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https://hackaday.com/2011/12/22/handheld-jaguar-makes-32-or-64-bits-portable/ | Handheld Jaguar Makes 32 Or 64 Bits Portable | Brian Benchoff | [
"handhelds hacks"
] | [
"atari",
"Atari Jaguar",
"console",
"portable"
] | There’s nothing wrong with portable NESs, Super Nintendos, N64, or even a portable Sega CD. What about a portable version the oft-maligned
Atari Jaguar
, though? [Evil Nod] pulled it off, and it looks great.
The build is fairly standard for a portable console. A PS1 screen is used for the display, and a cut up and re-wired controller provides the input. From what we see on the
build log
, moving the 104-pin cartridge slot onto ribbon cables was an exercise in patience. The case is absolutely phenomenal with a textured finish we would expect to see on an early 90s console. Of course, [Nod] kept the numeric keypad; there was space left over anyway.
We can’t rag on the Jaguar or [Nod]’s build. It’s a great execution and there’s an impressive library of games that include
Worms
,
Rayman, Doom,
and
Myst
. Still, we wonder what the build would look like with the
Jaguar CD-ROM
attached. | 4 | 3 | [
{
"comment_id": "542152",
"author": "David",
"timestamp": "2011-12-22T16:58:43",
"content": "Didn’t benheck already do this a few years ago?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "542275",
"author": "Anonymous",
"timestamp": "2011-12-... | 1,760,376,997.322007 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/12/21/arduino-notebook-cover-makes-it-easy-to-tinker-anywhere/ | Arduino Notebook Cover Makes It Easy To Tinker Anywhere | Mike Nathan | [
"Arduino Hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"notebook",
"prototyping",
"sketchbook"
] | [Erv] was putting his holiday shopping list together and decided that instead of buying his friends something from the store,
he would give them something a bit more useful.
A former Electrical Engineer by trade, [Erv] typically prefers PIC microcontrollers, but he says that Arduinos are just so convenient to use for prototyping that he likes to always have one on hand.
He figured that his friends might enjoy having easy access to an Arduino as well, so he made them some slick ZapBook covers which enable them to have a prototyping platform on hand at all times. The cover is made from a PCB and includes a socket for an Arduino Pro Mini, along with a handful of built-in LEDs. He has extended a few other I/O pins from the Arduino as well, but he says that the small solder bridges connecting the LEDs can be removed in a pinch, freeing up 8 additional pins with ease. We are pretty keen on the idea of an easily portable prototyping setup, though it doesn’t hurt that [Erv] incorporated a Hack a Day skull with light up eyes into his design either!
We’re not sure if he’s planning on releasing the schematics for the board, but the notebooks would be pretty useful for any hackerspaces hosting beginner Arduino programming classes. | 27 | 21 | [
{
"comment_id": "541781",
"author": "Vasilis Georgitzikis",
"timestamp": "2011-12-22T01:11:54",
"content": "holy moly, this is awesome! you could make a great arduino pro mini ‘prototyping shield’ notebook this way, with all the components needed for an arduino workshop embedded on the board",
"... | 1,760,376,997.517353 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/12/21/how-to-etch-your-own-solder-paste-stencils/ | How To Etch Your Own Solder Paste Stencils | Mike Szczys | [
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"copper",
"etch",
"solder",
"solder paste",
"stencil",
"surface mount"
] | We’re kind of surprised we haven’t covered this concept before since it only uses techniques that are commonly avaialable for home PCB fabrication. [Ray]
made this solder paste stencil
out of a sheet of copper using the same etching techniques you would for a circuit board. He designed and printed a resist pattern, with toner everywhere except the places where there should be holes in the stencil. He transferred the toner to the copper using an iron.
The difference here should be obvious; this a thin copper sheet with no substrate. Because of that, you must protect the copper surface before etching. he covered the entire thing, both sides, in packing tape. After that it’s into the Cupric Chloride bath to dissolve the exposed parts. Once the tape and toner has been removed you can scree a precise amount of solder paste onto your boards.
This isn’t for everyone, but if you’re assembling many boards it’s not a bad approach. If the stencil is no longer used it can be recycled, but we do wonder how corrosion on the copper will affect the stencil’s performance.
The idea for this technique came to [Ray] from
a guide that’s been around for years
. | 22 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "541772",
"author": "Smonson",
"timestamp": "2011-12-22T00:46:33",
"content": "Scree? Now you’re just trolling us on purpose.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "541785",
"author": "macegr",
"timestamp": "2011-12-22T01:18:31"... | 1,760,376,997.178152 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/12/21/scratch-built-software-defined-radio/ | Scratch-built Software-Defined Radio | Mike Szczys | [
"Radio Hacks"
] | [
"sdr",
"software-defined radio"
] | [Ben] is showing off
some results from his Software-Define Radio project
. The board seen above, which he designed from the ground up, is receiving a WWV radio broadcast. This is the atomic clock signal from Fort Collins, Colorado. The audio heard in the clip after the break is a bit noisy, but since he’s about 2000 miles from the origin of the signal we think he’s done really well!
The seed for this build was planted in [Ben’s] head back in July when he saw [Jeri Ellsworth’s]
SDR project
. He’s posted some of the build details up in
a forum post
. The approach is similar to [Jeri’s] but there are several key differences. He’s using a DS1085 programmable oscillator where she chose an FPGA for that purpose. Once his hardware demodulates and filters the incoming signal, a PIC32 does the rest of the work and outputs a PWM signal to an Op-Amp to generate audio.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWnyZbn06qw&w=470] | 11 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "541775",
"author": "Ben",
"timestamp": "2011-12-22T00:52:30",
"content": "Thanks for posting this!I just have a quick correction — we originally intended to use a DS1085, then were set straight by someone much more knowledgeable than us on the topic. We ended up using an Si570, whi... | 1,760,376,997.07315 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/12/21/flowerboard-led-cube/ | Flowerboard LED Cube | Brian Benchoff | [
"LED Hacks",
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"flower board",
"LED cube",
"smd"
] | Here’s a neat
4x4x4 LED cube
made with an ElecFreaks
Flower Protoboard
.
A few days ago, we
posted
a neat new prototyping board made specifically for SMD work. Instead of the usual ‘holes-with-circles’ protoboard layout, the ElecFreaks team decided to go with a flower-shaped pad. This makes it especially easy to deal with SMD components when building whatever. To demonstrate their new protoboard, ElecFreaks built an awesome-looking 4^3 LED cube. Just look at those
solder traces
.
The LED cube itself is
nothing
we
haven’t seen
before
, but the construction of this thing is amazing. The entire build is on the Arduino Mega Flower shield, meaning there are no wires at all. Everything, from the resistors to the transistors, is an SMD component. The only problem now is bending and soldering all those LED leads.
This Flower Protoboard is starting to look more and more interesting; check it out in action after the break.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?&v=e1KCr3THegg&w=470] | 6 | 3 | [
{
"comment_id": "542204",
"author": "kuhltwo",
"timestamp": "2011-12-22T18:06:17",
"content": "I am waiting for mine to get here. Can’t wait to try it out.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "542304",
"author": "signal7",
"timestamp": "2011-... | 1,760,376,997.221242 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/12/28/video-series-shows-how-to-build-your-own-solar-charged-rc-lawnmower/ | Video Series Shows How To Build Your Own Solar-charged R/C Lawnmower | Mike Nathan | [
"home hacks",
"how-to",
"News",
"Solar Hacks"
] | [
"electric",
"how-to",
"lawnmower",
"rc",
"solar"
] | As winter is officially upon us, we’re pretty sure that the last thing most of you are thinking about is mowing your lawn. We would argue that it’s actually the ideal time to do so – that is, if you are interested in automating the process a bit.
[Robert Smith] has spent a lot of time thinking about his lawn
, wanting a way to sit back and relax while doing his weekly trimming. He set off for the workshop to build an R/C electric lawnmower, and thoroughly documented the process in order to help you do the same.
On his web site, you will find a series of videos detailing every bit of the solar charged R/C lawnmower’s construction, taking you through the planning phases all the way to completion. [Robert] has provided just about anything you could possibly need including parts lists, schematics, code, and more.
If the short introductory video below has you interested, be sure to swing by his site for everything you need to build one of your own.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYoxCsltIqc&w=470] | 18 | 14 | [
{
"comment_id": "546000",
"author": "fa",
"timestamp": "2011-12-28T17:05:36",
"content": "I had no idea what to expect from the video!Other than that, I think it’d be great if that thing could operate autonomously.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id":... | 1,760,376,997.657607 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/12/27/a-little-tweeting-ewok/ | A Little Tweeting “Ewok” | Jeremy Cook | [
"Robots Hacks",
"Toy Hacks"
] | [
"ewok",
"pozible",
"servo",
"tweet",
"usb"
] | Tweet Receiving, that is.
This Ewok model
, named “Ewen the Cheerlight,” is able to rotate its head left and right as well as show expressions. The most interesting feature of this hack, however, is that the little Ewok actually wakes up each time one tweets a “colour” to @cheerlights and lets it’s owner [Joel] know what he thinks of the “color” you’ve chosen. [Joel] insists that he’s like this featured on [HAD], although it remains to be seen if it will soon be turned off after the tweets start rolling in…
As far as how the device works, the head is turned with a simple hobby servo motor, and the expressions are shown on a LED matrix. The model itself is built from a polystyrene ball and an old table lamp. The build really looks awesome.
All of this is controlled by an
Easy USB Interface Board
which is listed on
[Pozible]
, the Australian version of [Kickstarter]. Be sure to check out the video of “Ewen” in action after the break!
[youtube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0M-GurmMWg0&w=470&h=315%5D | 22 | 13 | [
{
"comment_id": "545527",
"author": "Brook Keele",
"timestamp": "2011-12-27T21:31:51",
"content": "That’s a jawa, not an ewok. #failhehe, Otherwise, very cool.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "545535",
"author": "robomonkey",
"t... | 1,760,376,997.28084 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/12/27/leaking-water-detector-from-an-old-smoke-alarm/ | Leaking Water Detector From An Old Smoke Alarm | Mike Szczys | [
"home hacks"
] | [
"detector",
"leak",
"smoke alarm",
"smoke detector"
] | [Thomas Clauser] had his basement flood last year when a hurricane swept over New England. The problem with flooding or leaking water is that chances are you won’t notice until it’s too late. He decided to protect against this in the future by
building his own leaking water detector
. It’s a simple device that sits on the floor of his basement and triggers an audio alarm if water begins to cover the floor.
He used an old smoke detector for the build; a nice choice since it’s loud, and designed for long-term battery operation. It also has a button for testing if the detector is working. [Thomas] removed the PCB from the smoke detector case and soldered wires onto the test button contacts. He cut a sponge to squeeze it inside of a PVC pipe connector housing. That sits against the floor, with the wires for the test button contacts placed through the sponge. If water is soaked up by the sponge it completes the circuit and triggers the alarm.
A few other design features really make this a nice setup. He notched out the bottom of the PVC connector so that water can flow freely, and added a switch to one of the probe wires lets him kill the alarm when inspecting the damage. | 31 | 23 | [
{
"comment_id": "545455",
"author": "arfink",
"timestamp": "2011-12-27T19:40:20",
"content": "Very cool!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "545464",
"author": "Tom",
"timestamp": "2011-12-27T19:54:50",
"content": "I had a commercial one... | 1,760,376,997.388887 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/12/27/rooting-a-motorola-actv-android-wristwatch/ | Rooting A Motorola Actv (Android Wristwatch) | Mike Szczys | [
"Android Hacks",
"Linux Hacks",
"Security Hacks"
] | [
"firmware",
"man-in-the-middle",
"motorola actv",
"omap3",
"root"
] | [Chris’] family made the mistake of giving him a hackable Christmas gift. We’d bet they didn’t see much of him for the rest of the day as he set about
rooting this Android wristwatch
.
This thing has some pretty powerful hardware under the hood. It’s sporting an OMAP3 processor running at 600 MHz along with 256 MB of RAM. [Chris] needed to get his hands on a firmware image in order to look for security holes. He found a way to spoof the update application in order to intercept an upgrade image from the Internet.
He dumped the firmware locations and got to work searching for a way to exploit the device. Details are a bit scarce about want exactly he did, but you can download his modified image, letting you root your own Motorola Actv using the Android Debug Bridge.
We’ve embedded a demo video after the break. The OS is pretty snappy on the tiny device. We’re not sure what will come of this functionality, but we assume [Chris] was really only interested in the challenge of rooting process itself.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AiAAlmyHa1Q&w=470] | 22 | 15 | [
{
"comment_id": "545398",
"author": "ferdie",
"timestamp": "2011-12-27T17:40:01",
"content": "cool hack but angry birds on a screen like that its way to tinny to play. i think you must make a custom binary clockhave the watch sound on board or a micro jack.",
"parent_id": null,
"dep... | 1,760,376,997.448336 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/12/27/self-balancing-unicycle-only-for-those-with-good-balance/ | Self-balancing Unicycle Only For Those With Good Balance | Mike Szczys | [
"Transportation Hacks"
] | [
"mit",
"segway",
"self balancing",
"unicycle"
] | The only problem with
this self-balancing unicycle
is it’s inability to balance itself. You see, it automatically balances along the axis that is parallel to the line of travel. But since there’s only one wheel the rider is responsible for balancing perpendicular to travel. This is really not too much different from a bicycle; balancing while in motion is pretty simple. Only when you slow down or stop are you in trouble.
[Stephen Boyer] built the vehicle and uses it for most of his travel around the MIT campus. It carries a pair of 12V batteries that pack enough punch to travel five miles between charges. A 5DOF board senses motion and orientation, with an ATmega328 microcontroller calculating the corrections necessary to keep the rider upright.
The demo video after the break never really gives you good look at the thing, but it’s enough to prove that it does indeed work very well. We’re also glad to see that [Stephen] is using a kill-switch while riding.
If you’re aching for more electric unicycle video
check out this other project too
.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fADhfmcQ2KA&w=470] | 8 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "545440",
"author": "robomonkey",
"timestamp": "2011-12-27T18:53:46",
"content": "killswitch? Or controller?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "545442",
"author": "Xenthis",
"timestamp": "2011-12-27T18:55:11",
"content"... | 1,760,376,997.120167 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/12/26/a-robot-that-can-see-through-walls/ | A Robot… That Can See Through Walls! | Jeremy Cook | [
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"radar",
"robot",
"wheeled robot"
] | Robots on four wheels are fun on their own merits, but one thing that most lack is the ability to see through walls. With it’s onboard radar system, this
bot is equipped to see objects
that a person couldn’t normally detect on the other side of the wall.
Although some of the more “nuts and bolts” details of this build are missing, the robot uses an Ultra-Wideband Radar system called the [D1] Radar System. This system can, according to
their documentation
, “Avoid false positives caused by vapor, dust, smoke, rain or other small particles.” Apparently this means drywall as well if programmed correctly.
In the video after the break, the robot’s sensor package is programmed to ignore anything within 1.5 meters. This allows the robot to mirror the movement of the apparent shelving unit on the other side. This sensor could certainly have some interesting robotics applications besides imitating a rolling shelf, so we’re excited to see what it will be used for!
[youtube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qI3hpX3BjA%5D | 14 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "544871",
"author": "hboy007",
"timestamp": "2011-12-27T00:42:48",
"content": "Death Machine (1994), anyone? :-)Since the detection range of the radar module is limited to 4m and close-by objects are ignored, the module will be really tricky to use when more than distance sensing is ... | 1,760,376,997.851719 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/12/26/arcade-cabinet-that-doesnt-monopolize-your-space/ | Arcade Cabinet That Doesn’t Monopolize Your Space | Mike Szczys | [
"home entertainment hacks"
] | [
"arcade",
"battle balls",
"happ",
"jamma",
"senkyu"
] | We’re guessing that if you ever though of buying an arcade cabinet it was only briefly, and you decided against based on the difficulties of moving and finding a place for such a large and heavy item. You could go the opposite way and build a controller for a MAME box, but for some, there’s no replacement for the real hardware. This Christmas gift is the best of both worlds,
a JAMMA box which uses traditional hardware in a more compact cabinet
.
[Majtolycus’] boy friend is a sucker for a game of
Battle Balls
. She looked around for an original logic board and after several weeks of searching had to settle for the Japanese version of the game called Senkyu. To patch into the board she also picked up a JAMMA harness, power supply, RGB to VGA video converter, speaker, and some Happ arcade controls. The whole thing goes into a wood box which connects to a VGA monitor (or the VGA port on your HDTV).
The system is easier to store than a full-sized cabinet, and if a deal comes along, you can buy additional JAMMA logic boards to play.
[Thanks Adam] | 7 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "544829",
"author": "Pat Hartl",
"timestamp": "2011-12-26T23:03:47",
"content": "A good idea and good execution, but if you want the real experience, I’d rather go with a full cabinet MAME’d than the actual JAMMA board hooked up to VGA to a LCD. At least with that cabinet you can use... | 1,760,376,997.799676 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/12/24/reduced-cost-braille-display-for-use-with-computers/ | Reduced-cost Braille Display For Use With Computers | Mike Szczys | [
"Lifehacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"braille",
"braille display",
"stepper"
] | Apparently a Braille computer display can cost several thousand dollars. That’s why [David Pankhurst] is working on a low-cost alternative. His offering is
an open source version he calls the Audrey Braille Display
.
The concept is quite good. This prototype has one line of six Braille characters. Each character is made of two sliding strips containing eight arrangements of bumps. These can make up any character when positioned correctly. Two motors do all the work, one engages a single strip to reposition it, the other moves the first motor to select which strip should move. This is explained quite well in [David’s]
most recent post
. Or you can get
a preview of the physical build here
.
The concept is sound, but the refresh rate must be very slow. We wonder if there’s a way to keep one motor stationary and use solenoids to engage a drive shaft on the individual slide rods? This way, every row could be changed at the same time, disengaging when the appropriate slot is reached.
This hardware is much needed until
developing Braille technologies
actually come to market.
