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https://hackaday.com/2011/05/24/turn-a-logic-analyzer-into-a-signal-generator-using-only-software/ | Turn A Logic Analyzer Into A Signal Generator Using Only Software | Mike Szczys | [
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"logic analyzer",
"saleae",
"signal generator"
] | One thing we learned by watching [Alton Brown] on all of those Good Eats episodes is that a multitasker is way better than a unitasker. [Joost] is thinking along the same lines by taking a fantastic tool and adding a useful function to it. His software project
turns a USB Saleae Logic Analyzer into a signal generator
.
There are already a multitude of reasons to own one of
these fantastic tools
. But the ability to use it to generate up to 8 channels of PWM signals is a welcome addition. It is capable of producing frequencies from 1Hz up to 1MHz at a sample rate of 4 MHz. It uses the original SDK and doesn’t require any changes to the hardware (we would’ve thought new firmware was necessary, but happily that’s not the case). The one caveat is that right now this only works with Windows machines running the .NET version 3.5 or higher. It looks like an MSI installer package is all that’s available for download so the thoughts of easily porting this to other operating systems have been dashed unless [Joost] decides to share his source code.
Edit 7/12/2016: [Joost]’s webpage is down,
but he moved it to Github
. | 18 | 18 | [
{
"comment_id": "397609",
"author": "HackerK",
"timestamp": "2011-05-24T19:37:35",
"content": "Very interesting indeed… How does he turns an input pin into output w/o modding the firmware?I don’t have one so I can’t tell.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comme... | 1,760,377,185.741993 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/05/24/facebook-notifier-uses-some-papercraft-and-simple-electronics/ | Facebook Notifier Uses Some Papercraft And Simple Electronics | Mike Szczys | [
"Arduino Hacks"
] | [
"astroturf",
"facebook",
"mailbox",
"mechanize",
"notifier",
"python",
"servo"
] | This weekend
project will tell you when you’ve got something new to look at on your Facebook page
(
translated
). The yellow flag on the side of the mini-mailbox automatically goes up, alerting you to your recent online popularity.
[Rocco’s] craftwork on this project is fantastic. We love the scale, the colors, and especially the artificial grass that adorns the base. Inside the mailbox an Arduino controls a small servo motor attached to the new mail flag. As with other Arduino-based notifiers (be it the
Internet Furby
, or our own
troll sniffing rat
) the USB connection makes it incredibly easy to convert online information to real-world signals. The client side of this is a Python script. It uses a package that we were previously unfamiliar with called
mechanize
. We’ve just made a cursory examination of how that package is used, but we’re going to keep it in mind as an alternative to our usual go-to package,
BeautifulSoup
, which tends to be a bit hairy when you’re just looking for some basic data. | 4 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "397605",
"author": "DevHack",
"timestamp": "2011-05-24T19:27:25",
"content": "Wow… :) wonderful project!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "397715",
"author": "pahosler",
"timestamp": "2011-05-25T02:50:26",
"content": "... | 1,760,377,185.88733 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/05/24/generating-pink-noise/ | Generating Pink Noise | Mike Szczys | [
"digital audio hacks"
] | [
"phantom power",
"pink noise",
"xlr"
] | [Miceuz] just finished his first surface mount electronics project. It’s
a pink noise generator that is used for testing audio equipment
(scroll down that link for the English version of his writeup).
Pink noise is somewhere in between red noise and white noise. Didn’t realize there were more colors than just white when it comes to noise? The benefit of testing with
pink noise
is that it the power of the audio signal is stable through each octave of sound – white noise increases in power with each additional octave which can damage the tweeters in a sound system.
The goal in this design was to build a noise generator that fit into an XLR connector. [Miceuz] started with
an existing design
, and altered it to suit his needs. Much like
a condenser microphone
, the pink noise generator uses phantom power instead of a standalone power source. For instance, the design he based this on required two 9v batteries. The size, the choice of case, and the absence of a battery all spell WIN for this project. | 9 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "397532",
"author": "mess_maker",
"timestamp": "2011-05-24T15:06:16",
"content": "Interesting, about ten years ago I made a microphone which fit into an XLR connector… nothing amazing, but it was fun learning to make my own stuff.Interesting project, I will have to read up on it to ... | 1,760,377,185.389133 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/05/24/simple-bench-power-2/ | Simple Bench Power | Kevin Dady | [
"hardware"
] | [
"power supply"
] | When dealing with electronics you need 1 key thing, electricity. For quite a while now if I needed 5 volts I would just grab my homebrew arduino, but that is not always handy and its tethered to the pc and it does not have 3v. If I wanted 3 volts, now I am digging around looking for my UBW32 which does have 3v3 but now I have a 50$ microncontroller with very small regulators (so therefore only small loads) dangling around just for power, and its a mess.
So I need just a board that takes some DC from a wall wart and regulates it to usable voltages, and I set about to make it. This regulator board puts out +5, +3.3, variable and negative variable voltages, is pretty easy to make, and make a nice addition to the bench. (until I can get a real bench supply someday)
Now I know this is not ground breaking hackery, but I hope it helps someone out there, join us after the break to see what’s going on.
First up, parts! I started by reviewing the datasheets for the 3 regulators, and pretty much throwing most of their advice away as most of this was scavenged parts. Beggars can’t be choosers.
That works mostly okay, but due to my resistance choices on the LM317T I am loosing a bit more (about an extra volt!) than I should be in the regulator. I used 100 ohms and 1khoms for the voltage adjustment … 120 and 2k or 240 and 5k would have been a much better choice, if I had those parts on hand.
But this is what I ended up using
1*SPST toggle switch
1*LED of your choice and appropriate resistor for 5 volt operation
3*Silicon rectifier diodes (I am using 1N4001’s but most would do fine)
2*47uf capacitors with voltage ratings higher than ~16 volts (I am using 50 volt caps)
1*10uf capacitor (its for the 3.3 volt line so anything more than 3v will work)
1*4.7uf capacitor (again I am using a 50 volt)
6*100nf ceramic capacitors (code 104)
2*100 ohm resistors
1*1k ohm resistor
1*1k ohm trimpot
1*7805 in a TO220 package
1*3 volt regulator in a TO220 package (I am using a ST “LD33V” though its not common)
1*LM317T in a TO220 package
1*555 timer
4*Dual terminal/ screw blocks
1*Large 3 position heatsink or 3 normal TO220 heatsinks
Wire, solder, and a 2 position jumper
More or less voltage comes in is filtered a bit with capacitors and is fed to the 7805 and 317T, the 3v3 regulator is wired to the output of the 7805 (along with the LED) so it does not have to drop a bunch of current and not run hot with minimal loads. Keeping in mind there are 2 regulators connected to a wall wart this thing in theory could suck up to 2.5 amps out of your supply so you either need a wall wart that can handle it or be very mindful of how much current you are drawing.
Next is the schematic .. not much to say here its a schematic… (click for large version)
Update: fixed the backwards diode
Finally I have to make the thing, I choose perf board with copper pads on one side, and uninsulated 22 gauge solid tinned copper as I find this way to be pretty easy as long as the layout is not too complicated.
Construction starts by mounting the regulators to the heat sink. I got this heat sink and many of the capacitors out of an old dead PC power supply. It is pretty big and should do the trick just fine, but there is a catch. Each of the regulators mounting tabs go to different functions, so unless I want to connect the outputs of the 3v3 regulator and the LM317T to the ground of the 7805 I am going to need either separate heat sinks or some silicon pads and nylon washer isolation hardware which my power supply was gracious enough to provide. (only after I threw them away and had to dig in the garbage for 20 min)
Here is a shot of the power input and 7805 all wired up and tested working.
Another shot with the 3v3 regulator wired up and tested working.
Another shot with the 317T wired up and tested working.
And finally the 555 voltage inverter is in place and working. While they make voltage inverters and I have a 5 volt one somewhere I rather like the idea of having one that can be hooked up to the 317 because I really don’t know if I will need -12, or -5 or anything in between.
Keep in mind this is a kludgey way to make a negative voltage, and it will not be balanced with the positive output of the 317 (you loose 0.7 volts or more in the diodes). Also it takes a few seconds before it stabilizes on a voltage, so start low and stop a little short as it will continue rising for a few seconds. You might be able to minimize that by using a lower value capacitor on the 555’s output, right now I am using a 47uf but I have seen everything from 10 to 470 depending on which schematic your looking at.
Anyway here is the final product and I am ready to rock. You might notice a jumper block on there and that is to cut power going to the 317. With the losses due to my resistance choice and the 555 timers output, that part of the circuit draws about 37ma, the 7805, led, and 3v3 regulator only draws 36ma (20 for the led). So if you’re not using it why bother adding the additional load to your power supply? I may go back and tweak that.
Thanks for looking! | 30 | 30 | [
{
"comment_id": "397481",
"author": "Hephaix",
"timestamp": "2011-05-24T11:43:29",
"content": "Very interesting.How do you calculate how much curent you can draw from the negative supply?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "397484",
"author": "T... | 1,760,377,185.687208 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/05/23/sound-localization-and-a-treaded-rover/ | Sound Localization And A Treaded Rover | Mike Nathan | [
"Misc Hacks",
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"bluetooth",
"motoruino",
"robot",
"rover",
"sound localization"
] | [Jad] recently wrote in to share a pair of projects that have been keeping him busy as of late.
The first is
a sound localization system
not unlike
one we showed you a few weeks ago
. The difference is that his system displays the sound source via a set of LEDs rather than by motion, making it far less prone to interference by things like servo noise. His system uses four identical circuits, each of which are wired to a separate analog input on the Arduino. Each channel is adjustable, making it easy to tweak how the system responds to a particular sound.
His second project
is a sizable robot built on the Motoruino platform
. His contraption features several stacked control boards that handle the bots locomotion as well as camera control. It connects to his computer via a Bluetooth module that boasts a 1 mile range, allowing him to control everything from his PC. [Jad] is using the robot as a prototype for a much larger scale creation, and he says that his current focus is getting the robot to track and follow objects automatically using the on-board camera.
Continue reading to see a small preview of his bot’s progress so far.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PV5s_XPdzX0&w=470] | 3 | 3 | [
{
"comment_id": "397388",
"author": "Easton L",
"timestamp": "2011-05-24T04:25:35",
"content": "Good Job!!!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "397430",
"author": "ColinB",
"timestamp": "2011-05-24T08:21:06",
"content": "Is there a schem... | 1,760,377,185.520488 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/05/23/automated-chess-set-does-it-from-below/ | Automated Chess Set Does It From Below | Mike Szczys | [
"home entertainment hacks",
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"chess",
"magnet",
"reed switch"
] | You can get class credit for the coolest things these days. Take for instance,
this Automatic Chessboard
that [Brian] and [James] built for the final project in one of their classes this spring. We just looked at a robotic chess setup on Monday that
used a gripper mounted on a gantry to move the pieces
. This one’s a lot more user-friendly and borders on magical. That’s because the moving parts are all located below the board and could be hidden from view if a proper case were built around the edges.
There are two main components to this build. The first is a grid of reed switches that detect the moves made by a human. This works because each piece the human player uses has a weak magnet glued to the bottom which is just strong enough to actuate the reed switch and let the computer sense what move was just made. On the robotic side of things this works like a plotter. Each of the computer’s pieces has a metallic disc glued to the base. What basically amounts to a plotter under the board uses rare-earth magnets to grab the computer’s piece and drag it to the next playing position.
The use of two separate magnetic systems provides some interesting design challenges. You can see the device in action in the video after the break, and a full writeup and source code package is available at the blog linked at the top of this feature. But for your convenience we’ve also mirrored the PDF whitepaper after the break which lays bare all of the juicy details.
[
Final_Project
] | 12 | 12 | [
{
"comment_id": "397305",
"author": "dup",
"timestamp": "2011-05-23T22:40:16",
"content": "Sounds horrible… as in the motors…",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "397321",
"author": "Wil",
"timestamp": "2011-05-23T23:16:53",
"content": "G... | 1,760,377,185.991996 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/05/22/serial-port-jtag-programmer/ | Serial Port JTAG Programmer | Mike Szczys | [
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"jtag",
"programmer",
"serial port",
"voltage divider",
"zener diode"
] | If you’re planning to do some hacking with CPLD or FPGA chips you’ll need a way to program them. JTAG is one of the options and here’s
a cheap method that uses the serial port
(
translated
).
This method requires only four signals (TDI, TMS, TCK and TDO) plus ground. But the problem is that an RS232 serial port operates with 12V logic levels and the JTAG side of the programmer needs to operate with the logic levels native to the device you’re programming. Commercial programmers use a level convert IC to take care of this for you, but that doesn’t mesh with the cheap goal of this project. Instead, [Nicholas] uses Zener diodes and voltage dividers to make the conversion. There is also an LED for each data signal to give some feedback if you’re having trouble.
You can use this along with a programming application that [Nicholas] whipped up using Visual Studio. It works well via the serial port, but he did try programming with a USB-to-Serial dongle. He found that this method slows the process down to an unbearable 5-minutes. Take a look, maybe you can help to get that sloth-like programming up to a manageable speed.
[Thanks Alex] | 9 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "397007",
"author": "chango",
"timestamp": "2011-05-23T00:03:46",
"content": "Good if you have a hardware serial port I suppose. For USB there’s always the ubiquitous FT232 in bitbang mode.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "397030... | 1,760,377,185.791251 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/05/22/its-like-i-can-tell-the-time-just-by-the-color-man/ | It’s Like… I Can Tell The Time Just By The Color, Man | Mike Szczys | [
"clock hacks"
] | [
"clock",
"color",
"mbed",
"shiftbrite"
] | [Alex] has reduced the resolution of his timepiece as a trade-off for speedy-readability. At least that’s what he claims
when describing his color-changing clock
. It uses a ShiftBrite to slowly alter the hue of the clock based on the current time. The concept is interesting: 12:00 starts off at white and slowly fades to green at 3:00, blue at 6:00, red at 9:00, and back to white by 12:00 to start the process over again. He has gotten to the point where he can get the time within about 15 minutes just with a quick look. But he did need to spend a few days acquiring the skill by having the color clock sit next to a traditional digital clock.
The build is pretty simple and we’d bet you already have what you need to make your own. [Alex] is really just proving a concept by using the ShiftBrite and an mBed, there’s no precision RTC involved here. So grab your microcontroller of choice, and an RGB LED of your own and see if you can’t recreate his build.
Of course you could always choose to
build a color-based timepiece that’s even harder to read
. | 15 | 15 | [
{
"comment_id": "396994",
"author": "zool",
"timestamp": "2011-05-22T23:16:19",
"content": "oh my gosh it’s almost blue:30 o’clock, im gonna be late for work",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "396996",
"author": "t&p",
"timestamp": "2011-05... | 1,760,377,185.843407 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/05/22/bamf2011-lasersaur-is-one-big-laser-cutter/ | BAMF2011: Lasersaur Is One BIG Laser Cutter! | Phil Burgess | [
"cnc hacks",
"Laser Hacks"
] | [
"2011",
"bamf",
"cutter",
"engraver",
"laser",
"lasersaur",
"maker faire",
"makerfaire",
"Makers",
"open source hardware",
"oshw",
"san mateo"
] | Psst…wanna buy a laser cutter, but not ready to sell your internal organs? Nortd Labs’
Lasersaur
project aims to create an open source large-format
laser cutter/engraver
that undercuts (
har har!
) the cost of commercial models by an order of magnitude.
A Lasersaur built strictly using componentry from the globally-available bill of materials will set you back about $5,000. But if you can source some of the parts locally…or better yet, if you have a knack for scrounging (the
stepper motors
, for example, are common in junked
inkjet printers
)…it may be possible to knock that down by a grand or more. That’s still a big chunk of change for the lone garage tinkerer…but for schools or
hackerspaces
, or anyone who can pool some labor and funding, this could make laser work a lot more practical. Entry-level commercial models can be had for similar cost, but these are tiny in comparison — Lasersaur’s cutting bed is an enormous 140 by 72 centimeters!
Aside from bringing down the cost, another goal of the project is to break from the Windows/Corel hegemony that’s been the rule with most commercial laser platforms. Lasersaur’s “brain” is
Arduino-based
and cross-platform by nature. The hardware is interfaced through a custom motor control shield, easily assembled with all through-hole components.
The Lasersaur project is currently in a closed alpha stage, with the aim of a fully documented 1.0 open source release this summer. Project contributors have early access to the design documents and software, if you’re eager to get crackin’. | 38 | 38 | [
{
"comment_id": "396985",
"author": "BiOzZ",
"timestamp": "2011-05-22T22:25:20",
"content": "its large but i dont think its “one BIG lasercutter” seeing some of the professional plasma cutters XDin theory you make one small one making a big one would not be to much more expensive right?the laser is ... | 1,760,377,185.475283 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/05/22/hacking-for-feline-enjoyment/ | Hacking For Feline Enjoyment | Mike Szczys | [
"home hacks"
] | [
"cat",
"most useless machine",
"mouse",
"toy"
] | [Dino] is staying true to his goal of hacking one project every week. This time around, he’s working on
a toy that will amuse and delight his cats
. The project centers around a mouse house that has two holes where mice can stick their heads out. When they do, a little LED lamp illuminates their appearance in hopes to catch the eye of your lazy kitty.
The mechanism that automates this device is quite clever and reminds us of
the most useless machine
. That is, the armature that holds a mouse on either end actuates a limiting switch in the middle of the box when it moves to expose one of the mice. Each of those mice is attached with a rod, along side a leaf switch that makes the mouse retreat when boinked on the head by the cat.
It only takes [Dino] about six minutes to walk us through the build in the video after the break. What follows is a walk through of the wiring and some playtime with the family pets. Despite the intended purpose, it looks like the dog is much more interested than the cat. Either way, it’s a winner in our book.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szOejQhKgX8&w=470] | 12 | 12 | [
{
"comment_id": "396977",
"author": "caleb",
"timestamp": "2011-05-22T21:35:51",
"content": "yay kitties! now i need to build a robot that will feed, burp, change , and carry the baby around the house so my poor back can get a break!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
... | 1,760,377,185.942597 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/05/22/shoehorning-rs-232-into-a-minitel-terminal/ | Shoehorning RS-232 Into A Minitel Terminal | Brian Benchoff | [
"classic hacks"
] | [
"dumb terminal",
"Minitel"
] | In the early 80s, millions of terminals were handed out to French telephone subscribers. Nearly 9 million of these Minitel dumb terminals were in use at one time, and with that degree of ubiquity, we’re surprised we haven’t heard of them before. These boxes were usually connected to the outside world through their internal 1200bps modem, but [O. Blt] came up with
this build
(Google Translate link) so he could connect to a local machine with an RS-232 port.
