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https://hackaday.com/2012/12/08/building-a-spectrum-analyzer-with-parallel-processing/ | Building A Spectrum Analyzer With Parallel Processing | Brian Benchoff | [
"hardware",
"Microcontrollers"
] | [
"fft",
"parallel processing",
"spectrum analyzer"
] | It’s the end of the semester for [Bruce Land]’s microcontroller design class at Cornell, and the projects coming off the workbench this semester look as awesome as any before. For their final project, [Alexander Wang] and [Bill Jo] designed
an audio frequency spectrum analyzer
using two microcontrollers in a parallel setup.
This spectrum analyzer takes an audio signal from an iPod, phone, or CD player through a 3.5 mm jack and displays the level for dozens of frequency bands much like an audio visualizer in iTunes or a nice car stereo display. To display these frequency bands, the spectrum analyzer first needs to perform a Fast Fourier Transform on the incoming audio signal. While FFT is extremely fast, the calculations are rather hardware intensive; calculating the frequencies and displaying them on a TV would be a bit much even for the ATMega1284 used in the project.
To graph the audio signal on their small display, [Alexander] and [Bill] broke the build up into two parts – one to do the math on the audio, and another to generate the NTSC video signal for the display.
As seen in the video after the break, the spectrum analyzer works wonderfully, and even though it only functions up to 4kHz, it’s more than enough to see what’s going on in most music.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qaiK_UoDqJw&w=470]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?&v=9dBX1sY3pYI&w=470] | 12 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "899629",
"author": "biozz",
"timestamp": "2012-12-08T16:57:06",
"content": "very nice project!i need a MHZ to GHZ spectrum analyzer but being short of 10 grand i hoped to build one XD BUT i dont think thats really possible without eating a ton of noise XDD",
"parent_id": null,
... | 1,760,376,666.733786 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2012/12/07/driving-a-ws2811-rgb-led-pixel/ | Driving A WS2811 RGB LED Pixel | Mike Szczys | [
"LED Hacks"
] | [
"AVR",
"led",
"led strips",
"rgb",
"ws2811"
] | [Alan] has been working on
driving this WS2811 LED module with an AVR microcontroller
. It may look like a standard six-pin RGB LED but it actually contains both an LED module and a microcontroller to drive it. This makes it a very intriguing part. It’s not entirely simple to send commands to the module as the timing must be very precise. But once the communication has happened, the LED will remain the same color and intensity until you tell it otherwise. You can buy them attached to flexible strips, which can be cut down to as few as one module per segment. The one thing we haven’t figure out from our short look at the hardware is how each pixel is addressed. We think the color value cascades down the data line as new values are introduced, but we could be wrong. Feel free to discuss that in the comments.
The project focuses on whether or not it’s even possible to drive one of these pixels with a 16MHz AVR chip. They use single-wire communications at 800 kHz and this really puts a lot of demand on the microcontroller. He does manage to pull it off, but it requires careful crafting in assembly to achieve his timing constraints. You can see a quick clip of the LEDs fading between colors after the break.
[
Photo Credit
] | 46 | 16 | [
{
"comment_id": "899202",
"author": "Jens Gustavsson",
"timestamp": "2012-12-08T00:26:53",
"content": "If those are anything like the WS2801 ones, a good place to start understanding (for beginners, like me) them would be the “adalight” project athttp://learn.adafruit.com/adalight-diy-ambient-tv-lig... | 1,760,376,666.503064 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2012/12/07/autonomous-helicopter-works-like-a-wii-remote/ | Autonomous Helicopter Works Like A Wii Remote | Mike Szczys | [
"Toy Hacks"
] | [
"autonomous",
"helicopter",
"infrared",
"ir",
"logitech",
"webcam"
] | [Jack Crossfire] took one of those
inexpensive indoor helicopters and made it autonomous
. He didn’t replace the hardware used for the helicopter, but augmented it and patched into the remote control to make a base station.
The position feedback is provided in much the same way that the Wii remote is used as a pointing device. On the gaming console there is a bar that goes under the TV with two IR LEDs in it. This is monitored by an IR camera in the Wii remote and used to calculate where you’re pointing the thing. [Jack’s] auto-pilot system uses two Logitech webcams with IR filters over the sensors. You can see them mounted on the horizontal bar in the cutout above. The helicopter itself has an IR LED added to it that is always on. The base station follows this beacon by moving the cameras with a pair of servo motors, calculating position and using it when sending commands to the remote control’s PCB.
Don’t miss the demo video of the rig after the break.
[Thanks Chris] | 5 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "899168",
"author": "Zee",
"timestamp": "2012-12-07T23:40:12",
"content": "I wonder how good his positional accuracy is.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "899170",
"author": "Joejoedancer",
"timestamp": "2012-12-07T23:44:38... | 1,760,376,666.642901 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2012/12/07/250000-hard-drive-teardown/ | $250,000 Hard Drive Teardown | Mike Szczys | [
"hardware"
] | [
"dave jones",
"EEVblog",
"expensive",
"hard drive",
"ibm",
"server",
"teardown"
] | Have you ever seen hard drive platters this big before? Of course you haven’t, the cost of this unit is way beyond your pay grade. But now that it’s decades old we get a chance to post around inside this beast. [Dave Jones] — who we haven’t seen around these parts in far too long —
takes a look inside this $250,000 storage device
.
In this episode of the EEVblog [Dave] is tearing down a late 1980’s IBM hard drive. This an IBM 3390. It stores either 1.78GB or 3.78GB. These days we’d never use a mechanical drive for that little storage as flash memory is so much cheaper. But this was cutting edge for servers of the day. And that’s why you’d pay a quarter of a million dollars for the thing.
[Dave] does what he’s known for in the video after the break. He energetically pours over every aspect of the hardware discussing function and design choices as he goes. | 64 | 33 | [
{
"comment_id": "899116",
"author": "Matt",
"timestamp": "2012-12-07T22:09:56",
"content": "Neat. I have a similar drive sitting on my book shelf. No idea of the model number though, as half of the case is missing. It’s quite the beast",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
... | 1,760,376,666.932955 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2012/12/07/online-radiation-monitoring-station/ | Online Radiation Monitoring Station | Mike Szczys | [
"Microcontrollers"
] | [
"ATmega168",
"enc28j60",
"geiger",
"geiger counter",
"radiation",
"sensor"
] | This is
a Geiger counter which charts its readings on a webpage
. [Radu Motisan] put a lot of time into the build and it shows. This thing is packed with features and the hardware choices were the best combinations found through several iterations of development.
In addition to radiation levels the sensor unit takes several other measurements. These include temperature, humidity, luminosity, and barometric pressure. All of the sensor data is monitored and gathered by an ATmega168 which can be charted on a webpage with the help of an ENC28J60 Ethernet chip. The collection and display of this data is detailed at the post linked above.
For those interested in the hardware development, [Radu] published many updates along the way. These are
available in his forums posts
, as well as
his build log
. He doesn’t have any videos of his recent work, but way back in May he did publish a clip (found after the break) which shows the testing of different Geiger tubes. | 10 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "899108",
"author": "Ren",
"timestamp": "2012-12-07T21:43:30",
"content": "Now, he just needs to add a seismograph!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "899131",
"author": "Mike7",
"timestamp": "2012-12-07T22:38:07",
"cont... | 1,760,376,666.602915 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2012/12/07/building-an-arm-cross-compiler-on-osx/ | Building An ARM Cross Compiler On OSX | Mike Szczys | [
"ARM",
"Mac Hacks"
] | [
"arm",
"crosscompiler",
"crosstool",
"crosstool-ng",
"OsX"
] | We’ve tried building our own ARM cross compiler on a Linux box and it’s no picnic. Luckily there is a free cross compiling toolchain available through Mentor Graphics (formerly called Code Sourcery G++). But those looking to develop on a Mac aren’t so lucky. There is help via a script, and [Michael] wrote a guide detailing
how to use crosstool-ng to build an ARM toolchain on Mountain Lion
.
Crosstool-ng
is a script which automates much of what is needed when compiling all the different components. But there is a some groundwork that needs to be in place before you can run it. For instance, some of the tools that ship with OSX aren’t entirely compatible with the GNU tools the script is looking for. One example is ‘grep’. Mountain Lion has the BSD version of grep but it is missing a few of the GNU version’s commands used by crosstool-ng. [Michael] will guide you through this and a handful of other issues until you have a functioning toolchain up and running. | 11 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "899114",
"author": "Okachobi",
"timestamp": "2012-12-07T21:52:16",
"content": "MacPorts to the rescue… pick your poison…$ sudo port install arm-elf-gcc$ sudo port install arm-aout-gcc$ sudo port install arm-elf-gcc3$ sudo port install arm-none-eabi-gcc$ sudo port install arm-none-li... | 1,760,376,666.552088 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2012/12/07/design-a-gingerbread-house-in-cad-then-cut-pieces-with-a-laser/ | Design A Gingerbread House In CAD, Then Cut Pieces With A Laser | Mike Szczys | [
"cooking hacks",
"Holiday Hacks",
"Laser Hacks"
] | [
"cad",
"candy",
"gingerbread",
"laser",
"laser cutter"
] | This is one of those ideas that’s so simple we can’t believe we haven’t heard of it before now. [Johan von Konow] is upping his holiday decorating game this year by
designing his Gingerbread House in CAD and cutting it out on a laser cutter
. If designed well this will easily allow you to increase the complexity of your design by orders of magnitude.
We remember making Gingerbread Houses with mom when we were little. She would bake a sheet of gingerbread, then pull out stencils she had made from file folders to carefully cut the walls and roof of the houses. But these were the homesteading equivalent of candy construction — one room consisting of four walls and two roof pieces. [Johan’s] design uses roofs with multiple pitches, dormers, and an entryway off the front of the main building. Quite impressive!
He mentions a few things to keep in mind. The gingerbread should be an even thickness for best results. You’re also going to want to plan for ventilation during cutting and give up the idea that you might eat the house when the holidays are over. The cutting process creates quite a stink and leaves a horribly burnt taste in the baked goods. Of course you could always cut out templates and use a knife when working with food. | 15 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "899056",
"author": "T4b",
"timestamp": "2012-12-07T19:14:04",
"content": "In my opinion, it’s a pity to waste the gingerbread like that.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "899075",
"author": "Gary",
"timestamp": "2012-12-07... | 1,760,376,666.984989 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2012/12/07/mass-storage-bootloader-for-stellaris-launchpad/ | Mass Storage Bootloader For Stellaris Launchpad | Mike Szczys | [
"ARM"
] | [
"bootloader",
"mass storage",
"Stellaris Launchpad",
"usb"
] | [Andrzej Surowiec] liked the functionality of the mass storage bootloader available on some NXP LPC development boards. His latest project was to write
a mass storage bootloader for the Stellaris Launchpad
. It allows you to flash your compiled firmware to the chip simply by mounting the board as a USB storage device and copying over the binary file. The chip has plenty of flash memory (the bootloader itself takes up 16 KB of the available 256 KB), and the board is already set up for use as USB hardware.
There is a precompiled binary available at the linked page above or you can
get the source code from his github repository
. We think this project is a good stepping off point for others. For instance, it should be relatively easy to use [Andzej’s] work as the base for implementing filesystem-based I/O control
like we saw in the phatIO project
. | 5 | 2 | [
{
"comment_id": "899052",
"author": "dext0rb",
"timestamp": "2012-12-07T18:54:16",
"content": "Very nice. Why’s it show up at 524KB though if theres only (256-16)KB flash left?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "899069",
"author": "Brooks... | 1,760,376,666.686102 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2012/12/07/printing-press-made-from-ikea-furniture/ | Printing Press Made From Ikea Furniture | Mike Szczys | [
"Lifehacks"
] | [
"ikea",
"printing press"
] | Those planning to get married take note: real hackers print their own invitations on a press which they built. [Jenny] and [Charles] actually did this for printing the cover pages of their ceremony programs.
They built their press using a chest of drawers from Ikea
.
If you look closely you’ll see the printing plate is mounted on the back wall of the chest behind the drawer. This back wall has been reinforced with some plywood, and a second piece of plywood has been attached to the back side of the drawer. This second piece is actually hinged using steel pipe and a collection of fittings. When the six-foot tall hoop of pipe is drawn down it closes the drawer, hinging the piece of plywood holding the paper until it comes in contact with the printing plate. The size of the lever ensures the press will have enough force to produce a quality print.
They didn’t make a video of this process but after the break we have embedded a clip of the press on which this one was modeled.
[via Boing Boing] | 12 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "899001",
"author": "Stevo",
"timestamp": "2012-12-07T16:56:47",
"content": "I like the idea! Will remember for the future.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "899013",
"author": "mental2k",
"timestamp": "2012-12-07T17:31:13... | 1,760,376,666.836226 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2012/12/06/dithering-in-processing/ | Dithering In Processing | Mike Szczys | [
"Video Hacks"
] | [
"algorithm",
"dithering",
"processing"
] | To be honest, we’ve heard of dithering but that’s the extent of our knowledge on the topic. After looking through [Windell’s]
post about using Dithering in Processing
we can now say we’ve got a base of knowledge on the topic.
Dithering is used to produce an image out of two colors that our eyes can put together into something meaningful. The history of the algorithms goes back to monochrome displays. But now the hobby electronics we work with for fun have comparable computing power and perhaps it’s time to rediscover these techniques. [Windell’s] project implements the Atkinson dithering algorithm in real-time on your webcam. He’s doing this in Processing, which should make it pretty easy to port for your own purposes.
So why might you want to use dithering in your own projects? Because if it can be
used to make very cool milled artwork
there must be other undiscovered uses lurking around your workshop. | 20 | 14 | [
{
"comment_id": "898571",
"author": "Hirudinea",
"timestamp": "2012-12-06T22:25:42",
"content": "I’ed like to make a dithered display using red and green instead of black and white just to piss off the colourblind.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id":... | 1,760,376,666.791962 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2012/12/06/tutorial-designs-3d-printed-cases-for-your-projects/ | Tutorial Designs 3D Printed Cases For Your Projects | Mike Szczys | [
"3d Printer hacks"
] | [
"cad",
"case",
"enclosure",
"face plate"
] | [Landon Cox] recently finished up
a 3-part tutorial on designing project enclosures for 3D printing
. The series is great if you have not yet tried your hand at this realm of the 3D printing universe, but there’s a lot to take away about design and modeling even if you don’t plan to print your creations.
He starts off part one of the tutorial by explaining the need for 3D printed cases. He believes it’s the natural progression after you’ve made it far enough to have your own PCB manufactured. Why not add a well designed and fabricated case to compliment your meticulously laid out circuitry? In part two he gets the design ball rolling by modeling the top and bottom portions of the case seen above in blue. The final step is to design a face plate that matches the needs of your circuit; in this case it’s DB9 and RJ45 connectors.
It’s not all smooth sailing along the way. [Landon] does actually print the case and the faceplate is just a bit too big for the the rest of the enclosure. But better too big than too small as shaving away a bit of the edges fixes it right up.
[via
Adafruit
] | 20 | 11 | [
{
"comment_id": "898535",
"author": "Hack Man",
"timestamp": "2012-12-06T21:05:10",
"content": "Somebody PLEASE automate enclosure creation.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "898621",
"author": "Th3BadWolf",
"timestamp": "2012-12... | 1,760,376,667.071929 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2012/12/06/backyard-zamboni-keeps-the-best-diy-ice-rink-in-town/ | Backyard Zamboni Keeps The Best Diy Ice Rink In Town | Mike Szczys | [
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"ice resurfacer",
"ice rink",
"riding lawnmower",
"zamboni"
] | We’ve known people to put down a small ice rink in their back yard during the winter. But
a machine to resurface these diy rinks
is unheard of until now. The big name in rink resurfacing is Zamboni, the person who invented this method of keeping the ice pristine.
This has almost everything you would find on a commercial model. The tires are studded with stainless steel screws for traction. The riding lawnmower has had its grass cutting blades replaced with a single steel blade that skims the surface of the ice. There’s even a tank of water which is distributed by a copper pipe with many holes and a squeegee which drags behind the machine. The only thing this is missing is a collection system for the slush which is generated by that skimmer blade. But as you can see in the clip after the break, it does just fine without it. | 15 | 14 | [
{
"comment_id": "898514",
"author": "ka1axy",
"timestamp": "2012-12-06T20:23:39",
"content": "” The only thing this is missing is a collection system for the slush which is generated by that skimmer blade.”Hey, gotta leave something for version 3, right? I need to show this to the guy in our neigh... | 1,760,376,667.126688 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2012/12/06/25-gpus-brute-force-348-billion-hashes-per-second-to-crack-your-passwords/ | 25 GPUs Brute Force 348 Billion Hashes Per Second To Crack Your Passwords | Mike Szczys | [
"Security Hacks"
] | [
"gpu",
"hash",
"lm",
"ntlm",
"password"
] | It’s our understanding that the video game industry has long been a driving force in new and better graphics processing hardware. But they’re not the only benefactors to these advances. As we’ve heard before, a graphics processing unit is uniquely qualified to process encryption hashes quickly (we’ve seen this with bitcoin mining). This project strings together
25 GPU cards in 5 servers to form a super fast brute force attack
. It’s so fast that the actual specs are beyond our comprehension. How can one understand 348 billion hashes per second?
The testing was used on a collection of password hashes using
LM
and
NTLM
protocols. The NTLM is a bit stronger and fared better than the LM, but that’s not actually saying much. An eight character NTLM password will fall in 5.5 hours, while a 14 character LM hash makes it only about six minutes before the solution is discovered. Of course this type of hardware is only good if you have a copy of the password hashes themselves. Login protocols will lock out after a certain number of attempts and have measures in place to slow down automated systems like this one.
[via
Boing Boing
] | 66 | 21 | [
{
"comment_id": "898493",
"author": "Drake",
"timestamp": "2012-12-06T19:27:49",
"content": "Time to mine some bitcoins",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "898564",
"author": "Alex Rossie",
"timestamp": "2012-12-06T22:13:22",
... | 1,760,376,667.632384 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2012/12/06/voice-controlled-video-game-uses-biu-and-ahh-for-control/ | Voice Controlled Video Game Uses “Biu” And “ahh” For Control | Mike Szczys | [
"Microcontrollers"
] | [
"atmega1284",
"cornell",
"ece",
"microphone"
] | This video game gives your thumbs a rest while stretching those vocal chords. The pair of
microphones seen above control the video game on the LCD display
. Saying “Biu” will launch a projectile while “ahh” adjusts the flight path. The system was developed by [Tian Gao] as a final project for his ECE 4760 course at Cornell University.
