url stringlengths 37 208 | title stringlengths 4 148 | author stringclasses 173
values | publish_date stringclasses 1
value | categories listlengths 0 12 | tags listlengths 0 27 | featured_image stringlengths 0 272 | content stringlengths 0 56.1k | comments_count int64 0 900 | scraped_comments_count int64 0 50 | comments listlengths 0 50 | scraped_at float64 1.76B 1.76B |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
https://hackaday.com/2013/05/14/retrotechtacular-first-laser-transmitter-built-50-years-ago/ | Retrotechtacular: First Laser Transmitter Built 50 Years Ago | Mike Szczys | [
"Laser Hacks",
"Radio Hacks"
] | [
"audio",
"ham",
"helium",
"laser",
"modulation",
"neon"
] | Most of the time we feature hokey film footage in our Retrotechtacular series, but we think this hack is as cool today as it was fifty years ago. [Clint] wrote in to tell us about
Operation Red Line
. It was an experiment performed May 3rd and 4th, 1963, which means the 50th anniversary just passed a few weeks ago. The hack involved sending data (audio in this case) over long distances using a laser. But back then you couldn’t just jump on eBay and order up the parts. The team had to hack together everything for themselves.
They built their own helium-neon laser tube, which is shown on the right. The gentlemen involved were engineers at a company called Electro-Optical System (EOS) by day, and Ham radio enthusiasts by night. With the blessing of their employer they were able to ply their hobby skills using the glass blowing and optical resources from their work to get the laser up and running. With that side of things taken care of they turned to the receiving end. Using a telescope and a photomultipler they were able to pick up the beam of light at a distance of about 119 miles. The pinnacle of their achievement was modulating audio on the transmitter, and demodulating it with the receiver.
[Clint] knows the guys who did this and wrote up
a look back at the project
on his own blog. | 15 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "1003907",
"author": "polossatik",
"timestamp": "2013-05-14T19:41:20",
"content": "Good old tinkering… aiming a laser with rocks under the table.. lovely",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "1003923",
"author": "Whatnot",
"tim... | 1,760,376,550.451245 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/05/14/master-lock-auto-cracker-built-as-coursework-at-university/ | Master Lock Auto-cracker Built As Coursework At University | Mike Szczys | [
"Security Hacks"
] | [
"brute force",
"combination",
"crack",
"cracker",
"master lock",
"pad lock"
] | We love the beginning of May because the final projects for college coursework start rolling into our tips line. Here’s one of the latest, it’s
an automatic Master lock combination cracker
which was built by [Ross Aiken] and his classmates as part of their ECE453 Embedded Microprocessor System Design class at the University of Wisconsin – Madison.
We’ve talked about the ease with which these locks can be cracked. But [Ross] points out that
the resources we linked to before are flawed
. To get the combination as quickly as possible the team has implemented
an algorithm discussed here
. Their machine uses a stepper motor to turn the dial with a big solenoid to pull on the shackle. The system is sensitive enough to detect the “sticky” spots of the lock, which are then used to narrow the number of possible combinations before brute forcing the combination. As you can see in the video after the break, the shackle moves slightly when pulled after an incorrect combination. The long vertical pin near the solenoid will pass through an optical sensor when the correct combination is found.
Do you have your own final project to show off? What are you waiting for,
send us a tip
about it! | 58 | 20 | [
{
"comment_id": "1003817",
"author": "Zee",
"timestamp": "2013-05-14T13:19:10",
"content": "Is the narrator text2speech? Sounds good but slightly artificial.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1003843",
"author": "Ross Aiken",
"ti... | 1,760,376,550.71455 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/05/13/the-hackaday-newsletter-is-growing/ | The Hackaday Newsletter Is Growing! | Caleb Kraft | [
"Featured",
"News"
] | [
"mailchimp",
"newsletter"
] | I’ve been having fun with the newsletter, and we have over 2500 people subscribed. Up to this point they have mainly just been composed of information about the videos I’m making. I’m going to change that this week. The emails will now also have 10 random hacks, probably the most popular hacks that week. Maybe something from the past of hackaday. It all pretty much just depends on what people end up enjoying. You’ll find
the sign up form here
, or over there –> in the side bar.
I’m going to keep this extremely informal. I’ll let you know what projects I’m working on, and share some hacks with you. Sign up if this sounds like something you’d enjoy! I plan on sending out 1 to 2 emails per week. | 12 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "1003673",
"author": "Matt Dawson",
"timestamp": "2013-05-13T22:06:52",
"content": "I’ve been looking for a random hack button on the hackaday site, is there one?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1003689",
"author": "blu... | 1,760,376,550.339095 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/05/13/gopro-hack-delivers-live-video-feed-for-piloting-your-quadcopter/ | GoPro Hack Delivers Live Video Feed For Piloting Your Quadcopter | Mike Szczys | [
"digital cameras hacks",
"Video Hacks"
] | [
"composite video",
"FPV",
"GoPro",
"hero 3",
"quadcopter",
"receiver",
"transmitter"
] | The GoPro line of HD cameras seem like they were specifically designed for use with quadcopters. We say that because the small, light-weight video devices present a payload which can be lifted without too much strain, but still have enough horse power to capture video of superb quality. Here’s a hack that
uses the camera to provide a remote First Person View
so that you may pilot the aircraft when it is out of your line of sight.
The camera in question is a GoPro Hero 3. It differs from its predecessors in that the composite video out port has been moved to a mini USB connector. But it’s still there and just a bit of cable splicing will yield a very clear signal. The image above shows the camera in the middle, connecting via the spliced cable to an FPV transmitter on the right. This will all be strapped to the quadcopter, with the signal picked up by the receiver on the left and piped to a goggle display worn by the pilot. You can see the cable being construction process in the clip after the break.
If you’re looking for other cool stuff to do with your GoPro camera
check out the bullet-time work
[Caleb] did with ours. | 43 | 23 | [
{
"comment_id": "1003654",
"author": "J",
"timestamp": "2013-05-13T21:15:16",
"content": "This is no hack, this is using a built in function. Ok, you can save 25 euros on the official cable, I guess, but still…",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "... | 1,760,376,550.928668 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/05/13/geiger-counter-tells-you-if-your-dishes-are-radioactive/ | Geiger Counter Tells You If Your Dishes Are Radioactive | Mike Szczys | [
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"fiesta",
"geiger counter",
"radioactive"
] | [Henrik] really turned out
a nice little Geiger counter board
based on a cold war era Geiger tube.
It works in much the same way as
other projects
along the
same lines
. It does run on batteries if needed, which is no small feat since the tube wants high voltage to operate correctly. And the video after the break shows it spitting out readings to a terminal window when connected to a computer via USB.
But what really caught our eye is the radioactive source material he used for testing. Since he didn’t have anything on hand he had to order something, and ended up going with a couple shards from a dinner plate. A radioactive dinner plate to exact and it’s a brand name you’ve probably heard of before. Red Fiesta Ware apparently used to be radioactive. It’s even mentioned in the intro to
the Wikipedia article
. Go figure!
One other thing we noticed was [Henrik’s] method of interfacing his multimeter with a breadboard. One of the project photos shows the probe with thin wire wrapped around the tip. We assume this is to make it easy to plug into the breadboard.
Despite this little digression away from the main project we did really enjoy learning about his build. And you can see him showing it off in the clip after the break. | 47 | 16 | [
{
"comment_id": "1003638",
"author": "c0derage",
"timestamp": "2013-05-13T19:07:59",
"content": "Plates, glasses, and various other things made of uranium glass were common at one point too.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1003968",
"a... | 1,760,376,551.063129 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/05/13/clean-and-minimal-self-balancing-robot/ | Clean And Minimal Self-balancing Robot | Mike Szczys | [
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"arduino nano",
"IMU",
"self balancing"
] | The VertiBOT is
a self balancing robot project
taken on for the purpose of exploring how the sensors work in conjunction with some PID algorithms.
[Miguel] didn’t roll any extras into the build. But you have to admit that makes it look interesting. There’s almost nothing to it and yet, as you can see in the clip after the break, he accomplished everything he set out to.
The
body and wheels are 3D printed
, with black bands for tires to help give it some traction. Note the connection in the center of the body which allowed him to make a longer part by printing in two stages. On the electronic side of things he’s using an Arduino Nano. A level converter lets it communicate with the 6 DOF IMU board which is used to detect movement. Three potentiometers provide a way for him to tweak the PID loop without having to bother with reflashing any code. And of course there’s an option to control it remotely thanks to a Bluetooth module also in the mix. | 6 | 3 | [
{
"comment_id": "1003627",
"author": "Norton Nealson",
"timestamp": "2013-05-13T17:30:30",
"content": "Are you sure the wheels are 3D printed? They look exactly like Pololu wheels.http://www.pololu.com/catalog/product/1434",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"c... | 1,760,376,550.969825 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/05/12/hackaday-links-sunday-may-12th-2013/ | Hackaday Links: Sunday, May 12th, 2013 | Mike Szczys | [
"Hackaday links"
] | [
"7400",
"lead",
"monome",
"Pizza",
"quadcopter",
"remote shutter release",
"RPi"
] | [Johnathan Crawford] isn’t bashful about tearing the insides of his truck apart. He’s built his own
remote starter using a Raspberry Pi
.
We vaguely remember hearing about a startup that planned to deliver tacos using quadcopters instead of people. We assume that company was a bust but here’s
the concept in action at the 2013 RoboGames
[thanks Don].
On the topic of food: pizza and joysticks… do they go together? Perhaps. Here’s
a joystick made out of an empty pizza box
(note the remains of grease stains inside).
[Jonathan] brings to our attention the problem of running out of fingers to press all the buttons on your Monome at just the right moment. No worries, just
add some solenoids to act as extra fingers
.
Apparently some Samsung cameras (NX20, NX210 and NX1000) can
use their USB port as a shutter release
. The trick is finding the right resistor values for the ID pin [thanks Janne].
Plagued with a tablet dock that wasn’t weighty enough to prevent the device from tipping over [John]
filled base with lead
to keep the thing upright.
[Helmut’s] bathroom had no windows.
He faked one
using an Arduino and an RGB led.
And finally, as a reward for all the readers that made it to the bottom of the article, here’s a gem of a project. [Charlie] was inspired by the recent
logic combo lock post
to send in his own
plans for a lock he made years ago
. Unfortunately he can’t find the pictures from the build but the theory behind it is quite engaging. | 23 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "1003491",
"author": "ejonesss",
"timestamp": "2013-05-12T21:14:09",
"content": "you could probably get a clean pizza box from your local pizza shop they will probably give you oneor there are other low profile boxes of similar size and shape you can use that is cleaner.",
"paren... | 1,760,376,550.776977 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/05/12/hobby-electronics-team-up-with-augmented-reality/ | Hobby Electronics Team Up With Augmented Reality | Mike Szczys | [
"Tablet Hacks"
] | [
"augmented reality"
] | Here’s an interesting take on
using augmented reality alongside hobby electronics
. The project, which comes from a group of researchers at the MIT Media Laboratory, starts off by making simple electronic devices like a radio with two knobs using network connected hardware. In other words, build something using an Arduino and include a way to get it on a network. With the radio example on knob is for tuning, the other adjusts the volume. But pick up an iPad and aim its camera at the device — which is what the image above is showing — and those knobs will get a lot more functionality. This opens up a whole set of virtual controls that can be assigned to different segments of the knob controllers.
This is certainly a better use of augmented reality than using it in advertisements which is where it usually shows up. We also think that the proliferation of personal electronics that include high-quality camera modules makes wide adoption a lot more plausible than some of the
projector-based augmented reality
we’ve seen. Check out a full demo in the video after the break and if that leaves you hungry for details you can
get your hands on the whitepaper
(PDF). | 11 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "1003488",
"author": "Eirinn",
"timestamp": "2013-05-12T20:38:00",
"content": "I’ll take google glass with augmented reality and pseudo-holographic ui anytime. Dennou Coil style :)",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "1003500",
"a... | 1,760,376,550.396839 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/05/12/external-pinball-controls-for-an-android-tablet/ | External Pinball Controls For An Android Tablet | Mike Szczys | [
"Android Hacks"
] | [
"acm",
"launchpad",
"msp430",
"pinball",
"tablet"
] | This hack, which
adds external flipper controls to Android pinball
, is a great way to cut your teeth at Android hardware hacking.
[Ruben] decided to go with the TI Launchpad for this project. The MSP430 dev board offers serial communications via a USB connection, but it’s not quite as easy as just finding the right cable. His tablet does support USB On the Go (OTG), but the board identifies itself as
an ACM device
which needs to be handled differently. In order to get the tablet talking to the Launchpad he compiled a CDC_ACM module for the Linux underpinnings that make up every Android OS. In this case the module is tailored for the Allwinner A10 chip inside his model of tablet, but it shouldn’t be too hard to adapt his guide for other processors.
Of course you could go a different route and use Bluetooth for connectivity. We’ve seen several
gaming peripherals
that use this technique with Android devices. | 11 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "1003417",
"author": "James Arnett",
"timestamp": "2013-05-12T13:35:46",
"content": "How difficult is this to accomplish? I am an aspiring Software Engineer, meaning I am in the beginning stages of school, I am just curious?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
... | 1,760,376,550.49957 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/05/11/auto-dimmer-hacked-into-keyboard-backlight/ | Auto Dimmer Hacked Into Keyboard Backlight | Mike Szczys | [
"LED Hacks",
"Peripherals Hacks"
] | [
"AVR",
"backlight",
"keyboard",
"led",
"pwm"
] | As the title says, [José Faria] added the ability to
adjust his keyboard backlight based on ambient light levels
. But that’s just one of the things he did during his hacking extravaganza with this Razer BlackWidow Ultimate.
When he first received the peripheral he didn’t like the blue LEDs used as backlights. So he removed all of them and put in white ones. He doesn’t talk too much about that but we’d image it was a ton of work. The new color was pleasing, but then the ability to adjust their brightness started to irritate him. There are four predefined levels and that’s all you get. Even the GUI which has a slider for adjustment couldn’t go outside of those levels.
His solution was to augment the controller with his own. He patched in an AVR chip to the transistor which controls the low side of the LED circuits. While at it he also noticed that the keyboard case was actually translucent. This let him hide a photosensor inside which automatically adjusts the light levels. But he did it in a way that still allows him to use the original functionality with the flip of a switch. See for yourself after the break. | 31 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "1003263",
"author": "josh",
"timestamp": "2013-05-11T21:23:02",
"content": "I just got rid of mine this week! The room I do a lot of computing in gets kinda of dark at night. With the keyboard even at the lowest level, it brightened up the room so it was hard to get any work done ... | 1,760,376,550.84793 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/05/11/lego-jukebox-choses-from-different-cds/ | LEGO Jukebox Choses From Different CDs | Mike Szczys | [
"Toy Hacks"
] | [
"cd changer",
"lego"
] | Music used to be delivered on round plastic sheets called Compact Discs. [Ralph] still has some of them lying around which he used in his latest project. It’s
a CD changer built out of LEGO pieces
. It reminds us of the mid-century jukeboxes that changed out 45s on a record player.
You can’t tell from this image, but the entire disc changer build is shaped to sit atop a computer case. The system is built in two parts. There is a transport arm which moves left and right along the rack of CDs. It uses that black and white strip as an encoder to track its movement. It can reach in, grab a disc, and take it all the way down to the right where it drops it off in a staging area. The second part of the build now takes over, grabbing the disc from the staging holder and rotating it down into the CD tray of the PC. All of this is demonstrated after the jump.
If you’re like us you prefer digital delivery for your music. We haven’t crossed that watershed with video games yet and that’s why we still love
this Xbox 360 disc changer hack
. | 23 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "1003250",
"author": "RussWill",
"timestamp": "2013-05-11T19:38:58",
"content": "Yeah, I remember the old days of CD’s and 100 disc stacks… Wow, seams like a million years ago.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1003386",
... | 1,760,376,551.126078 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/05/11/laser-cutter-helps-make-dual-sided-pcbs/ | Laser Cutter Helps Make Dual Sided PCBs | Mike Szczys | [
"Laser Hacks"
] | [
"double sided",
"laser cutter",
"pcb",
"spray paint"
] | [Rich Olson] wrote in to share his technique for
making dual-sided printed circuit boards using a laser cutter
. Unfortunately this still depends on etching copper clad boards with chemicals. But his process makes it really easy to produce well-defined and precisely aligned etch resist on both sides of the board all at once.
This can be really tough to do with the toner transfer method. The most common way would be to use a light box to align the two printouts of resist, taping them together before putting the copper clad in between and sending the whole thing though a laminator. [Rich] uses a scrap of acrylic to ensure alignment. He tapes it to the bed of his Epilog laser cutter and cuts the board outline out (that’s the void you see in the image). He removes the scrap and uses it as a stencil for cutting out the copper clad. After prepping the board he coats both sides and sends it through the laser cutter to burn away the paint where he wants to remove copper. Don’t miss his video embedded after the break.
The acrylic outline trick is similar to
the laser cutter fence
we heard about several weeks back. | 18 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "1003239",
"author": "Lindsay Wilson",
"timestamp": "2013-05-11T18:05:19",
"content": "It should be possible to make some sort of jig which holds the circuit board in place and which locates on a couple of dowel pins on the cutter’ bed. You could flip the jig over and relocate it on ... | 1,760,376,551.488263 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/05/10/low-water-indicator-for-coffee-maker-couldnt-be-simpler/ | Low Water Indicator For Coffee Maker Couldn’t Be Simpler | Mike Szczys | [
"cooking hacks"
] | [
"coffee maker",
"float",
"led",
"water level"
] | The coffee maker which [Donald Papp] uses every morning has a water reservoir on the back that can last for several days. This means he forgets to check it and from time to time will return to find that nothing has brewed. He decided to
add a low-water indicator to the machine
. His approach is about as simple as it gets and we admire that accomplishment.
If it were our project we’d probably try to complicate it in one way or another. The use of a microcontroller and ultrasonic rangefinder (like
this tank level indicator
from a February links post) would be overkill. No, [Donald] boiled down the electronics to a homemade switch, a blinking LED, and a battery. The switch is a flexible piece of metal attached to a plastic cap using some monofilament. The cap goes in the reservoir and floats until the water gets too low, it then pulls on that metal, completing a circuit between the battery and the LED. That’s it, problem solved.
