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https://hackaday.com/2011/03/11/bounce-flash-in-multiple-mediums/ | Bounce Flash In Multiple Mediums | Mike Szczys | [
"digital cameras hacks"
] | [
"bounce",
"flash"
] | [Nigel’s] been trying out a
series of designs and materials to make his own bounce flash
. He set out on this mission because most of the images he used flash on ended up washed out with dark shadows. The flash add-on seen above seeks to curb the harshness of the direct light but shielding the subject.
What you see above is just a couple of pieces of paper. [Nigel] put together a template so that you can cut your own. Although the design is his favorite, he also put together a second generation that is built from hobby plastic with a piece of aluminum tape as the reflecting surface. The main link at the beginning of this feature leads to that version, but after the break we’ve included direct links to each article he published during his experimentation.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 3.5
Comparison with commercial bounce flash
Made from hobby plastic | 5 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "355621",
"author": "JamieWho",
"timestamp": "2011-03-11T21:44:01",
"content": "I’ve seen these as commercial products. Nothing really new, but useful still. The advantage to a homemade version is that you don’t have to stick with those made only for the expensive/higher end DSLRs. T... | 1,760,377,251.176728 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/03/11/water-droplet-sculpture-using-leds-and-arduino/ | Water Droplet Sculpture Using LEDs And Arduino | Mike Szczys | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"LED Hacks"
] | [
"glow",
"led",
"strobe",
"uv"
] | This
water sculpture can stop drops of water in mid-air
. This is accomplished by flashing LEDs to illuminate the droplets at just the right time. But it’s not limited to blinky lights alone. The top of the frame has eight nozzles, each fed by its own pump. An Arduino controls the pumps and the lights making it possible to create different motion effects by adjusting how events line up. For instance, the image above shows just two of the water nozzles on, but in the video after the break it appears one is dripping downward while the other is dripping upward.
Alas, there’s few build details for this but
the source code is available
for downloading. If we were going to build one of these ourselves we’d probably try to regulate the drips using some
solenoids built from scratch
. How would you do it? Leave your ideas in the comments. | 19 | 15 | [
{
"comment_id": "355237",
"author": "Kaboof",
"timestamp": "2011-03-11T14:21:07",
"content": "first I thought “bah.. a waterfall…” but after looking at the video I gotta say it looks pretty awesome.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "355240",
"... | 1,760,377,251.356715 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/03/11/all-about-ps3-sixaxis-controller-usb-communications/ | All About PS3 SixAxis Controller USB Communications | Mike Szczys | [
"Peripherals Hacks",
"Playstation Hacks"
] | [
"Kinect",
"openaxis",
"playstation 3",
"python",
"sixaxis",
"usb"
] | [Austyn] is currently working on
reverse engineering a PlayStation 3 SixAxis controller’s USB communications
. You may be thinking that this has already been done but [Austyn] was unable to find useful source code so he’s started his own project called libopenaxis.
The process he used to sniff out USB communications makes for an interesting read. He utilized GlovePIE to get the USB request block for the controller. With that in hand he grabbed the Python script used in
a DIY Kinect hacking tutorial
to start dumping controller data. With each keypress the script reads out the full data packet, which is used to figure out how the data structures are organized.
The project has come as far as knowing all of the data types, but right now the purpose for the majority of those variables is unknown. Hopefully the blanks will be filled in over time. Two things are for sure; if you’re interested in writing Python code that can communicate with PS3 controllers this is a great source of info, and the Kinect hacking that was so fun to watch over the last few months is still bearing fruit. | 11 | 11 | [
{
"comment_id": "355156",
"author": "addidis",
"timestamp": "2011-03-11T13:09:50",
"content": "Tomorrows headlines: Hacker sued for hacking sony product.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "355215",
"author": "Conrad Kramer",
"timestamp": "2... | 1,760,377,251.30549 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/03/10/diy-flower-bouquet-guaranteed-to-get-you-dumped-on-valentines-day/ | DIY Flower Bouquet Guaranteed To Get You Dumped On Valentine’s Day | Mike Nathan | [
"LED Hacks",
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"flowers",
"led",
"reed switch"
] | [Erik] is a broke engineer.
When this past Valentine’s day rolled around he didn’t have any cash to buy a gift for his girlfriend, so he had to get creative. Every girl likes flowers, but unless he was going to give his lady some day old daises from the grocery dumpster,
he would have to make them himself
.
He started by bundling together and bending some T-shirt hangers into stems. He then wrapped them in the green & green/white wire pairs from some Cat-5 cable to give them some color. An old keyboard was sacrificed to create the flower petals and leaves, which were presumably colored with markers before being glued to the end of the hangers. He added a reed switch to the flower pot, which illuminates the LEDs he installed under the petals when a magnet-bearing cardboard placard reading “Love Erik” was placed near it.
How did his girlfriend like them? Well, let’s just say she’s no longer in the picture. He didn’t tell us if the bouquet was the reason, only that she’s gone. (though we happen to think it’s pretty cool).
Keep reading to see a quick video demonstration of the light-up bouquet.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=liFy8db0UGQ&w=470] | 36 | 36 | [
{
"comment_id": "354570",
"author": "Hackius",
"timestamp": "2011-03-10T23:32:38",
"content": "I don’t think he got dumped. There’s no mention of that on his site.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "354572",
"author": "Reaper",
"timestamp":... | 1,760,377,251.134321 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/03/10/kinect-hacked-to-work-with-garrys-mod-means-endless-hours-of-virtual-fun/ | Kinect Hacked To Work With Garry’s Mod Means Endless Hours Of Virtual Fun | Mike Nathan | [
"computer hacks",
"Kinect hacks",
"Xbox Hacks"
] | [
"Kinect",
"video games",
"virtual"
] | [John B] is a software engineer and had some spare time on his hands, so he started messing around with his Kinect which had been sitting unused for awhile. He wanted to see what he could create if he was able to get Kinect data into a virtual environment that supported real-world physics. The first idea that popped into his head was to
interface the Kinect with Garry’s Mod
.
If you are not familiar with Garry’s Mod, it is a sandbox environment built on top of Valve’s Source engine. The environment supports real-world physics, but beyond that, it pretty much lets you do or build anything you want. [John] found that there was no good way to get Kinect data into the software, so he built his own.
He used OpenNI to gather skeletal coordinate data from Kinect, which was then passed to some custom code that packages those coordinates inside UDP packets. Those packets are then sent to a custom Lua script that is interpreted by Garry’s Mod.
The result is just plain awesome as you can see in the video below. Instead of simply playing some random game with the Kinect, you get to design the entire experience from the ground up. The project is still in its infancy, but it’s pretty certain that we’ll see some cool stuff in short order. All of the code is available on github, so give it a shot and share your videos with us.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBjOIjc5qn0&w=470] | 37 | 36 | [
{
"comment_id": "354509",
"author": "Ian C",
"timestamp": "2011-03-10T22:35:59",
"content": "I’ve been waiting for this for YEARS!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "354516",
"author": "Gigawatts",
"timestamp": "2011-03-10T22:49:43",
"c... | 1,760,377,251.255937 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/03/10/rigol-oscilloscope-teardown-and-repair/ | Rigol Oscilloscope Teardown And Repair | Mike Nathan | [
"Repair Hacks",
"Teardown"
] | [
"encoder",
"oscope",
"repair",
"rigol"
] | [Hotsolder] encountered a bad encoder in his Rigol Oscilloscope, so
he opened it up
in order to replace the damaged part. According to him, it was quite an adventure, so he documented the disassembly and component swap for the benefit of anyone else out there that might have to do the same.
The teardown is in the form of a slideshow, which is available on his site. The images are all pretty well annotated, so you should be able to follow along quite easily if you happen to be tearing one apart yourself. There’s not a ton of exotic things to see inside the scope, it pretty much contains what you would expect to see if you cracked one open.
The encoder replacement went off without a hitch, and he even took pictures of the defective one to discuss how it works.
It’s definitely a quick and interesting read if you are simply curious about oscilloscopes, or if you happen to need to dismantle yours.
[Thanks, oakkar7] | 10 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "354466",
"author": "roula",
"timestamp": "2011-03-10T21:46:22",
"content": "Looks quite easy to dissasemble, TBH…",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "354586",
"author": "therian",
"timestamp": "2011-03-10T23:48:52",
"con... | 1,760,377,251.060506 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/03/10/laser-cut-noise-maker-resembles-violin/ | Laser-cut Noise Maker Resembles Violin | Mike Szczys | [
"cnc hacks",
"Musical Hacks"
] | [
"laser cutter",
"violin"
] | This looks very much like a violin but it sounds very much like someone abusing a family of cats. [Ranjit] came with the idea of
building a violin using laser cut parts
. It doesn’t follow the normal curved shape we’re used to seeing with string instruments. This is because the parts were all cut from flat stock, including the sides of the instrument. The boxy shape that resulted invokes visions of early video game objects and is why this is called the 8-bit violin.
After the break you can see a video of [Bre Pettis] playing the laser-cut instrument. It’s pretty bad, but not in that five-year-old picking up an instrument for the first time sort of way. Yes the best violinists spend a lifetime honing their craft, but they also play on instruments hand carved by master Luthiers who also spend a lifetime perfecting their skills. Don’t get us wrong though, we think it’s just as much fun as that
3D printed guitar
.
[flickr video=http://www.flickr.com/photos/ranjit/5467697896/ w=470]
[Thanks Matt] | 8 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "354447",
"author": "Frits Rincker",
"timestamp": "2011-03-10T21:13:47",
"content": "A violin’s shape is kinda the quintesence of the thing..This is a shoebox with stings..",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "354457",
"author": "... | 1,760,377,250.738984 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/03/10/domo-kun-robot-achieves-balance-sans-gyroscope/ | Domo Kun Robot Achieves Balance Sans Gyroscope | Mike Nathan | [
"Robots Hacks",
"Toy Hacks"
] | [
"Domo Kun",
"robot",
"self balancing"
] | Most self-balancing robots use some sort of circuitry like gyroscopes or accelerometers to keep them upright. Some bots however, can achieve nearly the same effect by far less complicated means.
Meet the
Domo Kun wobbly bot
, created by [Chein]. The robot is essentially a pendulum, where the pivot point is even with the wheel axle. The base of the robot is loaded with batteries, motors, and weights, all of which keep the robot relatively steady while zooming about the room. A light balsa wood frame was fitted to the top of the metal chassis, and a thin cardboard Domo Kun shell was mounted on top of that. The robot is driven using the remote control circuitry that he stripped from a toy car. He also mentions that the positioning of the batteries and weights is key to getting the robot to balance and roll properly – something that took several attempts to get just right.
Now if he could only program it to autonomously chase kittens…
Be sure to check out the pair of videos we have below of the robot chassis in testing as well as the final product.
[via
HackedGadgets
]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Z4xyXQy96Y&w=470]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0iqeKu1R2o&w=470] | 14 | 14 | [
{
"comment_id": "354417",
"author": "INquiRY",
"timestamp": "2011-03-10T20:41:20",
"content": "It does not balance.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "354419",
"author": "brad",
"timestamp": "2011-03-10T20:42:24",
"content": "the invisi... | 1,760,377,250.792515 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/03/10/sound-sensitive-android-figure-speaks-in-morse-code/ | Sound-sensitive Android Figure Speaks In Morse Code | Mike Nathan | [
"Toy Hacks"
] | [
"android",
"led",
"piezo"
] | Instructables user [tanbata] recently got his hands on a Google Anroid figurine and thought that while it looked great, it served no real purpose. He decided to change that, and converted this once-useless hunk of plastic into a
miniature robot that moves and responds to sound
.
He pried of the head of the figure and got busy fitting a servo into the Android’s body to enable head movement. An ATiny was added to control the figure, along with a microphone to enable it to respond to sound. A piezo was inserted to relay Morse code messages, and a handful of LEDs were installed in the body cavity and eyes of the figure just for kicks.
When the bot is powered on and senses a loud enough sound, the eyes light, the head spins from side to side, and the robot spouts off a random message in Morse code as you can see in the video below.
It’s not the most advanced project out there, but with a few tweaks, it could make for a great USB-powered email or IM notification system for your PC. Better yet, it’s a great project to do with a child who is interested in electronics, since they get to make a cool robot toy they can keep.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ew876S8voJY&w=470] | 16 | 15 | [
{
"comment_id": "354404",
"author": "BadWolf",
"timestamp": "2011-03-10T20:25:52",
"content": "That is cool.Add a wireless module and you got yourself a morse code feed reader =D",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "354409",
"author": "Buddhafw",... | 1,760,377,250.841412 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/03/10/thursday-give-kicad-a-try-heres-how/ | Give KiCAD A Try. Here’s How | Mike Szczys | [
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"eagle",
"gerber",
"KiCAD",
"pcb"
] | Up to this point we’ve used Eagle CAD as our exclusive PCB design and schematic layout tool. But [Brian] has inspired us to try something different thanks to
his KiCAD tutorial
.
KiCAD is an open source printed circuit board design tool. Since we like to rock the Linux here at Hackaday getting our hands on this was as easy as:
sudo apt-get install kicad
The version in the Ubuntu 10.04 repositories is a bit older but seemed to work just fine. [Brian] jumps right in with one of our most dreaded tasks on Eagle, designing your own parts. He knows of a nice online tool for automatic KiCAD part generation and walks through the process of building a voltage regulator and importing it for use in your own personal library From there it’s off to layout a power supply schematic for a breadboard PSU. The lesson continues with board layer, as well as the process used for exporting data for PCB fab house. We think this tutorial works well if you’re already familiar with PCB layout using a different software package but it moves a bit fast if this is your first time.
KiCAD seems like a nice tool and we’ve heard from many advocates in the comments over the years. Look for our next PCB design to be on KiCAD as we just need to use it for a while before passing judgement. | 45 | 43 | [
{
"comment_id": "354360",
"author": "Bob",
"timestamp": "2011-03-10T19:30:34",
"content": "I use KiCAD because I make bigger boards than the free Eagle allows. But I’m uneasy about the library of parts. I don’t grok its organization (maybe there isn’t any organization, since parts are contributed by... | 1,760,377,250.92252 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/03/10/diy-hot-air-reflow-station/ | DIY Hot Air Reflow Station | Mike Szczys | [
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"atmega644",
"pid",
"reflow",
"thermocouple"
] | Add to you bench tools by
building this hot air reflow station
. [Tobi] had a difficult time and was getting frustrated with the reflow oven he was building. He ditched that and set out on this project after drawing inspiration from
a hot-air pencil project
.
Pictured above is the business end of the device. On the right you can see the tubing that delivers air from an aquarium pump. At the center of the probe is a glass tube containing the heating element. A thermocouple is monitored by an ATmega644 to maintain the desired air temperature which can be dialed in on the base unit. This thing can put out air that’s around 500 degrees Celsius which has cause some problems with melted tubing and singed spacers. The final design includes a cover that fits over everything and hopefully provides adequate thermal isolation for the user’s hand.
[Tobi’s] base unit include faceplates for the front and back milled out of copper clad board. This really makes the tool look a bit more trustworthy. He assures us that there is a demonstration video on the way. | 10 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "354266",
"author": "DeadlyFoez",
"timestamp": "2011-03-10T18:10:03",
"content": "No thanks. I’d rather stick with a professionally built hot air station. I can see this thing being a rather big fire and personal injury hazard.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": ... | 1,760,377,251.403987 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/03/10/thursday-gsm-tracking-without-gps/ | GSM Tracking Without GPS | Mike Szczys | [
"Cellphone Hacks"
] | [
"google",
"gps",
"gsm",
"maps"
] | If you use the Google Maps Mobile function then the big G knows where you are even if your phone doesn’t have a GPS module in it. So the next time you want geolocation capabilities in a project consider building around GSM functionality which can also be used for Internet connectivity. That’s
exactly what this module does
and luckily the hard work has already been done for you.
The method really hinges on a couple of things. First of all, any GSM capable device knows the information about the cell it is currently communicating with. Secondly, Google knows the coordinates of radio towers used in the cellular mobile network. A little bit of data sniffing on Google Maps Mobile app communications confirms how and when cell information is transferred between the device and the maps server. Take a look at
this series of write-ups
which go into detail about hardware, software, cell network location data, and communication protocols which Google hasn’t publicly documented. Sure you’re not going to have the accuracy we’ve come to enjoy with GPS, but this can get you pretty close.
[Thanks Boris] | 15 | 15 | [
{
"comment_id": "354211",
"author": "Ekaj",
"timestamp": "2011-03-10T17:13:35",
"content": "Oooh, yay, positioning information accurate to within 1000 meters or so. Lol.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "354228",
"author": "pod",
"timestam... | 1,760,377,251.622824 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/03/10/keyboard-converter-2-pack/ | Keyboard Converter 2 Pack | Kevin Dady | [
"HackIt",
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"adb",
"ps2",
"VUSB"
] | [REVENGE] pointed out a couple cool little project posts from the geekhack fourms converting vintage keyboards to USB with a Teensy. They both have VUSB support, so any avr micro controller that meets VUSB’s requirements in theory could be used.
First up is a
PS/2 to USB keyboard converter
, and while yes this has been done many times before, this one sports some extra features not often seen, like mouse keys, system and multimedia keys, and keymap customization. Instructions are also provided for use with a non USB enabled avr controller (like a mega 168, or 328) through the VUSB library (though with not all features available).