After digging up the pinout for the Minitel’s DIN-8 port, [O. Blt] designed a little board around a MAX232 chip scavenged from an old motherboard. Of course there was a need to get the terminal to
do
something, so [O. Blt] used the Minitel as a display and remote control for Winamp. The project was successful, but not very useful – at 1200 bps, the refresh is very, very slow.
American readers may remember connecting to the Minitel network with their Apple ][s and C64s with CommunityLink, but this service was driven out of the market by the giants of pre-web dial-up, Prodigy and Compuserve. In any case, after seeing the
AZERTY
and
alphabetic
keyboard layouts of these old boxes gives us a feeling of nostalgia for a time before everything dealing with computers was standardized. | 30 | 29 | [
{
"comment_id": "396900",
"author": "Flo",
"timestamp": "2011-05-22T16:28:16",
"content": "eh.. AZERTY is a standard.. it’s still used in france and belgium",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "1007163",
"author": "loopingz",
"times... | 1,760,377,186.061454 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/05/22/we-know-marios-early-years-was-a-let-down-but-this-takes-it-a-bit-too-far/ | We Know “Mario’s Early Years” Was A Let Down, But This Takes It A Bit Too Far. | Jesse Congdon | [
"home hacks",
"how-to"
] | [
"snes",
"urine"
] | [JJ Hendricks] wrote in to tell us about his
SNES cartridge urinal
. The fully functional urinal is constructed with 40 SNES cartridges and sealed up with polyurethane. The base of the whole operation is actually not a puddle of festering urine, but instead poured polyurethane that ensures proper flow through the drain. You heard right, this urinal actually flushes! As a bit of consolation [Hendricks] plainly states in the directions:
“
No good games were damaged in the making of this video. All the video games used in this urinal were already broken or worthless sports games”. We have featured some SNES
cartridge
readers
before, so now you have something to do with all the leftover hardware! Gross.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQlCaroTcIw&w=470] | 27 | 27 | [
{
"comment_id": "396875",
"author": "Karl",
"timestamp": "2011-05-22T14:35:44",
"content": "Now, what do you do when you have one of these in your homeb?Install one of these:http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2011-01/06/sega-toylets-japan",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
... | 1,760,377,186.131626 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/05/21/bamf2011-keyboards-built-from-scratch/ | BAMF2011: Keyboards Built From Scratch | Phil Burgess | [
"classic hacks"
] | [
"2011",
"bamf",
"custom",
"ergonomic",
"keyboard",
"maker faire",
"makerfaire",
"Makers",
"san mateo",
"tactile",
"vim"
] | As the most direct interface between computer and programmer, keyboards can be a deeply personal, sometimes almost
religious
thing. Some find solace in their vintage
IBM Model M
, or luxurious
leather keyboard
, but maker [Carol Chen] took things into her own hands, quite literally. [Carol]’s Maker Faire exhibit has a half dozen specimens of interesting commercial tactile and ergonomic options…but [Chen]’s personal keyboard, where she commits to her work as a full-time coder, has been made to her own exacting specifications.
Cherry switches
are available in different colors corresponding to varying tactile feels. These can either be scrounged from existing keyboards (as [Chen] does for the key caps), or vendors such as
Digi-Key
can source the different colors if you want custom pressure for each finger (as on some commercial ergonomic models). A
laser-cut acrylic
backing plate holds the key switches in place, while wiring was soldered in point-to-point fashion rather than
etching a PCB
. Custom-fabbing the keyboard allows [Chen] to tailor the layout to her
vim
-heavy coding style. Note the miniature space bar, and curious placement of modifier and macro keys around the periphery. A YouTube video shows an earlier iteration of the keyboard in action:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nj6LFgt_mAs&W=470] | 35 | 33 | [
{
"comment_id": "396710",
"author": "sneakypoo",
"timestamp": "2011-05-22T00:46:16",
"content": "I’m probably going to get railed for this but… She spends several weeks on getting this new keyboard together but can’t take two minutes to pick up the dirty laundry from the floor?",
"parent_id": nu... | 1,760,377,186.933597 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/05/23/great-junk-yard-find-leads-to-a-reclaimed-control-panel-project/ | Great Junk-yard Find Leads To A Reclaimed Control Panel Project | Mike Szczys | [
"home hacks",
"Microcontrollers"
] | [
"18F2550",
"darlington array",
"Halloween props",
"panel",
"pic",
"uln2803"
] | Having the “can you believe somebody threw this away?” mentality has gotten us into some trouble through the years, but look what [Joshua] found at the scrap yard! It’s
a door from a power conversion station
and it contains fourteen indicator lights and a lot of other doodads. But since this is just the door, he needed a way to monitor the controls and drive the indicators. At the heart of the hack he used to get this up and running is a PIC 18F2550. It has no trouble driving the indicators thanks to a pair of ULN2803 darlington arrays which switch the higher 24 volt levels.
His writeup doesn’t mention the method used, but the panel also has a couple of meters at the top. In the video after the break you can clearly see that he’s got them both working. We’d bet there’s a plan for each of the buttons as well, since this will be prominently featured in their alien-invasion themed Halloween display this year.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vs8FLGzKsfU&w=470] | 5 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "397347",
"author": "someone",
"timestamp": "2011-05-24T00:52:56",
"content": "I am more curious as to how he got it from the scrap yard.Can just anyone go into any scrap yard and tell he owner that he/she wants to go looking around for interesting electronics, and take it at will?Al... | 1,760,377,186.461806 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/05/23/an-odd-little-box/ | An Odd Little Box | Mike Szczys | [
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"Halloween props",
"helicopter",
"ping pong",
"radio controlled",
"rc"
] | Here’s
an odd little box
that might get those creative juices flowing for the upcoming Halloween season. [Jeremy’s] creepy glowing box has a pair of ping-pong ball eyes which diffuse the red light from a pair of LEDs. Both the lid and they eyes move, and the whole thing is set up for wireless control.
The majority of the parts came from a toy RC helicopter that [Jeremy] had sitting in his junk bin. After close inspection he found that the electronics included to motor drivers for the two rotors, as well as two servo motors which worked to steer the aircraft. One of those servos has been repurposed to aim the gaze of they eyes left and right, the other servo is used to lift and close the lid of the box. This leaves the two motor controllers, one of which switches the LEDs on and off. The other doesn’t really have a purpose yet. He tried adding one wheel to the box, but turning that on just makes the whole thing crash to the floor. Check out what he’s done so far in the clip after the fold.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uW5EJm_ze98&w=470] | 11 | 11 | [
{
"comment_id": "397269",
"author": "Foxdie",
"timestamp": "2011-05-23T20:13:34",
"content": "The last bit of the vid made me laugh.. “I’m gonna get you!”",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "397274",
"author": "brad",
"timestamp": "2011-05-2... | 1,760,377,186.517078 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/05/23/wireless-hackerspace-status-notifier/ | Wireless Hackerspace Status Notifier | Mike Nathan | [
"Hackerspaces"
] | [
"bluetooth",
"hackerspace",
"openwrt",
"seeduino",
"status switch"
] | Hackerspaces are always looking for novel ways to let their members know that they are open for business, and
this notifier [Angus] from Make, Hack, Void recently put together
is no exception.
While dumpster diving one day, he came across a fantastic-looking lab power supply from the ‘70s. He gutted it, saving the variable transformer for a future project, and started constructing his notifier. When someone enters the hackerspace, they simply set the dial on the “Space Probe” to the amount of time they expect to be there. The built-in Seeduino sends the data over Bluetooth to an OpenWRT-enabled router, which uses a couple of Lua scripts to notify members via email and Twitter.
Since almost all of the processing is done on the router side, it leaves the Arduino in the probe with little more to do than flash an LED and send ASCII status messages any time the knob is turned. [Angus] is well aware that this would probably make most people’s heads spin, but he hopes that other hackerspace members use that untapped potential to further enhance the notifier.
Stick around to see the Space Probe in action, and if you are interested in seeing what other hackerspaces use to keep their members in the know, check out
this status switch from Hack42
.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_1P8PqnoWg&w=470] | 5 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "397260",
"author": "mlseim",
"timestamp": "2011-05-23T19:47:09",
"content": "You really need to have someone re-silkcreen the dial so it goes to 11. That would be cool.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "397276",
"author": "K!... | 1,760,377,186.417422 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/05/23/building-your-own-real-time-clock/ | Building Your Own Real Time Clock | Mike Nathan | [
"clock hacks"
] | [
"ATmega 328",
"real time clock",
"rtc"
] | Like many electronics hobbyists, [Pete] found that he had an overwhelming desire to build a clock for himself. He didn’t want to stick a discrete real time clock IC into a box and call it a day,
so he opted to construct his own
around a microcontroller instead.
After researching the specs on a few RTC ICs, he defined some accuracy requirements for his clock, and got to building. He started out using a 32,768 Hz watch crystal, but found that the accuracy was off by about 46 ppm after only 24 hours of use. That fell well beyond his self-imposed +/- 3 ppm tolerance goal, so he purchased an oscillator with about 500 times the resolution of his previous crystal.
After writing a handful of code to ensure that the clock remains stable, he calculated that his accuracy should be about 0.18 ppm – well within his acceptable tolerance range.
[Pete] says that this is just the first part of his clock construction, and that future revisions should include plenty of additional functionality, so keep an eye out for updates. | 20 | 20 | [
{
"comment_id": "397207",
"author": "addidis",
"timestamp": "2011-05-23T16:11:31",
"content": "I think the most eye catching thing of his setup is his board. I LOVE how the ?acrylic? edges glow.I think something like that would do very well as an arduino bed, and I am extra interested in that with t... | 1,760,377,186.675165 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/05/23/wireless-4-channel-temperature-monitor-from-arduino-libraries/ | Wireless 4 Channel Temperature Monitor From Arduino Libraries | Jesse Congdon | [
"Arduino Hacks"
] | [
"1-wire",
"arduino",
"character lcd",
"temperature sensor"
] | Say what you will about the Arduino platform but there certainly are a ton of libraries one can choose from. That is precisely what [Dan Julio] set out to do when building his slick looking 4 channel
temperature monitor
. The monitor consists of an Arduino
RBBB
, 2×16 character LCD and four
DS18B20
1-wire digital thermometers. [Dan] also includes a bluesmirf to interface with an OS X monitoring program. Using libraries for the Bluetooth, LCD, and temperature monitors the Arduino code is only about 200 lines, and pretty easy to follow. Check out more at [Dan]’s
site
.
If you’d like more temperature sensor projects check out this
mug
or this
PIC based
monitor or perhaps you’d like to keep it in the
Atmel
family. | 4 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "397175",
"author": "Bob",
"timestamp": "2011-05-23T14:45:38",
"content": "By 1-wire, I guess they mean 3.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "397179",
"author": "zigzagjoe",
"timestamp": "2011-05-23T14:55:36",
"content":... | 1,760,377,186.567235 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/05/23/why-build-a-cnc-mill-when-you-can-have-a-chess-robot-instead/ | Why Build A CNC Mill When You Can Have A Chess Robot Instead? | Mike Szczys | [
"cnc hacks",
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"arduino mega",
"chess",
"cnc",
"gantry",
"my robot lab",
"stepper motor"
] | [Patrick McCabe] enjoys the challenge of playing chess against the computer but he wasn’t satisfied with the flat experience of on-screen gaming. No problem, he just built his own
gantry-style chess robot
that he can play against. Don’t be confused, he still doesn’t have to touch the pieces, but instead uses the dedicated control board seen on the left of the image above. The robotic arm that is mounted on a gantry takes care of moves for both players.
It’s a pretty normal CNC build, using four stepper motors to slide the moving bits along precision rod. An Arduino Mega drives the system, with a PC doing the heavy lifting using a program called
My Robot Lab
.
We certainly like it that [Patrick] spent a little bit of time making the cabinet and visible parts look nice. Chess is a civilized game and unfinished parts would be out-of-place. We didn’t see it in his writeup, but the one feature we’re really hoping he has implemented is the ability to have the robot automatically reset the board at the beginning of a game.
As you might have guess, you’ll find embedded video after the break. | 9 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "397150",
"author": "Monty Werthington",
"timestamp": "2011-05-23T12:38:29",
"content": "Well that certainly makes for a nice piece of Interactive furniture. A nice clean Project, well done on such a great Hack.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
... | 1,760,377,186.772229 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/05/23/bamf2011-google%e2%80%99s-skpr-bot-not-for-arachnophobes/ | BAMF2011: Google’s SKPR Bot, Not For Arachnophobes | Phil Burgess | [
"Android Hacks",
"Arduino Hacks",
"google hacks",
"News"
] | [
"2011",
"bamf",
"bot",
"google",
"hexapod",
"maker faire",
"makerfaire",
"Makers",
"ponoko",
"robot",
"san mateo",
"servo",
"skipper",
"skpr"
] | Google’s Maker Faire exhibit space is swarmed with robots…er,
androids.
Amidst some cool bipeds and Segway-balancers, our inner sci-fi nerd was most smitten with this hexapod design, which they’ve dubbed
SKPR Bot
. The “Skipper” is on hand to showcase the ease of various Google technologies:
SketchUp
,
Android OS
and the
Android Open Accessory Development Kit
. The whole project came together in less than six weeks.
18
servos
are mounted to a framework designed in SketchUp and laser-cut by
Ponoko
. The low-level servo PWM control is handled by the Dev Kit (essentially a rebadged Arduino Mega, as we’ve seen), while an Android OS phone provides a slick GUI and handles all the inverse
kinematics
calculations required as the robot takes each step. The coolest bit is that it’s all up for grabs. At this moment you’ll have to scrounge around the ’net a bit to find the plans and code, but some time post-Faire they plan to bring everything together at the
SKPR Bot site
. | 10 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "397147",
"author": "turn.self.off",
"timestamp": "2011-05-23T12:13:04",
"content": "Need a couple more legs to get that arachnophobia going. I just wonder how long before Google make the ANK wireless. That will make things really interesting.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,... | 1,760,377,186.615766 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/05/21/bamf2011-bloxes-a-building-kit-with-a-nifty-pedigree/ | BAMF2011: Bloxes, A Building Kit With A Nifty Pedigree | Phil Burgess | [
"cons",
"home hacks",
"Misc Hacks",
"News"
] | [
"2011",
"bamf",
"bloxes",
"building",
"construction",
"kit",
"maker faire",
"makerfaire",
"Makers",
"raskin",
"san mateo"
] | Not every cool hack needs to involve microcontrollers, LEDs or other bling. We were initially drawn to the
Bloxes
display simply because we love a good multipurpose construction set, whether it be
Lego
,
80/20 aluminum
, or in this case, a system of interlocking cubes formed from six identical pieces of corrugated cardboard, cut and scored in such a manner as to form a surprisingly sturdy little building block. They can become simple furniture, groovy
Logan’s Run
-style room decor, or the all-important kids’ forts…then later dismantled and made into something else.
A elegant concept executed in the humblest of materials…we were already infatuated. We were blown away then to learn of Bloxes’ background: they’re a 1970s brainchild of computer pioneer [
Jef Raskin
], perhaps best known as the “Father of the
Macintosh
.” [Raskin]’s son and daughter [Aza] and [Aviva] revived the Bloxes concept in 2008 and now sell kits through their
web site
. Even if you’re not at the Faire, they welcomed readers to use the discount code MAKERFAIRE2011 (good through June 12th 2011, limit one per person), which will net you a kit of five Bloxes (30 pieces, some assembly required) for $12.63 vs. the normal $15.59. | 17 | 17 | [
{
"comment_id": "396687",
"author": "Will",
"timestamp": "2011-05-21T23:25:38",
"content": "I so want a few thousand of these to make my house with",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "396688",
"author": "nah",
"timestamp": "2011-05-21T23:31:... | 1,760,377,186.731773 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/05/21/bamf2011-chipkit-is-arduino-to-the-power-of-32/ | BAMF2011: ChipKIT Is Arduino To The Power Of 32 | Phil Burgess | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"Microcontrollers"
] | [
"2011",
"arduino",
"AVR",
"bamf",
"digilent",
"ide",
"linux",
"mac",
"maker faire",
"makerfaire",
"Makers",
"microchip",
"pic",
"pic32",
"san mateo",
"windows"
] | If you’ve been hungry for more power for your microcontroller projects, but reluctant to dump your investment in Arduino shields or the libraries and community knowledge that go with them all, Digilent has you covered. Their new
chipKIT boards
are built around the Microchip PIC32 MCU…a powerful 32-bit chip that until recently was left out of the cross-platform scene. A majority of code and quite a number of Arduino shields will work “out of the box” with the chipKIT, and the familiar development tools are available for all three major operating systems: Windows, Mac and Linux.
We
first mentioned these a couple weeks ago
, but the software was unavailable at the time. Seeing the development tools in action was quite unexpected…
What’s really fascinating with chipKIT is that the workflow is
exactly
Arduino-like. The serial bootloader works with
avrdude
, and you can program both “real” Arduinos and Digilent’s 32-bit work-alikes using the exact same IDE; there’s no need to run two different IDEs for two different boards, as has been the case with Leaf Labs’ 32-bit
Maple
. As a demonstration, they compiled and ran code for an Arduino Mega with SparkFun LCD shield…then popped the shield off and placed it on the Max32, selected the 32-bit board in the same IDE, and repeated the process. The exact code ran on the new board/shield combo, with stunning performance — all the standard Arduino libraries have been implemented natively for the PIC32; this is not emulation.
Because Digilent didn’t just adapt the Arduino IDE to their one specific board, but rather developed a system by which the IDE can be extended to new hardware, it’s their hope that their work (not an official Arduino project) might be rolled back into the mainline code, and that other developers might jump on the bandwagon to provide Arduino IDE support for their own boards, whether they be based on AVR, PIC32 or a
completely different kind of microcontroller altogether
. The groundwork has been laid.
The chipKIT comes in two versions: Uno32 and Max32, similar in form factor to the Arduino Uno and Mega 2560, respectively. These can be ordered directly from
Digilent’s web site
, and the IDE is freely
downloadable
as of today. We have evaluation hardware in-hand and expect to be providing a proper review in the near future. | 25 | 25 | [
{
"comment_id": "396682",
"author": "rallen71366",
"timestamp": "2011-05-21T22:46:04",
"content": "I love it. but, where are the Arduino haters?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "396683",
"author": "gmcurrie",
"timestamp": "2011-05-21T22:4... | 1,760,377,187.519567 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/05/21/making-a-3d-printer-work-wirelessly/ | Making A 3D Printer Work Wirelessly | Mike Szczys | [
"cnc hacks"
] | [
"3d printer",
"bluetooth",
"breakout board",
"unimaker"
] | Looking for more ways to enhance his 3D printer, [JJ]
decided to make it wireless
. He got his hands on some
$10 Bluetooth modules
and figured this would be just the thing to make the link with his laptop.
