [Karl] downloaded the latest version and plopped it on his mbed. The current version, 0.9, doesn’t have support for an SD card, severely limiting its usefulness. [Karl] got around this by wiring up an SD card to the mbed, giving him gigabytes of space for all his development work.
While the AVRs and PICs of the world are stuck with languages like C or worse, the new ARM boards available are more than capable of running a complete eLua development environment, with everything accessible through a terminal. [Karl] even wrote his own editor for the mbed and he’ll shortly be working on a few dozen embedded projects he has in mind. | 18 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "1020673",
"author": "Earlz",
"timestamp": "2013-06-28T17:05:17",
"content": "I remember looking into eLua, but it was very resource heavy. Fitting onto the mbed, but not fitting with all of the other stuff I needed to run. Has this situation improved?",
"parent_id": null,
"d... | 1,760,376,523.653031 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/06/28/send-an-arduino-to-the-moon-for-300/ | Send An Arduino To The Moon For $300 | Brian Benchoff | [
"Crowd Funding"
] | [
"Crowd Funding",
"cube sat",
"moon",
"satellite"
] | We’ve seen Kickstarter campaigns to put a
single satellite into space
and one to launch your own personalized
postage-stamp sized satellite into low Earth orbit.
This time, though, you can break the bonds of Earth and send your own Arduino compatible satellite
on a collision course with the moon
. The project is called Pocket Spacecraft, and exactly as its name implies, it allows you to send a small, flat, 8 cm diameter spacecraft to the surface of the moon.
The pocket spacecraft are made of metallized kapton, a very thin membrane stretched inside a loop of wire. On board this paper-thin spacecraft are a pair of solar cells and a bare die MSP430 microcontroller connected to a suite of sensors. Before launch, you can program your tiny space probe with commands to relay data back to Earth, either useful scientific data or a simple tweet.
These pocket spacecraft will be launched from a cubesat – a highly successful line of amateur spacecraft that are usually launched by hitching a ride with larger commercial satellites. To get from low Earth orbit to the moon is much harder than just hitchhiking, so the cubesat mothership comes equipped with either a solar sail or its own engine that electrolysed water into hydrogen and oxygen, the perfect rocket fuel.
Pocket Spacecraft is an amazingly impressive feat; there are literally dozens of amateur-built spacecraft orbiting above our heads right now, but so far none have ventured more than a few hundred miles away from their home planet. Getting to the moon with an amateur spacecraft is an amazing accomplishment, and definitely worthy of the $300 price tag. | 67 | 26 | [
{
"comment_id": "1020608",
"author": "Andrea Campanella",
"timestamp": "2013-06-28T15:09:27",
"content": "don’t we have enough space junk?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1020610",
"author": "Zack",
"timestamp": "2013-06-28T15:... | 1,760,376,524.104445 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/06/28/dimming-led-bulbs-designed-to-replace-halogen-lamps/ | Dimming LED Bulbs Designed To Replace Halogen Lamps | Mike Szczys | [
"LED Hacks"
] | [
"bulb",
"dimmable",
"dimmer",
"gel",
"halogen",
"led"
] | Halogen bulbs put out a lot of focused light but they do it at the expense of burning up a lot of Watts and generating a lot of heat. The cost for an LED replacement like the one seen disassembled above has come down quite a bit. This drove [Jonathan Foote] to purchase several units and he just couldn’t resist tearing them apart to try out a couple of hacks.
The one we find most interesting is
a PWM based dimming hack
he pulled off with an Arduino board and a FET. The bulbs are designed to be dimmable through the 12V supply that feeds the light fixture. But the relationship of dimmer position to light level is not linear and [Jonathan] figured he could do better. His solution is to add a FET in parallel with the LEDs. When activated it basically shunts the current around the diodes, resulting in a dimming. The video below shows this in action. We wonder if the flashing is a camera artifact or if you pick that up with your eye as well?
You may also be interested to read his post on
Gelling the LED bulbs
. Gels are colored filters for lights (or camera lenses). He cuts his preferred color down to size and inserts it between the LEDs and the lenses.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/headrotor/9091073880/ | 40 | 11 | [
{
"comment_id": "1020568",
"author": "Eatith Mee",
"timestamp": "2013-06-28T13:26:57",
"content": "I think he should have seriesed in FETs with each diode and PWMd those with a log function, as you could just parallel the gates. Shunting the current is not going to be very efficient as the darker th... | 1,760,376,523.998352 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/06/27/the-trials-of-repairing-a-macbook/ | The Trials Of Repairing A MacBook | Brian Benchoff | [
"Repair Hacks"
] | [
"macbook",
"repair"
] | As a favor to a friend, [Phil] traded a unibody MacBook logic board for one with a broken headphone jack, a busted keyboard controller, and a nonfunctional fan. Not one to let bad hardware go to waste, he set off to repair this now-broken laptop by scavenging parts wherever he could.
The whole thing ended up working
, and became a very impressive display of soldering skill in the process.
The first step for the keyboard transplant was to cut a properly sized hole in the newer unibody MacBook for an older, pre-unibody MacBook Pro 17″ keyboard. This was done by cutting out the keyboard pan of the pre-unibody case and very carefully epoxying it into the unibody chassis. The MBP had a separate keyboard and trackpad controller, so of course [Paul] needed to find some space inside the chassis for these new electronics. This space was found next to the internal hard drive, and a liberal application of hot glue held everything together.
