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https://hackaday.com/2011/10/07/win-a-laser-cutter-by-playing-with-light/ | Win A Laser Cutter By Playing With Light | Brian Benchoff | [
"contests"
] | [
"contest",
"laser",
"project"
] | Buildlounge and Full Spectrum Laser have decided to
give away a laser cutter
to whoever comes up with the best project involving light.
The contest is in part sponsored by
adafruit industries
. The focus of the contest is
light
– just design something around light, submit it, and you’re in the drawing for your own laser cutter. A solar oven, photophone, solar fiber-optic lighting and hacking apart an old overhead projector are suggested on the contest page, but the winning project will probably be much cooler.
Entries are due by January 1st. First prize is Full Spectrum Laser’s
40 Watt laser cutter
, second is
an awesome green laser pointer
from Wicked Lasers, and third prize is an
EL wire starter kit
from Adafruit. Entries are due by January 1st, so we expect to see a lot of awesome submissions on the Hack A Day
tip line
between now and New Years. | 19 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "474808",
"author": "adam",
"timestamp": "2011-10-07T21:35:39",
"content": "does it have to be the visible spectrum or is the entire EM spectrum open for the contest?lol darn optoelectronics class",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "... | 1,760,377,065.316685 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/10/07/adafruit-celebrates-ada-lovelace-day/ | Adafruit Celebrates Ada Lovelace Day | Mike Nathan | [
"News"
] | [
"Ada Lovelace",
"adafruit",
"news"
] | If you weren’t aware,
today is [Ada Lovelace] day
, so [Ladyada] and Adafruit Industries are spending the day celebrating the achievements of women in the fields of technology, art, engineering, and electronics. Specifically, the focus is on fellow female makers/hackers who are helping shape and promote the industry.
Once every hour, Adafruit Industries is profiling one influential woman, paying tribute to her work and contributions to the tech/maker/art/science space. You’ll see a lot of familiar faces throughout the day, including electronics extraordinaire [Jeri Ellsworth], Make’s own [Becky Stern], as well as [Sherry Huss] and [Louise Glasgow], two of Maker Faire’s leading ladies.
The bios are certainly worth taking a look at – aside from some of the more familiar faces, it’s a great chance to learn about a few makers who you may not have heard of before.
As an added bonus, Adafruit is offering 10% off all purchases from the store using a coupon code that can be found on their site, so be sure to check it out! | 15 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "474800",
"author": "bzroom",
"timestamp": "2011-10-07T21:25:53",
"content": "Is it just me or are all the female hackers pretty attractive",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "474876",
"author": "Promethius",
"timestamp": "20... | 1,760,377,065.080913 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/10/07/analog-iphone-amplifier-made-from-recycled-trumpets/ | Analog IPhone Amplifier Made From Recycled Trumpets | Mike Nathan | [
"iphone hacks",
"Musical Hacks"
] | [
"analog tele-phonographer",
"iphone",
"ipod",
"music",
"phonograph"
] | It’s no secret that the audio quality of the iPhone’s built-in speakers isn’t exactly what you would consider to be hi-fi. Sound quality aside, there are plenty of times where even the volume doesn’t do the music justice. While you can always go out and buy a fancy dock to amplify your iGadget’s sound, artist
[Christopher Locke] has a different take on the subject.
For a while now, he has been constructing what he calls “Analog Tele-Phonographers”, metal sculptures that can be used to amplify a mobile phone’s audio. Built out of steel and old trumpets, his audio sculptures require no electricity, instead utilizing the same amplification technology as the original phonographs.
While the Tele-Phonographers won’t make your iPhone sound like a high quality tube amp, they do undoubtedly increase the phone’s volume and they are nice to look at. We can certainly get behind this sort of recycling/reuse of old items.
Continue reading to see a quick video of his Analog Tele-Phonographer in action.
[Thanks, Chris]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=MJFNpE7SLZI&w=470] | 14 | 12 | [
{
"comment_id": "474756",
"author": "Squintz",
"timestamp": "2011-10-07T20:03:27",
"content": "That is really fun. Nice work.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "474785",
"author": "tim",
"timestamp": "2011-10-07T20:59:33",
"content": "Y... | 1,760,377,064.879779 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/10/07/playing-dubstep-on-real-instruments/ | Playing Dubstep On Real Instruments | Brian Benchoff | [
"Musical Hacks"
] | [
"dubstep",
"electronic music",
"pedal board"
] | When we first saw the
live cover of Skrillex
Scary Monsters And Nice Sprites
by the band Pinn Panelle, we had to know how a band is able to play live dubstep on real instruments. We emailed the band and they spilled the beans on how to process the hell out of an instrument in a live environment.
First up is the bassist, [Nathan Navarro]. He wears a Source Audio Hot Hand on his right thumb. This little box is a two-axis accelerometer that communicates with his pedal board using RF frequencies. With the Hot Hand, he has control over two parameters on
Hot Hand Pedals
. The envelope effect is
awesome
, but it’s worth noting that [Nathan] is sponsored by Source Audio. We’re thinking it would be relatively easy to cram a
Wii MotionPlus
and microcontroller into a wristband. Tied to a computer and MIDI interface, the homebrew solution would do the same thing.
[Derek Song] is the guitarist and he’s used multieffects
for most of his musical life
He has a small
Bluetooth keyboard and touchpad
mounted to the front of his guitar that controls just about everything on his pedal board. The Bluetooth controller sends commands to [Derek]’s computer that outputs
MIDI CC messages
to his pedal board.
In a studio, Pinn Panelle’s cover would be impressive. The fact that it’s being played live opens up a number of doors as to what a band can do in real-time. If you’ve got a pedal board or electronic music build,
send it into the tip line
. Also, check out the videos after the break for a better demo of [Derek]’s Bluetooth setup.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lN74cjQJSPQ&w=470]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuunY8BTqNs&w=470] | 52 | 36 | [
{
"comment_id": "474687",
"author": "brad",
"timestamp": "2011-10-07T18:15:39",
"content": "dubstep ftw! i know some people that may be *very* interested in this.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "474691",
"author": "Oatman",
"timestamp": ... | 1,760,377,065.258061 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/10/07/making-the-most-of-your-diy-development-boards/ | Making The Most Of Your Diy Development Boards | Mike Szczys | [
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"16f1827",
"development board",
"pic"
] | [Rajendra] built a rather
impressive development board based around a PIC
microcontroller. At its center, he’s got a PIC 16F1827 chip, but we think the design is easily adapted to your microcontroller of choice.
The I/O pins on the microcontroller aren’t actually connected to any of the components on the board. Instead, female pin headers neatly organize the pins grouped by their register. Jumper wires make for quick connections to all of the available peripheral devices. There’s an additional header for connecting the PICKit programmer, and the small blue breadboard lets you add your own components to the mix, or lets you utilize the board with a different microcontroller.
[Rajendra] took the time to carefully label all of the connectors, removing the guesswork (or pin counting) from the setup process. Many of the peripherals are i2c devices, and there’s a pin header to connect more, or to sniff the data using a Bus Pirate or other tool. | 10 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "474645",
"author": "florinzgtrst",
"timestamp": "2011-10-07T17:04:26",
"content": "Wow, that’s one good looking dev board",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "474678",
"author": "JohnnyMax",
"timestamp": "2011-10-07T18:02:33"... | 1,760,377,064.773484 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/10/07/8-pin-micro-plays-pong-on-you-widescreen/ | 8-pin Micro Plays Pong On Your Widescreen | Mike Szczys | [
"Microcontrollers"
] | [
"assembly",
"attiny45",
"pong",
"vga"
] | [Fernando] sent in a tangential project update that uses
an ATtiny45 to play Pong on his television
. Last time we looked in on his work he had just finished getting the eight-pin
chip to display a big number on the TV
via the VGA port. This expands on the idea while he continues to wait for parts.
Right now the chip plays against itself, but he’s got one input pin left and we’d love to see a button added for a simple one-player game. We’re thinking the paddle would always be moving in one direction or the other, with a click of the button to reverse that direction. The part that he’s waiting for is a Bluetooth module, which we’d love to see used for 2-player games via a pair of Wiimotes (we’re just wishing at this point and don’t know if that would even be possible). The end goal for the hardware is a Bluetooth connected scoreboard for Android devices.
The code is written in Assembly, and we found it relatively easy to follow what [Fernando] is doing with the game logic. On the graphics side of things he gets away with a 120×96 resolution because Pong is supposed to look pixelated. We love the result, which you can see for yourself after the break.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8KlHqu1tnMg&w=470] | 12 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "474628",
"author": "alan",
"timestamp": "2011-10-07T16:35:11",
"content": "If you just have one input free, you could still have an unlimited amount of controllers connected. Just use serial data.You could even use something like RC5 protocol to pick up the signal from a pair of IR ... | 1,760,377,065.172388 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/10/07/hackerspace-competition-combines-drinking-and-lock-picking-need-we-say-more/ | Hackerspace Competition Combines Drinking And Lock Picking – Need We Say More? | Mike Nathan | [
"contests",
"Security Hacks"
] | [
"booze",
"contests",
"lockpicking"
] | The guys from Bloomington’s Fraternal Order of Lock Sport (FOOLS) sure know how to throw a party! At this year’s DerbyCon event down in Louisville, the group put on
an awesome event that combined lockpicking and drinking
– what could be better?
The Rumble Challenge is lock picking game where six people compete head to head for the best time. Whenever a competitor masters his lock, the competition is paused so that each player has a chance to take a shot from their air-powered shot dispensing machine. Once everyone has imbibed, the next round starts with the competitors picking up where they left off, in an effort to be the next to successfully open his lock.
The game is controlled by an Arduino, which both times the competition and senses when the locks have been opened. The Arduino relays this data to a computer, which uses a projector to display the contestant’s scores on a big screen. As an added bonus,
FOOLS
member [dosman] added loud rumble motors to the locking mechanisms in order to throw competitors off their game.
The contest sounds like a ton of fun – we’re bummed that we missed it. If you want to see how the game was put together, check out [dosman’s] build log over at the Bloominglabs wiki. | 8 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "474582",
"author": "Brad",
"timestamp": "2011-10-07T15:12:24",
"content": "The hotel wouldn’t let them give away alcohol at the event, so we let them set up at the LVL1 Derbycon Afterparty. Great fun, pictures of the game start here:http://www.flickr.com/photos/lvl1/6204693837/in/p... | 1,760,377,065.123372 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/10/06/hardware-based-keyboard-remapping/ | Hardware-based Keyboard Remapping | Mike Szczys | [
"Peripherals Hacks"
] | [
"AT90USBKey",
"keyboard",
"lufa",
"mapping"
] | [Nav] wanted to change his keyboard mapping for one particular keyboard, rather than on each operating system. He used an AT90USBKey as a replacement PCB by soldering to all of the contacts on the key matrix. This allows him to
remap the keys by following onscreen prompts
.
The board enumerates as an HID device, and has a special mode which is accesses by plugging the keyboard in while holding down
any key
. If a text editor window is active you’ll see prompts from the microcontroller to press a series of keys. This is a routine used to learn how the key matrix is organized, and it’s your opportunity to change how each key is mapped. Since the mapping is saved to EEPROM, you can use any computer to map the keys, then plug the device into a systems that don’t offer software remapping. It could also be useful as a gaming keyboard, assuming there aren’t latency issues
As with the
AVR-based arcade controller
, this project uses the LUFA package to handle the USB stack. | 4 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "473648",
"author": "jc",
"timestamp": "2011-10-06T18:12:01",
"content": "or… you know.. just add a udev rule",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "473650",
"author": "astro73",
"timestamp": "2011-10-06T18:12:29",
"content"... | 1,760,377,064.729291 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/10/06/magic-table-gives-disabled-child-control-over-her-music/ | Magic Table Gives Disabled Child Control Over Her Music | Mike Nathan | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"digital audio hacks",
"ipod hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"ipod",
"music",
"rfid"
] | Instructables user [XenonJohn] recently put together a fantastic tutorial detailing how he made an RFID-controlled jukebox. The
Magic Music Table
was created for a disabled child, who is unable to use a CD payer, nor navigate small buttons and menus on MP3 players. He originally though about making the buttons more accessible
a la the Frankenkindle
, but ultimately settled on making the table instead.
Embedded in the center of the Music Table under a piece of plexiglass is a small project box containing an iPod, Arduino Mega, and a Parallax RFID reader. He crafted small RFID “bricks” that can be waved over the RFID reader, triggering the iPod to play a specific album from a large playlist. The Arduino acts as the middleman, controlling the RFID reader and relaying the appropriate information to the iPod when required.
The system looks pretty sturdy, and [XenonJohn] says that it works great. We think it’s a wonderful use of technology – you certainly can’t argue with brightening up a child’s day.
Continue reading to see a video of the Magic Music Table in action.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0sKRK7u2Zw&w=470] | 11 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "473628",
"author": "Colecago",
"timestamp": "2011-10-06T17:33:31",
"content": "Seems pretty sweet, I don’t know how easy it is to interface with the iPod, so for me I’d have gone a mini/old windows machine. Awesome job.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
}... | 1,760,377,065.029911 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/10/06/meet-the-pinguino-a-completely-open-pic-based-dev-platform/ | Meet The Pinguino – A Completely Open PIC-based Dev Platform | Mike Nathan | [
"Interviews",
"Microcontrollers"
] | [
"Arduino-compatible",
"chipkit",
"Pinguino"
] | [Phillip Torrone] from Make
recently sat down with [Jean-Pierre Mandon] and [Tsvetan Usunov]
, creators of the Pinguino, to hear more about their product. While the name might not sound familiar, we’re pretty sure you’ll be seeing more of this development platform as time goes on.
Essentially created by makers for makers, the Pinguino is a 32-bit PIC based Arduino-compatible prototyping platform, much like Microchip’s chipKIT. The Pinguino boasts 100% Arduino compatibility just as the chipKIT, though their tool chain has been built from scratch, meaning it is completely open source. The Pinguino even include an on-board microSD slot and a built-in Li-Po charger – two huge features that make this a solid chipKit competitor.
Phil discusses the history of the Pinguino with the pair, diving into technical differences between the two platforms, as well as where they plan on taking the platform in the future. It’s certainly an interesting read for anyone interested in open software and hardware that has been considering giving the chipKIT a try. | 18 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "473564",
"author": "psuedonymous",
"timestamp": "2011-10-06T16:28:12",
"content": "While the name might not sound familiarNo, it’s soundsvery familiar.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "473649",
"author": "M",
"t... | 1,760,377,064.828643 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/10/06/qr-code-key-fob-helps-your-lost-keys-find-their-way-home/ | QR Code Key Fob Helps Your Lost Keys Find Their Way Home | Mike Nathan | [
"HackIt"
] | [
"keys",
"qr code",
"smartphones"
] | Don’t you hate that feeling, the one you get when you have just realized that you have no clue where you may have left your keys? If you are unlucky enough to have lost them in a public place, odds are they are as good as gone. Pumping Station One member [celtwolf] thought it would be great if your keys could help someone contact you instantly upon finding them,
so he created a key fob that did just that.
SMS can use a similar URI scheme as the “mailto” protocol we are all familiar with, so [celtwolf] generated a URI that would send a text to his mobile phone with the message “I found your keys!”. He generated a QR code from the URI, then etched it on a piece of acrylic using a laser cutter. He filled in the recessed portions with a dark polymer clay, baked it, then coated it with a layer of nail polish for added durability.
Now, if anyone finds his keys and takes a picture of the QR code with their smartphone, he will immediately receive a text letting him know they are safe and sound. What a great idea! | 53 | 25 | [
{
"comment_id": "473466",
"author": "damox",
"timestamp": "2011-10-06T14:11:20",
"content": "What if I lose my phone with my keys?I’m pretty forgetful after-all.Neat idea; a bit cleaner that one of those little tags with your contact info on them.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replie... | 1,760,377,065.516548 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/10/06/sustainability-hacks-poop-power/ | Sustainability Hacks: Poop Power | Brian Benchoff | [
"green hacks"
] | [
"japan",
"sustainability hacks",
"toilet bike"
] | Yes. That’s a motorized tricycle with a toilet. Let that sink in for a minute. Oh, that isn’t a concept sketch of something that will never be built. The
Toilet Bike Neo
is most assuredly a real thing.
Biogas, or methane produced from decaying plant or animal wastes, is a legitimate form of energy. Waste gasses from landfills make up about
half a percent
of U.S. natural gas consumption. The state of Vermont even has a
Cow Power
program of renewable energy. That being said, this is a toilet on a trike.
The bike was built for Japanese bathroom fixture manufacturer TOTO’s green initiative. Biogas is produced onboard the trike, so instead of going to the local gas station to fill up, you could just get a newspaper, coffee and bran muffin. There are tanks on the back of the trike containing “fuel”. This arrangement probably makes a rear end collision in the Toilet Bike Neo more terrifying than getting rear-ended in a Ford Pinto.
The Toilet Bike Neo is setting off on a trip across Japan on October 6th (today) to promote biogas. You can follow the updates on the Toilet Bike Neo’s
Twitter
.
A tip ‘o the hat to [jon] for sending this one in. You may now commence the jokes. | 33 | 26 | [
{
"comment_id": "473379",
"author": "oodain",
"timestamp": "2011-10-06T12:08:49",
"content": "the future is looking weirder by the minute.why does it talk?[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4IJix0tUi8&w=640&h=360]",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comme... | 1,760,377,065.430575 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/10/05/open-source-makes-this-usb-arcade-controller-build-a-breeze/ | Open Source Makes This USB Arcade Controller Build A Breeze | Mike Szczys | [
"Microcontrollers",
"Peripherals Hacks"
] | [
"arcade controller",
"Joystick",
"lufa",
"usb"
] | [Jamie] built his own
USB connected arcade controller
. We’ve been seeing a lot of these lately, and they usually involve
soldering buttons to a keyboard PCB
. But [Jamie] decided to go a different route and use his own microcontroller. This method always gets a bit hairy when it comes to deciding how to connect it to a computer. Dealing with the USB stack used to be quite tricky, but the LUFA project is slowly taking the pain out of the process.