[via
Dangerous Prototypes
] | 12 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "543853",
"author": "Jay",
"timestamp": "2011-12-24T20:13:45",
"content": "I’ve been working on something similar for a while myself. While I hate being “beaten to the punch”, I’m glad to see that others have also been working on cheaper alternatives.",
"parent_id": null,
"d... | 1,760,376,997.75154 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/12/24/were-on-an-atari-jaguar-kick-apparently/ | We’re On An Atari Jaguar Kick, Apparently | Brian Benchoff | [
"classic hacks"
] | [
"atari",
"Atari Jaguar",
"console",
"jaguar"
] | We don’t know why, but the Atari Jaguar is getting a lot of attention this week. [10P6] just came up with this
Jaguar/CD combo
that reminds us what Atari could have come up with in 1993.
The build itself is relatively simple once you get past [kevincal]’s ‘April Fools’ type joke he played on the Atari Age forum. [10P6] took a regular Jaguar CD drive and cut a hole into a Jaguar case. The whole case mod took less than a three hours, but [10P6] gives us a lot of commentary into what Atari could and/or should have built in 1993.
[10P6] suggests this type of Jaguar would have saved Atari money if the CD drive was stock on the base unit and released at a slightly increased price. This would cut out the cost of the cart slots and reduced the amount of plastic in manufacturing. [10P6] also talks about how Atari engineers could have dropped the 68000 coprocessor with an increase in the system clock. We’re not quite fond of that idea (ask us about our tattoo), but the logic does make sense.
Of course, this build comes on the heels of the
Jaguar Portable
we saw a few days ago. Honestly, we have no idea what’s going on with the Jaguar build. | 11 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "543806",
"author": "stab3r",
"timestamp": "2011-12-24T18:38:05",
"content": "ah time to pull out my atari jaguar and replay Highlander: the last of the MacLeods…",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "543821",
"author": "erico",
... | 1,760,376,998.1033 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/12/24/diy-solution-does-poe-on-the-cheap/ | DIY Solution Does PoE On The Cheap | Mike Nathan | [
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"ethernet",
"patch panel",
"PoE",
"power over ethernet"
] | Depending on the scope of your requirements, Power over Ethernet (PoE) components can get pretty pricey. [Fire] wrote in to share
a 4-port PoE solution he put together for under 20 euros
(Ignore any SSL errors – we’ve checked it out, it’s safe).
The most expensive part of the build was the 8-port patch panel he purchased for 11 euros. He popped it open, wiring the first four ports for power after drilling spots for an indicator LED and the PSU. He wound the power lines through ferrite beads to hoping to dampen any interference that might occur before reassembling the panel.
In the picture above, you might notice that the panel is being powered via the first Ethernet port rather than through the barrel jack, which [Fire] said was done for testing purposes. When deployed in his network, he plans on using a regulated power supply from a junked laptop to provide electricity.
If you need to provide PoE to devices on your network, this is a great way to go about it. Using a patch panel like [Fire] has gives you the flexibility to easily wire up as many powered ports as you need without much hassle. | 23 | 12 | [
{
"comment_id": "543739",
"author": "Hal H",
"timestamp": "2011-12-24T16:32:05",
"content": "Ok. So If I am following that right it essentially links one of the ports to another one in a 1:1 configuration (1:5,2:6,3:7,4:8) and simply adds in the power. It is NOT using this as a hub splitter right? J... | 1,760,376,997.947536 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/12/24/digital-synth-for-the-non-chiptune-inclined/ | Digital Synth For The Non-chiptune Inclined | Brian Benchoff | [
"Musical Hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"digital synth",
"PIC33F",
"synthesizer"
] | Chiptunes are great, and we can’t imagine a world without the Mega Man 2 soundtrack, but sometimes we all like a more 70’s style synth. This is where the
Roninsynth
steps in. It’s an Arduino shield that puts the basic components of a
wall of synth
into your pocket.
Unlike the analog oscillators of yore, the Roninsynth is based on a single
dsPIC33F
chip. It has all the waveforms we would expect from its big brother – sine, saw, triangle, square, and noise – and a couple modulation options. What’s really interesting is the
GUI
the Roninsynth team put together. Instead of going with the
knobs and buttons
approach of the MIDIbox SID, the Roninsynth does everything with software. Think of it as a hardware-based softsynth.
Of course, there isn’t support for looping and phrases like
what we saw
yesterday, but there’s a ton of neat sounds that can be made and the capability for analog input. If you’ve ever wanted to sound like Radiohead, we can’t think of an easier way to build an
Ondes Martenot
. | 5 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "543704",
"author": "blue carbuncle",
"timestamp": "2011-12-24T15:05:54",
"content": "This should be fun :) I only wish I had known about this two weeks ago before blowing the xmas loot :( I’ll have to finish reading TFA but it sounds like just the thing to keep me tinkering with m... | 1,760,376,998.051061 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/12/23/scot-whips-up-breakout-board-for-his-arm-breakout-board/ | [Scot] Whips Up Breakout Board For His ARM Breakout Board | Mike Szczys | [
"Microcontrollers"
] | [
"arm",
"breakout board",
"protoboard",
"STM32F4"
] | [Scot Kornak] got his hands on the new STM32 Discovery Board. He got his as a free giveaway, but at only $18 he probably would have picked one up anyway. His one complaint about the device is that he dual pin-headers which break out the ARM processor’s pins are not the most convenient for hooking up external components. He decided to make
his own breakout board
which would give him a more robust solution for the components he uses all the time.
The protoboard that he chose as a base is quite interesting. It’s made for interfacing DIL pin headers just like the ones on the STM32F4 Discovery board. Each row of the dual header is carried down the board perpendicular to those headers. [Scot] cut the traces underneath the STM32 board to isolate the right and left sides. He then added RS232 hardware to one side, while including another pair of DIL headers to break out the rest of the unused pins.
This is all he’s got so far, but there’s plenty of room on the base board to add more as the need arises. | 10 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "543250",
"author": "Will",
"timestamp": "2011-12-23T23:15:38",
"content": "Yo dawg I made a breakout board for your breakout board so you can breakout while you breakout.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "543267",
"author": "g... | 1,760,376,998.231749 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/12/23/a-vacuum-chamber-from-a-pressure-cooker/ | A Vacuum Chamber From A Pressure Cooker | Brian Benchoff | [
"hardware"
] | [
"pressure cooker",
"vacuum chamber"
] | [Allan] needed a small vacuum chamber to get all the air out of clear casting resin. Degassing is a simple step in casting that improves the finished product immensely. The problem, though, is building a vacuum chamber.
[Allan]’s chamber
seems easy enough to build, and pulls enough air out to get to 0.1 atmospheres.
After a hole was drilled in the side of the pressure cooker, [Allan] installed a 15mm “speedfit” plastic tank connector. The seal around the connector is neoprene self-adhesive foam. This foam was also taped around the lip of the pressure cooker for the top.
A thick-walled pressure cooker is more than capable of handling the outside pressure when under vacuum, but [Allan] cautions against using acrylic plastic for the top. Acrylic has the tendency to fail catastrophically, so he used a thick sheet of Lexan. Check out the demo video of [Allan] sucking the air out of shaving cream after the break.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?&v=ec7rjOk-FzM&w=470] | 36 | 20 | [
{
"comment_id": "543179",
"author": "statik",
"timestamp": "2011-12-23T20:44:31",
"content": "Cool; I did a similar build but was too cheap to buy a sheet of thick lexan so I just made a little window.http://thegreatgeekery.blogspot.com/2011/05/pressure-cooker-vacuum-chamber.html",
"parent_id": ... | 1,760,376,998.934464 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/12/23/snap-together-boombox-great-for-taking-your-music-on-the-go/ | Snap Together Boombox Great For Taking Your Music On The Go | Mike Nathan | [
"digital audio hacks",
"Musical Hacks"
] | [
"atmega328",
"boombox",
"capacitive touch",
"laser cutter"
] | [Matt Keeter] wanted to take his music on the go, and wrote in to share a
great looking boombox he built for under $100.
His goal was to put something together that could be made in pretty much any hackerspace/fab lab, so his boombox was made using simple materials.
He first modeled the boombox using cardboard, later fabbing it from wood on a laser cutter. The design allows the stereo to be snapped together, though [Matt] says that some joints were glued as an extra precaution. Inside the boombox resides an custom PCB he built which incorporates an ATmega328, an MP3 decoder, and an SD card to store his music.
One feature we really like is the control scheme [Matt] built into the boombox. Each of the capacitive touch buttons are positioned on top of a copper pad, which are wired into the control board. He says that while good in theory, he had a difficult time getting the buttons to work properly, though they seem to do the job well enough.
If you’re looking for a portable music solution and have access to a laser cutter, be sure to check out [Matt’s] page for schematics and firmware. | 14 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "543155",
"author": "Sven",
"timestamp": "2011-12-23T19:41:19",
"content": "Fantastic looking build, and i like the touch interface.Not that impressed with the tiny classAB audio amplifiers or 9V battery power source though. This would have been a lot cheaper to run and sounded a lot... | 1,760,376,998.282966 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/12/21/eff-on-securing-digital-information-when-crossing-the-border/ | EFF On Securing Digital Information When Crossing The Border | Mike Szczys | [
"Security Hacks"
] | [
"border",
"cbp",
"cryptography",
"dhs",
"encryption",
"ice",
"TSA",
"united states"
] | The Electronic Frontier Foundation, long-time defenders of the common man’s rights in the electronic realm, has published a guide to
keeping your digital devices private when entering the United States
. It seems the defenders of freedom and liberty (ICE, DHS, TSA, and CBP) are able to take a few freedoms with your liberty at a border crossing by seizing your devices and copies of the data they store for up to five days. This requires no suspicion of wrongdoing, and copies of this data may be shared with other agencies thereby negating the five day limit.
Do you have a reason to protect your digital property? This is discussed in the paper. It may be confidential information, by way of a business contract or professional relationship (Doctors, Lawyers, Journalists, etc.). Or you may just want to keep your privacy on principle. No matter what your stance, the EFF has covered all the bases in this intriguing read. We think the best advice they give is to make an encrypted backup of your data on the internet, blank your computer before the border crossing, and restore it when you get to your destination. If you don’t have the data with you, it can’t be compromised. It that’s not an option, they have plenty of guidelines on cryptographic techniques.
[via
Twitter
] | 47 | 30 | [
{
"comment_id": "541682",
"author": "Sam",
"timestamp": "2011-12-21T21:08:14",
"content": "Hey Mike !Your work is wonderful !!!Could you please create a video tutorial about this bug for us : “Nginx PHP code execution via FastCGI”this is very importantThanks a lot dude !",
"parent_id": null,
... | 1,760,376,998.405626 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/12/21/reverse-engineering-the-icebreaker-pov-toy/ | Reverse Engineering The Icebreaker POV Toy | Mike Szczys | [
"Toy Hacks"
] | [
"persistence of vision",
"POV",
"reverse engineering"
] | [Ch00f] spent some serious time
figuring out how the Icebreaker POV toy works
. This is a pretty cool device about the size of a toothbrush holder. It’s in a clear plastic case, which lets the row of 32 surface mount LEDs shine through. But making light isn’t their only function. You can use the device to scan in a high-contrast design, then ‘play it back’ using the persistence of vision display properties of the LED strip.
Perhaps the biggest question on [Ch00f’s] mind was how the sensing is done. He made a series of observations, then started monkeying around with the LEDs to investigate them. It seems that one LED is lit up while the ones around it are used as light sensors. This becomes more confusing once he realized that the display was multiplexed.
His write-up includes a collection of schematics that can be pieced together to conceptualize the entire circuit. The image above was taken during this process, using an LED to check the connections on a part. This let him prove that it’s an N-channel MOSFET. He plans to take what learned and roll it into his own project.
[via
Reddit
] | 2 | 1 | [
{
"comment_id": "541783",
"author": "logophile",
"timestamp": "2011-12-22T01:14:37",
"content": "Does anyone know what that toy actually is? It doesn’t seem to be specified anywhere on his site (it’s not an “Icebreaker” – that’s HIS device).",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
... | 1,760,376,998.324879 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/12/21/numitron-tube-tutorial/ | Numitron Tube Tutorial | Brian Benchoff | [
"classic hacks"
] | [
"nixie",
"numitron"
] | Nixies and VFDs are great displays, but when using them you’ve got to deal with some fairly high voltages, at least for the micro projects we see on Hack a Day. Luckily, there’s another ancient technology that can be driven at tiny voltages. [Kenneth] put up a great tutorial on
Numitron tubes
to show the Internet how to get these guys working.
Numitron tubes are like Nixies, but instead of the ten number-shaped filaments in each Nixie, Numitrons are old-school seven-segment displays. [Kenneth] picked up a few on ebay and the seller was kind enough to include a Russian data sheet. Each filament in his IV-9 Numitrons required about 20mA to light up, perfect for the constant current LED drivers [Kenneth] picked up
The test circuit consisted of an ATtiny2313 and an A6278 LED driver. The code on the ATtiny cycles the digits 0 through 9. This is sent through the LED driver and lights up the tiny filaments inside the tube. Check out the video after the break to see the Numitron in action
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?&v=fcs1IpGQDKs&w=470] | 24 | 17 | [
{
"comment_id": "541542",
"author": "Sean",
"timestamp": "2011-12-21T18:12:27",
"content": "I’ve been using these tubes in a clock kit I’m working on. The A6278 is a discontinued driver, so good luck finding what remains. But, the TLC5916 is a nice, cheap drop-in replacement.",
"parent_id": null... | 1,760,376,998.46015 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/12/21/hackaday-links-december-21-2011/ | Hackaday Links: December 21, 2011 | Jeremy Cook | [
"Hackaday links"
] | [
"flex cable",
"illegal numbers",
"lcd monitor",
"little drummer boy",
"radial engine"
] | The “Little Drummer Boy” On a Scanner and Drum:
There’s little more information on this hack, however, it’s quite interesting seeing an automated drum and a scanner playing a familiar Christmas tune. Check out the
video of the duet in action
!
A Radial Engine Model:
Through the process of experimentation, two “radial engine models” were produced. The
engine model
shown above uses a gear-reduced motor to power it.
The other model
uses CNC-cut gears and a motor from an air freshener!
Tips and Tricks on Repairing LCD Monitors:
So do you have a broken LCD monitor? Using techniques described in his post, [Neoxity] claims to have been able to repair 50 out of 60 broken monitors
using techniques described on his blog
.
Flex Cables:
While we’re on the subject of [Neoxity’s] page, why not check out his discussion on
“flex cables” used for DIY
. Like the humble resistor, they’re not glamorous, but you’d be hard pressed to find an electronics assembly without one.
Illegal Numbers:
Although not a hack in itself, the
“illegal number”
is a really interesting concept (mentioned by one of our readers in the comments). Since all data and programs can, at their core, be represented by a series of 1s and 0s, this can also be interpreted as a number. Thus, some numbers actually represent copyrighted or trade secret data that would be illegal to possess. | 19 | 13 | [
{
"comment_id": "541456",
"author": "Brian Benchoff",
"timestamp": "2011-12-21T16:10:02",
"content": "Re: the illegal numbers thing, and I’m just going to throw this out there:It is possible to copyright theoutputof a computer program, but as far as I can tell, there’s no need for the computer progr... | 1,760,376,998.5416 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/12/21/keeping-axolotl-healthy-and-cool/ | Keeping Axolotl Healthy And Cool | Brian Benchoff | [
"home hacks"
] | [
"aquarium",
"axolotl",
"cooling",
"water cooling"
] | The real life
Mudkip
Wooper
Pokemon seen above is an axolotl, a salamander-like animal that lives in only one lake near Mexico City. These adorable animals can be bred in captivity, but keeping them is a challenge. [LRVICK] decided he didn’t want to throw down hundreds of dollars for an aquarium cooler so he
built his own
out of parts usually used for keeping computers nice and cold.
Commercial aquarium coolers that would meet the requirements start around $300 and go up from there. Not wanting to spend that much, [LRVICK] found a 77 Watt Peltier cooler for $5 and figured he could make it work. Off-the-shelf parts for water cooling CPUs were used to construct the aquarium cooler – a water block on the cold side, a huge heat sink and fan for the hot side, and a bunch of tubing goes up to the tank.
Now [LRVICK] has an axolotl housed in a very professional-looking aquarium that is a steady 65 degrees. He’s got a very nice build, and the axolotl looks
very happy
. | 44 | 22 | [
{
"comment_id": "541421",
"author": "Josh",
"timestamp": "2011-12-21T14:44:32",
"content": "Very cool build and those creatures look cute. One thing I’d want to do is put both temperature logging and alarming on it. Possibly even a flow sensor on the pump.I wonder how the pump will hold up to the wa... | 1,760,376,998.62366 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/12/20/ben-krasnow-sticks-leds-in-his-contacts-just-for-kicks/ | [Ben Krasnow] Sticks LEDs In His Contacts Just For Kicks | Mike Nathan | [
"LED Hacks",
"Medical Hacks"
] | [
"augmented reality",
"contacts",
"led"
] | [Ben Krasnow] wrote in, saying that every so often a news story appears covering a project in which researchers embed
a single pixel LED display inside a contact lens.
The most recent article he saw featured a contact-wearing rabbit, and not being one to shy away from
damaging his own body in the name of science
, he decided to try the experiment on himself.
He started out by soldering a tiny 0402 SMD LED to a hand wound coil, laminating the display between a pair of regular contact lenses. After trying to adhere the lenses to one another using water, he opted to tack the edges together with a pair of hot tweezers, making for a more secure but uncomfortable piece of eyewear. The LED is powered by a simple inductive coil he put together, which uses a spark gap transmitter to flash the LED on and off.
