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https://hackaday.com/2011/01/28/touch-screen-jukebox/ | Touch Screen Jukebox | Caleb Kraft | [
"computer hacks",
"digital audio hacks"
] | [
"jukebox",
"mame"
] | We went “live” with our forums less than 24 hours ago and we already have our first project ready for the front page. [Elementix] has shown us his
touch screen jukebox
build. Using an assortment of car audio speakers and amplifiers hooked up to an old Pentium 4 PC with 120 Gigs of storage, he put together the base cabinet. The touchscreen is an ebay find and he built a custom enclosure for that part. For the interface, he started with “Jukebox Arcade”, a jukebox front end for mame cabinets but found he could easily manipulate the layout since it used an xml file for the settings. After some trial and error, and a little work with
the gimp
, he got it looking the way he wanted. If you haven’t been there already, you should really check out our
new forums
. | 5 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "316840",
"author": "Sigg3",
"timestamp": "2011-01-28T15:31:36",
"content": "frist postr!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "316841",
"author": "Sigg3",
"timestamp": "2011-01-28T15:34:55",
"content": "Oooh. I have an 8″ ... | 1,760,377,293.818155 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/27/555-based-balancing-bot/ | 555 Based Balancing Bot | Caleb Kraft | [
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"555",
"balancing",
"segway"
] | This post on Reddit by [superangryguy] caught our attention today. He’s put together a
video explaining the basics of how to build balancing robots
, focusing on a 555 timer based one. He’s got two main versions, the 555 based one and another that is based off of two transistors. He says the 555 based one is much easier to build. This has all come about due to the upcoming
555 timer contest
. if you go to the Reddit post you can get schematics for both versions as well as a sneak peak at what he plans on building for the contest. You can see the video after the break.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-afnY32RrY&w=470] | 25 | 25 | [
{
"comment_id": "316113",
"author": "SomeEvent",
"timestamp": "2011-01-28T00:10:25",
"content": "I think you may have just upset a lot of builders who struggle to do this with a $100+ worth of micro and sensors.Brilliant.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comme... | 1,760,377,294.234532 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/27/2600-magazine-runs-a-sale-for-the-20th-century-back-issues/ | 2600 Magazine Runs A Sale For The 20th Century Back Issues | Caleb Kraft | [
"News"
] | [
"2600",
"hope"
] | In an effort to clear out some warehouse space,
2600 magazine has dropped the price for issues from 1984 to 2000
down to $2.50 each. If you haven’t read 2600, the Hacker Quarterly, shame on you. Pick some up and get reading. They are a resource beyond any other magazine out there for hacking and security related issues. They don’t gloss over the good bits either, they give detail because they know what they are talking about. Just to further prove that point, we present to you, the image above. Yes that is a schematic of a bluebox on a child and yes, you can buy it in
their store
(the shirt). | 19 | 19 | [
{
"comment_id": "316034",
"author": "Kuy",
"timestamp": "2011-01-27T22:52:51",
"content": "I didn’t realize it was necessary to pixelate baby faces, because they change so much before adulthood (or even later in childhood.)Or is it just a classic 2600-induced 8-bit retro face?",
"parent_id": nul... | 1,760,377,293.778608 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/27/xbee-controlled-granite-wrapped-clock-travels-into-future/ | Xbee Controlled, Granite-wrapped Clock Travels Into Future | Mike Szczys | [
"clock hacks"
] | [
"7 segment",
"arduino",
"ds1307",
"rtc",
"saa1064"
] | From the looks of it this clock is a couple of months ahead of its time. [Oscar]
built the clock
(
translated
) taking time to add a lot of goodies into the mix. First up, the parts you see include six large 7-segment displays for hours, minutes, and seconds as well as an LED marquee which can scroll messages. Inside there’s a temperature and humidity sensor for environmental feedback, and an Xbee module which allows for wireless computer control. Time is kept by a
DS1307 real-time clock
, which is read by an Arduino Uno, then pushed to the display by the pair of I2C addressable SAA1064 drivers. The whole thing was enclosed in four sheets of granite for the box, and a pane of glass for the front. We sure hope it’s well anchored to that wall. You can see it ticking away after the break.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAV3yu9RDlM&w=470] | 59 | 50 | [
{
"comment_id": "315951",
"author": "Chris Williams",
"timestamp": "2011-01-27T21:34:38",
"content": "You know, not every country writes their dates MM/DD/YY…",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "315952",
"author": "macegr",
"timestamp": "201... | 1,760,377,294.17498 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/27/58-ball-bearing-playground/ | 5/8″ Ball Bearing Playground | Mike Szczys | [
"Toy Hacks"
] | [
"ball bearing",
"gear",
"kinetic sculpture",
"marble",
"wood"
] | This kinetic sculpture
is a ball bearing’s paradise. Not only do they get a cushy ride around two lift wheels but there’s a variety of enjoyable obstacles they can go down. The first is a vortex made from a wooden flower pot which sends the balls randomly down one of two possible exits. From there it’s on to enjoy a ride on a flip-flop, a divide-by-three (takes weight of three marbles before it dumps them all), a zig-zag track, or a divide by twelve mechanism. We’re sure this is a riveting read, but don’t miss the video after the break where [Ronald Walter] shows it in action and takes it apart to illustrate the various features.
If you’re wondering about the digital logic terms used, we’ve seen
wooden devices that use these concepts
in the past.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QzIG9stFXSI&w=470]
[via
Reddit
] | 12 | 12 | [
{
"comment_id": "315924",
"author": "Tom",
"timestamp": "2011-01-27T20:58:51",
"content": "Lol It’s not actually a flower pot, it just looks like one.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "315925",
"author": "Setatx",
"timestamp": "2011-01-27T... | 1,760,377,293.978989 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/27/mitch-altman-hosts-a-tour-of-noisebridge/ | Mitch Altman Hosts A Tour Of Noisebridge | Mike Szczys | [
"Hackerspaces"
] | [
"chaos communications camp",
"Mitch Altman",
"noisebridge"
] | [Mitch Altman] just popped up once again (seriously, this guy is everywhere!) in
a video tour of Noisebridge
, and hackerspace he co-founded in San Fransisco. The space is 5200 square feet and they’ve managed to cram a lot of different uses into it. There’s areas for computers and electronics, crafting and sewing, a dark room , a machine shop, a full kitchen, as well as classrooms and other gathering places.
He talks about what a hackerspace is and what goes on in San Fran before going off on a little tour of the hackerspace movement. His recollection pins the Chaos Communications Camp as the impetus behind an initial push for these community spaces popping up in the US. It’s a fun five-minutes to watch so check it out.
[via
Boing Boing
] | 17 | 17 | [
{
"comment_id": "315894",
"author": "macona",
"timestamp": "2011-01-27T19:47:54",
"content": "I still want to know how these places get their money to stay open. Donations are nice but I would hate to be the one one the lease wondering who is going to make the payments for utilities and the building... | 1,760,377,293.930022 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/27/conways-wall-of-life-and-whiteboard-emporium/ | Conways’ Wall Of Life And Whiteboard Emporium | Mike Szczys | [
"LED Hacks"
] | [
"conways game of life",
"led marquee",
"max6979",
"parallax",
"sw28",
"whiteboard"
] | White board beats chalk board, LED marquee beats white board, and an LED white board trumps them all.
This hybrid
lets you draw on the surface with dry erase markers while Conway’s game of life plays out underneath. [Bert] sent us this tip after seeing
yesterday’s office marquee
. This version is quite similar in appearance but the guts are very different. Inside you’ll find a Parallax SX28 microcontroller doing the heavy lifting. The display is multiplexed but they didn’t go with a common 595 shift register, but a beefier
MAX6979 LED driver
. We’re not too familiar with this part but it does have a lot of nice features like constant current, and automatic shutdown if serial data stalls for more than 1 second. This is a low-side driver so transistors are used to connect voltage to the rows; the opposite from the setup we looked at yesterday. This was built several years ago and is still working happily even though its permanent home is a breadboard. Source code can be found
on this page
. | 6 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "315898",
"author": "Charon",
"timestamp": "2011-01-27T19:49:24",
"content": "This board is up atUATif anyone is interested. The parallax is also open (underneath the dry erase markers in the picture).",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_i... | 1,760,377,293.72092 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/27/exploding-an-avr/ | Exploding An AVR | Chris Nelson | [
"Microcontrollers"
] | [
"ATmega88",
"magic smoke",
"silicon"
] | Unfortunately [manekinen] wrecked a couple of AVRs during his tinkering. Not letting this get him down he decided to blow them up to see what would happen. In exchange for their precious magic smoke the AVRs revealed a good portion of their
silicon die
.
While the details are a little sparse it seems like he hooked them up to a high (and possibly reverse) source to blow open the chips casing. From the pictures it looks like he was able to reveal some of the flash or SRAM (the big multi colored rectangles) and what could possibly be the power supply. Be sure to checkout the videos after the break for some silicon carnage.
[youtube=
]
[youtube=
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YEL7Jx26Wk&feature=related
&w=470] | 23 | 23 | [
{
"comment_id": "315834",
"author": "SquantMuts",
"timestamp": "2011-01-27T17:36:14",
"content": "Rest in pieces…",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "315844",
"author": "Grovenstien",
"timestamp": "2011-01-27T17:56:16",
"content": "Inter... | 1,760,377,293.879664 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/27/official-hackaday-forums/ | Official Hackaday Forums | Caleb Kraft | [
"News"
] | [
"community",
"forum"
] | Yes, finally, we
have a forum
. We get regular requests, both in the comments and in our email for a hackaday forum. We put it in operation a few days ago and started letting people trickle in and it hasn’t completely blown up in our faces. Please join us there and help build our community. Also, notice there is a button for it over on the right column now.
Some items of interest or common answers to common questions:
No illegal activities allowed. Yes, we have the word “hack” in our name. That does not mean that we will hack a website for you. (we get that request weekly).
Keep it moderately clean. Sure you can cuss, this isn’t a kids site, but no pronography/gore please.
No personal threats.
There will be google ads. We are trying really hard to balance the business with the fun, so bear with us. So far, they aren’t in the way. We have no plans on going overboard.
This will be readable without a login. You must register to post.
We’re working out the kinks. Please report any problems to caleb@
That’s it, enjoy and be civil. | 27 | 25 | [
{
"comment_id": "315776",
"author": "Phil",
"timestamp": "2011-01-27T16:07:27",
"content": "Super :). Thanks for the Forum. Waited long for it.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "315777",
"author": "java",
"timestamp": "2011-01-27T16:08:40"... | 1,760,377,294.09058 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/27/plug-and-prey-malicious-usb-devices/ | Plug And Prey: Malicious USB Devices | Caleb Kraft | [
"Android Hacks",
"Security Hacks"
] | [
"hid",
"keylogger",
"usb"
] | This very informative talk given at Shmoocon 2011 has been posted over at IronGeek. Covering all kinds of angles that a person could
attack someones computer through the USB port
, this should be read by anyone who is security minded at all. No matter which side of the port you tend to be on, this article has great information. They cover some common attack methods such as keyloggers and fake keyboards as well as some common methods of securing your system against them. We’ve actually seen this in the news a bit lately as people have been using the
keyboard emulation method in conjunction with android phones
to hack into systems.
[thanks Adrian] | 21 | 21 | [
{
"comment_id": "315764",
"author": "operative",
"timestamp": "2011-01-27T15:43:24",
"content": "Wasn’t this at Shmoocon 2010? Also, relies on mostly the same technics as it uses the teensy boards and emulates keyboards (or other HID for that matter)",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"rep... | 1,760,377,294.02891 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/27/the-pirate-box/ | The Pirate Box | Caleb Kraft | [
"Security Hacks",
"Wireless Hacks"
] | [
"piracy"
] | One of the most fun aspects of a LAN party was exploring the shared files of all the other users on the network. There were people that would show up, solely for the file swapping. That is exactly what this project is about. From the projects wiki, the
Pirate box
is a mobile p2p sharing and collaboration platform. Basically it is a wireless hotspot with a slick interface and a shared folder. It doesn’t connect to the internet, and it doesn’t log any connections. You can have a file swapping session simply by flipping it on and sharing its space with other people. They’ve included a step by
step guide to setting up your own
, but if you’re going to do some subversive file swapping we might suggest putting it in a less conspicuous enclosure. Imagine this as a portable verion of
dead drops
. | 21 | 21 | [
{
"comment_id": "315717",
"author": "mccand",
"timestamp": "2011-01-27T14:04:29",
"content": "All I can think about after this article is a scene from the movie “Hook”:Captain Hook: Yes, you made a boo-boo.Pirate: I did. I did!Captain Hook: The Boo Box.Pirate: Not the Boo Box! NOO!!My apologies to a... | 1,760,377,294.388757 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/26/disguise-your-acura-nsx-as-a-ferrari-f50/ | Disguise Your Acura NSX As A Ferrari F50 | Caleb Kraft | [
"Transportation Hacks"
] | [
"acura",
"f50",
"ferrari",
"nsx"
] | We know what you’re thinking. “I have this Acura NSX, but my friends just won’t think I’m cool unless I have a Ferrari F50.” You know what? You’re right. To save yourself from that kind of ridicule, you can simply carry out a
ridiculous body mod to make your poor NSX live up to your friends expectations
. It only took massive amounts of fiberglass, foam, and bondo to get this NSX looking the way the guy wanted it. We have to wonder if there was any performance hit with the additional weight, then again, he may have removed enough metal panels to compensate. While we may joke about it, we really do have some respect for the amount of work he put into this thing. The finished job is simply amazing, in terms of reproduction of the original. Kudos crazy car modder guy. | 61 | 50 | [
{
"comment_id": "315179",
"author": "Hoopstar",
"timestamp": "2011-01-26T23:08:15",
"content": "The NSX’s body is all aluminum, so I doubt removing any of the panels would result in much (if any) weight loss..End of the day, this ‘hack’ is all about looks and nothing about performance which is a mas... | 1,760,377,294.737027 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/26/make-presents-the-multimeter/ | Make Presents: The Multimeter | Caleb Kraft | [
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"multimeter",
"tutorial"
] | This video falls under the category of things we want to send people when they ask “how do I get started with electronics”, and we get asked that
a lot
. For those of you who have been working with electronics
for years
at all
, you can skip this entire video. That is, unless you really want to watch an instructional video on multimeters. In the video, which we’ve included after the break, they talk about the differences between different meters, the common uses and how to actually use the meter to get the results you need. Stuffed full of useful information, this video will get those of you who are still reading up to snuff pretty quickly. Now go use your multimeter to do some hacking!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BW3Wj7UD-_s&w=470] | 17 | 17 | [
{
"comment_id": "315198",
"author": "Mike",
"timestamp": "2011-01-26T23:36:01",
"content": "Just need to watch the EEV blog. Dave reviews a slew of them inPart 1, andPart 2.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "315204",
"author": "Hackius",
"... | 1,760,377,295.106117 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/26/learn-to-code-at-lifehacker/ | Learn To Code At Lifehacker | Caleb Kraft | [
"Software Development"
] | [
"javascript",
"tutorial"
] | [Adam] over at lifehacker is putting together a series on the principles of programming called
“Learn to code”
. They are using Javascript as a basis to teach the fundamentals that would allow you to get stuff done in any similar language, like actionscript. After you’ve got these basics down, even moving to an object oriented language shouldn’t be too difficult. We absolutely love educational resources and hope they continue this series pretty far. They’ve already released part one and
part two
. We have supplied the video from each after the break, but there’s more info at the links.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98ZkbFwV2ZQ&w=470]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EreUdTEvYO8&w=470] | 26 | 24 | [
{
"comment_id": "315133",
"author": "Orkie",
"timestamp": "2011-01-26T22:06:09",
"content": "JavaScript is object oriented?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "315140",
"author": "Caleb Kraft",
"timestamp": "2011-01-26T22:20:56",
... | 1,760,377,294.99619 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/26/stepper-directed-hdtv-antenna/ | Stepper Directed HDTV Antenna | James Munns | [
"Radio Hacks"
] | [
"antenna",
"broadcast",
"floppy",
"hd",
"hdtv",
"OTA",
"stepper"
] | Broadcast TV has come a long way from adjusting the rabbit ears on top of the set just to get a fuzzy black and white picture. While nowadays there are often HD signals broadcast in most areas, it can often still be critical to redirect an antenna to get the best possible signal. By harvesting a stepper motor from an old 5 1/2″ floppy drive, and using a PC’s parallel port to control it, this adjustment can be
handled automatically
.