The Lightweight USB Framework for AVRs is an open source project that handles the hard work associated with USB capable AVR microcontrollers. [Jamie] knew that they already had
a sample implementation of a hardware joystick
. He’s not using one of the supported boards and so wasn’t able to just compile and go. But porting the code to work with his minimus board was simple enough. With the code in place, the physical build was quite simple. The buttons and joystick were mounted on the surface of an overturned drawer. Each is connected to one pin of the controller board and to ground. LUFA makes sure that the device enumerates as a joystick, and [Jamie] was gaming in no time. | 18 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "473135",
"author": "Zack C",
"timestamp": "2011-10-06T00:48:51",
"content": "My only suggestion would be to lay out the buttons in a more ergonomic fashion. Other then that this looks like an excellent alternative to hacking a keyboard for a mame cabinet controller and probably a b... | 1,760,377,066.228314 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/10/05/tetris-on-a-building/ | Tetris On A Building | Brian Benchoff | [
"LED Hacks",
"News"
] | [
"building",
"tetris"
] | Around a year ago, a bunch of blinkenlights were installed in the HCI-Building of ETH Zürich. These LED spots weren’t interactive and only showed hardcoded patterns. Of course a bunch of LEDs demand interactivity, so for the first-semester party this year a
giant game of Tetris
was built on the side of a building.
There’s no official build log, but from what we’ve learned, the LEDs are connected to a
DMX controller
that is in turn plugged into a computer and the University’s ethernet. For the
command and control
of the Tetris game, a USB joystick was connected to an
old Dell
that was pulled out of the junk pile.
The software for the project, LED side of the project was written in Visual C++ reusing old Tetris routines and example code from the DMX controller. For the controller portion, everything was written in C. The controller simply dumps chars into a TCP port on the second computer. While the Tetris board was only 3 pixels wide, there was a fairly massive queue of people wanting to play. | 11 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "473083",
"author": "ELduderino",
"timestamp": "2011-10-05T23:22:13",
"content": "looks like fun",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "473124",
"author": "neoxide",
"timestamp": "2011-10-06T00:29:13",
"content": "I always t... | 1,760,377,065.723225 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/10/07/light-up-biking-vest-shows-impatient-drivers-how-fast-you-are-going/ | Light Up Biking Vest Shows Impatient Drivers How Fast You Are Going | Mike Nathan | [
"Transportation Hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"bicyce",
"el wire",
"safety",
"spedometer",
"vest"
] | [Mykle Hansen] is an avid cyclist, and
safety is a big concern for him.
He says that bicyclists often receive a lot of honks and grief from passing motorists because they perceive them as moving far slower than they really are. According to [Mykle], this misjudgment can result in “right hook” collisions, which kill several bicyclists each year. To increase his nighttime visibility and to give drivers a better idea of how fast he’s traveling, he constructed a bicycling vest that displays his current speed in large 7-inch tall numbers.
He uses an off-the-shelf speedometer to get his current speed, feeding that data to an Arduino tucked inside his vest. The Arduino then lights the appropriate EL wire digits to relay his speed to motorists behind him.
It seems to work pretty well if the video below is any indication, and there’s no denying that it will catch a driver’s attention at night. If you’re thinking of making one for yourself, check out
his Make:Projects page
for a complete look at how it was put together.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ngCatznaSKo&hd=1&w=470] | 61 | 26 | [
{
"comment_id": "474529",
"author": "James",
"timestamp": "2011-10-07T14:05:45",
"content": "Front would be far better located IMO, most near impacts I have are from people who pull out in front of me while I’m shifting, despite lights and reflective gear. It’s the old SMIDSY – or “didn’t think you ... | 1,760,377,065.989389 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/10/07/sustainability-hacks-solar-panels-built-from-old-windows-and-factory-rejects/ | Sustainability Hacks: Solar Panels Built From Old Windows And Factory Rejects | Mike Nathan | [
"Solar Hacks"
] | [
"solar",
"sustainability hacks"
] | The crew over at The Tech Junkies recently took another look at solar power and thought that the pricing had come down enough for them to consider
powering their entire shop via the sun.
Cheaper or not, they still didn’t want to pay retail for solar panels, so they decided to build their own instead.
They scoured eBay for a bit and scored a nice batch of “production error” solar cells for about $0.25/watt, which is a great deal. After unpacking and sorting the cells, they began fitting them into a set of old window panels they had sitting around their shop. The cells were wired together using tabbing wire, and after a quick test to ensure everything was working correctly, the panel was permanently set using epoxy.
In its current state, they estimate that their panel can generate 35 watts of power, though they have a few design changes in mind to raise that number a bit. The total cost was roughly $375 for enough materials to build 9 panels, which is pretty reasonable.
Be sure to check out their blog for a quick overview of what it takes to build a solar panel if you’re thinking of putting together one of your own. | 37 | 13 | [
{
"comment_id": "474495",
"author": "Alwar",
"timestamp": "2011-10-07T13:06:16",
"content": "I can’t open the linkhttp://ttjcrew.com/2011/10/solar-panel-buildIs down or isn’t well formed? or is my connection?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "47... | 1,760,377,065.874177 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/10/06/video-everything-you-wanted-to-know-about-dc-motors/ | Video: Everything You Wanted To Know About DC Motors | Jack Buffington | [
"News"
] | [] | Continuing on with our series of Hackaday original videos, this week we are presenting a video all about DC motors. DC motors are relatively simple electromechanical devices that turn electrical energy into rotational movement. In this video, [Jack] takes apart a small DC motor and shows off all of the parts inside and describes how it all works. He also talks about how to modify DC motors to increase their speed or torque as well as how to change their directional preference. In this video, he rewinds a motor and shows how this changes the performance characteristics of the motor.
Is mechanical stuff not your thing? Stay tuned for next week when we launch into a series of videos where we show how to program for the Atmel ATmega328 processor using C. In this series, we’ll show you the real nuts and bolts of programming for this processor by working with its I/O pins,timers, A/D, interrupts, and more.
Video after the break. | 33 | 18 | [
{
"comment_id": "473895",
"author": "Jay",
"timestamp": "2011-10-06T23:45:34",
"content": "He drew on the table! His mother is going to KILL him!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "473936",
"author": "Leslie Wong",
"timestamp": "2011-10-07... | 1,760,377,066.171712 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/10/06/vetinari-clock-will-drive-you-insane/ | Vetinari Clock Will Drive You Insane | Brian Benchoff | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"clock hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"clock",
"discworld"
] | Sometimes we need more psy ops in our life. Being an eminent fan of the
Discworld
series, Reddit user [rdmiller3] decided he needed to build
Lord Vetinari’s clock
. This fictional clock was placed in the waiting room for Lord Vetinari in several of the
Discworld
books. Although the clock keeps accurate time overall, it sometimes tics irregularly and out of sync. The reason? To whittle away the minds of whoever waits for Lord Vetinari.
The build uses a standard battery-powered analog clockwork. The ticking mechanism is just a magnet mounted inside a coil driven iron core. The coil leads were disconnected from the clock circuit and connected to digital inputs of an Arduino. With a few random() calls, the clock keeps accurate but random time.
Unfortunately, the clock stopped working after a few weeks because the 5 V from the Arduino was, “pounding it way too hard.” [rdmiller3] says a few resistors and LEDs for the voltage drop would make for a more reliable circuit, though. Check out the hard to watch video of the clock in action after the break.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHKOhO_-hZY&w=470]
via
buildlounge | 47 | 23 | [
{
"comment_id": "473846",
"author": "pete",
"timestamp": "2011-10-06T22:12:13",
"content": "Ive never heard of discworld, but this clock is hilarious. I love it.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "473856",
"author": "Gearbox",
"ti... | 1,760,377,065.800631 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/10/06/reclaiming-waste-heat-from-appliances/ | Reclaiming Waste Heat From Appliances | Mike Szczys | [
"green hacks"
] | [
"clothes dryer",
"heat exchanger"
] | Here we see [Christopher Suprock] hanging out in his basement laundry area in order to show off
his intelligent heat exchanger
. The reason for the device is simple, when you use your clothes dryer , hot water heater, other other utilities that generate heat, energy is often wasted in the form of hot exhaust gases. Why not get the most for you clothes drying dollar by sourcing that hot air to warm your house.
The block you see on top of the dryer is a heat exchanger. The exhaust from the dryer passes through a radiator assembly before being vented outside the house. Some control hardware monitors the temperature of the input side and switches on the fan when it detects a higher temperature than the ambient air. Air then flows through the radiator, picking up heat energy from the exhaust gas. See [Christopher’s] explaination, and some thermal readings while the dryer is running, in the video after the break.
This makes us wonder, if the heat exchanger drops the exhaust gas fifty degrees before being vented, will this cause any issues with condensation?
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3E_jB5jDRC8&w=470] | 87 | 33 | [
{
"comment_id": "473802",
"author": "mohonri",
"timestamp": "2011-10-06T21:11:46",
"content": "The point about condensation is a fair one, but easily handled with a drain or trap.I’ve thought about a similar system for water–when you take a hot shower in the middle of winter, it’d be nice to use the... | 1,760,377,066.410773 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/10/06/a-masochistic-video-card/ | A Masochistic Video Card | Brian Benchoff | [
"classic hacks",
"Video Hacks"
] | [
"74xx",
"vga",
"video card"
] | Have a penchant for pain? Why not destroy your fingertips with a wire-wrap tool building a video card
made entirely out of discrete components
.
When [Chris] decided to build an entry for the Dangerous Prototypes
7400 logic competition
he already had his hands full. The 74xx chips he had on hand had a maximum clock frequency of 25MHz, but the VGA pixel clock runs at 40MHz.
dividing the H sync timing by 4
means the maximum speed required of the video card is only 10MHz, albeit with a reduced resolution.
The video card was constructed on perfboard with wirewrap sockets. An 8-bit DAC was included, allowing the card to display 256 separate colors but only the three primary lines were wired up to the VGA cable. As is, the card cycles through 8 different colors in a constant loop, not bad for a pile of chips.
VGA out has been done on everything from
an ARM
to an
ATtiny
, but rarely, if ever, has VGA been done with discrete components. While this video card may not be our first choice for bitcoin mining, it’s still a very impressive build. Check out the walk through video after the break.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIgU32ny3pQ&w=470] | 24 | 14 | [
{
"comment_id": "473737",
"author": "Jas",
"timestamp": "2011-10-06T20:05:41",
"content": "It’s not that impressive given that the original IBM VGA was pretty much built from TTL logic and a couple of ULAs.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "4737... | 1,760,377,066.29117 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/10/06/decorate-your-house-in-vacuum-tubes/ | Decorate Your House In Vacuum Tubes | Mike Nathan | [
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"vacuum tubes"
] | [Autuin] wrote in to share a few things he’s put together using spare vacuum tubes he had sitting around. With no other practical use for the tubes in mind, he fiddled around and
came up with a couple of items
that could be neat to have around the house, depending on your style of decor.
The first item is a vacuum tube night light. While the tubes were not originally built with the express purpose of putting out light in mind, they do happen to throw out a nice warm glow when plugged into a suitable power supply. [Autuin] mounted one in a wall wart, driving it at double the rated voltage, which provides a decent amount of light.
His second creation is similar to the first, but meant for your tabletop rather than your wall. He stuffed a vacuum tube into a candle holder, added a power source, and called it a day. The vacuum tube candle actually looks pretty nice, and with a bit of tweaking could easily be made to behave like a candle as well.
The final item he shows off is a vacuum tube flash drive. Little more than a carefully hollowed out tube with flash drive guts inside, it is more suited as a permanent fixture than as a portable storage device. Even so, we think it looks pretty cool.
Have you done anything neat with old vacuum tubes? Let us know in the comments! | 10 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "473689",
"author": "Joe",
"timestamp": "2011-10-06T19:09:41",
"content": "This is very cool. I wonder what the life expectancy of those tubes are, since he’s operating them on double voltage. I sure hope the steampunk guys don’t see this, lest we see the price of good NOS tubes skyr... | 1,760,377,066.459571 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/10/03/resurrecting-an-xt/ | Resurrecting An XT | Brian Benchoff | [
"classic hacks"
] | [
"cga",
"IBM xt",
"MDA",
"xt"
] | The best laid plans of mice and men oft go awry. At least that’s what we’d tell ourselves if we couldn’t find a 30-year-old computer monitor. [Andrew] picked up an old IBM XT on eBay recently and
tried to get the video working
. He hasn’t seen any success yet, but the way he goes about solving this problem is very clever.
[Andrew] was stuck with a cool old computer with no way to output anything onto a screen. The XT had an
MDA
port but neither his TV nor his VGA monitor would accept MDA frequencies. As a workaround, [Andrew] connected an Arduino to the XT keyboard port. On the factory floor, IBM workers used the XT keyboard to load code onto the machines while POSTing. He was able to change the frequency of the MDA CRT controller to CGA frequencies, and with the help of some small components
got some video working
.
The Hsync and Vsync are still off, and [Andrew] hasn’t been able to get the machine to finish POSTing, but he figures he can use the XT keyboard port for bidirectional communication. He’s written
a very small kernel
to test out a few things, but unfortunately the XT’s power supply died recently. Once [Andrew] replaces that, we’re sure he’ll get his box up and running. | 28 | 19 | [
{
"comment_id": "470596",
"author": "Andrew Jenner",
"timestamp": "2011-10-03T15:28:55",
"content": "I’ve fixed the power supply now, replaced the video card with a CGA and written a “Hello World” program in ROM BASIC. Unfortunately there’s a bad RAM chip somewhere so I’m currently limited to 192Kb ... | 1,760,377,066.567683 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/10/03/freakyphone-has-a-puzzle-for-you/ | Freakyphone Has A Puzzle For You! | Mike Nathan | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"Toy Hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"Freakyphone",
"puzzle"
] | [Mime] likes to
make puzzles and games for his friends to play
, often using recycled electronics to construct them. He had been contemplating a sound-based game for some time when he came across an old rotary phone at a garage sale that would be perfect for what he had in mind.
He calls his creation the Freakyphone, and the goal of the game is to guess the name of a historical figure via a series of audible clues. The phone was constructed using an Arduino that plays audio using a sound shield from Adafruit. While he was ultimately unable to get the phone’s ringer to work properly, [Mime] says that the build process was relatively easy overall.
When activated, the phone buzzes for attention, prompting the player to pick up the handset. After introducing the game, the phone will ring additional times with random sound clips to clue the player into the historical figure’s name. If the player correctly enters the person’s name using the rotary dial, they receive a “winning tone” and the game is over.
It’s always nice to see someone building gadgets for their friends just for the sake of fun – nice work!
Continue reading to see a video showing how the Freakyphone was built along with a demo of the game.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdDxavA3RRY&w=470] | 6 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "470583",
"author": "st2000",
"timestamp": "2011-10-03T14:58:05",
"content": "A real ringer takes 90 volts AC (slow, like several cycles a second) to run. I would not bother as such voltages are “shocking” and dangerous to low voltage semiconductors. I would just play back a ring s... | 1,760,377,066.502404 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/10/03/sustainability-hacks-bio-diesel-motorcycle-speed-record/ | Sustainability Hacks: Bio-diesel Motorcycle Speed Record | Brian Benchoff | [
"green hacks"
] | [
"biodiesel",
"biofuel",
"green",
"motorcycle"
] | Sometimes you don’t need a lot of horsepower to win a speed record. In a fluke of no one else competing in the alt fuel class, [John]’s
biodiesel motorcycle
set a new land speed record at the
LTA event
last summer.
[John]’s bike is a junkyard 1978 Kawasaki KZ400. The stock engine was replaced with a Chinese knock off of a Yanmar air-cooled diesel motor. The fuel is regular old vegetable oil. From the looks of
the exhaust
, we’re assuming [John]’s garage has a rich french fry smell to it.
Compared to highway speeds, [John]’s runs for a land speed record are a little absurd – a nice bonus when you’re the only driver in your class. The first pass of 42 mph was a little disappointing, so [John] removed the fender, tail light and brakes. After all the unnecessary weight was removed, the top speed – and new record – was 56.5 mph.
Converting a diesel car to run on french fry oil is great and a lot better for the environment than burning liquefied dinosaurs. In any event, a green motorcycle is a lot better than 2000 pounds of automobile moving less than 200 pounds of person. Check out a few of [John]’s land speed runs after the break.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nrd_TluqSSc&w=470]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKGlPhqzTUc&w=470] | 30 | 14 | [
{
"comment_id": "470546",
"author": "bhtooefr",
"timestamp": "2011-10-03T13:13:19",
"content": "One thing to note is that biodiesel isn’t vegetable oil.Vegetable oil has the fatty acid chains attached to glycerine, whereas biodiesel has them attached to methanol or occasionally ethanol.Vegetable oil... | 1,760,377,066.63974 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/10/02/how-to-build-your-own-cat-door/ | How To Build Your Own Cat Door | Mike Szczys | [
"home hacks"
] | [
"cat door",
"habitat for humanity"
] | [Dino] continues his to satisfy his weekly hacking goal by
building a cat door for his pets
. He has a
Habitat For Humanity resale store
nearby that was doing a 50% off sale on doors. So he picked up a six-panel door and set to work.
The first step is drawing out the opening and cutting it with a jigsaw. Once he was done, there’s some reinforcement work to be done because this is a hollow-core door. Since he had already cut a bit of the bottom off of the door to fit his jamb opening, he had some wood stock that was already the right thickness. That bit was secured to the top and bottom of the opening with glue and some brads. The same was done on the sides with a different piece of scrap, then the door was hung in the opening to reach the point in the project seen above.
Here [Dino] prepares to add a flap to cover the opening. He used acrylic for the flap because it’s light-weight and clear. A piece of piano hinge makes it easy to swing in both directions. The final touch is a magnet which keeps the flap from swinging in the breeze using parts from a magnetic cabinet latch. No sooner does he have the flap in place than a brave kitty gives it a test run.
Hopefully he doesn’t have the kind of pests that caused other hackers to build
facial recognition cat door locks
.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9Tt7Hodjck&w=470] | 29 | 19 | [
{
"comment_id": "470170",
"author": "N0LKK",
"timestamp": "2011-10-02T21:57:33",
"content": "Personally if a classic door with a window is salvageable at all, I’d repair it before, I’d replace it with a hollow core door that lacks a window.Because I have a rural residence a cat door isn’t an option ... | 1,760,377,066.828658 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/10/02/robotic-arm-follows-the-movements-of-your-own-limbs/ | Robotic Arm Follows The Movements Of Your Own Limbs | Mike Szczys | [
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"arm",
"PVC",
"robot arm",
"servo"
] | [Alejandro] and his friends recently finished
a first prototype of scratch-built robotic arm
. They’ve got some nice electronics bench equipment for use with a project like this, but for the actual fabrication work it’s off to the kitchen.
As you can see in the video after the break, they’re using PVC as the stock material in this build. Flat sheets are produced by slitting a PVC pipe down the middle, warming it in oven until soft, then compressing it between two floor tiles with a big jug of water used as a weight for the makeshift press. Mounting holes for the servo motors that make up the joints are drilled with a hand drill, and the assembly was affixed to an old CD as a base.