In the future, [Phil] plans on adding more LEDs, a 3.5 mm jack, and a USB to TTL converter – a necessity for any true ‘hacker’ laptop. It’s still a wonderful piece of work, and an incredible amount of effort and skill to get it where it is today. | 30 | 14 | [
{
"comment_id": "1020326",
"author": "lunarHonour",
"timestamp": "2013-06-27T23:24:28",
"content": "Cool hacking…. but why not just get a replacement proper keyboard and trackpad on eBay and not ruin the resale value?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment... | 1,760,376,523.79822 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/06/27/rf-wireless-kernel-module-for-raspberry-pi-beaglebone-and-others/ | RF Wireless Kernel Module For Raspberry Pi, BeagleBone And Others | Mike Szczys | [
"Linux Hacks",
"Wireless Hacks"
] | [
"beaglebone",
"beaglebone black",
"rfm12b",
"RPi",
"wireless"
] | If you’ve done any wireless work with hobby electronics you probably recognize this part. The green PCB is an RFM12B wireless board. They come in a few different operating bandwidths, the 433 MHz is probably the most common. They’re super easy to interface with a small microcontroller but what about an embedded Linux board? That is the focus of this project, which
builds a kernel driver for the RF module
.
You can get your own RFM12B for a few bucks. They’re quite versatile when paired, but a lot of inexpensive wireless consumer goods operate on this band so the board can be used to send commands to wireless outlets, light fixtures, etc. [Georg] has been working with the BeagleBone, BeagleBone Black, and Raspberry Pi. His software package lets you build a kernel module to add an entry for the device into the /dev directory of a Linux system. So far the three boards listed are all that’s supported, but if you have five I/O pins available it should be a snap to tailor this to other hardware.
Wondering what else you can do with the setup? This will get the receiving end of
a text-messaging doorbell
up and running in no time. | 21 | 11 | [
{
"comment_id": "1020321",
"author": "qwerty",
"timestamp": "2013-06-27T23:03:50",
"content": "Kernel driver aside, which is a great thing, what’s so special about this module? I see there are cheaper ones on ebay and other online vendors.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
... | 1,760,376,524.164789 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/06/27/hackers-in-africa-are-building-their-own-aircraft/ | Hackers In Africa Are Building Their Own Aircraft | Mike Szczys | [
"Transportation Hacks"
] | [
"africa",
"aircraft",
"helicopter",
"plane"
] | While you’re trying to come up with an idea for your next project this guy’s been building his own helicopter from whatever parts he can find. He’s just
one of the aeronautical hackers
featured in a story in the Daily Mail. The article’s narrative leaves us with many questions, but there’s enough info to make it worth a look.
In addition to the heli seen above there are also a couple of airplane builds to gawk at. Africa has already produced a couple of very ingenious hacks like [William Kamkwamba’s]
projects which improved his village infrastructure
. He gained enough notice from his work to land a scholarship to continue his education and that opportunity has also been afforded the creators of these aircraft.
At first we figured this helicopter project was possible because of lack of air traffic regulation in this part of the world. That’s not the case as [Onesmus Mwangi] — who makes his living as a farmhand — has been forbidden to fly the craft by local police. There may be another opportunity for him to fly later in life. He’s received funding to study aircraft maintenance abroad.+
Unfortunately we couldn’t find any video of this thing in action. If that’s unacceptable to you try getting your fix from
this human-sized octocopter
.
[Thanks Brandon] | 78 | 30 | [
{
"comment_id": "1020247",
"author": "bunedoggle",
"timestamp": "2013-06-27T19:12:41",
"content": "There’s two chances of that helicopter flying: slim and none.I don’t see any way of changing the blade pitch which would be how you:1. Turn2. Accelerate3. Decelerate4. StabilizeBut other than that…",
... | 1,760,376,523.919692 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/06/27/the-thunderball-jetpack-becomes-a-quadcopter/ | The Thunderball Jetpack Becomes A Quadcopter | Brian Benchoff | [
"drone hacks"
] | [
"James Bond",
"jetpack",
"quadcopter"
] | At the beginning of the fourth Bond film, 007 escapes from a French château with a jetpack. While the jetpack has yet to take off for those of us who aren’t secret agents, there is a way for anyone to fly just like Bond. It can’t lift a full-scale human yet, but
[Rodger]’s Project Thunderball
can let a mannequin hover for several minutes.
The stand in for [Sean Connery] in [Rodger]’s build is a 2.2 lb mannequin – actually an ‘inflatable companion’, if you will – stuffed with styrofoam peanuts. The actual jet pack is a quadcopter souped up with larger motors, propellers, and enough batteries to deliver 1kW. There’s no belt for this quad; the mannequin rides the machine like you would a horse, straddling the electronics while very high-speed props spin just inches away from the tender bits of an inflatable plastic doll.
[Rodger] is able to get about 8 minutes of hover time out of his quadpack, an impressive feat that also allows his flying machine to deliver beer and pizzas.