If you’re not freaked out by people sticking things in their eyes, be sure to check out the video below to see [Ben’s] augmented contact lens in action. While it might not give him Terminator-like vision, it’s pretty awesome considering he pieced it together in his workshop in his spare time.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=qHECpEhJdB8#!&w=470] | 86 | 50 | [
{
"comment_id": "540746",
"author": "blakepro",
"timestamp": "2011-12-20T23:58:47",
"content": "Look at how blood shot his eye is by the end of the video. It makes my eyes water just watching it.. and that horrific scene with him trying to get the contact to sit properly on his eye…*shudder*",
"... | 1,760,376,999.130316 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/12/20/keep-others-from-snooping-in-your-digital-life/ | Keep Others From Snooping In Your Digital Life | Mike Szczys | [
"Security Hacks"
] | [
"attack",
"network",
"occupy"
] | In our digital age prying eyes are everywhere. The sad thing is that they may even belong to your own government. But no matter who it is, there are some things you can do to
keep your private digital devices and content as secure as possible
.
The link above goes to [Jerry Whiting’s] discussion on the topic. He’s certainly an interesting speaker, but make sure you’re using headphones at work as the language can be a bit sultry once in a while. He aims the lesson at the Occupy movement, but it’s a fun listen for any conspiracy theorist out there. The topics run the gamut, starting with the specter of physical access, then moving on to protecting your network through traffic analysis and using key pairs. This
Security 101
segment comes in two parts (the first one is embedded after the break), each a bit more than thirty minutes. He’s planning to post a second lesson covering hashes and encryption.
NSFW: Language
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVEz9_-LTbU&w=470] | 21 | 12 | [
{
"comment_id": "540713",
"author": "h3po",
"timestamp": "2011-12-20T22:59:25",
"content": "there is no such thing as 64bit DES.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "540720",
"author": "deathventure",
"timestamp": "2011-12-20T23:09:... | 1,760,376,998.708682 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/12/20/motorized-camera-mount-unexpectedly-popular-for-cnc-aimed-hardware/ | Motorized Camera Mount Unexpectedly Popular For CNC-aimed Hardware | Mike Szczys | [
"digital cameras hacks"
] | [
"camera",
"cnc",
"linear bearing",
"makeerslide",
"sled"
] | Here’s a
camera mount that moves smoothly along a motorized sled
. [Bart Dring] created the system and was surprised by it’s popularity, having received several sales requests from photographers. He
originally designed the linear bearing
system, called the MakerSlide as an inexpensive alternative to other CNC machine solutions. Allowing a computer to map out timed movements for video shots wasn’t on his radar then, but as you can see in the clip after the break, the MakerSlide does an amazing job at it.
The modular track system makes it easy to attach to a base. In this case, a couple of pieces of acrylic let him support both ends of the track on standard camera tripods. [Bart] mentions the knowledge gap between people who work with CNC milling hardware and photographers as an issue in deciding how to control the system. Since photographers aren’t likely to be proficient in EMC2, he designed a control application with an Arduino. It uses a stepper motor controller shield, and does some fancy math to make sure there is smooth acceleration, etc.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xt77g-Zzdjs&w=470] | 12 | 12 | [
{
"comment_id": "540680",
"author": "Ed Estes",
"timestamp": "2011-12-20T22:04:18",
"content": "Congrats Bart on another great product!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "540708",
"author": "Brett",
"timestamp": "2011-12-20T22:53:59",
"... | 1,760,376,999.027053 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/12/20/hack-removes-ads-from-kindle-special-offers-hardware/ | Hack Removes Ads From Kindle ‘Special Offers’ Hardware | Mike Szczys | [
"Kindle hacks",
"Security Hacks"
] | [
"amazon",
"kindle",
"special offers",
"unix"
] | We figured it wouldn’t be long before
someone figured out how to remove the ads
from the ‘Special Offers’ versions of the Amazon Kindle hardware. There are two things that made this obvious to us, the huge flaw that lets code be easily run as root, and the MP3 tag forming that
makes it possible to unlock the device
.
[Pat Hartl] knows his way around a *nix shell, so once he gained SSH access to the device he started a search for the ad images that make up the special offers feature. He found them in a few different places, making backups of the files in an alternate location, then removing them with some simple commands. He even rolled the process into a one-click installer like the Jailbreak package. It makes us wonder if Amazon has a way to tell if your device is not longer pulling down content for these offers?
At risk of sounding preachy, Amazon does offer this hardware without ads for a one-time fee. Circumventing the unobtrusive ads may lead to higher hardware prices in the future, and [Pat] mentions that. He pulled off this hack to show the holes in Amazon’s security, and hitting them in the pocketbook is a powerful way to do it.
Hackaday itself is ad-supported. We run advertisements that do not use sound, popups, or flashing video effects. Remember to turn off your ad-block for our site in order to show your support. Thanks! | 52 | 30 | [
{
"comment_id": "540651",
"author": "soxymora",
"timestamp": "2011-12-20T21:09:44",
"content": "No big deal.You can do it even simpler by :mv /var/local/adunits /var/local/adunits.old && touch /var/local/adunits",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "... | 1,760,376,999.214319 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/12/20/automatic-flashlight-tag-damage-sensor/ | Automatic Flashlight Tag Damage Sensor | Mike Szczys | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"Toy Hacks"
] | [
"attiny",
"CdS",
"flashlight tag",
"ldr",
"photoresistor"
] | You’re out at night and playing a boisterous game of flashlight tag. But how can you tell if you’ve been mortally wounded by your opponents light beam? [Kenyer] solved this problem by building
a flashlight tag damage sensor
which is worn by each participant. It adds a bit of the high-tech equipment used with laser tag while keeping a low-tech price tag.
The sensor relies on a light dependent resistor to register hits when a flashlight beam passes through the round window. It will only register one hit in a three-second time period. At the end of the game, the total number of hits recorded can be flashed back using an on-board LED to see who is the victor. You can see a demo of this functionality in the clip after the break.
[Kenyer] started with a breadboard prototype using an Arduino as the driver. Obviously the cost of an Arduino for every player is a bit ridiculous. He scaled down the project,
running the Arduino code on an ATtiny microcontroller
.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLx87CKwnLw&w=470] | 6 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "540615",
"author": "Alex",
"timestamp": "2011-12-20T20:01:33",
"content": "Nice mechanical design!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "540622",
"author": "hawkeyeaz1",
"timestamp": "2011-12-20T20:08:56",
"content": "Next... | 1,760,376,998.980318 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/12/20/the-most-evil-gift-ever/ | The Most Evil Gift Ever | Brian Benchoff | [
"digital audio hacks",
"Holiday Hacks"
] | [
"attiny45",
"digital audio",
"gift"
] | [form], a new user on the Hack a Day forums, was thinking, “what Christmas present i can send a friend, that would be really annoying?” We think he really hit it out of the park with
this one
. It’s a modified computer speaker that will play “explicit” audio until the power button is pressed 200 times and the light sensor is covered. When this present is unwrapped, the room will fill with sounds not suitable for children, the elderly, or those with heart conditions.
The build is based around an old powered computer speaker. Six Li-ion batteries from an old laptop provide the power, and a
very simple
circuit pulls sound off an SD card with the help of an ATtiny45.
The
schematic
for the build looks easy enough, and like a good builder, [form] included the source and HEX files. Sadly (or thankfully), there is no video of the gag gift in action; probably a good thing, because this seems like a great way to lose a friend. | 30 | 28 | [
{
"comment_id": "540466",
"author": "zing",
"timestamp": "2011-12-20T17:14:47",
"content": "Halt! Hammerzeit!neue Ruhe-Modus aktiviert.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "540493",
"author": "tgtomm",
"timestamp": "2011-12-20T17:31:03",
... | 1,760,376,999.380909 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/12/20/computer-aided-paint-brush/ | Computer-aided Paint Brush | Mike Szczys | [
"Arduino Hacks"
] | [
"inkjet",
"inkshield",
"ir",
"paint brush",
"printing",
"python"
] | [Nirav] painted this masterpiece by hand… with a little help from a computer. He calls it
the semi-automatic paintbrush
because you do need to move it over the canvas by hand, but a computer decides when to dispense the ink.
He’s using a piece of hardware we looked at back in September called
the InkShield
that got a boost from Kickstarter. It’s an Arduino shield that drives an inkjet printer cartridge. The trick is how to know when the cartridge is in position for printing.
The system uses visual processing for that. [Nirav] added an IR led to the cartridge, and uses a camera to extrapolate its position. He actually reused a Python homography module which he had written for use with a projector. That setup was developed as a digital white board, but works just as well for this purpose.
He mentions that results like this won’t be featured in an art museum. But the look is unique, and we’d love to make a set of geeky thank-you notes using the technique. | 8 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "540393",
"author": "Regulus",
"timestamp": "2011-12-20T16:18:18",
"content": "Now slap it on a makerbot and color your plastic after extruding it!It’s something I’ve been working on unsuccessfully since I saw the inkshield become available.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
... | 1,760,376,999.257106 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/12/20/diy-clapper-is-the-ideal-gift-for-the-laziest-person-in-your-life/ | DIY Clapper Is The Ideal Gift For The Laziest Person In Your Life | Mike Nathan | [
"home hacks"
] | [
"adc",
"atmega328",
"attiny2313",
"clapper",
"relay"
] | If you haven’t yet wrapped up your Christmas shopping, you may want to consider building
[AlanFromJapan’s] implementation of the ever-classic “Clapper”.
With its theme song burned into the brain of anyone old enough to remember the 80s, the clapper was a wonderful device that certainly put the “L” in laziness.
Looking for an excuse to play around with an opamp and microphone [Alan] decided to build his own version of the Clapper based off
this similar circuit
, which he calls the ClapClap. He built the device using an electret mic that feeds a signal through a small amplifier on the way to the ADC of an ATmega328 microcontroller. The mcu constantly polls the ADC looking for the sound of clapping hands, a solution that works, but isn’t as clean as [Alan] wanted.
He went back to the drawing board,
this time building a circuit around an ATtiny2313
microcontroller. Most of the other components remained the same, though the new, smaller design sports some nice PCBs he had made at Seeedstudio. Rather than constantly polling the ADC, this version of the ClapClap looks for peaks in the signal coming from the mic to identify the clapping of hands.
He says that the newer version works great, though he still has a software bug or two that need fixing before he parks himself on the couch for all eternity. | 18 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "540344",
"author": "Punkguyta",
"timestamp": "2011-12-20T14:23:35",
"content": "Out of curiousity, what can that blank/unlabled relay handle in the means of current?And please don’t “RTFM” me, I just worked a 8 hour night shift, and still have not been to sleep. What has everyone el... | 1,760,376,999.313145 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/12/19/prank-gift-keeps-curious-hands-at-bay/ | Prank Gift Keeps Curious Hands At Bay | Mike Nathan | [
"Holiday Hacks",
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"gift",
"holiday",
"prank",
"present"
] | You all know that person.
The one who picks up every present with their name on it, shaking it before busting into their best Carnac the Magnificent impression. Heck, you might even be that person.
[Jason] was thinking about how to combat the gift shaker in his life and put together a simple prank that’s sure to provide him some enjoyment when the shaking and guessing commences.
He bought a premade audio module that stores about 20 seconds of sound, replacing the pushbutton trigger with a pair of wires that can easily make contact when the box is vigorously moved. Everything was carefully mounted in a gift box before being wrapped and set under the tree to surprise the eager gift shaker.
We definitely like the idea, since there are a plethora of ways to customize/enhance [Jason’s] work to fit your specific needs. Whether you go with the kitten/puppy in a box theme, or wire in an incredibly loud alarm, your resident gift inspector will never look at presents the same way again!
Continue reading to see [Jason] explain his gift prank in more detail.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ZeCjiEiPqAM&w=470] | 23 | 11 | [
{
"comment_id": "539929",
"author": "fred",
"timestamp": "2011-12-20T00:28:23",
"content": "A paper cup containing a paper-clip also works well.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "539933",
"author": "M",
"timestamp": "2011-12-20T00:33:07",
... | 1,760,376,999.442071 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/12/19/retrofitting-modern-lego-train-tracks-for-use-with-older-version/ | Retrofitting Modern LEGO Train Tracks For Use With Older Version | Mike Szczys | [
"Toy Hacks"
] | [
"copper foil",
"electric",
"lego",
"train"
] | So you’re really looking for that [Norman Rockwell] Christmas and want to set up your train to encircle the Christmas tree this year. The problem is that all you’ve got is an old LEGO train set and not enough track for it. You can’t just buy some more, because the technology has changed; or can you?
[Chris] was dismayed to find that newer LEGO train sets have gone to battery operation rather than drawing power through metal tracks. The new tracks are plastic, and buying extra segments of the older version is cost prohibitive. He figured out a way to
add power conductors to the new track pieces
.
It turns out the design of the new tracks matches the old, except they’re all in plastic instead of having metal rails. He bought a plastic add-on set, then picked up some copper foil from the hobby store which is meant for stained-glass work. It’s adhesive backed, and after working out the best way to apply it, he coated the rails with the stuff. As you can see above, the new mates perfectly with the old, and keeps that locomotive chugging along.
If you’ve got copper foil left over after this hack, there’s tons of other uses for it. Perhaps
building your own flex sensors
is worth a try. | 28 | 19 | [
{
"comment_id": "539875",
"author": "xeracy",
"timestamp": "2011-12-19T23:09:15",
"content": "modern? when i had a lego trainset 20+ years ago, It was already battery powered… how old were these power-via-rails sets?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_... | 1,760,376,999.505057 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/12/19/smelting-metal-in-your-microwave-oven/ | Smelting Metal In Your Microwave Oven | Mike Szczys | [
"cooking hacks",
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"blacksmith",
"foundry",
"microwave oven",
"smelting"
] | Grab some scrap metal and a microwave oven and you’ll be
casting your own metal parts
in no time. [Mikeasaurus], who is known for doing strange things like
making Silly Putty magnetic
or
building his own spray paint bottles
, doesn’t disappoint this time around. He read about microwave smelting in
Popular Science
and is giving it a shot himself.
The image above shows him pouring an ingot. He build an insulated brick enclosure inside of the microwave oven, then set it to go ten minutes for a 50/50 lead/tin mixture, or fifteen minutes for silver. This will vary based on the power rating of your microwave. You can see in the video after the break that the setup gave him some trouble shortly after pouring. It wasn’t a problem with the molten metal, but spontaneous combustion of the rigid foam insulation that did him in. We shouldn’t say ‘I told you so’, but that insulation says right on it that it’s flammable!
This isn’t the first time we’ve looked at casting metal melted in a microwave.
Check out this other version
posted back in 2005.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwQ4C2dNkp4&w=470] | 39 | 20 | [
{
"comment_id": "539844",
"author": "Max",
"timestamp": "2011-12-19T22:19:39",
"content": "I think its probably easier to do it on a gas hob. Possibly quicker and definitely less dangerous flaming.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "540301",
... | 1,760,376,999.586207 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/12/19/hacking-old-server-hardware-for-new-home-use/ | Hacking Old Server Hardware For New Home Use | Mike Szczys | [
"computer hacks"
] | [
"backplane",
"dell",
"nas",
"sata",
"scsi",
"server"
] | [Arnuschky] was looking for a network storage solution that included redundancy. He could have gone with a new NAS box, but didn’t want to shell out full price. Instead, he picked up
a Dell PowerEdge 2800 and hacked it for SATA drives and quiet operation
.
It’s not surprising that this hardware can be had second-hand at a low price. The backplane for it requires SCSI drives, and it’s cheaper to upgrade to new server hardware than it is to keep replacing those drives. This didn’t help out [Arnuschky’s] any, so he started out by removing the SCSI connectors. While he was at it, he soldered wires to the HDD activity light pads on the PCB. These will be connected to the RAID controller for status indication. The image above shows the server with eight SATA drives installed (but no backplane); note that all of the power connectors in each column are chained together for a total of two drive power connectors. He then applied glue to each of these connectors, then screwed the backplane in place until the glue dried. Now the device has swappable SATA drives!
His server conversion spans several posts. The link at the top is a round-up so make sure you click through to see how he did the fan speed hack in addition to the SATA conversion.
If your tolerances don’t allow you to glue the connectors like this, check out
this other hack
that uses shims for spacing. | 27 | 12 | [
{
"comment_id": "539800",
"author": "ChrisW",
"timestamp": "2011-12-19T21:16:05",
"content": "I have had ready access to server hardware for years but the real killer for reusing it at home has been power consumption.It’s good to see it reused, I’ve seen to much of it go to waste when its decommisio... | 1,760,377,000.069699 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/12/19/ask-hackaday-troll-physics-edition/ | Ask Hackaday: Troll Physics Edition | Brian Benchoff | [
"Ask Hackaday"
] | [
"Ask Hackaday",
"parallel",
"series",
"troll physics"
] | [Martin] sent in two videos he found while cruising the tubes.
The first video
is a simple circuit with a resistor, three switches, and three LEDs. All the components are soldered together right in front of the camera. When a battery is connected, turning the first switch on makes the first LED light up. Turning the second switch on makes the second LED light up, and the same thing goes for the third switch and LED. Obviously we’re dealing with powers that are incomprehensible with even several cups of coffee.
The
second video
features the same resistor/switches/LEDs, this time in a parallel circuit. Turning on the first switch makes the first LED light up, and the second switch makes the second LED light up. Truly we are dealing with an expert in troll physics.
This is probably something really benign and uninteresting, but it sure is enough to wake up enough brain cells on a Monday morning. We’re not going to hypothesize, so check out the comments where we expect the correct answer to be.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkTvDjhImwo&w=450]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OoPCDiMF108&w=450] | 223 | 50 | [
{
"comment_id": "539680",
"author": "Paul",
"timestamp": "2011-12-19T20:09:47",
"content": "Invisible wire ? Impressive from my perspective.Would like to know the answer.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "711440",
"author": "rushone2009"... | 1,760,376,999.960469 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/12/19/jacks-solar-powered-clock/ | [Jack]’s Solar-powered Clock | Brian Benchoff | [
"clock hacks"
] | [
"clock",
"fiber optics",
"sundial"
] | Hack A Day’s own [Jack Buffington]
finally finished
the solar clock he built for the buildlounge.com laser cutter giveaway.
