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https://hackaday.com/2011/09/13/upload-firmware-over-ethernet/ | Upload Firmware Over Ethernet | Brian Benchoff | [
"Arduino Hacks"
] | [
"arduino ethernet",
"ethernet",
"nanode",
"upload"
] | The team at Wicked Device has been working on working on a way to
upload Arduino sketches over Ethernet
for the
Nanode
and Arduino Ethernet boards. The team
has gotten far enough along
to show the world, and the new boot loader shows a lot of promise.
A new boot loader was needed to perform this magic. The boot loader sets up a
TFTP
with a server over DHCP or a static IP. An unmodified .hex file is downloaded from the server and the sketch starts up. The team is still working on a way to push new apps to the board over Ethernet, but that feature is expected to be completed sometime soon.
Booting over Ethernet isn’t a new idea – TFTP
was proposed for this very purpose
. Because Wicked Device’s Ethernet-enabled boot loader only works over a local connection and requires a press of the reset button, it should be considered an alpha build. That being said, the boot loader works as advertised, so check out the demo video after the break.
[vimeo=http://vimeo.com/28909414] | 7 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "454591",
"author": "HuB",
"timestamp": "2011-09-13T19:59:57",
"content": "TFTP client and raw HEX files – that’s great!I could imagine that the AVR will load the HEX file from the server every time it’s powered on so the chip has always the most actual firmware.",
"parent_id": n... | 1,760,377,087.574956 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/13/recycled-clock-spins-round-and-round-to-tell-time/ | Recycled Clock Spins Round And Round To Tell Time | Mike Nathan | [
"clock hacks",
"News"
] | [
"clock",
"recycled"
] | [duckcrazy] recently shared the details on
a clock he built, using recycled components
to tell time.
He began his project by dismantling a handful of carefully selected pop bottles and an old clock. The bottom and midsection of the bottles were saved, and he verified that they could be easily inserted within one another. The base of the clock is made up of a CD, on which the clock’s motor components were mounted.
He constructed two open paper cylinders bearing hour and minute designations, then glued the respective clock hands inside. The cylinders and clock hands were re-mounted onto the clock’s motor, and the entire thing was enclosed within the pop bottles.
It’s a novel way to build a clock, and moving beyond the plastic bottles and paper for a moment, there’s a lot of potential for some even cooler designs based on his work. We imagine that laser-etched cylinders powered by a micro and a continuous rotation servo would be pretty sweet, though that’s just the tip of the iceberg. | 6 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "454556",
"author": "Chris",
"timestamp": "2011-09-13T18:56:46",
"content": "Is it me, or does this have a “Price is Right” wheel-look to it?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "454570",
"author": "Balloonman",
"tim... | 1,760,377,087.618119 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/13/use-droid-bionic-as-a-mobile-hotspot-without-paying-extra/ | Use Droid Bionic As A Mobile Hotspot Without Paying Extra | Mike Szczys | [
"Cellphone Hacks"
] | [
"hotspot",
"root",
"sql",
"Tether",
"verizon"
] | Apparently Verizon customers are expected to pay for a second data plan if they want to be allowed to use a cellphone as a mobile hotspot. This means one data plan for the phone, and a second for the tethering. [DroidBionicRoot] thinks this is a little silly since there is already a data cap on the phone’s plan. But he’s found a way around it if you don’t mind
rooting the phone to enable free tethering
.
Not surprisingly it’s a very simple alteration. The phone is already capable of tethering, to enable the feature without Verizon’s permission just edit one database value. In the video after the break, [DroidBionicRoot] starts the process with a rooted Droid Bionic handset. He purchases an app for $2.99 which allows him to edit SQL databases on the handset. From there he navigates to the ‘Settings Storage’ database and changes the ‘entitlement_check’ key value to 0. Reboot the phone and tethering is now unlocked.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuSHY7ed0oU&w=470]
[Thanks Max] | 46 | 19 | [
{
"comment_id": "454474",
"author": "Adam Outler",
"timestamp": "2011-09-13T17:15:31",
"content": "its easier on galaxy s class devices on at&t. simply root your device and delete the at&t app that verifies your plan. the device will then act as the manufacturer intended.people dont realize today... | 1,760,377,087.467858 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/13/drill-holes-in-your-tablet-for-better-sound-quality/ | Drill Holes In Your Tablet For Better Sound Quality | Mike Nathan | [
"Tablet Hacks"
] | [
"Asus Eee Pad",
"speakers",
"tablet"
] | As devices get smaller and smaller, it becomes a bigger challenge for engineers to squeeze a product’s components into an ever shrinking footprint. [Bulgarien] certainly
found this to be the case
with his Asus Eee Pad Transformer. He was not impressed with the volume or clarity of the tablet’s audio, so he disassembled it to see if he could somehow improve its performance.
Once he got the Eee Pad apart, he noticed that the tiny speakers were mounted directly against the back of the tablet’s LCD screen, muffling the audio. He flipped the speaker over to face the back side of the tablet in hopes that it might improve the sound just a bit, but he didn’t think that was a sufficient solution. Using an old speaker as a template, he drilled through the Eee Pad’s case to create his own speaker grilles, lining the inside with a fine cloth to prevent dust from getting inside the case.
He says that the tablet’s audio is far clearer than it was originally, which makes this a pretty compelling modification for anyone that uses their Transformer on a daily basis. | 18 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "454436",
"author": "Jake",
"timestamp": "2011-09-13T16:10:19",
"content": "Apple didn’t forget this on the iPad.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "454446",
"author": "MS3FGX",
"timestamp": "2011-09-13T16:28:44",
"conte... | 1,760,377,087.383992 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/13/portable-power-strip-control-lights-and-appliances-using-sms/ | Portable Power Strip Control Lights And Appliances Using SMS | Mike Nathan | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"home hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"home automation",
"remote control",
"wireless",
"xbee"
] | [Julian] wanted a way to remotely
control various appliances and lights around his house
without spending an arm and a leg on home automation. He also desired the ability to easily switch what items he was controlling without a ton of hassle. Since he couldn’t find anything reasonably priced to do what he desired, he built his own SMS-triggered remote control system.
He designed his system to be used like an extension cord, hence the portable junction box enclosure. This enables him to regulate up to four different items at a time, with the ability to swap out components or relocate his controller at will.
The power strip is controlled by an Arduino which receives commands from his PC via an Xbee module. Any text messages sent to his Gmail account are retrieved by his computer and then transmitted to the Arduino. The Arduino in turn triggers relays as designated by [Julain’s] text messages, utilizing H-bridges to provide the required current.
Check out his schematics and code if you’re interested in implementing something similar in your home. | 24 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "454417",
"author": "DooWeeNo",
"timestamp": "2011-09-13T15:31:54",
"content": "Scumbag builder. Doesn’t want to spend money on build. Uses SMS.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "454434",
"author": "Rob",
"timesta... | 1,760,377,087.678633 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/13/a-light-following-pong-game/ | A Light-Following Pong Game | Jeremy Cook | [
"LED Hacks"
] | [
"breadboard",
"flashlight",
"led",
"pic",
"pong"
] | Although not everyone has the ability to make a hacked
Pong game
Like [Marcelo], even fewer have the ability or the creativity to come up with the elaborate hack that he did. The basic premise of his game is a version of pong played on a breadboard with a 8×8 matrix of LEDs. The controls are really what sets this hack apart. Instead of using a paddle controller or normal switches, small flashlights are used to control the on-screen (on-LED matrix) paddle. This is accomplished using a series of photoresistors and a PIC processor.
Innovative as this would be by itself, [Marcelo] decided to make a program in Flash to display the action on a computer. Communication is done serially, and C# is used to translate everything as Flash doesn’t natively work with a serial connection.
Another innovation is that there are two LEDs connected on either side powered via pulse width modulation. The lights get dimmer as one player is about to lose. Check out [Marcelo’s] pong game after the break!
[youtube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jny5ZGEzBtw&w=470&h=345%5D | 3 | 2 | [
{
"comment_id": "454426",
"author": "Vince",
"timestamp": "2011-09-13T15:54:35",
"content": "Such an interesting interface idea, good job.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "454440",
"author": "Whatnot",
"timestamp": "2011-09-13T1... | 1,760,377,087.325548 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/13/attiny-hacks-run-your-arduino-project-on-an-attiny/ | ATTiny Hacks: Run Your Arduino Project On An ATTiny! | Jesse Congdon | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"ATtiny Hacks",
"how-to",
"Software Hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"attiny"
] | Yup. We have all been there. You throw together a really elaborate Arduino project that only really needs a couple pins, far fewer than the Arduino’s native microcontrollers have to offer. Well fear not, [Thatcher] has solved just this problem by adding some ATTtiny cores to the Arduino IDE.
His
blog
details the process from grabbing the MIT developed
core files
and loading them up in your Arduino software directories. The modification looks simple and although [Thatcher] shows the whole process on a Mac it only involves unzipping and tossing files into a folder. With ATTiny chips only a few bucks each this is perfect for those simple software driven hacks that don’t require an entire Uno duct taped to the outside of an enclosure. Nice work [Thatcher]! | 45 | 18 | [
{
"comment_id": "454345",
"author": "John Boxall",
"timestamp": "2011-09-13T13:09:15",
"content": "Freaking awesome! Will try this on the weekend :)",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "454349",
"author": "Eirinn",
"timestamp": "2011-09-13T13... | 1,760,377,087.758315 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/13/building-an-optigan-like-instrument/ | Building An Optigan-like Instrument | Brian Benchoff | [
"Musical Hacks"
] | [
"musical instrument",
"optigan",
"turntable"
] | [Olli] sent in
his writeup
of a musical instrument he made called the Black Deck. [Olli]’s instrument was inspired [Jimi Tenor]’s
photophone
– a transparent disk attached to a fan and photocell.
A transparent disk is placed on the turntable [Olli] rescued during a dumpster diving expedition. A light shines though the optical disk and is picked up by phototransistors. After writing a program to generate an A minor scale onto a transparency, [Olli] connected his contraption to a stereo and heard his creation speak. To control the individual tracks (or notes) on the disk, [Olli] made a keyboard out of photoelectric switches that control which note is played.
Superficially, [Olli]’s instrument resembles an
Optigan
. While [Olli]’s instrument is capable of producing waveforms, the Optigan is able to reproduce sampled instruments. That being said, we think [Olli]’s Black Deck would feel comfortable next to the Optigans of Kraftwerk and Devo. Check out the YouTube demo of the Black Deck in action after the break:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7xk_pCOkC8&w=470] | 10 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "454268",
"author": "Per Jensen",
"timestamp": "2011-09-13T11:27:47",
"content": "Wow, it sounds amazing! – A real cool idea ;-)",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "454269",
"author": "ehntoo",
"timestamp": "2011-09-13T11:29:... | 1,760,377,087.285201 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/12/digging-deep-into-the-neatos-lidar-module/ | Digging Deep Into The Neato’s LIDAR Module | Mike Szczys | [
"Laser Hacks",
"News",
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"lidar",
"Neato",
"panavision",
"XV-11"
] | [Hash] is going to great lengths to
learn about the parts used in his Neato XV-11 LIDAR
(dead link;
Internet Archive
). We looked in on his work with the XV-11 platform recently, where
he used the dust bin of the vacuum as a modular hardware housing
. This hack is a hardware exploration aimed at figuring out how an equivalent open hardware version can be built.
The LIDAR module is made of two big chunks; the laser and optic assembly, and the sensor board seen above. [Hash] put it under the microscope for a better look at the line scan imager. The magnification helped him find the company name on the die, this particular part is manufactured by Panavision. He figured out the actual model by counting the bonding wires and pixels in between them to get a pretty good guess at the resolution. He’s pretty sure it’s a DLIS-2K and links to an app note and the datasheet in his post. The chip to the right of the sensor is a TI digital signal processor.
Putting it back together may prove difficult because it will be impossible to realign the optics exactly as they were–the module will need to be recalibrated. [Hash] plans to investigate how the calibration routines work and he’ll post anything that he finds. Check out his description of the tear down in the video after the break. | 25 | 11 | [
{
"comment_id": "453970",
"author": "hboy007",
"timestamp": "2011-09-13T00:26:32",
"content": "Woah great! The DLIS-2K is just the thing I’ve been looking for, thank you so much for introducing this chip, [Hash].And of course thanks for taking the time to make this video!",
"parent_id": null,
... | 1,760,377,087.525183 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/12/wall-climbing-bot-does-it-with-ease/ | Wall-climbing Bot Does It With Ease | Mike Szczys | [
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"Bernoulli",
"parachute",
"wall climbing"
] | Paraswift is
a robot that can climb vertical surfaces
with ease. Here you can see the robot motoring up the side of a building with a parachute packed on it’s back for use on the way down. The team that built the robot is calling it a base jumper, but after seeing them catch the falling robot in a net we’d say it’s still a bit too fragile to make that claim.
The parachute isn’t the only way for this guy to get down after a long climb. As you can see in the video after the break, it has no trouble driving in any direction on a wall. Like
other wall-climbers
the Paraswift is using air to stick to the surface. A vortex of air, similar to a tornado, generates a large amount of negative pressure, sucking the body of the robot to the surface it is climbing. I you’re the one who traded a good portion of your life to spend building the Paraswift we’re guessing you added the parachute to hedge your bets against a power failure.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yb2lZ5d8B1c&w=470]
[via
Reddit
] | 19 | 13 | [
{
"comment_id": "453879",
"author": "Andy",
"timestamp": "2011-09-12T22:04:15",
"content": "Looks pretty cool, but from the video i’m going to say that it can’t go from ground to wall, has to be attached to the wall directly?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
... | 1,760,377,087.813405 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/12/announcing-our-next-theme-attiny-hacks/ | Announcing Our Next Theme: ATtiny Hacks | Jack Buffington | [
"ATtiny Hacks"
] | [
"attiny",
"themes"
] | It is time once again to announce a new theme. This time around, we have chosen to highlight projects built around the
ATtiny
series of processors. These are 6 to 32 pin AVR processors that run up to 16 MHz and have anywhere from 512 Bytes of flash with 32 Bytes of RAM to 16K of Flash with 512 bytes of RAM. We’re guessing that this will be a pretty popular theme since so many people are using Atmel processors these days. If you have a project that you would like to see on Hackaday that is using an ATtiny processor,
please hit us up on our tip line
. If we like it, we may we choose to feature it in one of our daily themed hacks.
To kick off this theme, here is a nice write up about a
stepper motor driver based around the ATtiny13
. This project reads the analog value on pin B4 and adjusts the speed of the stepper motor. It is well documented and includes source code. | 34 | 14 | [
{
"comment_id": "453410",
"author": "Sci",
"timestamp": "2011-09-12T13:04:04",
"content": "But where’s the Ardui.. oh right, whoops.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "453416",
"author": "CMJ",
"timestamp": "2011-09-12T13:14:11",
"conte... | 1,760,377,087.946549 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/12/glass-pcbs/ | Glass PCBs | Kevin Dady | [
"how-to"
] | [
"Glass PCB"
] | Our friend [Jeri] tipped us off about this cool video on youtube where the author makes his own “transparent” PCB’s using some nontraditional materials. One ounce copper foil is found online along with some clear glass microscope slides, from there it is just a matter of cementing the foil onto the glass slides with some thin UV curing glue. Once the 2 parts are mated the entire thing is popped into an eeprom eraser for its intense UV light, then excess is trimmed.
The normal routine of toner transfer is used to copy a circuit pattern onto the copper clad glass and it’s etched in standard ferric chloride. The copper is removed but the UV glue that was holding it is still left, some special care needs be followed as this stuff is pretty weak against even mild solvents, and you do not want your traces peeling up. Next no clean solder paste is applied and parts are soldered down with a heat gun, keeping the glass evenly heated to prevent it from cracking.
This leaves you with a board that looks like frosted glass, and in order to protect the glue while clearing up the frosted effect, some polyurethane is applied which fills in all the little bumps and smoothes the surface bout out to almost 100% clear.
The end application in this video is a touch sensitive board which works fine though the back side of the glass and presents a nice smooth interface for the user. Join us after the break for the video.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rf5HBLzDGQA&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL&w=450] | 78 | 32 | [
{
"comment_id": "453352",
"author": "fartface",
"timestamp": "2011-09-12T11:33:57",
"content": "Ahh, when making a PCB is not hard enough, adding glass to the mixture.Tomorrow on HAD, making your own PCB’s out of thermite and black powder…..",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
... | 1,760,377,088.53292 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/11/update-bluetooth-super-nintendo-controller-for-android/ | Update: Bluetooth Super Nintendo Controller For Android | Mike Szczys | [
"Android Hacks",
"Nintendo Hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"atmega328",
"bluetooth",
"emulator",
"snes"
] | [Rich’s] newest version of
a Bluetooth connected Super Nintendo controller
takes what was already good and makes it better. We looked at
the original version
back in May, which is built into a knockoff controller — [Rich] mentions that he got a lot of flack for defacing retro equipment and wants to set the record straight. The most notable difference between the two controllers is that the batteries are now housed inside the case. He switched over to an 850 mAh Lithium Ion battery, which takes much less room than the four AA batteries did. There is an integrated charger which connects via a mini USB jack as seen in the image above. Bother versions of the controller can be used to play emulators without rooting your Android device.
Unfortunately you won’t get to look inside the case. What we can tell you is that the build no longer uses a BlueSMiRF board , opting for a less expensive Bluetooth solution. We also know that the build is still Arduino compatible, sporting an ATmega328 chip running the bootloader. The lack of detail is because [Rich] is working to market the controller with a limited-quantity preorder. Check out his video presentation of the new version after the break.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bp8Oon93Ckc&w=470] | 7 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "452991",
"author": "Zymastorik",
"timestamp": "2011-09-11T21:13:45",
"content": "‘Hacks’ like this are such a waste of time. What’s the point of connecting an external controller to your phone, which is supposed to represent portability.Yawn",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
... | 1,760,377,088.173803 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/11/dippy-bird-binary-clock/ | Dippy Bird Binary Clock | Mike Szczys | [
"clock hacks"
] | [
"dippy bird",
"drinking bird",
"mbed"
] | This
Dippy Bird clock display
is simple to build and it’s just waiting to be scaled up for use as a full clock. As shown there are only enough birds in this rendition to read out the hours. More tiers can be added for minutes and you could even add your own temperature readout function
using a separate bird as the thermometer
.