Now he just needs to
plumb the coffee maker into a water line
and he’ll really be set. | 31 | 14 | [
{
"comment_id": "1003092",
"author": "Geebles",
"timestamp": "2013-05-10T21:16:54",
"content": "The simplicity is great! Far more reliable than an overpowered system, and as he said: “it is pretty much impossible to use less power than it does right now” :D",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
... | 1,760,376,551.431823 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/05/10/update-lost-pla-metal-casting-the-movie/ | Update: Lost PLA Metal Casting — The Movie | Mike Szczys | [
"3d Printer hacks",
"cnc hacks"
] | [
"aluminum casting",
"casting",
"metal"
] | Turning 3D printed plastic parts into metal objects is not a new concept. But we don’t see a lot of it and enjoyed watching
the documentary version of [3DTOPO’s] lost PLA metal casting process
so much we figured you’d want to see it too.
The thirty-five minute video walks through every part of the process which
we originally learned about in September of last year
. The process was developed as a way to fabricate parts that will be used in high-stress applications. For instance, the part seen above is a mounting bracket for the ball screws that moves the Z axis on a huge CNC build he’s been working on. A plastic part will break under the strain so he needed to make it out of aluminum alloy.
To start, the piece is modeled and printed in plastic to check the fit. Once it’s just right he scales it to 103% and prints it again to account for the shrinking of the metal as it cools. The next step is pictured above, adding paths using rigid foam insulation that allow for the metal pour and for air to escape. This is packed into a plaster and sand mold which dries before being cooked in a furnace to vaporize the foam and PLA. This leaves a perfect mold for the metal pour.
After the break you can see a 5-minute overview version of the project. | 29 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "1003077",
"author": "Buddy",
"timestamp": "2013-05-10T19:21:25",
"content": "I liked the detail about the 103%. That’s a rule of thumb, it isn’t consistent but varies with flow turbulence, thickness, cooling rate and other hard-to-pin-down issues. All those precision plastics you us... | 1,760,376,551.556258 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/05/10/microcontroller-enumerates-as-usb-printer-can-be-programmed-by-printing/ | Microcontroller Enumerates As USB Printer — Can Be Programmed By Printing | Mike Szczys | [
"Microcontrollers"
] | [
"dean camera",
"lufa",
"printer",
"usb"
] | This is a fascinating concept. We’re not sure of its usefulness, but it definitely stands on its own just for the concept. [Dean Camera] just added a new HID class to the LUFA project that lets you
flash AVR chips by printing to them
. This means once you have a file like the one seen open in Notepad above, you can just click on File, then on Print, and the firmware will be uploaded to the chip.
[Dean] is the creator of the LUFA project and still likes to get his hands dirty hacking around with it. This idea came to him while he was exploring the concept of using the MIDI protocol to program a chip. That didn’t pan out because of the way Microsoft has handled MIDI in newer versions of Windows. But he did get the idea of making LUFA identify itself as a simple USB printer. He dug into the specification and figured out how to do that. Once Windows connects to the device it doesn’t really care what data gets sent to it. So [Dean]
wrote a parser for the bootloader
which could accept the incoming hex code and write it to the chip’s program memory. | 31 | 22 | [
{
"comment_id": "1002989",
"author": "Mulvane",
"timestamp": "2013-05-10T13:16:57",
"content": "This is…… awesome. No, really. I can’t imagine how much time this would save me in some projects.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "1002990",
"aut... | 1,760,376,551.62632 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/05/09/6-foot-tall-fire-breathing-piranha-plant-from-super-mario-brothers/ | 6 Foot Tall Fire Breathing Piranha Plant From Super Mario Brothers | Caleb Kraft | [
"Featured",
"Nintendo Hacks"
] | [
"fire",
"piranha",
"pyrotechnics"
] | I always thought it would be cool to build a giant fire breathing piranha plant. I never really came up with an excuse to do it though. Eventually, I just decided I didn’t really need an excuse, and thus it was born.
The plant itself is pretty much just foam and cardboard. You can see the construction process in the video, it was really easy, but a little time consuming. I wanted to go with a bit of a crazy, hyper stylized look, so it is covered in veins and has these insane looking wrinkly lips. The plant itself would be a fun thing just to have around the house. Actually, I may turn it into a lamp.
The fire systems were very much trial and error.
My initial plan was to use a “fire poofer” design with propane like what you would typically see at burningman. I had all the parts ready and was about to build it when the redbull creation challenge started. I ended up using most of the parts to build the
redbull cannon
.
Before going any further, let me point out that this is not the proper way to make a fire piece. None of these methods are particularly safe.
My plan then changed to be able to use this indoors. I wanted a flame, but not a massive column of fire. To do this I used small bottles of butane in a cobbled together dispenser.
There is a large piece of PVC, with a servo and plunger mounted in the bottom. The cap has a small hole in the top of it, with a long brass tube extending out. The butane bottle is guided into the hole with an old plastic cup, then the whole thing is screwed into place. You can see a small rubber band keeps the butane bottle pushed into the hole, so it doesn’t drop out and just fill the chamber with butane.
When I pressed a button, the servo would push the bottle upwards, releasing butane into the brass tube. Extremely simple, extremely effective. I really liked the fireballs this produced.
When I showed it to people outside though, the first response was that they were expecting a little more fire. The size of the plant itself made the little fireballs a bit underwhelming. So, I built basically the same system to fit a can of carburetor cleaner. Again, horrible idea, completely unsafe.
The carb cleaner did not dispense cleanly, no matter how I tried to adjust the mechanism. Highly flammable liquid sprayed EVERYWHERE including down the sides of the bottle. Luckily I tested this outside of the plant. It was a complete failure and I got a chance to use that fire extinguisher.
I ended up putting the piranha plant away for the winter, but once the sun came out, I wanted to get it out again. I considered tearing apart the redbull cannon for the parts and going back to the propane poofer, but ultimately decided I’d save that for another fire project.
The final outdoor fire system I used took a total of about 15 minutes to make. It is a cylinder, with a hose attached to it. You put creamer (fine powder, not liquid, obviously) inside it. A blast of compressed air shoots it upwards, through the flame of your choice, causing a rolling fireball. There’s a knot in the hose to stop the creamer from pouring all the way down. I’m sure there were a million other ways to do it, but this worked.
While the construction was easy, the implementation wasn’t so straightforward. I found that in many cases, less is more. Too much air pressure simply sprayed creamer everywhere with no fire. Too much creamer would ignite, but then fall while still on fire to the ground, or the plant. A quick puff of roughly 30lbs pressure and about a quarter to half cup of creamer gave me some nice fire balls that easily went 10 feet upwards.
Ultimately, I think I’d probably just put in the propane powered fire poofer if I were to use this for an event. The creamer worked ok for the video but was a mess and took a lot of set up in between shots.
Oh yeah, be sure to catch the shot at the end of the video where the gopro fell off the quadcopter. You can see the quadcopter still flying in the air above me when I retrieve the camera. | 32 | 14 | [
{
"comment_id": "1002799",
"author": "addidis",
"timestamp": "2013-05-09T20:09:57",
"content": "TY Caleb. You do a fine job keeping me entertained. I love the balance of mad and scientist in you. Mad enough, it is entertaining, science enough you still don’t need to try too hard to learn something."... | 1,760,376,552.066041 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/05/09/voice-controlled-chess-robot/ | Voice Controlled Chess Robot | Mike Szczys | [
"cnc hacks",
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"arm",
"chess",
"easyvr",
"robot",
"voice recognition"
] | [Ben Yeh] wrote in to tell us about this
voice-controlled chess robot
he built along with three others as a final project for their Georgia Tech ECE 4180 Embedded Systems Design class.
To handle the speech recognition they grabbed an
EasyVR board
. This is a fine solution because it prevents the need for a computer to process voice commands (remember, it’s an embedded systems class). This concept breaks down when you find out that the desktop computer next to the robot is where the chess game is running. Perhaps that can be moved to a microcontroller by the next set of 4180 students.
The robot arm portion of the project is shown off well in the clip after the break. Normally we’d expect to see stepper motors driving the axes of a CNC machine but in this case they’re using servo motors with built-in encoders. The encoders are i2c devices which feed info back to the main controller. There was a parts ordering snafu and the z axis motor doesn’t have an encoder. No problem, they just added a distance sensor and a reflector to measure the up and down movement of the claw. | 11 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "1002827",
"author": "Squirrel",
"timestamp": "2013-05-09T22:37:10",
"content": "“Knight to E 5”",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1002832",
"author": "benyeh",
"timestamp": "2013-05-09T23:00:22",
"content... | 1,760,376,551.729389 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/05/09/everything-you-need-to-know-to-make-a-laser-engraver-from-scrap/ | Everything You Need To Know To Make A Laser Engraver From Scrap | Mike Szczys | [
"Laser Hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"easydriver",
"laser cutter",
"laser engraver",
"printer",
"scanner"
] | Check out the Einstein head which [Sebastian Müller] etched on the cover of his calculator using a laser engraver he made from scratch. We think he did a great job with the build, but we’re even more impressed with the work he put into sharing
the techniques he used to salvage and repurpose all the components
. It’s a perfect resource that should be pretty easy to adapt to different model/manufacturer source hardware.
He used an old scanner and an old printer for the bulk of the parts. These both originally included stepper-motor actuated gantries, which pull together to form the x and y axes in his Frankenstein Laser Engraver. As the parts came together he started in on the control electronics which include a couple of EasyDriver stepper motor boards and an Arduino.
At this point he took the machine for a test-run, attaching a marker to the carriage to use it as a pen plotter. After putting in a solid performance at this [Sebastian] moved on to adding in the laser diode. He covers how to drive the diode, as well as focal point alignment in great detail. It seems like
his webpage post
has the same content as the Instructable linked above but we wanted to leave the link just in case. | 11 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "1002793",
"author": "Hack Man",
"timestamp": "2013-05-09T19:45:45",
"content": "Well I forgot the Laser Safety Glasses (THIS IS A MUST!!):Good call.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1015119",
"author": "Bob Medley",
... | 1,760,376,551.681855 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/05/09/raspberry-pi-housed-inside-a-computer-monitor/ | Raspberry Pi Housed Inside A Computer Monitor | Mike Szczys | [
"home entertainment hacks"
] | [
"dvi",
"hdmi",
"RPi"
] | Behold, something we’ve always wanted. [Matthieu] mounted his
Raspberry Pi board inside of a computer monitor
. His work makes for the cheapest smart-TV modification we can possibly think of.
The image above shows the monitor’s driver board on the left, with the Raspberry Pi mounted on the back plastic cover. [Matthieu] used a short HDMI cable to connect the two. The HDMI connector plugs into the RPi directly. The other end has been cut off and the wires soldered to the DVI pins on the monitor’s PCB. This is not a problem since
HDMI and DVI use electrically identical protocols
. The one thing missing is audio. But if you were pulling off the same hack with a device that had HDMI (like a television) it would just be a matter of also soldering in the audio connections. While he had his iron hot he also connected a 5V source from the monitor board to the RPi. He completes his hack by cutting a slot in the monitor case to allow access to the SD card.
We’ve long wanted an XBMC computer we could velcro to the back of the TV and the
RPi turned out to be just the thing
. Now we’ve got to consider cracking open the TV to replicate this internalization hack! | 22 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "1002688",
"author": "Ren",
"timestamp": "2013-05-09T13:27:13",
"content": "I have a DVI-D (only) 15″ LCD monitor I’ve been wanting to use for something, so now I have a clue!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1002710",
"... | 1,760,376,551.998345 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/05/08/hdmi-color-processing-board-used-as-an-fpga-dev-board-to-mine-bitcoins/ | HDMI Color Processing Board Used As An FPGA Dev Board To Mine Bitcoins | Mike Szczys | [
"FPGA"
] | [
"Altera",
"bitcoin",
"fpga"
] | The blue board seen above is the guts of a product called the eeColor Color3. It was designed to act as a pass-through between your television and HDMI source device. It boasts the ability to adjust the color saturation to suit any viewing conditions. But [Taylor Killian] could care less about what the thing was made for, he tore it open and
used the FPGA inside for his own purposes
.
The obvious problem with this compared to a proper dev board is that the pins are not all broken out in a user-friendly way. But he got his hands on it for free after a mail-in-rebate (you might find one online for less than $10 if you’re lucky) and it’s got an Altera Cyclone IV chip with 30k (EP4CE30F23C6N) gates in it so he’s not complaining. The first project he took on with his new toy was to load up an open source Bitcoin mining program. The image above shows it grinding away at 15 megahashes per second while consuming only 2.5 watts. Not bad. Now he just needs to
make a modular rack
to hold a mining farm. | 73 | 14 | [
{
"comment_id": "1002447",
"author": "Yarr",
"timestamp": "2013-05-08T21:08:59",
"content": "Oh look, it’s Hack-A-Day’s weekly bitcoin-shilling article. How’s Roger Ver doing?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1002448",
"author": "Leitho... | 1,760,376,551.938147 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/05/08/beautiful-modded-nes-for-the-25th-anniversary-of-mega-man-plus-bonus-interview/ | Beautiful Modded NES For The 25th Anniversary Of Mega Man, Plus Bonus Interview! | Caleb Kraft | [
"Featured",
"Nintendo Hacks"
] | [
"megaman",
"mod",
"nes",
"nintendo"
] | Today I had the pleasure of interviewing [
PlatinumFungi
] about this fantastic NES mod he did. This year is the 25th anniversary of the first Mega Man video game. Unhappy with the current celebratory actions of capcom, [PlatinumFungi] set out to create something he felt was worthy. He managed to pull that off pretty well.
The NES you can see in the video is fantastic looking. It has a beautiful shiny automotive finish, supplied by [
Custom NES Guy
] and a pixel perfect backlit Mega Man on top. Additional enhancements are stylized decals on the front of the game bay and matching labels on the sides and back. The cartridge is even illuminated while it is in place.
Check out some pictures after the break! | 16 | 11 | [
{
"comment_id": "1002417",
"author": "Fritoeata",
"timestamp": "2013-05-08T19:34:07",
"content": "Now THAT is a cool idea.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "1002418",
"author": "CainTheConqueror",
"timestamp": "2013-05-08T19:39:39",
"c... | 1,760,376,552.131435 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/05/08/trashed-lcd-monitor-turned-into-a-light-box/ | Trashed LCD Monitor Turned Into A Light Box | Mike Szczys | [
"Tool Hacks",
"Video Hacks"
] | [] | [x2jiggy] was given a non-functioning LCD monitor. He made a small effort to trouble-shoot its inability to display anything on the screen but couldn’t get it working again. When that failed he decided to
repurpose it as light box
instead of just sending it off for recycling.
Monitor manufacturers put in a lot of effort to make sure the back lights distribute brightness as evenly as possible and that will make this a pretty good light box. [x2jiggy] starts off the conversion by removing the case. While it was off he gave it a new coat of paint. The LCD panel, the PCB that drives it, and the light diffuser sheets were all removed, leaving just the backlight and inverter PCB. A bit of probing with the multimeter and he even found a place to connect a toggle switch to actuate the inverter’s power. You can see the silver switch he added to the bezel in the image above. The full build video is embedded after the break.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIC3zlV0yeg | 30 | 18 | [
{
"comment_id": "1002435",
"author": "Andrzej Pawlikowski",
"timestamp": "2013-05-08T20:31:36",
"content": "Great, i’have done this to two of founded/restored lcd panels, but i trow away cold catode (lightbulbs anyway) and add led stripes, one 15 inch panel i power by batteries and use a lot in phot... | 1,760,376,552.200703 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/05/08/redbull-creation-contest-entries-revealed/ | RedBull Creation Contest Entries Revealed! | Caleb Kraft | [
"contests",
"News"
] | [] | The Redbull Creation contest is underway and the entries into the first stage have been submitted. As a judge, it is my duty to watch every single one of these and cast my vote on who should continue to round two. I won’t be sharing my vote with you, but I thought you might enjoy watching the entries yourself! Remember that the rules for this round were simply “build something amazing using this
box full of cool stuff
we sent you.”.
I have to say that the entrants really kicked things up a notch this year. These projects are so amazing that choosing 3 to be the “most awesome” is proving quite difficult. I’d also like to take yet another opportunity to mention that we think that this is such a wonderful method of promotion. RedBull could be making sappy commercials about polar bears drinking their beverage, but instead, they are encouraging people to make AWESOME things(yes, they have commercials too). Other companies should take note, like
Oreo
did
!
You can
view all the entries here
. | 19 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "1002389",
"author": "Twerpling",
"timestamp": "2013-05-08T17:50:29",
"content": "Oh really? Having some trouble selecting some entrants eh? Maybe these 10 internet dollar signs will help you make up your mind: $$$$$$$$$$ Remember, there’s more where that came from.",
"parent_id"... | 1,760,376,552.458144 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/05/08/karma-controller-makes-reddit-a-game/ | Karma Controller Makes Reddit A Game | Mike Szczys | [
"Peripherals Hacks"
] | [
"controller",
"Digispark",
"reddit",
"usb"
] | [Will] likes Reddit so much
he built this dedicated controller
that lets him play the social website like a video game.
He calls it he Karma Controller. In this case, ‘Karma’ refers to ability to accumulate a large number of net up-votes on a Reddit post. The device features seven buttons which are all it takes to up and down vote, navigate up and down on the Reddit listings, toggle images, as well as open and close new tabs for the comments section. We’re wondering if it allows you to follow a link to the post source too?
One of the reasons that we’re featuring this is that it’s only [Will’s] second electronics project. If you’re still reluctant to get your hands dirty we hope this acts as inspiration. He started by building the first version on a hunk of protoboard. The Digispark microcontroller seen at the top reads from his button network and communicates with the computer via USB. Once the design was proven he had some help etching this circuit board which is version 2. He shows it off in the clip after the jump.
If you just want some buttons for voting you should
take a look at this project
which includes a 3D printed enclosure and button covers. | 23 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "1002327",
"author": "Will",
"timestamp": "2013-05-08T13:40:42",
"content": "If you have nothing better to do with your time than waste it on a site like reddit then I guess it’s a cool hack.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "100... | 1,760,376,552.264984 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/05/07/weather-o-matic-displays-digital-weather-on-an-analog-face/ | Weather-O-Matic Displays Digital Weather On An Analog Face | Mike Szczys | [
"Microcontrollers"
] | [
"analog",
"display",
"msp430",
"servo",
"weather"
] | This clean-looking readout
uses analog dials to display the weather
. [Nuno Martins] calls it the Weather-O-Matic and after the jump he explains what went into the project.
The hardware is about as simple as it gets. Each hand has a servo motor attached to it. An MSP430 gets the weather via a serial connection to a computer (data is scraped by a Python script) and sets the dials accordingly. The microcontroller also takes user input in the form of a single button on the side of the frame. The words on the left side of the dial are Portuguese for Today, Tomorrow, and After (meaning the day after tomorrow). Pressing the button multiple times will scroll through these three words, followed by the forecast temperature high and low for that day being displayed.