Next is pretty much the same thing, but it converts
Apple Desktop Bus to USB
, which is not exactly rare, but its lack of a clock serial signal, somewhat variable timing, and the fact that you wont find a bucket of Apple keyboards for a buck at the thrift store makes any ADB converter worth mentioning.
VUSB instructions seem to be the same for either, source is available and there are some cool pictures and info listed, and besides what is more fun than being able to plug your
Model M
into your netbook, or your
Apple Extended Keyboard
into your mac mini. | 14 | 13 | [
{
"comment_id": "354192",
"author": "Okram",
"timestamp": "2011-03-10T16:43:55",
"content": "I’m still using a model M from 1993 for gaming with great delight (my life partner however is not fond of the ‘music’ it produces late in the evening…). That’s the only part left from my first PC back then a... | 1,760,377,251.674459 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/03/10/interactive-punching-bag/ | Interactive Punching Bag | Kevin Dady | [
"Arduino Hacks"
] | [
"interactive",
"punching bag"
] | If you need a sparring partner, and do not want to be dependent on finding a willing partner at any random time, then maybe this
Interactive Punching Bag
will be some interest to you. [Lior], having studied Karate for a while now, originally envisioned a robotic arm that would punch at you using the Texas Instruments Chronos or the Microsoft Kinect as input, though after some initial messing around he decided to scrap that plan and thought “how hard is it to place some LEDs inside a punching bag and sense some force using an Arduino?”
After about a day and a half, using parts from around the shop and a trip to radio shack, he was able to complete his goal, and left some room to expand in the future. The bag currently features 3 resistive sensors, 3 LED’s, and is using a laptop for feedback, though an LCD is on its way. The expansion room allows for 3 more sensors and LED’s for twice the action and more complex games.
Speaking of games, the punching bag currently has 3 different exercise programs, as many punches as you can in 30 seconds mode, a programmable sequence mode, and random which occasionally punches back. Join us after the break for a quick video, and check out the page for details and a pile of pictures.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADbubYBdMqQ&w=450] | 6 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "354171",
"author": "Pete S",
"timestamp": "2011-03-10T16:06:17",
"content": "Sounds fun! What I was hoping for was a little more like Ivan Drago had in Rocky IV. Something that would show the power of the punches.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
... | 1,760,377,251.877873 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/03/10/hackerspace-camera-rig-auto-alerts-the-internets-when-projects-are-finished/ | Hackerspace Camera Rig Auto-alerts The Internets When Projects Are Finished | Mike Nathan | [
"digital cameras hacks",
"Video Hacks"
] | [
"camera",
"hackerspace",
"video",
"youtube"
] | It seems like every hackerspace has their own means of communicating status messages to their members. The hackers at [MetaLab] in Vienna have put together a
rather novel way
(
Google translation
) of letting the world know they have completed a project. While some hackerspaces simply notify their members that they are
open for business
, this hack takes things a step further.
When a project is deemed complete, the camera is removed from the dock, and any number of videos can be recorded. When the camera is returned to the dock, a canned introduction video is added to the recordings, then everything is automatically uploaded to YouTube. No extra time is required, no video editing needs to be done – their work hits the Internet immediately once they have finished filming it.
It’s a great idea, and something that every hackerspace should have. It would be even better to see these things installed in public areas to allow for immediate reporting of events as they occur.
If you are so inclined, be sure to check out [MetaLab’s]
YouTube channel
.
[via
Make
] | 5 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "354149",
"author": "Whatnot",
"timestamp": "2011-03-10T15:05:58",
"content": "“no video editing needs to be done” uhm…",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "354152",
"author": "elektrophreak",
"timestamp": "2011-03-10T15:20:09... | 1,760,377,251.714424 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/03/10/youll-shoot-your-eye-out-with-a-1mw-laser-pulse-pistol/ | You’ll Shoot Your Eye Out…with A 1MW Laser Pulse Pistol | Mike Nathan | [
"Laser Hacks"
] | [
"gun",
"laser"
] | G.I. Joe used them to battle Cobra’s evil forces. Han solo shot his first in the Mos Eisley Cantina. For years, hand-held pulse laser guns have been something that existed only in the realm of cartoons and movies…until now.
German hacker [Patrick Priebe] recently constructed a
laser pulse gun
that looks so good, it could have easily come off a Hollywood movie set. Its sleek white and black exterior adds intrigue, but offers little warning as to how powerful the gun actually is.
Fitted with a Q-switched Nd:YAG laser, it fires off a 1 MW blast of infrared light once the capacitors have fully charged. The duration of the laser pulse is somewhere near 100ns, so he was unable to catch it on camera, but its effects are easily visible in whatever medium he has fired upon. The laser can burst balloons, shoot through plastic, and even blow a hole right through a razor blade.
[Patrick] says that he is more than happy to help out anyone looking to source parts and build one for their own use, so what are you waiting for?
Stick around for a quick demo video of the gun in action.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUXXGbNS8oY&w=470] | 144 | 50 | [
{
"comment_id": "354091",
"author": "herbicide",
"timestamp": "2011-03-10T13:20:47",
"content": "*head asplode*So the future’s finally here. Took it long enough.In all seriousness, this is utterly awesome.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "354094"... | 1,760,377,252.079144 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/03/09/pc-casemod-inspired-benchtop-psu/ | PC Casemod-inspired Benchtop PSU | Mike Nathan | [
"Parts",
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"benchtop",
"power supply",
"psu",
"tools"
] | [Will] had a cheap power supply sitting around, and decided to turn it into a
full-featured benchtop PSU
. Inspired by some of the other
benchtop
supplies
we have featured in the past, he decided that he wanted his PSU to be more than just a simple-looking box sitting on his work bench. Taking some cues from PC case modding, he put together a unit that is not only very useful, but also quite sharp looking.
The frame of the case was crafted from aluminum angle, while all of the other flat surfaces were made using black polycarbonate. He installed the standard 12v, 3.3v, and 5v terminals you would expect from any benchtop PSU, complete with an LCD display showing the voltages provided by each rail as measured by an Arduino stationed inside the case. Additionally, he installed a variable terminal capable of providing 1.3v-30v, along with its own LCD display. The most unique feature is the multimeter embedded in the front of the case, which makes it virtually impossible to lose.
The case is finished off as you might expect, if you have seen any of his
previous work
. It features LED lighting on the inside, large fans on either side of the case for optimal air flow, and a pair of machined aluminum handles.
Be sure to check out the quick video below of the PSU being powered on.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9t3CTwdcNI&w=470] | 28 | 28 | [
{
"comment_id": "353542",
"author": "pcmofo",
"timestamp": "2011-03-09T23:08:50",
"content": "This is a bit eccentric with all of the flashing lights but I like the concept of using a micro controller to easily read voltages and display accurate power supply info.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth... | 1,760,377,252.141939 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/03/09/diy-wireless-keylogger-makes-you-feel-like-james-bond-in-your-own-little-world/ | DIY Wireless Keylogger Makes You Feel Like James Bond (In Your Own Little World) | Mike Nathan | [
"Security Hacks",
"Wireless Hacks"
] | [
"keylogger",
"spying",
"wireless"
] | Do you need to keep tabs on the kids while they browse the Internet? How about your husband/wife – do you suspect they are dabbling in extra-curriculars on the side? Hey, you’ve got your
insecurities
reasons, we won’t judge. We will however, show you what [Jerry] over at Keelog has been working on lately.
While the company sells hardware keylogger kits online, [Jerry] has relied on, and understands the importance of open source. Since we all benefit from things being open, he is giving away all of the details for one of his most recent projects,
a wireless keylogger
. The keylogger plugs in to a PC’s PS/2 port, and wirelessly sends data to a nearby USB dongle up to 20 yards away, all in real-time.
A detailed parts list is provided, as are schematics, PCB masks, firmware, and assembly instructions. However, if you prefer the easier route, you can always buy the completed product or a DIY kit.
This isn’t the first open source keylogger he has released, so be sure to check out his previous work if you prefer a
wired keylogging
solution. | 15 | 13 | [
{
"comment_id": "353565",
"author": "xeracy",
"timestamp": "2011-03-09T23:58:15",
"content": "federal wiretapping laws, anyone?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "353579",
"author": "Asdd`",
"timestamp": "2011-03-10T00:05:21",
"content"... | 1,760,377,252.279711 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/03/09/simple-fluidyne-engine/ | Simple Fluidyne Engine | Mike Szczys | [
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"fluidyne engine",
"induction",
"sterling engine"
] | [Mirslav]
built this fuidyne engine himself
. This is a single piston model but you won’t find any precision milled cylinders here. That’s because
fluidyne engines
use columns of water as the pistons. In the rig shown above you can see one metal pipe which serves as the cold side of the loop. There’s another hot pipe underneath the insulation that completes the circuit. When that pipe is heated it causes the air inside the loop to expand, forcing the liquid on the open side of the plastic tubing (to the left) to rise. Once that air escapes to the other side of the circuit the water piston in the open tube falls back again. This results in continuous oscillation that can be used to drive a pump using a pair of check valves.
We’ve embedded a couple of videos after the break. You’ll see the system tested by heating one pipe with a hot air gun. But the example seen above uses an induction coil to bring the heat. | 20 | 18 | [
{
"comment_id": "353493",
"author": "Sodor",
"timestamp": "2011-03-09T21:56:30",
"content": "WTF is that???, is that a big HHD?? (right to mother board).I know that are biggers HDD than this, but c’mon guys !!!!1",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "... | 1,760,377,251.98585 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/03/09/header-file-brings-arduino-sketches-to-the-ti-launchpad/ | Header File Brings Arduino Sketches To The TI Launchpad | Mike Szczys | [
"Microcontrollers"
] | [
"arduino",
"header file",
"ide",
"launchpad",
"msp430",
"ti"
] | [Chris Hulbert] is making it easy for Arduino users to program MSP430 chips with
a header file that allows you to compile Arduino sketches for the Launchpad
. This makes sense, as the growing number of Arduino sketches available, and the low cost of the TI Launchpad make for a good bedfellows. It’s really wasn’t that hard to make this happen, although you’re not going to find support for all of the Arduino functions just yet.
At the time of writing, [Chris] has just 51 lines of code committed to the project. It provides macros for setup(), loop(), delay(), pinMode(), pinBit(), digitalWrite(), and digitalRead(). You’ll notice that one of the most important parts of the header file is that it disables the watchdog timer for the user (a stumbling block for many MSP430 beginners). It’s an interesting solution, but to be truly useful we’d want to see hardware integration with the Arduino IDE. That, as well as the rest of the Arduino functions are at the tips of your fingers. Get coding and submit your push requests to [Chris] for inclusion in his repository.
[Thanks Chris] | 31 | 31 | [
{
"comment_id": "353294",
"author": "r_d",
"timestamp": "2011-03-09T20:07:58",
"content": "Something about this makes me cringe. I’m not sure what.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "353321",
"author": "Mike Hogan",
"timestamp": "2011-03-0... | 1,760,377,252.35327 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/03/09/mechanical-engineering-primer/ | Mechanical Engineering Primer | Mike Szczys | [
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"gear",
"lever",
"mechanical advantage",
"mechanical engineering",
"pulley"
] | So you’re master of electrons; able to program multiple chip architectures without batting an eye. Good for you. The only problem is that blinking LEDs gets boring after a while and you’re going to want to do something else. Here’s a chance to expand on your physical construction skills. Make: Skill Set is
sharing the first chapter from the book
Making Things Move
by [Dustyn Roberts].
This chapter, which comes in PDF form, covers simple machines. It’ll guide you through the three different types of levers, including examples of how you use these in your everyday life. Next it’s on to pulley systems, wheels and axles, inclined planes and wedges, screws, and gears. [Dustyn] rounds out the chapter by talking about how these concepts are combined into machines like the Rube-Goldberg device seen above. Take some time to look this chapter over and then put it on the holds list from your public library if you’re interested in reading more. | 12 | 12 | [
{
"comment_id": "353354",
"author": "DrAvIn",
"timestamp": "2011-03-09T20:25:32",
"content": "i cheat at this part … mechanical prototypes are allways meccano or erector set lmao",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "353458",
"author": "JC",
"... | 1,760,377,251.937389 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/03/09/android-skips-uncanny-valley-fills-in-at-the-office-for-you/ | Android Skips Uncanny Valley – Fills In At The Office For You | Mike Szczys | [
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"android",
"facial recognition",
"uncanny valley"
] | For those that are unaware, Androids are often judged by where they fall on the uncanny valley curve, a graph that maps human revulsion to robots that closely resemble humans but are just a bit off (similar to how a corpse resembles a living person). This offering jumps right over that dip of the curve and takes its rightful place as a human stand-in. Well, except that you’re probably going to notice the limbless torso… but pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!
This is the result of
research by Geminoid Lab at Aalborg University
. It is the twin of its creator and in an effort to be as human as possible, movements are mimicked using facial recognition from a human operator. We’d bet that with some clever learning routines you can map out and index common mannerisms from the original person for later use with this body-snatcher-esque copy. Take a look at the clips after the break; we don’t think you’ll be creeped out at all.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzwK02OYrTk&w=470]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZlLNVmaPbM&w=470]
[via
IEEE Spectrum
and
Crunchgear
] | 51 | 50 | [
{
"comment_id": "353206",
"author": "knetcomp",
"timestamp": "2011-03-09T18:15:07",
"content": "Yeah…it’s all fun and games until skynet becomes a reality D:",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "353209",
"author": "Stevie",
"timestamp": "2011... | 1,760,377,252.44243 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/03/09/automatic-lock-cracker-makes-breaking-and-entering-a-breeze/ | Automatic Lock Cracker Makes Breaking And Entering A Breeze | Mike Nathan | [
"Robots Hacks",
"Security Hacks"
] | [
"cracker",
"masterlock",
"robot"
] | For most people, forgetting the combination on a lock means breaking out the bolt cutters and chopping off the lock. Some students at the [Olin College of Engineering] decided there was a far more elegant way to do the job, so
they built an automated lock-cracking machine
.
The machine consists of a clamp to hold the lock, a solenoid to pull the lock open, and a stepper motor to run through the combinations. Most of the processing is done on the attached computer, using software they created. The application will brute-force all of the possible combinations if you request it, but it also allows you to enter the first, second, or third numbers of the combination if you happen to remember them.
Once the machine is started, the motor begins spinning the lock and the solenoid yanks on the latch until the combination is discovered, which takes a maximum of about two hours to complete. The opening of the latch trips a limit switch and causes the mechanism to stop. A simple button press then returns the lock’s combination to the user.
Be sure to check out the video embedded below of the lock cracker in action.
[via
Wired
]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUilAoRzAj4&w=470] | 43 | 43 | [
{
"comment_id": "353144",
"author": "APerson",
"timestamp": "2011-03-09T17:15:37",
"content": "http://hackaday.com/2009/10/06/how-to-crack-a-master-lock/2 much faster ways than 2 hrs of brute forcing. neat device the students here have cooked up and for some specialized application it may be useful,... | 1,760,377,252.51883 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/03/09/lightweight-robosuit-is-like-stilts-on-steroids/ | Lightweight Robosuit Is Like Stilts On Steroids | Mike Nathan | [
"Misc Hacks",
"Transportation Hacks"
] | [
"exoskeleton",
"mech",
"robot",
"suit"
] | What would you do if you were a foot or two taller? How about if you had an arm span two times as wide as you have now?
A group of Japanese engineering students asked themselves the same question and
built a wearable chassis that does just that
. Their project is called “Sukerutonikusu”, which we believe roughly translates to: “This is freaking awesome, we’ll take two!”. [Thopter] however informs us that it translates to “Skeletonics”, a fusion of the words “skeleton” and “mechanics”.
The suit is comprised of lightweight aluminum pipes and sheeting, allowing for it to be powered solely by the person wearing it. Stepping inside the chassis looks like it lifts the wearer about a foot and a half off the ground, while increasing their wingspan by nearly 6 feet! In the video embedded below you can see that while in the suit, the wearer is quite agile, and even has the ability to run at a decent tick.
If this ever comes to market, you can bet we will buy one in a heartbeat – until then, we will have to settle for making RoboCop sounds as we walk about the office.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdPpWy_O09k&w=470] | 49 | 49 | [
{
"comment_id": "353077",
"author": "benboy00",
"timestamp": "2011-03-09T16:06:55",
"content": "Presumably you mean “comprises” or “composed of”",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "353080",
"author": "Mike",
"timestamp": "2011-03-09T16:10:11... | 1,760,377,252.600362 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/03/09/a-555-synthesizer/ | A 555 Synthesizer | Kevin Dady | [
"classic hacks",
"Musical Hacks"
] | [
"555",
"synth"
] | Inspired by the memory of a childhood electronics kit, [Frank] decided to make a new
555 Synthesizer
and enter it into the 555 contest. [Frank’s] remake is played with a stylus, and sports an attack and release envelope circuit, housed in a quick but effective acrylic case.
Using a single 555 timer, a hand full of capacitors, two transistors, and a healthy dose of resistors and potentiometers, the sound is quite impressive thanks to optional filtering, enveloping, and a lot of fine tuning. Full schematics, bill of materials, formulas, and board files are all available along with sources for some of the more specialized potentiometers.