The inputs are common computer microphones connected to some processing circuitry which he built on a piece of protoboard. This consists of some RC filtering and an LM358 opamp to get the signal ready for use with the ATmega1284. There is only one ADC on that chip so [Tian] alternates sampling from the microphones by using the multiplexer built into the chip. The video signal itself is an NTSC composite signal. To facilitate a reasonable frame rate he uses graphics that are packed in multiples of 8-bits. All in all this allows him to create a 160×200 pixel display.
All of this makes the game sound a little dry, but we dare you to listen to the video clip after the break without cracking a smile. | 5 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "898471",
"author": "Matt",
"timestamp": "2012-12-06T18:24:42",
"content": "Why couldn’t Nintendo do this with the Wii? Think of the possibilities….FPS’s where you have to say ‘pew pew pew’ to fire the guns….Mariokart where you control the throttle by making race car noises….",
... | 1,760,376,667.538594 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2012/12/04/self-balancing-unicycle-built-from-old-scooter/ | Self Balancing Unicycle Built From Old Scooter | Brian Benchoff | [
"Transportation Hacks"
] | [
"electric scooter",
"self balancing",
"unicycle"
] | [Glenn] had an old electric scooter/motorcycle in his garage that had long ago given up the ghost. Without a working battery and motor controller this scooter wasn’t beyond repair, but [Glenn] thought he could use it to build something much, much cooler. What he came up with
is a self-balancing unicycle
that borrows inspiration from a Segway and other self-balancing robots.
After cutting the drive chain off his scooter, [Glenn] began work on installing a new motor controller and battery. To make this unicycle balance itself, he would need a few gyroscopes and accelerometers provided via an Arduino and Sparkfun IMU shield.
After tuning his PID loop, [Glenn] hopped on his new ride and took it for a spin with the help of a pair of ski poles. It’s much easier to ride than a traditional unicycle and [Glenn] says he’s getting better at riding it. | 3 | 2 | [
{
"comment_id": "896946",
"author": "Tom the Brat",
"timestamp": "2012-12-04T14:08:47",
"content": "Confident!No knee or elbow pads.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "897198",
"author": "Michael Jason Knight",
"timestamp": "2012-12-04T20:1... | 1,760,376,667.355193 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2012/12/03/msp430-bit-banged-usb-1-1/ | MSP430 Bit Banged USB 1.1 | Mike Szczys | [
"Microcontrollers"
] | [
"msp420g2452",
"msp430",
"V-USB"
] | Here’s a rather exciting development for those who work with MSP430 microcontrollers. [M-atthias] worked out
a way to implement USB 1.1 on a MSP430G2452
. He’s bit banging the communications as this hardware normally doesn’t support the Universal Serial Bus. This is much like using the V-USB stack for AVR micros.
The test hardware seen above uses an 18Mhz crystal to get the timings just right. As this squeezes the most out of the chip it should come as no surprise that the firmware is written in assembly. This is still quite early on in development but the core features are mostly there, having been implemented and debugged over several versions already. Currently the base functionality can be loaded using under 2k of flash memory. You can
download the Mecrisp package from [M-atthias’] sourceforge page
. If you want to lend a hand testing or developing it would be greatly appreciated.
[via
43oh blog
] | 31 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "896480",
"author": "Gizmos",
"timestamp": "2012-12-03T23:39:24",
"content": "Bit-banged “USB 1.1?” What does that mean? USB 1.1 is a specification. Do you mean bit-banged LOW SPEED USB?1.1 included Low Speed and Full Speed.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
... | 1,760,376,667.787912 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2012/12/03/odroid-u2-is-latest-barebones-board-begging-to-be-used/ | ODROID-U2 Is Latest Barebones Board Begging To Be Used | Mike Szczys | [
"Android Hacks",
"home entertainment hacks"
] | [
"android",
"odroid-u2",
"xbmc"
] | Oh hey, another barebones dev board. Well, that’s what we said to ourselves when we first saw this picture, but the way this is presented is like crack for geeks.
It starts with this tiny board
, which has a footprint smaller than a credit card. But once you start looking at the add-ons you’ll want to watch out or you’ll cover yourself in drool.
The name of the game here is speed. It’s running a quad-core Cortex-A9 chip with a Mali-400 graphics accelerator. There is no on-board storage, but the microSD slot is meant to be used for OS and storage. A faster option is to use a NAND add-on board offered in 8, 16, and 64 gig capacities ($25-$79). There is a micro type-D HDMI connector and the device is powered by a cellphone charger. It ships with a big heat sink that acts as a case for the board.
After the break you can see it booting Android and immediately loading into XBMC. The menu looks mighty snappy, making us think this is a great alternative to
using Raspberry Pi as a media center
. But you’ll pay for the faster speed and ability to run Android. The rig they’re showing off, plus the add-ons, comes out to about $132. There are also questions to be answered as to which video formats are supported through hardware decoding.
[via
Reddit
and
Engadget
] | 49 | 22 | [
{
"comment_id": "896440",
"author": "Mojo",
"timestamp": "2012-12-03T22:13:20",
"content": "If the hardware decoding support is there then I think it seems quite good value. You could easily spend more than this on an out-of-the-box retail effort and get a lot less. But I am not going to get my ho... | 1,760,376,667.716908 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2012/12/03/dyson-engineers-hacks-traverse-robot-obstacle-course/ | Dyson Engineers’ Hacks Traverse Robot Obstacle Course | Mike Szczys | [
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"ball",
"dyson",
"obstacle course",
"rc",
"robot",
"sphere"
] | These guys are all engineers who are employed by Dyson. They’re holding remote control creations made from Dyson parts. This time around the object of the challenge was to
build a bot based on a the Dyson ball
and
race it through an obstacle course
.
This sort of thing is right up our alley, but unlike
the last time Dyson engineers shrugged off the daily grind to hack their own hardware
, this doesn’t show off nearly enough of the festivities. Sure the pair of videos embedded after the break make a great trailer for the event, but we would love to have seen 90 seconds devoted to each of the entries. Alas, you do get to see most of the winning unit’s obstacle course run which includes a distance route, navigating through rough terrain, and negotiating a high path where falling off the edge is a real threat.
Maybe the engineers themselves will post details about their own builds
like the contestants in Sparkfun’s autonomous vehicle contest do
.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhIC-sCJOG8
[Thanks Jude via
Design Spark
] | 9 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "896433",
"author": "Emerica",
"timestamp": "2012-12-03T21:51:14",
"content": "BALLS!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "896434",
"author": "Mofidul",
"timestamp": "2012-12-03T21:52:26",
"content": "OF FIRE... | 1,760,376,667.4024 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2012/12/03/gadgeteer-plant-monitor-wants-it-wet-and-photogenic/ | Gadgeteer Plant Monitor Wants It Wet And Photogenic | Mike Szczys | [
"green hacks"
] | [
"gadgeteer",
"time-lapse",
"Tomato"
] | [Christian] is growing a tomato plant on his desk and wanted to capture some time-lapse images of its progress. To that end he built
a rig that monitors moisture levels and snaps images
at regular intervals.
The hardware he’s using is part of the Gadgeteer family. These run a .NET micro framework and are modular which makes for easy assembly. A laser-cut plywood stand helps to position the camera module for the best shots. Its takes a picture of the seedling once every ten minutes. There is a quartet of RGB LEDs surrounding the lens. They help illuminate the subject for each picture. But [Christian] also mentions that the red LEDs provide light the plant needs to grow (we raise an eyebrow at that claim, but in truth we have no idea if red LEDs make plants grow or not). There is also a moisture sensor which you can see inserted in the soil.
The images and moisture readings are all pushed to a server. There is an Ethernet board near the base of the rig. It uses POST to send the image, which is saved by a server-side script. The moisture data is sent via a GET command. | 25 | 13 | [
{
"comment_id": "896391",
"author": "ummdorian",
"timestamp": "2012-12-03T20:13:57",
"content": "Where is the time-lapse video, man?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "896755",
"author": "gabriel",
"timestamp": "2012-12-04T09:10:4... | 1,760,376,667.848797 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2012/12/03/christmas-light-controller-is-its-own-percussion-section/ | Christmas Light Controller Is Its Own Percussion Section | Mike Szczys | [
"Holiday Hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"christmas",
"christmas lights",
"christmas tree"
] | [Jason] and his father took advantage of a week off of work over Thanksgiving to design and build
a Christmas light decoration that can flash fancy patterns
. He calls it the Uno Christmas Tree. It’s sixteen strands of lights draped between a pole and the ground to form the shape of a tree. The main controller is an Arduino UNO, but what really makes this work is a mechanical relay board with sixteen channels.
Using trigonometry they figured out that the decoration would be fifteen feet tall and have a five-foot radius at the base. A pipe was installed to act as the trunk, with an old toilet flange at the top and stakes at the bottom to anchor the lights. They all make their connections at the controller box using extension cords that were labelled with channel numbers. You can see the final product in the video after the break. But you’ll also want to watch the clip on [Jason’s] blog which shares the sonic symphony created when the mechanical relays really start working. | 11 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "896354",
"author": "Joejoedance",
"timestamp": "2012-12-03T19:10:45",
"content": "Cool idea. Now double the light strands and relays!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "896365",
"author": "Glenn",
"timestamp": "2012-12-03T1... | 1,760,376,668.046095 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2012/12/03/inductive-charger-inside-the-case-of-this-iphone-4s/ | Inductive Charger Inside The Case Of This IPhone 4s | Mike Szczys | [
"iphone hacks"
] | [
"inductive",
"inductive charging",
"powermat"
] | This iPhone 4s is charging without a dock connector because [Tanv28]
added inductive charging hardware inside the case
.
The hack is not for the faint of heart. But if you’ve got a precision soldering iron and a stead hand we bet you can pull it off. It starts with disassembly to get at the cable that connects the circuit board to the dock connector. [Tanv28] solders fine enameled wire to pins 16, 23, 25, and 27. The other end of these wires are soldered to the guts from a Powermat inductive charging system. After the connections are made there’s not enough room under the back cover of the phone for this added bulk. But laminating a second plastic frame onto the assembly will correct for the 1mm difference in thickness. The clip after the break walks through the entire process.
You can see that [Tanv28] also built the charging station into a piece of furniture. We just saw a post last week that used this technique to
add Powermat hardware to a shelf
.
[via
Phone Arena
] | 6 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "896316",
"author": "Matt",
"timestamp": "2012-12-03T17:38:55",
"content": "You made an iphone 1mm thicker?! Can you even call something that fat an iphone anymore? Steve Jobs must be rolling over in his grave",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
... | 1,760,376,667.892691 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2012/12/06/acoustic-levitation-of-water-droplets/ | Acoustic Levitation Of Water Droplets | Mike Szczys | [
"chemistry hacks"
] | [
"acoutic",
"drugs",
"levitation",
"pharmaceutical",
"sound",
"wave"
] | These water droplets are not falling; they’re actually stuck in place. What we’re seeing is
the effects of an acoustic levitator
. The device was initially developed by NASA to simulate microgravity. Now it’s being used by the pharmaceutical industry do develop better drugs.
The two parts of the apparatus seen in the image above are both speakers. They put out a sound at about 22 kHz, which is beyond the human range of hearing. When precisely aligned they interfere with each other and create a standing wave. The droplets are trapped in the nodes of that wave.
So are these guys just playing around with the fancy lab equipment? Nope. The levitation is being used to evaporate water from a drug without the substance touching the sides of a container. This prevents the formation of crystals in the solution. But we like it for the novelty and would love to see someone put one of these together in their home workshop.
Don’t miss the mystical demo in the clip after the break. | 62 | 19 | [
{
"comment_id": "898440",
"author": "Addidis",
"timestamp": "2012-12-06T17:09:28",
"content": "There was speculation ancient Egyptians used similar concepts to raise the blocks of the pyramids. Apparently they found a bunch of giant rocks that if enough people pounded on them would resonate at a ma... | 1,760,376,667.988934 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2012/12/06/voltage-logger-does-it-the-right-way/ | Voltage Logger Does It The Right Way | Brian Benchoff | [
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"test equipment",
"tri-state",
"voltage logger"
] | The folks over at Adafruit have been busy designing an LED matrix wristwatch for a while now. The circuit works great, but since this watch is powered by a coin cell battery, they’d really like to get the power consumption as low as possible. This means they needed a test rig to measure the consumption of each firmware revision, but how exactly do you build a voltage logger that works with voltages and currents this small?
It turned out to be a very interesting project
, with plenty of info on how to build an accurate voltage logger for really small projects.
Adafruit’s TIMESQUARE watch is a small circuit board with an ATMega328p microcontroller and an 8×8 red LED matrix powered by a single coin battery. To test each revision of the firmware, the folks at Adafruit broke out their Arduino data logging shield to press the watch’s button once a minute (activating the display) and measuring the voltage of the battery.
The naive approach to logging the voltage on the watch would use a digital pin on the data logging shield to activate the watch and then read the voltage with an analog input pin. This won’t work correctly, though: the microcontroller on the watch is very good at getting the power it needs from anywhere, and connecting it directly to an Arduino would skew the results.
The alternative solution would be to use an optoisolator, but surprisingly the Adafrtuit lab didn’t have any in stock. There’s another way to actuate a button on the watch without any power, though: tri-state logic.
Instead of sending 5 Volts to the pin connected to the watch’s button, the data logging shield instead alternates between input and output. When the digital pin on the shield is an input, the watch sees an open circuit. When the digital pin is changed to an output, current flows from the watch to ground, just as it would without the data logging shield at all.
It’s a neat trick, and for anyone whose eyes glaze over the words. “tri-state output” and “high impedance state”, a perfect introduction to something a little more complex than blinking a LED with an Arduino. | 6 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "898405",
"author": "ino",
"timestamp": "2012-12-06T15:58:18",
"content": "I’m not sure that I understand the point of the article.If you call yourself a ” lab “, maybe you need to invest in real instruments like … say … a voltage logger and a µamp meter ?Don’t get me wrong, hacking ... | 1,760,376,668.092483 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2012/12/06/sunrise-alarm-clock-uses-dcf77-for-perfect-time/ | Sunrise Alarm Clock Uses DCF77 For Perfect Time | Mike Szczys | [
"clock hacks"
] | [
"alarm clock",
"character display",
"dcf77",
"msp430"
] | Here’s
a sunrise alarm clock that keeps perfect time
. It was designed and built by [Renaud Schleck] who also published a post detailing the process.
As you can see, a series of white LEDs inside of the transparent case which provide the simulated sunrise. As the days get short and the nights longer we do see the benefit of having your clock brighten the room before it jolts you out of your slumber. Speaking of, that alarm sound seems to be the weak link in his design. He’s using a square wave smoothed with capacitors to drive a speaker at either end of the case. We didn’t hear an example but we imagine this not the most gentle of sounds.
The rest of the design is quite well done. He’s using a 4×20 Character LCD display and adjusts the backlight using PWM. A DCF77 radio feeds data from an atomic clock signal to the MSP430 chip which runs the clock. There’s even a battery backup in case the power goes out.
We just saw a project yesterday that aims to
improve signal quality with a DCF77 radio
.
[via
Reddit
] | 10 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "898299",
"author": "Dissy",
"timestamp": "2012-12-06T12:45:36",
"content": "As for the “weak” sound design: While choice is always good, and nothing is more flexible than loading your own mp3 into it, some of us are not awoken by softer sounds and nothing short of a harsh sound lik... | 1,760,376,668.142342 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2012/12/05/hackaday-links-december-5-2012/ | Hackaday Links: December 5, 2012 | Brian Benchoff | [
"Hackaday links"
] | [
"ethernet",
"flip-flop",
"Jeri",
"JPEG camera",
"nintendo",
"raspberry pi",
"Raspi",
"serial camera",
"snes"
] | PS1 hombrew competition
The PlayStation Development Network
is hosting a six-month long competition
to develop homebrew games for the original PlayStation.We don’t get many homebrew games for old systems
in our tip line
, so if you’d like to show something off, send it in.
This is how you promote a kickstarter
[Andy] has been working on an SNES Ethernet adapter and
he’s finally got it working
. Basically, it’s an ATMega644 with a Wiznet adapter connected to the second controller port. The ATMega sends… something, probably not packets… to the SNES where it is decoded with the help of some 65816 assembly on a
PowerPak development cartridge
. Why is he doing this?
To keep track of a kickstarter project
, of course.
What
exactly
is [Jeri] building?
[Jeri] put up an awesome tutorial going over the ins and outs of
static and dynamic flip-flops
. There’s a touch of historical commentary explaining why dynamic registers were used so much in the 70s and 80s before the industry switched over to static designs (transistors were big back then, and dynamic systems needed less chip area). At the end of her video, [Jeri] shows off a bucket-brigade sequencer of sort that goes through 15 unique patterns. We’re just left wondering what it’s for.
Finally, a camera for the Raspberry Pi
In case you weren’t aware, the camera board for the Raspberry Pi
will be released sometime early next year
. Not wanting to wait a whole month and a half, [Jouni] connected a
LinkSprite JPEG serial camera
to his Raspberry Pi.
The whole thing actually works
, but [Jouni] didn’t bother posting the code. Maybe we can encourage him to do so?
Blatant advertising? Yes, but fireballs
Nintendo gave [
MikenGary
] a Wii U and asked them to make a film inspired by 30 years of Nintendo lore and characters.
They did an awesome job
thanks in no small part to Hackaday boss man [Caleb](supplied the fire), writer [Ryan] (costume construction) and a bunch of people over at the
Squidfoo hackerspace
. | 17 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "898034",
"author": "Hans",
"timestamp": "2012-12-06T00:09:34",
"content": "Where is the point in connecting a expensive camera with shitty resolution over a serial interface when the Pi has USB and a decent camera (e.g. Logitech C270) comes with HD resolution at half the price?",
... | 1,760,376,668.373565 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2012/12/05/how-to-configure-eclipse-for-the-stellaris-launchpad/ | How To Configure Eclipse For The Stellaris Launchpad | Mike Szczys | [
"ARM"
] | [
"eclipse",
"ide",
"stellaris lauchpad"
] | We’re partial to using gedit and a makefile for our AVR projects. But for the most part we don’t a debugger with those smaller chips. Now that we’re getting going with ARM processors we use debugging all the time and Eclipse is a great way to combine code writing, compiling, and debugging in one place. Sure, we could use one of TI’s provided IDEs (some of them are based on Eclipse), but we’d rather build our tools up ourselves. [Doragasu] is making this a snap with his
Eclipse for Stellaris Launchpad tutorial
.