The nice thing about this is that the servo motors will stay in place if you cut the power to them. We bet if he wanted to make this a permanent fixture in his house he could get it to run well on batteries by using the sleep function of the microcontroller and adding an RF transceiver to communicate with the server. | 21 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "1002143",
"author": "XOIIO",
"timestamp": "2013-05-07T22:20:47",
"content": "Umm, I was browsing old hackaday hacks and I’m pretty sure this exact same thing has been done before,e xcept that one looked way better.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
... | 1,760,376,552.326555 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/05/07/3d-printer-used-to-make-custom-blade-server-type-mounting-system/ | 3D Printer Used To Make Custom Blade Server Type Mounting System | Mike Szczys | [
"3d Printer hacks"
] | [
"mount",
"rack mount",
"rail"
] | We usually have no problem hacking together electronics into something useful. But finding an enclosure that makes sense for the build can be a real drag. In this case [Vincent Sanders] already had a working ARM build farm that leveraged the power of multiple ARM boards. But it was lying in a heap in the corner of the room and if it ever needed service or expansion it was going to be about as fun as having a cavity drilled. But no longer. He took inspiration from how a blade server rack works and
3D printed his own modular rail system
for the hardware.
Each group of boards is now held securely in its own slot. The collection seen above mounts in a server rack which has its own power supply. This image is part way through the retrofit which explains why there’s a bunch of random pieces lying around yet. Instead of printing continuous rail [Vincent] uses a threaded rod to span the larger frame, securing small chunks of rail where needed by tightening nuts on either side of them. The white and red trays are prints he ordered from Shapeways designed to secure the
eurocard form factor
parts.
[Thanks Thomas] | 15 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "1002093",
"author": "towel401",
"timestamp": "2013-05-07T19:22:46",
"content": "Next up: 3D printer prints first faeces",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1002096",
"author": "Fritoeata",
"timestamp": "2013-05-07T... | 1,760,376,552.512291 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/05/07/fabricating-a-mechanical-wristwatch-at-home/ | Fabricating A Mechanical Wristwatch At Home | Mike Szczys | [
"clock hacks"
] | [
"mechanical",
"timepiece",
"wristwatch"
] | Our mouth is still agape after digging through [Tom’s] watchmaking blog. This gentleman spent several years
designing and machining his own mechanical wristwatch
. A dozen years ago or so [Tom] answered an ad for an apprentice watchmaker. He worked on watches and came across a book that detailed how timepieces are made. He was told that no-one does it like that anymore, which only fed his curiosity. What he came up with is, to his knowledge, the first timepiece every made in Australia.
It’s no secret that we have a thing for clocks. But we feature
digital timepieces
almost exclusively. We’ve love mechanical watches too but don’t see them as hobby projects very frequently. After looking at
what goes into the mechanism
it’s not hard to see why.
[Tom] was faced with a variety of challenges along the way. One of the biggest was having to come up with tools that would let him perform the precise milling work necessary to achieve success. You’ll want to read through his movement design and manufacture posts. He laid out the plan in CAD, but ended up using some hacked together milling tools to get the job done.
[Thanks Amit] | 38 | 20 | [
{
"comment_id": "1001951",
"author": "cmholm",
"timestamp": "2013-05-07T13:13:52",
"content": "Not a hack…. craftsmanship.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1001958",
"author": "J.Eriksson",
"timestamp": "2013-05-07T13:21:56",
... | 1,760,376,552.402541 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/05/06/dvd-laser-diode-used-to-build-a-laser-engraver/ | DVD Laser Diode Used To Build A Laser Engraver | Mike Szczys | [
"clock hacks",
"Laser Hacks"
] | [
"cutter",
"diode",
"dvd",
"engraver",
"laser"
] | [Johannes] has been reading Hackaday for years but this is the first project he’s tipped us off about. It’s
a laser engraver built from a DVD burner diode
(
translated
). It turned out so well we wonder what other projects he’s forgotten to
tip us off
about?
This is the second CNC machine he’s seen through from start to finish. It improves upon the knowledge he acquired when building his CNC mill. The frame is built from pine but also uses bits of plywood and MDF. It can move on the X and Y axes, using drawer sliders as bearings. The pair of blue stepper motors drive the threaded rods which move the platform and the laser mount. Just above the laser he included a small DC fan to keep it from burning up. The control circuitry is made up of an Arduino Nano and a stepper motor driver board. Catch a glimpse of the engraver cutting out some stencil material after the break.
There must be something about Spring that brings out the urge to work with laser diodes. We just saw
a similar 1W cutter
last week. | 49 | 20 | [
{
"comment_id": "1001670",
"author": "Matthew",
"timestamp": "2013-05-06T21:06:53",
"content": "What type of laser-safe glasses would you need to create a project of this type?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1001671",
"author": "Hack ... | 1,760,376,552.615266 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/05/06/tracking-ships-using-software-defined-radio-sdr/ | Tracking Ships Using Software-defined Radio (SDR) | Mike Szczys | [
"Radio Hacks"
] | [
"ais",
"boat",
"RTL-SDR",
"sdr",
"sdrsharp",
"ship",
"tracking",
"vessel"
] | When we first started hearing about software-defined radio hacks (which often use USB dongles that ring it at under $20) we didn’t fully grasp the scope of that flexibility. But now we’ve seen several real-life examples that drive the concept home. For instance, did you know that
SDR can be used to track ships
? Ships large and small are required by may countries to use an Automatic Identification System (
AIS
) transponder. The protocol was originally developed to prevent collisions on large ships, but when the cost of the hardware became affordable the system was also brought to smaller vessels.
[Carl] wrote in to share his project (which is linked above). Just like
the police scanner project from April
this makes use of RTL-SDR in the form of a TV tuner dongle. He uses the SDRSharp software along with a Yagi-UDA. The captured data is then decoded and plotted on a map using
ShipPlotter
. | 19 | 12 | [
{
"comment_id": "1001597",
"author": "Doktor Jeep",
"timestamp": "2013-05-06T19:04:23",
"content": "Swiss Army Knife Scanner. :-) Outstanding.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "1001601",
"author": "Modul8",
"timestamp": "2013-05-06T19:14:5... | 1,760,376,552.671579 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/05/06/the-first-3d-printed-gun-has-been-fired-and-i-dont-care/ | The First 3d Printed Gun Has Been Fired, And I Don’t Care. | Caleb Kraft | [
"3d Printer hacks",
"Rants",
"Weapons Hacks"
] | [
"3d printed gun",
"firearms",
"sensationalism"
] | Several people have
sent us this story
. I’ve seen it everywhere. A lot of people are upset, on several sides. A gun has been 3d printed that can actually fire a round.
First, we have people scared that this will bring undetectable guns to people who wouldn’t have had access before. Then we have the gun fans that are reacting to the others with shouts of freedom and liberty and stuff. The 3d printing community has had mixed reactions, but many are concerned that this will harm 3d printing in general.
I simply don’t care.
It isn’t that I’m apathetic to people who are victims of gun violence. It isn’t that I’m apathetic about “gun rights”. I just think that this specific event makes no difference at all. It is intriguing in the aspect that it is yet another “First!” for the 3d printer community, but beyond that I don’t care, keep the “firsts” coming.
Here are the different points that I have heard brought up.
1. Accessibility: People are concerned that guns will now end up in the hands of people who couldn’t have gotten them before.
I really don’t think this is a legitimate concern. You’ll note the machine that printed that gun. It wasn’t your average reprap. It cost as much as a small house. If you can afford that printer? You could afford a gun. Lets just pretend your average reprap could print that gun though. Again, you’re going to have to either buy or build one. At this point, you would have been capable of just buying a gun or… building one.
I guess you could go use a friend’s printer to print your gun, but would that really be any more common than taking another person’s gun?
2. Printing restrictions and Legislation: 3d printer fans are scared that laws will be made that will stop them from printing things.
Do you own a lathe? A mill? You know you can make BETTER guns with those? That’s how the gun companies make them! It’s like you have a gun factory in your home! Actually, now that I think of it, they’re using .22 rimfire which can be fired in a pipe with a cap and a nail! How are hardware stores not illegal?
Listen, if they tell me I can’t print gun shaped things, I’ll probably print one just for spite. They aren’t going to enforce such a silly law, it would be impossible. They can’t even build anything into the system like scanners that can’t scan money. Guns are too diverse and can be made from basic geometry.
3. Anti-Gun legislation: This may be used to push laws that limit firearms in some way.
Anti-gun legislation has so much gun violence to use as a foundation that a slight change in manufacturing really is a drop in the bucket. This won’t change their ability to restrict things. At least, I don’t think it will.
4. A legitimate concern: Detectability.
The only real issue I see here is that a 3d printed gun wouldn’t be detectable by metal detectors. Bullets are though aren’t they?
These are my
opinions
on the 3d printed gun. I’m not delving into gun control in general. Since these are opinions, they will most likely be ill-informed and incomplete. Feel free to participate in a
civil
discussion on the topic.
If you’re curious about whether I personally have a gun, I do not. I think I’m too clumsy to own a firearm. I am fairly sure I’d accidentally shoot someone when I did something stupid. Don’t get me wrong, I do dangerous things. Stupid, dangerous things. | 475 | 50 | [
{
"comment_id": "1001408",
"author": "scottbomb",
"timestamp": "2013-05-06T15:00:24",
"content": "I think it’s awesome.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1001762",
"author": "reggie",
"timestamp": "2013-05-07T02:12:57",
"... | 1,760,376,553.696763 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/05/06/update-grow-controller-rebuilt-to-last/ | Update: Grow Controller Rebuilt To Last | Mike Szczys | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"green hacks"
] | [
"garden",
"gardening",
"grow box",
"grow controller",
"solid state relay",
"ssr"
] | [The Cheap Vegetable Gardener] assembled his first grow controller about three and a half years ago. He’s been very happy with it and knows that he’ll be using it for years, maybe even decades to come. He just
finished overhauling the grow controller design
to help make sure he doesn’t burn down his garage one day. You have to admit, without knowing anything about the project this rendition does look safer than
his original offering
.
Pictured above is the weather-proof enclosure he used to house four mains-rated solid state relays. This box is isolated from the control hardware, providing heavy-duty utility plugs to interface with the heater, lights, fan, and water pump. He mounted the Arduino board which controls the relays to the outside of the box, using the Ethernet wire to switch the SSRs. It uses a manufactured shield he designed which will help ease the pain of fixing the system if parts ever go bad.
Later on in the build he shows the grow light and heaters used in his operation. The heaters simply screw into light sockets; something we’ve never come across before. | 16 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "1001404",
"author": "dALE",
"timestamp": "2013-05-06T14:31:02",
"content": "inb4 “not vegetables”yes, actual vegetables.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "1001425",
"author": "David",
"timestamp": "2013-05-06T15:13:48",
... | 1,760,376,552.926883 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/05/05/hackaday-links-sunday-may-5th-2013/ | Hackaday Links: Sunday, May 5th, 2013 | Mike Szczys | [
"Hackaday links"
] | [
"exoskeleton",
"macbook",
"prince of persia",
"trackpad",
"vpn"
] | Let’s start off this weekend’s links post with some advertising. We like targeted ads (mostly because we don’t have pooping problems and are
tired of hearing about Activia
). So we applaud IBM for finding our number with this commercial which produces a
stop-motion animation using single atoms as pixels
. Wow! [via
Reddit
and
Internet Evolution
]
Speaking of commercials, here’s some snake-oil which lets you
touch a boob without being in the same room with the person
[Thanks Michael].
Moving right along we’ve got a trio of trackpad hacks. There’s one that lets you
use the keyboard and trackpad of a MacBook
as a standalone USB input device [via
Reddit
]. Or you could
take a Toshiba laptop to the tablesaw
to turn it into a USB trackpad. But maybe your Acer C7 Trackpad doesn’t work very well and
you just need better grounding
.
[Nick McGill] is a member of the team developing
an upper body exoskeleton as an assistive technology
. This made the rounds on tech websites but the lack of in-depth build info on
the project site
kept it from getting its own feature here.
If you have a router capable of running DD-WRT here’s a method of
setting up a PPTP VPN for free
.
And finally, you may remember hearing about the
original Prince of Persia source code being discovered and released
about a year ago. Well [Adam Green] figured out how to
compile it into the original Apple II floppy disks
. [Thanks Arthur] | 15 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "1001265",
"author": "ejonesss",
"timestamp": "2013-05-05T21:22:52",
"content": "how well does the vpn protect your privacy?can you be able to download from torrent without getting a c&d notice or even lose your internet connection?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"repli... | 1,760,376,552.854706 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/05/05/msp430-touchscreen-piano/ | MSP430 Touchscreen Piano | Mike Szczys | [
"Musical Hacks"
] | [
"digitizer",
"launchpad",
"msp430",
"piano",
"touch screen"
] | [Rohit Gupta] wrote in to share
this touchscreen piano project
he built around the TI Launchpad. It provided a way for him to explore using a resistive digitizer found on a lot of mobile devices. These are simply stuck to the top of LCD screens and replacements are inexpensive, but salvaging one from old hardware is an option as well.
The first thing he did was to test the four outputs of the digitizer with his multimeter. Logging the changing resistance will help make sure you’re reading the correct wires and are able to zero in the settings before you start coding. [Rohit] uses the ADC on the MSP430 chip to read from the screen. He went with the algorithm from one of TI’s app notes to convert the readings in to X and Y coordinates.
He separated the screen into seven columns, each generating a different tone. Touching higher or lower on that column will alter the pitch of the note produced. You can hear an example of this in the demo after the jump. | 9 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "1001356",
"author": "J",
"timestamp": "2013-05-06T09:36:39",
"content": "Nothing too exiting to be honest.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1001406",
"author": "indiantinker",
"timestamp": "2013-05-06T14:56:27",... | 1,760,376,552.977986 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/05/05/asteriods-the-belt-buckle/ | Asteriods: The Belt Buckle | Mike Szczys | [
"Wearable Hacks"
] | [
"Asteroids",
"Belt Buckle",
"lcd",
"video game"
] | This is going to change the way you play with yourself. What if every time you got a little bored you reached for your belt rather than your smart phone? [Cunning_Fellow] may be doing that more often now that he finished this slick-looking video game
belt buckle which plays the classic Asteroids game
.
It isn’t just an intriguing concept. The build was pulled off at a very high level of quality… this thing should have no problem standing the test of time. First off he had to figure out if it was even possible to run the game at a respectable frame-rate. Cheap 320×240 LCD screens don’t have a frame marker (think of it as a vertical sync signal with can be used as an interrupt for the microcontroller). But he thought it was possible that the frame marker pin just wasn’t connected like on more expensive screens and he was right with at least one model he acquired.
With that out of the way he laid out and etched a beautiful double-sided board to house all of the electronics. But he still needed a case. To get a one-of-a-kind look he masked and etched a sheet of brass. Once cut out and folded ti gives a wonderful look and protects the electronics inside quite well. | 19 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "1001109",
"author": "hipcat",
"timestamp": "2013-05-05T13:12:01",
"content": "Switch that to Gems and you could lay down and have your girlfriend play all day long :)",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1001198",
"author":... | 1,760,376,553.041704 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/05/04/the-meaning-of-being-a-hard-core-hacker-from-a-1985-recollection/ | The Meaning Of Being A Hard-core Hacker From A 1985 Recollection | Mike Szczys | [
"Software Development"
] | [
"6502",
"assembly",
"hex",
"kim-1",
"programming"
] | Gather ’round children, we’re about to hear a story about the good old days. Except that this is really more of a horror story of what it used to be like as a code monkey. [John Graham-Cumming] shares his experience
programming a 6502-based KIM-1 machine back in 1985
. Simple, right? The caveat being that there was no assembler or hardware for loading the finished code!
The machine in question was a label application tool for a production line. You know, product goes in bottle, label gets slapped on the side. But the slapping needed to be perfect because consumers shy away from packaging that looks shoddy. Computer control would end up being far superior than the mechanical means the factory had been using because it simplifies the ability to adjust calibration and other parameters. [John] started from square one by interfacing the
KIM-1
with the existing hardware. It has a hex keyboard which is how the program was entered into the device. But first he wrote the software on sheets of notebook paper like the one seen above. It includes his hand assembled code, which was then typed in on the keypad. Kind of makes you appreciate all the tools you take for granted (like Eclipse), huh?
[via
Reddit
] | 91 | 29 | [
{
"comment_id": "1000836",
"author": "JimBob",
"timestamp": "2013-05-04T21:31:50",
"content": "Been there. Done that.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1000837",
"author": "JimBob",
"timestamp": "2013-05-04T21:33:44",
"c... | 1,760,376,553.207447 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/05/04/laptop-backlight-converted-from-ccfl-to-led/ | Laptop Backlight Converted From CCFL To LED | Mike Szczys | [
"Repair Hacks"
] | [
"backlight",
"ccfl",
"inverter",
"laptop",
"led",
"monitor",
"screen"
] | [Lee Davison] acquired an Acer laptop that didn’t have a display anymore. He had enough parts on hand to add in an LCD panel and give it a CCFL backlight. But when he started looking for an inverter to drive the backlight he couldn’t find one. What he did have on hand were some smashed screens that had LED backlights and so the
CCFL to LED backlight conversion project
was born.
He tore into the LED display and found the driver board. Unfortunately he didn’t locate the datasheet for the exact LED driver, but he found one that was similar and was able to trace out the support circuitry on the PCB. This let him cut away the unneeded parts of the board without damaging the driver. He didn’t want to pull out the CCFL tubes until he was sure the LED conversion would work so he tried it out on another smashed panel (where does he come up with all these parts) and it worked great. Once he got everything in place he was very happy with the results. The only drawback to the system is that he doesn’t have the ability to dim the backlight. | 17 | 16 | [
{
"comment_id": "1000807",
"author": "roboman2444",
"timestamp": "2013-05-04T19:07:23",
"content": "Dumpster’s usually yield those sorts of parts…Two of my servers have been made entirely from dumpster parts.Heck, i even found a dual opteron workstation in a dumpster once.",
"parent_id": null,
... | 1,760,376,553.266559 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/05/04/quadruped-walks-of-four-legs-rolls-on-four-treads/ | Quadruped Walks Of Four Legs, Rolls On Four Treads | Mike Szczys | [
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"milling",
"propeller",
"quadruped",
"solidworks",
"tread",
"xbee"
] | This robot doesn’t know if it’s a walker or a tank. It’s the brain-child of [Marc Hamende] who works as a mechanical engineer by day and mad roboticist at night. The best place to find full details is by digging into
the long thread he’s been posting to
for about six weeks. It will give you a pretty good snapshot of his approach, starting with SolidWorks renderings of the project, and adding in assembled components as he brings the project together.