Join us after the break for a ~13 minute long video, which is pretty cool, as it shows the device from prototype, and does some fast forward action though to the final product pictured above, though if you just want a demo of the 555 synth fast forward to 10:44
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUx0FtTQ460&w=450] | 12 | 12 | [
{
"comment_id": "353052",
"author": "elektrophreak",
"timestamp": "2011-03-09T15:36:11",
"content": "looks like lots of fun :)",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "353068",
"author": "twopartepoxy",
"timestamp": "2011-03-09T15:56:10",
"co... | 1,760,377,252.651122 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/03/09/arduino-thermo-cam/ | Arduino Thermo-cam | Kevin Dady | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"ir",
"themocam"
] | [Maxbot] wanted a inferared themo-cam that he could use to scan an area and display the results on his computer, the result is this
Cheap-Thermocam
. This little device is a inexpensive thermal sensor mounted on a pair of servo’s for XY scanning, custom java software and an Arudino to mate the two.
The sanner does a limited but still useful resolution of 42×32 pixels. To help out with smoothness of the colors, every other line of the finished product is interpolated against its neighbors. It takes the device about two minutes to measure each of the 1344 points, but what it lacks in speed it more than makes up for in cost, boasting around 100$ build cost, and ease of construction.
While exact details of what parts you need and how to hook everything up is lacking at this moment, there is a page in the works that will let you know all the good details “soon”, though if you are inspired to replicate one of these nifty devices it seems the most difficult part would be tapping into the sensor’s electronics and the custom software.
Cheap, hacky, and even comes with its own roll of duct tape. We have a short video for you after the break.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVilpSSpkDc&w=450] | 31 | 31 | [
{
"comment_id": "352999",
"author": "CutThroughStuffGuy",
"timestamp": "2011-03-09T14:20:16",
"content": "The sanner.SANNING COMPLETE CAPTAIN!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "353001",
"author": "lordicewind",
"timestamp": "2011-03-09T14:... | 1,760,377,252.781254 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/03/09/dslr-bellows-mounted-lens-retrofit/ | DSLR Bellows-mounted Lens Retrofit | Mike Nathan | [
"classic hacks",
"digital cameras hacks"
] | [
"bellows",
"dslr",
"lens",
"retrofit"
] | While digging through a pile of old camera equipment, [Jake] stumbled upon a camera that belonged to his grandfather and was curious to see what sorts of images the old lens would produce. He wasn’t interested in messing around with a film-based camera for his experiments, so he needed to
find a way to mount the vintage lens
on his newer Canon DSLR.
After considering several options including custom machined adapters and mounting rings built from old Canon lenses, he found a much cheaper solution. He purchased a lens adapter made to mount a particular type of lens to a modern DSLR, and then modified it to fit his lens. It worked perfectly, though he admits the resulting images are not that different than those taken with his regular lens.
Underwhelmed with the images, he decided to mount the lens on a set of bellows he picked up at the local dump. It looks pretty neat, but he has yet to get a chance to take any pictures with his new setup. Hopefully we’ll see some test shots soon.
If anyone has experience with using bellows lenses on a modern DSLR, we’re always up for seeing some sample pictures. In the meantime, check out this
other DSLR/bellows hybrid
project we featured a short while back.
[via
BoingBoing
] | 15 | 15 | [
{
"comment_id": "352905",
"author": "Kris Lee",
"timestamp": "2011-03-09T13:12:00",
"content": "The first link is broken.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "352950",
"author": "Renee",
"timestamp": "2011-03-09T13:43:07",
"content": "It’... | 1,760,377,252.718514 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/03/08/beginner-concepts-in-electronics-and-arduino/ | Beginner Concepts In Electronics And Arduino | Mike Nathan | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"how-to"
] | [
"arduino",
"tutorials"
] | [Jeremy] is all about the Arduino, but also into helping people get started working with electronics. He has put together a series of videos on his web site which discuss the basics of using an Arduino. Having
just published his tenth tutorial
, he dropped us a line to let us know. His videos cover a wide range of topics and include source code, schematics, and a full parts list to help you follow along with him.
While the core of his lessons focus specifically on how to use the Arduino to perform particular tasks, he does introduce the viewer to many different concepts along the way. He covers PWM, button debouncing, interrupts, SPI communications, analog inputs, and more – all of which are must-know topics that extend beyond the realm of experimenting with Arduinos.
The videos run anywhere from 6 to 20 minutes in length, so you will want to set a block of time aside if you plan on checking them out.
If Arduino-specific videos aren’t your thing, he also has a series of
general tech-related videos
on his site as well which may be of interest. Otherwise, stick around to see the latest in his series of tutorials.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRJUdf5TTQQ&w=470] | 25 | 25 | [
{
"comment_id": "352288",
"author": "MrXX",
"timestamp": "2011-03-08T23:16:22",
"content": "Not to be a troll but are we supposed to keep watching after he says “it is going to be much fun” without any facial expression whatsoever? The guy feels like a robot talking from beginning to the end. The vi... | 1,760,377,252.839943 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/03/08/cnc-built-r2-d2-brings-childhood-dreams-to-life/ | CNC-built R2-D2 Brings Childhood Dreams To Life | Mike Nathan | [
"cnc hacks",
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"cnc",
"droid",
"r2d2",
"star wars"
] | As a kid, [Wes] always dreamed of building a full-size, functional R2-D2 droid from Star Wars. While most youthful aspirations such as this fall to the wayside amid adult responsibilities and commitments, he did not allow his dreams to disappear along with his childhood.
He began
his droid-building journey
armed only with his dreams and some assistance from the friendly folks over at
R2Builders
. The entire replica was built using MDF, wood, and styrene sheeting, along with just one tool: a CNC machine. He walks you through the every step of the construction, stopping to give recommendations on CNC hardware, software, etc. along the way. He also provides Gcode files for each of the pieces he has constructed, which should be a huge help to anyone looking to build a R2-D2 clone of their own.
It looks like he is just getting around to fitting motors into the leg housings of his R2-D2 replica, but we can’t wait to see what it looks like once he has all of the electronics and other details finished.
If you are interested in more R2-D2 coverage, look no further than
right
here
. | 7 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "352217",
"author": "fred",
"timestamp": "2011-03-08T22:13:35",
"content": "Looking at the video, it certainly looks like he is using more than just one tool.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "352415",
"author": "strider_mt2k",... | 1,760,377,252.884584 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/03/08/laptop-bios-password-recovery-using-a-simple-dongle/ | Laptop BIOS Password Recovery Using A Simple Dongle | Mike Nathan | [
"laptops hacks",
"Security Hacks"
] | [
"bios",
"laptop",
"notebook",
"password"
] | In his line of work, Instructables user [Harrymatic] sees a lot of Toshiba laptops come across his desk, some of which are protected with a BIOS password. Typically, in order to make it past the BIOS lockout and get access to the computer, he would have to open the laptop case and short the CMOS reset pins or pull the CMOS battery. The process is quite tedious, so he prefers to use a simpler method,
a parallel loopback plug
.
The plug itself is pretty easy to build. After soldering a handful of wires to the back of a standard male D-sub 25 connector in the arrangement shown in his tutorial, he was good to go. When a laptop is powered on with the plug inserted, the BIOS password is cleared, and the computer can be used as normal.
It should be said that he is only positive that this works with the specific Toshiba laptop models he lists in his writeup. It would be interesting to see this tried with other laptop brands to see if they respond in the same way.
Since no laptops are manufactured with parallel ports these days, do you have some tips or tricks for recovering laptop BIOS passwords? Be sure to share them with us in the comments. | 49 | 42 | [
{
"comment_id": "352150",
"author": "NishaKitty",
"timestamp": "2011-03-08T21:08:58",
"content": "I’m not sure why this made the news it is old as and doesn’t even work on the latest models of Toshiba since no one uses LTP ports on laptops anymore as far as I know. Slow news day?",
"parent_id": ... | 1,760,377,252.985126 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/03/08/soda-bottle-skylights/ | Soda Bottle Skylights | Mike Szczys | [
"green hacks"
] | [
"bleach",
"bottle",
"skylight",
"soda",
"sun"
] | Here’s a way to brighten up enclosed spaces in an environmentally friendly way. The power of
the sun is harnessed using a bottle full of water
. Quite simply they’re used 2-liter soda bottles. They’ve been filled with water along with two caps worth of bleach to keep microorganisms out. The cap is then covered with a film canister to protect it from the sun. They are installed through holes in the roof, and in full sun they put out the equivalent of a 50 watt incandescent light bulb.
Our first thought is keeping the weather out but that is addressed in the video after the break. With proper weather sealing they do not leak. We might not be installing them in the house just yet, but what a great addition to that dark shed that has no electricity and seems to gobble up yard implements. Perhaps we’ll finally be able to find all of those hand trowels that have gone missing.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zMAWztZ6TI&w=470] | 57 | 47 | [
{
"comment_id": "352106",
"author": "Gert",
"timestamp": "2011-03-08T20:17:44",
"content": "Damn, the color of the light is way better than the lightbulb. It looks like light coming through a window. Without all the heatThis is something they could use in third-world countries.I’m thinking of implem... | 1,760,377,253.107587 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/03/08/on-the-go-desktop/ | On-the-go Desktop | Mike Szczys | [
"computer hacks"
] | [
"case",
"door stop",
"toolbox",
"wood"
] | Here’s
a desktop you can take with you
. [Rbean] built it at a hackerspace in Milwaukee, Wisconsin (go Badgers!) using very basic materials and techniques. The utilitarian construction of the wooden body reminds us of
Cub Scout tool box
projects. It features an open space in the top which house the keyboard and mouse during travel. The blue strap lets you sling all forty pounds over one shoulder, but we’d also love to see a thick dowel to go along with the toolbox concept we’ve got stuck in our mind.
The lower half of the case is removable, serving as the mounting area for what looks like a mini ITX motherboard, hard drive, and full-sized power supply. As you can see the LCD screen mounts to the side of the box which allows you to rest the unit on its side and protects the display if the whole thing were to be knocked over. [Rbean] mentions that he’d like to try another revision using aluminum instead of wood, but we like this version. The only thing we’d want to see added is a set of speakers mounted inside the case on either side of the monitor. | 22 | 22 | [
{
"comment_id": "352058",
"author": "wosser",
"timestamp": "2011-03-08T19:13:30",
"content": "It’s the tablet PC principle – a portable PC that weights as much as a granite tablet.Nice construction. I wonder how well this thing copes with the unwanted ingress of metal filings or sawdust.PS. is that... | 1,760,377,253.242026 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/03/08/controlling-fire-with-your-mind-and-your-thumb/ | Controlling Fire With Your Mind (and Your Thumb) | Mike Szczys | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"Toy Hacks"
] | [
"flame",
"lighter",
"mindflex",
"servo"
] | [TechB] is
using his mind to control fire
. Well, what he’s really doing is using a Mindflex to control a lighter.
Many will remember the Mindflex from
this shockingly awesome hack
. But [TechB’s] approach follows in the footsteps of
this Arduino interface for the device
. He’s using the Arduino Brain Library to read data from the head-mounted EEG and sending commands to his own fire control system. Said system is composed of a cigarette lighter and a servo motor. The motor connects to the gas regulator on the lighter, opening it up when you concentrate and closing it when your mind wanders. The result is a higher flame to show more organized brain function. The only problem with the prototype is the burns you’ll get on your thumb from depressing the lighter’s valve while trying to get your thoughts in order.
Check out the video after the break to see this in action. [TechB] is looking a bit like the Borg at the beginning of the clip, making us wonder what other Mindflex hacks he’s already performed.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXFMwYrmG8U&w=470] | 6 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "352029",
"author": "nafkin",
"timestamp": "2011-03-08T18:36:00",
"content": "I tried this, and got virtually no consistent results with the Mindflex. :(",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "352407",
"author": "Tech B.",
"time... | 1,760,377,253.288081 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/03/08/can-sniffing-for-steering-wheel-button-presses/ | CAN Sniffing For Steering Wheel Button Presses | Mike Szczys | [
"Microcontrollers",
"Transportation Hacks"
] | [
"16f876",
"CAN",
"mcp2515",
"mcp2551",
"pic",
"steering wheel"
] | You can make those buttons on your steering wheel much more functional if you have a way of monitoring them. Don’t even think of cracking open the factory finish to get to the solder points, just
tap into the CAN bus and monitor the data traffic
.
The small board seen above is the result of a project [Peter Shabino] calls the CAN sniffer. The connector on the left will plug into the Control Area Network system on your car, giving the chips on board something to do. There’s an MCP2551 CAN transceiver (hidden under that linear regulator) and an SPI controlled MCP2515 CAN controller which take care of the particulars of the CAN protocol. The big chip in the middle is a PIC 16F876, responsible for making sense out of the data. From there a MAX232 chip is used to provide a serial interface to connect the device to a computer.
This really isn’t tied down to one particular function. Once you have access to the bus for a microcontroller you’ll only be limited by your firmware writing skills. [Peter] has posted an archive with all of the open source files, as well as an illustrated step-by-step board assembly. We’ve embedded the schematic from that archive after the break. | 32 | 29 | [
{
"comment_id": "351937",
"author": "Hrpuffnstuff",
"timestamp": "2011-03-08T16:57:36",
"content": "This is EXACTLY what I wanted to use my Prius steering wheel controls to control my mp3 carputer.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "351945",
"a... | 1,760,377,253.357931 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/03/08/ssd-flex-connector-to-sata/ | SSD Flex Connector To SATA | Kevin Dady | [
"laptops hacks",
"Netbook Hacks"
] | [
"sata",
"ssd"
] | [Scott] was trying to fix a laptop, and we all know how that sometimes ends. Having a spare 128GB solid state drive and a Dell Mini 10 netbook to shove it in, there was only one problem, the drive did not have SATA connectors. That problem was taken care of like a pro with this
FPC to SATA converter
.
Inspired by our recent spot about
Speeding up a ThinkPad
, he was able to find information about the FPC connector from a similar Samsung model, order a SATA connector, FPC zero force connector and matching 24pin jumper. From there a board is designed to connect the two interfaces, taking notes of how other drives have their SATA traces laid out to ensure proper function.
The board is etched and connectors soldered, with every thing plugged in and tested, a little bit of glue is used to hold everything in the stock netbook’s drive sled, resulting in really fast boot times, and a factory look. | 9 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "351913",
"author": "Will",
"timestamp": "2011-03-08T16:09:21",
"content": "must be nice to have a spare 128GB SSD laying around….",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "351928",
"author": "pod",
"timestamp": "2011-03-08T16:49:3... | 1,760,377,253.405375 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/03/08/twittering-wall-switch-lets-dutch-hackers-know-when-its-time-to-play/ | Twittering Wall Switch Lets Dutch Hackers Know When It’s Time To Play | Mike Nathan | [
"Hackerspaces",
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"notification",
"switches",
"twitter"
] | Hack42, a hackerspace in Arnhem, Netherlands recently moved into some new digs, and they wanted an easy way to let their members know whether they were open or not. Fixed hours of operation typically do not fit this sort of organization, so that was out of the question. Instead, they
built a switch into the wall**
that will let their members know when they are open for business.
The switch separates the TX and RX pins of two Ethernet ports that reside in an old access point embedded in the wall. When the hackerspace is open, the switch is thrown and the circuit is closed. A cron job checks the state of the eth1 port once a minute, sending the “Open” status message to Twitter and IRC once it notices the status change. When the switch is thrown again and the eth1 port goes down, a “Closed” message is broadcast.
It is a simple but cool hack, and quite befitting of a hackerspace.
**No direct Google Translate link is available, though Chrome will translate it for you without issue.
[Thanks, _Danny_] | 27 | 27 | [
{
"comment_id": "351881",
"author": "griffon",
"timestamp": "2011-03-08T15:32:45",
"content": "ACK! the poor twisted pair!the kludge! it makes me cringe!much more respect would be given if they used a GPIO line on the router.i wonder if this upsets the router on the other end at all. (seems like a h... | 1,760,377,253.469347 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/03/08/shedding-some-light-on-your-kitchen-chores/ | Shedding Some Light On Your Kitchen Chores | Mike Nathan | [
"home hacks",
"LED Hacks"
] | [
"led",
"lighting",
"motion sensing"
] | [Garret] over at Macetech wanted to supplement the lighting over his kitchen sink, which is always too dark at night. He says his house is a “geek house”, so a standard light socket just wouldn’t do – he would have to
construct a LED bar for over the sink instead
.
Since nobody wants to use a light switch with wet or messy hands, he did what anyone would do and rigged up a motion detection circuit to automatically turn the lights on and off for him. 16 bright white 10mm LEDs were mounted in some foam core board, along with a PIR motion sensor. He used an ATiny84 to handle the PWM fade-in and fade-out of the lights, as well as to keep track of the activity (or lack thereof) at the sink.
He does admit that the ATiny84 is way overpowered for this project, but he lacked anything smaller, and says that 555 timers wouldn’t give him the smooth light fading that he desired. Regardless, it works as advertised, and now nobody has to peel potatoes in the dark any more.
Continue reading to check out a quick video demo of the motion-sensing light system.
[flickr video=http://www.flickr.com/photos/macetech/5501558964/ w=470] | 13 | 13 | [
{
"comment_id": "351797",
"author": "Aaron",
"timestamp": "2011-03-08T14:10:35",
"content": "“bright wight” *cough*",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "351811",
"author": "Apexys",
"timestamp": "2011-03-08T14:37:33",
"content": "“and now... | 1,760,377,253.519749 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/03/08/coming-soon-to-a-store-near-you-remote-control-cockroaches/ | Coming Soon To A Store Near You: Remote-control Cockroaches | Mike Nathan | [
"Misc Hacks",
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"propeller",
"remote control",
"robots"
] | Given a box full of cockroaches, the first thing most of us would do is try to locate the nearest source of fire. Lucky for the roaches, the team over at Backyard Brains look at things a bit differently than we do.