[Jack] has been putting up the
build log
on his blog, and now the project is finally complete. The clock operates entirely on solar power. Instead of fancy-smanchy electronics, this clock puts a new spin on the very old school sundial. A box outside [Jack]’s house captures sunlight and focuses it onto an array of optical fibers. These fibers transmit the sunlight though the wall and to the face of the clock. Only a portion of the fibers are lit at any one time, and these correspond to the time of day. With a lot of confusing fiber routing, the clock can indicate the time of day by lighting up the clock face.
We covered the
nascent beginnings
of this project when it was still a glimmer in [Jack]’s eye, and we’ve got to hand it to him. This is a really creative project, and the addition of the ‘daylight savings time lever’ is the icing on the cake. Check out the video after the break for a great explanation of how the clock actually works, and be sure to check out the project on
BuildLounge
.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?&v=ijMOdhYEILA&w=470] | 14 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "539611",
"author": "Trav",
"timestamp": "2011-12-19T18:55:36",
"content": "It needs an Arduino to take in effect the equation of time.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "539655",
"author": "anyone",
"timestamp": "2011-12-19... | 1,760,376,999.705765 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/12/19/playing-with-routers-vinyl-and-music-concrete/ | Playing With Routers, Vinyl And Music Concrete | Brian Benchoff | [
"cnc hacks",
"Musical Hacks"
] | [
"music concrete",
"record player",
"vinyl"
] | When Danish musicians Vinyl Terror and Horror visited [Daniel] and his CNC router at EMS in Sweden,
things were sure to get interesting
. The band uses heavily modified record players and modified vinyl records to produce strange soundscapes. During their time at EMS,
Vinyl Terror and Horror
were able to produce some
strange
vinyl that shouldn’t play on a record, but do.
Most of VTaH and [Daniel]’s work is centered on a CNC router.
This soundscape
took two records to produce. The spare rectangles were cut from a second record and designed to be press-fit into the host. When the newly assembled record is played, truly bizarre ‘skipping-but-still-playing’ sounds are made. The same process was used on the
puzzle piece record
the guys made.
The experiments continued by
cutting a circle out of a record
and gluing it back into place with a different orientation. This idea was taken to its
logical conclusion
that serves as the exemplar of
music concrete
.
[Daniel] and Vinyl Terror and Horror came up with a pretty neat spin (HA!) on century-old way of making electronic music, so we’ll give all of them some props. Check out all the videos from VTaH’s time at EMS after the break.
[vimeo=31718306]
[vimeo=31719636]
[vimeo=31719564]
[vimeo=31719801]
[vimeo=31719873] | 40 | 33 | [
{
"comment_id": "539532",
"author": "raidscsi",
"timestamp": "2011-12-19T17:19:52",
"content": "umm? what?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "539536",
"author": "unimpressed",
"timestamp": "2011-12-19T17:33:24",
"content": "It’s “art”",... | 1,760,377,000.240468 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/12/19/tribot-robotics-platform/ | Tribot Robotics Platform | Brian Benchoff | [
"Robots Hacks",
"Toy Hacks"
] | [
"omnidirectional",
"omniwheel",
"robot",
"Tribot"
] | For a number of children born of geek parents, the WowWee Tribot is sure to make an appearance underneath a Christmas tree this year. By New Year’s, though, this toy will surely make its way to the back of a closet to sit unused until spring cleaning. It’s a shame to let such an interesting robotics platform go to waste, so [haltux] sent in a
nice guide
to unlocking the motor controller of this talking robot.
The ‘legs’ of the WowWee Tribot have three omnidirectional wheels mounted 120 degrees apart.
We’ve
seen
this
drive system before, so getting a pre-built platform out of the toy box is pretty interesting.
[haltux] found three H-bridges inside the Tribot and connected the direction and enable pins for each motor directly to an Arduino. The build was a success, and the new robot platform scurried along the floor. There are also rotary encoders on the Tribot, but these run at 12 Volts. [haltux] said he’ll cover these in a future post, and we’re waiting to see it. | 5 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "539494",
"author": "EmptyJay",
"timestamp": "2011-12-19T16:33:28",
"content": "Awesome story. I bought one of these from woot a couple of years back just to have the wheels. It’s great to see I can use the existing electronics and motors of the robot.",
"parent_id": null,
"d... | 1,760,377,000.008167 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/12/19/this-cheerlights-display-has-a-mind-of-its-own/ | This CheerLights Display Has A Mind Of Its Own | Mike Nathan | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"Holiday Hacks",
"LED Hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"Cheeriobot",
"CheerLights",
"leds",
"twitter"
] | [Axel] wanted to participate in the CheerLights project this holiday season, but not one to always follow the rules he decided to make his display a bit different than most others out there. While the lights at his house are synchronized with the CheerLights project,
he programmed his Cheeriobot with a little added personality.
Normally, Cheeriobot is happy to follow the rest of the world,
changing its colors whenever the Twitter feed dictates.
If things are a bit slow however, Cheeriobot gets impatient and will send a tweet to @CheerLights on its own to ensure that it doesn’t display a single color for too long.
[Axel] also created a mode that turns Cheeriobot into a bit of a contrarian. The display’s “Rebel Mode” causes it to change colors when someone tweets, but it selects a random color instead of following the rest of the pack.
It’s definitely an interesting twist on the CheerLights project, and we really like the fact that it keeps things moving if the stream of tweets ever slows down. | 6 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "539410",
"author": "Vince Mulhollon",
"timestamp": "2011-12-19T14:04:15",
"content": "Seeing the pix my gut level reaction was “follow” “rebel” was controlling light flashing patterns… that would make an interesting completely separate project… Should I try to sync up with my neighb... | 1,760,377,000.166649 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/12/18/head-mounted-light-display-takes-holiday-cheer-on-the-go/ | Head-mounted Light Display Takes Holiday Cheer On The Go | Mike Nathan | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"Holiday Hacks",
"LED Hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"christmas lights",
"led",
"light display",
"lilypad"
] | Most holiday light displays we see this time of year are stationary, or at least confined to somebody’s home.
[Marco Guardigli] wanted to take his lights on the go
, and thought that a light up winter hat would be perfect for showing off his holiday spirit.
In the winter he sports a sturdy wool felt hat, which was ideal for mounting LEDs. He picked up a basic LilyPad Arduino that uses a small LiPo battery as its power source, mounting it inside the hat with a bit of glue. He wired up a series of SMD LEDs around the perimeter of the hat which blend in quite well in the felt, leaving them nearly invisible to the naked eye when powered off. When he flips the LilyPad on however, there’s no missing the bright blue LEDs nor the music emanating from the tiny speaker he also mounted in the hat.
We think that [Marco’s] display is great, and if we were to build one, we would likely include a copious amount of red and green LEDs in ours. Do any of you take your Christmas light display on the go? We’d love to see them, so be sure to let us know in the comments.
Stick around to see a short video of [Marco’s] hat in action.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iq0bxr3UKyw&feature=player_embedded&w=470] | 12 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "538928",
"author": "Hirudinea",
"timestamp": "2011-12-19T00:34:43",
"content": "So this is the cylon touque I’ve been hearing so much about!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "538937",
"author": "Mark VandeWettering",
"time... | 1,760,377,000.12059 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/12/18/xbee-remote-sensors-tell-you-when-someone-enters-your-home/ | Xbee Remote Sensors Tell You When Someone Enters Your Home | Mike Szczys | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"Security Hacks"
] | [
"8x8",
"led",
"pressure mat",
"xbee"
] | [Bill Porter] is helping a friend out by
designing a simple security system for her home
. It relies on Xbee modules to alert a base station when doors are opened, or a pressure mat is stepped on.
The door sensors are quite simple, and you’re probably already familiar with them. One part mounts to the door and has a magnet in it, the mating part mounts to the jamb and has a reed switch that closes a contact when the magnet is in place. The floor mat uses two sheets of conductive material separated by bits of foam. When it is stepped on a circuit is completed and can be sensed by the Xbee as a button press.
These sensors report back to an Arduino base station that has a buzzer and three 8×8 LED modules to scroll a message saying which sensor was tripped. [Bill] does a good job of showing what goes into configuring an Xbee network if you’ve never worked with the hardware before.
You’ll find his demo video after the break.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-Cw5Dm40gE&w=470] | 13 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "538900",
"author": "noouch",
"timestamp": "2011-12-18T22:39:20",
"content": "Whenever I see these xbee networks, I can’t help wondering if there’s a cheaper possibility for digital wireless communication, because at $25 a pop, the cost of a larger project can get out of hand quickly... | 1,760,377,000.28813 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/12/18/cloud-mirror-adds-internet-to-your-morning-ritual/ | Cloud Mirror Adds Internet To Your Morning Ritual | Mike Szczys | [
"Multitouch Hacks"
] | [
"gestures",
"mirror",
"reflectance",
"ultrasonic"
] | This mirror has a large monitor behind it which can be operated using hand gestures. It’s the result of a team effort from [Daniel Burnham], [Anuj Patel], and [Sam Bell]
to build a web-enabled mirror
for their ECE 4180 class at the Georgia Institute of Technology.
So far they’ve implemented four widget for the system. You can see the icons which activate each in the column to the right of the mirror. From top to bottom they are Calendar, News, Traffic, and Weather. The video after the break shows the gestures used to control the display. First select the widget by holding your hand over the appropriate icon. Next, bring that widget to the main display area by swiping from right to left along the top of the mirror.
Hardware details are shared more freely in
their presentation slides
(PDF). A sonar distance sensor activated the device when a user is close enough to the screen. Seven IR reflectance sensors detect a hand placed in front of them. We like this input method, as it keep the ‘display’ area finger-print free. But we wonder if the IR sensors could be placed behind the glass instead of beside it?
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMn7XY8uzgw&w=470] | 21 | 12 | [
{
"comment_id": "538857",
"author": "Davidb",
"timestamp": "2011-12-18T20:37:54",
"content": "Awesome project! I want to make one for my bathroom now.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "538917",
"author": "Grovenstien",
"timestamp": "2011-1... | 1,760,377,000.346623 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/12/18/controlling-your-christmas-lights-without-ever-getting-off-the-couch/ | Controlling Your Christmas Lights Without Ever Getting Off The Couch | Mike Nathan | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"home hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"infrared",
"ir",
"light controller",
"relay"
] | 14 year-old [Connor Smith] has been busy this holiday season, thinking up ways to
improve the lighting situation at home.
A few weeks ago he put together
this 3-channel light controller
to toggle his parents’ external lights, incorporating an Arduino for control. The Arduino was used to switch the channels on and off at specified intervals in order to create a simple light show on the house’s exterior. Not satisfied with just a few strings of blinky lights, he took his controller back inside for some additional modifications.
He had grown tired of crawling behind the Christmas tree to plug and unplug it every day, and decided to make things easier on himself. He stripped the IR receiver out of an old VCR and interfaced it with the Arduino in his light controller using the IRremote library. After taking a bit of time to decode the values for two infrequently used buttons on his TV remote, he had himself a Christmas tree light switch that he could activate from across the room.
Check out the short video below to see his remote switch in action.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikkrzQtJ1rI&feature=player_embedded&w=470] | 11 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "538748",
"author": "jordan",
"timestamp": "2011-12-18T18:21:00",
"content": "wow! nice! i was going to do the same exact thing with the electrical box! except i only had one MOC and Triac from some old electronic junk, so im limited to one strand.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth... | 1,760,377,000.482202 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/12/18/sms-remote-start-gives-new-life-to-your-old-smartphone/ | SMS Remote Start Gives New Life To Your Old Smartphone | Mike Nathan | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"Cellphone Hacks",
"iphone hacks",
"Transportation Hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"car",
"iphone",
"remote start",
"sms"
] | Hack a Day alum [Will O’Brien] recently upgraded his phone, and was trying to find a use for his old one. He always wanted a remote starter for his Subaru Outback, but wasn’t interested in paying for an off the shelf kit. Since he had this old smartphone kicking around, he thought that it would be the perfect starting point for
an SMS-triggered remote start system.
He started off by jailbreaking his phone, which allows him to run some Perl scripts that are used to listen for incoming texts. Using a PodBreakout mini from Sparkfun he connected the phone to an Arduino, which is responsible for triggering the car’s ignition. Now, a simple text message containing the start command and a password can start his car from a anywhere in the world.
While [Will] is quite happy with his setup he already has improvements in mind, including a way for the Arduino to send a message back to him via SMS confirming that the car has been successfully started. He’s thinking about putting together a kit for others looking to add the same functionality to their own car, so be sure to check his site periodically for project updates. | 50 | 19 | [
{
"comment_id": "538700",
"author": "Uky",
"timestamp": "2011-12-18T16:17:16",
"content": "Do you still have to pay the full phone/data/text package on that second phone just to do that? If so thats pretty pricy.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id":... | 1,760,377,000.43313 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/12/17/midi-synth-arduino-shield/ | MIDI Synth Arduino Shield | Brian Benchoff | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"Musical Hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"midi",
"SAM2195",
"synthesizer"
] | There’s a million and one ways to play around with MIDI and an Arduino. It’s trivial to have a ‘duino spit out a scale to a MIDI keyboard, or even respond to SysEx messages to change a lighting or effects rig. There’s one thing that has eluded MIDI-duino builders, though: implementing a MIDI synthesizer with a DIY shield. It’s a good thing, then, that [Keith] put up a Kickstarter for his
AvecSynth
project.
[Keith]’s AvecSynth is based around the
Dream.fr SAM2195
single chip MIDI synthesizer. It’s a neat little IC that takes in MIDI messages from a sequencer or keyboard and spits out stereo audio. The AvecSynth takes this IC and puts it in a standard Arduino-sized package so building a gigantic light-up, foot-operated piano is now well within the purview of the weekend solder junkie.
While the SAM2195 and AvecSynth doesn’t have fancy subtractive or FM synthesis, it does have the full set of 128 voices in the General MIDI spec. It’s a great project to play around with MIDI, and the price for the DIY kit is right up our alley.
EDIT: [Keith] changed the $20 reward for his Kickstarter to PCB
or
two SAM2195 chips | 23 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "538330",
"author": "gigavolt",
"timestamp": "2011-12-17T23:05:35",
"content": "Doesn’t the music shield from sparkfun do the same thing?http://www.sparkfun.com/products/10587",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "538337",
"a... | 1,760,377,000.582373 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/12/17/a-wooden-engine-powered-by-compressed-air/ | A Wooden Engine Powered By Compressed Air | Jeremy Cook | [
"Engine Hacks",
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"air engine",
"air powered",
"woodworking"
] | You may have seen an air powered engine at some point, but most are made out of some sort of metal.
This engine
, however, is made entirely out of wood (and fasteners). One might wonder how a design like this was conceived, but this may be explained by [Woodgears.ca’s] tagline: “An engineer’s approach to woodworking.” It should also be noted that this is actually [Matthias’] sequel to “
Wooden Air Engine 1.
”
The engine itself is a neat device in that it uses power from compressed air (or suction from a vacuum cleaner) to make the piston and connecting rod cycle back and forth to spin a flywheel. The other connecting rod is used to switch which side of the “clyinder” received air pressure (or vacuum). A really neat mechanical assembly, and one that took a good amount of skill to make out of wood. Check out the video after the break to see how it all works!
[youtube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngb4SYR74m4&w=470&h=315%5D
If you’d like your woodworking to be more automatic, check out
this post
about how to set up a CNC router for your personal use. | 23 | 16 | [
{
"comment_id": "538284",
"author": "jc",
"timestamp": "2011-12-17T20:30:06",
"content": "I love the part when he unscrews those wooden screws. They look pretty nifty.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "538285",
"author": "Wifiguy",
"timest... | 1,760,377,000.730966 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/12/17/hackin-the-junkyard-electric-scrap-bike-projects/ | Hackin’ The Junkyard: Electric Scrap Bike Projects | Jesse Congdon | [
"Transportation Hacks"
] | [
"diy electric bike",
"hub motor",
"HumanElectricBike",
"project"
] | [Brad Graham] wrote in to let us know about his
electric bike
data dump over at atomiczombie.com, written just for us! Last we heard from [Brad] he was building some
serious robots
and
freakishly tall tallbikes
but since the weather has turned for the chilly its time to focus on indoor projects. Using a combination of robot parts, electrical conduit, and OEM bikes for the frames [Brad] takes us through several of his builds and all the various complications trying to drive the (often very powerful) electric motors. The builds range from scrapping motors and controllers to full blown drop in hub motor systems that can combine human and electric power. There is even an electric pusher cargo cart designed for a cooler, because beers are not going to haul themselves around.
Don’t forget to check out the
AtomicZombie
website for a ton of useful tips to chopping up bikes for your own mutant transpiration projects, we know we will. Thanks [Brad]! | 6 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "538209",
"author": "the old rang",
"timestamp": "2011-12-17T18:06:32",
"content": "At this time, the links get a ‘Service Not Available’ message. (possibly too many hits?)",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "538217",
"author": "... | 1,760,377,000.776444 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/12/17/cheerlights-synchronizing-christmas-lights-around-the-globe/ | CheerLights: Synchronizing Christmas Lights Around The Globe | Mike Nathan | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"Holiday Hacks",
"home hacks",
"LED Hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"christmas lights",
"GE color effects",
"iobridge",
"twitter"
] | They say that the holidays are a time to gather with others, which usually translates into spending time with friends and family. The folks at ioBridge Labs thought that while friends and family certainly are a big part of the holidays, it would be pretty cool to gather together flocks of strangers by
using the Internet to synchronize their Christmas lights.
Participation in CheerLights is pretty easy, requiring little more than an Internet connection, some
GE G-35 Color Effects lights
, an Arduino, and an
ioBridge.
While those are the recommended components, an Arduino Ethernet shield will handle networking just as well. There really are no restrictions when it comes to hardware, so if you are so inclined, it should be relatively easy to roll your own display using simple RGB LEDs and a µC of your choosing.
The colors are dictated by the group’s Twitter feed, which can be found at
http://twitter.com/#!/@cheerlights.
Whenever a message is sent to @cheerlights along with a color, all of the light displays listening in will change simultaneously.
