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https://hackaday.com/2013/02/28/hackaday-links-february-28th-2013/ | Hackaday Links: February 28th, 2013 | Mike Szczys | [
"Hackaday links"
] | [
"die",
"helicopter",
"RPi",
"smd",
"third hand",
"windows 7",
"xbox 360"
] | Xbox 360 control for a toy heli
[Jason] leveraged the IR control libraries for Arduino to
use an Xbox 360 controller to fly his Syma S107G helicopter
.
Windows 7 running on Raspberry Pi
Why, oh god why? Well, the guys at Shackspace got their hands on a laser cutter that can only be driven with a Windows program. Their solution was to
run Win7 on RPi as a virtual machine
.
Twin-servos for your third hand
After growing tired of constantly flipping over the substrate being held with a third hand [Nidal] came up with a better way. He
mounted his third hand on two servo motors
so that it can be positioned with a joystick.
Depopulating SMD resistors
If you’ve ever tried to remove small surface mount resistors or capacitors with an iron you know it can be tricky. Take a look at the technique that [Scott] uses to
remove the components
.
Photographing the die of MSP430, Z80, PIC, and several other chips
Here’s the latest work from [Michail] on
photographing the die of various chips
. You may remember reading his previous post on
decapping chips with boiling sulfuric acid
. | 32 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "967571",
"author": "Frank",
"timestamp": "2013-03-01T02:45:47",
"content": "“Windows 7 running on Raspberry Pi”Link broken?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "967577",
"author": "Ryan",
"timestamp": "2013-03-01T02... | 1,760,376,598.184803 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/02/28/optical-data-transfer-project-at-local-schools-family-science-night/ | Optical Data Transfer Project At Local School’s Family Science Night | Mike Szczys | [
"Laser Hacks",
"Raspberry Pi"
] | [
"ASCII",
"binary code",
"data transfer",
"photosensor",
"python",
"RPi"
] | [Dave] wanted to show off a project at his 4th-grade son’s school during their family science night. We haven’t heard of an event like this before but it sounds like a fabulous idea! He had a new laser he wanted to include in the project, and noticed that his son was learning about how ASCII maps letters to binary number when the idea struck. He ended up building
an optical data transfer system that demonstrates binary code
.
This presents a fantastic learning opportunity as the project invited the school kids to select encoded strips like the ones seen above to form a secret message. The laser is pointed at a photosensor which is being read by a Raspberry Pi board. The Python code looks for a baseline and then records increases and decreases in intensity. Since the translucent tokens have either holes or black lines for 0 and 1 the baseline approach does away with the need to clock in the data. [Dave] reports that everyone who tried out the experiment was fully engaged at the prospect of pushing pieces of tape through the sensor and watching their secret message appear on a monitor.
He was motivated to write about this project after reading about
data transfer using an LCD screen and photosensor
. | 9 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "967493",
"author": "Russ",
"timestamp": "2013-03-01T00:19:29",
"content": "The kid’s in 4th grade and he’s learning to convert binary to ASCII? Maybe humanity isn’t doomed after all.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "967528",
... | 1,760,376,597.970845 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/02/28/bending-materials-with-a-simple-hot-wire-forming-tool/ | Bending Materials With A Simple Hot Wire Forming Tool | Mike Szczys | [
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"acrylic",
"bending",
"nichrome"
] | Regular reader [RoadWarrior222] has watched as we’ve featured several projects that show how to bend acrylic. But so far he hasn’t seen us cover his favorite technique developed by [Dale A. Heatherington] which uses
a hot wire forming tool to make precise bends
. The tool is simple to use plus it’s cheap and easy to build. It’s a great choice if you don’t have a heat gun, and it may be possible to make cleaner bends than
other techniques
.
The business end of the bending tool is the red-hot Nichrome wire running through the aluminum channel. That channel is used to protect the MDF and act as a spacer so that the wire doesn’t touch the acrylic. On the near side the wire is anchored with a screw, but on the far end it is kept taught by including a spring. The wire heats up as it is connected to a 12V battery, but since the heating is cause by the wire’s resistance it will only get red-hot in between the alligator clips providing power. To make sure your bends will be perpendicular to the edge of the acrylic there’s an aluminum guide strip on one side of the MDF platform.
You can salvage Nichrome wire from an old hair dryer. If you have any left over it’s great for other projects like
building a CNC hot-wire cutter
. | 14 | 11 | [
{
"comment_id": "967452",
"author": "Z00111111",
"timestamp": "2013-02-28T23:17:55",
"content": "I recently discovered a roll of about 3kg’s of nichrome wire. I’ll have to get around to making up one of these. Used a hot wire bender in high school, and it was brilliant.",
"parent_id": null,
... | 1,760,376,598.400774 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/02/28/hacking-a-ham-radio/ | Hacking A Ham Radio | Eric Evenchick | [
"Radio Hacks"
] | [
"baofeng",
"ham",
"uv5r"
] | For Christmas, [Lior] received a Baofeng UV5R radio. He didn’t have an amateur radio license, so he decided to use it as a police scanner. Since the schematics were available, he
cracked it open and hacked it
.
This $40 radio communicates on the 136-174 MHz and 400-480 MHz bands. It uses a one-time programmable microcontroller and the RDA1846 transceiver. With the power traces to the MCU cut, [Lior] was able to send his own signals to the chip over I2C using an Arduino. He also recorded the signals sent by the stock microcontroller during startup, so that he could emulate it with the Arduino.
Once communication was working on an Arduino, [Lior] decided to get rid of the stock microcontroller. He desoldered the chip, leaving exposed pads to solder wires to. Hooking these up to the Arduino gave him a programmable way to control the device. He got his radio license and implemented transmission of Morse Code, and an Arduino sketch is available in the write up.
[Lior] points out that his next step is to make a PCB to connect a different microcontroller to the device. This will give him a $40 radio that is fully programmable. After the break, check out a video of the hacked radio in action. | 47 | 21 | [
{
"comment_id": "967355",
"author": "azog",
"timestamp": "2013-02-28T20:19:51",
"content": "Excellent hack. _This_ is what hacking is all about.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "967366",
"author": "Bill Cahill",
"timestamp": "2013-02-28T2... | 1,760,376,598.350274 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/02/28/uzebox-coding-challenge/ | Uzebox Coding Challenge | Eric Evenchick | [
"contests"
] | [
"coding competition",
"game developement",
"uzebox"
] | The 2013
Uzebox Coding Challenge
is currently underway. This competition runs until June 1st, with registration open until April 1st. The
Uzebox
is an open source, 8 bit game console that uses only two chips: an ATmega644 microcontroller and a AD725 RGB to NTSC converter. We’ve featured it a few times
in the past
.
The competition rules are pretty loose: build a game or a useful piece of software that runs on the Uzebox, and fits in 61 kB. Entries will be judged on game play, originality, graphics, sound, completeness, and technical prowess. There’s prizes for the top six entries, including a few Uzeboxes and cash.
If you don’t have an Uzebox, check out the
Uzem emulator
. This lets you emulate the Uzebox hardware on Windows, Mac, or Linux. The emulator also has an internal GDB debug server to help with development. The low cost console can be built for about $30, and a number of
kits
are
available
.
Thanks to [Ben] for sending this in. | 9 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "967353",
"author": "Elias",
"timestamp": "2013-02-28T20:14:04",
"content": "The actual kit rather seems to be $60. The $30 kit is just the baseboard.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "967405",
"author": "MMI",
"timestamp":... | 1,760,376,598.620738 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/02/28/adding-a-home-theater-without-ruining-a-victorian-home/ | Adding A Home Theater Without Ruining A Victorian Home | Mike Szczys | [
"home entertainment hacks"
] | [
"projection screen",
"victorian"
] | We understand where [John Clarke Mills] is coming from when he says he wants a home theater but not at the expense of dedicating a room to it. His situation is a bit more sticky than most folks in that he has a beautifully kept Victorian era home. Recently he was removing a renovation from ages past that didn’t fit with the style and it gave him the opportunity to
build in this hidden projector screen
.
Years ago someone walled in this opening and added french doors. After opening up the wall [John] sized up the situation and decided he had just enough room to build a soffit which could hide a rolled up projection surface. He purchased a motorized screen (we’ve seen a few
diy projection screens
but can’t remember one that rolls up) and built a slot into the design just large enough for the screen to pass through. He’s testing it out in the clip after the break before doing the plaster work.
The columns on either side are his additions as well. The floor of the house is unlevel and one of those columns ended up a full inch longer than the other. We certainly can’t tell.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/johnclarkemills/6020217842/ | 15 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "967222",
"author": "Fritoeata",
"timestamp": "2013-02-28T16:04:16",
"content": "Very clever use of space!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "967243",
"author": "Hirudinea",
"timestamp": "2013-02-28T16:37:34",
"content":... | 1,760,376,598.074666 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/02/28/lcd-based-qr-clock/ | LCD-based QR Clock | Mike Szczys | [
"clock hacks"
] | [
"dcf77",
"lcd",
"pic32",
"plasma",
"QR clock",
"qr code"
] | Here’s a new take on
the QR clock concept that uses an LCD display
. The concept comes from the work [ch00f] put into his two versions of
a QR clock
(both of which used LED arrays). The time of day is encoded using the Quick Response Code standard. This version generates a new code each second which encapsulates date, hour, minute, and second information. If you look at the image on the left you’ll notice the code is not centered. Take a look at the video after the break and you’ll see that’s because it’s bouncing around the LCD like a screensaver. Watch a little longer and you’ll see the psychedelic effects shown in the image on the right.
A PIC32 is driving the display. It’s connected to a DCF77 radio module which feeds the system atomic clock data. The color plasma effects are used to show when the device has locked onto the radio signal. | 11 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "967184",
"author": "lejupp",
"timestamp": "2013-02-28T14:52:55",
"content": "What’s the point of a clock that needs another device to read it? And that other device usually has a clock of it’s own. Everybody loves a good hack, but a QR clock? Really?",
"parent_id": null,
"de... | 1,760,376,598.115596 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/02/28/3d-printed-hog-drive/ | 3D Printed HOG Drive | Mike Szczys | [
"3d Printer hacks",
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"gimbal",
"hemispherical omnidirectional gimbaled wheel",
"hog drive"
] | Here’s
a 3D printed Hemispherical Omnidirectional Gimballed Drive
system which
you can make at home
. That’s a mouthful which is why it is commonly referred to as a HOG drive. Never heard of one? Well you need to keep up with your Hackaday because about 20 months ago we featured
this amazing robot project
that uses one. The design is a tricycle orientation with the HOG drive as the only powered ‘wheel’. But it’s not really a wheel, it’s a half-sphere (a hemisphere which is not pictured above but attaches to the motor spindle) which can provide thrust in any direction depending on which way the motor is spinning a how the gimbal bracket is oriented.
Unfortunately [Dan] isn’t showing off a vehicle that is powered by the device just yet. But from what we’ve seen in the demo after the jump it is fully functional. His target project for the system is a line-following robot which we hope to post as a follow-up when he reaches that goal. | 22 | 13 | [
{
"comment_id": "967151",
"author": "RoadWarrior222",
"timestamp": "2013-02-28T13:53:34",
"content": "Ah, looks better in the vid, the pic made it look like it was gonna bind up, the actuator arms interfering.Seems like it could do with a lower speed, higher torque motor to me though.",
"parent_... | 1,760,376,598.576774 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/02/27/add-some-animated-bling-to-your-gq-duds/ | Add Some Animated Bling To Your GQ Duds | Mike Szczys | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"Wearable Hacks"
] | [
"FLORA",
"led",
"rgb",
"tie",
"VU meter"
] | This
tie turned VU meter
has us asking: Will anyone be able to look you in the eye during a conversation? It uses an integrated microphone and microcontroller to make a single-column display made of RGB LEDs move to ambient sound.
It shouldn’t be hard to guess that this project is another build from [Becky Stern]. She’s been on fire lately, offering up
glowing football helmets
and
a turn-signal backpack
. This uses the same family of components as the latter. A Flora board brings an Arduino to the party. It drives sixteen RGB LED pixels which are addressed using a 1-wire protocol. Sound is measured through a microphone and amplifier breakout board.
Since the hardware gets in the way of a full-windsor, the tie used for the project is a breakaway version which uses velcro. But because you need the needle and (conductive) thread to sew on the components it wouldn’t be hard to alter any tie to perform like this.
Don’t miss the high-quality video tutorial which we’ve embedded after the break. | 7 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "966895",
"author": "Miles Simon Cave",
"timestamp": "2013-02-28T02:47:08",
"content": "Heh, I’ve been thinking about making something like this, but one on each sleve for stereo audio. Looks quite nice in the end, but I believe that that lipo needs some physical protection!",
"p... | 1,760,376,598.0208 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/02/27/acrylic-enclosures-use-integrated-clips-to-do-away-with-fasteners/ | Acrylic Enclosures Use Integrated Clips To Do Away With Fasteners | Mike Szczys | [
"cnc hacks"
] | [
"acrylic",
"box",
"enclosure",
"laser cutter",
"strength"
] | Here’s a design that lets you
make acrylic enclosures without using fasteners
. The red outline in the diagram above is a bit hard to make out. But look closely and you’ll realize that there is very little material which has been removed to form the clip. This uses the rigidity/flexibility of the material to form a spring that will hold a couple of pieces tightly together.
In
a links post last year
we looked at [Patrick Fenner’s] fantastic analysis of the strength of using kerf-bending to form several sides of a case out of one piece of material. He’s used that same analytic expertise to take a look into this design. He even suggests that making the cut on the hook-side a bit deeper will help improve the resilience of the part. If you have a laser cutter on hand and want to give this a try
he’s posted the plans on Thingiverse
. | 37 | 15 | [
{
"comment_id": "966818",
"author": "Gert",
"timestamp": "2013-02-28T00:05:17",
"content": "Dangit! I was just visiting a friendly laser cutter last weekend. Would have loved to try this.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "966822",
"author": "D... | 1,760,376,598.263398 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/02/27/interpreting-brainfk-on-an-avr/ | Interpreting Brainf*#k On An AVR | Brian Benchoff | [
"Software Development",
"Software Hacks"
] | [
"AVR",
"brainfuck",
"brainfuck interpreter",
"interpreter"
] | We won’t call it useless, but we will ask why [Dan]
wrote a brainfuck interpreter for the AVR
It’s not generating code for the AVR; think of it more as a bootloader. To run a brainfuck program, [Dan] uploads it to the EEPROM inside his ATMega32, after which the microcontroller takes over and starts performing whatever instruction the brainfuck program tells it to do. Because the whole thing runs off the EEPROM, the code size is limited to 1022 bytes. Enough for any brainfuck program written by a human, we think.
As for why [Dan] would want an AVR to build an interpreter for a language that is nearly unreadable by humans, we honestly have no idea other than the common, ‘because it’s there’ sentiment. There are some pretty cool projects out there that use brainfuck, including
this genetic algorithm software developer
. Right now, though, blinkey LEDs are enough to keep us happy, so you can see a video of brainfuck doing its thing on a LED bar display after the break.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9p9-3T_TnI&w=580] | 12 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "966772",
"author": "Gizmos",
"timestamp": "2013-02-27T22:04:00",
"content": "Could make a Brainf*#kduino.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "966803",
"author": "Zmaster",
"timestamp": "2013-02-27T23:28:28",
... | 1,760,376,598.667802 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/02/27/hacking-a-radio-controlled-spy-device-for-overly-attached-girlfriend/ | Hacking A Radio Controlled Spy Device For Overly Attached Girlfriend. | Caleb Kraft | [
"Featured",
"Security Hacks",
"Toy Hacks"
] | [
"car",
"overly attached girlfriend",
"radio controlled",
"spy"
] | This is the first in our series of videos meant to spread the hacking goodness far and wide on the net. As you can see, it is a pretty silly video, hopefully you enjoyed the humor. This wouldn’t be hackaday without an appropriate writeup though!
Initially the idea was to make this as a device that my boss could deploy from his Tesla Model S. Ultimately, we missed the release of SkyFall, so the whole 007 theme seemed a little flat. However, we did just happen to have a wonderful woman in the office that agreed to be an “overly attached girlfriend”. Here’s a
link to the meme
for those who are unfamiliar. Even though we made her look like a crazy person, she was a great sport about it (Thanks [Stephanie]!).
The Goal was to have a radio controlled device that would send live video and audio to someone and had the ability to plant a small GPS tracker on the undercarriage of a car.
My first thought was simply to pick up a
spy Trakr
since it already handles the audio/video portion and has a documented interface for adding your own attachments. Before I bought this, I did what I usually do when I need cheap radio controlled stuff, I went to Toys R Us. While I was there, I saw the Intruder.
This seemed like it could be much faster than the similarly priced Trakr and touted some of the same features. It would connect to your cell phone and allow you to drive it, switch between night vision and regular mode, turn the headlights on and off, and hear what its microphone picked up. I immediately liked the feature of turning on/off the headlights as this would give me a channel I could devote to an external device without any modification.
When I got it out of the box and played with it for a while I was pretty let down by the “car” part. It sent live video just as it promised but the car itself was sluggish and horrible to steer. This is mainly because it uses a goofy system for its drive train. The front wheels are fake. They’re completely smooth and have no function in turning. All driving and turning is done by the rear wheels, acting like treads on a tank. This was going to be the slowest spy car ever if I didn’t take another route.
Here are some pictures of the guts
camera board
camera board underside
camera
rear weight, stupid heavy.
battery
I ultimately decided I would get a very fast and small radio controlled car to use as a platform, and I would use the guts of the Intruder as the spy portion. This worked very well. Then, I took a trip to one of the nicer hobby stores in town,
Hobby Town
. I explained my project and the guy there was excited to help me find something that could work. I really needed something fast and strong, but really short. At the point I was buying this, I was still planning on putting this underneath the tesla roadster and had to consider ground clearance. I found the Losi 1/24 scale micro truck, which was small, had 4 wheel drive, and independent suspension. No modifications were necessary to this. I simply made the spy part capable of snapping on where the stock body would attach.
To create the spy portion I started with a sheet of plexiglass and laid out the internals of the intruder in a neat and orderly fashion. I now needed to add my gps delivering arm. To make this happen, I used a Teensy attached to a standard servo. The teensy would watch for the headlights to turn off. When they did, it would rotate the servo 90 degrees. When the lights turned back on, the arm would drop. Simple as can be.