Broadcast tower locations
are easily found online, and once you have calibrated your stepper to face North, you are on your way to free HDTV reception.
What we would like to see is this antenna attached to a HTPC, and some kind of script to automatically direct the antenna for the best possible signal for the current channel. If anyone out there makes this happen, be sure to
let us know
. | 22 | 22 | [
{
"comment_id": "315096",
"author": "M",
"timestamp": "2011-01-26T21:16:19",
"content": "I have one of those “smart antennas” that uses the CEA-909 standard, but it was a piece of garbage. It would be nice to have finer granularity than 16 possible orientations.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth"... | 1,760,377,294.929694 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/26/making-the-im-me-dongle-more-useful/ | Making The IM-ME Dongle More Useful | Mike Szczys | [
"Microcontrollers",
"Radio Hacks"
] | [
"im-me",
"pinkos",
"sil"
] | So you’ve hacked your IM-ME six ways from Sunday but don’t know what to do with the USB dongle? [Joby Taffey] set out to
make this leftover a useful part of the hacking arsenal
. He pulled off the USB connector and the USB controller chip. From there he glued on the pin headers as pictured above in order to turn this into a breadboard-friendly single in-line package. But wait, that’s not all… for the low-low price of common components he also built a power and programming cable. Once it’s all said and done you can load
PinkOS
, an operating system he developed for the device which lets you operate the onboard radio via serial protocol.
Need a better overview of the hardware on the board? [Joby] laid
the groundwork for this hack
back in October. | 15 | 15 | [
{
"comment_id": "315054",
"author": "GCL",
"timestamp": "2011-01-26T20:15:20",
"content": "And currently Joby’s site linked there isn’t at home. It gives me an error message regarding the database. It might be overloaded with requests at the moment.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"repl... | 1,760,377,294.786368 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/26/robot-hand-has-no-problem-giving-you-the-finger/ | Robot Hand Has No Problem Giving You The Finger | Mike Szczys | [
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"arm",
"doom",
"hand",
"skynet",
"tendon"
] | Get your Terminator clichés ready,
this robot hand
reeks of Skynet. It is designed to function like the human hand, but the main goal is one of robustness. A lot of effort went into making sure this won’t break in the field. Instead of rigid gears, a system of tendons actuates each digit. The pulleys that control these are located in the forearm and each has a spring mechanism that helps to cushion shocks to the apparatus which might damage other grippers. It has bone-crushing power behind the 19 degrees of movement and, as you’ve already guessed, this comes at a pretty steep price tag; topping out around 100,000 Euros. It’s more complicated, and more expensive that
jamming grippers
, but it’s also far scarier. See for yourself in the silent movie after the break.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqmRKqFqiok&w=470]
[Thanks Erico] | 25 | 25 | [
{
"comment_id": "315018",
"author": "Osgeld",
"timestamp": "2011-01-26T19:17:01",
"content": "classy",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "315025",
"author": "kobilica",
"timestamp": "2011-01-26T19:32:18",
"content": "i expected crushing s... | 1,760,377,295.05649 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/26/edison-clock-uses-ammeter-plus-bulbs-to-set-alarm/ | Edison Clock Uses Ammeter Plus Bulbs To Set Alarm | Mike Szczys | [
"clock hacks"
] | [
"alarm",
"edison",
"light bulb",
"meter"
] | This is the Edison clock
, designed by [David Krawczyk]. It shows time in the same way as the multimeter clock, regulating power to two analog needle meters. The feature that makes this one a bit different is the alarm. You can see the series of holes on the front of the base. These have a small light bulb socked in each, and correspond to hours and 5-minute increments. Insert two bulbs to set the alarm time, and make sure that the alarm knob points to ‘on’. As you can see above, the alarm has been set to 8:15. Hidden on the last image of the article above is
a PDF with just a bit more explanation
. Still, much has been left out so if you replicate this clock we want to hear about it.
[via
Gizmodo
and
Walyou
] | 8 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "315002",
"author": "Joe",
"timestamp": "2011-01-26T18:22:43",
"content": "Nice work. Now if only the bulbs were completely sealed, that would be bada$$.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "315015",
"author": "Buddy",
"timest... | 1,760,377,294.652666 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/26/reverse-engineering-radio-controlled-outlets/ | Reverse Engineering Radio Controlled Outlets | Mike Szczys | [
"home hacks"
] | [
"atmega8",
"home automation",
"outlet",
"remote control",
"RF"
] | [Chr] picked up a pack of
remote control outlets in order to reverse engineer them
and build control into his own projects. These can be plugged into outlets around your house and a relay inside each module will switch whatever device is plugged into it after receiving a command from the remote. Once he cracked open the control housing it was easy to find the data line for the RF module which was on its own board. He used a logic analyzer to capture data from various button presses and then spent some time deciphering the communication protocol. He used what he learned to roll the module and code into an interface box where an ATmega8 connects via USB and passes commands from a computer to the RF board. Now he’s added home automation via a computer quite inexpensively. After the break you can watch a clip of the outlets switched using a smartphone.
So why not just patch into the buttons on the remote? Well, this same project was attempted
at our local hackerspace earlier this month
and the buttons don’t just pull a pin to ground. They use tri-state logic and are arranged into a matrix that is a lot harder to mimic (if not impossible) with a microcontroller. Analyzing the communications going into the RF module is definitely the less labor-intensive of the two approaches.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Nn7xAD_cVE&w=470] | 31 | 30 | [
{
"comment_id": "314950",
"author": "Louie",
"timestamp": "2011-01-26T17:09:58",
"content": "There’s a company that reverses these for their 3rd party usb-controller, and they release their code. check outhttp://www.telldus.se/(I’m just a user, not affiliated with the company in any way)",
"pare... | 1,760,377,295.22988 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/26/12-led-display-keeps-your-office-informed/ | 12 Foot LED Display Keeps Your Office Informed | Mike Szczys | [
"LED Hacks"
] | [
"595",
"darlington array",
"marquee",
"shift register",
"uln2803a"
] | Don’t reach for a sticky note when you need to leave a message for your office mates, write it down on
a 12 foot LED marquee
. [Kitesurfer1404] built this for his home office, but we’re sure he’ll find fun stuff to use it for. The display has 512 LEDs driven by plain old 595 shift registers for the high-side columns, with an ULN2803A Darlington Array to pull the eight rows to ground. The whole thing is controlled by an ATmega8 via a serial connection. Our compliments to the builder for accurately drilling a grid of 64×8 holes in each hardboard panel of the display. The buses for each row and column also look nice and clean. For the final look a 79% light transmittance frosted acrylic panel was added to diffuse the light.
We used the same method to build
our LED pumpkin
. Transistors ran the low side, and if we had needed more columns, shift registers are a popular go-to for I/O expansion. Check out that project to learn more about display multiplexing. | 20 | 19 | [
{
"comment_id": "314923",
"author": "Jamie",
"timestamp": "2011-01-26T16:08:49",
"content": "Bad Ass!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "314925",
"author": "Satiagraha",
"timestamp": "2011-01-26T16:10:42",
"content": "foot",
"parent... | 1,760,377,295.163741 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/26/ros-gains-full-body-telemetry/ | ROS Gains Full Body Telemetry | Caleb Kraft | [
"Kinect hacks",
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"biped",
"Kinect",
"NAO"
] | [Taylor Veldrop] has been playing with an
NAO robot and ROS, mixed with a Kinect
to get some pretty amazing results. The last time we saw any work done with ROS and the Kinect, it was allowing some
basic telemetry using the PR2
. [Tyler] has taken this a step further allowing for full body control of the
NAO
robot. Basic mimicking mixed with a little bit of autonomy allow the NAO to follow his steps around a room and even slice a bananna, or hammer nails. We think this is pretty impressive, especially if he were to mix it together with a
motion tracking stereoscopic display
. Follow along after the break to see it pull off some of these cool feats.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmTW61MLm68&w=470] | 28 | 28 | [
{
"comment_id": "314888",
"author": "jimbob",
"timestamp": "2011-01-26T14:27:02",
"content": "I, for one, welcome our new robot overlords.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "314891",
"author": "fartface",
"timestamp": "2011-01-26T14:33:11",... | 1,760,377,295.29422 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/25/abusing-http-status-codes/ | Abusing HTTP Status Codes | Caleb Kraft | [
"Security Hacks",
"Software Hacks"
] | [
"html",
"web"
] | Concerns over privacy online are an ever growing theme. Every day we see people complaining about the policies of facebook and the like. [Mike Cardwell] points out
another method of gleaning a bit of personal data
from you that you may not have seen yet. By embedding a hidden image or using some really simple javascript, he can tell if you are currently logged into Gmail, Twitter, Facebook, or Digg. While this could possibly be used for more nefarious things, he points out that you could also use it for customizing your website to better suit the experience of the browser. For example, if the “reader” is already logged into Gmail, you could have any email links automatically open a gmail instance instead of the local mail client. | 25 | 23 | [
{
"comment_id": "314451",
"author": "Jordan",
"timestamp": "2011-01-26T00:07:03",
"content": "You know, I just had this idea earlier today. That’s awesome.What isn’t awesome is that the link is dead. :(",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "314470",
... | 1,760,377,295.358481 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/25/wireless-sniffing-and-jamming-of-chronos-and-iclicker/ | Wireless Sniffing And Jamming Of Chronos And Iclicker | Joseph Thibodeau | [
"Radio Hacks",
"Security Hacks",
"Wireless Hacks"
] | [
"c1110",
"chronos",
"goodfet.cc",
"i>clicker",
"im-me",
"radio",
"security",
"signal jamming",
"sniffing",
"wireless"
] | The ubiquitous presence of wireless devices combined with easy access to powerful RF development platforms makes the everyday world around us a wireless hacker’s playground. Yesterday [Travis Goodspeed]
posted an article
showing how goodfet.cc can be used to sniff wireless traffic and also to jam a given frequency. We’ve previously covered the work of [Travis] in
pulling raw data from the IM-ME spectrum analyzer
, which also uses goodfet.cc.
The
Texas Instruments Chronos
watch dev platform contains a C1110 chip, which among other things can provide accelerometer data from the watch to an interested sniffer. The
i>clicker
classroom response device (which houses a XE1203F chip) is also wide open to this, yielding juicy info about your classmates’ voting behaviour. There is still some work to be done to improve goodfet.cc, and [Travis] pays in beer–
not
in advance, mind you.
With products like the Chronos representing a move towards personal-area wireless networks, this sort of security hole might eventually have implications to individual privacy of, for example, biometric data–although how that might be exploited is another topic. Related to this idea is that of sniffable RFID card data. How does the increasing adoption of short-range wireless technologies affects us, both for good and bad? We invite you to share your ideas in the comments. | 1 | 1 | [
{
"comment_id": "314373",
"author": "Ferdinand",
"timestamp": "2011-01-25T23:06:47",
"content": "The chronos watch itself contains an CC430 based on an MSP430 processor. The CC1110 is a different chip and it’s based on 8051 architecture (as is the CC1111 on the chrono’s usb connected wireless access... | 1,760,377,295.396526 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/25/inaccurate-breathalyzer-is-still-quite-nice/ | Inaccurate Breathalyzer Is Still Quite Nice | Mike Szczys | [
"Arduino Hacks"
] | [
"alcohol sensor",
"breathalyzer",
"mq-3"
] | Sure, [Hunter Scott’s]
Breathalyzer can only differentiate between hammer and sober
, but look how nice it came out. He’s using an MQ-3 alcohol sensor which,
from previous projects
, we know is very difficult to accurately calibrate. But if you want to monkey around with embedded systems you’ve got to have a goal. [Hunter] chose a gorgeous aluminum project enclosure, adding a big LCD display to the to the lit. The switch on the bottom selects between on, off, and charging modes. He’s using a USB charger from Adafruit to top off the lithium battery inside. Everything runs on 3.3V with the exception of the sensor which gets its 5V supply from a boost converter. An Arduino is the brains that pulls everything together.
See [Hunter’s] video description of the project embedded after the break.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRFDamwBsAs&w=470] | 14 | 14 | [
{
"comment_id": "314291",
"author": "Koolguy007",
"timestamp": "2011-01-25T22:11:39",
"content": "Stop.. hammer time.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "314292",
"author": "MrX",
"timestamp": "2011-01-25T22:13:54",
"content": "Halt! Is ... | 1,760,377,295.447891 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/25/monocrome-to-magnificent-computer-display-chronology/ | Monocrome To Magnificent: Computer Display Chronology | Mike Szczys | [
"Video Hacks"
] | [
"cga",
"crt",
"display",
"evoluntion",
"history",
"not a hack",
"vga"
] | Remember when CGA came out and made monocrome monitors look horrible? Well CGA is crap, VGA is where it’s at. Wait… weren’t there a couple of standards in between those two? Take a walk down memory lane and
relive the evolution of computer display technology
. You’ll start with displays that are more or less CRT oscilloscopes and end up in better than high-def territory. The article is an interesting read but for those with short attention spans jump to the fourth page and check out the chart of technologies, resolutions, and implementation dates. We’ve come a long way in a few short decades. | 45 | 43 | [
{
"comment_id": "314246",
"author": "bogdan",
"timestamp": "2011-01-25T21:34:29",
"content": "Really nice history lesson. Didn’t know they had a pen type input device as early as 60s.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "314272",
"author": "Rob W... | 1,760,377,296.064552 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/25/jamming-gripper-completes-robot-drug-dealer/ | Jamming Gripper Completes Robot Drug Dealer | Mike Szczys | [
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"coffee grounds",
"gripper",
"handi-vac",
"jamming",
"reynolds",
"robot"
] | Here’s an inexpensive way to
build your own jamming gripper
. [Steve Norris] combined a robot arm with a few inexpensive items to achieve similar results as
the original
. Much like
the last DIY version
he started with a balloon and some coffee grounds, but instead of using his own body as a vacuum pump he sourced a
Reynolds Handi-Vac
, an inexpensive food vacuum sealer. It connects to the balloon using some plastic tubing, and sucks all of the air out, locking the coffee grounds around an object for a firm grip. The video after the break even shows the gripper picking up two aspirin. At first we thought a servo motor was being used to seal off the tube once the air had been pumped out. Instead, it is covering a hole in the tubing, which breaks the vacuum when it’s time to let go of an object.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quvRo9pvRdI&w=470]
[via
Bot Junkie
] | 10 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "314203",
"author": "Philip",
"timestamp": "2011-01-25T20:19:58",
"content": "Nice setup, but would be a LOT quicker gripping with rigid tubing.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "314205",
"author": "Luke",
"timestamp": "201... | 1,760,377,295.675565 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/25/sparkfun-free-day-recap/ | Sparkfun Free Day Recap | Chris Nelson | [
"News"
] | [
"free",
"sparkfun"
] | It looks like the dust has finally settled with
sparkfun’s free day
. They managed to give away $150,541 to users and $22,988 to charity. The general idea is you could ether take $10/year you’ve been a sparkfun customer, or take a 10 question quiz and earn $10/correct answer plus some money for charity. It looks like some technical difficulties prevented people from taking the quiz until free day had been under way for a couple of hours. Once they managed to fix the problem the money went pretty fast, eating up the last $40,000 in about 5 minutes. So did anyone manage to get anything good? Be sure to checkout sparkfun’s recap video after the break for more details.