The mechanism for each foot is fascinating. He milled the white pieces which stack together to encapsulate the motor that runs the treads. These assemblies pivot to bring the metal rod serving as a walking foot in contact with the ground. But they also make it possible to adjust the treads to deal with rough terrain. A Propeller chip drives the device, with an Xbee module to communicate with the controller.
Don’t miss the video after the break. You’ll hear some skidding as it makes turns, but [Marc] plans to add code to adjust motor speed in order to compensate for the inside/outside differential issues. He’s also posted
an image album over at Flickr
. | 40 | 28 | [
{
"comment_id": "1000728",
"author": "Merlin",
"timestamp": "2013-05-04T13:19:32",
"content": "Holy shit thats badass.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "1000734",
"author": "six677",
"timestamp": "2013-05-04T13:44:46",
"content": "Plea... | 1,760,376,553.892145 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/05/03/hot-plate-stirrer-dissolves-support-material-in-3d-printed-objects/ | Hot Plate Stirrer Dissolves Support Material In 3D Printed Objects | Mike Szczys | [
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"abs",
"acetone",
"heated",
"PLA",
"sodium hydroxide",
"stir plate"
] | When you want to print a 3D object you run into problems if there is a part that has nothing below it. The hot, soft filament coming out of the extruder will droop with gravity if not given something to rest on while it hardens. The solution is to use a second material as a support. But then you’ve got to find a way to remove the support structure when the printing is done. That’s where this beauty comes in. It’s
a heated stir plate for dissolving PLA
.
The PLA is printed using a second extruder head. Once the part is cooled [Petrus] puts it into a heated bath of sodium hydroxide (lye). The solvent will remove the PLA but not harm the ABS. Speaking of ABS, [Petrus] also mentions that this can double as a temperature controlled hot plate for
polishing ABS prints using acetone vapor
.
There’s all kinds of good stuff inside of this beast so do check out
the full plans
to learn more. Our favorite part is the stir bar which is a piece of threaded rod and a couple of nuts. To make it safe to submerge in the chemicals he 3D printed a pill-shaped enclosure for it.
[Thanks Matt] | 13 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "1000537",
"author": "Elias",
"timestamp": "2013-05-03T21:24:16",
"content": "Absolutely brilliant!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "1000546",
"author": "oodain",
"timestamp": "2013-05-03T21:47:48",
"content": "very ni... | 1,760,376,554.00133 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/05/03/atari-combo-controller-has-what-you-need-for-any-cartridge/ | Atari Combo Controller Has What You Need For Any Cartridge | Mike Szczys | [
"Peripherals Hacks"
] | [
"atari",
"console",
"controller",
"Joystick",
"keypad"
] | Retro gaming enthusiasts take note: this joystick is
what you need to play any Atari game
on the original console. It plugs right into the original console hardware and removes the need to choose the joystick, paddle, or keypad controller separately. You just leave this puppy hooked up and move your hands to the set of controls used on each game.
[x2Jiggy] built the thing from scratch. The enclosure is a wooden box from the craft store. He holds it closed with a couple of magnetic latches like you might find on old fashioned kitchen cabinets. The buttons of the keypad are mounted on a chunk of protoboard but he did take the time to give it a coat of matching paint so that it doesn’t look out of place. Inside you’ll find some more protoboard and point-to-point soldering to complete the rest of the connections.
You can see a fast motion video of the build process after the break. This reminds us of the universal controller built for
Project Unity
.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDcLJRc00wk | 9 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "1000488",
"author": "Adam Karonika (@DanAdamKOF)",
"timestamp": "2013-05-03T19:04:31",
"content": "Heh, the joystick lever is from a HORI stick such as the EX2… I’m a bit of a joystick nerd.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "10004... | 1,760,376,553.938743 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/05/03/microsoft-illumiroom-breaks-your-video-game-out-of-its-television-prison/ | Microsoft IllumiRoom Breaks Your Video Game Out Of Its Television Prison | Mike Szczys | [
"Kinect hacks",
"Xbox Hacks"
] | [
"augmented reality",
"illumiroom",
"Kinect",
"microsoft",
"projector",
"xbox"
] | We see a lot of video game tech coming out of the three console giants (Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo). With one look we can usually predict what is going to be a flop. Case and point is the Wii U whose sales have been less than extraordinary and Sony Move which is motion control directed as hardcore games who we believe are perfectly happy with the current evolution of their dual shock controllers. But this time around we think Microsoft has it nailed. They’re
showing off technology they call IllumiRoom
which uses a projector to bring your entire gaming room into the experience.
The image above is
not
doctored. This is a picture of IllumiRoom in action. A projector on the coffee table automatically calibrates to the room (using Kinect 3D data for mapping) in order to show realistic graphic rendering on the non-flat projection surfaces. In our mind, this comes straight out of Kinect hacking projects like
the Hadouken projector
. With this in place, the game designers are given free rein to come up with all kinds of different ways to use the feature. Stick with us after the break to see what they’ve developed.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJ4hWa6y710
[Thanks Michael via
Tom’s Hardware
] | 73 | 27 | [
{
"comment_id": "1000383",
"author": "Fritoeata",
"timestamp": "2013-05-03T14:09:43",
"content": "That sounds awesome! However, I wonder if someone could use it to extend your overall screen size and therefore cheat…Oh ya! SuperTuxCart!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
... | 1,760,376,554.116694 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/05/03/pebble-watch-hack-makes-it-a-home-automation-controller/ | Pebble Watch Hack Makes It A Home Automation Controller | Mike Szczys | [
"home hacks"
] | [
"bluetooth",
"home automation",
"pebble",
"pebble watch"
] | [Enrico] loves his Pebble watch, and recently had a chance to explore the code package used to customize its function. It turned out to be really easy to work with so he set out to
make the Pebble watch into a home automation controller
(dead link;
Internet Archive
).
So far the two bits of hardware used in his experiments are shown in the image above. The watch itself serves as the controller, interacting with the Ethernet relay board seen in the background. The watch communicates via Bluetooth but you don’t have to know much about that thanks to the example files available from
the repository
. With communications taken care of he needed a menu system to access commands on the watch. Instead of coding his own he hacked a playlist into the built-in music menu. This allows him to switch the relays on and off again as if he were playing or pausing audio tracks. See it in action after the break. | 9 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "1000380",
"author": "Jon",
"timestamp": "2013-05-03T13:54:23",
"content": "Awesome!!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "1000403",
"author": "Lloyd Atkinson",
"timestamp": "2013-05-03T15:02:41",
"content": "I really want... | 1,760,376,554.372369 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/05/02/using-a-screwdriver-to-start-your-car/ | Using A Screwdriver To Start Your Car | Mike Szczys | [
"Security Hacks"
] | [
"ignition",
"key",
"screwdriver"
] | [Hahabird] uses this screwdriver to start his car. Despite what it may look like, only this particular screwdriver will start the ignition because it still uses the key lock. What he’s done is
alter the screwdriver to act as an extension for the key
. It’s purely aesthetic, but you have to admit it looks pretty gnarly hanging off of the steering column.
The hack merely involved cutting off the unneeded parts of the key and screwdriver. With the shaft of the tool cut down to size he clamped it in a vice and cut a slot into it using a hack saw. From there he headed over to the grinding wheel and smoothed out the sharp edges.
The key itself had the handle portion cut off and was thinned on the grinding wheel to fit snugly in the screwdriver slot. To permanently mate the two pieces he used a torch and some silver solder.
[via
Reddit
] | 71 | 30 | [
{
"comment_id": "1000090",
"author": "scottbomb",
"timestamp": "2013-05-02T21:08:00",
"content": "Awesome.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "1000091",
"author": "Michael C. Metalios",
"timestamp": "2013-05-02T21:09:24",
"content": "Is ... | 1,760,376,554.328942 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/05/02/high-voltage-thors-hammer-mjolnir-at-80000-volts/ | High Voltage Thor’s Hammer: Mjolnir At 80,000 Volts | Caleb Kraft | [
"classic hacks",
"Featured"
] | [
"cosplay",
"mjolnir",
"tesla coil",
"thor"
] | [Thor’s] hammer, Mjolnir, is pretty freaking awesome. It can only be picked up by [Thor], he can use it to fly, and probably the coolest part, it can summon lightning. After watching the first movie,
and goofing around with the guys at ArcAttack
, I had this idea that I could stuff a tiny tesla coil into a mjolnir and end up with a really cool prop.
At this point, I had to make a decision. I was either going to go portable and live with small arcs, or make this a stationary piece and hide a giant tesla coil in a base. It would have bigger arcs, but I couldn’t carry it around. While I may re-visit the stationary version at some point, I ultimately decided I wanted to be able to wander around and play with this thing.
I had seen
some videos of [Staci Elaan
] showing off her battery-powered coils and I really liked her results. I figured, with her experience, she could probably do a better job than I could on getting the most bang out of a small package. She was happy to be involved and delivered a small 12v powered coil for me to work with. I should also point out that the coils [Staci] makes are usually donated to educational groups. This woman is awesome.
She had built this big flat head on it, with the initial plan being that it would be the front “face” of the hammer. It didn’t really work out that way though. I ended up having to increase the size of the head a bit and change the orientation of the coil. I experimented with different types of foam and you can see in the “making of” video what I finally ended up using. The blue insulation board you see in the pictures melted way too easily.
After the hammer was all constructed, and ready to film, we shipped it to California. As you might know, Hackaday is connected to a studio there, now called inside.com. When it arrived, it had suffered a tiny bit of damage and the arcs were a bit smaller. They had gone from roughly 4 inches down to maybe 3. We
filmed a few videos and had a ton of fun
. Unfortunately, I learned a month later that all the footage for [Thor’s] hammer was lost.
I had them ship the hammer back to me in Missouri, and this time it was very damaged when it arrived. I modified the design a little bit, re-assembled it, and tested it out. The arcs were still roughly 3″ when going to another piece of metal and I was finally going to be able to share this project. I cobbled together a quick costume out of a t-shirt, some foam board, and hot glue and now you see the result!
For those who would like to learn more about the coil itself, you can find the circuit and an entire lesson on solid state coils
here
(pdf 8MB).
Lets jump into some pictures!
[Staci] supplied pictures of the various parts of the coil during construction. Keep in mind, she didn’t have a lot of time and I asked her to get this done pretty quickly.
The Boost converter:
The controller card:
The HV coil:
RF inverter:
This was all initially going to fit in the handle, but I gave her the wrong dimensions. It ended up being millimeters too wide. It now resides in the head of the hammer with the coil.
The initial design that was way too melty and didn’t work very well:
The final design, big but functional:
snapped off in shipping
more even discharge with these 4 points
old vs new
final product
the bare foam head
before paint and leather
The whole time, I was scared someone else would beat me to the punch. It is such a simple idea. I think a stationary one that could do arcs of several feet would be fun to see as well, but I’ll have to save that for another time. | 43 | 26 | [
{
"comment_id": "1000079",
"author": "Lloyd Atkinson",
"timestamp": "2013-05-02T20:37:37",
"content": "All I can think of is making it out of a really thick metal and then somehow make the tesla coil make sparks so when you hit the ground with the hammer it sends sparks everywhere. >:D",
"parent... | 1,760,376,554.211447 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/05/02/am-tube-radio-restored-and-given-mp3-playback-too/ | AM Tube Radio Restored And Given MP3 Playback Too | Mike Szczys | [
"digital audio hacks"
] | [
"am",
"amp",
"arduino",
"mp3",
"radio",
"tube"
] | This AM radio looks a bit like it did coming out of the factory. But there are a lot of changes under the hood and that faceplate is a completely new addition. The project really is a restoration with some augmentation and [Michael Ross]
did a great job of documenting the project
.
The Kenyon radio was built in 1946 and uses vacuum tubes for the amplifier. Considering its age this was in relatively good shape and the first thing that [Michael] set out to do was to get the electronics working again. It involved replacing the messy collection of capacitors inside. He then cleaned up the tubes, checking for any problems, and put the electronics back together to find they work great!
He cleaned up the chassis and gave it a new coat of finish. The original dial plate was missing so he built a wood frame to match a dial scale he ordered. The bell-shaped brass cover hides the light that illuminates the dial.
He could have stopped there but how much do people really listen to AM radio these days? To make sure he would actually use the thing he added an Arduino with an MP3 shield. It patches into the antenna port via a relay, injecting modern tunes into the old amplifier circuit. Catch a glimpse of the final project in the video after the break. | 46 | 22 | [
{
"comment_id": "999954",
"author": "Nick",
"timestamp": "2013-05-02T13:36:22",
"content": "Now this is AWESOME!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "999955",
"author": "dave",
"timestamp": "2013-05-02T13:41:01",
"content": "finally, one ... | 1,760,376,554.459632 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/05/01/diy-laser-cutter-built-to-make-stencils/ | DIY Laser Cutter Built To Make Stencils | Mike Szczys | [
"Laser Hacks"
] | [
"diode",
"laser cutter",
"stencil",
"t-shirt"
] | It was time for some new T-shirts so [Andreas Hölldorfer] built a laser cutter. Wait, what? That’s the excuse he’s going with, and in the end
this scratch built laser cutter
did come in handy by cutting stencils to use when decorating his garments.
The first thing we thought when looking at the cutter is where’s the tube? [Andreas] didn’t use a CO2 laser, so this ends up being rather low-powered. The cutting head is a 1W blue laser diode which manages to slice the three-ring binder separator pages he’s using for the stencils. The two-axis machine is mounted inside a wooden box to protect his eyes while it’s cutting. He plans to add a drawer later on so that the cutting bed will slide in and out to swap out material for the next project. He already does a lot of 3D printing work and had an old RepRap driver board on hand to use for this projects. He designed and printed the red mounting brackets which make all of the junk-bin components work together. Not bad!
If you’d like to try this out on a smaller scale
try using optical drive parts
for the axes. | 34 | 11 | [
{
"comment_id": "999776",
"author": "polossatik",
"timestamp": "2013-05-01T21:23:06",
"content": "” A 1 Watts blue laser diode will be enough to cut through a thin plastic sheet, that’s all I need. Everything else is routine.”roflthis dude rules",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies"... | 1,760,376,554.526196 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/05/01/life-meter-gives-a-real-life-measure-of-video-game-health/ | Life Meter Gives A Real Life Measure Of Video Game Health | Mike Szczys | [
"classic hacks"
] | [
"bladder",
"health meter",
"highlighter",
"led",
"pump",
"rgb",
"water"
] | This hack makes the virtual real by displaying your video game character’s
health meter as a column of illuminated water
.
The build video, which you’ll find embedded after the break, is really quite remarkable. The column is a clear piece of pipe anchored at one end by hand-tightened plumbing drain fittings. This allows [Bfayer] to attach a flexible bladder which he constructed for the project. An actuator pushes a hinged board up against the bladder to raise and lower the water level in the tube.
Alone that’s pretty impressive, but [Bfayer] went the extra mile and then some. He uses a four-way fitting at the bottom of the meter. One fork connects to the bladder, another allows air to be injected using an aquarium pump. The bottom of the fitting has a clear window so that an RGB LED array can shine into the water which was doped with highlighter ink to pick up the colored glow. To pull the whole thing together he coded the custom control interface seen above.
[via
Reddit
] | 43 | 24 | [
{
"comment_id": "999745",
"author": "Sobachatina",
"timestamp": "2013-05-01T19:08:40",
"content": "Wow! That is beautiful! Very nice work.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "999748",
"author": "John",
"timestamp": "2013-05-01T19:2... | 1,760,376,554.763617 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/05/01/bluetooth-stepper-motor-driver/ | Bluetooth Stepper Motor Driver | Mike Szczys | [
"Microcontrollers"
] | [
"attiny85",
"bluetooth",
"hc-05",
"l293",
"stepper motor"
] | [Dan] salvaged some parts from an old printer a while back and finally found some time to play with them. One of the things he was most interested in is the geared stepper motor seen above. He was able to get it running with an Arduino in no time so he decided to take the project a little bit further. What he ended up with is
a stepper motor driver which can be controlled over Bluetooth
.
The motor can’t be driven directly, but with a simple motor driver like the L293 chip [Dan] used it’s not hard to interface them with your control hardware of choice. From there he added an ATtiny85 which will take care of the stepping protocol necessary to move the motor. The Bluetooth module he’s using functions as a serial device, making it really simple to interface with the uC. [Dan] uses a pin header to connect the module, so switching to a different type of serial device in the future will be quick and painless.
After the break you can see him sending step commands to the driver board. | 3 | 3 | [
{
"comment_id": "999730",
"author": "NewCommentor1283",
"timestamp": "2013-05-01T17:47:48",
"content": "mmm capacitors,,, the bigger the better!thats what i always say!(unless the inrush would damage a diode ect)in fact, you could also add a capacitor on the … and on the …THATS what i actually do, s... | 1,760,376,554.586312 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/04/30/retrotechtacular-history-of-the-u-s-antiballistic-missile-systems/ | Retrotechtacular: History Of The U.S. Antiballistic Missile Systems | Mike Szczys | [
"Radio Hacks"
] | [
"ballistic",
"defense",
"luneburg lens",
"missile",
"retrotechtacular"
] | On this installment of Retrotechtacular we’re taking a look at
the history of the United States Antiballistic Missile System
. The cold war was a huge driver of technological development, and this missile defense is a good example. At its most basic this is a radar system capable of tracking objects in three dimensions. It utilizes separate transmitters and receivers which are synchronized to rotate at the same time.
The movie, which is about forty-five minutes, came to our attention because of [Dammitd’s] interest in the
Luneburg Lens
used by the system. At about 11:10 into the video after the break this component is discussed. Inside a dome like the one seen above is a reflector made of blocks of polystyrene foam which has been laced with bits of metal. This lens is stationary, with the receiver rotating around it to collect the transmitter’s waves as the echos bouncing off an object in the sky are focused by the lens. | 43 | 18 | [
{
"comment_id": "999460",
"author": "draeath",
"timestamp": "2013-04-30T21:21:07",
"content": "Love these retrotaculars!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "999467",
"author": "buzzles",
"timestamp": "2013-04-30T22:01:04",
"content": "Aw... | 1,760,376,554.938549 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/04/30/sump-pump-alarm-sends-text-message-as-water-rises/ | Sump Pump Alarm Sends Text Message As Water Rises | Mike Szczys | [
"home hacks"
] | [
"alarm",
"ping sensor",
"rangefinder",
"RPi",
"sump pump",
"ultrasonic"
] | We’ve got some friends who have two sump pumps. One is a backup and sounds an alarm when it is switched on. But this only works as long as they’re home to hear it. [Felix Rusu] came up with
a solution what will text him if the sump pump fails
. This way he can head home, or call someone to check in on the problem if he’s away.