He illustrates every step with a screenshot like the one seen above. Here he is including the driverlib from StellarisWare in the linking step. After all of the compiler and linker settings are just right all you need to do is make a copy of the template to start a new project. The final part of the setup configures lm4flash to write binaries to the chip, and configures OpenOCD for use when debugging.
[via
Comments
] | 7 | 3 | [
{
"comment_id": "898159",
"author": "dext0rb",
"timestamp": "2012-12-06T07:31:17",
"content": "I’m currently demo-ing Keil uVision4 IDE. It’s…alright I guess, but the one thing that’s cool about it, is that it lets me see the peripheral configuration registers while debugging. Any way to do this fro... | 1,760,376,668.241361 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2012/12/05/the-story-behind-developing-the-sifteo-from-an-engineers-perspective/ | The Story Behind Developing The Sifteo From An Engineer’s Perspective | Mike Szczys | [
"hardware"
] | [
"development",
"engineer",
"gaming",
"sifteo"
] | The video game industry must be one of the most secretive sectors when it comes to developing the electronic hardware used in the gaming consoles. The big guys don’t want to give anything away — to the competition or to the hackers who will try to get around their security measures. But it seems Sifteo doesn’t share those secretive values. We had a great time reading about
the bumpy ride for the developers bringing the gaming system from concept to market
. [Micah Elizabeth Scott] wrote the guest post for Adafruit Industries. She was brought on as an engineer for the Sifteo project just after the first version of the interactive gaming cube was released. From her narrative it seems like this was the top of the big hill on the roller coaster ride for the company.
What’s seen above is one gaming cube. The system developed in [Beth’s] story puts together multiple cubes for each game. The issue at hand when she joined the company was how to put more power in the hardware and rely less heavily on a computer to which it was tethered. She discusses cost of components versus features offered, how to deliver the games to the system, and all that the team learned from studying successful consoles that came before them like the long line of Nintendo hardware. It’s a fascinating read if you’re interesting in how the sausage is made. | 12 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "898089",
"author": "Chris C.",
"timestamp": "2012-12-06T03:07:16",
"content": "It was an interesting read, though I find some of their choices baffling.At $129.95 to get started with a basic system, or $399.90 fully decked out with 12 cubes, this isn’t competing with any conventiona... | 1,760,376,668.291958 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2012/12/05/the-beginnings-of-a-geeky-wristwatch/ | The Beginnings Of A Geeky Wristwatch | Mike Szczys | [
"clock hacks"
] | [
"hdsp-2112",
"nyc resistor",
"Teensy",
"teensy 2.0",
"wristwatch"
] | Wow, we’re seeing all kinds of good stuff from NYC Resistor today. [Caleb] found this link to [Hudson’s]
early work on a geeky wristwatch
. It is based around an HDSP-2112 eight-digit alpha-numeric display. Each digit is a 5×7 array of LEDs, but the look of it really reminds us of
[Woz’s] Nixie Wristwatch
. The nice thing about using a display like this one is it’s much easier to drive and the power requirements don’t really call for special consideration either.
The display happens to be nearly the same footprint as the Teensy 2.0. In fact, the display is a bit longer. That makes it a perfect backpack, bringing everything necessary to drive the display. Check out the video after the break to see it scrolling the time as words, and displaying numbers.
This needs to have an RTC and portable power source before you can wear it around. But the proof is there. Perhaps [Hudson] will spin his own board with a uC that includes RTC capability and a charging circuit for a tiny Lithium cell. | 18 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "897960",
"author": "Tristan",
"timestamp": "2012-12-05T21:58:03",
"content": "These displays can often be obtained on eBay for around $5-$10 each. Equivalents are also available from Osram/Infineon. They do have some special power requirements in that they use heaps of power (hundre... | 1,760,376,668.440196 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2012/12/03/inventing-networking-protocols-for-dozens-of-arduinos/ | Inventing Networking Protocols For Dozens Of Arduinos | Brian Benchoff | [
"Arduino Hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"daisy chain",
"serial"
] | When you don’t want to use I2C or SPI, and MIDI and DMX are old hat, [Scott] comes along and invents a very strange networking protocol that is just
daisy chaining a few Arduinos together with serial connections
.
Strange as it may seem, this networking protocol actually makes a whole lot of sense. [Scott] is working on
an animatronic birdhouse
in the vein of Disney’s Imagineers and needed to network a whole bunch of Arduinos without using up precious IO pins.
The networking stack [Scott] came up with capitalizes on the hardware UART in each Arduino by simply daisy-chaining several boards together. By adding an FTDI breakout at the beginning of the chain, [Scott] can control dozens of Arduinos straight from a terminal
[Scott] isn’t using off-the-shelf Arduinos for this project – a few months ago
he found 100 Arduino-compatible stepper motor controllers
while dumpster diving at his job, giving him more than enough nodes to come up with some pretty crazy networking protocols. It’s a great use of the hardware he has on hand, and a very clever solution to controlling dozens of microcontrollers at once.
Check out [Scott]’s demo after the break.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFqzgdNSR4s&w=470] | 35 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "896211",
"author": "EccentricElectron",
"timestamp": "2012-12-03T14:05:19",
"content": "1) It’s not going to be fault-tolerant, unless he adds something to bridge serial connections on an out-of-service board2) The latency is going to be hideous…These issues would be addressed (hoho... | 1,760,376,668.626594 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2012/12/03/teaching-the-speak-spell-four-and-more-letter-words/ | Teaching The Speak & Spell Four (and More) Letter Words | Brian Benchoff | [
"classic hacks",
"hardware"
] | [
"CLPD",
"speak & spell",
"Speak and Spell",
"voice synthesizer"
] | Before it became the darling of circuit benders the world over, the Speak & Spell was a marvel of modern technology. Complete with a microprocessor and voice synthesizer, the Speak & Spell was able to speak a limited vocabulary that [Furrtek] thought should include words such as, “al qaeda”, “necrosis”, and “butt”. The Speak & Spell included an expansion port for cartridges containing a larger vocabulary, and with a huge amount of effort [Furrtek]
created his own Speak & Spell carts
that allow it to talk like a sailor.
The Speak & Spell ROMs were stored on
a very strange memory chip
; instead of a parallel or serial interface, the chip reads five nybbles at a time before returning the saved data. At first, [Furrtek] thought he could get an ATtiny microcontroller, but the way this memory chip is set up made it impossible to send and receive data even on a 400kHz I2C bus.
The project eventually found some decent hardware in the form of a CPLD-based cartridge that was more than fast enough to interface with the Speak & Spell. After that, it was only an issue of converting words into something the speech synth can understand with some old Windows 3.1 software and finally burning a ROM.
The end result is a Speak & Spell with a perverse vocabulary and is much, much more interesting than a circuit bent piece of hardware with a few wires crossed. Check out the video after the break.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JngcLfVQT5U&w=470] | 27 | 16 | [
{
"comment_id": "896185",
"author": "gilles fetis",
"timestamp": "2012-12-03T13:19:31",
"content": "Hello furrteck, you will find more modern tools for LPC and TMS5220 on this threadhttp://forum.system-cfg.com/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=3606",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
... | 1,760,376,668.691554 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2012/12/03/turning-four-smaller-helicopters-into-one-larger-quadcopter/ | Turning Four Smaller Helicopters Into One Larger Quadcopter | Brian Benchoff | [
"drone hacks",
"Toy Hacks"
] | [
"helicopter",
"quadcopter",
"r/c helicopter",
"Syma"
] | There’s a reason we’ve seen a menagerie of quadcopters over the past few years – the key piece of any quadcopter build is an inertial measurement unit. Historically a very complicated and expensive piece of kit, these IMUs came down in price a few years back, allowing anyone with a few dollars in their pocket and a handful of brushless motors to build a four-bladed drone in their workshop.
[Starlino] built a few quadcopters, but he wanted to shy away from IMUs and get most of the mass of his new ‘copter over the center of the chassis. He came up
with a design he calls the quadhybrid
that can be built out of a quartet of those cheap 3-channel helicopter toys.
Most of the lift for [Starlino]’s quadhybrid comes from a pair of coaxial rotors from a Syma 001 3-channel helicopter toy. Anyone who has played with one of these toy helicopters knows how stable they are; if the tail rotor breaks, you’re left with a helicopter that can only go up and down.
To give his quadhybrid a few degrees of freedom, he attached four tail rotors from 3-channel helis to a few booms laid out in a cross pattern. By taking the receiver out of a 4-channel helicopter and adding his own controller board, [Starlino] made each of the tail rotors control the pitch and roll of the craft.
In the video after the break, you can see the quadhybrid is amazingly stable even without an IMU and surprisingly agile. As [Starlino]’s ‘copter can be made out of replacement parts for cheap 3-channel helis, we’ll expect a rush on these tail motors at your favorite online RC retailer very shortly.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jf2GU_pO5OY&w=470] | 8 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "896163",
"author": "Galane",
"timestamp": "2012-12-03T12:09:47",
"content": "Nifty design on the machine but horrible music in the video. The gear noise is very loud. Sounds like something isn’t meshing properly, could be gears too far apart.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,... | 1,760,376,668.808379 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2012/12/02/making-3d-printing-easy-at-the-staples-copy-center/ | Making 3D Printing Easy At The Staples Copy Center | Brian Benchoff | [
"3d Printer hacks",
"News"
] | [
"3d printing",
"mcor",
"Staples"
] | Mcor Technologies and Staples are teaming up to
provide 3D printing services
via the online Staples Office Center service.
This announcement comes from Mcor, the company behind the
Iris 3D printer
. Unlike just about every other 3D printer, the Iris doesn’t squirt plastic onto a bed or glue powder together – it makes its models out of sheets of paper. You probably won’t be ordering working steam engines or other heavy-duty engineering models from the Staples copy center, but this system does allow for high-quality full-color models to be created very, very easily. You can see a few examples of what the Mcor Iris can print after the break.
Unfortunately, unless you live in Belgium or The Netherlands, your local Staples won’t be installing a 3D printer in their copy center anytime soon. For those of us outside these countries, we’ll have to wait until services like
Shapeways
and
Ponoko
figure out how to make their business model include a brick and mortar presence.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnn-ACoMw4w&w=470] | 37 | 13 | [
{
"comment_id": "895946",
"author": "DennisC",
"timestamp": "2012-12-03T03:08:13",
"content": "How does the price per cubic centimeter compare to that of other 3d printed materials?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "896212",
"author": "R... | 1,760,376,668.761248 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2012/12/02/man-tracks-children-using-a-quadcopter/ | Man Tracks Children Using A Quadcopter | Mike Szczys | [
"gps hacks"
] | [
"quadcopter",
"surveillance",
"tracking"
] | Instead of walking his kid to the bus stop like he used to, [Paul Wallich]
lets this quadcopter watch his son so he doesn’t have to
. It is quite literally an automated system for tracking children — how wild is that?
The idea came to him when wishing there was a way to stay inside the house during the winter months while still making sure his kid got to the bus stop okay. [Paul] picked up a quadcopter kit and started looking at ways to add monitoring. He found the easiest technique was to include a cellphone and watch via a video chat app. But that is only part of the build as he would still have to fly the thing. After searching around he found a beacon that can be placed in the backpack. It has a GPS module, an RF modem, and runs a stripped down Python scripting shell. Whenever the GPS data changes (signaling his son is on the move) it uplinks with the quadcopter and gives it the new coordinates.
This goes a long way to making your family a police state. May we also recommend
forcing the children to punch a time clock
?
[via:
theGrue
] | 65 | 34 | [
{
"comment_id": "895763",
"author": "Zee",
"timestamp": "2012-12-02T20:03:15",
"content": "The problem I see is quadrocopters have an autonomy of aroun 15 minutes only.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "895781",
"author": "Thoquz",
"timest... | 1,760,376,668.905722 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2012/12/02/raspberry-pi-model-a-coming-soon/ | Raspberry Pi Model A Coming Soon | Brian Benchoff | [
"Raspberry Pi"
] | [
"Model A",
"raspberry pi",
"Raspi"
] | [Liz] over at the Raspberry Pi foundation took a trip over to the manufacturing facility in Wales and found some of the very first
Model A Raspi samples
. They’re just samples, but this means we should be seeing a few Model A Raspberry Pis pop up on Element 14 sometime very soon.
As the lower-cost model of the Raspberry Pi, the Model A lacks a few features of the more complete Model B. For starters, there is no Ethernet port or controller, and only one USB port, This greatly reduces the power requirements for the Model A, measured by the Raspi Foundation
at about 1/3rd of the power draw of the Model B
.
To save costs, the Model A is using the same PCB as the Model B – the Ethernet controller and port simply aren’t populated. It may seem like a downgrade, but if you’re planning on building a Raspi-powered autonomous drone, high-altitude balloon, or other robotics project, the reduced power draw will be a great feature. | 35 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "895746",
"author": "grant",
"timestamp": "2012-12-02T19:40:58",
"content": "The model a also had half the ram does it not?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "895755",
"author": "birdmun",
"timestamp": "2012-12-02T... | 1,760,376,668.976233 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2012/12/02/hiding-an-inductive-charging-station-inside-furniture/ | Hiding An Inductive Charging Station Inside Furniture | Mike Szczys | [
"home hacks"
] | [
"induction",
"inductive charging",
"powermat"
] | [Tony] wanted to clean up his bedside table by getting rid of the cables used for charging his devices. He accomplished his goal by
integrating an inductive charging station inside his furniture
.
He chose to go with a product called
Powermat
. The base station for the device includes two inductive charging areas. [Tony] started by using a router to make a pocket in the underside of this shelf. He mentions that the remaining wood is only 2mm thick to allow for proper transmission. Before gluing the PCB in place he relocated the power jack so that it is still easy to get to. As you can see in the clip after the break, the system works just fine this way.
One note on the forums hosting this content. We must have loaded the thread three or four times when writing the feature and ended up locked out unless we registered. You can get around this by loading the link in a private/incognito browser.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gN8HB0i5_E | 16 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "895751",
"author": "...",
"timestamp": "2012-12-02T19:48:01",
"content": "Looks like a nice build!It will be interesting to see how the Wireless Power Consortium’s Qi standard vs Power Matters Alliance’s PMA standard wireless charging battle ends up, so far it seems like the main co... | 1,760,376,669.049607 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2012/12/02/retrotechtacular-similarities-of-wave-behavior/ | Retrotechtacular: Similarities Of Wave Behavior | Mike Szczys | [
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"bell labs",
"retrotechtacular",
"shive wave generator",
"shive wave machine",
"waves"
] | This installment of Retrotechtacular looks at a video lecture that is much more substantive than the usual fare. [Dr. J.N. Shive] was a researcher at Bell Labs at a time when just about every technological breakthrough was coming from that singular collection of minds.
This video, called
Similarities of Wave Behavior
, was made to help bring students up to speed on the principles of waves. To aid in the experience he invented the apparatus seen in front of him. It’s called a
Shive Wave Machine
(in the prelude to the video they call it the Shive Wave Generator). Having not taken any physics classes at University we hadn’t seen one of these devices before. It uses a series of horizontal rods connected to each other with torsion wire. When you upset the balance of one of the rods the wire conducts that energy to its neighbors as an energy wave. This turns out to be a perfect representation of wave action whether it be mechanical, electrical, or acoustic. The 28-minute video after the break makes extensive use of the device, and explains concepts in a way that is easy to understand for just about anyone.
[via
Reddit
] | 23 | 16 | [
{
"comment_id": "895642",
"author": "jnwatts",
"timestamp": "2012-12-02T16:28:59",
"content": "You don’t necessarily need to take university physics to see one of these. Many science museums have them on display too. I’m pretty sure the MoS in Boston, MA should still have one, at least they used to ... | 1,760,376,669.107359 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2012/12/02/pixar-style-lamp-project-is-a-huge-animatronics-win/ | Pixar-style Lamp Project Is A Huge Animatronics Win | Mike Szczys | [
"Featured",
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"animatronics",
"arduino",
"lamp",
"luxo jr.",
"opencv",
"pixar",
"processing",
"servo"
] | Even with the added hardware that lamp still looks relatively normal. But its behavior is more than remarkable.
The lamp interacts with people
in an incredibly lifelike way. This is of course inspired by the lamp from Pixar’s
Luxo Jr. short film
. But there’s a little bit of most useless machine added just for fun. If you try to shut it off the lamp shade is used to flip that switch on the base back on.
[Shanshan Zhou], [Adam Ben-Dror], and [Joss Doggett] developed the little robot as a class project at the Victoria University of Wellington. It uses six servo motors driven by an Arduino to give the inanimate object the ability to move as if it’s alive. There is no light in the lamp as the bulb has been replaced by a webcam. The image is monitored using OpenCV to include face tracking as one of the behaviors. All of the animations are procedural, making use of Processing to convey movement instructions to the Arduino board.
Do not miss seeing the video embedded after the break.
[via
Gizmodo
] | 39 | 20 | [
{
"comment_id": "895586",
"author": "Middlerun",
"timestamp": "2012-12-02T14:07:58",
"content": "I love lamp.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "895587",
"author": "Alex Rossie",
"timestamp": "2012-12-02T14:08:10",
"content": "Lamp seem... | 1,760,376,669.180644 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2012/12/01/recording-audio-with-chrome-using-html5/ | Recording Audio With Chrome Using HTML5 | Mike Szczys | [
"Software Hacks"
] | [
"audio",
"browser",
"chrome",
"flash",
"html5",
"pepper flash",
"recording"
] | The Dubjoy project was stopped dead in its tracks when the newest version of the Google Chrome browser stopped using Adobe’s flash plugin and transitioned to their own called Pepper Flash. The aim of development was to produce a browser-based editor for translating the audio track of a video clip. After a bit of head scratching and a lot of research they decided to try ditching the use of Flash and implemented
a way to record audio using HTML5
.
There were quite a few issues along the way. The initial recording technique generated raw audio files, which are not playable by Chrome’s HTML5 audio player. This can be worked around by buffering the raw audio, then converting it to a different format once the recording is finished. The user also needs to monkey with the Chromes flags to enable HTML5 audio. So they did get it working, but it’s not yet a smooth process.
We love seeing the neat stuff you can do with HTML5. One of our favorites is
the use of a tablet’s accelerometer as a browser game controller
.
[via
Reddit
] | 11 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "895394",
"author": "ejonesss",
"timestamp": "2012-12-02T01:32:13",
"content": "what a rip i thought it was a way to bypass drm by overriding the “do not save” bit used by youtube to allow youtube to provide rental and other paid content.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
... | 1,760,376,670.002848 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2012/12/01/plan-9-on-the-raspberry-pi/ | Plan 9 On The Raspberry Pi | Brian Benchoff | [
"Raspberry Pi"
] | [
"Plan 9",
"raspberry pi"
] | Yet another operating system has been ported to the Raspberry Pi. No, it’s not Haiku, sadly, but it is something just as weird and interesting. This time it’s
Plan 9 from Bell Labs
, an 80’s era OS from the same company that brought you C and Unix.