[youtube=
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvWhu-qzY7s&feature=player_embedded
&w=470] | 38 | 37 | [
{
"comment_id": "314151",
"author": "ZeUs",
"timestamp": "2011-01-25T19:01:59",
"content": "Not a hack.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "314153",
"author": "ZeUs",
"timestamp": "2011-01-25T19:03:07",
"content": "I didn’t mind though. ... | 1,760,377,295.824675 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/25/radios-without-power-sources/ | Radios Without Power Sources | Mike Szczys | [
"Radio Hacks"
] | [
"am",
"piezo",
"radio",
"receiver"
] | [Goodhart] is sharing his process for
building a couple different AM radios
. It’s surprising how few components he’s using; the first build is just a germanium diode, some wire, and a piezo earpiece. But it strikes us that both of the radios he gives build instructions for have no power source. We’re also amused by the process of selecting the station. His example uses 770 AM, and requires you to take the wire and place it up in a tree with the two ends about 1216 feet apart. We think there’s something a bit off with the math, but with that much conductor to start with there might be enough induced current for you to actually hear something come out the piezo. We don’t think we’ll be trying this anytime soon, but we’d like to hear comments from those of you who do (or already have). | 37 | 37 | [
{
"comment_id": "314123",
"author": "Andrew",
"timestamp": "2011-01-25T18:06:54",
"content": "I heard that if you take an old AM radio and go right next to the station, you can hear it without turning the volume on. But now with on/off and digital what-not, it’s not possible.",
"parent_id": nul... | 1,760,377,295.752443 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/25/jeep-uter-adds-push-button-control-to-your-vehicle/ | Jeep-uter Adds Push Button Control To Your Vehicle | Mike Szczys | [
"Transportation Hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"code",
"computer",
"dash",
"ignition",
"Jeep",
"wrangler"
] | [Ed Zarick] built
a module to control his vehicle
which he calls the Jeeputer. The name’s a mash-up of Jeep and Computer; the device itself is a combination of Arduino, character LCD, and a collection of shift registers and relays for interfacing. Watch the video after the break to see what this can do. We were surprised in the beginning when he says that all he has left to do is remove the steering wheel lock and he’ll be able to drive using the interface, but we think he means
type in a code to unlock the ignition
, not
remote control for his car
. He then goes on to demonstrate garage door control, power cycling for CB radio, GPS, 110V power inverter, vehicle light control, and much more. This must be the most feature packed car computer we’ve seen so far.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrF22zAU8s4&w=470] | 24 | 23 | [
{
"comment_id": "314101",
"author": "Justme",
"timestamp": "2011-01-25T17:18:22",
"content": "I am surprised that he is using mechanical relays in a 4 wheel drive vehicle. The jarring could cause the relays to fail. SS relays would be a better choice and last longer.Also it would be easy to jump sta... | 1,760,377,296.17509 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/25/vr-now-with-more-kinect-wiimote-and-vuzix/ | VR! Now With More Kinect, Wiimote, And Vuzix | Caleb Kraft | [
"Kinect hacks",
"Nintendo Wii Hacks",
"Xbox Hacks"
] | [
"Kinect",
"virtual reality",
"vr",
"wiimote"
] | Those of us that remember when you could actually go to a mall and play on a VR game machine, tend to remember it fondly. What happened? The computing horsepower has grown so much, our graphics now days are simply stunning, yet there’s been no major VR revival. Yeah, those helmets were huge and gave you a headache, but it was worth it. With the 3d positioning abilities of the latest game crazes, the Wiimote and the Kinect, [Nao_u] is finally taking this where we all knew it
should have gone
(
google translated
). Well, maybe we would have had less creepy anime faces flying around squirting ink, but the basics are there. He has created a VR system utilizing the Wiimote for his hand position, a Vuzix display for head positioning, and the kinect for body tracking. Even with the creepy flying heads I want to play it, especially after seeing him physically ducking behind boxes in the video after the break. Long live VR!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZS33cENjyRs&w=470]
[via
Engadget
] | 24 | 24 | [
{
"comment_id": "314062",
"author": "Moshi",
"timestamp": "2011-01-25T16:11:52",
"content": "Miku invades Hackaday at last.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "314063",
"author": "walt",
"timestamp": "2011-01-25T16:11:52",
"content": "VR... | 1,760,377,295.880805 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/25/refurbishing-a-refrigerator-for-fermenting/ | Refurbishing A Refrigerator For Fermenting | Caleb Kraft | [
"cooking hacks",
"home hacks"
] | [
"beer",
"bread",
"cooking",
"ferment",
"temperature"
] | [Mikey Sklar] wrote in to show us how he
refurbished a neighbors useless refrigerator as a fermentation chamber
. [Mikey] is a fan of making breads, kemchi, yogurt, and tempeh. To make these, it helps to have a completely controlled temperature for them to ferment in. [Mikey] developed a
temp controller
for this in the past, but had to either build a control box or use a giant chest freezer. This is not optimal for limited space, such as a kitchen. He got lucky when a neighbor tossed a wine cooler into the trash. These little coolers are perfectly sized for a kitchen and even have a glass front so you can keep an eye on what is going on inside without having to open it and effect your temps. [Mikey] ripped it open, replaced the peltier cooler with a large heat lamp and his temp controller. Since he was making yogurt with this one, he needed only to heat it. The final product turned out pretty effective. | 12 | 12 | [
{
"comment_id": "314032",
"author": "Tom Hargrave",
"timestamp": "2011-01-25T15:04:17",
"content": "You can find instructions for converting several types of refridgerators and freezers on this site.http://www.kegkits.com",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comme... | 1,760,377,296.11548 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/25/555-design-contest-win-1500-in-prizes/ | 555 Design Contest, Win $1500+ In Prizes! | James Munns | [
"contests"
] | [
"555",
"contest",
"Ellsworth",
"Jeri",
"prize"
] | Sure, microcontrollers are useful, easy to apply, and ubiquitous, but where is the fun in the easy route? Well, for those of you out there with a little imagination and a 555 timer sitting around, there could be
rewards in store
. Brought to you by such famous personalities as
Jeri Ellsworth
and
Chris Gammell
, the 555 contest has prizes and awards for a number of different categories, such as over the top designs as well as awards for most minimalistic. To top it all off, they are even selling T-shirts to benefit engineering education charities.
The craziest (and possibly coolest) part of the entire contest is that the it has all been put together by the hacking community, with no exclusive sponsorship deals or payment to the organizers being accepted. In the spirit of giving, we will be adding some Hack a Day merch to the swag pile, so keep an eye out for the skull and wrenches. Currently the prize list includes a pair of Beagle Boards, a custom hacked Commodore 64 Joystick from Jeri, as well as a number of other project parts and lots more. The sponsorship list is still growing, so all of our information is tentative (and exclusive!), but be sure to check out the complete list so far after the break.
Here is the tentative list of prizes. Subject to change.
Eagle Pro (Layout+Schematic+Autorouter) from Element14 and Cadsoft
Free shipping on 555’s with no minimum from Element14
Hacked C64 Joystick from me
20sq in of PCB from @laen and DorkbotsPDX PCB pool
OLED displays from Savage Circuits
Maker T-Shirts from MakerTees.com
2
Beagle Boards
Hackaday stickers and shirts
Altium FPGA Nanoboard
Extech’s “five for five” free pen meters to random contestants
Extech’s Multiscope
SumoBot Competition Kit
from Parallax Inc and Digikey
Oomlout
Arduino Kit
Special prizes:
40 Text LCD Modules from EEvblog for the best Aussie project
To be determined prize for the best under 18yrs old entry. This will include adult/child entries. | 35 | 35 | [
{
"comment_id": "314010",
"author": "Dino",
"timestamp": "2011-01-25T13:15:37",
"content": "I love the timing on this… pun intended. I just built a 555 based project! :) Looking forward to seeing what other projects get entered.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
... | 1,760,377,296.244548 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/24/avr-the-facts-about-flash-memory/ | AVR: The Facts About Flash Memory | Mike Szczys | [
"Microcontrollers"
] | [
"atmega328",
"AVR",
"flash memory"
] | Here’s a nice little
discussion about reading and writing AVR flash memory
that [Windel] put together. He’s using an In System Programmer to read the flash memory from an ATmega328 using AVRdude, the programming software which we used in
our AVR Programming Tutorials
. He covers the particulars of the commands, how this might be useful, and finishes up with the gotcha’s involved in reading back code from the chip. We recently tried this out with
that LED light bulb
but were unsuccessful because the lock bits on the ATtiny13 chip had been set in order to protect the firmware from our prying eyes. Hopefully you’ll have more luck with these methods. | 13 | 13 | [
{
"comment_id": "313644",
"author": "noah vawter",
"timestamp": "2011-01-25T02:03:29",
"content": "Hey speaking of AVR flash… does anyone have experience writing to the flash of e.g. atemga32 from application memory? apparently, you have to make a function to write, save it in the bootloader porti... | 1,760,377,296.311138 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/24/building-a-creepy-doll-army/ | Building A Creepy Doll Army | Mike Szczys | [
"Toy Hacks"
] | [
"animatronic",
"arduino",
"chucky",
"doll",
"servo"
] | Want your very own Chucky doll to scare the crap out of the roommates? [Gzip] shows you how to make this happen by
adding servo-based animatronics to old dolls
. In the video after the break you can see the doll throw up her arms and turn her head thanks to a motor in each shoulder and one in her melon. You won’t see it in the clip, but the legs are motorized too meaning that some creative coding might have this old gal awkwardly crawling across the room (with knife in hand). Then again, maybe this is just the inspiration you need to get off your bum and finish
the Santa-Pede Challenge
. Submissions are due a week from today!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLL6a-Kd-_Q&w=470] | 7 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "313584",
"author": "Crunch",
"timestamp": "2011-01-25T00:25:04",
"content": "Holy furk … I hate dolls",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "313585",
"author": "bluewraith",
"timestamp": "2011-01-25T00:29:44",
"content": "A... | 1,760,377,296.353266 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/24/keyless-entry-via-sms/ | Keyless Entry Via SMS | Mike Szczys | [
"home hacks"
] | [
"lock",
"parallax",
"sms",
"spinneret",
"text message",
"twilio"
] | [Billy’s] work got new keys which he didn’t want to carry around with him. Instead he built this system to
unlock the door via text message
. It is based around a
Spinneret Web Server
which drives a servo motor. He’s rigged up a pipe hanger to add some leverage to the lock’s knob. We’re surprised that the servo has enough power to do the job here but the video after the break shows there’s really no problem. On the communication side of things [Billy] set up
Twilio
to wait for text messages from an approved list of senders, then used an HTML form to issue the unlock commands to the webserver.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eexlYrESdP8&w=470]
[via
Make
] | 15 | 15 | [
{
"comment_id": "313545",
"author": "Aaron",
"timestamp": "2011-01-24T23:23:17",
"content": "Hey, awesome! And if you use an MVNO as shitty as mine, you can text the door and stand around half an hour waiting for it to unlock!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"... | 1,760,377,296.409948 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/24/amarino-makes-android-controlled-robots-a-snap/ | Amarino Makes Android Controlled Robots A Snap | Mike Szczys | [
"Android Hacks"
] | [
"accelerometer",
"amarino",
"android",
"arduino",
"bluesmirf",
"bluetooth"
] | [Lucas Fragomeni] is
controlling this robot using the accelerometer on his Android phone
(
translated
). He could have gone through
our Android tutorials
and developed a custom application but he took the shorter route and used
Amarino, an ‘Android meets Arduino’ toolkit
, to do it for him. [Lucas] combined an Arduino, a BlueSMiRF Bluetooth modem, and two servo motors to build his robot. Amarino lets him connect to that Bluetooth modem and send sensor data over the connection. In this case it’s only the accelerometer that he chose to use, but he could have gone with the touchscreen, or any other sensor the handheld has to offer. Using this code package got him up and running quickly, only requiring that he writes his own code to turn the received signals into servo motor control routines. See it in action after the break.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAGCgGwvLPM&w=470] | 5 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "313510",
"author": "Hackius",
"timestamp": "2011-01-24T22:08:38",
"content": "That is some fancy expensive flooring",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "313702",
"author": "colecago",
"timestamp": "2011-01-25T03:39:11",
"... | 1,760,377,296.449882 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/24/yet-another-cat-door/ | Yet Another Cat Door | James Munns | [
"Arduino Hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"cat",
"flap",
"rfid"
] | RFID cat flaps are one of those projects we see all of the time. They are generally pretty simple to rig up, not too expensive, and have a good “wow” factor for any non-technical friends or family, not to mention tremendously useful. Why did we decide to share
this one
? Well, for one, it is simple. It doesn’t tweet, email, or text message, it just gets the job done. Two, it is excellently documented, including a detailed parts list and a step by step schematic just about anyone could use to build their own. [landmanr] does mention that he recommends some sort of project enclosure to protect the electronics from damage, which would be bad for the poor cat stuck outside. | 11 | 11 | [
{
"comment_id": "313482",
"author": "Bill Porter",
"timestamp": "2011-01-24T21:05:46",
"content": "Blissified.http://daid.mine.nu/instructabliss/?url=http://www.instructables.com/id/RFID-cat-door/",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "313512",
"au... | 1,760,377,296.678649 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/24/google-takes-science-fairs-global/ | Google Takes Science Fairs Global | Mike Szczys | [
"contests"
] | [
"google",
"prize",
"science fair"
] | Teen hackers get ready to compete for cash and prizes. Google,
the big G itself, is sponsoring a Science Fair
but it’s not in a town near you, it’s online (no surprise there). Project entries will populate the content of a new corner of the Googleverse, with contestants 13-18 competing alone or as a team. The grand prize is a trip to the Galapagos Islands for ten days, but there are also cash scholarships for all of the winners. Check out their promo video for the event after the break.
If you’re a college student who’s too old to be eligible don’t forget to keep your eyes open for details about 2011 Google Summer of Code. Last year’s information is still up, but
they usually release the details sometime in the first quarter
.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOIb17J2DaE&w=470]
[via
Make
] | 7 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "313463",
"author": "vonskippy",
"timestamp": "2011-01-24T20:03:43",
"content": "In other news from a few weeks ago…",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "313479",
"author": "Amos",
"timestamp": "2011-01-24T20:52:31",
"cont... | 1,760,377,296.721376 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/24/roll-the-dicey/ | Roll The D’Icey | James Munns | [
"Toy Hacks"
] | [
"atmega",
"Atmel",
"dice",
"die",
"lock",
"prize",
"secret"
] | Most of the dice related hacks we run into have to do with pseudo random number generation, but today we saw something different. This sleek looking
jumbo die
is actually a prize holding box opened by a secret sequence of rotations. Using an accelerometer and an ATmega 328 with a sub-micro servo to control the locking mechanism. Worried about the batteries going flat and losing your treasure indefinitely? Good news! The batteries are accessable without giving away the secret inside.
It also turns out that this is an update to an
earlier project
from the same laboratory, so be sure to check that out as well to see where this build came from. Code is available for anyone looking to make their own, as well as a useful parts list.
[via
Hacked Gadgets
] | 11 | 11 | [
{
"comment_id": "313452",
"author": "Faelenor",
"timestamp": "2011-01-24T19:40:06",
"content": "psuedo?Incredible, every single post on HaD has at least a typo!Cool project, but does it give a hint to help you get the prize? Or it’s more like a safe?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"re... | 1,760,377,296.630253 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/24/diy-ultrasonic-range-finder-for-5/ | DIY Ultrasonic Range Finder For $5 | Chris Nelson | [
"Arduino Hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"atmega328",
"diy",
"ultrasonic"
] | After finding some ultrasonic transducers online for a dollar each [Kerry Wong] decided to create an
ultrasonic range finder
. The result is much like parallax’s PING))) sensor but much cheaper. His post is not only a good way to save some money, but also does a good job of explaining how ultrasonic sensors work. The transmit circuit is essentially an H-bridge, much like what you would use to control a motor. To listen to the returning echo he uses a pair of high gain/low noise op-amps to filter and amplify the signal. The board he uses to test the range finder (not included in the cost) is an ATMega328 running the Arduino boot loader. He also provides lots of example code to boot. | 25 | 25 | [
{
"comment_id": "313354",
"author": "tristan",
"timestamp": "2011-01-24T16:57:56",
"content": "source link seems dead, did we do that?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "313357",
"author": "bluewraith",
"timestamp": "2011-01-24T17:06:02",
... | 1,760,377,297.246713 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/24/hackaday-links-january-23-2011/ | Hackaday Links: January 24, 2011 | James Munns | [
"Hackaday links"
] | [
"burning",
"grass",
"hosting",
"instructables",
"project"
] | New Project Hosting site
[Paul] wrote in to tell us about his brand new hack hosting service,
HackHut
. Based on WordPress with some modifications, it is definitely worth keeping an eye on as new features emerge.
Instructabliss
Speaking of project hosting,
Instructables
are a common source of projects as well as complaints.
Instructabliss
by [Daid] is an often mentioned solution in our comments, and we thought we would bring it up so commenters don’t have to. We understand why it was made and think it was a clever hack, but we don’t officially endorse it. We survive on Ad revenue, if someone were doing this to us, it would hurt. We’re also not sure about the legalities of such a service, so keep us updated.
Grass Burning Robot
[Sebastian] brings us his grass burning, flame throwing robot. This robot takes in SVG files to create its burn path, and burns away. Not too many details, but be sure to check out the photos on
his site
.