Their latest effort combines cockroaches and electronics to create a
bio-electrical hybrid known as the RoboRoach
. Using control circuitry donated from a HexBug inchworm and some 555 timers to create properly timed pulses, they have been able to control the gross movement of cockroaches. Stimulation is directly delivered to the antennae nerves of the cockroaches, enabling them to tell the roach which direction to turn and when.
Currently there are some ahem, bugs in the system, which they are working diligently to resolve. Only about 25% of the roaches they wire up can be controlled at present. Once that ratio improves however, they will be looking to offer RoboRoach as a beta product. If you are aiming to add a beetle air force to supplement your remote-controlled cockroach army,
be sure to check this out
.
Continue reading to see a video of the RoboRoach in action.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04T5Zq6KPyY&w=470] | 36 | 36 | [
{
"comment_id": "351766",
"author": "PacoBell",
"timestamp": "2011-03-08T13:06:00",
"content": "I’ve always wanted to do this since I saw The Fifth Element as a kid! Someone tell me they didn’t think the exact same thing ;)",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"com... | 1,760,377,253.595271 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/03/07/hacker-classifieds-featured-find-free-sony-video-wall-projectors/ | Hacker Classifieds Featured Find: Free Sony Video Wall Projectors | Mike Nathan | [
"HackIt"
] | [
"classifieds",
"projectors"
] | [paulgeering] has a set of 10 video projectors, usually found inside Sony’s RVP 4010Q 40″ rear projection system that he must get rid of.
He is offering them up for free
to any Hack-a-Day reader that is interested. He doesn’t have the room to store them any longer, but he can’t bear to see them go into the trash. These projectors can still be found for sale online to the tune of $3500 apiece, making this an incredible bargain!
All he requests is that you either pick them up or pay for shipping from the UK. He is willing to part out the projectors and ship individual parts if requested.
If you do end up having one of these shipped to you, be sure to keep us posted on what you do with it. We would love to see some giant video wall hacks in the near future.
If you have something lying around that needs to go, be sure to post it
in our classifieds
. | 31 | 31 | [
{
"comment_id": "351267",
"author": "biozz",
"timestamp": "2011-03-08T00:29:19",
"content": "the flybacks in these things are HUGEif i had the shipment cash i would buy it in a heartbeat maybe make a home thieator XP",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id... | 1,760,377,253.804465 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/03/07/literally-turn-your-headset-into-a-handset/ | Literally Turn Your Headset Into A Handset | Mike Szczys | [
"Cellphone Hacks"
] | [
"bluetooth",
"dickens",
"gloves"
] | [Rachel’s]
Bluetooth glove
is proving that you don’t
have to be missing fingers to talk to the hand
. You can see in the video after the break that, like us, she wears fingerless gloves while typing to keep the cold from causing pain in her hands (it’s so cold in here it’s like we’re [Bob Cratchit]). So why not make those gloves multitaskers?
She cracked open a small Bluetooth headset to see if it would play nicely with her fuzzy purple gloves. A bit of wire and some shrink tubing allowed for the speaker and microphone to be moved a bit further from the circuit board. Once those components had been extended she pinned everything in place to make sure it fit the bill. The components were then sewn in place and a microswitch for answering calls was repositioned in the hollow of the wearer’s palm. Now you’re free to work the day away, with all of your incoming calls already at your fingertips.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAZv3nza2ew&w=470] | 17 | 17 | [
{
"comment_id": "351210",
"author": "biozz",
"timestamp": "2011-03-07T23:41:13",
"content": "i think this is the third one HAD posted …",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "351213",
"author": "apexys",
"timestamp": "2011-03-07T23:43:49",
... | 1,760,377,253.648858 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/03/07/14-4-kbps-modem-makes-excuses-for-everything/ | 14.4 Kbps Modem Makes Excuses For Everything | Mike Szczys | [
"Microcontrollers"
] | [
"16f690",
"excuse",
"modem",
"pic"
] | If your boss is like [Michael Scott] you probably find yourself in constant need of plausible reasons for your action or inaction. Now you won’t have to waste away the workday coming up with those ideas yourself because
this little box will always provide you with an excuse
. It’s actually a 14.4 Kbps modem, which brings back memories of the early ISP days when you’ve find banks of these in the corner to service incoming calls. [Alex] altered the circuit board to map out an ICSP port for the PIC 16F690 that controls the system. Just use your key to unlock the Emergency Excuse Generator and press the button to spit out a doozy. The 8,000 word memory on the microprocessor stores all of the excuses which can be combined a number of different ways based on
how the rules files is built
. This rule file is by far the most interesting part of the build and worth looking over.
We think this would be a nice addition to the
other office electronics you built
.
[via
Dangerous Prototypes
] | 14 | 14 | [
{
"comment_id": "351140",
"author": "Karl",
"timestamp": "2011-03-07T22:38:22",
"content": "Anyone besides me remember Madlibs?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "351144",
"author": "florinzgtrst",
"timestamp": "2011-03-07T22:46:42",
"c... | 1,760,377,253.914622 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/03/07/lilypad-bicycle-computer-reads-back-distance-in-beeps/ | Lilypad Bicycle Computer Reads Back Distance In Beeps | Mike Szczys | [
"Arduino Hacks"
] | [
"bicycle",
"computer",
"lilypad",
"morse code"
] | [Mark Fickett] finished
his own interesting take on a bicycle computer
. These wristwatch-sized devices normally mount to the handlebars and give feedback for current speed, trip distance, and many have options like cadence and heart rate. [Mark’s] has fewer features but it’s clean, simple, and does more than you’d think.
He used some denim to house the electronics which you can see mounted inside the frame of the bike. He’s chosen to use Lilypad components which are Arduino bits meant to be sewn into textiles. We’ve seen
a Morse Code keyer
using these components and this project is along the same lines. It reads wheel revolutions from a magnetic sensor mounted on the front fork. It has no LCD readout, but when you want to know how far you’ve traveled just press one button and the computer reads it back to in Morse Code played on a tiny piezo buzzer. This package hides one more nice option. Once you arrive home the trip data can be dumped onto a computer for easy graphing. Check out the video after the break to see these features in action.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yEmga_edk0&w=470]
[via
Dangerous Prototypes
] | 6 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "351132",
"author": "pod",
"timestamp": "2011-03-07T22:27:48",
"content": "morse code! how convenient! :D",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "351216",
"author": "biozz",
"timestamp": "2011-03-07T23:45:16",
"content": "its... | 1,760,377,254.002937 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/03/07/forum-addition-project-requests/ | Forum Addition: Project Requests | Mike Szczys | [
"News"
] | [
"forum",
"requests",
"white hat"
] | We’ve added
a new section to our forums called Requests and Commissions
. First, we can’t stress enough that
this is NOT a place to ask for help with illegal or illicit actions
. Hackaday has always been about hacking for good and that’s what motivated the creation of this forum. Time and again we’ve seen hackers helping out others by
modifying gaming controllers for the those in need
or
bringing mobility to the disabled
. The requests forum is a great place to ask for help with these types of projects, or just to team up with hackers that have skills in areas you don’t.
So swing by and check it out. The golden rule is keep it legal and keep it legit. And do remember that this is the Internet, so think about the decisions you are making. We’re not going to swoop in to save you if you end up getting scammed by a Nigerian prince to whom you sent a thousand dollars worth of parts to but didn’t receive a completed project in return. Any arrangements you make with another user are between you two, and do not involve us. | 9 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "350995",
"author": "avrpunk",
"timestamp": "2011-03-07T20:09:09",
"content": "Illegal or illicit in what jurisdiction?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "351004",
"author": "HARaaM",
"timestamp": "2011-03-07T20:16:49",
... | 1,760,377,253.960774 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/03/07/wiimote-based-whiteboard-lets-you-write-on-any-surface/ | Wiimote-based Whiteboard Lets You Write On Any Surface | Mike Nathan | [
"Nintendo Hacks",
"Nintendo Wii Hacks"
] | [
"propeller",
"whiteboard",
"wii",
"wiimote"
] | The Wiimote is a fantastic tool for hackers, given their affordability and how easy they are to work with. [Gareth] had a “eureka” moment while working on another Wiimote-based project, and with some alterations,
converted it into an electronic whiteboard
.
The whiteboard was built using the IR sensor he extracted from a Wiimote, which is wired to an EasyProp board to process the input. The Wiimote is aimed at a LCD screen, which can be “drawn” upon using a light pen he constructed from an IR led and a few batteries. Any movement of the pen is tracked by the Wiimote’s IR sensor and converted to an XY coordinate, which is then painted on the screen. The sensor has the ability to track up to four points at a time, so you can theoretically use up to four pens simultaneously.
[Gareth] points out that the sensor is not limited to tracking small displays, as the white board can be easily scaled up in size using any kind of rear projection device.
Continue reading to see a video of his whiteboard in action.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ja71fg5zRcA&w=470] | 15 | 15 | [
{
"comment_id": "350968",
"author": "Tom",
"timestamp": "2011-03-07T19:44:52",
"content": "Hasn’t this exact thing been done before?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "350970",
"author": "Tom",
"timestamp": "2011-03-07T19:45:58",
"conte... | 1,760,377,254.30082 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/03/07/simple-fixes-breathe-new-life-into-aging-game-consoles/ | Simple Fixes Breathe New Life Into Aging Game Consoles | Mike Nathan | [
"Repair Hacks"
] | [
"dreamcast",
"fixes",
"gaming",
"repair"
] | While the Sega Dreamcast has long been out of production, there is an avid fanbase that loves the console dearly. As with many CD/DVD-based consoles, the Dreamcast can sometimes run into issues reading discs, at which point all games are unplayable.
Instructables user [Andrew] got his hands on a pair of the consoles and found that
one could not read CDs
, while the other
suffered from a fried controller interface board
, the result of a controller wiring mix-up on his part. Determined to get the consoles up and running again, he disassembled them and got to work, sharing his fixes with us.
The CD drive fix is a pretty standard one. He first needed to locate the potentiometer that regulates the laser. Once he did, a slight counter-clockwise turn is all it required in order to increase the laser’s voltage. Once he did this, he popped in a game to see if it worked. No longer greeted with a disc read error when he powered on his Dreamcast, he reassembled the console and began work on the other one.
To fix his controller issues, [Andrew] had to remove the entire controller board from the console. He eventually located a resistor that had been damaged by his wiring mishap, and replaced it. The console was tested and seeing that the controllers worked again, he put everything back together.
While this pair of fixes is not incredibly complex, it’s nice to see people sharing their tips for bringing these consoles back to life. | 21 | 21 | [
{
"comment_id": "350865",
"author": "schnulli",
"timestamp": "2011-03-07T18:08:36",
"content": "Nice post! Not that it’s new to me that many things can easily be repaired, but i didn’t know the thing about fixing cd/dvd drives by increasing the voltage for the diode. I’ll have to try this when I get... | 1,760,377,254.110635 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/03/07/these-apple-inspired-speakers-would-make-steve-jobs-envious/ | These Apple-inspired Speakers Would Make Steve Jobs Envious | Mike Nathan | [
"home entertainment hacks",
"Musical Hacks"
] | [
"apple",
"diy",
"speakers"
] | Reader [Brett] sent in the build log of his beautiful set of
Apple-inspired computer speakers
for us to look over. Having seen our
recent post on DIY speakers
, he thought he would throw his hat into the ring as well, and we’re glad he did.
He wanted a nice set of speakers to complement his iMac, but couldn’t find anything he liked that would provide the sound quality he was looking for while closely matching the design of the computer. The speakers are constructed out of MDF with CNC milled acrylic front and back panels. Hand-built crossovers reside inside the speaker boxes, which provides for a clean, polished look. He originally planned on building a pair of subwoofers into his desk, but ultimately settled on building a single subwoofer to sit on the floor.
The finished product is simply stunning, and we would have a hard time believing they were a DIY project if we didn’t see them come together piece by piece. Do you think you can match [Brett’s] handiwork? If so, feel free to share your speaker builds in the comments. | 14 | 13 | [
{
"comment_id": "350849",
"author": "effigy",
"timestamp": "2011-03-07T17:37:51",
"content": "HiVi B4N 4″ Aluminum Midbass Round Framefor anyone looking to make satellite speakers for a surround system or desktop speakers for a computer, the drivers used in this project are a GREAT choice. I’ve use... | 1,760,377,254.054769 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/03/07/chilling-drinks-with-your-friends-faces/ | Chilling Drinks With Your Friends’ Faces | Mike Nathan | [
"cnc hacks",
"Kinect hacks"
] | [
"3d printing",
"Kinect"
] | 3D printing of Kinect-mapped models seems to be all the rage lately. [Nirav] caught the bug and
has developed software which allows him to join in the fun
. Frustrated by the lack of documentation and source code for the
Fabricate Yourself project
, he set out to create his own open-source process for scanning people and objects to share with the hacking community.
His software allows you to aim the Kinect and capture a 3D scan of any object, after which you need to use MeshLab or similar software to turn the scan into a STL file for printing. He says that the process is a bit tedious at the moment, but he is working hard to condense it down into a single step.
While he can scan and print pretty much anything he wants, his ultimate goal is to create ice cube trays for his friends featuring molds of their faces. The project has a lot of promise, though we’re not sure about our friends crunching on our faces after finishing their drink. | 6 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "350805",
"author": "CutThroughStuffGuy",
"timestamp": "2011-03-07T16:19:32",
"content": "Called it! This is great. Make it easier to use!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "350824",
"author": "Dan",
"timestamp": "2011-03-07... | 1,760,377,254.152435 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/03/07/remote-controlled-robot-toy-from-air-freshener-parts/ | Remote-controlled Robot Toy From Air Freshener Parts | Mike Nathan | [
"Toy Hacks"
] | [
"remote control",
"toy"
] | [jcopro] is pretty fond of Glade automatic air fresheners. Using a pair of them, he built a
simple remote-controlled toy
which he shared with us over the weekend. You may remember that he built a remote shutter release system for his camera using these air fresheners, which
we featured a few weeks ago
.
Instead of throwing away the shell of the air fresheners after gutting them for motors and gears, he decided to use the excess plastic as a robot chassis. Using a pair of pencils for legs, he constructed his robot, “Limpy.” He removed a pair of motors and control board from an old toy, mounting it to his creation with a few strips of electrical tape.
He admits that he’s reluctant to even call the toy a robot, but he had fun building it, and suggests that it would make a great beginner project. We agree – it would make a great project for kids, especially if you are looking to reuse an old remote-controlled toy they no longer play with.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7HSlRRgJbE&w=470] | 6 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "350788",
"author": "Nomad",
"timestamp": "2011-03-07T15:51:05",
"content": "What’s it with you guys and those air fresheners? :D",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "350795",
"author": "Gilliam",
"timestamp": "2011-03-07T16:0... | 1,760,377,254.393391 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/03/07/minty-fm-transmitter/ | Minty FM Transmitter | Kevin Dady | [
"Radio Hacks"
] | [
"fm",
"transmitter"
] | [Chis] wanted an
FM transmitter bug
device packed in a mint tin, and that is just what he made. Featuring only 17 discrete parts, running off of a 3volt coin cell battery, and small enough to fit inside of a plastic mint box and still have plenty of room for the mints.
Using a simple design the audio enters the device through a electret microphone and hits a transistor for amplification, the signal is then passed to the oscillator section of the circuit which features an LC tank type design which generates the carrier frequency and mixes that with the signal for a range of about 100 feet indoors.
Each section is broken down into steps where it is thoroughly explained with animations, theory, and simulation, if you are wondering how a transistor, wire, and capacitors make an FM transmitter, or if you would like to just make the final project, schematics, pcb files, and assembly instructions are provided as well.
Join us after the break for a short video and be sure to check out the other
radio transmitters
we have featured as well.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alTPa7MLf9o&w=450] | 15 | 15 | [
{
"comment_id": "350778",
"author": "SK",
"timestamp": "2011-03-07T15:27:03",
"content": "Very nice. detailed, covers everything.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "350797",
"author": "M",
"timestamp": "2011-03-07T16:05:27",
"content": ... | 1,760,377,254.355296 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/03/07/tv-oscilloscope/ | TV Oscilloscope | Kevin Dady | [
"home entertainment hacks",
"Toy Hacks"
] | [
"oscilloscope",
"tv"
] | Need an oscilloscope? Want to see the music? Don’t have money, but do have a old TV? Then this
TV to oscilloscope mod
may be right up your alley. Now don’t go running off just yet, when you’re working inside of a CRT device you are exposed to mains current, high voltage, and high frequency, so extra care needs to be observed .
If you have your rubber welding gloves, and have discharged all your fat capacitors (including the CRT) its pretty much the same magic trick as couple we have
previously
featured
. Patch an amplified input signal into the vertical deflection coil and let her go, but this instructable features much more detailed instruction, and photos so you have a much better chance of replicating this (not quite lab grade) potentially useful device.
Join us after the break for a short video.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPESsB2cfBw&w=450] | 25 | 24 | [
{
"comment_id": "350721",
"author": "VintagePC",
"timestamp": "2011-03-07T13:30:44",
"content": "I wouldn’t count on using your TV again after this… the fact that you’re condensing the entire raster in to a few mm wide line means it’ll exaust the phosphors VERY quickly if you leave it as a static im... | 1,760,377,254.478687 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/03/05/micro-audio-player-can-hide-behind-a-postage-stamp/ | Micro Audio Player Can Hide Behind A Postage Stamp | Mike Nathan | [
"digital audio hacks",
"Microcontrollers",
"Musical Hacks"
] | [
"audio",
"AVR",
"microcontroller"
] | The original iPod shuffle was a pretty small device, there’s no doubt about that. However, in the world of miniature audio players, [Chan] is no slouch either.