Once assembled they wired it to the control circuitry and build a set of sensors that you wear on your arm. Now your elbow, wrist, and pointer finger are in control of the servos. A demonstration of this functionality starts around two minutes into the video.
We’ve seen other examples of robot arms built without the use of machine tools.
This arm made out of ShapeLock plastic
is one of the most interesting examples.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPnsnJy0IdE&w=470] | 3 | 3 | [
{
"comment_id": "470273",
"author": "jmicz",
"timestamp": "2011-10-03T00:49:33",
"content": "Awesome project, maybe I’ll try to make oneP.S. Not to be critical or anything it would be “two friends and I”",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "470594",
... | 1,760,377,066.732837 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/10/02/clement-sees-the-cargo-bike-and-raises-a-bicycle-cargo-trailer/ | [Clement] Sees The Cargo Bike And Raises A Bicycle Cargo Trailer | Mike Szczys | [
"Transportation Hacks"
] | [
"bicycle",
"bike",
"cargo",
"trailer"
] | [Clement] and his friends were going on a long bike tour and needed a way to carry their gear along with them. They set to work and managed to
build this cargo trailer from mostly reused materials
.
The only part of this trailer that is reused junk is the connection mechanism that lets you attach it to just about any bike. That was made (presumably in a machine shop) to act as a removable pipe clamp, making it pretty quick to swap between different bikes. It has a universal joint welded to it so that the angle of the seat post won’t affect how the trailer rides.
A goose neck keeps the trailer far enough back to avoid getting in the way of the rear wheel. The mesh basket was made from parts of an old industrial machine. The rear wheel is attached with a swing-arm that has what looks like a rubber bumper to act as a shock absorber. But if you want to make sure a big bump doesn’t send your luggage flying, [Clement] included a picture at the bottom of his post showing a much nicer spring shock on a different bike trailer.
If you’re confused by the title of this post you must have missed the
cargo bike that was recently featured
. | 16 | 12 | [
{
"comment_id": "470134",
"author": "Clement",
"timestamp": "2011-10-02T20:26:40",
"content": "Oh my gosh! that’s my name too! :D And that is a great idea too!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "470143",
"author": "Alt30",
"timestamp": "201... | 1,760,377,066.69344 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/10/02/page-turning-book-scanner-roundup/ | Page-turning Book Scanner Roundup | Brian Benchoff | [
"Robots Hacks",
"Roundup"
] | [
"book scanner",
"books",
"page turning"
] | [Daniel] at diybookscanner.org
posted a roundup
of the best automatic book scanner builds to date. A lot of the comments on our
last coverage of book scanners
were summed up by [Spork] with, “No automatic page turning = no use.” Turning a page in a book with a robot is
really hard
, though, and these builds do a really amazing job at automating very tedious work.
First up is [jck57]’s
servo actuated auto scanner
. From the video, this build is very good and we caught it skipping only one page. Check out the video
in action
and
the overview
.
Next up is the Berlin Hackerspace c-base’s
vacuum box
scanner.
The video
shows a large diamond-shaped box with a vacuum cleaner hose attached to the top. The box is pressed down into the binding of the book where the vacuum picks up the next page. The build is a manual version of
this very expensive machine
, but does have the bonus of not poking a centuries-old book with robotic manipulators.
[dtic] was one of the first people to look into automatic page turning. His
prototype
(
video here
) uses servos, but has a very simple construction. The downside is that the book can only scan one side of the book at a time; to get other side, the user would have to turn the book upside down and scan it again.
Project Gado
was an unsuccessful Kickstarter campaign whose goal was to develop a scanner to archive photos at Johns Hopkins University. The build used a vacuum-powered suction cup to lift pages onto a flatbed scanner. It’s a lot slower than some of the other builds, but we think there would be less of a risk of skipping a page.
As for processing the images captured by a digital camera, [Steve]’s
book scan wizard
handles a lot of the necessary post processing tasks. Converting everything to a PDF, changing the DPI, and putting all the pages in order can be done with [Steve]’s app.
Download here
.
Turning a page of a book is a very hard problem – books are designed for hands, not grippers. If you’ve got a book scanner build you’d like to show off,
send it in on the tip line
. We’ll be sure to put it up. | 9 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "470108",
"author": "anyone",
"timestamp": "2011-10-02T19:19:50",
"content": "i’m pretty interested in this methodhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExW64zOZGoIit appears to even capture the page curves and makes the necessary corrections.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"re... | 1,760,377,067.038741 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/10/04/wifi-jamming-via-deauthentication-packets/ | WiFi Jamming Via Deauthentication Packets | Mike Szczys | [
"Security Hacks",
"Wireless Hacks"
] | [
"aircrack-ng",
"authentication",
"bash",
"jammer",
"jamming",
"wifi"
] | [Elliot] put together an intriguing proof-of-concept script that uses
repeated deauthentication packet bursts to jam WiFi
access points. From what we can tell it’s a new way to use an old tool. Aircrack-ng is
a package often seen in WiFi hacking
. It includes
a deauthentication command
which causes WiFi clients to stop using an access point and attempt to reauthenticate themselves. [Elliot’s] attack involves sending repeated deauthenitcation packets which in essence never allows a client to pass any data because they will always be tied up with authentication.
After the break you can see a video demonstration of how this works. The script detects access points in the area. The attacker selects which ones to jam and the script then calls the Aircrack-ng command. If you’ve got an idea on how to protect against this type of thing, we’d love to hear about. Leave your thoughts in the comments.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmabhHiQ4yY&w=470] | 109 | 50 | [
{
"comment_id": "471994",
"author": "Brian",
"timestamp": "2011-10-04T22:13:26",
"content": "SIR!I am going to help you.Please unplug your router form the wall.Now plug your router back in.Did that fix the problem sir?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"commen... | 1,760,377,067.273363 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/10/04/effortlessly-troll-your-friends-each-time-they-reach-for-a-snack/ | Effortlessly Troll Your Friends Each Time They Reach For A Snack | Mike Nathan | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"home hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"insults",
"refrigerator"
] | If you’re trying to lose some weight, [Grissini]
has got the just the thing you need!
He recently tweaked his refrigerator to throw out insults each time its opened, though not for his own physical well-being. While we imagine that an abusive refrigerator would help curb your appetite for late night snacks, [Grissini] makes no bones about the fact that he simply wants to effortlessly and automatically troll his roommates.
The device is pretty simple, consisting of an Arduino and an Adafruit wave shield stuffed inside a styrofoam coffee cup. A photocell is used to detect when the refrigerator door has been opened, triggering the Arduino to play a sound bite from the on-board SD card. [Grissini] even spent a good chunk of time working with a text to speech engine in order to create a customized list of insults that point out his friends’ idiosyncrasies – what a guy!
Continue reading to see his abusive fridge in action, and be sure to check out his Instructableto learn how to make your own.
[vimeo http://vimeo.com/29971150 w=470]
[vimeo http://vimeo.com/29971304 w=470] | 11 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "471973",
"author": "jim",
"timestamp": "2011-10-04T21:43:10",
"content": "Obviously I’d take it out and replace the messages. Less obviously, I’d replace them with something soothing yet slightly crappy, like Enya.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
... | 1,760,377,067.321552 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/10/04/gaming-scoreboard-and-storage-box-in-one/ | Gaming Scoreboard And Storage Box In One | Mike Szczys | [
"Microcontrollers"
] | [
"attiny2313",
"card game",
"MAX7219",
"munchkin",
"scoreboard"
] | This
game storage box will also keep score for you
. [Marcus] built it for playing
the card game Munkin
, but some clever programming could adapt it for most needs. The hardware is built around an ATtiny2313 to do the thinking, and a MAX7219 to drive the 7-segment displays. Each player has their own two-digit score readout, which is perfect for this game which only tracks scores from -9 up to 10.
In the video after the break you can see [Marcus’] explanation of the user interface. One player acts as scorekeeper for the game. That person uses three buttons to adjust the score as necessary, and to move the current player marker, expressed as a decimal point on one of the displays. Pressing all three keys will put the unit into programming mode. This lets you select the number of players and at which position they are sitting, as well as make adjustments to the score if necessary.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adz5DrFz8_I&w=470] | 2 | 2 | [
{
"comment_id": "471927",
"author": "anonemouse",
"timestamp": "2011-10-04T20:36:20",
"content": "One person in charge of keeping score? This is Munchkin, where the rule about cheating is “don’t get caught”!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "47256... | 1,760,377,067.365121 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/10/04/makita-jobsite-radio-gets-a-few-extra-bells-and-whistles/ | Makita Jobsite Radio Gets A Few Extra Bells And Whistles | Mike Szczys | [
"digital audio hacks",
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"charger",
"cigarette lighter",
"fm radio",
"makita",
"radio",
"usb"
] | [Jose]
added several features to a Makita AM/FM jobsite radio
, and did such a good job that you can’t tell they weren’t originally part of the design.
The original radio
has a compartment for a battery pack used with Makita’s line of rechargeable tools, and offers AM/FM radio, as well as auxiliary audio playback via a pair of speakers. [Jose] augmented those speakers by adding a pair of tweeters as well.
Next on his list of features were a couple of power bus add-ons. In the image on the right you can see the results of adding an automotive cigarette lighter to the side of the unit. Opposite this you’ll find a pair of USB ports that are activated by a lighted toggle switch. The ports are part of a USB car charger that is patched into the battery with a flip of that switch.
Finally, there’s a built-in Bluetooth audio receiver that connects to the auxiliary input. As shown in the image on the left, he can now play tunes from his cellphone without the need for a cord. See him showing off the device in the video after the break.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfd40-mnTAg&w=470] | 14 | 13 | [
{
"comment_id": "471893",
"author": "fartface",
"timestamp": "2011-10-04T19:13:21",
"content": "Cant tell? those tweeters are obvious el cheapo car tweeters just glued on.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "472051",
"author": "tinkerer",
"... | 1,760,377,067.462396 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/10/04/hackaday-links-october-4-2011/ | Hackaday Links: October 4, 2011 | Brian Benchoff | [
"Hackaday links"
] | [
"Grand Theft Auto",
"PCB holder",
"processing",
"snake",
"stationary bike",
"tshirt bleaching",
"x86 Android"
] | Playing Snake on a MIDI controller
While you’re waiting for your bandmates to finish arguing/making out/their beer, you can play Snake on your MIDI controller. Luis
wrote a Snake game
for an Akai APC40 controller. Everything is built with Processing and should provide a great distraction from (for?) your 14-year-old groupies.
Cheap & simple PCB holder
[Robert] sent in a tip for a very simple PCB holder. Take a neo magnet, embed it in oven-hardening modeling clay, and use it on a steel worktop. Check out the pics he sent in (
1
,
2
). It’s too simple not to work.
Lose weight by running people over
[binaryhead] is using a
stationary bicycle
to play Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. (Spanish, Google translate
here
). A pot and magnet/reed switch is connected to an Arduino that outputs keys to San Andreas. There’s no word on an ambulance simulator yet.
Giant Android tablet
[Martin Draskov] made a 23 inch Android tablet. He used off the shelf parts (multitouch monitor and a small PC) with the x86 Android port. There’s a
video
that doesn’t include Angry Birds. Sad, that.
T-shirt bleaching for the modern fabricator
With
t-shirt bleaching
, you can put a custom design on clothes without a screen printing setup. Reddit user [Admiral_Noosenbaum]
used a CNC machine
to make templates. Now if only we can find an .SGV file of Che Guevara.
Video here
. | 15 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "471822",
"author": "Lee",
"timestamp": "2011-10-04T16:52:05",
"content": "Re the magnet… As long as don’t go over the curie temp (the point of which the magnet loses magnetism from heat), you should be OK with using baking clay. Check the package to see how high of a temp you need ... | 1,760,377,067.582749 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/10/04/dslr-focus-stacking-assistant-takes-the-hard-work-out-of-macro-photography/ | DSLR Focus Stacking Assistant Takes The Hard Work Out Of Macro Photography | Mike Nathan | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"digital cameras hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"canon",
"dslr",
"eos",
"focus stacking"
] | Focus stacking makes for fantastic macro images
, but the process can be tedious without the right tools. While some focus stacking rigs require the camera to be moved away from the subject in small increments, others choose to keep the camera stationary while focusing the lens before each shot.
Both methods produce great results, but you need a steady hand and a lot of patience to get the job done. [Oleg] uses the focus stacking technique relatively frequently, so he decided to automate the process in order to save himself some time. Using an Arduino and a USB host shield from Adafruit, he put together a focus stacking assistant for his Canon EOS camera.
The assistant allows him to set two focal points, leaving the Arduino and his camera with the task of taking pictures. The Arduino commands the camera to tweak the focal point ever so slightly between each image, resulting in an array of images ready for stacking.
He says that the process is a bit slow at the moment, but he’ll be cleaning up the code and building a Nikon-compatible unit in the weeks to come. | 8 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "471747",
"author": "statik",
"timestamp": "2011-10-04T15:20:53",
"content": "Awesome project; I made a much lower tech version which moved the whole camera using a stepper, lots of disadvanges, but on the plus size it works with manual focus macro lenses (ie. a reversed standard len... | 1,760,377,067.41156 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/10/04/pc-temperature-monitoring-system-lights-up-when-things-get-hot/ | PC Temperature Monitoring System Lights Up When Things Get Hot | Mike Nathan | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"computer hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"gpu",
"graphics card",
"pc"
] | [Taylor] popped a new graphics card into his computer, but before he could settle in for a round of gaming, his card started to overheat. He eventually tracked the problem down to an undersized power supply, but the prospect of cooking his new GPU to death made him think twice about
how he was monitoring his system’s health.
To continually keep tabs on his video card’s temperature going forward, he put together a small circuit that will alert him if things start to get too hot. He mounted a small temperature sensor on his graphics card near the GPU, wiring it to an Arduino. The Arduino monitors his video card, lighting an RGB LED blue if conditions are alright. If the temperature rises above 50C, the LED changes to red, signaling a problem.
We’re aware that there are all sorts of software applications that can monitor component temperatures for you, but the appeal of [Taylor’s] system is that it can be easily seen from across the room rather than via the desktop. That said, we think that his system could take advantage of his PC’s case fan lighting for a more visible warning, and it wouldn’t hurt to wire in an auto-shutdown feature in case his computer overheats while he’s away. | 23 | 20 | [
{
"comment_id": "471715",
"author": "Will",
"timestamp": "2011-10-04T14:19:55",
"content": "I don’t see how an underpowered PSU will cause a GPU to overheat. Usually it’ll pop whatever breaker that PSU has (if it has one) or the PSU will pop and crackle and let the magic smoke out. Neat unit to moni... | 1,760,377,067.523869 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/10/03/slick-robot-with-tank-treads-can-move-every-which-way/ | Slick Robot With Tank Treads Can Move Every Which Way | Mike Nathan | [
"Transportation Hacks"
] | [
"Omni-Crawler",
"rc",
"wheels"
] | It’s always interesting to see new and innovative means of robot locomotion. At the recent “Innovation Japan 2011” conference researchers from Osaka University unveiled the
Omni-Crawler
, which is aimed at changing the way both robots and people move.
The Omni-Crawler’s movement is provided by Omni-Balls, an Osaka University creation that moves in all directions, not unlike a swivel caster. The Omni-Ball is simpler and sturdier in design however, making it far more robust than its office chair counterpart.
Several of these Omni-Balls are attached to the crawler, and wrapped in a rubber tank tread like gripper material. The resultant motion is predictably omnidirectional, though we’re guessing you figured that out already thanks to Osaka University’s naming conventions.
While we’re not sure this technology will be making it into production cars any time soon, we would certainly be OK with having an RC Omni-Crawler to play around with in the office.
Stick around after the break to see a short video of the Omni-Crawler in action.
[via
BuildLounge
]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=BTp2UAaihaI&w=470] | 21 | 11 | [
{
"comment_id": "470937",
"author": "Andy",
"timestamp": "2011-10-03T22:37:17",
"content": "So much awesome in one video",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "470944",
"author": "Darkstar",
"timestamp": "2011-10-03T22:47:55",
"content": "T... | 1,760,377,067.645367 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/10/03/build-your-own-portal-turret-in-150-easy-steps/ | Build Your Own Portal Turret In 150 Easy Steps | Mike Szczys | [
"Arduino Hacks"
] | [
"portal",
"turret",
"valve",
"wav shield"
] | If there were a contest for the most thorough step-by-step project log [Kurt] would the champion. He recently a posted 150 step build log for his
fleece-covered Portal turret project
. If you can get over the need to click-through 30 pages of steps, there’s a lot to like about this project.
First, what it doesn’t do: The Turret doesn’t split up the middle and fire bullets at you. This is a relief, but the fact that it’s not lethal doesn’t mean it just sits there looking interesting. It can detect movement, it knows when you pick it up, and it can tell when it’s been knocked over. All of these interactive sensory inputs are used to playback various sound bytes from the Portal games, making it a great piece of desk art for those working in geek-centric offices. See for yourself in the video after the break.
The body itself is a food storage container which houses the barebones Arduino and Adafruit Wav shield. As near as we can tell, a PIR sensor detects movement, and leaf switches on the legs tell it when it’s been picked up or tipped over. But we only made a cursor examination of the assembly steps so we might be missing something.
If you’re not into the turrets,
maybe this potato is more up your alley
.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GznlNg_EgN0&w=470] | 11 | 11 | [
{
"comment_id": "470911",
"author": "TheCapt",
"timestamp": "2011-10-03T21:51:38",
"content": "Funny – when I read “The body itself is a food storage container” I thought, hey great, put cake in there and when a coworker comes to get it, this fires up, but alas, only the components are in the food c... | 1,760,377,067.691958 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/10/03/hone-your-skills-by-building-control-systems/ | Hone Your Skills By Building Control Modules | Mike Szczys | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"LED Hacks"
] | [
"acrylic",
"enclosure",
"laser cut",
"led strip",
"rgb"
] | If you ask us, there’s no substitute for learning by doing. But often the hardest part of acquiring new skills is coming up with the idea for a project that utilizes them. [Mike Rankin] wanted to develop a project using laser cut acrylic, and settled on
building a control box for an RGB LED strip
. He got some practice modeling objects in SolidWorks and seeing the process through to the final build. But it also let him explore an area of microcontroller programming in which he had little experience.