[via
Make
] | 34 | 33 | [
{
"comment_id": "313315",
"author": "Fallen",
"timestamp": "2011-01-24T15:52:51",
"content": "I would imagine that the HAD and whatever other communities that use instructabliss are so small compared to instructables user base, that this will have very little adverse effect.",
"parent_id": null,... | 1,760,377,297.015205 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/23/your-very-own-cloud-chamber/ | Your Very Own Cloud Chamber | Mike Szczys | [
"chemistry hacks"
] | [
"alcohol",
"cloud chamber",
"dry ice"
] | [Kenneth] and [Jeff] spent a weekend
building a cloud chamber
. This is
a detection device
for radiation particles that are constantly bombarding the earth. It works by creating an environment of supersaturated alcohol vapor which condenses when struck by a particle travelling through the container, leaving a wispy trail behind. This was done on the cheap, using isopropyl alcohol and dry ice. They already had a beaker, and after a few tries figured out that the dry ice worked best when serving as a bed for the flask. A black piece of paper was added inside the base of the container to help raise the contrast when looking for condensate. They experimented with a couple of different methods for warming the alcohol, including an immersion heater built from power resistors.
There’s a video explaining the apparatus which we’ve embedded after the break. It’s a bit hard to see evidence of particle travel in the video but that’s all the more reason you should give this a try yourself.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BS1XJ1OVwfs&w=470] | 28 | 27 | [
{
"comment_id": "312716",
"author": "bluewraith",
"timestamp": "2011-01-23T20:29:47",
"content": "Interesting. There’s only a couple of particles you can see in the video, but it would certainly be something to try on a boring weekend.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
... | 1,760,377,297.430961 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/23/backwards-mario/ | Backwards Mario | Mike Szczys | [
"Nintendo Hacks",
"Video Hacks"
] | [
"crt",
"mario",
"nes"
] | So you’ve long since mastered Super Mario Bros. and it no longer challenges you? Have you tried
playing it from right to left
? That’s what Backwards Mario is all about. The first portion of the hack is getting the image to display backwards. He’s working with an old CRT television, which uses a magnetic ring to aim the electron gun at the screen. By swapping the left and right wires from that ring you can flip the image horizontally. Now Mario will be travelling right to left, but the controller buttons will send Mario the wrong direction on screen. This is a snap to fix, just crack open the controller and swap the signals for the left and right buttons. Now it’s time to fall in love with the classic game all over again, just like [JJ’s] doing in the video after the break.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3e857vnXVqA&w=470] | 34 | 32 | [
{
"comment_id": "312630",
"author": "sli",
"timestamp": "2011-01-23T18:25:52",
"content": "I’d love to see the levels themselves reversed, with the start and ends swapped.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "312632",
"author": "Tom",
"timest... | 1,760,377,297.092771 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/23/revive-your-tired-dremel-battery-pack/ | Revive Your Tired Dremel Battery Pack | Mike Szczys | [
"Repair Hacks"
] | [
"aa",
"cordless",
"dremel",
"nicad",
"nimh",
"rechargeable"
] | It turns out there’s nothing more than six Nickel Cadmium AA rechargeable batteries inside of that cordless Dremel battery pack. Yep, standard rechargeable AA’s that you can buy most anywhere, and now you can
revive that aging battery pack
by following [Stuuf’s] guide. Since you’re already at it, a few more bucks will yield a real upgrade by using the superior Nickel Metal Hydride batteries which should yield around three times as much use between charging. We totally understand having a battery pack, since the shape of the case is part of the handheld tool, and it should be easy to interchange the battery as one unit. We just wish that the battery pack had been designed to have the AA cells swapped out by the user once they had reached the end of the line.
Do you have other cordless tools in need of a pick-me-up? Check out this
Makita battery pack repair hack
for a point in the right direction.
[Thanks Bluewraith] | 21 | 20 | [
{
"comment_id": "312572",
"author": "Adam Outler",
"timestamp": "2011-01-23T16:56:06",
"content": "When changing the type of batteries which are in the drill, you must take into consideration the characteristics of the charger.. It’s a better idea for most to use the exact type of battery which ca... | 1,760,377,296.943445 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/22/turning-music-into-a-light-show/ | Turning Music Into A Light Show | Chris Nelson | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"digital audio hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"audio",
"filter",
"op-amp"
] | [nickinoki] Made a
light show
using some amplifiers and an arduino. First he created a microphone circuit based around a LM386 Audio Amplifier. After amplifying the output of the microphone a second time, he uses three bandpass filters to block all but a few desired frequencies from reaching the arduino. By only letting a few frequencies through the arduino is able to determine if the song is louder at higher or lower frequencies. Then using the three analogue inputs he created a scheme for generating the light show on an arduino. While he was unable to achieve the exact target frequencies with his bandpass filters they worked well enough to allow him to successfully generate the light show. | 24 | 24 | [
{
"comment_id": "311948",
"author": "Philip",
"timestamp": "2011-01-22T20:33:14",
"content": "http://daid.mine.nu/instructabliss/?url=http://www.instructables.com/id/Sound-into-Light-shows/",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "311964",
"author": ... | 1,760,377,297.306446 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/22/reverse-engineering-a-pcb/ | Reverse Engineering A PCB | James Munns | [
"Repair Hacks"
] | [
"bend",
"circuit",
"engineer",
"repair",
"reverse",
"schematic"
] | Occasionally when a device breaks, the defect is obvious. Whether it is a blown fuse or a defective capacitor, generally the easy to see stuff is easy to fix. When a problem is more subtle, or when doing some more advanced tasks like adding functionality to a device, greater knowledge about a circuit board is required. While there might be details hidden in lower levels of PCB, often just knowing the mounted components and layout of the outside layers can be enough to create a rough schematic of a device. [Throbscottle] has put together an
excellent guide
for procedurally breaking down a photo of a board and turning it in to something useful. The guide utilizes some open source image processing software such as
the GIMP
,
Inkscape
, and
Dia
, all of which are widely available. Keep in mind this reverse engineering can be a time consuming process, but will almost definitely reward those patient enough to work through it.
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!] | 18 | 15 | [
{
"comment_id": "311920",
"author": "Philip",
"timestamp": "2011-01-22T18:45:56",
"content": "Daidifiedhttp://daid.mine.nu/instructabliss/?url=http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-reverse-engineer-a-schematic-from-a-circuit/",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"... | 1,760,377,297.362383 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/22/high-voltage-etch-a-sketch/ | High Voltage Etch A Sketch | James Munns | [
"cnc hacks"
] | [
"bad idea",
"cnc",
"danger",
"etch",
"jumbo",
"makerbot",
"sketch"
] | What do you get when you mix a simple X/Y plotter, a Flyback transformer, and an unhealthy disregard for safety? Possibly the worlds most dangerous
jumbo Etch a Sketch
! [Kalboon] started off by making an imprecise X/Y movement device, similar to a CNC machine setup, but with less emphasis on precision. This rig is powered by some commonly salvagable materials, including an old scanner, a remote control car, and some hobby servos. We like this approach because most of these materials could be scrounged from a parts bin, surplus sale, or craigslist for little to no actual cost. The
flyback
transformer comes from an old TV or monitor, though if you have
common sense
safety concerns, we would recommend just mounting a dry erase marker and a dry erase board to substitute out the high voltage bits. For people wanting a low cost introduction project to making a CNC or Makerbot style build, this isn’t a bad place to start. | 12 | 12 | [
{
"comment_id": "311878",
"author": "Bill Porter",
"timestamp": "2011-01-22T17:01:39",
"content": "All hail the great Daid!http://daid.mine.nu/instructabliss/?url=http://www.instructables.com/id/50000-volt-etch-a-sketch/",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"commen... | 1,760,377,297.481198 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/22/no-more-blurry-pictures/ | No More Blurry Pictures | Mike Szczys | [
"digital cameras hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"blurry",
"motion blur",
"SLR"
] | Say goodbye to ruined images thanks to this add-on hardware. It measures the movement of the camera when a picture is taken and
corrects the image to get rid of motion blur
. Above you see a high-speed camera which is just there for testing and fine-tuning the algorithm that fixes the photos. Once they got it right, the setup that the camera is attached to only includes an Arduino board, Bluetooth modem, 3-axis accelerometer, gyroscope, and a trigger for the camera. You use the new hardware to snap each image and it takes care of triggering the SLR’s shutter in order to ensure that the inertial data and the image are synchronized correctly.
[Thanks Rob] | 27 | 27 | [
{
"comment_id": "311847",
"author": "Patrick",
"timestamp": "2011-01-22T15:39:38",
"content": "That’s pretty neat. It’s basically a homebrew image-stabilization. It would be a lot easier and less cumbersome to just buy a lens with IS, though. Still…very impressive.",
"parent_id": null,
"dept... | 1,760,377,297.668613 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/21/fertilizing-a-planted-aquarium-using-air-freshener-hardware/ | Fertilizing A Planted Aquarium Using Air Freshener Hardware | Mike Szczys | [
"green hacks",
"home hacks"
] | [
"air freshener",
"aquarium",
"fertilizer",
"plants",
"pump"
] | Keeping live plants in an aquarium happy can be quite a chore. One of the frequent rituals is adding fertilizer, which is called dosing. [Majstor76] came up with a creative way to
automatically dose using an air freshener
. He got rid of the canister that holds the scent and re-purposed a hand soap pump to move the nutrient-rich liquid. After the break you can see that there’s no shortage of power to actuate the pump and the powered air freshener base has a delay circuit, allowing for a few different time-release options. As long as the volumetric output is fairly consistent we figure you can dilute your fertilizer to fine-tune the dose.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfeAPtJtP_A&w=470]
[Thanks Chris] | 34 | 32 | [
{
"comment_id": "311375",
"author": "JC",
"timestamp": "2011-01-21T22:24:16",
"content": "Cool idea. Maybe something like that could be used to actually water plants…",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "311379",
"author": "Colecago",
"times... | 1,760,377,297.550263 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/21/magnetic-digital-scale/ | Magnetic Digital Scale | Mike Szczys | [
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"ATmega168",
"hall effect",
"magnet",
"scale",
"solenoid"
] | Above you see
a solenoid being used as a digital scale
. The magnetic field from the coil in the base levitates the platform above, where a load to be measured is place. This floating platform has a permanent magnet in it, hovering above a hall effect sensor in the base. As the distance between that magnet and the sensor changes, the measurable magnetic field changes as well. The hall effect sensor is linear so the measured value can easily be correlated with a weight. In the video after the break [Vsergeev] demonstrates the device using test weights to show off its 0.5 gram resolution. He thinks that with a few hardware improvements he could easily achieve 0.1g accuracy.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcosP8ycwFo&w=470] | 20 | 20 | [
{
"comment_id": "311244",
"author": "zool",
"timestamp": "2011-01-21T19:34:17",
"content": "nice",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "311280",
"author": "mlseim",
"timestamp": "2011-01-21T20:07:46",
"content": "Accuracy affected by temper... | 1,760,377,297.608755 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/21/our-beloved-xbmc-hits-ios-devices/ | Our Beloved XBMC Hits IOS Devices | Mike Szczys | [
"home entertainment hacks",
"iphone hacks"
] | [
"apple tv 2",
"atv2",
"cydia",
"ipad",
"repository",
"xbmc"
] | For those who have been longing to unlock the power of the Apple TV 2 the wait is over.
XBMC is now available for iOS devices
. This isn’t limited to the tiny ARM-based set-top box, but extends to the entire family including iPad and iPhone 4. Included is the ability to play high def video up to 1080p without transcoding. But we think the best feature might be XBMC’s ability to easily stream media over the network from just about any operating system. Goodbye iTunes tethering.
If you’re comfortably using SSH to work with a Jailbroken device,
ATV2 installation
will be a snap as there’s already a source repository to install from.
iPad and iPhone 4 are even easier
, just add the repository in Cydia and install. Wow, when
we first looked in on the new generation of ATV
we really thought it would take longer than it has to see a port of our favorite open source media client. Thanks Team XBMC! | 21 | 21 | [
{
"comment_id": "311183",
"author": "John",
"timestamp": "2011-01-21T17:59:06",
"content": "My two questions are:1. I know it only supports 720p but can it output a 1080p signal?2. If so, can it handle full-bluray-bitrate m2ts’s?I’m kind of holding out for the next gen that would supposedly have nat... | 1,760,377,299.478169 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/21/dance-for-a-dollar-with-the-yaytm/ | Dance For A Dollar With The YayTM | James Munns | [
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"dance",
"facial recognition",
"Never Gonna",
"webcam",
"YayTM"
] | The
YayTM
is a device that records a person dancing and judges whether or not the dancing is “Good”. If the YayTM likes the dance, it will dispense a dollar for the dancers troubles. However, unless the dancer takes the time to read the fine print, they won’t realize that their silly dance is being uploaded to YouTube for the whole world to see. Cobbled together with not much more than a PC and a webcam, the box uses facial recognition to track and rate the dancer.
The YayTM was made by [
Zach Schwartz
], a student at NYU, as a display piece for the schools
Interactive Telecommunication Program
. Unfortunately there aren’t any schematics or source code, but to be honest, having one of these
evil
embarrassing boxes around is probably enough. What song does the YayTM provide for dancing, you ask? Well, be sure to check it out
here
.
EDIT:
[Zack] has followed up with an expanded writeup of the YayTM. Be sure to check out his
new page
with source code and more info. Thanks [Zack]! | 22 | 21 | [
{
"comment_id": "311118",
"author": "Lenny",
"timestamp": "2011-01-21T15:57:57",
"content": "I just got Rick Rolled by HackADay… smh",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "311119",
"author": "Magnus",
"timestamp": "2011-01-21T16:03:13",
"co... | 1,760,377,299.74541 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/21/making-boxes-from-soda-cans/ | Making Boxes From Soda Cans | Mike Szczys | [
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"aluminum",
"box",
"emboss",
"soda can"
] | This shiny little
box was made from a soda can
. You don’t need much to pull this off; an aluminum can, sand paper, scissors, a ballpoint pen, a straight edge, and some time. The embossing is done with the tip of the pen, but there’s a bit of a trick to it. The designs are first pressed into the metal from the underside of the aluminum. It is then flipped over and the outlines are traced, with one last tracing of the shape from the underside once that is completed. We think you’ll agree that this results in an impressive relief of the design.
This would make a nice project for
that wedding ring
you’ve been carrying around sans-case. Or perhaps this is just what you needed as an enclosure for your next project. You’ll find an instructional video after the break.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7vXNLpVafM&w=470]
[via
Gizmodo
and
Core77
] | 55 | 47 | [
{
"comment_id": "311080",
"author": "strider_mt2k",
"timestamp": "2011-01-21T14:18:58",
"content": "That is so cool and clever I might just have to have a go at it!-after this flu or whatever dies down, that is.mehSent from my Haipad M701-R",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
... | 1,760,377,299.875568 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/20/lego-wah-wah-pedal/ | LEGO Wah-wah Pedal | Mike Szczys | [
"Musical Hacks",
"Toy Hacks"
] | [
"guitar",
"lego",
"pedal",
"trimpot",
"wah-wah"
] | Here’s
a guitar wah-wah pedal
that [Christian Munk] built. Inside you’ll find a circuit board that he etched and populated
based on this design
but he chose to build the housing out of LEGO. The video after the break gives you an idea of what it sounds like, but for those who’ve stepped on a LEGO piece with bare feet, his pedal pounding might make you cringe!
To manipulate the sound the pedal rocks forward and backward on a center pivot shown above as a grey “nut” sticking out the side of the frame. Inside there’s a system of LEGO gears that turn a trimpot to alter the sound. This might go along nicely with
that guitar amp you hacked together
.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3T1LXIrn_E&w=470] | 9 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "310421",
"author": "zool",
"timestamp": "2011-01-20T22:14:44",
"content": "kinda cool, better than the amp anyway",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "310466",
"author": "Mikey",
"timestamp": "2011-01-20T22:51:51",
"conte... | 1,760,377,299.792219 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/20/guitar-tube-amp-from-junk-hi-fi/ | Guitar Tube-amp From Junk Hi-fi | Mike Szczys | [
"Musical Hacks"
] | [
"amplifier",
"guitar",
"vacuum tube"
] | [Tristan Chambers] picked up an old speaker box some friends acquired at a yard sale. It didn’t have any inputs, and there weren’t any tuning knobs like a radio would have, so it’s a mystery what this was originally used for. [Tristan] traced out the circuit and figured out where he could input audio signals which allowed him to hook up an iPod, but it was mono and not very loud. He ended building his own vacuum tube preamp from a schematic he found on the Internet so that he could
use it with an electric guitar
. As the video after the break shows, the box not only puts out some pretty good sound but it’s nice and loud too.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6V6ZA5AoivM&w=470] | 21 | 21 | [
{
"comment_id": "310355",
"author": "Paul Potter",
"timestamp": "2011-01-20T20:38:20",
"content": "That really does rock.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "310358",
"author": "Focusrally",
"timestamp": "2011-01-20T20:43:48",
"content":... | 1,760,377,299.534813 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/20/zipitbot/ | Zipitbot | Mike Szczys | [
"handhelds hacks",
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"dsPic",
"i2c",
"servo",
"webcam",
"zipit"
] | [Nulluser’s] Zipit was fine, but it couldn’t go anywhere on its own. Adding some motors and a microcontroller fixed that issue, and now he’s got
a little robot called the Zipitbot
. That’s a dsPIC board on top which communicates with the Zipit over an I2C bus. Four servo motors provide plenty of power to the wheels,with some extra battery packs nestled between them.