A few years ago, he set out to
construct a micro audio player
that used little more than a small microcontroller and a microSD memory card. He chose an ATinyX5 series microcontroller to run the show, utilizing its pair of PWM output pins to directly drive the speakers. Since there is no built-in amplifier, the audio volume is not loud, but it does sound reasonable if you use a set of high efficiency desktop speakers. He does mention that the sound can easily be amplified after passing the signal through a filter, so there is hope for those of you who like your music turned up to 11.
The only downside we can see is that the audio player can only process Wave files, but it’s hard to expect more from a DIY audio player smaller than a postage stamp. It would be great to see what sort of micro-handiwork [Chan] could perform if he were to update his design and build a full-functioning MP3 player based upon this project. | 28 | 28 | [
{
"comment_id": "349059",
"author": "briack",
"timestamp": "2011-03-05T13:08:30",
"content": "heads up, link is wrong",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "349061",
"author": "thecoshman",
"timestamp": "2011-03-05T13:10:45",
"content": "Is... | 1,760,377,256.589462 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/03/04/open-source-5-axis-cnc-router/ | Open Source 5-axis CNC Router | Mike Szczys | [
"cnc hacks"
] | [
"kickstart",
"mill",
"plasma",
"router"
] | This 5-axis CNC router
could soon be an open source tool
. [Mike Calvino] built it for the School of Architecture at the University of Arkansas. It can be used as a router or as a plasma cutter/welder. Now he’s trying to raise some money that will underwrite his time and effort to develop and release instructions, design files, and specifications to make it an open source hardware project.
It is extremely large, and in addition to the X, Y, and Z axes that you’d expect to find on CNC machinery, it can tilt and rotate the cutting tool. This is not something you’re likely to build at home. But the availability of plans would be a huge contribution toward making machine tools accessible at a relatively small price tag. It’s not hard to image universities building this as a class project. We also think it would be a perfect group project for you and your buddies over at the local Hackerspace to undertake. Check out some milling action in the clip after the break.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEDiVESUeNU&w=470] | 44 | 41 | [
{
"comment_id": "348410",
"author": "Nathan Zadoks",
"timestamp": "2011-03-04T23:29:05",
"content": "Holy crap. Awesome. The most epic part of Requiem for a Dream just started playing when I opened this.I’ve been thinking about this, but now it’s reality :D–Nathan",
"parent_id": null,
"depth... | 1,760,377,256.360293 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/03/04/audio-two-fer-sneaker-speakers-and-diy-mid-fi-woofers/ | Audio Two-fer – Sneaker Speakers And DIY Mid-Fi Woofers | Mike Nathan | [
"home entertainment hacks",
"Musical Hacks"
] | [
"diy",
"hi-fi",
"speakers"
] | Nike Air Force 1 shoes are probably some of the most well-recognized sneakers around the world, aside from the always timeless Chuck Taylor All Stars. So when [Alex Nash] was asked to create some art using something ordinary with a goal of turning it into something special,
he immediately grabbed a pair and got to work
.
His vision was to build a set of PC speakers by embedding a small amplifier and speakers into a pair of Air Force 1s. As you can see from the pictures on his site, they look awesome. He doesn’t say how good they sound, but we’re betting they perform better than that old pair that came with your last computer.
When [Stacy] was in college, she didn’t have a ton of room or money for a nice audio setup, so she
decided to build a pair of speakers
rather than buying them. She admits that these “Mid-Fi” woofers won’t be the centerpiece of your Hi-Fi setup, but they still sound pretty darn good for $50 DIY speakers. She compares them to units you would find in the store for $300+, and they sound so good she continues to use them as a compliment to the rest of her Hi-Fi setup now that she has a place of her own. | 16 | 16 | [
{
"comment_id": "348394",
"author": "anfegori91",
"timestamp": "2011-03-04T23:05:27",
"content": "Hey, a pair of sneakers decorated with e-paper or OLED and step-powered isn’t a bad idea…",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "348396",
"author": "a... | 1,760,377,256.121463 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/03/04/recover-acer-aspire-one-from-failed-to-initialize-hal-error/ | Recover Acer Aspire One From “failed To Initialize HAL” Error | Mike Szczys | [
"Linux Hacks",
"Repair Hacks"
] | [
"acer aspire one",
"error",
"hal"
] | The Acer Aspire One is a netbook that often ships with a Linux OS preinstalled. This is great for fans of open source as market share is calculated based on units shipped, not what users install after they buy the hardware. Unfortunately there is a pretty major flaw that can cause a “failed to initialize HAL” error as seen above. [Michael Crummy] came up with
a set of steps you can use to recover from this error
.
So what is this error? HAL stands for
Hardware Abstraction Layer
and it’s what allows one user interface to communicate with many different types of hardware. If you’re the proud owner of an Aspire One and are struck with this error you will suddenly find that you can no longer use the USB ports, card readers, wired or wireless network connectors, or the sound card. So you can’t connect to the Internet, and you can’t get any files on or off of the device using the currently installed operating system. For an OS that [Neal Stephenson]
once described as
“like the M1 tanks of the U.S. Army, made of space-age materials and jammed with sophisticated technology” this is a very big problem.
We know what you’re thinking… boot into a live session on a thumb drive and get what you need from the hard disk. Well that’s all fine and dandy, but you shouldn’t ever be forced to clean install Linux to fix a problem. So check out [Michael’s] method and make sure you turn off the Acer live update server which was mostly likely the cause of the problem in the first place. | 22 | 22 | [
{
"comment_id": "348327",
"author": "Spork",
"timestamp": "2011-03-04T21:22:21",
"content": "Glad that he found a fix and I don’t mean to be rude, but it sounds like he has no idea what he did.I think it would be better to write up a batch script to automate steps 1-8 (twice) then have the user plug... | 1,760,377,256.185676 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/03/04/led-backlight-conversion-using-recycled-ccfl-inverter-parts/ | LED Backlight Conversion Using Recycled CCFL Inverter Parts | Mike Nathan | [
"LED Hacks",
"Repair Hacks"
] | [
"backlight",
"ccfl",
"led",
"repair"
] | [Ammon] repairs busted LCD monitors as a side hobby, so replacing burned out CCFLs and inverter circuits is something he can do in his sleep. One Dell monitor he received had him so perplexed, that he simply gave up on trying to repair the inverter circuit. He still wanted to get it working, so he had some narrow PCBs made and started working on his
LED replacement backlight.
He built a driver board for the LEDs, populated with left over components that he stripped from the LCD panel’s inverter circuit. He needed space to insert his driver board, so he simply cut out a chunk of the inverter board and slipped his replacement driver board in its place. As you can see in the picture above, his board (in green) takes up far less space than the original inverter circuit it replaces.
He provides a schematic for his circuit as well as a PCB layout file, so it should be fairly easy to replicate his work. He has not posted schematics or layout information for
his LED strips
, but we’re betting he will if someone asks nicely.
Check out this
pair
of
posts
if you are interested in reading more about replacing your burned out CCFL with LEDs. | 11 | 11 | [
{
"comment_id": "348294",
"author": "j_jwalrus",
"timestamp": "2011-03-04T20:22:06",
"content": "he should sell the led PCB strips on his website. id buy a bunch for random illumination projects.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "348295",
"aut... | 1,760,377,256.407085 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/03/04/real-time-arduino-interpreter-ditches-the-pc/ | Real-time Arduino Interpreter Ditches The PC | Mike Nathan | [
"Arduino Hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"real-time"
] | When prototyping a project using an Arduino, there are a few things that are pretty much required equipment. A computer for generating sketches is typically one of those things, but [Adam] over at Teague Labs is looking to change all that with his current project, the
Computerless Arduino
.
Instead of using a computer to alter the code running on the Arduino, they have implemented a real-time code interpreter using a Teensy 2.0. The microcontroller is connected to a 5-button LCD display where the user can view the status of any port, view the current running code, as well as alter that code on the fly.
The real-time instruction set is somewhat limited, making it a breeze for newcomers to begin using the Arduino. While that may turn some people off, it still has enough functionality baked in to handle moderately sized projects as well.
Be sure to check out the video we have posted below to see the interpreter in action.
[vimeo
http://vimeo.com/20620134
w=470] | 10 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "348299",
"author": "fartface",
"timestamp": "2011-03-04T20:26:37",
"content": "So a teensy has no processor+ram or storage or stack? It’s also not running software?It’s still a computer, Epic Fail.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id":... | 1,760,377,256.454337 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/03/04/analog-robot-navigates-around-the-workshop-with-ease/ | Analog Robot Navigates Around The Workshop With Ease | Mike Nathan | [
"contests",
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"556 timer",
"analog",
"contest",
"robot"
] | Many of the robots we feature here are driven by some sort of microcontroller, whether it be an Arduino, Launchpad, Picaxe, etc. Rarely do we see a robot however, using analog circuits to perform higher-level functions typically relegated to those more complex controllers. Instructables user [hasn0life] built such a robot recently, which he entered into a contest at his college. After hearing about the 555 design contest from a friend, he tweaked his project and
created a wall-following robot using a 556 timer
.
The robot is fairly simple when you take a close look, though that does not take away from the elegance of his design. A single IR sensor is used to detect objects in the robot’s periphery, guiding the robot along. When the robot gets too close to a wall, one wheel reverses, pulling the robot away. Once the robot has moved a sufficient distance, the other wheel is reversed in order to straighten out the robot. Then, both wheels work in concert to get the robot moving forward.
Take a look at the video below to watch the robot navigate its way around his workshop, and if you are interested in learning more about analog robotics, check out
this post from a few days back
.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3CrT_Yz1wE&w=470] | 10 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "348238",
"author": "kobilica",
"timestamp": "2011-03-04T18:33:25",
"content": "Even if it is analog, it sucks. It could have atleast two sensors.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "348266",
"author": "Mooseral",
"timestamp"... | 1,760,377,256.27491 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/03/06/quick-hack-brings-wi-fi-to-an-aging-laptop/ | Quick Hack Brings Wi-Fi To An Aging Laptop | Mike Nathan | [
"laptops hacks",
"Wireless Hacks"
] | [
"laptop",
"retrofit",
"usb",
"wifi"
] | [Jarrod] has an older Compaq laptop he is still pretty keen on, but he has one niggling problem – the laptop doesn’t have a built-in wireless card. He recently changed security protocols on his home wireless network to WPA and realized that his old Linksys PC card only supports WEP. He decided it was
time to find another way to connect wirelessly
, so he started searching around for options.
It turns out that his laptop does have the ability to accept a LCD-mounted add-on wireless card, but it costs about $100 and doesn’t support WPA. He figured that the card slipped into some sort of glorified USB port, and after disassembling the laptop, he found that he was right.
He quickly soldered a few wires and a USB adapter to the Bluetooth board that already occupied the card slot, then plugged in a wireless mouse to see what would happen. The mouse’s radio powered on without issue, and much to [Jarrod’s] delight, the port was USB 2.0 compatible.
Now that he knows the port is live, he plans on finding a small USB 802.11 G or N adapter to cram into the slot – with the deluge of miniature USB Wi-Fi adapters on the market, that shouldn’t be too hard. | 33 | 33 | [
{
"comment_id": "350135",
"author": "Arthur",
"timestamp": "2011-03-06T20:11:51",
"content": "“The mouse’s radio powered on without issue”It’s possible there is a typo in there.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "350137",
"author": "FightCube.c... | 1,760,377,256.522465 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/03/06/8th-acm-conference-on-creativity-cognition-call-for-papers/ | 8th ACM Conference On Creativity & Cognition Call For Papers | Mike Nathan | [
"cons",
"News"
] | [
"papers"
] | [Jim Davies] from the Association for Computing Machinery wrote us to let us know about a conference being hosted this fall, the
8th ACM conference on Creativity and Cognition
. C&C 2011 has a lot to offer, providing an opportunity for artists, scientists, designers and educators to gather together and share their expertise via a series of group meetings, tutorials, and workshops.
We wanted to bring C&C 2001 to the attention of our readers as it is likely many of you had some level of interaction with your college or university’s
local ACM chapter
in the past. [Jim] wanted to point out that though the conference is slated for the first week of November, there is a deadline of April 25th for all papers and proposals. If you are interested in submitting something to the conference, it would be wise to get started soon.
The overall theme of this year’s conference is Creativity and Technology, which fits the hacking community quite well. Good luck to any of you who decide to give it a shot! | 2 | 2 | [
{
"comment_id": "350298",
"author": "PhilKll",
"timestamp": "2011-03-07T02:00:12",
"content": "This looks pretty neat, would love to see some papers on how reverse engineering/hacking promotes innovation/creativity/progress of problem solving skill sets in a world that is increasingly dominated by h... | 1,760,377,256.222724 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/03/06/inkscape-plugin-for-engraving-fonts/ | Inkscape Plugin For Engraving Fonts | Mike Szczys | [
"cnc hacks"
] | [
"font",
"hersey",
"inkscape",
"vector"
] | [Windell] developed
an Inkscape extension called Hershey Text
that helps you process fonts into vector representations. If you’ve tried to 3D print, plot, or mill text in the past you may have run across the problem of generating vector paths that deal with the outline and fill of the text appropriately. The problem stems from how fonts are defined; either by the area that they enclose, or by the path that is used to draw the outline. Check out [Windell’s]
tutorial for this extension
where he explains each of these issues and shows how to overcome them.
The image above illustrates the stroke options, which allow you to vector multiple paths to best fill in the correct parts of each character using path-based hardware. The package includes a wide variety of interesting font sets that are in the public domain, and includes tools such as a glyph map generator that make it very user friendly. | 6 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "350110",
"author": "Eric",
"timestamp": "2011-03-06T19:49:15",
"content": "This is cool, I have been running into some of these problems engraving with my CNC, I have been looking for a better option. Will this output to g code?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies"... | 1,760,377,256.634056 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/03/06/hackaday-links-march-6-2011/ | Hackaday Links: March 6, 2011 | Mike Szczys | [
"Hackaday links"
] | [
"filament",
"javascript",
"sledgehammer",
"stove",
"u3-x"
] | Omnidirectional personal transport
[Dan] sent us a link to this
Honda U3-X personal transport device
. It’s kind of like a Segway that can move in any direction but our head already hurts from the thought of going over backward on one of these.
How light bulb filaments were developed
Now that incandescent light bulbs are about to be outlawed here in the US, we thought you might enjoy learning
how the filaments were developed
. This another video by [Bill Hammack], the engineer guy, and we’re big fans of
his work
.
Wooden stove reflow
Who needs a PID controlled skillet when you can
reflow on this wooden stove
? Well maybe not reflow, this is more of a salvage operation.
Javascript control
We’ve seen more than enough Arduino controlled outlets. But if you’re interested in
using Javascript to control the Arduino
this post may be just what you’re looking for.
Sledgehammer keyboard
[Taylor Hokanson] built
a qwerty keyboard that you hit with a sledgehammer
. Enough said. [Thanks Larry] | 31 | 31 | [
{
"comment_id": "349943",
"author": "Mihail121",
"timestamp": "2011-03-06T14:13:22",
"content": "Definetely gotta get one of them sledgehammer-operated keyboards. Wonder if they make any models for gamers? And what’s next to come? Horse-operated mouse? Sweet!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,... | 1,760,377,256.722241 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/03/05/follow-up-radio-controlled-led-light-show/ | Follow-up: Radio-controlled LED Light Show | Mike Nathan | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"LED Hacks",
"Wireless Hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"follow up",
"led",
"light show",
"wireless"
] | [Alan] shared an update with us regarding a
project he has been working on for some time
, radio-controlled LED light strips destined for use by the Travelling Light Circus. If you are not familiar with the project or need a quick refresher, you can read our
post about it here
.
He recently met up with the
guys from TLC
to finish things up and was happily surprised that they did not want to mount his lights on the performers, as was originally planned. He would have had to make a few modifications if that was the case, but instead, they planned on attaching them to bicycle wheels. The light strips were mounted inside translucent plastic tubes that fan out from the center of the wheels, where the battery and radio equipment is located. The wheels were mounted on aluminum poles, allowing the performers to create a visually stunning show, just by spinning the pole.
Check out the pair of videos we have embedded below, the project came together quite nicely.
[vimeo http://vimeo.com/20575412 w=470]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2c-x2Y4Iqw&w=470] | 10 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "349334",
"author": "xorpunk",
"timestamp": "2011-03-05T19:39:55",
"content": "isn’t that the guy from the 3d eyelid prank?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "349399",
"author": "biozz",
"timestamp": "2011-03-05T20:55:17",
... | 1,760,377,257.244985 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/03/05/autonomous-cars-already-drive-the-roads-among-us/ | Autonomous Cars Already Drive The Roads Among Us | Mike Szczys | [
"Robots Hacks",
"Transportation Hacks"
] | [
"autonomous",
"google",
"lidar",
"prius",
"radar"
] | Google’s showing off this autonomous car at the TED convention
right now, but the hardware has already made automated trips from San Fransisco to Los Angeles. According to the commentary in the video after the break, the scene above shows the car “hauling Prius ass” on a closed course. The car learned this route while being driven by a person and now the vehicle is set to take riders through an aggressively driven loop in the cone-adorned parking ramp. But on the open road you do not need to teach it anything. It has no problem taking a GPS route and following the rules of the road while traveling from one waypoint to another.