The LED strip he’s using depends on the HL1606. This is an SPI addressable chip that we see
popping up in a lot of projects these days
. It’s pretty simple to send red, green, and blue values through the data bus, and it allowed [Mike] to try his hand at programming menus and sub-menus. The controller takes input from a clickable rotary encoder. The settings are displayed on an OLED screen, with all the hardware nestled comfortably in his custom-cut enclosure.
Don’t miss the demo video embedded after the break.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWNkqsYFRzA&w=470] | 23 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "470870",
"author": "Pat",
"timestamp": "2011-10-03T21:06:08",
"content": "How about a link to the writeup:https://sites.google.com/site/0miker0/arduino-led-controller",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "470874",
"author": "andre... | 1,760,377,067.752798 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/10/03/avr-chiptune-project-turns-this-simple-code-into-music/ | AVR Chiptune Project Turns This Simple Code Into Music | Mike Szczys | [
"Musical Hacks",
"Radio Hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"AVR",
"chiptune",
"filter",
"ham"
] | [Mark] had seen a few examples of algorithmic music generation that takes some simple code and produces complex-sounding results. Apparently it’s possible to pipe the output of code like this directly to audio devices on a Linux box, but [Mark] decided to go a different direction. His project lets you
play simple algorithms as audio using AVR microcontrollers
.
Now the code work for this is very simple, but he hardware implementation is where things get interesting. Ostensibly, [Mark] didn’t have the components available to build a filter to use PWM as an audio signal. Being that he’s a ham operator, he grabbed some radio equipment he had on hand and whipped up an alternative. He’s feeding the PWM from an Arduino into the voltage controlled oscillator on a board meant for high-altitude balloon telemetry. The signal broadcast by this board is then picked up by his radio receiver, and played on some speakers.
Rube-Goldberg contraptions aside, the effect is pretty interesting, as you can hear in the latter half of the video clip which we’ve embedded after the jump.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jaTzSXN8uJU&w=470] | 21 | 15 | [
{
"comment_id": "470821",
"author": "Rob Carlson",
"timestamp": "2011-10-03T19:33:24",
"content": "Nicely done, but transmitting music on 144.300 is technically a Part 97 violation.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "470828",
"author": "k... | 1,760,377,068.033424 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/10/03/hack-a-watchman/ | Hack A Watchman | Kevin Dady | [
"Video Hacks"
] | [
"Watchman"
] | I have been on the hunt in our local thrift and random junk stores lately for a small TV to hopefully modify into a decent enough computer monitor for my Apple //C and Trash80. While there are TONS of TV’s out there, none were really striking me in tube size or picture quality. Roaming around the last resource I happened to find this tiny Sony Watchman Color LCD TV.
Of course this thing is way too tiny for a computer monitor. I thought it would be a great thing to have around the bench for when I am repairing a video game system, or messing about with the TV out Arduino library (the 3 buck price tag on half off day didn’t help either). Directly out of the store this thing is totally useless as there are no inputs and its tuner is for analog “over the air” stations which no longer exist.
Join me after the break to see how I turned this buck fifty paperweight into a functional bench tool!
The idea here is that the carrier radio signal being picked up by the TV’s tuner at some point is stripped away and you’re left with a normal composite TV signal. Find that place and you can simply inject a signal from wherever you like, such as a video game system.
Doing some looking around on the internet I was quickly able to find a
service manual
for this exact device which contains everything form calibration to schematics, which did help a little, but mainly in confirming my notes as I poked and probed around the board.
The first order of business is to get the silly thing open, which the service manual was the most help with. Full of plastic clips, I managed to carefully poke and squeeze at the seam of the enclosure eventually popping it open (while only breaking one clip). Once opened there are three boards inside, each connected to each other and each individually clipped into the case.
The top most board contains the passive matrix 2.2 inch LCD screen along with some final controller circuitry. The second / middle board is the power supply board, this contains voltage regulation and a nice step-up up circuit to drive the fluorescent back light tube contained on this board (+30v). It also contains op amps for audio, contrast control and the external controls and jacks. The third and final board is all TV tuner and since the schematics do not have a giant red arrow saying “HACK HERE!!!” that is where I decided to start.
At first I thought I needed to keep this third tuner board and disable the tuner. After checking the schematics for a suitable point I soldered a wire to a test point, cut a lead on the board and gave it a whirl, with no results. The tuner was still sending its signal on up to the LCD, so I went about trying more points (this thing is designed pretty redundantly). After getting nothing but the tuner signal along with its on screen display I thought to myself, why not just unplug the tuner board .. maybe it will still work, and yes it does.
The three boards are connected by pin headers. Most importantly, the tuner board has three very useful test points marked AGND, VIDEO and AUDIO, where as the other boards are unmarked. Using those marked test points I was quickly able to find out what pins on the headers were the analog ground, video, and audio and translated those positions on to the receptacle on the middle power board (which then passes up to the LCD board). I was able to then probe those female pins onto three test positions on the middle board which made great pads to solder to. Audio is on the left, video is on the right in my picture.
Checking the schematics again I was sure this is what I was looking for, from this point on the audio signal just goes to an opamp to drive the tiny internal speaker or headphones . The video signal gets sent up to one of the few non house branded chips in the entire thing, a
M52042FP
which converts the composite signal into a RGB signal and a separate composite sync signal which is sent to the LCD controller.
After wiring my connections I had a picture but the sync was totally wrong. Following the schematic to the LCD controller I found that way back at the tuner the horizontal sync is split off and sent directly to this chip, where as the composite sync is sent to everything then to the LCD controller.
Going on a total guess based on where I read somewhere that some video doo-dad would take a composite sync if it was sent to both Hsync and Vsync I soldered the two pins together on the LCD controller and tried it again.
Works like a charm.
At this point I would normally call this a successful hack, but since I removed an entire board from the TV I now had some room to play around. Using the TV tuner board as a stencil I traced its outline to some perf board. I then took a hacksaw and cut out the perfboard and drilled some holes for some PCB mount RCA jacks.
Since I did it half assed, there was not a whole bunch holding the jacks in place so I reinforced it with some putty epoxy. The positions of the RCA jacks are such that they poke out of where the original “straptenna” came out of the case so I did not have to add any holes.
From there I plopped in an ATMEGA328P, and wired it up for use with the TV out library. I also added a header for ISP programming and cut a small rectangle in the side of the case for access. For future control I also added a panel mount 6 pin mini din to the top of the case. This is the same style plug used for PS/2 keyboards and mice, so I wired it up that power and ground are in the proper places for PS/2 devices.
The other pins were wired to the 328P’s pins, and the two pins typically not connected in a PS/2 port are connected to the serial port of the 328. This gives me 4 GPIO pins, and if I really wanted to make a breakout cable I could have both the serial port and a PS/2 keyboard hooked up at the same time for a pocket serial terminal. Though its mostly going to be used with an NES controller.
Power is controlled by the switch that came with the TV. When I flip it to what was the VHF tuner selection the TV powers up but the AVR does not. allowing me to connect an external source. When I flip it to the UHF selection power is applied to the AVR. The TV still runs from batteries and keeps its “about three hour lifespan” though 99% of that drain is in the florescent back-lighting.
And that’s about it, 1.50$ useless pocket TV that runs on batteries now can get external signals from anything made in the last 20 or so years, and I have been having a blast with my new all in one TV out development platform … though none of this helps my computer monitor situation I originally started out with. I have that figured out with a NEC multisync monitor I have owned since 1990, but that’s a totally different hack. | 29 | 27 | [
{
"comment_id": "470757",
"author": "sariel",
"timestamp": "2011-10-03T18:05:55",
"content": "looks awesome but totally wanna see some video of this thing in action!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "470760",
"author": "Beat707",
"timestam... | 1,760,377,067.975814 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/10/03/diy-signal-generator-probe/ | DIY Signal Generator Probe | Brian Benchoff | [
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"probe",
"signal generator"
] | A signal generator is a handy bit of kit and with the right components, it’s pretty easy to build one. Fabricating a proper signal generator probe is another matter entirely. [Frank]’s
DIY signal generator probe
does exactly what it claims to, and is very cheap to boot.
After [Frank] made a
simple signal generator
with a few parts he had lying around, he needed a probe. Not wanting to deal with poking loose wires around his circuits, he decided to modify a scope probe. Six dollars and two weeks later, [Frank] had a suitable scope probe on his doorstop shipped from halfway around the world.
The strain relief on the probe was removed, and the resistors and trim cap on the PCB was desoldered. All that was left to do was solder a piece of wire from the BNC jack to the probe lead. The strain relief was put back on and clearly labeled for use as a signal generator probe. Not bad for 10 minutes of work. | 0 | 0 | [] | 1,760,377,068.348362 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/10/03/animated-turn-signals-add-a-little-bit-of-cylon-to-your-automobile/ | Animated Turn Signals Add A Little Bit Of Cylon To Your Automobile | Mike Szczys | [
"LED Hacks",
"Transportation Hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"cylon",
"mustang",
"turn signal"
] | [StarfireMX] churned out
a fantastic turn signal replacement for his Mustang
. When he switches on his blinker, a chasing pattern of amber LEDs is shown on the front corner of his car. Pretty cool, and as far as we can tell this is still street legal. But once he gets onto private property [StarfireMX] can have a little bit more fun with the replacements. The LEDs are actually fully addressable RGB modules. They can display a variety of colors and patterns, with wireless control from a touch-screen unit he also built.
Both the turn signal unit, and the remote controls are Arduino driven with XBee modules for wireless communications. Pop the hood and you’ll find even more blinky lights to accent the engine, which are also tweaked using the remote control.
Don’t miss the demonstration video after the break. Near the end of the clip you can see how the controller is mounted with heavy-duty Velcro behind the grill. Inside the project box there’s a voltage regulator which drops the 12V down to 5V and can put out a whopping four amps to make sure the LEDs have plenty of current.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWn8yI-qdp8&w=470]
[Thanks Rudy] | 71 | 33 | [
{
"comment_id": "470709",
"author": "djneo",
"timestamp": "2011-10-03T16:40:53",
"content": "Awesome, but is it legal ?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "470736",
"author": "Alex",
"timestamp": "2011-10-03T17:25:48",
"con... | 1,760,377,068.629876 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/10/05/student-built-robot-chassis-has-something-you-can-learn-from/ | Student Built Robot Chassis Has Something You Can Learn From | Mike Szczys | [
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"F",
"omni-wheel",
"omnidirectional"
] | This is
a four-wheeled robot chassis built by high school students
over the summer. They were participating in workshops put on by xbot robotics in Seattle, Washington. The goal is to get them participating in events like
FIRST Robotics
and LEGO league, and eventually into science related careers.
At first glance we thought: oh, that’s a nice chassis build… on to the next tip. But then the difference in front and rear wheel types caught our eye. The problem with four-wheeled designs is that
you need differential steering
to overcome the skidding issue when turning. This usually means two independently powered rear wheels and one unpowered front wheel that can swivel. One way to overcome this is to use
three omniwheels
, each with their own motor. And more recently we have seen
four-wheelers that use mechanum wheels
to get around the issue… but that takes four motors.
The design seen above uses just two motors, each with a chain to drive both wheels on one side. The rear wheels have rubber grippers which give them great traction. The front wheels are omni-wheels which allow them to move side to side easily during turns while aiding in forward progress when not turning. This gives the robot enough grip to push object around, like you can see in the video after the break.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVSycOuoZM8&w=470] | 27 | 14 | [
{
"comment_id": "473051",
"author": "Austin Nordman",
"timestamp": "2011-10-05T22:11:00",
"content": "This has been used in first FRC teams forever.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "473060",
"author": "Adam sidelsky",
"timestamp": "2011-1... | 1,760,377,068.523637 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/10/05/portable-light-box-for-photographers-on-the-go/ | Portable Light Box For Photographers On-the-go | Mike Szczys | [
"digital cameras hacks"
] | [
"carrying case",
"case",
"light tent",
"portable"
] | Looking to make a quality light box more portable, [Hharry] designed
a collapsible version complete with adjustable side lighting
.
Light tents are used by photographers as a stage for photographing small items. The use of multiple light sources, and a fabric that will diffuse them, means a reduction in shadows that might otherwise ruin a picture. This design starts with an MDF base in the form of a shallow box with a few baffles running left to right. Drawer slides connect the lamp poles to these baffles, making it easy to pull each of the four light sources out when setting up the tent.
The white fabric that makes up the stage has pockets sewn into the edges to accept dowel rods. These are not anchored permanently. They pull against the fabric when wedged in place to keep the tent taut, but easily fold down for storage in the cavities of the base. Finally, the top of the carrying case folds down and a drawer pull serves as the carrying handle.
A light tent isn’t the only way to battle shadows in your pictures. Check out
this method that uses mirrors
to adjust lighting conditions.
[Thanks David] | 4 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "473020",
"author": "lostalaska",
"timestamp": "2011-10-05T21:14:45",
"content": "That is pretty slick. I’ve been thinking of putting one together using PVC tubes, but I might have to rethink that after seeing this bad ass little gem.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"re... | 1,760,377,068.189525 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/10/05/iphone-controlled-daft-punk-helmet-replica-a-dazzling-build/ | IPhone Controlled Daft Punk Helmet Replica A Dazzling Build | Mike Szczys | [
"LED Hacks",
"Wearable Hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"daft punk",
"helmet",
"iphone",
"marquee",
"wifi"
] | This Daft Punk helmet replica is beautiful to look at, but the deeper we delve into the build process, the more we begin to think that
the entire project is a piece of artwork
. [Harrison Krix] has been working on it for months, and just posted his three-part build log in September. Check out the video and the links to all three parts after the break.
Now [Harrison] isn’t new to prop replica scene. He’s the guy responsible for the other
fantastic Daft Punk helmet we saw last year
. He’s tapped the same fabrication skills to churn out an equally impressive chromed helmet, complete with addressable flashing LEDs. He built his own mold to create the body of the helmet, reminding us of the
Storm Trooper helmet replicas
we saw in July. While this was off being coated in chrome, he got down to business with the electronics.
The visor of the helmet has a red LED marquee. This, along with the multicolored visor sides and ear pucks, is controlled by an Arduino yellow jacket. The lights can be controlled by an iPhone app that connects to the helmet via WiFi, letting a user push custom messages to the display, and alter the light patterns. The build shines on the inside as well as the outside with an incredibly clean LED matrix build, and clever control placement for switching each part on or off.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxjmQfeYztA&w=470]
Build Log Links:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
[Thanks Chris] | 21 | 17 | [
{
"comment_id": "472954",
"author": "nico",
"timestamp": "2011-10-05T20:01:17",
"content": "I’m speechless.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "472956",
"author": "Unknown",
"timestamp": "2011-10-05T20:01:54",
"content": "How well are yo... | 1,760,377,068.247562 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/10/05/quick-and-easy-diy-pic-development-board/ | Quick And Easy DIY PIC Development Board | Mike Nathan | [
"Microcontrollers",
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"dev board",
"development board",
"pic",
"toner transfer"
] | A few months back, [Phil] was looking to get into PIC development, but he
couldn’t seem to find a simple development board
for the PIC16F883 microcontroller he wanted to use. Since no retail offering had exactly what he was looking for, he decided to put together a dev board of his own.
He spent a couple hours in Eagle, putting together a simple board layout. [Phil] then busted out the iron and copper clad, making his dev board a reality using the tried and true toner transfer method.
He says that the board itself is quite simple, consisting of little more than the PIC, an LM1117 linear voltage regulator, and all the pin headers you could possibly need. While very basic and not necessarily a hack, we do like seeing people
make their own tools
when the market doesn’t provide what they want.
If you have been looking around for a simple PIC development solution, be sure to swing by [Phil’s] site – all of the schematics and layout files are free for the taking. | 27 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "472846",
"author": "miked",
"timestamp": "2011-10-05T17:34:19",
"content": "“not necessarily a hack”this is most definitely a hack!it takes a certain level of intelligence to use a tool. it takes a higher level of intelligence to design a new tool.",
"parent_id": null,
"dept... | 1,760,377,068.311124 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/10/05/adalight-ladyadas-ambilight/ | Adalight: Ladyada’s Ambilight | Brian Benchoff | [
"home entertainment hacks",
"LED Hacks"
] | [
"adalight",
"ambilight",
"led",
"processing"
] | The latest and greatest ambilight clone, the
Adalight
, comes from the fruitful mind and cluttered workbench of the sometimes Hack A Day
contributor
[
Phil Burgess
].
We’ve seen
a
few
clones of the Philips ambilight tech, but [Phil] knocked this one out of the park. The hardware is a string of
12mm RGB LEDs
connected to the Arduino of your choosing. After attaching the LEDs to the rear of the TV using anything from, “laser-cut acrylic to nothing more than a pizza box,” it’s on to the software.
The Processing sketch performs a series of screen captures and averages the pixels around the perimeter of the screen. Reportedly, Carl Sagan’s
Cosmos
looks fantastic with the Adalight but
there might be a better option
.
[Phil] used 25 LEDs on his Adalight, more than the usual 6-10 we see on other Ambilight clones. Check out the video after the break to see the Adalight in action.
[vimeo=30043456] | 28 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "472694",
"author": "jaybles",
"timestamp": "2011-10-05T14:13:17",
"content": "I’d love to see the performance on this while playing a Radiohead concert dvd. On second though it might just be a lot of flashing and not many color shifts. Nevermind! I probably should even have submitte... | 1,760,377,068.694448 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/10/05/sustainability-hacks-auto-feeding-wood-fired-generator/ | Sustainability Hacks: Auto-feeding Wood-fired Generator | Mike Szczys | [
"green hacks"
] | [
"generator",
"power turbine",
"wood"
] | Here’s a project that’s hard to categorize.
It generates electricity by burning wood
. The diamond-plate wrapped column to the right is a magazine that stores the wood, which is gravity fed as pieces below are consumed. The heat is used to drive a power turbine which is responsible for generating the electricity.
This begs the question, is this a sustainability hack? From one perspective it’s burning renewable biomass. Right now that’s wood, but it could be compressed blocks of grasses or wood manufacturing byproducts. So in this sense it is sustainable. Unfortunately it still doesn’t solve the problem of carbon emissions.
The build log for the project is both image and video heavy. You can see the initial prototypes which are not self-feeding, but burn so hot that there’s a nice pink glow to the entire assembly. But by the time they get to the final prototype it’s running much more efficiently, and can put out a peak of over 100 amps!