We really like the idea, and think it would be pretty cool to see this sort of program rolled out on a neighborhood or street-wide level, so you could see dozens of strings changing colors all at once.
If you’re interested in checking out CheerLights’ current color, be sure to take a gander at
their live stream here.
[via
BuildLounge
] | 7 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "538318",
"author": "luckycharms",
"timestamp": "2011-12-17T22:29:27",
"content": "very cool. i had a similar inspiration a number of years back – i.e. sync up any number of devices with a signal around the globe (haha – now that i think of it, i think that signal is called “time” :... | 1,760,377,000.671157 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/12/16/magnetotron-is-an-armonica-mellotron-mashup/ | Magnetotron Is An Armonica Mellotron Mashup | Brian Benchoff | [
"Musical Hacks"
] | [
"audio tape",
"glass armonica",
"magnetotron",
"Mellotron",
"sampler"
] | [Michael] is a huge fan of old media formats. There’s something special about quarter-inch thick 78s, fragile blue cylinders holding music, and thin strips of mylar that preserve the human voice. He’s had an idea for a tape-based instrument for a while, and now that the
Magnetotron
is complete, we’re in awe of this
glass harmonica
and
Mellotron
mashup.
The Magnetotron is a large rotating cylinder that has dozens of strips of audio tape attached to it. The cylinder rotates with the help of a small motor. As the strips of tape rotate in front of him, [Michael] presses two tape heads up to the instrument, making some sort of sound.
Each strip of tape contains a recording of one note, like the venerable
Mellotron
. Instead of physical keys, the Magnetotron is played in a much more tactile fashion like the
glass harmonica
. The output of the Magnetotron is interesting with a whole bunch of wow and flutter. Check out the demo of [Michael] playing his instrument at NIME in Brooklyn after the break.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVPbtO8A1EQ&w=470] | 23 | 16 | [
{
"comment_id": "537814",
"author": "aztraph",
"timestamp": "2011-12-16T23:24:21",
"content": "I’d rather see circuit bending.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "537834",
"author": "Hirudinea",
"timestamp": "2011-12-17T00:12:24",
"conte... | 1,760,377,002.49326 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/12/16/data-logging-with-a-cheap-lux-meter/ | Data Logging With A Cheap Lux Meter | Mike Szczys | [
"Arduino Hacks"
] | [
"logging",
"lux meter",
"op-amp"
] | [Minisystem] has a thing for dynamo powered bike lights. He wanted to measure how well his latest is working, but just logging the current flow through the LEDs wasn’t enough for him. He picked up a cheap Lux meter and
hacked into the circuit to log measurements
while he rides.
He started by cracking open the case to see what the meter held inside. There’s a Texas Instruments Op-Amp that connects to the light sensor. The datasheet for the part didn’t help much, but [Minisystem] did find that the current output on one of the pins changes with light intensity. Further testing led him to discover that the signal is a multiple of 10 for what is shown on the Lux meter’s readout. All he needs to do is take regular measurement of this current and save that data.
To do this, he grabbed his trusty Arduino and made a connection between one of its analog inputs and the op-amp pin. It should be easy enough to dump measurements into the Arduino’s own EEPROM, or use an external storage chip or SD card.
[Thanks Jason] | 6 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "537762",
"author": "Shady",
"timestamp": "2011-12-16T22:11:40",
"content": "And I just paid for two logging Lux meters at $180 each. This can save me some coin, thanks!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "537932",
"author": "Cr... | 1,760,377,003.072998 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/12/16/hackaday-links-december-16-2011/ | Hackaday Links: December 16, 2011 | Brian Benchoff | [
"Hackaday links"
] | [
"beer",
"camera crane",
"christmas ornament",
"christmas tree",
"coffee maker",
"free form circuit",
"oscilloscope",
"protoboard",
"smd",
"video"
] | Free-form Christmas ornament
Here’s [Rob]’s free form circuit that’s a
Christmas ornament for geeks
. It looks great, but sadly isn’t powered through a Christmas light strand. It’s just as cool as the
skeletal Arduino
we saw.
Prototyping with flowers
Well this is interesting: protoboard that’s specifically made
to make SMD soldering easier
. The guys at elecfreaks went through a lot of design iterations to make sure it works.
We’ll call it Buzz Beer
The days are getting longer and cabin fever will soon set in. Why not
brew beer in your coffee maker
? It’s an oldie but a goodie.
Christmas oscilloscope
With just an ATtiny and a little bit of futzing around changing the coefficients of a partial differential equation, you too can have your very own
oscilloscope Christmas tree
. Don’t worry though, there are instructions on how to implement it with an Arduino as well. HaD’s own [Kevin] might be
the one to beat
, though.
So what exactly does a grip do?
You know what your home movies need? A
camera crane
, of course. You’ll be able to get some neat panning action going on, and maybe some shots you couldn’t do otherwise. Want a demo? Ok, here’s a
guy on a unicycle
. | 8 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "537696",
"author": "insapio",
"timestamp": "2011-12-16T20:18:21",
"content": "That flower protoboard looks absolutely amazing. I’m going to have to get a hold of one *very* soon. Will HaD be kind enough to apply for a sample and do a review?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
... | 1,760,377,002.758275 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/12/16/advent-calendar-of-circuits/ | Advent Calendar Of Circuits | Mike Szczys | [
"Holiday Hacks",
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"advent calendar",
"alan yates",
"analog",
"circuits"
] | We missed 60% of it already, but luckily you can easily watch the back catalog of [Alan Yates’]
2011 Advent Calendar of Circuits
. As with
traditional Advent Calendars
he’s got a treat for every day in December leading up to Christmas. Instead of chocolate, the treat is a video about a different electronic circuit.
We didn’t find a playlist link, but you can
just head over to his YouTube channel
as each day is clearly labelled in the video titles. He starts off with a current limiting voltage regulator. A couple of days later he busts out a metal detector that will be fun to play with. Day 7 brings an AM transmitter/receiver pair, and Day 12 illustrates a burnt-out Christmas light detecting tool which we’ve embedded after the break.
The sheer volume of projects he’s putting out every day is remarkable and delightful. He doesn’t even limit himself to one video a day, but has posted several ‘extra’ editions with quick, circuit demos.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwiLQWJq2LQ&w=470]
[Thanks Charlie] | 2 | 2 | [
{
"comment_id": "537650",
"author": "HRob",
"timestamp": "2011-12-16T19:18:40",
"content": "Would have loved to have seen this a week and a half ago. Spent a long time trying to find the faulty light when it turned out to be the third to last.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": ... | 1,760,377,002.328171 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/12/16/welding-and-casting-abs/ | Welding And Casting ABS | Brian Benchoff | [
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"3d printer",
"3d printing",
"abs",
"glue"
] | Anybody who has a 3D printer always has a ton of useless plastic lying around. Some of that plastic may be from useless baubles, but most of it is in bad prints, short bits of filament, and general scraps. [Luke] found an interesting way
to put those ABS scraps to use
, and ended up turning trash into valuable plastic parts.
Commonly sold as nail polish remover, acetone will turn anything made out of ABS into a puddle of plastic. [Luke] makes glue using the same process – he fills a small container half full of acetone and half with small bits of ABS. After a day or so, he has a nice thin glue that dries into solid ABS. [Luke] used this to create a 400mm long piece of extruded t-slot. We don’t know if it would be suitable to build a child RepRap from, but it would sure be an interesting experiment.
[Luke] also did a little bit of casting with his ABS glue. With a thicker solution of ABS and Acetone, he managed to make
this ‘thing’
. The entire process is explained over at
Thingiverse
, We can’t wait to see what can be done with this stuff. | 31 | 15 | [
{
"comment_id": "537619",
"author": "mohonri",
"timestamp": "2011-12-16T18:28:15",
"content": "This could certainly come in handy for fixing my kids’ toys. Nothing I’ve tried seems to work up to this point, including an attempt to weld it with a low-temperature soldering iron (couldn’t get the heat... | 1,760,377,003.139898 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/12/16/making-paint-with-inorganic-chemistry/ | Making Paint With Inorganic Chemistry | Brian Benchoff | [
"chemistry hacks"
] | [
"Chemistry",
"paint"
] | Back during the Renaissance, great artists like Leonardo, Michelangelo, and Raphael would create their own paints. Of course paint is very cheap and readily available, but that doesn’t mean you can’t
make your own paint
by playing with chemistry.
Last summer, [Sean] at the Philly hackerspace
Hive76
did some experiments with
ferrofluids
. For these experiments [Sean] prepared a bunch of magnetite from rusty iron screws. In the process a lot of iron hydroxide was formed, which can produce wonderful colors. The red-brown eye in the title pic was made from some of the stuff floating on the top of [Sean]’s beaker.
[Sean] was really after something really black, so he turned his efforts towards
hematite
, a very dark pigment and is now working with other metals to produce some interesting colors. Already he’s made green and yellow pigments with two copper compounds. We’ll just have to hope he uses a fume hood when he starts taking apart mercury switches to make
red
. | 7 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "537579",
"author": "zrzzz",
"timestamp": "2011-12-16T17:10:41",
"content": "That brown eye image reminds me of this prison reality show I saw recently where they showed this guy had painted all over his cell with a very readily availble brown pigment. I gotta think renaissance paint... | 1,760,377,002.800267 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/12/16/electronic-ornament-will-definitely-put-dave-on-santas-naughty-list/ | Electronic Ornament Will Definitely Put [Dave] On Santa’s “naughty” List | Mike Nathan | [
"Holiday Hacks",
"LED Hacks"
] | [
"christmas",
"leds",
"ornament",
"PIC 18F27J53"
] | [Dave Vandenbout] says that his sister has gotten big on Christmas traditions, and decided that the whole family should start making ornaments for the tree each year. Not one to let a chance to tinker with electronics pass him by, [Dave]
started brainstorming the perfect electronic ornament for their tree.
He settled on the Christmas tree design you see above, which will eventually hold 15 RGB LEDs. On the back of the board, he is planning on mounting a PIC 18F27J53 microcontroller, which will take care of the LED display along with his other more mischievous components.
You see, undeterred by his sister’s holiday spirit, [Dave] wants to arm the ornament with a foul mouth, and have it attempt to shake other ornaments off the tree. To do this, he’s installing a vibrating motor on the back of the PCB, along with a speaker and MicroSD card to provide the ornament’s sound bites.
To be honest, we think his idea is pretty entertaining, we can only imagine the look grandma will give when the cute, light up Christmas tree ornament blurts out, “Eat me Santa!”
We just hope he sends some video our way once he wraps up the project. | 10 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "537530",
"author": "Eirinn",
"timestamp": "2011-12-16T15:22:30",
"content": "Bwaha, finally an ornament that’s interesting.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "537541",
"author": "isama",
"timestamp": "2011-12-16T15:33:38",
... | 1,760,377,002.852265 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/12/15/saleae-logic-analyzer-knockoff-hacking/ | Saleae Logic Analyzer Knockoff Hacking | Mike Szczys | [
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"clone",
"knockoff",
"logic analyzer",
"saleae",
"usbee"
] | Despite what this module says on the case, it’s certainly not official Saleae Logic Analyzer hardware. [Jack Andrews] picked up this Chinese knockoff on eBay for about $18. When plugged into the computer the Saleae software picks it up as the official hardware. But [Jack] has seen other knockoffs which have a jumper to select between Saleae cloning and USBee cloning so
he found a way to switch software with this dongle
.
He pulled the board out of the case and discovered a Cypress CY7C68013A microcontroller on a poorly-soldered board (imagine that). This is an 8051-compatible processor that includes USB functionality. There’s also an EEPROM on the bottom of the board which stores the VID/PID pair identifying it as Saleae Logic hardware. The trick to getting this working with
the USBee software
is to change that pair. [Jack] managed to do this without an external programmer. He uninstalled the Saleae driver and installed a Cypress driver. Then he wrote a bit of code for the CY7C68013A to rewrite the EEPROM and flashed it via the USB connection. Now the dongle enumerates as USBee Logic Analyzer hardware. | 72 | 33 | [
{
"comment_id": "537119",
"author": "Whatnot",
"timestamp": "2011-12-16T00:48:49",
"content": "I wonder if you can do it computerside too, man-in-the-middle attack and intercept the system providing the ID’s, that must be doable since I don’t think they went all insane on protecting that so far.The ... | 1,760,377,002.640792 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/12/15/build-your-own-miniature-self-parking-car/ | Build Your Own Miniature Self Parking Car | Mike Nathan | [
"Microcontrollers",
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"atmega16",
"car",
"proximity sensor",
"self park"
] | [Achu Wilson] was watching TV when he saw an ad for Volkswagen’s latest Passat, which happens to come equipped with a park assist mode. This essentially allows the car to park itself with little to no user interaction. While these systems come as a pricey add-on option, he figured
he could build something similar
in his own home, albeit on a much smaller scale.
Digging through his parts bin he only came across a single infrared proximity sensor, so instead of building vehicle that could parallel park, he settled on constructing one that can situate itself in a traditional parking spot instead. The car is built from wood and a pair of DC motors [Achu] had on hand, both of which are controlled using an ATmega16.
As a proof of concept, it looks to work pretty well despite the fact that it only has a single fixed sensor navigate its surroundings. We imagine it would be a relatively easy task to adapt the system for parallel parking, among other things.
Continue reading to see [Achu’s] self-parking car in action.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=GDYHJPsIQ2M&w=470] | 6 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "537097",
"author": "Alex McAlpine",
"timestamp": "2011-12-16T00:01:22",
"content": "Do I see vintage Capsela wheels on this build????!!?!?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "537138",
"author": "Sam",
"timestamp": "2011-12-1... | 1,760,377,002.536638 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/12/15/improving-terrible-computer-speakers/ | Improving Terrible Computer Speakers | Brian Benchoff | [
"digital audio hacks",
"Peripherals Hacks"
] | [
"audio amplifier",
"speakers",
"stereo"
] | [Victor] likes to watch movies on his laptop, but the tiny speakers in his machine don’t do [John Williams] and other perfectly fine soundtracks justice. To pump up the jams a little bit, [Victor] got a pair of Trust Mila 2.0 speakers for Sinterklaas. Unfortunately, these speakers were terrible – noise everywhere, tinny output and a brighter-than-the-sun blue LED. These problems were fixed once [Victor]
replaced the amplifier in both speakers
.
After shopping around for a new power amp to go in each speaker, [Vic] hit upon the
MAX9575 3.2 Watt amplifier
. This little guy met all of [Victor]’s requirements. The only problem is that the MAX9575 is only available in a TQFN package.
After a deep breath and much sweat of the brow, both amps found a new home in their respective speakers, deadbug style. It probably would have been easier to etch a PCB, but we’ll give a tip of the hat to [Victor]’s fine motor skills anyway.
Because of the insane soldering skill demonstrated in the title pic, [Vic] now has a really nice pair of speakers. Check out the demo of the improved speakers after the break.
[vimeo=33724857] | 33 | 18 | [
{
"comment_id": "537012",
"author": "mohonri",
"timestamp": "2011-12-15T22:18:19",
"content": "Soldering a TQFP deadbug style? Wow, this guy’s ambitious. I’m surprised he wasn’t able to find *any* amp in a PDIP package that would have met his requirements.Besides, he can’t drive more than 2.5W, pe... | 1,760,377,002.710174 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/12/15/censoring-all-the-f-words-on-tv/ | Censoring All The ‘F’ Words On TV | Brian Benchoff | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"Video Hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"closed captions",
"video experimenter"
] | [Milton] sent in a build that censors every ‘F’ word on TV, and not just the one that rhymes with ‘duck,’ either.
His setup
sounds the alarm every time someone inside the moving picture box says a word that contains the letter F.
The build is based around Nootropic Design’s
Video Experimenter Shield
. This neat little shield has been used as a
video sampler
and has analyzed what the
talking heads are actually saying
. The Video Experimenter Shield has support for closed captions, meaning a transcript from a TV show can be read in real-time. All [Milton] had to do so the ‘F word’ alarm could be sounded was strchr().
The F-Chip, as [Milton] calls his build, includes three outputs – a solenoid sounds a bicycle horn, sends some air through a whistle, and lights up an ‘F-word’ alarm. From the video of the F-Chip in action (available after the break), we can tell that this build is awesome, thoughtful, and annoying. The only way it could be made more annoying is by making an ‘E-word’ alarm, but
there are ways around that
.
[vimeo=33553853] | 25 | 14 | [
{
"comment_id": "536913",
"author": "MrX",
"timestamp": "2011-12-15T21:05:17",
"content": "“All [Milton] had to do so the ‘F word’ alarm could be sounded was strchr().”Trying to sound 133t?It is strstr() that allows you to locate a string in a string, NOT strchr()",
"parent_id": null,
"depth... | 1,760,377,003.201793 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/12/13/dilemmabox-brings-tactile-upvoting/ | Dilemmabox Brings Tactile Upvoting | Mike Szczys | [
"laptops hacks"
] | [
"dilemmabox",
"pull",
"rope"
] | Here’s a fun art installation which you might run into downtown. It’s called the Dilemmabox and lets you
pull a rope to up or down vote a question
. [Christoffer Lorang Dahl] realized that touchscreens are wiping out a lot of really fun user interfaces of yore. He incorporated the two hanging rope inputs as an homage to doorbell ropes.
The built process works much like a laptop-to-digital photo frame conversion. The first step is to liberate the LCD screen from the laptop body. Both are housed in a wooden box, with a window cut out to show the screen. The mechanically clever part is the rope pulls. They’re both just pressing a key on the keyboard in a roundabout sort of way. [Christoffer] attached a smooth hemispherical piece to two keys. The ropes are connected to wooden levers which are held in place by springs. They rub on the hemispheres just enough when passing by to register a keypress.