I’d like to take a second to talk about the
teensy
. It was pretty awesome. Small enough to not add much weight and still hand standard pin spacing and on board USB. The fact that it can be seen by a computer as an HID device is something that will be quite useful in the future. Unfortunately, I left mine in the office in California, so I’ll just order another for the next project. It is hard to beat at $19.
parts, not attached yet
front heavy
temporarily in place with twisty ties
The arm was constructed from scrap I had lying around. There is a light PCB from a cheapo piano, a slot cover from a computer case, and a magnet. The fake GPS (yeah, there was no need to buy a real one for 3 seconds in a video), is just a battery holder with some magnets on it. When it is lifted, the strong magnets on top stick to the frame of the automobile. They are stronger than the magnet that holds it to the arm, so when the arm is lowered, the tracker stays on the new location.
Here’s the sample video I sent to my director [Jay] so he could plan before we shot the video:
Ultimately, it was a success. I ran into some strange issues during filming where it would completely stop responding. I’m not sure if it was a distance issue, or crosstalk between it and something else. We ultimately made it work though. The only problem we had was when we told [Stephanie] to drive it right into the camera, she did exactly that and knocked the little pins off that hold the top to the bottom. A zip tie fixed it and we were ready to continue.
If you would like to follow along and possibly help with future video projects, you can by subscribing to the email list in the right column, or by watching our forums.
I’ve posted
a few that
I’m working
on
right now
! | 47 | 19 | [
{
"comment_id": "966651",
"author": "Sheldon",
"timestamp": "2013-02-27T19:04:36",
"content": "I’ve not the read the entire article but if the openning video is anything to go by, I take my hat off to you (but while keeping my face obscured incase the GF is watching). Loved the video even with the s... | 1,760,376,599.050155 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/02/27/making-a-violin-mold-with-a-3d-printer/ | Making A Violin Mold With A 3D Printer | Brian Benchoff | [
"3d Printer hacks"
] | [
"3d printer",
"mold making",
"violin"
] | Some people see 3D printers as expensive and slow devices for replicating bracelets, whistles, and Yoda heads. Until the world transitions to a plastic octopus-based economy, those of us with 3D printers will have to find something useful for these tools. Bayesian Empiritheurgy out of Halifax, Nova Scotia wanted to do something useful with their 3D printer for the large-scale, distributed hackerspace competition, The Deconstruction. They ended up using their printer to make molds
for a paper mache violin
, and ended up being fairly successful at it.
The basic idea behind their paper mache violin was to create a plastic mold for exactly half a violin body. This block was covered in newspaper drenched in wheat paste. Once the paste was dry, the violin half was pulled off the mold and another half was created. These were stitched and glued together, resulting in a violin body.
The bridge, tailpiece, tuners, and fingerboard were 3D pprinted and held together with epoxy. The epoxy flexed a lot, so every time a string was tuned it threw out the tuning of the other three strings. In the video after the break, you can check out the paper mache and plastic violin being played. It’s not much for the eyes or ears, but everyone had fun, and the team completed the proof of concept for a fiberglass or carbon fiber violin we’d suggest they try next.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhEl0Hbzuds&w=580] | 27 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "966499",
"author": "RoadWarrior222",
"timestamp": "2013-02-27T16:14:00",
"content": "It amuses me a little that the material of choice was papier mache after the mold was 3d printed…Though when it comes to molds, for layup of papier mache, fiberglass, carbon fiber etc, and economica... | 1,760,376,599.112862 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/02/27/the-coolest-homebrew-computer-gets-its-own-case/ | The Coolest Homebrew Computer Gets Its Own Case | Brian Benchoff | [
"classic hacks",
"computer hacks"
] | [
"68008",
"68k",
"homebrew",
"homebrew computer"
] | When you’re building one of the best homebrew computers ever created,
you’ll also want a great case for it
. This was [Simon]’s task when he went about building an enclosure for his Kiwi microcomputer.
We
were introduced to the Kiwi
last year as the end result of [Simon] designing the ultimate computer from the early to mid-1980s. Inside is a 68008 CPU, similar to the processor found in early Macs and Amigas, two SID chips taken from a Commodore 64, Ethernet, support for IDE hard drives and floppy disks, and a video display processor capable of delivering VGA resolution video at 32-bit color depth. Basically, if this computer existed in 1982, it would either be hideously expensive or extraordinarily popular. Probably both, now that I think about it.
The case for the Kiwi was carefully cut from ABS sheets, glued together with acetone, and painted with auto body paint by a friend. It’s a great piece of work, but the effort may be for naught; [Simon] is reworking the design of his Kiwi computer, and hopefully he’ll be spinning a few extra boards for everyone else that wants a piece of the Kiwi. | 26 | 15 | [
{
"comment_id": "966470",
"author": "Ren",
"timestamp": "2013-02-27T15:43:33",
"content": "It reminds me of a Smith Corona electric typewriter…",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "966475",
"author": "sbrk",
"timestamp": "2013-02-27T15:51:10"... | 1,760,376,598.815745 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/02/27/nsl-takes-their-propeller-driven-car-to-the-drive-through/ | NSL Takes Their Propeller Driven Car To The Drive Through | Mike Szczys | [
"Transportation Hacks"
] | [
"north street labs",
"propeller",
"thedeconstruction",
"tricycle"
] | So what’s the first thing you do after
completing your propeller driven land tricycle build
? Head on over to the Starbucks drive through and see what kind of response you get from the workers. That’s exactly what the guys from North Street Labs did. You can see the response in the clip after the jump.
Having three wheels and being moved by an electric motor with a propeller led to the name TriFly. The build is their entry in
The Deconstruction
, a build contest which includes other entries like
the Beer pouring machine
we featured on Monday. Aside from the fun with the final project, NSL’s well-produced video includes a quick trip through the fabrication process. They did a great job making the machine about 40% street legal and it’s obvious they had a blast while doing so. | 103 | 33 | [
{
"comment_id": "966343",
"author": "T",
"timestamp": "2013-02-27T12:13:39",
"content": "Maybe these propellerheads can add a little cage around the propeller?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "966347",
"author": "Protolamer",
"t... | 1,760,376,598.951555 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/02/26/mac-efi-pin-lock-brute-force-attack-unsuccessful/ | Mac EFI PIN Lock Brute Force Attack (unsuccessful) | Mike Szczys | [
"Mac Hacks",
"Security Hacks"
] | [
"brute force",
"efi",
"macbook",
"pin",
"Teensy"
] | [Oliver] wiped the hard drive from a Macbook Pro using the ‘dd’ command on another machine. This does a great job of getting everything off the drive, but he was still faced with the EFI PIN lock protection when he tried to put it back into the Mac. You used to be able to clear the NVRAM to get around this issue, but that exploit has now been patched. So [Oliver] set out to
use a microcontroller to brute-force the EFI PIN
.
You can read his back story at the link above. He had the chance to enter a 4-digit pin before the format process. Now that he’s wiped the drive the code is at least 6 characters long, which is a lot more possibilities (at least it’s numeric characters only!). To automate the process he programmed this Teensy board to try every possible combination. It worked great on a text editor but sometimes the characters, or the enter command wouldn’t register. He guesses this was some type of protection against automated attackers. To get around the issue he added different delays between the key presses, and between entering each code. This fixed the issue, as you can see in the clip after the break. Unfortunately after two 48-hour runs that tried every code he still hasn’t gained access! | 82 | 22 | [
{
"comment_id": "966132",
"author": "efter the fyhn. get 'im kijer. everynew'x wints awesre.",
"timestamp": "2013-02-27T04:16:16",
"content": "there’s probably some reason why it won’t work.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "966134",
"au... | 1,760,376,599.389337 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/02/26/simple-to-build-programmable-foot-switches/ | Simple To Build Programmable Foot Switches | Mike Szczys | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"Peripherals Hacks"
] | [
"foot",
"leonardo",
"pedal",
"programmable",
"switch"
] | Your hands do a lot of work between the keyboard and the mouse, why the heck are you letting your feet be so lazy? [Dossier van D.] is putting an end to the podiatric sloth.
He built this set of three foot pedals
which have gone through two versions of functionality.
The buttons themselves are made from a base plate of plywood with a smaller piece on top for each ‘key’. The two parts are separated with some foam carpet pad, with a tactile push button in between to register a click. The only thing we’d change about this is adding a couple of wooden spacers next to the switch so that accidentally sanding on a button doesn’t break that electronic component.
Originally each button was soldered to a gaming controller. This worked just fine using button mapping, but recently [Dossier] made the switch to using an Arduino Leonardo. This is a perfect choice. Unlike
input devices made with older Arduino versions
the Leonardo board can natively register as a keyboard, making it a snap to programmatically map any key to the switches.
If you like this project you should check out [Dossier’s]
foot mouse
as well. | 19 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "966101",
"author": "Gizmos",
"timestamp": "2013-02-27T02:12:24",
"content": "Sanding on the button could be avoided if it isn’t made of wood…",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "966105",
"author": "Andrew Robinson",
... | 1,760,376,599.279896 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/02/26/smashed-tablet-in-nes-case-lives-out-its-days-as-an-emulator/ | Smashed Tablet In NES Case Lives Out Its Days As An Emulator | Mike Szczys | [
"Tablet Hacks"
] | [
"broken",
"cracked",
"emulator",
"nes",
"screen",
"smashed",
"tablet"
] | The creator of this project started off with a 7″ tablet he received from a coworker. The screen was horribly smashed from one corner spreading out through the entire surface. But the hardware inside still worked, including the HDMI out port. He ended up
transplanting the tablet hardware for use as an emulator
.
After a bit of sizing up it was determined that the tablet hardware would fit inside the case of a broken NES. The battery would have been a tough fit, but this thing is always going to need to be connected to a television so there’s no need to work without mains power. The back plate was cut down to size and used as a try for mounting the motherboard in the case. Before that step he wired up a USB hub and mounted it so that two ports could be accessed through the original controller port openings.
There’s no details on the software used, but the final image in the gallery shows a game of Starfox being played.
[Thanks Cody] | 25 | 15 | [
{
"comment_id": "966077",
"author": "Mathew Brunning (@CakeWafflez)",
"timestamp": "2013-02-27T00:46:02",
"content": "Re posting reddit now…",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "966127",
"author": "Not a reddit fan",
"timestamp": "2... | 1,760,376,599.683258 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/02/26/python-frontend-is-a-gui-for-different-microcontrollers/ | Python Frontend Is A GUI For Different Microcontrollers | Mike Szczys | [
"Arduino Hacks"
] | [
"gui",
"mbed",
"python"
] | [Navin] has been hard at work producing
a GUI which works with different micocontrollers
. The idea is to make it even easier to develop projects by simplifying the feedback and control you can get from the prototyping hardware. The best part about it is that he designed the software to interface with any hardware which can be programmed in C++.
The screenshot above shows the program communicating with an mbed board which has an ARM microcontroller. But the Arduino board (which uses an ATmega chip) is supported as well. Support for additional architectures can be added by writing your own configuration file for the chip. The Python program then asks for the com port it should be using for this session.
The source package, including the code which runs on the microcontrollers, can be found at
the project repository
. The functions used in the sketches are quite simple and should be a snap to drop into your own code projects. | 4 | 2 | [
{
"comment_id": "966041",
"author": "pff",
"timestamp": "2013-02-26T22:33:14",
"content": "Spport for additional platforms not already covered requires a litle more than a config file, you would need to write a class that inherits the controller class to interface with the hardware api.but if your g... | 1,760,376,599.224635 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/02/26/a-respectable-electronics-bench-thats-not-a-pain-to-move/ | A Respectable Electronics Bench That’s Not A Pain To Move | Mike Szczys | [
"home hacks"
] | [
"aluminum",
"modular",
"rail",
"workbench"
] | Apartment dwellers who are living the nomadic lifestyle take note. You don’t need to live your tinkering lifestyle out of a toolbox. Here is a great example of
a respectable electronics bench which breaks down when it’s time to move
(
translated
). We’re sure you already belong to your local hackerspace for the big projects, but this corner office will let you take some of your creations home for continued tweaking.
The bench uses slotted aluminum rails as the support structure. The slots accept small nuts, which have a spring-loaded ball bearing to keep them from sliding freely ([Nerick] mentions this is especially nice for working with the vertical runs). These fasteners ended up being the most costly component. The desktop itself is the largest solid piece. It was machined using a CNC mill (we already mentioned having a hackerspace membership) so that the mounting screws are countersunk to leave a perfectly flat surface. It’s clean, has a small footprint, and gives you a place to dump all of your gear. What else could you ask for? | 33 | 12 | [
{
"comment_id": "965990",
"author": "Ren",
"timestamp": "2013-02-26T20:30:52",
"content": "What more could I ask for?ESD surface",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "966067",
"author": "Rob",
"timestamp": "2013-02-26T23:54:31",
... | 1,760,376,599.461892 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/02/26/massively-parallel-cpu-processes-256-shades-of-gray/ | Massively Parallel CPU Processes 256 Shades Of Gray | Brian Benchoff | [
"hardware"
] | [
"computer architecture",
"image processing",
"parallel processing",
"SIMD"
] | The 1980s were a heyday for strange computer architectures; instead of the von Neumann architecture you’d find in one of today’s desktop computers or the Harvard architecture of a microcontroller, a lot of companies experimented with strange parallel designs. While not used much today, at the time these were some of the most powerful computers of their day and were used as the main research tools of the AI renaissance of the 1980s.
Over at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology a huge group of students (13 members!) designed a modern take on the massively parallel computer. It’s called
256 Shades of Gray
, and it processes 320×240 pixel 8-bit grayscale graphics like no microcontroller could.
The idea for the project was to create an array-based parallel image processor with an architecture similar to the
Goodyear MPP
formerly used by NASA or the
Connection Machine
found in the control room of Jurassic Park. Unlike these earlier computers, the team implemented their array processor in an FPGA, giving rise to their
Lena processor
this processor is in turn controlled by a 32-bit AVR microcontroller with a custom-build VGA output.
The entire machine can process 10 frames per second of 320×240 resolution grayscale video. There’s a
presentation video available
(in Norwegian), but the highlight might be
their demo of The Game of Life
rendered in real-time on their computer. An awesome build, and a very cool experience for all the members of the class. | 22 | 13 | [
{
"comment_id": "965941",
"author": "Justin",
"timestamp": "2013-02-26T18:09:51",
"content": "von Neumann",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "965946",
"author": "zaprodk",
"timestamp": "2013-02-26T18:20:55",
"content": "Von Newmann?!",
... | 1,760,376,599.522133 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/02/26/taking-the-pain-out-of-making-custom-eagle-parts/ | Taking The Pain Out Of Making Custom Eagle Parts | Brian Benchoff | [
"cnc hacks",
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"cadsoft eagle",
"eagle"
] | Cadsoft’s Eagle is a great tool for the independent maker. It’s a relatively easy to use PCB layout program with a ton of part libraries available for just about any project. If you’re using a part this isn’t included in these libraries, though, creating them by hand is a pain. [Dave] sent in a project he’s been working on that
makes parts for Eagle with a Perl script
, allowing for easy creation of custom parts that aren’t included in any library.
One thing that’s really convenient for custom Eagle parts is that most components are DIPs or some sort of leaded SMD component. [Dave]’s script takes the dimensional data from any chip’s datasheet and creates a custom outline for each part. The inputs and outputs can also be ripped directly from the datasheet and assigned to the footprint, making for a relatively automated process that creates custom parts in Eagle. Now for someone to use this script with a little OCR to make a ‘create Eagle part from PDF’ app… | 19 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "965896",
"author": "94b",
"timestamp": "2013-02-26T16:09:24",
"content": "why don’t we start a database of ic-footprints and pin-names that is not bound to a application.you can define your parts with a little gui in your browser, or by a ini-style like syntax. you can fork existing... | 1,760,376,599.747603 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/02/26/giving-3d-printed-parts-a-shiny-smooth-finish/ | Giving 3D Printed Parts A Shiny Smooth Finish | Brian Benchoff | [
"3d Printer hacks"
] | [
"3d printer",
"abs",
"acetone"
] | No matter how good a 3D printer gets, you’re always going to have visible print layers. Even with very high-quality prints with sub-0.1mm layer height, getting a shiny and smooth finish of injection molded plastic is nearly impossible. That is, of course, until you do some post-print finishing. [Neil Underwood] and [Austin Wilson] figured out a really easy way
to smooth out even the jankiest prints
using parts you probably already have lying around.
The technique relies on the fact that ABS plastic and acetone don’t get along together very well. We’ve seen acetone used to smooth out 3D printed objects before – either by dunking the parts in an acetone bath or brushing the solvent on – but these processes had mixed results. [Neil] and [Austin] had the idea of using acetone
vapor
, created in a glass jar placed on top of a heated build plate,
The process is pretty simple. Get a large glass jar, put it on a heated build plate, add a tablespoon of acetone, and crank the heat up to 110C. Acetone vapor will form in the jar and react with any printed part smoothing out those layers. The pic above shows from right to left a 3D printed squirrel at 0.35 mm layer height, 0.1 mm layer height – the gold standard of high-end repraps – and another print with 0.35 layer height that was run through a vapor bath for a few minutes. Amazing quality there, and cheap and easy enough for any 3D printer setup.
You can check out the tutorial video after the break along with a video showing exactly how dangerous this is (it’s not, unless you do something very, very dumb).
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xj53P2YzYGM&w=580]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJWhfpWlGFg&w=580] | 142 | 49 | [
{
"comment_id": "965851",
"author": "Rob",
"timestamp": "2013-02-26T14:10:57",
"content": "That is a really neat trick. I would like to see it on thin detailed work though, something like the Eiffel tower. Would it bend before smoothing?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
... | 1,760,376,600.046371 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/02/26/hacking-the-international-space-station-with-a-toothbrush/ | Hacking The International Space Station With A Toothbrush | Mike Szczys | [
"Repair Hacks"
] | [
"iss",
"nasa",
"solar",
"toothbrush"
] | [Douglas Adams] will tell you not to forget your towel when it comes to space travel. But NASA may start mandating that astronauts always carry a toothbrush. That’s because when a recent repair on a critical International Space Station component went wrong
it was a toothbrush hack that saved the day
.
The culprit here is a bolt that wouldn’t re-seat after replacing a power transfer module that routes electricity from solar cells to the station’s electrical systems. About how many times have you had trouble with bolt threads? Now put yourself in a space suit in orbit for eight hours trying to get the thing to work. Yikes!