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLjA1Lmfcq8&w=580] | 13 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "1020222",
"author": "Joshua Stylen",
"timestamp": "2013-06-27T17:50:35",
"content": "Oh man, I can just imagine somebody passing by and seeing the dummy land flat on its face then laying motionless.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id"... | 1,760,376,524.446386 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/06/22/rickys-rugged-dvd-player/ | [Ricky’s] Rugged DVD Player | Caleb Kraft | [
"Medical Hacks"
] | [
"accessibility",
"disabled",
"handicapped"
] | [Ricky] absolutely loves watching DVDs. He is epileptic and is cognitively functioning at a level roughly that of a 6 year old. His younger brother [Ronnie] noticed that [Ricky’s] DVDs as well as his DVD player never lasted very long due to some rough handling. [Ronnie] stepped up to make [Ricky’s] life just a little bit easier by
building this super rugged DVD watching station
.
He started by ripping out the front pcb of the DVD player that has all the buttons. [Ricky] can wear through a set of standard buttons in no time, so [Ronnie] extended these to arcade buttons. Then he mounted everything into a custom cabinet that can withstand a considerable amount of abuse.
Now they can load 5 disks in and [Ricky] can watch what he pleases without worry of destroying the player.
[Ronnie] mentioned that he’d like to make a more complex control system using some kind of microcontroller, but frankly I find the simplicity of this to be perfect. Maybe a media pc loaded with movies might be a decent next step. You can see
[Ronnie’s] build log here
.
If you’ve ever considered making something like this to improve someone’s life, you should check out
thecontrollerproject.com
where people with special needs can connect with people who can build interfaces. | 25 | 12 | [
{
"comment_id": "1018756",
"author": "heatgap",
"timestamp": "2013-06-23T01:10:39",
"content": "Well done. Simple, not overly complicated. That’s what makes a good hack.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1018757",
"author": "Caleb Kraft"... | 1,760,376,524.385597 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/06/22/heart-shaped-project-takes-no-shortcuts/ | Heart-shaped Project Takes No Shortcuts | Mike Szczys | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"Holiday Hacks"
] | [
"8x8",
"heart",
"led matrix",
"pendant",
"Valentines day"
] | If all [Blake] wanted to do is scroll “Blake loves Kim” on some LEDs he could have stopped with the breadboard version of the project. Or hastily craft a cardboard heart around the marquee. But he really just used
this heart-shaped electronics project
as an excuse to get his feet wet with several different types of manufacturing.
The project started as a simple scrolling message pendant. Something
along these lines
. His very small LED module was being driven by an ATtiny85. He planned to run it from battery which is a perfect excuse to learn how to use the sleep functions built into the chip.
The initial design worked so well he decided to lay out his own circuit board. This made it quite simple to add in a side-positioned button to wake from sleep, and a coin cell battery holder on the back. He used OSH Park for board manufacturing — good thing they allow creative board outlines. To protect the circuitry he also ordered laser-cut acrylic plates that work in conjunction with stand offs to form a case.
He mentions he missed his Valentine’s Day delivery date by a long shot. But that’s how these sort of things go, right?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWzVhxGg8gY | 2 | 1 | [
{
"comment_id": "1018773",
"author": "DainBramage1991",
"timestamp": "2013-06-23T02:02:44",
"content": "“he missed his Valentine’s Day delivery date by a long shot”It’s the thought that counts. Very nice project.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id":... | 1,760,376,524.31739 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/06/22/sony-smartwatch-running-arduino-sketches/ | Sony SmartWatch Running Arduino Sketches | Mike Szczys | [
"Arduino Hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"sketch",
"smartwatch",
"sony"
] | Well that didn’t take long. We just heard last week about the Sony inviting firmware hacks for their SmartWatch and here’s an early example. This image above is an animation running on the watch. It was written as
an Arduino sketch which runs on a custom firmware image
. [Veqtor] wrote the sketch, which is just a couple of nested loops drawing lines and circles. The real hack is in the firmware itself.
[Veqtor] took part in
a workshop
(
translated
) put on by [David Cuartielles] which invited attendees to try their Arduino coding skills on
his firmware hack for the watch
. It implements an Android parser, but the development is in very early stages. Right now there’s zero information in his readme file. But the root directory of the repo has a huge todo list. Dig through it and see if you can fork his code to help lend a hand.
Learn more about the SmartWatch firmware from
the original announcement
. | 9 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "1018678",
"author": "Veqtor",
"timestamp": "2013-06-22T19:10:00",
"content": "You should probably point to the new repo they put up:https://github.com/underverk/SmartWatchit’s more complete and should work out of the box for win, osx and linux",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1... | 1,760,376,524.499425 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/06/22/a-charming-arduino-king-cobra-game/ | A Charming Arduino King Cobra Game | Brian Benchoff | [
"Arduino Hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"cobra",
"games"
] | Here’s a fun game from [A.J.]’s lab
. It’s a simulated king cobra made from an Arduino, an ultrasonic sensor, and a servo. The aim of the game is to grab a ball in front of the device without being ‘bitten’ by the thumbtack attached to a drinking straw controlled by a servo. You know, just like a real king cobra.
There’s no schematic or build plans for this project, but it looks easy enough to cobble together. Despite its simplicity, this game looks hilariously fun, and could quite possibly provide more entertainment through
using
the machine rather than simply building it.