[Thanks DerAxman] | 48 | 20 | [
{
"comment_id": "472642",
"author": "craig christ",
"timestamp": "2011-10-05T13:12:16",
"content": "You forget that wood and other biomass is CAPTURE CO2. So, if you re-release it, you are still more or less carbon neutral. The alternative is rotting wood releasing CO2 and possibly methane (worse)... | 1,760,377,068.776814 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/10/04/very-impressive-steampunk-keyboard/ | Very Impressive Steampunk Keyboard | Brian Benchoff | [
"classic hacks"
] | [
"keyboard",
"Model M",
"steampunk"
] | After spending more than 250 hours on his project, [Admiral Aaron Ravensdale]’s
steampunk keyboard
is finally done.
The keyboard mod was designed around a
Model M
. After removing the keycaps, [The Admrial] upcycled the keys from old Continental typewriters. Because his typewriters only had 47 keys and the Model M needs 104, three typewriters needed to be sourced off of eBay. Polishing the metal rings of the typewriter keys ate up more than 100 hours.
After building a brass frame from 8mm tubing and candle holders, the stained wood inlay was drilled for the keys. Status lights were installed and the PCB was connected. A pair of ‘gaslight’ keyboard lights were fabricated using 3mm tubing and very fitting “Golden White” LEDs.
[Admrial Ravensdale] put up
an Instructable
walking through the build process of his keyboard. There’s also a
German-language PDF
build log that shows every picture of every step.
This isn’t [Admrial Ravensdale]’s
first Hack A Day feature
, but with a build that might one-up
the original steampunk keyboard
we can’t wait to see what comes out of [The Admiral]’s workshop next. | 31 | 15 | [
{
"comment_id": "472042",
"author": "Halloween_Harry",
"timestamp": "2011-10-04T23:10:05",
"content": "pretty impressive keyboard. i like his choice of re-purposed keys, but dislike the typical gear that serves no purpose which seems to plague most steampunk builds..",
"parent_id": null,
"de... | 1,760,377,068.910446 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/10/02/star-wars-imperial-march-played-by-dual-floppy-drives/ | Star Wars Imperial March Played By Dual Floppy Drives | Jeremy Cook | [
"Musical Hacks",
"Peripherals Hacks"
] | [
"floppy drive",
"imperial march",
"music",
"star wars"
] | Although many have made some sort of music with improvised electronics, few sound as cool as this Imperial March from Star Wars
played by two floppy drives
. According to [Pawel], “It’s nothing new” and quite simple. This may be true as we’ve featured an
Imperial March-playing floppy drive
here before, but it was only one drive. Although it may not be the
London Symphony Orchestra
, the two drives together sound quite good!
According to him, the FDD has a fairly simple interface. To move the head, one simply needs to pull the DRVSB pin low and then activate the STEP pin on a falling edge. This will make the head move one direction dependent on the DIR pin state. In this case, an ATMega microcontroller is moving everything. An explanation of the pins used in this hack can be
found here
.
Although it may look like an intimidating hack on the surface, something like this might be a neat project to try with some old hardware and an Arduino or other controller! [Pawel] did have the idea to hook up a 5 1/4″ and 8″ drive to make a full FDD orchestra, so we can’t wait to see what he comes up with!
[youtube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHJOz_y9rZE&w=470&h=315%5D | 36 | 25 | [
{
"comment_id": "470017",
"author": "Khanzerbero",
"timestamp": "2011-10-02T17:04:37",
"content": "Cool! if there were a way",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "470021",
"author": "jordan",
"timestamp": "2011-10-02T17:08:05",
... | 1,760,377,068.848059 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/10/02/bread-head-makes-avr-programming-a-snap/ | Bread Head Makes AVR Programming A Snap | Mike Nathan | [
"Microcontrollers",
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"attiny",
"AVR",
"Bread Head",
"breadboard",
"header"
] | [Quinn] over at Blondihacks has been working with AVR microcontrollers a lot recently, and wanted a quick way to program the ATtiny13a (her current AVR of choice)
while the chip is still seated in a breadboard.
To speed up code revision and testing, she built a small programming header that she calls the Bread Head. The device is wonderfully simplistic, consisting of little more than snappable header pins and a bit of upside-down protoboard.
She soldered six headers to the top (formerly the bottom) side of the board, while a set of eight oversized headers were soldered to the opposite side of the programmer. Small bits of wire were soldered in to connect all of the appropriate pins together before [Quinn] slipped the header snugly over the top of the ATtiny and gave it a quick test. Everything worked perfectly, so she slathered in in epoxy for sturdiness and called it a day.
She says that the programmer works so well that she’s likely to make a similar header for other common AVRs too. | 18 | 15 | [
{
"comment_id": "469950",
"author": "Christian Hülsemeyer",
"timestamp": "2011-10-02T15:05:55",
"content": "I use such adapter a long time, too, but mine is a little bit smaller.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "469952",
"author": "mohonri",
... | 1,760,377,070.659692 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/10/02/sustainability-hacks-thin-client-server/ | Sustainability Hacks: Thin Client Server | Brian Benchoff | [
"green hacks"
] | [
"home server",
"lamp",
"sustainability hacks"
] | It’s not environmentally friendly, but most of us run a small home server 24 hours a day. A small server is a useful tool to have that unfortunately wastes a lot of energy. [kekszumquadrat]’s
thin client home server
is actually a passable LAMP box that doesn’t draw a ton of power.
[kekszumquadrat] started looking at the
SheevaPlug
when beginning his quest but was a little concerned about the
power supply failing
. Looking for alternatives, he ran across a lot of cheap thin clients on eBay. The price was right and
everything
runs Linux, so a few days later he had an
HP t5710
thin client on his doorstep.
This little computer came a copy of an embedded version of XP on a flash drive connected to the IDE port. Ditching that “operating system”, [kekszumquadrat] connected a USB hard drive and installed
Arch Linux
. After a few updates and package installations, he had a useful machine connected to the Internet.
Compared to the 7 Watts the SheevaPlug draws, the 15 W thin client is an energy hog. Compared to our improvised servers, [kekszumquadrat] is doing a remarkable job. Recycling old hardware never hurt anyone, either. | 44 | 34 | [
{
"comment_id": "469903",
"author": "djneo",
"timestamp": "2011-10-02T13:17:29",
"content": "I also have a Thinclient as a server running. a T5100. its also really quiet.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "469912",
"author": "Cadu",
"timest... | 1,760,377,071.130633 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/10/01/getting-the-lead-out-of-the-arduino-runtime/ | Getting The Lead Out Of The Arduino Runtime | Mike Nathan | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"Microcontrollers"
] | [
"arduino",
"efficiency",
"runtime"
] | Ah, the Arduino.
Love it or hate it, there’s no denying that part of its accessibility comes at the expense of speed and efficiency. We honestly like the platform as well as all of the others out there, because we believe that everything has its proper place and purpose. The crew over at Make, Hack, Void think that the Arduino dev boards are well and good, but that the
core of the Arduino runtime could use some improvement.
They have taken it upon themselves to dig deep into the code and make some of the improvements that many advanced Arduino users have been clamoring for. Their MHVLib is an efficiency oriented runtime library which works on all AVR microcontrollers, whether they be standalone uCs or Arduino-branded hardware.
They have changed the way that the Arduino handles pin and port information, as well as how object and buffers are allocated in memory. Their code still relies on an Arduino-style bootloader, though they recommend
Optiboot
since it’s about a quarter of the size of the Arduino version.
There’s a complete list of what has been implemented available on their site, and you can grab the code via
their GIT repository
if you want to give it a try yourself. | 25 | 15 | [
{
"comment_id": "469408",
"author": "biozz",
"timestamp": "2011-10-01T22:29:44",
"content": "am i the only one who thought of the aircrack line looking at that arduino? XDbut nice i should stick this in one and give it a shot",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"c... | 1,760,377,071.051108 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/10/01/spamming-a-label-printer-with-cookiehammer/ | Spamming A Label Printer With #cookiehammer | Brian Benchoff | [
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"printer",
"receipt printer",
"ruby",
"twitter"
] | [John] has always loved stock ticker machines. These machines are highly collectible, so short of finding one that wasn’t hurled from a Manhattan skyscraper in 1929, a stock ticker is out of reach for the casual enthusiast. There is another way to get a stock ticker-like device though:
hack a label printer
to print out stuff from Twitter.
The build is really quite simple. A Dymo thermal label printer was modified to accept standard 2.25″ point of sale receipt paper. Now that the printer can shoot out line after line of text, [John] wrote a little bit of Ruby code using a
Twitter API
,
RMagick
for graphics processing and a
Dymo printer driver
.
Every 30 seconds, the code does a Twitter search for a specific hashtag and prints those tweets.
#cookiehammer
was the first thing that came to mind, so it stuck. Right now there’s a few tweets for #cookiehammer, but we expect [John] will have to put a new roll of paper in his printer fairly soon.
It may not be as informative as a stock ticker machine, but we think [John]’s twitter printer build sure beats watching CNN. Check out the walk through after the break.
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQrhODI4PVM&w=470] | 21 | 11 | [
{
"comment_id": "469397",
"author": "Matt",
"timestamp": "2011-10-01T22:14:22",
"content": "I love how the title already created two tweets with that hashtag to be created (@hackaday and @hackadayrss)…",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "469416",
... | 1,760,377,070.607784 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/10/01/incredibly-cheap-upcycled-cargo-bike/ | Incredibly Cheap Upcycled Cargo Bike | Mike Nathan | [
"Transportation Hacks"
] | [
"cargo bike",
"diy",
"lastenrad"
] | What has two wheels, is made from five different bikes, and can carry all of your stuff for miles and miles on end?
[Paul Blue’s] DIY Lastenrad, that’s what.
(Google Translation)
A Lastenrad is a cargo bike where the load sits in front of the rider rather than being towed behind. [Paul] wanted one for hauling things around town, and rather than buy one, he built one of his own. One thing we particularly like about this build is that the bike borrows parts from five other bicycles that were in various states of disrepair. That kind of re-use is something we can really get behind.
[Paul] estimates the total build cost to be under 50 Euros, which is fantastic considering how useful his Lastenrad is. After logging about 100Km on the bike, he says that it handles quite well, and that even when fully loaded it is extremely easy to make his way about town.
Continue reading to see a video of the bike’s first test ride.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=su3qGKKjo9M#!&w=470] | 27 | 13 | [
{
"comment_id": "469360",
"author": "Mime",
"timestamp": "2011-10-01T21:11:38",
"content": "Nice one… just make sure to lock it when you are not around! bikes like this, or just bikes in general, have a nasty habit of being stolen. Once, I had my bike stolen, and I was so outraged I could probably h... | 1,760,377,070.550925 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/10/01/hacking-spot-personal-satellite-tracker-to-pass-more-information/ | Hacking SPOT Personal Satellite Tracker To Pass More Information | Mike Szczys | [
"Microcontrollers"
] | [
"gps",
"satellite",
"spot",
"tracker"
] | For less than $100 you can buy a little tracking module that will upload your location to a satellite. But you’ll only get latitude and longitude information. [Natrium42] spent some time reverse engineering the hardware, and the communications protocol, to
allow custom data to be transferred using a SPOT module
.
The flat fee for the hardware includes a one-year service plan allowing you to tack your device
on the SPOT website
. [Natrium42] started poking around in the transmitted data packages, and figured he could push custom messages like altitude data if he had some way to encode it as a valid latitude/longitude package. He found that location data is transmitted as two sets of three bytes each. The four least significant bits of each set get rounded by the server, leaving a total of 40 usable bits between the two data sets. He wrote encoding and decoding functions that will allow you to transfer whatever information you want.
So what is this good for? To get the process working he removed the MSP430 microcontroller from the board and is using his own replacement. So you can transmit GPS data from the onboard module, your own module, or sensor data for anything you’re able to hook up the to the replacement uC. | 38 | 26 | [
{
"comment_id": "469289",
"author": "guile",
"timestamp": "2011-10-01T19:23:53",
"content": "Please list: What’s something *REALLY* damn cool you can do with this?What could a science nerd do with this? PLEASE LIST!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_i... | 1,760,377,071.203718 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/10/01/make-your-own-gps-receiver/ | Make Your Own GPS Receiver! | Jeremy Cook | [
"gps hacks"
] | [
"gps",
"navigation"
] | GPS receivers may be available for well under $100 these days, but what’s the fun in buying one when you can
build it yourself
? According to [Andrew], the creator of this device, he was inspired by Matjaž Vidmar who developed a GPS receiver from scratch over 20 years ago. His article can be found
here
and includes some nicely hand-drawn diagrams as well as a lot of theory.
However, [Andrew’s]
article
is a bit more up-to-date and features plenty of theory itself. He explains how he built his four-channel GPS receiver, able to track four satellites at the same time. This is the minimum number of satellites needed to track your position using such a device.
GPS technology is quite incredible, and the amount of soldering as well as the understanding of the theory behind it required to build such a device is astonishing. Interestingly (sadly?), it seems we are beyond the time of LORAN hacks, but if you have an old one to share, be sure to send it in! For something a bit easier, maybe one could try making a
GPS “cateye”
to track what your pet does all day! | 40 | 20 | [
{
"comment_id": "468997",
"author": "biozz",
"timestamp": "2011-10-01T16:11:48",
"content": "is this legal?no International Traffic in Arms Regulations Violations?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "469002",
"author": "masterburner",
... | 1,760,377,070.988885 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/10/01/a-sunrise-clock-for-those-cold-dark-winter-mornings/ | A Sunrise Clock For Those Cold, Dark Winter Mornings | Mike Nathan | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"clock hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"clock",
"sunrise"
] | For most of the working world, the onset of autumn and winter in the Northern hemisphere means one thing – waking up well before the sun rises to get a start on the daily grind. [Brent] from Freeside Atlanta knows that routine well and decided to build himself
a sunrise alarm clock
in an attempt to wake himself more naturally on those dark mornings.
He bought an assortment of LEDs in varying colors including blue, red, yellow, and white, along with a few UV diodes for good measure. His goal with this array of LEDs was to simulate the natural colors of the sunrise, rather than simply slowly brightening the room. The clock uses a DS1307 RTC to keep the time, and an Arduino is tasked with lighting the LEDs about 25 minutes before it’s time for [Brent] to wake up.
He says that it seems to be working pretty well, gently waking his body before the clock radio kicks in. It certainly beats a loud buzzer! | 26 | 11 | [
{
"comment_id": "468980",
"author": "5s5",
"timestamp": "2011-10-01T16:01:14",
"content": "This looks like an awesome project. great job!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "468983",
"author": "nate",
"timestamp": "2011-10-01T16:03:13",
... | 1,760,377,070.721627 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/10/01/weekly-roundup-10111/ | Weekly Roundup 10/1/11 | Jack Buffington | [
"News",
"Weekly Roundup"
] | [
"weekly roundup"
] | In case you missed them, here are our most popular posts from the past week.
Our most popular post was about a Chinese man who is attempting to
build an octocopter that he can fly around
by pairing motorcycle engines to propellers. There were a considerable number of comments on this one!
Next we have a post about a project where a 12-series PIC is used with a single inductor to create
a working RFID tag
.
Our third most popular post was [Bertho’s]
tutorial about capacitive sensing
. This is his entry into the Dangerous Prototypes 7400 Logic competition so you’ll really get to see the nuts and bolts of how this type of sensing works.
Next is a post that is about a pretty unique
lathe made out of concrete
. If you have the weight capacity in your workspace, this could be a nice addition to your tools.
In fifth place is a post about [Eric’s] second revision of his
word clock
that tells time in German! | 0 | 0 | [] | 1,760,377,070.484053 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/10/01/sustainability-hacks-external-wood-burner/ | Sustainability Hacks – External Wood Burner | Jack Buffington | [
"News"
] | [] | Sometimes sustainability is about making do with what you have. This is the wood burner that I use for my personal workshop. In my area, it is mandated by law that we have to clear brush on a yearly basis. I live on a pretty large lot so we have plenty of brush to be cleared every year. Add to that the occasional tree that falls down and all of the scraps from my shop and you have all the wood that you need to heat a shop like mine. With the exception of the work that I put into gathering firewood, my heat is free and is carbon neutral. This is somewhat of a double hack because as you have probably noticed, the wood burner is sitting outside of my workshop. My workshop is fairly large but I have it so packed full of tools that I just didn’t have room inside so I came up with this solution.
More details after the break.
Because I didn’t have room inside of my workshop, the only solution was to heat it from outside somehow. What I came up with was to take two barrels of different sizes and fit them together like Russian dolls. The inner barrel is the burn chamber and the outer barrel allows air to flow between the two barrels. On the inside of my workshop I have a blower fan that pushes air into the wood burner allowing it to circulate around and pick up heat before it exits through another pipe which goes back into the workshop. At first I just had the barrels by themselves but I found that the air wasn’t as hot as I expected so I pulled it apart again and welded on a bunch of small steel tabs that give the burn chamber a greater surface area. Once I did that, heat transfer was greatly improved.
Here you can see the original setup without the inner barrel attached.
The whole thing is held together by the original band clamp from the larger barrel. The burn chamber door and the feet were ordered as a kit for about $50. The first picture of this post is from a few days ago. You might notice that I made a few changes since these original pictures were taken. I increased the diameter of the outgoing pipe to allow for the expansion of the air as it heats up. I also added a second outgoing pipe that runs to my wife’s office, which is better insulated than my workshop and can actually get uncomfortably warm even on the coldest of days if the damper isn’t used. | 50 | 25 | [
{
"comment_id": "468830",
"author": "Ted",
"timestamp": "2011-10-01T13:05:41",
"content": "Really, burning wood is carbon neutral? Interesting definition! Don’t get me wrong, I think all this carbon neutral stuff is a pile of crap and a scam anyway; this just proves it!",
"parent_id": null,
... | 1,760,377,070.805754 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/30/fake-ps3-tracks-thieves-all-the-way-home/ | Fake PS3 Tracks Thieves All The Way Home | Mike Nathan | [
"Security Hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"gps",
"ps3",
"tracking"
] | One of [Wayne’s] relatives had their house robbed during a blizzard/extended power outage, and as is typically the case, none of the stolen items were recovered. His nephew’s PS3 was among the pilfered belongings, which didn’t sit well with him. Taking a cue from police “bait cars”, he thought it would be cool to
fit a dummy game console with a tracking device
, should anything similar happen in the future.
He bought a hollowed out PS3 shell on eBay, filling it with an Arduino, an accelerometer, a GPS sensor, a small GSM modem with a prepaid SIM card, and a reasonably sized LiPoly battery. The system usually sits in a sleeping state, but when the accelerometer senses motion, the Arduino powers up the GSM modem and sends an SMS security alert to his mobile phone. Using his phone to control the tracking system via SMS, he can request GPS coordinates and directional information, which can then be relayed to the police.