They came as surface mount modules, so the first thing he had to do was develop a breakout board that he could patch into his
Ultimaker 3D printer
. This provided a nice opportunity as he needed to do some level converting to make the 3.3V module play nicely with his 5V CNC electronics. The first version of the board turned out well but he had really a poor communications range. The second version, which is pictured above, hangs the module’s antenna off the edge of the breakout board and works a lot better.
We’ve embedded a clip after the break that walks through the development of this board. [JJ] shared the Eagle CAD files as a megaupload link, but we’ve also mirrored the file after the break for your convenience.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXpfKqx7Uhc&w=470]
[
download zip archive
]
[Thanks Kyle] | 10 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "396676",
"author": "Jelle",
"timestamp": "2011-05-21T21:55:03",
"content": "hmm yeah. It is a nice hack, although one should wonder how much less reliable this makes the serial connection and how much data you can pump throug it. Ultimakers are very quick to print, so need their dat... | 1,760,377,186.986648 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/05/21/class-d-audio-amplifier-makes-it-from-breadboard-to-pcb/ | Class-D Audio Amplifier Makes It From Breadboard To PCB | Mike Szczys | [
"digital audio hacks"
] | [
"amplifier",
"class-d",
"switching"
] | [Ben Laskowski’s] been working on a Class-D audio amplifier for several months. What you see above is
the most recent version of the amp
. A class-D amplifier uses transistor switching (or in this case MOSFET switching) to generate the pulse-width-modulated signal that drives the speaker. This is different from common amplifiers as it doesn’t generate the kind of heat that traditional amplifiers do, making it much more efficient.
After the break you can hear it demonstrated. It’s operating off of a single-supply laptop brick and we do hear a bit of a hum coming through the system. Still, we’re quite pleased at the power and quality the small board can put out. Take a look at
a post from November
to get a handle on what went into development. If you still hunger for more details, [Ben’s] shared the bulk of his prototyping materials in the
github repository
.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppfeYf2zTM4&w=470] | 17 | 17 | [
{
"comment_id": "396669",
"author": "Tim",
"timestamp": "2011-05-21T20:58:01",
"content": "how are you clocking the PWM rate? Also, on most Class D amplifiers, you see 2 inductors per speaker on the output filter, one on the “+” side and one on the “-” side.What I would love to see here is an FPGA o... | 1,760,377,187.102877 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/05/21/xoscillo-turns-arduino-in-an-oscilloscope/ | Xoscillo Turns Arduino In An Oscilloscope | Mike Szczys | [
"Arduino Hacks"
] | [
"oscilloscope",
"xoscillo"
] | If you don’t have an oscilloscope you’d be surprised how many times you find yourself needing one. But if you have an Arduino on hand, the next time you might be able to get by with this
software suite that can use a development board as oscilloscope inputs
. The project is called xoscillo, and it allows an Arduino, or
a Parallax USB Oscilloscope
, to probe the signals while a computer does the heavy lifting.
The Arduino can be used for up to four input channels at 7 kHz. It’s possible to probe seven signals at 4 kHz as well. But the main feature that caught our eye is the ability to use several Arduino boards at one time in increase the number of channels available to you.
Granted, this is pretty slow for many digital electronic troubleshooting needs. But at least it’s something you can pull out when you just don’t have any other ideas about what is going wrong with your prototype circuit. We’re sure that sooner or later you’ll break down and buy
a proper hackable oscilloscope
. After all, your Arduino is probably already occupied as
an I2C sniffer
.
[Thanks Adam] | 11 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "396661",
"author": "steve",
"timestamp": "2011-05-21T19:53:02",
"content": "The guys seem to have put serious effort in this, hoewever, calling an few bit chart recorder “oscilloscope” is quite a stretch.This thing is much more likely to mislead you when trying to debug your circuit... | 1,760,377,187.043566 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/05/21/pcb-milling-with-a-makerbot/ | PCB Milling With A Makerbot | Caleb Kraft | [
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"cnc",
"cupcake",
"makerbot",
"mill",
"pcb"
] | [Keith] wanted to use his makerbot for some PCB milling, but he ran into a pretty big problem. The platform that his PCB would sit on was mounted with a layer of double sided foam tape and was not perfectly aligned to the head. Not only that, but it would tilt when pressure was applied. This made the result of the milling completely unacceptable. To remedy this, he
made a new platform
that is not only rigid, but he has made it so that there is the ability to adjust it for perfect alignment via adjustment screws in the 4 corners. At the beginning of each session, he can be absolutely sure that everything is aligned perfectly and his PCBs show a huge improvement. You can see a comparison of the two in the following picture.
[via
HackedGadgets
] | 15 | 15 | [
{
"comment_id": "396640",
"author": "Bernhard",
"timestamp": "2011-05-21T18:07:24",
"content": "so how does he drill? you need some soft material of at least 0.3 mm underneath the pcb.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "396642",
"author": "Bren... | 1,760,377,187.31681 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/05/21/arduino-i2c-sniffer/ | Arduino I2C Sniffer | Caleb Kraft | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"i2c"
] | [Johngineer] found himself in need of an I2C sniffer, but didn’t have one available. Necessity is the mother of invention, so he put together this
I2C sniffer sketch for Arduino
. The arduino will record what is going on for a set time interval, then dump the data via serial as a .csv. You then have to plot it to see what is going on. [Johngineer] recommends
Livegraph
, since it is portable and easy. As you can see in the code, the time interval is adjustable, but you have the physical limitations of the RAM on the board to consider. This seems like a pretty handy piece of code stored around, effectively giving you a passable I2C sniffer in a pinch. | 11 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "396628",
"author": "kernelcode",
"timestamp": "2011-05-21T16:44:30",
"content": "Nice and handy for folk with ArduinosI think a good way to get around RAM limitations would be set up an interrupt on the pin you’re monitoring and a timer which counts the time between edges. That way,... | 1,760,377,187.203493 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/05/20/bay-area-maker-faire-hackaday-has-arrived/ | Bay Area Maker Faire: Hackaday Has Arrived! | Phil Burgess | [
"cons",
"News"
] | [
"2011",
"bamf",
"colossus",
"maker faire",
"makerfaire",
"Makers",
"san mateo"
] | It’s a madhouse already at the 2011 Bay Area Maker Faire. Though the show doesn’t officially start until tomorrow, Friday is “Education Day”, a special preview for local schools. As makers scramble to set up their displays, a thousand impressionable young minds seek the most cacophonous mixture of taiko drumming, ArcAttack’s
musical Tesla coils
, and the
beep
ing and
boop
ing of the
R2-D2 Builder’s Club
.
Maker Faire is returning for its sixth year at the San Mateo Event Center, and is shaping up to be bigger and zanier than ever. We’ll do our best to provide some live updates through the weekend. As always,
check out the official site
for pointers on hours, admission, parking and especially public transit options.
(Photo:
Colossus,
the death-defying centerpiece of the Midway area of the Faire.) | 16 | 16 | [
{
"comment_id": "396433",
"author": "dm",
"timestamp": "2011-05-20T20:45:24",
"content": "Anybody have a fast travel method for getting from the east coast to the west? Must say please get video.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "396454",
"aut... | 1,760,377,187.263296 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/05/20/send-email-receive-surveilance-picture/ | Send Email, Receive Surveilance Picture | Caleb Kraft | [
"Security Hacks"
] | [
"gsm",
"surveillance"
] | This deathstar like ball is actually an
autonomous surveillance camera
. [Basil] wrote in to tell us about it. The body is custom designed for the project, then 3d printed. It can be dropped anywhere, as it is battery powered for up to a month, and communicates via cellar networks. It checks an email folder once an hour and responds to any requests with a snapshot of what is going on. In the video, which you can see after the break, he gets an immediate response. You can download the sourcecode as well as the files for the enclosure
here
.
If you wanted to reduce costs, that case could be done away with, but we suspect it helps with some moderate weather conditioning. We would also love to see a version that rotated around that equator on command for better pictures. Great job [Basil].
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X85ASoRxHRU&w=470] | 31 | 31 | [
{
"comment_id": "396399",
"author": "Oren Beck",
"timestamp": "2011-05-20T17:47:44",
"content": "Rover",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "396401",
"author": "Scott",
"timestamp": "2011-05-20T17:54:05",
"content": "I instantly thought… D... | 1,760,377,187.451408 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/05/20/introduction-to-the-h-bridge-motor-controller/ | Introduction To The H-bridge Motor Controller | Caleb Kraft | [
"how-to"
] | [
"basics",
"drive",
"motors"
] | [Chris] sent us this fantastic tutorial,
introducing beginners to H-bridge motor drivers
. While many of you will consider this stuff basic, those who are trying to expand from building only things the arduino board can handle to bigger more expansive (and powerful) projects will find this quite helpful. [Chris’s] tutorial is very in depth, not only going through the construction of the basic circuit but also showing you how to make your own PCB. Pop on over there and learn some theory and some practice. Then you can build that battle bot you’ve always been dreaming of! | 22 | 22 | [
{
"comment_id": "396364",
"author": "Ikari-Pt",
"timestamp": "2011-05-20T15:10:46",
"content": "My H-BRIDGE based on vnh3sp30 can hadle 30A and as corrent measure so…",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "396369",
"author": "ds2ktj",
"timestam... | 1,760,377,187.382098 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/05/20/using-an-avr-as-an-rfid-tag/ | Using An AVR As An RFID Tag | Brian Benchoff | [
"Microcontrollers"
] | [
"attiny",
"rfid",
"rfid tag"
] | A few years ago, [Beth] came up with the idea of using an AVR as an RFID tag. She’s gotten sidetracked with a few other projects in the meantime but her idea has surfaced again, this time as a
duct tape RFID tag
. The build is just four components: 0.1 µF and 1 nF capacitors, an ATtiny85 microcontroller, and 100 turns of 40 AWG magnet wire, all soldered together and placed on a duct tape substrate.
Like most RFID tags, the power is drawn from the reader through the coil, but even in low power versions the ATtiny is only rated down to 1.8 Volts. Since the microcontroller is only getting about 1 Volt from the coil, the clock oscillator of the ATtiny won’t work. This isn’t a problem in this build, because the coil is connected to the the clock input – the 125 kHz coming off the reader provides the clock. Very clever.
Of course, the microcontroller is going to need some firmware to send some bits to the reader, so she used the
AVRFID firmware
(check out the comments in the source for a
great
walkthrough) to transmit under the HID protocol, itself a derivative of [Beth]’s earlier work with the EM4102 protocol.
Not only are we impressed with this hack, we’re amazed [Beth] is still perfecting her work more than two years after her
first post
on the subject. That’s dedication and unbridled cleverness.
Via
adafruit | 11 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "396331",
"author": "Gregg",
"timestamp": "2011-05-20T13:16:26",
"content": "Thats also one long lasting RFID gaffer should keep it secure for years!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "396335",
"author": "Henrik Pedersen",
"... | 1,760,377,187.567953 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/05/20/diy-spectrophotometer/ | DIY Spectrophotometer | Kevin Dady | [
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"Spectrophotometer"
] | [Charlie] has been making a
DIY Spectrophotometer
, and while it is a “shambling mess of information-age technology!” it is still much better than ours. Focused around an arduino, bits of lego, and a flashlight, this creative device rotates a diffraction grating (flake of compact disc) aimed at a photo resistor. As the light spectrum is passed over the sample, the photo resistor measures how much light is reflected and that data is passed back to a pc.
As nothing is as ever easy as it should be, a big problem popped up with using a servo. It was way too course, meaning the entire spectrum would be jumped over in 6 steps. A quick robbery of a gear assembly from a floppy disk drive and the motor movement was smoothed out. A little too well because 120 degrees of the servo is not quite enough to cover the entire spectrum. Oh well there is always room for improvement. | 26 | 25 | [
{
"comment_id": "396299",
"author": "ZeroCool42",
"timestamp": "2011-05-20T11:14:30",
"content": "Spelling correction: Instead of course, I think you mean coarse.Sorry to nitpick!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "396300",
"author": "Hackius",... | 1,760,377,187.635522 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/05/19/nes-multi-cartridge/ | NES Multi-cartridge | Mike Szczys | [
"Nintendo Hacks"
] | [
"74hc161",
"binary counter",
"eprom",
"multicartridge",
"rom"
] | Here’s a mutlicartridge hack for the original NES that [Callan Brown] put together. He spent some time snooping around the signals on the circuit board seen above until he found the trace that maps the reset signal from the game console. This will be used to cycle through the various games stored on the cart’s memory chip. The ROM images that will be stored on this cartridge are concatenated, then burned to the EPROM. Since the donor cartridge (and the ROMs which were chosen) use memory managment, the hardware can be tricked into reading the ROM from a specific point in the EPROM.
The switching itself is handled by a 74HC161 binary counter chip. The reset signal from the on-board security chip acts as a clock trigger for the counter. Some clever wiring allows the output of the counter to select the starting address for the EPROM. Each time you press the reset button it increments the counter, thereby selecting a different ROM to load. See [Callan] demonstrate the finished hack in the video after the break.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlYERtcknKc&w=470] | 17 | 17 | [
{
"comment_id": "396112",
"author": "Ron Ron Ron",
"timestamp": "2011-05-19T18:31:44",
"content": "Will save hours in useless cartridge blowing!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "396123",
"author": "fartface",
"timestamp": "2011-05-19T19:0... | 1,760,377,187.693849 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/05/19/reverse-engineering-a-cheap-led-message-marquee/ | Reverse Engineering A Cheap LED Message Marquee | Mike Szczys | [
"LED Hacks",
"Microcontrollers"
] | [
"ATmega88",
"usb"
] | [Hugo] went all out when sharing his findings while reverse engineering this small LED marquee. He purchased the 29×7 LED matrix for under $12 but was surprised to find that the USB connector wasn’t a standard type and didn’t come with a cable. He first soldered a standard connector in place and then
set out to make the device do his bidding
(
translated
).
What he accomplished can be seen in the video after the break. He can now connect to the device via a USB cable, sending it new messages and adjusting the speed at which it scrolls. He can also adjust the spacing between letters, reverse the scrolling direction, read the on-board buttons, and write the settings to the device’s EEPROM. This is all thanks to some alternative firmware that [Hugo] wrote for the ATmega88. You can download a copy of that code from
the wiki page he put together
(
translated
). We really appreciate the time he spent putting that page together. The wealth of information he gathered during the hacking process serves as an example of the best way to share your projects with the world.
[vimeo http://vimeo.com/22774505 w=470] | 28 | 21 | [
{
"comment_id": "396086",
"author": "Robert Ely",
"timestamp": "2011-05-19T17:25:21",
"content": "From what I can tell he’s Not actually connecting over a USB cable. Just Serial. He mentions it could be possible with V-usb and i agree, with some modifications I think it would be very possible.",
... | 1,760,377,187.762343 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/05/18/quick-project-hard-drive-system-meter/ | Quick Project: Hard Drive System Meter | Caleb Kraft | [
"Peripherals Hacks"
] | [
"meter",
"quick"
] | [Ginge] sent in this fun little project. He gave himself 3 hours to complete a hack (not including research time) and
managed to come up with this cool activity meter
. He handles the entire project like it is some kind of contest. Ground rules are laid out, requiring practicality of the final product, minimum investment, and almost complete use of junk pile pieces.
Using an old hard drive for the frame of the project as well as the “dial” part of the meter, he hacked together a system load/ hdd and proc activity meter. The brains of the project are an AVR and he even implemented some PWM to smoothing things out. He goes into some fair detail on the construction of the thing (was the writeup included in your build time? -50 points!). Even though he’s using a piece that he manufactures and sells (
OSIF
), you could probably figure out how to do it without.
You can see a video of it in action after the break
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iZ4gz9Omc4&w=470] | 7 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "395777",
"author": "Rick",
"timestamp": "2011-05-18T21:41:52",
"content": "Neat. This is a great example of the hacking spirit!I also like the idea of the 3-hour hack.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "395795",
"author": "Ging... | 1,760,377,187.807419 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/05/18/lego-technic-super-8-movie-projector/ | Lego Technic Super 8 Movie Projector | Mike Nathan | [
"Video Hacks"
] | [
"lego",
"projector",
"super 8",
"Technic"
] | It always blows our mind to see the things that people dream up when playing with Lego. Given enough time, you could likely replicate almost any mechanical device with the right amount and type of blocks.
[Friedemann Wachsmuth] recently wrapped up construction on
a very impressive Super-8 movie projector
with the help of his friend [Kalle]. The projector is fully functional, and is made completely from Lego aside from the reel spindles, the lens, and the lamp. As you can see in the video below the projector plays the film quite well, and even though it is only lit using an LED flashlight, it’s more than bright enough to get the job done.
The projector boasts automatic film feeding, a 24 fps framerate, as well as fast rewind capabilities – all provided by just two small Lego Technic motors.
You really need to watch the video to appreciate how much work went into this projector – it’s amazing.
[via
RetroThing
]
[vimeo http://vimeo.com/20107617 w=470] | 17 | 17 | [
{
"comment_id": "395723",
"author": "mlseim",
"timestamp": "2011-05-18T19:37:29",
"content": "wow … is all I can say.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "395737",
"author": "zool",
"timestamp": "2011-05-18T19:56:40",
"content": "cool but... | 1,760,377,187.990412 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/05/18/dinos-2-axis-camera-dolly/ | Dino’s 2 Axis Camera Dolly | Caleb Kraft | [
"digital cameras hacks"
] | [
"cnc",
"photography"
] | [Dino], who has become a regular face here on hackaday, sent us one of his weekly projects that we thought was pretty cool. He wanted to
shoot some video of photographs to commemorate his late mother
. The goal was to achieve the “
Ken Burns Effect
“, but in hardware instead of just doing it in software. To do this, he built a 2 axis rig, very similar to many home made CNC machines we’ve seen. He used drawer rails and rollers and an old scanner for the parts. We admit, at first glance we weren’t too impressed with the resulting effect. It is a bit shaky as he moves the camera and the zooms and slides don’t have that perfect smoothness that we have come to expect from modern video effects. However, after a few minutes, it seemed so organic and pleasant that it won us over. This obviously isn’t what you would use for every project. This project, however, seems to fit perfectly.