We saw
a pretty complicated monitoring system
back in January. This one uses a single ultrasonic rangefinder which we think is much simpler. It’s accurate to about 1cm and is simple to use — it’s very popular with the hobby electronics crowd which helps with price and availability of sample code. We hem and haw about the use of a Raspberry Pi board with the project. On the one hand it’s a cheap way to get the sensor on the network and provides the infrastructure you need to send any number of alerts. On the other hand, it’s a lot of power for this particular application. But we figure it can be extended to monitor other utilities in [Felix’s] home, like a sensor to alert him of a leaking water heater. And we think everyone can argue that a monitor like this is well worth the time and effort he spent to develop it. | 45 | 20 | [
{
"comment_id": "999428",
"author": "ChalkBored",
"timestamp": "2013-04-30T19:26:54",
"content": "This seems like it’s going to fail silently while sitting around for 11 months not being needed. Which is the same problem it’s supposed to solve for the sump pump.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth":... | 1,760,376,554.675626 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/04/30/scratch-built-3d-printer-shows-rock-solid-performance/ | Scratch-built 3D Printer Shows Rock-solid Performance | Mike Szczys | [
"3d Printer hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"bootstrap",
"printer",
"repstrap",
"scanner"
] | These days it’s super-easy (not super-cheap) to go out and buy a 3D printer. But if you’ve got the mad skills like [Mario Lukas] maybe you can
build a 3D print using a bunch of scavenged parts
(
translated
). He’s published six posts on the build, and put together an overview video which you can watch after the break.
A pile of salvaged parts were found in a scanner and four different printers. He’s also powering the thing with an old PC PSU. The hot bed and extruder are brand new, which is a wise investment. We’re not sure about the threaded rod and bearings but we’d bet those are new as well. When it came time to work on the electronics he chose an Arduino board as the go-between for the printer and computer. It uses four stepper motor driver boards to drive the axes. Connections can be a bit complicated and he actually ‘smoked’ one of the boards during the development phase.
One of the mechanical build posts shows a belt routed in a T-shape. We wonder if it’s function is similar to
what this H-bot style printer uses
? | 27 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "999382",
"author": "Paul",
"timestamp": "2013-04-30T14:59:34",
"content": "I’m looking forward to reading through this in depth. I have two printers pulled apart at home already with plans to do this exact same thing.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
... | 1,760,376,555.222662 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/04/29/sega-controller-houses-auto-launch-emulator/ | Sega Controller Houses Auto-launch Emulator | Mike Szczys | [
"Peripherals Hacks"
] | [
"auto-launch",
"cdfs",
"controller",
"emulator",
"hub",
"sega",
"sms",
"usb"
] | [Joe’s] wife grew up playing Sega games and he wanted to help her unwind by reliving the experience. Since the work computer she uses when travelling isn’t a good place to install emulators
he built this plug-and-play emulator inside of a Sega controller
.
We’ve seen this type of thing a few times before (even with
XBMC in a SNES controller
) but there is one thing we hadn’t thought of lately. Newer versions of Windows have auto-launch disabled for USB drives. But [Joe] knew that there were still some USB sticks that manage to auto-launch anyway so he researched how those work. It turns out that they have two partitions, one is formatted as a CDFS which looks like a CD-ROM to Windows and allows auto-launch. He used this method of partitioning a USB stick, storing the ROMs on the mass storage partition and the emulator and the CDFS partition. To finish the hack he cracked open the controller and found room for a USB hub and the PCB from the thumb drive.
If you still have cartridges lying around you can
pull the ROMs off of them over USB
. | 17 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "999232",
"author": "Nonya-Biz",
"timestamp": "2013-04-29T21:07:28",
"content": "this is genius! why haven’t any companies done this?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "999236",
"author": "biozz",
"timestamp": "2013-04-29T21... | 1,760,376,557.486376 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/04/29/wifi-pineapple-project-uses-updated-hardware-for-man-in-the-middle-attacks/ | Wifi Pineapple Project Uses Updated Hardware For Man-in-the-middle Attacks | Mike Szczys | [
"Security Hacks",
"Wireless Hacks"
] | [
"hak5",
"man-in-the-middle",
"openwrt",
"pineapple",
"wifi"
] | We’ve seen this small, cheap, and powerful WiFi router before. But this time it’s up to no good. [Andy] used a TP-Link
WR703N to build an upgraded WiFi Pineapple
hacking tool.
A WiFi Pineapple is a device spawned years ago by the Hak5 team (here’s
a clip showing off the device
). It uses a WiFi router that will answer to any SSID request. Basically if your computer or smart phone has an AP SSID saved and broadcasts a request to connect the pineapple will pretend to be that device and start the handshake. This provides the chance to sniff all the data passing through in a classic man-in-the-middle attack.
[Andy] is recreating the device but at a rock bottom price. He picked up this router for about $20 and added an $8 USB drive to it. The only other thing you would need is a power source and a way to hide the hardware. The code used in the Hak5 version is available for download and that’s what he worked on after flashing OpenWrt to the device.
[Thanks Midnite] | 38 | 12 | [
{
"comment_id": "999207",
"author": "Ricksl",
"timestamp": "2013-04-29T19:13:25",
"content": "Inb4 not a hack. On a different note pretty impressive, would be neat if he made his own image for it.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "999208",
"au... | 1,760,376,557.277063 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/04/29/chromebook-hack-controls-your-television/ | Chromebook Hack Controls Your Television | Mike Szczys | [
"computer hacks",
"home entertainment hacks"
] | [
"chromebook",
"ir",
"javascript",
"msp430",
"remote control",
"television",
"tv"
] | [Michael Kohn] only accomplished about half of what he set out to, but we still think
his TV channel switcher from a Chromebook turned out nicely
. When starting the project he wanted to include a grid of listing so that he could choose a specific program, but decided that scraping the data was too much work for this go-round.
The Chromebook doesn’t include an IR transmitter so he built one using an MSP430 chip. He had previously built a little transmitter around an AVR chip and was surprised to find that the internal oscillator on that was quite a bit more accurate than on the MSP430. Timing is everything with the Manchester encoded signals used for IR remote controls so he used his oscilloscope to tune the DCO as accurately as possible.
The app shown on the screen was written in Javascript. Google published some example code on using RS232 with the computer; [Michael] used this resource to provide communications between the computer and the microcontroller. | 13 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "999133",
"author": "dustin evans (@dl_evans)",
"timestamp": "2013-04-29T13:48:42",
"content": "That’s pretty cool. Maybe instead of scraping the data from a tv guide online you could embed the tv guide information and include the script to change the channels.",
"parent_id": nul... | 1,760,376,557.203923 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/04/28/hackaday-links-sunday-april-28th-2013/ | Hackaday Links: Sunday, April 28th, 2013 | Mike Szczys | [
"News"
] | [
"ballast",
"batchpcb",
"osh park",
"quadrature encoder",
"shred",
"snowboard",
"usb keyboard"
] | Another week has gone by and we hope you’ve been happily hacking away in your underground lairs. If not, here’s some inspiration that didn’t quite make it to the front page this week:
[Razr] used
a CFL ballast to replace the mechanical one
in his fluorescent tube light fixture.
To make the drawers of his workbench more awesome [Rhys]
used the faceplates from some servers
.
This week saw some changes in the hobby PCB market. Looks like
BatchPCB is being sold to OSH Park
starting May 1st. [Thanks Brad]
[Rich Olson] shouldn’t have any trouble getting out of bed now that
his alarm clock literally shreds cash
if he doesn’t shut it off.
We faced the same problem as [Kremmel] when we first got a Raspberry Pi, no USB keyboard. We bought one but
he simply hacked his laptop to work
. [Thanks Roth]
You may remember that post about
a self-propelled snowboard
. Here’s a similar project
that uses a screw-drive system
.
And finally, if you need help reading a quadrature encoder from a microcontroller
this lengthy technical post
is the place to look. | 40 | 16 | [
{
"comment_id": "998952",
"author": "Rhys Goodwin",
"timestamp": "2013-04-28T21:18:58",
"content": "Actually it’s the entire server and mounting rail assembly. I just stripped the guts out of the server lined it with ply. :)",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"c... | 1,760,376,557.4295 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/04/28/wristwatch-made-of-sandwiched-pcbs/ | Wristwatch Made Of Sandwiched PCBs | Mike Szczys | [
"clock hacks"
] | [
"led",
"pcb",
"pic",
"wristwatch"
] | Here’s a wristwatch concept we haven’t seen before. Instead of trying to sandwich everything inside of a case it uses
a stack of PCBs as the body of the watch
.
[Mats Engstrom] wrote in to tip us off about his build. The design goes with LEDs which is nothing new. But unlike previous offerings [Mats] didn’t go with
one LED for each minute
. When the touch sensor in the middle of the watch is activated the twelve LEDs on the face will let you know the hour and the nearest five minutes. A video of this is embedded after the break.
The design uses three different circuit boards. The bottom board is the largest and provides slots through which the wrist bands can connect. It also serves as one of the two battery connectors. The second PCB is a spacer with a cutout for the coin cell that powers the device. The top board is where all the magic happens. It’s dual sided to host the LEDs and touch senor, with the PIC microcontroller and support circuitry on the other side. | 27 | 11 | [
{
"comment_id": "998927",
"author": "soundman98",
"timestamp": "2013-04-28T19:27:11",
"content": "nice work!i’d be a little worried about dragging the face of the watch against something and breaking some of the led’s and their solder pads off, as it seems to happen all too often for me, but i guess... | 1,760,376,557.347723 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/04/25/sdr-as-a-police-and-fire-radio-scanner/ | SDR As A Police And Fire Radio Scanner | Mike Szczys | [
"Radio Hacks"
] | [
"dvb",
"fire",
"police",
"scanner",
"sdr"
] | If you’ve lost interest in that DVB dongle you bought to give software defined radio a try you should bust it back out. [Harrison Sand] just finished a guide on
how to use SDR to listen in on Police and Fire radio bands
.
The project, which results in the crystal clear audio reception heard after the break, uses a whole lists of packages on a Windows box to access the emergency bands. SDRSharp, which
has been popular with other DVB dongle hacks
, handles the hardware work. In this case the dongle is a Newsky TV28T v2 module that he picked up for a few bucks. He’s also using some support programs including the Digital Speech Decoder which turns the data into audio.
We wonder how many areas this will work for. It was our understanding that law enforcement was moving to encrypted communications systems. But all we really know about it is that
you can jam the system with a children’s toy
. | 48 | 18 | [
{
"comment_id": "997790",
"author": "Starbuck",
"timestamp": "2013-04-25T21:11:07",
"content": "This is really amazing, if your area is on a P25 digital trunk system. I’ve been enjoying the city of Cincinnati’s P25 digital as a source of great entertainment. Having a 2nd tuner dedicated for the con... | 1,760,376,557.005914 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/04/25/the-10-best-hacking-videos/ | The 10 Best Hacking Videos | Caleb Kraft | [
"Ask Hackaday",
"Featured"
] | [
"documentaries",
"top 10"
] | Say goodbye to the rest of your day. Here are the top 10 best videos about
real
hacking. We’ve already covered the
absolute worst
that hollywood has to offer,
twice
. Then, we did the
best that hollywood could pull off
. Now we’re enjoying the real thing. Feast your eyes on hacking as it actually happens. In this list are all kinds of hacking, from slapping things together out of scrap to lock picking. From creating computers in your garage to social engineering.
Most of these are even available, in full, on youtube!
Here’s the list:
10. KGB, The Computer, and me.
The true story of someone noticing a hacker and tracking him down.
9. BBS: The Documentary
The history of the BBS system from its inception to its demise.
8. Unauthorized Access
Lock picking, dumpster diving, social engineering.
7. The Secret Life of Machines
Not only do they explain how it works, sometimes they do a hack to prove their point.
6. Mythbusters
every episode has the premise “what can we hack together to do this?”
5. Scrap-heap Challenge/ Junkyard Wars
Given a pile of junk, they have to create something specific, like a hovercraft, or racing bikes.
4. Triumph of The Nerds
The true story of how hackers came to rule the world with their technology
3. Secret History of Hacking
Detailed accounts of some of the most recognizable names in hacking.
2. Hacks
A look at how diverse hacker culture can be
1. Hackers are People Too
Mainly interviews from people at cons. A great way to see what is going on now in the culture.
Honestly, I don’t think the order really matters. Personally, I’d put Mythbusters and Scrap-heap Challenge closer to number one, my enthusiasm for those shows borders on unhealthy. Someone who is more into security would put Unauthorized access at the top of the list. You get the point.
What we can all agree on, is that these are all great. | 41 | 23 | [
{
"comment_id": "997770",
"author": "Adam",
"timestamp": "2013-04-25T20:20:47",
"content": "Ghost in the Wires: My Adventures as the World’s Most Wanted Hacker, Kevin Mitnick’s autobiographical book covers some awesome hacks he pulled off and talks about a lot of his social engineering. it’s not a v... | 1,760,376,556.922693 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/04/25/run-a-water-supply-line-to-your-coffee-maker/ | Keurig Hack Runs A Water Supply Line To Your Coffee Maker | Mike Szczys | [
"cooking hacks"
] | [
"coffee",
"keurig",
"plumbing",
"water supply"
] | We were skeptical about Keurig machines when we first heard about them. Although we still scoff at the added waste of throwing away a plastic container of used grounds for each cup of coffee made, we tried one at the in-laws and it does brew a great cup of Joe. One of the draws of the machine is that it does it pretty much automatically as long as you fill it with water first. [Joseph Collins] is even taking the work out of that by
adding a water supply line to his Keurig
.
His coffee maker sits right next to the fridge, which has its own water supply. So one day he thought, why not run a line to the coffee maker as well? As far as plumbing projects go it’s very simple. He pulled out the refrigerator and added a T-fitting to split the water supply line. From there he ran an extension next to the coffee maker that terminates with a valve being pointed to by the arrow in the lower left. The plastic supply line leaving the valve passes through a rubber grommet in the lid of the water reservoir pointed to by the other arrow.
[Joseph] figures the whole project came in at under $30 and shows how he did it in the clip after the break. | 57 | 27 | [
{
"comment_id": "997745",
"author": "Bryan Baker (@XBrav)",
"timestamp": "2013-04-25T19:10:16",
"content": "Neat! Now he just needs a food-grade solenoid valve and a capacitive sensor to make it automatically refill :D",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"commen... | 1,760,376,557.093059 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/04/25/a-quick-tour-of-my-workbench/ | A Quick Tour Of My Workbench | Caleb Kraft | [
"Featured",
"Rants"
] | [
"workbench"
] | Whenever I release a hackaday video, I invariably get comments and emails about my workbench. Some people are telling me to clean up, others are asking me about things they see in the background.
This isn’t just a set that I film on. Obviously my videos aren’t high enough quality for people to assume that either. This is my actual workbench, made and used by my grandfather. I do enjoy keeping it decorated though. I try to keep a piece of as many past projects as possible hanging on my bench to serve not only as inspiration to me, but also as an interesting backdrop for the videos.
I make no attempts to hide my upcoming projects when I shoot videos. If you pay close enough attention, you can sometimes see projects appear on my bench in videos before the actual project video hits youtube.
I love my workbench. You should love yours too. Hey, maybe you could do a tour of it and post it on youtube for us to admire! Just try not to say “workbench” as many times in a row as I did. | 28 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "997710",
"author": "Ren",
"timestamp": "2013-04-25T18:06:49",
"content": "I like the version of the “Jolly Wrencher” on your sweatshirt better than the HaD logo.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "997714",
"author": "Cale... | 1,760,376,557.154391 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/04/25/bending-and-printing-a-curved-camera-dolly-track/ | Bending And Printing A Curved Camera Dolly Track | Mike Szczys | [
"3d Printer hacks",
"digital cameras hacks"
] | [
"camera",
"dolly",
"track"
] | How lucky is [Transistor Man] that he found the materials for
the tracks of this curved camera dolly
just lying around the shop? The three rails making up the system are quarter-inch diameter and he was able to bend them by hand with the help of a 55 gallon drum. But to hold them in place so that the camera dolly would run smoothly he had to find a way to precisely space the tracks.
The robot arm you see in the picture above is
a 3D printer
which ended up being the easiest solution to the problem. With a bit of trial and error he found a design that holds the tracks in place without interfering with the camera sled’s progress. From there he devised a mounting system which uses three camera tripods to hold the track. You can see a test video shot from the dolly track embedded after the jump. It’s the opposite of
the bullet time rigs
[Caleb’s] been working on lately.
We figure the spacers would work for any track shape, but if you’re going for a complicated route you need
some type of pipe bender
to help out. | 9 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "997602",
"author": "LittleYellowCar",
"timestamp": "2013-04-25T13:04:58",
"content": "Cool video, looks like it took a long time to set up",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "997611",
"author": "cap'couillon",
"timestamp": "... | 1,760,376,556.848329 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/04/24/hacking-a-sigma-lens-to-work-with-a-canon-camera/ | Hacking A Sigma Lens To Work With A Canon Camera | Mike Szczys | [
"digital cameras hacks"
] | [
"ATtiny24",
"canon",
"lens",
"sigma"
] | [Martin Melchior] wanted to
use an older Sigma lens with his Canon camera
. The problem in trying to do so is that the camera uses a different communications protocol than the lens is expecting. But if you don’t mind cracking it open and doing a little microcontroller work you’ll be using the lens in no time.
The hack uses an ATtiny24 chip, two resistors, and a capacitor. You won’t need to do any coding, but you do need to burn the firmware to the chip (
you can use an Arduino
if you don’t have a proper AVR programmer). There’s plenty of room for the add-on hardware inside the lens so after reassembling the enclosure you won’t even be able to tell that the unit was altered. Unfortunately it doesn’t look like [Martin] took any pictures of the lens with his added electronics, but the schematic he posted should be enough for you to get the job done yourself.
If you’re into these types of DSLR hacks you should try something extreme, like
using view camera parts with your modern camera
. | 8 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "997353",
"author": "chris",
"timestamp": "2013-04-24T21:30:38",
"content": "Nice work, I have a old sigma lying around which only shoots fully open because of the incompatibility problem with the EOS digital bodies.Echt geil.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [... | 1,760,376,557.553436 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/04/24/this-gps-logger-is-so-small/ | This GPS Logger Is So Small… | Mike Szczys | [
"gps hacks"
] | [
"gps",
"logger",
"ltc4054",
"pa6b",
"teensy 2.0"
] | How small is it? Two things should give you a good sense of scale, the SD card slot on the lower right, and the slide switch on the upper left. This minuscule module is
an all-in-one GPS logger
which [J3tstream] built.