No text description of this game can do it justice, so check out the video below. It looks like a lot of fun, and if you already have the parts in a bin somewhere, it’ll make a great weekend build.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpuxtmJ7BqA&w=580] | 22 | 13 | [
{
"comment_id": "1018645",
"author": "Wayne Scicluna",
"timestamp": "2013-06-22T17:16:13",
"content": "Replace the tip with a bladeReplace the servo with a solenoidRename as “How to die with Arduino” :)",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1018666"... | 1,760,376,524.563571 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/06/22/outputting-text-on-a-paper-tape-machine/ | Outputting Text On A Paper Tape Machine | Brian Benchoff | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"classic hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"paper tape",
"tape"
] | Back before the days of 8 inch floppy disks, storing computer programs was much more primitive than even a stack of punch cards. The earliest general purpose computers used paper tape, a strip of paper with punched holes designating a 0 or a 1. Thankfully for the computer scientists of the day, these paper tapes weren’t created by hand. No, the Friden SP-2 tape punch took care of the duties of punching holes in these tapes. When [Max] rescued one of these tape punch machines from a trash bin, he knew what he needed to do:
connect it to an Arduino
so he could create his own paper tapes.
[Max] found a veroboard with a bunch of transistors inside the machine that was added by a previous owner. After finding
the manual
for the machine he connected it to an Arduino, holding each of the eight control pins high to punch the tape, and then holding another pin high to advance the tape. With this, he was able to punch letters instead of binary code into his paper tape.
[Max] also added an Ethernet shield to his Arduino that checks his email. If an email shows up in a special folder, it outputs the subject line to the tape punch machine, giving him an entirely retro ticker tape machine, built with vintage 60s hardware.
There are a pair of videos of [Max]’s tape punch machine in action below, along with a gallery of the glamorous gut shots of this incredible machine. | 24 | 16 | [
{
"comment_id": "1018615",
"author": "XOIIO",
"timestamp": "2013-06-22T15:09:47",
"content": "Reminds me of the autotype from Sanctuary, very neat.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "1018616",
"author": "James",
"timestamp": "2013-06-22T15:... | 1,760,376,524.628911 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/06/22/wetlev-2-water-jetpack-marginally-less-lethal-than-prior-version/ | Wetlev 2 Water Jet Pack Marginally Less Lethal Than Prior Version | Mike Szczys | [
"Transportation Hacks"
] | [] | You’ve got to admit the thought of tooling around the lake on
your own personal water jetpack
is a seductive proposition. This is the second summer in which [Toby Gardner] has been trying to work out the kinks on his build. Last year he got out of the water, but the jetpack was pretty hard to control. Over the winter he redesigned the nozzles of the water jets and they seem to be doing quite a bit better.
The fact that the build will be in frequent contact with water makes it a bit harder. They need to have parts that won’t corrode but can stand up to the pressure. Stainless steel was the obvious choice, and for the refinements they were able to get quite a few off the shelf parts to start from. He built a mold for forming the backpack and took it out for a spin. We don’t get a great look at the new version from afar. But watch the videos below and you’ll see last year it tried to drown him, this year it seems to float.
Why is he building rather than buying? Have you seen the price of
the original version
?
Version 2
Version 1 | 9 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "1018602",
"author": "Gary",
"timestamp": "2013-06-22T14:24:17",
"content": "I saw a guy down in Destin with jet boots on. The amount of control he had was quite stunning. Search on youtube for “water jet boots” or maybe the brand name “Flyboard”. What I saw in person was every bi... | 1,760,376,524.798026 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/06/21/3d-scanning-by-calculating-the-focus-of-each-pixel/ | 3D Scanning By Calculating The Focus Of Each Pixel | Mike Szczys | [
"digital cameras hacks"
] | [
"3d scanner",
"depth map",
"focus",
"luminance"
] | We understand the concept [Jean] used to create a 3D scan of his face, but the particulars are a bit beyond our own experience. He is not using a dark room and laser line to capture slices which can be reassembled later. Nope, this approach
uses pictures taken with several different focal lengths
.
The idea is to process the photos using
luminance
. It looks at a pixel and it’s neighbors, subtracting the luminance and summing the absolute values to estimate how well that pixel is in focus. Apparently if you do this with the entire image, and a set of other images taken from the same vantage point with different focal lengths, you end up with a depth map of pixels.
What we find most interesting about this is the resulting pixels retain their original color values. So after removing the cruft you get a 3D scan that is still in full color.
If you want to learn more about laser-based 3D scanning
check out this project
.
[Thanks Luca] | 42 | 16 | [
{
"comment_id": "1018377",
"author": "smallpicture",
"timestamp": "2013-06-21T21:06:21",
"content": "This could be a game changer for autonomous vehicles depending on the computational expense vs. alternative methods. Even if it requires more MIPS, those will likely get less expensive faster than th... | 1,760,376,524.747598 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/06/21/giving-a-crank-flashlight-a-super-capacitor-overhaul/ | Giving A Crank Flashlight A Super Capacitor Overhaul | Mike Szczys | [
"green hacks",
"LED Hacks"
] | [
"crank",
"flashlight",
"generator",
"super capacitor"
] | [Caleb] was given a tiny LED flashlight which has a crank used to charge it. Unfortunately it wasn’t holding a charge, and constant cranking didn’t work very well either. He cracked it open to find a single lithium button cell. Instead of using a drop-in replacement
he soldered in his own super capacitor
.