If you still don’t like the effect, you could certainly find uses for this rig aside from video. You could use it (with backlight) for batch converting slides or other images to digital. It would work perfect as a 2 axis paper cutter. What other uses can you come up with for a 2 axis un-motorized frame?
You can watch the construction video after the break, and the result video on [Dino’s] page.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=vusl69T-SgE&w=470] | 6 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "395830",
"author": "Kevin",
"timestamp": "2011-05-19T00:10:24",
"content": "Interesting…. I prefer After Effects for this sort of work, but we all use the tools we know how to use.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "395836",
"a... | 1,760,377,187.933496 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/05/18/fixing-arduinos-serial-latency-issues/ | Fixing Arduino’s Serial Latency Issues | Mike Nathan | [
"Arduino Hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"java",
"latency",
"processing",
"serial",
"Teensy"
] | [Paul] wrote in to tell us about some interesting
Arduino latency issues
he helped nail down and fix on the Arduino.
It seems that [Michu] was having some problems with controlling his
Rainbowduino project
we featured earlier this year, and he couldn’t quite figure out why he was experiencing such huge delays when sending and receiving data.
Searching online for answers turned up very little, and since [Michu] was using Processing, the pair designed a set of tests to see what kind of latency was being introduced by Java. Pitting an Arduino Uno and an Arduino from 2009 against a Teensy 2.0, the tests gauged the latency of native data transfers versus transfers facilitated by Java via the rxtx library it uses for serial communications.
The results were pretty stunning. While both of the Arduinos lagged behind the Teensy by a long shot, their latency values under Java were always 20ms at a minimum – something didn’t add up. [Michu] poked around in the rxtx code and found a mystery 20ms delay programmed into the serial library. It made no sense to him, so he changed the delay to 2ms and saw a drastic increase in performance when transferring less than 128 bytes of data.
The pair’s fix doesn’t seem to affect latency when larger amounts of data (>1kB) are being transferred, but it makes a world of difference when manipulating smaller chunks of data.
For the sake of disclosure, it should be noted that [Paul’s] company produces the Teensy mcu. | 42 | 40 | [
{
"comment_id": "395675",
"author": "Anne Nonymous",
"timestamp": "2011-05-18T17:00:28",
"content": "It’s JAVA, it’s not meant for any sort of low level bit-banging, or anything else that requires sub – mSec response times.Rewrite it in C/ASM, and watch latency drop to uS.",
"parent_id": null,
... | 1,760,377,188.357394 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/05/18/blowing-up-capacitors/ | Blowing Up Capacitors | Caleb Kraft | [
"home entertainment hacks"
] | [
"boom",
"destruction",
"explode"
] | [grenadier] wrote in to show us a video of some capacitors being blown up. Yup, that’s it.
Just some capacitors being blown up
. You might be wondering what there is to learn from this video. The answer is… nothing. It sure is fun to watch though. We’re all busy trying to find some nice hacks to share with you, so we figured you could watch some stuff getting destroyed while you waited. Here’s someone
using explosives to reveal art
behind a thin layer of concrete on a wall. Here’s some
high voltage destroying multimeters
. How about a
turkey being cooked with thermite
?
Thermite works on hard drives
too.
Ok, enough of that. This was a gentle reminder to send us tips to your projects.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3b7mjukhTyQ&w=470] | 45 | 42 | [
{
"comment_id": "395646",
"author": "Alex",
"timestamp": "2011-05-18T15:42:26",
"content": "I enjoyed dumping my 330J 170V capacitor bank into the pencil-eraser-sized electrolytics from old computer motherboards. They went off like firecrackers. That was a lot of fun.",
"parent_id": null,
"d... | 1,760,377,188.088291 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/05/17/awesome-custom-disco-basement/ | Awesome Custom Disco Basement | Mike Nathan | [
"LED Hacks"
] | [
"led",
"leds",
"pic",
"pwm",
"rgb"
] | [Evan] is
one of those neighbors you only wish you had
.
His neighbors were renovating their basement for use as home theater, and he stopped by to check out how things were coming along. While there, he suggested they add some LED lighting to their shelving unit to make them pop. His neighbors were game, so he sourced some cheap RGB LEDs online and began working on the circuits and firmware needed to control the lights. His neighbors wrote some custom software that interfaces with iTunes to create a neat visualization in the shelving unit whenever music is played.
Once everything was complete, his neighbors informed him that they wanted an additional 20 overhead can lights and a set of 4 wall sconces wired up as well. Needless to say he was pretty excited, so he got busy wiring up the remainder of the basement.
He pushed the installation’s PIC microcontroller about as far as he possibly could, resulting in the awesome show seen in the video below.
Needless to say, it’s pretty impressive, though we wish we could have a peek at the code used to run everything. Wink, wink, nudge, nudge.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cH9fy-JflXo&w=470] | 14 | 14 | [
{
"comment_id": "395362",
"author": "oodain",
"timestamp": "2011-05-17T22:09:20",
"content": "very cool,is there a program for maintaining a minimum light level while running virtualizations?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "395370",
"author"... | 1,760,377,188.223253 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/05/17/bluetooth-super-nintendo-controller-for-android-gaming/ | Bluetooth Super Nintendo Controller For Android Gaming | Mike Nathan | [
"Android Hacks",
"Arduino Hacks"
] | [
"android",
"arduino",
"bluesmirf",
"bluetooth",
"controller",
"snes"
] | [Rich] needed to come up with a senior design project and decided to combine two things he loved:
his Android phone and Super Nintendo
.
While touchscreen phones are great, he felt that nothing beats the tactile feedback of a physical controller when it comes to gaming. He figured out how the controller’s signaling works, then wired it up to an Arduino Pro Mini 328. The Arduino interprets the SNES controller’s signals, sending them to his Android phone via a BlueSMiRF Bluetooth module.
He originally had all of the components crammed in a cardboard box, but
much like we pointed out yesterday
, he realized that a project really comes together when housed in a proper enclosure. He managed to squeeze all of his components into the SNES controller’s shell aside from the battery pack he used to power the remote. After a little bit of Bondo and a few coats of paint were applied, the controller is looking quite sharp.
Stick around to see a quick demo video of his controller in action, and check out
this tutorial
he put together explaining some of the principles he used to construct it.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAsnLQbzRhQ&w=470] | 21 | 21 | [
{
"comment_id": "395372",
"author": "IceBrain",
"timestamp": "2011-05-17T22:45:12",
"content": "Nice. The BT modem is a little expensive, but you could use the much cheaper Silver module – it’s not like you could play more than 50 feet away from your phone anyway ;)An N64 version would be excellent.... | 1,760,377,188.279999 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/05/19/a-computer-controlled-shutter-for-polaroid-packfilm-cameras/ | A Computer-controlled Shutter For Polaroid Packfilm Cameras | Brian Benchoff | [
"digital cameras hacks"
] | [
"camera",
"pic",
"polaroid",
"shutterspeed"
] | [Georg] wanted to modify his old Polaroid land camera so he could have control over the exposure time.
The resulting project
is a neat hack, if we say so ourselves.
The stock electronics in Polaroid 100-series Packfilm cameras were a simple analog computer that integrates current through a light-sensitive resistor. This is a simple, low tech way to make sure the exposure time is correct. The usual mod would be to replace photoresistor with a potentiometer, but [Georg] had little success with this modification. After tearing the old hack out of the camera, [Georg] replaced the ancient electronics with a a PIC microcontroller, and is now able to control the shutter in increments down to 1/512th of a second.
Shutter timing is read by a PIC12F629 μC with a BCD encoder. [Georg] kept the shutter magnet setup, and also added a ‘BULB’ routine that holds the shutter open as long as the button is held down. The
test photos
are quite nice, even if from a 1960s Polaroid Land Camera. Check out the video of [Georg] running though the shutter settings after the break.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlRZHvAusEo&w=470] | 11 | 11 | [
{
"comment_id": "396064",
"author": "rautiocination",
"timestamp": "2011-05-19T16:37:24",
"content": "i recently discovered these old packfilm cameras (well discovered fuji still makes the film) and the lack of shutter/exposure control on them is a paaaain.i ended up buying a (fully manual) polaroid... | 1,760,377,188.170598 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/05/19/an-alarm-for-every-day-of-the-week/ | An Alarm For Every Day Of The Week | Mike Szczys | [
"clock hacks"
] | [
"18F2550",
"hd44780",
"lm044l",
"pic"
] | If you don’t have a 9-to-5 type of job you might find yourself constantly resetting your alarm clock as your calendar commitments change. [Lucas] finally got fed up with the nightly ritual and decided to build his own
alarm clock which has unique settings for each day of the week
(
translated
).
The display itself is an LM044L 20×4 character display. This provides a viewing area that is about 3″x1″ and since it’s an HD44780 compliant LCD screen, writing data to it takes very little effort (and RAM) compared to a graphic LCD. A PIC 18F2550 drives the device, taking input from a half-dozen buttons, driving the display, and turning on the enclosed buzzer when it’s time to get up. There’s a backup battery which will keep the settings when power is lost. The daily alarms, current time, and back light brightness can all be adjusted from the four screens that make up the settings menus. The only thing that it’s missing is a precision timekeeper, but that should be easy to add either by measuring the frequency of the mains or by using an RTC chip. | 27 | 27 | [
{
"comment_id": "396040",
"author": "Joe",
"timestamp": "2011-05-19T15:16:11",
"content": "I have one of these already. I call it a phone!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "396043",
"author": "holly_smoke",
"timestamp": "2011-05-19T15:25:... | 1,760,377,188.522395 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/05/19/1hz-timebase/ | 1Hz Timebase | Caleb Kraft | [
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"basics",
"frequency"
] | Check out this nice simple method of
achieving a 1Hz timebase
. This is basically a lesson in dividing crystal frequencies in circuits to get the desired result. In this case, they are starting with a 32.768KHz crystal and dividing it down. Instead of using an NE555 like many projects, he chose to go a direction that would yield results less prone to drifting with temperature variation. The method chosen was a CD4060 frequency divider, basically just a chain of flipflops. The divider is one step short of getting to the desired result so an additional flipflop has to be added. This is pretty basic stuff, but a great read. They go into detail as to how it all works and why you would use this method.
Pssst, hey, remember that time I told you to just use a 1Hz crystal? yeah,
we can laugh at that again
.
[via
HackedGadgets
] | 16 | 16 | [
{
"comment_id": "396029",
"author": "Bogdan",
"timestamp": "2011-05-19T14:17:10",
"content": "The theory and explanation are well written, the circuit presents some good working principles.But it is rather useless for a project with modern components.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"re... | 1,760,377,188.411538 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/05/19/displaying-video-and-gifs-on-rgb-led-matrices/ | Displaying Video And Gifs On RGB LED Matrices | Mike Nathan | [
"LED Hacks"
] | [
"animation",
"fpslic",
"led",
"matlap",
"matrix",
"rgb",
"webcam"
] | [Mathieu] was on holiday in China and picked up some fun toys while perusing the numerous electronics markets there. The most interesting things he discovered
were a pair of RGB LED matrices
. They came in two different flavors, one made for indoor and one for outdoor displays, sporting a 64×32 and 32×16 resolution, respectively.
If you’ve read his blog before you know he is a big fan of LED matrices, so it’s only natural that bought a whole bunch of them and started experimenting once he got home. Using the same Atmel FPSLIC LED matrix control board
he showed off in this previous hack
, he was able to get the LED matrices up and running in no time. He adapted his webcam project to utilize the new panels, and he added a whole new feature as well. Via MatLab, he can now display any sort of animated gif on the panels, as you can see in the video below. The panels look great, and if we had a few of these around, there’s no doubt we would probably play
this video
on infinite repeat.
He says that the despite their somewhat questionable origins, the panels are of top notch quality, and he is willing to organize some sort of group buy if others are interested.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9pLGGuIy7M&w=470] | 14 | 14 | [
{
"comment_id": "395999",
"author": "Scott",
"timestamp": "2011-05-19T11:49:21",
"content": "Well done! I couldn’t get away from this image, though:http://banbillboardblight.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/blade-runner.jpg",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comm... | 1,760,377,188.459792 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/05/18/uber-keyboard-hides-security-tools-in-plain-sight/ | Uber Keyboard Hides Security Tools In Plain Sight | Mike Nathan | [
"Security Hacks"
] | [
"keyboard",
"penetration",
"pentesting",
"security",
"usb",
"wifi"
] | [EverestX] works in the Security industry and is often required to recover or penetrate various systems for a variety of reasons. He wanted
to create an all-in-one tool
that he could easily carry from job to job which would provide him with several essential functions. He required that the device house a bootable operating system through which he can perform his work, have an Internet connection capable of injection, and have enough storage capacity to back up passwords, images, etc.
He decided to build the system inside an old IBM M-type keyboard, which provides a solid typing experience and plenty of real estate for his various components. After converting the keyboard from PS/2 to USB, he installed a USB hub along with his flash drive and WiFi card.
Once he gets everything reassembled, it should prove to be a pretty stealthy and useful piece of equipment. A word to the wise – if you happen to see someone sneaking around your office with a 20-year old Type-M keyboard, be wary. | 38 | 36 | [
{
"comment_id": "395784",
"author": "Frogz",
"timestamp": "2011-05-18T22:19:17",
"content": "2 things to improve ita: detatchable usb cable input(type b jack)and b: external hub ports for plugging MORE stuff into it",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id"... | 1,760,377,188.771735 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/05/18/arduino-arcade-rom-dumper/ | Arduino Arcade Rom Dumper | Kevin Dady | [
"Arduino Hacks"
] | [
"arcade",
"jamma",
"roms"
] | [Vincenzo] wanted to read some 82S129 bipolar proms, and why not, they were very common in the 1980’s arcade scene. The problem is that its kind of an odd ball part now, and typically only (even) more expensive EPROM programmers can read them. An Arduino, breadboard and some quick scripting quickly takes care of that problem with this Arcade Rom Reader.
You stick the prom in your breadboard, and wire it up to the appropriate ports and pins of the Arduino, which bit bangs the prom and returns the results though the serial connection of the Arduino. Using a terminal program on the pc side you capture the text and use a script to convert the ascii values into a binary nibble format and save as hex.
This makes it much easier for us to dump roms from old arcade boards, because you never know when you might run across an old
Polybius
arcade board on your next outing to the salvage or scrap yard.
Join us after the break for all the details and as always comments!
82S129 bipolar proms are very common in '80 Arcade Jamma boards. Unluckly, only more expensive EPROM programmers can read them. I used an Arduino Duemilanove to dump 82S129 contents to PC for backup use.
I used a breadboard to connect 82S129 pins to Arduino. Please follow this schematic:
Arduino pins ------> 82S129 pin (function)
+5v 16 Vcc
GND 8 GND
Digital 2 5 A0
Digital 3 6 A1
Digital 4 7 A2
Digital 5 4 A3
Digital 6 3 A4
Digital 7 2 A5
Digital 8 1 A6
Digital 9 15 A7
Digital 10 12 O1
Digital 11 11 O2
Digital 12 10 O3
Digital 13 9 O4
GND 13 CE1
GND 14 CE2
Here is pde program to send in Arduino:
Begin pde program
------------------------------------------------
/*
82s129 Arduino reader
By Vincenzo Femia (enzofemia@gmail.com)
*/
byte indirizzo=0;//"indirizzo" is Italian for "address" :-)
boolean a0=0;//address bits
boolean a1=0;
boolean a2=0;
boolean a3=0;
boolean a4=0;
boolean a5=0;
boolean a6=0;
boolean a7=0;
//
boolean o0=0;//data bits
boolean o1=0;
boolean o2=0;
boolean o3=0;
byte output=0;
void setup()
{
//pin0 & pin1 reserved for serial communication
pinMode(2,OUTPUT);//set pins for address
pinMode(3,OUTPUT);
pinMode(4,OUTPUT);
pinMode(5,OUTPUT);
pinMode(6,OUTPUT);
pinMode(7,OUTPUT);
pinMode(8,OUTPUT);
pinMode(9,OUTPUT);
pinMode(10,INPUT);//set pins for data (it's a nibble)
pinMode(11,INPUT);
pinMode(12,INPUT);
pinMode(13,INPUT);
}
void loop()
{
for (indirizzo=0; indirizzo<256; indirizzo++)// from 00 to FF address
{
a0=bitRead(indirizzo,0);//read status bit of address...
a1=bitRead(indirizzo,1);
a2=bitRead(indirizzo,2);
a3=bitRead(indirizzo,3);
a4=bitRead(indirizzo,4);
a5=bitRead(indirizzo,5);
a6=bitRead(indirizzo,6);
a7=bitRead(indirizzo,7);
//...and set output
if (a0==1) {digitalWrite(2,HIGH);}
else {digitalWrite(2,LOW);}
if (a1==1) {digitalWrite(3,HIGH);}
else {digitalWrite(3,LOW);}
if (a2==1) {digitalWrite(4,HIGH);}
else {digitalWrite(4,LOW);}
if (a3==1) {digitalWrite(5,HIGH);}
else {digitalWrite(5,LOW);}
if (a4==1) {digitalWrite(6,HIGH);}
else {digitalWrite(6,LOW);}
if (a5==1) {digitalWrite(7,HIGH);}
else {digitalWrite(7,LOW);}
if (a6==1) {digitalWrite(8,HIGH);}
else {digitalWrite(8,LOW);}
if (a7==1) {digitalWrite(9,HIGH);}
else {digitalWrite(9,LOW);}
//Wait so outputs can be set by 82S129
delay (50);
o0=digitalRead(10);//read bit from data outputs
o1=digitalRead(11);
o2=digitalRead(12);
o3=digitalRead(13);
Serial.begin(9600);//Setting serial communication
//Write in binary ASCII address read and "->"
if (a7==0) {Serial.print("0");}
else {Serial.print("1");}
if (a6==0) {Serial.print("0");}
else {Serial.print("1");}
if (a5==0) {Serial.print("0");}
else {Serial.print("1");}
if (a4==0) {Serial.print("0");}
else {Serial.print("1");}
if (a3==0) {Serial.print("0");}
else {Serial.print("1");}
if (a2==0) {Serial.print("0");}
else {Serial.print("1");}
if (a1==0) {Serial.print("0");}
else {Serial.print("1");}
if (a0==0) {Serial.print("0 -> ");}
else {Serial.print("1 -> ");}
//Write in binary ASCII output nibble
if (o3==0) {Serial.print("0");}
else {Serial.print("1");}
if (o2==0) {Serial.print("0");}
else {Serial.print("1");}
if (o1==0) {Serial.print("0");}
else {Serial.print("1");}
if (o0==0) {Serial.println("0");}
else {Serial.println("1");}
if (indirizzo==255) {Serial.println("ROM has been read");}
Serial.end();
}
}
-----------------------------------------
END pde program
Using Minicom or similar program you can log serial data on PC.