The link above doesn’t include hardware information but they did point to
a Times article
which includes an infographic. The spinning box on the top of the car is 3D-mapping LIDAR with a 200 foot radius. There’s a rotary encoder on one of the wheels for precise movement data, radar sensors on the front and back bumpers, and a rear-view-mirror-mounted camera for image processing. It makes us wonder how the system performs when the car is coated in road-muck? Maybe you just add a dedicated wiper for each sensor.
Outside the car:
Inside the car:
[via
Engadget
] | 40 | 38 | [
{
"comment_id": "349173",
"author": "anon",
"timestamp": "2011-03-05T16:03:02",
"content": "I’ll need to RTFM on the LIDAR shiz, but how would a couple of Kinects mounted to the roof rack do?Anyone got links for some science on this idea?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
... | 1,760,377,257.35868 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/03/05/ice-uses-wide-set-of-tools-to-hunt-for-media-pirates/ | ICE Uses Wide Set Of Tools To Hunt For Media Pirates | Mike Szczys | [
"Security Hacks"
] | [
"copyright",
"ice",
"immigration and customs enforcement"
] | If you’re rebroadcasting copyrighted video streams how will the authorities ever track you down? Well it looks like you don’t even need to be the content originator, and they’ll track you down because you didn’t really cover your tracks in the first place. [Brian McCarthy] found this out the hard way when
his domain name was seized by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement
earlier this year.
So how did they find him? They started by getting the records from the domain name registrar. He had used an alias instead of his real name so the next step in the investigation was to get a name from Comcast to go with the IP which had logged into the name registrar’s interface. They matched the Comcast account holder’s home address with the one given during domain registration, then matched the Gmail account registration infor from the registrar to the same person. The final piece of the puzzle was to stake out his house (no kidding) to confirm that [Brian] lived at the address uncovered by investigators.
ICE really went the whole nine yards. Especially if consider that the website they seized provided links to copyrighted media but didn’t actually host any of it. Nonetheless, [Brian] could find himself spending five years in the clink… ouch. | 51 | 50 | [
{
"comment_id": "349096",
"author": "matt",
"timestamp": "2011-03-05T14:07:16",
"content": "Yeah, this is on torrentfreak, doubt he’ll serve anything as he hasnt commited any crime (or well it hasnt been tested in court), his site shouldnt have been seized either",
"parent_id": null,
"depth"... | 1,760,377,257.441973 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/03/04/on-air-light-parses-webpage-data-wirelessly-without-a-computer/ | On Air Light Parses Webpage Data Wirelessly Without A Computer | Mike Szczys | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"Wireless Hacks"
] | [
"connectport",
"digi",
"gateway",
"xbee",
"xig"
] | [Matt Richardson]
built this on-air light
to indicate whether a Make streaming show is currently in progress. Despite the obvious cord leaving the bottom of the base (it’s a power cord) his creation is pulling data from the Internet wirelessly. He’s using an Xbee module along with an Arduino to pull this off.
In addition to the light itself there’s a base station that we haven’t seen before. The hardware is a
Digi ConnectPort Zigbee-to-Internet Gateway
. That’s a mouthful but it’s just a box that acts as an Xbee node and facilitates communication between its own Ethernet port and other Xbee devices in the network. So no, you don’t need a computer but you do need an Ethernet connection somewhere for the base station. [Matt] is running an open source software package on the ConnectPort call
Xbee Internet Gateway
(xig). Watch the video after the break to see the configuration for this package. It’s a snap, and if you’ve never used an Xbee module before this gives you a good idea of how easy it really is.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xr5Na49FTS4&w=470] | 8 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "348236",
"author": "fartface",
"timestamp": "2011-03-04T18:30:17",
"content": "Wierd… why not control it from the computer he is using to podcast. Kind of silly to have it go out to the internet to check on something that is happening inches away from it.I’m going to make a thermom... | 1,760,377,257.530583 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/03/04/net-os-for-your-arm/ | .Net OS For Your ARM | Kevin Dady | [
"HackIt",
"Microcontrollers"
] | [
".NET",
"os"
] | Pyxis 2 is a recently released new
embedded operating system
. The first Pyxis OS would run on an arduino with a touch screen, and provided a nice GUI. Pyxis 2 on the other hand has departed from most of its predicator, and is now made on top of the .NET micro framework, and natively supports
FEZ Cobra and ChipworkX systems
. It supports 320×240, 480×272, even 800×480 (if you have the ram), LCDs.
Some of the features of the OS include alpha blended desktop icons, file dialogs, prompts, input, color selection, file box, buttons, all the standard stuff to construct your applications, support for network, USB, SD and Mp3. Since it is .NET you can also use C# visual studio to construct everything without dedicating yourself to hardware until you are ready.
Join us after the break for a short video.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XImxwR1iGsY&w=450] | 28 | 28 | [
{
"comment_id": "348153",
"author": "rusty",
"timestamp": "2011-03-04T16:13:25",
"content": "and here I thought contiki was small.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "348157",
"author": "2ma",
"timestamp": "2011-03-04T16:23:51",
"content... | 1,760,377,257.595575 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/03/04/arduino-sip-n-puff-switch/ | Arduino Sip N Puff Switch | Kevin Dady | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"Lifehacks"
] | [
"PUFF",
"SIP"
] | [kayakdiver] is developing a SIP and PUFF controlled kayak, but in order to start you first need a
SIP and PUFF switch
. These devices allow the user to lightly sip or puff into a tube to control switches or sensors, and are sometimes mounted in joysticks for control of a computer, or wheelchair, etc, but finding the cost prohibitive the next best thing was to whip up their own.
The design is clean and direct featuring off the shelf tubing and fittings, 2 pressure/vacuum switches, and an Arduino. Each one of the switches can detect pressure or vacuum, so one switch set to each is fed though a Y and up to the mouthpiece, since everything is sealed this has the advantage of only needing pressure and not airflow making it more comfortable for the user over long periods, and keeps down on humidity in the tubes. | 7 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "348124",
"author": "Dominic49",
"timestamp": "2011-03-04T15:37:21",
"content": "Why not use a single automotive map sensor?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "348126",
"author": "spiritplumber",
"timestamp": "2011-03-04T15:... | 1,760,377,257.197156 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/03/04/haptic-feedback-joystick-uses-air-muscles/ | Haptic Feedback Joystick Uses Air Muscles | Mike Szczys | [
"Peripherals Hacks"
] | [
"air muscle",
"haptic",
"Joystick",
"tubing"
] | [Ben Krasnow] is working on
a force-feedback joystick
. It centers around the concept of an air muscle which transfers pressure into linear motion. He cites
another air muscle project
as part of the inspiration in his build, but where he’s gone with it is one of the better uses for these blow-up components that we’ve seen.
Basically you have a bladder, in this case rubber tubing. A mesh surrounds it to reinforce the material and cause inflation to shorten the length of the package. In the image above there are four black air muscles that connect the base of a joystick with the outer frame that houses it. How and when each muscle is pressurized determines the type of motion the user will feel on the joystick. This is where his pressure controller comes into play. It uses a voltage-to-pressure transducer to feed a manifold, the combination of which not only makes each muscle addressable but allows him to dial in the force sent to the muscles. Check out the video after the break for his start-to-finish walk through.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkaVsoEd6Vo&w=470] | 2 | 2 | [
{
"comment_id": "348179",
"author": "Whatnot",
"timestamp": "2011-03-04T16:52:45",
"content": "Unfortunately less and less games support forcefeedback, the real thing that is and not the rumble kind.But I don’t know what is plan is though, maybe it’s not even for games at all.",
"parent_id": nul... | 1,760,377,257.282564 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/03/04/lego-pendulum-clock/ | LEGO Pendulum Clock | Mike Szczys | [
"clock hacks"
] | [
"escapement",
"grandfather clock",
"lego",
"pendulum",
"self winding",
"winding motor"
] | Put a case around it and it would be a grandfather clock but for now it’s
a pendulum clock made from LEGO
pieces. The video after the break shows a great overview of the build. You can see the workings at several different angles, as well as a clip that has been sped up to show the movement of the weights over time. One weight, made from dead AA batteries, drives the clock and the other weight switches the winding motor. That motor acts to automatically wind the clock when the drive weight reaches the end of its rope.
This is a nice departure from the majority of clock projects we see as it utilizes mechanical concepts instead of electronic. Most of [Pmroskelly’s] build details are shared as comments on the Picasa album found at the link above. There are also some other videos such as the one showing how the escapement works.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Hv5xQjjkqU&w=470]
[via
Tinkernology
] | 8 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "348083",
"author": "MrX",
"timestamp": "2011-03-04T13:58:51",
"content": "Yey! Old style hackaday greyscale pictures again!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "348125",
"author": "MrTaco",
"timestamp": "2011-03-04T15:39:02",... | 1,760,377,257.487305 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/03/03/hacking-strippers-to-do-your-bidding/ | Hacking Strippers To Do Your Bidding | Mike Nathan | [
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"tools",
"wire strippers"
] | [Alex]
knows his strippers
.
By his estimation, he has stripped millions of wires over the years, and he has seen his fair share of wire strippers come and go. That cheap set of wire strippers you have with the graduated holes, or that adjustable stripper you squeeze as you pull the wire through? They just stress the insulation as well as the wires you are trying to strip – he says you might as well just use them in your tackle box.
His favorite style of wire stripper is the automatic kind that grip the wire, then cut and remove the insulation just by squeezing the handles. His issue with this particular tool is that it’s difficult to get a uniform length of stripped wire when working in volume.
Since [Alex] needs uniformity in his line of work, he modified a set of automatic wire strippers to include an adjustable wire stop. He determines the length of wire he needs, adds or removes some washers from his wire stop, and off he goes. It’s a very simple yet very useful hack, depending on your application. We bet it is probably one of the most accurate ways to get uniform length, this side of a
fully automatic wire stripper
. | 38 | 38 | [
{
"comment_id": "347443",
"author": "captainbacon",
"timestamp": "2011-03-03T23:21:24",
"content": "I was totally hoping this would be a social engineering hack…",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "347447",
"author": "Richard",
"timestamp": ... | 1,760,377,257.673025 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/03/03/how-eschers-impossible-waterfall-was-faked/ | How Escher’s Impossible Waterfall Was Faked | Mike Szczys | [
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"cgi",
"fake",
"illusion"
] | Study the image above closely. You’ll notice that physically it is an impossible object, yet this is a screenshot of full-motion video. The clip after the break shows a gentleman pouring water into the waterfall where the wheel is located. The liquid flows in a direction that appears to be uphill, then falls onto the waterwheel where it was originally poured. Ladies and Gentleman, we have the solution to the world’s energy crisis. Nope, we have a hoax and the real question is how was it done?
[David Goldman] has come up with quite the explanation. He watched the video very closely and the put together
a three-dimensional diagram showing how he would build the apparatus
. If you saw the movie
Inception
(we highly recommend you do) you will remember the infinite stair puzzle that is exposed as an optical illusion. [David’s] proposed method for debunking this hoax uses a similar build that comes in four different, precisely placed elements.
We’ve got to hand it to him. That’s a brilliant theory! Of course the first commenter on the post linked above calls this out as CGI and we’re inclined to go with that answer but that’s much less fun.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0v2xnl6LwJE&w=470]
[Thanks Herald via
Make
] | 46 | 46 | [
{
"comment_id": "347400",
"author": "Setatx",
"timestamp": "2011-03-03T22:34:24",
"content": "Easy enough. Watch the shadows folks. He walks in front of his light source before he pours the liquid, watch the shadows and glares on the machine behind him. More than likely a good use of camera position... | 1,760,377,257.761932 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/03/03/simple-pcb-etchant-made-from-chemicals-you-can-put-in-your-mouth/ | Simple PCB Etchant Made From Chemicals You Can Put In Your Mouth | Mike Nathan | [
"chemistry hacks",
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"chemicals",
"etching",
"pcb"
] | [Stephen] often finds the need to make his own PCBs at home, and when he got the urge to do some etching recently, he realized that he was fresh out of “Ferret Chloride and Bureaucratic Acid*.” Undeterred by his empty chemical cabinet, he poked around in his kitchen
mixing together anything and everything
that might have the ability to strip copper from a PCB.
Now, we don’t necessarily recommend this course of action, but it seems that he finally hit upon a winner. He discovered a formula that can be made at home from simple and safe household ingredients which does the job quite nicely. A fair warning however, standard ferric chloride disposal procedures need to be followed when using this solution.
If you want to know what he concocted in his kitchen as well as the chemistry behind it,
you will have to visit his site
, we won’t ruin it for you. You can however, see the solution at work in the video we have posted below.
*His joke, not ours
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8M5BIo0a9Y&w=470] | 68 | 50 | [
{
"comment_id": "347394",
"author": "Luke",
"timestamp": "2011-03-03T22:27:16",
"content": "That’s pretty sweet. Any chemistry gurus have leads on a grocery store tinning solution alternative to go with it?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "347396... | 1,760,377,257.999332 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/03/03/jittering-hexapod-dances-to-the-strokes-of-your-bluetooth-keyboard/ | Jittering Hexapod Dances To The Strokes Of Your Bluetooth Keyboard | Mike Szczys | [
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"bluesmirf",
"bluetooth",
"hexapod",
"keyboard",
"servo"
] | Here’s a small but functional
hexapod that is controlled via Bluetooth
. [Sigfpe] started with
the hexapod kit
sold by Polulu and added a BlueSMiRF modem to get the little guy’s communications up and running. But since the bot is merely three servos, a microcontroller board, sensors, and miscellaneous parts it’s an easy build for most electronic hobbyists.
Check out the video after the break to see the delightful dance it can perform at your bidding. When we first looked at the project we thought that the keyboard was directly paired with the bot for control, but a look at the code makes us think the computer is controlling it after processing keystrokes. Either way the BlueSMiRF should have no problem pairing with other Bluetooth devices so it’s just a matter of coding to get it taking commands from your device of choice. We’d love to see Android control but for the really hard-core code monkeys we think this should be voice controlled with a Bluetooth headset.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kO8aaN1X-lk&w=470
[via
Make
] | 4 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "347464",
"author": "florinzgtrst",
"timestamp": "2011-03-03T23:46:00",
"content": "It would be way cooler to be controlled just by the keyboard.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "347660",
"author": "amishx64",
"timestamp":... | 1,760,377,258.038155 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/03/03/arduino-based-ambient-lighting-improvements/ | Arduino Based Ambient Lighting Improvements | Mike Szczys | [
"home entertainment hacks",
"LED Hacks"
] | [
"ambient lighting",
"ambilight",
"arduino",
"java",
"led"
] | [Simon] improved upon an existing hack by making this Arduino
ambient lighting system that has four different color regions
. He was inspired by
[Roy’s] processing-based setup
which we saw a few weeks ago. That system used processing to determine the average color of the currently displayed image, then it displayed the color on a single RGB LED strip. [Simon] was thinking a little bit bigger.
He purchased a lighting strip that could be cut into different sections and then set out to develop his own software for multiple color regions. He had little or no experience with Processing so he went one abstraction layer lower and used Java to code his interface. It’s got a lot of nice settings where you can tweak how, when, and why colors are displayed. In the end he has four independently addressable color strip on the left, right, top-left, and top-right of the screen. The best part is that the Java suite he developed can be used on different platforms, having been already tested on Windows and Linux. | 12 | 12 | [
{
"comment_id": "347376",
"author": "Pat",
"timestamp": "2011-03-03T21:58:02",
"content": "The responsiveness and the spacial awareness of this is quite impressive, but the design in these projects seems a bit flawed. The ambient lighting is directly behind the tv and seems to take away the contras... | 1,760,377,258.087475 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/03/03/keypad-input-scanning-by-a-555-timer/ | Keypad Input Scanning By A 555 Timer | Mike Szczys | [
"Microcontrollers"
] | [
"555",
"keypad",
"overflow",
"timer"
] | [R-B] designed
a 555 timer circuit to scan a keypad
. Keypads are common interfaces for small projects and require row and column scanning by a microcontroller. [R-B’s] setup allows you to reduce the number of pins used on the microcontroller to just two. One is an interrupt that is triggered when any of the buttons are pushed, the other reads the frequency from the 555 chip. Each button has its own resistance which alters the frequency of the 555. The microcontroller reads the frequency for 100ms using a timer. The number of timer overflows that occur during that period directly correspond to the button press (five overflows for the numeral 5, zero overflows for the numeral zero).
We usually
debounce our button presses
for 40 ms, this is more than twice that amount of time but still not a staggering difference. It does make us wonder if you will miss quick button presses? The only really way to know is to try this out yourself. Check out the video after the break and don’t forget to leave a comment with your own experiences in working with the circuit.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQAmQgBgJAE&w=470] | 17 | 17 | [
{
"comment_id": "347218",
"author": "vectoralpha",
"timestamp": "2011-03-03T18:45:15",
"content": "are there * overflows for *?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "347220",
"author": "Gregg",
"timestamp": "2011-03-03T18:50:34",
"content"... | 1,760,377,258.550892 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/03/03/cutting-out-your-own-breakout-boards/ | Cutting Out Your Own Breakout Boards | Mike Szczys | [
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"breakout board",
"copper tape",
"dip",
"surface mount"
] | [Caleb] needed to use some surface mount components when prototyping. Instead of buy a breakout board he made one himself without doing any etching. The process he shows off in the video after the break uses
copper tape to layout the traces for the board
. It’s quite an interesting method which requires a sharp knife and a steady hand.