As a research operating system, Plan 9 has a bunch of really weird, but useful features. For one, everything about a computer running Plan 9 is distributed; the memory can be running on one machine, the processor on another, and the display can run on yet another machine. This modularity gives Plan 9 the honorable title of, ‘more Unix than Unix’.
Another great feature, although somewhat of a historical note, is that Plan 9’s graphics capabilities are written into the kernel, unlike Linux and X where the display manager is floating around in user space.
It’s an interesting system, and
if you’ve got enough Raspis to build your own supercomputer
you might want to install Plan 9 on a few of your nodes, just to see what the future computer of ages past looked like. | 13 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "895313",
"author": "truthspew",
"timestamp": "2012-12-01T21:20:03",
"content": "How cool is that. I want to pick up a few more Raspi’s just to try it out.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "895459",
"author": "gabriel",
... | 1,760,376,669.434356 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2012/12/01/raspberry-pi-quadcopter/ | Raspberry Pi Quadcopter | Brian Benchoff | [
"drone hacks",
"Raspberry Pi"
] | [
"drone",
"quadcopter",
"raspberry pi",
"Raspi"
] | [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjXvzMdf8Nk&w=470]
It was bound to happen sooner or later, but that doesn’t diminish the awesomeness of [Matthew]’s
Raspberry Pi-powered quadcopter
.
[Matthew]’s quadcopter is similar to all the other flying drones we’ve seen before with one important difference – all the processing, from reading the gyroscopes to computing exactly how much power to give each motor – is handled by a Raspberry Pi. This task is usually the domain of a microcontroller, as these calculations need to happen in real-time. The Linux distro [Matt] is running on his Pi has a lot more overhead than a simple AVR or ARM microcontroller, so doing everything that needs to be done in real-time isn’t guaranteed. With a bit of clever programming, [Matthew] managed to make sure all the necessary tasks were taken care of in time. It’s still not a real-time operating system, but for this project at least, it’s good enough.
Since the Raspberry Pi in [Matthew]’s quadcopter is much more powerful than a microcontroller, there’s plenty of head room to SSH into the ‘copter while it’s flying. There may even be enough processing power to stream video to a web server; we honestly can’t wait to see what [Matthew] does with his flying Linux computer in the future.
You can check out [Matthew]’s code
over on the git
or watch a few flight test videos
over on his youtube
. | 30 | 14 | [
{
"comment_id": "895261",
"author": "Rob",
"timestamp": "2012-12-01T18:22:54",
"content": "Is there no rtos for the RPi yet? (oh, yes there is:https://github.com/everslick/piratos) It is a great project, in the sense that it got the dust off a RPi that was otherwise gathering dust, but even a router... | 1,760,376,669.753831 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2012/12/01/getting-rid-of-a-tangled-web-of-phone-chargers/ | Getting Rid Of A Tangled Web Of Phone Chargers | Brian Benchoff | [
"home hacks"
] | [
"phone charger",
"usb charger"
] | Every night, [Roberto]’s kitchen counter is cluttered with three cell phones, three different cell phone chargers and a mess of wires until morning comes and the chargers are moved to a drawer for the following night. For [Roberto] this is a bit of a pain – a much easier solution would be to have a few USB ports embedded right into his kitchen backsplash. With the right tools,
this can be easily done
, resulting in a very professional looking installation for charging a trio of phones.
After removing a Euro AC outlet and replacing it with three iPhone chargers, [Roberto] simply soldered the six mains connections on the chargers to his house’s wiring. This resulted in a perfectly functional but rather ugly home project, though.
The next step was to machine a blank AC outlet cover for the three USB ports. [Roberto]’s CNC mill made quick work of this piece of plastic and turned it into a professional-looking installation. | 47 | 20 | [
{
"comment_id": "895226",
"author": "Springuin",
"timestamp": "2012-12-01T16:49:58",
"content": "Be sure to checkout the link, the finished result is really beautiful",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "895251",
"author": "anon",
"... | 1,760,376,669.526325 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2012/11/30/st-optimus-of-prime/ | St. Optimus Of Prime | Mike Szczys | [
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"optimus prime",
"stained glass",
"transformers"
] | We’re pretty sure they’re not canonizing alien robots, but
this Optimus Prime stained glass
sure looks good enough for a place at the local cathedral. It is [Kobachi’s] very first glass project, but we’d say he’s got a bright future ahead of him. Especially since it’s about ten times more complex than the assignment called for.
The design is based on artwork by [NinjaInkArt] called Optimus Noveau. It is included in the album linked above and shows Optimus with the matrix of leadership behind his head. This of course doubles as the halo you would find around the head of a saint in religious artwork. [Kobachi] started by simplifying the design into rough outlines and colors. He then split those outlines to make for easier cuts and then got down to business assembling the pane. It uses 121 different pieces and took him 80-100 hours to complete the work. We can’t wait to see the landscape follow-up showing Optimus as a semi truck.
If you’re not handy with colored glass you could
try making this with colored circuit boards
instead.
[via
Reddit
] | 17 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "894916",
"author": "asheets",
"timestamp": "2012-11-30T23:11:06",
"content": "Very impressive. I haven’t done stained glass in years — I never was any good at breaking curved cuts without having to nibble.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"com... | 1,760,376,669.849792 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2012/11/30/minecraft-clock-radio-puts-a-creeper-head-next-to-your-bed/ | Minecraft Clock Radio Puts A Creeper Head Next To Your Bed | Mike Szczys | [
"clock hacks"
] | [
"alarm clock",
"arduino",
"clock radio",
"creeper",
"minecraft",
"mp3"
] | This
clock radio plays tunes from Minecraft
and it’s decorated to look just like a creeper head. In the game mob heads are available as decoration and [Young_Maker] liked to spice up his virtual bedside table with a creeper head. But we think it looks just as good in its physical form.
The main part of the clock is an Arduino with a character LCD screen. A DS1307 real-time clock makes sure the device is accurate. We called this a clock radio in the title of the post, but it’s more of a clock MP3 player. The uMp3 board is used to play random music from the game. We would categorize the soundtrack as minimalism, which is a reasonable way to gently wake in the morning. But if time runs out the boom of an exploding creeper is played to make sure you’re not late for work.
We’ve embedded [Young_Maker’s] demo video after the jump.
[via
Reddit
] | 3 | 3 | [
{
"comment_id": "894905",
"author": "aperson",
"timestamp": "2012-11-30T22:47:09",
"content": "Just showing up before this hits /r/Minecraft. I’m sure it will.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "894944",
"author": "John",
"timestamp": "201... | 1,760,376,669.792966 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2012/11/30/open-source-capactive-charger-resurrects-an-electric-skateboard/ | Open Source Capactive Charger Resurrects An Electric Skateboard | Mike Szczys | [
"green hacks"
] | [
"battery",
"capacitive charging",
"cell",
"charger",
"electric skateboard",
"lithium",
"mikey sklar"
] | Here’s [Mikey Sklar] posing on his new electric skateboard. Well, it’s new to him at any rate. He bought it used on eBay for $250. That may not sound like much of a deal, but these will run more like $800 retail. The savings comes because the thing would no longer charge. But it took him just
an hour and a half with his capacitive charger to resurrect the flat lithium cells
.
The first thing he did in trouble shooting the situation was to measure the voltage of the battery pack. It registered 5V, which is a far cry from the 36V it should supply. The built-in charger does nothing, as it’s circuitry isn’t designed to work in a situation like this one. But [Mikey] has a tool perfect for this purpose.
Da Pimp is a capacitive charger
which we’ve seen before. It succeeds where the other failed because it is able to adapt itself to the internal resistance of the battery, no matter what voltage level it starts at.
[Mikey] shows off the use of his charger in the clip after the break. His first test run was more than two miles without issue.
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLHjccKfltk] | 21 | 16 | [
{
"comment_id": "894859",
"author": "Per Jensen",
"timestamp": "2012-11-30T19:16:14",
"content": "Wonderful simple circuit, however I wouldn’t want to be near when the Power mosfet fails shorted and there’s a Li-pack connected… Recipe for fire and explosions… Also, please be aware that all parts of ... | 1,760,376,669.589288 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2012/11/30/led-pocket-watch-2/ | LED Pocket Watch | Eric Evenchick | [
"clock hacks"
] | [
"atmega645p",
"leds",
"pocket watch"
] | [Frank] wanted a classy way of telling the time, so he built up a
LED Pocket Watch
. The watch features 132 LEDs for displaying the time, two buttons to activate and change modes, a vibration motor, and a buzzer.
It’s controlled by a picoPower
ATmega645P
, which has enough pins to drive the array of LEDs, an internal real time clock, and low power consumption. The device is housed behind laser cut acrylic face, and sits in a 3D printed case.
To power the device, [Frank] used a rechargeable lithium coin cell battery. The charging circuitry is based on a
MCP73831
, which is an easy to integrate charge control IC. A USB connector is used to provide power to the board.
One of the bigger challenges of the design is driving the large array of LEDs. [Frank] uses Charlieplexing to group the LEDs and reduce the number of pins required. Another trick he used was offsetting the ISP header pins. This allows for programming the AVR without soldering a connector to the board.
[Frank]’s
Instructables write-up
is very detailed, and includes explanations of the schematic, PCB layout, software design, and case design. It’s a good read that details his design decisions.
After the break, watch [Frank]’s video overview of the project. | 22 | 13 | [
{
"comment_id": "894838",
"author": "lionxl",
"timestamp": "2012-11-30T18:22:18",
"content": "I had an idea for a similar project but as a larger handheld clock, was going to be for my 3yr old grand son to help teach him time (he just gets a kick out of led’s!).it would only need 60 RGB LEDS. The id... | 1,760,376,669.95529 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2012/11/30/guitar-foot-controller-uses-dsp-for-audio-effects/ | Guitar Foot Controller Uses DSP For Audio Effects | Mike Szczys | [
"Musical Hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"dsp",
"effects",
"foot pedal",
"guitar",
"jack",
"pedal"
] | This a screenshot taken from [Pierre’s] demonstration of an electric guitar effects pedal combined with DSP and Pure Data. He pulls this off by connecting the guitar directly to the computer, then feeds the computer’s audio output to the guitar amp.
The foot controls include a pedal and eight buttons, all monitored by an Arduino.
Pure Data
, a visual programming language, interprets the input coming from the Arduino over USB and alters the incoming audio using digital signal processing. [Pierre] manages the audio connection using the
JACK Audio Connection Kit
software package.
In the video after the break he’s using a laptop for most of the work, but he has also
managed to pull this off with a Raspberry Pi
. There’s no audio input on the RPi board, but he’s been using a USB sound card anyway. The other USB port connects the Arduino and he’s in business.
[Thanks Walter] | 7 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "894830",
"author": "guitarextended",
"timestamp": "2012-11-30T17:07:21",
"content": "Hi, thanks for this post. I just wanted to say that it doesn’t work on the RPi. I’m still using a laptop.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "894... | 1,760,376,669.896117 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2012/11/30/color-led-matrix-vu-meter-shows-how-to-use-fft-with-arduino/ | Color LED Matrix VU Meter Shows How To Use FFT With Arduino | Mike Szczys | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"digital audio hacks"
] | [
"fft",
"Fourier",
"VU meter"
] | If you’ve ever wanted to make your own VU meter but were scared off by the signal process
you need to study this tutorial
.
Hackaday Alum [Phil Burgess] developed the device using an RGB LED matrix, microphone, and an Arduino. You’ll notice that is doesn’t include an MSGEQ7 chip which we see in
most of these types of projects
. We have seen
a few that use the Fast Fourier Transform
to map the audio signal on the display as this one does. But [Phil’s] choice of
an assembly language Library for ATmega chips
makes this really simple to roll into your own projects.
The one drawback to the hardware choices made here is that there are only eight bits of vertical resolution. It takes a little creative interpretation to make this look good, but the use of color mixing really makes a difference. See for yourself in the demo after the break.
[Thanks PT] | 10 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "894799",
"author": "TigerUp",
"timestamp": "2012-11-30T14:04:16",
"content": "Most of the projects that use Elm Chan’s FFT library show a lot of lag and/or missed beats. This one looks slick as snot. Great work!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
... | 1,760,376,670.053772 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2012/11/30/coin-op-sega-rally-used-to-race-rc-cars/ | Coin-op Sega Rally Used To Race RC Cars | Mike Szczys | [
"cons",
"Toy Hacks"
] | [
"arcade",
"arduino",
"coin-op",
"R/C car",
"Rally",
"retro gaming",
"sega"
] | Head to head video game action can’t even compare to this
use of a coin-op Sega Rally game to race actual RC vehicles
. Take a close look at those screens and you’ll see there are no computer graphics, just a feed for a camera on each of the toy cars.
The project was conceived for the Sapo Codebits VI conference in Portugal. The arcade cabinets had their controls connected to an Arduino, but getting video up and running wasn’t nearly as easy. After fruitless attempts to get the original CRTs to work the team ended up replacing them with functioning CRT units of the same size. The cars themselves have two camera, one on top of the vehicle’s cab and one mounted on a boom for a perspective that was above and behind the vehicle. The drivers can switch between either view. The cars were set loose in the room serving as the event’s retro gaming area and players were free to race each other wherever they pleased. Don’t miss the video clip after the break which shows off all of the fun. | 10 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "894768",
"author": "Jasper",
"timestamp": "2012-11-30T12:27:07",
"content": "Reminds me of this great project:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsfxP77lSu8",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "894769",
"author": "cool!",
"timest... | 1,760,376,670.102756 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2012/11/29/hackaday-links-november-29th-2012/ | Hackaday Links: November 29th, 2012 | Mike Szczys | [
"Hackaday links"
] | [
"cellphone",
"emc2",
"fft",
"launchpad",
"msp430",
"seminar",
"stm32",
"usb",
"VU meter"
] | EMC2 CNC keyboard labels
If you’ve got a dedicated computer running EMC2 for CNC control you may be interested in
these keyboard labels
. [Rich] mentions that they use the labels for their engraver at the Connecticut Hackerspace. Just print them out and glue them in the face of the keys.
Dev board seminars and freebies
[Mike] wrote in to tell us STM is
giving away samples of the STM32 F3 Discovery
again. But you can also get in on some free seminars. One is
an online webinar for TI’s Launchpad family
, the other is for
the F3 Discovery board
and is being held all around the US.
Replacing batteries with USB power
[Johan] didn’t want to use batteries for the light on the microscope he uses when working with SMT parts. He added a few components with let him
power the device from USB
instead.
MSP430 VU meter uses FFT
Here’s
an MSP430 using Fast Fourier Transform for signal processing
. There’s very little explanation, but apparently this
collection of FFT related material
was used heavily in the project. [via
Reddit
]
Cell Racr
If you’re looking for a new office game
you might consider Cell Racr
. It pits your cellphone’s vibrating motor against everyone else’s. Just place the phone on an incline and repeatedly dial its number to advance toward the finish line. | 37 | 14 | [
{
"comment_id": "894525",
"author": "Tony",
"timestamp": "2012-11-30T00:07:42",
"content": "The CNC keyboard link doesn’t actually have the file used to print the labels, so yeah anyway.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "894648",
"author... | 1,760,376,670.186497 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2012/11/23/soap-candles-and-toiletries-from-deer-fat/ | Soap, Candles, And Toiletries From Deer Fat | Mike Szczys | [
"Lifehacks"
] | [
"candles",
"deer",
"fat",
"render",
"soap"
] | Here’s a hack with more of a survivalist flair to it. [Ligament] and some friends
used the fat from butchering a deer to make soap, candles, and toiletries
.
It’s hunting season and [Ligament’s] dad is processing the deer which he harvested. Wild game doesn’t have the amount of fat you’d find on a domesticated animal, but there is still a fair amount. The group cut off as much as they could before cutting up the rest of the meat. The trimmings are put in a pot with water and boiled until the fat starts to rise. It is ladled off and strained through some cheese cloth. The fat hardens overnight and can be picked up out of the container as a big disk. It is reheated and strained through a mesh coffee filter to achieve the final product. From there the fat was used as an ingredient in the recipes for candles, soap, and things like lip balm. For details on that heck out the comments for each image in the gallery linked above.
It’s a good thing to waste as little as possible. But this skill will be indispensable once the Zombie Apocalypse comes. You might also want to know
how to chlorinate your own water
.
[via
Reddit
] | 36 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "889832",
"author": "qwerty",
"timestamp": "2012-11-24T00:18:40",
"content": "“Wild game doesn’t have the amount of fat you’d find on a domesticated animal”Kitten soap joke in 3..2..1.. :)",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "889840"... | 1,760,376,670.401405 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2012/11/23/simple-hack-plays-any-sound-as-your-door-chime/ | Simple Hack Plays Any Sound As Your Door Chime | Mike Szczys | [
"home hacks"
] | [
"custom",
"doorbell",
"recording module",
"ringtone",
"sound"
] | [Jim’s] technique for
turning a wireless doorbell into a custom ringtone player
is so simple. He manages to get the entire thing done using only a screwdriver and wire clippers as tools. But if you’re looking to use this over the long-term we’d recommend soldering the connections rather than relying only on the twisted wires.
Above you can see all the components used in the project. The wireless doorbell unit is no different from most battery-operated units on the market today. Inside the Radio Shack box is a recording module that lets you play up to 20 seconds of audio. This is powered by the 9V battery on the right. [Jim] removes the speaker from the doorbell and clips off one of the wires that connected it to the board. This is reused as the ground connection for the recording module. The other speaker wire is connected to the ‘Play’ button on the module’s PCB. That’s it, just record your custom sound and pack everything back into the doorbell’s case. You can see the entire hack and hear a demonstration after the break. | 12 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "889742",
"author": "zuul",
"timestamp": "2012-11-23T22:24:02",
"content": "not bad but probably wouldn’t be as loud as the doorbell",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "889826",
"author": "aztraph",
"timestamp": "2012-11-24T0... | 1,760,376,672.142757 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2012/11/23/high-tech-tagging-adds-graffiti-to-poles/ | High Tech Tagging Adds Graffiti To Poles | Mike Szczys | [
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"graffiti",
"pole",
"robot",
"xbee"
] | [Akira] looks to increase his urban canvas by
tagging poles which some custom hardware
. If you’re looking to add some art to a lamp post, height becomes a problem. That’s where this little guy comes in. The remote-controlled pole climber includes a marker that leaves a trail as the device climbs and descends.