Main system control is provided by a Teens 2.0 board. If you look really closely you’ll see the SD card slot is actually a breakout board which mounts on top of the Teensy’s pinheaders. Also on the board is a PA6B GPS module with a few passive components to support it. The back side of the board hosts a Lithium Ion battery from an old phone. Note the mangled pin header which works as connectors for the battery. [J3tstream] even built a charger into the project. He’s using an LTC4054 chip to handle the charging. We were a bit confused at first because we didn’t see a way to connect external power. But he goes on to explain that the USB port on the Teensy board is used for charging. Just plug in USB and press the button to get things started. | 50 | 24 | [
{
"comment_id": "997310",
"author": "RDasx",
"timestamp": "2013-04-24T19:19:11",
"content": "I wonder why he chose the LTC4054 over the much much cheaper (and more capable) MCP73811. The 73811 even includes a charge enable pin that could be driven directly by the teensy instead of the mosfet he’s us... | 1,760,376,557.790608 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/04/22/automatic-tubular-bells-given-a-midi-interface-too/ | Automatic Tubular Bells Given A MIDI Interface Too | Mike Szczys | [
"Musical Hacks"
] | [
"bells",
"midi",
"solenoid",
"tubular bells"
] | We’ve got to say it… these tubular bells sound awful! They don’t really have a tight pitch center so they sound
really
out of tune to us. But we think that’s the failing of the instrument itself and not the work which [Tolaemon] did to
automate the instrument
.
There are three main parts to his project. The first, which is shown above, adds a hammer for each bell. The hammers are hinged, with one side being pulled by a solenoid in order to strike the bell. The second part of the hack also uses solenoids, dampening the bell’s ability to ring by pressing a felt pad up against the bottom of the tube. The final portion of the project brings it all home by adding MIDI control to the hardware.
The clip after the break gives a good overview of the different features including some preprogrammed playback as well as direct control of the instrument using an electric keyboard. This reminds us of
that scratch-built solenoid xylophone
.
[Thanks Jordi] | 18 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "996175",
"author": "Ren",
"timestamp": "2013-04-22T13:52:22",
"content": "The web page looked cool at first, but after scrolling down about halfway through the “washed out” B&W images, I was ready to call it quits…",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
... | 1,760,376,557.902383 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/04/21/hackaday-links-sunday-april-21st-2013/ | Hackaday Links: Sunday, April 21st, 2013 | Mike Szczys | [
"Hackaday links"
] | [
"drill",
"floppy drive",
"foosball",
"lego",
"lvds",
"midi",
"mill",
"Neato",
"soldering",
"XV-11"
] | Regular reader and master hacker [Bill Porter] got married. Congratulations [Bill] and [Mara]! The two of them just couldn’t leave their soldering irons at home. The actually swore their vows by
soldering together a circuit during the ceremony
(blinky wedding dress, el wire tuxedo, and all).
[Kevin] sent in a link to [Red Fathom’s]
hacked Wacom tablet
. It’s the screen from a Wacom-enabled laptop brought back to life with a Teensy and an LVDS interface module.
The Neato XV-11 is able to find its charging station when the batteries run low. [Derek] figured out that
you can make a second station using some reflective tape
.
If you use your drill a lot you’ll eventually break the rubber thing that holds the key to the chuck. Here’s a way to
3D print a replacement
.
[Torxe] put eight floppy drives to use as
a polyphonic Arduino-controlled MIDI player
. And while we’re on the subject of Arduino controlled projects you should take a look at this
web-interface to tell you if the foosball table is being used
.
And finally [Th3 Bad Wolf] sent in this link to
a milling machine built out of LEGO
. It is able to mill floral foam and uses a lathe-like setup for one of the table axes. | 10 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "995975",
"author": "Will Richey",
"timestamp": "2013-04-21T22:04:16",
"content": "3 times I have submitted the work done at forum.bongofish.co.uk dealing with the reverse engineering of tablet pc wacom panels. All of the instructions and software to do this yourself are provided; t... | 1,760,376,557.841872 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/04/21/drop-in-pcb-makes-nintendo-four-score-a-usb-joystick/ | Drop-in Pcb Makes Nintendo Four Score A USB Joystick | Mike Szczys | [
"Nintendo Hacks",
"Peripherals Hacks"
] | [
"atmega16u2",
"four score",
"hid",
"Joystick",
"nintendo",
"usb"
] | The Nintendo Four Score was a controller attachment for the original Nintendo Entertainment System which allowed you to use four controllers at one time. [Simon Inns] wanted to use some original NES controllers on his computer so he developed
a drop-in replacement board that converts the device to USB
.
As we’ve seen with other NES controller hacks,
the hardware uses a simple parallel to serial shift register
to deliver key-presses to the console. This means that reading four controllers at a time is no different than shifting in data to a microcontroller from the four different sources. The remaining portion of the problem is providing a USB connection that enumerates the device as a joystick. We’ve seen a bunch of
USB projects
from [Simon] so it’s no surprise that he was able to pull it off.
He went with the ATmega16U2 which has built-in support for USB. [Simon] wrote the code so that although there is only one USB cable, each of the four controller ports will appear as a separate USB joystick on the computer. To button up the project he carefully measured the original board and laid out his own version so that it fits the footprint of all the original components as well as the mounting brackets on the case. Top notch [Simon]! | 12 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "995954",
"author": "pathartl",
"timestamp": "2013-04-21T19:29:49",
"content": "Don’t know why he reinvented the wheel by writing his own code… Raphnet did this with a cheaper Atmega8 a few years backhttp://www.raphnet.net/electronique/4nes4snes/index_en.php",
"parent_id": null,
... | 1,760,376,558.08811 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/04/21/3d-printing-some-sweet-music/ | 3D Printing Some Sweet Music | Mike Szczys | [
"3d Printer hacks",
"Musical Hacks"
] | [
"g-code",
"lulzbot",
"midi",
"python"
] | If you don’t mind ending up with oddly shaped 3D printed parts
you can get your printer to sing to you
. The exhibit shown above is doing just that. The Lulzbot is being driven specifically to produce a certain frequency of sound with its stepper motors. The results of a few different songs are what’s hanging on the wall to the right. You can hear it printing Bizet’s Carmen in the clip after the break.
[Rickard Dahlstrand] hacked together a Python script capable of parsing a MIDI file and outputting a G-code equivalent that will produce the frequencies and durations necessary to hear the audio on a stepper motor. As we mentioned, he uses a Lulzbot but the script appears to include setting for Cupcake, Thingomatic, Shapercube, and Ultimaker. The parser script as well as the example G-code files for a library of classical music
can be downloaded from his repository
.
Now if you’re looking for some other crazy CNC music ideas you can’t beat
this wineglass music hack
. | 29 | 14 | [
{
"comment_id": "995885",
"author": "henry",
"timestamp": "2013-04-21T13:06:17",
"content": "I wonder what the project looks like not through an iphone 4 display.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "995919",
"author": "Bob Fleming",
... | 1,760,376,558.375435 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/04/20/mood-lampnotifier-uses-neat-modular-pcb-design/ | Mood Lamp/notifier Uses Neat Modular PCB Design | Mike Szczys | [
"LED Hacks"
] | [
"teensy 2.0"
] | Not only does
this mood lamp
which [J. Sutton] built look great, but we love the modular design he adopted when building the circuit boards.
If you’re building something that is going to sit on your desk for some time it just has to look good. We think that he achieved that, using a small block of oak as the base, and a cloudy white cube of unknown origin as a diffuser. Notice that the different colors are not mixed. There’s a baffle inside the diffuser that keeps them separate as early testing showed any combination of intensities was resulting in nearly the same shade of color.
The part we really like is the modular design of his circuit boards. The project is based around a Teensy++ 2.0 board. He first built a PCB baseboard which feature two SIL sockets to accept the legs of the Teensy. There is a third SIL socket which accepts some long legs from the LED host board, letting it perch on top of the Teensy. | 28 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "995700",
"author": "Sjoerd",
"timestamp": "2013-04-20T23:23:43",
"content": "“and a cloudy white cube of unknown origin as a diffuser.”In his replies, he [J. Sutton] said he got it from Ebay:http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LED-Cube-Mood-Light-Colour-Changing-Night-Lamp-Gift-UK-/3905419995... | 1,760,376,558.438736 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/04/20/gui-window-manager-on-an-avr-chip/ | GUI Window Manager On An AVR Chip | Mike Szczys | [
"Microcontrollers",
"Video Hacks"
] | [
"atmega1284",
"gui",
"mouse",
"vga",
"window manager"
] | This project is reminiscent of the old days when window managers were an amazing new idea. The difference is that this
window-based GUI is running on an ATmega1284 microcontroller
. But the behavior and speed of the interface is pretty much exactly what you’d expect if working on an early 90’s home computer. It even uses a mouse as input.
So how is this even possible? The key to the project is a serial to VGA module which handles the heavy lifting involved with generating a VGA signal. We featured one of [Andrew’s] past projects which
used an AVR chip to generate the VGA signal
. But that doesn’t leave nearly enough cycles to implement something like a window manager, not to mention the fact that it got nowhere near the resolution shown here.
He uses a serial mouse with an RS-232 converter chip to interact with the windows. This is best shown in his video after the break. He’s able to generate and interact with new windows. He even implemented a set of rudimentary controls which allow him to adjust the theme of the windows and drive the audio playback feature included on that VGA controller he’s using. | 31 | 16 | [
{
"comment_id": "995644",
"author": "Stan",
"timestamp": "2013-04-20T19:23:01",
"content": "Very cool – it looks way better than windows new “metro” interface. Microsoft are you listening?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "995645",
"auth... | 1,760,376,558.162084 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/04/20/this-piggy-bank-is-our-stock-broker/ | This Piggy Bank Is Our Stock Broker | Mike Szczys | [
"Lifehacks"
] | [
"coin",
"php",
"piggy bank",
"stock",
"stock market"
] | [Johna and Justin] are working to take the emotion out of playing the market. They built this
piggy bank which automatically purchases stock
when your coinage totals the cost of a single share. That’s right, just turn the selector to one of your three chosen stocks (Google, Facebook, and Apple are used in this example) and plug in some coins. The bank counts your money, compares it to the current online stock price, and pulls the trigger if you have enough dough. You can check out a demo clip after the jump.
The hardware is rather simple thanks to Adafruit’s programmable multi-coin acceptor. It handles the cash and it’s pretty easy to interface with the Arduino which handles the rest of the work. It connects to a computer via USB, depending on a PHP script to poll the current price. We dug through
the code repository
just a bit but didn’t find the snippet that does the actual stock purchase. Whether or not they actually implemented that, it’s certainly an interesting concept. | 42 | 15 | [
{
"comment_id": "995565",
"author": "eatith mee",
"timestamp": "2013-04-20T13:29:12",
"content": "Ugh, I am so tired of seeing projects where people obviously never bother to measure anything or even make an effort to cut a square, well aligned, straight hole! I know some of these things are just “f... | 1,760,376,558.311098 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/04/24/acrobatic-tricopter-inspired-by-the-oblivion-movie-trailer/ | Acrobatic Tricopter Inspired By The Oblivion Movie Trailer | Mike Szczys | [
"Wireless Hacks"
] | [
"oblivion",
"servo",
"tilt rotor",
"tricopter"
] | There have been a ton of commercials for the new [Tom Cruise] movie called
Oblivion
. One of the main points in every clip we remember seeing is the
Top Gun
meets
Star Trek
vehicle he does some tricks in. [James Cotton] loved that footage and ended up
building his own RC version of the vehicle
.
Three propellers give it lift, with directional control facilitated by servo motors which can pivot the motors attached to the two orange propellers. This design produces remarkably responsive controls as shown in the video after the break. That being said it’s still not immune to operator error. At the end of the clip [James] crashes it hard, stripping out the gears on the servo motors.
He has a few things in mind for the future of the device (and he’ll have plenty of time to plan while he waits for replacement servos to arrive). The aircraft should be able to carry a camera long with it. He discusses the issues involved with where the camera ends up pointing based on what the tilting motors are doing. But we figure he could always build a base that lets the camera pan and tilt separately from the chassis.
You can find a few tricopter projects around here but we’ve always like
the one made of cardboard
. | 28 | 21 | [
{
"comment_id": "997141",
"author": "sonofabit",
"timestamp": "2013-04-24T13:12:42",
"content": "love the ending :) great project",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "997285",
"author": "micweis",
"timestamp": "2013-04-24T18:10:15",... | 1,760,376,558.229022 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/04/23/rattle-generator-is-a-new-type-of-dynamo-for-a-bicycle/ | Rattle Generator Is A New Type Of Dynamo For A Bicycle | Mike Szczys | [
"green hacks"
] | [
"bicycle",
"current",
"generator",
"induction",
"relay"
] | This project is in one of our favorite categories; the kind where asking “why?” is the wrong question. [Berto A.] built the device after observing some power generation by placing a large magnet next to a mechanical relay coil and quickly clicking the relay’s lever. From this humble beginning he built up
the RattleGen, a bicycle spoke driven generator
.
To get the most power possible he searched around for a massive relay and found one which was originally meant for telephone exchanges. He cut the case open and strapped a big bar magnet to the side of the coil. Next he fabricated an arm which will press against the relay’s lever. To that he added a small wheel which is pressed each time a spoke from the bicycle passes by it. This repeated clicking of the relay lever generates a current (and a rattling sound) that is harvested by the joule thief circuit built on some protoboard. An LED is illuminated, with excess current stored in the capacitor bank. Don’t miss the build and demonstration video after the break. | 81 | 18 | [
{
"comment_id": "996734",
"author": "jcwren",
"timestamp": "2013-04-23T21:03:32",
"content": "Interesting idea. I wonder how spacing some neodymium magnets around the rim, and a couple coils up near the seat would do. Kinda like those shaker flashlights.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
... | 1,760,376,558.557186 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/04/23/otm-02-is-a-3d-printed-wristwatch/ | OTM-02 Is A 3D Printed Wristwatch | Mike Szczys | [
"clock hacks"
] | [
"3d printed",
"efm32",
"usb",
"wristwatch"
] | We love looking at roll-your-own wristwatch projects. Getting a project small enough to carry around on your wrist is a real challenge. But we think
the OTM-02 wristwatch
really hit the form factor right on the mark.
OTM stands for Open source Time Machine. It’s the work of [Hairy Kiwi] and he managed to bring the guts of the watch in at a thickness between 6.5 and 7mm. That includes the LCD, PCB, piezo diaphragm, and the battery. The PCB itself is a four-layer board built on 1mm thick substrate. It’s running an EFM32 (ARM) microcontroller which comes with hardware USB support. The little door sitting open on the side of the 3D printed enclosure provides access to the micro USB connector which can be used to charge the 150 mAh battery inside. That may not sound like much juice, but if you set the display to show minutes only [Hairy] calculates a battery life approaching 175 days. If you just have to have the seconds displayed you can expect about two weeks between charges.
Like the name says,
this project is Open Source
.
[Thanks Liam] | 27 | 12 | [
{
"comment_id": "996718",
"author": "JoSSte",
"timestamp": "2013-04-23T20:07:46",
"content": "It might be called OTM – but the picture says MTM?only other refernce to that is the images link –http://bit.ly/mtmpublic",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_i... | 1,760,376,558.623384 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/04/23/what-are-the-best-hacking-documentaries/ | What Are The Best Hacking Documentaries? | Caleb Kraft | [
"Ask Hackaday"
] | [] | Continuing with our series of best and worst portrayals of hacking, we’re gathering our resources to bring you the top 10 Hacking Documentaries. Again, we feel the strongest resource is the hacking community, so lets hear what you think should qualify. While it would be fantastic to only have documentaries, if there is a hollywood movie that you feel fits, go ahead and let us know. If you’re up for a challenge, find us something dealing with hardware hacking instead of computers/phones!
Just for reference, here were the
top 10 worst portrayals of hacking in movies
as well as
part 2
. What you see above were the top 10 best, though admittedly I screwed up #4. | 103 | 50 | [
{
"comment_id": "996569",
"author": "ZenoArrow",
"timestamp": "2013-04-23T13:27:10",
"content": "I enjoyed The Secret History of Hacking, especially the phone phreaking stuff and the discussions between Crunch, Wozniak and Mitnick.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
... | 1,760,376,559.010108 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/04/23/console-radio-given-new-life-with-a-wifi-router-retrofit/ | Console Radio Given New Life With A WiFi Router Retrofit | Mike Szczys | [
"digital audio hacks"
] | [
"console",
"radio",
"router",
"tube",
"wifi"
] | [Craig] did a great job of restoring the case of his antique console radio. But he wanted to bring the guts up to modern standards. The fix ended up being rather easy when it comes to hardware.
He based his internet radio retrofit around a wireless router
.
We laughed when we heard that he removed about eighty pounds of original electronics from this beast. He then cut a piece of MDF to serve as a mounting platform for the replacement hardware. The WiFi router takes care of audio playback from several sources and offers him the ability to control the stereo from a smart phone or a computer. It has a USB port to which he connected a hub to make room for the USB sound card and a thumb drive which holds his music library. The black box in the upper right is an amp which feeds the NHT stereo speakers housed in the lower half of the cabinet.
It doesn’t make use of the original knobs like
the recent tube-amp conversion
we looked at. But [Craig] did add some LEDs which illuminate the dial to help keep that stock look. | 21 | 13 | [
{
"comment_id": "996564",
"author": "ColdTurkey",
"timestamp": "2013-04-23T13:15:24",
"content": "I would love to have seen the original electronics. As they say, they don’t make ’em like they used to!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "996565",
... | 1,760,376,558.686379 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/04/22/20-pounds-and-a-gut-feeling-yields-a-configurable-rubidium-atomic-clock-source/ | 20 Pounds And A Gut Feeling Yields A Configurable Rubidium Atomic Clock Source | Mike Szczys | [
"clock hacks"
] | [
"aerospace",
"aircraft",
"airplane",
"clock source",
"rubidium"
] | So you see an image like this and the description “Aircraft stable oscillator” on an eBay listing for twenty pounds (about thirty bucks), what do you do? If you’re [Alecjw] you buy the thing and
crack it open to find an atomic clock source inside
. But he really went the distance with this one and figured out how to reconfigure the source from the way it was set up in the factory.