Other than the fact that there are only four bits of resolution, the first thing you should notice is that these birds have nothing to drink. They’re intended to dip their beaks into a glass of water, leading to evaporation that changes the temperature of the dichloromethane inside to start their teeter-tottering. Water isn’t used because the birds would be in constant motion. Instead a resistor has been placed in the base of each, which heats up when current is passed through it. A bird in motion is a digital 1, and bird at rest is a digital 0. A set of transistors protects the microcontroller from sourcing too much current. In this case an mbed is keeping time but any microcontroller will do. We’ve embedded a quick clip of the dippy bird clock after the break.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WRgB_GITY0&w=470] | 10 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "452936",
"author": "alan",
"timestamp": "2011-09-11T19:29:33",
"content": "Nice idea. You could use the 4 bits available to display both the hours and minutes in binary coded decimal. For example –Play a start of sequence patternSend Hour high digitSend Hour low digitSend Minute hig... | 1,760,377,088.21995 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/11/laser-trip-wire-in-an-easy-to-use-form-factor/ | Laser Trip Wire In An Easy-to-use Form Factor | Mike Szczys | [
"Laser Hacks"
] | [
"16f688",
"airsoft",
"laser",
"pic",
"trip wire"
] | [Rul] built
a nice laser trip wire alarm
for use in Airsoft matches. Just place the enclosure so that the beam crosses a doorway and it will sound an alarm when the beam is broken. The only problem with this setup is that you need a reflective surface on the opposite side that can be positioned to direct the beam of light back to a photoresistor. But wait, there’s a second option. [Rul] also added a leaf switch that can be connected to an actual trip wire instead of using the laser.
A PIC 16F688 controls the laser module and monitors the photoresistor and leaf switch. When power is first switched on the box goes into a setup mode where it waits until the laser is detected by the photoresistor, switching on an LED to signal that you’ve got the beam aimed correctly. One press of the push-button puts it in activate mode which will sound the hacked window-alarm inside when the beam is broken. A toggle switch lets the operator chose between laser or wire operation.
You certainly won’t miss the alarm when it’s set off. Watch it scare the life out of a poor house cat in the clip after the break.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dB4jBeZ-wJs&w=470] | 27 | 18 | [
{
"comment_id": "452875",
"author": "pppd",
"timestamp": "2011-09-11T16:18:54",
"content": "The beam should be disabled immediately after it’s interrupted and then enabled for a split second to test if the path is clear again until it actually is. Otherwise you are risking having a blind cat if it’s... | 1,760,377,088.281815 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/11/bluetooth-cassette-adapter/ | Bluetooth Cassette Adapter | Brian Benchoff | [
"digital audio hacks",
"home entertainment hacks"
] | [
"bluetooth",
"bluetooth headset",
"casette adapter"
] | Today, with iPods that can hold entire music collections and cell phones that stream music from the Internet, the lowly cassette seems like an anachronism. [Matt] still has a cassette deck in his truck, but wanted Bluetooth connectivity for his stereo. The obvious solution was to
stuff Bluetooth headphones into a cassette adapter
.
Audio cassette adapters are dead-simple devices. They’re really just a tape head, stuffed into the shell of a cassette and a wire going out to a media player. To put Bluetooth into his adapter, [Matt] got a cheap pair of Bluetooth headphones and tore them apart. He was left with a circuit board, battery, and two earphones. [Matt] cut off the leads to the ear phones and wired them to the cassette adapter head. After a little bit of modifications to the case, [Matt] had a functional Bluetooth-cassette adapter.
While it’s true [Matt] could have gotten a ready-made Bluetooth cassette adapter shipped from China to his door for $10, there’s not much fun in just
buying
one. Kudos to [Matt] for going the home-brew route. | 27 | 19 | [
{
"comment_id": "452741",
"author": "Adam Outler",
"timestamp": "2011-09-11T14:13:03",
"content": "Good thinking! Great DIY project.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "452769",
"author": "Solenoid",
"timestamp": "2011-09-11T14:29:58",
... | 1,760,377,088.424649 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/11/engine-hacks-a-diy-methane-generator/ | Engine Hacks – A DIY Methane Generator | Jeremy Cook | [
"chemistry hacks",
"Engine Hacks",
"green hacks"
] | [
"Engine hacks",
"methane",
"organic"
] | All “methane generator” jokes aside,
This one
actually serves a useful purpose. Although not an engine hack per se, methane can be used to run an engine. As the traditional method of powering an internal combustion engine, gasoline, gets more and more expensive, alternatives will have to be found. If you happen to live on a farm, or have access to a source of organic waste, this method could serve as a viable one.
One would need quite a bit of waste, as each kilogram yields around 400 liters of methane gas. This amount is enough to run a gas light for around 4 hours. Any sort of useful engine would require quite a bit more than this (chicken farm possibly?).
A process for converting waste to fuel is illustrated in the video after the break. Extreme caution should be used if attempting to do something like this. There is a danger of not only flammable gas leaking and catching on fire or exploding, but the organic material can be quite toxic as well.
[youtube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5e_2W71jMM&w=470&h=345%5D | 19 | 14 | [
{
"comment_id": "452792",
"author": "PJ Allen",
"timestamp": "2011-09-11T14:46:59",
"content": "“Extreme caution should be used if attempting to do something like this.”Jeremy, I’m sure you meant – Quite a bit of caution should be used if attempting to do something like this.",
"parent_id": null... | 1,760,377,088.815162 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/12/chumbys-new-netv-makes-almost-any-tv-into-an-internet-connected-device/ | Chumby’s New NeTV Makes Almost ‘any TV’ Into An Internet Connected Device | Mike Szczys | [
"home entertainment hacks"
] | [
"chumby",
"fpga",
"hdmi",
"NeTV",
"spartan-6"
] | Check out the new set-top box on the block, the
NeTV from Chumby Industries
. That link will take you to their video demonstration of the device, which is a humble-looking black box with no apparent user interface. You’ll see a few cool tricks that may impress you, like pairing the device with an Android phone through the use of a QR code. Once the two have mated you can do things like share images on the TV and load webpages from addresses entered into the smart phone. There are options for scrolling alerts when you receive an IM or SMS, and a few other bells and whistles. All of this from a device which connects with two HDMI ports to sit between your TV and whatever feeds it a video signal. Read
all about the features here
.
But its the hacking potential that really gets our juices flowing.
The developer page
gives us a look inside at the Spartan-6 FPGA that lives in the little case. We don’t often quote [Dave Jones] but we’re certain he’d call this thing ‘sex on a stick’. They’ve made the schematic and FPGA information available and are just begging for you to do your worst. The power for the device is provided by a USB connection but curiously is just above spec when drawing a max of 700 mA. We have a USB port on the back of our TV and would love to velcro this thing in place and power it from that. What would you plan to do with it?
[via
Reddit
] | 40 | 24 | [
{
"comment_id": "453844",
"author": "Rob",
"timestamp": "2011-09-12T21:11:55",
"content": "1 question how do I get one….",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "453856",
"author": "Jamie",
"timestamp": "2011-09-12T21:29:31",
"c... | 1,760,377,088.66352 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/12/super-pixel-bros-now-with-manufactured-pcb-and-rewritten-software/ | Super Pixel Bros Now With Manufactured PCB And Rewritten Software | Mike Szczys | [
"handhelds hacks"
] | [
"18f4550",
"8x8",
"matrix",
"pic",
"super pixel bros",
"swordfish basic"
] | [Retro Brad] has come a long way with his 8×8 gaming device which he calls Super Pixel Bros. The newest rendition has
a fab house PCB and freshly rewritten code
. The game is still played on an 8×8 LED matrix, but it looks like he’s sourced a version with square pixels, which is a nice touch since he was inspired by the block-based Super Mario games. Also new in this version is the character LCD screen which displays score, level, and life information. But it’s not just the shiny new hardware that’s different, he’s rewritten the software in Swordfish Basic to run on the PIC 18F4550. The new code allowed him to tweak how levels are loaded and stored. He’s even written a level editor and has finished 20 levels thus far.
The demo after the break does a great job of showing off the hardware and the game play. He’s added a lot, including enemies, the ability to shoot fire, and of course the common moves of jumping and breaking blocks is all there. He mentioned that the fab house he used is selling boards for around $5 and he’s looking into the possibility of getting a kit service up and running.
His progress since
we last checked in on the project
is quite impressive.
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sEUDSz9XuY&w=470] | 18 | 16 | [
{
"comment_id": "453798",
"author": "bzroom",
"timestamp": "2011-09-12T20:22:15",
"content": "excellent, though not really a hack :)",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "453823",
"author": "vinod",
"timestamp": "2011-09-12T20:45:18",
"con... | 1,760,377,088.589507 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/12/dinos-jfet-guitar-preamp-with-piezo-pickup/ | [Dino’s] JFET Guitar Preamp With Piezo Pickup | Mike Szczys | [
"Musical Hacks"
] | [
"guitar",
"jfet",
"preamp"
] | This week, with a little help from a Roomba, [Dino] built
a guitar pickup and preamp
that sounds marvelous. A pickup takes vibrations from the guitar and turns them into an electrical signal which can then be amplified and broadcast. He grabbed a long-dead Roomba which has slowly but surely been donating its organs for his weekly projects. After plucking out a piezo element he grabbed a bag of Junction gate Field-Effect Transistors (JFET) and built a preamp circuit around one of them.
JFETs operate in much the same way as MOSFETs (which
we took a look at
last week). [Dino’s] design adds a few resistors and capacitors to tune the gain and decouple the circuit from the input and power rails. He epoxied the piezo element inside the guitar and connected leads between it and a jack mounted in the body. As always, he does an excellent job of explaining the concepts behind the design and outlining the build techniques that he used. We’ve embedded his video after the break.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzW69IPEvys&w=470] | 10 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "453755",
"author": "Pedro",
"timestamp": "2011-09-12T19:19:49",
"content": "Mike, the first link has gone wrong.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "453759",
"author": "cfh",
"timestamp": "2011-09-12T19:21:36",
"content"... | 1,760,377,088.70992 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/12/inkjet-print-head-driver-shield/ | Inkjet Print Head Driver Shield | Mike Szczys | [
"Arduino Hacks"
] | [
"inkjet",
"print head",
"shield"
] | [Nicolas C Lewis] is churning out
inkjet print head shield kits for Arduino
. If you’ve always wanted to label or brand objects as part of a project this greatly simplifies the process. Using his all through-hole design, an Arduino can print at 96 dpi. At first we had trouble figuring out what we could use this concept for, but [Nicolas] has the answer. In is FAQ he links to a couple of his own flat-bed inkjet printer builds based on earlier prototypes, but he also links to other projects using the same concepts like
the Nickel-O-Matic
, or the ping-pong ball printer (we’ve embedded video of that one after the break).
The shield only requires five connections with a microcontroller. We love the jumper-based connection system that [Nicolas] chose which lets you use several print heads at once by selecting different drive pins. The project is still in the funding stage but is already over funded. Schematic and code will be posted as soon as the first production run is complete.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Ep5OC3E02I&w=470]
[Thanks Hackerspacer] | 20 | 14 | [
{
"comment_id": "453560",
"author": "Sci",
"timestamp": "2011-09-12T18:04:04",
"content": "I can see this being of great use to those trying to use these print-heads in 3D printers.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "453762",
"author": "p... | 1,760,377,088.763694 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/12/pcb-drill-from-rc-car-parts/ | PCB Drill From R/C Car Parts | Brian Benchoff | [
"Tool Hacks",
"Toy Hacks"
] | [
"drill",
"pcb",
"pcb drill",
"through hole"
] | [Sid] makes a few PCBs a month and the hardest part of his fabrication process is always drilling the through-holes. He has a PCB hand drill that usually results in a sore index finger. After a few unsuccessful attempts of using a full-size electric drill and not wanting to invest in a commercial solution, [Sid]
made a PCB drill from a broken R/C car
.
The toy car was donated by [Sid]’s 4-year-old after a terrible crash. [Sid] took the gearbox from the car and added a small circuit to control the direction of the drill. After attaching the drill chuck to the former R/C car axle and adding the power leads to a 5 Volt adapter, a PCB drill press was born.
Most of the parts for this build were salvaged from the toy car’s radio control circuit. Except for the chuck from [Sid]’s hand drill and a few switches, everything on this build was pulled from a broken remote control car. While the build is a lot simpler than
this semi-automatic PCB drill
, [Sid]’s drill seems to work well. Check out the demo video after the break.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlryapRgvYE&w=470] | 17 | 12 | [
{
"comment_id": "453542",
"author": "fartface",
"timestamp": "2011-09-12T17:30:30",
"content": "???Cheap knockoff dremelcheap knockoff dremel dripp press stand.$69.00 spent total and I dont get a sore anything. Plus who is using DIP components anymore? Last board I made I drilled 12 vias and 15 he... | 1,760,377,088.870034 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/12/a-simple-fix-to-resurrect-your-broken-iclicker/ | A Simple Fix To Resurrect Your Broken Iclicker | Mike Nathan | [
"Repair Hacks"
] | [
"battery",
"i>clicker",
"repair"
] | If you are currently attending college, the odds are that you are familiar with iclicker classroom remotes. If you have one of these, you might also be aware that they tend to be flaky at times, particularly when it comes to powering on. [Todd]
received a few “broken” iclickers
lately and has found an easy to fix design issue that might possibly save yours (and others) from the trash heap.
When he started pulling the units apart to diagnose them, he noticed that something with the battery contacts was not quite right. They are held in place by the device’s plastic shell which is pretty common, however in the iclicker, the portion of the plastic case that holds the positive battery contact is too big, preventing some batteries from making a complete circuit.
Now you might be thinking to yourself that AA batteries are all the same, but they are not necessarily created equal. Through a small bit of testing, [Todd] found that many different batteries experienced intermittent connectivity issues depending on the height of the positive terminal, and that due to their design, Duracell batteries flat out didn’t work. With the careful removal of a portion of the plastic surrounding the positive contact, [Todd] was able to fix each of his “broken” remotes.
He hopes that this information helps some people resurrect their non-functioning units, because a few minutes work sure beats buying another $30 iclicker. | 34 | 17 | [
{
"comment_id": "453483",
"author": "DanAdamKOF",
"timestamp": "2011-09-12T16:07:51",
"content": "Personally I’d just shove a metal shim in between the battery and positive terminal and call it a day, lol.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "453487"... | 1,760,377,089.163077 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/12/world-clock-simulates-night-and-day/ | World Clock Simulates Night And Day | Mike Nathan | [
"clock hacks"
] | [
"clock",
"geochron",
"leds",
"world clock"
] | [Justin]
always wanted a GeoChron clock
, but since they run in the range of
several thousand dollars
apiece, he was pretty certain he would never have the chance to own one. Undaunted, he figured out a way to build a small version of the clock for himself, and he wrote in to share how it was done.
He first purchased a
Wise Clock 3
from FlorinC, but he definitely wasn’t going to use the clock as it was originally intended. Rather than display the time in numbers, he pulled the Wise Clock apart and sandwiched a vellum printout of a world map in between the front face plates. A tweaked firmware image allows him to simulate day and night using the Wise Clock’s LED array. He also programmed the clock to take into account seasonal light patterns, as you can see in the video embedded below.
We think this is a great idea, and though we would probably use plain white LEDs if we built one, the RGB LEDs in the Wise Clock certainly provide a neat effect. | 10 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "453471",
"author": "raged",
"timestamp": "2011-09-12T15:32:57",
"content": "pretty sweet.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "453546",
"author": "Rob",
"timestamp": "2011-09-12T17:37:32",
"content": "I agree very sweet."... | 1,760,377,089.092221 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/10/high-efficiency-solar-charger-circuit-tops-off-those-lead-acid-batteries/ | High Efficiency Solar Charger Circuit Tops Off Those Lead-acid Batteries | Mike Szczys | [
"green hacks"
] | [
"charger",
"power supply",
"pv",
"solar power"
] | Make your next project solar-powered with
this charging circuit
. It’s completely through-hole, and there are no microcontrollers that need to be flashed. If you can source parts and are handy with a soldering iron building this will be a breeze.
Both the maximum system voltage and the low voltage drop out are configurable. After assembly, you just need to attach a regulated power supply to the load terminals. Tune the power supply to the max voltage and turn a potentiometer until an LED comes on, then repeat the process for the drop out voltage. Board artwork for the two-sided PCB and a schematic are available from the page linked at the top. If you’re not into etching your own circuit boards you can buy one for around $10.
[Thanks Murray] | 21 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "452367",
"author": "Dennis Booth",
"timestamp": "2011-09-11T00:03:08",
"content": "Do you take Paypal,and if so, what E-mail address do I send it to?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "452905",
"author": "Murray",
... | 1,760,377,089.270895 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/10/the-weighted-companion-cube-will-never-threaten-to-stab-you-and-in-fact-is-a-subwoofer/ | The Weighted Companion Cube Will Never Threaten To Stab You And, In Fact, Is A Subwoofer | Brian Benchoff | [
"home entertainment hacks"
] | [
"case building",
"companion cube",
"portal",
"subwoofer"
] | From the techPowerUp! forums comes
an awesome weighted companion cube subwoofer
built by the metonymical user named [Cube].
This build started off as a coffee table that was to have an oval glass top (no word if the edges were going to be blue or orange). The guts of the cube are taken from a
400 Watt sub
. As any good sub builder would, [Cube] kept the air volume and port tuning of the donor box.
We’ve seen
a companion cube sub before
that featured EL wire for a ‘glowing cube’ effect, but [Cube] may have taken things a little too far by including
glowing rings
on each side of the cube. The rings lit by 2,500 LEDs mounted on pieces of perspex and wired point-to-point. While [Cube] claims he’s ‘not a electronics guru,’ he certainly has a lot of patience to assemble those lights.