The rig clamps around a pole, with omnidirectional bearings on three sides of the four-sided frame. That last side is occupied by a rubber wheel mounted at a bit of an angle. When the motor turns the angle of the wheel causes the jig to rotate around the pole and climb at the same time. To come back down the motor is simply reversed. Xbee modules are used to make a rudimentary wireless control with a button for up and another for down. It looks like the marker is also mounted on a servo but we didn’t see a way to control when it is actually touching the pole. Perhaps you can figure it out by studying the clip after the jump.
We’ve seen projects that climb poles before. Among our favorites is
the one that takes your bicycle with it
. | 38 | 12 | [
{
"comment_id": "889706",
"author": "sfdfdsfds",
"timestamp": "2012-11-23T20:46:26",
"content": "“EXPERIMENTS IN URBAN INTERVENTION”Aka, pissing off the neighborhood by plastering your doodles all over everything.Stop shitting up people’s neighborhoods.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"... | 1,760,376,672.217869 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2012/11/23/a-pair-of-briefcase-boombox-builds/ | A Pair Of Briefcase Boombox Builds | Mike Szczys | [
"digital audio hacks"
] | [
"amp",
"amplifier",
"briefcase",
"speakers",
"stereo",
"suitcase"
] | Here are two different briefcase speaker projects. [Dale] built
the offering on the right
back in high school and
the upgraded version 2.0
more recently. He was inspired to send in a tip for the projects after seeing yesterday’s
suitcase full of tunes
.
The first version uses a pair of speakers pulled out of a car at the junkyard. They’re mounted on some particle board which beefs up the side of the plastic briefcase. The amplifier that drives it is mounted inside the case along with a battery to power the system. [Dale] included a crude storage bracket for the input cable and since the amp can drive four speakers there are connectors on the outside for two more.
Version two has quite a bit more polish. He doesn’t show that one off quite as much, but you can see there is a LED strip on the case that serves as a VU meter, as well as a numeric display which might be battery voltage? He mentions that this blows away any commercially available systems his coworkers have brought to the job site.
Video of both rigs can be found after the break.
Version 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFu5p7hGFpw
Version 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66fz1XfnK2I | 6 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "889735",
"author": "echodelta",
"timestamp": "2012-11-23T22:12:54",
"content": "Interesting there are 2 ways to post, this one has a cursor. The first words are overlayed on the enter your…! I just clicked somewhere in the field now the format changed the cursor is gone (curses) I ... | 1,760,376,672.525975 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2012/11/23/art-installation-plots-every-game-of-lunar-lander-that-is-played/ | Art Installation Plots Every Game Of Lunar Lander That Is Played | Mike Szczys | [
"cnc hacks"
] | [
"game",
"lunar lander",
"museum",
"plotter",
"video game"
] | This art installation makes a video game from the 1970’s popular again. It can be found at the Dublin Science Gallery’s GAME exhibition. Museum goers step up to the coin-op style game cabinet and
the onlookers will see how they’re doing as the landing is plotted on this board
.
Hardware details are a bit hard to come by but we hear that there will me more on the build posted soon. For now
the Flickr set
is the best source of information. From reading the captions we know that a set of three Mac minis run everything. There are also a few close-ups and a video overview of the drive hardware which you can see mounted on the upper left of the image above. We can tell you that this is a string plotter similar to
builds we’ve seen in the past
. The telemetry data from the
Lunar Lander game
is converted to instructions and fed directly to that device. See it in action in the clip after the break.
[Thanks Sandy] | 7 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "889701",
"author": "Spacedog",
"timestamp": "2012-11-23T20:22:53",
"content": "“that’s a great idea, I wish I thought of it”-Spacedog looking on hackaday",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "889776",
"author": "wardy",
"times... | 1,760,376,671.977848 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2012/11/23/wireless-speaker-made-using-arduinos-and-2-4-ghz-tranceivers/ | Wireless Speaker Made Using Arduinos And 2.4 GHz Tranceivers | Mike Szczys | [
"digital audio hacks",
"Wireless Hacks"
] | [
"2.4 ghz",
"audio",
"nRF24L01+",
"speakers",
"wireless"
] | [Texane] picked up a 2.4 GHz transmitter/receiver pair for transmitting sensor data wirelessly. After using them in a project he wanted to try pushing them a bit to see what the limits are when it comes to higher bandwidths. He ended up
building a wireless speaker that transmits audio at about 90 KB/s
. That link leads to a subfolder of his git repository. The code for this project is in the RX and TX folders, with images and video in the DOC folder.
The radio hardware that he’s using is a Nordic nRF24L01P chip which is
available on a breakout board from Sparkfun
. [Texane] mentioned to us that the chip includes error checking, packet ACK, and automatic retransmission. But these add overhead that can slow things down. The chip does offer the option to disable these features to get lower level access to the hardware. That’s exactly what he did and he mentions that the example code he wrote for the transmitter and receiver make every cycle count. This makes us wonder if it’s the speed of the ATmega328 chip that is the bottleneck, or the transceivers themselves? | 22 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "889619",
"author": "piotr_go",
"timestamp": "2012-11-23T17:52:49",
"content": "Check this:http://www.elektroda.pl/rtvforum/topic1709962.htmlit’s 320kbps mp3 encoded stereo.Transmitter is made from tiny Logitech Unifying receiver.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies... | 1,760,376,672.437754 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2012/11/23/quick-and-easy-personal-evaporative-cooler/ | Quick And Easy Personal Evaporative Cooler | Mike Szczys | [
"Lifehacks"
] | [
"air conditioning",
"evaporation",
"evaporative",
"fan",
"sponge",
"swamp cooler"
] | This
quick and easy evaporative cooler
might be just the thing the next time the air conditioning goes on the fritz. [Stephen] saw an eBay listing for a personal air conditioner that used a moist sponge and fan to send some cool relief your way. But he wanted to run his own test to see if it really did anything before laying down the cash.
The idea is to run air past a moisture source. Some of the heat energy in the air is reduced through evaporation resulting in the exhaust air feeling a bit cooler. It’s the same concept used in swamp coolers (an evaporative type of air conditioning). To build his device [Stephen] grabbed a refrigerator deodorizer which uses a hinged plastic cage to hold a packet of baking soda. He attached a small PC fan to the cage, then inserted a damp sponge. This is so easy to put together you could hit the dollar store on your lunch break and have some relief for the second half of the work day.
If you’re looking for a technique that cools just a bit better consider
leveraging a beer fridge as a personal cooler
. | 17 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "889561",
"author": "kvnxpkvnxp",
"timestamp": "2012-11-23T15:20:38",
"content": "lol",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "889583",
"author": "ino",
"timestamp": "2012-11-23T16:18:27",
"content": "It’s a bad idea because s... | 1,760,376,672.584031 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2012/11/26/android-voip-phone-and-raspberry-pi-mate-for-an-intriguing-pbx-setup/ | Android VOIP Phone And Raspberry Pi Mate For An Intriguing PBX Setup | Mike Szczys | [
"Android Hacks",
"Cellphone Hacks",
"Raspberry Pi"
] | [
"android",
"gxp-2200",
"pbx",
"RPi",
"SIP",
"voip"
] | [Ward Mundy] has found something great by
combining a GXP-2200 phone with Raspberry Pi to create a private branch exchange
. So the idea behind a PBX setup is kind of like a company intranet. All of the phones in the system are assigned an extension number and have access to the internal system functions like voice mail, and sharing phone lines to the outside world. We’ve talked about
using an RPi as a PBX before
, but the high-tech phone he’s using this time around pulls everything together remarkably well.
The GXP-2200 is available for under $200. It runs Android and has a full color touch screen pictured above. It is marketed as a multimedia phone and indeed it brings Skype and Google Voice to the party. But it also offers six SIP lines. The hardware even seems to be planned for this type of use as the phone offers a second Ethernet port to which the RPi board can be connected. In this example [Ward] simply screws the RPi to the phone’s plastic stand and connects the two using a six-inch cable. From there the PBX can be configured with the phone’s browser. How’s that for slick? | 5 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "892544",
"author": "Bcaseb",
"timestamp": "2012-11-27T03:22:44",
"content": "I’ve been thinking about working with a pbx myself via the Raspi, and this is certainly an interesting setup. I’m glad that hackaday has been covering hacks via the Raspi, as it really gives a lot of inspir... | 1,760,376,672.477707 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2012/11/26/personal-cooling-using-a-closed-loop-water-system/ | Personal Cooling Using A Closed Loop Water System | Mike Szczys | [
"Lifehacks"
] | [
"air conditioning",
"cooler",
"pump",
"water"
] | That’s not a colostomy bag, it’s the first prototype of [Stephen’s]
scratch-built closed loop personal cooling system
. He must be living in an uncomfortably hot apartment as this is the second cooling system we’ve seen from him in as many weeks. The
previous offering was an evaporative system
. This time around he’s pumping chilled water to bring some relief.
The image on the left shows the first iteration of the system which pumped cool water from a large jug through a loop of plastic tubing which he wears around his neck. To refine the design he build the version on the right. As a reservoir he grabbed a water-proof ID container meant to keep your valuables dry in the pool or ocean. Inside there’s a pump which he runs off of a 5V battery supply. It circulates water through the neck strap which is a piece of plastic tubing.
This will work for a time, but as the cold water picks up your body’s heat the effect will be lost. We think he needs to add a Peltier cooler to the reservoir in the next iteration. It might help to refine the loop to increase its ability to transfer heat where it touches your skin.
There’s demo of the most recent version embedded after the break. | 38 | 19 | [
{
"comment_id": "892326",
"author": "Joshua D. Johnson",
"timestamp": "2012-11-26T20:08:24",
"content": "This idea can be tested easily by pinning two shirts together with rubber hose sandwiched in desired pattern and running water through a bucket with ice in it. Devices of this type are commonly u... | 1,760,376,672.375177 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2012/11/26/5-toy-car-upgraded-to-record-the-ride-in-hd/ | $5 Toy Car Upgraded To Record The Ride In HD | Mike Szczys | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"Toy Hacks"
] | [
"car",
"hackhd",
"rc",
"servo"
] | We hope [Kabir’s] driving skills are top-notch because the camera stuck to the front of this toy is a high-ticket item. It’s ironic, since
the donor toy for this hacked RC car only cost about five bucks
. It had been gathering dust in the dark reaches of his bedroom until he sat down and gave it a proper upgrade.
He started the project by getting rid of the stock battery and moving to a pair of Lithium Polymer cells. They give the vehicle more power and more than twice the running time between charges. A couple of springs were added to the suspension system for a smoother ride. Turning had been a problem since the original design offered no control over how far the wheels turn. You can just make out the body of the servo motor he rolled into the system to allow for more precise turning.
The most recent addition is
the HackHD camera on the front of the vehicle
. It records to an SD card rather than streaming the video in real-time. Check out the clip after the break to see the interesting perspective achieved by filming so low to the ground. The one thing we would add is a cage around that board which retails at around $165.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0BLt1CVNcE | 14 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "892306",
"author": "Leif",
"timestamp": "2012-11-26T19:12:52",
"content": "Anyone else reminded of Katamari Damacy?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "892330",
"author": "Haku",
"timestamp": "2012-11-26T20:17:44",
"cont... | 1,760,376,672.088723 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2012/11/26/minecraft-coming-to-raspberry-pi/ | Minecraft Coming To Raspberry Pi | Eric Evenchick | [
"Raspberry Pi"
] | [
"games",
"minecraft",
"raspberry pi"
] | The folks over at the Raspberry Pi Foundation often gets asked “
does it run Minecraft?
” Mojang, the team behind the block building game, has announced that they will be releasing
Minecraft: Pi Edition
. This port will be based off the Pocket Edition of the game, but with a revised set of features.
So what does this have to do with hacking? Mojang has announced that the Pi Edition will have “support for multiple programming languages.” There aren’t too many details about what this support will entail, but it looks to be aimed at teaching programming by using the world of Minecraft.
Hopefully, it will be possible to interface with the RPi’s expansion header to allow external devices to get data and create objects in the Minecraft world. There’s a lot of potential for hacking and learning programming skills.
The best part? It will be a completely free download. We’re looking forward to the launch. | 18 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "892212",
"author": "word clock",
"timestamp": "2012-11-26T15:16:25",
"content": "Maybe they should ask themselves “but does it run LELO Lyla?” since that’s the hit these days… so I’ve heard.:-)",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "... | 1,760,376,672.037447 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2012/11/26/abstracting-transistors-into-high-level-design/ | Abstracting Transistors Into High-level Design | Brian Benchoff | [
"hardware"
] | [
"abstraction",
"computation",
"gates",
"hardware",
"logic",
"transistors"
] | Although it’s not the best way of understanding computers, most people tend to imagine electronic devices as black boxes filled with magic and blue smoke. Even microcontrollers, the most fundamental means of computation, are treated like little black plastic centipedes with metal legs. In a series of blog posts, [Andrew Gibiansky] is
tearing down the walls of obfuscation
and illuminating the world of transistors, gates, and FPGAs.
The
first blog post
goes over the idea of electronic circuits as a waterfall; a positive voltage is a reservoir on a mountain top and ground is sea level. This idea is extended to the lowly transistor acting as an electronic switch, able to turn a circuit on and off.
Continuing on to logic gates
, [Andrew] covers the NOT, AND, and OR gates before moving on the flip-flops and SRAM. These can, of course, be
modeled in Verilog and VHDL
– programming languages that abstract the world of transistors and gates into a much more human-readable form.
[Andrew] is far from done with his series of blog posts, but judging from his work so far it seems to be a great resource for untangling the obtuse concepts of gates and memory into the coherent design of a computer. | 10 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "892206",
"author": "Eirinn",
"timestamp": "2012-11-26T15:09:48",
"content": "I’ve NEVER used a (hardware) logic gate.Not sure if I should be ashamed or not…",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "892549",
"author": "no",
... | 1,760,376,672.628629 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2012/11/26/usb-keyboard-becomes-an-avr-programmer/ | USB Keyboard Becomes An AVR Programmer | Eric Evenchick | [
"Featured",
"Microcontrollers"
] | [
"AVR",
"AVR programmer",
"avrdude",
"hid"
] | [Steve] created an
AVR programmer using an old USB keyboard
. We feature a bunch of AVR programmers, but this one is made from parts that many people will have lying around. There are two components: the controller PCB from a USB keyboard, and an optocoupler for emulating key presses.
In order to send data to the AVR, [Steve] used the LED outputs on the keyboard. These LEDs can easily be toggled according to the HID device specification. They provide a 5 volt output with current limiting resistors, which means they can be connected directly to the target AVR.
Reading data is a bit more complex. The optocoupler tricks the keyboard into believing that a single key has been pressed, firing off a data transfer. The MISO pin on the AVR is connected to the row and column of the shift key, which is read by the driver.
On the software side [Steve] created an avrdude interface driver. This allows the programmer to be used with avrdude, just like any other programmer. [Steve] does point out that it isn’t the fastest programmer since the keyboard tries to debounce the MISO input, greatly limiting the speed. However, since it’s made from stuff you might have in your junk bin, it’s a neat hack. | 21 | 14 | [
{
"comment_id": "892141",
"author": "solhsa",
"timestamp": "2012-11-26T13:08:10",
"content": "I did something similar as a school project – transfer of image data bit by bit using the keyboard LEDs. The USB device was a pSoC.. basically what I found was that the keyboard leds are not a reliable data... | 1,760,376,673.197367 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2012/11/26/tiny-mame-cabinet-built-from-raspberry-pi/ | Tiny MAME Cabinet Built From Raspberry Pi | Brian Benchoff | [
"classic hacks",
"Raspberry Pi"
] | [
"arcade cabinet",
"lcd display",
"mame",
"raspberry pi"
] | It’s been a while since we’ve seen [Sprite_tm] pull a project from thin air, and we haven’t seen him do anything with a Raspberry Pi yet. All things must pass, and finally [Sprite]
has unleashed his tiny, pocket-sized MAME machine
to the world.
The build uses a Raspi for all the Linux-ey and MAME goodness, but [Sprite_tm] didn’t want to fiddle around with the HDMI or analog video output. Instead, he chose to use an
SPI-controlled TFT display
that is only 2.4 inches across. This isn’t a new hack for [Sprite] – he figured out how to connect this display over GPIO pins
with a Carambola
earlier this year.
To make his cabinet portable, [Sprite] opted for using
old cell phone batteries
with a cleverly designed charging circuit. When the power supply is connected to +5V, the batteries charge. When this power is removed, an ATtiny85 provides 5V of power to the Raspi and display.
No arcade cabinet is complete without a marquee of some sort, so [Sprite]
used an extremely tiny 128×32 white OLED
to display the logo of the game currently being played. Everything in the Raspi is set up to be completely seamless when switching between games, automatically configuring the controls and marquee for the currently selected game.
You can check out [Sprite]’s mini MAME booting straight into Bubble Bobble after the break along with some gameplay footage and finally switching it over to Nemesis. A very awesome build from an exceedingly awesome maker.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5npkz0xY1fo&w=470]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzrvO8r8_pU&w=470] | 17 | 16 | [
{
"comment_id": "892113",
"author": "James",
"timestamp": "2012-11-26T12:05:55",
"content": "This NEEDS to be commercialised! So awesome.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "892123",
"author": "Eirinn",
"timestamp": "2012-11-26T12:26:44",
... | 1,760,376,673.004687 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2012/11/28/hacking-bodybugg-fitness-sensors-to-get-around-subscription-fee/ | Hacking BodyBugg Fitness Sensors To Get Around Subscription Fee | Mike Szczys | [
"Security Hacks"
] | [
"bodybugg",
"galvanic skin response",
"java",
"sensor",
"temperature"
] | This arm cuff is a sensor package which logs data whenever you’re wearing it. It records accelerometer data, skin temperature, and galvanic skin response. That data can then be analyzed to arrive at figures like calories burned. But… The company behind the device seems to have included a way to keep the cash flowing. Once you buy it you can read the data off of the device using a Java program they supply. But you can’t erase the data from the device unless you subscribe to their online service. Once it fills up, it’s useless. [Doug] wasn’t happy with this gotcha, so
he reverse engineered the technique used to clear the BodyBugg’s memory
.