His tracking system is a great idea since hawking stolen game consoles are easy money for thieves. If there happens to be a string of robberies in your neighborhood, you could certainly rest a little bit easier knowing that your Playstation doppelganger will let you know if someone is looting your house. | 73 | 32 | [
{
"comment_id": "468376",
"author": "drew",
"timestamp": "2011-09-30T23:21:04",
"content": "nice idea hope hed added some weight to it so i feels right",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "2176951",
"author": "Riy",
"timestamp": "20... | 1,760,377,071.31589 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/30/passive-rfid-tag-cloning/ | Passive RFID Tag Cloning | Mike Szczys | [
"Microcontrollers",
"Security Hacks"
] | [
"clone",
"pic",
"rfid",
"spoofer",
"tag"
] | Here’s
an open source RFID cloner design
that is about the same size as a standard RFID key card. It doesn’t need a battery to capture key codes, just the magnetic field generated by an RFID reader. You can see the functionality demonstrated in the video after the break. By holding the bottom button as the cloner is moved in range of the RFID reader, the microcontroller goes into learning mode. Now just hold up the card you wish to clone and the LED just above the buttons will light up when it has captured the code. Now the device will act just as the original RFID tag did.
This was developed by [Ramiro], the same person who built
the barebones RFID emulator
we saw a few days ago. When researching that story we complete skipped over this gem. He’s posted a ton of
information on the tag itself
. It doesn’t look like he has any PCBs or kits left, but the schematic and code are available for download. You should check in on the
design considerations section
because it discusses the read/write function that isn’t built into the current version. That’s why you see some add-on components on the hardware used in the demo video.
It seems like this is a lot more user-friendly than
the last RFID spoofer we looked at
.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFWFh6Ko5YE&w=470] | 34 | 22 | [
{
"comment_id": "468360",
"author": "Spork",
"timestamp": "2011-09-30T22:21:04",
"content": "Yes! I have been wanting to build this, and now someone has done the hard part for me. Thank you!Very slick board by the way I like the small/slim design.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replie... | 1,760,377,071.557472 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/30/new-bigdog-video-doesnt-fail-to-impress/ | New BigDog Video Doesn’t Fail To Impress | Mike Szczys | [
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"alphadog",
"bigdog",
"boston dynamics",
"darpa",
"quadruped"
] | Those following the evolution of quadrupedal assist robots will recognize the specimen seen above as a relative of BigDog. This is AlphaDog, one of the latest prototypes in
Boston Dynamics’ Legged Squadron Support Systems program
. It’s designed to carry 400 pounds of payload, which explains the disc weights seen on either side of the torso. Like its diminutive sibling,
LittleDog
, it’s able to take on all kinds of terrain. Here it’s being tested with boxes full of rocks.
The robot is capable of picking itself up and getting under way again without intervention. The first video after the break shows test footage where the robot starts nearly upside-down and has no trouble righting itself again. When we looked in
on a biped version back in 2009
we also linked to the BigDog prototype which showed developers trying to tip it over mid stride. This version has the same balance resiliency.
Also embedded after the break is a video showing the evolution of the design over about seven years of development.
AlphaDog
Development evolution
[Thanks Eric via
IEEE Spectrum
] | 40 | 18 | [
{
"comment_id": "468323",
"author": "eresonance",
"timestamp": "2011-09-30T21:09:58",
"content": "That thing is the size of a horse! I’d like to see someone try to ride it, looks like it’s packing quite a bit of weight on it so it should be able to hold up an adult.",
"parent_id": null,
"dep... | 1,760,377,071.491701 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/30/sustainability-hacks-heliostats/ | Sustainability Hacks: Heliostats | Jack Buffington | [
"News"
] | [] | Solar panels are a popular item among people who are trying to do more with less but, at least in the past, they have been pretty expensive to install. For some uses, you can forget using solar panels and use the sunlight directly with very little efficiency loss. A device that lets you do that is called a heliostat, which is really just a fancy mirror that you can set to reflect sunlight to wherever you might want it. You could aim it through a window so that it hits your ceiling and diffuses throughout the room or you could point it towards a location where you could collect the sun’s energy to heat something directly.
For a really good rundown on how heliostats work and how you can build one, check out
this page
where you can find all sorts of information. Heck, they even have an Arduino controlling some of them! | 12 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "468058",
"author": "raidscsi",
"timestamp": "2011-09-30T13:48:21",
"content": "http://www.esolar.com/This is where solar power should be going. We already have advanced steam turbines and generators. Making the steam with the sun is a no brainer, and way better than using solar pane... | 1,760,377,071.37043 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/30/repairing-the-blue-canary-in-the-outlet-by-the-light-switch/ | Repairing The Blue Canary In The Outlet By The Light Switch | Mike Nathan | [
"home hacks",
"Repair Hacks"
] | [
"led",
"nightlight",
"repair"
] | [Vince] and his wife are big fans of [They Might be Giants], so when they were perusing their local Target one evening and stumbled upon a blue canary nightlight, they bought it immediately. While the nightlight was easy for his toddler to use, the LEDs inside started to dim after about a month, and eventually they started flickering like mad as you can see in the video below. A battery swap didn’t remedy the problem, and instead of returning it,
[Vince] decided to try fixing it himself.
After poring over the device’s simple circuit, he couldn’t figure out any reason why the nightlight would start behaving like it did. He did notice that a resistor was left out of the device, likely as a cost-cutting measure, so he added one in before replacing both of the nightlight’s LEDs.
With his simple tweak, the nightlight was better than new, saving him from what would likely be a string of annoying merchandise exchanges.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O04Ij-L12fg&feature=player_embedded&w=470] | 11 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "468022",
"author": "leafy",
"timestamp": "2011-09-30T11:51:53",
"content": "Nice fix.If Vince wants more diffuse leds he should file them down. You can file off most of the focusing dome without coming anywhere near the actual electrodes and ruining the device. If you leave it rough... | 1,760,377,071.42077 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/29/booting-a-1989-mac-with-mario/ | Booting A 1989 Mac With Mario | Brian Benchoff | [
"classic hacks",
"Mac Hacks"
] | [
"IIci",
"Mac II",
"mario",
"rom"
] | As a new recruit to the
68k Macintosh Liberation Army
, [dougg3] is really showing off his hardware hacking ability. He came up with a replacement ROM SIMM for his Mac IIci and
made it play the Mario theme
on boot instead of the normal chimes.
Swapping out the ROM in these old macs isn’t an uncommon procedure. On some 68k machines, there’s a SIMM slot to either replace or expand the soldered ROM. In fact, it’s fairly common to
take the ROM SIMM out of a IIsi
and put it in
the king of kings computer
to make an SE/30 32-bit clean. We’ve never seen a re-writable ROM SIMM for these old macs, so we’re pretty sure [dougg3] just spared a Mac IIsi from the dumpster.
Now that the entire 68k Liberation Army is clamoring for one of [dougg3]’s re-writable ROMs (we’ve got cash), the question of what to do with it comes up. Of course, SE/30s can now be 32-bit clean without installing
MODE32
and
new startup chimes
can be added. We’d really like to see some hard-core ROM hacking going on, like installing a 68060 in a Quadra 950.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yen0omvBo2Y&w=470] | 11 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "467651",
"author": "PocketBrain",
"timestamp": "2011-09-29T22:25:53",
"content": "He should have done the “Mushroom Power Up” sound for a quicker boot!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "467683",
"author": "Dude",
"timestam... | 1,760,377,071.608394 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/29/fully-fretted-guitar-midi-controller/ | Fully Fretted Guitar MIDI Controller | Mike Szczys | [
"Musical Hacks"
] | [
"16f74",
"fret",
"guitar",
"midi",
"midi controller",
"pic"
] | [Andy] came across this
guitar midi controller project
from way back and decided to
send us a tip
about it. The English version, translated from the original Russian, is easy to follow and documents the build process from first prototypes to the version you see above. It can connect via a standard MIDI cable and then be used to control anything you want. The only thing missing is the ability to transmit velocity data, but that’s certainly not a deal breaker.
The device has two sensory parts. The first is a set of pickups that can be seen underneath the strings near the bridge. These work like standard magnetic pickups but instead of extrapolating fret data from the pitch picked up on the string, there is a second sensor mechanism for every fret of each string. Since the strings are made of metal, it’s possible to detect which fret is depressed based on continuity sensing. Of course this means you need a conductor between every fret, and that’s why the fingerboard has been replaced with one made of printed circuit boards. All of this data is gathered, then sent to the MIDI device via a PIC 16F74 microcontroller.
If this leaves you wanting for more guitar hacks, don’t miss this one that
adds addressable LEDs in between each fret
. | 3 | 3 | [
{
"comment_id": "467620",
"author": "loans",
"timestamp": "2011-09-29T21:17:24",
"content": "No velocity data is a pretty big negative for a guitar-type MIDI controller…Otherwise it looks pretty sweet!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "467872",
... | 1,760,377,071.757756 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/29/what-has-114-leds-and-is-always-running/ | What Has 114 LEDs And Is Always Running? | Mike Szczys | [
"clock hacks",
"LED Hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"HL1606",
"spi",
"word clock"
] | The answer, of course, is a word clock. This is actually [Eric’s]
second version of a word clock
. Like the first one, it uses 114 LEDs to back light the words on the display.
In his first iteration he used an Arduino to drive a Charlieplex array of lights. It was an 11 by 10 grid, plus four LEDs to display the in-between minutes as dots at each corner of the clock face. This time around he’s still using an Arduino, but the lights have seen a huge upgrade. In one of his build pictures you can see the reel of RGB led modules which have two RGB LEDs and an HL1606 driver on each segment. These are SPI controlled, making them easy to hook up, using just a few data and power bus rails. Check out the test video after the break that shows what this grid is capable of.
In case you can’t figure out what time is displayed above, you might check out
an English version of a Word Clock face
to help in your own build.
[flickr video=http://www.flickr.com/photos/eokgnah/5991599239/ w=470] | 27 | 18 | [
{
"comment_id": "467610",
"author": "B0b",
"timestamp": "2011-09-29T20:59:54",
"content": ">In case you can’t figure out what time is displayed above,It’s ten past twelve. ;)Beautiful clock.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "471306",
"au... | 1,760,377,071.907185 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/29/prototyping-a-bluetooth-to-ir-remote-control-translator/ | Prototyping A Bluetooth To IR Remote Control Translator | Mike Szczys | [
"Android Hacks",
"Arduino Hacks",
"home entertainment hacks"
] | [
"bluetooth",
"infrared",
"ir",
"remote control"
] | [James] is one of those guys on a quest to control everything with one device. His tool of choice is an Android phone, which can do quite a lot right out of the box. But he was never satisfied with its lack of IR remote control abilities. He fixed that feature-gap by
building a Bluetooth to Infrared translator
.
The hardware he used for the prototype is quite simple. A cheap serial Bluetooth modem from eBay lets him connect to his phone. An Arduino board listens for data from the modem and converts incoming commands to flashes on an IR LED. Voila, he can control the tube with his phone.
We love the potential of this hack. The Bluetooth module runs from 3.3V, and reading serial data and flashing an LED is extremely simple. You should be able to use a small uC, say an ATtiny13, and a 3.3V regulator to miniaturize the module. We could see this plugging into the USB port on the back of a TV for power, with a wire extension to put the LED into position. The only shortfall is the inability to turn the TV on remotely when drawing power this way.
Remote codes aren’t particularly large to store either. So this would be pretty easy to extend to full control of all IR-compatible home entertainment devices. You just need
a tool to discover the remote control codes
.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhK3xKQ8gto&w=470] | 14 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "467562",
"author": "Ryan",
"timestamp": "2011-09-29T19:26:24",
"content": "Call me when you’re driving the IR led with the headphone port.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "467568",
"author": "fred",
"timestamp":... | 1,760,377,071.956435 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/29/remote-controlled-usb-switch/ | Remote-controlled USB Switch | Brian Benchoff | [
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"kvm",
"usb",
"usb keyboard"
] | When [beerninja] wanted to swap his USB keyboard from one game console to another without mucking about with wires, he
asked the Hack A Day forums
for some help. [Meseta] (AKA [UAirLtd]) came to the rescue and built [beerninja] a
remote-controlled USB switch
.
After opening up a
no-name USB switch
, [Meseta] discovered that the switching is done with simple relays and switches. A hugely overpowered
Forebrain ARM dev board
was used to pull each switch low for a few hundred milliseconds to switch the output USB port.
For the infrared remote control, [Meseta] dug into
Lady Ada’s IR sensor tutorial
and decoded buttons 1 through 4 on a Sky TV remote. Each button from one to four corresponds to the buttons on the USB sharing switch. The ‘0’ button was also decoded as a convenience to put the Forebrain into its reprogramming mode. After drilling
a small hole for the IR receiver
, the finished project was stuffed back into the original steel enclosure.
Check out the video of the switch in action after the break.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SHXNDUEl_E&w=470] | 10 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "467542",
"author": "insapio",
"timestamp": "2011-09-29T18:52:13",
"content": "Fairly elegant. Especially considering it all fit back in the original enclosure.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "467915",
"author": "Killer... | 1,760,377,071.709304 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/29/hacking-your-cars-multifunction-display/ | Hacking Your Car’s Multifunction Display | Mike Nathan | [
"ATtiny Hacks",
"Transportation Hacks"
] | [
"attiny12",
"MFA",
"volkswagen"
] | [Steve] has an older third generation VW Golf, and as those who have owned one surely know, the beloved VR6 engine is wonderful but finicky. He says that the VR6 is particularly picky when it comes to oil temperature, so his daily routine involves
hitting the MFA switch five times
upon starting his car to bring up the oil temp in the display. This obviously gets old after awhile, so he rigged up a small circuit to do the switching for him.
He pulled the gauge cluster from the dash and then located the pins that correspond to the MFA display switch. Using an ATtiny12, he put together a small circuit that toggles the switch for him automatically each time he starts the car. Since his solution uses so few parts, he was easily able to tuck his creation behind the gauge cluster before reinstalling it.
Now each time he gets in his car, he is quickly greeted with the engine’s oil temp without having to fuss with his display. | 27 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "467517",
"author": "brad",
"timestamp": "2011-09-29T17:30:14",
"content": "if you do this in the US, don’t let the DOT know you’ve modded your cluster. they don’t like that.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "467530",
"au... | 1,760,377,072.087169 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/29/battery-less-electronic-dice-for-all-your-dd-needs/ | Battery-less Electronic Dice For All Your D&D Needs | Mike Nathan | [
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"dice",
"die",
"gaming",
"pic"
] | [Anthony] is a big fan of Dungeons & Dragons, but he thought the game would be far
more fun to play with an electronic die
rather than the traditional fare. Electronic dice are
nothing new
around here, though we can’t help but like his design.
He wanted to keep his electronic die as small as possible while ensuring it would last an entire gaming session, so rather than use a battery to power it, he opted for a super capacitor instead. His 1F 5.5V cap keeps the PIC18 and 22 SMD LEDs chugging along quite nicely without ever requiring a break in the action for a charge.
The electronic die looks great, and give him the choice of rolling a 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, and 20 sided die with a simple push of a button. While a bit less interactive than tossing a die on the table, we certainly wouldn’t mind having one. | 42 | 13 | [
{
"comment_id": "467482",
"author": "Doktor Jeep",
"timestamp": "2011-09-29T16:08:17",
"content": "You know what would be REALLY REALLY REALLY cool?Imagine an electronic dice device that can read your brainwaves so you can use your thoughts to influence the outcome.That would be a great help when de... | 1,760,377,072.207146 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/29/putting-twitter-in-a-vfd-clock/ | Putting Twitter In A VFD Clock | Brian Benchoff | [
"clock hacks"
] | [
"ice tube clock",
"vfd"
] | Not content with only knowing the time, [trandi] decided his Vacuum Fluorescent Display clock would be much better
if it displayed the weather and a Twitter feed
.
[trandi] received a Lady Ada
Ice Tube clock
last month. The kit went together almost too easily. Now he had to, “make it connect to other ‘stuff’ and display some custom messages.” After playing with the firmware to display a Hello World, [trandi] mucked around with the
GPS mod
and figured out how to add
scrolling text over a serial connection
.
A serial connection to an Internet-connected computer is all well and good, but [trandi] really wanted a stand-alone solution. A
tiny WiFi to RS-232 board
was sourced and the work of getting a clock on the internet began in earnest. After a weekend was wasted trying to debug the HTTP mode of the WiFi board, [trandi] gave up and used TCP mode with manually constructed HTTP headers.
The clock gets the current weather and a Twitter feed. To one-up to the Ice Cube GPS mod, the clock now sets its own time from the Internet. Check out the video of [trandi] showing off his Internet clock and fine collection of single malts after the break.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjUhav5uDgE&w=470] | 1 | 1 | [
{
"comment_id": "472406",
"author": "michael",
"timestamp": "2011-10-05T07:04:16",
"content": "looks awesome. how much :)",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
}
] | 1,760,377,072.129221 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/29/sustainability-hacks-automatic-window-control/ | Sustainability Hacks: Automatic Window Control | Brian Benchoff | [
"green hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"green",
"linear actuator",
"rabbit 2000",
"window"
] | Sometimes, changing one little bit of a green hack turns it into a build that wastes as much energy as our gaming rig. [Dr. West]’s
automatic window controller
is one of these builds. The good news is the window controller can be easily modified to cut energy costs in the fall and spring.
[Dr. West] doesn’t have any control over the heat in his apartment and for the entire Canadian winter, his apartment gets really hot. He doesn’t pay for his heat, so he does what any of us would do – crack a window. Inspired by
this post
, he put a
linear actuator
in the frame of his kitchen window. [Dr. West] didn’t want to damage the window frame, so he attached the actuator to a piece of square aluminum tubing that mounts to the existing screw holes.
The electronics, [Dr. West] used a
Rabbit 2000
dev board, LCD display and keypad, and built an H-bridge circuit on a bit of breadboard. Because of a port conflict and admitted laziness, an Arduino is used to read the thermistor. The display shows the current and desired temperature, and the Rabbit opens and closes the window accordingly. All the source code is posted in the forum post.