Check out [Cube]’s YouTube build video after the link. Credit to [Todd] for sending this one in.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOyz4w9Mq0E&w=470] | 12 | 11 | [
{
"comment_id": "452275",
"author": "AP²",
"timestamp": "2011-09-10T19:16:47",
"content": "Awesome work. And Portal really gives itself to great mods like this, it’s full of iconic characters (even if it’s a lifeless cube!).",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"co... | 1,760,377,089.213203 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/10/improving-your-welder-without-a-microcontroller/ | Improving Your Welder Without A Microcontroller | Brian Benchoff | [
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"tig",
"welder"
] | We’re always impressed when a piece of hardware is torn apart, rebuilt and ends up exceeding the capabilities of the original device. [Dave] and [Will]’s
home-built TIG welder
is no exception to that rule.
When [Dave] and [Will] started working on converting a simple AC stick welder to a welder with every function imaginable, they decided to keep it simple. After looking at some high-price commercial welders they came up with a list of features they wanted to have and decided to implement this in TTL and CMOS logic. The guys didn’t want to go with a microcontroller solution because not everyone can code, and discrete chips are very easy to troubleshoot given minimal tools.
For the high voltage part of the build, the original flyback transformer was replaced with a neon sign transformer and homebrew spark gap and capacitor. The plans for a homebrew spark gap and cap didn’t quite work out so they were replaced with commercial units. The guys included schematics and a
PCB layout
(PDF warning) of their build. It’s always great to see an amazing logic chip build, and improving an existing tool never hurts.
Thanks to [Franci] for sending this one in. | 13 | 11 | [
{
"comment_id": "452257",
"author": "ftorama",
"timestamp": "2011-09-10T18:58:08",
"content": "Thought I had a blue screen of death when I clicked their link ^^",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "452271",
"author": "Daniel",
"timestamp": "2... | 1,760,377,089.360956 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/10/adding-fluke-54-ii-features-to-a-51-ii-thermometer/ | Adding Fluke 54 II Features To A 51 II Thermometer | Mike Szczys | [
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"fluke",
"msp430",
"P337I",
"reverse engineer",
"temperature"
] | The difference between Fluke’s 54 II and 51 II thermometers is the addition of a second channel for dual temperature sensing, and buttons which control data logging. Oh, and an additional $150 in price for the higher model. [TiN] was poking around inside and with the help of some forum members he figured out
how to unlock additional features on his low-end Fluke temperature meter
. You can do the same if you don’t mind cracking open the meter, sourcing and soldering most of the components seen above, cutting holes in the case for the buttons, and hoping it still works when you put everything back together.
It seems that Fluke designed one full-featured unit and watered it down to fill a hole in the lower-priced market just like some other testing-hardware manufacturers (
Rigol’s digital storage oscilloscopes
come to mind). But the MSP430 P337I in this meter cannot be reflashed, so this would most likely be unhackable hardware if the firmware for the two models is different. After some intensive study of the PCB layout [TiN] found a set of resistors which seemed to serve no external hardware purpose. They do connect to the microcontroller and together they create a two-bit code. He was able to get pictures of the four different hardware models and work out which resistor combinations identify the different meters. Now he can get the firmware to believe it is operating a Fluke 54 II, the rest is just putting the correct passive components onto the unpopulated locations.
We think the quest is what is of interest with this hack. [TiN] did an amazing job of photographing and writing about each step in the process. We’re unlikely to try this ourselves but loved reading about it. | 9 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "452214",
"author": "slab",
"timestamp": "2011-09-10T17:29:23",
"content": "It seems that Fluke designed one full-featured unit and watered it down to fill a hole in the lower-priced market just like some other testing-hardware manufacturers.You’d be hard-pressed to find a manufactur... | 1,760,377,089.661799 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/10/a-no-touchscreen-picture-frame/ | A No-touchscreen Picture Frame? | Jeremy Cook | [
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"digital photo frame",
"knock",
"microtouch"
] | Many people have touch-screen devices, however,
this hack
claims to be the first picture frame to feature a “no-touch” interface. Although someone somewhere certainly has a digital picture frame hooked up to a “Clapper”, we’re going to give [Wasabi] the benefit of the doubt.
After buying a
Microtouch
kit from Adafruit several months ago with the intention of building something meaningful, [Wasabi] ran into a common problem among hackers, a lack of time. Instead of totally giving up on the device, the decision was made to make it into a simple picture frame. Although the Microtouch features a touchscreen, it also features an accelerometer. With a little hacking, as described in his write-up, the “touchless” picture frame was born. Cleverly, the screen was hidden behind glass, but through this interface, interaction was still possible.
The device itself seems like a great hacker tool, especially at a price point of just under $70. Here’s a hack where
“Zork” was ported
to this device, but be sure to send us any other projects you come up with using it! Check out the video after the break of this device in action!
[youtube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fc5jMra_yNw&w=470&h=345%5D | 8 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "452162",
"author": "aztraph",
"timestamp": "2011-09-10T15:48:24",
"content": "put up a pic that says, “Who’s there?”",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "452324",
"author": "Jeremy Cook",
"timestamp": "2011-09-10T21... | 1,760,377,089.565503 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/10/weekly-roundup-91011/ | Weekly Roundup 9/10/11 | Jack Buffington | [
"News"
] | [] | In case you missed them, here are the most popular posts from the previous week.
Our most popular post was one of our Engine Hacks about a remote control airplane built by [Bruce Simpson] that
has a pulse jet attached to it
. It’s noisy and fast! Want to wake up the whole neighborhood, fly one of these around early in the morning.
Next up is
this post
about an unique window display that [Alex] built which draws onto the glass using a pair of stepper motors and a felt tipped pen. He is using processing and an arduino to control the motors. The end effect is that this device can draw gray scale images.
After that is another one of our Engine Hack posts where we show a
lawn mower that has been converted to run on steam
. This one is most definitely a hack and seems somewhat dangerous to boot.
This post shows off a working
PIP-Boy 3000
created by [MyMagicPudding]. If you are a fan of Fallout, this is one to check out.
Finally, this post shows off a very
large 3D printer
that can print items as large as 15.8″ x 15.8″ x 12.7″. This is a custom built device and has a very nice writeup showing how it is put together. | 0 | 0 | [] | 1,760,377,089.307755 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/10/engine-hacks-build-a-turbojet-from-junkyard-parts/ | Engine Hacks: Build A Turbojet From Junkyard Parts | Brian Benchoff | [
"Engine Hacks"
] | [
"Engine hacks",
"turbo charger",
"turbojet"
] | Turbo chargers from cars are readily available and easily modified, so why not
modify a turbo into a jet engine
?
While [Mike]’s junkyard jet made the rounds on the Internet over a decade ago, the theory behind the homebrew turbojet is still sound. After pulling a turbo out of a 1983 Nissan Pulsar, [Mike] built a combustion chamber out of 2-inch pipe fittings. The propane fuel is ignited with a simple motorcycle spark plug and produces a hot and powerful blast of air twenty feet from the exhaust.
We suppose [Mike] wasn’t satisfied with such a puny engine made out of junk, so he decided to step it up a notch and
improve his engine
. After some development, [Mike] managed to build another jet out of a larger turbo that doesn’t require a constant spark. The newer engine produces ‘hurricane force wind’ 10 feet from the exhaust. We’re not sure how much thrust that translates into, but we’re a little surprised this engine hasn’t been mounted to a go-kart yet.
Check out the walk through and demo of the junkyard jet after the break.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xj7RMlVBLUs&w=470] | 14 | 14 | [
{
"comment_id": "452092",
"author": "Fallen",
"timestamp": "2011-09-10T13:04:16",
"content": "Like the end to any good date, the mantra behind any engine is, ‘suck, squeeze, bang, blow.’Really? On HAD…Well it made me chuckle, but I’d imagine there will be a bit of commotion about this line.",
"p... | 1,760,377,089.617575 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/09/print-the-best-macot-win-a-shiny-new-makerbot/ | Print The Best Mascot, Win A Shiny New Makerbot | Mike Szczys | [
"contests"
] | [
"3d printer",
"makerbot",
"mascot",
"robot"
] | If you’ve always wanted a 3D printer, here’s your chance to win one. Makerbot Industries wants the Internets to design a new mascot for them. The
contest winner will receive a Makerbot Thing-o-matic
.
Don’t worry about a chicken or egg situation with this contest. You don’t actually need to print your design (although printability is a quality considered when judging). All you need to do to enter is upload your design files before the deadline on September 28th. Designs must be robot themed, and anything uploaded as Private will be made Public after contest results are announce. It should be fun looking through all of the submissions. There’s several other design restrictions so make sure to read carefully before you get to work.
Those that would rather work with a soldering iron than design plastic robot parts need not despair. You haven’t missed the deadline for
the 7400 Logic contest
, which is accepting entries through October 21st. | 12 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "451743",
"author": "Bill",
"timestamp": "2011-09-09T23:26:57",
"content": "No credit for the tip?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "451745",
"author": "tj",
"timestamp": "2011-09-09T23:28:27",
"content": "What is a ‘Ma... | 1,760,377,089.518178 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/09/repeat-timer-hacked-for-35-minute-hydroponic-cycles/ | Repeat Timer Hacked For 35 Minute Hydroponic Cycles | Mike Szczys | [
"green hacks"
] | [
"cycle timer",
"hydroponics"
] | [GrowColt] shows you how to
modify a lamp timer for use with hydroponics
. You can pick up this type of mechanical timer at most local big box stores for around $5. The timer plugs into an outlet, and the device you want to operate plugs into it. [GrowColt’s] end goal is to make the timer repeat every 35 minutes, routing power to the connected device for about 50 seconds each cycle. It will operate the pumps and misters in his hydroponic garden to keep the plants hydrated and keep the nutrients flowing.
We’ve embedded his detailed process after the break. It’s not all that difficult, requiring a few common hand tools, some glue, and rubber washer. There’s a gear box inside which controls the timer. Reorganizing that gearing makes it repeat more frequently.
Not into hydroponics, but looking for watering help with your greenhouse? Check out this system which
monitors water sensors and dispenses H2O accordingly
.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGfV9IUcFxE&w=470] | 29 | 18 | [
{
"comment_id": "451691",
"author": "adamziegler",
"timestamp": "2011-09-09T22:42:18",
"content": "Seems like a simple hack for the specific mod. Nice.Not sure why 1/4 of the height of the gear shaft was removed (6:20) prior to covering it with another gear. Seems unnecessary.Another idea… PWM the m... | 1,760,377,089.733522 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/09/program-an-arduino-using-your-sound-card/ | Program An Arduino Using Your Sound Card | Mike Nathan | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"digital audio hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"programming",
"wav file"
] | [Chris] wrote us to share
a neat technique he has been using to program the Arduinos
he uses in his projects. He likes to build bare bones Arduino clones rather than sacrifice full dev boards, and instead of programming them via traditional means, he is using his computer’s sound card.
He builds a simple dead bug Arduino (which he calls an Audioino) using a handful of resistors, a pair of caps, an LED, a reset switch, and most importantly – an audio jack. After burning
a special audio bootloader
to the chip, he can connect the Arduino directly into his computer’s speaker port for programming.
Once the microcontroller is connected to his computer, he runs the IDE-generated hex file through a Java app he created, which converts the data into a WAV file. With the Arduino put into programming mode, he simply plays the WAV file with an audio player, and the code is uploaded.
He says that this method of programming comes in handy in certain cases where he builds things for friends, because they can easily update the software on their own without a lot of fuss. | 86 | 46 | [
{
"comment_id": "451463",
"author": "Chris",
"timestamp": "2011-09-09T19:11:39",
"content": "Load freebird.pde! Load freebird.pde!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "451469",
"author": "KC2PHO",
"timestamp": "2011-09-09T19:16:35",... | 1,760,377,089.94262 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/09/spinning-uv-light-writer/ | Spinning UV Light Writer | Mike Nathan | [
"LED Hacks",
"Microcontrollers"
] | [
"led",
"phosphorescent",
"pic",
"uv"
] | [David] has always wanted use UV LEDs to
write on a phosphorescent surface
ever since saw an article about it on Make. He accidentally purchased UV LEDs when he meant to buy purple ones, so he figured that his mistake was all the reason he needed to give UV light writing a try.
He built a PIC16F628 UV POV board using the LEDs, and while manually swiping the writer across various glow in the dark surfaces was cool, he wanted to keep the POV board stationary, moving the writing medium instead. He bought some phosphorescent vinyl, but found that it wasn’t too flexible, meaning he could not use
a conveyor belt approach
for his display. One day it dawned on him that a vinyl ring might work pretty well, and using a motor from an old cassette player, he constructed the UV writer you see above.
It seems to work pretty well despite a small flaw in the UV ring, and while [David] is happy with the results, he already has plenty of ideas in mind for the second revision.
Check out the video of his UV light ring in action after the jump.
[Thanks, Riley]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpwfHulWZSk&w=470] | 24 | 13 | [
{
"comment_id": "451376",
"author": "enystrom8734",
"timestamp": "2011-09-09T17:06:33",
"content": "This is awesome! Might make the Misses more happy rather than me painting glow in the dark paint on the ceiling…",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "... | 1,760,377,089.808587 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/09/no-quarters-required-for-this-sidescrolling-game-in-a-box/ | No Quarters Required For This Sidescrolling Game In A Box | Mike Nathan | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"Toy Hacks"
] | [
"mario",
"teagueduino",
"video game"
] | [Adam] from Teague Labs wrote in to share
a new gadget they built
to help demonstrate the capabilities of the Teagueduino. Their table top video game in a box was made with a bunch of electronic components they had sitting around, as well as soda straws, plenty of painter’s tape, and some popscicle sticks.
When someone pulls the string on the front of the box, a servo opens it automatically, and a second servo starts spinning the game reel. As the reel moves, the player is presented with a set of obstacles to dodge, guiding the “hero” via a knob-controlled servo. A hall sensor attached to the back of the character is tripped when passing over any of the obstacles, which are attached to the reel with magnetic tape. When the hero collides with an obstacle, the game ends and proceeds to close itself, much to the chagrin of the player.
As you can see in the video below, it’s a pretty entertaining and challenging game.
Looking to make one of your own? Swing by the Teagueduino site
to grab the game’s code
and be sure to share your creations with us in the comments.
[vimeo http://vimeo.com/28781718 w=470] | 22 | 13 | [
{
"comment_id": "451301",
"author": "Xenthis",
"timestamp": "2011-09-09T15:18:03",
"content": "Very cool. Retro.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "451320",
"author": "Henrik Pedersen",
"timestamp": "2011-09-09T15:31:59",
"content": "I ... | 1,760,377,090.000039 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/09/laser-etched-pcb-production/ | Laser Etched PCB Production | Brian Benchoff | [
"hardware",
"Laser Hacks"
] | [
"laser etching",
"pcb",
"reprap"
] | Like most of us, [reonarudo] isn’t satisfied with the current methods of homebrew PCBs, so he
put a laser on a reprap and started burning some boards
.
The basic procedure is to cover a copper clad board with matte black spray paint. A laser was installed on the X carriage of the reprap. [reonarudo] used
cad.py
to convert the board files into g-code and fired up his laser. The quality of the boards is highly dependent on the accuracy of the laser so
after working through some mechanical problems
[reonarudo] managed to make some
passable boards
.
We’ve seen just about every manufacturing method imaginable applied to PCB production. Etch resist and toner transfer do the job and a
reprap milling machine
is pretty neat, but lasers are so much cooler. While it may not be perfect (yet), printing PCBs with a laser shows a lot of potential. Check out a video of [reonarudo]’s bot burning some copper after the break.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Chq6TcTeDJc&w=470] | 42 | 26 | [
{
"comment_id": "451251",
"author": "David M.",
"timestamp": "2011-09-09T14:10:07",
"content": "So did the etched boards work ok?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "451255",
"author": "that1guy",
"timestamp": "2011-09-09T14:21:13",
"con... | 1,760,377,090.077049 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/09/engine-hacks-tesla-turbines/ | Engine Hacks – Tesla Turbines | Jack Buffington | [
"Engine Hacks",
"News"
] | [
"engine hack",
"mechanical",
"tesla turbine"
] | You probably weren’t expecting a project based on [Nikola Tesla’s] work to show up during the Engine Hacks theme. Most people know of him because of his pioneering work with high voltage equipment. Never the less, [Tesla] designed a device that later became known as the Tesla Turbine. Tesla turbines are made out of a series of thin disks attached to a central rotor. Air or steam is injected into the closed turbine housing at the outer edge of the disks. It swirls around through the turbine blades and eventually exits near the rotor. This type of turbine can achieve very high rotational speeds but doesn’t have a lot of torque, which limits their usefulness. Check out
this instructable
that shows you how to build your own Tesla turbine out of hard drive platters.
We have featured a Tesla turbine in the past on Hackaday. In
this previous post
, [Rick] shows us how to carve a pumpkin with a skill saw blade that is powered by one of these turbines. | 20 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "451273",
"author": "Philippe",
"timestamp": "2011-09-09T14:36:11",
"content": "“nevertheless” is one word.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "451277",
"author": "barry99705",
"timestamp": "2011-09-09T14:44:36",
"content... | 1,760,377,090.74889 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/09/putting-laptop-lcds-to-use-with-an-fpga/ | Putting Laptop LCDs To Use With An FPGA | Brian Benchoff | [
"hardware",
"Video Hacks"
] | [
"fpga",
"lcd display",
"lvds"
] | We’re always impressed with the number of laptop displays we’re able to pick out of the trash. Most of the time the computer is borked beyond repair so we end up with a lot of functional but unusable LCD panels. As a service to us all, [EiNSTeiN_] figured out
how to control an LCD panel
using a cheap homebrew FPGA board.
LCD panels don’t use a simple protocol like VGA for turning pixels on and off. Instead, the very high-speed
LVDS
is used. LVDS is beyond the capabilities of simple microprocessors, so [EiNSTeiN_] built himself a clone of an
XuLA FPGA prototyping board
and set to work. After figuring out the signal lines to the panel, [EiNSTeiN_] pored over the timing diagrams for the LVDS controller and the LCD panel. From the data sheets, he figured out data is usually sent to the panel at about 500 MHz. The homebrew FPGA board couldn’t manage that speed so [EiNSTeiN_] cut the FPGA clock in half.