There had been a few previous attempts at reverse engineering the device but that groundwork didn’t really help [Doug] on his quest. He ended up disassembling the Java classes from the original program. This helped him figure out how to initialize communications. Once there he was happy to find that the device will tell you how to use it. If you issue an invalid command it will respond with a list of all valid commands. Everything you need to get up and running can be found in
his github repo
. | 83 | 25 | [
{
"comment_id": "893887",
"author": "Dr. DFTBA",
"timestamp": "2012-11-28T23:20:17",
"content": "That’s funny.You:a;klsdnthIt:Oops! Looks like you’re trying to hack me!if(normal company’s product){ABORT! ABORT!}else{Oh! Here’s how you break into me properly! Thanks for your business :DYou:Yeah, than... | 1,760,376,673.335398 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2012/11/28/100-meter-spring-reverb-makes-us-hear-satanic-voices/ | 100 Meter Spring Reverb Makes Us Hear Satanic Voices | Mike Szczys | [
"Musical Hacks"
] | [
"spring reverb"
] | Spring reverb is something we’re used to hearing about when it comes to guitar amplifiers. It’s a coil spring stretched the length of the amp’s housing. One end is fed the guitar signal, with a pickup at the other to capture the output. But this spring reverb is on a much grander scale. [Jochem van Grieken] strung up
100 meters of coiled steel wire in a long hallway
and the results sound a little bit evil.
A simple piezo element is used as a pickup to amplify the sound coming off of the spring. Above [Jochem] is using what looks like a jeweler’s saw to make some sound on the 3.5mm wire. It’s this portion of the video that sounds demonic to us. In the second half of the demonstration he strikes the wire with a ruler to produce the pew-pew effect from many a sci-fi movie.
This isn’t his first experiment with the concept, it’s just his largest. Also found after the break are a pair of links to his other installations.
Analogue Soundlab 1
Analogue Soundlab 2 | 23 | 13 | [
{
"comment_id": "893841",
"author": "Per Jensen",
"timestamp": "2012-11-28T22:18:06",
"content": "WOW – Those are some seriously cool sounds – Very analog :-)",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "893852",
"author": "wretch",
"timestamp": "201... | 1,760,376,673.467521 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2012/11/28/mod-player-for-the-stellaris-launchpad/ | MOD Player For The Stellaris Launchpad | Mike Szczys | [
"ARM",
"digital audio hacks"
] | [
"chiptunes",
"mod",
"pwm",
"stellaris",
"Stellaris Launchpad"
] | [Ronen K.] wrote in to tell us about
the MOD playing Stellaris Launchpad project
he recently completed. A MOD is a sound file for the computers of days long gone. But you’ll certainly recognize the sound of the 8-bit goodness that is coming out of this device.
To understand how a MOD file stores samples you might want to
glance at the Wikipedia page
. There are a ton of these files out there, but this implementation is meant for files with only four channels. For now the only external hardware used is an audio jack which needs a ground connection and a PWM signal on each of the two audio channels. [Ronen] is storing the files in flash memory rather than using an SD card or other external storage. This leaves 213k of space for up to six files that can be selected by the user buttons which cycle forward or backward through the list. See this demonstrated after the break.
The project ports existing code from an STM32 application. Since that is also an ARM microcontroller there’s not a ton of work that needed to be done. But he did have to write all of the PWM functionality for this chip.
This PWM tutorial
turned out to be very helpful during that process. | 16 | 11 | [
{
"comment_id": "893805",
"author": "kubik",
"timestamp": "2012-11-28T21:20:08",
"content": "I can’t recall what is the song starting at 1:18, but I’ve heard it about thousand times back in ninetees.I was about to beg for implementing other formats, but I’ve realized that you’re limited to the RAM a... | 1,760,376,673.070726 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2012/11/28/internet-radio-occupies-an-80-year-old-radio-case/ | Internet Radio Occupies An 80-year-old Radio Case | Mike Szczys | [
"digital audio hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"internet radio",
"laptop",
"radio"
] | [Florian Amrhein] made use of some old hardware to build his own
internet radio in a 1930’s radio case
.
The original hardware is a tube-amplified radio which he picked up on eBay. There’s tons of room in there once he removed the original electronics and that’s a good thing because he crammed a lot of new parts into the build. The main one being an old laptop he had on hand. It’s got a 10″ screen which is too large for the opening, but that ended up being okay. He coded an interface with C and SDL which give him a visual representation of his favorite online streams. The knob to the right moves the red line when turned and causes the Debian box to change to the new stream using the Music Player Daemon. Two potentiometers control the tuning and volume, and there is also a rotary encoder which is not yet in use. All three are connected to the laptop via an Arduino.
Check out the finished product in the video after the break. It sounds quite good thanks to the small automotive speaker and amplifier also crammed into the old case.
If you don’t have a laptop lying around to use in a project like this consider
a microcontroller and character LCD based system
. | 26 | 16 | [
{
"comment_id": "893775",
"author": "SavannahLion",
"timestamp": "2012-11-28T20:13:31",
"content": "Radio enthusiasts are probably popping a vein at this. :/I’m a little mystified as to why so much effort would be put into something like this but his microcontroller board just has a bunch of wires j... | 1,760,376,673.406178 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2012/11/28/adding-node-js-based-sensors-to-the-parrot-ar-drone/ | Adding Node.js Based Sensors To The Parrot AR Drone | Mike Szczys | [
"News"
] | [
"ar drone",
"drone",
"node.js",
"parrot",
"quadcopter",
"sensor"
] | [Max Ogden] wanted the option to add sensors to his Parrot AR Drone. This a commercially available quadcopter which runs Linux. This makes it rather easy for him to
use Node.js to read the sensors
from an Arduino board. The use of the Arduino is merely for easy prototyping. It is only needed to bridge the drone’s serial port with a sensor’s delivery method, so just about any microcontroller could be substituted for it.
There are some hardware considerations to take into account. The manufacturer was nice enough to populate a 0.1″ pitch pin socket on the serial port (if only this kind of invitation to mess with hardware was an industry standard). But the device expects 3.3V levels so pick your hardware accordingly. There is one commenter who tried the project for themselves and found that the drone wouldn’t boot up with the Arduino already connect — he had to boot and then complete connections. Troubles aside this makes adding your own sensor payload very simple and you don’t have to wait until landing to get at the data.
Maybe we’ll have to add some shock voltage data reporting to
our shockerDrone
. | 7 | 3 | [
{
"comment_id": "893903",
"author": "Robot",
"timestamp": "2012-11-29T00:04:40",
"content": "This is so much WIN. More evidence that my low level hardware oriented career path is becoming obsolete.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "894382",
... | 1,760,376,673.135703 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2012/11/28/hackerspace-tour-kwartzlab/ | Hackerspace Tour: Kwartzlab | Eric Evenchick | [
"Hackerspaces"
] | [
"hackerspace",
"kwartzlab",
"tour"
] | Located in Kitchener, Ontario,
Kwartzlab
is a 3000 square foot hackerspace. In 2009, the group was founded and set up their space in a former box factory. We dropped by the space on one of their Tuesday Open Nights to take a tour. Join us after the break for a quick walk through of Kwartzlab.
The space is divided into three main sections: a lounge, a collaborative workspace, and a wood/metal shop.
The workspace has the usual collection of desks, but also is home to their laser cutter, vinyl cutter, electronics bench, and 3D printer. There were a few people hacking software here, and a collection of laser cut things around the room.
In the lounge, there’s a library, TV and couches. This space is also used to display some member’s projects, including a LED analogue clock and a set of free-form soldered figures. To encourage creative work, Kwartzlab runs an artist in residence program that gives artists the opportunity to use the space, while giving workshops to the community.
Kwartzlab’s shop area includes a collection of woodworking and metalworking tools. There’s a welding booth with both Arc and MIG welders.
One custom tool that’s in the works is a CNC router. The based off an old
automated tape library
, which provides the frame and some mechanical components. There were a few test pieces that had been routed out of MDF.
All in all, the space was a friendly place with lots of interesting projects in the works. If you’re in the Kitchener/Waterloo area, you should check out one of their Tuesday Open Nights to find out more. Thanks to all the members for letting us tour their space. | 4 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "893844",
"author": "John",
"timestamp": "2012-11-28T22:20:50",
"content": "Heh. This was MY lab. Founding member. Awesome to see it get some attention. Glad to see that they finally got some of the heavy tools sorted.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
... | 1,760,376,673.57105 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2012/11/28/headphone-light-show/ | Headphone Light Show | Mike Szczys | [
"digital audio hacks"
] | [
"el wire",
"headphones",
"inverter"
] | Seriously, nothing says ‘Look at me!’ like these headphones. [Yardley Dobon]
added a rainbow of colored electroluminescent wire to his headphones
and made them pulse to the music. The video after the break shows the headphones bumping to the tunes. This is one of two versions of the project, the other runs the EL wire along the headphone wire itself. We’re a bit surprised that the high frequency from that parallel run doesn’t inject noise into the signal. We do enjoy seeing these in action, but in practice observers unfortunately won’t be able to hear the tunes to which the lights are pulsing.
It took us a little while to figure out that [Yardley] didn’t roll his own VU hardware. The inverter driving the EL wire is designed to bump to the music. But he did hack it to use an audio line rather than a microphone. He mentions that this has other uses, like allowing carefully crafted sound clips to precisely control the inverter. | 8 | 3 | [
{
"comment_id": "893711",
"author": "rhyno001",
"timestamp": "2012-11-28T17:15:07",
"content": "It seems like it could be a bit more practical if used by a DJ in a club atmosphere. Then you could use them to monitor the main mix. I could see this being a pretty cool gimmick for any up and coming DJ.... | 1,760,376,673.520772 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2012/11/25/flash-controller-works-with-point-and-shoot-cameras/ | Flash Controller Works With Point And Shoot Cameras | Brian Benchoff | [
"digital cameras hacks"
] | [
"camera",
"flash controller",
"photography",
"slave flash"
] | Needless to say, there’s a world of difference between the expensive DSLR cameras professional photographers use and the point-and-shoot models carried by commoners. One such difference is the ability to use slave flashes – a second flash set off to the side of the subject for better illumination. Most of these slave flash units are triggered when they see a bright light, or when the on-camera flash goes off. Point and shoot models usually have a ‘pre-flash’ that cause a slave flash to trigger prematurely. [Kerry]
built a really neat slave flash
that is able to work with these point-and-shoot cameras, and is pretty easy to build as well.
There are two options when it comes to building a flash that can work with a point-and-shoot: First, measure the time between the pre-flash and real flash, and then simply delay the slave flash. This option has a few problems. Even when [Kerry] tested this technique on the same camera, the delay between the flashes were never consistant.
The second option is to simply ignore the pre flash and synchronize with the main flash. This is a little harder, but if done right this technique is nearly foolproof.
[Kerry] ended up building a small circuit out of a 556 timer chip and an LM339n comparator that turns itself ‘on’ just a little bit after it sees the pre flash. From there, the device looks for the main flash and triggers itself whenever it sees another bright source of light.
The finished product works beautifully, and is simple enough for just about anyone to build on a piece of perf board. | 7 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "891773",
"author": "macona",
"timestamp": "2012-11-26T01:48:52",
"content": "Wein also makes a bunch of sllave triggers that do this for you if you dont want to build one. I found a list on-line which have the pre-trigger ignore capability.Wein HS-XL D Hot Shoe Ultra SlaveWein PN-XL... | 1,760,376,673.719933 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2012/11/25/making-a-touchless-vibrator-with-reverse-engineering/ | Making A Touchless Vibrator With Reverse Engineering | Brian Benchoff | [
"Toy Hacks"
] | [
"CC2500",
"msp430",
"sex toy",
"teledildonics",
"vibrator"
] | Here’s one for the ladies (and men, we guess) out there.
[Beth] recently bought a LELO Lyla vibrator for herself, but found operating this wireless vibrator to be an exercise in mood-killing awkwardness. Wanting a more natural interface,
she decided to reverse engineer a remote control vibrator
. Here’s a
cache
; [Beth]’s blog has been up and down all day.
The LELO Lyla comes with a wireless control in the form of a neon pink remote. [Beth] thought this remote was a little clunky and felt like programming a VCR – something she doesn’t like in a sex toy. With the goal of improving this remote and allowing for a better user experience, [Beth] tore down this remote and began to build her own.
The new vibrator remote would have to be touchless – there’s nothing that kills the mood faster than mashing buttons. By using ultrasonic sensors, [Beth] would be able to control the intensity of her vibrator by simply waving her hand; a much more natural interface. With the control interface out of the way, the only thing left to do was to figure out how to control the business end of the vibrator.
The remote for a stock LELO Lyla comes with a MSP430 microcontroller and a 2.4 GHz CC2500 radio controlled over an SPI interface. Instead of disassembling the microcontroller and figuring out the firmware from scratch, [Beth] decided to sniff the SPI bus and make her own controller.
After attaching some 0.1″ headers to the stock remote and soldering a few wires to the microcontroller, [Beth] captured the SPI data with a Propeller dev board. By streaming the SPI traffic to a terminal, she was able to figure out exactly how the remote works and set out on building her own.
The new remote was built out of an Arduino Pro Mini, ultrasonic sensor, CC2500 radio and a four digit 7-segment display. After printing an enclosure, [Beth] had a very easy to use, hands free vibrator.
In the video after the break you can see [Beth]’s vibrator in action. She’s still looking for a few more ways to improve it such as
predicting
the movements of her hand with a phase-locked loop, but for now we’ll just tip our hat to [Beth] for a very awesome hack.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhXoYcwsEVI&w=470] | 135 | 50 | [
{
"comment_id": "891550",
"author": "some",
"timestamp": "2012-11-25T20:39:35",
"content": "Okay…",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "891568",
"author": "equinoxe",
"timestamp": "2012-11-25T21:00:11",
"content": "Hmm, that ... | 1,760,376,673.916346 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2012/11/25/beating-a-plowshare-into-an-ak-47/ | Beating A Plowshare Into An AK-47 | Brian Benchoff | [
"Weapons Hacks"
] | [
"AK-47",
"AK47",
"AR-15",
"gun",
"gunsmithing"
] | [Boris] must have been a little bored over Thanksgiving. We’re guessing that’s the case; why else would he
build an AK-47 out of a common garden shovel?
After buying an old shovel from an antique barn in Vermont, [Boris] cut off the handle an attached it to an old Bulgarian AK he had just lying around. The new stock proved to be very comfortable, and not wanting to waste the iron in the shovel head, decided to make an AK out of the remainder of his purchase.
After tossing the shovel head into the furnace and pounding it flat, [Boris] had a respectable piece of metal to construct an AK receiver from. A bit of plasma cutting, grinding, and drilling turned this former shovel into a future gun, and with the help of a blank barrel the shovel became an AK receiver that is twice as thick and twice as heavy as a ‘normal’ AK receiver. Yes, [Boris]’s new gun is even more indestructible than a stock AK – something that really shouldn’t be possible.
In the end, [Boris] spent $2 on a shovel, $30 on a barrel, and $200 on a Romanian AK kit. The result is an actual, working gun that is legal for him to own (but not sell – see the comments for that discussion). | 67 | 23 | [
{
"comment_id": "891342",
"author": "Mildly Impressed",
"timestamp": "2012-11-25T14:59:09",
"content": "In Soviet Russia they turn plowshares into AK-47s.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "891376",
"author": "anon",
"timestamp": ... | 1,760,376,674.113416 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2012/11/24/raspberry-pi-camera-board-coming-early-next-year/ | Raspberry Pi Camera Board Coming Early Next Year | Brian Benchoff | [
"Raspberry Pi"
] | [
"camera",
"raspberry pi",
"Raspi"
] | We’ve seen hundreds of builds tinker around with the GPIO pins on the Raspberry Pi. They’re great for bridging the gap between physical sensors and a virtual world, but there are a few more unused and ignored pins on the Raspberry Pi. The folks at the Raspberry Pi foundation are finally giving these unused pins a life of their own with
the new camera module
for our favorite single board computer.
The specs for the camera are fairly impressive – it can record H.264 video at 1080p and 30 frames per second. Best of all, it costs only $25.
There are a few more hurdles to pass before the Raspi foundation can send this board out to manufacturers. They still need to make sure the ribbon cable doesn’t emit any interference, but if all goes right the camera module should be available early next year.
You can see the camera in action in the video after the break. If you listen closely you can hear [Rob Bishop] of the Raspi foundation say they’re also working on a display add on for the
other
unused pins on the Pi, something we can’t wait to see.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8N7kgtL0-Ts&w=470] | 52 | 19 | [
{
"comment_id": "890614",
"author": "brian boatright (@briankb)",
"timestamp": "2012-11-24T19:33:35",
"content": "Impressive!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "890617",
"author": "Christophe",
"timestamp": "2012-11-24T19:35:32",
"conte... | 1,760,376,674.245066 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2012/11/24/an-inexpensive-manual-pick-and-place-machine/ | An Inexpensive Manual Pick-and-Place Machine | Jeremy Cook | [
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"pick and place",
"surface mount"
] | When dealing with surface mount components, a manual pick-and-place machine is certainly a helpful device to have. Unfortunately, they can be quite expensive, so [Vassilis]
came up with his own solution
.
While commercial setups can cost upwards of a thousand dollars, this setup was made for less than a tenth of this cost. This one uses a simple setup of sliders and bearings available from a local hardware store. A cheap vacuum pen is used to lift the components, using an aquarium pump in reverse to generate suction. Finally, a USB microscope is used to make sure everything is placed in the correct position.
Plans are available on the site in DXF format, so you can build your own. The setup is reminiscent of a DIY CNC router,
like this one
that we featured a while ago. We could even see something like this serving a dual role with interchangeable heads for whatever you happen to be making that day!
Update:
[Vassilis] published an video demonstration. See it after the break. | 20 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "890541",
"author": "Dr. DFTBA",
"timestamp": "2012-11-24T18:01:54",
"content": "Can someone explain what this is and what its purpose is?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "890554",
"author": "Hal",
"timestamp": "... | 1,760,376,673.989393 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2012/11/24/programming-a-game-boy-while-playing-pokemon/ | Programming A Game Boy While Playing Pokemon | Brian Benchoff | [
"Nintendo Hacks",
"Software Hacks"
] | [
"game boy",
"pokemon",
"rom",
"ROM hack"
] | We hope our readers are familiar with the vast number of ROM hacks for the original 1st-gen Pokemon games. With certain sequences of button presses, it’s possible to duplicate items in the player’s inventory, get infinite money, or even catch a glimpse of the elusive MissingNo. [bortreb] is familiar with all these hacks, but his efforts to
program a Game Boy from inside Pokemon
is by far the greatest Pokemon glitch ever created.