The photo above was taken during the Dilemmabox’s brief appearance at
a shopping plaza in Oslo
. | 7 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "534781",
"author": "Techartisan",
"timestamp": "2011-12-14T00:42:47",
"content": "In Norway this would work….look at the cute civilized couple thrilled to play with the interesting installation.In America the 3rd or 4th adult along would decide to test how hard they could pull the c... | 1,760,377,003.247175 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/12/13/android-legs-stability-testing/ | Android Legs Stability Testing | Mike Szczys | [
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"balance",
"gyroscope",
"servo"
] | This is [James’] latest android build,
a set of legs that use gyroscopes for balance
.
He started off by planning the build with some LEGO pieces to get an idea of how each foot and leg joint would fit together. This let him achieve one of his goals. From the start he wanted to create a robot that would remain stable, and not build up enough momentum to tip itself over if there is a problem. With the dimensions established he cut out parts from 2mm sheets of HIP plastic using a hobby knife. They work in conjunction with a frame made from aluminum and HDPE. The whole thing houses eight servos responsible for movement, but he found an interesting way to use them for balance as well.
[James] came across some gyroscopic sensors which are made for use with RC helicopters. They connect in-line with a servo motor and offset it based on the gyro data. He’s using four of them with this bot, playing the hip and ankle servos against each other for balance. What results is a set of legs that look like their jonesin’ for a fix. See for yourself in the clip after the break.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=904erau8z_M&w=470] | 9 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "534792",
"author": "monster",
"timestamp": "2011-12-14T00:57:12",
"content": "you can teach a robot to walk, but can you teach it… to love?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "534837",
"author": "Saul Goode",
"timestamp": "2... | 1,760,377,003.291688 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/12/13/troubleshooting-household-light-timers/ | Troubleshooting Household Light Timers | Mike Nathan | [
"Repair Hacks",
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"desoldering",
"lights",
"relay",
"timer",
"transistor troubleshooting"
] | When [Todd Harrison’s] Christmas lights stayed on well past the pre-defined shut off time,
he knew there was something wrong with the timer.
He took the device into his workshop and spent some time diagnosing and repairing the device, a process he recorded for all to see.
After busting the screw-less timer open with a hammer, he inspected the PCB for any apparent signs of damage. After seeing what looked like a damaged transistor, he desoldered it from the board for testing. After the transistor passed his tests with flying colors, [Todd] assumed that the fault had to be in the relay which the transistor was responsible for switching.
Sure enough, the relay had shorted out, and upon cutting it open he found that the contact points were fused together. He separated and sanded the contacts down, enabling him to get the timer working – at least for the time being.
Part of [Todd’s] goal with this video was to show off different methods of desoldering, including a manual solder sucker (my favorite), desoldering braid, and a purpose built desoldering iron. If you’re in the market for some desoldering tools, but don’t know what to buy, [Todd] is more than happy to offer his advice.
Continue reading to see a video of [Todd’s] troubleshooting process.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUAu_zXsudM&w=470] | 13 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "534625",
"author": "Conner",
"timestamp": "2011-12-13T21:45:25",
"content": "I actually just hacked a broken light timer. The knob was busted so I couldn’t fix it. It ended up turning into this(http://www.instructables.com/id/3-Channel-arduino-Powered-Christmas-Light-Controll/). Alt... | 1,760,377,003.402014 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/12/13/simple-ir-sensor-simplifies-laptop-audio-control/ | Simple IR Sensor Simplifies Laptop Audio Control | Mike Nathan | [
"Misc Hacks",
"Wireless Hacks"
] | [
"attiny13",
"ir",
"remote"
] | [Owen] has a fairly big project in the works, where he’ll need to use infrared light to send data wirelessly between two nodes. The only problem with his grand plan is that he has never built anything of the sort. As a learning exercise, he decided to try his hand at building
a wireless control interface for his laptop
, which he uses to play music while doing homework.
His laptop usually sits across the room from [Owen], where it is connected to a speaker and amplifier. He hates getting up repeatedly to change songs, so he figured he might as well build an IR receiver to control Winamp that responds to commands from his TV’s remote control. Using his Open Bench logic sniffer and an IR receiver from an old VCR, he deciphered his remote’s encoding system. He then programmed an ATtiny13 to decode messages received by the IR sensor, sending them to his laptop via USB.
He packaged things inside a tiny mint tin, which he hangs from a desk lamp while in use. Now he can easily perform just about any action in Winamp with a few button presses on his remote. [Owen] says that he’s incredibly happy with the results, and now that he has a firm grasp of IR signaling concepts, we can’t wait to see what he builds next. | 5 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "534525",
"author": "Sean",
"timestamp": "2011-12-13T19:28:02",
"content": "LIRC?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "534570",
"author": "aarku",
"timestamp": "2011-12-13T20:21:01",
"content": "I really admire the creativ... | 1,760,377,003.540876 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/12/13/ask-hackaday-organizing-a-growing-collection-of-electronic-odds-and-ends/ | Ask Hackaday: Organizing A Growing Collection Of Electronic Odds And Ends | Mike Nathan | [
"Ask Hackaday"
] | [
"Ask Hackaday",
"electronics parts",
"storage"
] | [Tim] wrote in, lamenting a problem that many of us can likely echo. Over the years, he has acquired all sorts of small electronic parts and components, along with tools and accessories – all of which are starting to crowd his workspace. He says that most of his stockpile is being stored in a tackle box, but it’s getting unwieldy and he would like to
find a better way to organize things.
Yours truly suffers from the same sort of situation. It’s mostly a result of being a tad bit lazy, while conveniently finding alternative storage containers for my electronic odds and ends. My workbench is strewn with plastic snack baggies (for screws, not ESD-sensitive bits), Glad-Ware containers, Eclipse gum packages, and old plastic baby formula tubs for larger items. While I’m certainly doing my share to reuse plastic packaging, I am aware that it’s not exactly the best organization methodology.
This topic does come up pretty often
, and even though we’ve talked about it on several occasions, people still like to hear fresh feedback from their peers. If you have some clever organization tips, or a novel way of storing your electronics components, be sure to share them in the comments! | 54 | 43 | [
{
"comment_id": "534403",
"author": "Stephen",
"timestamp": "2011-12-13T18:10:17",
"content": "I suggest two tackle boxes minimum: Capacitors and resistors. I keep common stuff in the bins inside, and the uncommon bulk inside a box within the tackle box.The only other suggestion I have is larger pol... | 1,760,377,003.836453 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/12/13/dial-1-to-get-siri-as-your-operator/ | Dial 1 To Get Siri As Your Operator | Brian Benchoff | [
"Phone Hacks"
] | [
"bluetooth",
"rotary phone",
"siri"
] | Back in the days of yore when hats were fashionable and color TV didn’t exist, there were real life people who would answer the phone if you dialed 0. These operators would provide directory assistance, and connect you to another number (such as KL5-8635). Apple’s Siri is a lot like an olde-timey phone operator, so [davis] decided to
put Siri in an old rotary telephone
.
The build started off with a very inexpensive Bluetooth headset and very old rotary phone. The single button on the Bluetooth headset was wired to a contact of the dial – in this case, the number 1. Dialing 1 shorts two contacts in the phone and the Bluetooth headset turns on.
[davis] came up with a very easy build but dialing 1 just isn’t the same as dialing 0. Connecting the Bluetooth button to 0 closes the button for too long. He says ‘0 for operator’ could be implemented with an ATtiny or similar, but we’re wondering if [davis] could make due with a dial-less
candlestick phone
.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?&v=hfUfxslXp5s&w=470] | 33 | 15 | [
{
"comment_id": "534375",
"author": "Brett",
"timestamp": "2011-12-13T17:13:11",
"content": "Dialing 0 doesn’t “close the button too long”, it “closes the button” 10 times. C’mon, this is Hack A Day…",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "534383",
... | 1,760,377,003.497963 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/12/13/building-the-ocarina-of-time-with-an-fpga/ | Building The Ocarina Of Time With An FPGA | Brian Benchoff | [
"Musical Hacks"
] | [
"additive synthesis",
"audio synth",
"fpga",
"ocarina"
] | [Joe] and [Evan] wanted to have some fun with their FPGA course at Cornell. When faced with what to do at the beginning of the semester, they figured additive synthesis was a worthy pursuit. They ended up
building the Ocarina of Time
for their final project.
The guys started by recording a real ocarina and figuring out the relative power levels of each harmonic. Because any sound can be synthesized from a bunch of sine waves, having their Altera FPGA board replicate those frequencies produces a nice ocarina sound
[Joe] and [Evan]’s ocarina has a ‘mouthpiece’ that is just a small microphone. This mic is hooked up to the FPGA board and controls the volume. Sadly, the guys didn’t have time to take apart an N64 controller so 6 red buttons serve as the finger holes.
From the video after the break, [Joe] and [Evan] really pulled together something that sounds like Link’s Ocarina. Great work, guys.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBLMK4ax-HM&w=470] | 8 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "534646",
"author": "resistator",
"timestamp": "2011-12-13T22:19:11",
"content": "The title made me think someone had put the entire game + N64 on an FPGA. The actual project, while neat, isn’t nearly as impressive.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
... | 1,760,377,004.192602 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/12/13/half-keyboard-half-guitar-totally-radical-the-tabstrummer/ | Half Keyboard, Half Guitar, Totally Radical, The Tabstrummer! | Jeremy Cook | [
"Musical Hacks"
] | [
"Atmel",
"guitar",
"midi",
"tabstrummer"
] | While tablature-based music probably annoys “properly” trained musicians to no end, it has given many musicians and musical-hobbyists their first introduction to the world of guitar. The
[Tabstrummer]
takes this to a whole new level, allowing chords to be programmed into this instrument and played back. Once pre-programmed chord is set, the “conductor-strings” are strummed to allow the chord to play.
This device is based around an Atmel microcontroller and features a MIDI output as well as an audio-out jack. Besides the interesting electrical hardware, the housing seems to be quite well-built featuring what appears to be an acrylic or polycarbonate body. Although not quite the same thing, possibly some influence was gained from the
[Keytar]
. It’s heyday may be past, but not forgotten.
Check out the video below for a Christmas-themed jam played on the [Tabstrummer] or check out their
video page
for several more songs. This “hack” is being considered as a commercial product, so the inventors would love to hear your feedback!
[youtube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9TRn546YfA%5D | 26 | 15 | [
{
"comment_id": "534289",
"author": "Petran",
"timestamp": "2011-12-13T15:41:02",
"content": "it’s very neat however I can’t understand what is its intended use. I don’t think that people who actually learn or play music would be keen on strumming fake strings and pressing buttons 1,1,1,2,2,1,3,1 et... | 1,760,377,003.95245 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/12/12/get-ready-to-play-some-wicked-air-harp/ | Get Ready To Play Some Wicked Air Harp | Mike Szczys | [
"Musical Hacks"
] | [
"air harp",
"camcorder",
"fpga",
"green",
"vhdl"
] | Who needs a tactile interface when you can wave your hands in the air to make music?
Air String makes that possible
and surprisingly it does so without the use of a Kinect sensor.
In the image above, you can see that two green marker caps are used as plectra to draw music out of the non-existent strings. Judiciously perched atop that
Analysis and Design of Digital Systems with VHDL
textbook is a camcorder recording an image of the player. This signal is processed by an FPGA (hence the textbook) in real-time, and shown on the monitor seen to the right. A set of guides are overlaid on the image, so the player knows where to pluck to get the notes she is expecting.
The program is designed to pick up on bright green colors as the inputs. It works like a charm as you can see in the video after the break. The team of Cornell students responsible for the project also mention a few possible improvements like adding a distance sensor (ultrasonic rangefinder?) so that depth can be used for the dynamics of the sound.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpek7RI7Si8&w=470] | 10 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "533676",
"author": "xorpunk",
"timestamp": "2011-12-13T01:51:11",
"content": "also doable with rf+accelerometer+dsp+software in a production unit..this design has too many range limitations..a low-rf/power solution could drop data frames and still be accurate and smooth.the visual w... | 1,760,377,003.884893 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/12/12/kindle-fire-cover-from-a-moleskine-journal/ | Kindle Fire Cover From A Moleskine Journal | Mike Szczys | [
"Kindle hacks",
"Tablet Hacks"
] | [
"case",
"cover",
"kindle",
"kindle fire",
"moleskine",
"tablet"
] | [Kevin Haw] is the proud owner of a brand new Kindle Fire. But to protect the investment he wanted a nice looking case and decided that DIY was the way to go. He ended up
repurposing a Moleskine journal as a table cover
.
You can do this one yourself in under an hour. Most of the pages in these journals are sewn in place and [Kevin] started by cutting the strings with a hobby knife. Once removed, he used a utility knife to separate the pages that were glued to the cover; this leaves you in the state seen above.
Obviously this unfinished look just won’t do. [Kevin] used some red duct tape duct tape to cover the unsightly spine. This adds strength, and does the job of cleaning up the area, but we might have also applied felt (or microfiber cloth) to the entire inside area for a bit more finished look. The final part is mounting the tablet which was accomplished with adhesive Velcro strips. These can be removed from the back of the Kindle Fire later on if you decided to use a different enclosure. | 37 | 20 | [
{
"comment_id": "533651",
"author": "Neil",
"timestamp": "2011-12-13T01:07:04",
"content": "The Moleskin costs more than a Kindle cover. Why did you do this?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "539172",
"author": "Andreas",
"timest... | 1,760,377,004.02671 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/12/12/simple-pcb-vise/ | Simple PCB Vise | Mike Szczys | [
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"clamp",
"nylon",
"pcb",
"polyethylene",
"uhmw"
] | This one almost got relegated to a links post, but [Ken’s]
simple PCB vise
(PDF) is just so useful we had to give it a standalone feature. It works so well because he made every design feature count.
For instance, the groove the holds the PCB (almost impossible to see here but look at the diagrams in the PDF linked above) is cut with a dovetail bit, rather than just being a square rabbit. The clamping force is provided by that blue rubber band which simply hooks on a metal shelf peg on each side of the clamping plates. Those plates are machined out of polyethylene and slide nicely along the two nylon rods which keep them aligned. There’s really nothing to break or wear out here, except the rubber band with is easily replaceable. The rubber feet keep it from sliding across the bench as you work.
This is great for soldering, and would go right along with those
diy smd parts clamps
you made. It’s also a great way to hold onto your prototype boards when you’re working out the firmware. | 25 | 15 | [
{
"comment_id": "533572",
"author": "Tron9000",
"timestamp": "2011-12-12T23:54:40",
"content": "Erm….vise……don’t you mean vice?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "533598",
"author": "Adrian",
"timestamp": "2011-12-13T00:35:41",
... | 1,760,377,004.083792 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/12/12/crunching-the-numbers-using-solar-cells-indoors/ | Crunching The Numbers: Using Solar Cells Indoors | Mike Szczys | [
"green hacks"
] | [
"photovoltaic",
"solar",
"test platform"
] | [Mathieu] was interested in using more solar cells for his everday electronics. He looked around but couldn’t find much information about using pholovoltaic for small indoor devices. We remember hearing some of the same things from [Dave Jones] in one of his EEVblog installments from a few years ago which looked at solar calculators; the only indoor solar gadget we can think of.
The quest for knowledge was on and [Mathieu] decided to
build this indoor solar cell test platform
. It’s a stable piece of hardware that allows him to run reliable tests in many different conditions. It’s designed to compare two identical cells. One is charging the Lithium cell, the other is driving a load directly. A second battery powers the platform separately from the solar circuits so that it can be used as a data logger. He collects, dumps, and graphs info from his test runs, then discusses his findings. We won’t spoil it, but the results are not great. Mostly you need sunlight to get real results as it’s just so much more powerful than artificial lighting. | 27 | 15 | [
{
"comment_id": "533531",
"author": "xorpunk",
"timestamp": "2011-12-12T22:54:52",
"content": "In a realistic scenario you’d have a charge controller and a data state storage method if data was involved, or termination handshake if signal was involved.I’ve been seeing people waste so much time over ... | 1,760,377,004.149294 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/12/12/sphere-morphing-hexabot-is-a-mechanical-jellyfish/ | Sphere Morphing Hexabot Is A Mechanical Jellyfish | Brian Benchoff | [
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"hexapod",
"morph",
"servo"
] | Once again, we’re wowed over [Zenta]’s
robotic skill
. A few months ago, [Zenta] posted a video of his
MorpHex hexapod spherebot
that left us awed. After a few long months, more bits of MorpHex have made it onto the chassis. [Zenta] says his project isn’t done but it’s still enough to knock our socks off.
Going through the [Zenta] archives, there’s a little more to go on this time around. The MorpHex will be made up of two hemispheres, but only the bottom one will be able to walk. That’s really not that bad because [Zenta] gave the upper panels 1 degree of freedom. Just enough to scare off predators, we’re sure.
The
chassis
and the
legs
are amazing little pieces of engineering. Despite all the work [Zenta] has put into his MorpHex, there’s still work to be done. He hasn’t gotten the sphere to roll on command yet. We’ll be sure to post a video of the robot dancing to some lo-fi. Check that out after the jump.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?&v=z2j69eI9ob8&w=470] | 35 | 24 | [
{
"comment_id": "533427",
"author": "raged",
"timestamp": "2011-12-12T20:12:21",
"content": "Very cool!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "533430",
"author": "heine",
"timestamp": "2011-12-12T20:16:42",
"content": "This is truly impress... | 1,760,377,004.314666 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/12/12/muff-fones-sound-dirty-well-not-literally/ | Muff-Fones Sound Dirty; Well, Not Literally | Mike Szczys | [
"digital audio hacks",
"Wearable Hacks"
] | [
"ear muffs",
"ear warmers",
"headphones"
] | Baby, it’s cold outside. But that doesn’t stop [Grissini] from listening to some tunes when not indoors. He
added headphones to a pair of ear warmers
. We guess you could call them ear muffs, which is where the name comes from. But these are the newer type that wrap around the back of your head.
[Grissini] picked up a set of headphones that similarly wrap around the back of your head. After pulling the speakers out of their plastic enclosures he needed a way to soften the sharp edges when they’ll be pressed against your ears. Sugru once again shows its versatility by providing a soft, self-bonding, and moldable surface. The last step is dead simple, as the ear warmers already have a fabric pocket by each ear perfect for accepting the speakers.