While LCD’s 60 fps refresh rate was reduced to 30 fps, [EiNSTeiN_] says there’s only a little flicker. Not bad for something that could have easily been trashed. | 29 | 15 | [
{
"comment_id": "451182",
"author": "jc",
"timestamp": "2011-09-09T11:07:20",
"content": "now THIS is truly incredible service, thanks a lot, I’ll definitely try to use the panel from my old laptop eventually ! (it has LVDS too)",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
... | 1,760,377,090.313401 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/08/arcade-controller-in-a-box/ | Arcade Controller In A Box | Mike Szczys | [
"Peripherals Hacks"
] | [
"4021",
"arcade",
"Joystick",
"shift register",
"snes"
] | [Alex] wanted to play video games with an arcade stick and buttons, but got sticker shock after seeing the price of commercially available controllers that connect to a computer via USB. He set out to build his own and ended up with
the controller-in-a box that you see above
.
At first he tried using an mbed microcontroller board but was unhappy with the latency built into the system that detected a button press, sent it via USB as a keyboard press, which was then interpreted as input by the game. He ditched the microcontroller completely and picked up a couple of 4021 parallel-to-serial shift registers. He had previously used this method to
make his own SNES controller
. The SNES uses two 8-bit shift registers to generate an 16-bit serial packet to send to the console. [Alex’s] reused that system, adding an SNES controller plug to his arcade box, and using the SNES to USB converter he already had to connect to the computer. Now he’s got a portable controller for the cost of three buttons, the stick, and two IC’s.
He explains the project himself in the clip after the break.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Xne7pEzLGI&w=470] | 25 | 14 | [
{
"comment_id": "450809",
"author": "DanAdamKOF",
"timestamp": "2011-09-08T22:04:25",
"content": "I built an arcade supergun in a tupperware controller years ago :) link here if anyone wants to see it:http://www.neo-geo.com/forums/showthread.php?181744-%28GONE!%29-FS-T-SuperGun-w-SVC-Chaos-Yes-it-s-... | 1,760,377,090.196839 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/08/anthropomorphizing-an-ikea-lamp-like-pixar-but-in-real-life/ | Anthropomorphizing An Ikea Lamp (like Pixar But In Real Life) | Mike Szczys | [
"Arduino Hacks"
] | [
"ikea",
"lamp",
"pixar",
"seeed studio"
] | ArduinoArts is
animating an inexpensive Ikea lamp
as a contest entry. Seeed Studio’s
Toy Hacking Contest
calls for the competitors to work their magic using the Grove Toy Kit, which is an extensible sensor connection system for the Arduino. Most of the items in the kit were used to add interactivity to the lamp. Check out the video after the break to see the motion that two servos provide. The lamp can move its shade back and forth as if shaking its head, and the whole arm assembly can rotate in relation to the base. The sensors detect when you’ve repositioned the lamp head and the device will yell at you if it doesn’t appreciate its new pose. It also reacts to noise and motion, switching on the LED that replaces the original bulb in both cases, and asking: “Are you Sarah Connor” when motion is detected. These basic modifications really make for some fun animatronic behavior.
[via
Engadget
] | 16 | 15 | [
{
"comment_id": "450783",
"author": "dexter",
"timestamp": "2011-09-08T21:19:02",
"content": "@ferdie: Yeah, it really looked like a finished project…",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "450800",
"author": "Chris",
"timestamp": "2011-09-08T2... | 1,760,377,090.247501 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/08/huge-diy-3d-printer-predictably-prints-huge-3d-items/ | Huge DIY 3D Printer Predictably Prints Huge 3D Items | Mike Nathan | [
"cnc hacks"
] | [
"3d printer",
"reprap"
] | Well, if we ever need something huge built on a RepRap, now we know who to call. [Jim] over at Grass Roots Engineering wrote in to share
a large 3D print he just finished
, which was extruded by an equally impressive
home-built 3D printer.
The part he built consists of a bunch of hollow green tubing in a criss-cross pattern and was printed in just under 2 days. He never mentions what the part is going to be used for, but at 376 x 376 x 250mm (14.8 x 14.8 x 9.84in), he estimates that this is the biggest single part printed with a DIY 3D printer.
The printer itself is based on the RepRap, but is obviously far larger. It prints using ABS plastic utilizing a maximum build area of 403 x 403 x 322.7mm (15.86 x 15.86 x 12.7in). Built over the course of 3 years, it was fully operational in 2010 but has undergone several improvements as [Jim’s] needs have changed.
It’s a fantastic looking machine, and it seems to print quite nicely. We would sure love to have one of these in our workshop.
Continue reading to see [Jim’s] 3D printer in action. | 36 | 21 | [
{
"comment_id": "450749",
"author": "Pixitha",
"timestamp": "2011-09-08T20:05:40",
"content": "Slap a nice piece of glass on top and you’ve got yourself a sweet coffee table.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "450902",
"author": "Hitek146... | 1,760,377,090.382999 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/08/diy-portable-chargergenerator/ | DIY Portable Charger/generator | Mike Nathan | [
"News",
"Tool Hacks",
"Transportation Hacks"
] | [
"alternator",
"charger",
"generator",
"motor"
] | [Glenn] from The Back Shed has built a lot of windmills and stationary generators over the years, but recently decided to try his hand
at building something a bit more portable.
The charger is based of a relatively simple design, employing a 5.2 HP Kubota 4 stroke motor and a 12v car alternator to provide power. While you might be inclined to point out that his charger does exactly what an alternator and motor are built to do, there was a bit more to it than simply slapping the two parts together.
A laser cut adapter plate holds the motor and alternator together, but once [Glenn] wrapped things up and gave the motor a spin, he realized that he was driving the alternator backwards. This would eventually cause the alternator to overheat since the cooling fan was running the wrong way. He removed the fan and reversed the fins with a hammer so that he could get the cooling he needed without having to reinstall the alternator in the opposite orientation.
The whole kit was mounted on a hand truck for portability, and [Glenn] says that the charger/generator only needs to run about 5 minutes before a dead battery has enough juice to crank an engine.
[via
HackedGadgets
] | 26 | 11 | [
{
"comment_id": "450689",
"author": "xorpunk",
"timestamp": "2011-09-08T19:05:14",
"content": "pretty cool, I’ve seen this done before but it’s nice to see done on hand-trucks.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "450695",
"author": "Doc Oct",
... | 1,760,377,090.547511 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/08/tsc230-color-light-to-frequency-module/ | TSC230 Color Light-to-Frequency Module | Mike Szczys | [
"Parts"
] | [
"rgb",
"sensor",
"tsc230"
] | ElecFreaks is selling a new color sensing module based on the TSC230 sensor. They’ve posted a demonstration using an Arduino that shows off
what this sensor is capable of
. The module includes four white LEDs which give a baseline of light to help normalize readings when reflected off of differently colored surfaces. The white balance of the sensor needs to calibrated in software in order to ensure accurate readings, but once that’s done you’ll be cable to pull RGB values off of whatever you put in front of the sensor.
What a nice addition to sorting machines like
this LEGO sorter
. Of course you can
do something like this yourself using an RGB LED
as a detector, but the TSC230 is extremely sensitive and should be quite reliable in comparison. They’re selling the module for $15, a price point that’s hard to beat if you need precise color detection in your next project. A colored token reader for your MAME cabinet perhaps? | 5 | 3 | [
{
"comment_id": "450681",
"author": "Charles P. Lamb",
"timestamp": "2011-09-08T18:50:36",
"content": "This device gives impressive value for its price but is not capable of precision color measurement. The spectral sensitivity curves of the photodiode detectors overlap considerably. White LEDs do... | 1,760,377,090.591105 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/08/turning-pixels-into-lego-pieces/ | Turning Pixels Into LEGO Pieces | Mike Szczys | [
"home hacks"
] | [
"anti-aliasing",
"coffee table",
"lego",
"photoshop",
"pixel"
] | Looking to spice up his living room with some modular plastic pieces, [Quentin] came up with a way to
take digital pixels and convert them to LEGO building plans
. The end result is a coffee table top that uses a font complete with anti-aliasing.
The first thing he did was figure out physical dimension and color palettes available from the popular building blocks. His search yielded all of the answers after he spent some time on
Brickipedia
. Armed with that knowledge he started bargain hunting, settling on a brick size that yielded adequate resolution without breaking the bank (he budgeted 87 Euros or about $125 for materials). From there he used Photoshop, along with a custom color palate that matches the LEGO colors, to generate the design. Image in hand, he finished the planning stage by writing a program to count the pixels, convert them into LEGO bricks, and spit out an order list and build instructions. He’s saving others the trouble of doing the same by releasing his source code.
Of course the project wouldn’t be nearly as fun if he hadn’t made a fast-time build video. We’ve embedded it after the break.
[vimeo http://vimeo.com/16376065 w=470] | 16 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "450616",
"author": "raged",
"timestamp": "2011-09-08T17:06:19",
"content": ":( at first i thought it was a screen that projected with lego texture.not a bad coffee table",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "450619",
"author": "Jo... | 1,760,377,090.692536 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/08/spectrum-analyzer-users-custom-characters-on-an-hd44780-display/ | Spectrum Analyzer Users Custom Characters On An HD44780 Display | Mike Szczys | [
"digital audio hacks"
] | [
"freescale",
"hd44780",
"lmv324",
"spectrum analyzer"
] | [Camilo] built
a spectrum analyzer to use with his audio system
(
translate
). The hardware is quite simple, using an op-amp, microcontroller and LCD display. He chose an LMV324M low-voltage op-amp which connects to the incoming audio signal and feeds its output to the microcontroller’s ADC. In this case, he chose a Freescale microcontroller from the HCS08 family which is running at 20 MHz. This gives the project enough speed to properly analyze the incoming audio. He mentions that he’s following the guidelines set forth in the
Nyquist-Shannon sampling theorem
and using the
Fast Fourier Transform
when processing the samples.
This isn’t the first time we’ve seen a character LCD used as a display for a frequency analyzer. This other
ATmega8-based rendition
supported several different screen layouts. These displays have enough RAM to store eight custom characters. Each character is 5×8 pixels, lending eight levels to each character for a total of 16 for each column seen above. We love the simplicity of the hardware in the project but we wouldn’t mind seeing an additional potentiometer to fine-tune how the data is displayed on the screen to take advantage of its full range. See the project in action in the clip after the break.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dm2jUzTKCWc&w=470] | 8 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "450587",
"author": "kj",
"timestamp": "2011-09-08T16:22:53",
"content": "i’d like to see it responding to a sweep signal or something similar.from the current song selection is difficult to see if it is responding correctly and whether it’s experiencing any noticeable latency.",
... | 1,760,377,090.639753 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/08/security-system-gives-you-a-call-when-it-senses-intruders/ | Security System Gives You A Call When It Senses Intruders | Mike Nathan | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"Phone Hacks",
"Security Hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"gsm",
"mobile phone",
"motion detector",
"security"
] | [Dimitris] decided to build a homemade alarm system, but instead of triggering a siren, sending an SMS message, or Tweeting about an intrusion, he preferred that
his system call him when there was trouble afoot.
He says that he preferred a call over text messaging because there are no charges associated with the call if the recipient does not pick up the line, which is not the case with SMS.
The system is based around an off the shelf motion detector that was hacked to work with an old mobile phone. The motion detector originally triggered a siren, but he stripped out the speaker and wired it to a bare bones Arduino board he constructed. The Arduino was in turn connected to the serial port of an unused Ericssson T10s mobile phone. This allows the Arduino to call his mobile phone whenever the motion detector senses movement.
The system looks to be quite useful, and while [Dimitris] didn’t include all of the code he used, he says others should be able to replicate his work without too much trouble. | 13 | 13 | [
{
"comment_id": "450539",
"author": "Jack",
"timestamp": "2011-09-08T15:13:42",
"content": "I like the silver PCB",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "450564",
"author": "fartface",
"timestamp": "2011-09-08T15:42:10",
"content": "Mine alr... | 1,760,377,090.801019 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/08/this-marriage-proposal-is-the-best-pcb-design-ever/ | This Marriage Proposal Is The Best PCB Design Ever | Mike Nathan | [
"Lifehacks"
] | [
"Bill Porter",
"pcb"
] | While you will often see hacks on this site that feature high voltage, fire, and metal, that doesn’t mean that hackers, makers, and electronics geeks don’t have a soft side. In fact, we find the opposite to be true the vast majority of the time.
Take for instance [Bill Porter].
You may have seen his
projects
and
tutorials
featured here a time or two, and though I have never met him, he seems like a great guy
whose heart is in the right place
.
He recently decided that his college sweetheart was “the one” and had to think of a clever and surprising way to pop the question to a girl who is always one step ahead of the curve. [Mara (soon to be) Porter] was working on a project that required a custom PCB, and having never ordered one before, [Bill] was happy to help her get things in order. After sending the schematics off to
[Laen] at DorkbotPDX
, [Bill] fired off another email asking to have his proposal silk screened on the boards. [Laen] said he was happy to help, and so the wait began.
The boards arrived a few weeks later, and the rest, they say, was history.
How did it go? We’re guessing you’ve figured it out by now, but be sure to swing by [Bill’s] site to see how it all went down.
You know you want to…you big softie! | 20 | 18 | [
{
"comment_id": "450486",
"author": "Addie",
"timestamp": "2011-09-08T14:07:38",
"content": "be still my heart… !amazing idea (and not a bad rock either).A+",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "450496",
"author": "pete",
"timestamp": "2011-09... | 1,760,377,090.85812 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/08/engine-hacks-riquimbilis-or-what-wed-do-if-we-couldnt-buy-a-car/ | Engine Hacks: Riquimbilis, Or: What We’d Do If We Couldn’t Buy A Car | Brian Benchoff | [
"Engine Hacks",
"Transportation Hacks"
] | [
"bicycle",
"Engine hacks",
"riquimbilis"
] | After the United States enacted a near-total economic embargo against Cuba in 1962, American export of Detroit Iron came to a halt. Since then, some Cubans have been lucky enough to own a classic Chevy or Buick. Soviet imports of Volgas stopped in the 1990s. With a dearth of any sort of motorized transport (and a public transport system that’s even worse than America’s), some Cubans went with the only reasonable solution: they built
Rikimbilis
, bicycles and engines hacked together into a moped.
Most rikimbilis
are based around Chinese bicycles with a motor ‘obtained’ through ‘non-conventional means’. The exhaust can be fabricated from just about any metal tube available, and a plastic soda bottle is the gas tank of choice. Everything on these bikes is done for reasons of economy and availability, and the
fuel efficiency is unbeatable
with some rikinbilis getting 120 mpg.
Because they’re not especially safe, Riquimbilis are illegal in Cuba, but the police generally turn a blind eye to their use. Lately the Cuban government
has begun cracking down
on riquimbilis, but with not many cars to go around these machines of necessity will most likely continue plying Havana boulevards. | 22 | 15 | [
{
"comment_id": "450462",
"author": "Addidis",
"timestamp": "2011-09-08T13:37:20",
"content": "There are some kits to do this for like 200$ Ive always wanted to do this to my bike but something about sticking a motor on a bike with 21 speeds just seems like a death wish hehe.",
"parent_id": null... | 1,760,377,090.992416 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/08/recovering-data-for-a-homemade-cray/ | Recovering Data For A Homemade Cray | Brian Benchoff | [
"classic hacks"
] | [
"cray-1",
"data recovery",
"fpga",
"Spartan-3E",
"supercomputer"
] | In our hubris, we pat ourselves on the back when we’re able to pull data off our old SCSI drives. [Chris Fenton]’s attempt to
get an OS for a homebrew Cray-1
puts us rightfully to shame.
Last year we saw [Chris]’
fully functional 1/10th scale Cray-1 supercomputer
built around FPGA. While the reproduction was nearly cycle-accurate, [Chris] hasn’t had an opportunity to test out his system because of the lack of available Cray software. A former Cray employee heard of his plight and loaned an 80 Megabyte CDC 9877 disk pack to in the hope of getting some system software.
[Chris] acquired a monstrous 100 pound
disk drive
to read the disk pack, but after 30 years in storage a lot of electrical problems cropped up. Since reading the drive digitally proved to be an exercise in futility, [Chris] hit upon the idea of taking analog data straight from the read head. This left him with a magnetic image of the disk pack that was ready for some data analysis.
After the
disk image
was put up on the Internet, the very talented [Yngve AAdlandsvik] figured out the data, header, and error correction formats and sent [Chris] a Python script to tease bits from the analog image. While no one is quite sure what is on the disk pack provided by the Cray employee, [Chris] is remarkably close to bringing the Cray-1 OS back from the dead. There’s also a great
research report
[Chris] wrote as penance for access to the CDC disk drive. Any Hack A Day readers feel like looking over the data and possibly giving [Chris] a hand? | 41 | 28 | [
{
"comment_id": "450410",
"author": "drew",
"timestamp": "2011-09-08T11:22:17",
"content": "props to the both guys on doing this, things like the cray should not be forgotten to the ravages of time",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "450411",
"a... | 1,760,377,090.934176 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/07/want-2-megabytes-of-sram-for-your-arduino/ | Want 2 Megabytes Of SRAM For Your Arduino? | Mike Szczys | [
"Arduino Hacks"
] | [
"cpld",
"memory",
"spi",
"sram"
] | How much memory do you really need? We suppose it’s not really our place to judge how you
misuse
use memory in your projects. But we do appreciate the clean and orderly technique that [Eric Rogers] uses to
add multiple SPI SRAM chips to an Arduino
.
The heavy lifting is done with a CPLD shield called the
Amani 64
. It intercepts the SPI calls from the Arduino to an SRAM chip, and translates the address information to find the appropriate data on a collection of 23K256 devices. These chips are inexpensive, and using several of them provides a savings over choosing a single SPI addressable chip with a larger memory size.
The best part is that the flexibility of the CPLD allowed [Eric] to devise an addressing system that takes advantage of unused bits in the Arduino’s SPI data transfer functions. When using a single 23K256 chip, there are four write functions that waste a total of six bits. He devised a method to inject addressing data into these unused bits, allowing him to address up to 64 different memory chips for a potential of 2 MB of storage. The CPLD pulls out this injected address and subsequently writes or reads the bank of SRAM chips.