He used regular protoboard as a substrate and applied a layer of copper tape on the side without copper pads. From there he poked holes for the DIP pin headers. Now it’s time to do some cutting. [Caleb] removed the band of copper that would fall in between the pins of the surface mount device. He then tacked it in place with one dot of solder and drew the traces from the part to the pin headers. After removing the part he cut out the waste in between each line he drew with marker. What he’s left with is a set of thin traces that connect each pin of the surface mount component to the corresponding through-hole pin header.
This is very time-consuming, but then again so is
soldering jumper wires to small-pitch components
.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLBB1r3jWoI&w=470] | 24 | 24 | [
{
"comment_id": "347213",
"author": "Scott",
"timestamp": "2011-03-03T18:15:21",
"content": "This is cool, but I guess I’ll share something I did to solve the same problem.I needed a breakout for the same module in the article picture (a Hope RF RFM12B), and Sparkfun wasn’t delivering on their promi... | 1,760,377,258.497033 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/03/03/diy-ring-light-takes-its-cues-from-fiber-optic-toys/ | DIY Ring Light Takes Its Cues From Fiber Optic Toys | Mike Nathan | [
"digital cameras hacks"
] | [
"camera",
"diy",
"dslr",
"ring light"
] | DIY ring light setups for DSLR cameras are nothing new around here. While most of them rely on an array of LEDs or a mirror-based light tube, [Wolf]
had a different idea
. He figured that since optical fibers are made specifically for transmitting light from one place to another, they would make a perfect medium for constructing a ring light.
Since he was using the camera’s built-in flash to power the ring light, he was able to provide a function that few other DIY ring lights do: proper flash compensation. Typically, a self-made ring light flashes at one set brightness, regardless of how much light is actually required to compose the image.
The construction was relatively simple, albeit time consuming. He procured a set of fiber optic cables that had been melted together into 150 small bundles, which he then glued to an acrylic ring that he fabricated. The end result isn’t the most aesthetically pleasing ring light we’ve ever seen, but it’s the pictures that matter at the end of the day. As you can see on his site, they speak for themselves.
Looking to build your own ring light? Check out a
couple
of
other projects
we have
featured in the past
. | 11 | 11 | [
{
"comment_id": "347137",
"author": "wulfderay",
"timestamp": "2011-03-03T16:13:32",
"content": "My wife says it looks like a cross between a hair piece and a gas mask :) very cool.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "347200",
"author": "zymurg... | 1,760,377,258.36731 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/03/03/nintendo-3ds-teardown/ | Nintendo 3DS Teardown | Chris Nelson | [
"Teardown"
] | [
"3d",
"3ds",
"nintendo"
] | The Nintendo 3DS has been out for a couple days now (in japan) and the folks over at [tech on] were nice enough to do a
teardown
. Besides all the regular teardown goodies you can also get a good look at the 3DS’ 3D screen with a microscope. Turns out its a parallax barrier display which means that there are slits on top of the LED array to create a 3D effect without the use of special glasses. The rest of the hardware seems pretty standard, running an ARM based processor with some DRAM and NAND flash. Apparently the 3DS didn’t get much of an upgrade (downgrade?) as far as DRM is concerned because there are already examples of the 3DS running pirated games using a R4 card on youtube.
[via
engaget
] | 14 | 14 | [
{
"comment_id": "347113",
"author": "alan",
"timestamp": "2011-03-03T15:12:08",
"content": "I would rather have nintendo use a better chipset and spike the price ~$75 than have a crappy system. Sony knows the way the market should go with their NGP.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"repl... | 1,760,377,258.236824 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/03/03/xbox-360-controller-mod-for-a-friend-in-need/ | Xbox 360 Controller Mod For A Friend In Need | Mike Nathan | [
"Peripherals Hacks",
"Xbox Hacks"
] | [
"accessibility",
"controller",
"xbox"
] | [Adrian] has a friend that, due to an accident, can no longer play Xbox games in the standard fashion. His friend is unfortunately unable to hold the game pad properly, and no longer has the manual dexterity to reach the shoulder buttons and triggers on the top side of his Xbox 360 controller. Being the good guy that he is,
he set out to see what he could do in order to bring the joy of playing Xbox back into his friend’s life
.
Inspired by the
many different
gaming mods
he has seen
[Ben Heck] construct, he pulled apart an Xbox 360 wireless controller and began to investigate how the four top buttons were activated. In no time, he had four large buttons wired to the PCB where the triggers and shoulder buttons once connected.
[Adrian] mentions that his modification isn’t quite complete, as he is going to mount the buttons into a board which can easily be laid on his friend’s lap or a table. The only thing we are left wondering is whether or not he was able to replicate the analog functionality of the triggers, or if they are treated as simple on/off switches. Either way, we are sure his friend will be thrilled! | 30 | 25 | [
{
"comment_id": "347076",
"author": "addidis",
"timestamp": "2011-03-03T14:19:20",
"content": "We should start a forum or something where the disabled can be adopted by a hacker who can do this sorta thing for them. I would participate.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
... | 1,760,377,258.436657 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/03/03/self-balancing-robot-keeps-things-on-the-straight-and-narrow/ | Self-balancing Robot Keeps Things On The Straight And Narrow | Mike Nathan | [
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"propeller",
"robot",
"self balancing"
] | [James] designed a digital controller in MatLab, but he really wanted to see if it would work in a real-world application. To test out his linear quadratic regulator design, he decided to build a self-balancing robot. His goal was to
built a robot that can keep its balance
even when external forces are applied, all while staying in the same place.
Balancing on a pair of wheels is not all that simple, so his LQR controller allows him to weight the bot’s priorities towards keeping balance, focusing on returning to its starting position once equilibrium has been achieved. The results are pretty impressive as you can see in the videos below. The robot is easily able to attain its balance once powered on, and it has no problem remaining stable even when pushed or when objects are placed on top of it.
[James] has plans for several enhancements in the near future, including remote control via Xbee modules as well as autonomous navigation utilizing sonar or possibly a camera. We’d totally love to see it sporting a Kinect sensor in a future revision, but that’s just us!
Keep reading for a couple of demo videos he put together.
[Thanks, Nicholas]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEA_z30OAIY&w=470]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTBhkkZyKgc&w=470] | 6 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "347046",
"author": "addidis",
"timestamp": "2011-03-03T13:07:33",
"content": "sounds like a vacum how come?Maybe it sounds like a mini jet engine,",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "347742",
"author": "Grayda",
"timestamp"... | 1,760,377,258.591794 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/03/02/led-artwork-disappears-right-before-your-eyes/ | LED Artwork Disappears Right Before Your Eyes | Mike Nathan | [
"digital cameras hacks",
"LED Hacks"
] | [
"artwork",
"CCD",
"cmos",
"digital camera",
"led"
] | If you walked into an art gallery and saw nothing but blank canvases lining the wall, you might be compelled to demand your money back, or assume that you had discovered the world’s laziest artist. If this gallery happened to be displaying work by [Brad Blucher and Kyle Clements] however, you would be mistaken.
These two artists have collaborated to create a series of works titled, “
Take a Picture
“. Each picture they have built is constructed to look like an empty canvas when viewed with the naked eye. If you were to take a picture of the canvas with your cell phone or digital camera however, a whole new world would open up in front of your eyes. Their artwork is constructed using infrared LEDs, which cannot be seen with the naked eye, but are visible to nearly any CMOS or CCD sensor on the market. The images range from simple smiley faces and objects to abstract geometric shapes.
It’s a very simple, yet novel approach, and we happen to think it’s pretty cool. The artists have not said what they have planned for this project in the future, but we’d love to see it expanded using larger LED arrays to display higher-resolution images, or even short movies.
Keep reading to see how they went about creating these works of art as well as a promo video demonstrating the effect.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzhDmySD45Q&w=470]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_BmZKems7A&w=470] | 47 | 47 | [
{
"comment_id": "346585",
"author": "FightCube.com",
"timestamp": "2011-03-02T23:53:01",
"content": "This is very clever, I wish I had thought of it! I’ve used my phone to test IR remotes for activity for years… it’s a great little hack.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
... | 1,760,377,258.673534 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/03/02/remote-operated-security-gate-lets-you-phone-it-in/ | Remote Operated Security Gate Lets You Phone It In | Mike Nathan | [
"Phone Hacks",
"Security Hacks"
] | [
"remote",
"security",
"telephone"
] | [Itay] has a friend who works in a rented office where the parking lot is secured by a remote-controlled gate. Unfortunately, while his friend shares an office with several people, they only received a single remote. To help his friends out, he built a
small device that triggers the remote control
whenever a phone call is received.
The remote modification was rather straightforward. He simply opened the device, adding a single wire to each button terminal. Rather than connect to the remote using wires, he decided to fit it with what looks like a scavenged DC power jack. The ring detector circuitry was constructed and stuffed in a small phone box, which is connected to the remote using a DC power plug. It’s a great solution to the problem, but let’s just hope no one gets a hold of the phone number they used for the trigger!
There are plenty of pictures on his site, as well as video of the ring detector being tested. Unfortunately [Itay] lost the original schematics for the circuit, so you will have to flesh that part out on your own if you wish to build a similar device.
Keep reading to see a few videos of the remote in testing and in use.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7FzwnKPT8c&w=470]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtJYWqtJ_xk7w=470]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9b7hv5JA9Fg&2=470] | 20 | 20 | [
{
"comment_id": "346560",
"author": "Dangger",
"timestamp": "2011-03-02T23:12:00",
"content": "So they have to pay for a dedicated phone for this hack? It cost $35 buck in our area just to have a land line active. Courtesy calls would be a problem.I wonder if they could’ve bought those universal gar... | 1,760,377,258.835075 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/03/02/a-different-take-on-a-laser-projection-microscope/ | A Different Take On A Laser Projection Microscope | Mike Szczys | [
"Laser Hacks"
] | [
"lens",
"microscope",
"webcam"
] | [Dusjagr] has
another take on building a laser projection microscope
. Last year we saw
a laser-based microscope
that shined the beam of light through a water droplet which contained the subject to be magnified. The droplet bent the focused beam of light and projected the magnified contents onto a screen. Now that’s pretty neat and [Dusjagr] has used that method himself. But most traditional microscopes use glass slides to contain the subject and this new version now makes that possible.
A bit of experimentation led [Dusjagr] to the discovery that a lens re-purposed from a webcam can achieve similar focus results as a water droplet. The video after the break shows the apparatus seen above in action. The laser shines through the lens, then through a slide that contains a water sample from a nearby pond. The image is clear, albeit completely bathed in green.
For us the most interesting part of [Dusjagr’s] writeup is his discussion of the limits of laser amplification based on the wavelength of light the diode puts out.
[vimeo http://vimeo.com/20472931 w=470] | 12 | 12 | [
{
"comment_id": "346469",
"author": "xeracy",
"timestamp": "2011-03-02T22:00:42",
"content": "well you wont catch me drinking pond water again…",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "346652",
"author": "therian",
"timestamp": "2011-03-03T01:42:... | 1,760,377,258.730067 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/03/02/how-to-find-wifi-carry-a-big-stick-and-use-long-exposures/ | How To Find WiFi: Carry A Big Stick And Use Long Exposures | Mike Szczys | [
"LED Hacks",
"Wireless Hacks"
] | [
"light painting",
"long exposure",
"wifi"
] | Here’s an artsy way to map out WiFi networks around you;
use a big light pole and long exposures to graph them
on top of photographs. This capture method is often called
light painting
, and uses the relative brightness of LEDs to stretch out a still image – moving the stick quickly while the shutter is open.
The four-meter tall rod used in this project plays host to 80 white LEDs. An Arduino along with a WiFi shield detect the relative signal strength of the network surrounding the device. The images that are produced with this method are quite pleasing and you’ll enjoy watching the video after the break. We just wish that there was some kind of Google Street View interface to share this data since someone had to go out pounding the pavement with the rather peculiar looking apparatus in order to gather the data in the first place.
[vimeo http://vimeo.com/20412632 w=470]
[Thanks Duncan] | 14 | 14 | [
{
"comment_id": "346426",
"author": "Will",
"timestamp": "2011-03-02T20:53:35",
"content": "video unavailable!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "346427",
"author": "Largadao",
"timestamp": "2011-03-02T20:56:34",
"content": "“This video... | 1,760,377,258.781363 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/03/02/pint-sized-nixie-display-fits-neatly-in-your-pocket/ | Pint-sized Nixie Display Fits Neatly In Your Pocket | Mike Nathan | [
"contests",
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"555 timer",
"contest",
"nixie"
] | [Brett] has had Nixie tubes on the brain ever since being introduced to them by a good friend of his. He decided that building a
Nixie-based key chain
would be the best way to familiarize himself with the technology, while also giving him a project to enter in the
555 Design Contest
. He dug up the smallest Nixie tube he could find that displayed digits, and got down to business.
The biggest obstacle he ran into was figuring out how he would provide the high voltage required to light the Nixie tube. He eventually built a transformer circuit driven by a 555 timer, using a small 12v battery as his power source. Once everything was up and running on a breadboard, he designed and etched some PCBs, then soldered everything together.
The end result is a nifty little key chain that flashes the number 5 when a button is pressed – pretty appropriate for the 555 contest. It’s a great looking project, though we’re still not 100% sure what we think about a naked high voltage circuit residing in our pocket.
Keep reading for a pair of videos documenting the key chain’s construction and operation.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFR8VjTCMx4&w=470]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2kpPJcGW_4&w=470] | 13 | 13 | [
{
"comment_id": "346383",
"author": "Jason",
"timestamp": "2011-03-02T19:41:26",
"content": "Looks awesome dude! Great work i hope you win the contest.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "346386",
"author": "Tim",
"timestamp": "2011-03-02T19... | 1,760,377,258.889451 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/03/01/endless-fun-with-led-dominoes/ | Endless Fun With LED Dominoes | Mike Nathan | [
"contests",
"LED Hacks",
"Toy Hacks"
] | [
"555 timer",
"contest",
"dominoes",
"led"
] | Toppling dominoes is great fun for about 30 seconds at a time, when you are not busy setting them up for another run. [Randy] thought it was about time they got an electronic makeover to allow for constant, immediate gratification. Armed with a few simple electronic components,
he has created Le Dominoux
.
These LED-based electronic dominoes are actually quite simple to build. Each basic Le Dominoux is constructed on a small square of protoboard and consists of either a photo cell or phototransistor, a 555 timer, and an LED, all powered by a coin cell battery. The 555 timer, which is configured as a one-shot, is triggered when the photosensitive component on the back side of the domino is exposed to a bright enough light. The LED on the front end of the domino is then illuminated one time. This process is the electronic equivalent of a single domino toppling over.
He has constructed several variants of the Le Dominoux to act as flashing triggers, for outputting sound, as well as for turning tight corners. These variants allow the dominoes to be configured in many different ways, creating self-sustaining light shows. If anyone is looking for a fun project to introduce kids to electronics, this would definitely be it. Stick around to see a video of Le Dominoux in action – we bet you can’t stop watching it.
This is of course [Randy’s] entry in the
555 Design Contest
, which ends tonight at midnight EST.
[Thanks Jeri]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQOjkuJtBfM&w=470] | 46 | 46 | [
{
"comment_id": "345625",
"author": "minipimmer",
"timestamp": "2011-03-01T20:51:27",
"content": "That’s cool. They work like some kind of synchronous digital buffer with independent clock sources. As noted in the video, interesting digital circuits can be built using them.",
"parent_id": null,
... | 1,760,377,259.08308 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/03/01/fly-like-superman-using-the-force/ | Fly Like Superman Using The Force | Mike Nathan | [
"Misc Hacks",
"Wearable Hacks",
"Wireless Hacks"
] | [
"flying",
"mind control"
] | At one point or another, who hasn’t had a dream in which you could fly, simply by thinking about it? [Yehuda Duenyas, aka XXXY] is currently working on a project at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute which can allow you to do just that.
As part of a thesis project dubbed the “
Infinity Simulator
“, he has constructed a system that allows people to fly about using the elaborate rigging system at RPI’s Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center. His project allows users to glide through the air, walk up walls, and otherwise live out their flying fantasies, with mere thoughts.
An EEG headset is placed on the user, along with other wearable sensors which enhance the audio and visual experience of the person in flight. With enough concentration, the rigging system sweeps people off their feet, sending them soaring anywhere their mind desires. It sounds a bit like pretending to be Superman while using The Force to us, however the installation is described
on the EMPAC web site
as a “live-action stunt show crossed with a video game.” Either way, sign us up!
Hopefully we will see some video of the completed project in the near future, but in the meantime keep reading to see a behind-the-scenes preview of the flying rig in action.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGvsDD50cb8&w=470] | 20 | 20 | [
{
"comment_id": "345602",
"author": "dbear",
"timestamp": "2011-03-01T20:30:31",
"content": "Bring on the holodeck!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "345607",
"author": "BadCoding",
"timestamp": "2011-03-01T20:34:33",
"content": "More ... | 1,760,377,259.202901 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/03/01/bluetooth-nixie-driver-lets-you-go-almost-wireless/ | Bluetooth Nixie Driver Lets You Go Almost-wireless | Mike Szczys | [
"News"
] | [
"b7971",
"bluetooth",
"nixie",
"roving networks"
] | [Bob Coggeshall] has a nice
Nixie tube driver board coming down the pipes
. It’s not quite ready yet but you can see by the image above, it offers something that isn’t always easy to find; control for B7971 tubes which can display the full spectrum of alpha-numeric characters. This board is not limited to just one type of tube and it can be chained together with other boards to create longer displays. But perhaps the best development is the addition of a Bluetooth module. [Bob] has incorporated a Roving Networks RN-41 Bluetooth module which takes care of all aspects of the wireless protocol. This way the display is not tethered to a computer, or limited to data stored on a chip. We can’t really say that it’s wireless though, as we’d assume a set of these big tubes would rip through batteries pretty quickly. Keep an eye on this project, it will be open source once the bugs are worked out and [Bob] will also sell fully assembled and tested boards for those who choose not to roll their own.