While it’s not the most ‘green’ idea to dump heat from a building’s HVAC system out into a frozen tundra, this would be a great build to automatically open and close windows in the more temperate seasons. Open windows during the day, close them at night and you’ll have no more problems coming home to a house that’s either too hot or too cold. Check out a video of the automatic window after the break.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mv40UBkajDc&w=470] | 43 | 23 | [
{
"comment_id": "467304",
"author": "JS",
"timestamp": "2011-09-29T13:42:26",
"content": "That is insane.As someone who have to pay to keep a reasonable temperature in winter such kind of waste is something that I don’t understand.Updating the heating system of the building is such a difficult thing... | 1,760,377,072.286473 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/28/msp430-based-wristwatch-project/ | MSP430-based Wristwatch Project | Mike Szczys | [
"clock hacks",
"Microcontrollers"
] | [
"cr2032",
"lcd",
"msp430",
"wristwatch"
] | [Nav] is working on
a scratch-built wristwatch
. Although it is based on an MSP430 microcontroller, it’s not the ready-to-hack
ezCronos
that you might be thinking of. Instead, [Nav] started with a different TI development tool that we’ve looked at before,
the ez430-F2013
.
The breakout board for the F2013 is small enough to meet his needs, but still provides easy soldering with 0.1″ vias that break out each pin. To make sure the timepiece is accurate he added a 32.768 kHz clock crystal. A small, square, LCD screen acts as the face of the watch, but we didn’t find specific part information for the display.
Currently the watch can run for a few days on the CR2032. We’d bet some work with sleep modes for the microcontroller can help with that. The watch has a couple of buttons that let you control it, and [Nav] discovered that he could fit everything into the watch case for an iPod nano. That’s creative!
We’ve seen other
hacks with tiny batteries
. The next logical step here would be to swap out the disposable coin cell for something that can be topped off with an external charger. | 18 | 13 | [
{
"comment_id": "466839",
"author": "MobileWill",
"timestamp": "2011-09-28T23:19:59",
"content": "I really would like to know which screen he used. That is my biggest complaint with the Chronos is I wished it has a better screen. But I am thinking they chose that one for battery usage.",
"parent... | 1,760,377,072.343672 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/28/hackaday-links-september-28-2011/ | Hackaday Links: September 28, 2011 | Mike Szczys | [
"Hackaday links"
] | [
"braille",
"coffee",
"iphone",
"macro photography",
"mouse"
] | Disposable coffee maker
[Sepehr] didn’t have a coffee maker, and the local coffee shops were all out of joe. He got his fix by making
a drip coffee maker out of disposable cups and knives
.
Flexible braille display
Thin film technology is being developed to help the visually impaired. This flexible OLED display has
embedded muscle cells which create a braille display
. [Thanks Aaron]
Printable iPhone tripod mount
Looking to make those iPhone videos a little more stable, and the pictures a little less blurry? Try out
this printable tripod mount
that [Chris] came up with.
Arduino macro photos
Speaking of photographs, [Daniel] wrote in to share some
macro pictures he took of an Arduino
. They’re sure to be of interest to those readers who love everything Arduino.
Carpeting a mouse
Add a unique texture to your mouse by covering part of the body with fabric. The lower half of the
mouse case above is covered in a carpet-like material
[
translated
]. [Thanks Clicker] | 17 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "466822",
"author": "mrreality13",
"timestamp": "2011-09-28T23:02:49",
"content": "great idea -I will remember it for next time i loose power as i have a gas stove",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "466824",
"author": "mrr... | 1,760,377,072.401129 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/28/ambilight-clone-built-from-arduino-and-shiftbrite-modules/ | Ambilight Clone Built From Arduino And ShiftBrite Modules | Mike Szczys | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"home entertainment hacks"
] | [
"ambilight",
"boblight",
"htpc",
"LM317",
"shiftbrite"
] | [Don] put together a guide that will help you
build your own Ambilight Clone for about $40
plus the cost of an Arduino. He’s using it with the HTPC seen above, and utilized modular concepts in building it so that you can easily disconnect your Arduino board when you want to use it for prototyping.
For RGB light sources [Don] grabbed six ShiftBrite modules. These are fully addressable cascading modules which make for very easy hardware setup. Instead of buying a driver shield he built his own using an LM317, heat sink, and wall wart to source enough current to drive all of the modules.
We really enjoy the mounting scheme used. Each module is attached to a piece of acrylic which is then mounted using the standard threaded VESA mounting holes on the back of the monitor.
As with other Ambilight clones
this one uses the Boblight package to get color information from the video as it plays. | 17 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "466704",
"author": "defyboy",
"timestamp": "2011-09-28T19:22:03",
"content": "Another nice clone, I still however would like to see a computer independent implementation of one.I have 3 LCD TV’s of varying ages all of which have composite A/V output, perhaps there is some simple pro... | 1,760,377,072.457457 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/30/basic-micro-atom-nano-giveaway/ | Basic Micro ATOM Nano Giveaway | Mike Nathan | [
"Microcontrollers",
"News"
] | [
"ATOM Nano",
"Basic Micro",
"giveaway"
] | UPDATE:
As several readers have already noted, these things sold out very quickly – in less than 15 minutes! Big thanks to Basic Micro!
If you have been considering the purchase of a Basic ATOM Nano product, but you weren’t quite ready to lay down the cash for a dev board and Nano microcontroller, boy to we have a deal for you. The kind folks at Basic Micro informed us that they have 55 Basic ATOM Nano Development boards, complete with Nano 28 microcontrollers that they would like to give away to the Hack a Day community for the low, low cost of $0.
That’s right. Zero. Zip. Zilch.
The dev boards come complete with an LCD header, a small solderless breadboard, USB connectivity, a pair of servo connectors, and more! The Nano 28 is based on the PIC16F886 microcontroller, and features an 8MHz clock, 24 I/O pins, 14K of flash memory, 368 bytes of memory, and 256 bytes of EEPROM storage.
The total value of the package is just around $50, so this is an incredible deal! Basic Micro will even ship your kit to you for free via USPS.
Just add this item to your shopping cart
on the Basic Micro site, and use the coupon code “
freehack
” at checkout – they’ll take care of the rest.
There are a few caveats to this giveaway, and they are as follows:
1) To participate, you must reside within the contiguous United States – i.e. anywhere in the lower 48 (Sorry readers from Alaska or Hawaii!)
2) The offer is limited to one kit per individual. Let’s not be greedy here, give your fellow hackers a chance at this deal as well.
3) Once these dev boards are sold out, they are gone for good. There are no rain checks or back orders available.
4) You must build something cool with your kit and share it with us in our forums or via the tip line*
*Not really, but it would be pretty cool if you did.
[Thanks to Dale at Basic Micro for putting this together for us!] | 43 | 35 | [
{
"comment_id": "468265",
"author": "Ian",
"timestamp": "2011-09-30T20:05:16",
"content": "Woo hoo! Got mine!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "468269",
"author": "bV",
"timestamp": "2011-09-30T20:09:52",
"content": "checkout doesnt w... | 1,760,377,072.534552 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/30/get-digital-plastic-surgery-thanks-to-openframeworks-and-some-addons/ | Get Digital Plastic Surgery Thanks To OpenFrameworks And Some Addons | Mike Szczys | [
"Video Hacks"
] | [
"facial recognition",
"facial tracking",
"kyle mcdonald",
"openframeworks"
] | [Kyle McDonald] is trying out a new look, at least in the digital world, with the help of
some openFrameworks video plugins
. He’s working with [Arturo Castro] to make real-time facial substitution as realistic as possible. You can see that [Arturo’s]
own video
has a different take on shading and color of the facial alterations that makes them a bit less realistic than what [Kyle] was able to accomplish (see that clip after the break).
The setup depends on some
facial tracking software
developed by [Jason Saragih]. That package is wrapped in ofxFaceTracker (already linked at the top of this article) which makes it play nicely with openFrameworks. From there, it’s just a matter of image processing. If you think you’re up to the challenge, grab your own copies of the source code and get to work. We’re shocked by how real this looks, even when [Kyle] grabs his cheeks and stretches them out. If someone can fix some of the artifacts around the edges of the sampled faces this would be ready to use when video-conferencing.
It kind of makes us think of technology seen in
The Running Man
.
[vimeo http://vimeo.com/29348533 w=470]
[Thanks Luke] | 27 | 22 | [
{
"comment_id": "468242",
"author": "Max",
"timestamp": "2011-09-30T19:05:30",
"content": "This is freaking awesome!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "468245",
"author": "Chad",
"timestamp": "2011-09-30T19:07:10",
"content": "this is j... | 1,760,377,072.646657 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/30/cocktail-machine-minces-words/ | Cocktail Machine Minces Words | Mike Szczys | [
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"15-segment",
"alcohol",
"cocktail",
"drink",
"mixer",
"syringe",
"tubing"
] | For those living in a magical land of candy, with orange-faced helpers to do their bidding, the ability to taste your words is nothing new. But for the rest of us,
the ability to taste what you type in cocktail form
is a novelty. [Morskoiboy] took some back-of-the-envelope ideas and made them into a real device that uses syringes as keys, and facilitates the injection of twenty-six different flavorings into a baseline liquid. He figures that you can make each letter as creative as you want to, like representing different alcohols with a letter (T for tequila) or matching them to colors (R for red). Check out the video after the break to see an ‘Any Word’ cocktail being mixed.
This setup is entirely mechanical, and makes us wonder if [Morskoiboy] works in the medical equipment design industry. Each letter for the keyboard is affixed to the plunger on a syringe. When depressed, they cause the liquid in an external vessel (not seen above) to travel through tubing until it fills the proper cavities on a 15-segment display to match the letter pressed. From there the additive is flushed out by the gravity-fed base liquid into the drinking glass. We can’t imagine the time that went into designing all of the plumbing!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNQ5sfMJa0s&w=470]
[Thanks Alex] | 10 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "468226",
"author": "that1guy",
"timestamp": "2011-09-30T18:24:41",
"content": "Maybe the coolest thing I’ve seen all day. I still don’t understand how that display works exactly, is that custom built or is there really a display like that out there?",
"parent_id": null,
"dep... | 1,760,377,072.582562 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/30/recreating-the-first-pc/ | Recreating The First PC | Brian Benchoff | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"classic hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"kenbak-1"
] | If you’re looking for a simple Ardunio project, why not
replicate the first personal computer
?
After discovering the Arduino, [Mark] realized recreating really old computers would be a fun project. An
Altair 8800
was on the table, but the sheer number of blinkenlights, switches and the Intel 8080 CPU made that a fairly difficult project. After a bit of searching, [Mark] discovered the
Kenbak-1
, widely regarded as the first personal computer. The Kenbak also had the added bonus of having a very minimal I/O compliment and was built entirely with TTL components.
Since the Kenbak-1 is an extremely simple computer, [Mark]’s build ended up being fairly minimal. The
schematic
is only an ATmega328, a few shift registers and a real-time clock for a few added features the OG computer didn’t have. The completed build is programmed by pushing buttons to enter machine code into the mega’s RAM and then executed. [Mark] has a few programs already figured out – a program that counts in binary, a ‘Cylon eye’ and a BCD and binary clock. While the Kenbak-uno doesn’t have the awesome vintage case of the original, it’s still a remarkable build.
Check out the videos after the break for a walk through.
[flickr video=”6173367704″]
[flickr video=”6173359238″] | 11 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "468224",
"author": "dana",
"timestamp": "2011-09-30T18:18:00",
"content": "Arguably theScelbi-8Hwas the first hobbiest PC, but the hobby really took off after the Altair was introduced.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "468228",... | 1,760,377,072.69695 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/30/using-polycarbonate-filament-with-a-reprap/ | Using Polycarbonate Filament With A RepRap | Mike Szczys | [
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"extruder",
"filament",
"polycarbonate",
"reprap"
] | [Rich] couldn’t find any instances where RepRap owners had used polycarbonate as a 3D printing source material. He’s filled that knowledge gap by
running multiple polycarbonate printing tests
. Polycarbonate is a plastic that is highly resistant to shattering yet it’s still rather soft. With enough effort it can be bent and stretched, but it’s fairly difficult to break the material.
The test spool of polycarbonate was special ordered for this project. [Rich] sourced 1.6mm filament since 3mm material would have been difficult to spool. It melts at a temperature range of 280-300 degrees Celsius, which he reaches with a hot-end extruder design. The printed material comes out a bit cloudy, which may be due to the heating process itself, or due to extruder reversals (he’s not quite sure what’s causing it). But as you can see above and in the video after the break, it’s certainly a viable printing medium.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JvBJcemPHM&w=470]
[Thanks Marnargulus] | 19 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "468131",
"author": "FoxxCommand",
"timestamp": "2011-09-30T16:05:10",
"content": "Does it really matter if it comes out cloudy or not? unless of cause the cloudiness is a sign of instability or something",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"commen... | 1,760,377,073.08029 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/30/video-soldering-our-pic-development-board/ | Video: Soldering Our PIC Development Board | Jack Buffington | [
"News",
"Video Hacks"
] | [
"pic",
"soldering",
"video"
] | For those of you who followed along with our Eagle CAD series, here is the final payoff where we assemble the circuit board that was designed. In this video, [Jack] explains where things will go on the board and then shows you how to solder the parts. For the advanced folks out there who haven’t moved to solely surface mount parts when you can get away with it, he shows an easy way to solder the processor, which is a TQFP-44 part. This can seem like a daunting task but it really isn’t.
If you would like to make your own board like this, you can find the files
here
. Please note that although this board shouldn’t have any issues, we haven’t tested it ourselves yet. [Jack] is going to do some videos about a different topic for a few weeks but will pick back up with this board again when they are done.
Video is after the break. | 16 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "468123",
"author": "Elias",
"timestamp": "2011-09-30T15:35:00",
"content": "Actually to prevent cold solder you should bring the solder not directly to the tip but rahter to the pad and the component leg while heating it up from the other side of the leg.Once the solder starts to me... | 1,760,377,072.871437 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/30/workshop-88-hosts-a-near-space-balloon-contest/ | Workshop 88 Hosts A Near Space Balloon Contest | Mike Nathan | [
"contests"
] | [
"contests",
"hackerspaces",
"near space",
"Workshop 88"
] | Launching high-altitude balloons to take pictures of the Earth from space is great fun. Heck, even credit card commercials are now suggesting you cash in your rewards points to organize a space balloon adventure for you and your friends.
Capturing snapshots of the Earth from space is such a good time that Workshop 88, a hackerspace located in the Western suburbs of Chicago,
is making a contest out of it.
They recently kicked off their second annual “Hackerspaces in Space” competition, a contest to see who can build the best near space balloon for under $250. The contest pits individuals, groups, and hackerspaces against one another, assigning each team a score based on the performance of their high-flying rig.
The winner of the contest will have their design replicated by the crew at Workshop 88, who will then hand out the space balloon kits to randomly selected K-12 schools around the country.
If this sounds interesting, but a contest entry just isn’t in the cards, you can always support the kit distribution by funding their
Kickstarter project here. | 9 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "468116",
"author": "Lovro",
"timestamp": "2011-09-30T15:21:25",
"content": "link is dead…..",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "468117",
"author": "Mike Nathan",
"timestamp": "2011-09-30T15:22:21",
"content... | 1,760,377,072.918149 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/28/which-resistor-values-should-you-order-for-all-circumstances/ | Which Resistor Values Should You Order For All Circumstances? | Mike Szczys | [
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"0603",
"0805",
"python",
"resistor",
"resistor values",
"surface mount"
] | A hard drive crash, and some other happenings that aren’t entirely clear to us, led [Devbisme] to put in a parts order. As he wanted to make the most of his shipping costs, he decided to fill out the order with parts that he’ll use eventually. He’s been working with surface mount designs and wanted to move from using resistors with 0805 packages to the 0603. Having nothing on hand, he devised a way to
account for almost all standard values with the fewest number of different resistors
.
That’s a mouthful, but what he actually did was figure out what combinations of resistors can best be wired in parallel to achieve a different standard resistance value. This way, if he doesn’t have a specific value he can solder one 0603 surface mount resistor on top of another one to get there. He ended up writing a Python program to best calculate this set of values. It came up with a set that lets him synthesize 159 of the 168 standard resistor values within +/- 4% using just 19 actual resistor values. His method requires anywhere from one to three resistors to get to each value. Soldering three 0603 packages on top of each other might not be the most fun, but it makes for easy parts inventory management. | 29 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "466586",
"author": "pooty",
"timestamp": "2011-09-28T17:12:02",
"content": "I guess you didn’t read the article all the way through. He concluded that it comes cheaper to just buy a kit for $40 then to waste time with stacking.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies":... | 1,760,377,073.185341 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/28/sustainability-hacks-solar-batterysmartphone-charger/ | Sustainability Hacks: Solar Battery/smartphone Charger | Mike Szczys | [
"green hacks"
] | [
"banana plug",
"battery charger",
"solar",
"solar panel",
"usb"
] | [Michael] took a battery charger meant to be connected to mains power and
converted it to work with a solar panel
. This was a traditional 4 cell charger which charges the batteries in pairs. He kept that functionality, but added USB charging with a special over-current feature. That’s because his Android phone has a fast and slow USB charging mode. The slow mode makes sure that it draws 500 mA or less to stay within USB specifications. But the fast mode draws more current when the phone detects that the USB connection is attached to a wall charger. [Michael] added a switch that patches a pull-up resistor to the data line, signaling to the phone that it’s okay to switch to fast charging mode.
As for the power supply itself, you can see that [Michael] snapped off the part of the circuit board that housed the original regulator. He’s added his own 5V switching regulator which offers a wide input voltage range. This is connected to two banana plug sockets which can be connected to the solar panel. | 0 | 0 | [] | 1,760,377,073.120579 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/28/making-a-simple-addressable-array-from-led-strips/ | Making A Simple Addressable Array From LED Strips | Mike Nathan | [
"LED Hacks"
] | [
"addressable",
"array",
"led strips"
] | [Patrick] was prepping for some future projects he had in mind, for which he will need a simple
2D array of addressable LEDs.
While it is certainly possible for him to build his own LED array and control hardware, he thought he would try out some off the shelf products to see if something might fit his needs.
He picked up a strip of addressable RGB LEDs from Adafruit, and while they worked very well, they were a bit too pricey for the amount of LEDs he knew he would need. He picked up a strip of similar LEDs without PWM capabilities built-in, and gave those a spin – they worked well enough, so he got to work building his LED array.
While LED strips might not jump right out as the best way to make an LED array, they can be easily cut and rearranged without any issue, provided you solder in a couple of wires to connect the disjointed strips. [Patrick] did just that, and wrote a small Arduino library that allows for easy control of the grid.
We’re not sure if he plans on scaling these arrays any larger than 8×8, but we are definitely interested to see what he has in store for them.