The stock device is remarkably simple. It uses a standard DC motor as the generator. It’s connected to the crank using a set of gears, with the two red wires seen above connecting it to the control board. Four diodes make up a bridge rectified and apparently feed directly into the battery. No wonder that cell went kaput!
But this orientation isn’t bad for using capacitors. They can be charged directly and the switch which attaches the LEDs to voltage doesn’t interfere with their operation. The last problem was making room for them in the case. [Caleb] considered a few different approaches, but ended up just heating the plastic enclosure until it could be deformed to make room for the additional parts. | 25 | 11 | [
{
"comment_id": "1018350",
"author": "Tim",
"timestamp": "2013-06-21T19:12:34",
"content": "What makes a capacitor by definition a supercapacitor. Is there a difference in materials or construction? Is a regular capacitor considered a supercapacitor depending on how it is utilized (storage)?",
... | 1,760,376,524.867612 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/06/21/an-arduino-power-inverter/ | An Arduino Power Inverter | Brian Benchoff | [
"Arduino Hacks"
] | [
"12 volt",
"arduino",
"inverter",
"power inverter"
] | If you’ve got a few solar panels lying around, or even if you want some 120/230 V AC power from a few 12 Volt batteries, you’ll need a power inverter. Sure, you can drop on down to any big box store and pick one of these up, or you can be like [Michael]
and build your own
(Danish,
translation
).
[Michael] found himself in the possession of a few halogen light transformers and decided to make use of them by building a DC to AC power inverter. The inverter is fairly simple – just the transformer, a few MOSFETS, and an ATMega0168 for software control that includes a ‘soft start’ feature that prevents power surges on startup.
The circuit is simple enough to etch at home, although a soldermask and a nice insulated enclosure would probably be ideal for this application. | 32 | 13 | [
{
"comment_id": "1018314",
"author": "greenbacks",
"timestamp": "2013-06-21T17:47:50",
"content": "[insert arduino rant]j/k",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1018347",
"author": "Dax",
"timestamp": "2013-06-21T18:58:37",
... | 1,760,376,525.284726 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/06/21/building-a-synth-on-a-breadboard/ | Building A Synth On A Breadboard | Brian Benchoff | [
"Musical Hacks"
] | [
"analog synth",
"analog synthesizer",
"breadboard",
"propeller",
"synth",
"synthesizer"
] | Building an analog synth is a challenge, but with the [Tymkrs] protosynth, it’s easier than ever.
It’s a 25-key keyboard attached to a stack of solderless breadboards
to make analog synth prototyping a snap.
Earlier, [Tymkrs] acquired a whole bunch of solderless breadboards and decided to put them to use by making a
component-level modular synth
. The earlier incarnation tied each key on the keyboard to a few wires behind the breadboard and tied them in to a shift register so they could be read with a Propeller dev board loaded up with a Commodore SID emulator. The new version keeps the very clean through-the-back keyboard connector, but this time the [Tymkrs] are adding a few more components that add a sequencer setup and a rotary encoder.
The eventual goal for this really cool breadboard synth is to explore the world of Moogs, Arps, and other analog synths easily on a breadbaord. The [Tymkrs] have already put together a
breadboard-compatible low pass and high pass filter
. While there’s still a lot of work to be done to make an analog synth a reality, the [Tymkrs] are off to a great start.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlt8fjSZiJw&w=600] | 12 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "1018284",
"author": "Pinkertr0n",
"timestamp": "2013-06-21T16:36:48",
"content": "wahw. thats awesome. I’m totes making a breadboard synth!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "1018294",
"author": "bty",
"timestamp": "2013-0... | 1,760,376,525.094566 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/06/21/hacking-a-medion-wifi-streaming-radio-found-at-aldi/ | Hacking A Medion WiFi Streaming Radio Found At Aldi | Mike Szczys | [
"Linux Hacks"
] | [
"aldi",
"firmware",
"medion",
"serial",
"usb"
] | On a shopping trip at Aldi [Aaron Christophel] came across this Medion streaming device which connects to your home network via WiFi and works as an Internet radio. He couldn’t resist buying one, and managed to do
quite a bit of hacking on the device
(
translated
) once he got it home.
His first order of business was a hardware teardown. An inspection of the board showed what was obviously an unpopulated footprint for a USB mini jack. He added the component, thinking it would allow him to connect it to a computer, but that didn’t work. To investigate the issue further he connected to the device’s serial port using the hard-to-guess credentials root and password. It’s running a Linux kernel and the lsusb command revealed that the USB is enabled as host mode. This mean you can attach mass storage… sweet!