Since the Zipit is running Linux, and already has WiFi hardware, it’s not too hard to add Internet control. With this in mind there’s a webcam on the front to broadcast a video feed for use when controlling it remotely. See a couple of videos of this hack after the break.
Desktop testing
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Enbi6-u9Wm0&w=470]
Internet control with streaming video
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODHTykY63E8&w=470]
[Thanks Rkdavis] | 22 | 22 | [
{
"comment_id": "310276",
"author": "XiUiX",
"timestamp": "2011-01-20T19:07:41",
"content": "Its so cute",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "310293",
"author": "Metis",
"timestamp": "2011-01-20T19:35:07",
"content": "I can’t understand w... | 1,760,377,299.935586 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/18/mcp2200-usb-to-serial-chip-hacked-to-do-your-bidding/ | MCP2200 USB To Serial Chip Hacked To Do Your Bidding | Mike Szczys | [
"Microcontrollers"
] | [
"18f14k50",
"mcp2200",
"microchip",
"pic",
"pickit3",
"usb"
] | Mircrochip has a new USB to Serial converter available called the MCP2200. [Sjaak] suspected that it may have been made from an existing 20-pin PIC and found that reading the device signature with the PICKIT3 shows that the chip is an 18F14K50. Most likely this is running Microchip’s USB stack but it’s hard to tell because chip is code-protected, reading back all zeros. So
he set out to write some replacement firmware
which would provide the same functionality and give you access to the rest of the chip’s features.
There were some speed bumps along the way. The first one is that Microchip’s licensing for their USB stack won’t allow you to open source your firmware. That’s okay, it seems there is already a USB stack that can be ported which doesn’t have this restriction. The second wrinkle in the plan is that [Sjaak’s] code doesn’t come with a VID/PID pair that you can use like V-USB does for AVR chips. But that doesn’t diminish the accomplishment of getting the device to work by echoing back characters it receives. Full USB to serial support with the replacement firmware is on the way.
[Thanks Chris] | 24 | 22 | [
{
"comment_id": "308613",
"author": "biozz",
"timestamp": "2011-01-18T22:14:53",
"content": "would it be legal for someone to sell these hacked chips?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "308617",
"author": "Erik Johnson",
"timestamp": "2011-... | 1,760,377,299.362907 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/18/attitude-control-for-a-really-big-rocket/ | Attitude Control For A Really Big Rocket | Mike Szczys | [
"Microcontrollers",
"Transportation Hacks"
] | [
"acs",
"arduino",
"attitude",
"control system",
"nitrogen",
"rocket",
"valve"
] | If this is meant for a model rocket it must be the biggest we’ve ever seen. [Scott] and [Trevor] took on the task of
building a rocket attitude control system
after reading about some research on the topic. But that researcher only tested the theories using simulations so they set out to build their own. The prototype above has a tank of compressed Nitrogen which can hold up to 3000 PSI. You can begin to understand why this needs to be used with a big rocket. The pressurized gas is connected through a regulator to four valves which feed nozzles around the circumference of the fuselage. An Arduino takes readings from a gyroscope and actuates the gas valves via a relay board.
You can check out the test rig in the video after the break. The prototype is suspended horizontally from a wire and its orientation held at one position by the system. There’s also
a paper
(PDF) if you’re interested in the equations that went into the stabilization control. This system would have been right at home on
that huge sugar rocket
we saw back in October.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mqttm0ay8gk&w=470] | 42 | 41 | [
{
"comment_id": "308520",
"author": "spiritplumber",
"timestamp": "2011-01-18T20:19:34",
"content": "This is how attitude control works in a “real” space rocket right?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "308539",
"author": "B0SC0",
"timestam... | 1,760,377,299.298821 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/18/new-years-eve-ball-drop-in-your-kitchen/ | New Year’s Eve Ball Drop In Your Kitchen | Mike Szczys | [
"home entertainment hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"ball drop",
"christmas ornament",
"New Year's Eve"
] | [Tech B.] hacked together
a Ball Drop for New Year’s Eve
using stuff he had lying around. The ball itself is an old Christmas ornament that he cut in half and filled with 14 LEDs and a 9V battery. He finished up that portion of the project by gluing the halves back together and adding a hole for the guide rod. The base is made of some cardboard boxes and hides an Arduino, a servo motor, an LCD screen, and the base for the vertical rod. When the last ten seconds of the year are counted down, a servo lowers the ball by unspooling some yarn that loops over the top of the rod. As the yarn is slowly dished out gravity pulls the ball toward its goal. We’ve embedded [Tech B.’s] demonstration video after the break.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQXY_N49KjQ&w=470] | 12 | 12 | [
{
"comment_id": "308441",
"author": "Scuzz",
"timestamp": "2011-01-18T18:46:27",
"content": "Neat! Though I was hoping that the ball would have all tri-color LEDs and when it hit the bottom there was going to be some crazy and awesome little light show.This would definitely make me a bit more invest... | 1,760,377,299.582029 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/18/phosphorescent-laser-painting/ | Phosphorescent Laser Painting | Joseph Thibodeau | [
"Laser Hacks",
"Video Hacks"
] | [
"glow in the dark",
"laser",
"persistence",
"phosphor",
"scanner"
] | Here’s a simple and interesting idea that increases the visual persistence of a laser scanner image. Using glow-in-the-dark paint, [
Daito Manabe
] prepares a surface so that the intense light of a laser leaves a trace that fades slowly over time. He’s using the idea to print monochromatic images onto the treated surface, starting with the darkest areas and ending with the lightest. The effect is quite interesting, as the image starts out seeming quite abstract but reveals its self with more detail over time.
As evidenced in the test videos, the bursts of laser scanning are matched to the fade rate of the paint. Therefore it would seem that the time taken to “write” an image is directly proportional to the desired visual persistence of the final image. We wonder, by combining clever timing and variable laser intensity could you write images much more quickly? How hard would it be to use this for moving pictures? With the ability to create your own
tiny laser projector
, and even an
RGB scanner
, there must be a lot of potential in this idea for mind-blowing visual effects. Add portability by using a phosphor-treated projection screen!
Share your ideas and check out the test videos after the break.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUa9UgAZTIY&w=470]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mt_4mfuwTAU&w=470] | 23 | 23 | [
{
"comment_id": "308348",
"author": "spiritplumber",
"timestamp": "2011-01-18T17:17:27",
"content": "Ooooh. Now redo Tron with this method. :D",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "308349",
"author": "Shadow",
"timestamp": "2011-01-18T17:20:16... | 1,760,377,299.418669 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/18/the-lunchtime-clock-gives-you-12-extra-minutes/ | The Lunchtime Clock Gives You 12 Extra Minutes | Caleb Kraft | [
"home hacks"
] | [
"clock",
"time"
] | The
Lunchtime clock is a hacked clock
that pulls a sneaky little trick to get you a longer lunch. In this instructible, [Randofo] shows us how he uses an Atmega168 and a realtime clock kit from Adafruit to slow the clock down 20% starting at 11:00 and then speed it back up at 11:45, gaining you an extra 12 minutes of sweet delicious lunch. Not really sure how noticeable this would be? Check out the video after the break. This is pretty hilarious and we can actually think of a few offices where this might work. However, many offices rely on their main network server for actual time keeping leaving this as just an amusing novelty. Still, those with luddite bosses can rejoice in your new-found extended lunch.
[via
Gizmodo
]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SKzo9FfSxk&w=470] | 41 | 41 | [
{
"comment_id": "308313",
"author": "mi6x3m",
"timestamp": "2011-01-18T16:15:06",
"content": "I kneel before you, oh great inventor of this clock, for this ought to be the most wonderful device ever engineered, thank you!!!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"com... | 1,760,377,300.012476 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/18/glimpses-of-a-3d-volumetric-display/ | Glimpses Of A 3D Volumetric Display | Mike Szczys | [
"Kinect hacks",
"Multitouch Hacks"
] | [
"3d",
"autodesk",
"prism",
"pyramid",
"volumetric"
] | Custom displays are a lot of fun to look at, but this one is something we’d expect to see at a trade show and not on someone’s kitchen table. [Taha Bintahir]
built a 3D volumetric display
and is showing it off in the image above using a 3DS file of the Superman logo exported from Autodesk. In the video after the break you can see that the display is a transparent pyramid which allows a viewer to see the 3D object inside from any viewpoint around the display. Since first posting about it he
has also added a Kinect to the mix
, allowing a user to control the 3D object with body movements.
There’s basically no information about the display hardware on [Taha’s] post so we asked him about it. It works by first taking a 3D model and rendering it from four different camera angles. He’s using a custom designed prism for he display and the initial renderings are distorted to match that prism’s dimension. Those renderings are projected on the prism to give the illusion of a 3D object floating at its center.
We’re hoping to hear more details about how this was designed and what hardware is being used. We’ll post a follow-up if [Taha] shares more information.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LuCbx5h1ajU&w=470] | 37 | 32 | [
{
"comment_id": "308234",
"author": "Tomatosoup",
"timestamp": "2011-01-18T13:34:14",
"content": "That’s awesome, hope a tutorial or something gets put out",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "308245",
"author": "Seth",
"timestamp": "2011-01-... | 1,760,377,300.419899 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/17/aquarium-water-exchanger/ | Aquarium Water Exchanger | Mike Szczys | [
"home hacks"
] | [
"aquarium",
"clean",
"pump",
"valve"
] | If you want happy fish you’re going to need to do regular aquarium maintenance. Part of this is exchanging a portion of the tank’s water on a regular basis. [Bill Porter] came up with
a water exchanger that means less manual labor
, but makes the process just a bit more complicated.
So, what he would do before is fill a few buckets from the aquarium and dump them down the toilet. Then mix up a few buckets of salt water and add them back to the aquarium. This meant carrying several trips worth of heavy, dripping buckets through the house. What he has now is a gravity fed system into the orange bucket with a bilge pump to evacuate the old water from that bucket into the kitchen sink. The bilge can then be used to circulate water through the aquarium and the bucket, while filling with a hose from the kitchen sink and mixing in salt and chemicals. Less trips, no drips, but you’ve got to know what you’re doing with all of those valves.
We love seeing aquarium hacks like [Bill’s], or
cooling the tank lights while heating the water
, or just
a fancy lighting setup
in general. So if you’ve got some of your own, don’t forget to
send in a tip
about them. | 25 | 25 | [
{
"comment_id": "307783",
"author": "Ben Wright",
"timestamp": "2011-01-17T23:07:33",
"content": "I hope the PVC glue is fish safe. I know that making acrylic tanks, the regular glue to make the solvent joints might kill a fish or two.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},... | 1,760,377,300.740714 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/20/rapatronic-shutter-snap-a-pic-of-an-atomic-bomb/ | Rapatronic Shutter; Snap A Pic Of An Atomic Bomb | Mike Szczys | [
"digital cameras hacks"
] | [
"atomic bomb",
"rapatronic",
"x-ray",
"zero time"
] | We never really thought about it before, but
this post about Rapatronic Shutters
answers the question of how to photograph an atomic bomb detonation. The post includes an MIT video where [
Charles Wyckoff
] explains how he and [Harold Edgerton] developed the
Rapatronic Camera
. It is designed to snap a photograph based on zero time, marked by the X-ray transmission emanating from the bomb before it actually explodes. This pulse is picked up by a light sensor on a delay circuit, allowing for very precise exposure timing. Many of these cameras were used at the same time, all with slightly different delays so that the images could be viewed in order to show what happens during each stage of detonation.
[Thanks Petrus] | 15 | 15 | [
{
"comment_id": "310171",
"author": "theodore",
"timestamp": "2011-01-20T16:43:09",
"content": "Cool but I’m not sure how environmentally responsible it is to use nukes instead of flash bulbs",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "310189",
"author"... | 1,760,377,300.595805 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/20/intermediate-concepts-building-discreet-transistor-gates/ | Intermediate Concepts: Building Discrete Transistor Gates | Mike Szczys | [
"computer hacks",
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"atanua",
"binary",
"full adder",
"intermediate concepts",
"logic gates",
"transistors"
] | [Simon Inns] has put together
a lesson in digital logic
which shows you how to build your own gates using transistors. The image above is a full-adder that he fabricated, then combined with other full adders to create a 4-bit computer.
Don’t know what a full adder is? That’s exactly what his article is for, and will teach you about binary math and how it is calculated with hardware. There’s probably at least a week’s worth of studying in that one page which has been further distilled into the five-minute video after the break. Although building this hardware yourself is a wonderful way to learn, there’s a lot of room for error. You might consider building these circuits in a simulator program like
Atanua
, where you can work with logic gate symbols, using virtual buttons and LEDs as the outputs. Once you know what you’re doing with the simulator you’ll have much more confidence to start a physical build like the one [Simon] concocted.
Finding this project a little too advanced? Check out
our Beginner Concepts articles
to help get you up to speed.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xISG4nGTQYE&w=470]
[Thanks Bluewraith] | 21 | 21 | [
{
"comment_id": "310068",
"author": "mike",
"timestamp": "2011-01-20T14:26:45",
"content": "Um, I think you mean *discrete. A discreet one would be smaller for starters….",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "310078",
"author": "Ed",
"timestam... | 1,760,377,300.844732 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/19/projector-tricks-make-use-of-kinect-3d-mapping/ | Projector Tricks Make Use Of Kinect 3D Mapping | Mike Szczys | [
"Kinect hacks",
"Multitouch Hacks"
] | [
"hadouken",
"Kinect",
"light",
"projector"
] | [Don’t stop the clock] is doing some work with a projector, a camera, and the Kinect. What he’s accomplished is quite impressive,
combining the three to manipulate light with your body
. The image above is a safer rendition of
the Hadouken
from the Street Fighter video games, throwing light across the room instead of fire. This comes at the end of the video after the break, but first he’ll show off the core features of the system. You can hold up your hand and wave it to turn it into a light source. In other words, the projector will shine light on your hand, moving it, and manipulating the intensity based on hand location in 3D space. Since the Kinect is sending fairly precise data back to the computer the projected image is trimmed to match your hand and arm without overflowing onto the rest of the room until you touch your hand to a surface you want illuminated or throw the light source with a flick or the wrist. It may seem trivial at first glance, but we find the alignment of the projector and the speed at which the image updates to be quite impressive.
[Thanks Vasili] | 12 | 12 | [
{
"comment_id": "309474",
"author": "Andrew",
"timestamp": "2011-01-19T23:09:28",
"content": "The Kinect has come full circle. Johnny Lee started with this:http://hackaday.com/2007/11/15/automatic-projector-calibration/, and then went on to (help) design the Kinect. Now that the Kinect exists, it is... | 1,760,377,300.468428 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/19/make-your-own-odometer-from-scraps/ | Make Your Own Odometer From Scraps | Greg R. Jacobs | [
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"calculator",
"cd",
"distance",
"garbage",
"hack",
"odometer"
] | For those out there who would enjoy a quick and interesting weekend project, this odometer made by [PeckLauros] is for you. Featured on
Instructables
it is made from the simplest of materials including some cardboard, a calculator, wires, glue, hot glue, magnetic drive key, an old CD and a reader, and a rubber band. The magnets, when attached to the CD work in a calculation to add 0.11m to the calculator when a magnet closes the circuit. [PeckLauros] points out that since it is a homebrewed device, it does have flaws such as adding 0.11m twice when the CD is rotated too slowly. It is easily fixed by simply running faster. The video is below the break.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3HWrBeO1cs&w=470] | 11 | 11 | [
{
"comment_id": "309387",
"author": "Phil",
"timestamp": "2011-01-19T20:48:33",
"content": "Thats a really bulky cool hack – want to see more like this.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "309393",
"author": "Fallen",
"timestamp": "2011-01-1... | 1,760,377,300.790186 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/19/cracking-a-manipulation-proof-million-combination-safe/ | Cracking A Manipulation-proof, Million Combination Safe | Mike Szczys | [
"lockpicking hacks"
] | [
"8500",
"brute force",
"crack",
"safe",
"sargent and greenleaf"
] | So you spent the big bucks and got that fancy safe but if these guys can
build a robot to brute-force the combination
you can bet there are thieves out there who can pull it off too. [Kyle Vogt] mentioned that we featured the first iteration of his build back in 2006 but we can’t find that article. So read through his build log linked above and then check out the video of the new version after the break. It’s cracking the combination on a Sargent and Greenleaf 8500 lock. There’s an interesting set of motions necessary to open the safe. Turn the dial four revolutions to the first number, three revolutions to the second, two revolutions to the final number, then one revolution to zero the dial. After that you need to press the dial inward to activate the lever assembly. Finally, rotate the dial to 85 to retract the bolt which unlocks the safe.