Looking for other SRAM upgrade options? Here’s another one that uses
multiplexing to decrease the address lines necessary to add memory
. | 15 | 11 | [
{
"comment_id": "450074",
"author": "MikrySoft",
"timestamp": "2011-09-07T23:30:24",
"content": "Wow, and “in my times” (i’m 22 :D) all you needed was couple latches. Maybe you youngsters :D don’t remember that some uCs (8051 anyone?) have a address and data bus avaliable on pins. One latch to demul... | 1,760,377,092.662915 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/07/broken-vintage-record-player-reborn-as-a-portable-mp3-cabinet/ | Broken Vintage Record Player Reborn As A Portable MP3 Cabinet | Mike Nathan | [
"computer hacks",
"Musical Hacks"
] | [
"jukebox",
"music",
"pc",
"record player",
"refurbished"
] | [Julian] picked up an old record player that was sitting in somebody’s trash pile, and brought it home to see if it could be restored to working order. When he got it home he discovered that it didn’t work at all, so
he and his wife decided to modernize it a bit.
In an effort to simultaneously reunite himself with his music collection and piss off audiophiles/antique collectors in the process, he gutted the radio and began rebuilding it to serve as an MP3 jukebox. Once the innards were removed, his wife refinished the cabinet and gave the front grill a new cloth cover.
An old PC was installed inside the cabinet, along with a set of relatively cheap (but better than paper cone) speakers. A pair of custom cut plexi panels were used to cover the computer, while providing space for the monitor and Apple wireless keyboard + trackpad [Julian] uses to manage the jukebox.
The refurbed record player came out looking quite nice, and although it likely raises the ire of several different groups of purists, we think it’s pretty cool. | 23 | 19 | [
{
"comment_id": "450022",
"author": "Mike Bradley",
"timestamp": "2011-09-07T22:11:19",
"content": "I can understand some of the purists, but I like it!And I dont see how this is any different than the 70’s TV’s that came in big wood cabinets to look like to 50’s TVs? Just my 2cents",
"parent_id... | 1,760,377,092.837928 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/07/light-up-your-workshop-with-this-arcade-button-light-switch/ | Light Up Your Workshop With This Arcade Button Light Switch | Mike Nathan | [
"home hacks"
] | [
"555 timer",
"arcade button",
"light switch",
"relay"
] | [Pete Mills] was browsing around online when he came across
an arcade button light switch
and immediately wanted one. He didn’t however want to pay the $35 asking price for the switch, so he decided to build it himself.
He says that his solitary arcade machine doesn’t warrant its own room, so he figured he would wire the switch up to an extension cord in his workshop instead. The switch was made with parts he had on hand, so seeing as he didn’t have any triacs, he opted to use a relay in its place. He thought about how he would construct a simple flip flop circuit for the switch, and settled on using a simple 555-based circuit instead of a pair of transistors.
The end result looks every bit as nice as the version available for sale online, and it works great as you can see in the video below. [Pete] has circuit schematics available on his site should you want to build your own, so if you do, let us know in the comments – we’d love to see different variations on the circuit design.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJLqrkK4mJA&w=470] | 27 | 16 | [
{
"comment_id": "449993",
"author": "draeath",
"timestamp": "2011-09-07T21:22:20",
"content": "“settled on using a simple 555-based circuit instead of a pair of transistors.”Wait, what? He used a simple IC circuit instead of a pair of transistors? How is that simpler?",
"parent_id": null,
"d... | 1,760,377,093.195788 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/07/cookie-projector-uses-that-dusty-film-camera-of-yours/ | Cookie Projector Uses That Dusty Film Camera Of Yours | Mike Szczys | [
"digital cameras hacks"
] | [
"camera",
"cookie",
"film",
"flash",
"projector"
] | This hack is not for photographers with weak hearts. We’re going to be talking about destroying the body of a Single-Lens Reflex camera. But out of destruction comes something new. A broken camera paired with a flash and functional optics can be used to
project light patterns for picture backgrounds
.
The hardware is often referred to as a cookie projector, and a commercial unit can cost several hundred dollars. But if you or someone you know has a non-functional film SLR you’re already half way to making your own. Just snap off the back cover, yank out the mirror and shutter, and the bloody part is over. Slap on a lens with a large aperture, create your own slide with the pattern you’d like to see in your images, and affix a flash to the gaping hole on the back of the camera body. The video after the break shows the diy cookie projector hanging out on the flash stand, synchronized with your DSLR flash to add some pizzazz to the photo shoot.
[vimeo http://vimeo.com/26779311 w=470] | 11 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "449963",
"author": "daniel_reetz",
"timestamp": "2011-09-07T20:26:54",
"content": "In a crude sense, a camera and a projector are just inverses of each other. Sometimes this is said as “the camera is the dual of the projector” by mathy types.Julius Von Bismarck did this, too, and ca... | 1,760,377,092.609582 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/07/beginner-concepts-mosfets/ | Beginner Concepts: MOSFETs | Mike Szczys | [
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"beginner concepts",
"mosfet"
] | [Moser’s]
introductory guide to MOSFETs
serves as a quick introduction for those unfamiliar with the parts. They fill a similar role as a bipolar junction transistor like the 2N2222, making it possible to switch large loads. But fundamentally they are different. Metal Oxide Field Effect Transistors have three pins for Drain, Source, and Gate instead of the Collector, Emitter, and Base that you may be used to. The Gate is the control pin for the device and offers a desirable advantage over bipolar junction transistors in that it is insulated from the channel. This means that much less current flows into the Gate when compared to the Base of a common transistor, saving power and providing protection to the logic circuitry.
Don’t fret if this makes your head spin. [Moser’s] writeup is short and to-the-point but it’s not watered down. You can get a basic overview and if you care to learn more, he’s linked to datasheets and has basic terminology that is easily clarified with a Google search. One of the most powerful tools that he’s included is the simple MOSFET and driver circuit diagram you see above. This makes it possible to switch incredibly large loads very quickly; the true power of the MOSFET. | 12 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "449897",
"author": "Peter",
"timestamp": "2011-09-07T19:23:44",
"content": "Use “logic level” MOSFETs and avoid the need for a driver…",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "449900",
"author": "DanJ",
"timestamp": "20... | 1,760,377,092.71358 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/07/defusable-alarm-clock-wastes-wire-but-fun-for-the-kids/ | Defusable Alarm Clock – Wastes Wire But Fun For The Kids | Mike Szczys | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"clock hacks"
] | [
"atmega328",
"bomb",
"defuse"
] | Nothing makes you feel the pressure of getting out of bed in the morning like
a ticking-time-bomb on the bedside table
. It may look like it came in the mail from ACME, but all that went into this is some wooden dowels covered in craft paper and an Arduino-compatible board. The 7-segment display can act as a clock, or count down to your doom. You can set an alarm that requires you to clip the wires to shut it off. Each time that alarm is set the wires are randomly chosen; one will set of the bomb, one will safely defuse it, and the others do nothing. See for yourself after the break.
The wires are easily replaced because they are connected via terminal blocks. It still seems like an awful waste of wire. We like
the Think Geek bomb clock concept
that works in much the same way but uses wires that have a male/female RCA plug pair that can be disconnected and reconnected without waste.
This one will apparently be available as a kit, at which point the schematics and code will be released. But it shouldn’t be too hard to build one from scratch yourself, and it’s an obvious winner if you’ve got kids.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKXOfAOmzvA&w=470]
[Thanks Erik via
Make
] | 36 | 24 | [
{
"comment_id": "449847",
"author": "kukuta",
"timestamp": "2011-09-07T18:03:41",
"content": "I can’t help but wonder how much fun it would be to take this on the plane with you on your family vacation…",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "449854",
... | 1,760,377,093.094653 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/07/video-learning-eagle-cad-part-2/ | Video: Learning Eagle CAD Part 2 | Jack Buffington | [
"Featured",
"how-to"
] | [
"cad",
"video"
] | This week we are continuing on with our multi-part series where [Jack] shows you how to use Eagle CAD. This video continues where last week’s video left off by showing how to create a custom part and how to use the schematic editor. If you haven’t seen last week’s video, you can find it
here
. Also, check out
our youtube channel
where we have uploaded several supplementary videos that go into further detail about many of the tools that are commonly used in the schematic editor. After watching these videos, you should have all of the knowledge that you need to start designing the schematic portion of a circuit board.
This is a fairly long video, clocking in at about 25 minutes, so be prepared to dedicate a chunk of time. | 7 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "449806",
"author": "Necromant",
"timestamp": "2011-09-07T17:03:46",
"content": "Might be good, but still I’m hooked to kicad that doesn’t have any idiotic limitations =)",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "449843",
"author": "Ha... | 1,760,377,093.134565 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/07/need-something-in-a-pinch-sparkfun-products-now-at-micro-center/ | Need Something In A Pinch? SparkFun Products Now At Micro Center | Mike Nathan | [
"News"
] | [
"micro center",
"sparkfun"
] | If you happen to live near a Micro Center retail store, you are now lucky enough to have another choice when it comes to purchasing DIY electronics components – SparkFun is selling their products at all Micro Center retail outlets.
While it seems SparkFun
announced this change in June
, we’re seeing quite a bit of buzz on the topic today. We’re pretty sure their entire catalog won’t be available in store, but they are promising a “wide-range of SparkFun products at all 23 Micro Center locations across the country.”
Known for being very DIY-friendly when it comes to building your own PC, Micro Center was a logical choice for SparkFun. There are definitely times when you need/want a part right away rather than waiting for it to ship, so this seems to be an ideal situation for hackers and makers within range of a Micro Center retail store.
This announcement definitely has us wondering if this will be one of the final nails in the Radio Shack coffin. While Micro Center doesn’t have nearly the market penetration Radio Shack does, a wider selection of components and a friendly, knowledgeable staff makes the SparkFun/Micro Center combination is a compelling one.
What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments. | 54 | 28 | [
{
"comment_id": "449764",
"author": "enystrom",
"timestamp": "2011-09-07T16:15:37",
"content": "This would be great if there was one around me. Which means I still have to go to radioshack…Would this maybe allow them to open more stores in central New York?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
... | 1,760,377,093.023291 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/07/matchbox-sized-line-following-robot/ | Matchbox-sized Line Following Robot | Mike Nathan | [
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"atmega",
"ir",
"line following",
"PocketBot"
] | While they are not nearly as complex as their self-navigating brethren, building line following robots is no simple task, especially when they are this small. The creation of [Ondřej Staněk], this
matchbox-sized line following robot
is quite impressive.
PocketBot’s 48mm x 32mm circuit board also acts as its frame, supporting the wheels, motors, microcontroller and more. The brains of the operation is an ATmega8 microcontroller mounted on the bottom of the bot. A pair of wheels are driven independently using a set of mobile phone vibration motors that power the bot at speeds of up to 0.35 meters per second. Line detection is achieved by using three different IR sensors paired with four IR emitters located at the front end of the bot.
PocketBot also has an IR receiver on its top side, which allows [Ondřej] to control the robot, tweak its parameters, or calibrate its sensors on the fly using an IR remote or his computer.
The PocketBot might not be the absolute smallest line following bot we’ve seen, but it’s pretty darn close!
Continue reading to see PocketBot in action.
[vimeo http://vimeo.com/6394938 w=470] | 28 | 19 | [
{
"comment_id": "449687",
"author": "Punkguyta",
"timestamp": "2011-09-07T14:12:16",
"content": "Now that is just cool! I was wondering how you connected it for programming as I see a 4 pin arrangement near the edge of the board (usb?) Then I read that he does it with the IR, now that is pretty cool... | 1,760,377,092.777415 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/06/salvaging-a-commercial-grade-pick-and-place-machine/ | Salvaging A Commercial-grade Pick And Place Machine | Mike Szczys | [
"Repair Hacks",
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"layerone",
"null space labs",
"pick and place"
] | Why build a pick and place machine from the ground up when you can start with a full featured, but non-functional unit, and bring it back to life. That’s exactly what [Charliex] is doing with
this Juki 360 rebuild
.
A bit of background is in order here. [Charliex] is working alongside other hackers at
Null Space Labs
to restore this hardware. The Los Angeles based hackerspace sponsored the
hardware badges at this year’s LayerOne
, each of which was hand assembled. They’d like to avoid that tedium next year, which led to this project.
The seller of the used Juki 360 listed it in working condition, but it seems that they were polishing a turd since it is basically non-functional. The link at the top of this post is the second testimonial of their work so far. It covers the use of an Arduino board as a replacement interface, as well as a bunch of sensor repair, pneumatic testing, and motor driver firmware tweaking. If you’d like to see the initial teardown and hardware diagnostics don’t miss
the first post in their adventure
. | 11 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "448913",
"author": "el juan",
"timestamp": "2011-09-06T16:07:53",
"content": "http://hackaday.com/2011/09/01/repairing-an-old-pick-and-place-machine/",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "448929",
"author": "BiOzZ",
"timestamp... | 1,760,377,092.557862 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/06/playing-snake-with-a-tv-remote/ | Playing Snake With A TV Remote | Brian Benchoff | [
"LED Hacks",
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"IR remote",
"led",
"led matrix",
"remote",
"snake",
"snake game"
] | [vinod] sent in his
replica of a Snake game
,
the
game to play on old Nokia dumb phones.
The build is based on a PIC16F877 microcontroller
just like previous Snake builds we’ve seen
, but [vinod] didn’t use physical buttons in his build. Instead, he used a Philips infrared TV remote to control the game. The infrared controller only takes up one pin on the microcontroller, as opposed to the 4 pins of the easiest four button setup. [vinod] also threw in a simple one-transistor level converter so Snake can be played with a PC via RS-232. With the PIC code included in the build, it’s a great build that reminds us of a more civilized age.
The video of [vinod]’s snake game in action is posted after the break, but we noticed that the snake is allowed to ‘warp around’ the sides of the LED matrix. Some people might consider that cheating but that can be fixed by changing a few lines of code.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EuEvCTFW_AI&w=470] | 12 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "448897",
"author": "DanAdamKOF",
"timestamp": "2011-09-06T15:07:03",
"content": "Hah, I have a DTV box that has a few simple games (including Snake) built in. I saw this pop up on twitter and instantly thought of that box :)",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [... | 1,760,377,093.247549 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/06/engine-hacks-snow-chucking-because-snow-blowing-is-for-commoners/ | Engine Hacks: Snow Chucking — Because Snow Blowing Is For Commoners | Mike Szczys | [
"Engine Hacks"
] | [
"chevy",
"snowblower",
"v8"
] | Winter’s coming, and you don’t want to be outdone by your neighbor’s new snow blower. We think it’s pretty safe to say you’ll be the envy of gearheads throughout the neighborhood if you can
build your own snow blower around a V8 engine
. [Kai Grundt] is a metal fabricator by day and a
horror movie prop
yard implement builder by night. He pulled the engine out of his Chevy truck and then filled in parts around it to make this 412 HP snow blower.
The tank treads that it rides are each have their own dedicated hydraulic pump, making it easy to drive and steer this 800 pound whale. One of the first orders of business for the beast was to throw snow from two houses away, burying his buddy’s car. That’s the price you pay for laughing in a guy’s face when he describes his next project. It sounds like [Kai] was planning on selling kits so you could more easily replicate the build, but we couldn’t find any additional info on that. If you’ve got the details, please let us know by leaving a comment.
[Thanks Danman1453] | 21 | 18 | [
{
"comment_id": "448859",
"author": "barry99705",
"timestamp": "2011-09-06T13:27:23",
"content": "Heh, I need one of these!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "448861",
"author": "Brett W. (FightCube.com)",
"timestamp": "2011-09-06T13:37:15"... | 1,760,377,093.382254 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/06/lacross-weather-station-wireless-data-acquisition/ | La Crosse Weather Station Wireless Data Acquisition | Mike Nathan | [
"Wireless Hacks"
] | [
"lacross",
"weather station",
"ws2305",
"xbee"
] | Hackaday reader [equinoxefr] posted some images to our flickr pool
showing off some modifications he made
(
Google Translation
) to his La Crosse WS2305 weather station. Having built other router-based weather stations in the past, [equinoxefr] was looking for a better way to gather weather data after one of the routers gave up the ghost.
With a brand new La Crosse WS2305 in hand, his goal was to feed the Lacross’ data to his HTPC which runs XBMC. He pulled the weather station apart and probed around with an oscilloscope until he could find the TTL Tx and Rx pins required to retrieve data from the unit. He hooked the data pins to an XBee wireless transmitter, which he then tucked away in the station’s battery compartment.
Another XBee unit was connected to his computer via an XBee Explorer board, and he was reading data from his weather station in no time.
While his isn’t
the first La Crosse weather station hack
we’ve seen around here, we like how simple and clean it is. If you’re interested, be sure to check out
his flickr stream
to see more images of the hacking process. | 5 | 3 | [
{
"comment_id": "448881",
"author": "DeKay",
"timestamp": "2011-09-06T14:32:50",
"content": "This was done with a Davis console some time ago. Here is the XBee hookup:http://www.wxforum.net/index.php?topic=10721.25and this (my blog) describes the hunt for the serial interface at the back of the con... | 1,760,377,093.326846 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/05/want-to-learn-artificial-intelligence-good/ | Want To Learn Artificial Intelligence? Good. | Brian Benchoff | [
"Software Development"
] | [
"ai",
"aiclass",
"artificial intelligence",
"norvig",
"Sebastian Thrun",
"stanford"
] | In a little more than a month, tens of thousands of people around the world will attend
a class on Artificial Intelligence at Stanford
. Registration for this class is still open for both class ‘tracks’. The “basic” track is simply watching lectures and answering quizzes, or a slightly more advanced version of
MIT OpenCourseware
or
Khan Academy
. The “advanced” track is the full class, requires homework and exams, and aspires to Stanford difficulty.
With thousands of people taking this class, there’s bound to be a few study groups popping up around the web. The largest ones we’ve seen are
/r/aiclass on Reddit
and the stack overflow style
aiqus
. The most common reply to ‘what language should I learn from this class?’ is Python, although there’s an
online code repo
that has the text’s working code in Lisp, Java, C++ and C#.
If AI doesn’t float your boat, there are two more classes being taught from Stanford this fall:
machine learning
and
introduction to databases
. Any way you look at it, you’re getting to take a class from one of the preeminent instructors in the field
for free
. Do yourself a favor and
sign up
.