Now we need this to go one step further, by making them wireless. We figure
hacking in a bluetooth headset board
would make it work with your cellphone. Or you could roll your own minimal MP3 board and house it in the part that wraps around your neck. | 14 | 11 | [
{
"comment_id": "533362",
"author": "brad",
"timestamp": "2011-12-12T19:11:00",
"content": "Really?Yes, there is a magical pocket that just so happens to be “perfect for accepting speakers”. Well, that’s cause they were made for that exact purpose!In fact, I had a pair of these “newer style” ear muf... | 1,760,377,004.368007 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/12/15/decorating-an-ent-for-christmas/ | Decorating An Ent For Christmas | Mike Szczys | [
"Holiday Hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"christmas tree",
"ent",
"processing",
"servo"
] | These images may look the same, but if you peer closely at the one on the left you’ll notice the eyes staring back at you. It seems animatronic decor is in this year, and we think [Fjord Carver’s]
talking Christmas tree
is one of the better offerings.
He picked up the diminutive tree at the dollar store, then started added the pieces that put on the show seen after the break. A small strand of battery operated lights, and a bit of garland are traditional. But the Arduino and pair of servo motors are a new holiday tradition. They move parts of the tree to reveal a set of eyes and animate a mouth. He drives the display by sending serial commands from a computer to the Arduino. This way you can script your performances, with flapping jaw, moving eyelids, and blinking lights while the computer supplies the sound.
Is it just us, or does anyone else really want to see this guy singing
the Chipmunk’s Christmas Song
? Or if that’s a bit too wholesome you could go
the more vulgar route
.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cmjsczz-Tbs&w=470] | 8 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "536858",
"author": "Fjordcarver",
"timestamp": "2011-12-15T20:10:46",
"content": "You forgot to mention that the speech is being generated(via free tts) and is not pre-recorded.It’d be a snap to have him read a feed, or tell some jokes from some text files(I linked to a video of a s... | 1,760,377,004.245072 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/12/15/impromptu-lamp-runs-linux/ | Impromptu Lamp Runs Linux | Mike Szczys | [
"LED Hacks",
"Linux Hacks"
] | [
"ethernet",
"fox",
"lamp",
"lx832",
"rgb"
] | This LED lamp, which uses a soda cup as a lampshade, is
Internet enabled thanks to a Linux board
(
translated
). To say the system is overpowered would be a gross understatement. But at least there’s plenty of room for growth.
The lamp is really just a hardware extension for the Linux board. A half-dozen colored LEDs are driven by an ATmega8 and a few transistors. A Fox LX832 board pushes color instructions to the microcontroller via the i2c protocol. [Gibus] chose this board because it has a built-in Ethernet port which makes it perfect for communicating via a smart phone browser. This is where the majority of the work on the project happened. He coded a Flash application that lets you select color, hue, and saturation data from any device that doesn’t run iOS. These commands are processed by a C application running on the Linux board. See a demo of the web app, and the resulting color changes in the clip after the break.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rw4Dijq4AkU&w=470] | 3 | 2 | [
{
"comment_id": "536835",
"author": "Dan",
"timestamp": "2011-12-15T19:49:38",
"content": "Gives a new definition to “Runs on a LAMP stack…”",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "537082",
"author": "resistator",
"timestamp": "2011-12... | 1,760,377,004.407276 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/12/15/smother-yourself-in-addressable-leds/ | Smother Yourself In Addressable LEDs | Mike Szczys | [
"LED Hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"burning man",
"led",
"nano",
"rgb",
"spi",
"suit"
] | Guess where this guy’s headed in his suit of many colors? If you said Burning Man give your self a pat on the back. After making a half-hearted EL suit for the festival in 2010 [Sander] decided he needed to step it up this year. He
bought and affixed 200 LED modules to this suit
so that he could light up the night.
They’re mounted in a grid, and in order to keep the changing patterns orderly he mapped the physical location of each in his code using a two-dimensional array. The controller uses an Arduino nano to push the patterns out to the array via SPI.
[Sander] included several different visual effects for the controller. One strobes the suit starting from the right cuff when he shakes someone’s hand. There’s also an audio spectrum analyzer chip and microphone that let him pulse the lights to music. You can see how bright this thing is in the image above, but to get the full effect shouldn’t skip the video after the break.
He’s entered the project into
the Full Spectrum Laser Cutter giveaway
. If he wins, we expect laser cut goodness for next year’s festival!
[vimeo http://vimeo.com/29552399 w=470]
[via
Build Lounge
] | 10 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "536715",
"author": "PattyD",
"timestamp": "2011-12-15T18:05:12",
"content": "I am a software engineer that is just getting into hardware stuff… I bought my first arduino a few weeks ago… I am wondering if anyone has any links/insight into how he managed to individually control all o... | 1,760,377,004.705581 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/12/15/twitter-enabled-candy-machine-dispenses-treats-on-command/ | Twitter-enabled Candy Machine Dispenses Treats On Command | Mike Nathan | [
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"awesome",
"candy",
"servo",
"twitter"
] | [Michael Nilsson] and [Markus Olsson] were contemplating how to motivate members of their dev team when they came up with the idea of
a candy machine that automatically dispenses treats
when someone has earned it.
They picked up a candy machine, a continuous rotation servo and a controller, then got busy automating the dispenser. The mechanism behind the operation is actually pretty simple as you can see in [Michael’s] writeup. They disassembled the machine, removing the gear from the manual crank, attaching it to the servo. Once the servo was mounted place, they installed the servo controller and connected it up to a spare laptop.
The heavy lifting is done by a Ruby script that uses the Twitter API to scrape any mentions of @_macke_ or @sidpiraya. Incoming messages are checked for the words “give” and “candy”, triggering the machine to fork out some sweets.
If you think that their hard work deserves a bit of recognition, feel free to send them some candy by tweeting “give @_macke_candy” or “give @Sidpiraya candy”. Just remember to be considerate – nobody likes spam, not even candy machines!
If you’re interested in seeing the machine in action, be sure to check out
the candy dispenser’s live stream at giveawaycandy.com. | 4 | 3 | [
{
"comment_id": "536451",
"author": "Max",
"timestamp": "2011-12-15T15:09:40",
"content": "Oooh, you might want to remove those real names from the post. I can imagine that thing is going to be dispensing several tons of candy when the internet gets hold of it.(except it will run out in a few minute... | 1,760,377,004.799981 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/12/14/geared-system-adds-rfid-to-regular-door-locks/ | Geared System Adds RFID To Regular Door Locks | Mike Szczys | [
"home hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"door",
"lock",
"rfid"
] | [Flowolf] added an
auto-locking RFID entry system to his front door
. He used our favorite fabrication system, acrylic and threaded rod (we also like to throw in aluminum angle bracket from time to time). The support structure mounts underneath the escutcheon plate for the lockset, keeping the main acrylic sheet flat against the door.
An RFID reader and Arduino run the system, with a button inside to unlock the door. But if power were to fail, you will still be able to get in or out manually. When you are using the electronic system, a stepper motor connected to the geared lock knob by a chain is what grants access, then revokes it again five seconds later. The wire going up out of the this image is for a switch that lets the unit sense when the door is closed.
As shown in the video after the break, you can turn the auto-lock feature off. But we’d like to see an emergency entry feature, like
a knock-based lock
, because eventually you will leave without your keys!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9NV7lZxK08&w=470] | 13 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "535887",
"author": "metalwolf",
"timestamp": "2011-12-15T00:28:33",
"content": "I have been planning on something like this, the rfid tag would be put in my watch band so as i reach out to grab the door handle it would read the card and unlock the door.",
"parent_id": null,
... | 1,760,377,004.757246 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/12/14/high-speed-stepper-driving-25k-steps-per-second/ | High Speed Stepper Driving: 25k Steps Per Second | Mike Szczys | [
"Microcontrollers"
] | [
"driver",
"dspic33",
"stepper motor"
] | Stepper motors are pretty easy to control with a microcontroller. But if you’re looking to run then at a high number of revolutions per second things get tricky pretty quickly. [Uwe’s] been learning about and building stepper drivers for years, and recently he decided to
build a high-performance driver based on a MicroChip reference design
.
As with the reference design, his board uses a dsPIC33. But instead of using a series of discrete MOSFETS to switch the signals to the motor, he sourced an L298N motor driver. That’s it sticking up next to the large capacitor. When driven hard it needs its own heat sink, which [Uwe] cut from a larger CPU heat sink. During development, he decided to use interrupt-based PWM rather than the hardware PWM offered by the dsPIC. It works, but he would go the other route if doing it again.
For the pedestrian, the video after the break has all the details you need. For those that really want to dive in, [Uwe’s] multi-paged write-up is worth bookmarking.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_iJ-XGpFvs&w=470] | 30 | 16 | [
{
"comment_id": "535851",
"author": "Max",
"timestamp": "2011-12-14T23:20:44",
"content": "I can’t help feeling that it would be a lot less noisy and difficult to just use a normal motor and PWM drive. I would have thought the advantage of steppers is that you can step to a particular point rather t... | 1,760,377,004.999264 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/12/14/lighted-acrylic-christmas-ornaments/ | Lighted Acrylic Christmas Ornaments | Mike Szczys | [
"cnc hacks",
"Holiday Hacks"
] | [
"acrylic",
"cnc",
"lexan",
"light pipe",
"ornament"
] | If you’ve gone to the trouble of building your own CNC mill we know you’re always on the lookout for things to use it for. [Boris Landoni] wrote in with just the thing for the holiday season;
a set of lighted acrylic Christmas ornaments
.
One of the interesting properties of acrylic is how it reacts when edge-lit. The material pipes the light, until it bounces off of a disturbance in the surface. The first step is to design the outline of the ornament as all cut edges will glow. Next, [Boris] uses
artCAM
to design the internal parts to be cut. This application translates the relief cuts necessary to really make your design shine (sorry, we couldn’t resist). The best examples of this are the angel and candle seen above.
Each of these acrylic pieces has a slot cut on the bottom to hug an LED. [Boris] used small project boxes with a PCB for that diode, as well as a button battery for power. | 6 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "535836",
"author": "nathangray",
"timestamp": "2011-12-14T22:42:44",
"content": "These are very nice. Wish I had a cnc.I’ve got a hand-cut acrylic star with a blinkm on the top of the tree, with a wall wart hidden beside the trunk. Very cool, but prone to scratching, so it has to ... | 1,760,377,004.926413 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/12/10/a-little-fire-breathing-pony-to-call-your-own/ | A Little Fire Breathing Pony To Call Your Own | Mike Szczys | [
"Toy Hacks"
] | [
"fire",
"fire breathing",
"grill igniter",
"horse",
"pony",
"starter fluid"
] | [Lvl_joe] has been having a little
fun with fire and an animatronic pony
. The skeletal horse seen above is a child’s toy denuded of its original plush shell. That’s a good thing, because those synthetic fibers don’t play very nicely with flames. The toy originally retailed for around $300 bucks, but if you’re lucky, like [Joe], you can get one second-hand for $25 or less.
Since the horse is already motorized, it’s not too hard to patch into the drivers. Here an Arduino is used to take input from a Wii Nunchuck, letting you swing the fire sprayer to and fro. A grill igniter makes sure it’s not just spraying automotive starter fluid everywhere. You can hear the click of that tiny spark repeatedly firing in the demo video after the break. The starter fluid comes in an aerosol can. A custom trigger system holds the can in a PVC pipe, and actuates the valve with a
Bowden cable
.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNs4G2rKGOE&w=470] | 13 | 12 | [
{
"comment_id": "531848",
"author": "Steve",
"timestamp": "2011-12-10T20:31:05",
"content": "He gets my vote for “Dad of the Year”!!!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "531852",
"author": "Danniel Ingrem",
"timestamp": "2011-12-10T20:42:59"... | 1,760,377,005.110493 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/12/10/nine-not-so-easy-steps-to-build-a-singing-tesla-coil/ | Nine Not-so-easy Steps To Build A Singing Tesla Coil | Mike Szczys | [
"Misc Hacks",
"Musical Hacks"
] | [
"high voltage",
"music",
"tesla coil",
"torroid"
] | We love a good Tesla coil music performance, but have never really considered building our own. After reading [TheHomebrewGuru’s]
guide to musical Tesla coils
we’re still not considering it. Whether or not you’re going to undertake the project, his massive writeup is worth a look.
The tutorial begins at the beginning, with a bit of background on these devices, including what they are, where they came from, and the electrical theory behind them. From there it’s on to the build. This isn’t a go-out-and-buy it type of project. You’re going to need some ingenuity to hunt down parts that will work, and will work with each other.
The image above shows a partially built device, using sheet metal ductwork covered in foil tape as the torroid at the top. The column is wrapped in wire, forming the secondary coil, and the wooden base is ready for the installation of the primary coil. Electronics will be housed between the two wood discs of the base, with a TI Launchpad board driving the music part of the hack.
There isn’t a good demo video of this playing music. But you can get the idea if you look back at
the head-mounted tesla coil
which did a great job of pumping out the tunes. | 7 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "531786",
"author": "Bill",
"timestamp": "2011-12-10T18:35:26",
"content": "For those willing to trade the fun, time and difficulty in starting from scratch and sourcing pieces for the laziness in getting a kit, I suggest taking a look athttp://easternvoltageresearch.com/That’s were ... | 1,760,377,005.156288 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/12/10/ian-shops-akihabara/ | [Ian] Shops Akihabara | Mike Szczys | [
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"akihabara",
"dangerous prototypes",
"ian lesnet"
] | Hackaday alum and Dangerous Prototypes founder [Ian Lesnet] is in Japan and he’s been spending a lot of time at Akihabara Electric Town. For those that don’t recognize the name, this is an electronic components extravaganza with buildings packed full of small shops each specializing in different merchandise. For instance, we love this picture of a shop that carries every kind of protoboard, breakout board, and copper clad sheet imaginable. The stall next door might have nothing but LEDs, or be full of cords for every purpose.
We’ve been following [Ian’s] regular tweets about the trip. Luckily, he just posted
a roundup of the Akihabara posts
. Surprisingly, he restrained himself to purchasing just a few items. Part of this is a limit on the amount of stuff he can get back to the States with him. The other reason is that the prices are not necessarily less than you’d find in a catalog. He mentions that the nice thing is you can see the parts before buying them. This is useful for sizing knobs, transformers, cases, etc.
The most exciting thing in his bag is a half-dozen nixie-like VFD tubes for just $12. How much would you give to have this shopping attraction down the street from you?
If you’re interested in a video tour of Akihabara
check out this one
from the Tokyo Hackerspace.
[via
@dangerousproto
] | 32 | 22 | [
{
"comment_id": "531728",
"author": "DanJ",
"timestamp": "2011-12-10T17:09:51",
"content": "I’ve always made fun of shop-o-holics and the TV channels dedicated to selling stuff. I’m afraid a place like this would turn me into a hypocrite of the highest order while simultaneously melting down my cre... | 1,760,377,005.635639 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/12/10/weekly-roundup-121011/ | Weekly Roundup 12/10/11 | Jack Buffington | [
"Weekly Roundup"
] | [
"weekly roundup"
] | In case you missed them the first time, here are our most popular posts from the past week.
In first place is a post that made our mothers’ wash our mouths out with soap.
It is a periodic table of swearing!
Up next is a post about
a micromouse robot that can run a maze faster than you would think is possible
. Watch out lab rats, it’s gunning for your job.
Are regular violins too low tech? Would you rather play an instrument that could survive a few minutes with Chuck Norris and still keep playing the sweetest melodies?
[Ken] created a violin out of carbon fiber that fits the bill.
Want to brake some aluminum? (or bend for the white collar folks out there.) In this post, you can see
[Rupert’s] build where he has created a metal brake
out of little more than bamboo and some hinges.
Last but not the least is
[Zach’s] build that changes the brightness of his Christmas tree lights based on the pitch of the notes from the Star Wars theme. | 0 | 0 | [] | 1,760,377,005.672204 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/12/09/rc-blimp-uses-a-party-balloon-for-lift/ | R/C Blimp Uses A Party Balloon For Lift | Brian Benchoff | [
"Toy Hacks"
] | [
"blimp",
"remote control"
] | Here’s a
really tiny r/c blimp
that doesn’t need several cubic feet of Helium to get off the ground.
Instructables user [masynmachien] has been building r/c blimps for over a decade now, and this latest build is meant to have the same specs as
this nanoblimp
. The build is based on an 11-inch party balloon that can provide about 11 grams of lift. This doesn’t allow for much leeway in terms of weight, so [masymachien] used hacked-up servos for the motors.
The blimp is an exercise in saving weight – just about every component that can be removed from the build is thrown away. The results are pretty impressive. The entire blimp weighs about 10 grams on the ground. [masynmachien] also tried a 14-inch balloon with an
808 key fob camera
with very good results.
The blimp looks pretty good when flying around a room. [masymachien] seems to have a lot of control from a minimal component count. You can check out the party blimp in action after the break.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5lKNE5S1dQ&w=470] | 21 | 12 | [
{
"comment_id": "531218",
"author": "fakename",
"timestamp": "2011-12-09T22:09:09",
"content": "One word: awesome.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "531223",
"author": "pRtkL xLr8r",
"timestamp": "2011-12-09T22:12:28",
"content": "OM... | 1,760,377,005.059258 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/12/09/simulating-pentile-rgbg-displays/ | Simulating PenTile RGBG Displays | Mike Szczys | [
"Video Hacks"
] | [
"nexus one",
"pentile",
"rgbg"
] | Here’s an interesting experiment that lets you
simulate PenTile displays on a normal LCD monitor
. [Barrett Blackwood] wanted to test out how some graphics look on PenTile RGBG displays with different pixel densities. These
PenTile RGBG
matrices are sometimes used in OLED displays. For instance, the Nexus One smart phone features a display of this type. Because red, green, and blue OLEDs emit different intensities of light, the pixels are laid out differently from LCD panels in order to balance the color mixing. Our eyes see the green light very well, and so green sub-pixels are made much smaller than their red and blue counterparts.