Just like in the movies there was a team of engineers at the ground center which gathered all the supplies available in the ISS. They figured out that metal shavings in the threaded hole needed to be cleaned out and the area lubed for the bolt. One of the two types of tooth brushes on hand would work for the lube, but needed to be stiffened. There was also a brush for cleaning the threads which was made out of a jumper cable. The images seen above are the step-by-step instructions the team uploaded to the astronauts who reproduced their hacked hardware to complete the repairs.
[Thanks G Mob] | 39 | 15 | [
{
"comment_id": "965807",
"author": "Chris",
"timestamp": "2013-02-26T12:10:51",
"content": "Now someone does not have a toothbrush in the space station. Bears breath!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "965808",
"author": "medix",
... | 1,760,376,599.871292 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/02/25/automatic-beer-pourer-was-hacked-together-from-a-bit-of-everything/ | Automatic Beer Pourer Was Hacked Together From A Bit Of Everything | Mike Szczys | [
"Beer Hacks"
] | [
"beer",
"conveyor belt",
"party"
] | This thing is really remarkable. It’s
a beer draft system that automatically fills and distributes
to your party guests. The approach is something of an industrial revolution for parties. A hopper feeds cups to the tap; once filled they are whisked off to thirsty guests using a conveyor belt system.
Many of the parts come from a washing machine that the team scrapped for the build — most notably the motor which drives the belt. But pretty much every part of it is salvaged. For instance, the conveyor belt that transports the full glasses was made from gluing sections of bicycle inner tubes together. To help ease the transfer of a cup from the filling station onto that belt a series of very long cable ties were attached to a pole. The tails from those ties act as a brush to stabilize the cup as an arm pushes it onto the conveyor. The best way to see all of this is to watch the entire clip embedded after the jump. | 10 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "965688",
"author": "MrX",
"timestamp": "2013-02-26T04:48:16",
"content": "I love his accent! Very funny contraption, specially the beer recuperation system. :D",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "965830",
"author": "Teh",
... | 1,760,376,599.79534 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/02/25/laser-kaleidoscope-uses-more-3d-printing-and-less-scavenging/ | Laser Kaleidoscope Uses More 3D Printing And Less Scavenging | Mike Szczys | [
"3d Printer hacks",
"Laser Hacks"
] | [
"kaleidoscope",
"mirror",
"motor",
"spirograph"
] | At first we thought that [Pete Prodoehl] was using the wrong term when calling his project
a Laser Kaleidoscope
. We usually think of a kaleidoscope as a long tube with three mirrors and some beads or glass shards in one end. But we looked it up and there’s a second definition that means a constantly changing pattern. This fits the bill. Just like
the laser Spirograph from last week
, it makes fancy patterns using spinning mirrors. But [Pete] went with several 3D printed parts rather than repurposing PC fans.
In the foreground you can see the potentiometers which adjust the motor speeds. The knobs for these were all 3D printed. He also printed the mounting brackets for the three motors and the laser diode. A third set of printed parts makes mounting the round mirrors on the motor shaft quite easy. All of this came together with very tight tolerances as shown by the advanced shapes he manages to produce in the video after the break. | 6 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "965771",
"author": "Pun",
"timestamp": "2013-02-26T08:59:08",
"content": "I love the simplicity of this project, and the lack of any microcontrollers or digital circuitry. All it needs now is someone to clean up the rat’s nest of wires. :)",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
... | 1,760,376,600.096443 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/02/25/critter-cam-hacked-from-an-old-cellphone/ | Critter Cam Hacked From An Old Cellphone. | Mike Szczys | [
"Arduino Hacks"
] | [
"camera",
"cellphone",
"pictures",
"touchscreen",
"wildlife"
] | [Art Barrios] kept having night-time visitors who were raiding his dog’s food storage bin. It’s a plastic tub with a lid that latches but the critters were knocking it over and popping that lid off. He wanted to find out which animal was the culprit so he hacked together
an automatic camera system using an old cellphone
.
You can see the majority of the hardware he used in the image above. There’s an Arduino on the left. This monitors a switch which he added to the lid of the food storage container. It triggers the system when opened, switching on an LED light and snapping pictures.
The touchscreen button is used to trigger the shutter. That’s what all of that tin foil is about. Some experiments led [Art] to realize that a metal ‘finger’ could register on the screen if there was enough foil attached. To move the metal bracket he uses a solenoid. The last problem he faced was keeping the cellphone screen awake. He figured out that power cycling the charger does the trick. The Arduino manages this using a mains-rated relay.
The system successfully captured images of a family of raccoons feasting on the tasty morsels. | 22 | 15 | [
{
"comment_id": "965579",
"author": "shavenwarthog",
"timestamp": "2013-02-26T00:13:14",
"content": "cool! Another way to do this with only the Android is to monitor the proximity sensor.http://thecodeartist.blogspot.com/2011/01/proximity-sensor-on-android-gingerbread.html",
"parent_id": null,... | 1,760,376,600.162884 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/02/25/veronica-6502-computer-reaches-hello-world-stage/ | Veronica 6502 Computer Reaches Hello World Stage | Mike Szczys | [
"computer hacks"
] | [
"6502",
"AVR",
"fifo",
"idt7200l",
"interrupts",
"veronica",
"vga"
] | The screenshot on the right shows [Quinn Dunki’s]
computer project displaying a Hello World program
. Well, it’s only showing the word Hello right now, but the concept is the same. This proves that native 6502 code is running on the processor and reliably outputting data through its VGA hardware. That’s a welcome achievement after watching so much work go into this project.
But with anything this complex you can’t expect to make progress without finding bugs. And this step in the journey had a pretty big one in store for [Quinn]. After writing the assembly code and loading it into the machine she was dismayed to find that there were dropped characters all over the place. Now she shows a screenshot and says it’s easily recognizable as a race condition — proving she has a bigger brain than us.
The problem is a pair of uninterruptible processes running on the same AVR chip (part of
the GPU she built
). They are fighting with each other for control of the processor cycles and she fixed it by making the daughter board seen in the image above. It moves one of the time-critical processes out of that single AVR chip to fix the issue by using an IDT7200L FIFO SRAM chip. | 13 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "965534",
"author": "Gizmos",
"timestamp": "2013-02-25T22:14:34",
"content": "I have a fondness for retrocomputing and have been following this effort. It is great to see it continuing.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "965848",
... | 1,760,376,600.218172 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/02/25/using-a-flashing-lcd-monitor-to-transfer-data/ | Using A Flashing LCD Monitor To Transfer Data | Mike Szczys | [
"Arduino Hacks"
] | [
"data transfer",
"flashing",
"ldr",
"light sensor",
"monitor",
"screen",
"temt6000"
] | We love the concept of using an LCD screen to transfer data. The most wide-spread and successful method we know of is the combination of a QR code and the camera on a smart phone. But for less powerful/costly devices data can be transferred simply by flashing colors on the screen. That’s what [Connor Taylor] is testing out with this project. He’s using
a TEMT6000 light sensor to turn a white and black flashing monitor into binary data
.
So far this is just a proof of concept that takes measurements from the light sensor which is held in front of a Macbook Retina display with different backlight levels. At 3/4 and full brightness it provides more than enough contrast to reliably differentiate between black and white when measuring the sensor with the Arduino’s ADC. What he hasn’t gotten into yet is the timing necessary to actually transfer data. The issue arises when you need to have multiple 1’s or 0’s in a row.
We’ve tried this ourselves using an LDR
with limited success. We know it’s possible to get it working since we’ve seen projects like
this clock which can only be programmed with a flashing screen
.
[Connor’s] choice of the TEMT6000 should prove to be a lot more sensitive than using just an LDR. We figure he could find a way to encode using multiple colors in order to speed up the data transfer. | 76 | 37 | [
{
"comment_id": "965444",
"author": "tophathacker",
"timestamp": "2013-02-25T20:08:10",
"content": "The old timex DataLink watches did this, but watch out.. it flashed the whole screen so hope you’re not epileptic.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id... | 1,760,376,600.447782 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/02/25/ubuntu-with-a-gui-on-a-beagleboard/ | Ubuntu With A GUI On A Beagleboard | Brian Benchoff | [
"ARM",
"Linux Hacks"
] | [
"beagleboard",
"beagleboard xm",
"linux",
"ubuntu"
] | The Raspberry Pi is great if you’re looking for a cheap yet powerful computer running Linux, but let’s not forget all the other ARM dev boards out there. [Adam] spent some time this weekend
putting together an Ubuntu distro for his Beagleboard XM
to give it the convenience of a GUI and a whole bunch of drivers to get a lot of stuff done.
The
Beagleboard XM
is another high power ARM dev board that is a little more capable than the Raspberry Pi. With an integrated USB hub, LVDS LCD displays, and a
camera board
, the Beagleboard already has a lot of peripherals that are now only promised for the Raspberry Pi. The only problem with the Beagleboard XM is the state of drivers and software; a problem [Adam] resolved by bringing Ubuntu to the Beagleboard.
[Adam]’s distro comes with all the goodies a relatively high-powered ARM dev board should have: Python, scipy, numpy, and a few cool extras such as GIMP and Chromium. He says it’s a bit faster than the stock Raspbian distro on the Raspberry Pi, so if you’re looking for the best ARM/Linux dev board for your next project, you may want to give [Adam]’s distro a try. | 16 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "965400",
"author": "smith",
"timestamp": "2013-02-25T18:16:10",
"content": "Nice! Does it work with the audio device on the BBxm?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "965402",
"author": "Mike Tyler",
"timestamp": "2013-02-25T... | 1,760,376,600.269549 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/02/25/scara-arm-finally-prints-plastic-parts/ | SCARA Arm Finally Prints Plastic Parts | Brian Benchoff | [
"3d Printer hacks"
] | [
"3d printer",
"robot",
"scara"
] | Here’s a neat alternative to the usual gantry setup you see on 3D printers. [Quentin] designed and build a SCARA arm 3D printer
that just saw its first print
.
We caught wind of [Quentin]’s SCARA arm
a few weeks ago
when it was still just a few plastic parts and a glimmer of ambition in its creator’s eye. Most of the parts are 3D printed, including the blue arms for the x and y axes that are driven by stepper motors. The z axis is controlled by two lead screws, and judging by the height of [Quentin]’s machine, he has a pretty big printable volume – at least as large as some of the delta bot 3D printers we’ve seen.
So far [Quentin] has printed a handful of calibration cubes and a wheel with a fairly impressive print resolution. You can check out a video of the SCARA arm printer after the break.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSmo7iZ10Bk&w=580] | 24 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "965355",
"author": "json",
"timestamp": "2013-02-25T16:21:00",
"content": "WOW!When the camera moved to under the table, I was blown away, this build is awesome!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "965363",
"author": "MrX",
... | 1,760,376,600.334253 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/02/25/modifying-a-printer-for-pcb-fabbing/ | Modifying A Printer For PCB Fabbing | Brian Benchoff | [
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"laser printer",
"pcb",
"printer",
"toner transfer"
] | The migraine-inducing image above is the product of [Rupert Hirst]’s attempts at home PCB fabrication. He’s using the toner transfer method – printing a circuit on a piece of transparency sheet with a laser printer, setting it on a piece of copper clad board, and sending the whole assembly through a laminator. It’s a fairly straightforward process, but if you can’t run a transparency sheet through a printer multiple times your etch resist won’t hold up too well. Of course the transparency sheet must be aligned each time it goes through the printer, so [Rupert]
came up with a modification
that ensures laser toner goes only where it’s supposed to.
[Rupert] picked up a Samsung ML-2165W laser printer for his PCB fab shop, but printing the same image multiple times on the same transparency sheet would result in unusable masks. This problem was fixed with a few plastic shims used to hang door frames and a card stock tray that ensures the transparency sheet goes through the printer the same way every time.
We saw [Rupert]’s homebrew PCB fabrication process a few weeks ago when he sent in his
six channel floppy drive MIDI synth
. In his
build video
, [Rupert] demonstrated what is possibly the cleanest toner transfer PCB we’ve seen to date. You can check out his etching process in the video after the break.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYQWLlBz8hE&w=580] | 17 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "965321",
"author": "Precious Roy",
"timestamp": "2013-02-25T14:09:15",
"content": "i don’t really mind re posts, but this one is from 2 weeks ago.http://hackaday.com/2013/02/13/building-a-six-channel-floppy-drive-synth-from-start-to-finish/",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
... | 1,760,376,600.504656 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/02/25/building-huge-displays-with-led-strips/ | Building Huge Displays With LED Strips | Brian Benchoff | [
"LED Hacks"
] | [
"led",
"led strip",
"Teensy",
"ws2811"
] | Building RGB LED displays is one of the most interesting programming and engineering challenges we see here on Hackaday. Not only do the creators of large displays and LED cubes have to deal with the power requirements of driving a whole bunch of LEDs, but there’s also the issue of getting the frame rate high enough to display video. It’s a non-trivial task, but [Paul Stoffregen] has an interesting solution.
He wrote an LED strip library
that can control eight meter-long LED strips that can also be used on daisy chained Teensy 3.0 microcontrollers for really large displays.
[Paul]’s LED library works with LED strips based on the WS2811 LED controller IC. These chips are the most common controller chips for the individually controllable LED strips you can find
at Adafruit
or hundreds of Chinese resellers. The library requires DMA transfer to display images, so if you’re looking to build a ginormous RGB LED display, you might want to pick up a few of
[Paul]’s Teensy 3.0 boards
[Paul] also created a Processing app that takes a video file and turns it into serial data for his LED strip library. You can check out a video of this app, library, and a 60×32 RGB LED display after the break.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5XQLvFPcBM&w=580] | 58 | 26 | [
{
"comment_id": "965293",
"author": "polossatik",
"timestamp": "2013-02-25T12:06:37",
"content": "Seing all those leds reminds one again how many pixels even vga resolution actually has….",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "3093317",
"auth... | 1,760,376,600.836042 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/02/23/wemo-without-a-smartphone/ | WeMo Without A Smartphone | Mike Szczys | [
"home hacks"
] | [
"ap",
"python",
"smartphone",
"WeMo",
"wifi"
] | [Matt Galisa] decided to try his hand at
setting up the Belkin WeMo outlet without using a Smartphone app
. The hardware is a pass-through for mains voltage which allows you to switch the plug over the network. It has a built-in WiFi module which normally connects to your home network. But the first time that you power it up it announces its own SSID designed for an iOS (and recently Android Beta) app to connect to in order to enter your AP credentials.
He started with
this Python script used for WeMo hacking
. It was originally meant to issue commands to the outlet once it had passed the initial setup. [Matt] followed along but couldn’t get an answer on the port he expected. It turns out that the device listens on a different port until the initial setup is complete (probably so that you don’t mess up other outlets on the network that are already working correctly). His next challenge was to manually set the WPA credentials. This never really worked and he ended up using a virtual AP without password protection through DD-WRT. From there he was able to set up a Python script to turn on, off, and toggle the state of the outlet.
If you’re looking to dig deeper into the device’s security
check out this project
. | 21 | 11 | [
{
"comment_id": "964609",
"author": "Hermann Kurz",
"timestamp": "2013-02-23T14:40:37",
"content": "It’s pretty easy and cheap to connect some of those wireless outlets via the remote control to a Raspberry Pi. No risk of high voltage hazard.. You can run a webserver on the pi to switch the outlets ... | 1,760,376,600.745199 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/02/23/watching-50-teams-build-something-cool/ | Watching 50 Teams Build Something Cool | Brian Benchoff | [
"contests"
] | [
"contest",
"Deconstruction",
"hackerspace"
] | Last summer, we here at Hackaday participated in the Red Bull Creation Contest. Basically, twelve teams were given webcams and instructions to build something cool. The teams live streamed their build process, and the best of the bunch won a trip to the New York Maker Faire. [Jason Naumoff], the guy behind this build-off
is doing it again right now
. It’s called The Deconstruction and it pits 50 teams on 6 continents to build something cool while streaming their project to the Internet.
The Deconstruction is a little bit different from Red Bull’s contest – first, the teams don’t have access to ludicrous amounts of energy drinks. Secondly, there’s no set theme for the group entries. It’s a free-for-all build off where teams can make anything they’d like.
We’ve really got to hand it to [Jason] for pulling this off. He MC’d the Red Bull Creation Contest live stream – nearly all 72 hours of it – and was entertaining right up to the very end. You can check out the official stream
on the main Deconstruction site
, or you can check out the
individual team streams here
. | 5 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "964582",
"author": "Rob",
"timestamp": "2013-02-23T12:34:18",
"content": "Well that didn’t take long. Server has been HAD!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "964636",
"author": "Caleb Kraft",
"timestamp": "2013-02... | 1,760,376,600.685507 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/02/22/smartphone-controlled-labyrinth/ | Smartphone Controlled Labyrinth | Mike Szczys | [
"Cellphone Hacks"
] | [
"labyrinth",
"netduino",
"windows phone",
"wp8"
] | This entire project could have been done as an app, drawing the maze and ball virtually on the screen. But that wouldn’t have been nearly as fun as what [Matt] accomplished. He built
a little Labyrinth which responds to the accelerometer in his phone
.
Take a close look at that handset. It’s not an Android, an iPhone, or a Blackberry. That thing is a Windows phone…. no, really! The phone doubles as a timer, which we think is a nice touch. It communicates with a Netduino which is both driving and monitoring the Labyrinth.
You may have noticed that the maze is hand-built rather than a modified commercial version of the toy. He mounted some hardboard on a pair of servo motors, then built up the maze on that surface. There is also sensing hardware that detects when the metal ball bridges two contacts. This gives us fond memories of
our Minotaur’s Revenge build
.
We’ve embedded the demo video after the break. | 7 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "964416",
"author": "Treehouse Projects",
"timestamp": "2013-02-23T04:37:13",
"content": "Awesome! I really like it!Maybe make the labyrinth out of lego or something so that you could create new mazes on the fly.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
... | 1,760,376,600.940657 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/02/22/dissecting-a-firmware-image/ | Dissecting A Firmware Image | Mike Szczys | [
"Linux Hacks",
"Security Hacks"
] | [
"fios",
"firmware",
"image",
"linux",
"reverse engineering",
"router",
"verizon"
] | [Leland Flynn] did a great job of
picking apart the firmware image for a Westell 9100EM FiOS router
. Unfortunately he didn’t actually find the information he was looking for. But he’s not quite done poking around yet either. If you have never tried to make sense of an embedded Linux firmware image this serves as a great beginner’s example of how it’s done.