Thanks to everyone who sent this in. You can stop now. | 39 | 20 | [
{
"comment_id": "448545",
"author": "Max",
"timestamp": "2011-09-05T22:38:06",
"content": "*lol* the picture is the logo of the application “Camera Monitor” (you can google it) shipped with my Kubuntu installation :D",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_... | 1,760,377,093.458521 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/05/czech-ing-out-the-view-from-31-kilometers/ | Czech-ing Out The View From 31 Kilometers | Brian Benchoff | [
"digital cameras hacks",
"gps hacks"
] | [
"balloon"
] | The team at
czANZO
, the Czech Amateur Near-Space Object group, sent up one of the best high-altitude balloons we’ve ever seen last weekend and the resulting video is remarkable.
The team’s
build blog
(
Google Translate link
for everyone without Chrome) goes through the design and construction of their payload. Like every other balloon build we’ve seen,
a styrofoam cooler
is used for the enclosure, but there’s a lot of really neat additions that make this build special.
The team included a
cut down device
in the event the balloon gets caught in the jet stream. Without this cut-down device the balloon could end up hundreds of miles away from the launch point. That’s the reason for the cut-down device they’ve given, although we suspect it’s an excuse to play around with
pyrotechnic rope cutting
. The
optical and audible alarm
is something we haven’t seen on many high-altitude balloon launches, which is odd because it made ground recovery
much
easier.
The team has a lot of video from the flight that [Pavel Richter]
dumped onto Vimeo
. We really like the footage showing all of Prague, you can check that out after the break.
[vimeo=http://vimeo.com/28574249] | 19 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "448516",
"author": "Marc",
"timestamp": "2011-09-05T21:10:04",
"content": "Just WOW",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "448520",
"author": "Chris",
"timestamp": "2011-09-05T21:14:29",
"content": "worst pun ever… no reall... | 1,760,377,093.612542 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/05/the-partyscroller-led-display/ | The Partyscroller LED Display | Jeremy Cook | [
"Cellphone Hacks",
"home entertainment hacks"
] | [
"marquee",
"scroller",
"text message"
] | As [Plasma2002] put it, “Those jumbo screens at concerts that display your text messages can be a lot of fun. Wouldn’t it be great if you could have the same thing for your own parties or social gatherings?” The answer to this question came in the form of
this hack
, a scrolling marquee sign that guests simply had to text to get it to display messages. Apparently guests at the party loved the device, and who wouldn’t?
More importantly for [HAD] though, is that [Plasma2002] decided to show everyone how it’s done. He gives us an overview of the process via a nicely illustrated block diagram, then breaks everything down into the actual code used. A Google voice account is used as the dial-in number and everything is kept anonymous. A “bad-word” filter is used to keep everything semi-appropriate.
Really a cool device, and one that we hope will show up at hacker’s parties everywhere. Who knows, maybe something like this could enjoy mainstream success as well. Check out the video after the break to see this device in action!
[youtube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwKPiTD1jC0&w=470&h=345%5D | 16 | 14 | [
{
"comment_id": "448469",
"author": "Woeka",
"timestamp": "2011-09-05T19:53:26",
"content": "Nicely done, but I think a bit more steps than needed.A couple of years ago I had a prepaid Siemens M35 hooked up to a debian server. Installedhttp://packages.debian.org/testing/comm/scmxxand a little scrip... | 1,760,377,093.765201 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/07/engine-hacks-electric-drill-made-into-a-trolling-motor/ | Engine Hacks: Electric Drill Made Into A Trolling Motor | Brian Benchoff | [
"Engine Hacks",
"Tool Hacks",
"Transportation Hacks"
] | [
"electric drill",
"Engine hacks",
"trolling motor"
] | We knew our
engine hacks theme
would come down to an argument over the difference between “a motor” and “an engine” so after much deliberation, name calling, restraining orders, and a duel we’re happy to put up [Berto]’s
DIY trolling motor made out of an electric drill
. The project is probably inspired by [Berto]’s
collapsible amphibious e-scooter
that used the same electric drill propulsion setup.
The build is just a few pieces of wood, drill rod, some hardware and a prop. Definitely not the most complicated build. This isn’t the speediest motor ever when attached to a canoe, and isn’t meant to be a primary means of propulsion. That’s not a problem for this build – trolling motors aren’t designed to be fast or powerful. There’s no word on how much thrust [Berto]’s motor can put out, but it is a nice bit of MacGyverism to build a boat motor out of spare parts.
Check out the build walk though video after the break to see the motor in action.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZJTGqmtzBs&w=470] | 48 | 22 | [
{
"comment_id": "449645",
"author": "Graham",
"timestamp": "2011-09-07T13:06:36",
"content": "TrolololololBut seriously, this is interesting but not something I would have ever thought of to use a battery powered drill for. I give the guy props for ingenuity! Would be interesting to see what he ge... | 1,760,377,093.904238 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/07/hybrid-control-scheme-using-an-xbox-game-pad-and-kinect/ | Hybrid Control Scheme Using An Xbox Game Pad And Kinect | Mike Nathan | [
"Kinect hacks",
"News",
"Xbox Hacks"
] | [
"hybrid control",
"Kinect",
"NITE",
"openni",
"unity",
"xbox"
] | The Kinect is an interesting beast. On one hand, it’s fantastic for hacking – a purpose for which it was not designed. On the other hand, it’s “just OK” when it comes to gaming – its entire reason for being.
One of the big complaints regarding the Kinect’s control scheme is that it’s no good for games such as first person shooters, where a large majority of the action involves walking, jumping, and aiming. For his Master’s project, [Alex Poolton]
put together a fantastic demonstration
showing how the Kinect can be paired with a standard Xbox controller to provide hybrid gaming input.
While you might expect a simple game that shows the fundamentals of the hybrid control system, he has put together a full fledged game demo that shows how this control scheme might be implemented in a real game. [Alex] admits that it’s still a bit rough around the edges, but there’s some real potential in his design.
Continue reading to see a video demonstration of [Alex’s] project in action, and be sure to
check out his blog
for news and updates on the project.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WlKcgtABcqk&w=470] | 16 | 12 | [
{
"comment_id": "449599",
"author": "Monty Werthington",
"timestamp": "2011-09-07T11:23:01",
"content": "Nice demo, but part of me thinks it would be more tactile if a pistol was used rather than a free hand.But an interesting concept that should be develop further. Props to the maker.",
"parent... | 1,760,377,093.82123 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/06/gps-audio-tour-brought-to-you-by-surface-speakers/ | GPS Audio Tour Brought To You By Surface Speakers | Brian Benchoff | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"gps hacks",
"Portable Audio Hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"gps",
"surface speaker",
"walking tour"
] | The team at Eschelle Inconnue wanted to “trace a sound cartography of Islam” in Marseilles, France, so they came up with a clever little
GPS walking tour
powered by an Arduino, MP3 playback module, and a surface transducer speaker.
The team used a Processing app to define geographic areas where each MP3 file would play. An Arduino on the build queries a GPS module and selects the audio file from an MP3 playback module. This isn’t uncommon, and a lot of large outdoor museums (think battlefields) have similar setups.
Determining which audio to play at what location is fairly easy, but that’s not what makes this build special. Instead of simply hooking up a pair of headphones to the build, the team decided to use a
surface speaker
that turns just about any solid material into a speaker. From the writeup, this is supposed to, “diffuse sounds by giving the illusion to collect them, to listen to the words of the walls, the whisperings through the materials” but we think it’s just a great way to have several people listen to the same audio file at the same time. | 8 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "449386",
"author": "Whatnot",
"timestamp": "2011-09-07T03:48:00",
"content": "Remember: hackaday is about the technology of this only.Thought I’d be so bold as to remind people before things go wrong :)",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comme... | 1,760,377,094.021962 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/06/fallout-brought-to-life-with-this-working-pip-boy-3000/ | Fallout Brought To Life With This Working PIP-Boy 3000 | Mike Nathan | [
"Arduino Hacks"
] | [
"Arduino Uno",
"Fallout",
"HTC Desire",
"PIP-Boy 3000",
"video games"
] | [MyMagicPudding] wanted to try his hand at hobby electronics, so he decided to go all-in and
build himself a PIP-Boy 3000.
If the name doesn’t ring a bell, the PIP-Boy 3000 is a wrist-mounted computer from the popular Fallout video game series.
The PIP-Boy is based around an HTC Desire HD mobile phone, which [MyMagicPudding] mounted inside case custom made for him by [Skruffy] from the
Replica Prop Forum.
He wanted to stay true to the game, so the wrist-mounted computer’s interface eschew’s the Desire’s touch screen and is instead controlled via a set of buttons and dials on its face. The external inputs all interface with the Desire via an Arduino Uno, which communicates with the phone using TCP over USB.
While he admits that his soldering skills are pretty dodgy, and that there’s no longer room behind the neat-looking facade to mount the PIP-Boy on his wrist, we think that it looks great. If this is an example of his first electronics project, we can’t wait to see what comes next.
Continue reading to see the PIP-Boy 3000 in action.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tCEXEuICWs&w=470] | 39 | 21 | [
{
"comment_id": "449095",
"author": "DanAdamKOF",
"timestamp": "2011-09-06T20:36:16",
"content": "Posted this in the comments on the YouTube page, but I found a solution for him not figuring out how to use LEDs as buttons right here on HAD:http://hackaday.com/2009/01/29/led-push-buttons/`",
"par... | 1,760,377,093.978858 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/06/tv-retrofit-because-flatscreens-just-dont-take-up-enough-space/ | TV Retrofit… Because Flatscreens Just Don’t Take Up Enough Space | Mike Szczys | [
"Video Hacks"
] | [
"Philco",
"reto",
"tv"
] | [Igor] helped his friend’s family out by
retrofitting an old Philco television with a newer flat panel
(
translated
). The original conked out over thirty years ago, but the look of it still held quite a bit of nostalgia for his girlfriend’s Grandmother. She showed it to him on a recent visit and asked if it could be restored. He told her that it would most likely never work again, but that he could use modern components to replace the screen, while preserving the case itself.
The best thing about old hardware like this is that you can actually get the case apart fairly easily. After removing the tube and electronics he traced a pattern of the opening that he could take along to the electronics store to find a TV which would fill the opening. With the new screen in hand he found that using the threaded holes intended for VESA mounting brackets made it simple to install in the old case. A steel bar bolts onto the plate which he cut and drilled to match the TV’s hole pattern. Now Grandma is happy to have the retro-looking case with a modern high-def picture. | 32 | 21 | [
{
"comment_id": "449033",
"author": "Alex",
"timestamp": "2011-09-06T19:23:25",
"content": "Huh, considering how much work he did (he completely rebuilt the front opening!) I’m surprised he allows the flat panel’s bezel to show through. I would have tried to cover it up, but maybe he didn’t want to ... | 1,760,377,094.352466 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/06/controlling-samplers-and-sequencers-with-multitouch/ | Controlling Samplers And Sequencers With Multitouch | Brian Benchoff | [
"hardware",
"Musical Hacks",
"Software Development"
] | [
"monome",
"multitouch",
"multitouch display",
"touchlive"
] | When we see artists like Daft Punk or Madeon working their magic in a live setting, we’re always impressed with their controllers. Sample-based artist use controllers like the Monome and Kaoss Pad a lot, but these devices are fairly expensive. Thankfully, we live in an age of multitouch displays, so [Graham Comerford]
came up with his own multitouch controller
that does just about anything.
The build is based on the
Kivy framework
and includes a Monome emulator, MIDI drum pads, mixer, and a whole bunch of other sliders and buttons. There’s no word on how [Graham]’s multitouch display was constructed, but if you’re looking to build your own gigantic audio control setup there’s a lot of info on building
Microsoft Surface clones
,
adapting computer monitors
, and
spherical multitouch rigs
.
We’re not sure if [Graham]’s virtual drum kit is velocity sensitive but even if it’s not, it’s an interesting bit of kit. Check out an earlier version of his setup after the break.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBIsk_8oyew&w=470] | 5 | 3 | [
{
"comment_id": "449096",
"author": "fripster",
"timestamp": "2011-09-06T20:37:31",
"content": "nice… makes me think about the reactogon again… (see:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AklKy2NDpqs)",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "449170",
"author... | 1,760,377,094.28632 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/06/smartphone-hacking-without-risk-plus-broken-phones-needed/ | Smartphone Hacking Without Risk – Plus, Broken Phones Needed | Mike Szczys | [
"Cellphone Hacks"
] | [
"adam outler",
"cortex-m8",
"hibl",
"unbrick"
] | [Adam Outler] and [Rebellos] have been working feverishly to advance the world of mobile device hacking. They’re attacking on two fronts, making it easier for the common hacker to monkey with the phone’s firmware and OS with impunity, and by finding ways to make regular handsets into dev-hardware for low-level hacking.
The
Hummingbird Interceptor Bootloader
(HIBL) circumvents the chain of trust on smartphones running the Cortex-A8 family of processors. This opens a lot of doors, not the least of which is the ability to run any OS that you’re capable of porting to the hardware. We’re certain that Android builds will come first as they are open-source, but there’s talk of iOS or Windows Phone being run after some heavy assembly hacking.
But the two developers are trying to bring more people into the fold with their recent hacks. [Adam] has put out a call for your broken hardware.
He needs your dead smartphone boards to reverse engineer the circuitry
. Soldering one wire from the OM5 pin on the processor to the OM1 resistor will make the phones unbrickable (
something we heard about back in July
) and remove the need for soldering in a JTAG interface. With borked hardware in hand
he pops off the processor and traces out this connection
as well as the UART pins.
The soldering isn’t an easy process, but it’s a marked improvement that breaks down more barriers that keep people from hacking their coveted hardware. The clip after the break shows how easy it now is to recover your phone if something goes wrong while messing with the firmware or OS.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fw-D_cKeAb8&w=470] | 17 | 15 | [
{
"comment_id": "448968",
"author": "andrew",
"timestamp": "2011-09-06T17:32:05",
"content": "Seems a little weird that unbrickable requires a password, but cool nonetheless.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "586283",
"author": "Ace",
... | 1,760,377,094.243242 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/02/coil-gun-revolver/ | Coil Gun Revolver | Brian Benchoff | [
"Misc Hacks",
"Weapons Hacks"
] | [
"coil gun",
"revolver"
] | [Sam] sent in a
coil gun revolver
– a feature we’ve never seen on a coil gun build before. The gun is based on a cheap toy revolver and is powered by a 9 Volt battery connected to an “electrified fly swatter tennis racquet” instead of the usual disposable camera build.
The revolver mechanism isn’t perfect – [Sam] has to advance the chamber with his thumb while the capacitor is recharging. This is only because of the mechanics of the plastic toy his gun is based on, though. He figures a small motor could do the work for him, but he’ll be forgoing that project to work on the MK II version.
Most of the coil gun builds on Hack A Day have been muzzle or breech loaders, so with [Sam]’s revolver we’re probably seeing the evolution of firearms mirrored in coil gun advancements. Does anyone want to take a guess and predict when we’ll see the equivalent of a
this .50 caliber beast?
. [Sam] says his next project is going to be a rifle, so he might have his work cut out for him. | 33 | 21 | [
{
"comment_id": "446520",
"author": "Havel",
"timestamp": "2011-09-02T14:35:34",
"content": "I love a goocd coil gun build! Good work. Reminds me of something out of the TV series Firefly. I imagine you can use the back EMF from that coil of yours to power a small coil/motor to rotate to the next ch... | 1,760,377,094.189946 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/02/engine-hacks-electrified-datsun-is-the-ultimate-engine-swap/ | Engine Hacks: Electrified Datsun Is The Ultimate Engine Swap | Mike Nathan | [
"Transportation Hacks"
] | [
"batteries",
"car",
"electric",
"Engine hacks"
] | Forget the Tesla Roadster, we want an electric car
like [John Wayland’s] White Zombie!
If it wasn’t plastered with sponsor stickers and the like, you would never realize that this otherwise unassuming ‘72 Datsun 1200 is an absolute beast of a car. The gas engine that used to provide a mere 69 horsepower was swapped out for a pair of custom-built electric motors which propel the Datsun to 60 miles per hour in under two seconds.
The electric motors supply 500 horsepower and a staggering 1250 foot pounds of instant torque, providing one hell of a ride. The car is powered by 12 custom 29.6V battery packs which provide 2,400 Amps of current each! Aside from laying down a quarter mile in under 11 seconds, White Zombie can make a 90 mile trek before requiring a recharge.
Needless to say, this impressive car takes plenty of people by surprise each time [John] hits the track. Continue reading to watch one poor sap learn the hard way that his brand new Maserati is no match for White Zombie.
[via
Discovery
]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGQSQAz9v6c&w=470] | 57 | 23 | [
{
"comment_id": "446399",
"author": "brad",
"timestamp": "2011-09-02T13:06:45",
"content": "Ok, so he can make it 90 miles before a recharge. Not too shabby. How many drag races before he need to recharge?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "44640... | 1,760,377,094.445223 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/01/kraftwerk-inspired-led-tie/ | Kraftwerk Inspired LED Tie | Mike Nathan | [
"LED Hacks"
] | [
"evil mad scientist laboratories",
"Kraftwerk",
"larson scanner",
"led"
] | If you didn’t land the job after your last interview, it might have been because you were not wearing
this sweet Kraftwerk-inspired necktie.
Although our own [Caleb Kraft] insists that this recent creation by the folks over at Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories is a tribute to him, [Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider] beg to differ.
The inspiration for the tie actually comes from Kraftwerk’s 1977 video for “The Robots”, in which the band wore black ties with embedded scrolling LEDs. The effect is very similar to that of a Larson Scanner, though Kraftwerk’s ties light the LEDs in a single direction and do not fade in and out.
EVMSL has released a firmware update to the Larson Scanner they sell in their shop that replicates the Kraftwerk effect, and they also put together a quick tutorial showing how you can construct your own coin cell-powered LED tie. We’re not suggesting that anyone rush out and buy their kit, as it can be replicated fairly easily – we just thought it was pretty cool.
So, if you’re looking for a retro-inspired Halloween costume, search no further – Evil Mad Scientist Labs has you covered.