Using an editor now correct log file so that first line is:
00000000 -> XXXX
and last line is:
11111111 -> XXXX
Please verify that file contains only 1 cicle of reads (256 lines).
Now we have to convert this ASCII .txt file in binary file.
Since I use Linux I write in Gambas programming language (
http://gambas.sourceforge.net/
) a little program to do this conversion.
However Windows user can port it in Visual Basic or other languages.
Simply it read nibble bits, build nibble value (00-0F), write binary value in output .hex file.
Here's the source:
Begin of Gambas program
--------------------------------------------------
PUBLIC SUB Main()
DIM ingresso AS Stream
DIM uscita AS Stream
DIM stringa AS String
DIM o0 AS String
DIM o1 AS String
DIM o2 AS String
DIM o3 AS String
DIM valore AS Byte
ingresso = OPEN "/home/enzo/temp/datafile.txt" FOR INPUT
uscita = OPEN "/home/enzo/temp/datafile.hex" FOR OUTPUT CREATE
WHILE NOT Eof(ingresso)
LINE INPUT #ingresso, stringa
o3 = Mid$(stringa, 13, 1)
o2 = Mid$(stringa, 14, 1)
o1 = Mid$(stringa, 15, 1)
o0 = Mid$(stringa, 16, 1)
valore = 1 * Val(o0) + 2 * Val(o1) + 4 * Val(o2) + 8 * Val(o3)
PRINT #uscita, Chr$(valore);
WEND
CLOSE ingresso
CLOSE uscita
END
-------------------------------------------------------------
End of Gambas program
For questions can contact me:
Vincenzo Femia
enzofemia@gmail.com
Reggio Calabria, ITALY. | 12 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "395778",
"author": "davisr",
"timestamp": "2011-05-18T21:41:56",
"content": "I did something like this a few years ago for an Atari ROM; I love the flexibility of arduino.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "395783",
"author": "... | 1,760,377,188.699008 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/05/18/aux-in-hacking-an-04-subaru-radio/ | Aux-in Hacking An ’04 Subaru Radio | Jesse Congdon | [
"Radio Hacks"
] | [
"car audio",
"car stereo"
] | [Jordan] writes in to show us his hacked up
car stereo
. [Jordan]’s 2004 Subaru, like many of our cars, does not offer any kind of auxiliary input, and aux-in/mp3 adapters tend to run on the not so cheap side of the price scale. Even a replacement head unit was too rich for his blood. So it was time to wire something to the old head unit.
On inspecting the radio’s PCB [Jordan] managed to locate the traces that carry audio from the FM receiver to the stereo’s amplifier. Most aux input hacks we have seen involve
fooling the stereo
into thinking some media is inserted, even if interfacing with the
audio lines
on the PCB. These require that the tape/CD functionality be altered, perhaps permanently. Even worse you may have to shlep around a blank CDR with a bunch of tracks on it! All just to fool the stereo into enabling audio output.
Instead [Jordan] targets the audio lines from the FM stereo, since radio is always enabled when active. Once the audio traces are located they are severed and bypassed with a 1/8″ stereo plug. This setup allows the FM audio signal to pass through the connector when disconnected, and cuts off any radio audio once your mp3 player is. We have seen this same method used on a
vintage stereo
hack as well. Nice work! | 26 | 21 | [
{
"comment_id": "395767",
"author": "john",
"timestamp": "2011-05-18T21:10:23",
"content": "Excellent! I was thinking about if this could be done too- my only problem is my subaru impreza is an 06 and the head unit might be similar, but it is a double din. still this inspires me to take it out and... | 1,760,377,188.647447 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/05/17/rfid-smart-card-reader/ | RFID Smart Card Reader | Caleb Kraft | [
"Security Hacks"
] | [
"basic",
"rfid"
] | [Navic] wrote in to show us his latest project. This is a
portable smart card reader with a nice LCD display
. he just happened to have a Basic Stamp 2px, smart card reader, and smart card reader/writer sitting around waiting to be used. What better use than a hand held smart card reader? Tossing the bits together in a nice project enclosure, [Navic] scoured the code available to him and pieced together what he needed. Now, when you slide in a card, you get a nice readout of the data on that pretty blue screen. Unfortunately, if you pull the card before the read is finished, everything just freezes.
You can see the final video after the break, and you can also see some in-progress videos linked in youtube. He asks if he should add the ability to write, and we say YES. Store that data, then write (duplicate) to another device.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=daqaMlBe2Mk&w=470] | 9 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "395381",
"author": "Hacksaw",
"timestamp": "2011-05-17T23:23:49",
"content": "Can you say portable identity theft machine?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "395382",
"author": "Hacksaw",
"timestamp": "2011-05-17T23:26:23",... | 1,760,377,188.815937 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/05/17/electro-static-see-saw/ | Electro-static See-saw | Caleb Kraft | [
"Toy Hacks"
] | [
"basics",
"high voltage",
"learning"
] | Many of you may have seen these fun little toys in museums or possibly even in school. Instructibles user [brazilero2008] takes us through the process of
constructing one on our own
.
Most of this toy are constructed from fairly household materials like foil, paper, straws etc. The fun part comes when you find the power supply. [brazilero2008] is using an air ionizer that he found at a rummage sale, though any high voltage DC source should work. He shares some tips on how to save time and effort creating the balls on the end by telling us how he did it the difficult way.
We admit this isn’t the most attention grabbing project, but we think it would be a fun educational weekend project. | 3 | 3 | [
{
"comment_id": "395323",
"author": "ehud42",
"timestamp": "2011-05-17T19:10:03",
"content": "Years ago (back when large CRT TV’s were popular – remember those?) I built a static motor based on Franklin’s bells design. I used the iron radiator in the living room for the ground sink, and a large shee... | 1,760,377,188.959063 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/05/17/last-mile-wifi-over-tv-white-space/ | Last Mile WiFi Over TV White Space | Mike Nathan | [
"Wireless Hacks"
] | [
"last mile",
"tv",
"white space",
"wifi"
] | What do you do when you can’t afford broadband and no-cost WiFi is just out of reach?
That was the problem Rice University
grad student [Ryan Guerra] was tasked with solving
. A local Houston resident could barely tap into the free service offered in her area, so [Ryan] set out to extend the signal’s range using white space previously occupied by TV signals.
Using channel 29 which operates at 563MHz, his “Super WiFi” project utilizes standard WiFi protocols and can extend the signal’s reach up to a mile. The WiFi signals at the closest tower are piped through a prototype frequency translator, shifting the signal from 2.4GHz down to 563MHz, which is far better suited for long(er)-haul transmissions. The system does not use channel bonding just yet, so it is limited to using about 25% of WiFi’s maximum bandwidth, which is far better than no signal at all.
While the widespread practical use of TV white space will take some time to come to fruition, this is definitely a step in the right direction.
[Thanks Chris] | 26 | 24 | [
{
"comment_id": "395285",
"author": "Alex",
"timestamp": "2011-05-17T17:16:02",
"content": "That’s quite impressive.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "395286",
"author": "9a3eedi",
"timestamp": "2011-05-17T17:19:30",
"content": "But wh... | 1,760,377,190.765713 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/05/17/transforming-robot-is-more-than-meets-the-eye/ | Transforming Robot Is More Than Meets The Eye | Mike Nathan | [
"Robots Hacks",
"Transportation Hacks"
] | [
"helicopter",
"robots",
"transformer"
] | Let’s face it – building robust robots isn’t exactly easy. When designing them, builders often focus on a single method of locomotion in attempts to create a robust, reliable means of transportation. Whether it moves on the ground or in the air, there are always compromises to be made when designing a robot with the ability to travel over variable terrain. Looking to change that, researchers at the Center for Distributed Robotics
have recently unveiled a robot
that can travel on the ground with ease, then take to the skies in a matter of seconds.
The robot is rolls along the ground on a set of wheels mounted at either end. When it is time to fly, it pushes itself up onto one end before extending its rotors. As you can see in the video below, the transition occurs pretty quickly.
The current prototype is pretty fragile and carries quite the hefty price tag . More robust revisions are already in the works, so expect to see more in the coming months.
[Thanks Sandeep]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JJzmfkufPE&w=470] | 15 | 15 | [
{
"comment_id": "395254",
"author": "anonymous",
"timestamp": "2011-05-17T15:53:55",
"content": "awwww how cute i want one too",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "395263",
"author": "DanJ",
"timestamp": "2011-05-17T16:17:36",
"content": ... | 1,760,377,190.574194 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/05/17/hardware-handshaking-for-avr/ | Hardware Handshaking For AVR | Kevin Dady | [
"Peripherals Hacks"
] | [
"RTS/CTS"
] | Serial communication is still an important part of our embedded world. Typically we use a 3 wire setup (RX TX and GROUND) and hope that everything goes according to plan. Though this works for most experimenters, sometimes its not the most ideal situation. This is where [simmonmt’s] handiwork comes in adding
hardware handshaking to a AVR
.
The hardware setup is pretty typical, an Atmega644 sits on one end of the connection, passes through a
SP3232EB
level shifter and out to a PC. 5 lines are used, again one for RX, TX and GROUND, but also RTS and CTS. When the PC is ready to transmit data it inverts the line (normally held high), the micro controller notices this it pulls CTS low and transmission can commence whenever it darn well feels like it. Handy! | 22 | 22 | [
{
"comment_id": "395191",
"author": "fartface",
"timestamp": "2011-05-17T12:21:10",
"content": "What most of you need to learn is RS485. Want to send serial data 800 feet? Rs485. Want to send it 1200feet through a lot of electrical interference generating rooms? Rs485. rs485 can be full duplex... | 1,760,377,190.945584 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/05/16/cheap-and-reliable-portable-face-recognition-system/ | Cheap And Reliable Portable Face Recognition System | Mike Nathan | [
"Security Hacks"
] | [
"atmega",
"face recognition",
"matlab",
"scanner"
] | For their senior ECE 4760 project, engineering students [Brian Harding and Cat Jubinski] put together a pretty impressive
portable face recognition system called FaceAccess
. The system relies on the eigenface method to help distinguish one user from another, a process that the pair carried out using MatLab.
They say that the system only needs to be hooked up to a computer once, during the training period. It is during this period that faces are scanned and processed in MatLab to create the eigenface set, which is then uploaded to the scanner.
Once programmed, the scanner operates independently of the computer, powered by its own ATmega644 micro controller. Users enroll their face by pressing one button on the system, storing their identity as a combination of eigenfaces in the onboard flash chip. Once an individual has been enrolled, a second button can be pressed to gain access to whatever resources the face recognition system is protecting.
The students say that their system is accurate 88% of the time, with zero false positives – that’s pretty impressive considering the system’s portability and cost.
Stick around to see a quick demo video of their FaceAccess system in action.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfX99KSkYeM&w=470] | 16 | 16 | [
{
"comment_id": "394997",
"author": "bty",
"timestamp": "2011-05-16T23:15:19",
"content": "nice, .. but holding up a picture of the person will likely also work.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "395007",
"author": "M4CGYV3R",
"timestamp":... | 1,760,377,190.703348 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/05/16/dimming-control-for-an-ikea-solar-desk-lamp/ | Dimming Control For An Ikea Solar Desk Lamp | Mike Szczys | [
"home hacks",
"Microcontrollers"
] | [
"attiny13",
"ikea",
"lamp",
"led",
"pwm",
"solar"
] | [Frank] decided to augment his desk lamp’s features by
adding dimming controls
(
translated
). Since the light source is a triad of LEDs the best method of dimming their intensity is to use Pulse Width Modulation. That’s the method that he went with, and luckily the
SUNNAN lamp from Ikea
which he’s using as the donor for the project has just enough room to squeeze in the parts necessary for this hack.
You need two main bits to use PWM with a lamp like this; a microcontroller (or possibly a timer chip like the 555) and a transistor to protect that chip from the current necessary to run the LEDs at full brightness. [Frank] went with an ATtiny13 and a 2N2222 transistor, both quite common and very inexpensive (you can even
pull the microcontroller from a light bulb
if you know where to look). Two buttons were added to the top of the lamp base which allow for up and down controls. There’s even an SOS function which is triggered by pressing both buttons at the same time. [Frank’s] happy to show off the completed project in the clip after the break.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyg1QQ1XCvo&w=470] | 15 | 15 | [
{
"comment_id": "394964",
"author": "pff",
"timestamp": "2011-05-16T21:52:48",
"content": "solar led desk lampdimmingserious? is it that bright?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "394966",
"author": "superlopez",
"timestamp": "2011-05-16T21... | 1,760,377,190.516955 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/05/15/home-made-blinkm-units/ | Home Made BlinkM Units | Caleb Kraft | [
"LED Hacks"
] | [
"blinkm",
"display",
"matrix",
"sparkfun"
] | [Stephen] wrote in to show us this fun
LED wall he constructed
in his house. He says he was inspired by
this project
, but found the cost of the
BlinkM
units from sparkfun to be out of his price range. He really liked how they worked though, so he downloaded the schematic and firmware and built his own. He was able to fabricate 130 of his own for roughly 250 euros as opposed to the 1,452 euro price tag his sparkfun shopping cart had. That’s not a bad deal at all if you’re willing to invest the time in making your own PCBs and assembling the units. You can follow along on his site to see the entire construction process, as well as some pictures of his glass wall in action. The videos, however, aren’t loading for us. Great job [Stephen]! | 33 | 32 | [
{
"comment_id": "394502",
"author": "Stephen Shaffer",
"timestamp": "2011-05-15T15:41:19",
"content": "the video is a 29Mb avi file, here is the link from the html source code:http://sjalbers.nl/Atmel/BlinkM/MVI_1022.AVI",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"commen... | 1,760,377,190.648774 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/05/14/optimizing-code-for-pwm-efficiency/ | Optimizing Code For PWM Efficiency | Brian Benchoff | [
"Microcontrollers"
] | [
"code",
"microcontroller",
"pwm"
] | For some projects, it’s okay to have a microcontroller twiddling it’s thumbs most of the time. When a project requires the cpu to do just one thing over and over, there’s no loss with inefficient code – it either works or it doesn’t. However, if a project requires a microcontroller to do several things at once, like reading sensors, dimming LEDs, and writing serial data out, cpu utilization can become an issue. [Robert] wasn’t happy with the code he used to control a string of LEDs, so he
rewrote his code
. With the old implementation, [Robert]’s code used 60% of the cpu time. With the new and improved code, the cpu was only busy 8% of the time.
The code works by using a hardware timer to trigger an interrupt. After calculating the next time it should run again, and changing the state of the data line, the code just sits quietly until it’s needed again.
It’s not a pretty hack, or even one you can hold in your hands, but [Robert]’s determination in getting a μC to do what he wants is admirable. | 36 | 36 | [
{
"comment_id": "394286",
"author": "doubleup",
"timestamp": "2011-05-14T20:04:42",
"content": "Beautiful, I was looking at this exact problem, but with a PIC16f628A.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "394288",
"author": "therian",
"timesta... | 1,760,377,191.02151 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/05/14/japanese-maid-mods-a-furby/ | Japanese Maid Mods A Furby | Caleb Kraft | [
"Toy Hacks"
] | [
"furby"
] | This video
has been floating around the web recently and we thought that some of you might enjoy it. After a quick google search, we found out that this is [Julie Watai], a singer/model who also enjoys hardware modification. In this video, she’s doing a tutorial on how to circuit bend furbies. No, we have no idea why she is dressed like a maid. This immediately brought to mind that
Bjork video
we saw a few years ago. Enjoy. | 49 | 49 | [
{
"comment_id": "394232",
"author": "Cal",
"timestamp": "2011-05-14T17:09:00",
"content": "She could mod my furby any day.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "394233",
"author": "ViperMD",
"timestamp": "2011-05-14T17:10:34",
"content": "... | 1,760,377,190.885494 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/05/14/bluetooth-media-remote-in-an-n64-controller/ | Bluetooth Media Remote In An N64 Controller | Caleb Kraft | [
"Peripherals Hacks",
"Wireless Hacks"
] | [
"bluetooth",
"remote"
] | [Phik] wrote in to share his very first microcontroller project with us. He built a
bluetooth remote in an old Nintendo 64 controller
to control an audio application on his computer. He had been building up the individual modules with the controller in mind for some time, but initially had no idea what kind of enclosure to put it in. After a failed attempt at stuffing it into an XBox controller(surely there was
enough space
), he realized he had a broken N64 controller lying around that he cold use. We think he did a fantastic job of mounting it, it looks almost like a commercial product. He documented the construction and testing of each individual module. You can find each of those broken into their own post on his site by checking out the archives. Great job [Phik], especially for your first project!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m516-0-l0ns] | 5 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "394289",
"author": "Haku",
"timestamp": "2011-05-14T20:14:31",
"content": "Interesting, I like it.Does anyone know what LCD screen is used for this N64 hack? the only miniature 16×2 character module I can find has 1mm pin pitch ribbon cable and the N64 one appears to have pin header... | 1,760,377,190.805544 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/05/13/emulating-a-marching-band-with-wearable-instruments/ | Emulating A Marching Band With Wearable Instruments | Brian Benchoff | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"Musical Hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"glove",
"midi",
"wearable computing"
] | [Scott] is a design and technology master’s student who just came up with
The Imaginary Marching Band
– virtual band instruments you can wear on your hand.
Taking inspiration from Minority Report and the
NES Power Glove
, the system is able to emulate 6 instruments at this point – A trumpet, trombone, tuba, snare drum, bass drum, and cymbals. The glove itself reads data
from a variety of sensors
and passes that onto an Arduino Uno which sends serial data back to a computer. This data is then parsed by a
Serial – MIDI converter
, and can then be played back through a sampler, synthesizer or piped into your sequencer of choice. Happily, [Scott] will be designing custom PCBs for his gloves to cut down on space and weight, and he’ll also be making his project open-source eventually.
[Scott] has a
kickstarter
page for his project, and so far he’s been on track towards getting this project funded. Check out a demo after the break.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOe4y5fR8jo&w=470] | 9 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "393985",
"author": "zool",
"timestamp": "2011-05-13T23:25:17",
"content": "hah cool, i’m working on something similari’ll have to check out that air pressure sensor",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "394010",
"author": "addidis... | 1,760,377,191.072271 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/05/13/stress-testing-robots-with-baseball-bats/ | Stress Testing Robots…with Baseball Bats | Mike Nathan | [
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"awesome",
"robot",
"terminator",
"testing"
] | When you are working on constructing
the first Cyberdyne Systems Model 101 prototype
a super-robust robotic arm, you’ve got to test it somehow, right?