First off, the fact that it’s made for the aerospace industry means that the craftsmanship on it is simply fantastic. The enclosure is machined aluminum and all of the components are glued or otherwise attached to the boards to help them stand up to the high-vibrations often experienced on a plane. After quite a bit of disassembly [Alec] gets down to a black box which is labeled “Rubidium Frequency Standard”… jackpot! He had been hoping for a 10 MHz signal to use with his test equipment but when he hooked it up the source was putting out 800 kHz. With a bit more investigation he figured out how to reconfigure the support electronics to get that 10 Mhz source. We think you’re going to love reading about how he used a test crystal during the reconfiguration step.
Once he knew what he had he returned to the eBay seller and cleared out the rest of his stock.
[Thanks DIY DSP] | 62 | 13 | [
{
"comment_id": "996305",
"author": "biozz",
"timestamp": "2013-04-22T21:20:13",
"content": "Very nice! i have an $150 ebay sourced 10mhz GPS controlled rubidium clock standard i put in a nice fancy case and used a few video distro cards to shove them out on to my equiptmenttho i dont think you can ... | 1,760,376,558.874686 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/04/22/connect-a-retina-display-to-a-regular-computer/ | Connect A Retina Display To A Regular Computer | Mike Szczys | [
"Video Hacks"
] | [
"displayport",
"ipad",
"may be",
"retina display"
] | You don’t have to search very long before you find someone raving about the Retina display used in Apple iPads. We’re not going to disagree. These 9.7″ panels pack in a whopping 2048×1536 resolution and the color is fantastic. But we were surprised to hear you can get one of these for a meager $55. That’s how [Andrzej] sourced the part when he set out to
connect a Retina display to a regular PC
.
It turns out this isn’t all that hard. The display uses the eDisplayPort protocol. This is an extension of
DisplayPort
which is an alternative to LVDS that is gaining a foothold in the industry. An external DisplayPort adapter can already be found on higher-end laptops, which means this should be a snap to use as an external display if the signals can be routed correctly.
To do this, [Andrzej] figured out how to order the PCB connector for the panel’s ribbon cable. He then etched and populated his own board which serves as an adapter for a DisplayPort cable. It even powers the panel, but an external 20V supply is necessary for the backlight.
[Thanks Adam] | 99 | 40 | [
{
"comment_id": "996254",
"author": "Pun",
"timestamp": "2013-04-22T19:10:25",
"content": "The fact that the display can be had for that price is amazing. It makes me wonder about the cost of desktop LCDs. :P",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "99... | 1,760,376,559.204958 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/04/17/upgrade-a-toy-keyboards-tone-production/ | Upgrade A Toy Keyboard’s Tone Production | Mike Szczys | [
"Microcontrollers",
"Musical Hacks"
] | [
"chiptunes"
] | [Jan] was given this toy keyboard and decided to make it the subject of his next project. In addition to having three octaves of keys it’s got a ton of buttons used to select different modes. He gave it an upgrade by
installing his own tone production circuitry
seen in the upper right.
His preliminary investigation of the stock components yielded a mystery uC encased in a blob of black epoxy. He wasn’t going to be getting anywhere with that, so he started by figuring out how to use 4051 multiplexers to read all of the keys. Outputs for that were routed to a 20 pin header for easy connection to the synthesizer board he would build in the next part of the project. He based it around an ATmega8, which we know
can produce some killer chiptunes
audio. Once he had everything working he laid out a circuit board in Kicad to ensure the transplanted circuitry would hold up inside of the toy keyboard. You can hear all of different effects it’s capable of in the clip after the break. | 18 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "994628",
"author": "Franklin Templeton",
"timestamp": "2013-04-17T21:13:16",
"content": "Nicely done :) I am impressed! Keep up the good work, buran! The pwm and detune are great for this one.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "... | 1,760,376,559.068144 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/04/17/3d-printing-sensor-mounts-for-the-oculus-rift/ | 3D Printing Sensor Mounts For The Oculus Rift | Caleb Kraft | [
"3d Printer hacks",
"Featured",
"Virtual Reality"
] | [
"3d printing",
"lulzbot",
"oculus rift",
"virtual reality",
"vr"
] | While browsing an oculus rift thread on reddit, I saw someone mention how nice it would be to have some actual mounts for external sensors on their Rift. The idea is that adding additional sensors or cameras will allow us to expand the capabilities of the rift. With something like the Razor Hydra, you can add quick positional tracking (the rift only tracks rotation, not position). With some webcams, you could theoretically do some stereoscopic augmented reality. Unfortunately, attaching all these things to the rift is a bit of a pain at the moment.
I had all the things right here in front of me to make this happen, so I did! I’ve quickly tossed together two accessories for the Rift.
with hydra attached
nothing attached
1. a small bracket that feeds onto the velcro on the back. People will likely use this for “heavy” position sensors. They may be fairly light, but any additional weight on the front of the rift is unwanted.
clipped on
popped off
2. A snap-on face plate that has a modular design. This wold be for mounting cameras on the front of the rift.
All of these files can be
downloaded here
. | 7 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "994605",
"author": "Addidis",
"timestamp": "2013-04-17T20:29:25",
"content": "Nice work Caleb. Can’t wait to see what people do with these setups.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "994611",
"author": "Caleb Kraft",
... | 1,760,376,559.50089 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/04/17/apple-magsafe-cord-repair/ | Apple MagSafe Cord Repair | Mike Szczys | [
"Mac Hacks",
"Repair Hacks"
] | [
"apple",
"magsafe",
"power supply",
"psu"
] | [Tommy Ward] had a big problem with the cord for his laptop power supply. This thing’s not cheap so he figured out a way to
fix the frayed cord on his Apple MagSafe
. He asserts that the shortened rubber collar on the plug end of the cord is to blame for this type of damage. We think rough use may have something to do with it too, but having had to repair our own feline-damaged power cords we’re not about to start pointing fingers.
To pull off an appropriate fix [Tommy] pries apart the case housing the power converter. This lets him get at the solder connections of the cord. After removing it from the circuit board he clips off the damaged portion of the cable. To reuse the strain relief grommet he drilled out the old portion of wire and insulation, making room for the undamaged cable to pass through, adding a cable tie on the inside to aide in strain relief. The last part of the fix involves gluing everything back together.
If your power supply problems have to do with the computer connector itself
there’s a fix for that too
. | 44 | 23 | [
{
"comment_id": "994567",
"author": "Anonymous",
"timestamp": "2013-04-17T19:06:52",
"content": "Didn’t Apple recall certain types of MacBook power adapters? I’ve heard that if you bring one to a store they’ll replace it with an updated design no questions asked.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth"... | 1,760,376,559.279367 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/04/17/hackerspace-security-system-brings-rfid-video-feedback-and-automatic-doors/ | Hackerspace Security System Brings RFID, Video Feedback, And Automatic Doors | Mike Szczys | [
"Raspberry Pi",
"Security Hacks"
] | [
"hackerspace",
"rfid",
"RPi"
] | [Will] has been hard at work on
a replacement system for his Hackerspace’s RFID door lock
. The original is now several years old and he’s decided to upgrade to a much more powerful processor, adding some bells and whistles along the way.
The control box seen above is the exterior component of the system. It’s a telephone service box like you’d find on the back of most houses in the US. They had a few of these lying around and they are a perfect choice because… well… they’re meant to be locking enclosures that brave the elements. [Will] made the jump from an Arduino which has run the locks for the last three years to a Raspberry Pi board. This gives him a lot of extra power to work with and he took advantage of that by adding a vehicle backup LCD screen for visual feedback. You can see it giving the ‘Access Granted’ message he used during testing but the demo video after the break shows that they plan to do some image scripting to display a head shot of the RFID tag owner whenever a tag is read.
There are several other features included as well. The system Tweets whenever a tag is read, helping the members keep tabs on who is hanging out at the space right now. It also patches into a sliding door which one of the members automated using a garage door opener motor. | 38 | 12 | [
{
"comment_id": "994474",
"author": "truebassb",
"timestamp": "2013-04-17T13:44:04",
"content": "Very nice design but when it comes to reliability it’s a whole different thing.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "994487",
"author": "illwil... | 1,760,376,559.448264 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/04/16/hacked-together-mac-isnt-a-hackintosh/ | Hacked Together Mac Isn’t A Hackintosh | Mike Szczys | [
"Mac Hacks"
] | [
"imac",
"macbook"
] | Check out this 20″ iMac. Notice anything peculiar? Look closely at the branding above the Apple logo. The only thing that tips you off that
this iMac is a hacked together unit
is that Acer logo on the replacement screen.
As we’ve so often been caught doing, [Flippy] was browsing eBay for deals. It’s a dangerous activity because you end up falling into purchases like an Aluminum iMac for $35. That led to the purchase of a very slim LED LCD monitor to use as the display. It fits perfectly behind the iMac’s glass bezel, which has a tiny chip in the upper right corner that doesn’t bother [Flippy]. It’s thin enough that this actually left room for him to add in the guts of a MacBook Pro which he had sitting in his unused parts pile. With all of the main components accounted for the rest is really just logistics like routing all of the cable connectors and adding openings for USB ports. What he ended up with is a high-end computer for a low-end price. | 59 | 14 | [
{
"comment_id": "994171",
"author": "doot doot",
"timestamp": "2013-04-16T21:07:52",
"content": "Nice hack, but every time somebody confuses it’s with its, it’s like a cat clawed my back.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "994174",
"autho... | 1,760,376,559.37165 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/04/16/building-a-kegerator-with-visual-style/ | Building A Kegerator With Visual Style | Mike Szczys | [
"Beer Hacks"
] | [
"chest freezer",
"kegerator",
"tap",
"TILE"
] | Let’s face it, most kegerator builds go something like this: acquire old refrigerator, drill hole for tap, profit. But [GiveMeMyNickelback] recently had the opportunity to do better and he delivered. Above you can see
the stylish chest freezer mod that serves up six beers on tap
.
Chest freezers are perfect for these builds as their top door design helps keep the cold air inside to boost the efficiency. The trick is to modify them without messing up the insulating properties of the appliance housing. [GMMN’s] approach is a common one, build a cuff to go in between the lid and the body of the freezer. He started by building a wooden box open at both the top and the bottom. Many would have stopped there but to bring the bling he tiled the sides and front of that cuff, leaving an empty spot for the shank of each tap. With that taken care of he glued insulation to the inside of the cuff, and added weather-stripping to the bottom to seal with the top of the case. He used the holes from the lid hinge brackets to attach his add-on so that the freeze can be converted back to stock without any sign of his alterations.
We’d love to see a Bluetooth or Wifi add-on
that monitors the beer volume in each keg
.
[via
Reddit
] | 15 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "994137",
"author": "Squirrel",
"timestamp": "2013-04-16T19:20:47",
"content": "http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8JsgB4_m40",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "994141",
"author": "agtrier",
"timestamp": "2013-04-16T19:32:42",
... | 1,760,376,559.555766 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/04/16/tube-radio-husk-gets-a-web-radio-transplant/ | Tube Radio Husk Gets A Web Radio Transplant | Mike Szczys | [
"digital audio hacks"
] | [
"optical mouse",
"radio",
"web radio"
] | [Dominic Buchstaller] found this German Greatz tube radio at a flea market. It only cost him about €35 and was in a bit more rough condition than the finished product you see above. He also found that a portion of the original circuitry was missing, making it completely non-function. He cleaned up the case to improve the wife-acceptance-factor, and
outfitted it with hardware to make it a web radio
.
Adding modern speakers was pretty easy as he was already replacing the original cloth bezel which has several holes and tears in it. A set of elements from some Logitech computer speakers served as the organ donors for this step in the process. As he was trying to keep a stock look he came up with a really neat hack to use the original knobs. The station select happens to have a large metal wheel on the inside which is about a centimeter wide. [Dominic] used the optical sensor from a mouse to monitor the turning of the dial by aiming the sensor at this wheel. Internet connectivity was provided by a wireless router he had on hand. This way he can stream music or play from an SD card he also used in the retrofit. | 36 | 17 | [
{
"comment_id": "994046",
"author": "Nick",
"timestamp": "2013-04-16T13:50:08",
"content": "This is pretty damn cool!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "994054",
"author": "st2000",
"timestamp": "2013-04-16T14:14:00",
"content": "That w... | 1,760,376,559.63009 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/04/19/asynchronous-fireflies-use-few-parts/ | Asynchronous Fireflies Use Few Parts | Mike Szczys | [
"LED Hacks",
"Microcontrollers"
] | [
"attiny13",
"capacitive",
"cr2032",
"firefly"
] | [Karl Lunt] wrote in to share
his LED firefly project
. His goals for the project were to develop a low-power, low parts count module that can sense when it’s dark and then mimic the blinking patterns you’d associate with its biological namesake.
We like his design which uses a coin cell battery holder as the chassis for the project. The ATtiny13 driving the hardware is held in place by the two power wires. This lets him flash new firmware by rotating the chip and plugging in a little adapter he build. The LED connection might look a bit peculiar to you. It has a resistor in parallel, which doesn’t satisfy the normal role of a current limiting resistor. That’s by design. [Karl] is driving the LED without any current limiting, which should be just fine with the 3V battery and short illumination time of the diode. The resistor comes into play when he uses the LED as a light sensor.
Past firefly projects included light dependent resistors
to detect light and synchronize multiple units. [Karl] is foregoing the LDR, using the LED with a resistor in parallel to combat the capacitive qualities of the diode. As we mentioned, this senses ambient light, but we’d love to see an update that also uses the LED to synchronize a set of the devices. | 38 | 14 | [
{
"comment_id": "995310",
"author": "dmitry grinberg",
"timestamp": "2013-04-19T21:40:55",
"content": "cute",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "995314",
"author": "Tron9000",
"timestamp": "2013-04-19T21:45:11",
"content": "LED’s as light... | 1,760,376,559.829627 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/04/19/replace-your-project-power-supplies-with-recycled-li-ion-cells-and-a-switching-regulator/ | Replace Your Project Power Supplies With Recycled Li-Ion Cells And A Switching Regulator | Mike Szczys | [
"Parts"
] | [
"buck converter",
"lithium ion",
"rt8289",
"switch mode"
] | [Dr. Iguana’s] experience moving from projects powered by disposable Alkaline cells and linear regulators to
recycled Lithium Ion cells using the buck regulators
seen above might serve as an inspiration to make the transition in your own projects.
The recycled cells he’s talking about are pulled out of larger battery packs.
As we’ve seen in the past
, dead battery packs for rechargeable tools, laptops, etc., are often plagued by a few bad apples. A small number of dead cells can bork the entire battery even though many perfectly usable cells remain. Once he decided to make the switch it was time to consider power regulation. He first looked at whether to use the cells in parallel or series. Parallel are easier to charge, but boosting the voltage to the desired level ends up costing more. He decided to go with cells in series, which can be regulated with the a less expensive buck converter. In this case he made a board for the RT8289 chip. The drawback of this method requires that you monitor each cell individually during charging to ensure you don’t have the same problem that killed the battery from which you pulled these good cells. | 16 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "995291",
"author": "zaprodk",
"timestamp": "2013-04-19T19:45:12",
"content": "It’s not an Out-of-balance situation that kills a Laptop battery. It’s because they are getting too hot and mistreated. Either a Laptop battery sits empty or full for long periods, and that kills it. Lithi... | 1,760,376,559.88775 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/04/19/measuring-the-lifespan-of-lego/ | Measuring The Lifespan Of LEGO | Mike Szczys | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"Toy Hacks"
] | [
"failure",
"lego",
"servo",
"wear"
] | How many times can you put two LEGO pieces together and take them apart again before they wear out? The answer is 37,112. At least that’s the number established by one test case. [Phillipe Cantin] was interested in this peculiar question so
he built the test rig above to measure a LEGO’s lifespan
.
The hacked together apparatus is pretty ingenious. It uses two servo motors for testing, each driven by the Arduino which is logging the count on an SD card. One of the two white LEGO parts has been screwed onto an arm of the upper servo. That servo presses down onto the mating piece which is sitting inside that yellow band. Look close and you’ll realize the yellow is the handle end of an IC puller. When the post on the lower servo is moved toward one arm of the puller it grips the lower LEGO piece tightly so that the upper servo can pull the two apart. In addition to the assembly and disassembly step there’s a verification step which raises the mated parts so that a reflectance sensor can verify that they’re holding together. [Phillipe] let the rig run for ten days straight before the pieces failed.
Don’t miss his video description of the project after the break.
[via
Reddit
] | 34 | 15 | [
{
"comment_id": "995197",
"author": "AleSeg",
"timestamp": "2013-04-19T13:17:35",
"content": "It’s also a big test for the servo drives. We must remember that they have gears, brushed motor, and may be a position sensor made with a potentiometer ;)",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"repli... | 1,760,376,559.96444 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/04/18/pulse-oximeter-from-lm324-led-and-photodiode/ | Pulse Oximeter From LM324, LED, And Photodiode | Mike Szczys | [
"Medical Hacks"
] | [
"lm324",
"op-amp",
"opamp",
"pulse oximeter"
] | This
pulse oximeter is so simple and cheap to build
it’s almost criminal. The most obvious way to monitor the output of the sensor is to use an oscilloscope. The poor-man’s stand-in for that is a sound card, which is what [Scott Harden] demonstrates in his write-up.
It uses
a concept we’ve seen a few times before
. The light from an LED shines through your finger and is measured on the other side by a phototransistor. It’s that light grey plastic thing you see on a patient’s finger when they’re in the hospital. [Scott] went with a common wooden clothes pin as a way to mount and align the sensor with your finger. It is monitored by the simplest of circuits which uses just one chip: an LM324 op-amp. There are three basic stages which he explains well in the video after the jump. The incoming signal is decoupled before being fed to the first amplifier stage. From there it is fed to an adjustable low-pass filter to help eliminate 60Hz noise from AC power in the room. The last stage amplifies the signal again while using another low-pass filter in parallel. | 29 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "994962",
"author": "tz2026",
"timestamp": "2013-04-18T21:19:07",
"content": "This is NOT AN OXIMETER. Oximeters use two photodiodes (one each which is sensitive to either oxygenated or deoxygenated blood). This is just the pulse part.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"... | 1,760,376,560.028714 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/04/18/living-night-light-with-glowing-algae/ | Living Night Light With Glowing Algae | Caleb Kraft | [
"3d Printer hacks",
"Featured"
] | [
"algae",
"bioluminescence",
"dinoflagellate",
"glowing",
"phosphorescence"
] | I may sound like I’m being over enthusiastic in this video. I’m not. Everyone who has seen this thinks it is simply amazing.
My father, an ex navy man, has told me stories of glowing water since I was little. Being a person who was obsessed with all things that light up, this always stuck with me. I saw a headline one day that someone was making an algae-light. Sadly when I clicked on it, the algae was just there to create oxygen. It was a cool idea, but not what I was hoping for.
That slight disappointment drove me to create a night light using glowing algae. The process could be extremely simple.