He was turned on to the project after port scanning his external IP and finding a random login prompt which he certainly didn’t set up. Some searching led him to believe this is some kind of back door for Verizon to push automatic firmware updates to his router. He figured why not see if he could yank the credentials and poke around inside of the machine?
He started by downloading the latest firmware upgrade. Running ‘hexdump’ and ‘strings’ gives him confirmation that the image is based on Linux. He’s then able to pick apart the package, getting at just the filesystem portion. His persistence takes him through extracting and decompressing three different filesystems. Even though he now has access to all of those files, broken symlinks meant a dead-end on his login search. | 18 | 12 | [
{
"comment_id": "964382",
"author": "Paul Ramos",
"timestamp": "2013-02-23T02:50:42",
"content": "Awesome! hopefully a good WRT firmware will be developed for this. the wireless compatibility with some devices is horrible and will crash this router. it has to be power cycled to get the LAN going aga... | 1,760,376,600.892451 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/02/22/nfc-tags-control-your-homes-lighting/ | NFC Tags Control Your Home’s Lighting | Mike Szczys | [
"Android Hacks",
"home hacks"
] | [
"home automation",
"lights",
"NFC",
"on{x}"
] | Here’s
a home lighting hack that doesn’t require you to think about it
after the initial setup. Instead of requiring the user to launch an app and select a lighting state, it uses NFC tags to select a lighting configuration. The tags can be placed in different parts of the house so that setting your phone on the table beside the door while putting your coat on will turn everything in the house off. Of course you need to crawl before you can walk so right now this proof-of-concept only switches the Phillips HUE bulb in the desk lamp.
That bulb is compatible with the Ninja Blocks system — but a Ninja Block or an Arduino with an Ethernet shield could be used to switch whatever you wish. The Ninja client code is an integral part of the system which is why the hardware side needs to relate to the platform. Also used is the
On{X} service
which bridges the gap between your Android phone and the home automation hardware. Once that is in place it’s only a matter of programming the NFC tags to do as you wish. Don’t miss a demo of this in the clip after the jump. | 2 | 1 | [
{
"comment_id": "964737",
"author": "Alex Ci",
"timestamp": "2013-02-23T21:31:41",
"content": "Unless the phone power button is pressed and screen unlocked, the nfc tag is not read. So much for the limited human intervention…",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
... | 1,760,376,600.982007 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/02/22/a-bitcoin-mining-example-for-the-beaglebone-with-an-fpga-shield/ | A Bitcoin Mining Example For The BeagleBone With An FPGA Shield | Mike Szczys | [
"ARM"
] | [
"beaglebone",
"bitcoin",
"fpga",
"hash"
] | If you’ve got a BeagleBone and an FPGA board you should
give this Bitcoin mining rig a try
. The hardware uses brute-force to solve hashes, looking for the rare sets that can be used as digital currency. This particular example is designed for the LOGi-bone which is an FPGA shield for the BeagleBone. But we don’t see anything that would make this difficult to use with other FPGA hardware.
We’ve seen
FPGA hardware bitcoin mining
in the past. It doesn’t offer as much horsepower as
an array of GPUs
would, but the ARM/FPGA combo can be used in a cluster in order to speed up the process. This sounds like a fun group project to take on at the local Hackerspace. | 35 | 14 | [
{
"comment_id": "964261",
"author": "Hugh armstrong",
"timestamp": "2013-02-22T22:19:59",
"content": "asic is where it all going ppl, you wana mine for bitcoins ya gota buy the proper kinda pick ax.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "964497",
... | 1,760,376,601.053308 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/02/22/door-hidden-by-bookcase-is-a-marvel-of-diy-engineering/ | Door Hidden By Bookcase Is A Marvel Of DIY Engineering | Mike Szczys | [
"home hacks"
] | [
"bookcase",
"closet",
"hidden",
"storage"
] | Taking on a giant build just to hide your shotgun collection may seem a bit over the top. But we couldn’t be more impressed with the project. [Korostelevm] did an amazing job of
hiding a small closet with a bookcase-door
. It’s something straight out of a Hardy Boys novel.
Possibly the most important part of the build is figuring out how to hinge all the weight a bookcase will carry. His solution was to use a set of four heavy-duty casters. He cut off the wheels from one pair and the mounting brackets from another. By welding the brackets on in place of the wheels he has a sturdy way to mount both the frame and the bookcase. When closed the unit latches using a strike plate and lock set from a door. This is connected to a book using some cabling and pulleys. As you’d expect, just find the right hard-cover and tilt it toward you to open the hidden storage behind. [Korostelevm] shows off the final product after the jump. | 88 | 31 | [
{
"comment_id": "964201",
"author": "Kelvin Mead",
"timestamp": "2013-02-22T20:13:07",
"content": "beyond awesome, and exactly where i’d keep my shotgun too!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "964959",
"author": "matt",
"timestamp... | 1,760,376,601.181355 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/02/24/arduinofied-qrp-radio-beacon/ | Arduinofied QRP Radio Beacon | Brian Benchoff | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"Radio Hacks"
] | [
"ad9850",
"QRP",
"radio beacon"
] | A while back, [m0xpd] picked up an unbearably cheap AD9850 DDS module from ebay. He turned this in to a Raspberry Pi-powered radio beacon, but like so many builds that grace our pages, the trolls didn’t like using such an overpowered computer for such a simple device. To keep those trolls quiet, [m0xpd] is back again, this time using the
AD9850 DDS module as a radio beacon
with an Arduino.
The previous incarnation of this build
used a Raspberry Pi, and as a consequence needed a level converter. This was thrown out as [m0xpd]’s own Arduino clone,
the WOTDUINO
– pronounced, ‘what do I know’ – is able to handle the 5 Volt IO of the AD9850.
In addition to fabbing a shield for the DDS module, [m0xpd] also constructed a transmitter shield to amplify the signal and allow the ‘duino to key out a few simple messages. It’s a quite capable device – one of [m0xpd]’s messages traveled from merry olde England to Arizona, his best ever westward distance. | 26 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "965114",
"author": "King of the Trolls",
"timestamp": "2013-02-24T20:51:27",
"content": "Yes, but you would only get props for owning a Lamborghini. Until you actually own one, you just get props for being the first idiot troll to cry about being offended.",
"parent_id": null,
... | 1,760,376,601.249 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/02/24/a-remote-controlled-autonomous-kite-generates-power/ | A Remote-controlled, Autonomous Kite Generates Power | Brian Benchoff | [
"Robots Hacks",
"Solar Hacks"
] | [
"alternative energy",
"kite"
] | Generating power from wind is easy – just stick a windmill on a pole and attach a generator. That’s not particularly cool, though, so [Adrien] and his team from his senior design project are
using an autonomously controlled kite to generate power
The basic idea of generating electricity from a kite is to fly it around in figure-eights while unwinding the kite line from a spool. The very strong forces on the kite lines can be used to drive a generator which provides power for reeling the kite back in at a lower angle of attack. You can check out [Adrien]’s
kite power theory page
for a few more details on how this works.
Right now, [Adrien] and his team have a basic rig set up to generate power and are flying the kite via a joystick. Updates are coming, and you can check out the video of their RC kite in action after the break.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXHFUfO7sG8&W=580] | 33 | 13 | [
{
"comment_id": "965085",
"author": "Kit Scuzz",
"timestamp": "2013-02-24T19:22:53",
"content": "Autonomous: “not subject to control from outside; independent.”Remote Control: “control of a system or activity by a person at a different place”Please don’t write “remote-controlled, autonomous” as a de... | 1,760,376,601.322352 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/02/24/reading-sensors-with-scratch/ | Reading Sensors With Scratch | Eric Evenchick | [
"Arduino Hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"scratch",
"sensors",
"shield"
] | Scratch, a graphical programming language developed by MIT’s Media Lab, is an excellent tool for teaching programming. [Daniel] created an
Arduino Sensor Shield
to interface with Scratch, allowing for real-world input to the language.
This board is a derivative of the
Picoboard
, which is designed for use with Scratch. Fortunately, the communication protocol was well documented, and [Daniel] used the same protocol to talk to the graphical programming environment. The shield includes resistance sensing, a light sensor, a sound sensor, and a sliding potentiometer.
The main goal was to create a board that could easily be built by DIY etching. This meant a one sided board with as few jumpers as possible. The final design, which can be downloaded and etched at home, is single sided and uses only one jumper. Detailed steps on testing the board are provided, which is very helpful for anyone trying to build their own.
This board is perfect for educational purposes, and thanks to [Daniel]’s optimizations, it can be built and tested at at home. | 2 | 2 | [
{
"comment_id": "965162",
"author": "pez",
"timestamp": "2013-02-25T00:41:02",
"content": "You can make a respectable Scratch I/O board with just a bare arduino (or a bare anything else that can send serial data). Here’s one example:http://www.hive76.org/diy-scratch-io-board-using-arduinoOf course,... | 1,760,376,601.356053 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/02/24/multibooting-the-raspberry-pi/ | Multibooting The Raspberry Pi | Brian Benchoff | [
"Raspberry Pi"
] | [
"berryboot",
"booting",
"os",
"raspberry pi"
] | Those of us have been dual booting Linux, Windows, and OS X operating systems for a while will be familiar with bootloaders such as GRUB and its ilk. Surprisingly, though, we haven’t seen a bootloader for the most popular computer of the last year – the Raspberry Pi. It makes sense to have a bootloader for the Raspberry Pi; with dozens of different distributions from Raspbian, Occidentalis, and a bunch of more esoteric distros, we’re surprised we’re only
just now seeing a proper bootloader
for the Raspi.
Berryboot is extremely simple to install – just copy it onto a FAT formatted SD card and you can install multiple OSes on your Raspberry Pi. On booting, Berryboot shows a dialog box of all the installed operating systems, with new ones able to be installed over the internet from a Berryboot menu.
You can grab Berryboot
over on the gits
. Berryboot also works with those
Allwinner A10 single board computers
, but the Hackaday tip line hasn’t seen hide nor hair of those boards. | 28 | 14 | [
{
"comment_id": "965020",
"author": "Fractal",
"timestamp": "2013-02-24T14:46:05",
"content": "Alright, I’ve played with berryboot some. It’s really pretty annoying, and I would fix it if I knew how (compiling it has not gone well for me).Firstly, it will do headless operation! Simply add ‘vncinstal... | 1,760,376,601.486234 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/02/23/automated-ph-control/ | Automated PH Control | Eric Evenchick | [
"chemistry hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"hydroponics",
"pH"
] | Controlling the pH level of a solution is usually a tedious task. Adding an acid or base to the solution will change the pH, but manually monitoring the levels and adding the correct amount isn’t fun. [Reza] rigged up an automated pH controller to keep a solution’s pH steady.
The build uses an Arduino with a LCD shield, screw terminal shields, and [Reza]’s own pH shield attached. A
peristaltic pump
is used to pump the pH down acid into the solution. This type of pump isolates the fluid from the pump parts, preventing contamination of the solution. The pump is controlled using a PowerSwitch Tail, allowing the Arduino to control the flow of fluid.
An Omega pH probe is used to read the pH level. [Reza]’s open source firmware has support for calibrating the probe to ensure accurate readings. Once it’s set up, the screen displays the pH level and the current state of the system. The pump is enabled when the pH rises out of the desired range.
After the break, check out a video walk through of the device. | 25 | 11 | [
{
"comment_id": "964745",
"author": "Nome",
"timestamp": "2013-02-23T21:45:42",
"content": "One of the most boring Youtube video ever",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "964756",
"author": "spider",
"timestamp": "2013-02-23T22:08:01",
"c... | 1,760,376,601.713384 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/02/23/tickle-me-elmo-frozen-in-carbonite/ | Tickle-Me-Elmo… Frozen In Carbonite | Jeremy Cook | [
"Toy Hacks"
] | [
"Carbonite",
"Han Solo",
"Tickle-Me-Elmo",
"toy"
] | We at [HAD] love any hack that combines children’s toys with science-fiction technology, so seeing a
Tickle-Me-Elmo “frozen” in [Carbonite]
is a definite win in our book. It’s also a great argument for joining your local Hackerspace, or just getting together with some like-minded friends. This idea came out of an impromptu brain-storming, or “talking about crazy ideas session” at the
[Baltimore Node]
hackerspace.
Fortunately [Todd] had access to all the tools necessary to make this “crazy idea” a reality. A [Shopbot] was used to cut out the box, and the side panels were 3D printed with help from
these files on Thingiverse
. For processing, an [ATtiny85] programmed using an Arduino was used to power this project.
There’s no mention of whether [Todd] would be willing to part with his creation, however, we would guess that there would be no bargaining with him. He’s not going to give up his favorite decoration easily.
[youtube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3Q35V4ruGo%5D | 18 | 11 | [
{
"comment_id": "964690",
"author": "strider_mt2k",
"timestamp": "2013-02-23T18:49:17",
"content": "You can’t talk when you’re frozen I’m Carbonite. Everybody knows that.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "964707",
"author": "vonskippy",
"t... | 1,760,376,601.542346 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/02/23/an-industrial-reprap/ | An Industrial RepRap | Brian Benchoff | [
"3d Printer hacks"
] | [
"Kühling&Kühling",
"reprap"
] | It may just be another 3D printer, but [Jonas] and [Simon]’s
Kühling & Kühling RepRap Industrial
is a cross between a work of art and a beautiful machine tool. It also looks to be a pretty nice 3D printer, to boot.
The Kühling RepRap is built out of 20mm t-slot aluminum with plastic sides that keep the machine’s internals at a toasty 70° C, just about the optimal temperature for making large, complex prints. The machine has two extruders with all the cables tucked away in 3D printed cable carriers. One really interesting bit of innovation is the tool less belt t tensioning system.
On the list of upcoming features, [Jonas] and [Simon] say they want to add a touch screen controller powered by a Raspberry Pi, and a controller that’s
even more capable than RAMPS
electronics boards. No word on how much a Kühling & Kühling RepRap will cost, but like any quality-looking tool, we don’t expect it to be cheap. | 33 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "964638",
"author": "geekmaster",
"timestamp": "2013-02-23T16:29:00",
"content": "They do realize that putting a 3D printer into a temperature controlled box is patented, right?Heck, even a MakerBot guys got a patent for putting a convey belt into a 3D printer.What next? A patent for... | 1,760,376,601.857809 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/02/22/panelizing-pcbs-in-eagle/ | Panelizing PCBs In Eagle | Brian Benchoff | [
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"eagle",
"panelization",
"panelize",
"pcb"
] | A lot of the board houses out there including Seeed and ITead studios have a fixed size for circuit boards before the price goes up. A one-inch square board costs the same as a much larger 5cm x 5cm board, making panelized PCBs a great way to get more boards for the same amount of money. Trying to panelize a board in Eagle with copy and paste is a chore without the right tools, though, so we’re happy to see
a great panelization tutoria
l from [Victor].
To panelize one of his boards for a PCB order, [Victor] used one of Eagle’s User Language Programs to duplicate the part names on the additional boards. After that, it was a simple matter of running a CAM job to generate the necessary Gerber files.
Of course once the boards arrive, you’ll have to cut them apart from each other. This can be done with everything from a Dremel to a hack saw to a metal shear, but we’re wondering what other Hackaday readers are using to cut up PCBs. Leave a note in the comments with your preferred method of depanelization. | 37 | 20 | [
{
"comment_id": "964147",
"author": "Arlet",
"timestamp": "2013-02-22T18:33:31",
"content": "A heavy duty paper cutter can be used to cut circuit boards. There may a problem with excessive bending, though.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "964148"... | 1,760,376,601.787952 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/02/22/hackaday-links-february-22-2013/ | Hackaday Links: February 22, 2013 | Brian Benchoff | [
"Hackaday links"
] | [
"Flux Capacitor",
"Mekatronik",
"Pi case",
"raspberry pi",
"sdr",
"software-defined radio",
"tesla coil"
] | Playstation π
Yeah, it’s another home made Raspberry Pi case, but [Gabriel]’s
Mini Playstation 3.14
is the bee’s knees. The enclosure was once a metal gift box originally intended for gift cards. With a few whacks of a Dremel, the world finally has a new PS3 that runs Linux.
Up there with The Secret Life of Machines
[Mattias] sent in a tip about a really cool TV show airing in Sweden. It’s called
Mekatronik
, and it’s basically the interesting parts of Mythbusters where [Jamie] and [Adam] build random cool stuff. It’s a Swedish language program, so if anyone would like to make some subs for the episodes, we’ll be more than happy to link to it again.
Web-based software defined radio
The amateur radio club at University of Twente in the Netherlands came up with something really cool:
a web-based software defined radio
. So what, you ask? It’s just streaming audio or something over the Internet? Nope. You can actually control this SDR over the web.
We’re deeply sorry for turning the hardware turn to slag. Really, we are.
Junk box Tesla coil
[JJ]
whipped up a homemade Tesla coil
out of junk he had lying around. Basically, it’s a piece of PVC pipe, a tennis ball, and aluminum foil. Even the transformer was pulled from a long-forgotten project. [JJ] is getting some
really good arcs
, so we’ll call this a win.
Time circuits active
[Danilo] was invited to a costume party with a movie theme. He wanted something Back to the Future-is, so
he whipped up a flux capacitor
(
translation
). It’s based on a PIC12F675, with the microcontroller running a bit of code that flashes the LEDs just like the movie. Now on to the hoverboard project… | 16 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "964080",
"author": "geekmaster",
"timestamp": "2013-02-22T16:07:38",
"content": "The first tesla coil link takes you to the WebSDR page. Could you fix that please?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "964084",
"author": "ge... | 1,760,376,601.909929 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/02/22/build-your-own-dumb-usb-power-strip/ | Build Your Own Dumb USB Power Strip | Mike Szczys | [
"hardware"
] | [
"barrel jack",
"charger",
"polyfuse",
"power strip",
"switch mode",
"usb"
] | Here’s
a USB charging center
which [Kenneth Finnegan] built using parts from his junk bin. We’d like to reiterate our claim that he must have the most magical of junk bins (the last thing we saw him pull out of it was
a 24-port managed Ethernet switch
).