You probably recognize the robot being abused in the video below, as
we have talked about the construction of its hand once once before
. The German Aerospace Center has been working on the DLR Hand Arm System for some time now, and are obviously really excited to show you how their design performs.
In case you are not familiar, the arm you see there uses 52 different motors, miniaturized control electronics, and a slew of synthetic tendons to behave like a human arm – only much better. The system’s joints not only provide for an incredible amount of articulation, they are specially designed to allow the unit to absorb and dissipate large amounts of energy without damaging the structure.
We think that any human would be hard pressed to retain their composure, let alone be able move their arm after suffering a blow from a baseball bat, yet the robot arm carries on just fine. It’s awesome technology indeed.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JT9rD5VGvQ&w=470] | 39 | 39 | [
{
"comment_id": "393957",
"author": "Bob D",
"timestamp": "2011-05-13T21:27:51",
"content": "I hope the next step is to improve the control and sensor system to it can duck.(Beating robots with baseball bats: This is why the bots create skynet.)",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies"... | 1,760,377,191.149016 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/05/13/usb-geiger-counter-hack/ | USB Geiger Counter Hack | Mike Nathan | [
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"attiny",
"geiger counter",
"usb"
] | [Vic] bought a Kvarts DRSB-01 Geiger counter a few years ago,
and recently dug it out of his electronics stash
. The counter is a run of the mil no-frills unit. It lacks any kind of LCD display and it cannot be calibrated, so Sievert exposure ratings are out of the question. The unit essentially monitors background radiation and alerts the user to the presence of gamma and high-energy beta rays via audible clicks.
[Vic] wanted to make it a bit more useful, so he decided to interface it with his computer in order to take long-term radiation measurements. He dug up a schematic online and deadbugged a small circuit using an ATtiny44. The circuit allows him to enumerate the electrical pulses generated by ionizing particles striking the Geiger tube, passing them along to his PC over USB.
The counter seems to interface with the PC just fine, but [Vic] does say that he’s getting some odd readings. He thinks that he might have damaged the tube while messing around, but he’s all ears if you have any insight on the matter. | 17 | 17 | [
{
"comment_id": "393873",
"author": "Richard",
"timestamp": "2011-05-13T17:20:22",
"content": "Would be a cool experiment to hook it up to an android device as an interface to the device. 3.1 has USB support and of course you know about the new support for the ADK",
"parent_id": null,
"dept... | 1,760,377,191.203912 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/05/13/adding-midi-to-a-very-old-drum-machine/ | Adding MIDI To A Very Old Drum Machine | Brian Benchoff | [
"Musical Hacks"
] | [
"drum machine",
"midi",
"pic"
] | Long before drum machines played samples from an SD card or EPROM, drum sounds were analog – just filtered waveforms and noise. To the modern eye, these are very primitive machines, but for [Andrew], they’re the inspiration for this
brilliant hack
.
[Andrew] took a
Roland CR-68
drum machine from 1978 and added MIDI input with the help of a PIC microcontroller. Not wanting to modify the look of the machine, [Andrew] programmed the PIC to watch the START/STOP button when the the unit is powered on. If the button is held down, the PIC enters it’s programming mode, where the sounds from the CR-68 can be mapped to an individual note on a MIDI controller. There’s no mention if the TRIGGER IN is queried by the PIC to modify the tempo of the preset patterns, but we assume that would be a relatively trivial implementation. Still, very impressive for a machine made 4 years before MIDI.
We love [Andrew]’s work, and we’re happy for any future owner that he documented how to use his device (and cleverly taped that to the bottom of the drum machine). It’s very nice to see old drum machines being used for more than doorstops after their samples have been recorded. Check out the video of [Andrew]’s walk through after the break.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwjvmjWjtSY&w=470] | 8 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "393840",
"author": "ALF",
"timestamp": "2011-05-13T16:05:05",
"content": "What about adding MIDI out? is that possible?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "393845",
"author": "fartface",
"timestamp": "2011-05-13T16:26:55",
... | 1,760,377,191.434665 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/05/13/using-googles-adk-on-standard-arduino-hardware/ | Using Google’s ADK On Standard Arduino Hardware | Mike Nathan | [
"Android Hacks",
"News"
] | [
"adk",
"arduino",
"firmware",
"google",
"usb shield"
] | When we heard that Google’s open accessory development standard was forthcoming, we were pretty excited. However once we heard that the reference hardware kit was going to cost nearly $400, our thoughts changed to, “Surely you can’t be serious.”
Well, Google is dead serious (and we hear they don’t take kindly to being called Shirley either.)
With such a ridiculous asking price, it was only a matter of time before someone tried getting the ADK software running on vanilla Arduino hardware.
[Inopia] wrote in letting us know that he did just that
.
Using an Arduino Uno and a Sparkfun USB shield, he was able to get the ADK working without a lot of fuss. He tweaked the ADK firmware image in order to bypass a couple of hardcoded pin assignments Google made, and he was good to go. The image boots just fine, though he can’t necessarily guarantee that his setup works with an Android handset, as he doesn’t currently own one that supports accessory mode.
Now that just about anyone can get their hands on the ADK at a reasonable price, we look forward to seeing what you can put together! | 27 | 27 | [
{
"comment_id": "393770",
"author": "spiritplumber",
"timestamp": "2011-05-13T13:13:20",
"content": "This is the guy who did the Microbridge, for the record. Expect a Propeller port soon.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "393776",
"author": "g... | 1,760,377,191.593105 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/05/13/monitor-your-homes-power-usage-on-the-cheap/ | Monitor Your Home’s Power Usage On The Cheap | Mike Nathan | [
"home hacks"
] | [
"AVR",
"electricity",
"ir",
"power meter",
"whole house meter"
] | [Paul] was pretty sure that he and his family used a lot of electricity throughout the day. Admittedly, he enjoys his creature comforts, but was wiling to try living a little greener. The problem was,
he had no idea how much electricity he was using at a given time
.
While some power companies offer devices allowing homeowners to monitor their energy usage, [Paul’s] did not. After a bit of research however, he was ready to build a power monitoring system of his own. He found that his meter emits a small infrared pulse every time a watt-hour of electricity is consumed, so his system counts how many flashes occur to measure usage.
The counting circuit is pretty simple consisting of only an AVR, a resistor, a capacitor, and a phototransistor. The data is fed to a computer where the results are graphed with gnuplot.
It’s quite a useful little hack, and undoubtedly far cheaper than purchasing a whole house power monitor. | 56 | 50 | [
{
"comment_id": "393725",
"author": "andy",
"timestamp": "2011-05-13T11:34:32",
"content": "first post, woo!now if only i could find a meter like that, Jim",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "609206",
"author": "Fernando SIlva",
"t... | 1,760,377,191.773829 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/05/12/chipkit-max32-an-arduino-mega-upgrade-with-a-pic32-under-the-hood/ | ChipKIT Max32, An Arduino Mega Upgrade With A PIC32 Under The Hood | Jesse Congdon | [
"Arduino Hacks"
] | [
"arduino mega",
"max32",
"pic32"
] | For those of you who are looking to put some power behind your Arduino shields, Digilent just released their
chipKIT Max32
prototyping platform. The board features a Pic 32 microcontroller, USB programmer and all the things you would typically expect from a development board.
The PIC32MX795F512 is a 32-bit MIPS processor core running at 80Mhz, 512KB flash memory and packs 128KB of SRAM data memory. Digilent also mentions utilizing the Pic’s built in USB 2 controller, 10/100 Ethernet and dual CAN controllers, but these will require shields specific to the chipKIT Max32. The board is also fully compatible with Arduino IDE and libraries as well as MPLAB and the PICKit3 in-system programmer/debugger.
With a price point just below the Arduino Mega 2560 this looks like a great resource for anyone looking to upgrade their Arduino
webserver
, or just embarrass their
Arduino Arduino shield
. Maybe it’ll just spawn some interesting
gameduino
upgrades. It can certainly cut down on
extraneous Arduino usage
. Either way we’ll be on the lookout to see what this performance bump can bring to table! | 91 | 50 | [
{
"comment_id": "393472",
"author": "Spork",
"timestamp": "2011-05-12T20:16:20",
"content": "Love me some 32bit micros.You kinda glossed over the fact that it’s compatible with Arduino IDE as does the website you link to.When you say compatible with arduino IDE, do you also mean the arduino librarie... | 1,760,377,191.68119 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/05/12/plastic-plate-capacitors/ | Plastic Plate Capacitors | Kevin Dady | [
"HackIt"
] | [
"diy capacitors"
] | We have been featuring some home made capacitors this week, and [Mike] wrote in to share his with us. While rolled capacitors are nice, they can be somewhat difficult to construct and grow to unwieldy sizes as capacitance and voltages increase. His solution is to
stack the layers up using plastic plates
.
In this forum post he explains that using disposable plastic plates and tinfoil you’re able to quickly make a capacitor, that for him was valued at around 12.2nF, using eleven layers . Applying pressure to the stack capacitance grew to about 14nF, though he is having a bit of trouble holding it with just glue.
Testing was conducted with high voltages charging the capacitor up, then its leads were shorted for a nice spark and a good pop. Definitely fun for the next family cook out, though we don’t know how some left over potato salad goo would effect the end results. | 12 | 11 | [
{
"comment_id": "393453",
"author": "Bill",
"timestamp": "2011-05-12T19:14:03",
"content": "Seems like DIY capacitors should be a right of passage project (among others) for EE students.I remember building HV beer-bottle caps in High School.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [... | 1,760,377,191.827858 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/05/12/papercraft-flowers-teach-kids-about-batteries/ | Papercraft Flowers Teach Kids About Batteries | Mike Nathan | [
"how-to"
] | [
"batteries",
"how-to",
"kids",
"learning",
"leds",
"workshop"
] | [Emily Daniels] has been teaching interactive electronics workshops geared towards children for some time now, recently holding a session
that demonstrated how batteries work in a pretty novel fashion
.
She wanted to keep things safe and simple due to the class size, so she didn’t want to rely on using soldering irons for the demonstration. Instead, she showed the children how batteries function by building simple voltaic cells with paper flowers, salt water, and LEDs. The paper flowers’ absorbency was used to act as a salt bridge between the wire pairs that adorned each petal. After salt water was applied to each of the flower’s petals, the center-mounted LED came to life, much to the amazement of her class.
The concept is quite simple, and the LED flowers are pretty easy to build,
as you can see in her Instructables tutorial
.
We think it’s a great way to demonstrate these sorts of simple concepts to kids, and hope to see more like it.
[via
Adafruit blog
] | 6 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "393430",
"author": "razorconcepts",
"timestamp": "2011-05-12T18:25:51",
"content": "We already saw more like it… one year ago right here!http://hackaday.com/2009/04/05/simple-elegant-lemon-battery/",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id":... | 1,760,377,191.869514 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/05/12/macetech-is-looking-for-a-few-good-processing-programmers/ | Macetech Is Looking For A Few Good Processing Programmers | Mike Nathan | [
"cons"
] | [
"led",
"maker faire",
"processing"
] | [Garrett Mace] wrote to us in hopes of
finding a few good programmers to help him out
with a project he’s been working on for Maker Faire Bay Area 2011.
More specifically, he is looking for Processing programmers who are also pretty decent with graphics. Macetech’s big project for this year’s Maker Faire is a large overhead light matrix constructed from Chinese lanterns. They are using their new Satellite LED modules to light the 128-lantern array, which is laid out in a 16×8 matrix.
It seems that the Macetech crew has been so busy getting the array built and tested that they don’t have much time to program any visualizations for it – that’s where you come in. If you are so inclined, simply download his matrix simulation code, put together some cool displays, and send them his way. [Garrett] says that they will be taking video of the visualizations, so even if you can’t attend Maker Faire, we will all be able to enjoy your hard work (though it would be pretty cool if they sent contributors a Satellite LED module “sample” as well!)
Keep reading to see a quick demo video of the simulation software to get an idea of what they are looking for visualization-wise.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xCme0qkiTM&w=470] | 7 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "393400",
"author": "Alex Parting",
"timestamp": "2011-05-12T17:27:09",
"content": "Nice looks like it’ll be fun",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "393403",
"author": "Andrew O'Malley",
"timestamp": "2011-05-12T17:30:10",
... | 1,760,377,191.915287 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/05/12/adding-a-tachometer-to-the-sx2-mini-mill/ | Adding A Tachometer To The SX2 Mini Mill | Mike Nathan | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"cnc hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"cnc",
"mill",
"sx2",
"tachometer"
] | [Jeff] recently bought an SX2 mini milling machine with plans to eventually automate it for use as a CNC mill. After paying nearly $700 for the mill, he decided there was no way he was willing to pay for the $125 tachometer add on as well. Instead,
he reverse-engineered the mill and constructed a tachometer of his own
.
He opened the control box and started looking around. After identifying most of the components, he got sidetracked by a 3-pin header that didn’t seem to have any particular function. That is, until he realized that a lathe by the same manufacturer uses the same components, and figured that the header might be used for reversing the motor. Sure enough he was right, and after adding a reverse switch, he got back to business.
He probed the 7-pin socket with his logic analyzer and quickly picked out the mill’s data line. He hooked the line up to an Arduino and in no time had the RPM displayed on an LCD screen.
[Jeff] says that this little experiment is the first of many, since the mill is so hacker friendly. We definitely look forward to seeing a CNC conversion tutorial in the near future. | 13 | 13 | [
{
"comment_id": "393370",
"author": "BiOzZ",
"timestamp": "2011-05-12T15:25:56",
"content": "firsties,very good job! … short and simple and saves a buck",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "393371",
"author": "ProfP",
"timestamp": "2011-05-12... | 1,760,377,191.966072 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/05/12/bringing-the-game-of-tag-into-the-digital-age/ | Bringing The Game Of Tag Into The Digital Age | Mike Nathan | [
"LED Hacks",
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"game",
"led",
"lumalive",
"RF",
"tag"
] | How long has it been since you’ve played a game of tag?
[Sylvia Cheng, Kibum Kim, and Roel Vertegaal] from Queen’s University’s human media lab
have concocted a fun twist on the classic game
that just might compel you to start playing again.
Their game, called TagURIt, arms two players with Lumalive LED t-shirts which sport embedded touch sensors. A third player, known as the “chaser” attempts to touch either of the other players in order to capture the token displayed on the player’s chest-based LED matrix. The game is score-based, awarding points to the chaser for capturing tokens, while giving the other players points for avoiding capture.
If both players wearing the LED shirts are near to one another, the token will jump to the other player in an attempt to thwart the chaser. In this game, each player is a location-tagged URI, and proximity is determined by either tracking the users with cameras indoors, or via RF sensors if the game is played outside.
It is definitely an interesting way of playing tag, and we imagine it could be quite fun in large groups.
Continue reading to see a video demonstration of the TagURIt game being played.
[via
Adafruit blog
]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_7i-xGztQc&w=470] | 8 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "393326",
"author": "The Cageybee",
"timestamp": "2011-05-12T12:02:18",
"content": "I’m liking the matrix on it. Love to know how they did that.As for the game bit, it’ll only end in tears! :(",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "3933... | 1,760,377,192.010414 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/05/11/automating-rock-band-vocals/ | Automating Rock Band Vocals | Mike Nathan | [
"Musical Hacks",
"Playstation Hacks"
] | [
"atmega644",
"playstation",
"rock band",
"vocals"
] | When it comes to Rock Band, our friends suck at singing. No, really.
We’re cool with them beating on the drum set completely off-time, but the sound of them trying to sing “Tom Sawyer” makes us want to cut out our eardrums.
We’re willing to bet that Cornell students [Gautam Kamath and Dominick Grochowina] have friends like ours. Their Electrical and Computer Engineering final project
aims to remove the tone deaf from in front of the microphone, allowing a computer to sing vocals instead
.
Since Rock Band simply listens for the proper frequency to be sung, the pair figured it would be easy enough to monitor the game’s output and feed computer-generated signals back into the microphone. Once the game’s vocal bar is isolated via a series of filters, an ATMega644 is used to interpret the notes and generate the corresponding tone via a speaker.
While automating Rock Band gameplay is nothing new, we don’t recall seeing anyone try to cut the singer from the band. We think it’s a pretty cool concept – rock on!
Edit: Updated with video
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wc-qScQR5uY&w=470] | 22 | 22 | [
{
"comment_id": "393080",
"author": "akeldamach",
"timestamp": "2011-05-11T22:20:55",
"content": "video or it didn’t happen",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "393083",
"author": "Matt",
"timestamp": "2011-05-11T22:33:59",
"content": "To... | 1,760,377,192.069208 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/05/11/google-in-my-lightbulbs-its-more-likely-than-you-think/ | Google? In My Lightbulbs? It’s More Likely Than You Think | Mike Nathan | [
"Android Hacks",
"News"
] | [
"android",
"google",
"home automation",
"LED lighting",
"wireless"
] | With the recent announcement and release of their ADK, it was only a matter of time before Google started invading your home in a big way. From the looks of it,
Google will be jumping into the home lighting market very shortly
, which could prove to be quite interesting.
Partnering with Florida-based Lighting Sciences, Google is planning on developing consumer-grade 60W equivalent smart LED light bulbs. The bulbs will be able to wirelessly communicate using Google’s new open-source home networking protocol. The lights will be controllable using any Android device allowing users to dim, brighten and toggle the lights on and off without ever touching a wall switch.
We think it’s an interesting idea, and we’re all for getting quality LED lighting in the home. That said, some of Google’s other utility-centric endeavors such as PowerMeter have met only mediocre success, so it remains to be seen if this concept takes off. If it does however, we can’t wait to see the flood of
ADK-based hacks the community puts together
. Since their new wireless protocol will likely be extended to all sorts of other household systems, the possibilities are endless. | 55 | 50 | [
{
"comment_id": "393023",
"author": "amishx64",
"timestamp": "2011-05-11T21:06:31",
"content": "Skynet in-home integration part 1 commencing…",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "393029",
"author": "Anton Onszers",
"timestamp": "2011-05-11T21... | 1,760,377,192.153751 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/05/11/gsm-to-skype-bridge-lets-you-lose-those-roaming-fees/ | GSM-to-Skype Bridge Lets You Lose Those Roaming Fees | Mike Szczys | [
"Cellphone Hacks"
] | [
"gsm",
"modem",
"skype",
"wifi"
] | Here’s the scenario: you’re going to be traveling somewhere and you’ll be charged roaming fees if you use your cellphone. But there is free WiFi available in this place. You can save yourself money by
leaving your SIM card at home and using a GSM-to-Skype bridge to take calls on your phone via WiFi
.