1.
Buy Algae
.
2. set up light for algae (it needs a 12 hour light cycle and putting it in a window sill would kill it due to heat). It needs bulbs labelled 6500k or higher.
3. shake algae at night (it only lights up when agitated, and when it is on its “night” cycle).
I really wanted to add more to this project though, so I decided to put the algae in a
klein bottle
and build a custom base for it that would allow me to move a BB around inside the bottle using magnets. This would in turn, hopefully, agitate the algae and make it light up.
I built the base with a DC motor in mind. I dropped it in and added power, but the spin was way too fast and the BB wouldn’t “latch” onto a magnet. I was going to build a small Hbridge to do PWM, but I didn’t have the stuff in my drawer-o-parts and didn’t want to make a trip to the store. So, I stuffed a servo in there instead. It worked, and I thought the BB going back and forth was a cool bonus. You can
download the files for the base
here.
base
optional motor base
all together
To get a nice strong light, you have to shake the algae pretty vigorously. I suspected the BB just wasn’t going to perturb them enough to really shine. As a backup, I took one of my kids toys, a “tornado machine” that was basically a water tight tube with a spinning paddle at the bottom. I was right, the tornado machine was much much brighter, but sprung a leak.
The part that is really frustrating is that I just couldn’t catch the effect on video. It seemed bright to my eyes, and a long exposure photo shows it off fairly well, but none of my cameras would get video. I’ve
seen videos
of this stuff, so I was especially annoyed.
Ultimately, I have moved it to a larger container next to my side of the bed and added some other miscellaneous algae. I tap on it and the result is like a tiny fireworks show in front of my eyes. It is so bizarre and beautiful.
Here’s a .gif I found of the effect. This isn’t my set up, but you can see what I’m talking about here. | 79 | 45 | [
{
"comment_id": "994934",
"author": "Ian Lee, Sr. (@ianlee74)",
"timestamp": "2013-04-18T20:11:00",
"content": "What a cool idea! How long will the algae live?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "994946",
"author": "Tadpole",
"tim... | 1,760,376,560.21908 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/04/18/semi-automatic-pick-and-place-machine/ | Semi-automatic Pick And Place Machine | Mike Szczys | [
"cnc hacks",
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"android",
"pick and place",
"smd",
"tablet",
"vacuum tweezers"
] | This is a fascinating take on building your own pick and place machine. It does an amazing job of automating the hardest parts of hand assembly, while relying on human dexterity to achieve the hardest parts of automation. It’s
a semiautomatic pick and place machine
driven by an Arduino and controlled by an Android tablet.
The machine is built in two parts. The portion in the upper left feeds components from reels and is fully automated. The portion on the lower right consists of a padded arm-rest which slides smoothly along two axes. A mechanical arm with multiple articulations is attached to the end, culminating in a tip connector for some vacuum tweezers. Right handers are the only ones who will find this convenient, but oh well. The clip after the break shows it in action. The assembly technician first selects the component from an icon on the Android tablet. The reel machine then dispenses that part, which is picked up by the vacuum tweezers using the left hand to switch the vacuum on and off again. If the part orientation needs to be rotated it can done using the jog wheel on the Android app. It smooth, quick, and best of all, clever! | 26 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "994926",
"author": "HomelyPoet",
"timestamp": "2013-04-18T19:20:51",
"content": "Mayhaps You meant:“http://www.youtube.com/embed/vkPkjBfZXDg”",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "994932",
"author": "Mental2k",
"timestamp": "2... | 1,760,376,560.095881 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/04/18/hidden-servo-automates-slat-style-window-blinds/ | Hidden Servo Automates Slat-style Window Blinds | Mike Szczys | [
"home hacks"
] | [
"blinds",
"home automation",
"servo"
] | [Home Awesomation] has been working on
automating his slat-style window blinds
. His focus has been on adjusting the angle of the slats, not on completely retracting the shades. Since the slat angle adjustment requires little torque a servo motor turns out to be just perfect for the job. The good news is that the existing blinds in his house have room in the top enclosure to completely hide his add-on hardware.
The image above is a screenshot from the demo which you can watch after the break. The top enclosure for the blinds is just shown at the top of the frame. Here [HA] is demonstrating a few different control designs which he has been trying out. You can see what looks like a Molex connector with some type of component attached to it. That’s an IR motion sensor and he’s really happy with its performance. He feels the same way about the black momentary push switch sticking down next to the power cable. But his DIY solution that works quite well is the pull string attached to a flexible piece of metal. When that metal bends enough to touch a stationary conductor it completes the circuit, telling the Arduino to start driving the servo.
The main idea behind the project is to poll a temperature sensor, closing the blind automatically to help keep the place cool during the day. We figure if he’s already using a microcontroller to drive the project he might as well
throw a cheap Bluetooth in module there
and make it controllable with a smart phone.
[via
Ariccio
] | 36 | 17 | [
{
"comment_id": "994861",
"author": "Blue Footed Booby",
"timestamp": "2013-04-18T13:29:56",
"content": "I like that he tied it to temperature readings rather than just time of day or whatever. I wonder how far you could take this concept. Maybe get the vertical kind of blinds that can rotate either... | 1,760,376,560.29537 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/04/28/odb-ii-hacking-using-an-android-tablet/ | ODB-II Hacking Using An Android Tablet | Mike Szczys | [
"Android Hacks",
"Transportation Hacks"
] | [
"android",
"buttons",
"dashboard",
"odb-ii",
"steering wheel",
"tablet"
] | What a strange message to read on the digital dashboard display of your car. This is proof that [Kristoffer Smith] was able to
control the ODB-II bus on his Eagle Grand Cherokee
.
He’s not just doing this for the heck of it. It stems from his goal of adding an Android tablet on the dashboard which has been
a popular hack as of late
. This left [Kristoffer] with steering wheel controls that did nothing. They originally operated the radio, so he set out to make them control the tablet.
He had seen an Arduino used to control the CAN bus, but decided to go a different route. He grabbed a USB CAN bus interface for around $25. The first order of business was to use it with his computer to sniff the data available. From there he was able to decode the traffic and figure out the commands he needed to monitor. The last piece of the puzzle was to write his own Android code to watch for and react to the steering wheel buttons. You can check out the code at
his repository
and see the demo after the break.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYj5OgHyrc0
[Thanks Mat] | 71 | 25 | [
{
"comment_id": "998820",
"author": "kgasper",
"timestamp": "2013-04-28T13:24:24",
"content": "Should be OBD-II (On-Board Diagnostics) not ODB-II.Just noticed that you tagged this article with “odb-ii”… you’ve been using that for years ;)",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
... | 1,760,376,560.452977 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/04/27/midi-out-for-a-korg-cx-3-organ/ | MIDI Out For A Korg CX-3 Organ | Mike Szczys | [
"Musical Hacks"
] | [
"attiny2313",
"korg",
"midi",
"organ"
] | [Michael] loves this old organ of his, but recently he wondered if it would be possible to
add MIDI out without altering its original functionality
. With a bit of research and more than a bit of hard work he accomplished his goal.
The nice thing about working on a quality piece of hardware like this is the resources you can find regarding how they work (which we bet is tailored for how to repair them when they break). [Michael] found a website with plenty of info on the circuit boards and how they work. From this he was able to locate a few chips which stream serial data regarding which keys have been pressed. Bingo!
Once he located the three signals he was after he built a board to translate them to the MIDI protocol. His circuit is based around an ATtiny2313. It is supported by a liner voltage regulator circuit as well as a buffer chip which converts the incoming signals to the 5V levels needed. His home etched board is clean and well mounted, and the success of the project can be heard in the clip after the jump. | 5 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "998694",
"author": "ChalkBored",
"timestamp": "2013-04-28T02:02:43",
"content": "Is he just turning the volume all the way down on the organ, or does plugging the midi jack in disable the normal output?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment... | 1,760,376,560.345913 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/04/27/video-player-built-from-stellaris-launchpad/ | Video Player Built From Stellaris Launchpad | Mike Szczys | [
"ARM",
"Video Hacks"
] | [
"stellaris",
"Stellaris Launchpad"
] | We think it’s pretty impressive to see
a Stellaris Launchpad playing back Video and Audio
at the same time with a respectable frame rate. It must be a popular time of year for these projects because we just saw
another video playback hack yesterday
. But for this project [Vinod] had a lot less horsepower to work with.
He’s using a 320×240 display which we ourselves have tried out with this board. It’s plenty fast enough to push image data in parallel, but if you’re looking for full motion video
and
audio we would have told you tough luck. [Vinod’s] math shows that it is possible with a bit of file hacking. First off, since the source file is widescreen he gets away with only writing to a 320×140 set of pixels at 25 fps. The audio is pushed at 22,400 bytes per second. This leaves him very few cycles to actually do anything between frames. So he encoded the clip as a raw file, interlacing the video and audio information so that the file can be read as a single stream. From the demo after the break it looks and sounds fantastic! | 11 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "998637",
"author": "Robert",
"timestamp": "2013-04-27T19:35:55",
"content": "the hack is very cool. couldn’t he have picked a better movie though?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "998643",
"author": "biozz",
"timestamp": ... | 1,760,376,560.503263 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/04/27/hand-placing-flash-die-to-make-usb-drives/ | Hand Placing Flash Die To Make USB Drives | Mike Szczys | [
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"factory",
"thumb drive",
"tour",
"usb"
] | It’s a stretch to call this one a hack, but USB thumb drives are around us constantly and we always assumed that the boards inside were machine populated (like with a pick and place machine). [Bunnie] tells us otherwise. He recently had the chance to
tour a factory where USB flash drives are made
.
The image above shows a worker populating a set of boards with the flash memory dies. The waffle-grid to the right holds the dies. Each is a tiny glint of a component. The worker is not in a clean room, and is using a bamboo tool to pick up the pieces. [Bunnie] explains that he’s seen the tools before but doesn’t fully comprehend how they work. He figures that the hand-cut manipulator has just the right amount of grab to pick up the die, but will also release it when it touches down on the dot of glue applied to the landing zone on the board.
If you’re into this sort of thing you should check out
the PCB factory tour
we saw a couple of years back. The article link is dead but the embedded tour video still works.
[Thanks pl] | 34 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "998588",
"author": "Segphalt",
"timestamp": "2013-04-27T16:13:01",
"content": "Bamboo = Anti Static, come on guys…",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "998591",
"author": "Miff",
"timestamp": "2013-04-27T16:14:41",
"conte... | 1,760,376,560.572952 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/04/26/old-led-marquee-turned-embedded-video-player/ | Old LED Marquee Turned Embedded Video Player | Mike Szczys | [
"LED Hacks",
"Raspberry Pi"
] | [
"carambola",
"industrial pc",
"led",
"marquee",
"matrix",
"RPi"
] | [Sprite_TM] is was sent an old LED Marquee by an anonymous fan of his hacking projects. The display isn’t full color, but it’s large — 224 by 48 pixels — and he figured he could render some okay images with the bi-color diodes. In the end,
he replaced the controller and turned it into a video player
.
The original system work well enough, but the 100 MHz 486 industrial style PC that drove the display seems a little comical these days. After giving it a spin and testing out how it drives the display [Sprite] hooked up an FTDI chip and managed to get it playing video from his computer. Above you can see part of the opening sequence of
The Simpsons
.
Now that he had learned its secrets he set out to give it an embedded controller. His first attempt was with a Carambola board which
he’s worked with before
. That proved to be a little slow for all the pixel data he was pushing so he upgraded to a Raspberry Pi and never looked back. You can see the demo video after the jump. | 12 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "998336",
"author": "dRu (@milsorgen)",
"timestamp": "2013-04-26T21:05:36",
"content": "Very cool, I recently found something very similar at my local shop so this information is as timely as it is relevant. Great stuff!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},... | 1,760,376,560.626643 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/04/26/cube-3d-printer-hack-lets-you-use-bulk-filament/ | Cube 3D Printer Hack Lets You Use Bulk Filament | Mike Szczys | [
"3d Printer hacks"
] | [
"bulk",
"cube",
"cubify",
"filament"
] | [Chris Nafis] crunched the numbers and found out he could get filament for his 3D printer in bulk for about one-fifth the cost of the cartridges the company sells. This led him to
print a feeder for his Cube 3D printer
.
We’re skeptical about
the Cube 3D
printer’s cartridges. They contain a spool of filament, but also include a chip which reports back the filament color and length remaining. We’re sure this provides some nice functionality for those looking to press a button and walk away. But we see it as an annoyance like the laser toner cartridges that stop working based on page count rather than remaining toner.
The solution [Chris] went with still uses the cartridges to ‘trick’ the machine into printing. Basically the interface will tell you that you don’t have enough filament left, but as long as there’s a cartridge in place you can tell it to print anyway. The green adapter he printed has a pass-through for the stock cartridge as well as the bulk spool you see to the left. | 202 | 50 | [
{
"comment_id": "998303",
"author": "FutureCyberdyneEngineer",
"timestamp": "2013-04-26T19:36:46",
"content": "The Cube 3D. An outrageous price-tag, locked-down functionality, overpriced model store, proprietary cartridges… All that’s missing is an Apple logo.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": ... | 1,760,376,561.055983 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/04/26/foot-powered-lathe-is-a-tour-de-force-of-joinery-techniques/ | Foot-powered Lathe Is A Tour De Force Of Joinery Techniques | Mike Szczys | [
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"joinery",
"lathe",
"wood",
"woodworking"
] | Meet [Quetico Chris]. He’s a master woodworker who likes to find his own alternatives to using power tools. Most recently, he was inspired by a fly-wheel from an old factory. He used it to
build this foot powered wood lathe
.
It works something like a foot powered sewing machine. There’s a lever for your foot which converts the downward force from your foot into a rotating force which drives the work piece. The mechanics of the lathe are pretty common, but we think the build techniques he uses are anything but. The video after the break shows each step [Chris] went through when crafting the human-power tool. His approach was to use wood as often as possible which includes foregoing modern fasteners for older joinery. He uses mortise and tenon, wood pinning, doweling, and a lot of puzzle-like tricks to get the job done.
We lack the skill and tools to replicate this kind of craftsmanship. We’re going to stick to
letting a laser cutter form our wood connections
.
[Thanks Aurel] | 48 | 32 | [
{
"comment_id": "998183",
"author": "Nathan",
"timestamp": "2013-04-26T13:46:26",
"content": "Ridiculous Talent. Huge admiration for his ability.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "998186",
"author": "andarb",
"timestamp": "2013-04-26T13:5... | 1,760,376,560.84594 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/04/13/working-3d-printed-stepper-motor/ | Working 3D Printed Stepper Motor | Mike Szczys | [
"3d Printer hacks"
] | [
"attiny85",
"Digispark",
"motor",
"stepper motor",
"uln2003"
] | Most 3D printers use stepper motors to control the movement of the extruder head. If you could actually print those motors it would be one more big step toward self-replicating hardware. Now obviously [Chris Hawkins’]
working 3d printed stepper motor
wasn’t built 100% through 3D printing, but the majority of the parts were. All that he had to add was the electronic driver pieces, magnets, wire, and a few nails.
The coils are made up of nails wrapped in magnet wire. The rotor is a 3D printed framework which accepts neodymium rare earth magnets. The axle is pointed which reduces the friction where it meets the cone-shaped support on either side of the frame. The IC on the upper right is a transistor array that facilitates switching the 20V driving the coils. The board on the lower right is
a Digispark
, which is an ATtiny85 breakout board that includes a USB edge connector for programming and a linear regulator which is how he gets away with feeding 20V as the source.
Don’t miss the demo video after the break where you can see the motor stepping 7.5 degrees at a time. | 63 | 30 | [
{
"comment_id": "993264",
"author": "roboman2444",
"timestamp": "2013-04-13T19:07:21",
"content": "Soon we will be able to contruct entirely a 3d printer with a 3d printer and some nails.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "993282",
"autho... | 1,760,376,561.213597 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/04/13/network-controlled-fireworks-launcher/ | Network-controlled Fireworks Launcher | Mike Szczys | [
"Raspberry Pi"
] | [
"battery",
"cigarette lighter",
"fireworks",
"launcher",
"relay",
"RPi"
] | [Thomas] and his friends wanted to ring in the new year by setting off some fireworks. To keep a safe distance and have a little fun they built
this network controller launcher
(
translated
).
the image on the left shows the build in its unused and pristine state. But by the end of the celebration it look a bit melted and burnt. Still, for the first revision of the system it ended up working pretty well.
We’ve seen several
remote fireworks launchers that burn up resistors to light the fuses
. But this system is much more reusable. The image on the right shows the heating elements which light the fuses. Younger readers might have no idea what they’re looking at, but every automobile used to come with at least one of these electric cigarette lighters. Just drive 12V through them and they get burning hot relatively quickly. That’s where the car battery on the base comes into play. It is connected to the lighters using some mechanical relays.
In the food container attached to the side of the launcher you’ll find a Raspberry Pi which provides the web connection for the system. [Thomas] wrote code which uses a webpage with some bomb icons as buttons. Check out the video after the break to see him demonstrate how fast one of these lighters will glow red after pressing a button on his smart phone. | 16 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "993170",
"author": "st2000",
"timestamp": "2013-04-13T13:43:41",
"content": "Really really cool. But honestly, of all the things to network! I hope the software security of this thing rivals that of a bank.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
... | 1,760,376,561.113434 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/04/12/generating-electricity-from-alcohol/ | Generating Electricity From Alcohol | Mike Szczys | [
"green hacks"
] | [
"alcohol",
"candle",
"flame",
"generator",
"peltier",
"peltier cooler",
"stove",
"thermoelectric"
] | Here’s
a thermoelectric generator
which [x2Jiggy] built. The concept uses heat from a flame, biased against cooler temperatures produced by that huge heat sink making up the top portion of the build to produce electricity via the Peltier effect.
The build is passively cooled, using a sync assembly that takes advantage of heat pipes to help increase the heat dissipation. A nearly flat heat sink makes up the mounting surface for the hot side, which faces down toward a flame driving the generator. [x2Jiggy] started the project by using a can, wick, and olive oil as the heat source. He managed to get about 2V out of the system with this method. What you see here is the second version. It swaps out the olive oil lamp for
an alcohol stove
. The cans with holes punched in them act as a wind screen while also providing a stable base. This rendition produces about 3V, but it doesn’t sound like there are any precise measurements of what it can do under load. | 50 | 24 | [
{
"comment_id": "992829",
"author": "treymd",
"timestamp": "2013-04-12T21:12:15",
"content": "Isn’t it the Seebek effect? The opposite of the Peltier effect.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "992852",
"author": "ino",
"timestamp... | 1,760,376,561.307358 |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.