This ‘total control’ ROM hack was inspired by [p4wn3r]’s extremely impressive
1 minute and 36 second long speed run
for Pokemon Yellow. The technique used in [p4wn3r]’s run relies on the fact the warp points in Pokemon Yellow are right after the item list in the Game Boy’s memory. By corrupting the item list, [p4wn3r] figured out how to make the front door of his house warp directly to the end of the game resulting in the fastest Pokemon speed run ever.
Realizing this ROM hack is able to control the CPU with only the player’s inventory, [bortreb] wanted to see how far he could push this hack. He ended up writing a bootstrapping program by depositing and discarding items from the in-game PC, and was then able to reprogram the Game Boy with a number of button presses on the D-pad, select, start, A and B buttons.
The resulting hack means [bortreb] can actually make Pong, Pacman, a MIDI player, or even a copy of Pokemon Blue. In the video after the break, you can see all of [bortreb]’s speed run along with the finale of playing a MIDI file of the My Little Pony theme song. [bortreb] has a really amazing hack on his hands here that really pushes the definition of what can be done by tinkering around with a Pokemon ROM.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5T81yHkHtI&w=470] | 37 | 18 | [
{
"comment_id": "890465",
"author": "Karl Koscher",
"timestamp": "2012-11-24T16:17:21",
"content": "“… or even a copy of Pokemon Blue”O rly?Pokemon Blue is 512 KB, while the GameBoy only has 8KB of internal, general purpose SRAM…Still, a very cool hack!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"... | 1,760,376,674.584575 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2012/11/24/kick-off-the-christmas-decorating-with-a-review-of-3-types-of-led-strings/ | Kick Off The Christmas Decorating With A Review Of 3 Types Of LED Strings | Mike Szczys | [
"Holiday Hacks"
] | [
"christmas lights",
"led",
"review"
] | [Todd Harrison] has been on a quest to replace his incandescent Christmas lights with less power hungry LED lights. There are plenty of options out there, but so far he hasn’t found any have the appearance he’s looking for. Since last year he bought three different kinds to try out and has
posted a review of each
.
Check out the strand of Brite Star Symphony Lights he’s showing off above. There is a white ‘Try Me’ button that lights up the string while still in the package! This offers fifteen bulbs each twelve inches apart. The strand draws 8.4 Watts when in use, you can connect up to 30 strands in series, and they are RGB lights with several different blinking patterns. He spends nearly an hour on this strand in his video review.
Next on his list is a set of Brite Star Classic Style C7 lights. They are single color and are meant to look like traditional large-bulb incandescent strands. At 2.4 Watts per strand you can string together 87 sets of them. This video is much more concise at around twenty-five minutes.
Finally he looks at the Brite Star 50 Mini LED strings. These are the traditional white Christmas tree lights, except in LED. One bulb every four inches on the string adds up to a 2.4 Watt power draw. You can string 58 sets together for a 1000 foot long string. [Todd] spends less than eight minutes reviewing this set.
You can see an intro video after the break but the full reviews are linked in his article. He really liked the Symphony Lights but the other strands have some issues. He discusses what he sees as design flaws in those strands and has decided they’re not really usable because of flickering. | 16 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "890407",
"author": "ameyring",
"timestamp": "2012-11-24T15:05:04",
"content": "My local Rite Aid store had the Symphony lights in a 10-bulb set for $15 when you use a Rewards card. Can’t wait to play with it! If I remember correctly, they were going for closer to $60 last year, but ... | 1,760,376,674.319611 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2012/11/27/pulse-oximeter-displays-blood-oxygen-levels-on-a-pc/ | Pulse Oximeter Displays Blood Oxygen Levels On A PC | Brian Benchoff | [
"Medical Hacks"
] | [
"medical",
"oximeter",
"pulse"
] | The last time you were in the emergency room after a horrible accident involving a PVC pressure vessel, a nurse probably clipped a device called a pulse oximeter onto one of your remaining fingers. These small electronic devices detect both your pulse and blood oxygen level with a pair of LEDs and a photosensor. [Anders] sent in a great tutorial for
building your own pulse oximeter
using a fancy ARM dev board, but the theory behind the operation of this device can be transferred to just about any microcontroller platform.
The theory behind a pulse oximeter relies on the fact that hemoglobin absorbs red and infrared light differently based on its oxygenation levels. By shining a red and IR LED through a finger onto a photoresistor, it’s possible to determine a person’s blood oxygen level with just a tiny bit of math.
Of course a little bit of hardware needs to be thrown into the project; for this, [Anders] used an
EMF32 Gecko starter kit
, a great looking ARM dev board. After connecting the LEDs to a few transistors and opamps, [Anders] connected his sensor circuit to the ADC on the Gecko board. From here it was very easy to calculate his blood oxygen level and even display his pulse rate to a PC application.
Yes, for just the price of a dev board and a few LEDs, it’s possible to build your own medical device at a price far below what a commercial pulseox meter would cost. FDA approval not included. | 30 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "892907",
"author": "Hack Man",
"timestamp": "2012-11-27T17:04:04",
"content": "after a horrible accident involving a PVC pressure vesselNOT FUCKING FUNNY! Is it now HAD’S policy to openly tout and invite serious injury?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
... | 1,760,376,674.503662 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2012/11/27/kickstarter-incurs-the-wrath-of-arduino-creator/ | Kickstarter Incurs The Wrath Of Arduino Creator | Brian Benchoff | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"Crowd Funding"
] | [
"arduino",
"Crowd Funding"
] | [Massimo], one of the creators of the Arduino,
is a little perturbed over what passes for the truth over on Kickstarter
.
While [Massimo] does recognize that Kickstarter can be a force of good launching garage-designed projects into the hands of willing consumers, he noticed something was a little fishy with the recent
smARtDUINO kickstarter
(notice the capital letters, by the way). Right near the top of the smARtDUINO’s kickstarter page is the phrase, “For years we manufactured the ARDUINO in Italy. Now we created a new Open System: modular, scalable, the world’s cheapest and smallest!”
Being at the top of the Arduino organization, you’d think [Massimo] would have heard of these former Arduino manufacturers. The name didn’t ring a bell to him, so he called up the factory. No one at the factory had heard of them, and after a long search it was finally revealed the head of the smARtDUINO project hired two factory workers who worked for a supplier the official Arduino manufacturer uses.
[Massimo] makes the comparison of, “if he hires two factory workers from Ford he can claim he used to manufacture Ford cars.” We’re thinking that’s a little generous. It’s more like hiring two people who used to restock the vending machines in a Foxconn plant and claiming you used to build Apple computers.
With a simple trademark infringement on his hands, [Massimo] contacted Kickstarter to see what could be done. Kickstarter replied:
Thanks for writing in and bringing this to our attention. This is a matter that must be taken up directly with the project creator. You can contact them by clicking “Contact me” on the project page.
Best,
Kickstarter
For [Massimo], and us, that’s just not a sufficient answer. We’re thinking Kickstarter has an obligation to vet their projects and make sure the creators of these projects are who they say they are.
But enough about what we think. What do you, the Hackaday reader, think about this situation? | 183 | 50 | [
{
"comment_id": "892836",
"author": "EccentricElectron",
"timestamp": "2012-11-27T16:12:36",
"content": "My guess is Kickstarter can’t afford to police the volume of business they have on a cost-effective basis. It’s the ebay model – take their money, wash your hands.",
"parent_id": null,
"d... | 1,760,376,674.956185 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2012/11/27/prusas-nozzle-prints-polycarbonate-peek-nylon/ | [Prusa]’s Nozzle Prints Polycarbonate, PEEK, & Nylon | Brian Benchoff | [
"3d Printer hacks"
] | [
"3d printer",
"hot end",
"prusa"
] | Oh, we’ve been sitting on this one for a while.
[Josef Prusa], brainchild behind what is probably the most popular 3D printer,
has just unleashed a new hot end
that is capable of printing objects in polycarbonate, PEEK, and nylon.
This new hot end is completely made out of stainless steel – there are no plastic parts made out PTFE or PEEK to keep the heat from transferring up to the extruder. Because the Prusa Nozzle can print these plastics, it’s also now possible to print parts for other hot ends such as the
J Head
and the
Budaschnozzle
.
We ran into [Prusa] at NYC Maker Faire a few months ago, and he was kind enough to go over the advancements in his new nozzle and new i3 printer. So far, it looks like the lack of a PEEK insulator isn’t doing the new hot end any harm – [Prusa] has left molten plastic in the nozzle for a few hours and nothing bad has come of it.
You can check out the interview below.
[youtube=www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzFpMZE366Q]
Again, thanks to [Prusa] for granting us an interview and providing some free advertising for
Hackaday’s hosts for the NYC Maker Faire
. Before you complain about the delay in getting this interview out to you, don’t worry; I slapped a few Makerbot stickers on the back of [Prusa]’s jacket. Everything’s cool. | 42 | 15 | [
{
"comment_id": "892787",
"author": "Tony",
"timestamp": "2012-11-27T14:35:02",
"content": "MakerBot will ‘borrow’ it in 3…. 2….",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "892797",
"author": "Hack Man",
"timestamp": "2012-11-27T14:57:56",... | 1,760,376,674.419206 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2012/11/27/hola-from-a-spanish-speaking-drawing-arm/ | Hola! From A Spanish Speaking Drawing Arm | Jeremy Cook | [
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"arm",
"boarduino",
"servos",
"writing"
] | [Acorv] wrote in to tell us about
his latest hack
, a robotic arm that writes with a marker. In the video after the break, the arm is set to copy whatever someone writes in a touchpad. As you might guess from this video, the hack is written up in Spanish, but it’s nothing your favorite translator can’t handle if you don’t speak the language.
This robot it the result of improvements on his first
drawing arm ‘bot featured here
. The basic kinematics stayed the same in the arm’s second iteration, but the resolution was greatly improved by using belts to achieve a gear reduction. The second build also features mechanical reinforcement with an Erector-set style building set known as
[Mekanex]
.
A simple hobby servo moves the marker up or down, and control is achieved through, you guessed it, an Arduino with a motor shield! Although from a different time, the way this arm is used is reminiscent of a
mechanical writing automaton
from long ago.
[vimeo
http://www.vimeo.com/54118652
w=470&h=300] | 11 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "892731",
"author": "Jay",
"timestamp": "2012-11-27T12:11:32",
"content": "Isn’t there a way to make it a bit faster though?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "892733",
"author": "Moi",
"timestamp": "2012-11-27T12:14:44",
... | 1,760,376,674.639304 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2012/11/26/electronically-augmented-foosball-brings-competition-to-the-office/ | Electronically Augmented Foosball Brings Competition To The Office | Mike Szczys | [
"Toy Hacks"
] | [
"automation",
"foosball",
"laser",
"rfid"
] | This office has a Foosball league that automatically tallies and posts the standings for each employee. This is thanks to all of the
extra electronics that were added to the Foosball table
in the break room.
The system is connected to the internet via WiFi. This allows it to store the final results of each game for use on the leader board. Player first identify themselves to the system using the RFID tag embedded in their employee badge (normally used to open doors in the building). From there the game play proceeds much like you’d expect, but the scoring is handled automatically. Each goal has a laser pointed across it which is broken when the ball passes through. But there are a pair of arcade buttons in case of a scoring error.
Standings are listed at the webpage linked above. There’s even functionality for new employees to registers through this page. Don’t miss a glimpse of the build in the clip after the break. | 7 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "892487",
"author": "Robot",
"timestamp": "2012-11-27T00:54:29",
"content": "It’s all so. . . precious. May as well go watch some Rapha videos or something. /hater",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "892523",
"author": "eric",
... | 1,760,376,675.00387 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2012/11/26/lego-lp-player/ | LEGO LP Player | Mike Szczys | [
"News"
] | [
"lego",
"lp",
"nxt",
"record"
] | This
LP player is made entirely out of LEGO
parts. It plays the songs encoded on each record, but not by using a stylus in a groove. Instead, each LP has a color code on the bottom of it which is interpreted by the optical sensors underneath.
In addition to its functionality [Anika Vuurzoon] made sure that the build looked the part. The horn is a nice touch, but you’ll also appreciate the rotating mini-figures on the front side of the base. To the right there is a hidden door that provides access to the NXT brick which drives the system. New records are produced using a couple of different tools. First off, the song is written using Finale, a mature musical notation program. That is exported and run through a second program which produces the colored disc design which is applied to the records. You can hear the songs for yourself in the clip after the break.
If LP playing toys are right up your alley you’ll want to check out this
3D printed record hack for a Fisher Price toy
.
[via
Make
] | 1 | 1 | [
{
"comment_id": "892527",
"author": "JoeDontCry",
"timestamp": "2012-11-27T02:29:07",
"content": "Very very cool! I love the way he uses colors to represent the notes, very clever. I’m curious how functional the horn is vs. just being there for looks. A very professional looking finish and a very ni... | 1,760,376,675.044683 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2012/11/26/a-folded-horn-enclosure-to-make-the-most-out-of-a-subwoofer/ | A Folded Horn Enclosure To Make The Most Out Of A Subwoofer | Mike Szczys | [
"home entertainment hacks"
] | [
"cabinet",
"home theater",
"plywood",
"subwoofer"
] | To make the most out of his home theater sound system [Baccula]
built this folded horn enclosure for as much bass sound as possible
. The design was conceived by [Bill Fitzmaurice] who thought there needed to be a better way to use the subwoofers which are typically used in home systems.
His design is called the Tuba HT
and it is aimed at a 15″ speaker. [Bill] charges for the building plans, but we don’t mind living vicariously through [Baccula’s] construction album.
As you can see, there are a lot of wood parts that went into the cabinet. It starts with a base of 2×4 framing. From there the plywood sawdust really starts to fly as each component is produced. During assembly [Baccula] is careful to fully glue each joint — you don’t want to find out that your sub cabinet vibrates after you get everything installed. All together the new piece of living room furniture stands three feet tall and deep and two feet wide.
The album has no captions but you can read a bit more about the project in
the Reddit comments
. | 42 | 18 | [
{
"comment_id": "892394",
"author": "Le Samourai",
"timestamp": "2012-11-26T22:25:31",
"content": "….where’s the hack? and folded horn designs for subs have been around for decades…",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "892417",
"author": "M... | 1,760,376,675.126077 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2012/11/29/through-hole-plating-and-milling-at-home/ | Through Hole Plating And Milling At Home | Mike Szczys | [
"cnc hacks"
] | [
"electroplating",
"milling",
"pcb",
"plating",
"through hole"
] | Here’s
a PCB fabrication process that makes us envious
. It’s pretty darn close to fab-house quality at home. [Cpirius] is using a CNC mill and through hole plating technique to produce his double-sided circuit boards.
The video embedded after the break shows one board from start to finish. It begins with the mill drilling holes through some double-sided copper clad stock. Once the millings have been cleaned off the holes are coated with a mixture of waterproof ink and carbon. This prepares them for plating by making the holes themselves conductive. The board is then run through
an electroplating process based on this guide
.
Possibly the most interesting part of the process starts 52 seconds into the clip. The mill uses a conductive probe to generate a height map of the entire board. This allows it to vary the routing depth for perfectly cut isolation traces. That final routing process is pictured above.
[via
Dangerous Prototypes
] | 27 | 11 | [
{
"comment_id": "894566",
"author": "DirtyD",
"timestamp": "2012-11-30T01:16:37",
"content": "Very cool! Nice Work! But I gave up watching the video 30 seconds in… It looks like it could use some G code efficiency improvements. It makes a lot of unnecessary moves.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth... | 1,760,376,675.19193 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2012/11/29/mariamole-an-alternate-arduino-ide-aimed-at-advanced-users/ | MariaMole – An Alternate Arduino IDE Aimed At Advanced Users | Mike Szczys | [
"Arduino Hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"ide",
"mariamole"
] | [Alex] has been working with Arduino for some time now, but always thought it lacked some features which advanced users would really find useful. He decided to devote some free time to fixing the problem and ended up coding
an Arduino IDE for more advanced users
. A screenshot of his work — called MariaMole — can be seen above. It is obviously different from the standard IDE, bot not so much as to scare off new users.
This is meant to complement the original IDE, so it actually uses those configuration settings as dependencies. Once running, the program allows you to have multiple projects open at once. These are managed with the tree in the left hand column and a series of tabs along the top of the code window. When it comes time to compile and load the sketch you can click one button like normal, or use the program to fine tune your compiler flags, libraries includes, and the like. It also allows for interaction through one or more serial terminal windows. We haven’t tried it ourselves, so please leave a comment with your thoughts after having given it a go.
thanks for the tip [Rodrigo]. | 49 | 20 | [
{
"comment_id": "894420",
"author": "jc",
"timestamp": "2012-11-29T21:12:18",
"content": "or.. you know.. eclipse",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "894428",
"author": "flashular",
"timestamp": "2012-11-29T21:20:43",
"cont... | 1,760,376,675.287706 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2012/11/29/phatio-uses-file-system-to-control-external-hardware/ | PhatIO Uses File System To Control External Hardware | Mike Szczys | [
"Microcontrollers"
] | [
"file system",
"I/O",
"phatio",
"usb"
] | [Andrew Smallbone] wrote in with a link to his latest open source project. This is phatIO,
a USB I/O device that uses a mass storage file system for control
. The idea is that any operating system can manipulate files on a USB storage device. This enumerates as mass storage, and any alterations you make to its file system will result in pin manipulation on the I/O header.
We’ve long been Linux advocates and enjoy the fact that everything on a *nix system is a file. This simply extends the idea across multiple platforms. [Andrew’s] guide for the hardware gives an overview of how the system is structured. The top ‘io’ directory contains sub-directories called mode, pins, status, and a few others. Inside the directories are files for each pin. Writing to these files has much the same effect as writing to a data direction register, port register, or reading a pin register on a microcontroller.
The board is not yet in production and the github link to his hardware files gives us a 404 error. But there is
code available for several software demos
. After the break we’ve included video of the phatIO driving a Larson scanner. | 27 | 15 | [
{
"comment_id": "894383",
"author": "Dmitry Grinberg",
"timestamp": "2012-11-29T20:18:53",
"content": "Wouldn’t you need to call “sync” after every write in linux to get any effect? Same for macos? And what of windows? It does not have sync but does have a filesystem cache",
"parent_id": null,
... | 1,760,376,675.564454 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2012/11/29/science-fair-project-sorts-recyclables/ | Science Fair Project Sorts Recyclables | Mike Szczys | [
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"plastic",
"recycling",
"rfid",
"sorter"
] | This crew of high schoolers built a sorting robot for the Smart Young Mindz challenge. We got pretty excited when hearing that it sorts plastic by its recycling code, but unfortunately this isn’t quite what it’s made out to be. The device
uses an RFID code on each product to figure out where it goes
. Their thinking is that at some point every product sold will have an embedded tag in it. For now this will not revolutionize the recycling industry, but the build is still impressive. We’re sure they learned a ton from all of the mechanical engineering that went into the project.