[Trax] is using a USB GSM modem to take cellphone calls on a PC. He leaves his sim card in this modem so that it can make and receive calls and text messages through your normal telephone number. For some reason, the USB connection only provides control of this modem and doesn’t pass bi-directional audio. To make this happen, he built an audio interface cable using two transformers and a few passive components to connect the modem to the computer’s audio card.
On the software side of things, an application written in Delphi 7 manages the modem, the audio stream, and the Skype application. When a call is incoming it sets up a Skype connection with your handset via the Internet, passing along the caller ID data in the process. If you choose to answer the Skype session the application will pick up the GSM call and you’ll be connected. It works the same way when placing an outgoing call.
This seems easier to manage than
a rig that physically pushes a cellphone’s buttons via the Internet
.
[Thanks Mure] | 21 | 21 | [
{
"comment_id": "393006",
"author": "poopiebritches",
"timestamp": "2011-05-11T20:22:47",
"content": "The reason why it can’t send audio through USB is because it probably only has a USB to UART converter and a barebones radio inside. It appears to be the same DealExtreme adapter covered earlier in ... | 1,760,377,192.211492 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/05/11/touch-based-synthesizer-is-a-wiring-nightmare/ | Touch-based Synthesizer Is A Wiring Nightmare | Mike Szczys | [
"digital audio hacks",
"Multitouch Hacks"
] | [
"atmega644",
"resistive",
"touch screen"
] | [Jane] wrote in to let us know about the
touch-based synthesizer she and her classmates just built
. They call it the ToneMatrix Touch, as it was inspired by
a flash application called ToneMatrix
. We’re familiar with that application as it’s been the
inspiration for other physical builds
as well.
A resistive touch screen in the surface glass of the device provides the ability to interact by tapping the cells you wish to turn on or off. Below the glass is a grid of LEDs which represent sound bits in the looping synthesizer track. Fifteen shift registers drive the LED matrix, with the entire system controlled by an ATmega644 microcontroller. Although the control scheme is very straight forward, the jumper wires used to connect the matrix to the shift registers make for a ratsnest of wireporn that has been hidden away inside the case. Check out the demonstration video after the break to see what this looks like and sounds like when in use.
[vimeo http://vimeo.com/23542983 w=470] | 10 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "392989",
"author": "chango",
"timestamp": "2011-05-11T19:46:50",
"content": "Is it still an LED matrix if each LED gets its own driver? Also the parallax coming from the big gap between the touch panel and the array looks like it could be problematic. The software looks pretty slic... | 1,760,377,192.313174 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/05/11/adding-power-trim-to-a-boat/ | Adding Power Trim To A Boat | Mike Szczys | [
"Transportation Hacks"
] | [
"actuator",
"boat",
"trim"
] | [Matt’s] boat had a trim plate that could be adjusted by hand. The problem with this setup is that the trim angle of a boat changes as you speed up or slow down. Last year he never really went over 35 MPH because of this issue, but he set out to correct that by
adding power trim plates for the upcoming boating season
.
The original trim plate didn’t have a hinge on it, but simply flexed when tension was added to the adjustment hardware. [Matt] removed the plate and cut it into three parts; one long thin strip to serve as a mounting bracket, and two plates to independently adjust trim for the left and right side of the keel. Some aluminum strip hinges connect the three pieces, and a pair of used actuators acquired from eBay automate the trim adjustment. Each plate is strengthened by a pair of angle brackets, which also serve as a mounting point for the actuators. The final step was to add a pair of switches near the throttle lever which are used to make manual adjustments when the boat is in motion. | 16 | 16 | [
{
"comment_id": "392967",
"author": "Taylor Alexander",
"timestamp": "2011-05-11T19:04:05",
"content": "Actually, the final final step would be to add some logic based on the speed or angle of the boat or something that automatically adjusts it. :)But I’m not clear on when it needs to be changed so ... | 1,760,377,192.377233 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/05/10/open-source-linear-bearing-system/ | Open Source Linear Bearing System | Mike Nathan | [
"News",
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"bearing",
"cnc",
"makerslide",
"open source",
"rails"
] | While we normally don’t make it a habit to feature Kickstarter projects, we couldn’t pass this one up. [Barton Dring] from BuildLog.net is
putting together a project called MakerSlide
that we’re sure will interest many of you out there.
Through his various CNC builds, he has found that one of the more expensive and frustrating components to obtain is a linear bearing system. He notes that commercial systems are expensive, and while an occasional eBay bargain can be found, it’s not the ideal way of going about things. He also points out that homebrew systems usually work after some tuning and adjustments, but can be time consuming to build.
He is proposing a v-groove bearing system, complete with wheels made from Delrin, as a standardized replacement for all of the aforementioned solutions. He anticipates selling the rails for about 10 cents per centimeter, putting the average cost of a 4 foot system around $20.
As a bonus, he is offering up free MakerSlide materials to anyone that sends him a “new, innovative or interesting open source design or basic idea that uses the material.” You would only have to pay shipping in order to get your new project off the ground.
Standardization is always good, and seeing this rail system go into production would definitely benefit the hacker community. Take a minute to check it out if you are so inclined. | 53 | 50 | [
{
"comment_id": "392448",
"author": "Hackerspacer",
"timestamp": "2011-05-10T19:03:18",
"content": "Why doesn’t 80/20 just make these?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "392457",
"author": "satiagraha",
"timestamp": "2011-05-10T19:17:26",
... | 1,760,377,192.706764 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/05/10/diy-portal-turret-is-looking-pretty-good/ | DIY Portal Turret Is… Looking Pretty Good. | Jesse Congdon | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"how-to"
] | [
"molding",
"motion sensing",
"portal",
"turret"
] | [Ryan Palser] wrote in to tell us about his
Portal Turret
. [Ryan] set about making this Portal 1 style turret by first carving a Styrofoam form, bondo and waxing then casting molds of the various components. Anyone interested in mold making (like us) should check out all the pictures and comments in the stream. The turret’s camera lens style eye has some excellent detail including a laser cut aperture with text inlay. A couple LEDs behind the eye assembly provide the signature red glow and evidently [Ryan] also fitted the little guy with a red laser. An internal Arduino (Incident Resolution Chip?) takes ques from a PIR sensor mounted in one of the turret’s arms to play one of 17 sound clips through a sparkfun
MP3 player shield
. In order to fight repetition the sound module runs through a playlist of the 17 tracks then shuffles it before playing through again. Theme music can also be spammed by pressing a button in the back of the motion sensing arm. The turret can be battery powered or plugged into a wall socket for constant operation. All that’s missing are the Aperture-Brand Resolution Pellets. We would love to see this integrated with some
similar turret projects
previously featured here.
Are you still there? We have more Aperture Science stuff including a
Sentry Turret
, Weighted
Companion Cube
, and even a portal
shirt
. If you are interested in more model making check out the spectacular Daft Punk
helmet
build
from a little while back. | 19 | 19 | [
{
"comment_id": "392411",
"author": "Hackerspacer",
"timestamp": "2011-05-10T18:03:27",
"content": "The only way to make this better would be to 3d print it.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "392414",
"author": "Hackius",
"timestamp": "201... | 1,760,377,192.762033 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/05/10/human-powered-quadcopter-flies-live-tomorrow/ | Human-powered Quadcopter Flies Live Tomorrow | Mike Szczys | [
"Transportation Hacks"
] | [
"helicopter",
"human-powered",
"quadcopter",
"sikorsky prize"
] | A team from the University of Maryland will be
taking their human-powered helicopter to the air tomorrow
. The current flight record for this type of vehicle is just over 19 seconds of flight at a height of about 8 feet. What surprises us about this attempt is that they’re not pedaling just one main rotor. It seems that the most success in man-powered helicopter flight has come from helicopters with a total of four rotors.
The image seen above is a 2009 test of just one of the four rotor arms that will go into UMD’s finished chopper. Fully assembled it will be about 1/3 the size of a football field, dwarfing
the autonomous quadcopters
we usually see around here. Get the details about the design from the video after the break. It’s interesting to hear [Dr. Antonio Filipone] talk about the need to generate both the lift and the thrust, where human-powered fixed-wing aircraft only need the thrust. He predicts that human-powered helicopter flight is possible, but that it will only lift the aircraft, with little possibility of moving it in one direction or the other.
The team is attempting to grab the $250,000
Sikorsky Prize
with their creation. We wish them the best of luck.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uT4y4xb2UYI&w=470]
[Thanks Koldfuzion via
DiscoveryNews
] | 30 | 29 | [
{
"comment_id": "392395",
"author": "Jason",
"timestamp": "2011-05-10T17:45:23",
"content": "Wow, I wish my school (ASU) was willing to partake in challenges like this! EXCITING!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "392416",
"author": "homer sim... | 1,760,377,192.831435 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/05/10/bit-banging-vga-from-an-sd-card-slot/ | Bit Banging VGA From An SD Card Slot | Mike Szczys | [
"Linux Hacks",
"Video Hacks"
] | [
"ben nanonote",
"bit banging",
"card slot",
"sd",
"vga"
] | If you’ve got some favorite electronic device that includes an SD card slot but doesn’t have a video out port you may be able to
push VGA signals through the card reader conductors
. That’s exactly what’s going on above with the Ben NanoNote, a
sub-$100 Linux device
which we’ve seen
using its SD card slot as general I/O
before.
The hardware to capture the signals includes a breakout board for the card slot. Free-formed on the other end of that connector card is a gaggle of resistor which handle level conversion for the VGA color signals, with a VGA cable taking it from there to the monitor. The software that makes this happen is a dirty hack, blocking all other functions while it displays a still image. But we’re sure that it can be cleaned up somewhat. Just don’t hold out hopes for full-motion video, this little guy just doesn’t have it in him.
[via
Dangerous Prototypes
via
Slashdot
] | 14 | 14 | [
{
"comment_id": "392344",
"author": "Stephanie",
"timestamp": "2011-05-10T15:36:30",
"content": "Awesome sauce! Can’t deny though that it has the look of a system on life support! ;)",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "392352",
"author": "Ren",
... | 1,760,377,192.5274 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/05/10/roll-your-own-capacitors-high-voltage-edition/ | Roll Your Own Capacitors – High Voltage Edition | Mike Szczys | [
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"acetate",
"aluminum foil",
"capacitor",
"overhead projector",
"transparency",
"zip ties"
] | [Grenadier] tipped us off about his method for
building your own high-voltage capacitors
. He thought the
paper and foil capacitor project
was a nice introduction to the concepts, but at the same time he knew he could produce a much more powerful device.
For the dielectric he is using acetate film. This is the material from which overhead transparency sheets are made. He stuck with aluminum foil for the two plates. Just roll the foil flat with a rolling-pin, use thin wire to minimize the air that will be trapped between the dielectric layers, and make sure the foil plates are at least 4cm shorter than the acetate film on each end to prevent leakage. After rolling and securing the capacitor with zip ties you’ll be ready for the 3nF worth of fun seen in the video after the break. [Grenadier] mentions that this can be improved further if you were to vacuum impregnate the device with beeswax.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbByzlGs8V0&w=470] | 13 | 13 | [
{
"comment_id": "392345",
"author": "H3xx",
"timestamp": "2011-05-10T15:37:07",
"content": "Any thoughts to build a coil gun with something like this? It would make it very powerful.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "392358",
"author": "Anonym... | 1,760,377,192.883335 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/05/10/dont-hit-that-switch/ | Don’t Hit That Switch! | Mike Nathan | [
"Robots Hacks",
"Toy Hacks"
] | [
"box",
"R/C car",
"robot",
"toy"
] | Hackaday reader [Danukeru]
sent us a video featuring a box-based robot with an interesting personality
. The box is fairly simple and from the outside seems to consist only of a switch and an LED. When the switch is flipped however, the box comes to life.
When the box is activated, the lid opens, and a small arm reaches out to turn the switch off. We’ve seen that plenty of times, but this one turns out to be a little different. In the video, this process seems to repeat a couple dozen times before the robot gets angry and flips out. At first we thought that the end portion of the video was done with a bit of digital trickery, but after reviewing the creator’s blog, it looks like it could be legit. It is very hard to see the box’s innards in the video, but it does house a remote control car chassis that allows it to move around and spin out, as seen below.
It’s a pretty neat project, and if you can handle
reading the creator’s site via Google translate
, there is plenty of picture documentation of the build process for your perusal.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmQ5LsNMXZ4&w=470] | 44 | 44 | [
{
"comment_id": "392281",
"author": "IcYhAwK",
"timestamp": "2011-05-10T11:07:22",
"content": "that is too cool. (if its legit)",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "392282",
"author": "anton",
"timestamp": "2011-05-10T11:10:43",
"content"... | 1,760,377,192.999048 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/05/09/avr-gameboy-dumper/ | AVR Gameboy Dumper | Kevin Dady | [
"Nintendo Game Boy Hacks"
] | [
"cart dump"
] | [Kevan] has been hard at work latley developing a
Gameboy cart dumper
, and while there are a few loose ends to tie up, the device is functioning fine to build up his collection. Running an AVR (mega 16?) and a FTDI chip for the usb connection, the device reads the game’s ROM and SRAM, and can also write the SRAM if you want to load your save games on to the real cart.
On the pc side of things, the device is communicated with using a generic HID protocol and can hit speeds from 16Kbps (currently) to around 64Kbps (soon). A python script currently handles the data stream, but for the rest of us there is a GUI version in the works for both *x and windows.
Also in the works is a redesigned PCB. There were a couple issues and you can see the jumpers, and though we think it adds a little character, it would be good to have fixed in the future. | 19 | 18 | [
{
"comment_id": "392115",
"author": "dext3r",
"timestamp": "2011-05-10T02:08:36",
"content": "no source? cool pictures, i guess.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "392128",
"author": "Alex",
"timestamp": "2011-05-10T02:47:39",
"content"... | 1,760,377,193.061698 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/05/11/diy-hidden-bookshelf-speakers/ | DIY Hidden Bookshelf Speakers | Mike Nathan | [
"Musical Hacks"
] | [
"amplifier",
"books",
"class a",
"hidden",
"speakers"
] | [Steve] was tired of looking at the speakers in his workshop
and began searching around for something a little more aesthetically pleasing
. Having recently received a set of hollowed out books used for hiding things as a gift, he thought that he might be able to solve his speaker issue in a similar fashion.
He grabbed a couple of books from a local thrift store and promptly removed the pages. They were replaced with cloth-covered plywood to make the device more sturdy while simulating the look of pages.
He mounted his speaker inside one of the books, and in a second installed a small 7W Class A amplifier. A third book houses a padded compartment to hold his iPod, completing the set.
[Steve] reports that the speakers are pretty much undetectable, and the sound quality is decent too. In fact, we’ve started looking for some old books to re-purpose in our workshop as well. | 10 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "392885",
"author": "Harvie.CZ",
"timestamp": "2011-05-11T16:14:11",
"content": "Shakespeakre",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "392895",
"author": "strider_mt2k",
"timestamp": "2011-05-11T16:23:46",
"content": "Looks li... | 1,760,377,193.113221 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/05/11/i2c-101/ | I2C 101 | Kevin Dady | [
"how-to"
] | [
"i2c"
] | Embedded Labs has come out with a very
detailed I2C 101 tutorial
, that you should check out if you have any questions on the system. I2C is a short distance serial interface that only requires 2 bus lines. Keep in mind that as wires go down complexity goes up. While there are more than a few I2C devices out there in the wild, and the 2 wire system does make wiring a breeze sometimes, the information required to make use of it often seems confusing to someone who is just starting with it.
The tutorial covers basic theory, stop / start conditions, addressing, data transfer, and acknowledgment plus illustrations. A couple of specific examples are given in the form of a 24LC512 serial eeprom, and a DS1631 digital thermometer complete with code. | 15 | 15 | [
{
"comment_id": "392847",
"author": "Chris",
"timestamp": "2011-05-11T15:07:57",
"content": "Yeah, I’ll just run a 3rd wire, thanks.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "392848",
"author": "Ikari-Pt",
"timestamp": "2011-05-11T15:14:00",
"... | 1,760,377,193.16903 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/05/11/official-android-open-accessory-development-kit-its-an-arduino/ | Official Android Open Accessory Development Kit – It’s An Arduino | Brian Benchoff | [
"Android Hacks",
"Arduino Hacks",
"News"
] | [
"android",
"arduino",
"google"
] | A new
development kit
for android was unveiled at the Google I/O 2011 developer conference that
officially
supports the Arduino.
It looks like Google took a cue from
Circuits@Home
, because the interesting part of this dev kit is the fact that the shield can be put into USB Host mode. That’s great for phones and tablets that can’t act as a USB host themselves. Google will also release the APIs for this Android/Arduino mashup for 3.1, but it will thankfully be backported to Gingerbread.
We covered the
IOIO breakout board
for Android last month, but the Google board will be based off of the Arduino Mega 2560, a far more capable device. Interestingly, it appears this board is
available now
for about $400 USD. We’re not so sure a hobbyist will be buying it at that price.
While this board doesn’t do anything you couldn’t do before with a bluetooth shield, it’s great to see a company supporting all the builders out there. | 52 | 50 | [
{
"comment_id": "392824",
"author": "mono",
"timestamp": "2011-05-11T14:07:46",
"content": "Links is broked",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "392825",
"author": "elektrophreak",
"timestamp": "2011-05-11T14:08:27",
"content": "they are ... | 1,760,377,193.261271 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/05/11/machining-replacement-parts-with-hand-tools/ | Machining Replacement Parts With Hand Tools | Kevin Dady | [
"how-to"
] | [
"hand tools"
] | Jeff is a huge music fan, and like many of us likes old technology, so it seemed a bit silly (to him) that he did not have a turn table. His dad had a spare in the basement. A neat old Braun model from the 1970’s that was broken.
Opening the unit up he found that part of the arm mechanism was broken, and thanks to the age of the turntable and the wonders of mass production chances of finding a replacement were slim to none. Not being discouraged he
busted out the hand tools and fabricated the replacement out of some aluminum
. The end result is a perfectly functioning turntable that will serve many more hours pushing out warm jams.