The propaganda on this lock says it stood up to 20-hours of manual manipulation. But [Kyle] thinks his hardware can get it open in a few hours. His hardware looks extremely well-engineered and we’d bet some creative math can narrow down the time it takes to brute force the combo by not going in sequence. | 54 | 48 | [
{
"comment_id": "309356",
"author": "cboy2us",
"timestamp": "2011-01-19T19:53:43",
"content": "Did anyone else see the safe not open?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "3344288",
"author": "Diane J Fritsche",
"timestamp": "2016-12... | 1,760,377,300.677867 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/19/arduino-the-documentary/ | Arduino The Documentary | Mike Szczys | [
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"documentary"
] | We finally got around to watching
“Arduino The Documentary”
and it’s a two-thumbs-up kind of film. What did we like? It’s a documentary about open source hardware so what’s
not
to like? You’ll hear the story of how
the Arduino team
was formed and the path they took from design to production. There are also interviews with early adopters and we even find out that
Sparkfun
passed on their chance to sell the original through-hole kit version of the board. It’s well made, and thanks to the Creative Commons license you can download it for free, or watch the embedded version here after the break. It’s only 28 action-packed minutes so
finish up that special clock
and watch it during lunch today.
[vimeo=http://vimeo.com/18539129 w=470] | 38 | 38 | [
{
"comment_id": "309283",
"author": "CutThroughStuffGuy",
"timestamp": "2011-01-19T18:06:46",
"content": "I watched this a few days ago. I love arduinos. We use them in industrial control equipment as a replacement for ladder logic PLCs.However this video, while nice in that it gave an overview of t... | 1,760,377,300.541448 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/19/gas-turbine-jetpack-test-pilots-wanted/ | Gas Turbine Jetpack – Test Pilots Wanted | Mike Szczys | [
"Transportation Hacks"
] | [
"jetpack",
"megaman",
"turbine"
] | Feeling brave and
ready to strap on this jet pack
? Well, that’s not all of it. What you see above is just the manifold with two nozzles that can be aimed for control. The gas turbine engine that is being designed for the project will attach to the large circular coupling on top. The finished suit, called a Monocopter, should weigh in at about 265 pounds. That kind of weight makes us think they should include
a robotic exoskeleton
to help support it during takeoff, landing, and just when standing around. This thing already looks like it belongs to a villain from the Megaman series. Here’s hoping it’s used for good and not to help produce an army of
mean robots
.
[Thanks Rob] | 42 | 42 | [
{
"comment_id": "309147",
"author": "patman2700",
"timestamp": "2011-01-19T14:04:47",
"content": "Look closely; there are actually three nozzles stemming from the manifold.#corrections",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "309149",
"author": "Stev... | 1,760,377,301.03468 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/16/binary-clock-using-logic-chips-and-mains-frequency/ | Binary Clock Using Logic Chips And Mains Frequency | Mike Szczys | [
"clock hacks"
] | [
"binary",
"logic",
"mains"
] | [Osgeld] built himself a binary clock. He didn’t take the time to explain his project, but he did post beautifully hand-drawn
schematics and pictures of the circuit
(PDF) as he was building it. We’ve seen clock projects that
use mains frequency as the clock source
and that’s the route that [Osgeld] chose for his build. He started with a 9-12V AC wall wort as a power input. From there it’s just a matter of using a bridge rectifier to convert to DC, then a 7805 linear regulator to establish a steady 5V rail. A resistor and a couple of diodes allow him to pull the 60 Hz frequency off of the incoming AC, and then use a combination of 4000 and 7400 logic chips to count the pulses and keep track of the time. | 29 | 27 | [
{
"comment_id": "306445",
"author": "Bill Porter",
"timestamp": "2011-01-16T19:13:02",
"content": "Pretty nifty. Similar method to how I measured frequency and PF through the transformer powering my power meter.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "3... | 1,760,377,301.09842 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/16/quiz/ | Quiz-o-Tron 3000 | Caleb Kraft | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"home entertainment hacks"
] | [
"easy button",
"game"
] | Who would have known that being given the task of planning a holiday party at a wine bar would turn into a hacking project? Well, here’s how that happened. A committee was in charge of the festivities and had decided on doing a mock game show. It wouldn’t really feel like a game show unless you had a contestant lockout system where the first one to hit the button gets a light and a sound while the runners-up get nothing. This is where [RoysterBot] comes in. He
built the Quiz-o-Tron
from 4 “easy buttons” from staples and an Arduino. After having finished it, he found the system to be somewhat lacking in the excitement area. When a button was pressed it only lit an indicator on the main Quiz-o-Tron box. He decided to add a small circuit inside each of the Easy Buttons using a 555 timer and some LEDs to give them some better feedback. Apparently he was going to patch into the speaker as well, but didn’t have time to get that added.
[via
Adafruit
] | 19 | 18 | [
{
"comment_id": "306329",
"author": "SS",
"timestamp": "2011-01-16T16:39:56",
"content": "Aaaagh! Another fun project posted in Intructables… When will people learn to stop posting good projects there? Instructables SUCK big time! I know it os free and just need to sign up, but it is lame!",
"pa... | 1,760,377,301.157648 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/15/improving-a-hexapod-design/ | Improving A Hexapod Design | Mike Szczys | [
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"hexapod",
"linkage",
"servo"
] | [JC] built himself a hexapod based on a project he found on the Internet. It worked fairly well, but was mechanically weak and prone to breakage.
He set out to improve the design
and came up with the unit seen above. It uses three servo motors to control the six legs, and walks quite well as seen in the quick clip after the break. It’s not quite as agile as
the little acrobatic six-legger
we saw yesterday, but the movement is quite pleasing and it’s capable of moving forward, backward, and turning. [JC’s] post is four pages in all so don’t forget to seek out his links for the
construction
,
linkage
, and
servo control
pages to find concept drawings, cad designs, and his thoughts on the process.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhaSGIUmF_0&w=470] | 7 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "305674",
"author": "JC",
"timestamp": "2011-01-15T22:50:42",
"content": "Hey thanks for the post Mike! I think HAD is a great site, so it’s awesome to be featured.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "305677",
"author": "C... | 1,760,377,301.341132 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/15/two-generations-of-ocean-going-rov/ | Two Generations Of Ocean-going ROV | Mike Szczys | [
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"rov",
"Tether",
"underwater"
] | [Eirik] wants to help inspire others to take on big projects to he sent in
a link to his ROV project
. He started it about one year ago and the image above shows the first generation. After the break you can see the video that the ROV captured during a couple of it’s initial voyages. They’re pretty clear and right off the bat you’ll see the little guy following a jellyfish. Like a lot of
homebrew ROV’s
[Eirik] is still searching for the right way to pass wires through the housing without leaks. He does okay so far, and has designed a nice cable spool for the topside tether, but some water does get in. He’s almost finished the second generation which re-designs the camera mount to aim downward so that what’s in frame is more interesting.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVrlLk5Ynh4&w=470] | 19 | 19 | [
{
"comment_id": "305565",
"author": "CutThroughStuffGuy",
"timestamp": "2011-01-15T20:20:43",
"content": "Waterproofing wires isn’t terribly hard to make for reasonable pressures (under 500 PSI although that’s something like 1,122 feet deep!).Start with a NPT nipple into the body of the robot. Then ... | 1,760,377,301.460022 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/15/converting-8mm-film-to-digital/ | Converting 8mm Film To Digital | Caleb Kraft | [
"classic hacks",
"digital cameras hacks"
] | [
"8mm",
"film"
] | Many of us have these old 8mm family videos lying around and many of us have lamented at the perspective cost to get them converted to digital. [Paul] came up with a pretty slick way of
digitizing them himself
. He cracked open an 8mm projector and replaced the drive motor with one he could run at a much slower speed, allowing him to be able to capture each frame individually with his digital camera. He’s rigged his remote shutter control to the shutter of the projector so that it would be perfectly synchronized. There’s a video of it in action on the flickr page, and a video of the full 16,000 frame clip after digitization
here
.
[via
Make
] | 24 | 22 | [
{
"comment_id": "305420",
"author": "John Laur",
"timestamp": "2011-01-15T17:27:37",
"content": "Pretty good system; probably one of the best DIY transfers I have seen that isn’t a much slower manual process with a film scannerBut although it’s fast by comparison, it’s still slow enough that I’d hig... | 1,760,377,301.39932 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/15/r2d2-wannabe-lacks-lightsaber-launcher-autonomy/ | R2D2 Wannabe Lacks Lightsaber Launcher, Autonomy | Mike Szczys | [
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"projector",
"python",
"r2d2",
"star wars"
] | Is this what the lovable Star Wars droid would look like without its protective skin?
This R2D2 inspired robot
is another Olin College of Engineering (where that
CNC cake decorator
came from) build developed by [Nathaniel Ting] and his classmates. Alas, it lacks autonomy, relying on an operator for guidance. But we enjoy it for the build quality. Two motorcycle batteries supply DC motors on the two rear legs of the trike. It can be driven with a wireless Xbox controller or through a Python interface that also randomly plays droid audio clips from the movie. That’s a tilting projector on top, which would be used to show Princess Leia’s pleas for assistance. That is, after the operator plugs in an extension cord to power it up. Oh well, it’s still a lot of fun to watch. See for yourself after the break.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-aO1_3MCs4&w=470] | 14 | 13 | [
{
"comment_id": "305359",
"author": "Michael L.",
"timestamp": "2011-01-15T15:27:19",
"content": "Why not just add a circuit to convert the dc to ac that way you could use the batteries to power the projector too. Plus if this site has shown us anything it’s that autonomy is only a few sensors away.... | 1,760,377,301.302414 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/14/arduspider-entertains-children-and-exercises-pets/ | ArduSpider Entertains Children And Exercises Pets | Mike Szczys | [
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"balsa",
"carbon fiber",
"ir sensor",
"spider"
] | There are so many good things about [Jose Julio’s]
robotic spider
. It’s design is dainty yet robust, and the behaviors encoded in the firmware are nothing short of spectacular.
The body is built from a piece of balsa wood in between sheets of carbon fiber. The legs are carbon rods, using two servo motors for left and right leg movement, and a third servo which can move the intermediary legs like the roll axis of a plane. An IR sensor rides on the front for obstacle avoidance, with system control courtesy of an Arduino. For more hardware info
check out his build log
.
Don’t miss the video after the break. You’ll see that the little bot can be manually controlled, or allowed to roam free. As we said before, the behavior is fantastic. Not only has [Jose] programmed interesting characteristics like the spider getting tired and sitting down for a while, but when it is awakened it leaps into the air. The movements are fun to watch for human and feline alike; if only
your
house cat could be so lucky.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqUhlYrN_Po&w=470]
[Via
Engadget
] | 21 | 21 | [
{
"comment_id": "304775",
"author": "Josh",
"timestamp": "2011-01-14T22:12:38",
"content": "That was… AWESOME!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "304787",
"author": "zool",
"timestamp": "2011-01-14T22:40:27",
"content": "pretty cool",
... | 1,760,377,301.509913 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/17/nokia-internet-key-external-antenna/ | Nokia Internet Key External Antenna | Mike Szczys | [
"Cellphone Hacks",
"Wireless Hacks"
] | [
"antenna",
"internet key",
"nokia",
"sma"
] | [Maurizio] was having some reception issues with his wireless internet and set out to
add an external antenna to the USB dongle
(
translated
). He had previously poked around inside of the Nokia internet key to find that the internal antenna was a flexible circuit substrate wrapped around a plastic box that made contact with main circuit board via a spring connector. This plastic frame is just right for mounting an SMA connector in just the right place for it to stick out the end of the case as seen in the picture above. It gives him better range, but since speed depends on how much traffic the wireless node is under, it’s not a guarantee that you’ll get a snappier connection after this hack. | 13 | 13 | [
{
"comment_id": "307719",
"author": "M4CGYV3R",
"timestamp": "2011-01-17T21:56:29",
"content": "Someone tell me how to do this with my brain. The reception lately has been a bit fuzzy.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "307736",
"author": "Prof... | 1,760,377,301.723464 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/17/tri-rotor-helicopter-with-full-autopilot/ | Tri-rotor Helicopter With Full Autopilot | Mike Szczys | [
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"Autopilot",
"exposure",
"light",
"quadcopter",
"tricopter"
] | Quadcopters stand aside, here’s
a three-rotor helicopter we think you’re going to love
. The body is made out of plywood and carbon fiber rods, keeping it light enough to be easily lifted by just 3 motors while making sure the force doesn’t tear the aircraft apart. Three gyroscopes, two accelerometers, three magnetometers, and a GPS module are all used in conjunction for an autopilot system. There’s a lot of great pictures and videos but our favorite, embedded after the break, shows the tricopter writing messages in the sky using light and camera exposure tricks similar to this
ground-based trike
.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TZzM5YdKE4&w=470]
[Thanks Hernandi] | 17 | 17 | [
{
"comment_id": "307650",
"author": "Scott",
"timestamp": "2011-01-17T20:45:33",
"content": "I love it.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "307653",
"author": "Bill",
"timestamp": "2011-01-17T20:55:29",
"content": "Her name is Major Marc... | 1,760,377,301.897797 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/17/is-your-camera-lying/ | Is Your Camera Lying? | James Munns | [
"digital cameras hacks",
"Peripherals Hacks"
] | [
"calibration",
"camera",
"lomography",
"photography",
"shutter"
] | It is easy to rely on the ratings marked on different tools, whether it is a power supply, scale, or speedometer. However calibration is essential for any part that is relied upon either professionally or for a hobby. [Jeremy] wanted to see if his Lomography
camera shutter
really was only open for 1/100ths of a second when set to that. In order to test his rig, he set up an LED on one side of the shutter, and a high speed phototransistor to gauge the time spent open, using an oscilloscope to measure the time the reference point was pulled low. In his case, when the camera was set to 1/100, the shutter was actually open for closer to 1/150th of a second (the mean was 1/148ths of a second, with a standard deviation of 417 uSecs). This difference can make a large difference in picture brightness.
Be sure to check his blog for more pictures of the setup, as well as some useful part references and circuit diagrams. | 25 | 25 | [
{
"comment_id": "307450",
"author": "Spork",
"timestamp": "2011-01-17T18:02:43",
"content": "Interesting read, and I like the idea of designing an experiment to test a possible problem. At the same time I wish he had a solution to actually calibrate the shutter speed. As it is he just measures it, ... | 1,760,377,301.671765 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/17/audio-crossover-back-in-service/ | Audio Crossover Back In Service | James Munns | [
"Musical Hacks"
] | [
"capacitor",
"crossover",
"Klipsch",
"speaker"
] | Audio Crossovers are an essential tool for any high end speaker system. Because most individual loudspeakers are unable to cover the entire spectrum of audible sound as well as multiple drivers are, it is necessary to split the input signal into low and high frequency parts. When a friend of [Anthony]’s was about to send off a classic
Klipsch AA Crossover
to be repaired professionally, [Anthony] insisted it was possible to save some money and do it himself.