The jack on the side accepts the barrel connector from a 12V wall wart. [Kenneth] mentions that the 2.1mm jack is a standard he uses in all of his projects. Inside there’s a switch mode power supply that provides the regulated 5V to each USB port. We really like the fact that he added some protection; diy is no fun if you end up frying your beloved multi-hundred dollar devices. The yellow components are polyfuses which will cut the power if 600 mA of current is exceeded. This works great for almost all of his devices, but his iPod 4G doesn’t like the system. It sees the voltage dip just a bit and stops charging entirely. | 21 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "964036",
"author": "Haku",
"timestamp": "2013-02-22T14:46:44",
"content": "I recently bought the same LM2596 DC-DC switching converter board the guy is using, after some load tests with identical multimeters that can measure V & A at the same time, the board took 30v @ 582ma (17.46 ... | 1,760,376,602.002029 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/02/22/arduino-controlled-midi-sequencer/ | Arduino-controlled MIDI Sequencer | Mike Szczys | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"Musical Hacks"
] | [
"midi",
"sequencer",
"touch pad",
"touch screen"
] | [Christian] wrote in to tell us about
his third-generation Arduino MIDI sequencer
(
translated
) called the AM808 VX3. He had already laid a strong base for the project in his previous versions. But the user interface was still frustrating at times and that’s where this version comes in. it features a nice clean dashboard like interface, but also includes a configurable virtual interface.
The obvious components seen above include the slider and potentiometer band, as well as the repository of buttons mounted below that. But in the center of the board is a touchpad which [Christian] pulled out of an old Laptop. It interfaces as a PS2 device which makes it pretty simple to use in conjunction with the Arduino. But that’s not the only touch-enabled input device. The rectangle to the right of the touch pad is an LCD screen with a touch overlay. As you can see (and hear) in the clip after the break, the touch screen made it possible for him to rework the controls until they became simple and intuitive. | 34 | 12 | [
{
"comment_id": "963981",
"author": "reimecker",
"timestamp": "2013-02-22T12:28:31",
"content": "Thanks for posting !!!!!!!! Big Thanks !!!!!!!!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "963992",
"author": "steve",
"timestamp": "2013-02-22T12:57:5... | 1,760,376,604.129407 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/02/21/led-marquee-uses-discrete-through-hole-lights/ | LED Marquee Uses Discrete Through-hole Lights | Mike Szczys | [
"ATtiny Hacks",
"LED Hacks"
] | [
"ATtiny24",
"charlieplexing",
"led",
"marquee",
"matrix"
] | [Michael] built
his own LED marquee using individual diodes
. Despite his choice to forego the 8×8 or 5×7 modules we often see in these projects, his decision to spin a dedicated PCB saved him a lot of trouble during assembly. Sure, he still had to solder 180 leads on the 9×18 grid of lights, but at least he didn’t have to deal with wiring up the complex display layout.
The chip driving the display is an ATtiny24. You can see that it’s an SMD package and spans one row of the through hole LED footprint. There are way too few pins to drive a multiplexed display of this size. Instead of adding a separate driver IC he decided to design the display to use Charlieplexing. We didn’t see a schematic for the project, but judging from the board images all of the I/O pins are used by either the display itself, or the serial connection provided by that right angle pin header. | 29 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "963767",
"author": "Yarr",
"timestamp": "2013-02-22T03:15:01",
"content": "You know, maybe it’s just me, but that looks a lot more like a 5×18 grid of LEDs, not a 9×18 grid of LEDs. Maybe numbers have different meanings to HAD editors than the rest of us?",
"parent_id": null,
... | 1,760,376,604.328002 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/02/21/self-waking-computer-for-diy-cloud-storage/ | Self-waking Computer For DIY Cloud Storage | Mike Szczys | [
"Network Hacks"
] | [
"cloud storage",
"owncloud",
"tp-link",
"TPlink703n"
] | [Dominic] decided to take control of his cloud storage by switching to OwnCloud. Unlike most cloud storage solutions, this isn’t a company offering you free space. It’s an open source software package which your run on your own machine. [Dom] didn’t want to leave his box running 24/7 as it would be unused the majority of the time. So he
hacked this router to switch on the computer
whenever he tries to access the storage.
Obviously this is a Wake-On-Lan type of situation, but the hardware he has chosen to use doesn’t include those features. Since he already had this TP-Link 703n on hand he decided to use it as a controller for the computer. His method is quite clever. The router is running a script that monitors the computer and the bandwidth it’s using. When traffic from the network stops, the router will issue a shutdown command within just a few minutes. It then assigns itself the computer’s IP address so that it can listen for incoming requests and use the relay on that breadboard to turn the box back on. Obviously running the embedded system is much more efficient than having an entire computer turned on all the time, and it’s WiFi capabilities mean no cords to run to the home network. | 39 | 12 | [
{
"comment_id": "963713",
"author": "Bob D",
"timestamp": "2013-02-22T01:16:12",
"content": "I’ll just pick that nit and mention this is just remote storage, it’s not ‘cloud’ storage. Cloud storage has multiple redundancy across multiple locations.But a nice hack to use a router to control the uptim... | 1,760,376,604.059577 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/02/21/laser-spirograph/ | Laser Spirograph | Mike Szczys | [
"Laser Hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"fan",
"laser",
"nano",
"spirograph",
"tc4469"
] | Here’s a weekend junk bin project if we’ve ever seen one. [Pat] used
a quartet of computer fans to make his laser Spirograph
. Deciding to try this simple build for yourself will run you through a lot of basics when it comes to interfacing hardware with a microcontroller. In this case it’s the Arduino Nano.
The Spirograph works by bouncing a laser off of mirrors which are attached to the PC fans. When the fans spin the slight alignment changes cause the laser dot to bob and weave in visually pleasing ways. You can catch twenty minutes of the light show in the clip after the break.
Three of the fans have mirrors attached, the housing of the fourth is used to host the laser diode and make assembly easier. A TC4469 motor driver is used to connect the fans to the Arduino. The light show can be manually controlled by turning the trio of potentiometers which are read using the Arduino’s ADC.
If you manage your way through this build perhaps you’ll move on to
a setup that throws laser light all over the room
. | 11 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "963695",
"author": "Bian Neeley",
"timestamp": "2013-02-22T00:34:16",
"content": "I built one of these (from a kit) about 25 years ago. It was from a Popular Electronics (or was it Electronics Now(?)) magazine, IIRC. You built the laser, and then you added it to the spirograph. E... | 1,760,376,603.604585 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/02/21/bit-banging-through-a-usb-parallel-port-adapter/ | Bit Banging Through A USB Parallel Port Adapter | Mike Szczys | [
"computer hacks"
] | [
"bit bang",
"bit banging",
"parallel port",
"printer port",
"rs232",
"serial port",
"usb converter"
] | If you’ve ever looked into low-level parallel port access you may have learned that it only works with actual parallel port hardware, and not with USB parallel port adapters. But here’s a solution that will change your thinking. It borrows from the way printers communicate to allow
USB to parallel port bit banging without a microcontroller
(dead link, try
Internet Archive
).
Sure, adding a microcontroller would make this dead simple. All you need to do is program the chip to emulate the printer’s end of the communications scheme. But that’s not the approach taken here. Instead the USB to RS232 (serial) converter also pictured above is used as a reset signal. The strobe pin on the parallel port drives an inverter which triggers a thyristor connected to the busy pin. Thyristors are bistable switches so this solution alone will never clear the busy pin. That’s where the serial connection comes into play. By alternating the data transmitted from the computer between the bit-bang values sent to LP0 and 0xF0 sent to the serial connector the eight parallel data bits become fully addressable. See the project in action in the clip after the break. | 25 | 12 | [
{
"comment_id": "963635",
"author": "Dodo",
"timestamp": "2013-02-21T21:13:16",
"content": "Clever, but why would you want to do it?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "963644",
"author": "jacques",
"timestamp": "2013-02-21T21:41:2... | 1,760,376,603.791351 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/02/21/framing-up-your-electronics-projects/ | Framing Up Your Electronics Projects | Mike Szczys | [
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"enclosure",
"frame",
"ikea",
"picture frame"
] | [Victor] may be onto something when it comes to project enclosures. He’s using
a picture frame to house his electronics projects
. This is made especially easy by the variety of sizes you can find at Ikea. Possibly the most important dimension is to have enough frame thickness to sandwich your components between the glass and the back plate of the frame.
The project seen here is a temperature data logger. The frosted diffuser covering everything but the LCD screen and gives you a glimpse of what’s mounted to the back panel. He connected the four different protoboard components, along with a battery pack, to each other use right angle pin headers. They were then strapped to the back plate of the frame by drilling some holes through which a bit of wire was threaded. He even cut a hole to get at the socket for the temperature sensor and to attach the power input. So that he doesn’t need to open the frame to get at the data, the SD card slot is also accessible. His depth adjustment was made by adding standoffs at each corner of the frame, and replacing the metal wedges that hold the back in place.
You don’t need to limit yourself with just one. This
UV exposure rig
uses three Ikea frames. | 8 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "963621",
"author": "Mark",
"timestamp": "2013-02-21T20:37:45",
"content": "That’s a great idea. Enclosures are such a pain in the ass.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "963641",
"author": "echodelta",
"timestamp": "2013-0... | 1,760,376,603.669623 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/02/21/retro-gaming-just-in-case/ | Retro Gaming Just In-case | Mike Szczys | [
"Raspberry Pi"
] | [
"emulator",
"retro gaming",
"RPi",
"snes",
"super nintendo"
] | You can look and look, but you won’t find a Super Nintendo inside of this retro gaming rig. [Webrow] is giving his vintage hardware a rest, and taking
this all-in-one game emulator suitcase
wherever he goes.
The machine at the heart of his build is of course a Raspberry Pi. You really can’t beat the ubiquitous board for cost, power, and hardware extensibility. An LCD panel from a broken laptop comes along for the ride having been mounted in the lid. For a long time there was no hope for reusing these panels, but [Webrow] found an adapter board (for nearly the same price as the RPi) which converts the DVI from the Pi to the LVDS needed by the screen. The connections and mounting scheme for the screen were where most of the project work was done. Connecting the controllers simply involved soldering some SNES controller sockets to an RPi breakout connector. We do have to compliment him on the red bezel which hides all of the power cords and other unsightly bits. The case look sturdy and ready to play! | 12 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "963551",
"author": "RoadWarrior222",
"timestamp": "2013-02-21T17:13:36",
"content": "This is so awesome, I wanna…. oh wait, I have a laptop and USB controllers.Though I’m probably gonna pick over how the laptop LCD was utilised…. and probably start eyeballing the couple of portable ... | 1,760,376,603.987415 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/02/21/swiss-army-keys/ | Swiss Army Keys | Mike Szczys | [
"Lifehacks"
] | [
"dremel",
"keys",
"pocket knife",
"rotary tool",
"swiss army knife"
] | This isn’t a hack that shows you how to start a car without the keys. It’s a way to ditch the bulky keyring for
a set of fold-out keys
. [Colonel Crunch] removed the blades from the pocket knife and replaced them with the two keys for his car (one is ignition and door locks, the other opens the trunk). He didn’t take pictures of the process, but he did link to
this unrelated guide on how it’s done
.
About one minute into the video after the break we see each step in the build process. First the plastic trim is removed from either side of the knife. The blades are basically riveted on; there’s a pin which holds them in and either side of it has been pressed to that it can no longer move through the holes in the frame. To get around this one side is ground off with a rotary tool, and the pin is then tapped out with a hammer. The removed blade/scissors/tool is used as a template to cut the body of the key down to size and shape. The pin is then hammered back into place before putting the plastic trim back on.
[via
Reddit
] | 56 | 26 | [
{
"comment_id": "963517",
"author": "omnivore",
"timestamp": "2013-02-21T15:53:59",
"content": "What an incredibly clever way to make sure that your keys will be confiscated every time you fly.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "963528",
"auth... | 1,760,376,603.938721 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/02/21/making-eagle-work-with-circuits-io/ | Making Eagle Work With Circuits.io | Brian Benchoff | [
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"circuits.io",
"eagle",
"Eagle PCB",
"pcb"
] | Ever so slowly, we’re inching towards a world of Internet-based electronic design tools. The state of these tools, including Upverter and other cloud-based solutions, hasn’t been all that great until now; with any new piece of schematic capture and PCB layout software, the libraries will be woefully inadequate in the beginning. This is about to change, because
circuits.io is now allowing Eagle libraries
to be imported.
As you may well be aware,
Eagle
is the de facto standard for homebrew and hobbyist schematic capture and board layout software. Even though Eagle isn’t open source and is limited to rather small PCBs with the free version, somehow Eagle has retained its popularity, most likely due to the huge number of component libraries available.
By allowing users and designers to import Eagle libraries, the folks at circuits.io are capitalizing on a huge amount of work done by designers and engineers over the years in creating custom Eagle parts for just about every component imaginable. It’s a great accomplishment for the circuits.io team and a boon for anyone wanting to move their PCB design tools over to the cloud. | 25 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "963447",
"author": "acassis",
"timestamp": "2013-02-21T12:12:23",
"content": "I hope Hack a Day continue with previous posts promoting Kicad instead o Eagle.Really Eagle is a nice tool and almost all hobbyist (including me) started with it, but as author noticied it is not open-sour... | 1,760,376,603.733911 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/02/20/pair-of-musical-hacks-use-sensor-arrays-as-keyboards/ | Pair Of Musical Hacks Use Sensor Arrays As Keyboards | Mike Szczys | [
"Musical Hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"cadmium sulfide",
"CdS",
"ir",
"keyboard",
"ldr",
"piano",
"proximity sensor",
"raspberry pi",
"RPi"
] | This pair of musical keyboard hacks both use light to detect inputs. The pair of tips came in on the same day, which sparks talk of consipiracy theory here at Hackaday. Something in the weather must influence what types of projects people take on because we frequently see trends like this one. Video of both projects is embedded after the jump.
On the left is
a light-sensitive keyboard
which [Kaziem] is showing off. In this image he’s rolling a marble around on the surface. As it passes over the Cadmium Sulfide sensors (which are arranged in the pattern of white and black keys from a piano keyboard) the instrument plays pitches based on the changing light levels. [Thanks Michael via
Make
]
To the right is [Lex’s]
proximity sensor keyboard
. It uses a half-dozen Infrared proximity sensor which pick up reflected light. He calls it a ‘quantised theremin’ and after seeing it in action we understand why. The overclocked Raspberry Pi playing the tones reacts differently based on distance from the keyboard itself, and hand alignment with the different sensors. | 2 | 1 | [
{
"comment_id": "963361",
"author": "echodelta",
"timestamp": "2013-02-21T07:25:48",
"content": "I had to cut at the hum from the desk lamp. This could be interesting (with marble) if the 24 sensors had been set out in a cycle of fifths or anything (round) other the conventional key layout. Or get 2... | 1,760,376,603.836593 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/02/20/rf-switching-module-can-learn-new-remotes/ | RF Switching Module Can Learn New Remotes | Mike Szczys | [
"Wireless Hacks"
] | [
"attiny13",
"radio frequency",
"RF",
"solid state relay",
"ssr"
] | This breadboarded circuit is [Sergio’s] solution to controlling appliances wirelessly. Specifically he wanted a way to turn his pool pump on and off from inside the house. Since he had most of the parts on hand he decided to build a solution himself. What he ended up with is
an RF base station that can learn to take commands from different remote devices
.
The main components include the solid state relay at the bottom of the image. This lets the ATtiny13 switch mains voltage appliances. The microcontroller (on the copper clad square at the center of the breadboard) interfaces with the green radio frequency board to its left. On the right is a single leaf switch. This acts as the input. A quick click will toggle the relay, but a three-second press puts the device in learning mode. [Sergio] can then press a button on an RF remote and the device will store the received code in EEPROM. As you can see in the clip after the break, he even included a way to forget a remote code. | 12 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "963148",
"author": "Whatnot",
"timestamp": "2013-02-20T23:02:16",
"content": "On a breadboard with a million loose wires? So is he going to actually make it into something permanent or is this a concept kind of deal?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
... | 1,760,376,604.384878 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/02/20/freezing-android-to-crack-the-encryption/ | Freezing Android To Crack The Encryption | Mike Szczys | [
"Android Hacks",
"Security Hacks"
] | [
"android",
"cold boot",
"encrypted",
"freeze",
"freezer",
"key",
"recovery image"
] | Build a better lock and someone will make a tool to open it without the key. Or in this case they’ve made a tool to discover the key using a trip to through the deep freeze. The Forensic Recovery of Scrambled Telephones — or FROST —
uses cold temperatures and a custom recovery image to crack Android encryption keys
.
Cold boot hacks go way back
. They leverage use of low temperatures to slow down the RAM in a device. In this case, the target phone must already be powered on. Booting a phone that uses
the encryption offered by Android 4.0 and newer
requires the owner’s pass code to decrypt the user partition. But it then remains usable until the next power cycle. By freezing the phone, then very quickly disconnecting and reconnecting the battery, researchers were able to flash their own recovery image without having the encryption key cleared from RAM. As you can see above, that recovery package can snoop for the key in several different ways.
[Thanks Rob] | 40 | 19 | [
{
"comment_id": "963053",
"author": "dALE",
"timestamp": "2013-02-20T20:06:26",
"content": "What do you get when you sit on the ice for too long?Polaroids…Get it?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "963066",
"author": "3L_S4N70",
"timestamp"... | 1,760,376,604.464145 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/02/20/a-brick-sized-game-boy-advance-sp/ | A Brick-sized Game Boy Advance SP | Brian Benchoff | [
"Nintendo Game Boy Hacks"
] | [
"brick game boy",
"Case mod",
"game boy",
"game boy advance",
"nintendo"
] | For a few years now, [Michael] has wanted to put the guts of a Game Boy Advance – the small clamshell version with a backlit LCD – into the classic and comfortable DMG-01 ‘brick’ Game Boy.
He’s finally finished with his project
, and we’ve got to say it’s looking pretty good.
The build began by excising the backlit LCD from an old clamshell Game Boy Advance and hot gluing it to the screen bezel of an old DMG-01. The cartridge slot from the original ‘brick’ Game Boy remained, but this design decision did require a fair bit of soldering and a length of ribbon cable.
Since [Michael] is using the original cartridge slot found in the original Game Boy, he can’t play any games in the smaller Game Boy Advance cartridge format. Still, it should be possible to build an adapter to fit those smaller cartridges inside the larger Game Boy, and he can always play Tetris and Little Sound DJ, so nothing of value is lost. | 9 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "963044",
"author": "mk2soldier",
"timestamp": "2013-02-20T19:40:36",
"content": "Great stuff!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "963063",
"author": "0xHF",
"timestamp": "2013-02-20T20:27:08",
"content": "Awesome!!",
... | 1,760,376,604.684963 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/02/20/video-phone-arduino-shield/ | Video Phone Arduino Shield | Brian Benchoff | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"Cellphone Hacks"
] | [
"3g",
"GPRS",
"video phone"
] | We’ve seen Arduino-powered Twitter machines, and even some that can send text messages, but how about
one that’s a video phone
? That’s what the guys over at Cooking Hacks put together with their very impressive
3G Arduino shield
.