Check out the fourm post above to get details and pictures, and we just wanted to tell [Jeff], awesome job! | 18 | 18 | [
{
"comment_id": "392805",
"author": "Mike of England",
"timestamp": "2011-05-11T12:23:36",
"content": "Jeff, you the man! Not only have you fabricated a new part, but you have discovered one of the best ways to listen to music.Good on ya :)",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
... | 1,760,377,193.315493 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/05/11/arduino-magnetic-core-memory-shield/ | Arduino Magnetic Core Memory Shield | Mike Nathan | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"classic hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"magnetic core",
"non-volatile"
] | Magnetic core memory turns 60 years old today, and
as a tribute [Ben North and Oliver Nash] have created a 32-bit magnetic core memory board for the Arduino
.
Magnetic core memory was used from the 1950s through the 1970s, and provided a non-volatile means for storing data, as each magnetic core retained its orientation, even when the power was cut. While it sounds a lot like a modern hard drive, these devices were used in the same fashion as RAM is utilized today.
While the pair used surplus ferrite cores manufactured just before magnetic memory stopped being produced, they did allow themselves to use some modern components. Items such as transistors and logic gates were not available to the first magnetic core memory manufacturers, but the use of these items helped them complete the project in a reasonable amount of time.
Their final result is a magnetic memory board which can be used by any USB-enabled device and is reliable enough to withstand billions of read/write transactions. | 14 | 14 | [
{
"comment_id": "392787",
"author": "Slanderer",
"timestamp": "2011-05-11T11:19:23",
"content": "This is really impressive, actually. Unless this inspires enough other people, surplus cores from the 70’s are still available on ebay (although, occasionally shipped only from Bulgaria).It’s a especiall... | 1,760,377,193.376384 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/05/10/cheap-open-source-pace-clock-keeps-your-practice-on-schedule/ | Cheap Open-source Pace Clock Keeps Your Practice On Schedule | Mike Nathan | [
"Android Hacks",
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"android",
"atmega",
"bluetooth",
"leds"
] | Pace clocks are used in a variety of sports, from swimming to track. The systems are typically expensive however, often beyond the reach of smaller organizations and underfunded programs. For their electrical and computer engineering final project, Cornell students [Paul Swirhun and Shao-Yu Liang] set out to build
a much cheaper alternative to commercial pace clocks, with a far simpler wireless user interface
.
Their clock uses an ATmega32a to handle all of the processing which is paired with a RN-42 Bluetooth module for communicating with Android smartphones. Their seven-segment displays are built using custom PCBs that they designed and fabricated for the project which are controlled by TLC5940NT LED drivers. The Android software allows users to connect to the pace clock remotely, creating any sort of multi-layered swimming or running routines.
When the project was completed, the pair tallied their total hardware cost to be under $250 apiece at low production volumes. Even when taking assembly time into account, their solution is several magnitudes cheaper than similar commercial systems.
Stick around if you are interested in seeing a demo video of their final product in action.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUm3Ny9dtQA&w=470] | 10 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "392570",
"author": "Pedro",
"timestamp": "2011-05-10T23:00:22",
"content": "Good luck using those smart phones while swimming.Just kidding, this is awesome!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "392623",
"author": "Stevie",
"t... | 1,760,377,193.433263 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/05/10/diy-sound-localization-sensor/ | DIY Sound Localization Sensor | Mike Nathan | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"lm324n",
"op-amp",
"sound localization"
] | Sound localization is very popular in law enforcement circles due to its accuracy and ability to quickly separate gunshots from other similar noises. These systems don’t come cheap, and
after trying to build one himself, [Fileark] knows why
.
He thought it would be neat to build a sound localization sensor based on how the human ear determines a sound’s source. Once he got started however, he realized just how hard it was to do localization just right.
He used an LM324N op-amp as a volume comparator, which he says works decently enough though he figures there are ICs out there that can do a better job. [Fileark] reports that the sound detector works well when the source is within about a foot of the sensors, but performance deteriorates at greater distances. He may consider using an ARM Cortex-M3 as his sound processor if he builds a second version, since the Arudino he used just doesn’t have enough power to sample and run calculations within the 10-50 microsecond window he requires.
Keep reading to see a video of his sound localization sensor in action.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHyuzKRZFUY&w=470] | 32 | 31 | [
{
"comment_id": "392518",
"author": "Ib",
"timestamp": "2011-05-10T21:41:36",
"content": "Nice Idea!I loled when he started shouting in the sensor.“Hellooo”",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "392521",
"author": "lwatcdr",
"timestamp": "2011... | 1,760,377,193.505967 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/05/08/learning-electronics-concepts-step-by-step/ | Learning Electronics Concepts Step By Step | Mike Nathan | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"how-to"
] | [
"arduino",
"basics",
"learning",
"tutorials"
] | We realize that not everyone out there holds a degree in electrical engineering or has the ability to tell NPN transistors apart from PNP transistors by taste alone, so we occasionally like to mention things that appeal to the beginners in the crowd. While there is a clear division between Arduino supporters and detractors, it is hard to deny that the devices have their place, and can be quite useful when exploring certain electronics concepts.
For the supporters out there,
[John Boxall] has put together a site jam-packed with Arduino tutorials covering a wide array of concepts and techniques
. We have
covered his work before
in relation to specific topics, but we felt that his site deserved mention as a whole. His tutorials cover some of the most basic concepts such as lighting LEDs with the Arduino, and work their way to more advanced subjects, lesson by lesson.
He is not satisfied with simply introducing a concept and handing out a sketch that does the work. He takes the time to expand on the concepts, giving the reader enough detail to use their new-found knowledge in later projects. If you were to follow his tutorials from beginning to end, you would be exposed to LCD screen control, shift registers, real-time clocks, I2C bus communications, and more. These skills and concepts can be carried on to future projects as well as other micro controllers, making his tutorials a very valuable learning tool worth checking out. | 38 | 38 | [
{
"comment_id": "391593",
"author": "rocketman1001",
"timestamp": "2011-05-08T16:54:49",
"content": "Whilst not wishing to detract from this work, may I recommend ‘The Art of Electronics’ by Horowitz and Hill. It provides a substantive learning curve from the basics – knowing your NPN from your PNP ... | 1,760,377,193.958366 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/05/08/generating-music-with-credit-cards/ | Generating Music With Credit Cards | Mike Nathan | [
"digital audio hacks",
"Musical Hacks"
] | [
"credit cards",
"magnetic stripe",
"music",
"pos terminal",
"Z-80"
] | [Steve] was browsing around at a local electronics surplus store
when he spotted an old Tranz 330 point-of-sale terminal that seemed pretty interesting
. He took it home and after disassembling it, found that it contained a Z-80 based computer. Because the 330 shares the same processor as other hobbyist-friendly devices such as the TRS-80, he figured it would be quite fun to hack.
While the Z-80 processor is pretty common, [Steve] still had to figure out how it was interfaced in this particular device. After spending some time reverse engineering the terminal, he had free reign to run any program he desired. After thinking for a bit, he decided it would be cool to use the terminal to generate music based on whatever card was swiped through the reader – he calls his creation “Mozart’s Credit Card”.
He found that just playing sounds based on the raw contents of the mag strips didn’t produce anything coherent, so he wrote a small application for the terminal based on the
Melisma Stochastic Melody Generator
. Music is generated somewhat randomly using various card characteristics, as you can see in the video below.
We think it’s pretty cool, but [Steve] says he’s always open to suggestions, so let us know what you think in the comments.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2zW7FV_4l0&w=470] | 19 | 19 | [
{
"comment_id": "391561",
"author": "Hackerspacer",
"timestamp": "2011-05-08T13:52:43",
"content": "So it is sort of like the Bar Code Battler but for credit cards.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "391569",
"author": "BiOzZ",
"timestamp":... | 1,760,377,193.733955 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/05/07/photon-banner/ | Photon Banner | Kevin Dady | [
"News",
"Peripherals Hacks"
] | [
"led matrix"
] | The Revision 2011 demo party that brought us” table for two” a little while ago along with some super demos for PC’s, retro, and state of the art, has also brought us the
Photon Banner
(google translate). The Photon Banner is a 96X24 led matrix that was made with (of course) 2304 5mm leds, and a atmega 644 clocked at 20MHz.
The end result is a 192cm X 48cm display area that uses the single micro controller, that has been beefed up with 2 megs of SPI flash memory, 6 driver boards, and took about a month just to construct. The software to drive the show took another 15 days, and it is pretty darn impressive.
The website above contains a bunch of photos, parts lists, and schematics. Before you go running off you should join us after the break for a couple of quick videos.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgEYBqEIDEY&w=450]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWY_jnurgo0&feature=player_embedded&w=450] | 17 | 17 | [
{
"comment_id": "391378",
"author": "Brett W. (FightCube.com)",
"timestamp": "2011-05-07T20:57:18",
"content": "May I be the first to say HOLY CRAP THAT’S AWEXOME! I’ll take 3, built please ;-)",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "391379",
"auth... | 1,760,377,193.88166 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/05/07/rebecca-black-running-accessory-also-promotes-running-for-everyone-within-earshot/ | Rebecca Black Running Accessory Also Promotes Running For Everyone Within Earshot | Brian Benchoff | [
"Arduino Hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"running",
"wave shield"
] | Last Friday, Friday we caught wind of [gvillenave]’s
running accessory
inspired by Rebecca Black, and we we we so excited, we so excited to bring this to you on Saturday, which comes after Friday.
[gvillenave] came up with the idea of using a song on the annoyance level of “Friday” to encourage a runner into keeping up a good pace. The concept is simple: if the wearer is running fast, the song will speed up. If the wearer is slowing down, the song will slow down and extend the agony.
The build uses an Arduino and [ladyada]’s
wave shield
coupled to an accelerometer. [gvillenave] included the code, and also wired up some LEDs to a pair of sunglasses that blink more often as the runner’s speed increases. The wave shield has a 3.5mm jack for headphones, but [gvillenave] graciously wired a speaker in, “so that you can annoy people around you, and not just yourself.” All this is packaged in a very nice 3D printed enclosure making for a great
looking
project.
There’s no word on the effectiveness of the negative reinforcement aspect of [gvillenave]’s build, but we suspect it will help her get down to the bus stop a little faster every morning. | 23 | 23 | [
{
"comment_id": "391310",
"author": "Bogdan",
"timestamp": "2011-05-07T15:51:33",
"content": "Erm… what’s with all the word repeating?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "391313",
"author": "David S",
"timestamp": "2011-05-07T15:53:44",
... | 1,760,377,194.076553 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/05/07/digital-picture-frame-reverse-engineering/ | Digital Picture Frame Reverse Engineering | Mike Nathan | [
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"coby",
"photoframe",
"reverse engineering",
"serial flash",
"spi"
] | A few months ago [Jason] got his hands on a free Coby DP700WD digital picture frame
and thought it would be fun to hack
. After realizing that the frame did not run any sort of Linux-based OS he figured his options were pretty limited, but he gave it a shot anyways.
The frame came with a set of built in images, and his goal was to swap them out for pictures of his own. He started by trying to read data from the frame’s serial flash chip, but found that the processor was preventing him from doing so. He de-soldered the chip from the frame, mounted it on a makeshift breakout board, and started reading up on SPI.
He was eventually able to read the device’s flash chip and swapped out the built-in images with his own. After a bit of trial and error, he was able to replace the frame’s boot screen with his own custom image as well.
If you are looking to do something similar, be sure to swing by his site – all of the tools and code he used to hack his frame are available for the taking.
Continue reading to see his modified picture frame in action.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xevG0ZCW-Fo&w=470] | 22 | 19 | [
{
"comment_id": "391285",
"author": "Aaron",
"timestamp": "2011-05-07T13:39:05",
"content": "Well, certainly, anything you do with a “Coby” product is better than leaving it how it came from the factory — hacking it, tearing it down for parts, smashing it with a sledgehammer, whatever.",
"parent... | 1,760,377,194.018256 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/05/06/miniature-pc-packs-a-big-punch/ | Miniature PC Packs A Big Punch | Mike Nathan | [
"News"
] | [
"mini pc",
"olpc",
"raspberry pi"
] | We are always looking out for smaller yet capable computers for our projects, and
this newest offering by [David Braben] is looking mighty nice
. [David] is the head of a UK-based games studio, but has recently been focusing on bringing small, affordable PCs to classrooms around the world.
The computer, called Raspberry Pi, is about the size of your standard USB thumb drive and contains a 700 MHz ARM 11 processor as well as 128 MB of memory. It has an HDMI port which can display 1080p video on any compatible screen, along with a USB port for input peripherals. Mass storage is provided courtesy of an on-board SD card slot, and it looks like the ability to utilize add-on modules will be available as well.
There is sure to be no shortage of willing buyers if [David] is able to bring these computers to market within a reasonable timeframe. With a projected cost of about $25, this will certainly give the OLPC and others a run for their money.
Thanks to everyone who sent this story in… all of you. You can stop now… please. (don’t stop sending us tips, we’re just joking around) | 107 | 50 | [
{
"comment_id": "391042",
"author": "1000100 1000001 1010110 1000101",
"timestamp": "2011-05-06T21:00:34",
"content": "Um…wow.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "391043",
"author": "jeff",
"timestamp": "2011-05-06T21:04:42",
"content": ... | 1,760,377,194.204294 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/05/06/advanced-robotic-arm-control-using-kinect/ | Advanced Robotic Arm Control Using Kinect | Mike Nathan | [
"Kinect hacks",
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"arm",
"Kinect",
"openni",
"primesense",
"robot"
] | [Ryan Lloyd], [Sandeep Dhull], and [Ruben D’Sa] wrote in to share a robotics project they have been keeping busy with lately. The three University of Minnesota students
are using a Kinect sensor to remotely control a robotic arm
, but it’s not as simple as it sounds.
Using OpenNI alongside PrimeSense, the team started out by doing some simple skeleton tracking before working with their robotic arm. The arm has five degrees of freedom, making the task of controlling it a bit tricky. The robot has quite a few joints to play with, so the trio not only tracks shoulder, elbow, and wrist movements, but they also monitor the status of the user’s hand to actuate the robot’s gripper.
When everything was said and done, the results were pretty impressive as you can see in the video below, but the team definitely sees room for improvement. Using inverse kinematics, they plan on filtering out some of the joint tracking inaccuracies that occur when the shoulders are moved in a certain way. They also plan on using a robotic arm with even more degrees of freedom to see just how well their software can perform.
Be sure to check out their site to see more details and videos.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nB8WmU0oFFA&w=470] | 10 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "390994",
"author": "wheresTheLink",
"timestamp": "2011-05-06T17:58:08",
"content": "So… Where is the link to their site?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "391028",
"author": "PocketBrain",
"timestamp": "2011-05-06T19:43:30... | 1,760,377,194.122114 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/05/09/juggling-with-kinect/ | Juggling With Kinect | Mike Nathan | [
"Kinect hacks",
"News"
] | [
"Kinect",
"openni",
"xbox"
] | Some of the Kinect hacks we have featured here are quite useful in the realm of assisted living, others showcase what can be done with the clever application of video filters. Some…are just plain fun.
This pair of Kinect hacks are not necessarily going to win any awards for usefulness, but they are big on fun.
[Tom] put together a neat juggling application
that watches for your hands to disappear behind your back, generating a glowing ball once they return to the camera’s field of vision. The balls can be tossed away or juggled as you can see in the video below. It looks like it could be pretty fun and most definitely easier than chasing balls around while learning to juggle.
[Tom’s] hack was based off code he saw demonstrated in a video by YouTube user [hogehoge335]. His application for the Kinect
allows him to replicate the Kamehameha attack
from Dragonball Z, flowing hair and all.
Check out the videos below for a demonstration of both Kinect hacks, and swing by the respective Google Code sites if you want to give them a try.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AXpnlkqPCI&w=470]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lajP7HO7ZyE&w=470] | 3 | 3 | [
{
"comment_id": "392025",
"author": "Spork",
"timestamp": "2011-05-09T22:30:22",
"content": "The DBZ one is awesome. Just need someone with graphics skills and you’d have a 15 minutes of fame hit game.. like angry birds.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"commen... | 1,760,377,194.245886 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/05/09/fbi-tracking-device-found-disassembled/ | FBI Tracking Device Found; Disassembled | Jeff Katz | [
"gps hacks",
"Teardown"
] | [
"carmen sandiego",
"fbi",
"gps",
"ifixit",
"teardown",
"waldo",
"wireless"
] | [
ifixit
] has apparently grown tired of
tearing apart
Apple’s latest gizmos, and their latest display of un-engineering has a decidedly more federal flair. You may have heard about
Yasir Afifi’s discovery
of a FBI-installed tracking device on his car back in October of last year. Apparently, the feds
abandoned a similar device
with activist Kathy Thomas. Wired magazine managed to get their hands on it, and gave it to ifixit to take apart. There’ve even
posted a video
.
The hardware itself isn’t that remarkable, it’s essentially a GPS receiver designed before the turn of the century paired with a short range wireless transceiver. The whole device is powered by a set of D-sized
lithium-thionyl chloride
batteries which should be enough juice to run the whole setup for another few decades–long enough to outlast any reasonable expectations of privacy, with freedom and justice for all. | 46 | 45 | [
{
"comment_id": "391992",
"author": "Pin",
"timestamp": "2011-05-09T21:17:37",
"content": "The gps is not that old it just uses a active antina and will use difrant satellites to send it corrections so it can be more accurate If u can get a part number on the single chip gps receiver it’s the big sh... | 1,760,377,194.369048 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/05/09/double-barreled-air-cannon/ | Double Barreled Air Cannon | Caleb Kraft | [
"Weapons Hacks"
] | [
"potato",
"spud"
] | [Jeremy] wrote in to show off his latest creation. he has built a
two barrel pneumatic air cannon
. Eschewing the traditional approach of having a single barrel and pressure chamber for his spud gun, [Jeremy] wanted to have a double barreled version. Since he was doing this pneumatically, he had to rig up a way to maintain pressure in each barrel independently of each other, as well as trigger them independently. While we can all agree that one way valves and sprinkler valves aren’t ground breaking, it is nice to see it all laid out and tested. We now have the blueprints if we were so inclined to create our own version. You can see him testing it out by filling the chambers with water and sploooshing that all over the place after the break.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=4qWmWmc4hV0&w=470] | 11 | 11 | [
{
"comment_id": "391975",
"author": "JC",
"timestamp": "2011-05-09T20:27:47",
"content": "Thx for the writeup. How ’bout a link to the site?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "391982",
"author": "Brian",
"timestamp": "2011-05-09T20:50:29",... | 1,760,377,194.29455 |
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