Continue reading for a video demo of their tie, as well as the original video that inspired it. | 16 | 13 | [
{
"comment_id": "445841",
"author": "Rory",
"timestamp": "2011-09-01T21:07:09",
"content": "Not the first recreation…http://andydoro.com/kraftwerktie/",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "446274",
"author": "elektrophreak",
"timesta... | 1,760,377,094.490737 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/01/awesome-fiber-optic-led-viking-helmet/ | Awesome Fiber Optic LED Viking Helmet | Mike Nathan | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"LED Hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"fiber optic",
"led",
"octobrite"
] | [Garrett] over at MaceTech was approached by a friend who
needed a light-up mohawk installed on a Viking helmet
, and he needed it ASAP.
Now, [Garrett] does tons of work with LEDs but it’s not every day you are asked to construct a sound-responsive LED mohawk. He had all sorts of LEDs and other bits on hand, but finding the fiber optics that would make up the mohawk itself took a bit of time.
After a bit of searching, he located some cheap bulk fiber optic toy wands, and got busy cutting them apart to remove the fiber bundles. The fibers were glued into a laser cut plastic assembly, where they were paired with a handful of OctoBrite CYANEA modules [Garrett] had on hand. He bought a handful of components from SparkFun, including an Arduino Pro Mini to control the device, as well as an electret mic and graphic equalizer chip to handle the audio input/filtering.
He wrapped up the code portion of the mohawk and handed it off to his friend, who says that the “helmet is +99 to epic awesomeness”, which sounds like a ringing endorsement to us.
[via
BuildLounge
]
Check out the video below to see the fiber optic mohawk helmet in action.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mVQJ-gWGpc&w=470] | 28 | 20 | [
{
"comment_id": "445758",
"author": "Peter",
"timestamp": "2011-09-01T19:20:35",
"content": "Wow. Very impressive. About half way through the first part of the video, I was beginning to think it was lame, then the VU meter and spectrum analyzer functions came on and I realized I had underestimated ... | 1,760,377,094.613977 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/01/highway-based-soundtrack-recordings/ | Highway Based Soundtrack Recordings | Brian Benchoff | [
"classic hacks",
"Software Development"
] | [
"optical film soundtrack",
"processing",
"soundtrack"
] | [Urpo Lankinen] has a father who is a huge movie buff, and once you care deeply about something it begins appearing everywhere you look. While driving on a back-country road one day, [Urpo]’s dad noticed that the shadows of the trees on the road
looked like an optical film soundtrack
, so it was up to the son to make it happen.
Early sound-on-film technologies like the
RCA Photophone
, and
Movietone
recorded audio onto the film stock with a variable area exposure. This exposure corresponds to the waveform of the audio signal. [Urpo] figured that his small digital video camera served the same purpose as the audio sensors inside the projector, so he put a piece of tissue paper over the lens and wound up with a video that was just frames of gray.
[Urpo] built an app in
Processing
that averages the pixels in each frame of the video. Of course, recording at 30 frames/second won’t produce any audio this way, so he modulated a triangle wave with this data in Audacity. In the end it really doesn’t sound like much, but it’s great to see such a geeky build.
We’d love to post the video after a break but [Urpo] doesn’t believe in YouTube embeds. We’ll honor his wishes, so you can check out the video
here
. | 21 | 16 | [
{
"comment_id": "445709",
"author": "egasimus",
"timestamp": "2011-09-01T18:08:05",
"content": "modulating the volume doesn’t make much sense. why not quantize to discrete musical notes and modulate the pitch?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "4... | 1,760,377,094.550382 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/01/candlestick-phone-goes-modern/ | Candlestick Phone Goes Modern. | Jack Buffington | [
"Cellphone Hacks",
"home hacks"
] | [
"cellphone",
"phone"
] | [Adam Ben-Dror] recently tipped us off to a
project that he worked on recently
. In this build he gutted an old candlestick-style phone and added modern technology to make it work as a cordless phone. We really liked this project because he married together new and old technology into an elegant package. There are a few hacks that he had to perform to get this to work. One was converting the rotary pulses into DTMF tones. The other was making the cordless phone that he gutted recognize when the phone was on or off of the hook.
Details of his build after the break.
[Adam] writes:
“The cordless candlestick consists of three main components. The 90 year old
candlestick phone
itself, a Doro 850 2.4Ghz cordless telephone and a Pulse to DTMF converter by
oldphoneworks.com
.
The original single throw single pole ‘hook’ switch in the neck of the candlestick phone was replaced with a double throw double pole micro switch. This switch is used to control a small circuit that ‘presses’ the green/answer button on the doro when the earpiece is lifted and ‘presses’ the red/end button when the receiver is put down. I kept it as simple as possible using just 2 relays and 2 capacitors to create a kind of timed switch circuit.
When the receiver is lifted, 5v runs through one of the capacitors that is connected in series to the coil of one of the relays. This triggers the relay. The switch side of the relay is connected in parallel to the original answer button on the doro – the relay “presses” the green/answer button. As soon as the capacitor is charged (around 1 second) its resistance goes high and cuts power to the relay which closes again – “unpressing” the answer button. When the receiver is put down the same thing happens but with the other capacitor and relay, which are used to ‘press’ the red/end button. At the same time the other capacitor is discharged, ready to be charged again.
– Hide quoted text –
The microphone and speaker from the doro were removed and the leads coming from the microphone and speaker of the candlestick phone were soldered in their place.
A small dc power socket was added to the base of the candlestick phone for charging.
A “rotatone” from oldphoneworks is installed in the base, connected to the dial and wired in parallel to the microphone on the doro. It takes the pulse signal generated by dial, converts it to a DTMF tone and sends that into the microphone to dial a number.” | 10 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "445705",
"author": "CoolMod",
"timestamp": "2011-09-01T18:05:01",
"content": "Nice mod. Reminds me of this one that connects via Bluetooth to any mobile phone and has some neat features.http://www.sqnewton.com",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"... | 1,760,377,094.714084 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/01/using-nixie-tubes-as-robot-eyes/ | Using Nixie Tubes As Robot Eyes | Brian Benchoff | [
"Robots Hacks",
"Toy Hacks"
] | [
"ArduiNIX",
"nixie"
] | [radmeck] on the ez-robot.com forums came up with a great use for Nixie tubes. Instead of using Nixies for clocks, or indicating values, he
used them as robot eyes
.
He used the
arduNIX
Arduino-powered Nixie tube driver to power the tubes. [radmeck] was very impressed with the arduNIX kit. The kit is able to drive eight Nixies or eighty neon bulbs, but there’s no word from [radmeck] on additional Nixies or neons in his build. The eventual goal of the project is to rebuild the Omnibot while adding more servos and motors. The
EZ-B robot controller
will be used to control the robot,
something we’ve seen before
.
[radmeck]’s Omnibot looks a lot better
after the retr0bright bath
, and with Nixie eyes its even more adorable. While the Omnibot didn’t live up to the original promise of
impressing your girlfriend
, Nixie tube eyes will give you some blog cred.
Check out the video of the much-improved Omnibot after the break.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5k15Sq1plNk&w=470] | 16 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "445638",
"author": "David M.",
"timestamp": "2011-09-01T16:07:59",
"content": "Super cute robots!Love the music, what is it?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "445831",
"author": "zuul",
"timestamp": "2011-09-01T2... | 1,760,377,094.668309 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/05/upgrading-ram-in-an-arduino-mega/ | Upgrading RAM In An Arduino Mega | Brian Benchoff | [
"Arduino Hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"memory",
"multiplexing",
"ram"
] | [Andy] stuffed some more RAM onto an Arduino Mega and his three-part walk through on the
design
,
construction
, and
software
is a great read and one of the more ‘hard core’ Arduino builds we’ve seen.
The build is centered around a
512K × 8 SRAM module
[PDF warning]. Because the RAM is divided up into about 512,000 chunks of 8 bits, the Arduino has to access the RAM through 16 ‘address lines’, then send the data through 8 ‘data lines’. [Andy] didn’t want to use up 24 pins on his Arduino, so he used a latch to multiplex the lowest 8 address lines and the data lines together. With the 512KB RAM expansion installed, the Mega is able to address a whopping 520 Kilobytes.
We’ve seen a few builds that have been limited by the amount of RAM available in the Arduino, like
capturing video
and some robot hacks, and adding some more RAM to those builds would be great. Multiplexing data and address lines using a latch can be expanded even further, but 520KB ought to be enough for anybody. | 24 | 12 | [
{
"comment_id": "448322",
"author": "Itay Ramot",
"timestamp": "2011-09-05T15:13:50",
"content": "you know, bill gates supposedly said once that 640k should be enough for everyone… so 520k? it will get eaten up very fast.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"com... | 1,760,377,095.316216 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/05/engine-hacks-a-pulse-jet-uav-by-any-other-name-would-still-be-a-cruise-missile/ | Engine Hacks: A Pulse Jet UAV By Any Other Name Would Still Be A Cruise Missile | Brian Benchoff | [
"Engine Hacks",
"gps hacks"
] | [
"cruise missile",
"Engine hacks",
"pulse jet",
"uav"
] | Imagine our surprise when we learned [Bruce Simpson], who made headlines in 2003 with his
$5000 DIY cruise missile
, is still alive, not illegally interned in a black ops prison, and
still doing what he does best
: building really awesome remote-control airplanes.
The first
successful
mass-produced pulse jet aircraft was the German
V-1 flying bomb
. The V-1 had a very primitive guidance system, but the unmanned pulse jet aircraft quickly evolved into
a
few
target drones used by the US Air Force. There was never any significant advancement towards improving the fuel consumption, noise level, or heat signature of pulse jets, so they were superseded by the superior turbojet. Despite their failings, pulse jets are
remarkably easy to build
and amazingly fast.
Instead of being antagonized by the New Zealand and United States governments, [Bruce] spends most of his time now working on pulse jet projects. He’s flown quite a few modified R/C planes and has an electronic Engine Control Unit for his jets. One of his most impressive projects is the
100 pound thrust pulse jet
that was later attached to a go-kart. His
no weld version
of a pulse jet can be built in even the most minimalist work shop and is the epitome of an easy-to-build jet engine.
To get an idea of how fast [Bruce]’s planes can be, check out his Long-EZ R/C pulse jet in action after the break.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmbnzCV4vUc&w=470] | 33 | 20 | [
{
"comment_id": "448266",
"author": "crenn",
"timestamp": "2011-09-05T13:10:35",
"content": "This project ticks all the boxes for me:-Fast-Dangerous-Goes well with “Danger Zone”",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "448358",
"author": "nicco... | 1,760,377,095.006998 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/04/material-of-choice-felt-pen-on-glass/ | Material Of Choice: Felt Pen On Glass | Mike Szczys | [
"Arduino Hacks"
] | [
"plotter",
"window"
] | If you’re paying big bucks for those floor-to-ceiling windows why not make them into a canvas for your art as well.
Der Kritzler is a motorized plotter
that can make this into a reality. It’s a laser-cut pen holder suspended from a pair belt pulleys. Those belts have counterweights, which make it easier for the stepper motors to move the pen jig smoothly. The firmware running on the Arduino that controls Der Kritzler has some very precise setup requirements. Since there is no feedback for the Arduino to sense the position of the pen, the two stepper motors must be exactly 1500 mm apart with 1060mm of toothed belt between the carriage and each stepper motor when the power is turned on.
Input images are converted to code for the device using a processing sketch. So far [Alex] has tried out a couple of different effects, starting with a vector graphic, or using some open source tools to convert bitmaps to vector graphics. Don’t miss his video demonstration embedded after the break.
[via
@9600baud
] | 20 | 11 | [
{
"comment_id": "447796",
"author": "daniel_reetz",
"timestamp": "2011-09-04T20:07:44",
"content": "Is this the first FULLY DOCUMENTED, OPEN drawbot with code and hardware plans available? There have been a lot of drawbots, none that are easily reproducible.Anyone have a US source for those neat suc... | 1,760,377,094.937686 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/04/freakin-huge-cnc-router/ | Freakin’ Huge CNC Router | Brian Benchoff | [
"cnc hacks",
"Software Development"
] | [
"cnc",
"g-code",
"router"
] | [Tom] sent in a
gigantic 3-axis router
that he pieced together during a 2 week-long work experience placement. Looking at
this picture
showing a 12-inch ruler on the work area, we realized that this may be the largest CNC router we’ve seen on Hack A Day.
[Tom]’s employer gave him some obsolete axes, so piecing the mechanical components together was very easy. The only real problem was interfacing the CNC controller to a computer. This meant [Tom] had to convert G Code to the code used by the antiquated NSK axes. Where G Code defines arcs with a start point, end point, and radius, the NSK code defines arcs with a start point, end point, and another point along the arc. It’s a tricky bit of math, but [Tom] built some software that did this in Visual Basic.
Right now, [Tom] only has a pen tool attached to the router; you can check that in action after the break. We’re trying to imagine what we would do with a 4 m² work area; this could easily be used to make a giant reprap or other 3D printer.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3NlHb-q-R8&w=470] | 22 | 13 | [
{
"comment_id": "447768",
"author": "joe anon",
"timestamp": "2011-09-04T18:36:43",
"content": "anybody else think the sound of the marker on the board sounds like a woman enjoying herself?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "448073",
"aut... | 1,760,377,095.254211 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/04/a-ham-radio-receiver-manhattan-style/ | A Ham Radio Receiver, Manhattan Style | Mike Nathan | [
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"circuits",
"copper clad",
"deadbug",
"ham radio",
"Manhattan Style"
] | If you’ve never heard of
“Manhattan Style” circuit construction
, you’re not alone. Popular in ham radio circles, the process looks nicer than straight dead bug style circuit building, but not as involved as etching your own PCB – consider it a nice middle of the road solution.
This type of construction is often used to build circuits inside enclosures that are made of copper clad, which is a somewhat common practice among ham radio operators. Manhattan Style circuits are built using glued-on metal pads to which components are mounted. One might think that the large pads you see in the image above would limit you to through-hole components, but that’s definitely not the case. A wide array of SMD pads are available in common pin configurations as well, allowing you to use pretty much any type of component you prefer.
While it might not be appropriate for every project you work on, Manhattan Style circuits and copper clad boxes definitely add a nice touch to certain items, like the Wheatstone Bridge Regenerative Receiver you see above.
[via
Make
] | 3 | 3 | [
{
"comment_id": "569060",
"author": "teeh",
"timestamp": "2012-01-28T14:22:31",
"content": "A prime design and stand up circuit.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "623018",
"author": "Sherise Christinsen",
"timestamp": "2012-04-07T03:28:56"... | 1,760,377,095.044411 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/04/delta-robot-3d-printer/ | Delta Robot 3D Printer | Brian Benchoff | [
"cnc hacks",
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"3d printer",
"delta robot",
"reprap",
"sla"
] | Sometimes, not all our builds work out the way we hoped. That’s what happened to [Rob] and his attempt at a
Delta robot that does stereo lithography
. A Delta robot is capable of very fast and precise movements, so [Rob] slapped a laser module on the end of the arms. After putting some UV curing resin in front of the laser, he was left with
a blob of goo
and we’re trying to figure out why.
[Rob] thinks the admittedly terrible print quality was due to diffraction and the reflective build plate. If this were the case, we’d agree with the assessment that adding some dye to the resin would help. Some commentors on [Rob]’s blog have suggested that he’s running the laser too slowly. It’s a shame [Rob] scrapped his build and turned it into a plain-jane X & Y axis build. Delta robots can be
really damn fast
, and adding a printer to one might mean prints that take minutes instead of hours. There are a few people
working to get a Delta RepRap off the ground
, but this project still has another prototype or two before that happens. Check out [Rob]’s attempt at Delta robot stereolithography after the break.
Thanks to [techartisan] for sending this one in.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Thz-v1NF6s&w=470] | 22 | 12 | [
{
"comment_id": "447729",
"author": "Techartisan",
"timestamp": "2011-09-04T16:36:28",
"content": "Ive grown rather tired of seeing “my delta can draw” and “watch my delta play with balls” videos so I thought that Rob’s project was great…hopefully if enough people show it some love he will get back ... | 1,760,377,095.104069 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/04/engine-hacks-homebuilt-solid-state-ignition-module/ | Engine Hacks: Homebuilt Solid State Ignition Module | Nick Schulze | [
"Engine Hacks"
] | [
"engine",
"lawnmower",
"solid state ignition"
] | [Dan] wanted to learn a bit about solid state ignition in engines; to get started he needed a test subject, so he decided he would upgrade his
old 12 horsepower lawnmower
.
Originally the lawnmower engine used a magneto coil ignition system, magnetos are simple and very common in lawnmowers. The magneto is designed to produce a high voltage spike when influenced by a magnetic field. A magnet is attached to the engine’s crankshaft to time the voltage spikes, these spikes are fed directly into the spark plugs to cause ignition, this is why you don’t need a battery. [Dan] explains how the solid state ignition works on his site as he goes through the build details. Essentially it uses a hall effect sensor to detect a spinning magnet on the crankshaft for timing, and a transistor and battery to fire the spark plugs for ignition.
Once he got his circuit up and running on a breadboard, he fitted the entire system into a neat plastic box and fixed it to the front of the lawnmower, as if it was meant to be there all along. | 66 | 26 | [
{
"comment_id": "447648",
"author": "rasz",
"timestamp": "2011-09-04T13:54:15",
"content": "dont like itits good for a proof of concept, but nothing moreno timing control = either trouble starting, or no power at high rpmnot to mention the way he “tuned” it by hand, I guess the criteria was “oh, it... | 1,760,377,095.60413 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/03/pic-based-voice-recorder/ | PIC-based Voice Recorder | Mike Szczys | [
"digital audio hacks"
] | [
"16f877a",
"pic",
"voice recorder"
] | [Vinod] just finished
building a voice recorder
and it turned out even better than he thought it would. The video after the break shows him recording what is surely one of your favorite songs from his cellphone and then playing it back. The audio quality does sound quite good for a project with very few components.