He also did some firmware hacking. Above is the confirmation screen for flashing his altered image file. This resulted in a custom splash screen when it boots up. | 20 | 12 | [
{
"comment_id": "1018233",
"author": "Franklin Templeton",
"timestamp": "2013-06-21T13:27:47",
"content": "Interesting article. I always love it when these devices are unmasked for more fun :) Thanks for the info, Aaron!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comm... | 1,760,376,525.216504 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/06/21/a-folding-knife-made-from-scratch/ | A Folding Knife Made From Scratch | Brian Benchoff | [
"Tool Hacks"
] | [] | [bobasaurus]
over on reddit
had a go at making a knife from scratch. It was his first attempt, but we’re thinking the
result is fabulous
and a wonderful example of what can be done with minimal tools at home.
The blade and folding mechanism was crafted out of an O1 tool steel bar. [bob] didn’t have any fancy machines like a bandsaw to cut these metal parts out; he used a jeweler’s saw and went through many blades in the process.
After the basic shape of the metal parts took form, [bob] turned to the scales. They’re made of a beautiful figured wood, bocote, native to Central America.
One interesting part of [bob]’s knife is the electrochemical etching he did on the blade. After applying a mask for the etching with the toner transfer process, the blade was grounded to a battery charger and a paintbrush wired up to the positive side was dipped in salt water. It’s certainly an easy way to engrave metal without investing in expensive tools or a CNC router.
Finally, the scales were shaped and oiled and the blade and bolster mechanism installed. A lot of work went into this knife, especially with the bare minimum of tools [bob] used. The results are worth it, though, and he ended up with a beautiful knife. | 2 | 2 | [
{
"comment_id": "1038261",
"author": "smee",
"timestamp": "2013-06-21T15:52:45",
"content": "Ooooh oil steel. I have tried finding a folder in several less common types of steel and had no success. I’d wager that was part of the reason for this project.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"... | 1,760,376,525.041987 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/06/20/solar-powered-hovercraft/ | Solar Powered Hovercraft | Mike Szczys | [
"green hacks"
] | [
"ground effect",
"hoverc",
"octocopter",
"solar"
] | It looks a little bit like an octocopter, but
this solar-powered hovercraft
is distinctly different from its free-flying brethren. It depends mostly on
ground effect
for operation and to get it just a bit into the air you need a pretty large reflective rig nearby.
The vehicle needs to be even lighter than traditional quadcopters in order to function. It doesn’t carry any battery at all which presents a problem when trying to program
the microcontroller board
. For this it is connected to an external battery, which is removed before flight so that the control can be powered from the solar array.
What’s not shown in the image above is a mirror array used to focus more intense sunlight on the panels to bump up the available electricity. Not much is said about this, but there is one image on the project page which shows the creator standing in front of the set of four mirrors (perhaps sheets of mylar?) strung up between a couple of trees.
Alas, we couldn’t find a video of the aircraft in action. With such a delicate balsa wood frame we’re sure this thing is affected by every air current that passes its way.
[Thanks Laimonas] | 16 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "1018023",
"author": "Pau",
"timestamp": "2013-06-20T21:22:19",
"content": "Here is a video",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1018025",
"author": "Pau",
"timestamp": "2013-06-20T21:22:51",
"content": "forg... | 1,760,376,525.154646 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/06/20/building-custom-game-controllers-for-people-with-physical-disabilities/ | Building Custom Game Controllers For People With Physical Disabilities | Caleb Kraft | [
"Featured",
"Medical Hacks"
] | [
"accessability",
"muscular dystrophy",
"physical disability"
] | Hold on tight. This is going to be a long post. I kept my temper in the video, but here I can just come out and let you know that I’m livid. Every time I start thinking about this, I feel so angry and helpless that my face gets hot and my hands get shaky. I’m getting ahead of myself though, so lets just back up a little bit and talk about a pretty cool kid named [Thomas].
[Thomas] has muscular dystrophy. This means he’s going to gradually lose strength and control in his muscles over time. He has already lost his ability to stand, and even holding buttons on a game-pad for extended times can be difficult. Gaming, as you can imagine, is very important to [Thomas] and people like him. It offers a release of frustration, like it does for all of us, but also a level playing ground. When he’s in the game, he’s like everyone else.
I did some quick research into what hardware is available. This is where I started to get angry. Something simple like this low pressure switch is extremely overpriced. Take these two for example. Both are a single momentary switch with a cable and a case.
market price $79
market price $69
$70 dollars?
$70 F*$&ING DOLLARS
? This isn’t the computer interface, this is just the switch. We all know that we can buy those switches at
retail prices
for under a dollar. At this point, I thought “man, these companies sure are inflating the price for insurance companies.”
I mentioned the insurance thought to [Thomas’] Mother. She said something that made me want to just sit down and cry right there. She replied “
Oh no, the insurance companies don’t usually pay for this stuff. They don’t see it as a necessity.
” Maybe it is because I’m a parent, but this was devastating. I had a hard time even thinking strait after this visit for a while. I was so angry, so frustrated, and feeling so helpless, and
I was only tangentially involved
.
I made up my mind to do something more than just make a simple controller for [Thomas], I needed to help as many people as possible. More on that later.
[Thomas’] controller.
As you saw in the video, [Thomas] loves to play minecraft. I met with him and talked about what he needed in terms of a controller. At this point in time, [Thomas] doesn’t really need much. He can use an Xbox gamepad, a sixaxis controller, and keyboard and mouse. He has a little bit of trouble holding the triggers for more than a couple seconds, but he gets by.