Because the hardware layout is different, some graphics appear to have crosshatching artifacts in them when viewed on the PenTile displays. [Barrett] made the example above to simulate how graphics look on a traditional LCD screen (image on the left), and how they appear on the PenTile scren (image on the right). The magenta hue seen above is a result of resizing the image. Since the simulation method turns off 1/3 of the green pixels in the image, resizing it ruins the careful calculation. It must be view at a 1:1 ratio to see the image correctly, at which point the magenta magically disappears. | 22 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "531191",
"author": "Wizzard",
"timestamp": "2011-12-09T21:16:22",
"content": "That’s pretty neat.It’s also interesting that nomatter what the scale, the image appears red on my CRT (which I still use and love).Also, the same image can be dragged from the CRT (primary) to my LCD (sec... | 1,760,377,005.421942 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/12/09/pyxis-3-hits-beta-rebranded-as-gadgetos/ | Pyxis 3 Hits Beta; Rebranded As Gadgetos | Mike Szczys | [
"Microcontrollers"
] | [
"arm",
"gadgetos",
"pyxis",
"skewworks"
] | The
beta version of Pyxis 3 is now available
. Skewworks continues to develop the ARM operating system, and with the transition to version 3 they’ve given it a new name: Gadgetos. One big difference from
Pyxis 2
is that the new kernal is closed source. But they’ve taken steps to ensure that the OS is still hardware independent. This is done by reworking the kernel to allow driver loading at run time from an SD card.
The user interface has also changed a bit. Gadgetos relies entirely on a context-based menu system. The minimum input hardware requires a touchscreen LCD and one tactile button. By holding that button, a menu pops up in the center of the screen. This menu is different based on where it is called (this is where context comes in). If you’re at the desktop screen, you get options to load programs, etc. If you pull up the menu while running an application you’ll see the options available for that app. To see more about the new navigation system check out the video after the break.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSQcb9QemOs&w=470] | 24 | 12 | [
{
"comment_id": "531167",
"author": "jc",
"timestamp": "2011-12-09T20:20:02",
"content": "or.. you know. just use uclinux with matchbox or something.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "531169",
"author": "JackTheVendicator",
"time... | 1,760,377,005.346634 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/12/12/ge-color-effects-hacking-for-the-nautically-inclined/ | GE Color Effects Hacking For The Nautically Inclined | Mike Nathan | [
"Holiday Hacks",
"LED Hacks",
"News"
] | [
"christmas",
"color effects",
"led",
"pic"
] | [Jim] wrote in to share some work he did with GE Color Effects LED lights in an effort
to create a light display for his boat.
He saw
our coverage of the Color Effects G-35 hacking
efforts by DeepDarc last year, and knew that they would be prefect for the boat. He did some careful scouring of eBay to score 8 strings of lights at bargain basement pricing, then he got down to the business of hacking them.
He originally built a control circuit using a single PIC18F, but just before he started to put everything together, he realized that wiring everything up would be a huge undertaking. Going back to the drawing board, he decided it would be best to replace the lights’ stock board with one of his own. Now, he uses a single master controller board to send messages to his slave “pods”, significantly cutting down the amount of wiring required for the project.
The display looks great as you can see in the video below, though as many do, [Jim] has plenty of improvements in mind for the future.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_P7lSY4NMXQ&feature=player_embedded&w=470] | 7 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "533294",
"author": "Flokos",
"timestamp": "2011-12-12T18:14:10",
"content": "Im curious how he managed to make the leds adressable since every string comes fixed in one cord.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "533814",
"a... | 1,760,377,005.56799 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/12/12/nokia-n900-control-pad-is-perfect-for-gaming-on-the-go/ | Nokia N900 Control Pad Is Perfect For Gaming On The Go | Mike Nathan | [
"Cellphone Hacks",
"News"
] | [
"addon",
"ATmega8A",
"game",
"gamepad",
"N900",
"nokia"
] | [Andrzej] loves his Nokia N900, noting that it makes a great portable gaming device. Since it supports a wide array of emulators, it’s perfect for indulging his gaming nostalgia on the go. He says that the one downside to the N900 is that its keyboard doesn’t make gaming easy, nor comfortable.
To make gaming a big more fun,
he built himself an add-on gamepad
that fits perfectly over the phone’s keyboard. Connected via the phone’s USB port, it features 8 push buttons along with a PSP joystick. He used an ATmega8A as the brains of the controller, communicating with the phone as a USB keyboard. He says that this sort of configuration makes it extremely easy to do all sorts of custom button mapping on a per-game basis.
As you can see in the picture above the controller is currently lacking a case, but we think that with a bit of clever packaging, it could look as nice as a retail add-on.
Check out the short video below to see his gamepad in action.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPLLmpMCu1U&feature=player_embedded&w=470] | 16 | 11 | [
{
"comment_id": "533265",
"author": "vic",
"timestamp": "2011-12-12T17:35:11",
"content": "i would fill the pcb with silicon, and carefully make a case of hot retractable black plastic for it.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "533276",
"author... | 1,760,377,005.791373 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/12/12/a-clock-made-out-of-some-very-weird-tubes/ | A Clock Made Out Of Some Very Weird Tubes | Brian Benchoff | [
"clock hacks"
] | [
"clock",
"crt",
"neon",
"nixie",
"nixie clock",
"numitron",
"thyratron"
] | If you’re like [Richard], you’ve got a few really rare components lying around. Maybe it’s a very weird micro or a really tiny CRT, but eventually you’ve got to build something with these parts. When [Richard] decided to put some ITS1A neon display tubes to use, he fell back to the old standby – a
really awesome clock
.
Unlike the lowly Nixie tube, the
ITS1A tube
is
weird.
It’s a neon seven-segment display that can be controlled directly from the pins of a microcontroller. It does this with the help of seven tiny thyratrons in each segment. Even though this tube has neon, the display isn’t the familiar neon orange-red. The tube emits a lovely green with the help of a phosphor coating.
With a single digit already incorporated into [Richard]’s clock, he needed four indicators for the hours and minutes. After a failed experiment with a crazy 4-color, 16-pixel
Melz ITM2-M display
, he moved on to a simpler MTX90 thyratron indicator.
Using the same control scheme as his earlier
numitron clock
, Richard had a PCB made and wired everything up. The seven-segment tube indicates the value, and the indicator tubes indicates the position of the digit in the XX:XX standard. A very cool build with parts you don’t see coming around often. | 20 | 16 | [
{
"comment_id": "533154",
"author": "Stephen",
"timestamp": "2011-12-12T16:23:59",
"content": "I hate waiting for the server to recover from hackaday users overloading it.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "533262",
"author": "keru",
... | 1,760,377,005.892047 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/12/12/dimming-ac-lights-the-hard-way/ | Dimming AC Lights The Hard Way | Brian Benchoff | [
"Holiday Hacks"
] | [
"ac",
"christmas lights",
"pwm"
] | It’s that time of year again where the thermometer drops, the sun sets earlier, and we try to warm our hearts with the solstice festival that is common in our own respective cultures. Of course we all need a few strings of lights, but wouldn’t it be great if we had
PWM controlled dimmable lights
?
When he started out on his PWM-controlled, AC-powered light box, [Waterbury] immediately realized that relays were
not
going to be an optimal solution. The best way out of the mess he dug himself into would be via
zero crossing
. After getting a transformer wired up to a transistor for the detection circuit, a short bit of code was written in the wee hours of the morning and a
proof of concept
was had.
With the control box complete, [Waterbury] hacked up a quick
VB app
and piped the output of a WinAmp visualizer into the lights via serial. The
Inception
demo
was great, but finer-grain control was needed. After seeing a Hack a Day post on a nice
equalizer chip
, the seven band output on IC were converted to UART.
[Waterbury] took his seven-band AC-controlled light box to a Halloween party with his synth and the results looked awesome. You can check that out after the break, but we’re really waiting to see his Christmas decorations this year.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?&v=tVzEp0hbRbg&w=470] | 21 | 12 | [
{
"comment_id": "533087",
"author": "bearmos",
"timestamp": "2011-12-12T14:37:23",
"content": "generally,decent AC SSR’shave zero cross detectors built in. . .what did i miss? I looked for a reference to the p\\n of relay being used, but couldn’t find one from a quick skim of the pages. . .",
"... | 1,760,377,006.451646 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/12/11/chrono-tomic-shield-helps-your-arduino-keep-perfect-time/ | Chrono-tomic Shield Helps Your Arduino Keep Perfect Time | Mike Nathan | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"Microcontrollers"
] | [
"arduino",
"atomic time",
"MCP79410N",
"PIC16F",
"rtc",
"shield",
"wwvb"
] | [Josh] and his lab partner [Eric] needed a final project for their Embedded Systems Design class, and thought that designing an Arduino shield would be a cool idea. They noticed that there are plenty of ways to get an Arduino to keep time, though none that they knew of utilized WWVB (Atomic Time) signals directly.
The Chrono-tomic Arduino shield
uses a C-MAX radio to demodulate the WWVB signal, demodulating it and passing it along to a PIC16F1824 microcontroller. The PIC decodes the data frame and verifies it is valid, sending the time to an MCP79410N real-time clock module.
We can hear the “Yo dawg I herd you like microcontrollers so I put a microcontroller on your microcontroller shield” jokes already, but the pair says that they offloaded the time processing to the PIC in order to let the Arduino focus on whatever tasks it has been delegated. The Arduino code merely needs to request the time from the RTC whenever it is required, rather than deal with the decoding itself.
Is it overkill? Perhaps – though we think it heavily depends on your application and configuration. We can certainly conjure up situations where it would be useful. | 28 | 13 | [
{
"comment_id": "532404",
"author": "Vince Mulhollon",
"timestamp": "2011-12-11T19:37:56",
"content": "Pair the WWVB RX with a servo driver, write some code that boils down to “read da time, translate in some lookup tables and such, write to da servos, sleep for about half a second, repeat”Make some... | 1,760,377,005.73877 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/12/11/detecting-seismic-waves-with-a-piezo-element/ | Detecting Seismic Waves With A Piezo Element | Mike Nathan | [
"Arduino Hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"charge amp",
"ethernet shield",
"pachube",
"seismic activity"
] | While we normally see piezo elements being used to output audio, [Veedo] thought that they could
be used in a more useful manner.
He bought way too many piezo film tabs and decided to use them to build a makeshift seismic sensor.
The piezo tabs came with weights attached at one end, though while testing them, he found that they more or less only detected vibrations with frequencies in the KHz range. Since earthquakes tend to produce vibrations in the 30-80 Hz range, he had to tweak his setup to detect the proper frequencies. To do this, he attached a weight made of a screw and washers, checking the output signals on his oscilloscope until the dominant sensed frequencies were in the range of 40 Hz.
The sensor was attached to a breadboard, then wired through a charge amp to create a small AC signal, which floats on 2.5Vdc. The bottom half of the wave is chopped off with a diode, after which it is fed into an Arduino Mega. The seismic data is then pushed up to his Pachube account for storage, though he can view the feeds locally via the a web server programmed into the Arduino.
We’re not sure how much advanced notice this sort of setup would give you in the event of an earthquake, but it seems like a fun project to build either way. | 14 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "532352",
"author": "kelvin",
"timestamp": "2011-12-11T17:46:17",
"content": "lets hope he hasn’t got wood flooring!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "532384",
"author": "Reg",
"timestamp": "2011-12-11T18:41:04",
"conte... | 1,760,377,005.835831 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/12/11/hackaday-links-december-11-2011/ | Hackaday Links: December 11, 2011 | Mike Szczys | [
"Hackaday links"
] | [
"light tube",
"mill",
"rectifier",
"robot arm",
"slide whistle"
] | Drilling square holes
We’re still a bit baffled by the physics of this, but apparently it’s possible to drill a square hole with a round bit. This
video shows square holes being milled
using a cutter which is offset from the center of the bit. [Thanks Jordan]
LED Motorcycle headlight driven by mains
[William] found a way to use a big capacitor and bridge rectifier to run this
H4 LED headlight bulb in a mains sconce lamp
.
Electronic slide whistle
Here’s
an electronic instrument
that [Dorian] made. It uses a linear potentiometer and a button and works much like a slide whistle would.
Robot rocks out to Daft Punk
[Adrian] didn’t just make a robot arm out of CD cases and a mints tin. He built the arm, then
made a music video featuring it
.
More light-pipe sensor experiments
[Uwe] has been working on
an input sensor using a flexible light tube
. It is a similar idea to
these optical flex sensors
, but [Uwe] tried several variations like filling the tube with alcohol. | 23 | 16 | [
{
"comment_id": "532293",
"author": "bsom",
"timestamp": "2011-12-11T15:20:38",
"content": "http://www.ohgizmo.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/watts_drill_animated.gif",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "532303",
"author": "Toblerone Rolo Combo",... | 1,760,377,006.005089 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/12/08/ir-remote-for-dslr-cameras/ | IR Remote For DSLR Cameras | Caleb Kraft | [
"digital cameras hacks"
] | [
"dslr",
"shutter"
] | Since most DSLR cameras now have an IR communication port, [Julius] thought it would be a good idea to build an
IR shutter release remote
. He has released the plans for two versions; a single sided hand etched one, and a double sided one to have made professionally. He notes that it should have a range of at least 10 meters thanks to the 100mAh Li-Po battery and a reasonably high power IR LED. You can download the source code as well as the etching mask and eagle files from the wiki page. He does note that you may have to change the pattern sent to match your camera. | 8 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "530274",
"author": "loueney",
"timestamp": "2011-12-08T21:53:22",
"content": "wow i’m really digging that little battery",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "530317",
"author": "Jim Bollo",
"timestamp": "2011-12-08T22:55:25",... | 1,760,377,005.942455 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/12/08/hack-a-webcam-and-a-film-camera-into-a-usb-microscope/ | Hack A Webcam And A Film Camera Into A USB Microscope | Caleb Kraft | [
"classic hacks",
"digital cameras hacks"
] | [
"macro",
"micro",
"webcam"
] | Most of you probably have a webcam sitting around somewhere, and after all the high voltage projects you’ve done using disposable cameras, we bet you have some camera lenses too. You could always do what [Butch] did and
combine the lens from the camera with the webcam to do some up close inspection
.
This seems like something we’ve seen several times, but we can’t find it in our archive. Such a simple and quick hack looks surprisingly effective in his shots. If you want to see the details, like where he tied into the webcam’s board to power an external LED, you’ll have to download the PDF. | 8 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "530238",
"author": "N0LKK",
"timestamp": "2011-12-08T21:06:10",
"content": "Nice project, but more akin to a USB jewelers loupe that it is a a USB microscope. Handy for saving an image, something you can’t do with with a standard loupe that’s always ready to use anywhere any time.",... | 1,760,377,006.261579 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/12/08/dj-sures-digs-up-another-80s-robot-toy-makes-it-awesome/ | [DJ Sures] Digs Up Another 80s Robot Toy, Makes It Awesome | Mike Nathan | [
"Robots Hacks",
"Toy Hacks"
] | [
"ez-Robot",
"Omnibot-2000",
"toy"
] | [DJ Sures] just can’t help himself from tinkering with robot toys built in the 80s. This time,
he got his hands on an Omnibot-2000
(not to be confused with
his other Omnibot hack
), and updated it for the 21st century.
After its obligatory run through the dishwasher, the robot was fitted with two heavy duty servos in each arm – one for the shoulder and one at the elbow joint. He added another pair of servos and a head-mounted camera to the robot as well, giving it the ability to look around and navigate through his house.
While these physical modifications are nothing new to [DJ Sures], he wanted the robot’s control scheme to be different than what he has done in the past. Along with the standard autonomous/joystick/Wiimote/voice/iPhone controls that he built into his other projects, he added “visual glyph” control capabilities to the Omnibot. This means that the robot can recognize specific objects and surroundings, giving it the ability to perform context-related tasks.
He’s working on getting the robot to recognize both the refrigerator and living room, in hopes of eventually having the Omnibot to fetch him drinks from the kitchen – that’s something we can totally get behind!
Continue reading to see a pair of videos of the Omnibot-2000 in action, and be sure to visit his site if you’re interested in seeing more.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=QcQkgS2WW04&w=470]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=i25l50vNSWM&w=470] | 16 | 14 | [
{
"comment_id": "530013",
"author": "m1ndtr1p",
"timestamp": "2011-12-08T16:22:03",
"content": "Very nice, the Omnibot seems to be the perfect base for this, unlike many of the store bought plastic robots, this one actually has room inside to stuff lots of upgraded electronics.I’m not really into ro... | 1,760,377,006.315922 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/12/08/hand-made-carbon-fiber-violin-is-a-stunning-work-of-craftsmanship/ | Hand Made Carbon Fiber Violin Is A Stunning Work Of Craftsmanship | Mike Nathan | [
"Musical Hacks"
] | [
"awesome",
"carbon fiber",
"hand made",
"violin"
] | Building a violin by hand is no easy task, but
constructing one out of carbon fiber
is an amazing feat! Carpenter [Ken] had never made a violin before, nor built anything substantial out of carbon fiber, and he figured the best way to learn was by doing.
He spent a good bit of time measuring and drawing out his design before making fiberglass molds of the violin’s front and back plates from carved plaster plugs. The process was extremely time consuming, requiring him to make 10 different infusion-molded carbon fiber body plates before he was satisfied with the sound they produced.
With the larger parts of the violin’s body built, he started on the rib molds, which took him 5 hours apiece to set up before injecting the resin. With the body complete, [Ken] was ready to cut the f holes into the violin – a process that required a lot of time hunched over a tank of water with Dremel in hand.
As you can see in the picture above, the final result is stunning – we just wish we could give it a listen to see if it sounds as good as it looks. | 40 | 25 | [
{
"comment_id": "529942",
"author": "WyreTheWolf",
"timestamp": "2011-12-08T14:25:50",
"content": "That is amazing. Very well done.Would like to see a video.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "529945",
"author": "GameboyRMH",
"timestamp": "... | 1,760,377,006.390963 |
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