You can see the three laundry baskets that serve as the sorting bins. The white box above the bin on the right is the hopper in which a plastic container is placed. The box can then revolve around a central axis to position itself over the correct basket. The floor of the box is then retracted, dropping the refuse in the bin. Check out the video after the break for the satisfying cry of the servo motors at work.
We like seeing recycling robots, but so far most of what we’ve seen are
aluminum can crushers
. | 19 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "894369",
"author": "daffster",
"timestamp": "2012-11-29T19:44:52",
"content": "Impressive what these kids in Africa come up with.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "894424",
"author": "tryptamine",
"timestamp": "2... | 1,760,376,675.407034 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2012/11/29/burglar-suspected-of-using-arduino-onity-hack-to-rob-hotel-rooms/ | Burglar Suspected Of Using Arduino-Onity Hack To Rob Hotel Rooms | Mike Szczys | [
"Security Hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"exploit",
"hotel room",
"lock",
"lock picking",
"onity"
] | Can anyone argue against this being the least-secure hotel room lock on the market? Regular readers will recognize it as an Onity key card lock. A few months back a glaring flaw in the security was exposed that allows these locks to be opened electronically in less than a second. So we are not surprised to hear that a series of
hotel room robberies in Houston are suspected to have been performed using this technique
.
The image above is from a demonstration video we saw back in October. That hack used
an Arduino-compatible chip inside of a dry erase marker
as an end-run around the lock’s electronics. It reinforced the warning sound by [Cody Brocious]
when he presented the exploit
at this year’s Blackhat conference. The barrel jack on the
outside
of the door lock doubles as a 1-wire communications port and that is how an attacker can gain access. Investigators can find no other means of entry for these thefts.
We applaud one of the victims in this story. At the end of the article she is asked if the information about the Onity flaw should have been kept secret. She said that if there’s a vulnerability that’s not being fixed people have a right to know about it. Bravo [Janet Wolf]!
[Thanks Andrew] | 54 | 20 | [
{
"comment_id": "894307",
"author": "David",
"timestamp": "2012-11-29T17:38:02",
"content": "Like the traffic light story, this just reinforces my belief that HaD needs to be more careful about the information they disseminate. Obviously, like Janet said, it’s important for the exploit to be known t... | 1,760,376,675.502402 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2012/11/29/printing-puzzles-with-plastic-parts/ | Printing Puzzles With Plastic Parts | Brian Benchoff | [
"3d Printer hacks"
] | [
"openscad",
"puzzles"
] | A decade or so ago, a line of jigsaw puzzles called Puzz3D brought the joys of fitting pieces of cardboard together into three dimensions. If you’ve ever put one together, you’ll remember being slightly disappointed at these 3D puzzles – they were made of two-dimensional foam board and only lived up to their expectations on the vertices of their 3D objects. Now that just about every hackerspace in the land has a 3D printer, it might just be time to create better 3D puzzles, and
[Rich Olson]’s OpenSCAD library is up to the task
.
There are a few other tools that cut 3D models up into smaller objects, but none of these had the features [Rich] wanted. He created a library that is able to position the puzzle cuts anywhere on the X and Y axes, adjusts the kerf for a tighter or looser fit, and exports one piece at a time for 3D printers with a smaller build area.
Right now the library is limited to generating up to four interlocking pieces, but [Rich] says the code should be easy to modify for a truly absurd 500-piece puzzle of the Taj Mahal, | 7 | 3 | [
{
"comment_id": "894285",
"author": "M",
"timestamp": "2012-11-29T16:48:13",
"content": "Not sure I’ve ever seen puzz3d brand stuff, but my Voltron cardboard puzzle from the 80s assembled into a flat picture on one side and a 3D Voltron just as big as the plastic toy version if you flipped it over. ... | 1,760,376,675.342607 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2012/11/29/conductive-filament-means-printable-sensors/ | Conductive Filament Means Printable Sensors | Brian Benchoff | [
"3d Printer hacks"
] | [
"capacitive",
"carbon black",
"filament",
"printable sensors",
"sensor"
] | The 3D printer world has the creation of plastic trinkets pretty much down pat. The next step, obviously, is the creation of multi-material models, whether they be made of two different colors of plastic, or completely different materials entirely. A few folks from the University of Warwick and GKN Aerospace in Bristol, UK have come up with a way of
putting electronic sensors directly into 3D printed objects
.
These new sensors rely on a conductive filament custom-made for this study. So far, the researchers have created flex sensors, capacitive buttons, and a ‘smart’ mug that can sense how much water is contained within.
To produce their ‘carbomorph’ filament, the researchers stirred regular old carbon black to a sample of polycaprolactone dissolved in a solvent. After shaking well, the mixture was laid out on a piece of glass for an hour resulting in a thin film that could then be rolled into a 3mm filament. While this is a great way of producing small quantities of carbomorph filament, we’re sure a few Hackaday readers can come up with an easier way of rolling their own conductive filament. Send us a link if you’ve figured out a better way.
Tip ‘o the hat to [Evan] for this one | 22 | 17 | [
{
"comment_id": "894214",
"author": "Paul.",
"timestamp": "2012-11-29T13:11:32",
"content": "Multi layer pcb’s for the hobbyist?Arduino’s integrated in a teacup?Sounds very promising for a lot of stuf, but I hope the polycaprolactone is only for the prototype becasue it’s not very suitable for your ... | 1,760,376,675.968253 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2012/11/28/turning-toy-pianos-into-midi-keyboards/ | Turning Toy Pianos Into MIDI Keyboards | Brian Benchoff | [
"Musical Hacks"
] | [
"keyboard",
"midi",
"MIDI keyboard",
"piano"
] | Building a MIDI device is always a great microcontroller project, and nearly everyone has an old toy keyboard lying around in the back of a closet or in the basement. [JenShen] decided to take one of these toy keyboards
and build a MIDI keyboard
.
The keyboard [JenShen] used was a simple Casio keyboard with built-in voices. After tearing out the guts of the keyboard, the only thing that remained is the row of push buttons underneath the keys. These buttons were laid out in a row/column matrix, so [JenShen] needed to decode this matrix before sending the result to an Arduino for processing.
A 74HN595 shift register was used to read the 8 rows of buttons underneath the keys, while the rows were tied to different input pins on the ‘duino. This allowed [JenShen] to scan the keyboard matrix with an Arduino and generate MIDI notes and send them to other synths.
In the video after the break, you can check out [JenShen]’s circuit and code that allowed him to turn a toy keyboard into a proper 32-note MIDI keyboard. It’s not velocity sensitive, but he says he’ll show everyone how to accomplish that in a future post.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEqzr5NUdQo&w=470] | 8 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "893670",
"author": "Bill Gander",
"timestamp": "2012-11-28T15:56:13",
"content": "Love it :)",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "893683",
"author": "AndroidCat",
"timestamp": "2012-11-28T16:27:21",
"content": "Nice, but ... | 1,760,376,675.609216 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2012/11/28/glockentar-a-guitar-glockenspiel-mashup/ | Glockentar: A Guitar + Glockenspiel Mashup | Eric Evenchick | [
"Musical Hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"glockenspiel",
"guitar",
"openframeworks"
] | This unique electronic instrument combines a chopped up guitar and a hacked apart glockenspiel with an Arduino. [Aaron]’s
Glockentar
consists of guitar hardware and glockenspiel keys mounted to a wood body. Solenoids placed above the keys actuate metal rods to play a note.
Under the hood, an Arduino connects the pieces. The conductive pick closes a circuit, which is a digital input into the Arduino. This actuates the corresponding solenoid to play the glockenspiel key, and sends a character to a computer over serial.
On the computer, an
openFrameworks
based program creates lighting that is projected onto each string.
MadMapper
is used for projection mapping, which maps the openFrameworks output to each string. Video is passed between applications using the
Syphon
framework.
[Aaron] has provided a
write up
that goes into details, including the Arduino and openFrameworks source for the project. There’s also a video overview and demo of the Glockentar after the break. | 7 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "893695",
"author": "mashedup",
"timestamp": "2012-11-28T16:42:59",
"content": "Cool – but I was hoping it was a bunch of Arduino controlled Glocks.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "893757",
"author": "shawn",
"t... | 1,760,376,675.708985 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2012/11/27/cheap-biquad-antenna-extends-lan-between-apartments/ | Cheap Biquad Antenna Extends LAN Between Apartments | Mike Szczys | [
"Radio Hacks",
"Wireless Hacks"
] | [
"2.4 ghz",
"antenna",
"directional",
"wifi"
] | [Danilo Larizza] is sharing a network connection between a couple of apartments. They are not far apart, but they are also not right next to each other so a set of external antennas is necessary.
He built this 2.4 GHz biquad antenna on the cheap
(
translated
) just to test if it improved the signal before he tried to buy a proper antenna. It turns out to work well enough that this is all that he needs.
The antenna itself is about one meter of thick wire bent into two squares which are 31mm on each side. The coaxial cable going to the router connects to the center portion of this antenna. For a bit better directional reception he added some tin foil as a reflector. Since this is outdoors he used a food storage container for protection (the antenna is mounted to the lid, the body has been removed for this picture). The whole things is perched on a stake in a flower pot with proper line of sight to the other antenna.
We’ve seen
a very similar design used for an NRF 24L01+ radio
. If you need more details that [Danilo] posted that would be a good project to study. | 41 | 18 | [
{
"comment_id": "893257",
"author": "Justin",
"timestamp": "2012-11-28T00:37:35",
"content": "SWR is sooo 1990’s",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "893261",
"author": "wowme@wtf.com",
"timestamp": "2012-11-28T00:40:32",
"content": "Even... | 1,760,376,675.898197 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2012/11/27/injecting-power-into-a-wifi-dongle-for-the-raspberry-pi/ | Injecting Power Into A WiFi Dongle For The Raspberry Pi | Mike Szczys | [
"Raspberry Pi"
] | [
"5v",
"dongle",
"RPi",
"wifi"
] | So the Raspberry Pi sometimes doesn’t have the juice needed to run power-hungry USB dongles. The most common issue is with WiFi adapters. The solution has long been to use a powered USB hub, but [Mike Worth] didn’t want to take up that much extra space. The solution he worked out
injects power directly into the dongle itself
.
The red and white wires coming out of the side provide the 5V source. This is coming from the same USB mains power adapter that supplies the RPi board itself. To connect the wires to the dongle he made an adapter out of some strip board and the shielding from the dongle. The end of the strip board pokes out of the shielding far enough for him to solder on some wire, which is then soldered to the traces on the dongle’s PCB.
You can just plug this in and get down to business. But while he was at it [Mike] added an improvised antenna for better reception. It’s the same type of hack we saw him use for a Bluetooth dongle
in this links post
. | 20 | 11 | [
{
"comment_id": "893184",
"author": "Kirsch",
"timestamp": "2012-11-27T22:55:43",
"content": "I have also built an adapter:https://plus.google.com/u/0/115617007365772414442/posts/S5qdvGK63ay",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "893206",
"author":... | 1,760,376,676.033764 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2012/11/27/rc-truck-has-working-windows-steering-wheel-and-much-more/ | RC Truck Has Working Windows, Steering Wheel, And Much More | Mike Szczys | [
"Featured",
"Toy Hacks"
] | [
"rc",
"replica",
"truck"
] | This truck is not simply a drive train and a radio module. Great care was taken to fabricate every part to work like a full-sized vehicle.
NSFW WARNING:
The forum on which the details have been posted is Russian and may have sidebar ads you don’t want on your screen at work. That being said,
here’s the link
(
translated
).
The build starts with a custom-made frame which looks like it’s aluminum. The gearbox is assembled from a huge number of parts, with power is transferred to the wheels through a proper differential. But hey, why not go that extra mile? The rope and hook hanging off the front are connected to a functional winch. The doors have windows that crank down, the steering wheel moves when the wheels turn, and where would this thing be without windshield wipers and headlights? Don’t miss the pair of demo videos after the break.
We remember seeing
a pretty neat stirling engine
come out of the same forums earlier this year.
Steering wheel demo:
Windows and wipers demo:
[Thanks Amnon via
PopGive
] | 23 | 15 | [
{
"comment_id": "893085",
"author": "Mojo",
"timestamp": "2012-11-27T21:14:47",
"content": "Mind blowing craftsmanship there.Oh, and in before the standard “In Russia, ‘s ” joke.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "893116",
"author": "pol... | 1,760,376,676.098647 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2012/11/27/spare-parts-pulled-together-into-a-nixie-clock/ | Spare Parts Pulled Together Into A Nixie Clock | Mike Szczys | [
"clock hacks"
] | [
"attiny1634",
"gps",
"nixie clock",
"nixie tube"
] | We’d like to dig around in [Small Scale Research’s] parts bin. Apparently there’s good stuff in there because he managed to
build this Nixie tube clock using mostly leftovers
.
The chip driving the device is an ATtiny1634. We weren’t familiar with it so here’s
a datasheet
(pdf) if you’re curios as well. The microcontroller communicates with an old GPS module in order to keep perfect time. There is an external antenna for it which connects through the hole next to the red switch seen above. The high voltage driver is a repurposed backlight inverter which is fed 12V power from an old laptop supply.
The album linked above shows the build quite well and even includes full schematics. There are some fireworks when he encountered an issue with a pretty large cap shorting to a resistor leg. If this isn’t enough juicy detail for you there are a few more nuggets shared in
the Reddit comments
. | 6 | 1 | [
{
"comment_id": "893112",
"author": "macona",
"timestamp": "2012-11-27T21:43:55",
"content": "I just picked up a handful of NOS Burroughs B-5092 nixies this weekend from a local surplus store. I really need to do something with them. I also have about 26 of the standard type nixies similar to what i... | 1,760,376,676.267869 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2012/11/27/diy-tsa-backscatter-body-scanner/ | DIY TSA Backscatter Body Scanner | Eric Evenchick | [
"Security Hacks"
] | [
"backscatter",
"Imaging",
"TSA",
"x-ray"
] | [Ben Krasnow] built his
own version of the TSA’s body scanner
. The device works by firing a beam of x-rays at at target. Some of the beam will go through the target, some will be absorbed by the target, and some will reflect back. These reflected x-rays are called ‘
backscatter
‘, and they are captured to create an image.
In [Ben]’s setup a rotating disk focuses x-rays into beams that travel in arcs across the X-axis. The disk is moved along the Y-axis to fill in the scan. On the disk assembly, there is a potentometer to measure the y-axis position of the beam, and an optical sensor to trigger an oscilloscope, aligning the left and right sides of the image. Using these two sensors, the scope can reconstruct an X-Y plot of the scan.
To detect the x-rays, a phosphorous screen turns the backscattered x-rays into visible light, and a photo-multiplier amplifies the light source. A simple amplifier circuit connects the photo-multiplier to a scope, controlling the brightness at each point.
The result is very similar to the TSA version, and [Ben] managed to learn a lot about the system from a
patent
. This isn’t the first body scanner we’ve seen though: [Jeri Ellsworth]
built a microwave version
a couple years ago.
The impressive build does a great job of teaching the fundamentals of backscatter imaging. [Ben] will be talking about the project at
EHSM
, which you should check out if you’re in Berlin from December 28th to the 30th. After the break, watch [Ben]’s machine scan a turkey in a Christmas sweater. | 39 | 17 | [
{
"comment_id": "892957",
"author": "Peter",
"timestamp": "2012-11-27T18:18:41",
"content": "Hacking is fine, hacking with X-rays strikes me as a bit over the edge…in the sense that if you don’t know what you’re doing, you could end up hurting people other than yourself.X-rays and radioactive stuff ... | 1,760,376,676.225003 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2012/11/23/arduino-data-logger-maps-out-the-potholes-on-your-morning-commute/ | Arduino Data Logger Maps Out The Potholes On Your Morning Commute | Mike Szczys | [
"gps hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"gps",
"graph",
"plot",
"pothole",
"road"
] | Now you can prove that you have the bumpiest commute in the office by measuring how rough your ride actually is. [Techbitar] calls the project the Bump-O-Meter. It uses
an Arduino, GPS, and accelerometer to map out rough roads
.
The hardware was built on a breadboard and [Techbitar] goes into detail about connecting and communicating with each module used. Once it’s running, the logger will read up to six sensors and record them to an SD card. In the video after the break he shows the method used to dump and graph the data. He starts by looking at the data in a spreadsheet. There are many fields included in the file but only three of them are needed to graph what is seen above. After narrowing down the number of columns he heads over to
GPS Visualizer
and uploads the data set which is then automatically plotted on the map.
In a Utopian society all city owned vehicles would have a system like this and the bad sections of road would automatically appear on the road crew’s repair list. | 27 | 11 | [
{
"comment_id": "889539",
"author": "JoeDontCry",
"timestamp": "2012-11-23T14:21:44",
"content": "Very cool. If you could get this into every car and have the data correlated then it could be sent to whichever authority deals with potholes and they’d know exactly which ones are the most encountered!... | 1,760,376,676.345848 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2012/11/23/monopong-a-cmos-1-d-pong/ | MonoPong: A CMOS 1-D Pong | Eric Evenchick | [
"LED Hacks"
] | [
"555 timer",
"digital logic",
"pong"
] | We’ve seen a few 1-D pong games recently, and they’ve all be controlled using microcontrollers. Inspired by some of these hacks, [mischka] built the
monoPong
using a handful of logic chips.
The monoPong has four major components. A 555 timer in astable mode provides a clock source which is fed into a 4510 decade counter, which connects to a 4028 BCD to decimal decoder to drive the LEDs. Finally, a 4011 NAND gate IC is used to deal with the button presses. Two of the NAND gates form a RS flip-flop, and the other two NAND each player’s button with the last LED on the player’s side of the strip. If the player hits the button when their LED is on, the RS flip-flop toggles and changes the decade counter from count up to count down mode. This makes the ball bounce back.
[mischka] finished the project off by putting it in a wooden box and drilling holes for the LEDs, buttons, and a power switch. The final product looks pretty good, and is a great example of how you can use a couple logic chips instead of a microcontroller.
After the break, watch a quick game of monoPong. | 6 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "889523",
"author": "Gerrit Niezen (@gendor)",
"timestamp": "2012-11-23T13:24:07",
"content": "I remember building a 1D pong game as part of a 2nd year course in Computer Engineering using 7400 series discrete logic chips 10 years ago. The rules were a bit more elaborate than with mo... | 1,760,376,676.146456 |
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