On board the shield is an internal GPS receiver, microphone, speaker, 3G module, and a camera sensor with VGA resolution. The 3G module is able to act as a 3G modem via a USB connection, allowing any computer to take advantage of wireless Internet with a SIM card.
While in their tutorial the guys use a terminal running on their computer to send AT commands to place a call, it’s possible to simply put all that info in a sketch making for a small, battery-powered video link straight to your cell phone. Seems like the perfect piece of hardware for a wireless, 3G-enabled video feed for a robot. You can check out the video from their tutorial after the break.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwVgMdtKpYU&w=580] | 12 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "962969",
"author": "randomdude",
"timestamp": "2013-02-20T16:49:00",
"content": "lol 180 quid for a GPRS shield ?? sorry guys but I’ll stick to using a cheapo (90 pounds) android phone to do the same and morehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41MRGjdVIMQhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=... | 1,760,376,604.915618 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/02/20/the-perils-of-buying-a-stereo-microscope-without-a-stand/ | The Perils Of Buying A Stereo Microscope Without A Stand | Brian Benchoff | [
"cnc hacks",
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"cnc",
"microscope",
"stereo microscope"
] | [Steve] has wanted a stereo microscope in his lab for years now. Since his eyesight is becoming progressively worse, he figured it was time to look around on ebay and see what he could dig up. He ended up buying a very cheap microscope without a stand, figuring he could build one rather easily. Well,
the articulated stand was rather easy to put together
, but it did take a whole lot of time to build.
The main goal of [Steve]’s project was to have his microscope at the end of an articulated arm. With this setup, he could easily tuck the ‘scope against the back of his workbench when not in use and easily bring it out when necessary. This meant building a custom arm, though, and in the building process [Steve] used just about every machine tool he had at his disposal.
The end result is a fully articulated arm that can be moved to just about any point on his workbench and adjusted up and down for those really weird project. [Steve] says this may be a great introduction to home powder coating, and he really should build a small LED light source, but we’re loving the project so far.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvZXjUfDOlQ&w=580] | 47 | 11 | [
{
"comment_id": "962930",
"author": "egop",
"timestamp": "2013-02-20T14:54:13",
"content": "don’t buy chinese microscopes, mine had it’s lens contaminated with radioactive isotopes, i had to dump it.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "962946",
... | 1,760,376,605.101086 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/02/20/3doodler-a-3d-drawing-pen/ | 3Doodler, A 3D Drawing Pen | Brian Benchoff | [
"3d Printer hacks",
"Crowd Funding"
] | [
"3Doodler",
"Crowd Funding"
] | Here’s something that’s making its way to the top of our, “why didn’t we think of that” list. It’s called
3Doodler
, a device based on the plastic extrusion technology found in 3D printers stuffed into a pen that fits in the palm of your hand.
If you’re familiar with 3D printers, the design of the 3Doodler should come as second nature to you. Inside this electronic plastic-melting pen is a small motor that forces 3mm ABS or PLA filament through a heated nozzle. With the 3Doodler, you can draw in three dimensions by simply lifting the tip of the 3Doodler into the air.
While 3Doodler is obviously aimed at creating plastic objects by hand, we’re wondering if this device could be successfully adapted to work with 3D printers. The 3Doodler team put a very, very small and inexpensive extruder and hot end inside the 3Doodler, and they’ve got something on their hands we’d love to tear apart just to see how it ticks.
You can see the 3Doodler introduction video after the break.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQWyhezIze4&w=580] | 67 | 38 | [
{
"comment_id": "962857",
"author": "zekez",
"timestamp": "2013-02-20T12:07:37",
"content": "Genius!!!Give me model for steel, please…",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "962983",
"author": "joerlane",
"timestamp": "2013-02-20T17:2... | 1,760,376,605.014933 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/02/19/solar-clock-uses-capacitors-for-style-and-function/ | Solar Clock Uses Capacitors For Style And Function | Mike Szczys | [
"clock hacks"
] | [
"capacitor",
"icl7663",
"solar"
] | This solar clock was built using a lot of salvaged parts. We find it interesting that [Nereus] combined
a ring of storage capacitors with a power cell
(
translated
) to create a hybrid energy storage setup.
The machine translation makes it a bit rough to understand how this works, but the schematic helps quite a bit. The pair of solar cells, which were pulled from some cheap solar cellphone chargers, feed the bank of capacitors encircling the clock face. If placed in a room that gets plenty of sunlight the cells will top off the capacitors which then feed an ICL7663 regulator. We’d love to hear comments on this part choice, as it’s our experience that linear regulators are rather inefficient. But anyway, the regulated power feeds both the energy cell as well as the clock motor. When output from the regulator dips the battery picks up the slack. The project also includes a voltometer and thermometer which can be displayed on the tiny LCD screen just about the six o’clock tick mark.
Now if you want something completely battery-free you’ll have to check out
[Jack Buffington’s] take on solar clock
.
[Thanks Manekinen] | 16 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "962731",
"author": "aztraph",
"timestamp": "2013-02-20T04:31:32",
"content": "Awesome! Talk about daylight saving time, uh! UH!I know, I suck, but somebody had to say it.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "962742",
"author": "d... | 1,760,376,604.74122 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/02/19/hacked-auxiliary-port-for-a-car-stereo/ | Hacked Auxiliary Port For A Car Stereo | Mike Szczys | [
"digital audio hacks",
"Transportation Hacks"
] | [
"aux",
"auxiliary input",
"car stereo",
"cd changer",
"jack"
] | We’re not sure if [Apachem25] is just lucky, or if installing Auxiliary ports on most car stereos is this easy. The dealership wanted $95 to put one in, but he managed to add
a 3.5mm audio-in port to his car stereo
for just a couple of bucks.
The connector on the back of his head unit is a 2×4 set of pins recessed in a protective plastic ring. It turns out that the audio connector cable for a PC CD-ROM drive has a 1×4 socket that is perfect for this. [Apachem25] simply clipped one of those cables in half and used both ends to interface with the Aux port. He found the pin-out for his particular model on the Internet. He needed a specific resistance value between two of the pins to get the deck to let him use the input. All that he needed was a quick bit of soldering. The left, right, and ground are brought around the side and soldered to an audio jack he added in the face plate of the unit.
If you’re still rockin’ the cassette deck our favorite automotive Bluetooth solution is still
this one for a classic Beetle
.
[via
Reddit
] | 29 | 23 | [
{
"comment_id": "962679",
"author": "Tom Duff",
"timestamp": "2013-02-20T02:09:02",
"content": "Classic Beatle? Would that beTony Sheridan.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "962695",
"author": "0c",
"timestamp": "2013-02-20T02:44... | 1,760,376,604.862767 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/02/19/diamond-ore-wall-lamp-brings-minecraft-into-your-home/ | Diamond Ore Wall Lamp Brings Minecraft Into Your Home | Mike Szczys | [
"LED Hacks"
] | [
"lamp",
"minecraft"
] | We were surprised to see all of the Christmas gifts that revolved around Minecraft. Seems like there’s a lot of stuff for sale, but we still like the DIY spirit that comes with making your own. [Thacrudd] recently finished this project. It’s
a wall lamp that looks like Minecraft’s diamond ore
.
The enclosure is a wood box that used to contain chocolates. After studying the pixel art texture for the game’s diamond ore blocks he marked out the pattern and headed over to the scroll to rough them out before finishing with files and a rasp. Next came paint, which was sourced as a sample from the home store. This left him with one shade of gray, but the variations were easy to add by mixing it with white or black.
A strip of white LEDs gives the lamp its inner glow. The openings have been covered with blue acrylic which keep the dust out while providing the appropriate hue.
[via
Reddit
] | 12 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "962664",
"author": "zosh",
"timestamp": "2013-02-20T01:17:24",
"content": "Awesome hack! I wish I had the courage to use a box cutter and a box of watercolours.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "962802",
"author": "agtri... | 1,760,376,604.792405 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/02/19/rusty-old-table-saw-turned-into-a-workstation-worthy-of-a-master-craftsman/ | Rusty Old Table Saw Turned Into A Workstation Worthy Of A Master Craftsman | Mike Szczys | [
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"delta",
"refurbished",
"rust",
"rusty",
"table saw"
] | Okay, first of all: holy crap! Even if you didn’t know this started as a rusty table saw,
the workstation that came out of this project
is just phenomenal. It really makes us wish we had looked around for a used model with a cast iron top instead of going for the cheap stamped metal one that was ready to use.
[Simon Leblanc] started with a Delta contractor’s saw that was rusty inside and out. The refurbishment began by removing the table and everything from the inside. The rods and gears were all cleaned up before he began to sand away the rust on the table itself. But obviously he didn’t stop with getting the saw to be functional again. He built a small set of cabinets to serve as the base for the saw. They went inside of this larger assembly that combines an MDF table top with an Accusquare rip fence to greatly increase the working surface of the tool.
Now he needs to start in on
an extra fancy CNC jig
for the thing.
[via
Reddit
] | 18 | 13 | [
{
"comment_id": "962584",
"author": "quads",
"timestamp": "2013-02-19T22:14:38",
"content": "Its on casters, I would think that would work as long as you aren’t moving it every day.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "962589",
"author": "Rob",
... | 1,760,376,605.156728 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/02/19/lego-stylus-solves-ruzzle-tablet-game/ | LEGO Stylus Solves Ruzzle Tablet Game | Mike Szczys | [
"Tablet Hacks"
] | [
"lego",
"mindstorm",
"ruzzle",
"solver",
"stylus",
"touchscreen"
] | This grid of letters is a puzzle game for tablet devices called Ruzzle. The contraption attached is
an automated solver which uses LEGO Mindstorm parts
to input the solutions on the screen. [Alberto Sarullo] is the mastermind behind the project. As you can seen in his demo video after the break he has a flair for the cinematic. But he makes you work a little bit to discover the details of his project.
His post gives a general overview of how this works. A Linux box takes a screenshot of the Ruzzle board. After processing the graphics with Imagemagick he uses Tesseract — an Optical Character Recognition program — to figure out which letter is on each square of the playing area. From there NodeJS is used to discover all possible words with the help of a dictionary file. The final solutions are pushed to the LEGO parts to be traced out on the touch screen with a stylus. The nice thing is that he published all of his code, so you can drill much deeper into the project by pawing through
his repository
. | 1 | 1 | [
{
"comment_id": "3409354",
"author": "nicolai bruun",
"timestamp": "2017-02-13T07:46:28",
"content": "do you have any building and program instructions?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
}
] | 1,760,376,605.256236 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/02/19/impressive-dev-boards-for-your-stm32-dev-boards/ | Impressive Dev Boards For Your STM32 Dev Boards | Mike Szczys | [
"ARM"
] | [
"breakout",
"dev board",
"discovery",
"discovery board",
"stm32"
] | It seems there are a lot of people who have the same complaint about the STM32 Discovery boards; it can be difficult to add external hardware to them. Don’t get us wrong, we appreciate all of the pins being broken out (as opposed to the Stellaris Launchpad which we think has too few available). Here’s [Scot Kornak’s] solution to the problem. He created
three different baseboards which the STM32 Discovery plugs into
. Each is for a different model of dev board: the VL, F3, and F4. But he also thinks
the baseboard we saw in this other project
is a good choice for an F4 solution.
These large PCB add-ons bring functionality in two different ways. The first is by using expandable ports for drop in modules like serial communications connectors or Analog/SPI/I2C modules. For us, the second method is the most desirable. He routes each GPIO port to a 2×8 header and uses IDC cables (rainbow cable in these images) to connect them to a breadboard. Seeing this makes us wish STM had used discreet clusters of 16 pins instead of those super long dual pin headers. | 14 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "962486",
"author": "Søren Friis",
"timestamp": "2013-02-19T18:17:09",
"content": "This seems like a nice connection board as well.http://www.embedinfo.com/english/product/DM-STF4BB.asp",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "962495",
... | 1,760,376,605.218338 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/02/19/openscad-is-for-use-with-2d-machine-not-just-3d-printing/ | OpenSCAD Is For Use With 2D Machine, Not Just 3D Printing | Mike Szczys | [
"cnc hacks"
] | [
"2d",
"laser cutter",
"mill",
"openscad",
"router"
] | Here’s an enclosure which was
designed with OpenSCAD and cut out on a CNC router
. [Matthew Venn] wrote about the project because he sees tons of 3D printing hacks that use the software, but almost never hears about it as a tool for laser cutting or CNC router/mill work. When we read that we thought we must have seen a lot of 2D hacks but a search of Hackaday’s previous offerings proved us wrong. Just this week we heard about
the software in use with the Makerbot
. Or you could go back about a year and read about
creating 3D molds
. But nothing on 2D work.
His post is a quick read and shows off the bare bones of the case designs he’s been working with for a few years. By referencing the code itself, and playing with how it changes the render in OpenSCAD he makes a strong case for quick and easy enclosure design. If you use this technique make sure to document your experience because
we want to hear about it
! | 9 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "962461",
"author": "Justin Shipe",
"timestamp": "2013-02-19T17:29:44",
"content": "I’m doing the same thing, actually. I’m designing a storage box in 3D space to be laid out in 2D and laser cut out of hardwood ply. This same article was mentioned to me earlier in the week and I fo... | 1,760,376,605.417739 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/02/19/rube-goldberg-provides-liquid-refreshment/ | Rube-Goldberg Provides Liquid Refreshment | Mike Szczys | [
"classic hacks"
] | [
"cardboard",
"marble",
"pinball",
"rube goldberg",
"vending machine"
] | The image to the left doesn’t make this look like much, but
inside of the cardboard vending machine lives a clever Rube-Goldberg device
. The video after the break gives a look at the inner workings to show how a quarter manages to dispense a full can of Coke. But that’s about all the detail we get on the project.
There are two sets of counterweights used in the design. Some marbles, and what look like giant pinballs. The coin chute, located on the left side of the venting machine, funnels the money into the waiting marble. When the marble rolls off it lands on a spoon. The weight rotates the spoon-filled disk and causes one of the waiting pinballs to drop from their rack. As that metal ball falls it operates a ratcheting system to dispense just one can. It looks like the capacity of the machine is limited to two refreshing cans of sugary liquid, but that could be scaled up if more room were made for cans and counterweights alike.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpB5lZLrJ_c
[via
Reddit
] | 13 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "962404",
"author": "dALE",
"timestamp": "2013-02-19T15:06:12",
"content": "Rube Goldberg never tasted so good!also, is Rube Goldberg supposed to be hyphenated?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "962420",
"author": "lloyd_... | 1,760,376,605.536526 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/02/19/via-press-crushes-copper-to-make-a-mechanical-connection/ | Via Press Crushes Copper To Make A Mechanical Connection | Mike Szczys | [
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"dual layer",
"pcb",
"press",
"through hole",
"via",
"vice"
] | [Jay] was looking for a way to make his own vias on homemade double-sided PCBs when he stumbled across this post from about five years ago. The technique shown here makes mechanical vias and was developed by [Retromaster]. There’s no soldering involved, instead he uses some
solid core copper wire and a press to crush it tightly against the board
.
The press is made from aluminum stock, with a couple of plates of stainless steel which come in contact with the board. The aluminum stock is easy to work with, but it’s relatively soft which is the reason for the addition of steel. He uses copper wire which already fits tightly in the hole through the substrate. After clipping off the excess as near to the board as possible a trip through the press leaves each side flat as shown in the inset image.
We looked through some of the other projects we’ve seen from [Retromaster] like
the Atari 2600 in an FPGA
and this emulated
Amiga floppy drive
. But we didn’t see any diy boards where he used this crushing technique. | 22 | 11 | [
{
"comment_id": "962364",
"author": "John Pfeiffer",
"timestamp": "2013-02-19T12:26:47",
"content": "Woah, that’s really clever, and it works a hell of a lot better/cleaner than I would have thought! Too bad I already invested in through-hole rivets… :|Now if someone would post a design for a DIY p... | 1,760,376,605.60287 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/02/18/hdmi-breakout-lets-you-sniff-hdcp-crypto-keys/ | HDMI Breakout Lets You Sniff HDCP Crypto Keys | Mike Szczys | [
"home entertainment hacks",
"Security Hacks"
] | [
"crypto",
"hdcp",
"hdmi",
"keys"
] | There’s two really useful parts to this hack which involves
sniffing the HDMI protocol’s HDCP security keys
. The first is just getting at the signals without disrupting communications between two HDCP capable devices. To do so [Adam Laurie] started by building an HDMI breakout cable that also serves as a pass-through. The board seen above is known as an HDMI screw terminal board. The image shows one cable connecting to itself during the fabrication process. What he did was cut one end off of an HDMI cable, then used a continuity tester to figure out which screw terminal connects with which bare wire. After all the wires are accounted for the end with the plug goes to his TV, with a second cable connecting between the board’s socket and his DVD player.
The rest of his post is dedicated to sniffing the security keys. His weapon of choice on this adventure turns out to be a Bus Pirate but it runs a little slow to capture all of the data. He switches to a tool of his own design, which runs on a 60MHz PIC32 demo board. With it he’s able to get the keys which make decrypting the protected data possible. | 31 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "962227",
"author": "Nate True",
"timestamp": "2013-02-19T04:17:47",
"content": "He actually switches back to using the Bus Pirate after upgrading the firmware. The issue wasn’t the speed of the Bus Pirate, it was that it didn’t detect the directional change of the I2C data",
"p... | 1,760,376,605.673102 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/02/18/wireless-fireworks-controller-includes-several-safety-features/ | Wireless Fireworks Controller Includes Several Safety Features | Mike Szczys | [
"Arduino Hacks"
] | [
"controller",
"fireworks",
"launch",
"nichrome",
"relay"
] | [Craig Turner] wrote in to tell us about
the wireless fireworks controller
he just finished building. It has eight total channels and offers the kind of safety features we like to see when working with explosives.
The image above details the launcher side of the project. The project box houses an Arduino which is powered by a 9V battery. To enable this base station the key lying on top of the project box must be inserted and turned to the on position. To the left is the 12V battery which is used to supply the igniters via a set of eight relays. In the demo video after the break [Craig] is using nichrome wire to demonstrate, but we’ve even see
projects that actually burn up resistors
to light the fireworks.