Check out a quick video of his LED array in action below.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZU8kQ_tv0C4&w=470] | 9 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "466232",
"author": "cde",
"timestamp": "2011-09-28T11:18:36",
"content": "Might want to make it clearer that these are digital led strips, not regular led strips.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "466267",
"author": "Connor Ta... | 1,760,377,073.229136 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/27/running-the-linux-kernel-on-a-de0-nano-fpga-board/ | Running The Linux Kernel On A DE0-nano FPGA Board | Mike Szczys | [
"Microcontrollers"
] | [
"DE0-nano",
"fpga",
"uclinux"
] | [Mike] has been filling up a rather intense wiki entry outlining
how to run uClinux on a DE0-nano FPGA board
. This is an inexpensive dev board that will run you somewhere between $80 and $100. Right off the bat he goes into a hefty list of the reasons that this is a foolish activity. To name a few: Once you’ve complete the build the device will be tethered for reboot. This board doesn’t have Ethernet hardware and TCP/IP is one of the beast features of the uClinux kernel. And the FPGA tools are closed-source, which doesn’t often mesh with the ideals of Linux developers. But we still like to see what it really takes to get these large-scope firmware builds to compile and load correctly.
After his preamble you’ll find three main chunks. The first deals with setting up the toolchain on Fedora 14. From there, he installs packages necessary for cross-compiling, pulls down the source packages, and gets to work. Once the kernel is compiled and running on the FPGA [Mike] goes on to show you how to build out a simple hardware add-on in the form of a couple of LEDs connected to extra FPGA pins. The final portion of the wiki details rolling support for toggling the LEDs into the software distribution. | 23 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "465842",
"author": "danjul",
"timestamp": "2011-09-27T23:39:05",
"content": "raspberry pi will completely remove the need for this soon! fingers crossed!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "466377",
"author": "JohnnyMax",
... | 1,760,377,073.290712 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/27/cv-sequencer-with-a-tv-out/ | CV Sequencer With A TV Out | Brian Benchoff | [
"Musical Hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"CV",
"sequencer",
"TVout"
] | [gijs] sent in the
control voltage sequencer
he’s been working on that uses the TVout Arduino library to provide a graphical interface.
The sequencer doesn’t produce any sound on its own. Instead, it outputs a Control Voltage so other synths can be sequenced with [gijs]’ TVSCV. Before MIDI came around, CV was the standard to connect synthesizers and drum machines together. Even today, a lot of boutique synths have at least one jack for CV. [gijs]’ build is really interesting because of the user interface – the
TVout Arduino library
was used in conjunction with a tiny CRT to change values, timing and speed of the CV output. The TVSCV is able to sequence two different channels of CV at 10 bit resolution with 16 steps per bank.
From the video after the break, the TVSCV sounds like it can produce what would be the trippiest soundtrack ever conceived for an Atari or NES game. It’s a great bit of kit, especially when connected to an Atari punk console or
a TR-808 and a glitch delay
.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJaivnrdqU4&w=470] | 11 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "465810",
"author": "Christian",
"timestamp": "2011-09-27T22:30:30",
"content": "Love it!Gijs makes soooo cool stuff, have a look on his other projects!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "465816",
"author": "anonymouse",
"ti... | 1,760,377,073.39723 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/27/amazing-rgb-pov-clock/ | Amazing RGB POV Clock | Mike Nathan | [
"clock hacks",
"LED Hacks"
] | [
"clock",
"hard drive",
"led",
"POV"
] | We’re no strangers to
POV time pieces
around here, but something about them never gets old. Whether they use
a ring of LEDs
to draw clock hands, or an
intricately cut HDD platter
to replicate LCD segments, we love seeing them. [David] sent in this hard drive POV clock built by a fellow named [Kly], and it’s just beautiful.
[Kly’s] “Propeller” POV clock is named as such due to the design of the circuit board. The board is mounted on the HDD spindle, rotating much like an airplane’s propeller. The construction details are sparse, but from what we can find, it is based around a PIC32MX microcontroller, which is used to control the 66 SMD RGB LEDs mounted on the circuit board.
As you can see in the video below, the tightly packed LEDs result in some pretty amazing visuals.
Aside from watching the video below, be sure to swing by
his Youtube channel
for a handful of videos showing RGB POV clock in action.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMTSMNW22EM&w=470] | 21 | 19 | [
{
"comment_id": "465781",
"author": "Ned",
"timestamp": "2011-09-27T21:31:05",
"content": "Amazing clock. I’ve always wanted to make one of these!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "465784",
"author": "Hirudinea",
"timestamp": "2011-09-27T2... | 1,760,377,073.348218 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/27/they-may-be-for-developing-countries-but-we-want-a-concrete-lathe/ | They May Be For Developing Countries, But We Want A Concrete Lathe | Brian Benchoff | [
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"concrete",
"developing",
"lathe",
"machine tools"
] | At the 2009 Ghana Maker Faire, [Pat Delany] met a young carpentry student that saved for three months to buy a cheap Chinese wood plane. He was confounded by this distribution of resources, so [Pat] created the
Concrete Lathe project
that aims to get useful machine tools out to where they’re needed most.
The idea for concrete machine tools came out of the US involvement in World War I. America had been staunchly isolationist before committing to the war, and production of arms did not match the needed output. A man named L.I. Yeomans
came up with the idea of building concrete lathes
to produce artillery shells for the war effort.
Of course, the concrete lathe project is a bit more peaceful in its intentions. The concrete lathe is meant to be a cheap machine tool for developing nations. Both the concrete lathe and the Multimachine are meant to be built cheaply using scrap materials, reduce training time for machinists, and create other machine tools in a Reprap-like biological distribution.
There’s a ton of documentation on the concrete lathe wiki like the
bed instructions torn from the pages of Ikea instructions
, and the
thread follower
. While they’re still a lot of work and testing to be done, giving some manufacturing capability to those who need it most is a pretty noble cause.
Thanks [Rob] for sending this one in. | 59 | 24 | [
{
"comment_id": "465751",
"author": "madmaze",
"timestamp": "2011-09-27T20:45:55",
"content": "Has anyone actually built one of these? Id really be interested in seeing something like this in action.. then suggest it to my local hackspace!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
... | 1,760,377,073.497535 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/25/attiny-hacks-stopwatch-turned-race-clock/ | ATtiny Hacks: Stopwatch Turned Race Clock | Kevin Dady | [
"ATtiny Hacks"
] | [
"Race Clock"
] | The folks over at blondihacks are gearing up for an event called “The 24 Hours Of LeMons” which is a form of low-budget endurance racing involving cheap cars, heroic repairs, wacky themes, and a lot of serious driving. The format of the race is pretty simple, the cars race around the track continuously for a set amount of time (usually 12 or 24 hours), and the goal is to complete as many laps as possible in that time.
In order to be racing that long each team has multiple drivers, and a in car timer would be especially helpful. While commercial models cost a pile of money,
the team was able to source a dual clock / stopwatch with a nice big display, and hack it up with an Attiny13
. The stopwatch is deactivated when the engine is off, and reactivated when the engine gets turned back on.
Now when one driver’s turn is up they come in for a pit stop where the engine is shut down for saftey reasons. When the new driver is ready to leave, the clock automaticly resets for them and they can get on with the race. | 3 | 3 | [
{
"comment_id": "463842",
"author": "Keith",
"timestamp": "2011-09-25T14:40:29",
"content": "Nice job!There is a better/cheaper engineered solution for nearly everything as long as it doesn’t involve a big corporation or other greedy entity. It also doesn’t need to be manufactured in China.",
"... | 1,760,377,073.53724 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/25/attiny-hacks-attiny4585-servo-library/ | ATtiny Hacks: ATtiny45/85 Servo Library | Mike Szczys | [
"Microcontrollers"
] | [
"attiny45",
"attiny85",
"library",
"servo"
] | Servo8bit is a library for AVR microcontrollers that allows you to drive servo motors
without the need for a 16-bit timer. Obviously, this is quite useful for smaller chips that only have 8-bit timers and it is specifically targeted at the ATtiny45 and ATtiny85 microcontrollers. The library offers 256 steps of resolution, and can drive up to five servos at one time. Servo control pulses can be generated between 512 and 2560 microseconds and if you don’t mind increasing the time between these pulses [Liya] says it would be possible to increase the 5-servo limit.
The library is quite easy to use, but in its current state it would take just a bit of work to port to another device. It’s been written for an 8 Mhz clock signal with PortB used to drive the motors. Using find-and-replace to change the PORTB keywords to use a DEFINE variable should be easy enough, but we don’t know how hard it would be to change the clock frequency.
We wonder if it’s possible to make this a slave device, perhaps implementing a 1-wire protocol? | 6 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "463800",
"author": "Wolf",
"timestamp": "2011-09-25T11:59:32",
"content": "Epic! (And useful…) ^^",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "463808",
"author": "Ivan",
"timestamp": "2011-09-25T12:48:55",
"content": "I have alwa... | 1,760,377,073.582922 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/24/interfacing-with-a-ps2-mouse/ | Interfacing With A PS/2 Mouse | Brian Benchoff | [
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"mouse",
"PIC16F726",
"ps2"
] | [David] sent in his implementation of
reading a PS/2 mouse
with a PIC microcontroller and some LED displays. Of course, this follows hot on the heels of using a PIC with a
PS/2 keyboard
so now might be the time to start digging out your old peripherals out of your junk pile.
[David] began his project trying to figure out how to connect a mouse to his breadboard. After
hacking the plastic off
a PS/2 mouse extension cord, he wired everything up according to the
pinout
. Programming the PIC to understand PS/2 commands was a little strange. [David] is used to having his microcontrollers provide the clock signal. The PS/2 protocol is a bit strange as the peripheral sets the clock. Since PS/2 is a bidirectional protocol, the mouse also accepts commands. The host – [David]’s PIC – must send the mouse a command to start sending movement data.
Because USB keyboards and mice are backwards compatible with PS/2 ports, [David] tried out a few USB mice with a USB to PS/2 adapter. Every attempt at using a USB mouse failed. Strangely, when a Bluetooth mouse was tried (via Bluetooth to USB to PS/2), everything worked perfectly. Check out [David]’s PIC mouse demo after the break.
[vimeo=http://vimeo.com/26532934] | 18 | 11 | [
{
"comment_id": "463498",
"author": "andres ortiz",
"timestamp": "2011-09-24T20:24:03",
"content": "haha, i built something exactly like this a while ago :)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cKJelHNju4",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "463617",
... | 1,760,377,073.716739 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/24/pinball-machine-eats-your-quarters-tells-time/ | Pinball Machine Eats Your Quarters, Tells Time | Mike Nathan | [
"clock hacks"
] | [] | [alanamon] had an old pinball machine in his basement, and thought it would be cool to
rig it up to serve as a clock as well.
He didn’t want it to be just any clock however, he wanted the pinball machine to be the most accurate clock in his house.
Other than telling time using the game’s scoring reels, there were two other things that he wanted to ensure with this build – that the game functioned normally when desired, and that the clock mechanism made no permanent changes to the game. To accomplish this, he dug around inside the machine and made all of his connections using clips secured to the game’s Jones plugs instead of drilling holes and soldering wires.
The clock runs off an Arduino, which gets its its time data using an old GPS receiver he had kicking around. The receiver pulls time data from GPS satellites much like
this clock we featured yesterday,
updating the score reels once every minute. The clock can be programmed to turn the machine on and off at a scheduled time each day, and simply turning off the Arduino will allow you to play the game in its unaltered state.
We never really contemplated using a pinball machine to tell time, but it works for us! Check out a video of his pinball clock in action after the jump.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUnR5iLF33M&w=470] | 10 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "463479",
"author": "WhiteGoblin",
"timestamp": "2011-09-24T19:24:23",
"content": "Whew! I was about ready to go atomic rage on this one, then I read that it still functions completely as normal with nothing lost along the way. Excellent mate!Also I have to say I approve of all thing... | 1,760,377,073.786275 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/24/automated-humane-pest-control/ | Automated Humane Pest Control | Mike Nathan | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"home hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"pest control",
"rat",
"trap"
] | [Tobie] seems to have
a bit of a rat problem.
While most people would be inclined to simply buy the oversized Victor spring-loaded rat traps and call it a day, [Tobie] is a bit more humane. To help remedy his problem while also ensuring that no rats are harmed in the process, he built the Rat Trap 2000.
Self-described as completely over the top, the Rat Trap 2000 lures the rodents into its containment area with apples and corn, securing them inside using a servo-actuated trap door. The door is triggered by an Arduino that monitors the holding pen for movement using an IR sensor. All of the action is captured on video using the web cam on his Eee-PC, as you can see in the very short video below.
This certainly isn’t the most cost-efficient way to control your vermin problems, but if you’ve got some spare parts laying around, why not? It’s far more humane than some of the
other rodent control solutions
we have seen, and it sure beats living with rats!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUb7yXxJKOY&w=470] | 36 | 19 | [
{
"comment_id": "463410",
"author": "Techartisan",
"timestamp": "2011-09-24T16:21:35",
"content": "so the PVC triggered the mad scientist in me to think of a far less humane…though perhaps more entertaining rat trap…..An automated dispenser drops apple bits down a PVC tube….rat enters tube….upon nea... | 1,760,377,073.897671 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/24/weekly-roundup-92411/ | Weekly Roundup 9/24/11 | Jack Buffington | [
"News"
] | [] | In case you missed them, here are the most popular posts from this past week.
Our most popular post is about a
hand-made security robot
that any good hacker would be proud of. This robot was built by a father-daughter team and has an interesting holonomic drive train that allows it to drive in any direction at any time.
Our
next most popular post
was about eight breadboard hacks that let you do more with your breadboard than you previously thought possible.
Following that is a post dealing with
what you can do with a dead laptop battery
. Surprisingly, not all of the cells are dead so there is still useful life in some of them.
Next we have a post about an
electronic cello
that uses a combination of a magnetic pickup for the bow and resistive strips for the strings. There is even a video of it being played.
Finally, for those of you looking to
grow things indoors
throughout the year, we have a post about a hydroponic setup. | 0 | 0 | [] | 1,760,377,073.8262 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/24/attiny-hacks-robot-halloween-costume/ | ATtiny Hacks: Robot Halloween Costume | Brian Benchoff | [
"ATtiny Hacks"
] | [
"attiny",
"costume",
"halloween",
"shift register"
] | When it comes to Halloween costumes, [Michael] doesn’t like buying expensive and poorly made bits of cloth and fabric that resembles [random Disney character]. Last year, his son decided to be a robot for Halloween and although gray spray paint and dryer vent hose make a very good costume, that only goes so far. The robot needed lights, so [Michael] spent a little time on
this build
that blinks a few LEDs in a random pattern.
The build is very simple; an ATtiny13 drives two 74HC595 shift registers. The code – all 30-odd lines of it – uses the random() function to shift high or low values to the shift registers. After pausing for a little bit, the cycle continues and a new patterns of LEDs light up.
The electronics of the robot costume could be easily transferred to another theme – astronauts need LEDs on their backpack, and of course aliens communicate with blinking lights. In any event, it would avoid last year’s fiasco with a dozen [Heath Ledger] Jokers. Check out the video of [Michael]’s intergalactic robot son after the break.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLOo2hJF7G8&w=470] | 7 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "463404",
"author": "mess_maker",
"timestamp": "2011-09-24T16:08:29",
"content": "HA, good for him. :) I hope [Michael] enjoyed making this as much as his son liked the costume.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "463464",
"auth... | 1,760,377,074.198977 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/24/attiny-hacks-attiny10-game-doing-more-with-less/ | ATtiny Hacks: ATtiny10 Game – Doing More With Less | Mike Szczys | [
"Microcontrollers"
] | [
"assembly",
"attiny10",
"simon says"
] | Okay, you’ve got a six-pin microcontroller with 1k of program memory, 32 bytes of SRAM, and it can’t be programmed using an In-System-Programmer. Do you think you can use it to develop a game? [Wrtlprnft] managed to build
a Simon Says game based on the diminutive device
that has four buttons and four LEDs. Judging from the video after the break, we’d say he nailed it!
There are so many design challenges here. First off, with only six pins total getting eight devices connected and working means doubling up on each I/O pin
and
using the reset pin as a doubled-up I/O. We’ve seen momentary push buttons on the same pins as LEDs before, so that’s not too hard to get working.
But if you’re using the reset pin how do you flash the thing? It doesn’t use the same ISP programming protocol that it’s bigger cousins do, so [Wrtlprnft] used an ATmega1284P to program it, hooking up to the three I/O pins and using a transistor to push 12V on the reset pin. But there’s still the matter of writing the code. It has half of the 32 registers you’d expect to find. He ended up ditching C and went straight to writing Assembly because of the diminished instruction set. It’s the first thing he’s written in Assembly, and a great way to learn the ropes.
It may not be as polished, but we do like it just as much as
the Karate Chop Simon Says game
which has a lot of other bells and whistles.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bvOEQlV4Tk&w=470] | 12 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "463304",
"author": "brad",
"timestamp": "2011-09-24T11:18:08",
"content": "why does the sequence change every time? didn’t simon build on the existing sequence?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "463334",
"author": "wrtlp... | 1,760,377,074.342925 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/23/octocopter-will-someday-kill-someone/ | Octocopter Will Someday Kill Someone | Mike Szczys | [
"Transportation Hacks"
] | [
"motorcycle engine",
"octocopter",
"propeller"
] | Above you can see
Doctor Wily
a Chinese hacker starting up one of the propellers on
his octocopter
. It seems that the man is using a collection of eight motorcycle engines, each with its own wooden propeller to create an eight-bladed helicopter. We were able to locate some video footage of his experiments, which you’ll find embedded after the break. As you can see, this is perfectly capable of flight, but we’re not quite sure if we’d call it controlled flight just yet.
The video starts off showing all kinds of hack-ity activities, like tightening the bolts on the propeller and priming the gas lines by sucking on them like a straw (mmmm….. high-octane!). Coke bottles serve as the gas tanks, and you’ll want to keep your hands inside the vehicle because there’s no cages to keep them out of the hand-started propellers. Although we don’t speak his language, we did understand the demonstration of the controls that the man gives, showing an earlier model with rings of fabric around four of the propellers meant to help direct the downward thrust as a steering mechanism. We don’t think this will be viable until there is some type of PID system that predicts the performance of each motor and makes quick adjustments to keep the craft balanced. None-the-less we were glued to the screen hoping that this turkey would fly.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dQr_CKR7Vw&w=470]
[Thanks KillerBug via
BoingBoing
and
DIY Drones
] | 104 | 50 | [
{
"comment_id": "462862",
"author": "Csae",
"timestamp": "2011-09-23T19:45:54",
"content": "That absolutely looks like its going to kill someone. A propeller hitting something and coming loose, or part of it, it slipping towards someone, god the number of things!That being said, kudos to him for try... | 1,760,377,074.445947 |
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