A PIC 16F877A makes up the majority of the build. Its ADC is used to capture the incoming line from an amplified microphone input (you’ll find that amp schematic half way through his post). He’s storing the data on an MMC card, which was a bit of a hack since the PIC has limited RAM to manage that overhead. The stored data is in a raw format, as the card is not accessed using a file system. This makes it easy to record at a high bit rate, leading to better audio quality. Playback consists of connecting a speaker via a low-pass filter and amplifier circuit to the hardware PWM output on the PIC.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mn1VsM-i8QI&w=470] | 34 | 22 | [
{
"comment_id": "447267",
"author": "sbrk",
"timestamp": "2011-09-03T19:56:41",
"content": "Nice to see a non-Arduino project posted on HaD. :-)Good job!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "447271",
"author": "Mattster",
"timestamp": "2011-0... | 1,760,377,095.385735 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/03/weekly-roundup-090311/ | Weekly Roundup 09/03/11 | Jack Buffington | [
"News",
"Weekly Roundup"
] | [
"weekly roundup"
] | In case you missed them the first time, here are our most popular posts from this past week.
Our most popular post was about a
‘flashlight’ build
. We are using the word flashlight loosely since this monster can draw up to 500 Watts!
Our next most popular post was about another [Jörg Sprave] project where he has built
a very large slingshot that can shoot shot puts
. He then proceeds to destroy a car with it.
This post describes an
open-source Segway
. It is built around an ATmega644 has a nice professional look to it.
If you live out in the country and have a problem with rats, this post could be for you. In this post, we look at [Snypercat’s] build where she has
mounted a camcorder onto the scope for her pellet gun
and also attached an infrared light source so that she can snipe rats at night.
Finally, we have a post about a
custom V-12 Kawaskai Voyager
. If you are looking for a great way to draw attention at your next motorcycle rally, this post might give you some inspiration. | 0 | 0 | [] | 1,760,377,095.422516 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/03/engine-hacks-convert-your-yard-tools-to-run-on-steam/ | Engine Hacks: Convert Your Yard Tools To Run On Steam! | Jack Buffington | [
"Engine Hacks"
] | [] | Are you tired of doing things the efficient way when using your lawn equipment? Look no farther. Here are some engine hacks where regular internal combustion engines have been modified to work on steam or compressed air. Surprisingly, all it takes to do this is to remove the carburetor and replace it with a steam line and to modify the valve timing.
First up is a lawn mower that runs on steam posted by [dquad]. This one is pretty great because it just looks so wrong. In [dquad’s] own words: “I am surprised by the fact that nothing at all failed during this test – other than a wheel catching fire!”
http://youtu.be/7qGI6Ogiasg
Check out some other examples of engines converted to run on air or steam after the break…
Here is video posted by [greenpowerscience] where a two-stroke engine has been converted to run on air and which also has a solenoid valve to control the air.
Finally, if you are wondering how these folks are converting their engines, take a look the second video on
this page
where the valve modifications are shown. | 45 | 26 | [
{
"comment_id": "447161",
"author": "sean",
"timestamp": "2011-09-03T15:27:54",
"content": "That lawnmower is absolutely barbaric.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "447208",
"author": "Piku",
"timestamp": "2011-09-03T17:34:31",
... | 1,760,377,095.502525 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/02/pov-keychain-from-prototype-to-smd-board/ | POV Keychain From Prototype To SMD Board | Mike Szczys | [
"LED Hacks"
] | [
"pic16f627",
"POV",
"smd",
"surface mount",
"tilt switch"
] | [Augusto] wrote in to tell us about his
keychain-sized persistence of vision project
. He built the original prototype on some protoboard, using a PIC 16F627 to drive eight LEDs. Synchronization is managed by a tilt sensor on the board that starts the strobing to match the direction the board is traveling. This is a similar setup as the
POV device that used an accelerometer
, but it should be quite a bit easier to code for the tilt switch.
Once [Augusto] had the hardware dialed in he set to work laying out a surface mount design. The two AAA batteries were traded for a single 3V coin cell, which is on the back side of the board you see above. This is his first attempt at working with surface mount components and we think he did a great job. Check out the POV in action in the video after the break.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlVYUM5faIM&w=470] | 9 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "446763",
"author": "SparkyGSX",
"timestamp": "2011-09-02T20:26:30",
"content": "You can see the text wrapping at the end of the swing; this also happened to the first (and only) POV device I ever build, which used a microswitch with a little weight to sense the frequency of the swin... | 1,760,377,095.649685 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/02/get-out-the-graph-paper-get-started-on-the-new-discrete-logic-contest/ | Get Out The Graph Paper Get Started On The New Discrete Logic Contest | Mike Szczys | [
"contests"
] | [
"7400",
"contest",
"discrete",
"logic"
] | Here’s another chance to ply your hacking skills for cash and prizes. Dangerous Prototypes has just announced the
Open 7400 Logic Competition
. First prize is $100 and a bunch of hacking goodies. But even better is that since it was announced, more sponsors have stepped up to increase the kitty, and the number of entries that will get prizes.
The parameters for entry are wide open. You can design anything you want, with emphasis on originality. Make sure you take plenty of pictures and document the project along the way. Their judging will take into consideration the amount of detail posted about the project (hence the ‘Open’ in the contest title).
Need some ideas to get you started? We enjoyed
the useless machine
that used a 7400 NAND gate. You could always build a time piece of some sort like
this no-microcontroller clock
. Perhaps hardware control like
this stepper motor driver
is more to your liking?
[Thanks Moderboy] | 23 | 14 | [
{
"comment_id": "446714",
"author": "sneakypoo",
"timestamp": "2011-09-02T19:10:17",
"content": "Anyone else found it funny how it says “emphasis on originality” and the tips for projects is about as generic as you can get? :P",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
... | 1,760,377,095.712143 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/02/simple-transistor-tester-makes-sorting-easy/ | Simple Transistor Tester Makes Sorting Easy | Mike Nathan | [
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"hack a week",
"npn",
"pnp",
"sorter",
"transistor"
] | Hacker [Dino Segovis] is back with
yet another installment of his Hack a Week series
, and it’s looking like he isn’t too worse for wear
after hunkering down to face hurricane Irene.
This week, it seems that [Dino] is having some problems separating his PNP transistors from his NPNs. After Albert Einstein proves to be less than useful when it comes to sorting electronic components, [Dino] decided to build a simple transistor tester to help him tell his PNPs and NPNs apart without having to resort to looking up product data sheets.
The tester itself is relatively simple to build. As you can see in the video below, it consists of a power supply, an LED, a few resistors, a pair of known transistors, and not much else. When everything is hooked together, the NPN/PNP pair causes the LED to light up, but the circuit is broken whenever one of the transistors is removed. Inserting a new transistor into the empty spot on the breadboard immediately lets you know which sort of transistor you have inserted.
Sure you can tell transistors apart with a multimeter, but if you have a whole drawer full of loose components, this is a far more efficient option.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkrIJEFFUrM#!&w=470] | 26 | 13 | [
{
"comment_id": "446647",
"author": "Sprite_tm",
"timestamp": "2011-09-02T17:18:51",
"content": "Now if only all the transistors I have in my bins had the same pinout…",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "446672",
"author": "kernelcode",
... | 1,760,377,095.774604 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/02/intels-new-way-of-creating-randomness-from-digital-orderliness/ | Intel’s New Way Of Creating Randomness From Digital Orderliness | Mike Szczys | [
"Security Hacks"
] | [
"digital",
"intel",
"pseudorandom",
"random"
] | Random number generation is a frequent topic of discussion in projects that involve encryption and security.
Intel has just announced a new feature coming to many of their processors
that affect random number generation.
The random number generator, which they call Bull Mountain, marks a departure from Intel’s traditional method of generating random number seeds from analog hardware. Bull Mountain relies on all-digital hardware, pitting two inverters against each other and letting thermal noise tip the hand in one direction or the other. The system is monitored at several steps along the way, tuning the hardware to ensure that the random digits are not falling more frequently in one direction or the other. Pairs of 256-bit sequences are then run through a mathematical process to further offset the chance of predictability, before they are then used as a pseudorandom number seed. Why go though all of this? Transitioning to an all-digital process makes it easier and cheaper to reduce the size of microchips.
A new instruction has been added to access this hardware module: RdRand. If it works as promised, this should remove the need for
elaborate external hardware as a random number source
.
[via
Reddit
] | 43 | 23 | [
{
"comment_id": "446613",
"author": "insapio",
"timestamp": "2011-09-02T16:23:14",
"content": "It seems. to me, with no training in physics or mathematics, that the more involved a random number generator, the less random the numbers. An all digital process sounds like it makes for a lot of collapse... | 1,760,377,095.852639 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/01/robust-wireless-dslr-control-over-bluetooth/ | Robust Wireless DSLR Control Over Bluetooth | Mike Nathan | [
"Android Hacks",
"Arduino Hacks",
"digital cameras hacks"
] | [
"android",
"arduino",
"camera",
"canon",
"dslr",
"eos"
] | [Manishi] wrote in to share his latest project,
a Bluetooth DSLR controller that works with Android.
More than a mere Bluetooth shutter trigger, his device lets you control a wide array of other settings such as aperture, shutter speed, ISO, white balance, focus position and live view.
His “YaNis” control system was built using an Arduino Pro Mini, along with a USB host shield and a Bluetooth module he picked up from SparkFun. Obviously any other Arduino and SPP compatible Bluetooth board can be used, though component size is definitely a consideration for this project, and his selections are pretty well-suited to the job. The Arduino half of the software relies heavily on
[Oleg Maruzov’s] PTP/USB libraries
to get things done, but
the free Android control app
is all [Manishi’s] creation.
The Bluetooth dongle connects to the camera via USB, and once it’s paired with his Android phone, [Manishi] has total control at his fingertips. He has plenty of improvements planned for the near future including additional camera support, so we expect that we’ll see an even more robust control application before too long.
Continue reading to see a quick video demo of YaNis in action.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_SF-b7aH58&w=470] | 4 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "445617",
"author": "Brad Hein",
"timestamp": "2011-09-01T15:11:03",
"content": "Bravo!!! I just picked up an RN-42 but couldn’t get it to work with just power and UART so I gave up with it. There are a few others out there too of similar size/price.",
"parent_id": null,
"dep... | 1,760,377,095.898239 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/01/repairing-an-old-pick-and-place-machine/ | Repairing An Old Pick And Place Machine | Mike Nathan | [
"News",
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"Juki",
"pick and place",
"Placemat",
"repair"
] | Professional-grade pick and place machines are quite pricey, so when
the crew at Null Space Labs picked up an old Juki Placemat 360
for only $1,200, they were stoked. When they finally got it in-house however, they realized that the seller’s definition of “working” was a bit different than theirs. The machine’s compressor is busted, and there are all sorts of other bits that require some TLC before they can get things up and running again. They have put together a “build log” showing off their work as the machine is taken from an ancient, mostly-working relic to a lean, mean, picking and placing machine.
So far, they have torn the thing down and inspected the upgrades and damage the machine has been subjected to over the years. The crew started making a few small repairs, and have even replaced the unit’s laser with machine vision, which seems to be working well thus far during testing.
While you might not have any similar machinery in your workshop, it’s still fun to watch as they tear it down and revamp it, bit by bit. | 15 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "445593",
"author": "Stephen",
"timestamp": "2011-09-01T14:14:06",
"content": "Looks like a lot of hard work in this fix. Great effort",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "445619",
"author": "jim",
"timestamp": "2011-09-01T15:... | 1,760,377,096.066763 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/01/engine-hacks-liquid-fuel-amateur-rocket-roundup/ | Engine Hacks: Liquid Fuel Amateur Rocket Roundup | Brian Benchoff | [
"Engine Hacks",
"Roundup"
] | [
"liquid fuel",
"rocket engine",
"roundup"
] | When the idea of an
engine hacks theme
was being kicked around at Hack a Day, the subject of rocket engines was one of the first to come up. There was a problem though;
solid rocket motors
are far too common to be interesting, and even
hybrid rocket engines
are becoming passé. We’ve never seen a liquid-fuel rocket build before, so that’s what this roundup evolved into.
First up is [Robert Watzlavick], who has been
has been building liquid fueled engines
for the last decade. He started out with an uncooled kerosene/LOX whose death is seen in the title pic for this post. Lately he’s been working on a
monster of an engine
that is projected to deliver over 1,000 Newtons of thrust. As with many of the early rockets that launched man into space, [Robert] uses kerosene and liquid oxygen for fuel. This man knows his stuff.
Next up is a ‘kit’ liquid fuel rocket, the
SS67B-3
, that’s based on the German WWII
Taifun missile
. This engine is about as basic as you can get. There’s one fuel tank that holds both the Hydrogen Peroxide oxidizer and gasoline fuel. Both are blasted into the combustion chamber with pressurized gas.
we found a write-up on this kit
with some good pictures, but no video.
If high pressures, glowing metal, and huge flames pique your interest, there’s also a fabulous
e-book
(PDF warning) available that is a reprint of
How to Design, Build and Test Small Liquid-Fuel Rocket Engines
by [Leroy J. Krzyck]. This book was originally written in 1967, but lathes and mills haven’t changed
that
much over the past 44 years. Why not give it a go? There’s still plenty of time to complete the build before the
100th anniversary of Goddard’s first flight
. | 28 | 21 | [
{
"comment_id": "445592",
"author": "Angelo Castellano",
"timestamp": "2011-09-01T14:12:27",
"content": "the SS67B-3 is a very complicated unit to build and uses 50% hydrogen peroxide which is impossible to get unless you have the proper storage facilities.The fuel used is also gasoline. Very dange... | 1,760,377,096.42777 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/09/01/building-a-cnc-router-to-call-my-own/ | Building A CNC Router To Call My Own | Jeremy Cook | [
"cnc hacks",
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"cnc",
"CNC router",
"dremel",
"g-code"
] | As with most writers for [HAD], I enjoy doing projects as much as I like writing about them. As a mechanical Engineer that writes for a blog mostly about electronics, a
CNC router
seemed like something I needed in my garage. Building a router like this requires a bit of expertise in both electronics and mechanics, so it seemed like a good challenge.
This router kit, made by
Zen Toolworks
, comes fairly complete frame-wise, but requires a lot of knowledge on the electrical side to get things running correctly. In order to make it look decent and work correctly, I had to rely on some
zip-tie
and basic
diagnostic skills
that I’ve honed as a former engineering Co-op and technician. Also, I had to figure out a way to
cheaply stack everything
in my garage as we park two cars there (the footprint is 14″ x 22″, so I consider that a success).
One of the bigger challenges that I still have to overcome with this project is learning
“G-code”
and how to use software to generate it. Although I’ve done some basic programming already, as seen in the video after the break, there’s still much to learn. I’d hope that having this tool around can lead to better projects as I won’t have to be restricted to simple milled lines and circles anymore.
[youtube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f758dWIQFoE&w=470&h=345%5D
As for my work as an engineer, it’s rare that I’m called upon to machine parts myself, however, having this background helps immensely when designing machinery. Additionally, working as a manufacturing engineer, nearly everything I deal with involves some sort of electronics, so having a basic understanding of this is really essential. I’d encourage anyone thinking about going into this field to learn as much as they can about electronics and how things work in general.
[HAD]
is a great source for this, so keep reading and submitting your hacks!
As a bonus, here’s another stop-motion video of
everything going together
:
[youtube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbErot0NV4g&w=470&h=345%5D | 17 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "445535",
"author": "JordanLTR",
"timestamp": "2011-09-01T11:35:09",
"content": "Zip-ties, you must have co-oped at GE",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "445540",
"author": "Jeremy Cook",
"timestamp": "2011-09-01T1... | 1,760,377,096.479346 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/08/31/google-adk-on-an-evalbot/ | Google ADK On An EvalBot | Mike Nathan | [
"Android Hacks",
"Microcontrollers"
] | [
"adk",
"android",
"evalbot",
"google",
"stellaris"
] | After learning that Google’s ADK relied on using an Arduino-compatible board, [Benjamin] was disappointed that other microcontroller platforms weren’t invited to the party. Rather than switch camps,
he took it upon himself to get the ADK working with his EvalBot.
In fact, his modifications should allow the ADK to work with nearly any Stellaris ARM kit.
The hack is composed of two parts. The first, and most important bit is the USB host driver he developed to work with the ADK. The code borrows some bits from Texas Instruments, and will be published on GitHub once he gets a chance to clean up the source a bit. To get his phone working with the EvalBot, he also had tweak the external USB power supply in order to provide the current required to operate properly with other USB-connected hardware.
It’s always nice to have more options when working with Google’s ADK, and [Benjamin’s] work is likely a welcome addition to any Stellaris developers toolkit.
Continue reading to see a quick video of his EvalBot ADK demo.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNTX-VOAEh0&w=470] | 11 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "445265",
"author": "tenfingers",
"timestamp": "2011-09-01T01:01:16",
"content": "glad to see someone developing/hacking around with one of the ti kits.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "445272",
"author": "Dylan",
"timesta... | 1,760,377,096.014122 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/08/31/bare-bones-electronic-advent-calendar/ | Bare-bones Electronic Advent Calendar | Brian Benchoff | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"clock hacks"
] | [
"advent calendar",
"arduino pro mini",
"christmas",
"countdown timer",
"DS3231"
] | It’s officially September now (in some parts of the world), and that means we’ve been watching the Christmas decorations go up on the floor of Costco, Walmart and Target for the last few weeks. As a small test of reality, [Eric] decided to build an
electronic advent calendar
that counts down the days until Christmas. As a simple build using parts lying around on the bench, [Eric] did a pretty good job at deferring his kid’s questions of, “How long until Christmas?” to a machine.
The build is fairly bare-bones, using only an Arduino Pro Mini, RTC and LCD display. For the real-time clock, [Eric] used the
ever popular
DS3231 RTC.
The software
reads the time from the clock and calculates the number of seconds between the present time and the hard-coded target date.
Everything is powered by a 9 Volt battery that wouldn’t last the remaining 115 days until Christmas. There is a power switch and the RTC has a battery backup, so the build will probably suffice for all but the most fanatical child. | 14 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "445158",
"author": "MobileWill",
"timestamp": "2011-08-31T22:29:13",
"content": "Where is the chocolate drop? LOL. Pretty neat.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "445162",
"author": "MobileWill",
"timestamp": "201... | 1,760,377,096.363431 |
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