The system uses RF12 wireless modules to communicate with the control panel. That also has an Arduino, along with a number pad. After switching on the power the operator must enter a PIN code before the system will allow any of the fireworks to be launched. | 18 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "962189",
"author": "spag",
"timestamp": "2013-02-19T02:12:27",
"content": "Nice. A good addition would be a way to remotely connect the main igniter power – what happens if the software goes awry and fires all the igniters as soon as the 9v battery is connected? The relay outputs se... | 1,760,376,605.475108 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/02/18/valentines-puzzle-box-makes-you-work-for-whats-inside/ | Valentine’s Puzzle Box Makes You Work For What’s Inside | Mike Szczys | [
"ARM",
"Holiday Hacks"
] | [
"box",
"gyroscope",
"puzzle",
"stm32f3discovery",
"Valentines day"
] | Here’s a new take on a gift box which has been locked from the inside. I doesn’t rely on GPS coordinates or a real-time clock to unfasten the latch. Instead, the box itself acts as a puzzle. You follow the visual and audio clues,
turning the box along three axes in order to input the unlock code
.
There are three different difficulty settings. The easiest uses the LED heart to indicate which direction to turn the box next. This is accompanied by a beep for correct or a longer tone for incorrect movements. On the medium setting you can only go by the tones, but once you screw up the lights will aid you in getting back to where you where when making the mistake. The impossible setting doesn’t use the lights at all.
[Matt] took inspiration from some
reverse geocache projects
featured here on Hackaday. He already had an STM32F3 Discovery board on hand which he received as a sample. It’s driving all of the electronics inside, with the on-board gyroscope as the input device. Don’t miss the video after the break to see how well the thing works. | 11 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "962146",
"author": "Charles",
"timestamp": "2013-02-19T00:11:21",
"content": "So beautiful and simple…",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "962168",
"author": "Eirinn",
"timestamp": "2013-02-19T01:00:38",
"content": "What... | 1,760,376,606.76374 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/02/18/a-beautiful-game-of-lights-out/ | A Beautiful Game Of Lights Out | Brian Benchoff | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"LED Hacks",
"Toy Hacks"
] | [
"17 segment",
"arduino",
"Lights Out"
] | About a year ago, [Anthony] decided to embark on his biggest project to date. He wanted something with a ton of LEDs, so when the idea of recreating the classic electronic Lights Out game came to mind, he knew he had the makings of a killer project. The finished
Lights Out arcade box
is a wonderful piece of work with sixteen 17-segment displays and just as many LED illuminated arcade buttons.
By far the most impressive feature of [Anthony]’s project are the two rows of 17-segment displays. These are controlled by two
MAX6954 LED display drivers
on a beautiful wire wrapped board. The 16 buttons for the game are translucent arcade buttons that compliment the RGB LED strip very nicely.
A great display and a whole bunch of LEDs don’t make a game, though. [Anthony] came across
this article on JSTOR
that told him how to create new 4×4 games of Lights Out and solve them algorithmically to get the total number of moves required to solve the puzzle. As you can see in
this video
, it’s a little hard to solve the puzzle in the minimum amount of moves. Still, we have to commend [Anthony] for a great project. | 9 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "962113",
"author": "generjones",
"timestamp": "2013-02-18T22:59:59",
"content": "Very nice construction. I’ve always wanted to mess around with 14 or 16 segment character LED displays, but their expense compared to a 16×2 LCD module was always prohibitive.",
"parent_id": null,
... | 1,760,376,605.725481 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/02/18/speech-synthesizing-valentine-from-1991/ | Speech Synthesizing Valentine From 1991 | Brian Benchoff | [
"classic hacks"
] | [
"old school",
"speech synthesis",
"speech synthesizer",
"valentine"
] | Back in 1991, a young [Backwoods Engineer] and his new wife went to a Valentines day get together. One of the conditions of the shindig was having the guys make – not buy – a Valentines day card. Go big or go home, he though, and after a few days
he had a talking Valentines day card
that would become one of his wife’s most treasured possessions.
The early 90s were a different time; in case you haven’t yet been made to feel very old yet today, 1991 is closer to 1970 than 2013 is to 1991. Likewise, the circuitry inside this heartfelt talking token of appreciation bears more resemblance to something from a 1970s electronics magazine than an Arduino project of today.
The project is powered by an old Intel MCS-48 microcontroller attached to
one of the old speech synthesis chips
Radio Shack used to sell. These are, in turn, connected to a programmable logic chip and a masked ROM that translates English words into phonemes for the speech synthesizer.
The entire device is constructed on a hacked up piece of perf board and a few wire wrap sockets; sturdy construction, even if the battery compartment has been replaced a few times.
As for what the talking valentine says? “”OK! Hello, I am a Talking Valentine Card. “Love Is A Many-Splendored Thing” and in this case also needs batteries!” You can check that out after the break.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZ0rkK6c9zA&w=580] | 21 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "962033",
"author": "Backwoods Engineer",
"timestamp": "2013-02-18T20:20:00",
"content": "Thanks for posting it. Yeah, it’s cheesy. But all the Arduino guys should appreciate what you have today :-)",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id... | 1,760,376,605.784498 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/02/18/cnlohrs-microscope-slide-linux-avr-minecraft-thing/ | [CNLohr]’s Microscope Slide Linux AVR Minecraft… Thing | Brian Benchoff | [
"Linux Hacks",
"Microcontrollers"
] | [
"AVR",
"JSLinux",
"linux",
"minecraft"
] | We’ve been following [CNLohr]’s process of creating an AVR-powered microscope slide running Linux and interfacing redstone circuits in Minecraft to real world electronic for a while now, but we’re really at a loss for words on how it works. Well,
now there’s a video explaining everything you want to know
about this amazingly complicated and overwrought thing.
The device is powered by an AVR microcontroller and Ethernet controller running [Fabrice Bellard]’s
JSLinux
in a browser. [CNLohr] added a few bits to JSLinux allowing him map the x86 IO ports emulated inside JSLinux to the AVR’s IO ports. This allows him to query the status – both analog and digital – using just a browser. Very cool, but [CNLohr] can also run his
Minecraft server optimized for 8-bit devices
on this microscope slide server to create a bridge between real electronics and redstone circuits.
To sum up what’s going on here, [Bellard] created an x86 emulator in JavaScript, and put Linux on it. [CNLohr] is serving this from a microcontroller attached to a circuit built on a microscope slide so he can blink an LED from within Minecraft. It’s the most beautifully over engineered and useless thing we’ve ever seen, basically.
In the video after the break, you can see [CNLohr]’s overly convoluted walk through of what’s going on with this microscope slide server. As a little bonus, you can also catch a glimpse of Hackaday at 00:20 in [CNLohr]’s most visited / new tab thingy in Firefox. We’re honored, really.
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENNZ5QNrHNQ&w=580] | 19 | 12 | [
{
"comment_id": "961979",
"author": "ChalkBored",
"timestamp": "2013-02-18T18:45:16",
"content": "All that just to blink a LED.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "962018",
"author": "TacticalNinja",
"timestamp": "2013-02-18T19:57:... | 1,760,376,605.838697 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/02/18/making-a-qr-clock-bigger-cheaper-and-better/ | Making A QR Clock Bigger, Cheaper, And Better | Brian Benchoff | [
"hardware",
"LED Hacks"
] | [
"clock",
"led matrix",
"QR clock",
"qr code"
] | With the massive response and blog cred from his QR Code clock, [ch00f] felt it was time to step up his game and update his design to a proper commercial product. His new QR clock is bigger, brighter, cheaper, and in every way better than the old version,
but these improvements came at a cost
.
The LED matrices [ch00f] used in his earlier, smaller version weren’t very aesthetically pleasing. He wanted the lights to shine a brilliant white, and also be somewhat attractive when not illuminated. The 8×8 LED arrays [ch00f] picked up from
Futurlec
had a disgusting yellow coating on each LED that turned light emitted by the blue LEDs inside to a brilliant white. This simply wouldn’t do for a commercial product with [ch00f]’s name on it, so he turned to the one place in the universe where everything was for sale:
alibaba.com
.
After some trials and tribulations with component manufacturers in China, [ch00f] had the perfect LED matrix; not too expensive, very good quality control, and something that looked really good when both unpowered and illuminated.
Now that his boards are being spun up, [ch00f] hopes to sell his QR clock on Tindie. Each 24×24 LED matrix should cost less than $100, a pretty good deal if you ask us. He’d like to know if anyone out there has any feature requests, to which we can only say he should get rid of the PCB border. Tiling a few of these displays and controlling them via serial would be
much
cooler than a QR Code clock. | 21 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "961926",
"author": "Jasper",
"timestamp": "2013-02-18T17:11:42",
"content": "I wouldn’t want this thing on my wall. The fact that the QR code doesn’t fill the whole display (it leaves the right column and bottom row empty) would bug me too much.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth":... | 1,760,376,605.894899 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/02/16/playing-with-the-minecraft-api-and-a-raspberry-pi/ | Playing With The Minecraft API And A Raspberry Pi | Brian Benchoff | [
"Raspberry Pi"
] | [
"minecraft",
"raspberry pi"
] | It hasn’t been a week since Minecraft for the Raspberry Pi has been released, and already we’re seeing some cool builds that bridge our analog world with Minecraft voxel land. [Martin] got his hands on the Raspi version of Minecraft and decided to take advantage of the API Mojang threw into the build
by making a huge analog block clock
that keeps real world time in the Minecraft universe.
Basically, [Martin] created a small Python script that draws the face and hands of a clock in a Minecraft world. The Minecraft API comes with neat functions such as drawCircle, and drawLine, so making a real clock face is as simple as getting the system time and doing a bit of trig.
After the break you can check out [Martin]’s Minecraft clock in action. If you’re running the Pi version of Minecraft, you can also get this running on your machine with the code
on [Martin]’s git
.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ey4QpoqZLLU&w=580] | 8 | 3 | [
{
"comment_id": "960985",
"author": "Martin O'Hanlon",
"timestamp": "2013-02-16T13:56:50",
"content": "Thanks for posting about my clock. Not wishing to take anything away from mojang, but they dont supply functions to draw a circle or a line, i had to make them myself, although now i have, anyone ... | 1,760,376,606.10953 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/02/15/udp-between-stm32-f4-discovery-boards/ | UDP Between STM32-F4 Discovery Boards | Mike Szczys | [
"ARM",
"Network Hacks"
] | [
"breakout",
"discovery",
"ethernet",
"internet",
"nic",
"sd",
"STM32F4",
"udp"
] | [The Backwoods Engineer] tested out a new accessory kit for the STM32-F4 Discovery board. The image above shows
two boards communicating with the UDP protocol
. Notice the extra PCB into which each Discovery board has been plugged. This is
a third-party add-on
which adds Ethernet, RS-232, SD card slot, and a connector for LCD or Camera. We’ve had one of these F4 Discovery boards on hand for a while and haven’t figured out a good way to connect external hardware to the huge dual pin-headers. This doesn’t solve the problem — the base board also includes dual headers to break-out all the pins — but having Ethernet, serial, and SD certainly reduces the need to add all that much more. The other drawback to the hardware is that the sample firmware is targeted at the IAR Embedded Workbench which is neither free, nor in the realm of affordable for hobbyists.
The NIC used on the baseboard has auto-crossover capabilities so the boards were connected using a regular Cat6 patch cable. This example has the boards constantly sending UDP packets with the module on the right reporting status information to a terminal via the serial connection. | 24 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "960784",
"author": "Backwoods Engineer",
"timestamp": "2013-02-15T23:20:05",
"content": "Thanks for posting this. I am planning on doing more posts on this new baseboard for the STM32F4-DISCOVERY.I’m also planning on converting at least some of the example projects to ARM gcc, so s... | 1,760,376,606.251161 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/02/15/airsoft-turret-has-turn-tilt-and-auto-feed-to-keep-those-bbs-flying/ | Airsoft Turret Has Turn, Tilt, And Auto-feed To Keep Those BBs Flying | Mike Szczys | [
"Weapons Hacks"
] | [
"acrylic",
"airsoft",
"bb",
"laser cut",
"turret"
] | Yet another project that proves you need to acquire a laser cutter. This Airsoft
turret rotates, tilts, and includes a hopper for ammo
.
All of the pieces were cut from acrylic. The base includes a bracket which keeps the large rotating gear level by sandwiching it between the layers. That and the tilt mechanism are pretty straight forward. The module responsible for loading the BBs is pretty neat though. It uses a gear with round teeth the same diameter as the ammo. Once a BB is picked up it is forced upward into the tubing that feeds the gun. Get the full picture from the demo video after the break.
The one thing [The Liquider] is wondering about is how to provide feedback for the tilt and rotate functions. We can’t think of an easier way than to
use simple rotary encoders
. The Arduino Mega he wishes to use as a driver will have no problem interfacing with reflectance sensors and the acrylic makes it simple to mount this type of black and white encoder wheel. | 39 | 22 | [
{
"comment_id": "960742",
"author": "alex",
"timestamp": "2013-02-15T21:35:51",
"content": "Austrian systems makes a couple of magnetic encoders.You spin a small magnet 1 or 2 mm above the IC and it senses the rotating magnetic field using some hall effect sensors and does processing on that to dete... | 1,760,376,606.333752 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/02/15/cracking-open-a-24-port-switch-so-you-dont-have-to/ | Cracking Open A 24-port Switch So You Don’t Have To | Mike Szczys | [
"Network Hacks",
"Teardown"
] | [
"ethernet",
"kenneth finnegan",
"managed switch",
"switch"
] | [Kenneth Finnegan’s] post about this
24-Port HP ProCurve 2824 Ethernet Switch teardown
was a delight to read. He’s taking an introduction to networking class at California Polytechnic State University. One of their labs included virtual machines shooting thousands of new MAC addresses at the thing all at once. Despite it’s ability to switch data at a blazing fast rate, it’s ability to deal with that many new hardware identifiers was less than impressive. He wanted to find out why and it just so happened he had one of these in his parts bin at home (which he refers to as if it’s a high-powered RPG character).
The mainboard is divided into three major blocks: the power supply, the switching hardware, and the processor that makes this a manged switch. Although he covers all of these pieces (and the switching stuff is very interesting to learn about) it is the processor section that was causing the aforementioned slowdown. It’s a 266MHz PowerPC chip with a measly 64 MB of RAM. Of course this doesn’t need to be any more powerful since all traffic from previously ‘learned’ MAC addresses gets handled by the switching block and never touches the processor portion.
Don’t miss the end of his post where he discusses how the filtering caps, and semi-isolated ground planes help to tame the beast created from all of this high-speed switching. | 14 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "960712",
"author": "urbN3rd",
"timestamp": "2013-02-15T20:29:52",
"content": "Nice Post",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "960717",
"author": "bigbob",
"timestamp": "2013-02-15T20:39:33",
"content": "Hell yeah, my alma ... | 1,760,376,606.443206 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/02/15/beginners-androidarduino-example-shows-the-power-of-app-inventor/ | Beginner’s Android/Arduino Example Shows The Power Of App Inventor | Mike Szczys | [
"Arduino Hacks"
] | [
"android",
"app inventor",
"bluetooth",
"graphical",
"mit"
] | This is a simple project. It uses an Android device to switch an LED driven by the Arduino. Connectivity is provided by the Bluetooth module inserted in the breadboard. But one look at the UI on the Android device and you might think this is anything
but
simple. The truth is that [Kerimil] didn’t spend forever learning Java and programming the app. Instead he’s showing off
the power of App Inventor to get your Android controls up and running fast
.
Check out the third button down; when was the last time you added voice commands to your project? It’s worth clicking through to see just how simple that portion was.
App Inventor
— a Google cast-out that is now maintained by MIT — is a graphical tool that unlocks the power of an Android handset to those with the most basic of programming understanding. For instance, the voice controls shown off after the break are provided by a single bracket which uses conditional statements to ‘listen’ for the words on, off, and blink. You’ll find the voice recognition diagram after the break as well.
You could try to go completely graphical with this project. There’s the option of
programming the Arduino side of the project in a similar way
. | 20 | 12 | [
{
"comment_id": "960679",
"author": "Thomas Wrobel",
"timestamp": "2013-02-15T19:20:13",
"content": "Even working in just Java, adding voice support is very,very easy. Barely a few lines, the OS and Googles server does all the work.Still, I was very greatfull when working on my little Android AR XMP... | 1,760,376,606.392431 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/02/15/quadcopter-brain/ | Quadcopter Brain | Mike Szczys | [
"drone hacks"
] | [
"accelerometer",
"gyroscope",
"quadcopter",
"xbee"
] | This project is the warm center of [Alan Kharsansky’s] thesis in Electronic Engineering. It’s
an all-in-one control board for a quadcopter
. This is the second iteration of the board, the first version he actually etched himself. As you can see after the break the firmware is not quite ready for prime-time. But that doesn’t stop us from appreciating the design choices he’s made.
You can see the effort he made to keep the board symmetrical which will help when it comes time to balance the aircraft. At the center of the PCB is the jewel of the sensor array, a combination accelerometer and gyroscope. This location will help easy the trouble of designing PID algorithms to drive the four propellers. Also included in the sensor array is a magnetometer for navigation, and a barometric pressure sensor which can be used as an altimeter. There are four multipurpose connectors used to drive the motors and provide feedback to the boards. He also included two more sets of pads on the board (without their own connectors) in case he wants to add more motors in the future. The quadcopter can be controlled from a base station via the XBee module. | 34 | 12 | [
{
"comment_id": "960625",
"author": "Squirrel",
"timestamp": "2013-02-15T17:37:02",
"content": "*sniff* it’s… so… beautiful… *sob*",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "960632",
"author": "Brauns Hizzle",
"timestamp": "2013-02-15T17:54:45",
... | 1,760,376,606.713794 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/02/15/an-awesome-futuristic-all-in-one-robot-chassis/ | An Awesome, Futuristic, All-in-one Robot Chassis | Brian Benchoff | [
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"chassis",
"robot",
"robotics platform"
] | No matter how many advances in electronics we find, we’re constantly surprised at the lack of progress in robot chassis. Sure, it should be a simple task to make a capable robot that looks cool, but aside from the
Veter project team
, no one else seems to be advancing the state of robot mechanics.