We wonder if it would be easy to pair this with your phone and use it to display incoming call information? | 8 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "345624",
"author": "Macpod",
"timestamp": "2011-03-01T20:49:02",
"content": "Wow, those are some expensive tubes.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "345683",
"author": "Brian",
"timestamp": "2011-03-01T21:38:20",
"conte... | 1,760,377,259.129289 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/03/01/timed-shot-glass-wont-let-you-stop-drinking/ | Timed Shot-glass Won’t Let You Stop Drinking | Mike Szczys | [
"Beer Hacks",
"LED Hacks"
] | [
"beer",
"drinking games",
"power hour",
"shot glass"
] | [Drewbagd] was inspired by the 555 timer contest and decided to make this his very first electronics project. It’s
an accessory for a drinking game called the Power Hour
. The game (if you could call it that) consists of contestants drinking one shot of beer every minute for one hour. [Drewbagd] points out that timing the shots can be an issue and so he decided to augment each shot glass with its own timer.
He added a base that consists of a ring of LEDs surrounding a 555 timer and the cap and resistors. This causes the timer to oscillate from illuminated for a few seconds (drink) to dark for one minute (refill). He calls it the Powered Power Hour. The video after the break shows off the functionality, and it hints at a bright future for [Drewbagd] as an infomercial Emcee.
He’s got a
supporting post
that detail the electronics and outline some of the prototyping issues. We were happy to hear that when he got stuck he found help
over on Hackaday’s forums
. Thank you to all who participate in the community by sharing their knowledge.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBLT1606mSA] | 18 | 18 | [
{
"comment_id": "345529",
"author": "mattbed",
"timestamp": "2011-03-01T18:53:17",
"content": "Power hour sounds like a wimpy version of the centurian, 100 shots of beer (1 per min) every min for 100 mins…",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "345530"... | 1,760,377,259.428287 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/03/01/automated-window-curtain-hits-the-road/ | Automated Window Curtain Hits The Road | Mike Szczys | [
"home hacks"
] | [
"curtain",
"makita",
"power drill",
"video"
] | [Niklas Roy]
upgraded his privacy curtain
and is taking it on the road. Regular readers will remember
the first version that resided in his shop window
and used video processing in conjunction with a motor to keep the small bit of curtain in front of any passersby. We’ve embedded the original demo video after the break and it’s not to be missed.
But now he’s decided to make some upgrades to the system because it’s going to be shown as an art display. He looked around for a motor upgrade but found that the best motor at the most reasonable price could be pulled from a Makita power drill. The track itself is modular, making the installation scalable up to ten meters in total length. He even built a clean-looking laptop dock that handles the video processing end of things. But there’s something here for you as well. He’s released all of his source code, schematics, board design, and even the SketchUp files for the motor mounts and other parts. Dig out that old power drill and build one of your own.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKhbUjVyKIc&w=470] | 7 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "345486",
"author": "Robot",
"timestamp": "2011-03-01T17:52:24",
"content": "Wow, I enjoyed this video. . . it is a cute bit of art, and I particularly enjoy the image processed output.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "345505",
... | 1,760,377,259.245846 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/03/01/let-there-be-cake-and-video-games-in-one-package/ | Let There Be Cake – And Video Games In One Package | Mike Szczys | [
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"cake",
"ccfl",
"Nintendo DS"
] | Encourage your kids to play with their food by making
a cake that looks like a toy
. The Nintendo DS lookalike houses some electronics to spruce up the presentation. The upper panel is cardboard covered in frosting to tie it in with the edible lower sections. That cardboard panel hides a couple of LEDs that blink thanks to a blinking Christmas light bulb in series with the diodes. There is also an LCD screen backlight in the form of to CCFL bulbs. The screen is just a still image but that’s okay, you can’t expect an actual video screen to be built into this. Take a look at the clip after the break to see the internals.
We’ve looked in on a few other cake hacks in the past. If you missed them before now’s your chance to revisit the
gantry-based frosting dispenser
and the
turn-table frosting injector with silver-orb detailing
. These are some sweet hacks!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XD5SuS53iNY&w=470] | 7 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "345436",
"author": "adam",
"timestamp": "2011-03-01T16:48:56",
"content": "well that was disappointing. I saw Mario karts and thought it was real. Its still very cool. I wish i had the parts from the NDS to lcd project and i would build a working version.maybe a real working PSP or ... | 1,760,377,259.37695 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/03/01/super-winch-makes-sledding-100-more-fun/ | Super Winch Makes Sledding 100% More Fun | Mike Nathan | [
"Tool Hacks",
"Toy Hacks"
] | [
"motor",
"sledding",
"winch"
] | As every kid quickly finds out, sledding in the winter is awesome until you have to trudge back up to the top of the hill. If your sledding run is reasonably short, this isn’t a problem, but if you sled on huge hills like [Josh],
you need to figure something out
.
He had a go kart motor sitting around, so he figured he might as well put it to good use as a sledding winch. The winch runs a continual loop of over 1000 feet of rope, and is able to pull 3 adults up a 30 degree incline fairly easily. They say that necessity is the mother of innovation, but at some point you have to ask, “Does sledding really require an 8 HP motor and a continuously variable transmission?” The answer, of course is a resounding “Yes!”
Not only does this winch allow [Josh] and his friends to get back to real business of sledding in a hurry, it actually makes sledding fun in both directions.
Keep reading to see a video of the winch in action, and be sure to check out some
other fun uses for winches
we have featured in the past.
[via Neatorama]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xm4eGnL4xx4&w=470] | 23 | 22 | [
{
"comment_id": "345432",
"author": "Luke",
"timestamp": "2011-03-01T16:30:57",
"content": "I was thinking overkill at first, but after seeing the size of that hill it makes perfect sense. Very cool!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "345456",
... | 1,760,377,259.489665 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/03/01/iphone-based-universal-ir-remote/ | IPhone-based Universal IR Remote | Mike Nathan | [
"Cellphone Hacks",
"home hacks"
] | [
"infrared",
"iphone",
"universal remote"
] | If you have a reasonable home theater setup in your living room, odds are you have up to half a dozen remotes sitting around. Short of trying to get your cable receiver’s remote to control everything or laying down some cash for a Harmony remote, what’s a hacker to do?
[Andrey] decided he
wanted to use his iPhone as a universal IR remote
, but he didn’t want to pay very much to do so. Instead of buying a dongle at the store, he soldered some IR LEDs to an old headphone plug, creating a mini IR dongle to control his equipment. After studying IR signaling a bit, he got to work encoding IR remote commands into wav files using Python. The files are then played on his iPhone, allowing him to submit certain commands to his TV set.
Unfortunately, the process of manually converting IR codes to audio files doesn’t quite seem like the most efficient way of doing things. There are other IR dongles currently on the market that utilize the headphone jack, most of which provide pretty robust software for free. These might make a good alternative to manually creating audio files for each IR command. We honestly haven’t seen any teardowns of these retail IR dongles posted online, but it would be interesting to see how they compare to what [Andrey] has put together. | 29 | 28 | [
{
"comment_id": "345396",
"author": "ksmith",
"timestamp": "2011-03-01T15:34:13",
"content": "Here’s related throw-back link for 2004. Back when Phil Torrone still wrote articles for engadget.http://www.engadget.com/2004/07/27/how-to-turn-your-ipod-in-to-a-universal-infrared-remote-control/",
"p... | 1,760,377,259.553683 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/03/01/walking-motion-analysis-using-wii-remotes/ | Walking Motion Analysis Using Wii Remotes | Mike Szczys | [
"Linux Hacks",
"Nintendo Hacks"
] | [
"accelerometer",
"bluetooth",
"python",
"wii remote"
] | WiiGait is not a political scandal, it’s
a project that records motion data while walking
. [Bilal Chishti] and [Zassa Kavuma] are strapping a Wii remote onto each leg and recording the sensor data while making video of the walker at the same time. The two are using an Ubuntu box to pull the sensor data from the Bluetooth-enabled devices and utilizing its built-in webcam for the video. They graph the data for each axis and we’re sure that syncing up data anomalies with the video is just a matter of matching timestamps.
So what good is this? The creators are keeping us in the dark about an end-goal for collected data; this may just be for the experience of using the hardware. But we could see it having uses in making distance runners more efficient, or teaching
that bipedal robot
how to balance.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXjwyM_XWys&w=470] | 10 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "345336",
"author": "Fallen",
"timestamp": "2011-03-01T14:50:01",
"content": "Hey Guys the Kindle 3, LED post has a broken link.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "345349",
"author": "richlew",
"timestamp": "2011-03-01T15:03... | 1,760,377,259.646916 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/02/28/encase-yourself-in-carbonite-with-kinect/ | Encase Yourself In Carbonite With Kinect | Mike Nathan | [
"cnc hacks",
"Kinect hacks"
] | [
"3d printing",
"Kinect"
] | There never seems to be a lull in the stream of new and novel hacks that people create around Microsoft’s Kinect. One of the more recent uses for the device comes from [Interactive Fabrication] and allows you to
fabricate yourself, in a manner of speaking
.
The process uses the Kinect to create a 3D model of a person, which is then displayed on a computer monitor. Once you have selected your preferred pose, a model of the image is rendered by a 3D plastic printer. Each scan results in a 3cm x 3cm plastic model complete with snap together dovetail joints allowing the models to be combined together. A full body scan can be constructed with three of these tiles, resulting in a neat “Han Solo trapped in Carbonite” effect.
Currently only about 1/3 of Kinect’s full resolution is being used to create these models, which is pretty promising news to those who would try this at home. Theoretically, you should be able to create larger, more detailed images of yourself provided you have a 3D printer at your disposal.
Keep reading for a quick video presentation of the fabrication process.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PWaU4u5QVo&w=470] | 9 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "344903",
"author": "Drake",
"timestamp": "2011-03-01T00:45:24",
"content": "“Here is my business card!”*hands carbonate replica*",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "344907",
"author": "strider_mt2k",
"timestamp": "2011-03-01... | 1,760,377,259.601679 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/02/28/portable-gaming-for-retro-console-lovers/ | Portable Gaming For Retro Console Lovers | Mike Nathan | [
"handhelds hacks",
"Toy Hacks"
] | [
"atari",
"gaming",
"portable",
"retro"
] | There have been a fair share of portable video game console conversions over the years, but few tug at our retro-loving heart strings more than
this one
. Modretro forum member [Mario] constructed a fantastic looking portable Atari 2600 using a Flashback 2 Atari console clone.
He hacked apart the Flashback board to fit inside a small plastic case, then added a 3.5″ LCD screen, as well as some donated controller bits from other portable game systems. A pair of rechargeable batteries were added along with a small amplifier and speaker for sound.
While the Flashback comes with 40 games built in, he really wanted to add a cartridge port, so with the little bit of space he had left in the case, he did just that. When everything was finished, he sprayed on a few coats of retro orange paint and called it a day. Really the only thing that’s missing is some nice fake wood veneer and maybe some shag carpet.
Continue reading to see his portable creation in action.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1ifj7Tgzls&w=470] | 10 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "344887",
"author": "Jeditalian",
"timestamp": "2011-03-01T00:23:00",
"content": "pretty cool. the knob control should probably be more widely used.. mice, keyboards, touchscreens all fail at playing breakout.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"c... | 1,760,377,259.694623 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/02/28/direct-to-pcb-etch-resist-printing/ | Direct To PCB Etch Resist Printing | Mike Szczys | [
"Peripherals Hacks"
] | [
"ink",
"inkjet",
"mispro",
"pcb",
"pigment",
"printer"
] | Here’s a
step-by-step guide for printing etch resist directly to copper clad
boards. Two methods of making printed circuit boards at home have long dominated as the favorites; using photo-resist, and the toner-transfer method. The latter involves printing board artwork on a laser printer and then ironing it onto the copper clad. We’ve seen some efforts to
print toner directly to the copper
, or to
use ink to adhere toner and then heat fuse it
, but this hack is the first one we remember seeing that uses an inkjet printer directly.
The best reason inkjet printing isn’t often used is do to the ink’s iability to protect copper from the etchant. This method uses MISPRO ink that is pigment based and
will
resist the acid. An Epson Stylus Photo R260 printer was chosen because you can get refillable printer cartridges which work with the ink, and they’re fairly easy to modify. In order to feed substrate through the device it needs some physical alteration to make room for the thickness of the material, and an ATtiny13 has been added to trick one of the sensors.
Unfortunately we didn’t find photos of the printed resist. But there is
source code available for the tiny13
if you do give this a try.
[Thanks Pavlejo] | 16 | 16 | [
{
"comment_id": "344919",
"author": "Drake",
"timestamp": "2011-03-01T00:55:28",
"content": "Anyone know of other printers that use a refillable cartridge?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "344958",
"author": "Reggie",
"timestamp": "2011-0... | 1,760,377,259.745718 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/02/28/bluetooth-enabled-talking-chicken/ | Bluetooth-enabled Talking Chicken | Mike Nathan | [
"contests",
"digital audio hacks",
"Wireless Hacks"
] | [
"555 timer",
"bluetooth",
"contest"
] | [Jeri Ellsworth] sent us a
video walkthrough of a hack
she did a few years ago using a toy chicken with a motor operated mouth. She wired up a Bluetooth headset’s audio output to a LM386 audio amplifier, which drives the speaker she added to the chicken. The output of the audio amplifier was also connected to a 555 timer in bistable mode to activate the motorized mouth. The motor simply opens the mouth when activated, allowing the built-in spring to snap it shut when the 555 is reset.
Obviously Jeri didn’t send us an old project just for kicks, she wanted to remind all of our readers that the
555 Design Contest
comes to a close tomorrow night, March 1st at 11:59 EST. If you haven’t submitted an entry yet, get something started while there is still time!
Keep reading to see Jeri give a quick video overview of her talking Bluetooth chicken.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCK86zPWIKk&w=470] | 4 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "344853",
"author": "walt",
"timestamp": "2011-02-28T23:17:58",
"content": "1st!http://i55.tinypic.com/2z5vdc4.jpg",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "344901",
"author": "Jeri Ellsworth",
"timestamp": "2011-03-01T00:42:19",
... | 1,760,377,259.790049 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/02/28/fun-slide-whistle-synth-toy/ | Fun Slide Whistle Synth Toy | Mike Nathan | [
"contests",
"Musical Hacks"
] | [
"555 timer",
"contest",
"synth",
"toy"
] | [Dino] recently sent us some info on his latest project, a
555 timer-based slider synthesizer
. The synth was built to emulate the sound made by playing a slide whistle, and also as an entry into the
555 Design Contest
, which is quickly coming to a close. If you’re not familiar with a slide whistle, just spend a few minutes on YouTube looking for clips of Sideshow Bob – it’s ok, we’ll wait.
The circuit is pretty simple, though the implementation is quite clever. While traditional slide whistles require the user to blow in one end, this electronic version operates using a LED and photo cell. When the main switch is closed, the 555 timer is activated, and a tone is produced. The pitch of the tone is controlled by the LED as it slides in and out of the tube. The more light that hits the photo cell, the higher the pitch, and vice versa.
Continue reading to see a quick demonstration of [Dino’s] slide synth, and be sure to check out
his other 555 contest entry
we featured a short while back.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLSEV_WkZh8&w=470] | 11 | 11 | [
{
"comment_id": "344831",
"author": "Hirudinea",
"timestamp": "2011-02-28T22:48:33",
"content": "Worst trombone ever! ;)",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "344879",
"author": "mess_maker",
"timestamp": "2011-03-01T00:06:09",
"... | 1,760,377,260.027262 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/03/02/this-robot-will-school-you-at-freethrows/ | This Robot Will School You At Freethrows | Mike Szczys | [
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"basketball",
"freethrow",
"seal",
"stereoscopic"
] | People spend years of their lives practicing on the courts to get the kind of accuracy that this robot achieves.
It is able to shoot freethrows
thanks to stereoscopic camera analysis of the target. We know what you’re thinking; big deal, it knows the distances which makes the calculations easy. That’s not the case, look a bit closer in the image above. The basket itself is mounted on a robotic platform and creates a randomly moving target. It looks like shots are only taken when the basket is stationary. But still, that means the system is able to calculate accurate throws when the basket is not only at varying distances, but also when it is not directly in front and not square to the arm of the robot. The accuracy relies on analyzing the square on the backboard of the basket. Because two cameras give different perspectives, edge and corner detection of both images allow the system to extrapolate the location of the target.
After the fold there’s a video of this robot being demonstrated to the public. Apparently the yellow-armed-monster isn’t suitable for public consumption because the developers have covered it with the body of a plush seal.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFl-9W8x-uI&w=470] | 13 | 13 | [
{
"comment_id": "346355",
"author": "jd",
"timestamp": "2011-03-02T18:41:03",
"content": "Jesus. Because there’s nothing creepy about a fuzzy seal with metal pincers coming out of it’s mouth!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "346367",
"author... | 1,760,377,259.980615 |
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