The oil can capacitors of the Crossover had gone bad, so a new set of metalized polypropylene capacitors were ordered to pick up the task. After carefully removing the old caps, [Anthony] assembled the new set on a breadboard, and mounted the board to the old
Crossover
base (along with some tasteful McDonalds straw spacers). The entire process is detailed on his blog, and we are sure his friend saved a good deal by this home repair method. Capacitor issues are a
common
problem
in repairing electronics new and old alike, and always a great place to start looking when devices start acting funny. | 24 | 24 | [
{
"comment_id": "307354",
"author": "fartface",
"timestamp": "2011-01-17T15:56:04",
"content": "“Audio Crossovers are an essential tool for any high end speaker system.”Nice to see the editor knows nothing about speakers… a Crossover is required in ALL speaker systems where there is more than 1 spe... | 1,760,377,301.787625 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/17/electronic-dice-has-option-for-20-or-100-sides/ | Electronic Dice Has Option For 20 Or 100 Sides | Mike Szczys | [
"Arduino Hacks"
] | [
"7 segment",
"arduino",
"dice",
"die",
"electronic",
"MAX7219"
] | [Bluewraith] built himself an electronic dice using a 555 timer and 4017 counter. This is a classic project and he enjoyed doing it but wondered about making a 20-sided dice. So he grabbed his Arduino and got to work. A switch on
the final project
selects between 20 or 100 sides. He used a MAX7219 to control the 7-segment displays, and a standalone AVR chip for the rest of it.
If you missed it back in October you should also look in on
this 6-sided dice
. It also uses an AVR running the Arduino bootloader but a mercury switch allows the player to shake the box in order to start a roll.
One last note, we made a conscious decision to use the word ‘Dice’ instead of the grammatically correct ‘Die’ which is its singular version. We think ‘Die’ can be a bit too confusing and
we’re not the only ones
. | 17 | 17 | [
{
"comment_id": "307306",
"author": "Andrew",
"timestamp": "2011-01-17T14:51:23",
"content": "Drats! Just as I was about to release my 88 sided dice!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "307315",
"author": "BoKu",
"timestamp": "2011-01-17T14:... | 1,760,377,301.841591 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/16/electrodes-turn-your-eyelids-into-3d-shutter-glasses/ | Electrodes Turn Your Eyelids Into 3D Shutter Glasses | Mike Szczys | [
"Medical Hacks",
"Video Hacks"
] | [
"3d",
"electrode",
"eyelid",
"real or fake",
"shutter glasses"
] | [Jonathan Post] has a way to watch 3D video without wearing shutter glasses but it might be kind of a hard product to break into the market. As you can see above, a pair of electrodes are stuck on a viewer’s eyelids,
using electricity to alternately close each eye
. The video after the break shows a demonstration of this technology. Obviously a camera can’t capture the image that the viewer sees, but this man describes a perfect 3D image. This reminds us of those ab exercisers that use electrodes to stimulate the muscles. Do you think a 3 hour epic would leave your eyelids tired and sore, eventually resulting and a steroid-esque muscle-ridden face?
Edit from [Caleb]: Judging from the comments, some people believe this to be an absolute impossibility. While we concur that this example is pretty silly (what’s powering those electrodes?), we invite you to watch [Daito Manabe]’s
facial electrodes fun
.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uef17zOCDb8&w=470]
[Thanks Keba] | 153 | 50 | [
{
"comment_id": "306558",
"author": "Girrrrrrr2",
"timestamp": "2011-01-16T22:04:16",
"content": "Yeah… I will stay with the glasses…",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "306562",
"author": "bolke",
"timestamp": "2011-01-16T22:07:13",
"co... | 1,760,377,302.427633 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/16/20-fuel-injector-tester/ | $20 Fuel Injector Tester | Mike Szczys | [
"Tool Hacks",
"Transportation Hacks"
] | [
"555",
"fuel injector",
"mosfet",
"timer"
] | [Dino] is an auto mechanic and needed a way to test out fuel injectors. Commercially available tools start well over $100 and go up from there, but
he built his own for about $20
.
The injectors have a coil in them that needs to be tested. His design calls for a series of 0.008 millisecond pulses to test the coil. He started by setting up a 555 timer to output a one second pulse. This signal is fed into a second 555 chip that outputs the 0.008 pulses and in turn actuates a MOSFET to switch the coil on and off. To use it [Dino] connects to a 12V bench supply and to the injector, using a single button to start the test. See him explain the setup in the video after the break.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5Dyr34qd_k&w=470] | 39 | 39 | [
{
"comment_id": "306530",
"author": "TheBadWolf",
"timestamp": "2011-01-16T21:16:04",
"content": "This is awesome beyond belief.Loves it",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "306532",
"author": "andrew",
"timestamp": "2011-01-16T21:20:50",
... | 1,760,377,302.121766 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/14/atomic-pinball-clock/ | Atomic Pinball Clock | Mike Szczys | [
"clock hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"atomic clock",
"electromechanical",
"optoisolation",
"pinball",
"wwvb"
] | [Mark Gibson] sent us a load of details on his build,
a WWVB atomic clock using a pinball machine marquee
(PDF). This is the upright portion of an old machine that used electromechanical displays instead of digital electronics. It’s big, noisy, and seeing it running might make you a bit giddy. Luckily he included video that shows it working on both the outside and the inside.
It took a bit of probing to discover the connections for relays that control the display. From there he used optoisolation to drive them with an Arduino. With this hurdle behind him, [Mark] set out to add atomic clock accuracy. He picked up a WWVB module and added it to the mix.
Check out his build log in PDF form linked above. He went out of his way to explain how the original parts work, and the processes he used during prototyping. For more of those juicy details we’ve added a photo gallery and his video after the break.
Didn’t get enough pinball goodness from this project? Check out the this
digital gas plasma display
pulled and reused from a much more modern pinball machine. Oh, and there’s always
Bill Paxton Pinball
.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hFOIy-oxUw&w=470] | 14 | 14 | [
{
"comment_id": "304732",
"author": "Josh",
"timestamp": "2011-01-14T21:05:37",
"content": "This is really cool, these types of things are why I come to HaD. Keep up the good work guys.Oh btw… FIRST",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "304737",
"... | 1,760,377,302.259858 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/14/theory-behind-evanescent-wave-coupling-aka-wireless-power/ | Theory Behind Evanescent Wave Coupling, Aka Wireless Power | Mike Szczys | [
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"evanescent wave coupling",
"inductance",
"persistence of vision",
"wireless electricity"
] | [Alan Yates] is building a persistence of vision display and needs a way to transfer power from the stationary base to the spinning circuitry. He’s decided to go with wireless energy transfer and he’s sharing
all of his research and experiment data from the development process
. It comes in two forms, the written version we just linked to, and a 37 minute video which is embedded after the break. If you liked some of the
inductive energy transmission devices
we’ve featured in the past, [Alan’s] video will fill you in on the why’s and how’s by using a combination of illustrative schematic examples and measurements on test coils that he built.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1UT4NuygmQ&w=470]
[via
Hacked Gadgets
and
EEVblog
] | 30 | 30 | [
{
"comment_id": "304636",
"author": "Fallen",
"timestamp": "2011-01-14T18:19:55",
"content": "hmm new term for me, evanescent. Well at least new when applied to electronics.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "304653",
"author": "jenningsthecat"... | 1,760,377,302.503409 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/14/macintosh-pro-dj-helmet-with-an-ipad/ | Macintosh Plus DJ Helmet With An IPad | James Munns | [
"Video Hacks",
"Wearable Hacks"
] | [
"helmet",
"ipad"
] | Elaborate helmets are not a new concept, with many famous artists such as Daft Punk and Deadmau5 using them for stage shows. For a sculpture class, [Terrence]
fashioned his own
out of the body of a Macintosh Plus and an iPad conveniently sourced from eBay. After gutting the insides, the Mac Plus was fitted with parts from a helmet both for comfort as well as for keeping the whole setup head mounted. For additional eye candy, an LED visualizer was affixed below the iPad display. The rig is remotely controlled by a bluetooth keyboard, just for good measure. We think this setup easily stands up to other Daft Punk-esque style
head mounts
.
Be sure not to miss the video of the helmet featuring DJ Chameleon (a friend of [Terrence]) in action, as well as a number of other photos.
[Edit: Thanks to everyone who caught the Mac Plus/Pro error!] | 39 | 38 | [
{
"comment_id": "304556",
"author": "Steve",
"timestamp": "2011-01-14T16:16:02",
"content": "That’s a Plus, it says so right in the project page. There is no such thing as a “Macintosh Pro” in that vintage. (The mac Pro came much, much later.)",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": ... | 1,760,377,302.332762 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/14/open-source-your-rave-with-openlase/ | Open Source Your Rave With OpenLase | James Munns | [
"digital audio hacks",
"Video Hacks"
] | [
"jack",
"laser",
"linux",
"openlase",
"projector",
"ubuntu"
] | Without a doubt, Laser Projectors are a great way to project large, bright images on any surface you can imagine. With a high enough quality projector and software package, excellent images and visualizations can be displayed in real time. [marcan], of the openkinect project, decided that there were not any open source laser projection packages out there that suited his wants or needs, so logically he decided to
write his own
. Because
home-made
laser projectors often use the audio out port of a PC, building the framework on top of the JACK unix sound software to control the hardware made perfect sense. OpenLase includes plugins for audio visualizations, 2D and 3D gaming, as well as converting video streams into laser format in real time.
Be sure to check out the
Chaos Communication Congress
presentation [marcan] gave after the break, as well as all the extra demo videos on his website.
[youtube =
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEG68O6jpjo&w=470%5D | 26 | 23 | [
{
"comment_id": "304497",
"author": "Grovenstien",
"timestamp": "2011-01-14T14:45:11",
"content": "Perhaps it would be possible to hijack an ILDA interface and use a DAC to do the same thing for non homebrew lasers. There are loads of cheap Galvo sets with ILDA boards on ebay. Currently Pangolin see... | 1,760,377,302.564679 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/13/kinetic-project-duo-to-delight-and-amuse/ | Kinetic Project Duo To Delight And Amuse | Mike Szczys | [
"Toy Hacks"
] | [
"ball bearing",
"kinetic sculpture",
"perpetual motion",
"steel ball",
"steorn orbo"
] | We’re going to let you decide which of these two projects is a delight, and which is amusing.
The project on the left is
a desktop kinetic sculpture
. We like it because of its size and simplicity. A single AA battery drives the gear head motor that provides the lift for the metal balls. There are several different routes for them to take in returning to the lift wheel, each route determined by a mechanical combination of the metal spheres. This is more of a month-long build than some of the
other kinetic devices
we’ve seen which could take a lifetime.
The offering on the right is
a perpetual motion machine
. Well, it will be once that guy gets the kinks worked out. You can see him explain how he intends this works in the video after the break. We’re not betting on perpetual motion, but if we did, our money would be on something like
the Steorn Orbo replica
and not on this.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40H47Z_eOKE&w=470]
[Thanks Cr8ive] | 63 | 50 | [
{
"comment_id": "303738",
"author": "Russ Weeks",
"timestamp": "2011-01-13T22:41:44",
"content": "On a similar note, Ronald Walters’ marble machine via woodgears.ca:http://woodgears.ca/reader/walters/marble_machine.html",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment... | 1,760,377,302.649615 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/13/let-paper-dolls-teach-you-science/ | Let Paper Dolls Teach You Science | Mike Szczys | [
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"a to z",
"electronics",
"history",
"jeri ellsworth",
"theory"
] | Remember how fun it was studying chemistry and physics in high school? Well we guess your recollection depends on the person who taught the class. Why not have another go at it by
learning the A-to-Z of electronics
from one of our favorite teachers, [Jeri Ellsworth].
You know, the person who
whips up chemistry experiments
and
makes her own semiconductors
? The first link in this post will send you to her video playlist. So far she’s posted A is for Ampere and B is for Battery, both of which you’ll find embedded after the break. Her combination of no-nonsense technical explanation, and all-nonsense paper-doll history reenactment make for a fun viewing whether you retain any of the information or not.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSj1SH5Zpqg&w=470]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOxMUZUJUS4&w=470]
[Thanks PT] | 21 | 21 | [
{
"comment_id": "303579",
"author": "walt",
"timestamp": "2011-01-13T19:41:47",
"content": "pretty cool. 1st!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "303613",
"author": "Pilotgeek",
"timestamp": "2011-01-13T20:23:23",
"content": "Jeri Ellswo... | 1,760,377,302.929702 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/13/man-made-rainbow-uses-only-sunlight-and-rainwater/ | Man Made Rainbow Uses ONLY Sunlight And Rainwater | Mike Szczys | [
"green hacks"
] | [
"mist",
"rainbow",
"rainwater",
"solar"
] | This rainbow is and is not natural. It’s the product of rainwater and sunlight so in that respect it’s natural. But as you can see, it’s not raining.
This is an art installation
that uses captured rainwater, stored solar electricity, and irrigation equipment to float a heavy blanket of mist in the air. The prismatic effects of the suspended water particles separate the sunlight into various bands by wavelength and a rainbow springs into existence.
We’ve done this before with a garden hose in the back yard. It might be fun to try to build a version that recycles the water as this does, perhaps using a rain barrel as a reservoir. It would certainly be much easier than pulling off that
water-based 3-D display
we’ve been meaning to undertake.
[Thanks Xb0xGuru] | 20 | 20 | [
{
"comment_id": "303493",
"author": "Squirrel",
"timestamp": "2011-01-13T18:05:27",
"content": "To see a rainbow:Be standing in between a sheet of falling water droplets and the sunLook directly away from the sunThe rainbow will be at an angle of 42 degrees",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
... | 1,760,377,303.088032 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/13/pin-header-sizing-machine/ | Pin Header Sizing Machine | Mike Szczys | [
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"kit",
"pin header"
] | [Ammon Allgaier] built
a tool that can break apart pin headers
with a high level of precision. In the video after the break he demonstrates the built-in features. They include an adjustable stop to select the number of pins you’d like in each chopped segment. There’s also a small groove in the input side which the plastic frame of the header rides in. Just insert until it is touching the stop, and push down to break the header at the correct location. A couple of springs return the cutting tooth to its resting position, allowing you to make quick work of chipping up a 40-pin blank. This machine will become a nice companion for that
automatic wire cutter
.
This is great for single headers but we’ve long been on the lookout for a reliable way to snap off double pin headers. Far too often we make mistakes when trying to use two pair of pliers. If you know of a better way, please share your method in the comments.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Der8BGrbtQ&w=470] | 41 | 41 | [
{
"comment_id": "303434",
"author": "wwwhizz",
"timestamp": "2011-01-13T16:51:08",
"content": "I always use nail-clippers. Works like a charm.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "303437",
"author": "skitchin",
"timestamp": "2011-01-13T16:53:... | 1,760,377,302.722658 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/12/turning-a-one-armed-bandit-into-web-slots/ | Turning A One-armed-bandit Into Web Slots | Mike Szczys | [
"Arduino Hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"Pearl",
"slot machine",
"streaming",
"ubuntu"
] | [Kyle Kroskey] just finished his first Arduino project,
adding web control to a slot machine
. He started with an IGT S+ model which were extremely popular in Vegas and Atlantic City casinos for years, but are now being replaced with more modern versions. His grand idea was to modify the machine so that it can be controlled from a PC, then unleash a live stream so that the Internets can play.
This turned out not to be too hard, there’s just a few controls he patched the Arduino into; the button for maxing out the wager amount, and sensors that measure coin inserts and payouts. In order to keep the peace he disconnected the speaker but rerouted the audio into a PC so that it can be played over the streaming feed. This make sure it’s quiet in the room without sacrificing the online fun. The PC is running Ubuntu and controls the video feed, a screen detailing jackpot data above the machine, and facilitates passing webpage player requests to the Arduino for machine control.
For another fun slot machine hack, check out this
gaming device turned bartender
. | 14 | 14 | [
{
"comment_id": "302791",
"author": "joe",
"timestamp": "2011-01-12T22:38:14",
"content": "I don’t understand, Why?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "302794",
"author": "emilio",
"timestamp": "2011-01-12T22:41:23",
"content": "interest... | 1,760,377,302.97689 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/12/skywalker-a-really-really-tall-bike/ | SkyWalker: A Really Really Tall Bike | Mike Szczys | [
"Transportation Hacks"
] | [
"bicycle",
"tall bike"
] | [Brad Graham] enjoys building bikes. He threw together a tall bike called
the SkyWalker and then shared the build details
(link dead,
try the Internet Archive version
). It’s got everything you’d expect in a fixed-gear bike; a seat, pedals, steering, and two wheels. You’ll have to do a bit of climbing to get into the saddle but the incorporated ladder doubles as passenger space. [Brad] says the thing has no problem supporting up to four riders at a time. Check out the video after the break to see that the ladder and large-height steering frame make the bike easy to stop and start without leaning on something. Wow.