This meant that I really didn’t have a specific problem to solve so I just tried to build something that would help the most people possible. I jumped from idea to idea, but ultimately fell onto the idea of modular buttons that could be reconfigured as needed.
lap board configuration
teensy
all the bits
I used a Teensy with extremely simple keyboard/mouse emulation code. This allows me to give the imputs to the games without the use of additional software. I should point out here, that this isn’t a new or amazing idea. The super expensive buttons that I mentioned early plug right into something called a “switch box” that emulates mouse and keyboard. Usually the switchboxes even have a ton of features that mine does not have.
teensy
all the bits
lap board configuration
All mine does is emulates W,A,S,D, space, escape, E, Q, mouse movement, and right and left mouse clicks. That’s it. That is all that was needed for minecraft. I initially started making a system that used headphone jacks, like what I saw on the other systems but then had a better thought. By leaving the headers available, people could literally plug two wires into it and emulate a keyboard press. Need a button that takes very little pressure to activate(very common)? How about no pressure.
Since Thomas can still use a keyboard and mouse, my controller doesn’t help him much. He was a good sport about it, and we’re keeping communication open for the future, because unfortunately, he won’t be able to use the keyboard and mouse forever.
The files
I’m not an engineer. I just looked at what was out there and started doing super quick 3d printed cases. They’re not extremely well thought out, but they work. Luckily Lulzbot gave me a 3d printer for this project so I was able to prototype and test very quickly. Please download these and improve them.
Here are the parts.
1. low pressure lever activated momentary switch.
Using a dirt cheap 6mm momentary switch, this case uses a lever for activation reducing the amount of pressure required to roughly 15 grams. It works like the one pictured above, and I think even if I include labor in the equation it would be less than $30. There are several variations mainly because I didn’t have a good hinge idea.
Download the low pressure switch here
.
2. The D-pad and quad button
This is simply a case for 4 6mm momentary switches. These have no lever, and require roughly 60 grams pressure to push, which is about the same as an Xbox controller. They aren’t perfect, but they work.
Some people mentioned that they thought the D-pad needed more buttons to be like the Xbox one. If you disassemble an Xbox controller you’ll see there are only 4 buttons in there. It is NOT an 8 way system.
You can also see the controller shaped block I printed to hold these.
Download the D-Pad file here
.
Download the quad button file here
.
On a side note, use flexible stranded wire. I have no idea what I was thinking using solid core ribbons here. They won’t last long.
There are a few more files that you can download that came from this project:
The psp thumbstick case
The single button enclosure
(unused in the final version)
The blank controller shape
for sticking things to.
How can you help?
Like I said. I couldn’t just walk away. I went from thinking I would make [Thomas] a thing, to thinking I’d make a thing that would be perfect for EVERYONE! I even considered doing some kind of kickstarter or something to make a nice little business for myself. None of those ideas felt right though.
I realized that I don’t need to be the one to help
everyone
by making a controller. While I did make a thing for [Thomas], my skill isn’t necessarily making stuff. My skill is sharing information, connecting people, and building community.
I have created
Thecontrollerproject.com
. This is a forum where people can offer their services to build custom interfaces. You don’t need to volunteer your time for free. Even with labor, some of these simple interfaces can be made cheaper at home than the commercial versions. Many people need customizations that aren’t even available commercially.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rd1MkQAdmoU
Many of you are thinking “oh, the engineers will take care of this stuff”. STOP IT. YOU CAN HELP TOO.
I will personally put up easy to follow directions on how you can make some simple devices for people even if you’ve never soldered or touched a microcontroller.
If you want to help, you can. Please do. I’m begging.
What if you don’t want to work, you just want to donate?
Fine, that’s good, but don’t donate to me. Go to
Ablegamers.com
and donate to the Able Gamers Foundation. They are striving for the same goals as me and have their act together. They are already helping people all over the place and could use your contribution better than I could. Check out this video below about the Able Gamers Foundation. | 81 | 47 | [
{
"comment_id": "1017990",
"author": "Joel Wetzell",
"timestamp": "2013-06-20T20:03:39",
"content": "First video in article is Private",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1017993",
"author": "Caleb Kraft",
"timestamp": "2013-06-20T... | 1,760,376,525.642918 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/06/20/modeling-squid-cells-in-code-foregoes-connecting-voltage-to-animals/ | Modeling Squid Cells In Code Foregoes Connecting Voltage To Animals | Mike Szczys | [
"Medical Hacks"
] | [
"camouflage",
"cephalopod",
"processing",
"squid"
] | [Kemper Smith] built a little piece of nature in Processing. He was inspired by a biology experiment that excited squid cells using electricity. The result is
an interactive display that mimics that biology
.
Last August we saw
a peculiar experiment
that forced Cyprus Hill music on the color changing cells of a squid. The cells make colors by stretching sacs of pigment; the larger they get the more of that color is shown. Normally this is used for camouflage. The image on the left is the reaction from connecting headphone wires while music is being played.