We’ve seen robotic chassis and
hardware from the Veter team before
, and this new version brings a whole lot more to the table. While the camera. GPS, compass, and ultrasonic sensors are the same from the previous build, there’s a
whole lot more software
inspired by [Sebastian Thrun]’s
autonomous car class
to make this build a little more capable.
While the Veter team is using a Beagleboard for their on-board computer, it should be possible to change the hardware over to a more economical Raspberry Pi. Even then, it won’t be a cheap build, but we doubt you’ll find a better robotics platform for less. | 41 | 13 | [
{
"comment_id": "960568",
"author": "dALE",
"timestamp": "2013-02-15T15:20:43",
"content": "I would like to take this time to welcome out future robotic overlords.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "960669",
"author": "Hirudinea",
... | 1,760,376,606.523752 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/02/15/pulse-jet-snowmobile-or-what-swedes-do-during-hibernation/ | Pulse Jet Snowmobile, Or, What Swedes Do During Hibernation | Brian Benchoff | [
"Transportation Hacks"
] | [
"ice racing",
"pulse jet",
"racing"
] | Sweden is coming out of the depths of a cold, dark winter. What better time, then, to enjoy the last few weeks of frigid temperatures, short days, and frozen lakes and rivers? That’s what Orsa Speed Weekend is all about; tearing across a frozen lake by any means necessary, including
jet powered snowmobiles
.
This pulse jet comes from the fruitful minds at
Svarthalet Racing
(
Google Translation
) who have put an amazing amount of work into their
fuel-injected pulse jet snowmobile
during these last cold winter months. They’ve even gone so far as
to do some analysis
regarding how much horsepower their snowmobile has. Surprisingly, it’s not much more horsepower than a small car, but that’s due to the hilarious inefficiency of pulse jets compared to more conventional engines.
This isn’t the first time we’ve seen
jet powered snowmobiles
build for Orsa Speed Weekend. We’ll just hope this year a few more videos will show up in our tip line. | 24 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "960528",
"author": "Leonardo Kenji Shikida",
"timestamp": "2013-02-15T12:12:56",
"content": "it seems it makes a lot of fire and noise but can’t actually run :-)",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "960720",
"author": "Linu... | 1,760,376,606.819611 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/02/14/brake-light-backpack-overpowered-with-led-pixels/ | Brake Light Backpack Overpowered With LED Pixels | Mike Szczys | [
"Transportation Hacks",
"Wearable Hacks"
] | [
"backpack",
"bicycle",
"bike",
"brake lights",
"motorcycle",
"turn signal",
"WS2801"
] | Here’s another Flora Arduino based project from [Becky Stern]. It’s
a backpack with brake lights and turn signals
for use when motorcycling, but it should work just as well for bicyclists. From this view the project looks pretty normal, but things get downright crazy when she decided to use the WS2801 pixels for the LEDs. Sure they take all the work out of driving an array of LEDs, and they offer full color and dimming levels. But when you see the bulk of cabling and PCBs this adds to the project (shown in the video after the break) we think you’ll agree that this was an interesting choice.
That issue aside the project is a lot of fun. The system doesn’t patch into the motorcycle’s electronics. Instead, it uses an accelerometer to detect when the brakes are applied and light the LEDs according. The turn signals are switched with an RF remote control that can be mounted on the handlebars.
Anyone looking to hack outerwear with electronics can learn form the fabrication techniques used here. [Becky] details how to make holes in the bag and sew parts to them, as well as using Sugru to waterproof vulnerable components. | 44 | 20 | [
{
"comment_id": "960341",
"author": "HC",
"timestamp": "2013-02-15T00:21:02",
"content": "It boggles my mind how anyone could put this much time and effort into making brake lights and not consider the fact they need to work at traffic signals and stop signs. I mean, really? REALLY?“Does it have t... | 1,760,376,606.906882 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/02/14/faa-gps-data-formatted-for-your-use/ | FAA GPS Data Formatted For Your Use | Mike Szczys | [
"gps hacks"
] | [
"faa",
"gps",
"gpx",
"waypoi"
] | [Michael] posted
up-to-date GPS data sets in the GPX format
. These data sets are an alternative to paid updates. Since
GPX
is a published standard which uses an XML style formatting for location data [Michael’s] time was spent getting the original sets and finding a way to translate them for his Garmin EXTREX GPS.
The original data comes from — hang on, this is a mouthful — the US Federal Aviation Administration’s Facility Aeronautical Data Distribution System (
FADDS
). He had to apply for permission to download it and to use it in producing a custom GPS build. He grabbed the Airport waypoints and
navaid
sets, then studied accompanying files detailing the data structure before writing his own Visual Basic 2010 program to spit out the GPX files. He says he wanted to make them available in the spirit of the Open Hardware/Software movement. This may be most interesting for pilots (the kind that
put Nooks on the dashboard
, not
the kind who watch the aircraft from the ground
), but we’re sure there’s a myriad of uses for non-pilots alike. | 9 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "960314",
"author": "gjia",
"timestamp": "2013-02-14T22:42:37",
"content": "lolwut? why bother with XML when you can simply parse GPGXX messages",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "961995",
"author": "imroy264",
"ti... | 1,760,376,606.951289 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/02/14/raspberry-pi-as-a-plug-in-hash-harvester/ | Raspberry Pi As A Plug-in Hash Harvester | Mike Szczys | [
"Raspberry Pi",
"Security Hacks"
] | [
"metasplit",
"pen testing",
"RPi"
] | Plug in the power and Ethernet and
this Raspberry Pi board will automatically collect Windows hashes
from computers on the network. With a couple of RPi boards on hand [Travis] was searching for more hacks to try with them. This made a great little test to see how the board performs with the well established attack.
To start he booted into the standard Raspbian distribution. From there he loads the Metasploit framework which brings most of the necessary tools into play. It uses the Web Proxy Auto-Discovery Protocol (
WPAD
) to request hashes from any Windows machines listening on the network. Some version of the OS respond with LM hashes, others don’t. The importance of this and the particulars of using rainbow tables to crack the hashes is explained in
this article on the subject
.
We wouldn’t mind having a little hardware hack that adds a couple of LEDs to the GPIO header so you know when the RPi is done collecting the data. | 15 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "960260",
"author": "dirf",
"timestamp": "2013-02-14T21:18:26",
"content": "OMG Hackaday, this is getting ridiculous! Don’t you think we’ve had enough posts for stoners alre-Oh, OH, that kind of hash. Carry on then,,,",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
... | 1,760,376,607.0806 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/02/14/your-own-head-mounted-display-for-under-two-bills/ | Your Own Head-mounted Display For Under Two Bills | Mike Szczys | [
"Virtual Reality",
"Wearable Hacks"
] | [
"display",
"fresnel",
"goggles",
"head mounted"
] | [D S] wanted his own head-mounted display. What you see here is just his mockup, but somewhere along the way he realized it’s closer to a finished build than just being a stating point. Not only does it work well for gaming, it came in at under $200 all in. You think your girlfriend makes fun of you now for wearing that big microphone headset while playing? Just wait until she gets a load of these!
We’ve embedded an image gallery after the break as well as the description he sent us with his email. The display itself is a 7″ LCD module from eBay that boasts a hair better than 720P resolution: 1280×800. He’s using a pair of ski goggles to strap the display to his noggin. The enclosure is made out of foam board which should help keep the weight down. Inside there’s a Fresnel lens but after reading his description of how he measured the focal length we’re still not 100% clear on how he figured out where to mount it.
Though it may be missing the
3d of the rift
,a quick mod could fix that and he’ll be well on his way through the journey to
building his own Holodeck
.
I just recently made a mockup for my head mounted display project that I will be refining over the next few months. However the mockup turned out so good that I thought I´d share it with you all.
Things needed for this project:
7″ 1280×800 resolution lcd panel with a controller board and buttons (can be sourced from ebay.com for between $100 – $150)
Skiing or snowboard goggles
Foam core plastic sheets
A postcard-size plastic fresnel lens (available at some book stores)
Plastic or crazy glue, double tape and duct tape.
Totaling at about $200 at max I think.
First I took the plastic visor out of the goggles and used it as a reference to cut out the fresnel and put that in the goggles instead.
Then I powered on the screen and plugged it into my computer to make sure it worked and have a picture on it to measure the focal distance which will be the depth of the casing (plus 2-3mm to accomodate for some double tape to mount the screen inside the casing).
I then got the foam core and cut out five big pieces for the front, top, bottom and sides and two small triangles for the nose piece. I used the screen and goggles and my ideal focal distance between the two as reference for the size and shape of the casing (Shape will vary with different goggles, size of screen and each individuals eyes so I will not go into that in detail).
I think the pictures should pretty much explain the rest.
It only took me a few hours to get this together once I had all the material sorted and it´s greatly rewarding to put it on and play your favorite game on the equivalent of a movie screen.
I hope you guys like it and are motivated to make your own :) | 39 | 15 | [
{
"comment_id": "960230",
"author": "Frank",
"timestamp": "2013-02-14T20:07:22",
"content": "It’s a tempting project, I’ve considered many variants of it myself in the past… but it always comes down to the fact that it might look like a movie screen… but it’s a movie screen with really, really, big ... | 1,760,376,607.028935 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/02/14/3d-scanner-made-in-a-day/ | 3D Scanner Made In A Day | Mike Szczys | [
"Laser Hacks"
] | [
"3d scanner",
"arduino",
"barcode scanner",
"hackathon",
"webcam"
] | The LVL1 Hackerspace held a hackathon back in June and this is one of the projects that was created in that 24-hour period. It’s
a 3D scanner made from leftover parts
. The image gives you an idea of the math used in the image processing. It shows the angular relations between the laser diode, the subject being scanned, and the webcam doing the scanning.
The webcam is of rather low quality and one way to quickly improve the output would be to replace it with a better one. But because the rules said they had to use only materials from the parts bin it worked out just fine. The other issue that came into play was the there were no LCD monitors available for use in the project. Because of that they decided to make the device controllable over the network. On the right you can see a power supply taped to the top of a car computer. It connects to the laser (pulled out of a barcode scanner which produces a line of red light) and the turntable. A Python script does all of the image processing, assembling each slice of the scan into both an animated GIF and an OBJ file.
[Thanks Nathan] | 12 | 3 | [
{
"comment_id": "960192",
"author": "Ren",
"timestamp": "2013-02-14T18:47:18",
"content": "Oh! The “car computer” is a CarPC, not an ECU (emissions control unit), I followed the link just to see how they would have used an ECU in the build…",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
... | 1,760,376,607.206766 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/02/14/weightless-the-hopefully-not-vaporware-internet-of-things-chip/ | Weightless, The Hopefully-not-vaporware Internet Of Things Chip | Brian Benchoff | [
"News",
"Radio Hacks"
] | [
"radio",
"spectrum",
"weightless"
] | Imagine a single chip able to interface with your Ethernet, USB, and serial devices, turn those connections into wireless radio signals with miles of range, able operate off a single AA battery, and costs less than $2. That’s the promise of the
Weightless special interest group
that wants to put several hopefully not vaporware radio chips in the hands of everyone on the planet.
Long-range wireless networks are a tricky thing; for home networks, Bluetooth and WiFi reign supreme. Venturing into the outdoors, or really any place more than a few hundred feet from a WiFi repeater is a challenge, though. If you’re trying to send data to a fleet of automobiles, track an endangered animal, or make a smart power grid, your only real option is a cell phone tower with very high costs in hardware and battery life.
Weightless hopes to change that with a small radio chip that includes a MAC, PHY, and all the components necessary to turn just about any digital connection into a wireless link between devices. The radio will operate in the spectrum left behind by UHF TV (470 – 790MHz), and the folks working on already have some reference designs etched into silicon.Don’t expect this to replace WiFi, cellular, or Bluetooth, though: according to
the getting to know Weighless book
, the designers are aiming for a data rate of only a few kB/s.
Still, it’s a great use of now unused spectrum, and would fill a huge gap in what is readily possible with homebrew Internet of Things things.
Tip ‘o the hat to [Mark] for sending this one in. | 77 | 27 | [
{
"comment_id": "960080",
"author": "Cynar",
"timestamp": "2013-02-14T14:06:46",
"content": "So many things to do with this, IF they get it to production!I’ll raise my hopes when I can order my first chip though.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id":... | 1,760,376,607.422796 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/02/18/running-x86-apps-on-windows-rt-devices/ | Running X86 Apps On Windows RT Devices | Brian Benchoff | [
"ARM",
"Tablet Hacks"
] | [
"arm",
"windows rt",
"x86"
] | Windows RT, the version of Windows being loaded onto ARM-powered tablets and netbooks such as the new Microsoft Surface, has one drawback: there are tens of thousands of apps written for x86 hardware that simply won’t run on this new ARM-powered architecture. While this may present a problem for hospitals, banks, and other institutions needing a proper Wintel platform, we’re wondering how to get classic games such as Civ III and Age of Empires running on these new tablets.
It seems with a lot of black magic, [mamaich]
over at the XDA Developers forum
has a solution for us. He’s created a tool for running x86 Win32 apps on Windows RT. Basically, he’s created an x86 emulator for ARM devices that also passes Windows API calls to Windows RT.
So far, [mamaich] has been playing some classic Windows games on his Windows RT box, including
Heroes of Might and Magic 3
and
Space Cadet Pinball
from Windows 95. A few utility apps such as 7Zip and WinRAR also work.
[mamaich]’s plans for his build are to make x86 emulation more automatic without the need for a separate launcher tool. Then, finally, we’ll have the perfect portable platform for RTS games. | 44 | 22 | [
{
"comment_id": "961927",
"author": "Tom Kane",
"timestamp": "2013-02-18T17:12:34",
"content": "This is extremely cool! Performance will no doubt be an issue for anything recent, but it is an awesome undertaking nonetheless.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"co... | 1,760,376,607.154776 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/02/17/the-nottingham-hackspace/ | The Nottingham Hackspace | Jeremy Cook | [
"Hackerspaces"
] | [
"England",
"hackerspace",
"hackspace",
"Nottinghack"
] | Hackerspaces (or hackspace in this case) come in all shapes and sizes, from those just starting up, to some that are very impressively equipped. [Dominic] wrote in to tell us about the
Nottingham Hackspace
, which would fall solidly into the second category. We’d invite you to take a look at their intro video after the break, but be prepared to wish you lived near their location.
If you do happen to live there, in addition to a nicely polished website and intro video, they have nearly 4500 square feet of space at their facility. Naturally they have the now ubiquitous 3D printers, but they also have an impressive array of more traditional as well as computer-controlled tools. These include a lathe, welders, CNC router, laser cutter, and even basic PCB-making facilities. Storage space is also included, both for member projects and bicycles.
So be sure to check them out. They have around 130 members right now, but naturally would love to see you there!
[youtube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrX7EQfvutA?list=UUCn0IFJtZp5GbrHljwKoyyw%5D | 28 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "961462",
"author": "anon",
"timestamp": "2013-02-17T16:27:23",
"content": "Wow!I like those high resolution images…",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "961482",
"author": "Rob",
"timestamp": "2013-02-17T18:09:36",
"conte... | 1,760,376,607.719344 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/02/17/making-a-better-midi-controlled-leslie-stompbox/ | Making A Better, MIDI Controlled Leslie Stompbox | Brian Benchoff | [
"Musical Hacks"
] | [
"leslie",
"Leslie speaker",
"rotary speaker"
] | Way back before the advent of commercial DSP, musicians had really cool looking gear. One of these devices to change the sound of organs, guitars, and other electronic instruments was a Leslie speaker – a speaker cabinet with rotating horns that gives that wonderful warm warble heard on so many classic recordings. [Nigel] doesn’t have an original Leslie, but he does have a much less expensive and lighter digital effect that emulates the original Leslie sound very well. The only problem, though, is the requirement for a proprietary footswitch. No problem, then, because
a transistor, a resistor, and a mint tin can take care of that
.
[Nigel]’s Leslie simulator – a
Neo Instruments Ventilator
– has a foot switch to control the speed of the emulated rotary speakers. There are three possible states for the speakers, fast, slow, and brake, all controlled with a TRS phono connector. Possibly in an attempt to price gouge consumers on a proprietary footswitch, Neo Instruments decided they would use the ring and tip of the phono connector to control the speed. They did so in a way that made it impossible for a single relay or switch to change the speed, however.
No problem for [Nigel], then, because with a very simple circuit consisting of just a transistor and resistor he can use any footswitch he wants with his Leslie simulator. The build doesn’t support the brake function, but he doesn’t use that anyway. Not bad for less than a dollar in parts, and a buck fifty in mint tins. | 7 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "961452",
"author": "Bill Gander",
"timestamp": "2013-02-17T15:21:54",
"content": "“Before the advent of commercial DSP…” sounds noble but then ya go on to describe a DSP project. I like the compact build. Always thought Leslies to be nice but a bit overhyped by the music industry ... | 1,760,376,607.472772 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2013/02/17/bringing-the-zach-morris-phone-into-the-21st-century/ | Bringing The Zach Morris Phone Into The 21st Century | Brian Benchoff | [
"Cellphone Hacks"
] | [
"brick phone",
"cell phone",
"GSM module"
] | With the gravitas of [Michael Douglas] in Wall Street and the technological amazement of [Zach Morris] on Saved By The Bell, the classic 1980s ‘brick’ cell phone has a lot to offer these days. Not only is it large enough to be used as a blunt weapon, it’s also useful as an anchor and more durable than an old-school Nokia. Most, if not all of these phones have gone silent since analog cellular service went dead a few years ago, but that didn’t stop [Andrew]
from bringing his back to life
.
The core of this build is a 128×64 OLED screen that replaced the old seven-digit, seven-segment display and a
very small GSM module
. The ancient PCB was discarded and a new hardware revision was created in Eagle based on an Arduino-powered microcontroller. The buttons from the original phone remained, thanks to a custom designed resistive button footprint on the PCB and a bit of conductive ink.
What’s surprising is this phone
actually works
. [Andrew] can not only receive texts on his phone, but also send them using his own implementation of a number pad keyboard. It’s an awesome build, and from what we can tell, the first proper DIY cell phone we’ve ever seen. About time someone got around to that, and we couldn’t have hoped for a better form factor. | 27 | 14 | [
{
"comment_id": "961425",
"author": "Wezly",
"timestamp": "2013-02-17T12:18:08",
"content": "I was just thinking about how we need an open-source cell phone last night.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "961436",
"author": "albertskog",
"ti... | 1,760,376,607.542939 |
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