We’re thrilled and scared at the same time. At least that
over-under tandem had full-sized wheels
. But those tiny rims on this oblong creation? Yikes!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htVNrO8lWv0&w=470] | 37 | 36 | [
{
"comment_id": "302719",
"author": "Aero",
"timestamp": "2011-01-12T20:34:30",
"content": "The site is down…The bike in the video is not the same as the yellow bike in the picture. I question the stability of the yellow one at low speeds and during mounting/dismounting.",
"parent_id": null,
... | 1,760,377,302.873427 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/12/quit-your-job-a-build-a-pipe-organ/ | Quit Your Job And Build A Pipe Organ | Mike Szczys | [
"Musical Hacks"
] | [
"mechanical engineer",
"pipe organ"
] | [Raphi Giandiulio] grew tired of designing expensive things for Texas Instruments, so
he quit his job and built this organ
. Now there is some back story here, [Raphi’s] dad was a professional musician and [Raphi] played trumpet through college. He is a mechanical engineer by trade and that’s where a lot of the expertise for the instrument design came from. The project and the website that documents it are very large in scope, detailing the design process (including CAD drawings), the build, and a tour of his woodshop. The instrument includes 250 pipes and took about four years to finish, concluding in 2007. We weren’t surprised to learn that [Raphi] now has a new job… building organs.
Perhaps you’d be more interested in
hacking an existing pipe organ
?
[Thanks M] | 23 | 23 | [
{
"comment_id": "302626",
"author": "mi6x3m",
"timestamp": "2011-01-12T18:29:29",
"content": "Jesus Christ….",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "302642",
"author": "sm10sm20",
"timestamp": "2011-01-12T18:43:59",
"content": "How can this ... | 1,760,377,303.031318 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/12/hold-fast-and-max-features-on-a-digital-caliper/ | Hold, Fast, And Max Features On A Digital Caliper | Mike Szczys | [
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"digital caliper",
"fast",
"hold",
"rj-11"
] | While adding an RJ-11 connector to his digital calipers [BadWolf] slipped, shorting out a pin and
accidentally discovered new features
. He intended to
add a port for reading measurement data electronically
, but after the slip-up an ‘H’ appeared on the LCD screen and the measurement was frozen at the same number. At first it seemed like he may have killed the device, but this is actually a hold function. A little bit more playing around and he discovered that a combination of button presses can also enable a fast function which speeds up the rate at which the display changes its reading. There is even a max function that only updates the display if the reading is higher than any previously displayed measurement. These are nice features which he uses by connecting a momentary push switch between two of the output pins, details we gleaned from the annotated video after the break. He doesn’t say which pins work for him, but we’d bet one of them is the ground pin on the port, and the other is one of the two data pins. Do some investigating with your own calipers and let us know what you find in the comments.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-C9CS72SFM0&w=470] | 67 | 50 | [
{
"comment_id": "302477",
"author": "wvdv2002",
"timestamp": "2011-01-12T14:33:01",
"content": "Isn’t it much more handy to have a ‘hold minimum value’ function for a caliper? If you want to measure the diameter of an object for example?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
... | 1,760,377,303.368616 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/11/intro-to-circuit-bending/ | Intro To Circuit Bending | Joseph Thibodeau | [
"digital audio hacks",
"Featured",
"how-to",
"Musical Hacks",
"Toy Hacks"
] | [
"circuit bend",
"dac",
"pwm",
"synthesizer",
"wavetable",
"yamaha"
] | Electronic musical instruments are a lot of fun for a hacker because, with a small palette of tools, know-how and curiosity, they are easily modified. As with any hack, there is always the chance that the subject will be ruined, so it’s not necessarily worth the risk to muck about inside your thousand-dollar pro synthesizer. Luckily for all of us, there are shovel-fulls of old electronic musical toys littering the curbs and second-hand shops of the world. These fun little devices provide ample opportunity to get familiar with audio electronics and circuit bending techniques.
A note on definitions: the term “circuit bending” can be synonymous with “hardware hacking” in the world of audio electronics, and we have seen some debate as to which term is better suited to a given project. We welcome you to share your viewpoints in the comments.
Keep reading to get started.
Materials
So, you’ve heard of circuit bending and you want to give it a try eh? Well for this introduction, you’re going to need at minimum the following materials:
electronic musical instrument (the bendee) with batteries or AC adapter
alligator clips (for temporary connections)
various resistors and/or a potentiometer
ears
and it’s a great help if you also have:
oscilloscope
bench-top power supply
camera
For our first attempt at circuit bending, we will be using a Yamaha PSS-14 keyboard. We found it by the side of the road, abandoned and lonely and without a friend in the world. Like mad scientists conducting mad genetic experiments on lonely abandoned animals, we will rebuild this poor creature to be better, stronger, and stranger than before!
Background Research
Thanks to our high-fallootin’ academic standards, we’ll start by researching a little bit about the keyboard in question. The more adventurous among you can skip this step and dive straight into the fun part. From
Yamaha’s site
, we can see that this model sports “100 Advanced Wave Memory Voices”–that’s their hilarious marketing term for “100 Pre-written Sound Files”–making this what’s known as a “Wavetable Synthesizer”. Wavetable synthesis is a very easy and cheap way to create sounds because you can simply copy a bunch of sounds to the memory of the chip and then read through them sample-by-sample, changing the sampling rate to change the pitch (or having separate samples for each pitch value, depending how much memory you have to play with).
Further research reveals that we’re not the first to circuit-bend this particular keyboard.
This example
and also
this one
show some interesting possibilities, and by the end of this article we’ll have a better idea of what they’ve done. But enough talk, let’s crack this baby open!
Here we see the PSS-14 in its original state: operational, but missing the case screws (it was held together by duct tape when we found it). Perhaps a previous owner did some exploration of their own?
The preprogrammed songs cover all the major categories of music: Memories, Cool&Hot, Favourites, Fun Time. When we were younger we used to listen to Cool&Hot music all the time, but then it got mainstream so now we’re mostly into the underground Memories scene. You haven’t lived ’till you’ve heard the new remix of “Gallant Pig”.
There are twenty keyboard-controlled voices to choose from, most of which sound about the same. The volume controls seen here make a very loud “bongo” sound when you press them, no matter if the volume’s as low as possible.
Look Under the Hood
Clearly this thing could be better, so let’s open it up and see what we can improve about its operation.
The circuit board under the hood is pretty sparse, which is somewhat unsurprising seeing as it’s a wavetable synth and therefore most of the fun stuff is taken care of inside the microcontroller seen on the right. If you can find old electronic musical toys from before the digital era, you have access to a lot more of the nitty-gritty sound generation. Unfortunately those are much harder to find on the side of the road.
On the left side of the circuit board we can see the clearly-marked Vcc and GND connections, which would be easy enough to find from the battery terminals. The keyboard takes 4 AA batteries, which means it runs on a 6-Volt supply. We didn’t have the AC adapter for this keyboard so we’ll run it off of our bench-top power supply for now.
This hardly needs to be said but BE REALLY CAREFUL if you are going to use an AC-powered device. The bench-top supply we’re using has a current-limiter but a wall-wart transformer can push dangerous crowds of electrons through your body, which we understand to be an uncomfortable experience.
On the right, we can see a bunch more resistors and–the holy grail–a clock component (it’s the blue blob to the left of the IC)! On digital synthesizers this is generally the main source of fun.
In the middle of the board there is a cluster of capacitors and what looks like a multi-transistor package. When we turn the board around and start probing, we’ll figure out what this is all about.
The soldered and printed side of the circuit board is much more interesting to look at. The dark patches that you see are conductive ink–this is a really common and cheap sensor technology used in everything from the humble NES controller to high-end Roland electric pianos. It’s a form of what’s known as a
force-sensing resistor (FSR)
and it suffers from major nonlinearity, hysteresis and repeatability. On the other hand, it’s dead easy to implement and it can be printed onto a board.
On the underside of the CPU we can start to characterize the pin functions. A lot of the pins go out to the various keys and buttons. A lot of those transistors that we saw topside are dedicated to this key matrix, too.
Scope it Out
Upon further investigation the button/key states are time-division multiplexed onto pulse wave signals based on a global excitation, illustrated here.
According to this fellow
who lists a circuit-bent PSS-15 (same model as this but with a silver control panel), connecting part of the audio output to the keyboard matrix returns can re-trigger buttons or keys to make “loops”. Very interesting, seeing as:
The keyboard uses a PWM-based DAC scoped here in comparison to the audio output further down the line. Again this is a very cheap technology (you can make one for your arduino pretty easily) and you can get a
simple explanation here
. Right off the bat we can see that a disadvantage to this technology is that its transition times between various voltage levels might be difficult to control, possibly leading to distortion. That aside, it will be interesting to connect the PWM DAC output to one or more of the keyboard matrix returns.
Here is a closeup of two interesting “hack points” on this keyboard. We’ll change the resistors on the right to see what it does to the signal, and we’ll change up the existing 8MHz clock for a different one.
The sine wave oscillations of component CL1 can be scoped to show a transformation into square wave, which we can safely assume is driving the operations of the microcontroller.
Modifying the Circuit
It just so happened that we had a spare 3MHz oscillator sitting around, so let’s find out what happens when we drive this device at 3/8ths of its normal speed.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ID6JdjH8gk4&w=470]
A quick and dirty soldering job gives immediate results. In the video you can hear the results with the new clock and changing the resistor value at the PWM output–overdrive city!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtJtg8AhMFY&w=470]
Furthermore, by patching the audio output to parts of the keyboard matrix, we can create the “loops” as discussed eariler.
The results thus far have been, well, a little underwhelming. We can make the sounds slower and we can make little loops, and we’ve learned a little bit about consumer-level electronic toys. Still, at this point we were hoping to have unlocked some seriously badass digital fury.
Serendipity came to our help at this point, and an inadvertent touch of the oscillator legs produced the righteous vibes we’d been banking on!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCYwfa5n4lE&w=470]
The sounds that came out of this thing were incredible. Somehow, after assembly, this type of thing was happening at startup and it’s now only about a one in ten chance that the keyboard boots properly. Even then it’s at running 3/8ths speed… except some of the time, somehow, it properly adapts the PWM output so that despite the underclocked CPU the wavetables read at the original sampling rate. Who knows what is going on that ASIC.
What to do with it now?
At this point in our circuit-bending adventure we’ve characterized the operation of the device and found a couple of fun bends. Where to go from here? Well, one option would be to make the modifications permanent with the addition of pots, buttons, patchbays and what-have-you so that the end result is a sleek and performable instrument. We’ll be saving for a later date. Since, as we mentioned at the beginning of the article, it is quite possible to destroy a hacked piece of electronics simply by virtue of the stress caused by the modifications themselves, we’re going to finish this bend by recording the myriad new sounds that the keyboard produces, and composing a short celebratory piece of music:
https://hackaday.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/yamahapss14sequence.mp3
Summary
While you may not have this exact toy keyboard at your disposal, the same techniques and methodology used here can be applied to many other audio devices. It’s simply a matter of
Taking your time
Understanding the technology
Characterizing the circuit
Experimenting
At the end of the day it’s not really that difficult to get started at this sort of thing–hopefully the concept of circuit bending has been demystified for some of you. This isn’t to say that circuit bending can’t go deeper than shown here, as this only shows the most elementary steps. And the complexity of the device you’re working with greatly affects the types of bends you can do–for example, the
TR909
has many timing circuits that can be played with in much the same way as our Yamaha. We’ve recommended it and we’ll recommend it again, but for further reading be sure to check out Nick Collins’
Handmade Electronic Instruments
.
It contains a good section on toy hacking, and it’s generally a very good read.
If you enjoyed this introduction and want us to write further articles exploring different parts of circuit bending (or audio hacking in general), please let us know in the comments. | 54 | 50 | [
{
"comment_id": "301851",
"author": "Paul Potter",
"timestamp": "2011-01-11T23:21:46",
"content": "I love circuit bending. I did a Speak & Maths a few years ago. Great article, and love that tune at the end. Instant Aphex Twin or Squarepusher. More please.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
... | 1,760,377,303.462382 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/11/scrolling-marquee-made-from-ge-christmas-lights/ | Scrolling Marquee Made From GE Christmas Lights | Mike Szczys | [
"LED Hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"christmast lights",
"g-35",
"ge",
"marquee"
] | [John Riney] picked up three strands of addressable Christmas lights and
used them to make a scrolling marquee
. You may remember that the
G-35 lights were hacked
at the beginning of December, and we saw
a project
or two that involved these fun toys.
In order to make the display [John] modified the original packing material to hold three strands in a six by eighteen grid for a total of 108 pixels. In the video after the break he points out one interesting feature of the strand that we don’t remember from looking at the original hack; each bulb’s address is not fixed, it can be set after power-up. This works the same way as sending color data, except that you just send the address. This makes controlling a grid like this extremely easy from a microcontroller programming standpoint. Once all of the addresses have dropped down the serial bus, you’re ready to start sending color and intensity data packets.
The setup is fast, bright, and beautiful, taking just three pins of an Arduino for control. The only thing holding us back from trying this ourselves is the $150 price tag. But that was before the holiday, and we have heard some whispers about closeout deals on this product.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbtTBSTp0hk&w=470] | 23 | 23 | [
{
"comment_id": "301819",
"author": "Ben",
"timestamp": "2011-01-11T22:42:20",
"content": "It’s a pity, they are still that expensive!When I see these Christmaslight hacks I always have to think about a LED Qube made form them. Just hang them from a ceiling of a hall or something…",
"parent_id":... | 1,760,377,303.282579 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/11/digitizing-player-piano-rolls/ | Digitizing Player Piano Rolls | Mike Szczys | [
"Musical Hacks"
] | [
"fiber optic",
"ir sensor",
"piano roll",
"player piano"
] | What do you do with 100 player piano rolls but no player piano? You come up with a way to
digitize the information for MIDI playback
. The rolls have 90 columns worth of holes, 88 for the keys and two more for pedals. Voids in the paper cause a note or pedal to be played, so an optical sensor can be used to transform the analog data into digital information. Simple enough, you’ll just need 90 sensors. But this brings up quite an alignment issue. The solution is to use fiber optic cable to position the IR light source in a hand-made 0.2″ spaced jig. At least the spacing meshes nicely with standard 0.1″ protoboard, which is what was used for mounting the sensors.
[Thanks Mike] | 28 | 26 | [
{
"comment_id": "301615",
"author": "Lace Williamson",
"timestamp": "2011-01-11T19:35:46",
"content": "That. Is awesome. I want one.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "301629",
"author": "adric",
"timestamp": "2011-01-11T19:47:48",
"con... | 1,760,377,303.528493 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/11/button-cell-connectors-for-breadboarding/ | Button Cell Connectors For Breadboarding | Mike Szczys | [
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"battery",
"breadboard",
"coin cell",
"cr1212",
"cr2032",
"pin header"
] | We’re working on a project that has a battery backup, but we don’t have any more coin cell holders on hand. No problem, we remember seeing a double pin header used for this. But when we tried to shove the CR2032 battery in between the pins it was a no-go. We could swear we’d featured a project that does this but couldn’t find it here at
Hackaday
. After much searching we came up with
the Guerrilla battery holder
which is seen on the left. No wonder it wasn’t working, the CR1212 in that picture is a much smaller package. So we figured we’d have to come up with something else, until inspiration struck.
There must be some other way to configure the pin header to work with a fatter cell body. On the right you can see that a diagonal orientation works like a charm. Join us after the break for a couple of close-ups of that connector and our thoughts on using this with a variety of different cells.
To make this connector two pins were removed from the 2×2 pin header, leaving room for the CR2032 battery to fit nicely on an angle. We also centered the remaining two pins in the plastic body to make enough of a tail to seat well in the breadboard. Now that we’ve done this, it should be simple to make it work with any coin cell. A bit fatter package might work with the center two pins removed from a 2×3 header, or on an angle with just two diagonally oriented pins on a 2×3 header. Give it a try with your battery of choice. It might just get you through the prototyping phase until it’s time to put in another parts order. | 34 | 34 | [
{
"comment_id": "301467",
"author": "Paul Potter",
"timestamp": "2011-01-11T17:35:50",
"content": "Simple and genius.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "301506",
"author": "amishx64",
"timestamp": "2011-01-11T18:04:12",
"content": "This... | 1,760,377,303.601838 |
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