But we can’t all get our hands on this type of wet-ware — especially if life far inland. So [Kemper] got to work writing some Processing code. The result is seen on the right. It does a good job of replicating the motion and color palette of the original. He’s put together a web-based demonstration which you can interact with using your mouse cursor. But we also saw him demonstrate a Kinect based version at
our local hackerspace
. | 4 | 3 | [
{
"comment_id": "1017987",
"author": "Scott Harden",
"timestamp": "2013-06-20T19:50:16",
"content": "already saw thishttp://hackaday.com/2012/08/25/how-do-squid-react-to-being-shocked-to-the-beat-of-cypris-hill/",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": ... | 1,760,376,525.323532 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/06/20/giving-digital-calipers-bluetooth/ | Giving Digital Calipers Bluetooth | Brian Benchoff | [
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"bluetooth",
"calipers",
"digital caliper",
"digital calipers"
] | [Fede]’s wife uses a pair of digital calipers to take measurements of fruits, leaves, and stems as part of her field research. Usually this means taking a measurement and writing it down in a log book. All things must be digitized, so [Fede] came up with a way to
wirelessly log data off a pair of cheap Chinese calipers
with a custom-made Bluetooth circuit.
Most of these cheap Chinese digital calipers already have a serial output, so [Fede] only needed to build a circuit to take the serial output and dump it in to an off-the-shelf Bluetooth module. He fabbed a custom circuit board for this, and after seeing the increased battery drain from the Bluetooth module, decided to add an external battery pack.
In addition to etching his own board for sending the serial output of the calipers to a Bluetooth module, [Fede] also put together a custom flex circuit to connect the two boards. It’s just a small bit of brass glued to a transparency sheet etched with ferric chloride, but the end result looks amazingly professional for something whipped up in a home lab. | 28 | 12 | [
{
"comment_id": "1017954",
"author": "Wireb",
"timestamp": "2013-06-20T17:28:38",
"content": "Summery has a minor inaccuracy. The calipers do not put out normal serial so you cannot just hook it to a bluetooth module and go. There is a small micro controller in between that coverts from the scale p... | 1,760,376,525.499931 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/06/20/an-interview-with-david-of-ulitimaker/ | An Interview With [David] Of Ultimaker | Brian Benchoff | [
"3d Printer hacks",
"Interviews"
] | [
"cura",
"host software",
"reprap",
"slic3r",
"slicer",
"software",
"ultimaker"
] | After interviewing
the creator of Slic3r
and the
folks at Shapeways
, [Andrew] is back again with his adventures in 3D printer videography and
an interview with [David Braam] of Ultimaker
About a year ago, [David] looked at the state of the art in 3D printer control and
Replicator G
. While Replicator G, along with
Pronterface
and
Repetier-Host
both convert 3D models into G-code files as well as control the printer while its squeezing plastic out onto a bed. [David] thought the current state of these RepRap host programs were janky at best, and certainly not the best user experience for any home fabricator. This lead him to create
Cura
, a very slick and vastly improved piece of host software for the Ultimaker.
Cura isn’t just a fancy front end on an already existing slicer engine; [David] created his own slicing algorithm to turn .STL files into G-code that’s immensely faster than skeinforge. Where skeinforge could take an hour to slice a complex model, Cura does the same job in minutes.
There are also a bunch of cool features available in Cura: you can rotate any part before sending it to the printer, as well as pulling voxels directly from your Minecraft world and sending them to your printer. Very, very cool stuff, and if you’re running a Ultimaker or any other RepRap, you might want to check it out.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMAIsGV-OuA&w=620] | 25 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "1017922",
"author": "Robert",
"timestamp": "2013-06-20T15:18:18",
"content": "Ulitimaker = Ultimaker (small typo)",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "1017925",
"author": "limpkin",
"timestamp": "2013-06-20T15:26:27",
"co... | 1,760,376,525.762698 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/06/20/building-a-blink-based-input-device/ | Building A Blink Based Input Device | Mike Szczys | [
"Peripherals Hacks"
] | [
"accessibility",
"blink",
"bluesmirf",
"eeg",
"emic2",
"mbed",
"neurosky",
"text to speech"
] | Fans of the AMC show
Breaking Bad
will remember the Original Gangsta [Hector Salamanca]. When first introduced to the story he communicates by ringing a bell. But after being moved to a nursing home he communicates by spelling out messages with the assistance of a nurse who holds up a card with columns and rows of letters. This hack automates that task,
trading the human assistant for a blink-based input system
.
[Bob Stone] calls the project BlinkTalk. The user wears a Neurosky Mindwave Mobile headset. This measures brainwaves using EEG. He connects the headset to an mBed microcontroller using a BlueSMiRF Bluetooth board. The microcontroller processes the EEG data to establish when the user blinks their eyes.
The LCD screen first scrolls down each row of the displayed letters and numbers. When the appropriate row is highlighted a blink will start scrolling through the columns until a second blink selects the appropriate character. Once the message has been spelled out the “SAY!” menu item causes
the Emic2 module
to turn the text into speech.
If you think you could build something like this to help the disabled, you should check out
thecontrollerproject.com
where builders are connected with people in need. | 21 | 13 | [
{
"comment_id": "1017880",
"author": "Benny Boy",
"timestamp": "2013-06-20T13:08:51",
"content": "So many possibilities with this. Amazing work!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "1017888",
"author": "CodeRed",
"timestamp": "2013-06-20T13:... | 1,760,376,525.700721 |
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